Search

Air Pollution is constantly causing a severe effect on the environment and public health. Prediction of air quality is widespread and has become a challenging issue owing to the enormous environmental data with time-space nonlinearity and multi-dimensional feature interaction. There is a need to bring out the spatial and temporal factors that are influencing the prediction. The present study concentrates on the correlation prediction of spatial and temporal relations. A Deep learning technique has been proposed for forecasting the accurate prediction. The proposed Bi_ST model is evaluated for 17 cities in India and China. The predicted results are evaluated with the performance metrics of RMSE, MAE, and MAPE. Experimental results demonstrate that our method Bi_ST accredits more accurate forecasts than all baseline RNN and LSTM models by reducing the error rate. The accuracy of the model obtained is 94%.

In the structure of nature, we believe that there is an underlying knowledge in all the phenomena we wish to understand. Mainly in the area of epidemiology we often tend to seek the structure of the data obtained, pattern of the disease, nature or cause of its emergence among living organisms. Sometimes, we could see the outbreak of disease is ambiguous and the exact cause of the disease is unknown. A significant number of algorithms and methods are available for clustering disease data. We could see that literature has no traces of including indeterminacy or vagueness in data which has to be much concentrated in epidemiological field. This study analyzes the attack of dengue in 26 districts of Sri Lanka for the period of seven years from 2012 to 2018. Clusters with low risk, medium risk and high risk areas affected by dengue are identified. In this paper, we propose a new algorithm called Neutrosophic-Fuzzy Hierarchical Clustering algorithm (NFHC) that includes indeterminacy. Proposed algorithm is compared with fuzzy hierarchical clustering algorithm and hierarchical clustering algorithm. Finally the results are evaluated with the benchmarking indexes and the performance of the clustering algorithm is studied. NFHC has performed a way better than the other two algorithms.

Purpose: To compare the visual outcomes and efficacy of opposite clear corneal incision (OCCI) and toric intraocular lens (IOL) implantation in correcting preexisting astigmatism (PEA) in patients undergoing phacoemulsification. Methods: This prospective interventional comparative study was conducted between June 2022 and January 2023 in patients having cataract with PEA undergoing phacoemulsification. Patients were divided into two groups – group A underwent phacoemulsification with OCCI and group B underwent phacoemulsification with toric IOL implantation. Uncorrected distance visual acuity (UDVA), manifest refractive cylinder, and corneal astigmatism using corneal tomography were measured preoperatively and at 6 weeks postoperatively. The eyes were categorized into three groups with PEA ranging from 1 to 1.5 D, 1.6 to 2 D, and 2.1 to 3 D. Depending upon the white-to-white corneal diameter, the eyes were also categorized into four groups with corneal diameter ranging from 10.5 to 10.9 mm, 11 to 11.4 mm, 11.5 to 11.9 mm, and 12 to 12.4 mm. Results: Sixty eyes of 60 patients were studied. At postoperative 6 weeks, 83.3% (25 eyes) in the OCCI group and 96.7% (29 eyes) in the toric IOL group achieved UDVA of 6/9 or better. No statistically significant difference was noted between the groups (P = 0.37). The reduction in mean corneal astigmatism was 0.63 ± 0.37 D in the OCCI group and 0.15 ± 0.12 D in the toric IOL group (P < 0.001). The residual mean refractive cylinder was 0.60 ± 0.38 D in the OCCI group and 0.05 ± 0.15 D in the toric IOL group at 6 weeks (P = 0.007). Conclusion: Both OCCI and toric IOL are effective in correcting PEA. However, in a resource-limited setting, OCCI is a better alternative surgical option for correcting astigmatism of 1–1.5 D during phacoemulsification without requiring additional skills or instruments.

Background: Perceived social support is an established predictor of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after exposure to a traumatic event. Gender is an important factor that could differentiate responses to social support, yet this has been little explored. Symptoms of complex PTSD are also common following trauma but have been under-researched in this context. Large scale studies with culturally diverse samples are particularly lacking.Objectives: In a multi-country sample, we examined: (a) gender differences in perceived social support and both posttraumatic stress symptom severity (PTSS) and complex posttraumatic stress symptom severity (CPTSS); (b) associations between social support and PTSS/CPTSS; and (c) the potential moderating role of gender in the relationship between perceived social support and trauma-related distress.Method: A total of 2483 adults (Mage = 30yrs, 69.9% females) from 39 countries, who had been exposed to mixed trauma types, completed the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support and the International Trauma Questionnaire (which captures PTSS/CPTSS). Regression analyses examined associations between gender, perceived social support, and PTSS/CPTSS; and tested for gender by social support interactions in predicting PTSS/CPTSS scores. Models were adjusted for age and socioeconomic status.Results: In our cross-country sample, females had greater PTSS/CPTSS than males (B = .23 [95% CI 0.16, 0.30], p

Background: The presence of a disabled child causes profound changes in the family, with impact of anxiety and depression on parents and on their quality of life being considerable. Aim: The present study assessed the psychological comorbidity of children with learning problems and also evaluated the anxiety and depression among parents with learning disability children. Methods: This prospective questionnaire‑based study was conducted in the Department of Psychiatry, Kanchi Kamakoti Childs Trust Hospital (KKCTH). The study participants are inclusive of all the children with learning disability and their parents who gave their informed consent and available during the study period. Results: Statistical significance was present between the prevalence of depression in relation to gender and the socioeconomic variables. The generalized anxiety disorder was found to be to about 25% among the study subjects. Around 31.5 % of mild depression was prevalent among the parents of learningdisabled children Conclusion: Effective intervention programs are in need of the hour to address comorbid conditions like depression and anxiety. Psychoeducation about the child’s condition and an effective remedial education program will be a great boon to the community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To assess the refractive outcomes and effect on endothelial cell density of refractive implantable lens (RIL) implantation following deep anterior lamellar keratoplasty (DALK). Methods: A retrospective study was conducted on 10 eyes of 10 patients who had undergone DALK and subsequently underwent toric RIL implantation. The patients were followed up over a period of 1 year. The parameters compared were uncorrected and best corrected visual acuity, spherical and cylindrical acceptance, mean refractive spherical equivalent, and endothelial cell counts. Results: There was a significant improvement (P < 0.05) from preoperatively to 1 month postoperatively in the mean log of minimum angle of resolution (logMAR) uncorrected distance visual acuity (UCVA; 1.1 ± 0.1 to 0.3 ± 0.1), spherical refraction (5.4 ± 3.8 to 0.3 ± 0.1 D), cylindrical refraction (5.4 ± 3.2 to 0.8 ± 0.7 D), and MRSE (7.4 ± 3.5 to 0.5 ± 0.4 D). Three patients achieved spectacle independence for distance vision with a residual MRSE less than 1 D in the other cases. A stable refraction was maintained up to 1 year follow-up in all cases. There was a 2.3% mean decline in endothelial cell counts at 1 year of follow-up. No intraoperative or postoperative complications were seen in any case up to 1 year of follow-up. Conclusion: RIL implantation is an effective and safe procedure for the correction of high ametropia post-DALK.

Purpose: To compare different endophthalmitis prophylaxis methods adopted in cataract surgery (manual small-incision cataract surgery and phacoemulsification) between the years 2013 and 2021 in the community eye care section of a tertiary eye care hospital in South India and report their outcomes. Methods: All cataract surgeries performed from January 2013 to December 2021 (2,46,874 surgeries) at a single center were included in this retrospective study. The different endophthalmitis rates with each regimen were analyzed and evaluated. Results: 70,081 surgeries were performed from January 2013 to February 2015, where Tobramycin was added to Balanced Salt Solution (BSS) (Group A). From March 2015 to January 2017, 63,245 surgeries were performed when intracameral Moxifloxacin was given (Group B). From February 2017 to December 2021, 1,13,548 surgeries were performed were Amikacin was added to BSS (Group C). In total, 42 cases of postoperative endophthalmitis were reported during the study period (0.02%). There was no significant difference in the endophthalmitis rates between groups A and B (P = 0.4152); however, there was a significant decrease in endophthalmitis rates in group C when compared with group A (P = 0.04) and group B (P = 0.006). Conclusion: There was a significant reduction in the rates of endophthalmitis following the addition of amikacin in irrigating BSS. Nocardia was one of the predominant organisms isolated from these endophthalmitis patients. This is the first single-center study to report a comparative analysis of different endophthalmitis prophylactic measures in a community eye care set up with a high incidence of Nocardia endophthalmitis prevented with amikacin in BSS irrigating solution.

Ernest Hemingway's The Old Man And The Sea and Yann Martel's Life Of Pi made them significant novelists of Nautical Literature. Their main focus is on survival of their protagonists. Both the novels have an autobiographical touch in them. Hemingway had described his own fishing experience in Gulf Stream in The Old Man And The Sea and Yann Martel wrote Pi's own story narrated to him by Pi. Santiago in The Old Man And The Sea and Pi in Life Of Pi are the victims of wilderness. The Old Man And The Sea was constructed like a five-act play. The incidents unfold in a dramatic manner. The incidents that happened over the next three days include Santiago catching the marlin and losing it consequently. The harpooning of the marlin and its destruction form the climax and anti-climax respectively. Life Of Pi has built in three parts. The first part dealt with Pi's childhood. The second part narrated Pi's survival in a lifeboat in the middle of the Pacific Ocean with Richard Parker, an adult Bengal Tiger. The third part described Pi's conversation with two officials fromthe Japanese Ministry of Transport about his survival in sea with a tiger. In The Old Man And The Sea, Hemingway had given equal importance to both Santiago and Manolin, though Manolin appeared only in the minor part of the novel. In Life Of Pi, Yann Martel focused mainly on Pi's survival story and with lesser importance on other characters in the novel. Both the novels end positively with a sad note. In The Old Man And The Sea, though Santiago had survived, he lost his greatest catch in his life. Similarly, in Life Of Pi, Pi also survived from all the dangers that fate had offered him. But the loss of his greatest companion, Richard Parker made him gloomy. Thus both Ernest Hemingway and Yann Martel had dealt with the theme of survival successfully in their respective novels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background & objectives: In today’s world, obesity is a lifestyle disease that can kill. This study was conducted to assess the prevalence of general and abdominal obesity among adult outdoor patient in Urban and Rural Health Training Centre, Department of Community Medicine, Veer Chandra Singh Garhwali Government Medical Sciences and Research Institute, Srinagar, Uttarakhand. Methods: A total of 200 patients aged ≥20 years were randomly selected were studied. Simplified questionnaire was used for interviewing participant and anthropometric measurement was done. Definition of overweight and obesity given by the World Health Organization (WHO); Asia Pacific Guidelines; and WHO criteria for Europids were used. Results: Participants aged from 20–74 years and 56.5% were females. Prevalence of abdominal obesity was found 38.5% (24.1% for men and 49.6% for women, p

Congenital coronary sinus anomalies are rare in clinical practice, partly due to the lack of symptoms. We present a case of coronary sinus anomaly causing a right-to-left intracardiac shunt in a 46 years/old African American female with a past medical history of obstructive sleep apnea, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, coronary artery disease, and ischemic cardiomyopathy who presented with hypoxia. In the months prior to her presentation, she had suffered an inferior myocardial infarction with right ventricular involvement, as well as resulting severe tricuspid regurgitation. In conclusion, further investigations revealed a communication between the coronary sinus (CS) and left atrium (LA).

Childhood maltreatment (CM) is thought to be associated with altered responses to social stimuli and interpersonal signals. However, limited evidence exists that CM is linked to larger comfortable interpersonal distance (CID) - the physical distance humans prefer towards others during social interactions. However, no previous study has investigated this association in a comprehensive sample, yielding sufficient statistical power. Moreover, preliminary findings are limited to the European region. Finally, it is unclear how CM affects CID towards different interaction partners, and whether CID is linked to social functioning and attachment. To address these outstanding issues, adults (N = 2986) from diverse cultures and socio-economic strata completed a reaction time task measuring CID towards an approaching stranger and friend. Higher CM was linked to a larger CID towards both friends and strangers. Moreover, insecure attachment and less social support were associated with larger CID. These findings demonstrate for the first time that CM affects CID across countries and cultures, highlighting the robustness of this association., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Air pollution these days could cause severe effects on human health. As human health is crumbled with serious respiratory or other lung diseases, it is prominent to study air pollution. One of the ways to address this issue is by applying clustering techniques. The two main important problems that are faced in the clustering algorithm are, firstly, the exact shape of the cluster and the number of clusters that input data can produce. Secondly, choosing an appropriate algorithm for a particular problem is not clearly known. Finally, multiple replications of the same algorithm lead to alternative solutions due to the fact such as random initialization of cluster heads. Ensembling algorithms can handle these problems and overcome bias and variance in the traditional clustering process. An adequate study has not been carried out in the ensembling approach mainly for clustering. In this paper, we use an enhanced ensemble clustering method to cluster the pollution data levels. This study helps to take preventive measures that are needed to control further contamination, reduce the alarming levels, and analyze the results to find healthy and unhealthy regions in a given area. This ensemble technique also explains about uncertain objects that are found in clustering. The distinct advantage of this algorithm is that there is no requirement of prior information about the data. This experiment shows that the implemented ensemble consensus clustering has demonstrated improved performance when compared with basic clustering algorithms., (© 2020. Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Background: Functionalized gold nanoparticles are emerging as a promising nanocarrier for target specific delivery of the therapeutic molecules in a cancer cell, as a result it targeted selectively to the cancer cell and minimized the off-target effect. The functionalized nanomaterial (bio conjugate) brings novel functional properties, for example, the high payload of anticancer, antioxidant molecules and selective targeting of the cancer molecular markers. The current study reported the synthesis of multifunctional bioconjugate (GNPs-Pep-A) to target the cancer cell., Methods: The GNPs-Pep-A conjugate was prepared by functionalization of GNPs with peptide-A (Pro-His-Cys-Lys-Arg-Met; Pep-A) using thioctic acid as a linker molecule. The GNPs-Pep-A was characterized and functional efficacy was tested using Retinoblastoma (RB) cancer model in vitro., Results: The GNPs-Pep-A target the reactive oxygen species (ROS) in RB, Y79, cancer cell more effectively, and bring down the ROS up to 70 % relative to control (untreated cells) in vitro. On the other hand, Pep-A and GNPs showed 40 and 9 % reductions in ROS, respectively, compared to control. The effectiveness of bioconjugate indicates the synergistic effect, due to the coexistence of both organic (Pep-A) and inorganic phase (GNPs) in novel GNPs-Pep-A functional material. In addition to this, it modulates the mRNA expression of antioxidant genes glutathione peroxidase (GPX), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) by two-threefolds as observed., Conclusions: The effects of GNPs-Pep-A on ROS reduction and regulation of antioxidant genes confirmed that Vitis vinifera L . polyphenol-coated GNPs synergistically improve the radical scavenging properties and enhanced the apoptosis of cancer cell.

Retinoblastoma (RB) is a malignant intra-ocular neoplasm that affects children (usually below the age of 5years). In addition to conventional chemotherapy, novel therapeutic strategies that target metabolic pathways such as glycolysis and lipid metabolism are emerging. Fatty acid synthase (FASN), a lipogenic multi-enzyme complex, is over-expressed in retinoblastoma cancer. The present study evaluated the biochemical basis of FASN inhibition induced apoptosis in cultured Y79 RB cells. FASN inhibitors (cerulenin, triclosan and orlistat) significantly inhibited FASN enzyme activity (P<0.05) in Y79 RB cells. This was accompanied by a decrease in palmitate synthesis (end-product depletion), and increased malonyl CoA levels (substrate accumulation). Differential lipid profile was biochemically estimated in neoplastic (Y79 RB) and non-neoplastic (3T3) cells subjected to FASN inhibition. The relative proportion of phosphatidyl choline to neutral lipids (triglyceride+total cholesterol) in Y79 RB cancer cells was found to be higher than the non-neoplastic cells, indicative of altered lipid distribution and utilization in tumor cells. FASN inhibitor treated Y79 RB and fibroblast cells showed decrease in the cellular lipids (triglyceride, cholesterol and phosphatidyl choline) levels. Apoptotic DNA damage induced by FASN inhibitors was accompanied by enhanced lipid peroxidation., (© 2013.)

Fatty acid synthase (FASN), a lipogenic multienzyme complex, is overexpressed in the ocular cancer, retinoblastoma, and is strongly correlated with tumor invasion. Dietary nutrients are reported to exert anticancer effects through inhibition of lipid metabolism. Differential gene expression in cultured retinoblastoma cells induced by cerulenin, a chemical inhibitor of FASN, was evaluated by cDNA microarray analysis. Cerulenin treatment resulted in significant upregulation of cytochrome c (CYCS) by 1.2-fold, whereas S-phase kinase-associated protein-2 (SKP2), a negative regulator of cell cycle, and the lipid metabolic genes (PPARA, RXRA, and ACACB) were significantly downregulated by -1.59-, -1.8-, -1.83-, and -1.5-fold, respectively, in comparison with untreated cancer cells. The expressions of key differentially expressed genes were confirmed by quantitative real-time PCR. The altered expression of genes involved in cell proliferation, cell signaling, apoptosis, and cell cycle, correlated with the anticancer effects of cerulenin. FASN inhibition may thus be a potential strategy in retinoblastoma management.

Purpose: Oxidative stress, which refers to the biological damage caused by free radicals produced in excess of innate antioxidant defenses, is indicated in the ocular cancer retinoblastoma (RB). Here we have analysed the differential expression of oxidative stress responsive genes in oxidant-induced RB cells, and in RB tumor tissues., Methods: The study included cultured RB cells, and four RB tumor tissues. The reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels in Y79 cells and the RB tumor induced by hydrogen peroxide were quantified by Dichlorofluorescein (DCF) fluorescence assay. We then analysed the gene expression profile of cultured RB cells induced with hydrogen peroxide (400 µM H(2)O(2) for 8 h) by microarray analysis, and the expression of select genes were validated in Y79 cells and RB tumor tissues by real-time PCR analysis., Results: The oxidant-induced RB tumors showed an average increase in ROS levels of 44-fold compared to induced non-neoplastic donor retina. H(2)O(2)-induced RB cell line showed a 3-fold increase in ROS levels. Microarray analysis on RB cell line induced with H(2)O(2) showed differentially regulated genes involved in cellular processes such as: oxidative stress, angiogenesis, lipid metabolism, cell proliferation, and cell signaling pathways. Several up-regulated genes such as SOD, GPX, CAT, CDC25A, CREBBP, JUN, MMP-2, iNOS, CRYAA, RXRA, ACACB and HMGCR were validated by real-time PCR. These results corroborated with the gene expression analysis in RB tumor tissues. Relating the antioxidant gene expression with the clinico-pathologic features of the tumor tissues, we found that the tumor with invasion of choroid, optic nerve and retinal pigment epithelium, had relatively higher ROS levels and minimal antioxidant gene expression, when compared with the tumor with only choroidal invasion., Conclusions: The study suggests active involvement of redox signaling pathways in the pathogenesis of RB. Consideration of oxidative stress components in the clinical management of RB patients is emphasized.

Fatty acid synthase (FASN), a multi-enzyme complex, is involved in lipid biosynthesis. FASN is over-expressed in different types of cancers and is being widely investigated for its role in cancer progression, diagnosis and therapy. Here, three inhibitors targeting different domains of FASN--cerulenin, triclosan and orlistat--were evaluated for their anti-proliferative efficacy in ocular cancer, retinoblastoma (RB) cells and their toxicity (if any) in normal cells. FASN inhibitors were tested in cultured retinoblastoma Y79 cells, normal fibroblast (3T3) and Müller glial (MIOM1) cells. Cell viability was determined by MTT-based assay, and IC(50) (50% inhibitory concentration) of the FASN inhibitors was calculated in neoplastic and non-neoplastic cells. The IC(50) after 48 and 96 hr of incubation with the three anti-FASN agents showed that cerulenin, triclosan and orlistat inhibited retinoblastoma cell proliferation in a dose- and time-dependent manner. The cancer cells exhibited differential dose- and time-dependent response/sensitivities to cerulenin, triclosan and orlistat. The 48-hr neoplastic IC(50) dosages were, however, not toxic to the normal cells. These findings were confirmed by phase-contrast microscopic assessment of cell morphology. Therapeutic index (TI) was calculated as a ratio of the IC(50) normal cells, to the IC(50) neoplastic cells. Relative to normal MIOM1 cells, TI was 9.18 for cerulenin, while 5.32 for triclosan and 1.72 for orlistat. The TI computed relative to 3T3 cells was 28.64, 7.10 and 2.58 for cerulenin, triclosan and orlistat, respectively. DNA fragmentation analysis suggests that FASN inhibitors induced apoptotic DNA damage in retinoblastoma cells. Thus, FASN inhibition can be an effective strategy in retinoblastoma therapy., (© 2011 The Authors. Basic & Clinical Pharmacology & Toxicology © 2011 Nordic Pharmacological Society.)

Triclosan, a broad spectrum antibiotic is currently being evaluated for its anti-cancer property. Though several solvents are available to dissolve lipophilic (hydrophobic) drugs, solubility and toxicity aspects pose a challenge, when combined with the cell culture medium. In this paper, we present a simple approach based on physico-chemical and biologic criteria to choose a suitable solubilizing agent to study the anti-proliferative property of triclosan in breast cancer cell line MCF-7. Triclosan was dissolved in five different solvents viz. DMSO, absolute ethanol, 1 N NaOH, 55% polyethylene glycol + 45% ethanol mixture (PEM) and acetone and diluted with the culture medium (1 mg/ml). Although triclosan dissolved completely in all five solvents, on dilution with culture medium, turbidity was observed in DMSO, 1 N NaOH and ethanol. Cell viability was 95.23% in 10 microl of acetone, when compared with 49.45% at the same volume of PEM. This non-toxic nature of acetone was supported by DNA fragmentation analysis and phase contrast microscopy. A significant decrease in cancer cell proliferation at 100 microg/ml of acetone-solubilized triclosan, compared with 100 microg/ml of PEM-solubilized triclosan (p<0.05) indicated stronger anti-proliferative effect and greater drug-sensitivity of triclosan when solubilized in acetone. Results showed that acetone-solubilized triclosan was suitable for anti-cancer investigations in cultured MCF-7 cells.