STIF: Intuitionistic fuzzy Gaussian membership function with statistical transformation weight of evidence and information value for private information preservation.

Data sharing to the multiple organizations are essential for analysis in many situations. The shared data contains the individual's private and sensitive information and results in privacy breach. To overcome the privacy challenges, privacy preserving data mining (PPDM) has progressed as a solution. This work addresses the problem of PPDM by proposing statistical transformation with intuitionistic fuzzy (STIF) algorithm for data perturbation. The STIF algorithm contains statistical methods weight of evidence, information value and intuitionistic fuzzy Gaussian membership function. The STIF algorithm is applied on three benchmark datasets adult income, bank marketing and lung cancer. The classifier models decision tree, random forest, extreme gradient boost and support vector machines are used for accuracy and performance analysis. The results show that the STIF algorithm achieves 99% of accuracy for adult income dataset and 100% accuracy for both bank marketing and lung cancer datasets. Further, the results highlights that the STIF algorithm outperforms in data perturbation capacity and privacy preserving capacity than the state-of-art algorithms without any information loss on both numerical and categorical data.

Postoperative infective complications following percutaneous nephrolithotomy.

INTRODUCTION: Percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) is recommended as the first choice of therapeutic strategy for patients with renal stones larger than 2 cm. It is reported that up to one-third of patients might have some perioperative complications, especially fever and urinary tract infections, which constitutes about 21%-39.8% of all the complications. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY: The primary aim of the study was to study about the proportion of patients getting post-operative infective complications following PCNL. The secondary aim was to study the patient, stone and procedure related risk factors associated with the infective complications. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: This is an institution-based observational study. MATERIALS AND METHODS: All patients who underwent PCNL in the Department of Urology, Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram, during 3 years from September 2016- to August 2019, were included in the study. In this study, the demographic factors and factors related to the patient, stone, and the procedure were collected and analyzed. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: Data analysis was performed using SPSS version 22.0. RESULTS: During the 3-year period, a total of 201 patients with renal stones were treated with PCNL in our hospital. Of this 190 cases were taken for analysis. The mean age of patients was 47.7 years, 148 (77.9%) were male, 42 (22.1%) were female, The final outcomes evaluated were episodes of fever, documented urinary tract infection (UTI), pyelonephritis, and sepsis. Thirty-six (18.9%) patients had fever, of which 21 (11.1%) had UTI, 6 (3.1%) had pyelonephritis and 5 (2.6%) developed sepsis. CONCLUSIONS: Post-PCNL complications are more commonly found in patients with history of preoperative UTI, previous history of renal surgeries, large stone burden, operative procedure more than 90 min, and presence of residual calculi.

Multifunctional Sutures with Temperature Sensing and Infection Control.

The next-generation sutures should provide in situ monitoring of wound condition such as temperature while reducing surgical site infection during wound closure. In this study, functionalized nanodiamond (FND) and reduced graphene oxide (rGO) into biodegradable polycaprolactone (PCL) are incorporated to develop a new multifunctional suture with such capabilities. Incorporation of FND and rGO into PCL enhances its tensile strength by about 43% and toughness by 35%. The sutures show temperature sensing capability in the range of 25-40 °C based on the shift in zero-splitting frequency of the nitrogen-vacancy (NV- ) centers in FND via optically detected magnetic resonance, paving the way for potential detection of infection or excessive inflammation in healing wounds. The suture surface readily coats with antibiotics to reduce bacterial infection risk to the wounds. The new suture thus is promising in monitoring and supporting wound closure.

Polypropylene-nanodiamond composite for hernia mesh.

Commercial hernia mesh is commonly made from polypropylene (PP), due to its inertness, biocompatibility, physical properties, ease of processing and versatility for conversion into flexible shape. However, reportedly hernia mesh prepared from PP experienced issues such as diminished long-term strength, foreign body rejection, lack of biocompatibility and high adhesion to the abdomen wall. Infiltration of the mesh by soft tissue (called remodeling) results in an integration of mesh into the body, leading to a rapid reduction in mesh mechanical properties and potential infection. Here, this study addresses these issues through the incorporation of nanodiamond (ND) into PP filament and coating on the surface of plasma-treated PP-ND mesh. The results show that the dynamic modulus of the PP-ND mesh increased significantly, without compromising its flexibility. Coating PP-ND mesh with hydroxylated ND led to a reduction in nonspecific protein adsorption onto the surface of nanocomposite, which is an important characteristic for hernia mesh to prevent foreign body reaction, attachment of mesh to the abdominal wall and nearby organs. In-vitro study with mammalian cells shows that coated PP-ND mesh with functionalized ND exhibits a significant increase in the number of adhered cells with more elongated morphology in comparison with other PP meshes, due to the better hydrophilicity. Therefore, the ND coated nanocomposite mesh can be a promising candidate for hernia repair in the future; however, more investigation is required.

Effect of nanocomposite coating and biomolecule functionalization on silk fibroin based conducting 3D braided scaffolds for peripheral nerve tissue engineering.

In this work, the effects of carbon nanofiber (CNF) dispersed poly-ε-caprolactone (PCL) nanocomposite coatings and biomolecules functionalization on silk fibroin based conducting braided nerve conduits were studied for enhancing Neuro 2a cellular activities. A unique combination of biomolecules (UCM) and varying concentrations of CNF (5, 7.5, 10% w/w) were dispersed in 10% (w/v) PCL solution for coating on degummed silk threads. The coated silk threads were braided to develop the scaffold structure. As the concentration of CNF increased in the coating, the electrical impedance decreased up to 400 Ω indicating better conductivity. The tensile and dynamic mechanical property analysis showed better mechanical properties in CNF coated samples. In vitro cytocompatibility analysis proved the non-toxicity of the developed braided conduits. Cell attachment, growth and proliferation were significantly enhanced on the biomolecule functionalized nanocomposite coated silk braided structure, exhibiting their potential for peripheral nerve regeneration and recovery.

Nanodiamond/poly-ε-caprolactone nanofibrous scaffold for wound management.

We describe preparation, characterization and cytocompatibility of nanodiamond (ND) dispersed in poly (ε-caprolactone) (PCL) based nanofibrous scaffold. The results show that this unique scaffold potentially provides essential properties for wound healing by enhancing proliferation of epithelial cells, in addition to restricting the microbial activities. Electrospinning technique was used to fabricate and develop PCL-NDs nanocomposite scaffold. The developed nanocomposites were characterized for morphology, thermal, surface and biological properties. The incorporation of ND into the PCL matrix resulted in better moisture management and higher thermal stability. Transmission electron microscopy images and attenuated total reflectance-Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy showed existence of ND particles on the surface of the nanofibers. The aggregation of ND particles increased with the increase in their concentration in nanofiber. The developed scaffolds showed no cytotoxicity and, due to improved hydrophilicity, better cellular activities with Chinese hamster ovarian (CHO) cells, 43%, 38% and 22% more cell proliferation for PCL-5% ND for 1, 3- and 7-days incubations in compare with PCL. Furthermore, Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) showed significantly less affinity to the scaffold surface with the increase in ND concentration, ~56% less for PCL-5% ND in compare with PCL, indicating that such ND dispersed nanofibrous scaffold maybe asuitable choice for complex wound management.

Caspase cascade pathways of apoptosis in oral pemphigus: An immunohistochemical study.

BACKGROUND: Pemphigus is a group of autoimmune blistering diseases characterized by loss of keratinocyte cell adhesion that leads to blister formation clinically. Induction of apoptosis or of proapoptotic proteins by pemphigus immunoglobulin G (IgG) may be part of the mechanism by which IgG induces acantholysis. Some of the current data suggest that activation of proapoptotic proteins such as bax and caspase cysteine proteinases may sensitize cells to the acantholytic effects of pemphigus IgG. Thus, a central role of apoptosis in the mechanisms of blister induction is well recognized. AIMS: This study aims (a) To find which pathway of apoptosis is involved in the pathogenesis of pemphigus and (b) to evaluate the expression of bax and caspase-8 and its key role in pemphigus. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study was conducted on 21 samples of oral pemphigus. The presence of apoptosis was evaluated in the sections taken from histopathologically diagnosed oral pemphigus archival blocks using peroxidase-antiperoxidase immunohistochemical method. RESULTS: The expression and staining intensity of pro-apoptotic marker bax and apoptotic marker caspase-8 were observed in the various areas with varying intensity in different samples. The result was subjected to statistical analysis. CONCLUSION: The results obtained in the present study suggest that the process of apoptosis occurs in PV. Hence, inhibition of apoptosis in the patients could reduce the severity of the lesions, and they could also represent new specific targets for pemphigus treatment.

Copper catalyzed oxidative coupling of amines with formamides: a new approach for the synthesis of unsymmetrical urea derivatives.

Direct access to unsymmetrical urea derivatives via copper catalysed C-H/N-H coupling of formamides with amines has been developed at room temperature. This protocol is also applied to the synthesis of chiral urea derivatives.

Annexin v - affinity assay - apoptosis detection system in granular cell ameloblastoma.

BACKGROUND: The aim of the study is to detect apoptosis in granular cell ameloblastoma by annexin v affinity assay, a novel technique. MATERIALS & METHODS: Excitional biopsy of two patients with granular cell ameloblastoma were fixed in buffered formalin and later embedded in paraffin wax. Blocks were sliced into 3m thick sections for routine histological and subsequent immunohistochemical examinations. For electron microscopic examination tissues were fixed in 2.5% glutaraldehyde.electron microscopic examination was carried out to find the nature of granularity in granular cell ameloblastoma which was finally confirmed by annexin v technique. RESULTS: Annexin v is a sensitive marker to detect early apoptosis. Fluorescence in granular cell clusters showed that apoptotic cell death is higher in granular cells. Both early and late events of apoptosis were identified in annexin v staining and electron microscopic study respectively. CONCLUSION: Our study confirms that increased apoptotic cell death and subsequent phagocytosis is responsible for granular appearance of cells in granular cell ameloblastoma compared with that of conventional ameloblastoma. How to cite this article: Balaji N, Devy AS, Sumathi MK, Vidyalakshmi S, Kumar GS, D'Silva S. Annexin V - Affinity Assay - Apoptosis Detection System in Granular Cell Ameloblastoma. J Int Oral Health 2013; 5(6):25-30 .

Copper-catalyzed formation of C-O bonds by direct α-C-H bond activation of ethers using stoichiometric amounts of peroxide in batch and continuous-flow formats.

Peroxides and ethers in flow: 2-Carbonyl-substituted phenols and ß-ketoesters react safely with ethers in a microreactor environment using a copper catalyst and an organic peroxide (TBHP). This protocol results in unsymmetrical acetal scaffolds not easily available otherwise (see scheme).

A study of lip prints among Pondicherry population.

BACKGROUND: Cheiloscopy is a forensic investigation that deals with the examination of the system of furrows on the red part of human lips. Like fingerprint, lip print is also unique for every individual. But most of the crime-detecting agencies are unaware of the importance of lip print and it is not commonly attempted in identification of the suspects. AIM: The aim of the present study is to determine the predominant lip print pattern among Pondicherry population, India, and also to determine its uniqueness. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study comprised of 60 students (30 males and 30 females), aged from 17 to 25 years, from Pondicherry population, India. A dark-colored lipstick was applied with a single stroke and the students were asked to rub both the lips to spread the applied lipstick, after which a lip print was made on butter paper. The lip print was visualized with magnifying lens. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: Percentage calculation method was used to identify the predominant lip pattern. One-sample T test was done to identify the statistical significance within the different types of lip pattern with P value <0.05. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The present study concludes that every individual has unique lip print and Type III appears to be the most predominant pattern in males, followed by the Type II, Type IV, Type I and Type V patterns. In females, Type II appears to be the most predominant pattern followed by the Type IV, Type I, Type III and Type V patterns.