ABSTRACT
Hb E-Beta thalassemia is a disease with marked clinical diversity. In this study, phenotypic diversity of Hb E-ß thalassemia children were analysed by studying the clinical and hematological parameters. This was a cross sectional study done in one and a half year period in the department of Pediatrics of a tertiary care teaching hospital. Participants were 62 Hb E-ß thalassemic children of age group 1 month to 18 years coming to the Thalassemia day care centre for blood transfusion. Data collected from history, examination findings and investigation reports were analyzed. M:F ratio was 1.07:1; 71% children were above 5 years of age. 90.3% children were Hindu. In 66.1% children, Hb level was below 5 gm/dl at the time of diagnosis. Mean HbF level was 32.6% ± 11.2. Stunting was seen in 64.5%. Average liver and spleen size were 2.5 and 4.4 cm respectively. Beside pallor, most common clinical findings were splenomegaly (93.5%), facial deformity (87%), dusky skin color (82.5%) and hepatomegaly (75.8%). 1.6% children were mild, 43.5% children were moderate and 54.8% children were of severe type. In our study there was no significant correlation between severity of the disease and HbF level (r = 0.0853, p = 0.0509). Age at the time of diagnosis, hemoglobin level at the time of first transfusion, age at receiving first blood transfusion, requirement of blood transfusion, spleen size and growth, are some factors affecting severity of the disease. But severity cannot be assessed by considering only one clinical or hematological parameter but by considering several parameters together.
ABSTRACT
A global reference data set on cropland was collected through a crowdsourcing campaign using the Geo-Wiki crowdsourcing tool. The campaign lasted three weeks, with over 80 participants from around the world reviewing almost 36,000 sample units, focussing on cropland identification. For quality assessment purposes, two additional data sets are provided. The first is a control set of 1,793 sample locations validated by students trained in satellite image interpretation. This data set was used to assess the quality of the crowd as the campaign progressed. The second data set contains 60 expert validations for additional evaluation of the quality of the contributions. All data sets are split into two parts: the first part shows all areas classified as cropland and the second part shows cropland average per location and user. After further processing, the data presented here might be suitable to validate and compare medium and high resolution cropland maps generated using remote sensing. These could also be used to train classification algorithms for developing new maps of land cover and cropland extent.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The hereditary hemoglobin (Hb) disorders are the most commonly encountered single gene disorders in India. Data pertaining to the pattern of hemoglobinopathies and thalassemias is scarce in North East India, and hence it was considered worthwhile to study these disorders using a large series of patients referred to a clinical diagnostic laboratory. AIMS: A total of 9000 patients referred for Hb variant analysis were studied to identify hemoglobinopathies and thalassemias in Upper Assam region of North East India. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study was performed by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) using BIORAD variant Hb typing system. RESULTS: Out of 9000 patients studied, abnormal Hb fractions were seen in 5320 patients. The HbE gene was detected in 4315 patients of which HbE trait was seen in 2294 followed by HbE disease in 1892. There were 114 HbE beta thalassemia patients and 15 double heterozygotes of HbE with HbS or HbD. Beta thalassemia trait was seen in 313 patients and beta thalassemia homozygous in 32. HbS gene was detected in 460 patients comprising of HbS trait in 189, HbS disease in 203, S beta thalassemia in 53 and double heterozygotes of SD and ES in 15. The rest comprised of HbD trait in 6, delta beta thalassemia in 33, hereditary persistence of fetal hemoglobin trait in 5 and J chain hemoglobinopathy in 8 patients. Evidence of alpha thalassemia though suspected, could not be confirmed. CONCLUSION: A high incidence of hemoglobinopathies and thalassemias and their combinations is unique for this part of the country.
Subject(s)
Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid , Clinical Laboratory Techniques , Hemoglobinopathies/diagnosis , Hemoglobinopathies/epidemiology , Adolescent , Adult , Aged , Aged, 80 and over , Child , Child, Preschool , Female , Humans , Incidence , India , Infant , Infant, Newborn , Male , Middle Aged , Retrospective Studies , Young AdultABSTRACT
Telepathology is the most recent addition to the diagnostic armory of the Pathologist. In spite of its relative limitations, as compared to Dynamic Telepathology, Static Telepathology has been widely accepted as a low-cost diagnostic and consultation tool, especially in those remote areas where expert opinions or second opinions on histopathology, cytopathology or haematopathology are not readily available to the reporting pathologist. For an accurate Telepathology performance, optimal quality of images is required. Knowledgeable use of available hardware and software have made it possible to produce high quality images, making Static Telepathology a reliable diagnostic tool.
