MAN-C: A masked autoencoder neural cryptography based encryption scheme for CT scan images.

Sharing medical images securely is very important towards keeping patients' data confidential. In this paper we propose MAN-C: a Masked Autoencoder Neural Cryptography based encryption scheme for sharing medical images. The proposed technique builds upon recently proposed masked autoencoders. In the original paper, the masked autoencoders are used as scalable self-supervised learners for computer vision which reconstruct portions of originally patched images. Here, the facility to obfuscate portions of input image and the ability to reconstruct original images is used an encryption-decryption scheme. In the final form, masked autoencoders are combined with neural cryptography consisting of a tree parity machine and Shamir Scheme for secret image sharing. The proposed technique MAN-C helps to recover the loss in image due to noise during secret sharing of image.•Uses recently proposed masked autoencoders, originally designed as scalable self-supervised learners for computer vision, in an encryption-decryption setup.•Combines autoencoders with neural cryptography - the advantage our proposed approach offers over existing technique is that (i) Neural cryptography is a new type of public key cryptography that is not based on number theory, requires less computing time and memory and is non-deterministic in nature, (ii) masked auto-encoders provide additional level of obfuscation through their deep learning architecture.•The proposed scheme was evaluated on dataset consisting of CT scans made public by The Cancer Imaging Archive (TCIA). The proposed method produces better RMSE values between the input the encrypted image and comparable correlation values between the input and the output image with respect to the existing techniques.

Ion Selectivity in Multilayered Stacked Nanoporous Graphene.

Nanoporous graphene is an ideal candidate for molecular filtration as it can potentially combine high permeability with high selectivity at molecular levels. To make use of graphene in filtration setups, the defects formed during its growth and during the transfer of graphene to the carrier support pose a challenge. These uncontrolled pores can be avoided by stacking graphene layers, and then, controlled pores can be initiated with oxygen plasma. Here, we show that two-layer stacks provide the best balance of defect coverage and high selectivity compared with other stacks. Using the electrical characterization of ionic solutions in the standard diffusion cell, we compare the ionic transport and ionic selectivity of up to three-layered stacks of graphene that have been plasma-treated. We find that there is a decrease in the ionic selectivity of a two-layered stack as one more layer of graphene is added. We provide a model for this occurrence. Our results will be helpful for making practical and high-performance filtration systems from two-dimensional materials.

Mucormycosis in COVID-19 patients: A cross-sectional study at IGIMS, Patna.

Introduction: During the second wave of COVID-19, the incidence of mucormycosis has increased more rapidly. The most common causes attributed to the rise of mucormycosis in COVID-19 are uncontrolled diabetes, the excessive use of corticosteroids, and long-term stays in the intensive care unit, organ or bone marrow transplantation, etc. Objective: To determine the sociodemographic and associated risk factors, pattern of disease, treatment of mucormycosis and outcome of individual at time of discharge and after three months and six months of follow-up. Methodology: This cross-sectional study included all treated mucormycosis cases with prior COVID-19 infection. Data collected from medical records using purposive sampling. Survivors followed up at 3 and 6 months after discharge. Results: In our study, we analyzed 161 mucormycosis cases identified through positive RTPCR/Rapid Antigen reports. Among them, 72% were males and 28% were females. Diabetes mellitus was present in 71.4% and hypertension in 29.8% of patients. The case-fatality rate was 6.8% at discharge, increasing to 18.6% after 3 months and 28% after 6 months of follow-up. Statistical analysis was conducted using SPSS version 15. This analysis helped us draw meaningful conclusions from the data, highlighting the impact of comorbidities and time on mucormycosis outcomes. Conclusion: Post-COVID mucormycosis in India was primarily observed in patients with uncontrolled diabetes, immunodeficiency due to other comorbidities, and dysfunctional immune systems.

Effect of Yoga Intervention on Inflammatory Biomarkers among Women with Breast Cancer - A Systematic Review.

Background: Inflammatory markers play a substantial role in the prognosis of breast cancer (BC). Studies have been conducted, evaluating the effect of yoga intervention (YI) on inflammatory biomarkers among BC cases. This systematic review consolidates the outcome of YI in the cancer microenvironment. Objective: The objective of the study was to evaluate the effect of YI in the cancer microenvironment among BC women. Materials and Methods: This review was conducted from May 2021 to December 2021. The inclusion criteria were experimental studies on adult BC cases with isolated YI. Studies conducted among paediatrics, case reports and case series were excluded from the study. Medline (PubMed), Medline (Ovid), Web of Science (WOS), Scopus, CINAHL and Cochrane Central databases were searched. The data were restricted from January 2000 to December 2021 with studies published in English. 'The Cochrane risk of bias assessment tool' was mobilised to evaluate the quality of the included studies. Results: A total of nine studies met the inclusion criteria and comprised a sample size of 905 BC cases with a mean age of 50.26±8.27 years. Three studies evaluated tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) and INTERLEUKIN (IL)-6, where two studies on TNF-α and one on IL-6 favoured the YI group. A study investigated soluble TNF receptor II (TNF-RII) and another on IL-1beta (IL-1ß) has shown improved levels post-YI. A downward trend of cortisol levels was noted in four out of five studies. Two studies that examined the C-reactive protein and a study on IL-8 did not show any difference between the YI and the control groups. Conclusion: This review's findings showed the downregulation of cortisol, markers of inflammation; TNF-α, IL-6, TNF-RII and IL-1ß immediately to post-YI. Heterogeneities in terms of YIs, number of days of practice, duration and training received and the grade of BC cases are the concern of this review. However, YI can be considered a supportive therapy for BC.

A Case Report of Rare and Lethal Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) Peritonitis in Infancy.

Peritoneal inflammation without a discernible intraperitoneal source is referred to as primary peritonitis. Only 2% of pediatric acute abdominal crises are diagnosed preoperatively. Association with other infections is uncommon and is often limited to hepatic and urinary pathogens. Here, we describe a case of primary peritonitis in a one-month-old child who had laparotomy and appendicectomy as per the recommended treatment plan. There were no accompanying hepatic and urinary diseases. In this instance, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) was the responsible bacteria. The use of linezolid, as per the culture sensitivity report of intraperitoneal pus, ensured a smooth recovery in this case.

Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia With Intra Thoracic Gastric Volvulus: A Rare, Life-Threatening Combination.

Congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) is a known cause of secondary gastric volvulus (GV). Both entities are life-threatening, either alone or in exceedingly rare instances when they occur in combination. Here, we describe one such rare combination of CDH and secondary GV in a nine-year-old boy, who presented to us with recurrent episodes of abdominal pain. Urgent laparotomy was done after radiological evaluation (X-ray of chest and abdomen and contrast-enhanced CT chest and abdomen), which revealed mesenterico-axial volvulus of the stomach, secondary to an underlying diaphragmatic defect in the left hemidiaphragm, thus establishing the cause (diaphragmatic defect) and effect (GV), and resulting in a favourable outcome.

Clinical, Biochemical, and Radiological Correlation in the Severity of Acute Pancreatitis: A Retrospective Study.

OBJECTIVES: To analyze the etiologies and the varying clinical presentations and to validate the clinical, biochemical, and radiological signs with severity and prognosis of acute pancreatitis. METHODS: A retrospective study of 1316 patients diagnosed with acute pancreatitis in an industrial hospital in Jamshedpur, Jharkhand, was conducted, and their clinicoradiological profiles, etiological factors, and outcomes were studied. RESULT: A total of 1316 cases were enrolled, out of which maximum cases (411 [31.23%]) were from the age group of 30-44 years, and the mean and median age were 44.54 and 47 years, respectively. A total of 731 (55.45%) patients had social habits (i.e., alcohol and smoking), and 585 (44.45%) patients did not have any social habits. Based on the etiology of acute pancreatitis (AP), the majority of cases were due to alcoholism (710 [53.95%]) followed by gallstone (343 [26.06%]) and idiopathic pancreatitis (217 [16.48%]). As per the severity of AP, most patients showed mild pancreatitis (937 [71.20%]) followed by moderate (312 [23.71%]) and severe pancreatitis (67 [05.09%]). Mild and moderate pancreatitis patients were shown in 85 and 28 cases, respectively, suggestive of chronic pancreatitis after repeated episodes of AP. But severe pancreatitis shown in 19 cases had hypocalcemia + shock + multi-organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS). In mild, moderate, and severe AP, the mortality rates were 19 (02.03%), 44 (14.10%), and 21 (31.34%), respectively. Overall, 1232 (93.62%) of AP cases recovered and were discharged in stable condition, but 84 (06.38%) cases expired. CONCLUSION: AP is a common cause of acute abdomen in patients presenting to the surgical emergency department. The management is mainly conservative with surgery limited to only a few selected cases, depending upon the severity of the disease.

Traumatic Intramural Jejunal Hematoma: A Case Report and Review of Literature.

We report a case of a jejunal hematoma in a six-year-old boy with an antecedent history of trauma. The development of duodenal hematoma post blunt abdominal trauma is well known; however, the jejunal hematoma is very rare. A six-year-old boy was brought to Tata Main Hospital (TMH), Jamshedpur, with pain abdomen, associated with a history of trauma to the abdomen. There were no signs of peritonitis on clinical examination. Initial ultrasonology revealed mild free fluid in the abdomen. CT abdomen was suggestive of intramural hematoma in the jejunum. Exploratory laparotomy findings were in concordance with CT abdomen findings. Resection-anastomosis of the jejunum was done. The patient was discharged uneventfully on postoperative day 7. Blunt trauma to the abdomen is the principal cause of jejunal hematoma. The trauma in the majority of cases is trivial and usually the patients present late. The symptoms range from mild abdominal pain to intestinal obstruction with acute abdomen. A trial of conservative management is justifiable in a stable patient. If no clinical improvement is seen, surgical intervention is indicated. Surgical exploration was necessary because of signs and symptoms of intestinal obstruction due to jejunal hematoma. In pediatric cases, loss of functional bowel length and sudden decompensation due to expanding hematoma favor early exploration.

Sexual attitude and behavior among medical students: A single institution survey.

Background: Human behavior including sexual activity is mostly culturally bound; particularly individuals at a younger age do build their sexual knowledge through various sources like by forming intimacy with similar age group individuals and use of media or literature available for the information. Values and beliefs about sexuality are manifested in a person's individual sexual behaviors based on family, religion and socio-cultural influence on knowledge about sexuality and sexual experiences. However, modernization may have inadvertently changed people's attitudes and permissiveness among sexually active youths in our society. Methodology: This study adapted a cross-sectional descriptive-cum-exploratory research design conducted in an in-group of a single educational institute. A structured, pre-tested, self-administered questionnaire was used to collect the relevant information from the subjects. This study aims to receive information about the knowledge, practices and attitudes regarding sexual behavior among 340 undergraduate medical students in a medical college at Patna, Bihar. Results: This study showed significant findings regarding changing attitudes of the new generation toward sex and sexual practices as 78.5% of respondents were found between the age group of 20-25 years among which 58.5% were males and 41.5% were females. The average age of sexual debut was found to be 21 years among which 97.3% of the participants were heterosexual. Gender and religion were significantly associated with few components of sexual attitudes. Conclusion: Sex is one of the most sensitive aspects of a human life which is not usually talked about in open space and requires a lot of privacy in thoughts and practices. There is a strong need to introduce age-appropriate sexual knowledge at school and college level to establish healthy sexual attitudes among the young generation. As medical health practitioners, it is necessary to disseminate appropriate guidance and non-biased services to the welfare of the beneficiaries shaping their sexual attitudes for responsible and safe sexual practices.

Prevalence and correlates of nicotine dependence among the construction site workers at IGIMS, Patna.

Introduction: Nicotine dependence has increased over the years and so has the prevalence of smokeless tobacco use. If the dependence is increasing, we must look for newer tobacco cessation strategies and implemented them. Tobacco causes premature deaths and nicotine dependence has both psychological and physical dependence. Method: The study was planned and an interview was conducted to collect the sociodemographic details, tobacco, and fagerstrom nicotine dependence scale - smokeless tobacco (FTND-ST) for nicotine dependence. The questionnaire was adopted from the WHO questionnaire and a pre-tested, predesigned, semi-structured questionnaire was used. Result: About almost half of the population is dependent on nicotine (51.6%). Daily smokeless tobacco users who are married and have a tobacco user in the family are mostly dependent on smokeless tobacco. Severity of smokeless tobacco dependence for nicotine dependence among smokeless tobacco users were associated with low academic achievement, increased awareness of side effects, and increase in duration and frequency of use. Conclusion: Nicotine dependence has increased despite efforts in the field in the recent years. Therefore, we need to have a mechanism for combining behavioral therapy and pharmacotherapy that may increase smoking cessation rates.

Triple Diversion Technique in Complete Duodenal Transaction Following Blunt Trauma Abdomen: A Time-Tested Method in a Very Rare Injury.

Duodenal injury following blunt abdominal trauma is extremely rare in children and many times, it has delayed presentation, leading to increased morbidity and mortality. A patient with complete duodenal transaction is a surgical challenge and management involves the time of presentation and extent of visceral damage. A 10-year-old boy was brought with features of bowel perforation after road traffic accident and underwent emergency laparotomy which revealed complete transaction of duodenum at D1 and D2 and pyloroduodenal junction extending toward lesser curvature. Primary closure of pyloroduodenal junction and D1-D2 was done with omental patch along with triple tube decompression (cholecystostomy, gastrostomy, and jejunostomy). The patient had an uneventful recovery. Primary closure of disturbed ends with triple diversion is a safe approach in young children with complete duodenal transaction in absence of gross peritoneal contamination and early presentation.

Development and Validation of a Multivariable Model to Predict Surgical Outcome in Patients with Chiari malformations.

Background: Surgical outcome predictive models for Chiari malformations (CM) which are applicable to all age groups and simple enough to use on outpatient basis are lacking. Objective: The aim of this study was to develop and validate a preoperative index for predicting long-term outcomes in Chiari 1 (CM1) and Chiari 0 (CM0) malformations. Materials and Methods: It was a single-institution, ambidirectional, cohort study from 2014 to 2019, having patients between 5 to 70 years. Outcome was assessed using Chicago Chiari outcome score (CCOS) over 2 years follow-up. Preoperative clinical and radiological factors were analyzed using Chi-square test and Mann Whitney U test, in relation to CCOS and those attaining P value ≤0.05, were used to develop model - Chiari Outcome Predictive Index (COPI). COPI was internally validated using 10-fold cross-validation and c-statistic for discrimination. Results: A total of 88 patients (66 in development and 22 in validation cohort) were included in the study. Outcome was negatively associated with presence of motor, sensory or cranial nerve symptoms, poor functional status, basilar invagination, and tonsillar descent. It was positively associated with shorter duration of presenting symptom (<9 months) and syrinx diameter <6 mm. COPI predicted CCOS with 91.1% accuracy (10-fold cross-validation). It had excellent discrimination for improved outcome (c = 0.968 in development and 0.976 in validation cohort), at threshold index of -1. Conclusions: COPI is simple tool that can be administered in outpatient setting. It can facilitate evidence-based preoperative counseling of patients, to help them develop reasonable expectations regarding surgical outcomes.

Awareness and preferences about suicide crisis support service options among college students in India: A cross sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Our objective was to explore the awareness about suicide support services and preferred service options during a suicide crisis among college going young adults. METHODS: Between September 2016 and February 2017, we invited students from colleges affiliated to three major universities in a coastal district of South India to participate in a cross-sectional survey. RESULTS: A total of 1890 usable responses were obtained. Most participants (n = 1633, 86.4%) were unaware of any suicide crisis support options. Most commonly listed options were support from family members, peer groups, counselling and psychiatric consultation. These were also endorsed as most preferred support options. CONCLUSION: There is a low level of awareness about suicide support services among young Indian adults. There is a need for coordinated efforts to raise awareness and promote uptake of suicide support services in this group.

A Transformer-Based Model for Evaluation of Information Relevance in Online Social-Media: A Case Study of Covid-19 Media Posts.

Online social media has become a major source of information gathering for a huge section of society. As the amount of information flows in online social media is enormous but on the other hand, the fact-checking sources are limited. This shortfall of fact-checking gives birth to the problem of misinformation and disinformation in the case of the truthfulness of facts on online social media which can have serious effects on the wellbeing of society. This problem of misconception becomes more rapid and critical when some events like the recent outbreak of Covid-19 happen when there is no or very little information is available anywhere. In this scenario, the identification of the content available online which is mostly propagated from person to person and not by any governing authority is very needed at the hour. To solve this problem, the information available online should be verified properly before being conceived by any individual. We propose a scheme to classify the online social media posts (Tweets) with the help of the BERT (Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers)-based model. Also, we compared the performance of the proposed approach with the other machine learning techniques and other State of the art techniques available. The proposed model not only classifies the tweets as relevant or irrelevant, but also creates a set of topics by which one can identify a text as relevant or irrelevant to his/her need just by just matching the keywords of the topic. To accomplish this task, after the classification of the tweets, we apply a possible topic modelling approach based on latent semantic analysis and latent Dirichlet allocation methods to identify which of the topics are mostly propagated as false information.

Neonate with Congenital Duodenal Obstruction and Ectopic Hepatic Parenchyma.

BackgroundThe presence of hepatic parenchyma at ectopic locations is infrequently reported in neonatal age. Case details: A male neonate presented with clinical signs and symptoms of duodenal obstruction. At exploration, an annular pancreas was found as the causative factor and he underwent a Kimura's duodeno-duodenostomy. A pedicled cyst was attached to the stomach's greater curvature, was excised, and histologically was a mesothelial-lined cyst with ectopic liver, complete with bile ducts, in the cyst wall. Conclusion: Ectopic liver tissue may be clinically silent and found within the wall of a mesothelial cyst. Long-term complications of this ectopic tissue are not known.

Muscope: a miniature on-chip lensless microscope.

We report the Muscope, a miniature lensless holographic microscope suitable for on-chip integration. The prototype of the Muscope measured approximately only 7 mm × 4 mm × 4 mm, and was capable of offering a sub-micron half-pitch resolution. We have used, for the first time, a microLED display as the light source in a microscope. The individual pixels of a microLED display chip are used as programmable, microscopic and intense LEDs which can be spatially moved in a two-dimensional plane with a 5 µm pitch. This unique feature set of the display was used to implement computational super-resolution and wide-field imaging without any extra hardware, unlike many other lensless microscopes. We also report a new method to evaluate the magnification in our setting. The Muscope surpasses the existing lensless microscopes in compactness, scalability for production, automated operation and system integration. It provides exciting opportunities for a new class of devices with in-built optical imaging and monitoring and/or sensing capabilities.

An automated chemical vapor deposition setup for 2D materials.

Chemical vapour deposition (CVD) provides a versatile and scalable route to synthesize various 2D materials. Lowering the barrier for access, customization, and cost of CVD equipment will benefit a large and multidisciplinary research community. We report an open-source and automated CVD setup which can be built incrementally to cover a large parameter space of CVD growth. Extensions are also discussed. The setup was validated by CVD graphene growth and characterization on Cu foils. The software controller forms a crucial part of the system. Its plug-in based approach for devices and abstraction of interactions as structured text, enables easy automation, extension, and accessibility. These features also allow the same controller core to be used for control of diverse laboratory equipment, of which we provide a couple of examples. Together, the hardware and software design provides an easy and versatile package for CVD setup, which can also be a starting point for several other automated instruments.

Biofortification of pulses and legumes to enhance nutrition.

Pulses and legumes belong to the Fabaceae family which are nutritionally rich especially chickpeas, mungbeans, soybeans, and peas. Pulses and legumes are important source of plant protein in many diets. They are also an excellent reservoir of dietary fiber and complex carbohydrates resulting in low GI (glycemic index). Pulses play vital role in metabolic and physiological processes due to the presence of various bioactive compounds, and the majority of them are phenolic acids, flavonoids, and tannins. Pulses and legumes are also a good source of 15 essential minerals and vitamins, but their bioavailability is low due to the presence of antinutrient factors in it. Biofortification is a method by which the nutritional value of pulses and legumes can be increased with the help of breeding, transgenic techniques, or agronomic practices and thus helps in preventing the malnutrition. In view of these details, pulses and legumes provide immense opportunities for its inclusion in manufacturing snacks and sports foods.

Long-Term Visual Outcome in Surgical Management of Cataract Coexistent With Corneal Opacity in One-Eyed Patients.

PURPOSE: To determine the visual outcome and safety of cataract surgery alone and compare with the long-term visual outcome of triple procedure in one-eyed patients. DESIGN: Retrospective study. METHODS: This study reviewed 44 one-eyed patients with cataract coexistent with corneal opacity. The patients who underwent cataract surgery alone (group A, n = 25) were compared with patients managed by triple procedure (group B, n = 19). Outcome measures were the improvement of best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and period of maintained ambulatory vision. Institutional ethics committee approval was obtained. RESULTS: The most common etiology of corneal opacity was fungal and the commonest cause of permanent visual loss in other eye was phthisis bulbi. Mean age was 61.2 ±â€Š8.1 years and 62.5 ±â€Š6.9 years in groups A and B, respectively. At each follow-up, the mean postoperative BCVA was found significantly better than the preoperative vision in both groups and at the end of 3 years, mean postoperative vision of group A was better than that of group B (P = 0.012). Group A had longer (33.36 ±â€Š11.97 months) mean period of maintained ambulatory vision than that of group B (26.5 ±â€Š13.5 months) (P = 0.245) and showed less risk of losing ambulatory vision. Limited visual outcome was due to continuing presence of corneal opacity in group A, and graft infection and graft rejection in group B. CONCLUSIONS: Cataract surgery with intraocular lens (IOL) implantation alone can be considered as an alternative or temporary option to provide stable ambulatory vision in one-eyed patients.