Mining precise cause and effect rules in large time series data of socio-economic indicators.

Discovery of cause-effect relationships, particularly in large databases of time-series is challenging because of continuous data of different characteristics and complex lagged relationships. In this paper, we have proposed a novel approach, to extract cause-effect relationships in large time series data set of socioeconomic indicators. The method enhances the scope of relationship discovery to cause-effect relationships by identifying multiple causal structures such as binary, transitive, many to one and cyclic. We use temporal association and temporal odds ratio to exclude noncausal association and to ensure the high reliability of discovered causal rules. We assess the method with both synthetic and real-world datasets. Our proposed method will help to build quantitative models to analyze socioeconomic processes by generating a precise cause-effect relationship between different economic indicators. The outcome shows that the proposed method can effectively discover existing causality structure in large time series databases.

Follow up of 318 cases of diabetes mellitus.

Ignorance, apathy, desire to get free advice, investigation and treatment is prevalent in diabetics. Most diabetics (69.63%) are uncontrolled whether on diet, single oral drug or combination of oral drugs or insulin. Ischemic heart disease was commonest complication. Neuritis was present in the one fourth of the followed up cases and was more prevalent in uncontrolled cases. Hypertension increases with the duration of diabetes and was twice more prevalent after duration of more than 5 years. Eye changes were present in about 50% of the people examined. Abnormality increases with the duration of diabetes.

Determination of polymerase chain reaction efficiency for diagnosis of tuberculous meningitis in Chelex-100 extracted DNA samples.

SETTING: Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) offers great promise for the rapid, sensitive and specific diagnosis of tuberculous meningitis (TBM). However, the isolation of DNA of high quantity and quality from cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples is critical for successful PCR assays. OBJECTIVE: To develop and use a single-tube method for the isolation of PCR-compatible DNA from Mycobacterium tuberculosis using Chelex-100 chelating resin, which does not require organic solvents or detergents. DESIGN: The study focused on the standardisation of a suitable Chelex protocol and its evaluation in 32 CSF samples from TBM and non-TBM subjects. A simultaneous comparison was made with the conventional phenol/chloroform extraction method. RESULT: PCR was found to be more sensitive, more rapid and less technically demanding with the Chelex protocol than the conventional phenol/chloroform extraction method (sensitivity 84.2% vs. 73.6%). CONCLUSION: The single-tube method and the simplicity of the procedure permits early and reliable diagnosis of TBM and makes it an attractive method for routine laboratory assays.

Evaluation of BioFM liquid medium for culture of cerebrospinal fluid in tuberculous meningitis to identify Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

The present study was designed to evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of liquid culture medium (BioFM broth) for the diagnosis of tuberculous meningitis (TBM) in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). CSF samples from 200 patients (TBM group = 150 and non-TBM group = 50) were tested for culture of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in BioFM liquid culture medium. Out of 150 TBM cases, 120 were found to be culture positive, indicating a sensitivity of 80% in BioFM broth within 2-3 weeks of inoculation. Positive cultures were also observed for CSF from 32 (64%) out of 50 non-TBM patients in BioFM liquid culture medium within 4 days of sample inoculation. Therefore, according to our study, BioFM broth system yielded 80% sensitivity [95% confidence interval (CI): 67-93%] and 36% specificity (95% CI: 57-98%) for TBM diagnosis. Our results indicate that although BioFM broth allows the detection of positive cultures within a shorter time, it has a high potential for contamination or for the coexistence of M. tuberculosis and non-tuberculous meningitis (NTM). This coexistence may go undetected or potentially lead to erroneous reporting of results.

Evaluation of BioFM liquid medium for culture of cerebrospinal fluid in tuberculous meningitis to identify Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

The present study was designed to evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of liquid culture medium (BioFM broth) for the diagnosis of tuberculous meningitis (TBM) in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). CSF samples from 200 patients (TBM group = 150 and non-TBM group = 50) were tested for culture of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in BioFM liquid culture medium. Out of 150 TBM cases, 120 were found to be culture positive, indicating a sensitivity of 80% in BioFM broth within 2-3 weeks of inoculation. Positive cultures were also observed for CSF from 32 (64%) out of 50 non-TBM patients in BioFM liquid culture medium within 4 days of sample inoculation. Therefore, according to our study, BioFM broth system yielded 80% sensitivity [95% confidence interval (CI): 67-93%] and 36% specificity (95% CI: 57-98%) for TBM diagnosis. Our results indicate that although BioFM broth allows the detection of positive cultures within a shorter time, it has a high potential for contamination or for the coexistence of M. tuberculosis and non-tuberculous meningitis (NTM). This coexistence may go undetected or potentially lead to erroneous reporting of results.

Follow up of 318 cases of diabetes mellitus.

Ignorance, apathy, desire to get free advice, investigation and treatment is prevalent in diabetics. Most diabetics (69.63%) are uncontrolled whether on diet, single oral drug or combination of oral drugs or insulin. Ischemic heart disease was commonest complication. Neuritis was present in the one fourth of the followed up cases and was more prevalent in uncontrolled cases. Hypertension increases with the duration of diabetes and was twice more prevalent after duration of more than 5 years. Eye changes were present in about 50% of the people examined. Abnormality increases with the duration of diabetes.