Background:Bone mass loss and muscle atrophy are the frequent complications occurring after spinal cord injury (SCI). The potential risks involved with these changes in the body composition have implications for the health of the SCI individual. Thus, there is a need to quantitate and monitor body composition changes accurately in an individual with SCI. Very few longitudinal studies have been reported in the literature to assess body composition and most include relatively small number of patients. The present prospective study aimed to evaluate the body composition changes longitudinally by DEXA in patients with acute SCI.Materials and Methods:Ninety five patients with acute SCI with neurological deficits were evaluated for bone mineral content (BMC), body composition [lean body mass (LBM) and fat mass] by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry during the first year of SCI.Results:There was a significant decrease in BMC (P < 0.05) and LBM (P < 0.05) and increase in total body fat mass (TBFM) and percentage fat at infra-lesional sites. The average decrease was 14.5% in BMC in lower extremities, 20.5% loss of LBM in legs and 15.1% loss of LBM in trunk, and increase of 0.2% in fat mass in legs and 17.3% increased fat in the lower limbs at 1 year. The tetraplegic patients had significant decrease in arm BMC (P < 0.001), arm LBM (P < 0.01) and fat percentage (P < 0.01) compared to paraplegics. Patients with complete motor injury had higher values of TBFM and fat percentage, but comparable values of BMC and LBM to patients with incomplete motor injury.Conclusions:Our findings suggest that there is a marked decrease in BMC and LBM with increase in adiposity during the first year of SCI. Although these changes depend on the level and initial severity of lesions, they are also influenced by the neurological recovery after SCI.

Meticulous plaque control on a daily routine basis is the single most important step to achieve good oral health. Herbal chewing sticks, commonly known as Miswak, are among the ancient and traditional oral hygiene aids popular in India, Pakistan, most of the Arabian countries, and several African countries. But nowadays, because of low cost, free availability, unique chemical composition, and spiritual beliefs, miswak is being used worldwide. A large number of studies have proved that miswak is as effective as, or even superior to the present day′s most common oral hygiene aid, i.e., toothbrush. The aim of this review article is to discuss various pharmacological and therapeutic aspects of miswak and also to compare the effectiveness of miswak with modern toothbrushes in terms of oral hygiene practice.

Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease caused by the bacteria Mycobacterium tuberculosis. It primarily affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. TB remains one of the leading causes of death in developing countries, and its recent resurgences in both developed and developing countries warrant global attention. The number of deaths due to TB is very high (as per the WHO report, 1.5 million died in 2013), although most are preventable if diagnosed early and treated. There are many tools for TB detection, but the most widely used one is sputum smear microscopy. It is done manually and is often time consuming; a laboratory technician is expected to spend at least 15 min per slide, limiting the number of slides that can be screened. Many countries, including India, have a dearth of properly trained technicians, and they often fail to detect TB cases due to the stress of a heavy workload. Automatic methods are generally considered as a solution to this problem. Attempts have been made to develop automatic approaches to identify TB bacteria from microscopic sputum smear images. In this paper, we provide a review of automatic methods based on image processing techniques published between 1998 and 2014. The review shows that the accuracy of algorithms for the automatic detection of TB increased significantly over the years and gladly acknowledges that commercial products based on published works also started appearing in the market. This review could be useful to researchers and practitioners working in the field of TB automation, providing a comprehensive and accessible overview of methods of this field of research.

Purpose Optimal positioning of acetabular components is crucial for maintaining stability of THA. Postoperative assessment of acetabular anteversion is a vital but difficult task. Various methods have been devised with good results for measuring anteversion on plain radiographs but these methods are either too complicated or require special objects like scientific calculators, special protectors, tables, etc. A new simplified method of measuring anteversion on plain radiographs was created based on basic geometry.

We proposed a method to reduce the volume of normal tissues irradiated by low doses in patients receiving CSI with RapidArc (RA) using Avoidance-Sector technique (RA+AS) and to compare its dosimetric implications with RA using full-arc (RA+FA) and 3D conformal technique (3DCRT). Four patients of CSI were retrospectively planned with 3DCRT, RA+FA, and RA+AS. Conformity-Index (CI), Homogeneity-Index (HI), and Paddick Gradient-Index (GI) were calculated. Quantitative evaluation was done using DVH analysis for PTVs and OARs. When compared with 3DCRT, GI, CI, and HI were favorable to RA based techniques. In comparison with 3DCRT the doses to OARs were lower with RA+AS with the difference being statistically significant in most instances. RA+AS significantly decreases the dose to OARs and their volumes receiving low doses in comparison with RA+FA and 3DCRT.

this series of patients, the acetabular reconstruction using 'Anatomic quadrilateral plate' has shown encouraging results. Conclusion: For stabilization of acetabular fractures involving quadrilateral surface area and pelvic brim, various new implants have been used. The Anatomic quadrilateral plate due to its anatomical shape, the various options in fracture fixation is best optimized for management of comminuted acetabulum fractures especially in poor quality bones. It has been successful in achieving good outcome in elderly group of patients having these complex injuries.

SM was low for all the four immobilization systems studied. There is no added benefit of using a VC with 6-clamped TM for pelvic RT. Use of a VC is recommended with 4-clamped TM to improve overall reproducibility. 6-clamped TM helps keep the errors low.

Ultrasound examinations were carried out by a general practitioner on patients who presented with lower urinary tract symptoms. To assist in the interpretation of ultrasound anatomy, still images were captured during the ultrasound examination and transmitted to a university expert. In total 15 telemedicine sessions were conducted, using PC-based videoconferencing equipment connected by ISDN at 128 kbit/s. Fifteen patients were randomly selected and both the transmitted and hard-copy images (printed on thermal paper) were graded for technical quality. Data were missing for 13 of the possible 105 paired comparisons, as some images could not be evaluated. Overall agreement between the technical quality scores for the transmitted and hard-copy images was poor (weighted kappa=0.04). The 105 transmitted images were also rated for their diagnostic quality: 90% were classified as diagnostic and 10% were judged to be non-diagnostic. The results show the feasibility of tele-ultrasound in primary care. The general practitioner concerned benefited from regular ultrasound training and supervision, and achieved a satisfactory level of clinical competency in scanning the prostate, bladder and kidneys.