Laparoscopic common bile duct exploration for extraction of a round worm.

A 35 years old lady presented with fever, biliary colic, mild jaundice, indigestion and flatulence. The upper abdominal ultrasonography revealed cholecystitis with sludge and a round worm in the common bile duct. Laparoscopic cholecystectomy and exploration of the bile duct for the removal of round worm was performed. The post-operative period was uneventful and the patient was discharged fit on the 4th post-operative day.     

Renpenning syndrome in an Indian patient

Renpenning syndrome is one of the well‐characterized causes of X‐linked intellectual disability and is associated with microcephaly and various visceral malformations. Face is considered characteristic but the dysmorphism is subtle. Here we report an Indian adult with a very lean habitus, progressive atrophy of the upper back muscles, microcephaly, loss of cervical lordosis, and upper thoracic scoliosis. Using whole‐exome sequencing, a hemizygous deletion was identified in PQBP1 that leads to a frameshift and premature termination of translation. The loss of normal curvatures of cervical and upper thoracic spine due to muscular atrophy is a characteristic feature, though it may be age dependent.     

Effect of ionic size compensation by Ag+ incorporation in homogeneous Fe-substituted ZnO: studies on structural,mechanical, optical,and magnetic properties

Substituting an ion of different size from that of the host element introduces lattice strain and defects. However, this mismatch may be significantly reduced by substituting an additional ion with a compensating size relative to the dopant. Such a double substitution might offer better solubility irrespective of the local distortions as well as the formation of defects in the valence states. Fe-substituted ZnO has been widely reported with conflicting results primarily arising from lack of chemical and structural homogeneity originating from preparation techniques, compositional fluctuations, and equivocal comprehension of actual solubility limits of the dopants. In this study, Ag ion has been incorporated in Fe-substituted ZnO to compensate the ionic size of Zn_1−x[Fe_0.8Ag_0.2]_xO (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.03125) by determining the solubility limit of the homogeneous material and their corresponding structural, mechanical, optical and magnetic properties have been investigated thoroughly. Co-substitution rearranges the lattice and leads to better crystal structures with tunable properties related to the amount of substitution.

Substituting an ion of different size from that of the host element introduces lattice strain and defects.     

Social conformism and confidence in systems as additional psychological antecedents of vaccination: a survey to explain intention for COVID-19 vaccination among healthcare and welfare sector workers,France, December 2020 to February 2021

BackgroundThe start of the COVID-19 vaccination campaign among French healthcare and welfare sector workers in January 2021 offered an opportunity to study psychological antecedents of vaccination in this group.AimWe explored whether knowledge and attitude items related to social conformism and confidence in systems contributed to explaining intention for COVID-19 vaccination.MethodsWe developed a knowledge and attitude questionnaire with 30 items related to five established and two hypothetical psychological antecedents of vaccination (KA-7C). The online questionnaire was distributed from 18 December 2020 to 1 February 2021 through chain-referral via professional networks, yielding a convenience sample. We used multivariable logistic regression to explore the associations of individual and grouped KA-7C items with COVID-19 vaccine intention.ResultsAmong 5,234 participants, the vaccine intention model fit (pseudo R-squared values) increased slightly but significantly from 0.62 to 0.65 when adding social conformism and confidence in systems items. Intention to vaccinate was associated with the majority opinion among family and friends (OR: 11.57; 95% confidence interval (CI): 4.51–29.67) and a positive perception of employer’s encouragement to get vaccinated (vs negative; OR: 6.41; 95% CI: 3.36–12.22). The strongest association of a knowledge item was identifying the statement ‘Some stages of vaccine development (testing) have been skipped because of the epidemic emergency.’ as false (OR: 2.36; 95% CI: 1.73–3.22).ConclusionThe results suggest that social conformism and confidence in systems are distinct antecedents of vaccination among healthcare and welfare workers, which should be taken into account in vaccine promotion.     

Intra-abdominal desmoplastic small cell tumour--a case report

Intra-abdominal desmoplastic small cell tumour is a rare malignant neoplasm of childhood. We report a case of this uncommon tumour in a 14-year-old boy. The tumour originated from transverse mesocolon. The case is notable because there was no pain and ascites on presentation and there was transmural infiltration of the transverse colon.     

Histogenesis of uterus in human fetuses

Introduction

The histological changes during the development of the human uterus throughout the fetal period exhibit varying cellular patterns in the lining epithelium. The present study documents these progressive changes during fetal uterine maturation.

Simultaneous continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis catheter implantation and inguinal hernia repair

Continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis is a new modality of treatment for end stage renal disease. Although this procedure is largely underutilised in India, in Manipur this procedure is routinely offered to patients of end stage renal disease. Continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis catheter implantation was started in Manipur in May, 2001. Till now continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis catheter has been implanted in 116 cases. Out of this 3 patients had associated inguinal hernia. Inguinal hernia is a relative contra-indication for continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis. Still the inguinal hernia was repaired in the same sitting with the catheter implantation. The procedure is described along with the outcome.     

Atypical presentations of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: a case report

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) with atypical symptoms poses a diagnostic challenge to clinicians, frequently resulting in delayed diagnosis. The patient reported here presented with unexplained weight loss and was investigated for 8 months, with an extensive work-up, including several imaging studies, especially to rule out neoplastic processes, before a diagnosis of ALS could be made, largely on the basis of upper and lower motor weakness.     

Comparative study of intralesional triamcinolone alone and in combination with 5-flurourouracil for the treatment of keloid and hypertrophic scars

Background

Keloids and hypertrophic scars are benign growths of dermal collagen that can cause physical and psychological (cosmetic) problems for patients. Many modalities of treatment have been advocated for the treatment of keloids, without convincing results.

Methods

A randomised controlled trial was conducted in the Department of Surgery at Silchar Medical College and Hospital, Silchar, Assam for the period from January 2015 to June 2016. Keloids or hypertrophic scars (1cm to 5cm in size) having no history of treatment for the scars in preceding 6 months were included. The subjects were divided into two groups: Group A received intralesional triamcinolone acetonide alone and Group B received triamcinolone acetonide + 5 flourouracil. Eight injections were given at weekly interval. Scars were assessed at 4, 8 weeks during and 4 weeks after the completion of treatment on a five-point scale.

Results

50 patients were included in the study and were divided in two equal groups of 25 each. Good to excellent results were seen in 14 (56%) cases in Group A, compared to 20 (80%) in Group B (p value <0.05). Group B lesions showed better improvement than Group A lesions in pruritus, pain, tenderness, restriction of movements and cosmetic problem. Recurrence was seen in 16% and 4% in both groups respectively.

Conclusion

The combination of triamcinolone acetonide and 5 flourouracil is superior to triamcinolone acetonide alone in treatment of keloids and hypertrophied scars.