Search

Introduction: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection is associated with a variety of immune dysregulations. Aberrant immune function can lead to a plethora of lymphoproliferative and autoimmune dysfunctions. This study aimed to compare the reported results of fine-needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) for head and neck lesions in the pre- and post-COVID-19 period and to detect any change in the incidence of lymphoproliferative or granulomatous disorders. Material and Methods: A retrospective analytical study was conducted in a tertiary care hospital. FNAC records of duration from January 2017 to May 2023 were retrieved, collected, and analyzed. All patients who underwent FNAC for head and neck lesions were included, and incomplete, duplicate records and primary thyroid lesions were excluded from the study. Results: A total of 268 and 191 patients were included in the pre-COVID-19 and post-COVID-19 groups, respectively. Both groups were demographically comparable, without any statistically significant difference. The results showed that there is a statistically significant increase in cases diagnosed as lymphoproliferative disorders in the post-COVID-19 group as compared to the pre-COVID-19 group (12.04% vs 4.85%, P = 0.005), while the diagnosis of benign salivary gland tumors was significantly reduced (2.09% vs 5.97%, P = 0.045). There was no statistically significant difference between the study groups for other benign and neoplastic diagnoses. Conclusion: This study reveals a rise in lymphoproliferative disorders in the post-COVID-19 period. Although a causal association could not be established, the study indicates a temporal association. Hence, further research is warranted to explore the possible role of COVID-19 as an etiological agent for lymphoproliferative disorders.

Background: Development of obscured fingerprints on a diverse range of surfaces is a crucial aspect of forensic investigations. Aims and Objectives: In this particular study, the utilization of Syzygium cumini (L.) Skeels (Jamun) seed powder was examined for the purpose of revealing hidden fingerprints on a variety of surfaces, including both permeable and impermeable substrates. Materials and Methods: The seed powder was extracted using a simple process and was analysed using multiple analytical techniques. The efficacy of the jamun seed powder in developing latent fingerprints was evaluated. Results: The findings of this investigation demonstrate that the jamun seed powder was capable of producing fingerprint patterns of exceptional quality and clarity on numerous surfaces. Conclusion: This research highlights the potential use of jamun seed powder as a practical and effective alternative for the development of hidden fingerprints in forensic investigations, while also providing cost-effectiveness.

The last decade has witnessed significant progress towards zero-emission electric aviation. Lithium-ion batteries are at the centre of this technological transformation. However, electric flight requires suitable considerations for safety concerns associated with Lithium-ion batteries. Fault diagnostic approaches aimed at validating the safety of batteries before every flight have emerged as an attractive prospect. In this pursuit, a three-paper series proposing a novel fault diagnosis algorithm is presented. The algorithm is capable of diagnosing faults in an aircraft battery using the data collected during charging and was previously validated for a particular cell type under steady charging conditions. In this paper, two extensional aspects of the algorithm are investigated: cell-to-cell transferability and disparate charging conditions. While crucial for practical implementation, these aspects were overlooked in previous literature. Through experiments conducted at module-level, it was revealed that the algorithm could diagnose faults for a different cell type with minimal preliminary cell-level characterisation, thus demonstrating its ease of transferability. Moreover, modifications introduced in the algorithm enabled it to perform fault diagnosis under unsteady charging conditions for an aerospace module despite significant internal temperature gradients. Thus, the successful working of the algorithm in the considered aspects, which are unprecedented in literature, prove its feasibility for real-life application.

The successful integration of Li-ion batteries in the automotive industry paved the way for their integration into a new generation of aircraft with zero emission. However, potential hazards associated with Li-on batteries are a major concern for the safety-critical aerospace sector. Removing or reducing the hazards from Li-ion batteries while preferable, requires fundamental changes to the battery chemistry. Another way to address this is the implementation of fault diagnostics and prognostics for forecasting or detecting the presence of faults before an aircraft is airborne. This article, part of a three-part series, presents a novel algorithm exploiting the data collected while charging a battery pack for diagnosing faults. The algorithm works off-board, thus not adding any computational burden or weight to the aircraft while minimising aircraft turn-around time, which is crucial for commercial flight operation. This paper presents the underlying method of the algorithm involving the computation of resistance, charge energy and incremental capacity curve using the charging data followed by a combined horizontal and vertical comparative scheme for diagnosis of faults. The performance of the proposed algorithm was validated via module-level experiments considering three cell inactivation faults. Results indicated that the algorithm successfully segregated faulty and unfaulty cells in multiple test scenarios with different number of faults in a laboratory-assembled module. Upon testing the algorithm in experiments conducted using a real-life aerospace battery module, there was a slight reduction in the performance, attributed to greater thermal variation. Nevertheless, the results indicated promising prospects for practical implementation in eVTOL batteries.

This work investigates the application of a rapid variothermal moulding process for direct processing of a braided thermoplastic commingled yarn. The process uses locally controllable, responsive tooling which provides opportunities for optimum part quality and significantly reduced cycle times compared with conventional processes. The proposed process was used to directly manufacture hollow beam structures from dry commingled braided preforms. It was demonstrated that the cycle time using the rapid process was reduced by more than 90% as compared to a conventional bladder moulding process, resulting in a total cycle time of 14 min. Additionally, initial three point flexure test results indicated an improvement in the mechanical performance of the resultant parts as compared to the benchmark.

Candida auris is a nosocomial pathogen responsible for an expanding global public health threat. This ascomycete yeast has been frequently isolated from hospital environments, representing a significant reservoir for transmission in healthcare settings. Here, we investigated the relationships among C. auris isolates from patients with chronic respiratory diseases admitted in a chest hospital and from their fomites, using whole-genome sequencing (WGS) and multilocus microsatellite genotyping. Overall, 37.5% (n = 12/32) patients developed colonisation by C. auris including 9.3% of the screened patients that were colonised at the time of admission and 75% remained colonised till discharge. Furthermore, 10% of fomite samples contained C. auris in rooms about 8.5 days after C. auris colonised patients were admitted. WGS and microsatellite typing revealed that multiple strains contaminated the fomites and colonised different body sites of patients. Notably, 37% of C. auris isolates were resistant to amphotericin B but with no amino acid substitution in ERG2, ERG3, ERG5, and ERG6 as compared to the reference strain B8441 in any of our strains. In addition, 55% of C. auris isolates likely had two copies of the MDR1 gene. Our results suggest significant genetic and ecological diversities of C. auris in healthcare setting. The WGS and microsatellite genotyping methods provided complementary results in genotype identification.

It is important to obtain a good withdrawal pressure tracing while performing cardiac catheterization in cases with right ventricular outflow tract (RVOT) obstruction to document the site and severity of obstruction. However efforts to manipulate the catheter in the RVOT (either to obtain the gradients or to position the catheter for an outflow angiogram) can sometimes precipitate severe dynamic RVOT obstruction with complete cessation of forward flow leading to life threatening hypotension. The following hemodynamic traces highlight this rare phenomenon which needs to be borne in mind at all times while performing cardiac catheterization in such patients.