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Biometrics is the term for measuring human characteristics. If the term is divided into two parts, bio means life, and metric means measurement. The measurement of humans through different computational methods is performed to authorize a person. This measurement can be performed via a single biometric or by using a combination of different biometric traits. The combination of multiple biometrics is termed biometric fusion. It provides a reliable and secure authentication of a person at a higher accuracy. It has been introduced in the UIDIA framework in India (AADHAR: Association for Development and Health Action in Rural) and in different nations to figure out which biometric characteristics are suitable enough to authenticate the human identity. Fusion in biometric frameworks, especially FKP (finger–knuckle print) and iris, demonstrated to be a solid multimodal as a secure framework. The proposed approach demonstrates a proficient and strong multimodal biometric framework that utilizes FKP and iris as biometric modalities for authentication, utilizing scale-invariant feature transform (SIFT) and speeded up robust features (SURF). Log Gabor wavelet is utilized to extricate the iris feature set. From the extracted region, features are computed using principal component analysis (PCA). Both biometric modalities, FKP and iris, are combined at the match score level. The matching is performed using a neuro-fuzzy neural network classifier. The execution and accuracy of the proposed framework are tested on the open database Poly-U, CASIA, and an accuracy of 99.68% is achieved. The accuracy is higher compared to a single biometric. The neuro-fuzzy approach is also tested in comparison to other classifiers, and the accuracy is 98%. Therefore, the fusion mechanism implemented using a neuro-fuzzy classifier provides the best accuracy compared to other classifiers. The framework is implemented in MATLAB 7.10. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We conducted a nested case-control study in a cohort of patients initiating antiretroviral therapy (ART) to identify risk factors and common manifestations of immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome (IRIS) and to validate the Robertson criteria for IRIS prediction. HIV-infected patients at the Tuberculosis Research Centre clinics, Chennai and Madurai, India, initiating ART between July 2004 and June 2005 were prospectively studied. Of 97 patients (62% men, median age 32 years, median CD4 count 63 cells/μL) included, 34 developed IRIS. IRIS was more common in patients with a prior history of tuberculosis (74% versus 52%, P = 0.04), median time to development was 46 days and the sensitivity and specificity of the Robertson criteria to predict IRIS were 91% and 22%, respectively. In this population, IRIS was a common event, more so among patients with prior tuberculosis, and neither the rate of CD4 increase nor the Robertson criteria were useful in predicting its development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: To describe the clinical features, visual acuity and causes of ocular morbidity in children (0-18 years) with microphthalmos, anophthalmos, and coloboma (MAC) from North India., Methods: A retrospective study conducted between October 2017 and September 2018 in three tertiary eye institutes, part of the Bodhya Eye Consortium with consensus led common pro formas. Children with complete clinical data and without syndromic/systemic involvement were included. The clinical phenotype was divided into isolated ocular coloboma (CB), coloboma with microcornea (CBMC), colobomatous microphthalmos (CBMO), non-colobomatous microphthalmos (MO) and anophthalmos (AO)., Results: A total of 532 children with MAC were examined. Seventeen records were excluded due to incomplete data (0.2%). 515 children (845 eyes) were included: 54.4% males and 45.6% females. MAC was unilateral in 36% and bilateral in 64%. CB, CBMC, CBMO, MO and AO were seen in 26.4%, 31%, 22%, 8% and 12.5% of eyes, respectively. Nystagmus was found in 40%, strabismus in 23%, cataract in 18.7% and retinal detachment in 15%. Best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) of <3/60 was seen in 62.4% eyes. Blindness (BCVA <3/60 in better eye) was seen in 42.8% of bilateral patients. Those with microcornea or microphthalmos with coloboma had worse BCVA (p<0.001). There were regional differences in the type of MAC phenotype presenting to the three institutes., Conclusion: The MAC group of disorders cause significant ocular morbidity. The presence of microcornea or microphthalmos with coloboma predicts worse BCVA. The variation of the MAC phenotype with the district of origin of the patient raises questions of aetiology and is subject to further studies., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2021. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

Primary angle closure glaucoma is a major cause of visual morbidity in Asia, which hosts 80% of the worldwide cases. In India, primary angle closure glaucoma (PACG) comprises almost 50% of adult glaucomas in hospital setting with its asymptomatic presentation predominating at 80%. Early diagnosis is critical to prevent the blinding trajectory of this disease, which is purported to cause twice as much blindness compared to open angle glaucoma. Traditional screening methods to identify PACG range from van Herick and flashlight test (relatively poor predictors) to gonioscopy (gold standard). Altered iris morphology are intrinsic to PACG, resulting in specific iris patterns. Iris appraisal could emerge as a method to screen underlying PACG. This would not only be specific, objective, but also easily performed at the peripheral level by a trained personnel and used in the era of tele-medicine for mass screening by AI softwares. This article seeks to detail these iris changes.

Objectives: Iris germanica L. is a medicinal plant, which has a long history of uses, mainly in medieval Persia and many places worldwide for the management of a wide variety of diseases. In this study, we aimed to review ethnopharmacological applications in addition to phytochemical and pharmacological properties of I. germanica., Key Findings: Ethnomedical uses of I. germanica have been reported from many countries such as China, Pakistan, India, Iran and Turkey. The medicinal part of I. germanica is the rhizome and the roots. Based on phytochemical investigations, different bioactive compounds, including flavonoids, triterpenes, sterols, phenolics, ceramides and benzoquinones, have been identified in its medicinal parts. Current pharmacological studies represent that the plant possesses several biological and therapeutic effects, including neuroprotective, hypoglycaemic, hypolipidaemic, antimicrobial, antioxidant, antiproliferative, anti-inflammatory, antiplasmodial, antifungal, immunomodulatory, cytotoxic and antimutagenic effects., Summary: Although the majority of preclinical studies reported various pharmacological activities of this plant, however, sufficient clinical trials are not currently available. Therefore, to draw a definitive conclusion about the efficacy and therapeutic activities of I. germanica and its bioactive compounds, further clinical and experimental studies are required. Moreover, it is necessary to focus on the pharmacokinetic and safety studies on the extracts of I. germanica., (© The Author(s) 2021. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Aim : To evaluate the role of ultrasound biomicroscopy (UBM) in retinoblastoma (RB). Methods : Children with advanced unilateral RB were included. UBM was performed to look for tumour invasion into the anterior segment (AS) and for evaluation of quantitative parameters. Enucleation was done and UBM findings were correlated with histopathology. The main outcome measures were sensitivity and specificity of UBM for detecting AS invasion and comparison of quantitative parameters between the tumour affected and fellow eyes. Results : Fifty patients were evaluated. The mean age was 2.76 ± 1.63 years. Enucleation was performed in 50 eyes. The sensitivity and specificity of UBM for AS invasion were 80% (95% CI, 44-97%) and 95% (95% CI, 83-99%), respectively. UBM showed a sensitivity and specificity of 100% (95% CI, 59-100%) and 95% (95% CI, 84-99%), respectively, for iris invasion, 88% (95% CI, 47-100%) and 100% (95% CI, 92-100%), respectively, for ciliary body invasion, and 63% (95% CI, 24-91%) and 100% (95% CI, 92-100%), respectively, for anterior chamber (AC) angle invasion. Quantitative parameters were studied in 100 eyes. As compared to the fellow eyes, the AC angle was narrow ( p < 0.05), posterior chamber was shallow ( p = 0.004) and zonular length was increased ( p = 0.001) in RB eyes. Conclusion : This clinicopathological study provides valuable insights into the role of UBM for evaluation of anterior extension of RB and for assessment of architectural changes in the AS due to the tumour.

Iris plays a vital role in human life for object identification. Many models and techniques were proposed and suggested for detecting the Iris, but the accuracy was not achieved up to the level and its frequently used for biometric application. The Proposed Work divided into two steps, at first, we detect the entire eye region outer layer by using mathematics first order derivatives by applying combinations of canny edge detection and circular hough transform. The next, we detect the inner portion of eye region that is Iris region is detected by combination of sobel edge detector and circular hough transform, As the results thereby reducing the error rate, marking the edges closest to the actual edges for maximizing the localization, indicating edges and also detect the inner and outer layer of the eye portions accurately. Finally this process is applied for cerebral palsy Children to detect the misalignment of eye and obtain the deviation position and results are compared with normal children eyes. In this context, image processing techniques are being recommended as a performance evaluation tool in cerebral palsy kids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]