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Aim: To analyse the clinico-etiological profile of heart failure in elderly patients. Material and Methods: This prospective hospital based study was carried out for a period of 18 months among patients >60 years of age with heart failure on the basis of Boston Criteria was included in my study. Detailed history was obtained. Thorough & detailed clinical examination was done for all the patients. Boston criteria was used for screening the patients for Heart Failure.Patients falling in “Possible” category according to Boston Criteria was evaluated on the basis of 2-D Echo for the confirmation of diagnosis of Heart Failure.HFrEF is diagnosed by echocardiography when LVEF is <40%. Patients were followed till either discharge or death. Statistical analysis of data was done using appropriate statistical data. Data was collected and subjected to statistical analysis. Results: 67.39% subjects were having reduced ejection fraction (<40%). Patients with hypertension were more prone to heart failure i.e. 39.86% as compared to diabetes, which was found in 15.94%. Most common cardiac finding was secondary mitral regurgitation (36.96%) followed by atrial fibrillation (23.91%). Common clinical symptoms among the study subjects were dyspnea (98.55%) while common clinical signs as observed in the study were fine crepitations at lung bases, dependent oedema, elevated JVP and Gallop. The most common etiology among the study subjects was ischemic heart disease (56.52%). Conclusion: Heart failure prevalence is increasing among elderly patients with co-morbid factors like coronary artery disease, hypertension, diabetes mellitus and obesity. Early recognition and treatment of these co-morbid conditions can reduce exacerbations of Heart Failure. Screening and counseling of patients with high risk factors is crucial in early diagnosis and treatment of heart failure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Ischemia and infarction lead to metabolic and electrophysiological changes that may cause silent and symptomatic life-threatening arrhythmia. At least 75% of patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) have an arrhythmia during the peri-infarct period. Aim: The aim of the present study is to study the development of arrhythmia in patient's suffering from acute myocardial infarction and their outcome. Material and methods: The present prospective analysis which includes patients suffering from acute myocardial infarction admitted in MICU. The data was collected by a preformed structured interviewer-administered questionnaire in which demographic, socioeconomic status, medical history and previous history of taking any medications and supplements. ECG was studied on admission and subsequent serial ECG's was analyzed till the patient was discharged or the patient died. The diagnosis and classification of arrhythmia was on the basis of the ECG diagnosis. Results: A total of 120 subjects were recruited during the study period, out of which 84 (70%) were males and 36 (30%) were females. ST elevation MI was the most common presentation Anterior wall MI was the commonest, followed by inferior wall MI, and the least was combination of inferior and posterior wall MI. VPC (29.17%) was clearly the most common arrhythmia observed, followed by AIVR-13.33%, I degree AVB-11.67% and II degree AVB-9.17%. Conclusion: In the practice of cardiovascular critical care, we often meet a variety of arrhythmias with a variety of clinical backgrounds. However, conversely, those therapies sometimes bring harmful results. Therefore, we should judge the necessity of the suppressive treatment of arrhythmias and select the most appropriate modality of treatment on a case-bycase basis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Non-communicable diseases are on the upsurge throughout the world. They take a toll of 71% of overall total death, majorly contributed by cardiovascular disease. Hypertension has been a consistent risk factor for cardiovascular diseases among the various risk factors. Hypertension's asymptomatic nature makes it a silent killer; many lives are avertable if a timely diagnosis can be assured. Aims and Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of undiagnosed hypertension among the attendees of a sub-district hospital. Materials and Methods: We conveniently chose 100 participants of age 30 years from the out-patient department of a sub-district hospital in Gohana, Haryana. Any attendees aged more than 30 years was requested to participate in the study. The execution of the study was done in accordance to the guidelines laid in Helsinki Declaration 1975, revised 1983. Due permission was taken from the concerned authority of the study facility. After obtaining well-informed consent, data were collected through a semi-structured questionnaire. The blood pressure was measured and classified per JNC-8 guidelines. Any participant having systolic B.P. more than 140 mmHg and diastolic B.P. more than 90 mmHg on two 5 min apart readings was considered hypertensive. The descriptive analysis was done in terms of frequencies and proportions. The Chi-square test was done to determine any association of undiagnosed hypertension with selected risk factors. Results: We report a 59% prevalence of undiagnosed hypertension among study participants. The undiagnosed hypertension was statistically associated (P<0.05) with higher body mass index, less physically active, being a diabetic, alcoholic, smoker, and having a positive family history of hypertension. Only 2% of the participants knew of any health program on non-communicable diseases. Conclusion: A higher prevalence of undiagnosed hypertension even after health facility visits for any other reason warrants the standardized and universal blood pressure measurement of patients visiting health facilities irrespective of the health issue, for which they are visiting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Xanthogranulomatous pyelonephritis (XGP) is chronic pyelonephritis subtype where in renal parenchymal destruction occurs and therefore results in progressive loss of kidney functions. Although middle age group is the predominant age group affected but it can be seen at any age. There is accumulation of macrophages (lipid-laden) leading to renal parenchymal destruction and fibrosis. In this study, we present our data of 15 patients who had undergone nephrectomy and were biopsy proven XGP. Aims and Objectives: The aim of the study was to describe the clinical and radiological features of XGP in adults. Materials and Methods: XGP constituted 4.31% of the 348 nephrectomies done for infective causes over a period of 7 years. All our patients had undergone unilateral total nephrectomy. Demographic and clinical records were analyzed after consent from all the patients. Results: The age range in our study was 18–65 years with mean 42.93±15.66 years. Nine of our patients, that is, 60% were females. Diabetes was present in 53.3% of our patients. Three patients had imaging suggestive of pyonephrosis, three patients had perinephric collection and 9 patients (60%) had concomitant nephrolithiasis. All the kidneys were grossly enlarged and were non-functional on renal scintigraphy. Conclusion: XGP is a form of chronic pyelonephritis which although being less common but is devastating given the destruction of renal parenchyma it does and associated morbidity. Clinicoradiologic correlation cannot be overemphasized. The definitive diagnosis is established after histopathologic examination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Space cooling has utilized lots of electricity in summers which has to be reduced by insulating inside of buildings. This has potential to reduce the environment pollution caused by higher expenditure of energy. The present work has the scope to evaluate thermal performance of a test model house providing cellulose fibre based cardboard insulation and compare the performance with an uninsulated model. The addition of heat through roof, walls and net heat gain during the day has remained lesser for insulated test model than uninsulated test model. The temperature of indoor air has stayed lesser in case of insulated test model than the uninsulated test model during the day particularly in the interval from 12 hrs to 19 hrs The indoor air temperature for the insulated test model has remained lesser by 7°C from 14 hrs till 16 hrs in comparison to uninsulated test model. The energy and financial savings obtainable for summers has value of 144 kWh and Rs 864 respectively for insulated test model. The carbon dioxide emitted has reduced for summers by 226 kg for insulated test model. Hence better thermal comfort conditions have existed in the insulated buildings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: A hypertensive crisis may manifest as hypertensive emergency or urgency. Hypertensive emergency is characterized by target organ damage and poses immediate threat to life, a situation not seen in urgency. Aims and Objectives: The aims of the study were as follows: (1) To determine the prevalence of hypertensive crisis classified as emergency, urgency, and pseudocrisis. (2) To assess the various systems (neurological, cardiovascular, and renal) affected in relation to a particular type of hypertensive crisis. Materials and Methods: The retrospective study comprised analysis of medical records of 100 patients of hypertensive crisis admitted to emergency unit of BPS Government Medical College and Hospital for Women, Sonepat, Haryana, India, in the 2 years period from January 2018 to December 2019 and study their prevalence among hospital emergencies and clinical presentation. Results: Total number of clinical emergencies analyzed during this time interval was 6666. The prevalence of hypertensive crisis accounted to 1.5% of all the clinical emergencies received. About 66% presented as hypertensive emergencies, 32% as hypertensive urgency, and 2% presented as hypertensive pseudocrisis. Males of the fifth decade of life while females of the sixth decade of life were most affected by hypertensive crisis. Headache (58%) followed by giddiness (44%) was the most common clinical presentation in the emergency. About 34% of patients had associated neurological deficit. Only 16% of patients had cardiovascular system involvement. Conclusion: Symptoms provided by patients in the emergency department are of paramount importance for the outcome of hypertensive crisis. Severe complication of hypertensive crisis can be prevented if hypertension is timely diagnosed and appropriately managed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports performance simulation of a unipolar tunable band gap InAs-InAsSb type-II superlattice (T2SL) infrared photodetector. The generation-recombination and surface leakage currents limit the performance of T2SL photodiodes. Unipolar nBn device design incorporating a suitable barrier layer in the diode structure is taken to suppress the Auger recombination and tunneling currents. At low reverse bias, the generation-recombination current is negligible in the absence of a depletion region, but the dark current is dominated by the diffusion current at higher operation temperatures. The composition, band alignment, barrier width, doping level and thickness of the absorber region are optimized here to achieve low dark current and high quantum efficiency at elevated operating temperatures. Thin unipolar T2SL absorbers are placed in a resonant cavity to enhance photon-material interaction, thus allowing complete absorption in a thinner detector element. It leads to the reduction in the detector volume for lower dark current without affecting the quantum efficiency. It shows an improvement in the quantum efficiency and reduction in the dark current. Dark current density ∼ 10−5 A/cm2 is achievable with low absorber thickness of 2 μm and effective lifetime of 250 ns in the InAs/InAs0.6Sb0.4/B-AlAs1−xSbx long wave length T2SL detector at 110 K. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Foreign Direct Investment (FD!) is one of the most important source of financial resources of non-debt type for developing countries for economic development and growth. FD! helps to transfer the technology from developed to developing countries. India has continuously sought to attract investment from the world's major investors. With the advent of globalization and liberal policies of Indian government in 1991, foreign investment has helped the Indianeconomy grow tremendously. These investments have been a key driver for accelerating the economic growth through employment generation, improved access to managerial expertise and competing internationally with higher efficiency. This paper has made an attempt to analyze the trend of FD! flow into the country. The study is diagnostic and exploratory in nature and makesuse of secondary data. The study finds and concludes that the foreign direct investment inlndia have significantly improved and developed the economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Acute generalised peritonitis coming forth due to underlying intestinal perforation is a critical & life-threatening medical condition. It is a common surgical emergency most of the times across the world. Misleading data on crude morbidity and mortality due to the condition usually contaminates substantially the very purpose of medical audit. Thus, early prognostic evaluation is not only desirable but mandate to much extent. High-risk patients require timely & aggressive treatment especially in severe peritonitis & to select them reasonably well, evaluation through prognostic scoring is an approach of choice. Well sought after & reasonably reliable APACHE II scoring system is used for the purpose & scores are correlated well to accentuate & measure the various factors needed for better management of condition. Material and Methods: The study was conducted over the period of 18 months (Jan 2010 to June 2011) on 50 patients with confirmed diagnosis of intestinal perforation. APACHE II score was calculated and correlated with their symptoms & clinical outcomes regarding morbidity and mortality. Results: APACHE II score correlated well with the outcome of the study, showing score affects of two major aspects in the treatment outcome & management.1.) APACHE II score of less than 10 included 30 low risk group patients discharged in a satisfactory gratifying manner. Three out of four in high risk group with APACHE II score >20, shown adverse outcomes. 2.) Mean ICU stay of 9.75 days was found in patients with APACHE II score 20 or more compared to those with mean ICU stay of 0.13 days in patients with APACHE II score 10 or less. Conclusion: Acute generalized peritonitis being life-threatening medical emergency requires careful consideration in its management that needs to be economically viable, acceptably feasible and outcome oriented with better allocation & utilization of ICU resources that needs meticulous case analysis & prioritization. This present study helps the clinicians in three major ways: a) To take better decisions on case to case basis; b) To design strategies in order to prevent adverse outcomes; c) Last but not least, to make better use of ICU resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Isoniazid (INH) and Rifampicin (RIF) are hepatotoxic drugs. Oxidative stress has been reported as one of the mechanisms of INH+RIF induced hepatotoxicity., Methods: Intragastric administration of INH and RIF (50 mg/kg body weight/day each) for 28 days in Wistar rats is hepatotoxic, indicated by raised transaminases and histology. Carotenoids have antioxidant properties. Therefore, different doses of carotenoids (2.5, 5, 10 and 20 mg/kg body weight/day) were administered to study the hepatoprotective effect against INH+RIF., Results: The higher doses of carotenoids i.e.10 and 20 mg/kg body weight/day showed partial hepatoprotection indicated by return to normal of liver transaminase level and of liver histology in 33.3% of rats. There was no further protective effect seen by increasing the dose of carotenoids from 10 to 20 mg/kg body weight/day. Lower doses of carotenoids, i.e., 2.5 and 5 mg/kg body weight/day were not effective., Conclusion: Thus, a minimum dose with maximum hepatoprotection (10 mg/kg b.wt/ day) was selected as the optimum dose in the present study. The hepatoprotective nature of carotenoids in INH+RIF treated rats may be attributed to their antioxidative property.