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Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada Syndrome in a 10 Years Old Child
No full textThe Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada (VKH) syndrome is a rare systemic disorder of uveitis, dysacousia, vitiligo, premature graying of the hair, eyebrows and eyelashes, and meningoencephalitis. Although frequently unrecognised,VKH may affect children. We report a case of a 10 year old girl who presented with headache and dimness of vision and was diagnosed as papillitis on the basis of bilateral disc edema. However over the course of time developed skin changes (poliosis, vitiligo over lower back) and depigmented patches in inferior fundus suggesting diagnosis of VKH disease. Thus the diagnosis is difficult in the absence of extraocular manifestations. In such cases the diagnosis is based on clinical evolution of the disease
AZF Microdeletions in Human Semen Infected with Bacteria
No full textBacterial infections are associated with infertility in men. This study was aimed to investigate microdeletions on Yq chromosome in semen infected with bacteria by using bacteriological, biochemical, and serological assays. The investigation showed that 107 of 300 (84.80%) semen samples collected from infertile men with primary or secondary infertility were infected with different species of bacteria. Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrheae were the most frequently diagnosed bacteria in the infected semen samples. The percentages of infections of semen samples with C. trachomatis and N. gonorrhea were 42.31% and 35.28% respectively. Genomic DNA from each semen sample infected with predominant bacteria was analyzed for AZF deletions by using multiplex PCR. Different patterns of AZF microdeletions were obtained. It can be concluded that sexually transmitted bacteria may contribute in microdeletions of Yq chromosome by indirectly producing reactive oxygen species and causing gene defect in AZF regions
Do we have Independent Visual Streams for Perception and Action? a Response.
No full textSchenk and McIntosh (2009) present the thesis that most visual behaviours, especially those of any significant complexity, are likely to involve collaboration between both visual streams. While very likely true, this statement does not contradict the perception-action model as proposed by Milner and Goodale (1995, 2006). The two visual system hypothesis implies two functionally specialized systems, and not, as Schenk and McIntosh propose, two behaviourally independent systems
Consciousness in mixed systems: merging artificial and biological minds via Brain-Machine Interface
No full textThe rapidly developing field of Brain-Machine Interface (BMI) technology seeks to establish a direct communication-and-control channel between human brain and machines. Practical applications for BMI include restoration of lost vision and motor functions, and even extending normal human capabilities.\ud
But unfortunately current BMI systems are far too poor to achieve even a level of performance that is comparable to what humans are normally capable of, let alone improving it. And this situation holds on for quite a while. The possible solution for coming out is to move research focus to those aspects of brain-machine interaction that usually do not receive much attention.\ud
The study of consciousness is one of such important aspects, as this poster seeks to prove, that could eventually allow us to bring BMI technology to the advanced stages, making its capabilities closer to capabilities of those BMI devices that appear in science fiction. Understanding consciousness and how it arises from the brain is crucial for achieving that goal.\ud
And BMI technology itself provides a lot of new questions and opportunities for consciousness research. BMI can progress far enough to allow such levels of integration between artificial devices and biological neural networks that they could work as a single system, not just separate entities communicating between each other. But how consciousness can then be represented in this mixed system? Will consciousness be privilege of living part only? Can the artificial part add something to conscious experience or even expand it? Furthermore, it would be possible to integrate neural systems of different living organisms by interfacing them to single artificial network. Will their consciousness be integrated then too? And how can such integrated mind be experienced?\ud
This poster explores ways in which Brain-Machine Interfaces can contribute to consciousness research, and discusses how better understanding of consciousness in context of brain-machine interaction will allow us to build BMI systems with extended capabilities
The Resilience of Computationalism
No full textComputationalism—the view that cognition is computation—has always been controversial. It faces two types of objection. According to insufficiency objections, computation is insufficient for some cognitive phenomenon X. According to objections from neural realization, cognitive processes are realized by neural processes, but neural processes have feature Y and having Y is incompatible with being (or realizing) computations. In this paper, I explain why computationalism has survived these objections. Insufficiency objections are at best partial: for all they establish, computation may be sufficient for cognitive phenomena other than X, may be part of the explanation for X, or both. Objections from neural realization are based either on a false contrast between feature Y and computation or on an account of computation that is too vague to yield the desired conclusion. To adjudicate the dispute between computationalism and its foes, I will conclude that we need a better account of computation
Affine Registration of label maps in Label Space
No full textTwo key aspects of coupled multi-object shape\ud
analysis and atlas generation are the choice of representation\ud
and subsequent registration methods used to align the sample\ud
set. For example, a typical brain image can be labeled into\ud
three structures: grey matter, white matter and cerebrospinal\ud
fluid. Many manipulations such as interpolation, transformation,\ud
smoothing, or registration need to be performed on these images\ud
before they can be used in further analysis. Current techniques\ud
for such analysis tend to trade off performance between the two\ud
tasks, performing well for one task but developing problems when\ud
used for the other.\ud
This article proposes to use a representation that is both\ud
flexible and well suited for both tasks. We propose to map object\ud
labels to vertices of a regular simplex, e.g. the unit interval for\ud
two labels, a triangle for three labels, a tetrahedron for four\ud
labels, etc. This representation, which is routinely used in fuzzy\ud
classification, is ideally suited for representing and registering\ud
multiple shapes. On closer examination, this representation\ud
reveals several desirable properties: algebraic operations may\ud
be done directly, label uncertainty is expressed as a weighted\ud
mixture of labels (probabilistic interpretation), interpolation is\ud
unbiased toward any label or the background, and registration\ud
may be performed directly.\ud
We demonstrate these properties by using label space in a gradient\ud
descent based registration scheme to obtain a probabilistic\ud
atlas. While straightforward, this iterative method is very slow,\ud
could get stuck in local minima, and depends heavily on the initial\ud
conditions. To address these issues, two fast methods are proposed\ud
which serve as coarse registration schemes following which the\ud
iterative descent method can be used to refine the results. Further,\ud
we derive an analytical formulation for direct computation of the\ud
"group mean" from the parameters of pairwise registration of all\ud
the images in the sample set. We show results on richly labeled\ud
2D and 3D data sets
Complex problem solving: a case for complex cognition?
No full textComplex problem solving (CPS) emerged in the last 30 years in Europe as a new part of the psychology of thinking and problem solving. This paper introduces into the field and provides a personal view. Also, related concepts like macrocognition or operative intelligence will be explained in this context. Two examples for the assessment of CPS, Tailorshop and MicroDYN, are presented to illustrate the concept by means of their measurement devices. Also, the relation of complex cognition and emotion in the CPS context is discussed. The question if CPS requires complex cognition is answered with a tentative ‘‘yes.’
Delay in DOTS for new pulmonary tuberculosis patient from rural area of Wardha District, India
No full textVast majority of active tuberculosis patients seeks treatment, do so promptly, still many patients spend a great deal of time and money “shopping for health” and too often they do not receive either accurate diagnosis or effective treatment, despite spending considerable resources. Objective: To find out the time taken to, for diagnosis of tuberculosis and to put patient on DOTS from the onset of symptoms and pattern of health seeking behavior of new pulmonary tuberculosis patients. A cross-sectional rapid assessment using qualitative (FGD) and quantitative (Interview) methods conducted at DOTS center of tertiary care hospital from rural Wardha. Participants: 53 pulmonary tuberculosis patients already on DOTS, in intensive phase. Main outcome measure: Delay in initiation of DOTS & health seeking behavior Results: Median total delay for starting DOTS was 111 days, (range: 10 to 321 days). Patient delay was more than provider delay. Patients delay was more in patients above 60 years, illiterate, per-capita income below 650 Rupees and HIV TB co-infection. Pattern of health seeking behavior was complex. Family physician was the preferred health care provider. Patient visited on an average four providers and spent around 1450 rupees (only direct cost) before DOTS begin. Time taken from the onset of symptoms and start of DOT is a cause of concern for the tuberculosis control program. Early case detection is important rather than mere achieving target of 70% new case detection. Program manager needs to implement locally relevant & focused strategies for early case detection to improve the treatment success, especially in rural area of India
Impact of ‘Child-to-Family’ Strategy for Health Awareness Improvement at Rural Sectors of Paschim Medinipur District, West Bengal
No full textThe present study was carried out to assess the impact of health awareness package through ‘Child-to-Family' strategy for empowerment of knowledge, change in the attitude and practice regarding communicable diseases and nutritional deficiency diseases among rural sectors of Paschim Medinipur district of West Bengal from April 2009 to October 2009. School children of 523 from VII to IX standard and their family members (25%) were included in the study. Health awareness level was monitored by self-administered peer reviewed questionnaire method. The study showed that majority of the participants had poor knowledge regarding the concerned diseases at pre-awareness stage. But after imparting the awareness package, knowledge about the said diseases improved markedly in both children and their family members. Therefore, school children have the potential for transmitting their newly acquired knowledge to their family members. The present study enlighted that ‘Child-to-Family' Strategy is powerful tool for community health improvement at rural sectors
Safe abortion – Still a neglected scenario: A study of septic abortions in a tertiary hospital of Rural India
No full textBackground and Aims: In spite abortion has been legalized in India over three decades, unsafe abortion continues to be a significant contributor of maternal mortality and morbidity. The aim of the present study is to assess the magnitude of septic abortion in a tertiary care hospital over a period of three years with a special emphasis on maternal mortality and morbidity and various surgical complications. Settings and Design: Retrospective study of patients who were admitted with unsafe abortions over a three year period from 2005 to 2008 in a tertiary teaching Hospital of Rural India. Materials and Methods: Hospital records of the patients who were admitted with unsafe abortion in three years (2005-2008) were reviewed to evaluate the demographic and clinical profile in relation to age, parity, marital status, indication of abortion , the methods of abortion ,qualification of abortion provider complications and maternal mortality. Results: Unsafe abortion constitutes 11.6% ( n=132) of total abortion cases admitted over 3 years. Majority of women (70.45%) were in their thirties, married (89%).Sixty percent wanted abortion for birth spacing. Abortion methods included various primitive methods (30%) but majority by dilatation and evacuation. About 60% of abortionists were unqualified. Majority of women admitted with serious complications like peritonitis (70%), visceral injuries (60%), hemorrhagic and septic shock, renal failure (17.4%), and life threatening conditions like DIC, hepatic failure and encephalopathy. A total of 231 women died of unsafe abortion making it 12.55% of total maternal mortality in our institution. Out of 73 women requiring laparotomy, 22% were done within 24 hours of admission and majority (49%) were performed beyond 24-48 hours. Interestingly no women died when early aggressive surgery was done. Conclusion: The present study confirms that unsafe abortion is a great neglected health care problem leading to a considerable loss of maternal lives. Education and accessibility of contra caption, readily available, quality abortion services by trained abortion providers remain the key to limit mortality and morbidity arising from unsafe abortion