Evaluation of Registered Visually Disabled Individuals in a District of West Bengal, India
To identify the sociodemographic characteristics, degree and cause of visual disability among certified visually disabled individuals in a rural district of West Bengal, India and to identify possible lacunae, if any, in the existing certification system.  A cross-sectional study by secondary data analysis of medical records of 155 visually disabled individuals and their 310 eyes. Demographical features, diagnosis, percentage of visual disability and work activity status of each individual were analyzed.  One hundred and thirty one (84.52%) individuals had 100% disability. The number of males was significantly higher than that of females. Fifty eight (37.42%) individuals were below 21 years of age. Phthisis bulbi was the most common cause followed by microphthalmos. Further, 81.29% patients had the same lesion bilaterally.  Patients with higher grades of disability have attended certification boards. A large number of disabled individuals comprised children and young adults. Male gender bias demands concern.

title: Epithelial ingrowth following surgery of recurrent pterygium
abstract: Epithelial ingrowth is a rare but devastating condition of the eye, known to complicate incisional ocular procedures. We report a case of secondary glaucoma due to epithelial ingrowth following limbal conjunctival autograft in a case of recurrent pterygium. To prevent such devastating conditions from occurring dissection of recurrent pterygium demands special care to avoid anterior chamber penetration.

title: Idiopathic intracranial hypertension in a child after hemodialysis.
abstract: Idiopathic intracranial hypertension remains a disease of unknown etiology. Epidemiology, associations, features, and prognosis in children have changed over the years. The main clinical complaint of pediatric idiopathic intracranial hypertension is headache with visual disturbance. We report on a patient with childhood idiopathic intracranial hypertension, who presented without headache after hemodialysis for acute renal failure. Idiopathic intracranial hypertension without headache is believed to have a poor prognosis. However, this child demonstrated a favorable outcome with medical therapy. The child was followed with serial optical coherence tomography of retinal nerve fiber layer thickness around the optic nerve head. In the absence of a reliable procedure to evaluate the therapeutic efficacy in the follow-up of patients with idiopathic intracranial hypertension, the importance of optical coherence tomography, a noninvasive, objective, and reproducible procedure, is highlighted as a useful adjunct in the management of idiopathic intracranial hypertension.

title: Visual impairment in urban school children of low-income families in Kolkata, India.
abstract: To evaluate pattern of visual impairment in school children from low-income families in Kolkata, India, an institutional cross-sectional study was conducted among 2570 children of 10 primary schools. Ocular examination including refraction was done and pattern of visual impairment and refractive error was studied. The age range was 6-14 years. Refractive error was seen in 14.7%. Only 4 children were already wearing correction. Myopia and hypermetropia was present in 307 (11.9%) and 65 (2.5%) children, respectively. Visual acuity of less than 6/12 in better eye was present in 109 (4.2%) and 5 (0.2%) children pre- and post-correction, respectively. Eighteen children had amblyopia. Although prevalence of refractive error in this group is less compared to school children of all income categories reported from other cities of India, it is more compared to school children of all income categories from the same city. Refractive error mostly remains uncorrected in this group.

title: Correlation of macular thickness and posterior hyaloid change following bevacizumab and triamcinolone in diffuse diabetic macular edema in middle-aged patients
abstract: To compare changes in posterior vitreous detachment (PVD) following intravitreal injection of bevacizumab and triamcinolone in diffuse diabetic macular edema in middle-aged type 2 diabetes patients and to correlate this change with change in central macular thickness (CMT).  Fifteen consecutive patients treated by intravitreal bevacizumab (group A) and ten patients treated by intravitreal triamcinolone (group B). Institutional study carried out by retrospective analysis of patient registers including serial optical coherence tomography (OCT) images at baseline, and after 1 and 4 months. A central macular thickness (CMT) and vitreomacular relationship was noted on OCT. PVD was graded on a linear scale (0–4). Change in grade of PVD was correlated with change in CMT at each follow-up. At month 4, the decrease in mean CMT from baseline was 51.2 μ (P = 0.000) and 45 μ (P = 0.022) in group A and group B, respectively, with no significant difference between the two groups (P = 0.874). A change in grades of PVD from baseline to month 4 was significant in both group A (P = 0.001) and group B (P = 0.004) with no significant difference between the two groups (P = 0.906). A significant correlation between change in PVD and reduction of CMT was observed in group A (P = 0.011) but not in group B (P = 0.315). Both bevacizumab and triamcinolone caused a significant reduction in macular thickness and a significant change in grade of PVD. Change in PVD played an influential role in the reduction of macular thickness following bevacizumab.

title: Awareness of diabetic retinopathy among physicians and optometrists in a district of West Bengal.
abstract: A cross sectional study was done to ascertain the current knowledge among physicians and optometrists regarding diabetic retinopathy in a district of West Bengal. We obtained response from 242 physicians and 36 optometrists working in government health units. The questionnaire comprised of three sections covering magnitude of problem, risk factors and management. The responses were analysed and graded. In different sections, knowledge of 74 - 78% physicians and 83 - 86% optometrists was graded as not acceptable. Existing lack of knowledge among physicians and optometrists regarding diabetic retinopathy needs correction.

title: Induction maintenance concept for HAART as initial treatment in HIV infected infants
abstract: BackgroundEarly initiated antiretroviral therapy (ART) in HIV infected infants leads to improved long-term viral suppression and survival. Guidelines recommend initiating therapy with a triple ART consisting of two nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs) and either one additional non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI) or a protease inhibitor (PI). Compared to older children and adults, viral relapse is seen more frequently in infants receiving triple ART. We now address the possibility of a more potent ART with a quadruple induction and triple maintenance therapy.MethodsWe examine the longitudinal course in four HIV infected infants, who were referred from other centers and could not be recruited to multicentre trials. We introduced ART initially consisting of two NRTIs, one NNRTI and one PI and later discontinued the PI at the age of 12 months maintaining a triple regime consisting of two NRTIs and one NNRTI.ResultsProvided that therapy adherence was maintained we observed an effective sustained decline of viral load and significant CD4 cell reconstitution even after switching to a triple regime. No drug associated toxicity was seen.ConclusionWe suggest that a four drug therapy might be a possible initial therapy option in HIV infected infants, at least in those with a high viral load, followed by a maintenance triple regime after 12 months of therapy.

title: A multitechnique approach in protein/surfactant interaction study: physicochemical aspects of sodium dodecyl sulfate in the presence of trypsin in aqueous medium.
abstract: Interaction of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) with a globular protein, trypsin, has been physicochemically studied in aqueous medium in detail using tensiometric, conductometric, calorimetric, fluorimetric, viscometric, and circular dichroism techniques. The results indicate that SDS-trypsin aggregates start to form at a surfactant concentration higher than the critical micelle concentration of pure SDS micelle. In contrast, the counterion binding decreases in the presence of trypsin. The free energies and enthalpies of micellization, interfacial adsorption, and entropy of micellization associated with the interaction have also been calculated. The values show that the interaction phenomenon is entropy controlled and endothermic in nature. The increase in viscosity is observed for the system of SDS-trypsin cluster above the critical micelle concentration of SDS micelle only. The aggregation number and interface polarity decrease compared to the values of micelles without protein. Circular dichroism spectra show the high alpha-helical content and unfolded structure of trypsin in the presence of SDS due to strong electrostatic repulsion leading to a probable "necklace and bead" model in the case of biopolymer-surfactant complexes.

title: Remodeling of the antegonial angle region in the human mandible: a panoramic radiographic cross-sectional study.
abstract: This study analyzed changes in the antegonial region in relation to age, gender, and dental status.



A total of one thousand patients (five hundred males and five hundred females), who were prescribed panoramic radiograph for various purposes were included in the study. The patients were categorized according to age, gender and dentition status. Panoramic radiographs were traced and antegonial angles and depths were measured.



A trend of decrease in the antegonial angle and increase in antegonial depth with age was observed in both males and females. Furthermore there were differences between right and left side antegonial angle and depth, with left side angle more than right and right side depth more than left. There was a significant decrease in the values of antegonial angle and significant increase in the values of antegonial depth as the dentition status changed from completely dentulous to partially dentulous and from partially dentulous to completely edentulous state.



The antegonial angle decreases with the advancing age and thereby increases the antegonial depth. Similar trends are seen when teeth are lost. Furthermore there is an inherent asymmetry in the antegonial region in right and left side.

title: Ultrafast fluorescence resonance energy transfer in the micelle and the gel phase of a PEO-PPO-PEO triblock copolymer: excitation wavelength dependence.
abstract: Fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) from coumarin 480 (C480) to rhodamine 6G (R6G) is studied in the micelle and the gel phase of a triblock copolymer, (PEO)20-(PPO)70-(PEO)20 (Pluronic P123 (P123)) by picosecond and femtosecond emission spectroscopy. The time constants of FRET were obtained from the rise time of the acceptor (R6G) emission. In a P123 micelle, FRET occurs in multiple time scales: 2.5, 100, and 1700 ps. In the gel phase, three rise components are observed: 3, 150, and 2600 ps. According to a simple Förster model, the ultrafast (2.5 and 3 ps) components of FRET correspond to donor-acceptor distance RDA=13 +/- 2 A. The ultrafast FRET occurs between a donor and an acceptor residing at close contact at the corona (PEO) region of a P123 micelle. With increase in the excitation wavelength (lambdaex) from 375 to 435 nm, the relative contribution of the ultrafast component of FRET ( approximately 3 ps) increases from 13% to 100% in P123 micelle and from 1% to 100% in P123 gel. It is suggested that at lambdaex = 435 nm, mainly the highly polar peripheral region is probed where FRET is very fast due to close proximity of the donor and the acceptor. The 100 and 150 ps components correspond to RDA = 25 +/- 2 A and are ascribed to FRET from C480 deep inside the micelle to an acceptor (R6G) in the peripheral region. The very long component of FRET (1700 ps in micelle and 2600 ps component in gel) may arise from diffusion of the donor from outside the micelle to the interior followed by fast FRET.

title: Social deprivation and primary hyperparathyroidism.
abstract: To investigate the potential relationship between social status or deprivation and the prevalence of primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT).



We retrospectively identified a cohort of patients diagnosed as having PHPT between 1981 and 2007 from the Scottish Morbidity Records database. The Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) 2006 quintiles were derived for these patients by using the postal codes. The distribution of the SIMD quintiles was examined to determine the possible influence of deprivation on the incidence of PHPT.



In Scotland between 1981 and 2007, 3,039 patients were diagnosed as having PHPT, in accordance with the International Classification of Diseases code for PHPT. The distribution of the PHPT cohort across the SIMD 2006 quintiles was significantly different from that expected, with a higher representation (27.2%) among the most deprived and a lower representation (14.5%) in the least deprived quintile, in comparison with the 20% expected in each quintile (P<.0001).



The findings in this study suggest that socioeconomic deprivation is associated with an increased risk of developing PHPT.