Background: Joshi’s external stabilizing system (JESS) is a useful option to correct the deformities in patients who present to the orthopedic department with neglected congenital talipes equinovarus, plaster of Paris drop out cases, or failed surgical procedures. Anteroposterior talocalcaneal angle, lateral talocalcaneal angle, and talocalcaneal index (TCI) are useful tools to assess the outco...

BACKGROUND Oropharyngeal manipulation is problematic when patients have a gag reflex. Sedation can suppress gag reflex, but can cause serious airway problems. We compared remifentanil (Group R) and propofol (Group P) in terms of cooperation and loss of gag reflex, while drugs were administered incrementally using target controlled infusion (TCI). METHODS Fifty seven patients who required awak...

Psoriasis is a chronic dermatologic disease that negatively impacts physical and mental health of patients as well as their social and work life. The aim of this study is to illustrate, by a clinimetric approach the differences in psychological distress and well-being between patients with mild and moderate to severe psoriasis. Seventy patients with psoriasis were evaluated using the Structured...

Premature, unilateral interruption of inpatient treatment of eating disorders (ED) is a key factor limiting success. We evaluated the role of personality dimensions (temperament and character) in predicting drop-out in 145 consecutive ED inpatients (133 females) who entered cognitive behavior therapy. Baseline assessment included anthropometry, the Eating Disorder Examination, the Beck Depressi...

BACKGROUND The current persistence of Triatoma infestans (one of the main vectors of Chagas disease) in some domestic areas could be related to re-colonization by wild populations which are increasingly reported. However, the infection rate and the genetic characterization of the Trypanosoma cruzi strains infecting these populations are very limited. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS Of 333 wild...

BACKGROUND About 98% of plasma propofol is bound to albumin. We investigated if severe hypoalbuminaemia may affect the accuracy of a target-controlled infusion (TCI) device, the Diprifusor, during sedation in critically ill patients. METHODS Ten critically ill hypoalbuminaemic patients (<24 g litre(-1)) and 10 critically ill normoalbuminaemic patients (>32 g litre(-1)) were included in this s...

BACKGROUND We investigated the correction methods following wrong-settings of emulsion concentrations of propofol as a countermeasure against erroneous target-controlled infusions (TCI). METHODS TCIs were started with targeting 4.0 µg/ml of effect-site concentration (Ceff) of propofol, and the emulsion concentrations were selected for 2.0% instead of 1.0% (FALSE1-2, n = 24), or 1.0% instead o...

Volunteers who help with online crowdsourcing such as citizen science tasks typically make only a few contributions before exiting. We propose a computational approach for increasing users’ engagement in such settings that is based on optimizing policies for displaying motivational messages to users. The approach, which we refer to as Trajectory Corrected Intervention (TCI), reasons about the t...

For Sri Lanka, as an agricultural country, a methodical drought monitoring mechanism, including spatial and temporal variations, may significantly contribute to its sustainability. Investigating long-term meteorological occurrences in Lanka assessing hazard at the district level are main objectives of study. Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI), Rainfall Anomaly (RAI), Vegetation Health (VHI)...

OBJECTIVE Numerous studies have reported association of the serotonin transporter gene (5-HTT) polymorphisms and neuroticism and traits characterizing sociability and activity. This study aimed to define a single genotype effect of three polymorphic markers in the 5-HTT gene (5-HTTLPR, A/G SNP in 5-HTTLPR and STin2 VNTR) and to check possible association of the 5-HTT haplotypes and personality ...