Dataset of Pakistan Sign Language and Automatic Recognition of Hand Configuration of Urdu Alphabet through Machine Learning.

Social correspondence is one of the most significant columns that the public dependent on. Notably, language is the best way to communicate and associate with one another both verbally and nonverbally. There is a persistent communication gap among deaf and non-deaf communities because non-deaf people have less understanding of sign languages. Every region/country has its sign language. In Pakistan, the sign language of Urdu is a visual gesture language that is being used for communication among deaf peoples. However, the dataset of Pakistan Sign Language (PSL) is not available publicly. The dataset of PSL has been generated by acquiring images of different hand configurations through a webcam. In this work, 40 images of each hand configuration with multiple orientations have been captured. In addition, we developed, an interactive android mobile application based on machine learning that minimized the communication barrier between the deaf and non-deaf communities by using the PSL dataset. The android application recognizes the Urdu alphabet from input hand configuration.

Removing Outer Gloves as a Method to Reduce Spinal Surgery Infection.

STUDY DESIGN: A retrospective cohort study was performed to analyze the effect of a specifically timed glove change on infection rates in lumbar spinal fusion. OBJECTIVES: Postoperative infection is a frequent and taxing complication following posterior lumbar spine fusion with instrumentation. This procedure is associated with infection rates up to 9%. The most common organism responsible for infection is Staphylococcus aureus which, along with many of the other common causative organisms, is often part human skin flora. This implicates the surgeon's gloves as the mode of transfer for these organisms from the patient's skin to the wound. The authors conducted a retrospective study to determine if a simple glove change before handling instrumentation could significantly reduce the rate of postoperative infection for this procedure. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 389 patients requiring lumbar spine fusion were enrolled retrospectively and divided into 2 groups: a control group of 179 patients treated with standard protocol for the procedure (group A) and a treatment group of 210 patients in whom, after initially double gloving, the outer pair of gloves was removed before handling the instrumentation. Infection rates were compared up to 1 year postoperatively. RESULTS: There was a statistically significant reduction of infection rate from 3.35% in group A (control) to 0.48% in group B (P=0.0369). CONCLUSION: This study shows that the removal of an outer pair of gloves before handling instrumentation may be a simple, cost-effective, and practical way to reduce the burden of postoperative infection following lumbar spinal fusion.

A simple method to reduce infection of ventriculoperitoneal shunts.

OBJECT: Postoperative shunt infection is the most common and feared complication of ventriculoperitoneal (VP) shunt placement for treatment of hydrocephalus. The rate of shunt infection is highest in the 1st postoperative month. The most common organisms responsible for shunt infection include coagulase-negative Staphylococcus and Staphylococcus aureus. This suggests a transfer of patient's skin flora via the surgeons' glove as a possible means of infection. The authors conducted a study to determine if the rate of postoperative shunt infections could be reduced simply by changing gloves before handling the shunt catheter. METHODS: A total of 111 neonates born with congenital hydrocephalus requiring a VP shunt were enrolled retrospectively and divided into 2 groups: a control group of 54 neonates treated with standard protocol VP shunt placement (Group A) and a treatment group of 57 neonates in whom, after initially double gloving, the outer pair of gloves was removed before handling the shunt catheter (Group B). Shunt infection rates were compared up to 6 months postoperatively. RESULTS: There was a statistically significant reduction of infection rate from 16.33% in Group A (control) to 3.77% in Group B (p = 0.0458). CONCLUSIONS: The study shows that a changing of gloves before handling the shunt catheter may be a simple and cost-effective way to reduce the burden of postoperative shunt infections.

A SAGE-based comparison between glomerular and aortic endothelial cells.

Endothelial cells have many characteristics in common, but significant morphological and functional differences exist between endothelial cells from different anatomic sites. The specific glomerular endothelial (GEn) cell transcript repertoire is unknown. We sought to determine whether endothelial cells derived from bovine glomeruli display a distinct transcriptional profile compared with bovine aortic endothelium (BAE) under identical conditions. Serial analysis of gene expression (SAGE), which includes known and unknown transcripts, was used to make the comparison. The GEn and BAE SAGE libraries contain 36,844 and 26,452 total tag sequences, respectively. Among 6,524 unique tag sequences represented at least 2 times in the 2 libraries, 2,094 (32%) were matched to well-characterized bovine cDNA sequences (358 tags) or expressed sequence tags (EST). Identification of the human homolog was achieved for 1,035 of these tags. Forty-two tags were differentially expressed in GEn. For 25 of these, the bovine cDNA or EST, and for 17 the human homolog was identified. Among all transcripts with a known bovine and human tag, seven were expressed at levels more than 10-fold higher in cultured GEn cells compared with all other SAGE libraries. The transcript "DKFZp564B076" was localized by in situ hybridization to glomerular endothelium in vivo and was shown by real-time RT-PCR to be highly abundant in glomeruli compared with aortic intima. This work supports the concept that differences in the transcriptional profile of endothelial cells from distinct origins are observed under otherwise equivalent conditions. Furthermore, we have identified the first known transcript predominant in glomerular endothelium in vivo.

Consanguineous marriage resulting in homozygous occurrence of X-linked retinoschisis in girls.

PURPOSE: To investigate a family afflicted with X-linked retinoschisis and to determine the pedigree leading to such an occurrence. DESIGN: Observational case series. METHODS: Visual acuities were measured at The Aga Khan University Hospital Ophthalmology clinic. Slit-lamp examination, direct and indirect ophthalmoscopies were performed on each of the seven members of this family. The pedigree was established by appropriate questioning about the rest of their family. RESULTS: The pedigree revealed the homozygosity of the four daughters for the XLRS mutations borne out of the consanguineous marriage between an affected father and a carrier mother. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first report showing that consanguineous marriages lead to homozygous pairing of XLRS genes in female children, as concluded after a MEDLINE search.