Prostate artery embolisation : an initial experience from an Indian perspective

Purpose: The study aims to report our very early experience with prostate artery embolisation in patients with benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH) in an Indian setting. Material and methods: This prospective study was approved by the Institutional Ethical Review Board, and informed consent was obtained from all the patients. Four patients with lower urinary tract symptoms due to benign prostatic hyperplasia underwent prostate embolisation. Embolisation was performed using polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) particles. International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS), quality of life (QOL) score, postvoid residual volume, and prostate volume was recorded in each patient for 12 months. No major complications were seen in any patient. Results: Four patients with a mean age of 74.2 years underwent prostate artery embolisation. It was successful in all the cases. Bilateral embolisation was performed in three patients and unilateral approach in one patient. Clinical improvement was characterised by a mean prostate volume reduction of 22% and mean IPSS reduction of 30% at 12-month follow-up. Conclusions: The initial experience with prostate embolisation has been very rewarding and is a great alternative treatment for BPH. It is a very safe and effective procedure and can be an ideal procedure from an Indian perspective

Occurrence of canine transmissible venereal tumour

Canine transmissible venereal tumour (CTVT) is the most common neoplasm of the genital sites transmitted through allogenic transplantation of tumour cells during coitus or at extragenital sites like oral or nasal mucosa by licking, scratching or sniffing affected area. In this study the overall occurrence of CTVT and its occurrence was analysed based on breed, age, gender, parity, season, reproductive status and breeding history, collected from retrospective data of clinical records maintained at University Veterinary Hospitals. The overall occurrence of CTVT was 0.15 per cent among total presented cases, 0.88 per cent among total reproductive disorders, 21.42 per cent among total canine tumour cases and 4.74 per cent among cases with vaginal bleeding. Higher occurrence was recorded in female dogs (88.59%), dogs aged 2-5 years (73.91%), intact females (88.04%), pluriparous dogs (41.10%) and during south-west monsoon season (32.07%). Breed wise occurrence was higher in Labrador Retriever dogs (41.30%) followed by non-descript dogs (22.28%). Occurrence was higher in dogs with history of mating with stud dogs (81.60%) when compared to stray dogs (18.40%)

Effect of extenders and sperm concentration on migration efficiency of Malabari buck spermatozoa in bovine cervical mucus

The study evaluated the effect of extenders and sperm concentration on the migration efficiency of Malabari buck spermatozoa in bovine cervical mucus. Fresh semen ejaculates collected on six different days from three adult healthy Malabari bucks were pooled and divided into four groups based on the extender used (tris-egg yolk-based or liposome-based extender) and rate of extension (200 or 400 million motile spermatozoa per 0.5 mL) (n=6 per group) and subjected to cryopreservation. After freezing and thawing, Malabari buck spermatozoa cryopreserved in liposome-based extender travelled significantly (p<0.05) greater distance in bovine cervical mucus compared to those preserved in tris-egg yolk-based extender when packed in French medium straws with 200 million progressively motile spermatozoa. The corresponding values with 400 million progressively motile spermatozoa also showed the same trend. It was also observed that Malabari buck semen extended with 200 million progressively motile spermatozoa was significantly (p<0.05) better in terms of migration efficiency in bovine cervical mucus compared to that with 400 million progressively motile spermatozoa in both the extenders

Sn/Al2O3/C/CNT composite prepared by wet milling as anode material for lithium-ion cells

Sn/Al2O3/C/CNT (SAC/CNT) composite was synthesized by a simple wet milling route. The physico-chemical, structural and morphological properties of the material were studied. The electrochemical performance of the composite as an anode material in Li-ion cells was evaluated by Cyclic Voltammetry (CV), charge–discharge cycling and electrochemical impedance measurements. The SAC/CNT material delivered an initial specific capacity of 835 mAh g−1 with the coulombic efficiency of ∼77% along with good charge–discharge cycle performance retaining ∼88% of the initial capacity after 35 cycles. A comparison of the results with those for Sn/C (SC) and Sn/Al2O3/C (SAC) showed that the SAC/CNT composite exhibited better overall performance compared to the other two materials. The enhanced performance of SAC/CNT is attributed to the combined effect of the buffer action provided by Al2O3 accommodating volume changes of the electrode during cycling and the reduced charge transfer resistance of the electrode resulting from the inclusion of conductive CNTs

Selective Synthesis of Benzaldehydes by Hypochlorite Oxidation of Benzyl Alcohols under Phase Transfer Catalysis

The selective synthesis of benazaldehyde and substituted benzaldehydes from corresponding benzyl al-cohols has been carried out by using hypochlorite as an oxidant in organic medium under phase trans-fer catalysis. The reaction is highly selective since no traces of benzoic acid or substituted benzoic acids have been detected and the yield is found to be more than 90%. The products obtained were precipi-tated as 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazone and the recrystallised products were characterized by melting point and by spectrophotometric techniques like infra red and UV-Visible analysis. © 2015 BCREC UNDIP. All rights reserved.Received: 10th August 2014; Revised: 20th September 2014; Accepted: 21st September 2014How to Cite: Bijudas, K., Bashpa, P., Bibin, V. P., Nair, L., Priya, A. P., Aswathy, M., Krishnendu, C., Lisha, P. (2015). Selective Synthesis of Benzaldehydes by Hypochlorite Oxidation of Benzyl Alcohols under Phase Transfer Catalysis. Bulletin of Chemical Reaction Engineering &amp; Catalysis, 10 (1): 38-42. (doi:10.9767/bcrec.10.1.7189.38-42)Permalink/DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.9767/bcrec.10.1.7189.38-42</p

Identification and expression analysis of methyl jasmonate responsive ESTs in paclitaxel producing Taxus cuspidata suspension culture cells

Background Taxol(R)(paclitaxel) promotes microtubule assembly and stabilization and therefore is a potent chemotherapeutic agent against wide range of cancers. Methyl jasmonate (MJ) elicited Taxus cell cultures provide a sustainable option to meet the growing market demand for paclitaxel. Despite its increasing pharmaceutical importance, the molecular genetics of paclitaxel biosynthesis is not fully elucidated. This study focuses on identification of MJ responsive transcripts in cultured Taxus cells using PCR-based suppression subtractive hybridization (SSH) to identify genes involved in global pathway control. Results Six separate SSH cDNA libraries of paclitaxel-accumulating Taxus cuspidata P991 cell lines were constructed at three different post-elicitation time points (6h, 18h and 5 day) to identify genes that are either induced or suppressed in response to MJ. Sequencing of 576 differentially screened clones from the SSH libraries resulted in 331 unigenes. Functional annotation and Gene Ontology (GO) analysis of up-regulated EST libraries showed enrichment of several known paclitaxel biosynthetic genes and novel transcripts that may be involved in MJ-signaling, taxane transport, or taxane degradation. Macroarray analysis of these identified genes unravelled global regulatory expression of these transcripts. Semi-quantitative RT-PCR analysis of a set of 12 candidate genes further confirmed the MJ-induced gene expression in a high paclitaxel accumulating Taxus cuspidata P93AF cell line. Conclusions This study elucidates the global temporal expression kinetics of MJ responsive genes in Taxus suspension cell culture. Functional characterization of the novel genes identified in this study will further enhance the understanding of paclitaxel biosynthesis, taxane transport and degradation