Floristic Inventory and Quantitative Vegetation Analysis of Tropical Dry Deciduous Forest in Piranmalai Forest, Eastern Ghats, Tamil Nadu, India

Tree diversity, species richness, basal area, population structure and distribution patterns were investigated in disturbed, moderately disturbed and undisturbed areas of the tropical dry deciduous forest of Piranmalai, Eastern Ghats in Tamil Nadu. The forest areas were selected based on the disturbance index. Six sites of 0.1 ha area were established in the Piranmalai forest. Two sites, Nehru park (N.P) and Foot hill (F.H), were located close to the mining, quarrying and human settlement area, while two other sites, Vannar iruppu (V.I) and Alaguchokkan (A.C), are located in a selective felling area, and two others, Dhargha area (D.A) and Veerappan koil (V.K), are situated in a relatively undisturbed forest. These are 3 to 5 Km apart in the forest disturbed stand (60% disturbance index), Moderately Disturbed stand (30% disturbance index), and Undisturbed stand (10% disturbance index). Tree species richness varied along the disturbance gradient in different stands. The undisturbed stand showed the highest species richness (11 – 9). Species richness was lowest (5 - 4) in the Disturbed stand, while in the Moderately Disturbed stand the diversity was somewhat higher (8 – 7). The Shannon – Wiener index for tree species ranged from 1.33 to 2.184 in all the stands. The highest tree diversity was recorded in the undisturbed stand and the lowest in the Disturbed stand. The stands differed with respect to the tree species composition at the family and generic level

Chondrosarcoma of the anterior chest wall: surgical resection and reconstruction, our institutional experience

Primary chest wall tumours are not very common. Chondrosarcomas is most common tumour arising from the chest wall. It occurs more often during the third and fourth decade of life. Chondrosarcomas are resistant to conventional chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Wide margin surgical excision remains the best available treatment approach. For chondrosarcomas involving the chest wall, surgical excision may result in chest wall defects that may require reconstruction to obliterate dead space, restore chest wall rigidity, preserve respiratory mechanics, maintain pulmonary function, protect intrathoracic organs, provide soft tissue coverage and minimize deformity. In this article we present a series of 3 cases of chondrosarcoma of anterior chest wall managed at government Royapettah hospital, Kilpauk medical college, Chennai. A 71-year-old male patient, a case of 22×20 cm giant chondrosarcoma arising from anterior left chest wall involving 2nd to 8th ribs. We did wide local excision and reconstruction of chest wall with a synthetic bone cement (methyl methacrylate) construct, sandwiched between two layers of polypropylene mesh.  A 38-year-old male patient, a case of 8×6 cm chondrosarcoma of left anterior chest wall involving 9th rib, we did wide excision of tumor along with 8th, 9th, 10th ribs and defect reconstructed with prolene mesh.  A 37-year-old male patient, a case of 5×4 cm chondrosarcoma arising from left 4th rib. We did wide excision along with 4th rib and primary closure. Patients with chondrosarcomas generally have a good prognosis when optimally diagnosed and treated. Our case series is interesting due to the different sizes of chondrosarcomas at presentation, which are managed differently. Complete resection with wide surgical margin remains the best available treatment, but post resection chest wall reconstruction is posing a great surgical challenge

NOVEL PYRAZOLINES: SYNTHESIS AND EVALUATION OF THEIR DERIVATIVES WITH ANTICANCER AND ANTI-INFLAMMATORY ACTIVITIES

Objective: Synthesis of novel pyrazolines (P2-P4 & P7-P9) from the chalcones (C2-C10) obtained by condensing different aldehydes with 2-acetyl- 5-bromothiophene and evaluates them for in vitro anticancer and anti-inflammatory activities.Methods: The synthesized pyrazolines and chalcones were screened for anticancer activity against human breast cancer cell lines-MCF-7 and MDA-MB-468 in the range of 100 nm to 100 µm. Inhibition of bovine albumin denaturation and heat-induced hemolysis in vitro methods were followed to screen for anti-inflammatory activity. The structures of synthesized compounds were confirmed based on the IR, 1H NMR and mass spectral data.Results: Among the synthesized compounds, methoxy trisubstituted pyrazoline derivative (P6) exhibited an interesting profile of anticancer activity against MCF-7 cell line with GI50<0.1 μ M. similar to that of the standard drug doxorubicin. Compounds C8, P8, P3 have moderate anti-inflammatory activity in bovine denaturation and heat induced hemolytic method.Conclusion: Novel pyrazolines and chalcones were synthesized and evaluated for anticancer and anti-inflammatory activity. The methoxy containing compounds one of which P6 found to be active against MCF-7 breast cancer cell line. The chloro-substituted compounds found to show anti-inflammatory activity.Â