Micronucleus assay on buccal cells: an indicator of DNA damage due to formaldehyde exposure in anatomy dissection labs

Background: The occupational exposure to formaldehyde (FA) can lead to various hazards ranging from allergic reactions to genetic damage. Workers of Anatomy lab are at a higher risk of having the hazardous effects of FA. Micronuclei (MN) appear in the cells due to chromosome breakage and dysfunction of the mitotic apparatus which are the indicators for the DNA damage. The present study was carried out to detect the DNA damage in people exposed to FA using buccal cell MN Assay by measuring the MN frequency in buccal cells with respect to the duration of exposure. Methods: Thirty male workers of Anatomy labs of different medial colleges in Bangalore were included in the study. Thirty people with no FA exposure were considered as comparison group. Buccal cells were scraped from the cheek and slides were prepared. A total of 1000 cells were counted for the presence of MN after staining with Geimsa solution. Results: There was a significant increase in the frequency of MN in both buccal cells (p<0.001). A positive correlation was found between the years of exposure and frequency of MN in buccal cells (r=0.5, p=0.03). Conclusion: This study highlights that there is a significant DNA damage in people exposed to formaldehyde which is proportional to the duration of exposure.

Morphometric analysis of corpus callosum in relation to brain size in fetuses of South Indian population

Background: The corpus callosum (CC) comprises axons connecting the cortices of the two cerebral hemispheres and is the principal white matter fiber bundle in the brain Morphological characteristics of fetal corpus callosum are of value from embryologic and diagnostic points of view. Knowledge of fetal callosal size is an essential prerequisite for the study of its changes during infancy and childhood. Methods: The study included twenty four formalin fixed fetuses ranging from 25 to 40 weeks obtained from department of Anatomy, Kasturba Medical College. The measurements taken were; frontal pole to occipital pole, anterior most point to posterior most point of CC, frontal pole of brain to anterior most point of CC, occipital pole of brain to posterior most point of CC, anterior edge of splenium to superior most point of superior colliculus and thickness of body of CC.Results: Spearman’s correlation test was used to determine the correlation between different parameters. A strong positive correlation was found between the length and gestational age (r=0.69), between thickness and gestational age (r=0.4) and between length and thickness of corpus callosum (r=0.5).Conclusions: Length and thickness of corpus callosum was found to increase proportionally to gestational age but it was not statistically significant. The growth of CC was proportional to the growth of brain. The precise anatomical knowledge regarding the morphology and growth of corpus callosum will provide baseline data for the diagnosis and assessment of progression of a disease affecting it.

Understanding Dwarf Galaxies in order to Understand Dark Matter

Much progress has been made in recent years by the galaxy simulation community in making realistic galaxies, mostly by more accurately capturing the effects of baryons on the structural evolution of dark matter halos at high resolutions. This progress has altered theoretical expectations for galaxy evolution within a Cold Dark Matter (CDM) model, reconciling many earlier discrepancies between theory and observations. Despite this reconciliation, CDM may not be an accurate model for our Universe. Much more work must be done to understand the predictions for galaxy formation within alternative dark matter models.Comment: Refereed contribution to the Proceedings of the Simons Symposium on Illuminating Dark Matter, to be published by Springe

Services just for men? Insights from a national study of the well men services pilots.

Men continue to have a lower life expectancy in most countries compared to women. Explanations of this gendered health inequality tend to focus on male risk taking, unhealthy lifestyle choices and resistance to seeking help from health services. In the period 2005-2008 the Scottish Government funded a nationwide community health promotion programme aimed at improving men's health, called Well Men Service Pilots (henceforth WMS)

Reference Intervals in Healthy Adult Ugandan Blood Donors and Their Impact on Conducting International Vaccine Trials

BACKGROUND: Clinical trials are increasingly being conducted internationally. In order to ensure enrollment of healthy participants and proper safety evaluation of vaccine candidates, established reference intervals for clinical tests are required in the target population. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We report a reference range study conducted in Ugandan adult blood bank donors establishing reference intervals for hematology and clinical chemistry parameters. Several differences were observed when compared to previously established values from the United States, most notably in neutrophils and eosinophils. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: In a recently conducted vaccine trial in Uganda, 31 percent (n = 69) of volunteers screened (n = 223) were excluded due to hematologic abnormalities. If local reference ranges had been employed, 83% of those screened out due to these abnormalities could have been included in the study, drastically reducing workload and cost associated with the screening process. In addition, toxicity tables used in vaccine and drug trial safety evaluations may need adjustment as some clinical reference ranges determined in this study overlap with grade 1 and grade 2 adverse events

A Viral Discovery Methodology for Clinical Biopsy Samples Utilising Massively Parallel Next Generation Sequencing

Here we describe a virus discovery protocol for a range of different virus genera, that can be applied to biopsy-sized tissue samples. Our viral enrichment procedure, validated using canine and human liver samples, significantly improves viral read copy number and increases the length of viral contigs that can be generated by de novo assembly. This in turn enables the Illumina next generation sequencing (NGS) platform to be used as an effective tool for viral discovery from tissue samples