An Antiproton Event

During the systematic scaling for double stars in nuclear emulsions exposed to 3 Gev. Pion beam an event was recorded and from analysis it can be interpreted as due to the annihilation of an anti proton produced in the emulsion. The details of the event along with a micro photograph are given below

Seroprevalence of canine dirofilariosis, granulocytic anaplasmosis and lyme borreliosis of public health importance in dogs from India’s North East

Aim: Vector-borne infections namely dirofilariosis, ehrlichiosis, anaplasmosis and lyme borreliosis are being recognized as emerging and/or re-emerging problems in dogs and man due to rapid extension of zoogeographical ranges of many causative agents through international tourism and increase mobility of dogs at national and international level towards meeting the demand for companion animals in the present day society. Anticipating such situation, a serological study was conducted in dogs from North East India to estimate the prevalence of zoonotically important Dirofilaria immitis, Anaplasma phagocytophilum and Borrelia burgdorferi along with Ehrlichia canis. Materials and Methods: Serological study was carried out using enzyme immunoassay in commercial SNAP 4DX® test kit (Idexx Laboratories, USA). The study was conducted in 191 dogs comprising 82 pets, 57 stray and 52 working dogs owned by defence organizations. Results: The study revealed seroprevalence of mosquito-borne D. immitis (17.80%), tick-borne E. canis (22.51%) and A. phagocytophilum (4.71%) with an overall 41.88% prevalence of pathogens in single or co-infection. Serological evidence of tick-borne lyme borreliosis due to B. burgdorferi could not be established in dogs in the present study. Of the zoonotic species, highest prevalence of D. immitis was found in the stray dogs (22.80%) and that of A. phagocytophilum in pet dogs (6.09%). Conclusion: The results of the present serological study serve as baseline information on the prevalence of A. phagocytophilum in dogs reported for the first time in India and reaffirmation on the high prevalence of D. immitis and E. canis in the North East India

Myxoma of parotid gland: report of a rare case

Myxomas of head and neck and especially parotid gland are rare. These insidious soft tissue tumours have obscured pathogenesis, can occur at any age, mostly located in the cheek, palate or floor of mouth. They often present with non- specific symptoms like painless slow growing localised swelling in the cheek or around the jaw. Complete excision remains the mainstay of treatment with rare recurrence, no distant metastases and excellent prognosis. Here we reported a case of right sided parotid gland myxoma in a 37 years old man. There were no specific clinical, laboratory or radiological features. Fine needle aspiration cytology was reported as adenoid cystic carcinoma of right parotid gland. Histopathological examination of the specimen confirmed the diagnosis of myxoma. Immunohistochemistry can be helpful, but not necessary to come to a diagnosis

Carcinosarcoma of the vulva: a rare case report

Carcinosarcomas are rare and clinically aggressive neoplasms with poor outcome. A very few cases has been reported in the literature. We present a case of a 54 yrs woman with bleeding per vagina for 1.5 months. On per vaginal examination, a lump of size 3×2 cm was found over the left anterior region of vulva. CECT abdomen revealed a well-defined heterogeneously enhancing lesion with calcific foci involving both labia minora. MRI pelvis reveals carcinoma left vulva with involvement of lower 3rd of vaginal wall. Histopathological examination showed features suggestive of carcinosarcoma of the vulva. This was further confirmed by immunohistochemistry which showed positivity for CK, SMA, caldesmon and negative for S100, CD34, desmin, CD31, ERG and MyoD1. Because it is a very rare tumor with severe prognosis, we presented this case as this case report can be a useful addition to the literature.

Oral squamous cell carcinoma with clear cell change: a rare case report

Clear-cell variant of oral squamous cell carcinoma is an extremely rare entity. Clear-cell change can be seen in any of the neoplasms, but as pure form variant, it is difficult to find in head-and-neck SCC. We hereby present a case report of 71-year-old male who presented with a growth with erythematous patches on the lateral pharyngeal wall for the past 3 months. Histopathologic examination showed nests, islands and sheets of malignant squamous cells with vesicular nuclei and abundant clear cytoplasm. Neoplastic cells constituting majority of nests exhibited clear cell changes. Special stain was performed to identify the nature of clear cells. periodic acid Schiff-diastase (PAS-D) showed positivity in the clear cells. Immunohistochemical study using antibody for pan-cytokeratin revealed diffuse positivity in the tumor cells

Sinonasal teratocarcinosarcoma: a rare case report from a tertiary care centre of North East India

Sinonasal teratocarcinosarcoma is an extremely rare malignant tumour arising in the sinonasal tract, that may extend intracranially to complicate the treatment and further worsen its dismal prognosis. Diagnosis is challenging because of its rarity and morphologic heterogeneity. Here, we reported a case of a 55 years old male who presented with complaints of left sided nasal blockage and facial swelling. CECT showed a large sinonasal mass with epicentre in the left nasal cavity extending to post nasal space and nasopharynx, eroding the left medial orbital wall and cranially the cribriform plate. Histopathologically, malignant epithelial component comprising of squamous cell carcinoma, mesenchymal component comprising of fibrosarcoma with focal chondroid differentiation, primitive blastemal component with extensive necrosis was noted. Immunohistochemistry demonstrated positivity for synaptophysin, chromogranin, Pan-CK, EMA, CD99, focal p63 in areas of squamous metaplasia; stromal cells showed Desmin, S100, SOX 10 expression: Ki-67 was 30-40%. Immunohistochemistry confirmed the diagnosis of sinonasal teratocarcinosarcoma. Knowledge about this tumour is important because of its heterogenous morphology which often leads to a misdiagnosis, necessitating repeated biopsies and thorough examination of the surgical specimen

Fractal Inspired Models of Quark and Gluon Distributions and Longitudinal Structure Function FL(x, Q2) at small x

In recent years, Fractal Inspired Models of quark and gluon densities at small x have been proposed. In this paper, we investigate longitudinal structure function F-L (x, Q2) within this approach. We make predictions using the QCD based approximate relation between the longitudinal structure function and the gluon density. As the Altarelli-Martinelli equation for the longitudinal structure function cannot be applied to Model I due to the presence of a singularity in the Bjorken x-space we consider Model II only. The qualitative feature of the prediction of Model II is found to be compatible with the QCD expectation.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figures, Accepted for publication on 10-07-2010 in Indian Journal of Physic

Cryo-capacitation changes during cryopreservation of swamp buffalo spermatozoa

Cryopreservation of sperm cells induces cryo-capacitation like changes. These changes are associated with reduced survival of sperm cells in the female reproductive tract that ultimately associate with poor fertility. The present study was designed with the objective to investigate the cryo-capacitation changes in relation to acrosomal status, transaminases activities, sperm membrane protein and cholesterol content in swamp buffalo spermatozoa. Results revealed that the total mean incidences of acrosome reacted spermatozoa and the mean activity of ALT and AST were significantly higher after equilibration and freezing. The mean level of sperm membrane protein and cholesterol was significantly lower after equilibration and freezing. It may be concluded from the present study that cryopreservation induces capacitation-like changes in swamp buffalo spermatozoa