Modified radical mastectomy for intraductal breast carcinoma in a patient with active pulmonary tuberculosis under thoracic epidural anaesthesia

The incidence of breast carcinoma is on the rise in Asian countries like India and pulmonary tuberculosis is one of the most common infectious diseases encountered here. Although coexistence of active pulmonary tuberculosis and breast cancer in same patient is rare, it poses a huge challenge to the anaesthetist when patients having the above conditions concomitantly are posted for surgeries like mastectomy. Here we report the anaesthetic management of a case of breast carcinoma with active pulmonary tuberculosis managed successfully under thoracic epidural anaesthesia chosen to avoid major hemodynamic, respiratory and other complications like operation theatre pollution and drug interactions between anti tubercular and anticancer drugs and drugs used for general anesthesia

Reactivity of crystalline ZnO superstructures against fungi and bacterial pathogens: Synthesized using nerium oleander leaf extract

For the first time, different morphologies of zinc oxide (ZnO) superstructures are synthesized by a simple and environmental friendly route using Nerium oleander leaf extract as fuel. Powder X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, UV-visible spectroscopy, and photoluminescence studies are performed to ascertain the formation and characterization of ZnO. X-ray diffraction confirmed the crystalline nature of the compound with hexagonal Wurtzite structure. When the concentration of the leaf extract is varied, different morphologies are formed. ZnO are tested for antifungal using soybean seed-borne fungi by food-poison method and antibacterial activity against bacterial human pathogens by a broth microplate dilution method using 96-well plates. Among the screened soybean seed-borne fungi, Fusarium equisiti was found to be more susceptible, which was followed by Macrophomina phaseolina for ZnO nanoparticles (NPs) prepared using 0.2188 mol/dm3 N. oleander leaf extract. It was observed that NPs exhibited pronounced antifungal activity in a dose-dependent manner with a relatively high percentage of mycelial inhibition. ZnO obtained with the concentration of 0.2188 mol/dm3 leaf extract showed both minimum inhibitory concentration and minimum bactericidal concentration effectiveness compared to other synthesized compounds. It is observed that the samples with small crystallite size show greater antibacterial activity than those of larger crystallite size. Further, we found that crystallite size and morphology significantly affects the antibacterial activity of ZnO. Prepared compounds showed significant inhibition against Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, and Pseudomonas aeurginosa. Among the tested bacteria, P. aeurginosa is more susceptible and E. coli is the least effective against bacterial pathogens. The antibacterial activities of the as-formed ZnO are preliminarily studied against Gram-positive (B. subtilis and S. aureus) and Gram-negative (E. coli and P. aeruginosa) bacteria and are found to be dependent on the shape of the nanostructures. © 2014 American Chemical Society

Facile LaOF: Sm3+ based labeling agent and their applications in residue chemistry of latent fingerprint and cheiloscopy under UV–visible light

Luminescent lanthanum oxyfluoride nano inorganic materials were considered to be prospective building blocks for multifunctional applications. This offers new potentials in surface-based science comprising of visualization of latent fingerprint (LFPs) and lips print on non-porous surfaces. Traditional visualization techniques possess high backward hindrance, low sensitivity, complicated setup and poor visibility. To overcome with these problems, LaOF:Sm3+ (5 mol%) nanopowder (NPs) prepared via sonochemical route were explored. Photoluminescence (PL) emission spectra exhibit strong emission peaks at ∼566 nm, 607 nm, 653 nm and 708 nm attributed to 4G5/2 → 6H5/2, 4G5/2 → 4H7/2, 4G5/2 → 6H9/2 and 4G5/2 → 6H11/2 intra-4f orbital transitions of Sm3+ ions respectively. Estimated photometric properties confirm that the material emits warm orange red color. Therefore, the synthesized phosphor materials may quite be useful for LFPs recovery, cheiloscopy and optoelectronics applications. Keywords: Ultrasonication, Photoluminescence, Forensic, Cheiloscopy, Solid state lightin

Comparison of structural and luminescence properties of Dy2O3 nanopowders synthesized by co-precipitation and green combustion routes

Dysprosium oxide (Dy2O3) nanopowders were prepared by co-precipitation (CP) and eco-friendly green combustion (GC) routes. SEM micrographs prepared by CP route show smooth rods with various lengths and diameters while, GC route show porous, agglomerated particles. The results were further confirmed by TEM. Thermoluminescence (TL) responses of the nanopowder prepared by both the routes were studied using gamma-rays. A well resolved glow peak at 353 degrees C along with less intense peak at 183 degrees C was observed in GC route while, in CP a single glow peak at 364 degrees C was observed. The kinetic parameters were estimated using Chen's glow peak route. Photoluminescence (PL) of Dy2O3 shows peaks at 481, 577,666 and 756 nm which were attributed to Dy3+ transitions of F-4(9/2)-H-6(15/2), H-6(11/2), H-6(11/2) and H-6(9/2), respectively. Color co-ordinate values were located in the white region as a result the product may be useful for the fabrication of WLED'S. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

ZnO superstructures as an antifungal for effective control of Malassezia furfur, dermatologically prevalent yeast: Prepared by aloe vera assisted combustion method

In this paper, a robust and simple biogenic route has been developed to synthesize self-assembled ZnO superstructures in short intervals of time using naturally available aloe vera plant gel and zinc nitrate as starting materials. The stabilization of zinc ions with polysaccharides wrapped chains along with the support of proteins, lipids and physterols of aloe vera gel followed by combustion derives the ZnO superstructures. The obtained ZnO superstructures show a hexagonal crystal phase and exhibit a semiconducting behavior with the energy band gap varies from 2.92 to 3.08 eV. The aloe vera gel derived ZnO superstructures exhibit unique and strong orange-red emission centered at 600 nm. The better structural, morphological and photoluminescence results are obtained for ZnO prepared with 16.6 W/V of zinc nitrate with aloe vera content compared to other concentrations of aloe vera. The prepared compounds are tested for antimalassezial activity against Malassezia furfur, dermatologically prevalent yeast, and were found to have minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values ranging from 8 to 125 mL. Fluorescence microscopic analysis revealed that yeast cells treated with ZnO superstructures have the chromatin as orange instead of green, showcasing the cell aggregation suggests that ZnO superstructures have an immense potential as an antifungal agent. Hence, the explored method of preparation shows high efficient ZnO superstructures derived from the aloe vera plant gel have potential applications in the medical, biomedical and cosmetic industries. © 2015 American Chemical Society

RNA polymerase II pausing is essential during spermatogenesis for appropriate gene expression and completion of meiosis

Abstract Male germ cell development requires precise regulation of gene activity in a cell-type and stage-specific manner, with perturbations in gene expression during spermatogenesis associated with infertility. Here, we use steady-state, nascent and single-cell RNA sequencing strategies to comprehensively characterize gene expression across male germ cell populations, to dissect the mechanisms of gene control and provide new insights towards therapy. We discover a requirement for pausing of RNA Polymerase II (Pol II) at the earliest stages of sperm differentiation to establish the landscape of gene activity across development. Accordingly, genetic knockout of the Pol II pause-inducing factor NELF in immature germ cells blocks differentiation to spermatids. Further, we uncover unanticipated roles for Pol II pausing in the regulation of meiosis during spermatogenesis, with the presence of paused Pol II associated with double-strand break (DSB) formation, and disruption of meiotic gene expression and DSB repair in germ cells lacking NELF