Profile of Pediatric Kidney Transplantation at a Tertiary Care Centre in Southern India

Introduction: Renal transplantation offers the best chance of survival to children with End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD). Patient survival and growth are superior in children with a renal allograft compared to dialysis. The aim of the study was to evaluate the outcomes of pediatric transplants done at a tertiary care hospital in Kochi, India over the study period.Materials and Methods: In this retrospective study, the data of children who underwent renal transplantation at Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences from 2002 to 2016 Kochi were analyzed.Results: Thirty-four children underwent renal transplantation over a 14-year period. Thirty-three underwent live related transplant whereas one underwent deceased donor transplantation. The mean age and weight of the recipients at transplantation was 14.3 years and 35.7 kg, respectively. Fourteen children were boys and twenty were girls. Thirty-one patients underwent hemodialysis prior to transplant, 2 were taken up preemptively, and 1 patient was on continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis. There were 5 documented urinary tract infections. No surgical complications were noted in the immediate post-transplant period. There were 5 episodes of acute rejection (14.7%). Two cases experienced Delayed Graft Function and the patient survival rate was 100%.Conclusions: Renal transplantation is a viable option to manage children with ESRD with satisfactory long term results and can be done in a developing nation’s set-up. Keywords: Kidney transplantation; India; Child

DETERMINANTS OF PRIORITY SECTOR LENDING OF INDIAN PUBLIC SECTOR BANKS: AN ECONOMETRIC ANALYSIS

Compulsory sanctioning credit or priority sector lending (PSL) is part of the regulatory framework for commercial banks/ financial institutions in many countries, both developing and developed. However, compliance and lending effectiveness of such programs may be determined by a number of factors. This may be particularly so in developing countries, where availability of finance for the vulnerable sectors likes agriculture, small businesses, weaker sections, are scarce. The present paper aims at examining the patterns of priority sector lending by banks, with a view to identifying the factors which determine this lending The paper is based on an analysis of secondary data relating to priority sector lending (2006-07-2015-16) for the Public sector banks in India. The results indicate gaps in patterns of the sect oral target compliance by different bank groups, along with the lending preferences and challenges faced by banks in such lending. It also identifies bank-specific characteristics like the nature of ownership, size, performance, etc., which have a significant impact on the priority sector lending patterns. Based on its findings, the paper offers policy suggestions for improving the effectiveness of priority sector lending program

An overview of research on plant based natural dyes in Nepal: scope and challenges

The worldwide demand of natural dyes is of great interest due to the increased public awareness about the atmospheric and environmental pollution caused by the commercially available synthetic dyes. Nepal being wealthy in flora, would be fine research laboratory land for the plant based natural dyes. Among most of the natural dyes, plant-based dyes/pigments have wide range of applications in fabric, food, drug coloring, therapeutic values and also in solar cells in presence of different mordants. The use of mordant is inevitable during natural dyeing process in order to improve the fastness properties on fabrics, foods and drugs by forming a co-ordination complex with dye. In this article, a short overview of plant based natural dyes extraction applications and their scope and limitations will be discussed with special reference to Nepal. In the present review, the green methods of dye extraction, and dyeing technologies will be discussed, and the research fields based on natural dyes will be explored. Some of the natural dyes has also shown the antimicrobial, antioxidant, antifungal properties and hence are also discussed with biomedical applications. &nbsp

Deuteron Structure and Form Factors: Using Inverse Potentials for S-waves

In this paper, we determine deuteron's static properties, low energy scattering parameters, total cross-section and form factors from inverse S-wave potentials constructed using Morse function. The scattering phase shifts (SPS) at different lab energies are determined using phase function method. The model parameters are optimised using both machine learning algorithm and traditional data analysis by choosing mean squared error as cost function. The mean absolute error between experimental and obtained SPS for states 3S1 and 1S0 are found to be 0.35 and 0.70 respectively. The low energy scattering parameters are matching well with expected values. The contribution due to S-waves SPS towards total cross-section at various energies have been obtained and are matching well with experimental values. The analytical ground state deuteron wave-function (DWF) is obtained by utilizing the experimental value for Quadrupole moment. Other static properties and form factors determined from obtained DWF are found to be in close agreement with experimental ones.Comment: 29 pages, 5 Figures, 8 Table

In vitro hypoglycemic effects of unripe and ripe fruits of Musa sapientum

The present study was undertaken to verify the hypoglycemic potential of unripe and ripe fruit extracts of Musa sapientum by using various in-vitro techniques, namely glucose adsorption capacity, glucose diffusion, amylolysis kinetics and glucose transport across the yeast cells. The results revealed that the unripe and ripe fruit extracts of Musa sapientum adsorbed glucose and the adsorption of glucose increased remarkably with an increase in glucose concentration. There were no significant (p≤0.05) differences between their adsorption capacities. In the amylolysis kinetic experimental model the rate of glucose diffusion was found to be increased with time from 30 to 180 min and both extracts exhibited significant inhibitory effects on the movement of glucose into external solution across the dialysis membrane as compared to control. The plant extracts also promoted glucose uptake by the yeast cells and enhancement of glucose uptake was dependent on both the sample and glucose concentration. The hypoglycemic effect exhibited by the extracts was observed to be mediated by inhibiting α-amylase, inhibiting glucose diffusion by adsorbing glucose and by increasing glucose transport across the cell membranes as revealed by an in-vitro model of yeast cells

EFFECT OF C-GLYCOSYL FLAVONE FROM URGINEA INDICA ON ANTIBIOTIC INDUCED MICROBIAL CELL DEATH

Objective: The aim of the present study was to isolate and characterize C-glycosyl flavone from Urgenia. indica bulb and to evaluate its effect on microbial cell growth.Methods: Methanolic extract of U. indica bulb was prepared using Soxhlation. Isolation was performed using silica gel column chromatography, and characterization was done based on IR, NMR and mass spectral data. The effect of C-glycosyl flavone was evaluated on microbial growth inhibition C-glycosyl flavone in terms of cytotoxicity, cell membrane damage, and cell death.Results: The results indicates that O-glycosyl flavanone (5,41-di hydroxyl-31-methoxy-7-O-[(α-L-rhamnosyl-(1[11]1-6[11])-β-D-glucopyranosyl)] flavanone), O-glycosyl flavone (5,41-dihydroxy-31-methoxy-7-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl flavone) and C-glycosyl flavone (5,7-dihydroxy-2-[41-hydroxy-31-(methoxymethyl) phenyl]-6-C-β-glucopyranosyl flavones) showed significantly sensitivity against Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, Rhizopus oryzae and Aspergillus niger. Synergism of C-glycosyl flavone on antibacterial activity of ciprofloxacin with the FIC index of 0.3 against S. aureus and 0.5 against B. subtilis. Antifungal activity of clotrimazole with the FIC index 0.3 against R. oryzae and 0.48 against A. niger. C-glycosyl flavone increased the ciprofloxacin-induced cytotoxicity from 63 to 91% against S. aureus and 56 to 89% against B. subtilis, whereas clotrimazole is induced cytotoxicity from 36 to 49% against R. oryzae and 23 to 41% against A. niger. C-glycosyl flavone increased the ciprofloxacin-induced cell death in S. aureus and B. subtilis and clotrimazole induced cell death in R. oryzae and A. niger as evident by propidium iodide staining, Tunel positive cells, and cytoplasmic membrane damage.Conclusion: The present investigation provides scientific and rationalism for the folkloric use of U. indica as an antimicrobial agent.Keywords: Antimicrobial, Synergism, Cytotoxicity, Cytoplasmic membrane damage and cell deathÂ

Developing hyperpolarized silicon particles for in vivo MRI targeting of ovarian cancer

Silicon-based nanoparticles are ideally suited for use as biomedical imaging agents due to their biocompatibility, biodegradability, and simple surface chemistry that facilitates drug loading and targeting. A method of hyperpolarizing silicon particles using dynamic nuclear polarization, which increases magnetic resonance imaging signals by several orders-of-magnitude through enhanced nuclear spin alignment, has recently been developed to allow silicon particles to function as contrast agents for in vivo magnetic resonance imaging. The enhanced spin polarization of silicon lasts significantly longer than other hyperpolarized agents (tens of minutes, wherea

Dosimetric and radiobiological comparison for quality assurance of IMRT and VMAT plans

INTRODUCTION: The gamma analysis used for quality assurance of a complex radiotherapy plan examines the dosimetric equivalence between planned and measured dose distributions within some tolerance. This study explores whether the dosimetric difference is correlated with any radiobiological difference between delivered and planned dose. METHODS: VMAT or IMRT plans optimized for 14 cancer patients were calculated and delivered to a QA device. Measured dose was compared against planned dose using 2-D gamma analysis. Dose volume histograms (for various patient structures) obtained by interpolating measured data were compared against the planned ones using a 3-D gamma analysis. Dose volume histograms were used in the Poisson model to calculate tumor control probability for the treatment targets and in the Sigmoid dose-response model to calculate normal tissue complication probability for the organs at risk. RESULTS: Differences in measured and planned dosimetric data for the patient plans passing at ≥94.9% rate at 3%/3 mm criteria are not statistically significant. Average ± standard deviation tumor control probabilities based on measured and planned data are 65.8±4.0% and 67.8±4.1% for head and neck, and 71.9±2.7% and 73.3±3.1% for lung plans, respectively. The differences in tumor control probabilities obtained from measured and planned dose are statistically insignificant. However, the differences in normal tissue complication probabilities for larynx, lungs-GTV, heart, and cord are statistically significant for the patient plans meeting ≥94.9% passing criterion at 3%/3 mm. CONCLUSION: A ≥90% gamma passing criterion at 3%/3 mm cannot assure the radiobiological equivalence between planned and delivered dose. These results agree with the published literature demonstrating the inadequacy of the criterion for dosimetric QA and suggest for a tighter tolerance

The use of the normal tissue non-complication probability (NTCP0) methodology as a new alternative of assessing side-effects in brachytherapy treatments

Background: The NTCP methodology evaluating side-effects (S-Es) was initially used in radiotherapy (RT), and later was extended to brachytherapy (BT). The NTCP0 methodology has been recently introduced in RT. Given the advantages, this methodology could replace NTCP. Materials and methods: Revisions of studies related to use of NTCP in the evaluations of S-Es in BT. Development of the first versions of two Matlab applications of the NTCP0 methodology. These applications have three options. Two of them employ the well-known aspects of a phenomenological model, or the probabilistic relationship between NTCP0 and total NTCP (TNTCP) that is the sum(NTCP(xi)) i: ith complication i:1..nc: Number of complications; where NTCP0 = 100% – TNTCP; and the third option assumes a NTCP(xi) discrete probabilistic distribution generated by the binomial distribution, where one of its parameters is automatically obtained from a databased of the Disease locations Vs. Late complications. Results: The NTCP0cal and NTCP0calDr Matlab applications have been developed, and respectively used for fractional continuous low dose-rate BT. Conclusions: NTCP0 is defined as the ratio of the number of patients without acute/late complications and total of them, and also can be obtained using our Matlab applications. NTCP0 works do not disregard the last 10–15 years of NTCP research; but NTCP0 was not considered during these years. A generic example was used for showing the variations of the late complications and NTCP0 for a BT treatment of a constant number of fractions and six different dose per fraction values