Histological development of ligamentum teres and its vascularisation in the human fetuses

Background: Ligamentum teres is the ligament of the hip joint. It is flat and triangular in shape. The ligamentum teres starts developing in the fetal life during 10-11 weeks. The present work was undertaken chiefly to gain insight into the pattern of sequential development of ligamentum teres and to compare the findings of other authors with the observations made in the present study and to correlate these findings clinically to find out the function of ligamentum teres.Methods: The present study was undertaken on 40 fetuses of varying gestational periods collected from the operation theatre, labour room and obstetrics wards of department of Gynaecology and Obstetrics, Government Medical College, Jammu and other areas of Jammu, 10% Formalin was used as preservative. The hip joints of both the sides were dissected carefully. 5% solution of Gooding and Stewart’s was used for decalcification. Paraffin wax embedding method was used for preparing the tissue for section cutting. Staining was done by Harri’s Hematoxylin and Eosin stain and Masson’s Trichrome stain. The slides were then examined under microscope for important findings.Results: The ligamentum teres is seen by 10½ weeks. Blood vessels appear in 12½ weeks. Ramification of blood vessels in this ligament is seen by 21½ weeks. Through this ligament, the blood vessels are seen limited up to the fovea capitis femoris by about 16½ weeks and by 18½ weeks they penetrate deep into the head of femur. Ligamentum teres is lined by thin synovial membrane at 19th week.Conclusions: The ligamentum teres develops by 10½ weeks. It arises in-situ as it develops in the same position as it occupies in the adult but as age advances, it shows much differentiation and resembles the adult features

Unilateral higher division of sciatic nerve and its clinical importance

The sciatic nerve has a long course right from the pelvis to the apex of the popliteal fossa. The point of division of the sciatic nerve into tibial and common peroneal nerves is very variable. The variation in the division of the sciatic nerve described in the present study should be helpful for anaesthetists and orthopaedic surgeons. While doing the dissection and teaching of the gluteal region in the Post Graduate Department of Anatomy, government medical college, Jammu, it was found that on the left side tibial nerve and common peroneal nerve were present instead of sciatic nerve. It meant that the main nerve that is the sciatic nerve had already been divided into its terminal branches in the pelvis region. Both tibial and common peroneal nerve were seen coming out of the pelvis below the piriformis muscle, while on the right side there were no variation. The sciatic nerve was seen coming out of the pelvis below the piriformis muscle as usual. Because of this high division of the sciatic nerve in the pelvis, there are many complications like failed sciatic nerve block during anaesthesia while performing surgery, but high division of the sciatic nerve may result in escape of either tibial nerve or common peroneal nerve. The gluteal region, back of the thigh and leg of the lower limb were dissected to study further course of tibial nerve and the common peroneal nerve. Photographs were also taken

Teaching the Smartphone Generation: How Cognitive Science Can Improve Learning in Law School

Today’s law student enters law school as a digital native, constantly “plugged in” and accessing information at a moment’s notice, often during class time itself. Yet scholars agree that these students are entering law school with weaker reading and reasoning skills than prior generations, due in large part to the way students multitask through life. This article aims to address the problems caused by the intersection of these two issues by applying cognitive learning theory to the law school environment. Part One examines the characteristics of our current students by describing their skills and learning styles upon arriving at law school. Part Two examines cognitive learning theory insofar as it can inform our teaching andragogy: specifically, how do today’s students learn, how can we help our students learn better, and what effect does their multitasking have on learning? The final section suggests ways for students and educators to better translate the information offered in class into knowledge. Ultimately, this article suggests teaching students about metacognition and effective study techniques while also encouraging professors to design and plan their courses by adopting cognitive learning theories and using more visual aids, visual exercises, and assessments to help students better learn the material

Decreasing glioma recurrence through adjuvant cancer stem cell inhibition

Gliomas remain one of the most challenging solid organ tumors to treat and are marked clinically by invariable recurrence despite multimodal intervention (surgery, chemotherapy, radiation). This recurrence perhaps, is as a consequence of the failure to eradicate a tumor cell subpopulation, termed cancer stem cells. Isolating, characterizing, and understanding these tumor-initiating cells through cellular and molecular markers, along with genetic and epigenetic understanding will allow for selective targeting through therapeutic agents and holds promise for decreasing glioma recurrence

Teaching the Smartphone Generation: How Cognitive Science Can Improve Learning in Law School

Today’s law student enters law school as a digital native, constantly “plugged in” and accessing information at a moment’s notice, often during class time itself. Yet scholars agree that these students are entering law school with weaker reading and reasoning skills than prior generations, due in large part to the way students multitask through life. This article aims to address the problems caused by the intersection of these two issues by applying cognitive learning theory to the law school environment. Part One examines the characteristics of our current students by describing their skills and learning styles upon arriving at law school. Part Two examines cognitive learning theory insofar as it can inform our teaching andragogy: specifically, how do today’s students learn, how can we help our students learn better, and what effect does their multitasking have on learning? The final section suggests ways for students and educators to better translate the information offered in class into knowledge. Ultimately, this article suggests teaching students about metacognition and effective study techniques while also encouraging professors to design and plan their courses by adopting cognitive learning theories and using more visual aids, visual exercises, and assessments to help students better learn the material

Stem cells and the origin of gliomas: A historical reappraisal with molecular advancements.

The biology of both normal and tumor development clearly possesses overlapping and parallel features. Oncogenes and tumor suppressors are relevant not only in tumor biology, but also in physiological developmental regulators of growth and differentiation. Conversely, genes identified as regulators of developmental biology are relevant to tumor biology. This is particularly relevant in the context of brain tumors, where recent evidence is mounting that the origin of brain tumors, specifically gliomas, may represent dysfunctional developmental neurobiology. Neural stem cells are increasingly being investigated as the cell type that originally undergoes malignant transformation - the cell of origin - and the evidence for this is discussed

Chronic leptomeningitis and spinal intradural mass secondary to Alternaria infection in a patient with ventriculoperitoneal shunt

Fungal infection following placement of ventriculostomy or ventriculoperitoneal (VP) shunt is uncommon. We report the first case of Alternaria related central nervous system (CNS) shunt infection in a patient with CNS ependymoma manifesting as leptomeningitis and a spinal intradural mass. This case illustrates the diagnostic and management challenges

Diagnostic utility of semen analysis in infertile couples: a prospective study

Background: Infertility is defined as a failure to conceive after at least 12 months of unprotected intercourse. It is broadly established that 40% cases of infertility has male factor. Semen analyses is an imperative diagnostic tool in the valuation of the male partners of infertile couples.Methods: We carried out a prospective study wherein semen analyses of the male partners of infertile couples presented to Department of Pathology, Government Medical College and Associate Hospital, Jammu was done. A total of 300 cases were studied and comparison of each abnormality and combined defects were subjected to incidence distribution.Results: We analysed 300 samples in this study. Mean age of the men was 32.5 years. Duration of infertility in (200; 66.6%) was seen in men married for less than 5 years, (84; 28%) between 5-10 years of married life and there were (16; 5.3%) with more than 10 years of infertility period after marriage. Addiction to alcohol made the majority in our study (187; 62.3%), followed by tobacco chewing and addiction to both tobacco chewing and alcohol consumption (89; 29.6%) and (24; 8%), respectively, men were amongst those with abnormal seminograms.Conclusions: Male infertility is an alarming global health issue. Males contribute towards infertility in couples significantly and further study and assessment is required to accurately predict the importance of this

Histomorphological spectrum of fungal infections

Background: Fungal infections have become very common resulting in a wide range of diseases from superficial infections to invasive fungal lesions. These organisms are now capable of affecting not only the immunocompromised patients but also healthy immune-competent individuals. All other non-culture methods except histologic method cannot detect all the types of fungi and are not available widely especially in developing countries like India.Methods: This retrospective study conducted in the department of Pathology for a period of 5 years. A total of 29 cases were studied. The aim of this study was to detect the type of fungal infections and their distribution according to age, sex, and organ involvement in histopathologic specimens received in our department.Results: Twenty-nine cases with fungal infections were studied. Of these (22; 75.8%) were males, (7; 24.1%) were females with male dominance. The cases displayed extensive range of age prevalence between 12 and 77 years. The most common type of fungal infection encountered in this study was mucormycosis. The most common site involved in infection was maxillary sinus. Maxillary sinus was the most common site for mucormycosis.Conclusions: The histopathologic examination can provide a swift provisional identification of infectious fungal organisms and remains the only existing reliable means to identify certain pathogens