A COMPARISON OF LEUPROLIDE ACETATE VERSUS BILATERAL ORCHIECTOMY FOR PATIENTS WITH METASTATIC PROSTATE CANCER

ABSTRACTObjective: Prostate cancer is the most common visceral malignancy and leading cause of cancer‑related death in men. Androgen deprivation therapyis the established treatment of metastatic prostate cancer and has different approaches in the reduction of androgen activity including surgicalcastration (bilateral orchiectomy) and medical castration (luteinizing hormone‑releasing hormone agonists/antagonists). Our purpose was to studythe clinical profile, effectiveness, and outcome of South Indian patients with metastatic prostate cancer undergoing treatment with surgical andmedical castration.Methods: A total of 30 surgical and 30 medical castration patients diagnosed with metastatic prostate cancer between (2008 and 2009) were followedup to 5 years. Serum prostate specific antigen (PSA) levels at the time of the first diagnosis, post‑treatment nadir PSA levels, time to nadir PSA, timeto hormonal resistance between the study groups were assessed, retrospectively. The Kaplan–Meier method was used with log‑rank test for survivalrate calculations. Gleason score, PSA levels, skeletal‑related events, and sites of metastasis of the study groups were studied.Result: The average survival time after medical castration was 60 months and 42 months for surgical castration. No significant difference could beestablished between the groups. Bone was the most common site of metastasis and radiation was the major skeletal‑related events in medical groups.Conclusion: There were no statistical differences between the groups in terms of treatment modalities in metastatic prostate cancer.Keywords: ??

New fruit and seed disorders in Papaya (Carica papaya L.) in India

Systematic field screening was conducted in 14 important papaya germplasm lines to observe the severity of bumpy fruit incidence. The disease severity, fruit yield and economic losses due to physiological disorders were observed. Pune Selection-3 was most sensitive (64.6%) for the disorder while Pusa Selection Red was most tolerant (4.2%). The maximum yield was obtained in Pune Selection-3 (62 kg/plant) while lowest yield in Mokama Local (20 kg/plant). The lowest market acceptability and highest economic loss were also observed in Pune Selection-3 (Rs. 3.3/kg and 11, 21,580/ha, respectively) due to highest incidence of bumpy fruit disorder as compared to other germplasm. The highest frequency of deformed seeds/fruit (83.6%) and economic loss (Rs. 84,400/ha) under fruit production for market was noticed during February, while the lowest deformed seeds/fruit (2.7%) were observed during December. The maximum incidence of vivipary and white seed disorders were observed during May (13.4 and 75.7%, respectively) while least incidence was observed in February and March (10 and 5%, respectively). The increased incidence of vivipary was observed in harvested fruits from February to May with increasing average monthly temperature. The low and high temperatures during seed maturation period aggravate deformed and vivipary seeds, respectively.Keywords: Carica papaya, physiological disorders, bumpy, vivipary, white seedsAfrican Journal of Biotechnology, Vol. 13(4), pp. 574-580, 22 January, 201

A retrospective analysis of acute organophosphorus poisoning cases admitted to the tertiary care teaching hospital in South India

Objectives: We have herein reported our experience with the pattern of presentation of cases of acute organophosphorus (OP) poisoning cases in a tertiary care hospital.Materials and Methods: This retrospective study evaluated the hospital records of patients with acute OP poisoning. In a pre-structured proforma, data regarding age, sex, time elapsed after intake, circumstances of poisoning, duration of hospitalization, severity, complications, and outcome of the patients were recorded. The data were presented as mean ± standard deviation, entered in the open office datasheet, and analyzed with PSPP software.Results: A total 101 patients were included in the study. Young adult males were more commonly involved than females (M:F 2.5:1). The mean age of the patients was 28 years (range 2-72 years, SD ± 14.3 years). Mean time to receive treatment was 5.2 ± 7.4 (range 1-48 h). About 45.5% patients received first aid before coming to the hospital. The reason was suicide in 88.1% cases and accident in 12 (11.9%, all children). Seventy-nine  patients received pralidoxime (PAM) and the mean duration was 1.7 ± 1.1 (range 1-4 days). Atropine was given in all patients. Mean duration was 5.1 ± 3.1 (range 1-19 days). Mean hospital stay was 7.5 ± 4.7 days (range 1-26 days). Mortality was 9.9% in the present series.Conclusion: Although the present study contribute substantial information regarding the epidemiology and outcome of acute OP poisoning in a tertiary care teaching hospital at a district level, its relatively small sample size and the retrospective record-based nature are the major limitations of the present study. There is a further need for prospective studies to understand the underlying socio-economic factors responsible for acute OP poisoning in our population, and, accordingly, address the problems to reduce the incidence of acute OP poisoning cases.Keywords: Acute poisoning, organophosphate poisoning pattern, outcome, tertiary care hospita

Assessment of Antisocial Behaviour in the Juveniles

Background: High level of crime, particularly by the people below 18 years, has been a matter of concern for many years. Assessing and preventing the antisocial behaviour in juveniles has become a policy priority.Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted on 52 males less than 18 years in an observation home in Bangalore, India. The data was collected in an interview by filling a semi structured questionnaire. Revised Wisconsin Delinquency Risk Assessment Scale (RWDRAS) was filled up simultaneously and then results were analysed.Results: Majority of the offenders were in the age group 16-18 years. In the majority the cause for antisocial behaviour was unknown followed by the family problems and poverty. The RWDRAS identified 47% of the juveniles with antisocial behaviour as low risk group.Conclusion: The Education, counselling and prevention of poverty are some of the preventive measures of antisocial behaviour. There is a need to develop a better criteria and scale for the diagnosis of antisocial behaviour as the presently used RWDRAS failed in 47% of the juveniles

Generalised risk-sensitive control with full and partial state observation

This paper generalises the risk-sensitive cost functional by introducing noise dependent penalties on the state and control variables. The optimal control problems for the full and partial state observation are considered. Using a change of probability measure approach, explicit closed-form solutions are found in both cases. This has resulted in a new risk-sensitive regulator and filter, which are generalisations of the well-known classical results

INSULIN SECRETAGOGUE EFFECT OF ROOTS OF RAVENALA MADAGASCARIENSIS SONN. - AN IN VITRO STUDY

Objective: The objective of this study was to establish the cytotoxicity profile and to evaluate the insulin secretagogue effect of ethanolic root extract of Ravenala madagascariensis Sonn. Methods: The cell viability of rat insulinoma 5F (RIN5F) cell lines over the treatment of plant extract was assessed by 3-(4,5-dimethyl-2-thiazolyl)- 2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay. The insulin-releasing effect was evaluated by insulin secretion assay over RIN5F cell lines by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Results: The ethanolic extract of the roots of R. madagascariensis Sonn. showed negligible cytotoxicity at 20–40 μg/ml, and hence, concentrations up to 40 μg/ml were used in insulin secretion assay. The ethanolic root extract at 20 and 40 μg/ml significantly (p<0.05 compared to control) stimulated the insulin release in a dose-dependent manner even in the presence of glucose at lower and higher concentrations (5 and 10 mM). Conclusion: Thus, our results validate its traditional claim in the treatment of diabetes by stimulating the secretion of insulin, thereby suggesting a possible mechanism of its antidiabetic effect

Graphene-wrapped sulfur/metal organic framework-derived microporous carbon composite for lithium sulfur batteries

A three-dimensional hierarchical sandwich-type graphene sheet-sulfur/carbon (GS-S/CZIF8-D) composite for use in a cathode for a lithium sulfur (Li-S) battery has been prepared by an ultrasonic method. The microporous carbon host was prepared by a one-step pyrolysis of Zeolitic Imidazolate Framework-8 (ZIF-8), a typical zinc-containing metal organic framework (MOF), which offers a tunable porous structure into which electro-active sulfur can be diffused. The thin graphene sheet, wrapped around the sulfur/zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 derived carbon (S/CZIF8-D) composite, has excellent electrical conductivity and mechanical flexibility, thus facilitating rapid electron transport and accommodating the changes in volume of the sulfur electrode. Compared with the S/CZIF8-D sample, Li-S batteries with the GS-S/CZIF8-D composite cathode showed enhanced capacity, improved electrochemical stability, and relatively high columbic efficiency by taking advantage of the synergistic effects of the microporous carbon from ZIF-8 and a highly interconnected graphene network. Our results demonstrate that a porous MOF-derived scaffold with a wrapped graphene conductive network structure is a potentially efficient design for a battery electrode that can meet the challenge arising from low conductivity and volume change.National Science Foundation of China (21373028)This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from American Institute of Physics Publishing via http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.490175

On the role of different Skyrme forces and surface corrections in exotic cluster-decay

We present cluster decay studies of $^{56}$Ni$^*$ formed in heavy-ion collisions using different Skyrme forces. Our study reveals that different Skyrme forces do not alter the transfer structure of fractional yields significantly. The cluster decay half-lives of different clusters lies within \pm 10% for PCM and \pm 15% for UFM.Comment: 13 pages,6 figures and 1 table; in press Pramana Journal of Physics (2010