A case of fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva with sternocleidomastoid muscle calcification

Fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva (FOP) is a rare and disabling genetic condition characterized by congenital skeletalmalformations and progressive heterotopic ossification in humans with no ethnic, racial, gender, or geographic predilection.Diagnosis of this condition can be made clinically in the presence of radiographic evidence of heterotopic ossification along withsymmetrical malformations of the great toes. The course of the disease is unpredictable and often progresses in the early childhoodand patients become immobile and confined to a wheelchair by their twenties. Survival beyond the third decade is uncommon. Wehereby report a case of FOP in a 7½-year-old girl

Thermoluminescence Study of Y2O3: Tb

Nanophosphors were prepared by the combustion technique using yttria and terbia powder as precursors and urea as fuels. The particle is investigated by X-ray diffraction analysis. X-ray diffraction patterns confirm the formation of pure cubic phase of Y2O3 .The resulting product was characterized by FTIR spectra to evaluate the vibrational feature of the sample. TL emission spectra show intense peak around 520 nm

Evaluation of anxiolytic potential of Linum usitatissimum oil in wistar rats

The objective of the present study was to evaluate the anxiolytic potential of the Linum usitatissimum (Flax seed) oil (5ml and 2.5ml/kg) in wistar rats by using Elevated plus maze (EPM) model and 5ml and 10 ml/kg in Lithium induced head twitches model. Experiments were carried out on white inbred Wistar rats (180-200 g). The efficacy of the oil at both the animal models was compared with the standard anxiolytic drugs Diazepam (0.5 mg/kg). The result showed that the oil significantly increased the number of entries and time spent in the open arm in the elevated plus maze. Similarly in Lithium induced head twitches model administration of oil decreases the no. of head twitches. Present study confirms that the extract showed significant anxiolytic activity at both dose levels which is comparable with standard anxiolytic Diazepam

Clinical outcome of unilateral versus bilateral laparoscopic ovarian drilling in clomiphene citrate resistant cases of polycystic ovarian syndrome: a comparative study

Background: The aim of the current study is to compare the efficacy of laparoscopic unilateral ovarian drilling with bilateral ovarian drilling in clomiphene citrate resistant cases of polycystic ovarian syndrome in terms of clinical response, change in biochemical parameters, ovulation rate, pregnancy rate and miscarriage rate.Methods: The study was conducted on 45 women with anovulatory infertility due to PCOS with clomiphene citrate resistance. By random selection, all patients were divided in two groups. In group 1, unilateral ovarian drilling was done and in group 2, bilateral ovarian drilling was done. A maximum of 5 drills were performed using insulated unipolar diathermy needle. Patients were followed up for one year and the clinical outcome in two groups were recorded and compared.Results: Post ovarian drilling it was seen that no major differences were noted between the two groups in return of spontaneous menstruation at 6 weeks (65% vs 60%), overall ovulation rate (55% vs 65%) and pregnancy rate (45% vs 40%). The mean fall in serum LH, serum FSH and serum testosterone were also similar in the two groups.Conclusions: Unilateral laparoscopic ovarian drilling had similar efficacy as bilateral laparoscopic ovarian drilling in terms of restoration of normal menstrual pattern, ovulation and achieving pregnancy. It is an effective alternative minimally invasive procedure for patients with resistant PCOS

Study of drug use in outdoor pediatric patients of upper respiratory tract infections in a tertiary care hospital

Background: Upper respiratory tract infections (URTI) are the most common and frequent occurring infections in the pediatric population. URTI is mostly viral in origin and requires mostly symptomatic treatment. The present study was undertaken to analyze the pattern of drug use in the management of URTI in the pediatric age group.Methods: It is a retrospective study to assess the pattern of drug use in URTI in pediatric outpatient department during the 5 months period from January 2015 to May 2015.Results: A total of 2256 prescriptions were analyzed. Most of the pediatric patients belonged to 1-5 years age group and 58.33% were males, and 41.66% were females. A total of 6332 drugs were prescribed out of which the antibiotics used was 1341. The average number of drugs per prescription used was 2.81. The percentage of prescriptions containing antibiotics was found to be 59.44%. Amoxicillin (70.91%) was the most frequent prescribed antibiotic followed by cotrimoxazole (10.21%). Antihistaminic and expectorant combinations were found to be the most common prescribed class of drugs (29.34%) followed by analgesic and antipyretics (26.45%) and antibiotics (21.17%).Conclusions: The study revealed that the majority of children were below 5 years of age. The most common class of drugs prescribed was antihistaminics and expectorant combinations followed by analgesics and antipyretics. Although the majority of the patients received antibiotics, 40.55% of patients received symptomatic treatment. This is a welcome step as inappropriate use of the antibiotics can potentiate to the increasing trend of antimicrobial resistance

Mechanoluminescence properties of SrAl2O4: Tb3+ phosphor

Through the execution of experimental investigation, Mechanoluminescence of SrAl2O4:Tb3+ phosphor was studied which is synthesized by combustion method. In the observation, the peak value of ML depends on the different impact velocity. It was seen that at 55 cm height, the maximum peak of ML is obtained.&nbsp

SNAI2/Slug promotes growth and invasion in human gliomas

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Numerous factors that contribute to malignant glioma invasion have been identified, but the upstream genes coordinating this process are poorly known.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>To identify genes controlling glioma invasion, we used genome-wide mRNA expression profiles of primary human glioblastomas to develop an expression-based rank ordering of 30 transcription factors that have previously been implicated in the regulation of invasion and metastasis in cancer.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Using this approach, we identified the oncogenic transcriptional repressor, <it>SNAI2</it>/Slug, among the upper tenth percentile of invasion-related transcription factors overexpressed in glioblastomas. <it>SNAI2 </it>mRNA expression correlated with histologic grade and invasive phenotype in primary human glioma specimens, and was induced by EGF receptor activation in human glioblastoma cells. Overexpression of <it>SNAI2/</it>Slug increased glioblastoma cell proliferation and invasion <it>in vitro </it>and promoted angiogenesis and glioblastoma growth <it>in vivo</it>. Importantly, knockdown of endogenous <it>SNAI2</it>/Slug in glioblastoma cells decreased invasion and increased survival in a mouse intracranial human glioblastoma transplantation model.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This genome-scale approach has thus identified <it>SNAI2</it>/Slug as a regulator of growth and invasion in human gliomas.</p

Transcription factors that mediate epithelial–mesenchymal transition lead to multidrug resistance by upregulating ABC transporters

Development of multidrug resistance (MDR) is a major deterrent in the effective treatment of metastatic cancers by chemotherapy. Even though MDR and cancer invasiveness have been correlated, the molecular basis of this link remains obscure. We show here that treatment with chemotherapeutic drugs increases the expression of several ATP binding cassette transporters (ABC transporters) associated with MDR, as well as epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) markers, selectively in invasive breast cancer cells, but not in immortalized or non-invasive cells. Interestingly, the mere induction of an EMT in immortalized and non-invasive cell lines increased their expression of ABC transporters, migration, invasion, and drug resistance. Conversely, reversal of EMT in invasive cells by downregulating EMT-inducing transcription factors reduced their expression of ABC transporters, invasion, and rendered them more chemosensitive. Mechanistically, we demonstrate that the promoters of ABC transporters carry several binding sites for EMT-inducing transcription factors, and overexpression of Twist, Snail, and FOXC2 increases the promoter activity of ABC transporters. Furthermore, chromatin immunoprecipitation studies revealed that Twist binds directly to the E-box elements of ABC transporters. Thus, our study identifies EMT inducers as novel regulators of ABC transporters, thereby providing molecular insights into the long-standing association between invasiveness and MDR. Targeting EMT transcription factors could hence serve as novel strategies to curb both metastasis and the associated drug resistance