Expression of MUC5AC in normal gastric mucosa, intestinal metaplasia and gastric carcinoma by immunohistochemistry

Background: Carcinomas of the stomach are a heterogeneous group of lesions in terms of architecture, pattern of growth, cell differentiation, and histogenesis. Altered MUC5AC expression patterns have been reported previously in intestinal metaplasia as well as in gastric cancer. The aim of the study was to analyse the expression pattern of MUC5AC in normal, pre-neoplastic and neoplastic gastric epithelium.Methods: Formalin fixed paraffin embedded sections of sixty cases which include twenty cases of each normal gastric mucosa, intestinal metaplasia and gastric carcinoma were taken up for the study and subjected to immunohistochemistry using MUC5AC.Results: The intensity of MUC5AC immunostaining in normal gastric mucosa, intestinal metaplasia and gastric carcinoma was evaluated. Immunoreactivity was graded as 0 (negative), ± (trace positive), + (positive) or ++ (strongly positive). Statistical analysis was performed with Chi-Square test and significant differences were noted between these 3 groups (p value <0.05).Conclusions: Authors concluded that MUC5AC expression rates might be good parameters in progression of intestinal metaplasia to gastric carcinoma and might be a good prognostic marker for gastric carcinoma as it is very well implicated in understanding of gastric carcinogenesis

Short term results of a single autologous whole blood injection for treatment of resistant tennis elbow

Background: Lateral epicondylitis commonly called tennis elbow is a common cause of elbow pain and involves degeneration of common extensor origin with no unanimously supported algorithm for the treatment. Recently, autologous blood injection has been reported for the treatment of resistant cases. We present the short term results of a single shot of autologous whole blood for the treatment of resistant tennis elbow.Methods: The study was conducted on 56 patients who fulfilled the other inclusion criteria’s. 2 ml of autologous whole blood was introduced just proximal to the lateral epicondyle and the contents were injected on the under surface of the extensor carpi radialis group of muscles. Pain severity using VAS and Nirschl Staging was assessed before injection and re-evaluation was done at 4 weeks, 12 weeks and 6 months.Results: Before the procedure average pain score was 7.5(range 5-9). The average Nirschl stage was 5.5 (range 4-7). After autologous blood injections the average pain score decreased to 4 at 4 weeks, 2.8 at 12 weeks and 2.5 at 6 months. The average Nirschl stage decreased to 3.53 at 4 weeks, 2.45 at 12 weeks and 2.3 at 6months. The reduction was statistically significant (p&lt;0.001). 28 out of 56 patients (50%) were completely relieved of pain with a pain score of 0 at 6 months. There was no major complication.Conclusions: A single injection of autologous whole blood for resistant tennis elbow is an economical and effective treatment and has an excellent safety profile

Global Landscape of Open Access Repositories

Purpose: The present study attempts to highlight the status of “open access repositories” globally. Methodology: Present study is based on the data gathered from “open-DOAR”. Data gathered was thoroughly analyzed based on chosen parameters, viz., “Geographical distribution”, “Software usage”, “Language diversity”, “Operational status”, “Repository type”, “Content type” and “Subjects archived”. Findings: Open access repositories (OARs) have witnessed potential growth trends particularly in developed countries. The findings reveal that “USA” is the leading country with the largest number of repositories and “Europe” is the leading continent in contribution towards OARs. The study also reveals that the “DSpace” is one of the foremost software used by OARs and the maximum score of repositories are operationally functional and intuitional. Moreover, the study reveals that the majority of deposited contents are “journal articles” and “English” is the prominent language interface used by OARs and “multidisciplinary” subject’s leads in open DOAR. Research Limitation: The status of the open access repositories will be limited to only those repositories which have been indexed by “OpenDOAR”. Future Research: The study provides wider perspective of open access repositories and further, can be enriched by including research facets like, content management policies, and impact of OARs on scholarly communication

Exploring satisfaction and outcomes in rhinoplasty: experience from a tertiary care hospital in Kashmir valley, India

Background: Augmentation rhinoplasty is a popular yet challenging procedure that aims to improve both the nasal appearance and quality of life of patients. The purpose of this study was to examine the satisfaction and outcome after augmentation rhinoplasty at a tertiary care hospital in Kashmir valley. Methods: The study was conducted at a tertiary care hospital in Kashmir valley among patients who underwent the procedure using autologous cartilage grafts at the ENT department from October 2021 to December 2021. The sample size was 56. The patients age, gender, pre-operative findings, surgical techniques, post-operative outcomes, complications, and corrective interventions were recorded. The rhinoplasty outcome evaluation questionnaire was used to evaluate the patients' pre and post-operative status, with outcome assessed three months after surgery. Results: The present study included 56 patients which comprised of 39 (69.64%) males. The mean age of patients was 41±9.6 years. The indication for surgery was a mix of aesthetic and functional reasons in 56% subjects with 78% undergoing a primary surgery. The mean pre-operative score on the ROE questionnaire was 9.21±0.8 which improved to a mean score of 19.56±1.1 at three months after surgery. Overall 75% (42/56) patients reported a post operative ROE score of ≥80%. There was a significant improvement in all domains assessed by the ROE questionnaire, including appearance and function. Conclusions: Augmentation rhinoplasty can provide satisfactory aesthetic and functional outcomes for patients with nose deformities with consistent improvement across all domains related to aesthetics and functionality

Correlation of bronchial biopsy with bronchoalveolar lavage in lung malignancies

Background: Lung cancer is currently the most frequently diagnosed major cancer in the world and the most common cause of cancer mortality worldwide. It comprises about 17% of the total new cancer cases in males and 23% of the total cancer deaths. The objectives of this study were to compare bronchial biopsy and bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) cytology and in the diagnosis of carcinoma lung. Study design was comparative study.Methods: The study was done in the Department of Pathology, Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Science (SKIMS), Srinagar, Kashmir. All patients clinically/radiologically suspected of lung malignancies who presented between April 2004 and May 2012 and underwent both bronchial biopsy and BAL were included in the study.Results: Out of a total of 902 clinically suspected cases of lung cancer tumor was found in 760 cases (84.25%) by biopsy   and in 301 cases (33.37%) by BAL. The total number of false positive cases was 31 and false negative cases were 490.Sensitivity of BAL was found to be 35.5% and specificity 78.16%.Conclusions: In the present study yield of diagnosis was highest with the bronchoscopic biopsies and in maximum number of cases, specific histologic diagnosis was made by biopsies only. Though BAL was inferior to bronchial biopsy in diagnosing lung malignancies but it was effective for peripheral lung malignancies and when the patient was at risk of hemorrhage.

Sitagliptin induced splenic infarcts

  Sitagliptin belongs to the class of dipeptidyl pepti­dase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitors. DPP-4 inhibitors are remark­ably well tolerated oral antihyperglycemic drugs with an adverse effect profile similar to that of placebo. No adverse effects have been reported even with overdose of sitagliptin in suicide attempts. We present here case summary of a 35-year-old female with type 2 diabetes mellitus and major depressive disorder who presented with multiple splenic infarcts after ingestion of sitag­liptin 700 mg and metformin 14 g with suicidal intent. To the best of our knowledge, there are no published reports of splenic infarcts as an adverse event of sit­agliptin. (Clin Diabetol 2017; 6, 6: 215–217

High Pressure Study of IrN in Zinc-Blende Structure

The structural phase transition, volume collapse and second order elastic constants of 5d-transition metal mononitride (IrN) have been investigated by using interaction potential model (IPM) which consists of Coulomb interaction, three-body interaction and short range overlap repulsive interactions. The present theoretical approach has predicted pressure-volume relationship curves which shows that IrN exhibits a zinc-blend (ZB) type structure at an ambient pressure and undergoes a structural phase transition from B3 to B1 phase at pressure 72 GPa. The equation of state shows volume collapse of 9.09 %. The phase transition pressure and associated volume collapses obtained from this model show a reasonable agreement with other theoretical results. The second order elastic constants are also investigated for ZB phase. Keywords: High Pressure, Phase Transition, Transition Metal Compound

Preparation of solid dispersions of glibenclamide for in-vitro dissolution enhancement

The purpose of this study was to prepare solid dispersions (SD) of Glibenclamide (GLB) and evaluate them for in-vitro drug release enhancement. Glibenclamide is a second generation sulfonylurea antidiabetic drug used to control blood glucose in type 2 diabetic patients, but poor-water solubility is responsible for its low oral bioavailability which has severely restricted it in the clinical application for diabetic control. Therefore, to increase the aqueous solubility and thereby,&nbsp; in-vitro dissolution of glibenclamide, solid dispersions were prepared with poloxamer-188in the ratio of 1:1, 1:2; 1:4 &amp; 1:6 by solvent evaporation method in ethanol after conducting preliminary screening for the selection of best carrier and ratio for the development of solid dispersion of glibenclamide . Among the prepared SD formulations, GLB-SD4 (1:6 Drug: Carrier ratio) showed highest enhancement in solubility and in-vitro dissolution rate in phosphate buffer (pH 6.8). In-vitro drug release profiles revealed that the drug release (%) of glibenclamide from GLB-SD4 was achieved 6-fold higher than pure drug after 180 mins. It is worth noting that GLB-SD4 provided the highest solubility and in-vitro dissolution rate compared to rest of the SD formulations, pure glibenclamide, market formulation and physical mixtures of glibenclamide in the same medium (Phosphate Buffer pH 6.8) as per the following manner: GLB-SD4 &gt; GLB-PM4 &gt; GLB-MF&gt;Pure GLB. This may be due to more reduction in particle size at molecular level, enhanced wetting properties and better solubilization of P-188 and use of ethanol. The hydrogen bonding interactions between the drug and carrier in the final solid dispersion formulation (GLB-SD4) was detected by Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. These results demonstrated that the carrier (P-188) proved effective in improving the solubility of a poorly soluble glibenclamide, thereby endorsing the application of solid dispersion technology for the enhancement of solubility and thereby, in-vitro dissolution rate of glibenclamide. Keywords: Glibenclamide, Solid dispersion, Solubility, In-vitro dissolution, Fourier Transform Infrared

Relationship between the levels of Serum Thyroid Hormones and the Risk of Breast Cancer

Breast cancer is still one of the leading causes of cancer death in women, but there has been a sustained decline in mortality rates over the last decades the relationship between breast cancer and thyroid diseases is controversial many works have been done in past also. The relation between autoimmune and non-autoimmune thyroid diseases has been investigated in patients with breast cancer and age-matched control individuals without breast or thyroid disease. Determination of serum thyroid hormone and antibody levels was done in 100 breast cancer patients and 75 control individuals. The mean values for thyroid hormones and anti-thyroid peroxidase antibodies were significantly higher in breast cancer patients than in control individuals. Our results indicate an increased prevalence of autoimmune and non-autoimmune thyroid diseases in breast cancer patients. Keywords: breast, cancer, autoimmune thyroid diseases