Presidential Address

The ferro-alloy industry forms the backbone of the iron and steel industry of the world. Ferro-alloys are added in the manufacture of mild steel as well as alloy, tool, stainless and other special steels. The production of ferroalloys in India commenced some forty years ago when the first blast furnace was installed by M/s Tisco at Joda for the production of ferromanganese.Subsequently M/s VISL started production of ferro-silicon by setting up two 1500 KVA submerged arc furnaces. With the development of steel industry, the demand for ferro-alloys has increased and today there are more than twelve producers of ferro-alloys using electro-thermal smelting, with total installed capacity of over 500,000 tonnes for all types of ferro-alloys

Economic evaluation of prophylactic antiemetic regimens for prevention of chemotherapy -induced nausea and vomiting (CINV)

New antiemetic agents, aprepitant and palonosetron have been approved for prevention of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV). The objectives of the two phases of the study were: (1) to conduct cost-effectiveness analysis of antiemetic regimens for prevention of CINV in patients receiving highly emetogenic chemotherapy (HEC) and in patients receiving moderately emetogenic chemotherapy (MEC) using decision models, and (2) to determine the monetary value of improved emesis control and conduct cost-benefit analysis of the new antiemetic regimens. Regimen A, one of the four antiemetic strategies included in the HEC decision model was a combination of aprepitant and the standard regimen of ondansetron+dexamethasone. The other three regimens had standard regimen in the acute phase but differed in the delayed phase regimens: regimen B - dexamethasone only, regimen C - dexamethasone+metoclopramide and regimen D - dexamethasone+ondansetron. The four antiemetic strategies for prevention of CINV due to MEC were: regimen (1) IV palonosetron, (2) IV ondansetron, (3) ondansetron+dexamethasone in acute phase, only dexamethasone in delayed phase, (4) ondansetron+dexamethasone in acute and delayed phase. The outcome measure was the incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICER) measured as cost/patient with complete control of emesis. For the HEC model, the ICER of regimen A compared to C was {dollar}3,363.18 and {dollar}2,881.61 per patient with complete control of emesis, from payer and societal perspectives respectively. One-way and probabilistic sensitivity analyses indicated that the conclusions were relatively stable to variations in multiple parameters. For MEC model, regimen 1 was found to be most cost-effective with ICER of {dollar}3,582.48 and {dollar}3,549.02, from payer and societal perspectives respectively. Overall, the ICER results showed that the regimen A and regimen 1 could be considered cost-effective therapies for prevention of CINV. In phase II, a contingent valuation survey was developed and administered to 120 cancer patients who were either receiving or had received chemotherapy. The results showed that respondents were willing-to-pay on average {dollar}83.50 for a single dose of palonosetron and {dollar}89.90 for a three-day regimen of aprepitant. Phase II qualitative results also emphasized that cancer patients receiving chemotherapy placed a high importance on receiving even a modest improvement in the control of CINV

Application of Nanoparticles in Diagnostic Imaging via Ultrasonography

The effectiveness of an imaging technique not only depends on its ability to image quantitatively both morphological and physiological functions of the tissue, but also on the contrast agent used to communicate with biomolecules. Several types of contrast media are used in medical imaging and they can roughly be cataloged based on the imaging modalities where they are used. More importantly, the use of contrast agent withtheir size ranging in nanometer scale has become general practice in medical diagnosis. As the matter of fact, nanoparticles have fascinated scientist for over a century and are now heavily utilized in biomedical sciences and engineering as they are long known to communicate effectively with the biomolecules. Today these materials can be synthesized and modified with various chemical functional groups which allow them to be conjugated with antibodies, ligands, and drugs of interest and thus opening a wide range of potential applications in biotechnology, and more importantly in diagnostic medical imaging viaultrasound, computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and positron emission tomography (PET). These imaging modalities differ not only in resolution, but also in the instrumentation and the type of nanoparticle that can be employed as its assistant. Of these imaging techniques, ultrasound is one of the oldest imaging modalitywhich is still widely used to examine internal organs of the body and diagnose potential disease states such as cancer, plague, clots, and swelling. Various articles have been published over the period of years detailing the instrumentation and the applications of ultrasonography, but very few have emphasized the importance of particle size indeveloping a successful contrast agent for ultrasonography. Thus in the present review article we aim to present the basic principles involved in developing successful contrast agent for Ultrasound imaging. Furthermore, we have also discussed the experimental and physical aspects of various types of nanoparticles including its fabrication and design oftargeted contrast agents. Finally, we have cited some of the best biomedical and clinical applications of the developed nanoprobes and their use for Ultrasound imaging

PNIPAM Poly (N-isopropylacrylamide): A Thermoresponsive “Smart” Polymer in Novel Drug Delivery Systems

Over the past years, extensive research has been carried out in designing and optimizing various drug delivery systems in order to maximize therapeutic effect and minimize unwanted effects of drugs. Many drug carrier systems have been developed on the basis of nanotechnology including systems based on polymeric nanoparticles. Polymeric drug delivery research has been extended to targeting of the drug at the specific site by utilizing various stimuli responsive systems which depend upon physiological conditions of the body such as pH of biological fluids and temperature of the human body. Thermoresponsive polymers with Lower Critical Solution Temperature (LCST) have been investigated for various biomedical and pharmaceutical formulations. One such polymer of considerable focus is PNIPAM Poly (N-isopropylacrylamide). PNIPAM is a thermosensitive polymer which has been utilized in many drug delivery systems including for cancer therapeutics. The present article deals with the properties of PNIPAM and their applications in different drug delivery systems.Keywords: PNIPAM; LCST; Properties; Synthesis; ApplicationsInternet Journal of Medical Update 2012 July;7(2):59-6

Diffusion MR Characteristics Following Concurrent Radiochemotherapy Predicts Progression-Free and Overall Survival in Newly Diagnosed Glioblastoma.

The standard of care for newly diagnosed glioblastoma (GBM) is surgery, then radiotherapy (RT) with concurrent temozolomide (TMZ), followed by adjuvant TMZ. We hypothesized patients with low diffusivity measured using apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) histogram analysis evaluated after RT+TMZ, prior to adjuvant TMZ, would have a significantly shorter progression-free (PFS) and overall survival (OS). To test this hypothesis we evaluated 120 patients with newly diagnosed GBM receiving RT+TMZ followed by adjuvant TMZ. MRI was performed after completion of RT+TMZ, prior to initiation of adjuvant TMZ. A double Gaussian mixed model was used to describe the ADC histograms within the enhancing tumor, where ADCL and ADCH were defined as the mean ADC value of the lower and higher Gaussian distribution, respectively. An ADCL value of 1.0 um2/ms and ADCH value of 1.6 um2/ms were used to stratify patients into high and low risk categories. Results suggest patients with low ADCL had significantly shorter PFS (Cox Hazard Ratio = 0.12, P = 0.0006). OS was significantly shorter with low ADCL tumors, showing a median OS of 407 vs. 644 days (Cox Hazard Ratio = 0.31, P = 0.047). ADCH was not predictive of PFS or OS when accounting for age and ADCL. In summary, newly diagnosed glioblastoma patients with low ADCL after completion of RT+TMZ are likely to progress and die earlier than patients with higher ADCL. Results suggest ADC histogram analysis may be useful for patient risk stratification following completion of RT+TMZ