The diagnostic utility of cell block as an adjunct to cytological smears

Objectives: Cytological examination of serous fluids is of paramount importance in detecting cancer cells. Distinguishing malignant cells from benign reactive mesothelial cells in fluid cytology is an everyday diagnostic problem. Cell blocks are valuable when the features in cytology are inconclusive. The motive of this study was to assess the utility of this method in increasing the diagnostic yield of serous fluids. Methods: 225 (25%) effusion fluids were analyzed carefully by both smear and cell block technique. Results: Among 225 fluids, 139 were pleural, 84 peritoneal and 2 pericardial. In case of pleural fluids and ascitic fluids, maximum numbers of cases were inflammatory. By the cell block technique, 5 additional cases of malignancy in pleural fluids and 7 additional cases of malignancy in ascitic fluids were diagnosed which could not be detected in the cytological smears. In pericardial fluids both cases were inflammatory. Male predominance was noted in case of pleural effusion and female predominance was noted in case of pericardial effusion and ascites. Maximum numbers of cases were seen in the age group of 40-60 years. Conclusion: We conclude that the cell block technique when used as an adjuvant to routine smear examination has increased the diagnostic yield because of better preservation of the architectural pattern

Exacerbation of cigarette smoke-induced pulmonary inflammation by Staphylococcus aureus Enterotoxin B in mice

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Cigarette smoke (CS) is a major risk factor for the development of COPD. CS exposure is associated with an increased risk of bacterial colonization and respiratory tract infection, because of suppressed antibacterial activities of the immune system and delayed clearance of microbial agents from the lungs. Colonization with <it>Staphylococcus aureus </it>results in release of virulent enterotoxins, with superantigen activity which causes T cell activation.</p> <p>Objective</p> <p>To study the effect of <it>Staphylococcus aureus </it>enterotoxin B (SEB) on CS-induced inflammation, in a mouse model of COPD.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>C57/Bl6 mice were exposed to CS or air for 4 weeks (5 cigarettes/exposure, 4x/day, 5 days/week). Endonasal SEB (10 μg/ml) or saline was concomitantly applied starting from week 3, on alternate days. 24 h after the last CS and SEB exposure, mice were sacrificed and bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid and lung tissue were collected.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Combined exposure to CS and SEB resulted in a raised number of lymphocytes and neutrophils in BAL, as well as increased numbers of CD8⁺T lymphocytes and granulocytes in lung tissue, compared to sole CS or SEB exposure. Moreover, concomitant CS/SEB exposure induced both IL-13 mRNA expression in lungs and goblet cell hyperplasia in the airway wall. In addition, combined CS/SEB exposure stimulated the formation of dense, organized aggregates of B- and T- lymphocytes in lungs, as well as significant higher CXCL-13 (protein, mRNA) and CCL19 (mRNA) levels in lungs.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Combined CS and SEB exposure aggravates CS-induced inflammation in mice, suggesting that <it>Staphylococcus aureus </it>could influence the pathogenesis of COPD.</p

Importance and Benefits of Green Audits to Education Institutions and Industrial Sectors

Green auditing is a vital process that ensures the diversity of plants on an organization's campus, reducing ecological pollution and soil destruction. It is beneficial intended for biodiversity protection, landscape management, irrigation/economic water utilization, and maintaining natural topography. Green audits are conducted at educational institutions and industrial sectors using the National Building Code (NBC) Part 11 - A 360° Risk Assessment Approach to Sustainability checklist. The importance of green auditing lies in its ability to create an eco-friendly environment and encourage green initiatives was studied at Nehru Arts and Science College, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India. The results revealed that the campus has sufficient number of flora and fauna and established various gardens such as terrace, herbal, kitchen, zodiac, and decorative gardens. All the plants were labelled properly with common and botanical names and used biofertilizers, organic and green manures for the cultivation of plants. Agrochemicals and chemical fertilizers were minimally used to save the soil health and to protect the ecosystem from soil and water pollutions. The benefits of green audit included understanding the organization's internal and external green campus inspection and execution procedures, creating data on plant quantities, recommending biofertilizers, conserving economically valuable, rare, and endangered species, documenting rainwater collection systems, water reservoirs, percolation ponds, and irrigation technologies to the plants were well understood by the Oragnization with respect to the green audit

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Not AvailablePigeon pea is an important legume infested by a plethora of insect pests amongst which gram pod borer Helicoverpa armigera is very prominent. Imparting resistance to this insect herbivore is of global importance in attaining food security. Expression of insecticidal crystal proteins (ICP) in diverse crops has led to increased resistance to several pests. We report in this paper, expression of Cry2Aa in transgenic pigeon pea and its efectiveness towards H. armigera by employing Agrobacterium-mediated in planta transformation approach. Approximately 0.8% of T1 generation plants were identifed as putative transformants based on screening in the presence of 70 ppm kanamycin as the selection agent. Promising events were further recognized in advanced generations based on integration, expression and bioefcacy of the transgenes. Seven T3 lines (11.8% of the selected T1 events) were categorized as superior as these events demonstrated 80–100% mortality of the challenged larvae and improved ability to prevent damage caused by the larvae. The selected transgenic plants accumulated Cry2Aa in the range of 25–80µg/g FW. The transgenic events developed in the study can be used in pigeon pea improvement programmes for pod borer resistance.Not Availabl