On the variability and prediction of rainfall in the post-monsoon season over India

Considerable rainfall occurs in India during the post-monsoon period from October to December, particularly over north-eastern, eastern and southern regions, and this is of great significance in agricultural and allied sectors. For the first time, we have attempted to provide detailed information on the variability and predictability of the post-monsoon rainfall (PMR) of the country. Details on the summer monsoon rainfall from June to September are extensively documented. This study comprises four sections: (i) examination of large-scale rainfall features; (ii) examination of small-scale (or regional) rainfall features; (iii) diagnostic study in order to identify possible regional forcings and global teleconnections; and (iv) modelling long-period rainfall series and extrapolation of future trends for the next 10 years

Serum magnesium in pregnancy induced hypertension

Background: PIH is a major cause of maternal & perinatal morbidity & mortality worldwide because of its complications. The etiology of PIH is uncertain but appears to be related to uteroplacental ischaemia. Magnesium is one of the principle macronutrients, regulates vascular tone, causes relaxation of muscles of uterus and decreases excitability of nerves & muscles. Hence the study was planned to estimate and compare the levels of magnesium between women with PIH and normal pregnant women.Methods: The study comprised of thirty clinically diagnosed PIH patients and thirty gestational age-matched controls. Serum magnesium was estimated spectrophotometrically. Results: Significant decrease was observed in magnesium levels in women with PIH as compared to normal pregnant women. Conclusion: The decreased serum magnesium levels may indicate its possible role as one of the risk factors in the development of PIH in pregnant women. Hence the screening of clinically diagnosed cases of PIH for hypomagnesemia may help in minimizing the complications of PIH. Hypomagnesemia could be treated with magnesium supplementation and follow up of the patients for complications would be necessary to comment further

Role of oxidative stress in cataractogenesis

Background: Cataract is a multifactorial disease and is a major cause of blindness in india. Oxidative stress is thought to be a major factor to initiate the process of cataractogenesis. It is today well established fact that oxidative stress participates in both age-related (senile) and diabetes-induced cataract (diabetic). Oxidative damage to the lens most likely arises as a consequence of an impaired antioxidant defence system, due to increased generation of ROS both by age and diabetes. The present study was designed to determine role of oxidative stress in cataractogensis and to compare levels of oxidative stress markers in senile and diabetic cataract patients.Methods: Serum malondialdehyde (MDA) and serum protein carbonyl (PC) were measured as indicator of oxidative stress whereas antioxidant status was assessed by estimating serum Total antioxidant capacity (TAC) and dietary antioxidants levels i.e vitamin C and vitamin E in senile and diabetic cataract patients compared with healthy controls.Results: The result reveal that the serum MDA and PC levels were significantly increased in patients with senile and diabetic cataract whereas serum TAC, vitamin C and Vitamin E were significantly reduced in senile and diabetic patients when compared with normal healthy controls.Conclusions: From the result, it is concluded that oxidative stress is in the foreground of cataract formation which includes senile and diabetic cataract. Oxidative stress produced in diabetic cataract patients is more as compared to senile cataract patients.

Spontaneous heterotopic pregnancy: a rare possibility

Heterotopic pregnancy is defined as a condition when intrauterine and extrauterine pregnancy occur simultaneously. It is a life-threatening condition that requires immediate and accurate diagnostics and treatment. We present the case of a 34-year-old multigravida in her 7 weeks of gestation came to emergency ward with complains of pain in abdomen for 3 days. Ultrasonographic examination showed a live intrauterine pregnancy and mild to moderate free fluid in abdomen with moving internal echoes. An emergency exploratory laparotomy done and left sided tubal ectopic removed along with right salpingectomy as patient was willing for family planning. A high index of suspicion is required to diagnose Heterotopic pregnancy as clinical as well as radiological findings may be insufficient for diagnosis

Assessment of nitric oxide and uric acid in patients of leprosy

Background: Leprosy is an old, dreaded infectious disease caused by the obligate intracellular bacterium mycobacterium leprae. Leprosy still continues to be a significant public health problem in few countries including India. Oxidative stress caused by derangement in the balance between ROS and natural antioxidants plays a crucial role in the pathogenesis of leprosy. Hence this study attempts to assess the oxidative stress and antioxidant status in terms of Nitric oxide and uric acid.Methods: A case control observational study was carried out in100 untreated leprosy patients and compared with 50 healthy controls.  Leprosy patients were divided as paucibacillary and multibacillary. Serum Nitric oxide and uric acid levels were estimated in both groups to find out correlation of Nitric Oxide with uric acid.Results: There was a significant rise in serum NO in both PB and MB leprosy as compared to controls. The uric acid level was significantly decreased in both PB and MB leprosy patients as compared to controls.Conclusions: Elevated NO levels indicate oxidative stress in leprosy patients, denoting its crucial involvement in the pathogenesis and nerve damage in leprosy. Low uric acid indicates decrease defence of antioxidants in leprosy

Association between various antioxidants in normals and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, their alteration and impact of smoking and disease on levels of antioxidants

Background: There is total alteration of various antioxidants in response to the oxidative stress, which is one of the major patho-physiologic hallmarks in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) development. This study aims to establish the correlation between different antioxidants in normals and COPD, study the alteration in the correlation due to COPD and smoking as well as the impact of COPD and smoking on antioxidants levels.Methods: Study comprises of 96 normals as group I and 96 COPD patients as group II. The antioxidants albumin (Alb), bilirubin (Bil), uric acid (UA) ceruloplasmin (Cp), glutathione peroxidase (GSHPx), catalase (CAT) and superoxide dismutase 3 (SOD3) were estimated.Results: Significant lower serum Alb, UA, SOD3 and increased serum Cp and GSHPx were found in Group II. Significant correlation was found between Alb and UA (r=0.24); Bil and UA (r=0.26); Alb and CAT (r=0.211) and SOD3 and CAT (r=0.318) in normals. However, these correlations were altered in COPD where Alb correlates with Bil (r=0.235); UA with CAT (r=0.203) and SOD3 with GSHPx (r=-0.27). The correlation between SOD3 and CAT remained unaltered. Similar correlation of UA with Alb and Bil was observed in nonsmoker normals and between SOD3 and CAT in smoker normals. In COPD, no correlation was seen in nonsmokers, while in smokers Alb correlates with Bil (r=0.316) and SOD3 with CAT (r=0.317).Conclusions: These alterations may have clinical ramifications in further understanding the pathogenesis of COPD and developing therapeutic approaches

Oxidative stress and antioxidant vitamins in leprosy

Background: Leprosy is a disease of great antiquity and it still continues to be a significant public health problem in few countries including India .Of the various mechanisms that influence the pathogenesis of leprosy, oxidative stress is important which occurs due to derangement in the balance between ROS and natural antioxidants. Hence this study attempted to assess the oxidative stress and antioxidant status in terms of MDA and vitamin E, vitamin C respectively in leprosy.Methods: Hundred untreated leprosy patients (50 PB and 50 MB) were studied and compared with 50 healthy controls. Serum Malondialdehyde (MDA) and vitamin E, vitamin C was measured by spectrophotometric method. Serum malondialdehyde (MDA) was measured as an indicator of lipid peroxidation and antioxidant status was assessed by estimating serum vitamin E and vitamin C levels.Results: Significant rise in serum MDA (P <0.001) in both PB and MB leprosy was seen when compared with controls. The vitamin E level was significantly decreased in both PB and MB leprosy patients as compared to controls. The vitamin C level was significantly decrease (P<0.001) in MB leprosy patients as compared to controls.Conclusions: Elevated MDA levels indicate oxidative stress in leprosy patients, denoting its crucial involvement in the pathogenesis and tissue damage in leprosy. Hence MDA levels can be used to monitor prognosis, treatment and control of leprosy. Decreased vitamin E, C levels in leprosy can be improved by oral vitamin E, C supplementation

Fatal Stevens-Johnson syndrome induced by phenytoin: a case report

Toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN) and Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS) are rare (one to two per 10,00,00 population per year) but  life threatening adverse drug reactions. Drugs commonly implicated are anti-epileptics, anti-microbials and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS). Amongst anti-epileptics, carbamazepine and phenytoin are the major culprits. We report here a fatal case of SJS due to phenytoin

Paracetamol induced fixed drug eruption: a case report

Fixed drug eruption (FDE) is a type of drug-induced skin reaction pattern that characteristically recurs at the same skin or mucosal site. Paracetamol is one of the common drugs prescribed as analgesic–antipyretic agent in all age group of patients. FDE is a well-reported, but uncommon side-effect of paracetamol, usually the classic, pigmenting type most commonly found in children and adolescents. We present a case of 52 years old male patient who developed FDE over the glans penis following paracetamol use

Gas-Phase Synthesis for Label-Free Biosensors: Zinc-Oxide Nanowires Functionalized with Gold Nanoparticles

Metal oxide semiconductor nanowires have important applications in label-free biosensing due to their ease of fabrication and ultralow detection limits. Typically, chemical functionalization of the oxide surface is necessary for specific biological analyte detection. We instead demonstrate the use of gas-phase synthesis of gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) to decorate zinc oxide nanowire (ZnO NW) devices for biosensing applications. Uniform ZnO NW devices were fabricated using a vapor-solid-liquid method in a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) furnace. Magnetron-sputtering of a Au target combined with a quadrupole mass filter for cluster size selection was used to deposit Au NPs on the ZnO NWs. Without additional functionalization, we electrically detect DNA binding on the nanowire at sub-nanomolar concentrations and visualize individual DNA strands using atomic force microscopy (AFM). By attaching a DNA aptamer for streptavidin to the biosensor, we detect both streptavidin and the complementary DNA strand at sub-nanomolar concentrations. Au NP decoration also enables sub-nanomolar DNA detection in passivated ZnO NWs that are resilient to dissolution in aqueous solutions. This novel method of biosensor functionalization can be applied to many semiconductor materials for highly sensitive and label-free detection of a wide range of biomolecules