Translation and Validation of Vanderbilt Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) Diagnostic Parent Rating Scale (VADPRS) in Tamil Language and determination of its Psychometric Properties

BACKGROUND: ADHD is a commonly encountered neuro behavioural disorder in child psychiatry assessed using the VADPRS. Since majority population attending tertiary care units are only Tamil speaking rural population, there is a felt need for a validated and standardised Tamil version. AIM OF THE STUDY: To translate and validate VADPRS into Tamil language and determine its psychometric properties. METHOD: The methodology involves i) translation process using a multistep approach with forward and backward translations as per standard guidelines ii) adaptation of the translated Tamil version in a target sample to estimate psychometric properties. RESULTS: The Likert scale expert reviews of the translation for individual scale items were ‘moderately’ to ‘extremely’ comparable and similar to the original English version. There were significant positive Pearson correlations with ‘r’ values up to 0.9; good convergent validity with DSM-4 criteria and KSADS-ADHD supplement scores; high internal consistency with Cronbach’s alpha more than 0.9 and also with Split half analysis. CONCLUSION: Tamil version of the VADPRS was highly comparable and similar with the original English version and has significant psychometric properties. Hence it is a well validated tool for screening, diagnosis, assessment of severity and follow up of children with ADHD in the Tamil population

Post-Modern Feminist Ideology in Nayantara Sahgul Select Novels-A Critical Study

Literature is the mirror of life as a statement which reflects of the society and the characters are the images of writers. The novels of Kiran Desai and Anita Desai deals with the men and women, specifically women struggling against oppression and injustice heaped upon them in the name of tradition and culture. This paper has been discussing about Nayantara Saghul novels here it portrays the inalienable right of the characters in her novels. As a writer with feminist concerns, Nayantara Sahgal is a progeny of the tradition where in power it is defined as goddess ‘Saki’ a female symbols. Her fictional world is busy by political leaders, business tycoons, foreign advisors, upper class people, journalists and highly qualified persons like ambassadors and ministers. A political theme is often combined to the theme of man-woman relationship their marital problems, their temperamental incompatility and the problems arising out of their submissiveness and finally the place of a woman in Indian society when she opts to dissolve a seventeen years old marriage. A divorced women is stigmatized forever and she is curiously watched by others as if divorce where “a disease that left pock marks”. Nayantara’s main concern is with self expression within marriage. She describes marriage as a “life-long damage” if the other partner is not sensitive enough to communicate. Marriage is the unwritten law of most societies and very few do not subscribe to in the post modern world. Sahgal presents couples from three generations and details their antithetical relationships in postmodern feminism

Incidence of neurosensory deficits following surgical removal of mandibular third molars: a prospective clinical study

Background: The aim of this prospective study was to determine the incidences of inferior alveolar nerve and lingual nerve deficit following surgical removal of impacted mandibular third molars and to evaluate the risk factors responsible for these postoperative neurosensory deficits.Methods: A total of 80 patients who reported to department of oral and maxillofacial surgery, Meenakshi Ammal Dental College, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India requiring surgical removal of impacted mandibular third molar were included in this cross-sectional study. Standard surgical procedure was performed. All patients were reassessed one week post-surgery. Subjectively reported altered sensations were recorded and objective assessments were performed with light touch test, two-point discrimination threshold and pin-pick pain threshold. The collected data was analyzed using the chi square test to find out any clinical relevance.Results: There was no inferior alveolar nerve related neurosensory deficits and 6 (7.5%) resulted in lingual nerve related neurosensory deficits. The incidence of LN deficit for mesioangular, horizontal, distoangular was 1.3%, 3.8% and 2.5% respectively. Type of impaction assumed a mild statistical significance (p = 0.050).Conclusions: This study highlights the importance of careful preoperative clinical and radiographic assessment of patients where third molar surgery is planned. The surgical technique of third molar removal is also likely to have great impact on the outcome

RNA interference knockdown of BRASSINOSTEROID INSENSITIVE1 in maize reveals novel functions for brassinosteroid signaling in controlling plant architecture

Brassinosteroids (BRs) are plant hormones involved in various growth and developmental processes. The BR signaling system is well established in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) and rice (Oryza sativa) but poorly understood in maize (Zea mays). BRASSINOSTEROID INSENSITIVE1 (BRI1) is a BR receptor, and database searches and additional genomic sequencing identified five maize homologs including duplicate copies of BRI1 itself. RNA interference (RNAi) using the extracellular coding region of a maize zmbril complementary DNA knocked down the expression of all five homologs. Decreased response to exogenously applied brassinolide and altered BR marker gene expression demonstrate that zmbriI-RNAi transgenic lines have compromised BR signaling. zmbriI-RNAi plants showed dwarf stature due to shortened internodes, with upper internodes most strongly affected. Leaves of zmbriI-RNAi plants are dark green, upright, and twisted, with decreased auricle formation. Kinematic analysis showed that decreased cell division and cell elongation both contributed to the shortened leaves. A BRASSINOSTEROID INSENSITIVE1-ETHYL METHANESULFONATE-SUPPRESSOR1-yellow fluorescent protein (BES1-YFP) transgenic line was developed that showed BR-inducible BES1-YFP accumulation in the nucleus, which was decreased in zmbriI-RNAi. Expression of the BES1-YFP reporter was strong in the auricle region of developing leaves, suggesting that localized BR signaling is involved in promoting auricle development, consistent with the zmbriI-RNAi phenotype. The blade-sheath boundary disruption, shorter ligule, and disrupted auricle morphology of RNAi lines resemble KNOTTED1-LIKE HOMEOBOX (KNOX) mutants, consistent with a mechanistic connection between KNOX genes and BR signaling

Higher Plant Cytochrome b5 Polypeptides Modulate Fatty Acid Desaturation

BACKGROUND: Synthesis of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) in the endoplasmic reticulum of plants typically involves the fatty acid desaturases FAD2 and FAD3, which use cytochrome b(5) (Cb5) as an electron donor. Higher plants are reported to have multiple isoforms of Cb5, in contrast to a single Cb5 in mammals and yeast. Despite the wealth of information available on the roles of FAD2 and FAD3 in PUFA synthesis, information regarding the contributions of various Cb5 isoforms in desaturase-mediated reactions is limited. RESULTS: The present functional characterization of Cb5 polypeptides revealed that all Arabidopsis Cb5 isoforms are not similarly efficient in ω-6 desaturation, as evidenced by significant variation in their product outcomes in yeast-based functional assays. On the other hand, characterization of Cb5 polypeptides of soybean (Glycine max) suggested that similar ω-6 desaturation efficiencies were shared by various isoforms. With regard to ω-3 desaturation, certain Cb5 genes of both Arabidopsis and soybean were shown to facilitate the accumulation of more desaturation products than others when co-expressed with their native FAD3. Additionally, similar trends of differential desaturation product accumulation were also observed with most Cb5 genes of both soybean and Arabidopsis even if co-expressed with non-native FAD3. CONCLUSIONS: The present study reports the first description of the differential nature of the Cb5 genes of higher plants in fatty acid desaturation and further suggests that ω-3/ω-6 desaturation product outcome is determined by the nature of both the Cb5 isoform and the fatty acid desaturases