Clinical and laboratory profile of children admitted with measles in a tertiary care teaching hospital

Background: Measles is a vaccine-preventable viral illness associated with substantial childhood morbidity and mortality. Recently, changing trends in the occurrence of measles are noted like incidence in younger infants and in those who have received measles vaccine. Objectives: The objective was to study the clinical profile of children with measles and to study the usefulness of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in diagnosing measles and to study the measles-specific immunoglobulin M (IgM) response in children with measles. Materials and Methods: This study was done in the Pediatrics Department of a Tertiary Care Center, and the study population was children up to 12 years of age admitted in the setting with a clinical diagnosis of measles during the study period and who were laboratory confirmed by PCR/IgM ELISA or both. Results: Of 173 clinically diagnosed cases, 149 laboratory confirmed cases were taken for analysis and studied. Of these, 47% of cases were below 9 months. Newborns constituted 2.01% of the total cases. The mean age was 13 months and the male:female ratio was 1.13:1. A total of 24.8% children were unimmunized, 16.77% had a single dose, and 8.72% had 2 doses of measles vaccine. Overall mortality was 0.67% and bronchopneumonia was the major complication (76.5%). Among immunized children with measles confirmed by PCR, measles-specific IgM response was reactive in 36.4% of cases. In the early phase of measles (within 3 days) confirmed by PCR, IgM response was inconclusive in 60% of cases. Conclusion: In our study, 47% of the cases of measles were below 9 months; therefore, the age of measles vaccination may be reconsidered. Among eligible cases (>9 months), 24.83% were not immunized for measles which indicates that measles immunization coverage should be increased. Among the measles cases, 25% had measles vaccination which highlights the need to check for the determinants of vaccine failure. In our study, the RT-PCR was found to be useful for early diagnosis of measles and for diagnosis in immunized children

Comparative evaluation of dimensional accuracy of dental casts obtained from three putty wash impression techniques and matrix impression technique: An Invitro study

The therapeutic success of fixed Prosthodontics is often determined by the accuracy of the impression that is being made. Any flaw in the impression making greatly magnifies the risk of failure of the finished restoration. Among the various impression materials, elastomers are the ideal medium of choice in contemporary trends of FPD. The PVS elastomers enjoy the maximum superiority over the other elastomers as supported by numerous clinical studies.9,12,13,15,18 To further replenish the validity of PVS elastomers regarding its accuracy in reproduction of tissue surface this study was aimed at comparison of accuracy of the stone cast obtained from single stage putty-wash, double stage putty-wash with polyethylene spacer, double stage putty-wash with 2mm spacer and matrix impression technique. In group I category of impressions, putty and wash material were used simultaneously. In group II category of impressions, initially putty impression was made using a polyethylene spacer followed by addition of wash material to make final impression. In group III category of impressions, initially putty impression was made over the abutment preparation covered with a coping of 2 mm thickness followed by final impression with wash material after removal of the 2 mm coping. In group IV category of impressions, initially matrix is made with inter occlusal record material, then it is relined with high viscous material and the entire matrix is picked up using medium viscous material. Ten impressions were made in each group, poured with type IV dental stone and the casts were obtained, followed by the analysis of the dimensional accuracy of the cast with the master model and the results were evaluated. When the working casts of the four groups were compared with the master model, it showed that all the groups exhibited minimum deviation which is of very minor statistical significance as determined by one sample t- test. The accuracy of the techniques from a statistical point is that the cast obtained from group III impressions exhibited maximum reproduction of the master model closely followed by groups II and IV and then by group I. Even though percentage deviation of statistical significance was observed by one sample t – test, the relative accuracy of each technique and clinical significance analyzed by means of one way ANOVA followed by multiple range test by Tukey-HSD procedure revealed that the subtle changes observed in the accuracy of various impression techniques used could be of a highly negligible clinical significance. Within the limitation of this study, the following conclusion can be drawn, 1. The accuracy of stone casts obtained from double stage putty wash with 2 mm spacer was the maximum, followed by matrix impression technique and double stage putty wash with polyethylene spacer, then by single stage putty wash impression technique. 2. The discrepancy between various impression techniques were of minor statistical deviation and hence considered clinically negligible, thus endorsing the close ramification of these four techniques with respect to reproduction of tissue detail ensuring its successful application in routine clinical procedures

CT-measured macropores as affected by agroforestry and grass buffers for grazed pasture systems

Paper presented at the 11th North American Agroforesty Conference, which was held May 31-June 3, 2009 in Columbia, Missouri.In Gold, M.A. and M.M. Hall, eds. Agroforestry Comes of Age: Putting Science into Practice. Proceedings, 11th North American Agroforestry Conference, Columbia, Mo., May 31-June 3, 2009.Agroforestry and grass buffers have been proposed for improving water quality in watersheds. Buffer vegetation influences soil porosity, essential for water, gas and nutrient transport in soils. The objective of the study was to compare differences in CT-measured macropore ([greater than] 1000-[micro] m diam.) and coarse mesopore (200- to 1000-[micro] m diam.) parameters within agroforestry (AgB) and grass buffer (GB) systems associated with rotationally grazed (RG) and continuously grazed (CG) pasture systems, and to examine relationships between CT-measured pore parameters and saturated hydraulic conductivity (K[subscript]sat). Soils at the site were Menfro silt loam (fine-silty, mixed, superactive, mesic Typic Hapludalf). Six replicate intact soil cores, 76.2 mm diam. by 76.2 mm long, were collected using a core sampler from the four treatments at five soil depths (0-50 cm at 10-cm intervals). Image-J software was used to analyze the five equally spaced images from each core. CT-measured soil macroporosity ([greater than] 1000 [micro] m diam.) was 13 times higher (0.053 m3m3) for the buffer treatments compared to the pasture treatments (0.004 m3m3) for the surface 0-10 cm soil depth. Buffer treatments had greater macroporosity (0.020 m3m3) compared to pasture (0.0045 m3m3) treatments. The K[subscript sat] values for buffer treatments were five times higher and bulk density was 5.6 [percent] lower compared to pasture treatments. CT-measured pore parameters (except macropore circularity) were positively correlated with K[subscript sat]. This study illustrates the benefits of agroforestry and grass buffers for maintaining soil pore parameters critical for soil water and nutrient transport.Sandeep Kumar (1), Stephen H. Anderson (1), and Ranjith P. Udawatta (1, 2) ; 1. Department of Soil, Environmental and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Missouri- Columbia. 2. Center for Agroforestry, University of Missouri-Columbia. Columbia, MO 65211, USA.Includes bibliographical references

GANODERMA LUCIDUM-ORIENTAL MUSHROOM MEDIATED SYNTHESIS OF GOLD NANOPARTICLES CONJUGATED WITH DOXORUBICIN AND EVALUATION OF ITS ANTICANCER POTENTIAL ON HUMAN BREAST CANCER MCF-7/DOX CELLS

Objective: The present investigations are to mycosynthesis and characterization of gold nanoparticles conjugated with doxorubicin and evaluated anticancer activity.Methods: The characterization of the gold nanoparticles using ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy. FTIR investigations were carried out to find and read the functional group responsible designed at the bioconversion of gold ions and crystalline arrangement of gold nanoparticles was detected in the XRD study. The gold nanoparticles conjugated with doxorubicin were treated against MCF-7-dox resisted breast cancer cells and observed the in vitro cytotoxicity by MTT assay, SCGE (Comet), Apoptosis and Mito-potential assay. Further more we determinate the mRNA expression of ABCB1 gene and cDNA was synthesized from the mRNA for amplification of the ABCB1 gene corresponding to the specific primer.Results: Surface Plasmon resonance showed the development of gold nanoparticles in UV–Visible spectra at 537 nm. The synthesized gold nanoparticles were polydisperse spherical and it was determined by EDAX and stabilized in the solution to the spherical shapes further confirmed by High-resolution transmission electron microscope analysis designate in the reading of 2–100 nm. The anticancer assays were given significant results and the mRNA expression of ABCB1 gene and cDNA was amplified as directly proportional to the expression of ABCB1 gene.Conclusion: We propose that gold nanoparticles synthesized and conjugated with doxorubicin from G. lucidum might be a significant resource of drug delivery for anti-cancer preparation that may advantage breast cancer treatment

Agroforestry and grass buffer influences on water infiltration for a grazed pasture system

Paper presented at the 11th North American Agroforesty Conference, which was held May 31-June 3, 2009 in Columbia, Missouri.In Gold, M.A. and M.M. Hall, eds. Agroforestry Comes of Age: Putting Science into Practice. Proceedings, 11th North American Agroforestry Conference, Columbia, Mo., May 31-June 3, 2009.Agroforestry and grass buffers are often adopted as an alternative resource management system in agriculture for environmental and economic benefits. The objective of the study was to compare agroforestry (AgB) and grass buffer (GB) systems under rotationally grazed (RG) and continuously grazed (CG) pasture systems on water infiltration measured using ponded infiltration and tension infiltration methods. Buffer areas were fenced which prevented cattle grazing in buffer areas. Soils at the site are Menfro silt loam (fine-silty, mixed, superactive, mesic Typic Hapludalfs). Infiltration rates were measured using ponded ring infiltration units in 2007 and 2008 for the four treatments with six replicates. Infiltration rate as a function of tension (at 50-, 100-, and 150-mm) was also measured using a tension infiltrometer in 2007. Water infiltration parameters were estimated using Green-Ampt and Parlange infiltration equations. Quasi-steady state infiltration rates (qs) and field-saturated hydraulic conductivity (Kfs) for the buffers were about 30 and 40 times higher compared to pasture treatments, respectively. Green-Ampt and Parlange models appeared to fit measured data with r2 values ranging between 0.91 to 0.98. The infiltration rate in 2007 for the GB treatment was the highest (221.4 mm h-1) and for the CG treatment was the lowest (3.73 mm h-1). Estimated sorptivity (S) and saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ks) parameters were higher for buffers compared to the pasture treatments. Grazing reduced infiltration rates for the pasture (CG and RG) treatments. Results show that the buffer areas have higher infiltration rates which imply lower runoff compared to pasture areas.Sandeep Kumar (1), Stephen H. Anderson (1), Ranjith P. Udawatta (1,2), and Robert L. Kallenbach (3) ; 1. Soil, Environmental and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Missouri-Columbia. 2. Center for Agroforestry, University of Missouri-Columbia. 3. Division of Plant Sciences, University of Missouri-Columbia Columbia, MO 65211, USA.Includes bibliographical references

7′-(Naphthalen-1-yl)-5′′-[(naphthalen-2-yl)­methyl­idene]-1′,3′,5′,6′,7′,7a′-hexa­hydro­dispiro­[acenaphthene-1,5′-pyrrolo­[1,2-c]thia­zole-6′,3′′-piperidine]-2(1H),4′′-dione

In the title compound, C43H34N2O2S, the six-membered piperidine ring adopts a half-chair conformation. The five-membered thia­zole ring adopts a slightly twisted envelope conformation and the pyrrole ring adopts an envelope conformation; in each case, the C atom linking the rings is the flap atom. The mol­ecular structure features inter- and intra­molecular C—H⋯O inter­actions. Furthermore, the crystal packing is stabilized by four inter­molecular C—H⋯π inter­actions

Crystal structure of 2-benzylamino-4-(4-bromo-phenyl)-6,7-dihydro-5H-cyclopenta[b]pyridine-3-carbonitrile

JS and RAN thank the management of The Madura College (Autonomous), Madurai, for their encouragement and support. RRK thanks the University Grants Commission, New Delhi, for funds through Major Research Project F. No. 42–242/2013 (SR).Peer reviewedPublisher PD