Successful Intra-peritoneal Antibiotic Therapy for Primary Abdominal Nocardiosis in an Immunocompetent Young Female Masquerading as Carcinoma Ovary

Nocardiosis is a common opportunistic infection in the immunocompromised and in patients with chronic debilitating diseases,e.g continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) patients. Primary abdominal nocardiosis is rare and is indeed a very rare infection in immunocompetent persons. Only two cases have been reported in immunocompetent patients so far and this may be third case to the best of our knowledge and first in India. About 11 cases have been reported in CAPD patients and AIDS patients.We report a case of Nocardiosis in an immunocompetent young female who presented with an abdomino-pelvic mass masquerading as carcinoma ovary.After initial resistance to various antibiotics, she responded to intraperitoneal and oral linezolid and oral ciprofloxacin

Perineal Aggressive Angiomyxoma: A Rare Presentation

Aggressive angiomyxoma(AA) is defined as benign neoplasm but has infiltrative potential into skeletal muscle and fat. Aggressive angiomyxoma is a rare neoplasm with about 150 reported cases so far. It is most often found in women in reproductive age with a peak incidence in the fourth decade of life. Aggressive angiomyxoma is most often found in or in proximity to the lower pelvis, more specifically perineum, vulva, vagina or inguinal regions. Most AA are big, often more than 10 cm in largest diameter. Radical surgery with wide margins is the treatment of choice. The prognosis is very good here. Because of its rarity and unique presentation we are reporting a case of a huge perineal AA in a 42 years female which presented as a tumour coming out of the breach in skin. She underwent surgery, wide local excision and after 7 months follow-up is free of tumor

Response of OH airglow emissions to the mesospheric gravity waves and its comparisons with full wave model simulation at a low latitude Indian station

Quasi-monochromatic gravity-wave-induced oscillations, monitored using the mesospheric OH airglow emission over Kolhapur (16.8° N, 74.2° E), India, during January to April 2010 and January to December 2011, have been characterized using the Krassovsky method. The nocturnal variability reveals prominent wave signatures with periods ranging from 5.2 to 10.8 h as the dominant nocturnal wave with embedded short-period waves having wave periods of 1.5–4.4 h. The results show that the magnitude of the Krassovsky parameter, viz. |η|, ranged from 2.1 to 10.2 h for principal or long nocturnal waves (5.2–10.8 h observed periods), and from 1.5 to 5.4 h for the short waves (1.5–4.4 h observed periods) during the years of 2010 and 2011, respectively. The phase (i.e., Φ) values of the Krassovsky parameters exhibited larger variability and varied from −8.1 to −167°. The deduced mean vertical wavelengths are found to be approximately −60.2 ± 20 and −42.8 ± 35 km for long- and short-period waves for the year 2010. Similarly, for 2011 the mean vertical wavelengths are found to be approximately −77.6 ± 30 and −59.2 ± 30 km for long and short wave periods, respectively, indicating that the observations over Kolhapur were dominated by upward-propagating waves. We use a full-wave model to simulate the response of OH emission to the wave motion and compare the results with observed values

Study of equatorial plasma bubble during January to April 2012 over Kolhapur (India)

Over 53 nights of all sky airglow imager data collected during January-April 2012 from the low latitude station Kolhapur (16.68°N, 74.26°E; 10.6°N dip latitude) have been analyzed to study the F-region dynamics through the imaging of OI 630 nm emission line. The observed night airglow data were supported by the ionosonde measurements from Tirunelveli (8.7°N, 77.8°E; 0.51°N dip latitude). Well defined magnetic field aligned depletions were observed during the observation period. Out of 53 nights, 40 nights exhibited the occurrence of north-south aligned equatorial plasma bubbles. These plasma bubbles were found moving towards east with drift speed in range between 70 to 200 m s-1. We have analyzed the zonal drift velocity variation and relation of bubble occurrence with the base height of the ionosphere together with the effects of the geomagnetic Ap and solar flux F10.7 cm index in its first appearance

Worldwide Incidence of Malaria in 2009: Estimates, Time Trends, and a Critique of Methods

Richard Cibulskis and colleagues present estimates of the worldwide incidence of malaria in 2009, together with a critique of different estimation methods, including those based on risk maps constructed from surveys of parasite prevalence, and those based on routine case reports compiled by health ministries

Animals and their products utilized as medicines by the inhabitants surrounding the Ranthambhore National Park, India

The present ethnozoological study describes the traditional knowledge related to the use of different animals and animal-derived products as medicines by the inhabitants of villages surrounding the Ranthambhore National Park of India (Bawaria, Mogya, Meena), which is well known for its very rich biodiversity. The field survey was conducted from May to July 2005 by performing interviews through structured questionnaires with 24 informants (16 men and 8 women), who provided information regarding therapeutic uses of animals. A total of 15 animals and animal products were recorded and they are used for different ethnomedical purposes, including tuberculosis, asthma, paralysis, jaundice, earache, constipation, weakness, snake poisoning. The zootherapeutic knowledge was mostly based on domestic animals, but some protected species like the collared dove (Streptopelia sp.), hard shelled turtle (Kachuga tentoria), sambhar (Cervus unicolor) were also mentioned as important medicinal resources. We would suggest that this kind of neglected traditional knowledge should be included into the strategies of conservation and management of faunistic resources in the investigated area

Part 1: CT characterisation of pancreatic neoplasms: a pictorial essay

The pancreas is a site of origin of a diverse range of benign and malignant tumours, and these are frequently detected, diagnosed and staged with computed tomography (CT). Knowledge of the typical appearance of these neoplasms as well as the features of locoregional invasion is fundamental for all general and abdominal radiologists. This pictorial essay aims to outline the characteristic CT appearances of the spectrum of pancreatic neoplasms, as well as important demographic and clinical information that aids diagnosis. The second article in this series addresses common mimics of pancreatic neoplasia

Continuous low-dose cyclophosphamide and methotrexate combined with celecoxib for patients with advanced cancer

BACKGROUND: Combined therapy of metronomic cyclophosphamide, methotrexate and high-dose celecoxib targeting angiogenesis was used in a phase II trial. METHODS: Patients with advanced cancer received oral cyclophosphamide 50 mg o.d., celecoxib 400 mg b.d. and methotrexate 2.5 mg b.d. for two consecutive days each week. Response was determined every 8 weeks; toxicity was evaluated according to CTC version 2.0. Plasma markers of inflammation, coagulation and angiogenesis were measured. RESULTS: Sixty-seven of 69 patients were evaluable for response. Twenty-three patients had stable disease (SD) after 8 weeks, but there were no objective responses to therapy. Median time to progression was 57 days. There was a low incidence of toxicities. Among plasma markers, levels of tissue factor were higher in the SD group of patients at baseline, and levels of both angiopoietin-1 and matrix metalloproteinase-9 increased in the progressive disease group only. There were no changes in other plasma markers. CONCLUSION: This metronomic approach has negligible activity in advanced cancer albeit with minimal toxicity. Analysis of plasma markers indicates minimal effects on endothelium in this trial. These data for this particular regimen do not support basic tenets of metronomic chemotherapy, such as the ability to overcome resistant tumours by targeting the endothelium

Sonification and Music as Support to the Communication of Alcohol-Related Health Risks to Young People : Study design and results

Excessive consumption of alcohol has been recognised as a significant risk factor impacting the health of young people. Effective communication of such risk is considered to be one key step to improve behaviour. We evaluated an innovative multimedia intervention that utilised audio (sonification—using sound to display data—and music) and interactivity to support the visual communication of alcohol health risk data. A 3-arm pilot experiment was undertaken. The trial measures included health knowledge, alcohol risk perception and user experience of the intervention. Ninety-six subjects participated in the experiment. At 1 month follow-up, alcohol knowledge and alcohol risk perception improved significantly in the whole sample. However, there was no difference between the intervention groups that experienced (1) visual presentation with interactivity (VI-Exp group) and, (2) visual presentation with audio (sonification and music) and interactivity (VAI-Exp group), when compared to the control group which experienced a (3) visual only presentation (V-Cont group). Participants reported enjoying the presentations and found them educational. The majority of participants indicated that the audio, music and sonification helped to convey the information well, and, although a larger sample size is needed to fully establish the effectiveness of the different interventions, this study provides a useful model for future similar studies