Insular Carcinoma of Thyroid Presenting as a Giant Skull Lesion: A Dilemma in Treatment.

Thyroid surgeons are becoming increasingly more aware of a histologically distinct subset of thyroid carcinoma whose classification falls between well-differentiated and anaplastic carcinomas with respect to both cell differentiation and clinical behavior. This subtype of tumors has been categorized as poorly differentiated or insular carcinoma, based on its characteristic cell groupings. Although the differentiation of insular carcinoma from other thyroid carcinomas has important prognostic and therapeutic significance, relatively little about insular carcinoma has been published in the otolaryngology literature. In this article, we discuss a case of insular carcinoma of thyroid presenting with concurrent distant metastasis to skull, lung, ribs, and inguinal region with review of the literature. We conclude that insular thyroid carcinoma warrants aggressive management with total thyroidectomy and excision of accessible giant lesion followed by radioactive iodine ablation of any remaining thyroid tissue

Barrier modification in sub-barrier fusion reactions using Wong formula with Skyrme forces in semiclassical formalism

We obtain the nuclear proximity potential by using semiclassical extended Thomas Fermi (ETF) approach in Skyrme energy density formalism (SEDF), and use it in the extended $\ell$-summed Wong formula under frozen density approximation. This method has the advantage of allowing the use of different Skyrme forces, giving different barriers. Thus, for a given reaction, we could choose a Skyrme force with proper barrier characteristics, not-requiring extra ``barrier lowering" or ``barrier narrowing" for a best fit to data. For the $^{64}$Ni+$^{100}$Mo reaction, the $\ell$-summed Wong formula, with effects of deformations and orientations of nuclei included, fits the fusion-evaporation cross section data exactly for the force GSkI, requiring additional barrier modifications for forces SIII and SV. However, the same for other similar reactions, like $^{58,64}$Ni+$^{58,64}$Ni, fits the data best for SIII force. Hence, the barrier modification effects in $\ell$-summed Wong expression depends on the choice of Skyrme force in extended ETF method.Comment: INPC2010, Vancouver, CANAD

Interfacial Tension of Some Newtonian and non-Newtonian Fluids by the Drop-Weight Method

Experimental data on interfacial tension of 42 binary liquid-liquid systems using water, aqueous glycerol, aqueous polymeric solutions of polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP), poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO), carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) and polyacrylamide (PAM) as continuous phase, and carbon tetrachloride, chlorobenzene, bromobenzene, nitrobenzene, nitrotoluene and ethyl chloroacetate as dispersed phase at 20 °C are reported. The interfacial tension has been measured using the drop-weight method at different compositions of continuous phases

Comparative study of antibacterial activity of two different earthworm species, Perionyx excavatus and Pheretima posthuma against pathogenic bacteria

Disease outbreaks are being increasingly recognized as a significant constraint on aquaculture production and trade affecting the economic development of the sector in many countries. Extracting and using biologically active compounds from earthworms has traditionally been practiced by indigenous people throughout the world. The aim of the present study was to shown antimicrobial activity through earthworm extract against fish bacterial pathogens. In total, 8 bacterial strains i.e. 6 gram negative viz. Aeromonas hydrophila, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, P. fluorescens, E.coli, Enterobacter aerogens and Shigella sp. and 2 gram positive viz. Staphylococcus aureus and Micrococcus luteus were identified. The extract of earthworm Perionyx excavatus, Pheretima posthuma were prepared and antimicrobial activity of the extract was determined by antimicrobial well diffusion assay. After 24 hrs of incubation period, it was observed that earthworm extract showed antibacterial activity against isolated bacterial strains. Among earthworm extract of two different species, the maximum zone of inhibition was shown against A. hydrophila by Perionyx excavatus (18.33± 0.66 mm) and P. posthuma (16.66±0.33). P. excavatus showed antibacterial activity against all pathogenic bacteria except Shigella spp. However on the other hand, P.posthuma showed antibacterial activity against A. hydrophila, P. fluorescens, E.coli, and S. aureus. The study has proved that earthworm extract can be effectively used for suppression of bacterial infection in fishes and that it can used as potential antimicrobial drug against commercial antibiotic resistance bacteria

Isolation and Characterization of Stigmasterol from Fritillaria roylei

Fritillaria roylei (Kshirakakoli) is the threatened species of “Ashtwarga†group suffers lot of confusion for identification & authentification in Ayurvedic system of medicine. Due to lack of natural sources and insufficient availability of kshirakakoli, chances of adulteration and substitution increases which in turn leads to loss of faith of people in herbal drugs. Thus for identification and differentiation, quality standardization and quality assurance of kshirakakoli containing herbal formulations there is a need to isolate chemical marker compound using advanced analytical techniques. The methanol extract of root samples of plant was prepared and phytochemical screening was performed. Marker compound was isolated from the extract using column chromatography. Single compound having Rf value 0.31 was isolated with TLC by using mobile phase n-hexane: ethyl acetate: formic acid (8:2:0.1 v/v/v) and purified by re-crystallization with methanol. Isolated compound was further characterized by using melting point and spectral analysis. The methanol extract was dark brown in color and showed the presence of steroids, amino acids and flavonoids. The isolated compound was found to be white crystalline powder with melting point range of 167-169°C. Spectral analysis confirmed the presence of Stigmasterol. In present study stigmasterol was isolated for the first time and can be used as chemical marker for identification and differentiation of the plant from its substitutes

DIETARY PHYTOCHEMICALS IN CELL CYCLE ARREST AND APOPTOSIS- AN INSIGHT

Recently chemoprevention by the use of naturally occurring dietary substances is considered as a practical approach to reduce the ever-increasing incidence of cancer. While a number of natural foods, fruit and vegetables are recommended for prevention of cancer and other diseases, their active ingredients and their mechanism of action are not well understood. A number of dietary phytochemicals are under phase III clinical trial due to their potent therapeutic effect against cancer. Moreover most of the drugs being used in chemotherapy have been derived from plant products. With an advanced knowledge of molecular science and refinement in isolation and structure elucidation techniques, world is in a much better position to identify various anticancer herbs and develop therapeutic agents for cancer. However lack of success with targeted mono-therapy and multi-drug resistance to existing chemotherapeutic agents has forced scientists to practice either combination therapy or use a number of agents working at different sites to get some synergistic effect. Since most of the cells do not show resistance to natural plant products; hence the use of natural plant products can be an alternative modality of treatment for multidrug resistant tumors. In this review article an attempt has been made to put some known phytochemicals of dietary origin that act at various stages of cell cycle and/or apoptotic pathway at a single platform, so that by understanding the synergistic, additive or antagonistic interactions of various constituents of anticancer herbs, the herbal regimens can be designed to fight cancer

Interfacial Tension of Some Newtonian and non-Newtonian Fluids by the Drop-Weight Method

Experimental data on interfacial tension of 42 binary liquid-liquid systems using water, aqueous glycerol, aqueous polymeric solutions of polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP), poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO), carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) and polyacrylamide (PAM) as continuous phase, and carbon tetrachloride, chlorobenzene, bromobenzene, nitrobenzene, nitrotoluene and ethyl chloroacetate as dispersed phase at 20 °C are reported. The interfacial tension has been measured using the drop-weight method at different compositions of continuous phases

Mobile Power Infrastructure Planning and Operational Management for Smart City Applications

The paper presents new strategies and algorithms for future mobile power infrastructure planning and operational management in smart cities. The efforts have been made to develop a resilient Electric Vehicle (EV) infrastructure for smart city applications. The goal of this work is to maximize the profit of utility and EV owners participating in real-time smart city energy market subjected to numerous techno-economic constraints of the EVs and power distribution system. For effective real-time applications, the knowledge of artificial intelligence and internet of things (IoT) are used in the proposed model. In order to validate the proposed model for smart city applications, IEEE 33-bus radial distribution network is adopted as a small city power network. The simulation results of proposed model are found to be encouraging when it is compared with the case in which conventional strategies are used

Compliance Level of Textual Therapeutic Usage of Kshirakakoli Containing Formulations with a Serial Ethnomedicinal Survey and Modern System of Medicine

Fritillaria roylei (Kshirakakoli) is a primal plant used in ancient times. But nowadays, due to biotic and abiotic stress the plant has entered in the list of threatened medicinal plant. In ancient texts effective uses of formulations containing kshirakakoli are well mentioned but the information is not written in simple language due to which the therapeutic value of the plant is not well understood by scientific fraternity. So, there is a major need to perform ethno medicinal survey for the formulations containing kshirakakoli and compare their therapeutic uses as mentioned in text with the modern system of medicine. In this study, a field survey was performed in 4 states i.e., Uttar Pradesh, Uttrakhand, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh where the conversation regarding usage of this plant or formulation was done with 24 local medical practitioners, 18 shopkeepers and 4 traditional healers. The information thus obtained were recorded and then compared. Results showed that the usage of kshirakakoli containing formulations was highest in Himachal Pradesh and Uttrakhand. Only few clinical studies have been done on these formulations. The effectiveness of the formulations against remedies alluded by the trado-medical practitioners claimed was found accurate as per ayurvedic textual literature. Hence, the ethno medicinal survey provides a precise guidance to scientists for future research on these kshirakakoli containing formulations that are useful in plethora of disorders