473 research outputs found
Can We Do Away With PTBD?
Percutaneous Transhepatic Biliary Drainage (PTBD) is performed in surgical jaundice to
decompress the biliary tree and improve hepatic functions. However, the risk of sepsis is high
in these patients due to immunosuppression and surgical outcome remains poor. This raises a
question—can we do away with PTBD? To answer this query a study was carried out in 4
groups of patients bearing in mind the high incidence of sepsis and our earlier studies, which
have demonstrated immunotherapeutic potential of Tinospora cordifolia (TC): (A) those
undergoing surgery without PTBD (n = 14), (B) those undergoing surgery after PTBD
(n = 13). The mortality was 57.14% in Group A as compared to 61.54% in Group B. Serial
estimations of bilirubin levels carried out during the course of drainage (3 Wks) revealed a
gradual and significant decrease from 12.52 ± 8.3 mg% to 5.85 ± 3.0 mg%. Antipyrine half-life
did not change significantly (18.35 ± 4.2 hrs compared to basal values 21.96 ± 3.78 hrs). The
phagocytic and intracellular killing (ICK) capacities of PMN remained suppressed (Basal:
22.13 ± 3.68% phago, and 19.1 ± 4.49% ICK; Post drainage: 20 ± 8.48% Phago and 11.15 ± 3.05% ICK). Thus PTBD did not improve the metabolic capacity ofthe liver and mortality was
higher due to sepsis. Group (C) patientg received TC during PTBD (n = 16) and Group (D)
patients received TC without PTBD (n = 14). A significant improvement in PMN functions
occurred by 3 weeks in both groups (30.29 ± 4.68% phago, 30 ± 4.84% ICK in Group C and
30.4 ± 2.99% phago, 27.15 ± 6.19% ICK in Group D). The mortality in Groups C and D was
25% and 14.2% respectively during the preoperative period. There was no mortality after
surgery. It appears from this study that host defenses as reflected by PMN functions play an
important role in influencing prognosis. Further decompression of the biliary tree by PTBD
seems unwarranted
Dynamics-based centrality for general directed networks
Determining the relative importance of nodes in directed networks is
important in, for example, ranking websites, publications, and sports teams,
and for understanding signal flows in systems biology. A prevailing centrality
measure in this respect is the PageRank. In this work, we focus on another
class of centrality derived from the Laplacian of the network. We extend the
Laplacian-based centrality, which has mainly been applied to strongly connected
networks, to the case of general directed networks such that we can
quantitatively compare arbitrary nodes. Toward this end, we adopt the idea used
in the PageRank to introduce global connectivity between all the pairs of nodes
with a certain strength. Numerical simulations are carried out on some
networks. We also offer interpretations of the Laplacian-based centrality for
general directed networks in terms of various dynamical and structural
properties of networks. Importantly, the Laplacian-based centrality defined as
the stationary density of the continuous-time random walk with random jumps is
shown to be equivalent to the absorption probability of the random walk with
sinks at each node but without random jumps. Similarly, the proposed centrality
represents the importance of nodes in dynamics on the original network supplied
with sinks but not with random jumps.Comment: 7 figure
Magnetic behavior of nanocrystalline ErCo2
We have investigated the magnetic behavior of the nanocrystalline form of a
well-known Laves phase compound, ErCo2 - the bulk form of which has been known
to undergo an interesting first-order ferrimagnetic ordering near 32 K -
synthesized by high-energy ball-milling. It is found that, in these
nanocrystallites, Co exhibits ferromagnetic order at room temperature as
inferred from the magnetization data. However, the magnetic transition
temperature for Er sublattice remains essentially unaffected as though the
(Er)4f-Co(3d) coupling is weak on Er magnetism. The net magnetic moment as
measured at high fields, sat at 120 kOe, is significantly reduced with respect
to that for the bulk in the ferrimagnetically ordered state and possible
reasons are outlined. We have also compared the magnetocaloric behavior for the
bulk and the nano particles.Comment: JPCM, in pres
Fast computation by block permanents of cumulative distribution functions of order statistics from several populations
The joint cumulative distribution function for order statistics arising from
several different populations is given in terms of the distribution function of
the populations. The computational cost of the formula in the case of two
populations is still exponential in the worst case, but it is a dramatic
improvement compared to the general formula by Bapat and Beg. In the case when
only the joint distribution function of a subset of the order statistics of
fixed size is needed, the complexity is polynomial, for the case of two
populations.Comment: 21 pages, 3 figure
The Association between Educational Achievements, Career Aspirations, Achievement Motives and Oral Hygiene Behavior among Dental Students of Udaipur, India
Background: There are several factors which influence oral hygiene behavior of an individual. Educational achievements, career aspirations and achievement motives of individuals are some of those factors. The objective of this study was to investigate whether educational achievements, career aspirations and achievement motives have associations with oral hygiene behavior among dental students of Udaipur, India.Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among all (n=200) 1st year dental students from all dental colleges of Udaipur City, India. Self-administered structured questions were used to assess their educational achievements, career aspirations and oral hygiene behavior (OHB). Achievement motives were assessed using Achievement Motive Scale developed by Lang and Fries (2006). Chi-square test and multivariate logistic regression tests were used in data analysis. Confidence level and level of significance were set at 95% and 5% respectively.Results: Students with better educational achievements undergone regular dental check-up (30.48%) (p=0.03) and used other oral hygiene aids (90.24%) (p=0.01). Tooth brushing frequency, time and replacement time of tooth brush were found to be significantly associated with career aspiration (p=0.007; p=0.002; p=0.00 respectively). Achievement motives did not have statistically significant association with oral hygiene behavior.Conclusion: Educational achievements and career aspirations appear to be associated with oral hygiene behavior of young dental students. Students with higher career aspirations practiced better oral hygiene behavior. There was no significant relationship between achievement motives and oral hygiene behavior.Keywords: Educational achievements, career aspirations, achievement motives, oral hygiene
Anthraquinone & Anthrone Series: Part XXVI. A new synthesis of chrysophanol, rhein, islandicin, emodin & physcion
A new general method for the synthesis of chrysophanol, rhein, islandicin, emodin and physcion, starting from common dye intermediates such as 1-amino-5-chloroanthraquinone and 2-methylanthraquinone, is described. Though a number of stages such as halogenation, deamination, replacement of halogen by hydroxyl, methoxylation and demethylation are involved in the synthesis, the reactions proceed without difficulty and good yields are obtained
Emblica Officinalis: A Novel Therapy for Acute Pancreatitis — An Experimental Study
Acute necrotising pancreatitis is associated with an unacceptably high mortality for which no
satisfactory remedy exists. Emblica officinalis (E.o.) is a plant prescribed in Ayurveda, the
Indian traditional system of medicine, for pancreas-related disorders. This study was carried
out to evaluate the protective effect of E.o. against acute necrotising pancreatitis in dogs.
Pancreatitis was induced by injecting a mixture of trypsin, bile and blood into the duodenal
opening of the pancreatic duct. Twenty eight dogs were divided into 4 groups (n = 6-8 each):
GpI–control, GpII–acute pancreatitis, GpIII–sham-operated, GpIV–pretreatment with
28 mg E.o./kg/day for 15 days before inducing pancreatitis. Serum amylase increased from
541.99 ± 129.13 IU/ml to 1592.63 ± 327.83 IU (p<0.02) 2 hrs after the induction of pancreatitis
in GpII. The rise in serum amylase in both GpIII and GpIV was not significant. On
light microscopic examination, acinar cell damage was less and the total inflammatory score
was significantly lower in the E.o. treated group as compared to GpII. Electron microscopy
confirmed this and showed an increased amount of smooth, endoplasmic reticulum and small,
condensed granules embedded in a vacuole. More studies are needed to explore the clinical
potential of E.o. and its mechanism of action
- …