Trend and pattern of various types of cancer with special reference to gall bladder cancer in North Bengal medical college, West Bengal, India: A 3 years record based study

Background: Global burden of cancer is on rise and trends and pattern of cancers are rapidly changing different geographic and population groups. Gall bladder cancers are emerging with increasing proportion among select areas and groups and understanding these variations are important for appropriate strategies and interventions. However, absence of a well-developed universal cancer registry system in India, institution based secondary data analysis can generate useful information. The present study was conducted to determine the trend and pattern of cancer cases (with special reference to gall bladder cancer) treated in a tertiary care hospital in northern part of West Bengal. Methods: Record based cross-sectional study was conducted in Department of Radiotherapy, North Bengal Medical College and Hospital. All newly registered cases between (2010 and 2012) were reviewed. Results: A total of 2058 cancer cases were recorded during the 3-year period. Of these, major types of cancers were oro-pharynx (16.1%), breast (15.4%), cervix (13.2%), lung (12.7%), gall bladder (6.5%) stomach cancer (6.4%), etc., Increasing proportions was observed for breast and gall bladder cancers. The proportion of gallbladder cancer cases in 2010, 2011, and 2012 were 3.8%, 7.3% and 7.8%, respectively. Among 134 gall bladder cancer cases, 93.3% were females, 85.1% alcoholics, 57.4% had a history of fatty liver, 94% had adeno/adenosquamous carcinomas, and 65.7% were metastatic in nature. Conclusions: Increasing trend is observed in gall bladder cancer cases emphasizing the need for further large scale studies

Pre-emptive oral dexmethorphan reduces fentanyl-induced cough as well as immediate postoperative adrenocortico-tropic hormone and growth hormone level

Background : Fentanyl-induced cough is not always benign and brief and can be remarkably troublesome, spasmodic, and explosive. Dextromethorphan, an opioid derivative with an antitussive action, may be effective in reducing the fentanyl-induced cough. Dextromethorphan, a N-methyl D aspartate receptor antagonist, may have some effect on diminishing the stress response to surgery. This study was undertaken to determine whether preoperative dextromethorphan could effectively attenuate its incidence, severity, and effect on postoperative stress hormone levels. Materials and Methods : Three hundred and twenty patients of American society of anesthesiologists I-II, aged 18-60 years, undergoing elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy or appendicectomy were randomly allocated into two groups (Group C, control; Group D, dextromethorphan) consisting of 160 patients each. Patients in Group D received dextromethorphan 40 mg orally and in Group C received placebo tablets 60 minutes before induction of anesthesia. The incidence of cough was recorded for 1 minute after fentanyl injection and graded as none (0), mild (1-2), moderate (3-5), and severe (>5 cough). Blood samples were collected for estimation of stress hormone levels before surgery and again at 1 hour and 24 hours postoperatively and compared. The appearance of adverse reactions was recorded. Results : The incidence of reflex fentanyl cough was lower in dextromethorphan group (3.9%) in comparison to placebo (59.8%). Five patients developed mild and one moderate cough in the dextromethorphan group. In the control group, 31 patients developed mild, 29 moderate, and 32 severe cough. The stress hormones were significantly higher at 1 hour and 24 hours postoperatively in both groups in comparison to its preoperative values. However, at 1 hour postoperatively, adrenocorticotropic hormone, epinephrine, and growth hormone values were significantly low in the dextromethorphan group (61.5 ± 21.1 pg/ ml, 142.1 ± 11.2 pg/ml, and 3.8 ± 0.7 ng/ml) relative to the control group (73.4 ± 21.9 pg/ml, 158.9 ± 17.9 pg/ml, and 4.2 ± 1.3 ng/ml), but changes became insignificant at 24 hours postoperatively. Conclusion : Preoperative oral dextromethorphan 40 mg decreased the incidence and severity of fentanyl induced cough and reduced the rise in stress hormones at 1 hour postoperatively

Ionospheric studies for the implementation of GAGAN

394-404Satellite Based Augmentation System (SBAS), being developed by Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) in collaboration with Airports Authority of India (AAI) is known as “GPS Aided GEO Augmented Navigation” (GAGAN). It is expected to offer better accuracy and integrity of navigation service than with GPS alone by providing correction terms to the GPS signals. This is achieved by modelling a Near Real Time Grid Based Ionospheric Delay Model for correcting propagation delay at 1575.42 MHz (L1) using measurements at 1575.42 and 1227.6 MHz (L2). Existing algorithms are replaced by Kriging based model to meet the requirement of correction with 0.5 m maximum residue over Indian region. Details of the data collection and pre-processing, including estimation of the Total Electron Content (TEC), which is a measure of ionospheric delay, has been described. Kriging algorithm and some preliminary results of studies are also presented in this paper. This includes the spatial decorrelation of the stochastic random field over the deterministic variation of ionospheric TEC. Its variation with time and locations are investigated and a temporal dependence found to exist. Large scale ionospheric irregularities and depletions that cause severe amplitude and phase scintillations are also studied. Their impacts on GAGAN are also shown. Some major scientific studies required to be carried out over Indian region to improve the GAGAN performance is discussed

Use of methylation filtration and C<SUB>0</SUB>t fractionation for analysis of genome composition and comparative genomics in bread wheat

We investigated the compositional and structural differences in sequences derived from different fractions of wheat genomic DNA obtained using methylation filtration and C<SUB>0</SUB>t fractionation. Comparative analysis of these sequences revealed large compositional and structural variations in terms of GC content, different structural elements including repeat sequences (e.g., transposable elements and simple sequence repeats), protein coding genes, and non-coding RNA genes. A correlation between methylation status [determined on the basis of selective inclusion/exclusion in methylation-filtered (MF) library] of different repeat elements and expression level was observed. The expression levels were determined by comparing MF sequences with expressed sequence tags (ESTs) available in the public domain. Only a limited overlap among MF, high C<SUB>0</SUB>t (HC), and ESTs was observed, suggesting that these sequences may largely either represent the low-copy non-transcribed sequences or include genes with low expression levels. Thus, these results indicated a need to study MF and HC sequences along with ESTs to fully appreciate complexity of wheat gene space

Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy (4th edition)

In 2008, we published the first set of guidelines for standardizing research in autophagy. Since then, this topic has received increasing attention, and many scientists have entered the field. Our knowledge base and relevant new technologies have also been expanding. Thus, it is important to formulate on a regular basis updated guidelines for monitoring autophagy in different organisms. Despite numerous reviews, there continues to be confusion regarding acceptable methods to evaluate autophagy, especially in multicellular eukaryotes. Here, we present a set of guidelines for investigators to select and interpret methods to examine autophagy and related processes, and for reviewers to provide realistic and reasonable critiques of reports that are focused on these processes. These guidelines are not meant to be a dogmatic set of rules, because the appropriateness of any assay largely depends on the question being asked and the system being used. Moreover, no individual assay is perfect for every situation, calling for the use of multiple techniques to properly monitor autophagy in each experimental setting. Finally, several core components of the autophagy machinery have been implicated in distinct autophagic processes (canonical and noncanonical autophagy), implying that genetic approaches to block autophagy should rely on targeting two or more autophagy-related genes that ideally participate in distinct steps of the pathway. Along similar lines, because multiple proteins involved in autophagy also regulate other cellular pathways including apoptosis, not all of them can be used as a specific marker for bona fide autophagic responses. Here, we critically discuss current methods of assessing autophagy and the information they can, or cannot, provide. Our ultimate goal is to encourage intellectual and technical innovation in the field