Anterior Chamber Migration of Intravitreal Dexamethasone Implant in an Eye with Scleral-fixated Intraocular Lens

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MELATONIN AMELIORATES FLUORIDE INDUCED NEUROTOXICITY IN YOUNG RATS: AN IN VIVO EVIDENCE

Objective: Developing brain is highly vulnerable to environmental toxins. Recently, fluoride was declared as a developmental neurotoxin and heralded search for natural neuroprotectant. In the present study, we have evaluated the neuroprotective and anti-inflammatory efficacy of melatonin in fluoride induced neurotoxicity.Methods: Animals were divided into following groups; the first group was used as control. Groups 2, 3 and 4 were treated with melatonin (10 mg/kg BW), sodium fluoride (NaF 4 mg/kg BW) and NaF (4 mg/kg BW) plus melatonin (10 mg/kg BW) respectively. Young rats were orally administered their respective doses daily for 60 days. Biochemical and behavioral analysis were performed. The level of proinflammatory cytokine, tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-a) was also determined.Results: Data obtained showed that NaF significantly (p<0.001) increased thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), ROS concentration and decreased the activities of glutathione (GSH) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx). On the other hand, melatonin plus NaF treated group showed significant decrease in the levels of TBARS and ROS while it increased the activities of antioxidant enzymes and glutathione content. In addition, melatonin significantly attenuated fluoride-induced increase in the TNF-α level of brain. Melatonin also prevented the cognitive deficit as shown by the increased retention latency in the passive avoidance task (p<0.001).Conclusion: The present study suggests that melatonin has therapeutic potential since it suppresses fluoride induced inflammation, cognitive impairment and oxidative stress in the brain. Key words: Oxidative stress, Inflammation, Melatonin, TNF- α, Fluoride

Physicochemical properties of free and calcium alginate immobilized alkaline pectin lyase from Bacillus cereus

305-314Purified pectin lyase from Bacillus cereus was successfully immobilized in alginate beads with a high binding efficiency of 84.55%. The optimal immobilization was achieved using 2.5% (w/v) alginate concentration. Both free and immobilized enzyme showed optimum pH of 10.0 and temperatures of 40 and 45°C respectively. Pectin lyase gave maximum activity at a substrate concentration of 0.5% w/v for free and 0.75% w/v for the immobilized enzyme and relatively similar Vmax values were obtained for both free (3.3 µmol/min) and immobilized pectin lyase (3.6 µmol/min). The Km for the immobilized pectin lyase (0.19 mg/ml) was slightly higher than that of the free (0.16 mg/ml) enzyme. The maximum inhibition of 50.2% was observed in the presence of Hg2+ ion for free pectin lyase and immobilized enzyme showed maximum inhibition of 67.32% in the presence of Na+ ion with statistically significant p-value (p th cycle. Furthermore, during storage at 4°C, immobilized pectin lyase retained relative activity of 79.77% and free enzyme retained 63.63% relative activity upto 35 days of storage, this indicated that the immobilization improved stability of the enzyme

Flood Prediction using Artificial Neural Networks: Empirical Evidence from Mauritius as a Case Study

Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) has been well studied for flood prediction. However, there is not enough empirical evidence to generalize ANN applicability to small countries with microclimates prevailing in a small geographical space. In this paper, we focus on the climatic conditions of Mauritius for which we seek to investigate the accuracy of using ANN to predict flooding using locally collected data from 11 meteorological stations spread across the country. The ANN model for flood prediction presented in this work is trained using 20,000 climate data records, collected over a period of two years for Mauritius. Our input climate features are minimum temperature, maximum temperature, rainfall and humidity and our output decision is „flood‟ or „no flood‟. Using ANN, we achieved an accuracy of 98% for flood prediction and hence, we conclude that ANN is indeed a good predictor for flood occurrence even for regions with predominantly microclimatic conditions

In-depth phenotyping for clinical stratification of Gaucher disease.

BackgroundThe Gaucher Investigative Therapy Evaluation is a national clinical cohort of 250 patients aged 5-87 years with Gaucher disease in the United Kingdom-an ultra-rare genetic disorder. To inform clinical decision-making and improve pathophysiological understanding, we characterized the course of Gaucher disease and explored the influence of costly innovative medication and other interventions. Retrospective and prospective clinical, laboratory and radiological information including molecular analysis of the GBA1 gene and comprising > 2500 variables were collected systematically into a relational database with banking of collated biological samples in a central bioresource. Data for deep phenotyping and life-quality evaluation, including skeletal, visceral, haematological and neurological manifestations were recorded for a median of 17.3 years; the skeletal and neurological manifestations are the main focus of this study.ResultsAt baseline, 223 of the 250 patients were classified as type 1 Gaucher disease. Skeletal manifestations occurred in most patients in the cohort (131 of 201 specifically reported bone pain). Symptomatic osteonecrosis and fragility fractures occurred respectively in 76 and 37 of all 250 patients and the first osseous events occurred significantly earlier in those with neuronopathic disease. Intensive phenotyping in a subgroup of 40 patients originally considered to have only systemic features, revealed neurological involvement in 18: two had Parkinson disease and 16 had clinical signs compatible with neuronopathic Gaucher disease-indicating a greater than expected prevalence of neurological features. Analysis of longitudinal real-world data enabled Gaucher disease to be stratified with respect to advanced therapies and splenectomy. Splenectomy was associated with an increased hazard of fragility fractures, in addition to osteonecrosis and orthopaedic surgery; there were marked gender differences in fracture risk over time since splenectomy. Skeletal disease was a heavy burden of illness, especially where access to specific therapy was delayed and in patients requiring orthopaedic surgery.ConclusionGaucher disease has been explored using real-world data obtained in an era of therapeutic transformation. Introduction of advanced therapies and repeated longitudinal measures enabled this heterogeneous condition to be stratified into obvious clinical endotypes. The study reveals diverse and changing phenotypic manifestations with systemic, skeletal and neurological disease as inter-related sources of disability

"The fruits of independence": Satyajit Ray, Indian nationhood and the spectre of empire

Challenging the longstanding consensus that Satyajit Ray's work is largely free of ideological concerns and notable only for its humanistic richness, this article shows with reference to representations of British colonialism and Indian nationhood that Ray's films and stories are marked deeply and consistently by a distinctively Bengali variety of liberalism. Drawn from an ongoing biographical project, it commences with an overview of the nationalist milieu in which Ray grew up and emphasizes the preoccupation with colonialism and nationalism that marked his earliest unfilmed scripts. It then shows with case studies of Kanchanjangha (1962), Charulata (1964), First Class Kamra (First-Class Compartment, 1981), Pratidwandi (The Adversary, 1970), Shatranj ke Khilari (The Chess Players, 1977), Agantuk (The Stranger, 1991) and Robertsoner Ruby (Robertson's Ruby, 1992) how Ray's mature work continued to combine a strongly anti-colonial viewpoint with a shifting perspective on Indian nationhood and an unequivocal commitment to cultural cosmopolitanism. Analysing how Ray articulated his ideological positions through the quintessentially liberal device of complexly staged debates that were apparently free, but in fact closed by the scenarist/director on ideologically specific notes, this article concludes that Ray's reputation as an all-forgiving, ‘everybody-has-his-reasons’ humanist is based on simplistic or even tendentious readings of his work

Recall patterns and risk of primary liver cancer for subcentimeter ultrasound liver observations: a multicenter study

BACKGROUND: Patients with cirrhosis and subcentimeter lesions on liver ultrasound are recommended to undergo short-interval follow-up ultrasound because of the presumed low risk of primary liver cancer (PLC). AIMS: The aim of this study is to characterize recall patterns and risk of PLC in patients with subcentimeter liver lesions on ultrasound. METHODS: We conducted a multicenter retrospective cohort study among patients with cirrhosis or chronic hepatitis B infection who had subcentimeter ultrasound lesions between January 2017 and December 2019. We excluded patients with a history of PLC or concomitant lesions ≥1 cm in diameter. We used Kaplan Meier and multivariable Cox regression analyses to characterize time-to-PLC and factors associated with PLC, respectively. RESULTS: Of 746 eligible patients, most (66.0%) had a single observation, and the median diameter was 0.7 cm (interquartile range: 0.5-0.8 cm). Recall strategies varied, with only 27.8% of patients undergoing guideline-concordant ultrasound within 3-6 months. Over a median follow-up of 26 months, 42 patients developed PLC (39 HCC and 3 cholangiocarcinoma), yielding an incidence of 25.7 cases (95% CI, 6.2-47.0) per 1000 person-years, with 3.9% and 6.7% developing PLC at 2 and 3 years, respectively. Factors associated with time-to-PLC were baseline alpha-fetoprotein \u3e10 ng/mL (HR: 4.01, 95% CI, 1.85-8.71), platelet count ≤150 (HR: 4.90, 95% CI, 1.95-12.28), and Child-Pugh B cirrhosis (vs. Child-Pugh A: HR: 2.54, 95% CI, 1.27-5.08). CONCLUSIONS: Recall patterns for patients with subcentimeter liver lesions on ultrasound varied widely. The low risk of PLC in these patients supports short-interval ultrasound in 3-6 months, although diagnostic CT/MRI may be warranted for high-risk subgroups such as those with elevated alpha-fetoprotein levels

In-depth phenotyping for clinical stratification of Gaucher disease

Abstract: Background: The Gaucher Investigative Therapy Evaluation is a national clinical cohort of 250 patients aged 5–87 years with Gaucher disease in the United Kingdom—an ultra-rare genetic disorder. To inform clinical decision-making and improve pathophysiological understanding, we characterized the course of Gaucher disease and explored the influence of costly innovative medication and other interventions. Retrospective and prospective clinical, laboratory and radiological information including molecular analysis of the GBA1 gene and comprising > 2500 variables were collected systematically into a relational database with banking of collated biological samples in a central bioresource. Data for deep phenotyping and life-quality evaluation, including skeletal, visceral, haematological and neurological manifestations were recorded for a median of 17.3 years; the skeletal and neurological manifestations are the main focus of this study. Results: At baseline, 223 of the 250 patients were classified as type 1 Gaucher disease. Skeletal manifestations occurred in most patients in the cohort (131 of 201 specifically reported bone pain). Symptomatic osteonecrosis and fragility fractures occurred respectively in 76 and 37 of all 250 patients and the first osseous events occurred significantly earlier in those with neuronopathic disease. Intensive phenotyping in a subgroup of 40 patients originally considered to have only systemic features, revealed neurological involvement in 18: two had Parkinson disease and 16 had clinical signs compatible with neuronopathic Gaucher disease—indicating a greater than expected prevalence of neurological features. Analysis of longitudinal real-world data enabled Gaucher disease to be stratified with respect to advanced therapies and splenectomy. Splenectomy was associated with an increased hazard of fragility fractures, in addition to osteonecrosis and orthopaedic surgery; there were marked gender differences in fracture risk over time since splenectomy. Skeletal disease was a heavy burden of illness, especially where access to specific therapy was delayed and in patients requiring orthopaedic surgery. Conclusion: Gaucher disease has been explored using real-world data obtained in an era of therapeutic transformation. Introduction of advanced therapies and repeated longitudinal measures enabled this heterogeneous condition to be stratified into obvious clinical endotypes. The study reveals diverse and changing phenotypic manifestations with systemic, skeletal and neurological disease as inter-related sources of disability