Lifestyle and Language in Thirumurugatrupadai

Tamil literature clearly reflects the lifestyle of the ancient Tamils. In the field of anthropology Tamil literature plays an important role. The richness of a country's language is judged by the richness of its literature in the regional language spoken by the people of that country. The ideas found in those literary works shapes the mind and lifestyle of both the present and future generation too. Thirumurugatrupadai which is one among the Pattuppattu (anthology) is about a person who is blessed by the lord Murugan, comforting another servant to Murugan. In this text author Nakkiranar has sung songs in six sections about the places where Murugan used to stay such as Tiruparanguntram, Tiruchendur, Palani, Swamimalai, Palamuthircholai and Kuntuthoradal. Thus, the article briefly explains about the Kurinji land people, their customs, how they worshipped lord Murugan, their clothing, accessories, the sense of solidarity with relatives, the spirit of living together, chastity, and the development of virtue. All these things strengthen the richness of the Tamil language

High Prevalence of Metabolic Syndrome among Outpatients in a Tertiary Care Centre, Tamil Nadu, India

Background: Metabolic Syndrome (MetS), a constellation of specific cardiometabolic risk factors increases the risk of diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. These risk factors can be largely reversed through lifestyle changes. To develop individualized lifestyle therapeutic interventions among patients attending non-communicable disease specialty departments, there is a need for identification of people with high risk of developing MetS. Aim and Objectives: To determine the prevalence of MetS, it's associated demographic and clinical characteristics among patients attending specialty Outpatient Department (OPD) in a tertiary care centre. Material and Methods: In this hospital-based cross-sectional study, randomly selected adults (aged 20 years or more) attending the diabetology or cardiology OPD were included. Using pretested interview tool, demographic details, height, weight and waist circumference were measured as per standard guidelines. Blood pressure, fasting blood sugar and fasting lipid profile were assessed. MetS was classified based on the modified Adult Treatment Panel (ATP-III) and International Diabetes Federation (IDF) criteria. Results: A total of 668 patients were included and the mean age was 50.1 ± 9.7 years. Of the total, 72.6% and 64.5% of patients had MetS. Patients aged 60 years or more had 1.8 times [Adjusted PR 95% CI:1.05-3.16] higher prevalence of MetS compared to 20-30 years. Patients who were doing at least 30 minutes of regular moderate physical activity had 17% less occurrence of MetS [Adj PR: 0.71-0.96] compared to those who did less than 15 minutes of physical activity. Gender, literacy, type of diet and amount of visible fat intake were not significantly associated with MetS. Conclusion: MetS is highly prevalent among patients attending diabetology and cardiology OPD. Across several subgroups, around two-thirds had MetS and low high-density lipoprotein was the major contributing factor for MetS

Perspective Chapter: Podological Deformities and Its Management

The ankle and foot complex plays on important role in gait and weight bearing of the body weight. The deformity of the ankle and foot affects and alters the biomechanics of the body and normal gait pattern, and this consequently affects the other parts and joints of the lower limb and also trunk

Purification and characterization of chitinase from Alcaligenes faecalis AU02 by utilizing marine wastes and its antioxidant activity

Marine waste is an abundant renewable source for the recovery of several value added metabolites with potential industrial applications. This study describes the production of chitinase on marine waste, with the subsequent use of the same marine waste for the extraction of antioxidants. A chitinase-producing bacterium isolated from seafood effluent was identified as Alcaligenes faecalis AU02. Optimal chitinase production was obtained in culture conditions of 37°C for 72 h in 100 ml medium containing 1% shrimp and crab shell powder (1:1) (w/v), 0.1% K2HPO4, and 0.05% MgSO4·7H2O. The molecular weight of chitinase was determined by SDS-PAGE to be 36 kDa. The optimum pH, temperature, pH stability, and thermal stability of chitinase were about 8, 37°C, 5–12, and 40–80°C, respectively. The antioxidant activity of A. faecalis AU02 culture supernatant was determined through scavenging ability on 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) as 84%, and the antioxidant compound was characterized by TLC and its FT-IR spectrum. The present study proposed that marine wastes can be utilized to generate a high-value-added product and that pharmacological studies can extend its use to the field of medicine

Germline Mutations in HOXB13 and Prostate-Cancer Risk

Family history is a significant risk factor for prostate cancer, although the molecular basis for this association is poorly understood. Linkage studies have implicated chromosome 17q21-22 as a possible location of a prostate-cancer susceptibility gene

Characterization of osteopontin in RSV transformed rat-1 cells and its role in cell transformation

Oncogenically transnformed mammalian cells irrespective of their origin synthesize and secrete osteopontin (OPN), a sialic acid rich, adhesive, phosphoglycoprotein, not only in excessive amounts but also in different molecular forms, as compared to their non-transformed counterparts. It has been postulated that OPN has important functional roles in oncogenesis, but its mechanism of action remains obscure. In the present study this question was addressed by using Rat-1 cells transformed by a temperature-sensitive mutant of Rous sarcoma virus (tsB77 cells) which secrete two discrete molecular forms of OPN, a 69-kDa OPN at the non-permissive temperature (41°C and a 62-kDa form at the permissive temperature (34°C). Investigations were aimed to determine how the two isoforms of OPN secreted by transformed and non-transformed cells originate, whether the two forms have different functional properties, and the effects of specific inhibition of OPN synthesis on the transformed state of the cells. The latter was achieved by transfecting tsB77 cells with antisense OPN cDNA at the permissive temperature. Immunoprecipitation, V8 protease mapping, tryptic peptide analysis, and thrombin digestion confirmed that 62-kDa and 69-kDa proteins are two isoforms of OPN. It was also observed that tsB77 cells at both temperatures transcribe a single 1.6 kb OPN mRNA and contain only the 69-kDa OPN intracellularly, suggesting that 69-kDa OPN is modified to its 62-kDa form prior to or immediately after secretion by cells at 34ºC. Proteolytic cleavage, differential phosphorylation, or lack of N- or O-linked carbohydrates as the possible mechanism for the generation of 62-kDa OPN were ruled out, but it was observed that 62-kDa OPN contains significantly reduced levels of sialic acid residues, as compared to its 69-kDa form. The binding assays using 32P-labeled OPN revealed that only the 69-kDa OPN, not its 62-kDa form, undergoes receptor-mediated localization on the cell surface

Anesthetic efficacy of 4% articaine and 2% lignocaine in achieving palatal anesthesia following a single buccal infiltration during periodontal therapy: A randomized double-blind split-mouth study

Background: The aim of this randomized split-mouth double-blind study was to evaluate whether 4% articaine hydrochloride with 1:100,000 epinephrine administered as a single buccal infiltration in the maxillary posterior sextant can provide palatal anesthesia when compared with 2% lignocaine with 1:100,000 epinephrine during scaling and root planing and access flap surgery (AFS). Material and Methods: A total of 40 patients with chronic generalized periodontitis requiring periodontal therapy in the maxillary posterior sextants were recruited in this study. About 4% articaine and 2% lignocaine were administered as buccal infiltration in a split-mouth design randomly. The pain scores in the palatal aspect were recorded during scaling and root planing and open flap debridement using Heft-Parker visual analog scale. The onset of anesthesia was also recorded and compared. Results: The success rate for maxillary buccal infiltration to induce palatal anesthesia using articaine was 90% during scaling and root planing and 82.5% during AFS and for lignocaine solution was 20% and 15%, respectively. The difference between the two agents was statistically significant (P < 0.05). The onset of anesthesia between articaine and lignocaine was also found to be statistically significant (P < 0.05). Conclusion: In this study, we observed that the efficacy of 4% articaine was superior to 2% lignocaine to induce palatal anesthesia following maxillary buccal infiltration in maxillary posterior sextants