Assessment of Metabolic Parameters For Autism Spectrum Disorders

Autism is a brain development disorder that first appears during infancy or childhood, and generally follows a steady course without remission. Impairments result from maturation-related changes in various systems of the brain. Autism is one of the five pervasive developmental disorders (PDD), which are characterized by widespread abnormalities of social interactions and communication, and severely restricted interests and highly repetitive behavior. The reported incidence of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) has increased markedly over the past decade. The Centre for Disease Control and Prevention has recently estimated the prevalence of ASDs in the United States at approximately 5.6 per 1000 (1 of 155 to 1 of 160) children. Several metabolic defects, such as phenylketonuria, are associated with autistic symptoms. In deciding upon the appropriate evaluation scheme a clinician must consider a host of different factors. The guidelines in this article have been developed to assist the clinician in the consideration of these factors

Large chorangiomas: a seven years study in a tertiary care obstetrics and gynaecology hospital

Background: Chorangioma is a benign vascular placental tumour. It is composed of fetal capillary proliferation within the chorionic villi supported by a variable stroma. Smaller lesions are incidental, are often missed and carry no clinical significance. Larger lesions are associated with feto-maternal complications and are infrequently sent for histopathological examination.Methods: The study was conducted at the department of pathology, at a tertiary care obstetrics and gynaecology hospital. The study was a retrospective study which covered 7 years. Paraffin embedded blocks of placental specimens containing mass were taken up for the study. Sections were stained with haematoxylin and eosin (H and E). The results are compared and correlated with clinicopathologic factors. The statistical data are analysed manually.Results: A total of seven cases were included in the study, 4 cases were primi gravida, 1 case each in second, third and fourth gravida. Pregnancy outcome was intrauterine death in 1 case, dead born in 1 case, alive healthy children in 5 cases, birth weight was normal in 4 children, low birth weight in 2 children and 1 was extremely low birth weight. Of the total of 7 placental specimens 3 showed extraplacental mass and rest 4 showed intraplacental mass. All cases showed solitary lesions and measured > 5cm (large). Histopathological examination of all 7 specimens showed features of chorangioma.Conclusions: Careful inspection of the placenta is necessary following all deliveries. Any suspicious lesions should be documented and evaluated by histopathological examination there by predicting feto maternal complications and help the clinicians in better management of the mother and child accordingly. Meagre documentation of such cases prompted us to present this series of 7 cases of large chorangiomas with a mixed fetal outcome

Ameliorative effect of ethanolic extract of roots of Tetracera akara (Burm. f.) Merr. on D-galactosamine induced hepatotoxicity in Wistar rats by downregulation of inflammatory mediators like TNFα, COX-2 and iNOS

161-171Tetracera akara, a climbing shrub locally called Nennalvalli or Pattuvalli, is an ethnomedicinal plant used by Kani tribe of Kerala to treat chronic liver disorders and inflammatory conditions.  The present study was aimed to evaluate the hepatoprotective activity of ethanolic extract of roots of Tetracera akara root on D-Galactosamine induced hepatotoxicity in Wistar rats. Hepatotoxicity was induced in Wistar rats by intraperitoneal injection of D-GalN (400 mg/kg in saline) in Wistar rats. Ethanolic extract of T. akara root (TA ETH) was administered to the experimental rats in varying doses of (50, 150 and 300 mg/kg/day), p. o. for 7 days. The hepatoprotective effect was evaluated by the estimation of biochemical markers of hepatic injury, anti-oxidant status of the liver by estimating hepatic catalase, superoxide dismutase, glutathione and malondialdehyde, gene and protein expression level of inflammatory marker genes and histopathological evaluation of experimental animals. Administration of TA ETH (150 and 300 mg/kg) significantly (P ≤0.05) restored the levels of serum bilirubin, protein and other hepatic enzymes almost comparable to the standard drug Silymarin-treated groups. The levels of antioxidant enzymes like SOD and CAT were elevated and lipid peroxidation was inhibited as evident from the reduced levels of MDA. The gene expression studies by quantitative PCR method showed that TA ETH significantly (P ≤0.05) downregulated pro inflammatory cytokines, inflammatory COX-2 genes and upregulated IL 10 gene levels in D-GalN induced liver tissue, which was further confirmed in protein estimation by ELISA method. The histopathological observations were in correlation with the biochemical findings showing the presence of normal hepatic architecture, which further evidenced the hepatoprotective effect of TA ETH. Ethanolic extract of the root of T. akara possesses significant hepatoprotective activity mainly by scavenging reactive free radicals, boosting the endogenous antioxidant system in liver and inhibiting pro-inflammatory mediator like TNF α, COX-2, iNOS and promoting the anti-inflammatory IL 10, thus substantiating the tribal claim

Evaluation of pulmonary infiltrates in patients with haematological malignancies using fibreoptic bronchoscopy and bronchoalveolar lavage

Background : Chest infection is the major cause of morbidity and mortality among patients with haematological malignancies. Conventional diagnostic methods - chest x-ray , blood and sputum culture have limited yield . We used fibreoptic bronchoscopy and bronchoalveolar lavage to evaluate nature of pulmonary infiltrates on chest x-ray. Patients and Methods : 25 patients with haematological malignancies with fever and pulmonary infiltrates were studied. Patients median age was 32 years, ranging from 16 to 65 years. There were 21 males and 4 females. Initial evaluation included - detailed physical examination including chest to see for any focus of infection. In all patients , base line blood counts (total and differential), chest x-ray and cultures from blood and other body fluids were taken before starting broad spectrum antibiotics . Those not responding over next 48-72 hours received gram positive coverage followed by amphotericin-B therapy . Patients with persistent fever and pulmonary infiltrates were subjected to fibre-optic bronchoscopy (FOB) and bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) and samples were collected for bacterial, fungal, AFB and viral studies. The findings were correlated with Chest x-ray and CT scan. Results The median time for FOB and BAL was 16 days (range, 3 to 32 days) after the clinical diagnosis of chest infection.. BAL fluid examination/culture grew microbial isolates in 21 of 25 patients (84%). Of thesebacteria alone were present in 10, fungi alone in 1 and polymicrobial isolates were seen in 10 patients (40%). Later included- a combination of bacteria and fungi - in 2 patients, bacteria and AFB - 6 and a combination of bacteria, AFB and fungi were seen in 2 patients. BAL changed the radiological diagnosis in 14 patients (56% diagnostic utility). Therapy was modified according to BAL results in 6 patients (therapeutic utility of 24 %). Concordance between radiological and BAL findings were found only in 5 patients (20%). FOB procedure was tolerated well, with mild and reversible complications (throat pain, transient hypoxia, tachycardia) in some patients. Conclusions: Infections are the main cause of pulmonary infiltrates in patients with haematological malignancies. Bacterial , fungal and mycobacterium tubercular organisms are the main isolates. Isolation of ESBL positive organisms and polymicrobial isolates suggest inclusion of appropriate initial empirical antibiotics in these patients to prevent development of resistant organisms. Higher frequency of AFB isolates (32%) was the surprising finding and need to be confirmed in future studies

Research for practice in small human service organisations: doing and disseminating smallscale research

A series of novel alkynyl substituted 3,4-dihydropyrimidin-2(1H)-one (DHPM) derivatives were designed, synthesized and evaluated in vitro as potential inhibitors of chorismate mutase (CM). All these compounds were prepared via a multi-component reaction (MCR) involving sequential I2-mediated Biginelli reaction followed by Cu-free Sonogashira coupling. Some of them showed promising inhibitory activities when tested at 30 μM. One compound showed dose dependent inhibition of CM with IC50 value of 14.76 ± 0.54 μM indicating o-alkynylphenyl substituted DHPM as a new scaffold for the discovery of promising inhibitors of CM

Role of soluble, cell wall bound phenolics, tannin and flavonoid contents in maize resistance to pink stem borer Sesamia inferens Walker

The pink stem borer Sesamia inferens Walker is an important pest of winter maize which causes significant yieldlosses. In an attempt to identify the biochemical basis of resistance against S. inferens, total soluble phenolics, boundphenolics, cell wall-bound hydroxycinnamic acids-p-coumaric acid (p-CA), ferulic acid (FA), total tannin contentand total flavonoid contents, were measured in leaf at 10, 20 days after germination (DAG); stem at 20, 40 DAG;pith and rind tissues at 60 DAG (stem differentiated). From the present study, it was found that bound phenolics,p-CA, ferulic acid and total tannin contents contribute to the maize defense mechanism against S. inferens. Totalbound phenolic content showed negative correlation with Leaf Injury Rating (LIR). Highly significant strong positivecorrelation (+0.9750) was observed between LIR and total soluble phenolics in leaf tissue at 20 DAG. Similarlyhighly significant strong positive correlation between LIR and total tannins (+0.9354**) and flavonoids (+0.9582**)in pith at 60 DAG was observed. Further, a strong significant positive correlation was also observed between LIRand p-CA (+0.9199*) in pith at 60 DAG and total ferulic acid (+0.9051*) in rind at 60 DAG. The significant strong negativecorrelation between LIR and p-CA (-0.8441*) in stem at 40 DAG was observed. The total bound phenolicsin rind at 60 DAG (0.756), in leaf at 20 DAG (0.681), and total soluble phenolics in the stem at 20 DAG (0.685) showedhigher loadings with PC1, PC2, and PC3, respectively. Genotype-by-biochemical factor biplot showed that thedata of biochemical parameters measured in different tissues and stages could be able to group the genotypesaccording to their reaction to S. inferens

Radiation Effects in Ultraviolet Sensitive Pd/4H-SiC Schottky Detectors

9-154H-SiC, by virtue of its intrinsic properties, is a very promising semiconductor material for fabricating rad-hard UV detectors suitable for harsh radiation environments. This paper aims to investigate the radiation tolerance of indigenously developed Pd/4H-SiC Schottky detectors, in order to determine their feasibility for space applications. 4H-SiC detectors of active area 1 × 1 mm2 were irradiated with electrons of energy 10 MeV at fluence of 2×1013 e-/cm2 and gamma rays from a Co-60 source with a total dose of 1 Mrad. The impact of these irradiations on electro-optical characteristics of the devices was studied by analyzing the changes in electrical parameters like reverse saturation current (Is), ideality factor (n), barrier height (ɸB), effective doping concentration (Neff) derived from I-V and C-V characteristics as well as in the UV spectral responsivity (i.e., from 248 to 365 nm) of the irradiated detectors. The electron irradiated device showed negligible change in I-V and C-V characteristics whereas its UV spectral responsivity at the peak wavelength of 290 nm reduced by 48.7 %. Gamma irradiated device displayed a noticeable variation in its electrical characteristics and 15.8 % reduction in the spectral responsivity (optical characteristics) at the peak wavelength. The results show that the radiation hardness of 4H-SiC detectors is better than that of conventional semiconductor ones, making it a more appealing choice as radiation detectors in space systems

Determination of the optimal pre-processing technique for spectral data of oil palm leaves with respect to nutrient

Precision agriculture with regard to crop science was introduced to apply only the required and optimal amount of fertiliser, which inspired the present study of nutrient prediction for oil palm using spectroradiometer with wavelengths ranging from 350 to 2500 nm. Partial least square (PLS) method was used to develop a statistical model to interpret spectral data for nutrient deficiency of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), magnesium (Mg), calcium (Ca) and boron (B) of oil palm. Prior to the development of the PLS model, pre-processing was conducted to ensure only the smooth and best signals were studied, which includes the multiplicative scatter correction (MSC), first and second derivatives and standard normal variate (SNV), Gaussian filter and Savitzky-Golay smoothing. The MSC technique was the optimal overall pre-treatment method for nutrients in this study, with highest prediction R2 of 0.91 for N and lowest RMSEP value of 0.00 for P

Primary Carcinoma of the Fallopian Tube: A Review of a Single Institution Experience of 8 Cases

Aims and Objectives. To evaluate the clinicopathologic features, response to cytoreductive surgery and adjuvant platinum-based chemotherapy with or without paclitaxel. Materials and Methods. A retrospective observational study of 8 women with a histopathologic diagnosis of primary fallopian tube carcinoma (PFTC) from January 2000 to February 2013. Results. 4/8 (50%) of the women were in the early stage and an intraoperative frozen section was 100% effective in identifying fallopian tube carcinoma and then a staging laparotomy was performed. All 4/8 cases in the early stage had received and responded to single agent carboplatin and all are alive without clinical, radiological, or biochemical evidence of recurrence at the end of 2 years and the longest survivor has completed 13 years. Primary optimal cytoreductive surgery was achievable in 3/4 (75%) in advanced disease. All showed response to adjuvant paclitaxel and carboplatin (T+C), but all had succumbed to the disease following recurrence with mean progression-free survival of 19 months (range 15–21 months) and mean overall survival of 27 months (range 22–36 months). Conclusion. The pivotal role played by a frozen section in diagnosing PFTC which is rare needs to be reemphasized, therefore justifying a primary staging laparotomy in an early stage. Prolonged survival observed in this group following an optimum tailored adjuvant single agent carboplatin is worth noting

Pleomorphic adenoma of minor salivary gland with therapeutic misadventure: a rare case report

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The benign tumors of nasopharynx are least encountered tumors in otolaryngology, as nasopharynx is considered one of notorious anatomical site for the malignant tumors. Pleomorphic adenoma of the minor salivary gland of nasopharynx and parapharyngeal space is rare. We present a pleomorphic adenoma of minor salivary gland which was mismanaged.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>An adult male presented with left nostril obstruction for five months. The examination found big mass extending from nasopharynx to oropharynx. On CT scan, this tumor was quite big and extending to the parapharyngeal space. The FNAB found it a carcinoma but it did not respond to radiotherapy. The excision biopsy of tumor revealed it as pleomorphic adenoma. We found only five published reports on this tumor arising from nasopharynx.</p> <p>Discussion and conclusion</p> <p>Although, in this case report exact origin of the tumor could not be ascertained as it also appeared to be a parapharyngeal tumor but we kept the possibility of a nasopharyngeal tumor on the basis of clinical features. The pleomorphic adenoma of nasopharynx is rare. It can be misdiagnosed as malignant epithelial tumor on histopathology. The differentiation from its malignant variant is also difficult. A possibility of benign tumor should always be kept in nasopharyngeal growth with no evidence of metastasis, and histopathological diagnosis of growth should be available before any definitive treatment.</p