Analysis of cytology of germ cell tumors with histopathological and serum tumor marker correlation: a tertiary care centre experience

Background: Germ cell tumors are found primarily in children and young adults usually arising from gonads and rarely from extragonadal sites like mediastinum, retroperitoneum, pineal gland and sacrococcygeal region. Involvement of lymphnodes or bodycavities (pleural/peritoneal cavity) is usually associated with metastatic disease.Methods: This is a retrospective analysis of 96 cases of germ cell tumor for which a primary diagnosis of germ cell tumor was given by cytology from primary and metastatic sites. The study period is from January 1993- December 2013. Pap stained and Romanowsky stained smears and cell block sections (10cases) were studied. Serum tumor markers (LDH, BetaHCG and AFP) were correlated in all cases along with histopathology in available cases.Results: Among 96 cases 34 were diagnosed as seminoma/dysgerminoma,10 as embryonal carcinoma,9 as yolk sac tumor,6 as teratoma and 2 as mixed germ ell tumor. In 25 cases the cytology report was suggestive of germ cell tumor and in 10 cases malignant cells favouring germ cell tumor. Among the 10 cases the serum markers were high in six of the cases and the clinician after discussing with the pathologist treated them as germ cell tumors. 47 cases had histopathology and it correlated with cytology except in 14 cases which showed no residual neoplasm after chemotherapy. 15 cases expired immediately after the diagnosis or during the course of treatment 12cases were lost to follow up. Rest of the cases have completed the treatment. In our study the serum tumor markers showed a sensitivity of 92.75% and positive predictive value was 71.11%.Conclusions: The study highlights the importance of picking up the diagnosis of germ cell tumors by fine needle aspiration cytology so that patient can get an early diagnosis, effective treatment and a multidisciplinary approach is essential in diagnosing a difficult case of germ cell tumor. Previous history, radiology, clinical features and serum tumor markers all aid in the cytological diagnosis of germ cell tumor

Study on Sea Surface Temperature and Chlorophyll-a concentration along the south-west coast of India

Global climate change affects the oceanographic features and distribution of marine fishes as they are poikilothermic animals. Study of oceanographic variables in a localized region is more relevant in the context of ecological responses rather than global or continental variations. In this study, time series analysis of chlorophyll-a concentration (Chl-a) in sea water and sea surface temperature (SST) was performed separately for southern, middle and northern stratum along south-west coast of India using various statistical tools. The SST showed an increasing trend along the entire south-west coast of India after the year 1995. The northern and southern stratum of south-west coast were highly influenced by rising SST, whereas middle stratum in present scenario showed stable conditions in terms of Chl-a concentration. The study provides a baseline information about changing patterns of oceanographic features along the south-west coast of India giving a better understanding of changing global climatic conditions in coastal ecosystems

Marine fisheries of the south-east coast of India during 2008

The south-east coast of India comprising the states of Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry have a total coastline of 2050 km which is 34% of the total coastline of the country. This region is more diverse with respect to the number of species that are landed. In 2007, it was observed that 499 species were landed in Tamil Nadu, 294 in Andhra Pradesh and 115 in Pondicherry

Fuzzy Optimised Power Generation from Moving Vehicles

Abstract In our Paper regenerative power system for electric motorcycles and cars that performs regenerative energy recovery from the axle of the vehicle based on fuzzy logic control for a boost converter is used to boost (maintain) the voltage level. Autonomous vehicles have potential applications in many fields, such as replacing humans in hazardous environments, conducting military missions, and performing routine tasks for industry. A constant regenerative current control scheme is proposed, thereby providing improved performance and high energy recovery efficiency at minimum cost. Drivers typically respond quickly to sudden changes in their environment. While other control techniques may be used to control a vehicle, fuzzy logic has certain advantages in this area; one of them is its ability to incorporate human knowledge and experience, via language, into relationships among the given quantities

Saga of inshore prawn fishery of Kerala

The marine shrimp fishery in Kerala existed even before the advent of the Indo-Norwegian project. (INP), but the genesis of a commercial-scale fishery happened due to the INP. Earlier fished by artisanal crafts and gears, the introduction of trawlers saw the establishment of shrimps as the major marine fishery commodity. The penaeid shrimps Metapenaeus dobsoni, Parapenaeopsis stylifera, Penaeus indicus, Metapenaeus monoceros and Metapenaeus affinis are prominent in the inshore shrimp fishery of the state. Many developmental changes which happened from time to time in craft and gear technology and the extension of fishing grounds brought considerable changes in the fishing pattern have influenced the inshore shrimp fishery of Kerala which can be classified into five phases – primary, growth, declining, enhanced growth and stagnant

Saga of deep sea prawn fishery of Kerala

Deep-sea prawn records from Indian waters date back to early 20th century from the surveys of the RIMS Investigator, University Research Vessel Conch, M. V. Kalava and Varuna followed by the Indo-Norwegian Project, FORV Sagar Sampada off the Southwest Coast of India. The distribution of deep-sea prawns was recorded upto Ratnagiri (lat.16° N) with maximum concentration in the Quilon Bank (lat. 8°- 9°N). The enterprising small and medium prawn trawler operators of Kerala ventured into deep sea fishing for the first time in November 1999 with an annual average estimated landings of deep-sea prawns of 11315 t during 1999-2020 while 9137 t during 2007-2020 from the MDTN at a depth of 200-500 m. The species composition showed the dominance of M. andamanensis (27.6%) followed by A. alcocki (20%), P. quasigrandis (19.9%). H. chani (17.6%), H. woodmasoni (9.4%). Mitochondrial sequences (COI, 16S, and Cytb) of deep-sea prawn records were deposited in NCBI GenBank for accession numbers

Marine fisheries of the south-east coast of India during 2009 - 2010

The south-east region consisting of Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry is spread over a coastal length of 2,050 km and as per the Marine Fisheries Census 2010, this region has 785 landing centres, 1,168 marine fishing villages, 3.7 lakh fishermen families and 14.63 lakh fisher folk. The estimate of total marine fish landings in 2009 for the south-east region was 8,05,295 t accounting for 25.1% of the total marine fish landings in the country

Status of marine fisheries of Kerala

Kerala with a coastline of 590 km is a significant contributor to the total marine fish landings of the country. A picture of the marine fisheries sector in Kerala during the years 2005 and 2010 is presented below (Table 1). With a continental shelf of about 40,000 km2 marine fisheries plays a vital role in the livelihood of the people

Large number of flowers and tertiary branches, and higher reproductive success increase yields under salt stress in chickpea

Salinity is a major problem worldwide and improving salt tolerance of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) will allow expansion of production to more marginal areas. Plant reproduction suffers under salt stress in chickpea, but it remains unclear which process is most affected and what traits discriminate tolerant from sensitive lines. Three pot experiments were carried out to compare the effects of salt application (17 g NaCl kg−1 Alfisol) at sowing (SS) and at the start of flowering (SF) on growth, canopy transpiration, plant architecture, and flower, pod and seed development (timing, numbers, mass, abortion). Six pairs of tolerant/sensitive lines with similar flowering times within each pair, but different among the pairs, were used. Shoot biomass was similar in tolerant and sensitive lines in the SS and SF treatments, whereas the seed yield decreased more under SS and SF treatments in the sensitive lines. The flower, pod and seed numbers within all pairs was higher in the tolerant than in the sensitive lines in the non-saline controls, but the differences in numbers of seeds and pods further increased in both the SS and SF treatments. By contrast, neither the duration of flowering or podding, nor the percentage of flower or pod abortion, discriminated tolerant from sensitive lines. In non-saline controls the numbers of primary branches was 100% higher across the sensitive lines, whereas the number of tertiary branches was 8-fold higher across tolerant lines. The relative transpiration of the tolerant lines in the salt treatments was above that for the sensitive lines in three pairs of tolerant/sensitive lines, but did not differ within two pairs. Our results demonstrate that constitutive traits, i.e. numbers of flowers and tertiary branches, and adaptive traits, i.e. high number of seeds under salt stress, are both critical aspects of salinity tolerance in chickpea

Small Heat Shock Protein αA-Crystallin Prevents Photoreceptor Degeneration in Experimental Autoimmune Uveitis

The small heat shock protein, αA-crystallin null (αA−/−) mice are known to be more prone to retinal degeneration than the wild type mice in Experimental Autoimmune Uveoretinitis (EAU). In this report we demonstrate that intravenous administration of αA preserves retinal architecture and prevents photoreceptor damage in EAU. Interestingly, only αA and not αB-crystallin (αB), a closely related small heat shock protein works, pointing to molecular specificity in the observed retinal protection. The possible involvement of αA in retinal protection through immune modulation is corroborated by adaptive transfer experiments, (employing αA−/− and wild type mice with EAU as donors and Rag2−/− as the recipient mice), which indicate that αA protects against the autoimmune challenge by modulating the systemic B and T cell immunity. We show that αA administration causes marked reduction in Th1 cytokines (TNF-α, IL-12 and IFN-γ), both in the retina and in the spleen; notably, IL-17 was only reduced in the retina suggesting local intervention. Importantly, expression of Toll-like receptors and their associated adaptors is also inhibited suggesting that αA protection, against photoreceptor loss in EAU, is associated with systemic suppression of both the adaptive and innate immune responses