Correlation of uterine scoring system for reproduction with pregnancy rate among infertility patients undergoing intracytoplasmic sperm injection and frozen-thawed embryo transfer

Background: Successful implantation requires presence of a good quality embryo and receptive endometrium. Endometrial receptivity is ability of endometrium to successfully attach embryo, nourish and keep it alive. Sonographic findings are weighed according to uterine scoring system for reproduction (USSR) or uterine biophysical profile (UBP) by Applebaum. It has become absolute necessity to evaluate uterus and endometrium prior to embryo transfer, so that optimum results are obtained in favourable uteri.Methods: It is a prospective observational study which includes 100 patients undergoing intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) treatment followed by frozen embryo transfer. The Applebaum scoring system was done on the day of thawing scan, using ultrasonography (USG) and Doppler studies, assessing endometrial thickness, endometrial motion, endometrial layering, myometrial contractions, uterine artery doppler flow, endometrial blood flow in zone 3 and myometrial blood flow – the scores of each parameter was noted, the final score calculated.Results: Receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) curve total score in Applebaum scoring system for predicting pregnancy has a cut-off- 13 with sensitivity- 90.10%, specificity- 89.5%, positive predictive value (PPV)-97.34%, and negative predictive value (NPV)- 67.95. The above should be incorporated into routine practice. This was suggested by our study results in addition to endometrial patterns.Conclusions: Applebaum’s USSR scoring system is a simple and non-invasive method for prediction of pregnancy rate in ICSI and frozen embryo transfer cycle. Uterine scoring system will help to perform embryo transfers in only favourable uteri and postpone or cancel those cycles in which poor uterine score is demonstrated.

Submicron particles of Co, Ni and Co-Ni alloys

Magnetic sub-micron sized particles (with diameters in the range 100–600 nm) of Co, Ni and Co-Ni alloys, protected with polyvinylpyrrolidone have been prepared in gram quantities using the polyol process. Experiments carried out with different metal precursors and starting compositions have yielded reliable routes to produce particles of the desired diameters in the 100–600 nm range. The particles were characterized with X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray analysis, thermogravimetric analysis and magnetic measurements. The particles are found to be stable under ambient conditions indefinitely. The coercivity values of the Co and Ni particles are ∼50% higher compared to the corresponding bulk values. The alloy particles follow a trend similar to the bulk alloys

Percutaneous trigger thumb release: a safe push-pull technique

Background: Stenosing tenosynovitis of the thumb is an inflammation of flexor tendon sheath of A1 pulley. Percutaneous release has recently gained popularity. Successful percutaneous release depends upon proper prediction of the location of the A1 pulley and circumventing injury to the neurovascular bundles. The aim of this study was to determine the safety of percutaneous release of trigger thumb.Methods: Twenty eight patients were included in the study between 2015 and 2018. All the patients were percutaneously released using push-pull technique. Steroid injection was given following the release. Quinnell grading, patient questionnaire and visual analogue scale score was used to assess the patients at 2 weeks, 6 weeks and 6 months and 1 year.Results: Satisfactory results were found in 93% of patients. Two patients complained of pain and swelling till third week. No digital nerve injury occurred in any patients.Conclusions: Percutaneous trigger thumb release using this push-pull technique is a simple and a safe technique with very minimal complications.

PHYTOCHEMICAL SCREENING, ANTIOXIDANT POTENTIAL AND CYTOTOXIC ACTIVITY OF MELASTOMA MALABATHRICUM LINN. FROM DIFFERENT LOCATIONS

Objective: The initial study was to screen the phytochemical content of methanol extract of M. malabathricum from seven different locations. The other objective was to evaluate the total phenolic content (TPC), Total flavonoid content (TFC), antioxidant potential and cytotoxic activity (on Hepatoma G2 cells) of these extracts and to determine the relationship between TPC and other parameters.Methods: The preliminary phytochemical screening for the presence of the secondary metabolite was carried out according to standard procedures. TheTPC,TFC and antioxidant activity were determined using Folin-Ciocalteu method, aluminium chloride (colorimetric) methodand1,1-Diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical scavenging activity respectively.Results: Qualitative phytochemical screening showed the presence of tannins, analkaloid, steroids, flavonoid, phenols, terpenoids and fixed oil but tested negative for the presence of glycoside and saponins. The samples were found to have high TPC and antioxidant activity. The Bachok Kelantan sample (L7) showed highest phenolic content (671.51±50.07 mg of GAE/g) as well as highest DPPH free radical scavenging activity (80.81% and IC50 102 µg/ml). The highest cytotoxic activity against HepG2 cells (IC50 1.4µg/ml) was shown by KualaTerengganu, Terengganu sample (L1). The Spearman correlation showed that, there is a strong positive correlation between TPC and antioxidant activity (r = 0.714) as well as strong negative correlation between MTT IC50 and TPC (R =-0.649) of M. malabathricum from different locations. Moreover, there is a weak positive correlation between TFC and antioxidant activity (R = 0.286, p= 0.535). Also, there is poor correlation between TFC and cytotoxicity (R =-0.216, p= 0.64).Conclusion: The phenolic compounds are associated with the cytotoxic and antioxidant activities of M. malabathricum, whereas flavonoids are poorly and weakly associated with cytotoxic and antioxidant activities of M. malabathricum respectively. The total phenolic content, mean flavonoid content and mean antioxidant activity of M. malabathricum from different locations were significantly different across seven locations (p<0.05).Â

Group III PLA2 from the scorpion, Mesobuthus tamulus : cloning and recombinant expression in E. coli

Phospholipases A2 (PLA2) are enzymes that specifically hydrolyze the sn-2 fatty acid acyl bond of phospholipids, producing a free fatty acid and a lyso-phospholipid. We report the cloning and expression of a secretory phospholipase A2 (sPLA2) from Mesobuthus tamulus , Indian red scorpion. The nucleotide sequence codes for a 167 residue enzyme. The open reading frame codes for a 31 amino acid signal peptide followed by a mature portion of the protein. The primary structure shows the calcium binding motif, catalytic residues, 8 highly-conserved cysteines and C-terminal extension which classify it as a group III PLA2. The entire transcript was expressed in Escherichia coli and was purified by metal affinity chromatography under denaturing conditions. The protein was refolded by serial dilutions in the refolding buffer to its active form. Hemolytic assays indicate that the protein adopts a functional conformation. The functional requisites such as optimum pH of 8 and calcium dependency are shown. This report provides a simple but robust methodology for recombinant expression of toxic proteins

भारतीय वन्य जीव(संरक्षण)अधिनियम के तहत संरक्षित उपास्थिमीन प्रजातियों का विवरण

कृपया पूरा लेखा पढ

The annealing mechanism of AuGe/Ni/Au ohmic contacts to a two-dimensional electron gas in GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructures

Ohmic contacts to a two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) in GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructures are often realized by annealing of AuGe/Ni/Au that is deposited on its surface. We studied how the quality of this type of ohmic contact depends on the annealing time and temperature, and how optimal parameters depend on the depth of the 2DEG below the surface. Combined with transmission electron microscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry studies of the annealed contacts, our results allow for identifying the annealing mechanism and proposing a model that can predict optimal annealing parameters for a certain heterostructure.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figure

Test of the Kolmogorov-Johnson-Mehl-Avrami picture of metastable decay in a model with microscopic dynamics

The Kolmogorov-Johnson-Mehl-Avrami (KJMA) theory for the time evolution of the order parameter in systems undergoing first-order phase transformations has been extended by Sekimoto to the level of two-point correlation functions. Here, this extended KJMA theory is applied to a kinetic Ising lattice-gas model, in which the elementary kinetic processes act on microscopic length and time scales. The theoretical framework is used to analyze data from extensive Monte Carlo simulations. The theory is inherently a mesoscopic continuum picture, and in principle it requires a large separation between the microscopic scales and the mesoscopic scales characteristic of the evolving two-phase structure. Nevertheless, we find excellent quantitative agreement with the simulations in a large parameter regime, extending remarkably far towards strong fields (large supersaturations) and correspondingly small nucleation barriers. The original KJMA theory permits direct measurement of the order parameter in the metastable phase, and using the extension to correlation functions one can also perform separate measurements of the nucleation rate and the average velocity of the convoluted interface between the metastable and stable phase regions. The values obtained for all three quantities are verified by other theoretical and computational methods. As these quantities are often difficult to measure directly during a process of phase transformation, data analysis using the extended KJMA theory may provide a useful experimental alternative.Comment: RevTex, 21 pages including 14 ps figures. Submitted to Phys. Rev. B. One misprint corrected in Eq.(C1

Predicting Spike Occurrence and Neuronal Responsiveness from LFPs in Primary Somatosensory Cortex

Local Field Potentials (LFPs) integrate multiple neuronal events like synaptic inputs and intracellular potentials. LFP spatiotemporal features are particularly relevant in view of their applications both in research (e.g. for understanding brain rhythms, inter-areal neural communication and neronal coding) and in the clinics (e.g. for improving invasive Brain-Machine Interface devices). However the relation between LFPs and spikes is complex and not fully understood. As spikes represent the fundamental currency of neuronal communication this gap in knowledge strongly limits our comprehension of neuronal phenomena underlying LFPs. We investigated the LFP-spike relation during tactile stimulation in primary somatosensory (S-I) cortex in the rat. First we quantified how reliably LFPs and spikes code for a stimulus occurrence. Then we used the information obtained from our analyses to design a predictive model for spike occurrence based on LFP inputs. The model was endowed with a flexible meta-structure whose exact form, both in parameters and structure, was estimated by using a multi-objective optimization strategy. Our method provided a set of nonlinear simple equations that maximized the match between models and true neurons in terms of spike timings and Peri Stimulus Time Histograms. We found that both LFPs and spikes can code for stimulus occurrence with millisecond precision, showing, however, high variability. Spike patterns were predicted significantly above chance for 75% of the neurons analysed. Crucially, the level of prediction accuracy depended on the reliability in coding for the stimulus occurrence. The best predictions were obtained when both spikes and LFPs were highly responsive to the stimuli. Spike reliability is known to depend on neuron intrinsic properties (i.e. on channel noise) and on spontaneous local network fluctuations. Our results suggest that the latter, measured through the LFP response variability, play a dominant role