Assessment of Executive Function in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: A Case Control study

INTRODUCTION: Type2 Diabetes Mellitus is associated with inherent micro-vascular disease affecting frontal sub-cortical function. Executive Dysfunctions are implicated in decreased self-care capacity, poor adherence to diabetic medication, decreased levels of autonomy and a decrease in ability to make essential decision, for instrumental activities of daily living, as well as resistance to proper medical care. Isolated executive impairment falls within the category of mild cognitive impairment. Studies have shown that patients with Type 2 DM performs significantly poorer in Executive Function compared to normal subjects .Hence this study was proposed to assess the executive Function of Type 2 DM patients. AIM AND OBJECTIVE: To assess executive functioning in type 2 diabetic patients compared to normal subjects. METHODS: The study is a cross sectional observational case control study,conducted at the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital (RGGGH), Chennai. 50 patients attending outpatient department of Diabetology, fulfilling the inclusion criteria were randomly chosen and included in the study. Fifty consenting age, sex, education matched normal people who were relatives of patients attending RGGGH OPD were taken as controls. Both the study population and controls were administered the semi structured proforma. Then GHQ and HAM D was administered to screen for psychiatric symptoms. Those who scored positively were excluded from the study. MMSE was administered as a screening tool for cognition. All diabetes mellitus patients were tested for their blood glucose level before administering the evaluation tests. This was done to avoid hypoglycemia /severe hyperglycemiaaffecting the executive function assessment. The following parameters were assessed - Proforma for socio demographic data of study cases and control group, Proforma for Diabetes Status, Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE), Test for Executive Function namely Digit Span Test,Verbal fluency , Trail making test, Stroop Test, Wisconsin Card Sorting Test. The data collected were analysed using Chi square test and Wilcoxon – Mann-Whitney U test. RESULT: Comparison of socio-demographic data of cases and controls shows no significant difference. The mean age of onset of diabetesmellitus is 41.40 years and the duration of illness was < 5 years. There was no major macro / micro vascular complication. Comparison of neuropsychological scores between cases(study group) and controls with Digit Span Test,Verbal fluency , Trail making test, Stroop Test, Wisconsin Card Sorting Test was done.In Digit Span Test,Verbal fluency, Stroop Test& Wisconsin Card Sorting Test did not show statistical significance. Trail making test showed statistical significance. CONCLUSION: Executive functioning in diabetics was comparable to that of control group. Though Trail making test, showed a statistical difference between diabetics and non-diabetic, it was still within the normative Range for the particular age group. Validation of this conclusion requires a larger group and prospective longitudinal study

THERMAL DEGRADATION AND XRD STUDIES OF VEGETABLE OIL BASED NOVOLAC SCAFFOLDS FOR THE FORMULATION OF RESINS

Biomaterials, chemicals and energy from renewable resources have been the object of considerable interest in recent years. Vegetable oils are one of the cheapest and most abundant biological sources available in large quantities and their use as starting materials has numerous advantages such as low toxicity, inherent biodegradability and high purity. They are considered to be one of the most important classes of renewable resources for the production of bio-based thermosets. As a substitute to the use of conventional reinforcing synthetic resins, biobased resins were synthesized from cardanol, renewable and low cost industrial grade oil obtained by vacuum distillation of Cashew Nut Shell Liquid (CNSL), an abundant agricultural byproduct of cashew industry. On the other hand to further expand the field of application, cardanol-based novolac scaffolds, used in the formulation of thermosetting resins by blending with a conventional epoxy resin, especially designed to be compatible with conventional bisphenol- A epoxy resins. In the present study resins have been synthesized by condensing diazotized p-anisidine cardanol dye with urea, resorcinol and furfural as condensing agent.. The resins have been characterised by FT-IR, 1H-NMR and XRD studies. Thermal behavior of the resins has been studied by Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA) and Differential thermal analysis (DTA). The DTA, SEM and XRD data indicated the percentage of crystallinity associated with the thermal stability of the resins

Strain Pattern Analysis of Mylonites From Sitampundi-Kanjamalai Shear Zone, Thiruchengode, South India

This study aims to investigate the petrography and strain pattern of mylonites from parts of N-S trending Sitampundi-Kanjamalai Shear Zone (SKSZ) around Thiruchengode. The petrographic study indicates the presence of recrystallized quartz, K-feldspar, plagioclase, biotite and some hornblende. The kinematic analysis of Mylonites was done with the help of shear sense indicators such as recrystallized type quartz (quartz ribbon) around the cluster of feldspar, S-C fabric shows dextral shear sense and some sinisterly shear sense in some parts of SASZ which can be considered as a product of partitioning of both strain and vorticity between domains. These all indicates the simple shear extension along E-W direction and the mylonitic foliation shows the pure shear compression along N-S direction. Further the study of bulk strain analysis by Flinn plot method using L and T section of mylonite shows k&lt;1 which lies in the field of flattening zone of finite strain. The kinematic vorticity number is calculated by Rxz/β method which gives the value of 0.36 indicating the general shear. The rigid grain graph shows that the pure shear component is more ­­­­dominant than the simple shear component. The analysis leads to the conclusion that the mylonite has experienced a high temperature shearing of above 700°cat deep crustal level

EFFECT OF HYDROALCOHOLIC EXTRACT OF ACHYRANTHES ASPERA ON HALOPERIDOLINDUCED PARKINSON'S DISEASE IN WISTAR RATS

  Objective: Prolonged usage of neuroleptics in psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia provokes extrapyramidal symptoms that are also seen in Parkinson's disease. An attempt has been made to study the neuroprotective role of Achyranthes aspera hydroalcoholic (HA) extract on haloperidol-induced Parkinson's symptoms in Wistar rats.Methods: The present study deals with the antiparkinson effect of HA extract of A. aspera on haloperidol (2 mg/kg intraperitoneal administration)- induced catatonia in Wistar rats. The motor coordination in case of haloperidol-treated animals was studied by performing rotarod test and hang test. Dopamine and 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid were estimated using an electrochemical detector and high-performance liquid chromatography. The antioxidant status was also assessed to know the neurotoxicity of haloperidol by estimating the levels of lipid peroxidation, superoxide dismutase, glutathione (GSH) peroxidase, and reduced GSH by performing individual assays.Results: All these assessments were done on 24 Wistar rats which were divided into four groups (n=6). HA was administered at 200 and 400 mg/kg doses, 30 minutes before haloperidol treatment for 20 days. HA significantly (*p&lt;0.05, **p&lt;0.01) improved the antioxidant status.Conclusion: The results shown that HA shows a protective role in haloperidol catalepsy and also possess antioxidant property

Pilot scale microbial production and optimization of Serratia peptidase from Serratia marcescens

Serratia peptidase is active proteolytic enzyme which has the potential of cleaving peptide bond.  Present investigation deals about the Microbial production of serratia peptidase using Serratia marcescens in small scale fermentor. Batch fermentor has been run continuously throughout the night to analyze the production of protein as well as kinetics. Culture broth was maintained at 150rpm for 72 hrs. Protein sample was isolated by centrifuging at 3000rpm for 10mints. The result revealed that Serratia marcescens showed the enormous production of protein in fed batch fermentor compared to the small scale level.  Different substrates were been used for the production of enzyme. Among all cysteine showed the better activity as 2 units/ml of enzyme. Enzymatic assay of Serratia peptidase was done at different time interval of crude broth. Enzyme activity showed that maximum at 40ºC for 72hrs. It was observed that 0.65 units/ml of enzyme. Fed batch pilot scale production of Serratia peptidase was done at 0.5%cystein and 700rpm for 48hrs of run time.Â

Depolarization of sperm membrane potential is a common feature of men with subfertility and is associated with low fertilization rate at IVF

STUDY QUESTION. Are significant abnormalities in outward (K+) conductance and resting membrane potential (Vm) present in the spermatozoa of patients undertaking IVF and ICSI and if so, what is their functional effect on fertilization success? SUMMARY ANSWER. Negligible outward conductance (≈5% of patients) or an enhanced inward conductance (≈4% of patients), both of which caused depolarization of Vm, were associated with a low rate of fertilization following IVF. WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY. Sperm-specific potassium channel knockout mice are infertile with defects in sperm function, suggesting that these channels are essential for fertility. These observations suggest that malfunction of K+ channels in human spermatozoa might contribute significantly to the occurrence of subfertility in men. However, remarkably little is known of the nature of K+ channels in human spermatozoa or the incidence and functional consequences of K+ channel defects. STUDY DESIGN, SIZE AND DURATION. Spermatozoa were obtained from healthy volunteer research donors and subfertile IVF and ICSI patients attending a hospital assisted reproductive techniques clinic between May 2013 and December 2015. In total, 40 IVF patients, 41 ICSI patients and 26 normozoospermic donors took part in the study. PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTING, METHODS. Samples were examined using electrophysiology (whole-cell patch clamping). Where abnormal electrophysiological characteristics were identified, spermatozoa were further examined for Ca2+ influx induced by progesterone and penetration into viscous media if sufficient sample was available. Full exome sequencing was performed to specifically evaluate potassium calcium-activated channel subfamily M α 1 (KCNMA1), potassium calcium-activated channel subfamily U member 1 (KCNU1) and leucine-rich repeat containing 52 (LRRC52) genes and others associated with K+ signalling. In IVF patients, comparison with fertilization rates was done to assess the functional significance of the electrophysiological abnormalities. MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE. Patch clamp electrophysiology was used to assess outward (K+) conductance and resting membrane potential (Vm) and signalling/motility assays were used to assess functional characteristics of sperm from IVF and ICSI patient samples. The mean Vm and outward membrane conductance in sperm from IVF and ICSI patients were not significantly different from those of control (donor) sperm prepared under the same conditions, but variation between individuals was significantly greater (P&lt; 0.02) with a large number of outliers (&gt;25%). In particular, in ≈10% of patients (7/81), we observed either a negligible outward conductance (4 patients) or an enhanced inward current (3 patients), both of which caused depolarization of Vm. Analysis of clinical data from the IVF patients showed significant association of depolarized Vm (≥0 mV) with low fertilization rate (P= 0.012). Spermatozoa with electrophysiological abnormities (conductance and Vm) responded normally to progesterone with elevation of [Ca2+]i and penetration of viscous medium, indicating retention of cation channel of sperm (CatSper) channel function. LIMITATIONS, REASONS FOR CAUTION. For practical, technical, ethical and logistical reasons, we could not obtain sufficient additional semen samples from men with conductance abnormalities to establish the cause of the conductance defects. Full exome sequencing was only available in two men with conductance defects. WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS. These data add significantly to the understanding of the role of ion channels in human sperm function and its impact on male fertility. Impaired potassium channel conductance (Gm) and/or Vm regulation is both common and complex in human spermatozoa and importantly is associated with impaired fertilization capacity when the Vm of cells is completely depolarized

Plant regeneration from embryogenic cell suspension cultures of wild sorghum (Sorghum dimidiatum Stapf.)

A simple and efficient protocol is described for regeneration of wild sorghum (Sorghum dimidiatum) from cell suspension cultures. Fast-growing cell suspensions were established from shoot-meristem-derived callus. Plating of the suspension on Murashige and Skoog agar medium supplemented with 2.5 mg 1-1 2,4-dichlorophen-oxyacetic acid (2,4-D) resulted in the formation of embryogenic calli. High-frequency (80%) somatic embryogenesis from small cell clusters (300-400 micrometer) was observed when the cultures were initially maintained in liquid medium with reduced levels of 2,4-D (0.25 mg l-1), followed by transfer to regeneration medium. Direct plating of these small clusters on regeneration medium or transfer to liquid regeneration medium containing kinetin and 6-benzylaminopurine resulted in the development of mature somatic embryos and plantlets. The regenerants developed to maturity and were all phenotypically and cytologically norma

Ontology Based Disease Information System

AbstractHuman body systems are interconnected and dependent and they can’t function separately. Diseases which affect any of these systems will affect other systems as well. In existing disease diagnosis systems, diseases were classified based on different dimensions such as cause, treatment, types of diseases, etc. On the other hand the existing disease information systems are for pest control management and they cannot be extended to human diseases. In existing systems traditional database approach was used. A database provides queried information and the retrieval method is not efficient in the case of biomedical systems. The proposed system will classify the diseases into the ‘system-wise diseases’ instead of many dimensions. The system needs careful handling of disease information. A disease information system would be appreciable instead of databases since the information systems may provide more precise and descriptive information. Therefore it is required to develop a disease information system by providing more relevant information as per the user query. The ontology based disease information system is being build and semantic based rules are designed to respond to the corresponding user query. The proposed information system is mainly focusing on improving the query results and also supports ease of use to the user

Biochemical characterization of defense responses in rose genotypes in response to artificial inoculation with black spot pathogen Diplocarpon rosae

Resistance responses in the leaves of eight rose genotypes, Knock Out (highly resistant), Arka Nishkant (moderately resistant), R. multiflora (highly susceptible), Arka Swadesh (highly susceptible), IIHRR 13-4 (susceptible), Arka Parimala (susceptible), R. indica (susceptible) and IIHRR 4-15-12 (moderately susceptible), exhibiting varied levels of resistance against black spot were investigated post artificial inoculation with black spot pathogen, Diplocarpon rosae. There was consistent increase in the activities of defense related enzymes such as catalase, peroxidase, polyphenol oxidase, superoxide dismutase and phenylalanine ammonia lyase and other defense related secondary metabolites like phenols and flavonoids at different phases of black spot progression and increase was high in resistant genotypes Knock Out and Arka Nishkant. The peak activity of defense enzymes and high concentration of other metabolites was witnessed during early stages of infection in the resistant genotypes while it was during later phase in the susceptible genotypes. These results suggested that the faster and stronger activation of defense system is associated with the resistance against black spotin the rose genotypes