Undifferentiated Carcinoma of Larynx of Nasopharyngeal Type

Undifferentiated carcinoma of nasopharyngeal type arising in the larynx is unusual. This type of carcinoma-which occurs almost exclusively in nasopharynx-is very infrequent in the larynx (0.2%). Till date only 17 cases are reported in the medical literature. We present the clinical and histopathological findings along with the management of one additional case of undifferentiated carcinoma of nasopharyngeal type in the larynx which was managed successfully with radiotherapy

Insular Carcinoma of Thyroid Presenting as a Giant Skull Lesion: A Dilemma in Treatment.

Thyroid surgeons are becoming increasingly more aware of a histologically distinct subset of thyroid carcinoma whose classification falls between well-differentiated and anaplastic carcinomas with respect to both cell differentiation and clinical behavior. This subtype of tumors has been categorized as poorly differentiated or insular carcinoma, based on its characteristic cell groupings. Although the differentiation of insular carcinoma from other thyroid carcinomas has important prognostic and therapeutic significance, relatively little about insular carcinoma has been published in the otolaryngology literature. In this article, we discuss a case of insular carcinoma of thyroid presenting with concurrent distant metastasis to skull, lung, ribs, and inguinal region with review of the literature. We conclude that insular thyroid carcinoma warrants aggressive management with total thyroidectomy and excision of accessible giant lesion followed by radioactive iodine ablation of any remaining thyroid tissue

Cloning of Casuarina equisetifolia chloroplast ribosomal RNA (rRNA) genes and its application in phylogenetic studies

Chloroplast genes are considered to be highly conserved compared to the nuclear counterparts. This feature has been used extensively in the phylogenic studies of different plant species. In this study, a 3kb sequence consists of 23S rRNA (ribosomal RNA), 4.5SrRNA, ITS 2 (Intergenic Transcribed Spacer 2) and ITS 3 from the chloroplast genome of C. equisetifolia has been amplified using specific primers. The genomic origin of the PCR Amplicon was confirmed by southern hybridization. Multiple alignment with a number of chloroplast sequences showed very high homology with some of the species grouped alongwith Casuarinaceae in the phylogenetic system of classification. In the analysis, C. equisetifolia found to be grouped among the tree species which are closely placed in the classificatory system

DESIGN AND ANTIINFLAMATORY ACTIVITY OF SOME NOVEL OXADIAZOLE DERIVATIVES – AN OVERVIEW

Oxadiazole derivates play vital role in biological field suchas anti-microbial, anti-viral, anti-tubercular, antiinflammatoryand anti-convulsant activity. Therapeuticsignificance of these clinically useful drugs in treatment ofinflammation encouraged the development of some morepotent and significant compounds. oxadiazole derivativesare remarkably effective compounds for inflammation andanalgesic activity. Extensive biochemical andpharmacological studies have confirmed that thesemolecules are effective in inflammation. Thiscomprehensive overview summarizes the chemistry ofdifferent derivatives of substitute

Performance analysis of non-circular microchannels flooded with CuO-water nanofluid

This paper was presented at the 3rd Micro and Nano Flows Conference (MNF2011), which was held at the Makedonia Palace Hotel, Thessaloniki in Greece. The conference was organised by Brunel University and supported by the Italian Union of Thermofluiddynamics, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, University of Thessaly, IPEM, the Process Intensification Network, the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, the Heat Transfer Society, HEXAG - the Heat Exchange Action Group, and the Energy Institute.In this study the performances of various non-circular microchannel heat sinks (normalized with circular shape) have been comparatively analyzed for CuO-water nanofluid and baseline pure water flow. Nusselt number and Poiseuille number for each microchannel and thermo-physical properties of CuO-water nanofluid (viz., thermal conductivity, viscosity, specific heat and density) have been designed either empirically or from literature. Results for trapezoidal shape gives highest normalized pressure drops among all cases. Thermal performances for constant heat flux and constant wall temperature boundary conditions have been assessed in terms of normalized outlet wall temperature and normalized heat exchange rate. Results show that when thermal performance of any microchannel heat sink (MHS) improves, the hydraulic performance deteriorates. Trapezoidal microchannel gives best thermal performance in terms of normalized heat exchange rate specially with CuO-water nanofluids flow

Accumulation of Proline under Salinity and Heavy metal stress in Cauliflower seedlings

Salinity and heavy metals affect the growth and development of higher plants and also their productivity. In the present study, Cauliflower (Brassica oleracea var botrytis) seeds were allowed to germinate andgrow in the absence (control) and presence of different concentrations (50, 100, 250, 500, 750 and 1000 ìM) of NaCl, CdCl2, HgCl2 and ZnCl2. Seed germination and growth parameters of seedlings of cauliflower were observed after 5, 10 and 15 days of exposure to salinity and heavy metals. In case of salinity, maximum inhibition of seedling growth was observed at 250 ìM of NaCl which resulted into 66%, 67%, 61%, 56% and 25% inhibition in seed germination, shoot length, root length, fresh weight and dry weight, respectively after 5 days of germination. NaCl at500-ìM concentration and above completely inhibited seed germination. In case of heavy metals, HgCl2 was found to be the most toxic one with 94% inhibition in seed germination at 250 ìM concentrations. Shoot length, root length, fresh weight and dry weights were inhibited by 69%, 88%, 66% and 71% respectively, after 5 days of growth in presence of HgCl2 (250 ìM). On the other hand, only 66% and 55% inhibition in seed germination was observed with as high concentration as 1000 ìM of both CdCl2 and ZnCl2 respectively, after 5 days of seed growth. Further, the extent of reduction in shoot length, root length, fresh weight and dry weight in presence of both CdCl2 and ZnCl2 was found to be less than HgCl2. In general development of root system was severely inhibited in presence of NaCl,CdCl2, ZnCl2 and HgCl2 at all the concentration tested as evidenced by decrease in root length. Increase in the level of proline accumulation was observed in presence of all heavy metals studied and sodium chloride

ELICITATION OF TRIGONELLINE, A HYPOGLYCEMIC AGENT IN FENUGREEK SPROUTS BY CALCIUM AND NITRIC OXIDE PRIMING

Objective: This work was performed to evaluate the effect of priming with exogenous sources of calcium ion and nitric oxide on the antidiabeticactivity and the alkaloid contents of fenugreek sprouts along with isolation and identification of trigonelline, a bioactive alkaloid responsible for hypoglycemic property of fenugreek.Methods: The fenugreek seeds were pre-treated with calcium chloride (CC), lanthanum chloride (LC) a calcium channel blocker; ethylene glycol-bis (2-aminoethylether) -N, N, N´, N tetra acetic acid (EG) a calcium chelator; sodium nitroprusside (SNP) and 2-(4-carboxyphenyl) -4,4,5,5-tetramethylimidazoline-1-oxyl-3-oxide (CP) a nitric oxide scavenger and germinated for 72 hrs. The sprout extracts were evaluated for their in vitro antidiabetic potential by α-amylase and α-glucosidase inhibition along with their trigonelline content. Trigonelline was isolated from fenugreek sprouts and identified by Infrared analysis and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy.Results: The results revealed that sprouts pre-treated with CC and SNP exhibited enhanced antidiabetic potential as well as alkaloid content overcontrol; on the other hand, their action was reversed by their antagonists, EG, LC, and CP. The sprouts pre-treated with 2mM CC showed the best elicitation of alkaloid content and antidiabetic activity followed by SNP-20 mM.Conclusions: The study suggests probable involvement of the signaling molecules, calcium ion, and nitric oxide in pathways associated withbiosynthesis of bioactive compounds responsible for hypoglycemic activity of fenugreek sprouts one of which being trigonelline. Â

Salient Object Detection Techniques in Computer Vision-A Survey.

Detection and localization of regions of images that attract immediate human visual attention is currently an intensive area of research in computer vision. The capability of automatic identification and segmentation of such salient image regions has immediate consequences for applications in the field of computer vision, computer graphics, and multimedia. A large number of salient object detection (SOD) methods have been devised to effectively mimic the capability of the human visual system to detect the salient regions in images. These methods can be broadly categorized into two categories based on their feature engineering mechanism: conventional or deep learning-based. In this survey, most of the influential advances in image-based SOD from both conventional as well as deep learning-based categories have been reviewed in detail. Relevant saliency modeling trends with key issues, core techniques, and the scope for future research work have been discussed in the context of difficulties often faced in salient object detection. Results are presented for various challenging cases for some large-scale public datasets. Different metrics considered for assessment of the performance of state-of-the-art salient object detection models are also covered. Some future directions for SOD are presented towards end

Zooming in on Transcription Preinitiation

AbstractClass II gene transcription commences with the assembly of the Preinitiation Complex (PIC) from a plethora of proteins and protein assemblies in the nucleus, including the General Transcription Factors (GTFs), RNA polymerase II (RNA pol II), co-activators, co-repressors, and more. TFIID, a megadalton-sized multiprotein complex comprising 20 subunits, is among the first GTFs to bind the core promoter. TFIID assists in nucleating PIC formation, completed by binding of further factors in a highly regulated stepwise fashion. Recent results indicate that TFIID itself is built from distinct preformed submodules, which reside in the nucleus but also in the cytosol of cells. Here, we highlight recent insights in transcription factor assembly and the regulation of transcription preinitiation