Mixed epithelial and stromal tumour of kidney

Mixed epithelial and stromal tumour of kidney is a recently described, rare entity and includes cases previously termed as cystic hamartoma of renal pelvis and adult mesoblastic nephroma. We report a case of 36 years old female who presented with a history of recurrent loose stools for 5 years. During ultrasound abdomen, a solid right renal mass was incidentally found in upper pole of right kidney. On gross examination it was a 3.5 cm diameter mass which was microscopically composed of both epithelial and stromal components in the form of cystically dilated tubules and fascicles of spindle shaped cells. These cells stained positive for alpha smooth muscle actin, desmin, progesterone receptors and negative for estrogen receptors

Heterotopic glial tissue in tonsil: a case report

We describe a six month old boy with a mass in the left tonsil. It was present since birth and was enlarging progressively. It was completely excised. Histopathology showed a choristoma of neural origin composed of glial cells--astrocytes in a fibrillary background, and a choroid plexus. Immunohistochemistry confirmed the findings

Fine needle aspiration cytology of thyroid nodule: diagnostic accuracy and pitfalls

Background: To evaluate the utility of FNAC in patients with Thyroid Nodule. Methods: Records of all patients treated surgically for thyroid nodule(s) at Aga Khan University Hospital from January 2000 to December 2004 were reviewed. The patients who had pre operative FNAC as first line of the evaluation and the final post operative histopathology report available were included in the study. Results: 125 patients (90 female 35 male) had thyroid surgery. The cytological diagnosis was made according to following categories: Benign, Follicular lesion, Malignant and Inadequate sampling. Among 63 Benign cases , 57 were benign and 6 turned out to be malignant. Among 44 cases from Follicular group , 31 were benign and 13 were malignant. Out of 15 patients from Malignant group, 14 were malignant and 1 was benign. Among three patients from the Inadequate sampling group , 2 turned out to be benign and one was malignant. The overall results showed a sensitivity of 98%, specificity of 70%, and positive predictive value of 91%, negative predictive value of 93% and diagnostic accuracy of 91%. Conclusion: We conclude that FNAC is an invaluable and minimally invasive procedure for pre operative assessment of patients with a thyroid nodule in our setting as well. FNAC has high sensitivity in picking up malignancy in thyroid and also has high diagnostic accuracy in the evaluation of thyroid nodules

CpG methylation of the FHIT, FANCF, cyclin-D2, BRCA2 and RUNX3 genes in Granulosa cell tumors (GCTs) of ovarian origin

BACKGROUND: Granulosa cell tumors (GCTs) are relatively rare and are subtypes of the sex-cord stromal neoplasms. Methylation induced silencing in the promoters of genes such as tumor suppressor genes, DNA repair genes and pro-apoptotic genes is recognised as a critical factor in cancer development. METHODS: We examined the role of promoter hypermethylation, an epigenetic alteration that is associated with the silencing tumor suppressor genes in human cancer, by studying 5 gene promoters in 25 GCTs cases by methylation specific PCR and RT-PCR. In addition, the compatible tissues (normal tissues distant from lesion) from three non-astrocytoma patients were also included as the control. RESULTS: Frequencies of methylation in GCTs were 7/25 (28 % for FHIT), 6/25 (24% for FNACF), 3/25 (12% for Cyclin D2), 1/25 (4% for BRCA2) and 14/25 (56%) in RUNX3 genes. Correlation of promoter methylation with clinical characteristics and other genetic changes revealed that overall promoter methylation was higher in more advanced stage of the disease. Promoter methylation was associated with gene silencing in GCT cell lines. Treatment with methylation or histone deacetylation-inhibiting agents resulted in profound reactivation of gene expression. CONCLUSIONS: These results may have implications in better understanding the underlying epigenetic mechanisms in GCT development, provide prognostic indicators, and identify important gene targets for treatment

Performance Evaluation of Location-Based Geocast Routing Using Directed Flooding Rectangular Forwarding Zone in City VANET

Vehicular ad hoc network (VANET) is an application of mobile ad hoc network (MANET) where vehicular nodes are integrated with GPS and other controlling devices to communicate among each other. Because of predefined structure of roads as well as very high moving speed of vehicles, routing becomes an extremely challenging issue in VANET. In literature, authors in research papers related to vehicular communication evaluate mostly the performance of topology or position-based routing protocols. This article implements a geocast approach called directed flooding rectangular forwarding zone in distance-effect routing algorithm for mobility (DREAM), location aided routing (LAR) and zone routing protocol (ZRP) for city vehicular environment. Packet delivery ratio normalized routing load, delay, throughput, dropped packet ratio and bandwidth wastage parameters are evaluated using NS-2.33 integrated with IEEE802.11p and IDM_IM based VanetMobiSim. The impact of mobility on these parameters is also analyzed

Databases and QSAR for Cancer Research

In this review, we take a survey of bioinformatics databases and quantitative structure-activity relationship studies reported in published literature. Databases from the most general to special cancer-related ones have been included. Most commonly used methods of structure-based analysis of molecules have been reviewed, along with some case studies where they have been used in cancer research. This article is expected to be of use for general bioinformatics researchers interested in cancer and will also provide an update to those who have been actively pursuing this field of research

Hepatitis B Virus Gene Mutations in Liver Diseases: A Report from New Delhi

The study was designed to characterize the surface, core promoter, precore/core region sequences for the presence of mutations in hepatitis B virus (HBV) associated with different liver diseases.567 HBV associated patients with different liver diseases were enrolled in this study. All samples were analyzed for HBV surface, core promoter, precore/core region mutations and genotypes using PCR and direct sequencing.HBV genotype D (72.8%) was the predominant type followed by genotype A (27.2%). The serum viral load of HBV was highest in HBsAg carriers group and lowest in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma. 17.9% patients with cirrhosis and 24.6% hepatocellular carcinoma cases were ADV-resistant with rtA181T/V mutations in the S-gene. A1896T was found more frequently in fulminant hepatic failure compared to acute viral hepatitis patients (p = 0.038). T1753V mutation was significantly higher in patients with cirrhosis of liver (34.6%) than in chronic hepatitis (18.9%) and hepatocellular carcinoma patients (21.2%; p = 0.001). T1762/A1764 mutation was observed in all the groups. C1914G core gene mutation was associated with the hepatocellular carcinoma (32.2%) compared to other groups. HBV genotype D predominated in comparison to genotype A. An increased frequency of precore mutation and BCP double mutations amongst the population studied was also observed.Mutations such as T1762/A1764, T1753V and C1914G were usually associated with advanced forms of liver disease and had an increased risk of HCC. The nucleotide variability in the basal core promoter and precore regions possibly plays a role in the progression of HBV disease. Prospective studies on the sequence variations of the preC/C region of the HBV genome and the molecular mechanisms in relation to progression of liver disease would aid in better understanding of the biological significance of HBV strains in India

Fuzzy Logic Based Geocast Routing in Vehicular Ad Hoc Network

1002-1010The purpose of vehicular ad hoc network (VANET) is timely, effectively and efficiently transmission of urgent messages from source to destination. These objectives can be solved effectively with geocast routing approaches in VANETs as the most of the intelligent transportation system (ITS) applications require sending information to the vehicles belonging to a particular geographic region. In this paper an attempt has been made to develop the geocast routing protocols using fuzzy logic. The fuzzy logic routing (FLR) approach is used to implement the protocols. Three membership functions for each input distance, direction, speed and five membership functions for output (chance) with Mamdani fuzzy inference system (FIS) are used. MATLAB R2015a has been used to analyze the performance of developed protocols and compared with other fuzzy routing protocols in terms of PDR and delay. It has been observed that fuzzified geocast protocols developed with FLR approach outperform fuzzy based unicast protocols reported by other authors