Drosophila Heartless Acts with Heartbroken/Dof in Muscle Founder Differentiation

The formation of a multi-nucleate myofibre is directed, in Drosophila, by a founder cell. In the embryo, founders are selected by Notch-mediated lateral inhibition, while during adult myogenesis this mechanism of selection does not appear to operate. We show, in the muscles of the adult abdomen, that the Fibroblast growth factor pathway mediates founder cell choice in a novel manner. We suggest that the developmental patterns of Heartbroken/Dof and Sprouty result in defining the domain and timing of activation of the Fibroblast growth factor receptor Heartless in specific myoblasts, thereby converting them into founder cells. Our results point to a way in which muscle differentiation could be initiated and define a critical developmental function for Heartbroken/Dof in myogenesis

Prescribing pattern in ophthalmological outpatient department of a tertiary care teaching hospital in Dehradun, Uttarakhand: a pharmaco-epidemiological study

Background: Irrational prescribing is a common phenomenon, seen among medical practitioners. Knowledge, awareness, and attitude denote the practicing trends among the practitioners. The objective of this study was to describe the prescribing practices in Ophthalmology outpatient department (OPD) to promote rational prescribing.Methods: This study was conducted between January 2011 to June 2011, in Department of Pharmacology and Ophthalmology, SGRRIM and HS, Dehradun, Uttarakhand. A total number of 255 prescriptions were randomly collected from the Ophthalmology OPD and were analyzed for various parameters using national essential medicine list 2011 and World Health Organization drug use indicators.Results: A total number of255 prescriptions were evaluated for prescribing pattern, 153 (60%) patients were between 16 and 45 years of age, the male: female ratio was 1.13:1. 237 (93%) patients from middle socioeconomic status. Diseases pattern observed were conjunctivitis 102 (40%), refractive error 45 (17.64%), stye 12 (4.7%), cataract 9 (3.52%), and miscellaneous 87 (34.12%). One hundred and thirty-eight (54.11%) patients received antimicrobial agents, fluoroquinolone (ofloxacin, moxifloxacin, gatifloxacin, etc.) were the most frequently prescribed antimicrobial drugs, analgesics (diclofenac and ketorolac) were prescribed to 45 (17.64%) patients, 54 (21.17%) received steroids (dexamethasone and prednisolone), 96 (37.64%) patients received other drugs (carboxymethylcellulose [CMC], multi-vitamins, zinc preparations, acyclovir, and anti-allergics). Fixed dose combinations (FDCs) were used in 90 (35.29%) patients, the most common combination was antimicrobials with steroids. All the drugs were prescribed by brand names and 1.9 drug/prescription was used.Conclusion: Topical antimicrobial agents are the most commonly used drugs in ophthalmic OPD in our setup; the most common FDCs prescribed were antimicrobials with steroids, the other commonly used drugs were analgesics, CMC and anti-allergic drugs

Comparative evaluation of efficacy and safety of carboxymethylcellulose either alone or in combination with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug in the treatment of dry eye in a tertiary care teaching hospital

Background: Dry eye produces discomfort and reducedvision. The treatment of dry eyes has traditionally involved hydrating and lubricating artificial tears. The newer medications include non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) for the treatment of dry eye disorders. This study was designed to compare the effect of topical carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) alone or in combination with topical NSAID for the treatment of dry eye in a tertiary care teaching hospital.Methods: A total of 60 patients diagnosed with dry eye were enrolled for a study period of 1 year. Patient of either sex (male/female), age between 18 and 70 years, and all diagnosed cases of dry eye in ophthalmology outpatient department were selected. Patients (n=60) were stabilized on CMC for 2 weeks and thereafter divided into two groups. Group I (n=30) received only topical CMC; Group II (n=30) received CMC+NSAID. The patients were followed up to 12 weeks. Diagnostic tests included Schirmer’s test and tear break up time (TBUT). Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI) was used for assessing the Quality of Life. Analysis was done using GraphPad InStat software. p0.05) and TBUT test value (p>0.05) showed no significant difference while OSDI score revealed significant difference (p<0.05). Burning, stinging, blurring of vision, photophobia, and hyperemia were among the common adverse effects seen.Conclusion: Both groups showed significant improvement in Schirmer’s test and TBUT test value and OSDI score at the end of the study. Intergroup comparison showed a significant difference with reference to OSDI score. Patients receiving NSAID reported more adverse effects

Role of Intra-operative Cytology in the Diagnosis of Ovarian Neoplasm&apos;s

Intraoperative cytology (IOC) is performed by taking imprint smears from the cancerous tissue and establishing an early diagnosis at the operation site. 2 In the past, frozen section was used traditionally but now imprint cytology has been proved to be an acceptable and easily reproducible technique as it is performed on other body organs also. 8 IOC has also helped surgeons to establish the diagnosis at the operating site and after examining the cellular details of the tumor, they can plan proper marginal resection accordingly. The diagnosis of ovarian neoplasms by Fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) is difficult to establish as the ovaries are a deep, structured organ and it causes difficulty for the needle to access the tumor site. 9 However, the Therefore, histopathologic findings helps in not only making a definitive diagnosis of the ovarian neoplasms but also helps in proper planning and management of the tumors. Abstract Background: Intraoperative cytology (IOC) has been widely used nowadays for establishing an early diagnosis of ovarian neoplasms. It is a simple, inexpensive and a rapid diagnostic test which can be performed in a short duration of time. We organized a study to compare the diagnostic utility of IOC with the histopathological examination (gold standard technique) in ovarian benign and malignant neoplasms

Validating Metrics for a Mastoidectomy Simulator

Abstract. One of the primary barriers to the acceptance of surgical simulators is that most simulators still require a significant amount of an instructing surgeon&apos;s time to evaluate and provide feedback to the students using them. Thus, an important area of research in this field is the development of metrics that can enable a simulator to be an essentially self-contained teaching tool, capable of identifying and explaining the user&apos;s weaknesses. However, it is essential that these metrics be validated in able to ensure that the evaluations provided by the &quot;virtual instructor&quot; match those that the real instructor would provide were he/she present. We have previously proposed a number of algorithms for providing automated feedback in the context of a mastoidectomy simulator. In this paper, we present the results of a user study in which we attempted to establish construct validity (with inter-rater reliability) for our simulator itself and to validate our metrics. Fifteen subjects (8 experts, 7 novices) were asked to perform two virtual mastoidectomies. Each virtual procedure was recorded, and two experienced instructing surgeons assigned global scores that were correlated with subjects&apos; experience levels. We then validated our metrics by correlating the scores generated by our algorithms with the instructors&apos; global ratings, as well as with metric-specific sub-scores assigned by one of the instructors