Diagnostic accuracy of serum lipase and amylase as biomarkers for acute pancreatitis

Background: Currently, majority of clinicians ask for both amylase and lipase for diagnosis of acute pancreatitis but a large number of health care facilities in India still have facility for only amylase. Aim was to find which single marker to be used in for diagnosis of acute pancreatitis.Methods: Patients seeking care at emergency department for acute abdominal pain during the period from July 2016 to June 2017 formed the study population. The serum lipase and amylase were taken from 1725 patients. Diagnostic accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values and positive and negative likelihood ratios were calculated.Results: Sixteen patients had amylase above 3-fold elevation, while there were 26 such patients in the lipase group. The sensitivity and specificity of amylase at 3-fold above normal limit were 62.8% and 99.2% while those of lipase were 96.1% and 99.1% respectively. Both amylase and lipase had high accuracy index in the area under the ROC curve (0.990 and 0.997 respectively).Conclusions: In this study, serum lipase had better diagnostic accuracy as compared to serum amylase. In resource-constrained settings with limited lab and radiological facilities, serum lipase should be preferred over serum amylase for diagnosis of acute pancreatitis

Analysis of precipitation data of Orissa

The precipitation analysis is a mathematical approach to model the data and use it for different purposes for each station. There can be many methods used for the analysis, the methods used in current report are • Time series analysis • Inter station correlation • Probability Distributions These methods are used to analyze the different parameters of the precipitation for the period 1990-2001. As time series analysis is done to find the trend in precipitation and to forecast it for the future event, inter station correlation is helpful to give the best replacement of a missing data for a station and probability distribution gives the best fitted model for each precipitation data set

Adrenal crisis: a rare endocrine emergency with challenging diagnosis

Adrenal crisis is a rare life-threatening medical endocrine emergency with non-specific insidious symptoms and challenging diagnosis. An appropriate timely diagnosis and treatment can save life. Although most doctors are educated by “sick day rules,” but are reluctant to start glucocorticoids, increase doses or switch to parental injections. Our case report highlights various aspect of adrenal crisis

Current Role of Adjuvant Therapy in High Risk for Recurrence Resected Kidney Cancer

Renal cell carcinoma accounts for about 2% of all adult malignancies. More than 300,000 individuals are affected each year. Unfortunately, around 30% of cases are discovered in advanced stages. Surgical resection remains the mainstay of treatment for localized disease and relapses can reach up to 40% in some cases. The effective treatment of metastatic RCC with systemic targeted therapy gives a strong rationale for its use as adjuvant treatment in high-risk patients. This chapter reviews different modalities that have been used as an adjuvant therapy for nonmetastatic renal cancer. Clinical trials using targeted therapy are discussed in detail, as they are becoming options for treatment in high-risk patients. While the current set of completed adjuvant clinical trials have provided conflicting results, there are additional large-scale trials that are still in progress. Future directions include—incorporating a genetic recurrence score to evaluate risk of relapse in patients, developing an adequate and an objective standardized adjuvant trial design, identifying novel biomarkers, and evaluating novel drug targets. Based upon current clinical trial evidence, motivated high-risk patients should have a discussion with the urology oncology team regarding the benefits of adjuvant TKI sunitinib or consider enrollment in current ongoing immuno-oncology (IO) adjuvant clinical trials

Quantification of serum hepcidin as a potential biomarker in diagnosis of iron deficiency anaemia

Background: Iron deficiency (ID) is the most prevalent nutritional deficiency and the most common cause of anemia in the world. Present study aims to detect the serum hepcidin and ferritin levels in iron deficiency induced anaemia’s and compare and correlate the values of serum hepcidin levels with their Serum ferritin levels and IL-6 levels.Methods: A total of 94 individuals were enrolled in the study. Sample for hematological evaluations were collected and estimation was carried out for biomarker estimation by ELISA method(s) using specified kit(s) procured commercially. The statistical evaluation was done using SPSS version 24.0. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Pearson's correlation tests were used to compare the variables and to see the correlation between the different variables.Results: Serum Hepcidin, a marker of iron deficiency anemia is significantly low in patients with IDA (33.23±12.46 ng/mL) than in normal with p-value <0.001 which is highly significant. In present study, we determined the cut off points differentiating IDA from healthy group which was ≤ 34.55; with AUC 0.845 (P<0.0001), 95% confidence interval was 0.755 to 0.911, and sensitivity was 98.33 % and specificity 52.94%. These cut off points had strong confidence interval and valuable predictive potential.Conclusions: Serum Hepcidin can be used as a simple and cost effective diagnostic marker for identification of anemia

Evaluation of serum hepcidin as a biochemical marker in diagnosis of anemia of chronic disease

Background: Anemia is a serious public health problem. It affects two billion people worldwide, particularly infants and young children mainly in developing countries where its etiology is multifactorial. Anemia in infancy is generally associated with impaired cognitive and behavioral development, impaired oxygen transport and a poorer prognosis in the context of many chronic diseases or chronic infections. The Present study aims to detect the serum hepcidin and ferritin levels in chronic disease anemia and correlate the values of serum hepcidin levels with their serum ferritin levels and IL-6 levels.Methods: A total of 86 individuals were enrolled in the study. Sample for hematological evaluations were collected and estimation was carried out for biomarker estimation by ELISA method(s) using specified kit(s) procured commercially. The statistical evaluation was done using SPSS version 24.0. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Pearson's correlation tests were used to compare the variables and to see the correlation between the different variables.Results: In present study, we observed statistically significant lower values of RBC count, Hbgm/dl, MCV, MCH, MCHC in ACD group than the normal group. For serum hepcidin when ROC curves and Pearson’s scattered plot were made in case of ACD group; the ROC was recorded to be maximum &gt;0.869; with a sensitivity of 84.62% and specificity 94.12% while the confidence level was 95% with an interval of 0.779 to 0.932. Further, the cutoff point determined was &gt;72.93. Thus, the hepcidin level &gt; 72ng/mL and above is related to the ACD. These cut off points had strong confidence interval and valuable predictive potential.Conclusions: Serum Hepcidin can be used as a simple and cost effective diagnostic marker for identification of anemia

Confirmation of Radish Isolate of Turnip mosaic virus in India through biological and serological evidences

Background and Objective: Oilseed brassica are one of the most exploited agricultural commodities in International trade with diversified use in human and animal consumption besides their potential use in producing green energy in the form of biofuels. Turnip mosaic virus is one of the limiting factors for declining oil content in brassica. The present studies were therefore conducted to confirm the presence of this important virus in brassica through biological and serological assays. Materials and Methods: A total of 518 samples collected from 84 locations spanning across 5 states and 1 union territory from symptomatic plants were collected and assayed in DAS-ELISA using Turnip mosaic virus (TuMV) specific polyclonal antiserum. Biological and serological host range of the virus isolate was established and different varieties/breeding lines of oilseed brassica were screened for developing a resistance panel against TuMV. Results: Turnip mosaic virus incidence ranged between 0.6-8.3% in oilseed brassica and 0.2-17.6% in crucifer vegetables. Turnip mosaic virus was recorded in very high concentration from radish as indicated by the optical density values. Mustard variety Tender Green was established as the best propagative host of Indian radish isolate of Turnip mosaic virus. Out of 32 varieties/breeding lines of oilseed brassica collected from different sources in India, 25 varieties/lines were found to be susceptible to Turnip mosaic virus under glasshouse conditions and DAS-ELISA further confirmed these findings. Conclusion: A radish isolate of Turnip mosaic virus has been identified on the basis of biological and serological assays and results obtained for screening of brassica germplasm against Turnip mosaic virus are expected to help in ascertaining the sources of resistance against this virus

Animating the Adi Ganga

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 2010.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (p. 181-184).The thesis is about a fascinating channel flowing in southern Kolkota. The channel is heavily polluted inspite of being considered sacred in the City's memory. The thesis tries to understand and interrogate the residual memory of this channel to propose strategies for its rehabilitation. The study uses a three-fold approach: the historical analysis, to understand the causes of the present situation; the geographical analysis, to discern the extant physical conditions and spatial scales; followed by an integrative design proposal. In the contemporary debate of river restorations in India, where holy rivers have turned into polluted drains, Urban streams and channels are being considered as a viable means of interventions. Realizing this, the thesis shows possibilities on how the rehabilitation of a polluted urban cannel can be approached.by Priyanka Kapoor.S.M

Serum hepcidin and interleukin-6 as biochemical markers in differentiation of iron deficiency anemia and anemia of chronic disease

Background: Iron deficiency (ID) is the most prevalent nutritional deficiency and the most common cause of anemia in the world. It is defined as a reduction in total body iron to an extent that iron stores are fully exhausted and even some degree of tissue iron deficiency results. The Present study aims to compare the serum hepcidin and IL-6 levels in anemia of chronic disease (ACD) and iron deficiency anemia (IDA) groups and correlate the values of serum hepcidin levels with their serum ferritin levels and IL-6 levels.Methods: A total of 112 individuals were enrolled in the study. Samples for hematological evaluations were collected and estimation was carried out for biomarker using ELISA method(s) using specified kit(s) procured commercially. The statistical evaluation was done using SPSS version 24.0. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Pearson's correlation tests were used to compare the variables and to see the correlation between the different variables.Results: In present study, we compared the values of RBC count, Hb gm/dl, MCV, MCH, MCHC in ACD and IDA group. Serum Hepcidin, a marker of iron deficiency anemia was significantly low in case of IDA 33.23±12.46ng/mL, on the contrary in case of ACD group the serum hepcidin level was elevated 98.36±24.29ng/mL. It is found that IL- 6 plays an important role in the regulation of hepcidin as reflected especially in ACD and IDA groups. In case of IDA the level of IL6 was significantly reduced to an average concentration 7.62±3.51ng/mL on the contrary in case of ACD group the serum IL-6 level was elevated to 115.82±33.7ng/mL. Thus, it provides for conclusive differentiation or diagnosis of iron deficiency anemia and anemia of chronic disease.Conclusions: Serum Hepcidin can be used as a simple and cost effective diagnostic marker for differentiation of iron deficiency anemia and anemia of chronic disease