Ability of arbuscular mycorrhiza to promote growth of maize plant and enzymatic activity of an alluvial soil

A pot experiment was conducted to evaluate the response of selected species of mycorrhizae for root colonization and phosphorus uptake by maize in an alluvial soil. Of all the species of mycorrhizae taken under consideration, Glomus mosseae was found to perform better in terms of root colonization, number of spores, grain yield and phosphorus uptake. The maximum plant height (28.5 cm), shoot dry weight (19.45 g plant-1) and root dry weight (4.77 g plant-1) was also found with the application of G. mosseae. Its application significantly increased the root dry weight by 99.58 and 72.82% over application of G. intraradices and control respectively, and was at par with the application of G. coronatum and Gigaspora decipiens. Application of G. decipiens reported the highest bacterial (39.11 cfu g-1 soil) and fungal count (30.68 cfu g-1 soil) that was found to be at par with application of G. mosseae. Application of G. mosseae significantly increased the actinomycetes population by 44.71 and 55.97% over application of a local mycorrhizal strain and control. Maximum dehydrogenase activity (56.00 g-1 TPF g-1 24 h-1) and acid phosphatase activity (0.299 mg PNP g-1 h-1) and was also observed with application of G. mosseae, which in turn resulted in higher yield which was 27.28%, 28.52%, 9.35 and 11.7% more than G. intraradices, G. coronatum, G. decipiens and the local species respectively. G. mosseae inoculation proved to be effective in modifying the soil microbe population and community structure and also in enhancing the soil enzymatic activities and phosphorus uptake of the crop

Association Between Proportion of Nuclei With High Chromatin Entropy and Prognosis in Gynecological Cancers

Background: Nuclear texture analysis measuring differences in chromatin structure has provided prognostic biomarkers in several cancers. There is a need for improved cell-by-cell chromatin analysis to detect nuclei with highly disorganized chromatin. The purpose of this study was to develop a method for detecting nuclei with high chromatin entropy and to evaluate the association between the presence of such deviating nuclei and prognosis. Methods: A new texture-based biomarker that characterizes each cancer based on the proportion of high–chromatin entropy nuclei (<25% vs ≥25%) was developed on a discovery set of 175 uterine sarcomas. The prognostic impact of this biomarker was evaluated on a validation set of 179 uterine sarcomas, as well as on independent validation sets of 246 early-stage ovarian carcinomas and 791 endometrial carcinomas. More than 1 million images of nuclei stained for DNA were included in the study. All statistical tests were two-sided. Results: An increased proportion of high–chromatin entropy nuclei was associated with poor clinical outcome. The biomarker predicted five-year overall survival for uterine sarcoma patients with a hazard ratio (HR) of 2.02 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.43 to 2.84), time to recurrence for ovarian cancer patients (HR = 2.91, 95% CI = 1.74 to 4.88), and cancer-specific survival for endometrial cancer patients (HR = 3.74, 95% CI = 2.24 to 6.24). Chromatin entropy was an independent prognostic marker in multivariable analyses with clinicopathological parameters (HR = 1.81, 95% CI = 1.21 to 2.70, for sarcoma; HR = 1.71, 95% CI = 1.01 to 2.90, for ovarian cancer; and HR = 2.03, 95% CI = 1.19 to 3.45, for endometrial cancer). Conclusions: A novel method detected high–chromatin entropy nuclei, and an increased proportion of such nuclei was associated with poor prognosis. Chromatin entropy supplemented existing prognostic markers in multivariable analyses of three gynecological cancer cohorts.publishedVersio

Deep learning for prediction of colorectal cancer outcome: a discovery and validation study

Background Improved markers of prognosis are needed to stratify patients with early-stage colorectal cancer to refine selection of adjuvant therapy. The aim of the present study was to develop a biomarker of patient outcome after primary colorectal cancer resection by directly analysing scanned conventional haematoxylin and eosin stained sections using deep learning. Methods More than 12 000 000 image tiles from patients with a distinctly good or poor disease outcome from four cohorts were used to train a total of ten convolutional neural networks, purpose-built for classifying supersized heterogeneous images. A prognostic biomarker integrating the ten networks was determined using patients with a non-distinct outcome. The marker was tested on 920 patients with slides prepared in the UK, and then independently validated according to a predefined protocol in 1122 patients treated with single-agent capecitabine using slides prepared in Norway. All cohorts included only patients with resectable tumours, and a formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tumour tissue block available for analysis. The primary outcome was cancer-specific survival. Findings 828 patients from four cohorts had a distinct outcome and were used as a training cohort to obtain clear ground truth. 1645 patients had a non-distinct outcome and were used for tuning. The biomarker provided a hazard ratio for poor versus good prognosis of 3·84 (95% CI 2·72–5·43; p<0·0001) in the primary analysis of the validation cohort, and 3·04 (2·07–4·47; p<0·0001) after adjusting for established prognostic markers significant in univariable analyses of the same cohort, which were pN stage, pT stage, lymphatic invasion, and venous vascular invasion. Interpretation A clinically useful prognostic marker was developed using deep learning allied to digital scanning of conventional haematoxylin and eosin stained tumour tissue sections. The assay has been extensively evaluated in large, independent patient populations, correlates with and outperforms established molecular and morphological prognostic markers, and gives consistent results across tumour and nodal stage. The biomarker stratified stage II and III patients into sufficiently distinct prognostic groups that potentially could be used to guide selection of adjuvant treatment by avoiding therapy in very low risk groups and identifying patients who would benefit from more intensive treatment regimes

Chromatin organisation and cancer prognosis: a pan-cancer study

Background: Chromatin organisation affects gene expression and regional mutation frequencies and contributes to carcinogenesis. Aberrant organisation of DNA has been correlated with cancer prognosis in analyses of the chromatin component of tumour cell nuclei using image texture analysis. As yet, the methodology has not been sufficiently validated to permit its clinical application. We aimed to define and validate a novel prognostic biomarker for the automatic detection of heterogeneous chromatin organisation. Methods Machine learning algorithms analysed the chromatin organisation in 461 000 images of tumour cell nuclei stained for DNA from 390 patients (discovery cohort) treated for stage I or II colorectal cancer at the Aker University Hospital (Oslo, Norway). The resulting marker of chromatin heterogeneity, termed Nucleotyping, was subsequently independently validated in six patient cohorts: 442 patients with stage I or II colorectal cancer in the Gloucester Colorectal Cancer Study (UK); 391 patients with stage II colorectal cancer in the QUASAR 2 trial; 246 patients with stage I ovarian carcinoma; 354 patients with uterine sarcoma; 307 patients with prostate carcinoma; and 791 patients with endometrial carcinoma. The primary outcome was cancer-specific survival. Findings: In all patient cohorts, patients with chromatin heterogeneous tumours had worse cancer-specific survival than patients with chromatin homogeneous tumours (univariable analysis hazard ratio [HR] 1·7, 95% CI 1·2–2·5, in the discovery cohort; 1·8, 1·0–3·0, in the Gloucester validation cohort; 2·2, 1·1–4·5, in the QUASAR 2 validation cohort; 3·1, 1·9–5·0, in the ovarian carcinoma cohort; 2·5, 1·8–3·4, in the uterine sarcoma cohort; 2·3, 1·2–4·6, in the prostate carcinoma cohort; and 4·3, 2·8–6·8, in the endometrial carcinoma cohort). After adjusting for established prognostic patient characteristics in multivariable analyses, Nucleotyping was prognostic in all cohorts except for the prostate carcinoma cohort (HR 1·7, 95% CI 1·1–2·5, in the discovery cohort; 1·9, 1·1–3·2, in the Gloucester validation cohort; 2·6, 1·2–5·6, in the QUASAR 2 cohort; 1·8, 1·1–3·0, for ovarian carcinoma; 1·6, 1·0–2·4, for uterine sarcoma; 1·43, 0·68–2·99, for prostate carcinoma; and 1·9, 1·1–3·1, for endometrial carcinoma). Chromatin heterogeneity was a significant predictor of cancer-specific survival in microsatellite unstable (HR 2·9, 95% CI 1·0–8·4) and microsatellite stable (1·8, 1·2–2·7) stage II colorectal cancer, but microsatellite instability was not a significant predictor of outcome in chromatin homogeneous (1·3, 0·7–2·4) or chromatin heterogeneous (0·8, 0·3–2·0) stage II colorectal cancer. Interpretation: The consistent prognostic prediction of Nucleotyping in different biological and technical circumstances suggests that the marker of chromatin heterogeneity can be reliably assessed in routine clinical practice and could be used to objectively assist decision making in a range of clinical settings. An immediate application would be to identify high-risk patients with stage II colorectal cancer who might have greater absolute benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy. Clinical trials are warranted to evaluate the survival benefit and cost-effectiveness of using Nucleotyping to guide treatment decisions in multiple clinical settings

Regulation of Coronary Blood Flow

The heart is uniquely responsible for providing its own blood supply through the coronary circulation. Regulation of coronary blood flow is quite complex and, after over 100 years of dedicated research, is understood to be dictated through multiple mechanisms that include extravascular compressive forces (tissue pressure), coronary perfusion pressure, myogenic, local metabolic, endothelial as well as neural and hormonal influences. While each of these determinants can have profound influence over myocardial perfusion, largely through effects on end-effector ion channels, these mechanisms collectively modulate coronary vascular resistance and act to ensure that the myocardial requirements for oxygen and substrates are adequately provided by the coronary circulation. The purpose of this series of Comprehensive Physiology is to highlight current knowledge regarding the physiologic regulation of coronary blood flow, with emphasis on functional anatomy and the interplay between the physical and biological determinants of myocardial oxygen delivery. © 2017 American Physiological Society. Compr Physiol 7:321-382, 2017

Clinical Study of Obesity and associated morbidities in patients admitted to College of Medical Sciences Teaching-Hospital, Bharatpur

Background and Objectives: The present study was conducted with objective to study the incidence of obesity and associated co-morbidities in patients admitted to CMS-TH, Bharatpur.Materials and Methods: One hundred and fifty consecutive overweight patients from the January 2009 to December 2012 with Basal metabolic index (BMI)&gt;25 and obese patients (BMI&gt;30) were included in this hospital based prospective study. Detailed evaluation of risk factors and family history of other diseases were taken, other obesity related indicators like WPRO, 2000 for BMI, waist circumference (NCEP ATP III and NCEP for South Asian ethnicity) NCEP– National Cholesterol Education Program and waist hip ratio (WHO criteria) were measured and comparison done in order to detect best method for application. These cases were evaluated for associated co-morbid condition and metabolic syndrome which were diagnosed using NCEP ATP III criteria.Results: The mean age of patients was 52.7 years. Commonest co-existing risk factors were alcohol consumption, smoking, hypertension and type 2 diabetes mellitus. Evaluation based on WHO criteria revealed that 56.7% patients were overweight, 38.7 % were obese class II and 4.6 % were class II. While 45.1% male and 69.1% female patients had central obesity. The figure was 81.7 % for males and 94.1% for females with WHO criteria using waist hip ratio. Risk factors like alcohol consumption (52.7%), smoking (52.7%) and fatty liver disease (22.66%) were the commonest co-morbid conditions.Conclusion: In the present study, risk factors of alcohol, smoking and hypertension and co-morbid conditions diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia, ischemic heart disease, stroke and fatty liver were noted. Waist hip ratio was the best indicator to detect central obesity and co-morbid conditions and recommended to be used for Nepali population.JCMS Nepal. 2015;11(3):16-19</p

Prevalence of tobacco, alcohol and psychoactive drug use among the college students in Chitwan

Background &amp; Objectives:Students of colleges may be vulnerable to consume tobacco, alcohol and psychoactive drugs due to various factors. This study was conducted with objectives of determining the prevalence of smoking, alcohol and psychoactive drug use among the bachelor level college students of Chitwan.Materials &amp; Methods:This is a descriptive cross sectional study among the 132 bachelor level students at various colleges of Bharatpur, Chitwan district of Nepal. The students were chosen by purposive sampling. A standard pre tested questionnaire was used to collect the data.Results:A total of 90 (68.2%) were males and 42 (31.8%) were females. The mean age was 22.2 ± 1.7 years. Seventy four (56.06%) responded that they had never consumed tobacco in any form.The number of cigarette smoked ranged from one to 20, with a mean of 7.85± 4.94 years. Forty eight (36.36%) never consumed alcohol and (87.87%) had never used psychoactive drugs.The most common motivator of the use of smoking, tobacco and psychoactive drugs was curiosity.Conclusion:The prevalence of smoking among the bachelor level students participating in our study was 43.94%, alcohol consumption was 63.63% and psychoactive drugs use was 12.12%. </p

Study of Breast Lump of 2246 Cases by Fine Needle Aspiration

The purpose of this study was to analyze breast lesions causing breast lump with special reference to patients younger and older than 30 years of age diagnosed by fine-needle aspiration (FNA) and to evaluate the histology of the cases diagnosed as suspicious of malignancy in FNA. All patients who underwent FNA during four years period (2000-2004) were included in this study. The FNA procedure was performed and interpreted by the experienced pathologists. Histological evaluation of the suspicious cases in FNA was done and was based on excisional biopsy or mastectomy specimen. Out of 2246 FNA performed, 1840 were diagnosed as non-malignant, 6 atypical ductal hyperplasia, 52 suspicious of malignancy and 348 as malignant. The most common non-malignant lesions included 975 (43%) fibroadenosis, 180 (8%) fibroadenoma, 126 (6%) abscess and 96 (4%) fibrocystic changes. The patients were further divided into two groups: group I consisted of 918 patients aged 30 years and younger and group II consisted of 1328 patients above 30 years. In group I, 444 (48.4%) were diagnosed as fibroadenosis and only 15 (1.6%) cases were malignancies. In group II 531 (40%) were fibroadenosis and 333 (25%) were malignant. Patients more than 30 years old had significantly higher malignancy diagnoses (P <0.001). The odds of being diagnosed as malignant tumor among the higher age group patients (>30 years) is 21 times larger (confidence interval 12.4, 35.6) than the younger patients (< 30 years). In 63% (27/43) of the suspicious cases, malignancy was diagnosed in histological examination. Cancer and Fibroadenosis are two most common causes of breast lumps in Nepal. Incidence of malignancy is significantly lower in patients aged 30 years and younger than in patients aged older than 30 years. Suspicious FNA cases should be evaluated histologically to rule out malignancy. Key words: breast, cancer, fine needle aspiratio

Evaluation of prescribing indicators and pattern among dermatological outpatients in a teaching hospital of central Nepal

Background: Evaluation of prescribing indicators by proper analysis of prescriptions under the guidelines of World Health Organization enables us to detect some of the common problems of prescribing.Methodology: This study was conducted on randomly selected 325 prescriptions of dermatological outpatients of teaching hospital of College of Medical Sciences Bharatpur (Nepal) with an objective to detect the problems of prescribing as well as to delineate the pattern of medicines prescribing.Results: Total number of medicines prescribed on these prescriptions was 743. The average number of medicines per encounter was 2.28. Antihistamines, antifungals, corticosteroids and antibiotics were four most frequently prescribed therapeutic classes. One systemic as well as one topical medicine belonging to same therapeutic class was prescribed on about one-third of totally analyzed prescriptions. Cetrizine was the most common individually prescribed medicine and fluconazole was the most commonly prescribed antifungal. Medicines prescribed by their generic name were 15.07% and those prescribed from national essential medicines list were 23.42%.Conclusion: This study reveals polypharmacy, inclination of prescribers for branded medicines and prescribing out of national formulary as problems. Educational and managerial interventions are required to rationalize the prescribing practice.JCMS Nepal. 2016;12(2):44-9.</p

Attitude and perception of medical interns towards abortion in a teaching hospital in central Nepal

Background &amp; Objectives: The objectives the study was to explore the, attitude and perception of medical interns, who are in the verge of being registered medical practitioners about abortion care services in Nepal.Materials &amp; Methods: This is a questionnaire based descriptive-cross-sectional study conducted among the 96 interns of the College of Medical Sciences. The questionnaire was semi structured consisting of questions on self-assessed educational program characteristics, attitudes and perceptions regarding abortions in the context of Nepal.Results: The response rate of the participants was 88.07%. The mean age of the respondents was 24.43±1.449 years. A total of 65 (67.7%) responded that the topic of reproductive health was adequately covered in their course of study and 31 (32.3%) opined that the topic was somewhat covered. Only two of the respondents self-assessed that their theoretical knowledge of sexual and reproductive health was very good while 68 (70.8%) told that it was good and 26 (27.1%) graded themselves as having just fair knowledge in the field. Twenty four (25.0%) responded that they had clinical practice in abortion care services during their course of study. Conclusion: The medical interns had been adequately exposed to the reproductive health though they had less clinical practice on abortion care services. The attitude and perceptions of the future health care providers should be understood to properly orient them to the clinical practice.</p