A study of the effect of neoadjuvant chemotherapy with FAC regime in locally advanced breast carcinoma

Background: Cases of carcinoma breast with TNM stage 3 are considered as locally advanced breast cancer. This study was done to demonstrate the effect of neoadjuvant chemotherapy in cases of stage 3 technically inoperable breast cancers. As neoadjuvant chemotherapy is an already established form of treatment, its effect on ‘complete clinical response and pathological response’ were studied.Methods: This prospective study was carried out in department of general surgery of Medical college, Thiruvananthapuram after obtaining approval from research ethical committee. Relevant data of chemotherapy was collected from department of Radiotherapy and Histopathological data was collected from department of Pathology. 25 cases of locally advanced breast carcinoma were studied. These patients were started on treatment with FAC regime and the response was assessed.Results: In this study 20% of patients had complete clinical response at the completion of 3 cycles of chemotherapy with FAC regime. 48% had partial response. In 32% of patients, stasis was observed. None showed increase in tumor size during treatment.Conclusion: The study demonstrated the effectiveness of neoadjuvant chemotherapy in downstaging the tumor enabling definitive surgery with less morbidity. It also showed a complete clinical and pathological response in a significant number of patients.

Lymphoma of the thyroid gland: a clinicopathologic study over a period of five years in a tertiary care center

Background: Primary Thyroid Lymphoma (PTL) is uncommon, accounting for only 5% of thyroid neoplasmsand less than 2.5 to 7% of extranodal lymphomas. The study aims to analyze the histopathological findings and to correlate it with clinical features.Methods: This study includes cases of PTL received in the department of pathology in a tertiary care center, Kerala, south India over a period of 5 years. Patient details and follow up data were obtained by communication with treating doctors and reviewing the hospital records. All cases had a minimum follow up of 6 months.Results: 15 cases of PTL were diagnosed over the five year period. In total 72 cases of extranodal lymphomas were diagnosed, thus forming 20.83% of extra nodal lymphomas. Lymphocytic thyroiditis was present in 93.3%. Most of the cases were Extranodal Marginal Zone B Cell Lymphoma (EMZBCL) and Diffuse Large B Cell Lymphoma (DLBCL).Conclusion: It is important to consider the diagnosis of primary thyroid lymphoma in patients presenting with an enlarging neck mass especially with the history of Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. Random microscopic foci of DLBCL or small areas of MZBL could be overlooked examination or missed with limited sampling. The distinction between MZBL and DLBCL in the thyroid is clinically significant.

Hsp90 as a Gatekeeper of Tumor Angiogenesis: Clinical Promise and Potential Pitfalls

Tumor vascularization is an essential modulator of early tumor growth, progression, and therapeutic outcome. Although antiangiogenic treatments appear promising, intrinsic and acquired tumor resistance contributes to treatment failure. Clinical inhibition of the molecular chaperone heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90) provides an opportunity to target multiple aspects of this signaling resiliency, which may elicit more robust and enduring tumor repression relative to effects elicited by specifically targeted agents. This review highlights several primary effectors of angiogenesis modulated by Hsp90 and describes the clinical challenges posed by the redundant circuitry of these pathways. The four main topics addressed include (1) Hsp90-mediated regulation of HIF/VEGF signaling, (2) chaperone-dependent regulation of HIF-independent VEGF-mediated angiogenesis, (3) Hsp90-dependent targeting of key proangiogenic receptor tyrosine kinases and modulation of drug resistance, and (4) consideration of factors such as tumor microenvironment that pose several challenges for the clinical efficacy of anti-angiogenic therapy and Hsp90-targeted strategies

Mechanical Characterization and Tensile Fractography of Al7075-WCP-CoP Composite

The demand for materials with an unusual combination of properties has increased tremendously at a level that cannot be attained through the use of conventional materials. This is especially true for materials used in aircraft, automotive and power generation applications. The microstructure and mechanical properties of Al7075 – 6, 9 and 12 wt.% WC-Co particles reinforced composites are shown in this study. Liquid metallurgy is used to create the composites. The planetary ball milling method is utilized to turn the WC-Co mixtures into cermets, and the particles with a size range of 30-40 µm are employed as reinforcement. SEM and EDS analyses were used to characterise the microstructure. ASTM standards are used to test the mechanical characteristics of both as cast Al7075 and Al7075-6, 9 and 12 wt.% WC-Co composites. SEM was used to perform fractography study on the prepared composite

An overview on concept of Tulya Gotra and Consanguinity

Chromosome is always preserved throughout a male lineage because a Son always gets it from his father, while the X Chromosome is not preserved in the female lineage because it comes from both father and mother. Consanguineous means related by blood. It has been estimated that the average person inherits several alleles for conditions lethal prenatally, plus between one and two for other harmful recessive disorders. This hidden detrimental component of the genome is called the genetic load. The main genetic consequence of inbreeding is to bring such recessive alleles to expression by increasing the proportion of homozygotes. Procurement of a healthy offspring begins with the selection of partner. For this it has been mentioned that the partner who will indulge in coitus for achieving a child should be of “Atulya Gotra.” For procreation of a healthy child it is necessary that the male & female should be mutually of a different clan. Coitus among the member of the same clan is a sinful act which does not have the sanction of scriptures. If they are from Tulya or same Gotra then it is a sinful act according to the Dharma Shastra

Ferromagnetic Ordering in CeIr2B2: Transport, magnetization, specific heat and NMR studies

We present a complete characterization of ferromagnetic system CeIr2B2 using powder x-ray diffraction XRD, magnetic susceptibility chi(T), isothermal magnetization M(H), specific heat C(T), electrical resistivity rho(T,H), and thermoelectric power S(T) measurements. Furthermore 11B NMR study was performed to probe the magnetism on a microscopic scale. The chi(T), C(T) and rho(T) data confirm bulk ferromagnetic ordering with Tc = 5.1 K. Ce ions in CeIr2B2 are in stable trivalent state. Our low-temperature C(T) data measured down to 0.4 K yield Sommerfeld coefficient gamma = 73(4) mJ/molK2 which is much smaller than the previously reported value of gamma = 180 mJ/molK2 deduced from the specific heat measurement down to 2.5 K. For LaIr2B2 gamma = 6(1) mJ/molK2 which implies the density of states at the Fermi level D(EF) = 2.54 states/(eV f.u.) for both spin directions. The renormalization factor for quasi-particle density of states and hence for quasi-particle mass due to 4f correlations in CeIr2B2 is 12. The Kondo temperature TK ~ 4 K is estimated from the jump in specific heat of CeIr2B2 at Tc. Both C(T) and rho(T) data exhibit gapped-magnon behavior in magnetically ordered state with an energy gap Eg ~ 3.5 K. The rho data as a function of magnetic field H indicate a large negative magnetoresistance (MR) which is highest for T = 5 K.While at 5 K the negative MR keeps on increasing up to 10 T, at 2 K an upturn is observed near H = 3.5 T. On the other hand, the thermoelectric power data have small absolute values (S ~ 7 {\mu}V/K) indicating a weak Kondo interaction. A shoulder in S(T) at about 30 K followed by a minimum at ~ 10 K is attributed to crystal electric field (CEF) effects and the onset of magnetic ordering. 11B NMR line broadening provides strong evidence of ferromagnetic correlations below 40 K.Comment: 10 pages, 11 figure

Seismic Behaviour of Water Front Structures with Tyre Chip Backfill

Water front structures have suffered significant damage in many of the recent earthquakes. One of the primary causes for the poor performance of these classes of structures is the liquefaction of the foundation soil and in some instances liquefaction of the backfill soil. The liquefaction of the soil in-front of the quay wall tends to cause large lateral displacements and rotation of the wall. Full or partial liquefaction of the backfill can result in the increase of lateral earth pressure exerted on the wall that can cause additional lateral displacement of the wall. In this paper numerical analyses of a gravity wall type water front structure will be considered. Often such gravity walls are placed on rubble mound that is deposited onto the sea bed. The problem will be based on a generic model although the simplifications in the generic model were derived based on observed failures of quay walls following the 1995 Kobe earthquake. The paper presents finite element analyses of such a problem in which strength degradation of the foundation soil and the backfill material will be modelled using PZ mark III constitutive relationship. At the Port and Airport Research Institute (PARI) in Japan the possibility of using tyre chips from used car tyres as the backfill material is being researched using 1G underwater shaking table and dynamic centrifuge modelling. The finite element analyses will be repeated by including a zone of backfill consisting of the tyre chips. The properties of this material will be derived from the element tests carried out at PARI. Finally the results from the analyses of the gravity wall founded rubble mound with liquefiable foundation soil and backfill will be compared to those with tyre chip backfill. The improvement in the performance of the wall in terms of decreased lateral displacements and/or reduction in the rotation suffered by the wall will be compared

Stability of Slopes - A Case History

A Lecture cum-cinema hall was constructed on a terrace developed at the top of a hillock at a site located in the north-eastern part of India. At the time of development of the site, excavated soil was dumped on the slopes and retaining walls were constructed to retain the earth. After the first monsoon, the retaining walls gave way. Further distress in the vicinity of the building was noticed in the subsequent three years. The paper describes the details of the above failure, the investigations carried out and the remedial measures suggested

The Indian summer monsoon as revealed by the NCMRWF system

In this study, we present the mean seasonal features of the Indian summer monsoon circulation in the National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting (NCMRWF) global data assimilation and forecast system. The large-scale budgets of heat and moisture are examined in the analyzed and model atmosphere. The daily operational analyses and forecasts (day 1 through day 5) produced for the summer seasons comprising June, July and August of 1995 and 1993 have been considered for the purpose. The principal aim of the study is two-fold. Primarily, to comprehend the influence of the systematic errors over the Indian summer monsoon, secondarily, to analyze the performance of the model in capturing the interseasonal variability. The heat and moisture balances show reduction in the influx of heat and moisture in the model forecasts compared to the analyzed atmosphere over the monsoon domain. Consequently, the diabatic heating also indicates reducing trend with increase in the forecast period. In effect, the strength of Indian summer monsoon, which essentially depends on these parameters, weakens considerably in the model forecasts. Despite producing feeble monsoon circulation, the model captures interseasonal variability realistically. Although, 1995 and 1993 are fairly normal monsoon seasons, the former received more rainfall compared to the latter in certain pockets of the monsoon domain. This is clearly indicated by the analyzed and model atmosphere in terms of energetics