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This study investigates ceramic fused filament fabrication (CF3) 3D printing of alumina with an emphasis on the impact of particle morphology on feedstock preparation and printability. Spherical powder displayed superior flow with higher apparent density, tap density, and powder packing fraction compared to irregular powder. A 55 vol % powder loading was chosen to ensure good flowability during printing. Irregular powder-based feedstocks had 40X higher viscosity than spherical powder feedstocks at 400 s−1 shear rate, posing potential printing challenges. Slow printing speed maintained low feed-rates for consistent material flow. The debinding and sintering process produced macroscopically defect-free alumina components with relative densities above 89 % for both powder morphologies. The focus of the work is on comparing two different powder particle morphologies influencing feedstock behavior, printing fidelity, and sintered part properties.

Emerging evidence suggests a significant contribution of primary cilia to cell division and proliferation. MicroRNAs, especially miR-17, contribute to cell cycle regulation and proliferation. Recent investigations have highlighted the dysregulated expression of miR-17 in various malignancies, underlining its potential role in cancer. However, the correlation between primary cilia and miR-17 has yet to be fully elucidated. The present study examines the presence of miR-17 in primary cilia. The miR-17 expression is studied in selected ciliary protein knockdown cells. Using in situ hybridization (ISH), we identified the subcellular localization of miR-17 in both cilium and cell body. We confirmed the importance of miR-17, progesterone receptor membrane component-2 (PGRMC2), and monosialodihexosylganglioside (GM3S) in cilia formation, as shown by the significant reduction in cilia and cilia length in knockdown cells compared to control. We also demonstrated the involvement of PGRMC2, GM3S, polycystin-2 (PKD2), and miR-17 in cellular proliferation and cell growth. Our studies revealed a hyperproliferative effect in the knockdown cells compared to control cells, suggesting the regulatory roles of PGRMC2/GM3S/PKD2/miR-17 in promoting cell proliferation. Overall, our studies conclude that ciliary proteins are involved in cell division and proliferation. We further hypothesize that primary cilia can serve as compartments to store and control genetic materials, further implicating their complex involvement in cellular processes.

Abstract Osteoarthritis affects millions of people worldwide but current treatments using analgesics or anti-inflammatory drugs only alleviate symptoms of this disease. Here, we present an injectable, biodegradable piezoelectric hydrogel, made of short electrospun poly-L-lactic acid nanofibers embedded inside a collagen matrix, which can be injected into the joints and self-produce localized electrical cues under ultrasound activation to drive cartilage healing. In vitro, data shows that the piezoelectric hydrogel with ultrasound can enhance cell migration and induce stem cells to secrete TGF-β1, which promotes chondrogenesis. In vivo, the rabbits with osteochondral critical-size defects receiving the ultrasound-activated piezoelectric hydrogel show increased subchondral bone formation, improved hyaline-cartilage structure, and good mechanical properties, close to healthy native cartilage. This piezoelectric hydrogel is not only useful for cartilage healing but also potentially applicable to other tissue regeneration, offering a significant impact on the field of regenerative tissue engineering.

Background: Colorectal carcinoma is a malignant epithelial tumor originating in the large bowel. More than 90% of colorectal carcinomas (CRC) are adenocarcinomas. This being graded morphologically at H&E stain in histopathology as well-differentiated, moderately differentiated, and poorly differentiated. Aims and Objectives: The aim of this study is to assess any association with different histopathological types and extent of differentiation of CRC with change in expression of CK 7 and Cytokeratin 20 (CK20). Materials and Methods: In the present study, total 59 patients has been selected by the predetermined sampling techniques. The specimen was collected and the necessary processing was done for H&E stain and for immunohistochemistry for CK 20 and CK 7 profile. Results: This study showed that most of the well-differentiated colorectal carcinoma are CK20 (+ve)/Cytokeratin 7 (CK7) (-ve) and poorly differentiated CRC are CK20 (+) and/CK7 (+) and also CK20 (−ve)/CK7 (+ve). Conclusion: Hence, from this study, it is evident that the expression of CK 20 positivity decreasing and CK7 positivity increasing in respect of progression of well differentiated to poorly differentiated colorectal carcinoma, that is, there is a relationship of expression of CK20 and CK7 profile with the histological grading of colorectal carcinoma. Furthermore, the expression profile of CK20 and CK 7 may be of helpful while searching for unknown primary in cases of metastatic deposit.

Abstract Despite different nanomaterials were developed so far against cancer, their potential drawbacks are still scarcely considered. The off-target delivery of a therapeutic compound, as well as the non-specific uptake of these nanomaterials by healthy tissues or organs, and their potential immunogenicity are some of the major issues that still have to be faced prior to a successful clinical translation. This work aims to develop an innovative theranostic, biocompatible, and drug-loaded nanoconstruct based on Gadolinium-doped Zinc Oxide (ZnO-Gd) nanocrystals (NCs), focusing on one of the most lethal diseases, i.e., pancreatic cancer. The use of zinc oxide is motivated by the huge potential of this nanomaterial already demonstrated for in vitro and in vivo applications, while the Gadolinium doping confers magnetic properties useful for diagnostics. Furthermore, an innovative biomimetic shell is here used to coat the NCs: it is composed of a lipid bilayer made from extracellular vesicles (EVs) combined with other synthetic lipids and a peptide targeting the pancreatic tumor microenvironment. To complete the nanoconstruct therapeutic function, Gemcitabine, a first-line drug for pancreatic cancer treatment, was adsorbed on the ZnO-Gd NCs prior to the coating with the above-mentioned lipidic shell. The aim of this work is thus to strongly enhance the therapeutic capability of the final nanoconstruct, providing it with high biocompatibility, colloidal stability in biological media, efficient cargo loading and release properties, as well as active targeting for site-selective drug delivery. Furthermore, the magnetic properties of the ZnO-Gd NCs core can in future allow efficient in situ bioimaging capabilities based on Magnetic Resonance Imaging technique. The obtained nanoconstructs were tested on two different pancreatic cancer cell lines, i.e., BxPC-3 and the metastatic AsPC-1, proving high cell internalization levels, mediated by the targeting peptide exposed on the nanoconstruct. Cellular cytotoxicity assay performed on both cell lines dictated ~ 20% increased cell killing efficacy of Gemcitabine when delivered through the nanoconstruct rather than as a free drug. Taken together, our designed theranostic nanoconstruct can have a significant impact on the standard treatment of pancreatic cancer.

Introduction: A variation in dental pain following tooth extraction and implant placement has been observed. The present study aimed to compare pain in patients undergoing tooth extraction and implant placement. Materials and Methods: Eighty-four patients underwent tooth extraction and implant placement in maxillary central incisor. Pain (VAS) was recorded at 24 h, 24 h, and 48 h. Results: The mean pain value (VAS) at 24 h post-operatively after tooth extraction was 6.1 and after implant insertion was 2.9. At 48 h after tooth extraction was 4.3 and after implant insertion was 1.1 and after 72 h after tooth extraction was 2.4 and after implant insertion was 0.27. A significant difference was observed between both procedures at different intervals of time (P < 0.05). Conclusion: The pain experienced by patients during dental implant insertion was comparatively less as compared to dental tooth extraction.

Abstract Deep neural networks (DNNs) have shown success in image classification, with high accuracy in recognition of everyday objects. Performance of DNNs has traditionally been measured assuming human accuracy is perfect. In specific problem domains, however, human accuracy is less than perfect and a comparison between humans and machine learning (ML) models can be performed. In recognising everyday objects, humans have the advantage of a lifetime of experience, whereas DNN models are trained only with a limited image dataset. We have tried to compare performance of human learners and two DNN models on an image dataset which is novel to both, i.e. histological images. We thus aim to eliminate the advantage of prior experience that humans have over DNN models in image classification. Ten classes of tissues were randomly selected from the undergraduate first year histology curriculum of a Medical School in North India. Two machine learning (ML) models were developed based on the VGG16 (VML) and Inception V2 (IML) DNNs, using transfer learning, to produce a 10-class classifier. One thousand (1000) images belonging to the ten classes (i.e. 100 images from each class) were split into training (700) and validation (300) sets. After training, the VML and IML model achieved 85.67 and 89% accuracy on the validation set, respectively. The training set was also circulated to medical students (MS) of the college for a week. An online quiz, consisting of a random selection of 100 images from the validation set, was conducted on students (after obtaining informed consent) who volunteered for the study. 66 students participated in the quiz, providing 6557 responses. In addition, we prepared a set of 10 images which belonged to different classes of tissue, not present in training set (i.e. out of training scope or OTS images). A second quiz was conducted on medical students with OTS images, and the ML models were also run on these OTS images. The overall accuracy of MS in the first quiz was 55.14%. The two ML models were also run on the first quiz questionnaire, producing accuracy between 91 and 93%. The ML models scored more than 80% of medical students. Analysis of confusion matrices of both ML models and all medical students showed dissimilar error profiles. However, when comparing the subset of students who achieved similar accuracy as the ML models, the error profile was also similar. Recognition of ‘stomach’ proved difficult for both humans and ML models. In 04 images in the first quiz set, both VML model and medical students produced highly equivocal responses. Within these images, a pattern of bias was uncovered–the tendency of medical students to misclassify ‘liver’ tissue. The ‘stomach’ class proved most difficult for both MS and VML, producing 34.84% of all errors of MS, and 41.17% of all errors of VML model; however, the IML model committed most errors in recognising the ‘skin’ class (27.5% of all errors). Analysis of the convolution layers of the DNN outlined features in the original image which might have led to misclassification by the VML model. In OTS images, however, the medical students produced better overall score than both ML models, i.e. they successfully recognised patterns of similarity between tissues and could generalise their training to a novel dataset. Our findings suggest that within the scope of training, ML models perform better than 80% medical students with a distinct error profile. However, students who have reached accuracy close to the ML models, tend to replicate the error profile as that of the ML models. This suggests a degree of similarity between how machines and humans extract features from an image. If asked to recognise images outside the scope of training, humans perform better at recognising patterns and likeness between tissues. This suggests that ‘training’ is not the same as ‘learning’, and humans can extend their pattern-based learning to different domains outside of the training set.

This study describes a new method for gripping and sensing a physical object (or material) with a prosthetic arm that uses haptic technologies, kinaesthetic communication, and machine learning. Haptic technology is a method of determining if an object is firm or soft as if it were gripped by a human and determining how much gripping force the object can withstand without crushing it. The bending moment and gripping force are measured using a flex sensor in human fingers and a pressure sensor applied by the tip of the human fingers. Three different types of objects (soft sponge, hard sponge, and plastic) are studied and tested in this work by pressing them with varying gripping pressures (soft, firm, and firmer). In addition, a model (Haptic Intelligence Recorder arm) is proposed that can anticipate the object type and gripping force based on the recorded intelligence data. The major goal is to educate our prosthetic hand to be able to grip various items with varying finger pressures, much like we can do naturally. Finally, a glove is created that is tailored to the intelligence arm’s ability to anticipate grabbing items.

Statistical agencies often publish microdata or synthetic data to protect confidentiality of survey respondents. This is more prevalent in case of income data. In this paper, we develop likelihood-based finite sample inferential methods for a singly imputed synthetic data using plug-in sampling and posterior predictive sampling techniques under Pareto distribution, a well known income distribution. The estimators are constructed based on sufficient statistics and the estimation methods possess desirable properties. For example, the estimators are unbiased and confidence intervals developed are exact. An extensive simulation study is carried out to analyze the performance of the proposed methods.

This technical note presents a discussion on the dynamic modeling and analysis of the adaptive controller of a Mechanical Prosthetic finger with constraints mass (m) of the mechanical finger and constant friction (K1) with variation in spring constraint (K2) parameter during grasping action. For the design of the adaptive controller and assessment of adaptation gain, an underdamped second-order control system has been considered and variation of adaptation gain (γ) within certain pre-defined limits of system parameters, variation in the adaptation mechanism has been analyzed using Gradient method MIT rule. To ensure global stability along with the convergence on nonconformity of plant parameters Lyapunov Rule has been utilized towards closed-loop asymptotic tracking.

Background: After the peak of the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic, we faced a surge of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection. This study was aimed to estimate the severity, clinical course, and outcome of RSV-infected children admitted in pediatric intensive care unit and to identify the predictors of development of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Subjects and Methods: This retrospective study included children below 5 years with influenza-like illnesses (ILI) due to RSV infection. The clinical, laboratory, treatment, and outcome-related parameters were assessed and a compared between ARDS and non-ARDS group. Results: Out of 44 ILI patients, 36 had RSV infection. Most of them (88.9%) were infants. Twenty-four (66.7%) patients developed ARDS and 9 (25%) were ventilated. Infants below 6 months, low birth weight (LBW) babies, consolidations (≥3 zones), interstitial edema (≥3 zones) in lung ultrasound, high pediatric sequential organ failure assessment (pSOFA), and Pediatric Risk of Mortality III score were significantly associated with ARDS. Conclusions: RSV-infected children with young age (1–6 months), LBW, higher lung ultrasound, and pSOFA score should alert physicians for progression to ARDS.

Objectives: An alarming rate of adverse perinatal outcomes as well as maternal deaths has been reported worldwide during this pandemic. It would be prudent to start thinking on the lines of acute or chronic intrauterine fetal hypoxia due to placental microvascular pathology or villitis caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. Autopsy studies of deceased patients with severe COVID-19 have revealed the presence of diffuse pulmonary alveolar damage, thrombosis, and microvascular injuries. It is expected that similar pathological features such as microvascular injuries could be found in the placenta of infected pregnant women. Materials and Methods: Placentas of singleton pregnancies from 42 SARS-CoV-2 positive mothers delivered at term were submitted for histopathological examination. Those with multifetal gestation, hypertensive disorder, fetal growth restriction, structural or chromosomal anomalies in the fetus, thrombophilia, prolonged prelabor rupture of membranes, and placenta accreta spectrum were excluded from the study. Histopathological examination was done by two pathologists independently and only those results concurred by both were reported. Histopathological features and corresponding neonatal outcome were analyzed. Results: Reports of 42 placentas from patients with SARS-CoV-2, delivered at term (37–40 weeks) were analyzed in our study. Features of maternal vascular malperfusions (MVM) were present in 45% (n = 19) cases. Features of fetal vascular malperfusions (FVM) were present in 23.8% (n = 10) cases. There were 47.6% (n = 20) cases showing at least one feature of acute inflammatory pathology (AIP) and 42.8% (n = 18) showing features of chronic inflammatory pathology (CIP). Neonatal respiratory distress syndrome was found in 19% (n = 8) of the neonates. Correspondingly, nearly all placentas (n = 7) of these neonates showed features of MVM, FVM, AIP and CIP. There was no maternal or neonatal mortality in our study group. Conclusion: The main findings of our study include maternal as well as fetal vascular malperfusions and placental inflammatory pathology. These findings provide an outline for better understanding of etiological factors and pathogenesis of adverse perinatal outcomes in SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Lemierre’s syndrome is a condition characterised by septic thrombophlebitis of internal jugular vein following an oropharyngeal infection along with septic embolisation to other organs, mainly lungs. This report is about a 14-year-old girl who presented with complaint of high-grade fever, progressive shortness of breath and painful swelling of throat for seven days. Chest radiograph showed left hemithorax homogeneous opacity with contralateral mediastinal shift. Complete haemogram and other blood investigations revealed neutrophilic leucocytosis and raised C-reactive protein (CRP). Gram stain and aerobic culture of sputum, pleural fluid and blood were inconclusive. As there was no relief of symptoms even after empirical treatment with antibiotics, Contrast Enhanced Computed Tomography (CECT) scan of neck and thorax was done, and it showed bilateral ectatic internal jugular veins with intravascular thrombus and consolidation of left lung with ipsilateral pleural effusion. Ultrasonography (USG) of neck confirmed the presence of thrombus in internal jugular vein on both sides. She was started on intravenous clindamycin and subcutaneous anticoagulants. Gradually the symptoms of the patient resolved. To conclude, despite being called a “forgotten disease”, Lemierre’s syndrome requires strong clinical suspicion and prompt management to prevent mortality.

Soft tissue tumours arise from the mesenchymal tissues of different origin like adipocytic, smooth muscles, skeletal muscle, fibroblastic/myofibroblastic, fibrohistiocytic, pericytic, vascular, osteo-cartilagineous or even unknown. Its diagnosis depends on the age of the patient and site of presentation but sometimes they may present at unusual sites. Some of the tumours have overlapping histomorphological features which results in a list of differential diagnosis. Therefore, immunohistochemistry and molecular genetics play an important role for definite diagnosis. French Federation of Cancer Centres Sarcoma Group System (FNCLCC) based on necrosis, tumour grading and tumour differentiation is commonly used for grading of the sarcomas to assess the treatment response and prognosis of the patient. Hereby, authors present a series of nine cases of soft issue tumours, comprising five cases of synovial sarcomas and one each of dedifferentiated liposarcoma, rhabdomyosarcoma, epithelioid angiosarcoma and Well Differentiated Liposarcoma (WDLS). Few cases are located at unusual anatomical sites; hence, they should be kept in mind as differential diagnosis. Immunohistochemistry has played an important role for confirmation of diagnosis of synovial sarcomas and angiosarcoma.

Abstract Background Surgical site infections (SSIs) are among the most common healthcare-associated infections. Under-nutrition is an important risk factor for SSIs and can lead to delayed wound healing and longer hospital stays. Oral nutritional supplements are prescribed to reduce the risk of infection and improve health status, but data from randomised controlled trials (RCTs) have shown mixed results. Thus, the objective of our planned systematic review is to evaluate oral nutritional supplements on preventing SSIs in adult surgical patients Methods RCTs conducted in adult surgical patients who receive oral nutritional support will be included. The primary outcome will be the incidence of SSIs (within 30 days of surgery or within 90 days for joint replacement surgery). Secondary outcomes will be changes in nutritional status, mortality, health-related quality of life and costs. Literature searches will be conducted in several electronic databases (from inception onwards): MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL and The Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL). Grey literature will be identified through searching clinical trial registers and dissertation databases. Two reviewers will independently screen all citations, full-text articles and abstract data. The study methodological quality (or bias) will be appraised using the Cochrane risk of bias tool. If feasible, we will conduct random effects meta-analysis where appropriate. Discussion This systematic review will evaluate the evidence for pre- and post-surgical intervention with oral nutritional supplements in adults. Findings from this planned review may inform subsequent nutritional interventions for hospitalised patients who undergo surgery. Systematic review registration PROSPERO CRD42020140954

Context: Cervical cancer is the second most common cancer in women. The liquid based cervical cytology (LBCC) is a useful tool of choice for screening cervical cancer. Aims: To train a convolutional neural network (CNN) to identify abnormal foci from LBCC smears. Settings and Design: We have chosen retrospective study design from archived smears of patients undergoing screening from cervical cancer by LBCC smears. Materials and Methods: 2816 images, each of 256 × 256 pixels, were prepared from microphotographs of these LBCC smears, which included 816 “abnormal” foci (low grade or high grade squamous intraepithelial lesion) and 2000 'normal' foci (benign epithelial cells and reactive changes). The images were split into three sets, Training, Testing, and Evaluation. A convolutional neural network (CNN) was developed with the python programming language. The CNN was trained with the Training dataset; performance was assayed concurrently with the Testing dataset. Two CNN models were developed, after 20 and 10 epochs of training, respectively. The models were then run on the Evaluation dataset. Statistical Analysis Used: A contingency table was prepared from the original image labels and the labels predicted by the CNN. Results: Combined assessment of both models yielded a sensitivity of 95.63% in detecting abnormal foci, with 79.85% specificity. The negative predictive value was high (99.19%), suggesting potential utility in screening. False positives due to overlapping cells, neutrophils, and debris was the principal difficulty met during evaluation. Conclusions: The CNN shows promise as a screening tool; however, for its use in confirmatory diagnosis, further training with a more diverse dataset will be required.

The present study was undertaken to screen methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in mastitis buffalo milk samples from northern India. A total of 120 buffalo mastitis milk samples were collected from individual quarter over a one year period mainly from animals reared by marginal farmers. The isolates were presumptively confirmed by growing the organism in selective media and biochemical tests. A total of 52 samples were presumptively confirmed as Staphylococci on the basis of growth in Mannitol Salt Agar (MSA); out of which 12 samples were coagulase positive Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) by growth in Baird Parker Agar (BPA) and tube coagulase test. Antibacterial profiling and growth on Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MeReSa) Agar indicated five isolates as MRSA. Further PCR of specific gene segments and their subsequent characterization based on 16S ribosomal RNA, of staphylo-coagulase and mecA confirmed the findings. The study accentuates the importance of determining the causal agents of mastitis, antibacterial profiling so as to enable the clinicians and researchers to intervene and adopt effective control measures.

Renewable energy sources (RESs) are becoming increasingly important day by day to tranquilize the world’s energy crisis and consume fossil fuels in the lower rung. A microgrid system that assimilates clean and green energy-based sources such as solar, wind, and biogas is acquiring much prominence over the conventional grid-based power systems in this day and age. For the up and running of the inexhaustible energy sources in the AC power network, numerous conversions of the power sources occur. In the process of conversion, some amount of power is lost, which minimizes conversion efficiency. However, with the increasing use of DC loads and Distributed Energy Resources (DERs), DC Microgrid could be more beneficial than the conventional AC power system by avoiding several types of drawbacks. This paper demonstrates an efficient system of digitally controlled boost converter for the parallel operation in DC microgrid. Here, the converter of 2.5kW 400V is designed and implemented to validate its functioning in a Microgrid. The whole system has been simulated in MATLAB with an input voltage range of 220–380 V. It has been found that the designed converter can maintain the desired output voltage in the DC Busbar at and around 400 V. Finally, some simulation results have been presented to analyze the converter’s operational characteristics and effectiveness in the practical domain.

The field of Tissue engineering and regenerative medicine that work toward creating functional tissue-constructs mimicking native tissue for repair and/or replacement of damaged tissues or whole organs have evolved rapidly over the past few decades. However, traditional tissue engineering approaches comprising of scaffolds, growth factors and cells showed limited success in fabrication of complex 3D shapes and in vivo organ regeneration leading to their non-feasibility for clinical applications from a logistical and economical viewpoint. In this regard, 3D bioprinting, which is an extended application of additive manufacturing is now being explored for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine as it involves the top-down approach of building the complex tissue in a layer by layer fashion, thereby producing precise geometries due to controlled nature of matter deposition with the help of anatomically accurate 3D models of the tissue generated by computer graphics. Here, we aim to provide a comprehensive review of the 3D bioprinting technology along with associated 3D bioprinting strategies including ink-jet printing, extrusion printing, stereolithography and laser assisted bioprinting techniques. We then focus on the applications of 3D bioprinting technology on construction of various representative tissue and organs, including skin, cardiac, bone and cartilage etc. We further attempt to highlight the steps involved in each of those tissues/organs printing and discuss on the associated technological requirements based on the available reports from recent literature. We finally conclude with current challenges with 3D bioprinting technology along with potential solution for future technological advancement of efficient and cost-effective 3D bioprinting methods.

End-point phosphorus content in steel in a basic oxygen furnace (BOF) acts as an indicator of the quality of manufactured steel. An undesirable amount of phosphorus is removed from the steel by the process of dephosphorization. The degree of phosphorus removal is captured numerically by the ‘partition ratio’, given by the ratio of %wt phosphorus in slag and %wt phosphorus in steel. Due to the presence of multitudes of process variables, often, it is challenging to predict the partition ratio based on operating conditions. Herein, a robust data-driven classification technique of least squares twin support vector machines (LSTSVM) is applied to classify the ‘partition ratio’ to two categories (‘High’ and ‘Low’) steels indicating a greater or lesser degree of phosphorus removal, respectively. LSTSVM is a simpler, more robust, and faster alternative to the twin support vector machines (TWSVM) with respect to non-parallel hyperplanes-based binary classifications. The relationship between the ‘partition ratio’ and the chemical composition of slag and tapping temperatures is studied based on approximately 16,000 heats from two BOF plants. In our case, a relatively higher model accuracy is achieved, and LSTSVM performed 1.5–167 times faster than other applied algorithms.

3D binderjet printing of bioceramics remained a major challenge, and powder specific-binder development and processing strategies still follow certain ‘black box’ approaches. In this study, for the first time, we report the efficacy of an acrylic based proprietary binder system to 3D print zirconia based bioceramics. Machine limited ‘core-shell’ mode of binder deposition resulted in heterogeneous distribution in particle arrangement from ‘shell’ to ‘core’, with higher binder saturation at the ‘shell’ region and less saturation at the ‘core’. A series of post-processing strategies like ‘presintering – salt infiltration – phase conversion – final sintering’, post-printing binder infiltration etc. were adapted to develop 3YSZ alone or together with ZrSiO4 or Al2O3, although with limited success. Despite poor strength properties (compressive/tensile/flexural), the acceptable strength reliability with modest Weibull modulus (m ​≈ ​5–9) was obtained in post-processed ceramics. While explaining the microstructure-property correlations, the contributions of different powder modification strategies and novel processing steps (‘dual powder deposition’ for non-macroporous powder bed) are discussed in particular reference to the porous architecture formed in 2D space or 3D volume, as investigated using SEM or micro-computed tomography.

Plasma samples were collected from healthy as well as clinical and sub-clinical mastitis affected cows from Barasat, West Bengal, India. Plasma samples, after ammonium sulphate precipitation, were dialyzed against several changes of PBS (pH 7.2) to remove the excess ammonium sulphate. Then plasma fibrinogens were purified by gel filtration chromatography on Sephacryl S-200 HR. SDS-PAGE (10%) of purified fibrinogen from plasma of healthy cow revealed polypeptide bands of 74, 67 and 57 kDa which represent the α (alpha), β (beta) and γ (gamma)- chains respectively. On the other hand, purified fibrinogen from plasma of sub-clinical and clinical mastitis affected cow revealed polypeptide bands of 73 (α-chain), 68 kDa (β-chain) and 72 (γ-chain), 68 kDa (β-chain) respectively. The SDS-PAGE analysis showed the absence of gamma (γ)- chain of fibrinogen in both the samples of sub-clinical and clinical mastitis positive cow. Single precipitin line was observed in double immunodiffusion test when purified fibrinogen from healthy, clinical and subclinical mastitis positive cows reacted with hyper immune sera raised in rabbit. No precipitin line was found against the normal control serum. These purified fibrinogens also showed cross reactivity against antibody raised in rabbit when analyzed by western blot technique.

Introduction: The Pap stained cervical smear is a screening tool for cervical cancer. Commercial systems are used for automated screening of liquid based cervical smears. However, there is no image analysis software used for conventional cervical smears. The aim of this study was to develop and test the diagnostic accuracy of a software for analysis of conventional smears. Materials and Methods: The software was developed using Python programming language and open source libraries. It was standardized with images from Bethesda Interobserver Reproducibility Project. One hundred and thirty images from smears which were reported Negative for Intraepithelial Lesion or Malignancy (NILM), and 45 images where some abnormality has been reported, were collected from the archives of the hospital. The software was then tested on the images. Results: The software was able to segregate images based on overall nuclear: cytoplasmic ratio, coefficient of variation (CV) in nuclear size, nuclear membrane irregularity, and clustering. 68.88% of abnormal images were flagged by the software, as well as 19.23% of NILM images. The major difficulties faced were segmentation of overlapping cell clusters and separation of neutrophils. Conclusion: The software shows potential as a screening tool for conventional cervical smears; however, further refinement in technique is required.

Zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) are currently among the most promising nanomaterials for theranostics. However, they suffer from some drawbacks that could prevent their application in nanomedicine as theranostic agents. The doping of ZnO NPs can be effectively exploited to enhance the already-existing ZnO properties and introduce completely new functionalities in the doped material. Herein, we propose a novel synthetic approach for iron-doped ZnO (Fe:ZnO) NPs as a multifunctional theranostic nanoplatform aimed at cancer cell treatment. Pure ZnO and Fe:ZnO NPs, with two different levels of iron doping, were synthesized by a rapid wet-chemical method and analyzed in terms of morphology, crystal structure and chemical composition. Interestingly, Fe:ZnO NPs featured bioimaging potentialities thanks to superior optical properties and novel magnetic responsiveness. Moreover, iron doping provides a way to enhance the electromechanical behavior of the NPs, which are then expected to show enhanced therapeutic functionalities. Finally, the intrinsic therapeutic potentialities of the NPs were tested in terms of cytotoxicity and cellular uptake with both healthy B lymphocytes and cancerous Burkitt’s lymphoma cells. Furthermore, their biocompatibility was tested with a pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma cell line (BxPC-3), where the novel properties of the proposed iron-doped ZnO NPs can be potentially exploited for theranostics.

Introduction: Adenocarcinoma of the prostate may be clinically suspected based on elevated serum PSA (Prostate Specific Antigen) and/or abnormal digital rectal examination. Serum PSA has been used in prostatic carcinoma screening and for diagnostic, therapeutic and prognostic purposes. Aim: To evaluate the role of serum PSA to differentiate between benign and malignant pathology of prostate diagnosed by Transrectal Ultrasound (TRUS) guided prostatic core biopsy with special emphasis on its correlation with risk stratification based on Gleason score and Grade grouping system. Materials and Methods: Total 45 cases of Prostatic core biopsy specimens of the patients where serum PSA value was known were included in this cross-sectional observational study. Biopsy specimens were processed for routine HaematoxylinEosin stain and diagnosed as benign or malignant by histopathological examination along with Gleason score and Grade-Grouping was done. The comparison of PSA value between benign and malignant cases along with its significance of association with higher Grade-Grouping was statistically judged by unpaired t-test. Results: Out of total 45 cases, 23 (51.11%) cases showed presence of adenocarcinoma and rest 22 cases were of benign pathology. Mean PSA value (ng/mL) was significantly higher in malignant cases i.e., 58.47 (±22.191) compared to benign cases i.e., 3.45 (±0.987). However, in malignant cases which have been categorised as low to intermediate risk group (Gleason score

Background & Aims: ARID1A is postulated to be a tumor suppressor gene owing to loss-of-function mutations in human pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas (PDAC). However, its role in pancreatic pathogenesis is not clear despite recent studies using genetically engineered mouse (GEM) models. We aimed at further understanding of its direct functional role in PDAC, using a combination of GEM model and PDAC cell lines. Methods: Pancreas-specific mutant Arid1a-driven GEM model (Ptf1a-Cre; KrasG12D; Arid1af/f or “KAC”) was generated by crossing Ptf1a-Cre; KrasG12D (“KC”) mice with Arid1af/f mice and characterized histologically with timed necropsies. Arid1a was also deleted using CRISPR-Cas9 system in established human and murine PDAC cell lines to study the immediate effects of Arid1a loss in isogenic models. Cell lines with or without Arid1a expression were developed from respective autochthonous PDAC GEM models, compared functionally using various culture assays, and subjected to RNA-sequencing for comparative gene expression analysis. DNA damage repair was analyzed in cultured cells using immunofluorescence and COMET assay. Results: Retention of Arid1a is critical for early progression of mutant Kras-driven pre-malignant lesions into PDAC, as evident by lower Ki-67 and higher apoptosis staining in “KAC” as compared to “KC” mice. Enforced deletion of Arid1a in established PDAC cell lines caused suppression of cellular growth and migration, accompanied by compromised DNA damage repair. Despite early development of relatively indolent cystic precursor lesions called intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms (IPMNs), a subset of “KAC” mice developed aggressive PDAC in later ages. PDAC cells obtained from older autochthonous “KAC” mice revealed various compensatory (“escaper”) mechanisms to overcome the growth suppressive effects of Arid1a loss. Conclusions: Arid1a is an essential survival gene whose loss impairs cellular growth, and thus, its expression is critical during early stages of pancreatic tumorigenesis in mouse models. In tumors that arise in the setting of ARID1A loss, a multitude of “escaper” mechanisms drive progression.

Smart nanoparticles for medical applications have gathered considerable attention due to an improved biocompatibility and multifunctional properties useful in several applications, including advanced drug delivery systems, nanotheranostics and in vivo imaging. Among nanomaterials, zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) were deeply investigated due to their peculiar physical and chemical properties. The large surface to volume ratio, coupled with a reduced size, antimicrobial activity, photocatalytic and semiconducting properties, allowed the use of ZnO NPs as anticancer drugs in new generation physical therapies, nanoantibiotics and osteoinductive agents for bone tissue regeneration. However, ZnO NPs also show a limited stability in biological environments and unpredictable cytotoxic effects thereof. To overcome the abovementioned limitations and further extend the use of ZnO NPs in nanomedicine, doping seems to represent a promising solution. This review covers the main achievements in the use of doped ZnO NPs for nanomedicine applications. Sol-gel, as well as hydrothermal and combustion methods are largely employed to prepare ZnO NPs doped with rare earth and transition metal elements. For both dopant typologies, biomedical applications were demonstrated, such as enhanced antimicrobial activities and contrast imaging properties, along with an improved biocompatibility and stability of the colloidal ZnO NPs in biological media. The obtained results confirm that the doping of ZnO NPs represents a valuable tool to improve the corresponding biomedical properties with respect to the undoped counterpart, and also suggest that a new application of ZnO NPs in nanomedicine can be envisioned.

Zinc oxide nanocrystals (ZnO-NCs) doped with transition metal elements or rare earth elements can be probed for magnetic resonance imaging to be used as a molecular imaging technique for accurate diagnosis of various diseases. Herein, we use Mn as a candidate of transition metal elements and Gd as a presenter of rare earth elements. We report an easy and fast coprecipitation method exploiting oleic acid to synthesize spherical-shaped, small-sized doped ZnO-NCs. We show the improved colloidal stability of oleate-stabilized doped ZnO-NCs compared to the doped ZnO-NCs synthesized by conventional sol–gel synthesis method, i.e., without a stabilizing agent, especially for the Mn dopant. We also analyze their structural, morphological, optical, and magnetic properties. We are able to characterize the persistence of the crystalline properties (wurtzite structure) of ZnO in the doped structure and exclude the formation of undesired oxides by doping elements. Importantly, we determine the room-temperature ferromagnetism of the doped ZnO-NCs. This oleate-stabilized coprecipitation method can be subjected as a standard procedure to synthesize doped and also co-doped ZnO-NCs with any transition metal elements or rare earth elements. In the future, oleate-stabilized Gd/Mn-doped ZnO-NCs can be exploited as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast agents and possibly increase the signal intensity on T1-weighted images or reduce the signal intensity on T2-weighted images.

The presence of leaky vasculature and the lack of lymphatic drainage of small structures by the solid tumors formulate nanoparticles as promising delivery vehicles in cancer therapy. In particular, among various nanoparticles, the mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSN) exhibit numerous outstanding features, including mechanical thermal and chemical stability, huge surface area and ordered porous interior to store different anti-cancer therapeutics with high loading capacity and tunable release mechanisms. Furthermore, one can easily decorate the surface of MSN by attaching ligands for active targeting specifically to the cancer region exploiting overexpressed receptors. The controlled release of drugs to the disease site without any leakage to healthy tissues can be achieved by employing environment responsive gatekeepers for the end-capping of MSN. To achieve precise cancer chemotherapy, the most desired delivery system should possess high loading efficiency, site-specificity and capacity of controlled release. In this review we will focus on multimodal decorations of MSN, which is the most demanding ongoing approach related to MSN application in cancer therapy. Herein, we will report about the recently tried efforts for multimodal modifications of MSN, exploiting both the active targeting and stimuli responsive behavior simultaneously, along with individual targeted delivery and stimuli responsive cancer therapy using MSN.

Ensuring the high quality of end product steel by removing phosphorus content in Basic Oxygen Furnace (BOF) is essential and otherwise leads to cold shortness. This article aims at understanding the dephosphorization process through end-point P-content in BOF steelmaking based on data-mining techniques. Dephosphorization is often quantified through the partition ratio ( l p ) which is the ratio of wt% P in slag to wt% P in steel. Instead of predicting the values of l p , the present study focuses on the classification of final steel based on slag chemistry and tapping temperature. This classification signifies different degrees (‘High’, ‘Moderate’, ‘Low’, and ‘Very Low’) to which phosphorus is removed in the BOF. Data of slag chemistry and tapping temperature collected from approximately 16,000 heats from two steel plants (Plant I and II) were assigned to four categories based on unsupervised K-means clustering method. An efficient decision tree-based twin support vector machines (TWSVM) algorithm was implemented for category classification. Decision trees were constructed using the concepts: Gaussian mixture model (GMM), mean shift (MS) and affinity propagation (AP) algorithm. The accuracy of the predicted classification was assessed using the classification rate (CR). Model validation was carried out with a five-fold cross validation technique. The fitted model was compared in terms of CR with a decision tree-based support vector machines (SVM) algorithm applied to the same data. The highest accuracy (≥97%) was observed for the GMM-TWSVM model, implying that by manipulating the slag components appropriately using the structure of the model, a greater degree of P-partition can be achieved in BOF.

Target fortification (TFO) reduces natural macronutrient variation in breast milk (BM). Daily BM analysis for TFO increases neonatal intensive care unit work load by 10–15 min/patient/day and may not be feasible in all nurseries. The variation of macronutrient intake when BM analysis is done for various schedules was studied. In an observational study, we analyzed 21 subsequent samples of native 24-h BM batches, which had been prepared for 10 healthy infants (gestational age 26.1 ± 1.3 weeks, birth weight: 890 ± 210 g). Levels of protein and fat (validated near-infrared milk analyzer), as well as lactose (UPLC-MS/MS) generated the database for modelling TFO to meet recommendations of European Society for Paediatric Gastroenterology Hepatology and Nutrition. Intake of macronutrients and energy were calculated for different schedules of BM measurements for TFO (n = 1/week; n = 2/week; n = 3/week; n = 5/week; n = 7/week) and compared to native and fixed dose fortified BM. Day-to-day variation of macronutrients (protein 20%, carbohydrate 13%, fat 17%, energy 10%) decreased as the frequency of milk analysis increased and was almost zero for protein and carbohydrate with daily measurements. Measurements two/week led to mean macronutrient intake within a range of ±5% of targeted levels. A reduced schedule for macronutrient measurement may increase the practical use of TFO. To what extent the day-to-day variation affects growth while mean intake is stable needs to be studied.

Aim: The present study was carried out to compare the associated role of micro minerals and hormones in repeat breeding animals with the normal crossbred cows. Materials and Methods: Blood samples were collected from 10 normal cycling and 10 repeat breeding crossbred cows of Ramakrishna Mission Ashram, Narendrapur to study the plasma mineral profile and hormonal activities. Results: Zn was found to be highly significant (p

In the present study Immunoglobulin G was purified from serum of Yak by gel filtration chromatography on Sephacryl S-200. SDS- PAGE of purified yak IgG showed four major polypeptides of 62.94 kDa, 53.29 kDa 29.22 and 28.21 kDa. The purified Immunoglobulin has been found to be immuno-reactive by DID test and Western Blot analysis when treated against hyper-immune sera.

Introduction: Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) is a chronic systemic inflammatory disease where assessment of disease activity is essential for management of patient. Currently, many composite scoring systems are used for evaluation of disease activity but they are mainly clinical-based. As several haematological parameters are altered due to systemic inflammatory process in RA, this study was intended to evaluate role of common haematological parameters to assess disease activity in RA. Aim: To find out the association of disease activity of Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) with platelet count, Mean Platelet Volume (MPV) and Haemoglobin (Hb) level so that these costeffective haematological parameters can be used as additional factors to assess disease activity. Materials and Methods: This hospital based cross-sectional study was done on newly diagnosed patients of RA along with age and sex matched healthy control population. Patients suffering from malignancies, renal failure, diabetes mellitus or RA patients on drug therapy were excluded. Clinically, disease activity of RA was measured using DAS 28-3 Score (Modified Disease Activity Score using three variables- tender joint count, swollen joint count and ESR). Haematological parameters were measured by automated cell counter. Results: Total 80 cases were selected (60 female and 20 male). 48 patients with high disease activity (DAS 28-3>5.1) were labelled as Group-A and 32 with low to moderate disease activity (DAS 28-3 ≤5.1) as Group- B. Mean platelet count of patients of group A and group B were 4.53 lac/cmm and 2.17 lac/cmm respectively (p

The objective of the present study was detection, isolation, partial purification and immunobiochemical characterization of fertility associated protein in the seminal plasma of high prolific Karan fries bull. Seminal plasma of Karan Fries bull was partially purified by gel filtration chromatography and analyzed by 10% SDS-PAGE for their polypeptide profile. PAGE analysis revealed major band of 55 kDa, and 26 kDa. Hyperimmune serum was raised in rabbit against crude seminal plasma protein. Single precipitin line was observed in DID test when each of the partially purified 26 kDa and 55 kDa proteins were reacted with hyperimmune serum. These proteins were also found to be immunoreactive against hyperimmune serum in Western blot technique.

Primary bilateral synchronous breast carcinomas are defined as those which have different histomorphological types of cancer in both breast and both appear simultaneously or few months apart. Invasive carcinoma, No Special Subtype (IC-NST) constitutes the most common variant of breast carcinoma. Our case was an elderly lady presenting with bilateral breast lumps and no family history of breast cancer. Histopathology revealed malignancy of both breast with pure mucinous type on one side and invasive carcinoma (NST) on the other side. Primary synchronous breast carcinoma though a rare finding draws our attention to the more important issue of bilateral breast examination in all breast carcinoma cases.

Owing to the continuous deterioration in the quality of iron ore and scrap, there is an increasing focus on improving the Basic Oxygen Furnace (BOF) process to utilize lower grade input materials. The present paper discusses dephosphorization in BOF steelmaking from a data science perspective, which thus enables steelmakers to produce medium and low phosphorus steel grades. In the present study, data from two steel mills (Plant I and Plant II) were collected and various statistical methods were employed to analyze the data. While most operators in steel plants use spreadsheet-based techniques and linear regression to analyze data, this paper discusses on the suitability of selecting various statistical methods, and benchmarking tests to analyze such dephosphorization data sets. The data contains a wide range of operating conditions, both low and high phosphorus input loads, different slag basicity’s, different slag chemistries, and different end point temperatures, etc. The predicted phosphorus partition from various statistical models is compared against plant data and verified against previously published research.

In the present study Immunoglobulin G was purified from serum of Royal Bengal Tiger by gel filtration chromatography on Sephacryl S-200. SDS-PAGE analysis showed the molecular weight of purified tiger IgG was 170.52 kDa. The purified Immunoglobulin has been found to be immunereactive by DID test and Western Blot analysis when treated against hyperimmune sera which was raised in rabbit.

A post menopausal lady presented with lump lower abdomen and bleeding per vaginum. USG revealed diffuse enlargement of the uterus. On hysterectomy, a grossly enlarged uterus with cystic left ovary were found. Hysterectomy was done and uterus with bilateral adnexa submitted for histopathological examination. Microscopic examination of the body of uterus revealed sheets of small lymphoid cells were found to replace the endo- and myo-metrium. These cells have small nuclei with clumped chromatin, and no prominence of nucleoli. They are not forming lymphoid follicles or germinal centers. Similar lymphoid cells were also found in the left ovary admixed with ovarian stroma. On IHC these cells were found to be CD45, CD20, CD23 positive, and negative for CD3 , CK and SMA. The case is diagnosed as a primary small lymphocytic lymphoma of uterus with left ovarian spread.

The unusual variations observed in the records of the integrated field intensity of the atmospherics (IFIA) at 6 kHz and 9 kHz at Agartala, Tripura, in the north-eastern state of India (latitude, 23˚ N; longitude, 91.4˚ E) during the large earthquake on October 8, 2005 at Muzaffarabad (latitude, 34.53˚ N; longitude, 73.58˚ E) in Kashmir in Pakistan are here analyzed. Spiky variations in the IFIA at 6 kHz and 9 kHz were observed several days previous to the day of the earthquake (from midnight, September 28, 2005). The effects persisted for some days, decayed gradually, and eventually ceased on October 31, 2005. The spikes are distinctly superimposed on the ambient level, with mutual separation of 2–5 mins. The number of spikes per day and the total duration of their occurrence were particularly high on the day of the earthquake. The spike heights are higher at 6 kHz than at 9 kHz. The results are discussed here. The generation of electromagnetic radiation associated with the fracture of rocks, the subsequent penetration of this radiation into the Earth atmosphere, and finally its propagation through the Earth–ionosphere waveguide may be responsible for these observed spikes. The present observations show that the very low frequency anomaly dominates between 6 kHz and 9 kHz. The nature of the spikes presented here is a characteristic feature of the IFIA during the period of the earthquake. This has been established on the basis of time-series analyses over a period of one year.

The outcome of the results of some analyses of electromagnetic emissions recorded by VLF receivers at 6 kHz and 9 kHz over Agartala, Tripura, the North-Eastern state of India (Lat. 23° N, Long. 91.4° E) during the large earthquake at Muzaffarabad (Lat. 34.53° N, Long. 73.58° E) at Kashmir under Pakistan have been presented here. Spiky variations in integrated field intensity of atmospherics (IFIA) at 6 and 9 kHz have been observed 10 days prior (from midnight of 28 September 2005) to the day of occurrence of the earthquake on 8 October 2005 and the effect continued, decayed gradually and eventually ceased on 16 October 2005. The spikes distinctly superimposed on the ambient level with mutual separation of 2–5 min. Occurrence number of spikes per hour and total duration of their occurrence have been found remarkably high on the day of occurrence of the earthquake. The spike heights are higher at 6 kHz than at 9 kHz. The results have been explained on the basis of generation of electromagnetic radiation associated with fracture of rocks, their subsequent penetration into the Earth's atmosphere and finally their propagation between Earth-ionosphere waveguide. The present observation shows that VLF anomaly is well-confined between 6 and 9 kHz.

Introduction: Fine-needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) for identification of papillary carcinoma thyroid is a moderately sensitive and specific modality. The present machine learning tools can correctly classify images into broad categories. Training software for recognition of papillary thyroid carcinoma on FNAC smears will be a decisive step toward automation of cytopathology. Aim: The aim of this study is to develop an artificial neural network (ANN) for the purpose of distinguishing papillary carcinoma thyroid and nonpapillary carcinoma thyroid on microphotographs from thyroid FNAC smears. Subjects and Methods: An ANN was developed in the Python programming language. In the training phase, 186 microphotographs from Romanowsky/Pap-stained smears of papillary carcinoma and 184 microphotographs from smears of other thyroid lesions (at ×10 and ×40 magnification) were used for training the ANN. After completion of training, performance was evaluated with a set of 174 microphotographs (66 – nonpapillary carcinoma and 21 – papillary carcinoma, each photographed at two magnifications ×10 and ×40). Results: The performance characteristics and limitations of the neural network were assessed, assuming FNAC diagnosis as gold standard. Combined results from two magnifications showed good sensitivity (90.48%), moderate specificity (83.33%), and a very high negative predictive value (96.49%) and 85.06% diagnostic accuracy. However, vague papillary formations by benign follicular cells identified wrongly as papillary carcinoma remain a drawback. Conclusion: With further training with a diverse dataset and in conjunction with automated microscopy, the ANN has the potential to develop into an accurate image classifier for thyroid FNACs.

Background : Fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) may be diagnostic in candidates with indeterminate solitary pulmonary nodules (SPNs) suspicious of bronchogenic carcinoma. Aims : The study was performed to evaluate the usefulness of computed tomography (CT)-guided FNAC in our centre. Materials and Methods : All the cases had a strong clinical suspicion of lung cancer, negative bronchoscopy, negative sputum cytology for malignant cells and acid fast bacilli. A thorough radiological evaluation was made to rule out primary malignancy elsewhere. Results : A total of 94 patients were studied in one year. May-Grόnwald-Giemsa stain was used for the smears. The cytological diagnosis was correlated with clinical-radiological follow-up and biopsy to arrive at a final diagnosis. The procedure had a high sensitivity and specificity. Chi-square test was used to calculate statistical significance. Tumor of more than three centimeter and immediate cytological assessment significantly increased the yield. Review of slides added two cases of malignancy that were missed initially. There were very few complications. Conclusions : CT-guided FNAC was an accurate and safe procedure for SPNs.

Background Food allergy may be defined as an immunoglobulin E-mediated immune response to food proteins. Such studies have previously not been done in Calcutta, India. The present study was therefore undertaken to record the sensitivity to commonly consumed foods in patients with allergic rhinitis and asthma.Materials and methods A survey of 800 patients (410 males and 390 females) reporting to the Allergy Unit of the Institute of Child Health, Calcutta, were selected for the study conducted from May 2006 to April 2007. Respiratory allergic patients in the age group of 5 to 60 years were evaluated using a standard questionnaire, and skin prick test was performed using common food and aeroallergens.Results/Conclusions Out of the 684 patients with a history of food allergy, most of them, that is, 338, are in the age group 16 to 40 years, 192 of them were in the age group 41 to 60 years, and 154 were in the age group 5 to 15 years. Most of the patients with food allergy had asthma (65.05%), rhinitis and asthma (20.03%), and skin allergies (4.97%), such as itching, eczema, and urticaria. The foodstuffs that were found to elicit symptoms of hypersensitivity were egg, milk, wheat, pulses, vegetables, fishes, and fruits.The patients aged between 16 and 40 years (male-female ratio, 1:1.19) were mostly sensitive to prawn, brinjal, banana, ladyfinger, papaya, wheat, and egg. The age group 41 to 60 years (male-female ratio, 1:1.04) had high skin reactivity to brinjal, egg, banana, fish, and Phaseolus mungo. Patients younger than 16 years (male-female ratio, 1:1.33) were sensitized to brinjal, prawn, banana, spinach, and egg. We observed that food hypersensitivity also reflects different genetic factors and variations in cultural and dietary habits of each individual. Keywords: food allergens, Calcutta, India, skin prick test

Various studies have shown the role of mast cells in chronic inflammatory states and in tumor growth. The study is designed to have an idea of the relationship of mast cell density (MCD) to gastric ulcer and cancer, to verify whether mast cell accumulation occurred in the two conditions especially in Indian patients and thus postulate that therapeutic strategies against mast cell mediators could be useful in treatment. Also, we want to review literature and attempt to explain our findings. A total of 240 patients, who underwent their first endoscopy and biopsy for a span of 21/2 years were studied retrospectively. Out of these, 210 cases that were either gastric ulcers or cancer were chosen for this MCD study. Biopsies were sectioned and stained routinely. Toluidine blue stain and copper grid was used to calculate MCD. Student′s t-Test was used to calculate the statistical significance of MCD. MCD in benign ulcers was much higher than in control subjects. MCD in well-differentiated cancers showed MCD higher than control. Poorly-differentiated adenocarcinoma showed lower MCD than well-differentiated adenocarcinoma. It was concluded that the accumulation of mast cells in gastric ulcers is an inflammatory response. MCD is increased in well-differentiated gastric cancers, which may be a mast cell mediated immune response or mast cells may have a role in tumor angiogenesis and produce factors for tumor progression. Poorly-differentiated adenocarcinoma apparently lacks mast cell mediated anti-tumor response in some unexplained way.

BackgroundWe have previously reported that increased glucose levels were associated with higher serum nitric oxide (NO) levels in fructose-fed insulin resistant rats. However, the relationship between hyperglycemia and serum NO level was not clear. Therefore, the present study was designed to find the association between hyperglycemia and serum NO levels in Type 2 diabetic (T2DM) patients and T2DM with cardiovascular complication.MethodsEndothelial cells (HUVEC) were treated with of D-glucose (10-100mM), and NO levels and NOS gene expression was measured. Hyperglycaemia was induced in Sprague-Dawley rats, and serum NO levels were measured after 8 weeks. For clinical evaluation, five groups of patients were recruited: Control (CT, n=48), Type 2 diabetes (T2DM, n=26), T2DM with hypertension (DMHT, n=46), Coronary artery diseases (CAD, n=29) and T2DM with coronary artery diseases (DMCD, n=38). NO (nitrite + nitrate) levels were measured from human serum.ResultsWe found a significant (pConclusionIn conclusion, high NO levels were observed in South Indian diabetic patients. Higher glucose levels in serum might be responsible for activation of endothelial cells to enhance NO levels.

In the present study Inhibin was purified from goat ovarian follicular fluid by Gel filtration chromatography on Sephacryl S-200. SDS PAGE of purified inhibin revealed the molecular weight of 55 kDa. The purified follicular fluid had been found to be immunoreactive by DID test and Western Blot analysis when treated against hyperimmune sera.

Intracranial teratomas represent a rare lesion accounting for 0.1%–0.7% of all intracranial tumors. Those in the fourth ventricle have rarely been reported. The present case is that of a 28-year-old man with occipital headache for two months. MRI examination revealed a well-defined extra-axial cystic lesion in posterior fossa in the midline herniating through the foramen magnum. Pre operatively, the mass was seen to be occupying the whole of the posterior fossa and arising from the roof of the fourth ventricle. On gross examination, the lesion had both solid and cystic components. Histopathological examination showed multiple cystic areas lined by brain tissue admixed with islands of cartilage and salivary gland elements and intestinal type glands. A diagnosis of mature cystic teratoma was made.

Venus transited across the Sun on 06 June 2012, introducing significant contribution to the tidal characteristics of the solar atmosphere. _ atmosphere was perturbed due to an anomalous Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) and γ-radiationγ-radiation influenced by the solar tide due to Venus transit, thereby the Earth-ionosphere waveguide characteristics were changed. In this anomalous situation we measured some atmospheric electricity parameters such as Schumann resonance (SR) amplitude, very low frequency (VLF) sferics, subionospheric transmitted signals and the point discharge current (PDC) along with the vertical electrical potential gradient (PG) at the ground surface on the day of transit. The results showed some remarkable variations during the transit as well as pre- and post-transit periods. The observed anomalies in the recorded data were interpreted in terms of the anomalous solar tidal effects initiated due to Venus transit.