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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