The predictive role of baseline pulmonary function test in lung carcinoma patients for radiation-induced lung toxicity treated with conformal radiation therapy.

Introduction: Radiation-induced lung toxicity (RILT) is a major concern in patients who receive radiation to thorax. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the changes of pulmonary function tests (PFTs) in lung carcinoma patients treated with three-dimensional conformal radiation therapy (3-D CRT) and relation RILT with dosimetric and nondosimetric factors.

Methods: This was a prospective observational study which included 65 patients of lung carcinoma treated with 3-D CRT.

Efficacy of Intravenous 20% Mannitol vs 3% Hypertonic Saline in Reducing Intracranial Pressure in Nontraumatic Brain Injury: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Background: Nontraumatic brain injury encompasses various pathological processes and medical conditions that result in brain dysfunction and neurological impairment without direct physical trauma. The study aimed to assess the efficacy of intravenous administration of 20% mannitol and 3% hypertonic saline to reduce intracranial pressure in nontraumatic brain injury.

Materials And Methods: The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis guidelines were followed for study selection and data extraction.

Morphological Study of Hashimoto Thyroiditis in Fine Needle Aspiration Cytology Specimens.

Background: Hashimoto thyroiditis is an autoimmune disease which is diagnosed based on well-defined clinical and cytological criteria.

Purpose: The objective of this research is to study cytomorphological features in patients of Hashimoto thyroiditis and compare the findings with other studies. Literature on morphology of multinucleated giant cells was found to be lacking, and this study has focused on the number and morphology of these cells in this study.

Major Sexual Function Domains Affected in the Diabetic Females: A Cross-sectional Study from North India.

Introduction: Diabetes adversely affects sexual health with its negative consequences on well-being in both males and females. Literature is scanty regarding female sexual dysfunction (FSD) in diabetic women, furthermore reported literature is lacking regarding the differential impact on different domains of sexual health, especially in Indian females. In the present analysis, we aim to study the prevalence of sexual dysfunctions in diabetic women as well as different domains affected by diabetes.

Immunoglobulin G4-Related Disease: A Case Report.

Immunoglobulin G4-related disease (IgG4 RD) has a fair prognosis but its diagnosis has been difficult due to the condition's wide range of clinical manifestations, limited awareness among common practitioners, and various differentials. Here, we present a case of an elderly male who presented with recurrent dental caries, recurrent sinusitis, persistent dry mouth, and dry eyes along with bilateral parotid gland enlargement without any lymphadenopathy. The patient was evaluated further and found to have elevated levels of IgG4 and on histopathological examination of the parotid gland showed lymphocytic infiltrate with germinal centers without any granulomatous lesions and IgG4-positive plasma cells on immunohistochemistry (IHC).

Convalescent Plasma the Experience and Journey from Blockbuster to Incognito: A Single Centre Experience.

Background: Convalescent plasma has been used to provide passive immunotherapy to patients with COVID-19 with a high level of safety. Very few efficacy studies were available, and due to COVID being a relatively new disease, its exact therapeutic role was unclear. This observational study on the impact of COVID convalescent plasma (CCP) on clinical outcomes attempts to evaluate the effectiveness of convalescent COVID-19 plasma therapy in the treatment of COVID-19 patients at the tertiary care center in the Uttarakhand state of India.

Unravelling the nature of magneto-electric coupling in room temperature multiferroic particulate (PbFeNbO)-(CoZnFeMnO) composites.

Multiferroic composites are promising candidates for magnetic field sensors, next-generation low power memory and spintronic devices, as they exhibit much higher magnetoelectric (ME) coupling and coupled ordering parameters compared to the single-phase multiferroics. Hence, the 3-0 type particulate multiferroic composites having general formula (1 - Φ)[PbFeNbO]-Φ[CoZnFeMnO] (Φ = 0.0, 0.

Enhanced functional properties of soft polymer-ceramic composites by swift heavy ion irradiation.

The physical and chemical properties of soft polymer-ceramic composites with 50 MeV swift heavy, Li3+ ion irradiation were studied. A solution-casting technique was employed to synthesize free standing, flexible composite films of ferroelectric polymer PVDF and ferroelectric ceramic BNBT mixtures with 0-3 connectivity. However, only 35 wt% ceramic was chosen for the study as it showed the highest dielectric constant and enhanced ferroelectric properties without irradiation.

Mortality pattern of elderly patients at a tertiary care hospital: A study from Sub-Himalayan region, Uttarakhand, India.

Background: Currently, in developing countries like India, there is a paradigm shift in the mortality patterns of elderly from communicable to noncommunicable diseases.

Objective: This study is aimed at providing an insight on mortality patterns of elderly patients within a 2-year period in a tertiary hospital, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Rishikesh, India.

Materials And Methods: This study is a retrospective review of mortality patterns of elderly patients from March 2016 to March 2018 occurring in the Department of General Medicine, in AIIMS, Rishikesh, India.

Reliving, Replaying Lived Experiences Through Auditory Verbal Hallucinations: Implications on Theories and Management.

This study aims to understand the impact of negative life experience (NLE) in auditory hallucinations (AHs) and explain the heterogeneity in phenomenology of auditory verbal hallucinations (AVHs). In depth interviews were conducted with 21 individuals (7 males and 14 females) experiencing AHs and accessing mental health treatment services at a not-for-profit organization. Maximum variation purposive sampling technique was used to select the sample to ensure variegation is accounted for and was collected until saturation of themes data was obtained.

Mitigating Reasons for the Poor Performance of n-CdS/p-SnS Solar Cells.

In the present work, indium tin oxide (ITO)/n-CdS/p-SnS/Au structured solar cells are fabricated with best conversion efficiency of 0.005%. A detailed investigation is made into the cause of the poor conversion efficiency and the cause is narrowed down to defects in p-SnS which effect the junction and the neutral region of the cell.

Prevalence and identification of extended spectrum β-lactamases (ESBL) in Escherichia coli isolated from a tertiary care hospital in North-East India.

Extended-spectrum β-lactamases (ESBLs) are rapidly evolving group of β-lactamase enzymes produced by the Gram negative bacteria. In this study, we determined the antimicrobial sensitivity pattern of Escherichia coli isolates and prevalence of TEM, SHV and CTX-M genes in ESBL positive E. coli isolated from the patients admitted to a tertiary care hospital in North-East India.

Paraganglioma of Urinary Bladder Presenting as An Early Preeclampsia with Successful Perinatal Outcome After Surgery: A Case Report and Review of Literature.

Paraganglioma in urinary bladder associated with pregnancy is extremely rare with a prevalence of less than 1%. We report a case of 25-year-old pregnant female who presented with gross haematuria and clot retention during first trimester. MRI pelvis showed a mass antero- inferior to bladder.

DOCK/PIERR: web server for structure prediction of protein-protein complexes.

In protein docking we aim to find the structure of the complex formed when two proteins interact. Protein-protein interactions are crucial for cell function. Here we discuss the usage of DOCK/PIERR.

Improving ranking of models for protein complexes with side chain modeling and atomic potentials.

An atomically detailed potential for docking pairs of proteins is derived using mathematical programming. A refinement algorithm that builds atomically detailed models of the complex and combines coarse grained and atomic scoring is introduced. The refinement step consists of remodeling the interface side chains of the top scoring decoys from rigid docking followed by a short energy minimization.

Multi-domain GFP-like proteins from two species of marine hydrozoans.

Proteins homologous to Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP) are widely used as genetically encoded fluorescent labels. Many developments of this technology were spurred by discoveries of novel types of GFP-like proteins (FPs) in nature. Here we report two proteins displaying primary structures never before encountered in natural FPs: they consist of multiple GFP-like domains repeated within the same polypeptide chain.

Energy design for protein-protein interactions.

Proteins bind to other proteins efficiently and specifically to carry on many cell functions such as signaling, activation, transport, enzymatic reactions, and more. To determine the geometry and strength of binding of a protein pair, an energy function is required. An algorithm to design an optimal energy function, based on empirical data of protein complexes, is proposed and applied.

PIE-efficient filters and coarse grained potentials for unbound protein-protein docking.

Identifying correct binding modes in a large set of models is an important step in protein-protein docking. We identified protein docking filter based on overlap area that significantly reduces the number of candidate structures that require detailed examination. We also developed potentials based on residue contacts and overlap areas using a comprehensive learning set of 640 two-chain protein complexes with mathematical programming.

Bacterial population changes in hospital effluent treatment plant in central India.

Hospital effluent with its high content of multidrug resistant (MDR) enterobacteria and the presence of enteric pathogens could pose a grave problem for the community. It was planned at our tertiary care hospital in central India to study the population changes at various steps of effluent treatment plant (ETP) like collection, aeration, clarification, liquid sludge, dried sludge, high-pressure filter and treated wastewater. The study included viable bacterial counts, coliform counts, staphylococcal, enterococcal, Pseudomonas and multiple drug resistant (MDR) gram negative bacterial counts in the different stages of ETP.

Structure of the human hexabrachion (tenascin) gene.

The structure of the gene encoding human hexabrachion (tenascin) has been determined from overlapping clones isolated from a human genomic bacteriophage library. The genomic inserts were characterized by restriction mapping, Southern blot analysis, PCR, and DNA sequencing. The coding region of the hexabrachion gene spans approximately 80 kilobases of DNA and consists of 27 exons separated by 26 introns.