Correlation between conventional karyotype, interphase FISH and immunophenotype in risk stratification of newly diagnosed plasma cell myeloma: An observational study.

Background: Plasma cell myeloma (PCM) is a common adult hematological neoplasm of terminally differentiated B-cells resulting in accumulation of monoclonal plasma cells. PCM is heterogeneous disease with survival time varies from months to years, determined by age, stage, cytogenetics abnormalities, and treatment response. There is conflicting evidence in role of immunophenotype as a prognostic indicator.

Establishment of Cephalometric Hard Tissue Profile among Bengali and Caucasian Populations for Orthognathic Surgery.

The study aimed to compare cephalometric hard tissue profile values and analysis between Bengali and Caucasian populations. The study included 100 individuals (50 males, 50 females) aged 18-35. Subjects having class I molar occlusions and well-balanced facial profiles were included in the study.

Correlation of light and electron microscopic morphometric parameters of glomerular capillaries with serum creatinine and proteinuria.

Waste products in the bloodstream are filtered by the glomerular capillaries in the kidneys and excreted into the urine. When making a differential diagnosis of kidney diseases, structural assessment of glomeruli using histological, ultrastructural, and immunological studies is crucial. This study assessed the microscopic and ultrastructural morphometric parameters of glomerular capillaries and examined their correlation with serum creatinine and proteinuria.

An extremely rare case of Rogers syndrome or thiamine responsive megaloblastic anemia.

Rogers syndrome is an extremely rare autosomal recessive syndrome of which only 100 cases are known worldwide. It is characterized by thiamine-responsive megaloblastic anaemia, diabetes mellitus and sensorineural deafness. It results from the deficiency of a thiamine transporter protein.

Comparison of HbA2 Using High Performance Liquid Chromatography Versus Haemoglobin Capillary Zone Electrophoresis.

Thalassemia is among the most common hereditary disorders in the world. Approximately 5% of the world's population are carriers of hemoglobinopathies, and 2.9% are carriers of beta thalassemia.

Bisphosphonate Osteonecrosis in a Case of Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis: Report of a Case and Review of Literature.

Langerhans Cell histiocytosis is a rare multisystem disease originating from dendritic cell lines primarily characterized by osteolytic lesion of the skeleton. Chemotherapy along with bisphosphonates have been used to control the progression of the disease and prevent the osteolysis associated with the disease. Bisphosphonate osteonecrosis of the jaws is a common finding following treatment with bisphosphonates for osteoporosis, metastatic tumors to the bone or the osteolytic lesions of multiple myeloma.

Post-graduate training in Laboratory Medicine: Potential to fill a crucial gap in Indian healthcare system.

Quality Laboratory services with a widespread reach is the core of a healthcare system of the country. Diagnostic services at all levels requires technical expertise of different laboratory specialists. However the presence of all specialist together in one setup is always not possible due to limited number of trained manpower.

Sigma Metrics: A Valuable Tool for Evaluating the Performance of Internal Quality Control in Laboratory.

Six Sigma is a widely accepted quality management system that provides an objective assessment of analytical methods and instrumentation. Six Sigma scale typically runs from 0 to 6, with sigma value above 6 being considered adequate and 3 sigma being considered the minimal acceptable performance for a process. Sigma metrics of 10 biochemistry parameters, namely glucose, triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein (HDL), albumin, direct bilirubin, alanine transaminase, aspartate transaminase, urea nitrogen, creatinine and uric acid, and hematology parameters such as hemoglobin (Hb), total leucocyte count (TLC), packed cell volume (PCV), mean corpuscular volume (MCV), mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH), mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC), and platelet were calculated by analyzing internal quality control (IQC) data of 3 months (June-August 2019).

Myeloid sarcoma: an uncommon presentation of myeloid neoplasms; a case series of 4 rare cases reported in a tertiary care institute.

Myeloid sarcoma (MS) is a rare extramedullary neoplasm of myeloid cells, which can arise before, concurrently with, or following hematolymphoid malignancies. We report 04 such cases of MS, diagnosed in this institute over a period of 6 years, during various phases of their respective myeloid neoplasms/leukemias. These cases include MS occurring as a relapse of AML (Case 1), MS occurring as an initial presentation of CML (Case 2), MS occurring during ongoing chemotherapy in APML (Case 3), and MS presenting as a progression of MDS to AML (Case 4).

Comparative performance analysis of 2D and 3D gamma metrics for patient specific QA in VMAT using Octavius 4D with 2D-Array 1500.

Introduction: Gamma pass percentage (GPP) is the predominant metric used for Patient Specific Quality Assurance (PSQA) in radiation therapy. The dimensionality of the measurement geometry in PSQA has evolved from 2D planar to 3D planar, and presently to state-of-the-art 3D volumetric geometry. We aim to critically examine the performance of the three-dimensional gammas vis-à-vis the older gamma metrics of lower dimensionality to determine their mutual fungibility in PSQA, using clinically approved Volumetric Arc Therapy (VMAT) plans.

Clinical audit of dose-escalated radical radiotherapy for advanced cervical carcinoma using a pragmatic protocol (3 fractions of 8 Gy HDR brachytherapy).

Introduction: Recent image-guided brachytherapy data suggests, dose-escalation to a cumulative EQD2 (equivalent dose delivered at 2 Gy/#) of ≥87 Gy is associated with significantly better disease control. We present a clinical audit of a pragmatic radical radiotherapy protocol for advanced cervical cancer, using fewer fractions of brachytherapy than in the presently most popular protocol.

Material & Methods: Between July 2015 and December 2018, 96 consecutive advanced cervical carcinoma patients were treated by pelvic external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) (50 Gy/25fractions/5 weeks) ± weekly intravenous chemotherapy followed by image guided high dose rate (HDR) brachytherapy, using intracavitary/interstitial/hybrid techniques (intended point A dose: 8 Gy/fractions) × 3 fractions (cumulative target EQD2 ≥ 86 Gy).

A plant-by-plant strategy for high-ambition coal power phaseout in China.

More than half of current coal power capacity is in China. A key strategy for meeting China's 2060 carbon neutrality goal and the global 1.5 °C climate goal is to rapidly shift away from unabated coal use.

Dosimetric analysis of Deep Inspiratory Breath-hold technique (DIBH) in left-sided breast cancer radiotherapy and evaluation of pre-treatment predictors of cardiac doses for guiding patient selection for DIBH.

Introduction: The risk of radiotherapy-associated cardiovascular disease has been a concern for decades in breast cancer survivors. The objective of our study is to evaluate the dosimetric benefit of Deep Inspiratory Breath-hold technique (DIBH) on organs-at-risk (OAR) sparing in left-sided breast cancer radiotherapy and to find out pre-treatment predictors of cardiac doses for guiding patient selection for DIBH.

Material And Methods: Pre-radiotherapy planning CT scans were done in Free Breathing (FB) and in DIBH [using Active Breathing Coordinator system (ABC™)] in 31 left sided breast cancer patients.

Fusing subnational with national climate action is central to decarbonization: the case of the United States.

Approaches that root national climate strategies in local actions will be essential for all countries as they develop new nationally determined contributions under the Paris Agreement. The potential impact of climate action from non-national actors in delivering higher global ambition is significant. Sub-national action in the United States provides a test for how such actions can accelerate emissions reductions.

Containing a pandemic with public actions and public trust: the Kerala story.

We study the Covid pandemic in the Indian state of Kerala, and document the state's remarkable success in containing the pandemic's first wave. By identifying Kerala's initial conditions when it was hit by the pandemic, and different components of the state's Covid policy, we conclude: While being subject to resource constraints faced by an Indian state located in a federal structure, Kerala contained its first Covid wave by preemptively formulating a comprehensive set of government actions that were supported and complemented by the state's citizens. This was achieved by leveraging and reinforcing the citizen's in the state.

Retrospective study on performance of constancy check device in Linac beam monitoring using Statistical Process Control.

Aim: To examine the application of Statistical Process Control (SPC) and Ishikawa diagrams for retrospective evaluation of machine Quality Assurance (QA) performance in radiotherapy.

Background: SPC is a popular method for supplementing the performance of QA techniques in healthcare. This work investigates the applicability of SPC techniques and Ishikawa charts in machine QA.

Rapid hybridization and immunohistochemistry: a pilot comparative study of two rapid diagnostic techniques for establishing monoclonality in plasma cell dyscrasias.

Background: Light chain restriction needs to be established on the paraffin embedded tissue in certain types of plasma cell dyscrasias when serum levels of monoclonal immunoglobulins and light chain assays in the urine and serum may be normal. Rapid-in-situ-hybridisation (RISH) is thought to be a superior to immunohistochemistry (IHC) for kappa and lambda staining due to brighter and crisp staining without any background.

Methods: Fifty cases were included in this pilot study.

Quantifying operational lifetimes for coal power plants under the Paris goals.

A rapid transition away from unabated coal use is essential to fulfilling the Paris climate goals. However, many countries are actively building and operating coal power plants. Here we use plant-level data to specify alternative trajectories for coal technologies in an integrated assessment model.

Circumnavigation on Multiple Circles Around a Nonstationary Target With Desired Angular Spacing.

In this article, the objective for a group of nonholonomic agents is to achieve multicircular circumnavigation with any desired angular spacing around a nonstationary target. A cooperative protocol is proposed to achieve this objective and, additionally, generalizes the circumnavigation problem of unicycle vehicles around a target (moving and stationary). Due to the nonholonomic constraints, existing protocols cannot be extended directly to achieve this objective.

Exploring Surface and Tunneling Properties of Defect-Oriented Quasi-Graphene/Poly(vinylidene fluoride) Nanocomposite Films as Flexible 2D Materials for Electronic Applications.

Here, we demonstrate the promising tunneling property of electrons across quasi-graphene/poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) through the Coulomb blockade region. The melt-mixing technique is used to prepare such a nanocomposite by mixing a nanofiller into the polymer matrix. The structure and surface morphology are studied using X-ray diffraction and field-emission scanning electron microscopy measurements, which show defects oriented in the sample while the binding of matrix with the nanofiller remains highly conductive even upon its binding with the insulating matrix.

Clinical Stratification of High-Grade Ovarian Serous Carcinoma Using a Panel of Six Biomarkers.

Molecular stratification of high-grade serous ovarian carcinoma (HGSC) for targeted therapy is a pertinent approach in improving prognosis of this highly heterogeneous disease. Enabling the same necessitates identification of class-specific biomarkers and their robust detection in the clinic. We have earlier resolved three discrete molecular HGSC classes associated with distinct functional behavior based on their gene expression patterns, biological networks, and pathways.