Expression of CD44 in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma-An Study.

 CD44, a multistructural and multifunctional transmembrane glycoprotein, is a promising cancer stem cell (CSC) marker that regulates the properties of CSCs, including self-renewal, tumor initiation, and metastasis, and confers resistance to chemotherapy and radiotherapy. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the gene and protein expression of CD44 and explore its prognostic value in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC).  The present observational study employs computational tools for analysis.

Novel management of internal root resorption with vertical root fracture using mineral trioxide aggregate - A case report.

Introduction: This case report presents the diagnosis and management of extensive internal root resorption (IRR) in a 17-year-old male patient, with a 9-year-old history of trauma.

Method: The affected tooth 21 was associated with vertical root fracture (VRF) and incomplete apex closure with a substantial loss of tooth structure, including dentin and cementum. Encouraged by a healthy periodontal condition, the choice was made to use mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA) to reconstruct and reinforce the resorptive defect and the fractured segment.

Identifying thresholds for classifying moderate-to-heavy soil-transmitted helminth intensity infections for FECPAKG2, McMaster, Mini-FLOTAC and qPCR.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has defined moderate-to-heavy intensity (M&HI) infections with soil-transmitted helminths (Ascaris lumbricoides, Trichuris trichiura and the two hookworms, Ancylostoma duodenale and Necator americanus) based on specific values of eggs per gram of stool, as measured by the Kato-Katz method. There are a variety of novel microscopy and DNA-based methods but it remains unclear whether applying current WHO thresholds on to these methods allows for a reliable classification of M&HI infections. We evaluated both WHO and method-specific thresholds for classifying the M&HI infections for novel microscopic (FECPAKG2, McMaster and Mini-FLOTAC) and DNA-based (qPCR) diagnostic methods.

Natural History of Cryptosporidiosis in a Birth Cohort in Southern India.

Background: Cryptosporidium is a leading cause of moderate to severe childhood diarrhea in resource-poor settings. Understanding the natural history of cryptosporidiosis and the correlates of protection are essential to develop effective and sustainable approaches to disease control and prevention.

Methods: Children (N = 497) were recruited at birth in semiurban slums in Vellore, India, and followed for 3 years with twice-weekly home visits.

Profile and outcome of sudden cardiac arrests in the emergency department of a tertiary care hospital in South India.

Background: Sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) requiring cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is one of the common emergencies encountered in the emergency department (ED) of any hospital. Although several studies have reported the predictors of CPR outcome in general, there are limited data from the EDs in India.

Materials And Methods: This retrospective study included all patients above 18 years with SCA who were resuscitated in the ED of a tertiary care hospital with an annual census of 60,000 patients between August 2014 and July 2015.

Quantifying tap-to-household water quality deterioration in urban communities in Vellore, India: The impact of spatial assumptions.

Municipal water sources in India have been found to be highly contaminated, with further water quality deterioration occurring during household storage. Quantifying water quality deterioration requires knowledge about the exact source tap and length of water storage at the household, which is not usually known. This study presents a methodology to link source and household stored water, and explores the effects of spatial assumptions on the association between tap-to-household water quality deterioration and enteric infections in two semi-urban slums of Vellore, India.

Occupational safety measures and morbidity among welders in Vellore, Southern India.

Background: Welders in the unorganized occupational sector in the economically developing world are exposed to respiratory, skin, eye, ear, and neurological problems exacerbated by non-usage of personal protective equipment (PPE).

Objective: To study the frequency of health problems and the usage of PPE among welders in unorganized welding units in Vellore, India.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 150 welders to determine the frequency of skin, ear, eye, and respiratory morbidity and the usage of PPE.

Measuring Poverty in Southern India: A Comparison of Socio-Economic Scales Evaluated against Childhood Stunting.

Introduction: Socioeconomic status (SES) scales measure poverty, wealth and economic inequality in a population to guide appropriate economic and public health policies. Measurement of poverty and comparison of material deprivation across nations is a challenge. This study compared four SES scales which have been used locally and internationally and evaluated them against childhood stunting, used as an indicator of chronic deprivation, in urban southern India.

Molecular Identification of Hookworm Isolates in Humans, Dogs and Soil in a Tribal Area in Tamil Nadu, India.

Background: Hookworms (Necator americanus and Ancylostoma duodenale) remain a major public health problem worldwide. Infections with hookworms (e.g.

Longitudinal Analysis of the Intestinal Microbiota in Persistently Stunted Young Children in South India.

Stunting or reduced linear growth is very prevalent in low-income countries. Recent studies have demonstrated a causal relationship between alterations in the gut microbiome and moderate or severe acute malnutrition in children in these countries. However, there have been no primary longitudinal studies comparing the intestinal microbiota of persistently stunted children to that of non-stunted children in the same community.

Seasonality of water quality and diarrheal disease counts in urban and rural settings in south India.

The study examined relationships among meteorological parameters, water quality and diarrheal disease counts in two urban and three rural sites in Tamil Nadu, India. Disease surveillance was conducted between August 2010 and March 2012; concurrently water samples from street-level taps in piped distribution systems and from household storage containers were tested for pH, nitrate, total dissolved solids, and total and fecal coliforms. Methodological advances in data collection (concurrent prospective disease surveillance and environmental monitoring) and analysis (preserving temporality within the data through time series analysis) were used to quantify independent effects of meteorological conditions and water quality on diarrheal risk.

Reduction in diarrhoeal rates through interventions that prevent unnecessary antibiotic exposure early in life in an observational birth cohort.

Background: Antibiotic treatment early in life is often not needed and has been associated with increased rates of subsequent diarrhoea. We estimated the impact of realistic interventions, which would prevent unnecessary antibiotic exposures before 6 months of age, on reducing childhood diarrhoeal rates.

Methods: In data from a prospective observational cohort study conducted in Vellore, India, we used the parametric g-formula to model diarrhoeal incidence rate differences contrasting the observed incidence of diarrhoea to the incidence expected under hypothetical interventions.

Early Life Antibiotic Exposure Is Not Associated with Growth in Young Children of Vellore, India.

Objectives: To estimate the effects of antibiotic exposures in the first 6 months of life on short- and long-term growth.

Study Design: In a prospective observational cohort study of 497 children from Vellore, India, we estimated short-term effects of antibiotics during the first 6 months using longitudinal general linear regression to model weight-for-age, height-for-age, and weight-for-height z-scores in monthly intervals. To estimate long-term effects, we modeled growth from 6 months to 3 years as a function of antibiotic use in the first 6 months.

Environmental Factors Associated with High Fly Densities and Diarrhea in Vellore, India.

Diarrhea causes significant morbidity and mortality in Indian children under 5 years of age. Flies carry enteric pathogens and may mediate foodborne infections. In this study, we characterized fly densities as a determinant of infectious diarrhea in a longitudinal cohort of 160 urban and 80 rural households with 1,274 individuals (27% under 5 years of age) in Vellore, India.

Antibiotic treatment of diarrhoea is associated with decreased time to the next diarrhoea episode among young children in Vellore, India.

Background: Antibiotics are commonly given for the treatment of childhood diarrhoea, but are not indicated in most cases. Antibiotics modify the gastrointestinal microbiota, which may have unanticipated effects on the risk of subsequent diarrhoea.

Methods: In a prospective observational cohort study, we assessed the effect of caregiver-reported antibiotic treatment for diarrhoea on the timing of a child's next episode among 434 children followed from birth to 3 years of age in Vellore, India.

The effect of early life antibiotic exposures on diarrheal rates among young children in Vellore, India.

Background: Antibiotic treatment of childhood illnesses is common in India. In addition to contributing to antimicrobial resistance, antibiotics might result in increased susceptibility to diarrhea through interactions with the gastrointestinal microbiota. Breast milk, which enriches the microbiota early in life, may increase the resilience of the microbiota against perturbations by antibiotics.

Comparison of fieldworker interview and a pictorial diary method for recording morbidity of infants in semi-urban slums.

Background: Cohort studies conducted in low-income countries generally use trained fieldworkers for collecting data on home visits. In industrialised countries, researchers use less resource intensive methods, such as self-administered structured questionnaires or symptom diaries. This study compared and assessed the reliability of the data on diarrhoea, fever and cough/cold in children as obtained by a pictorial diary maintained by the mother and collected separately by a fieldworker.

Identification of Ancylostoma ceylanicum in children from a tribal community in Tamil Nadu, India using a semi-nested PCR-RFLP tool.

Background: It is generally assumed that hookworm infections in humans are caused by Necator americanus and Ancylostoma duodenale. However, previous studies have also reported the presence of the animal hookworm A. ceylanicum in human stools.

Risk factors for cryptosporidiosis among children in a semi urban slum in southern India: a nested case-control study.

The risk factors for acquisition of cryptosporidial infection in resource-poor settings are poorly understood. A nested case-control study was conducted to assess factors associated with childhood cryptosporidiosis (detected by stool polymerase chain reaction) in an endemic, Indian slum community using data from two community-based studies with 580 children followed prospectively until their second birthday. Factors were assessed for overall cryptosporidiosis (N = 406), and for multiple (N = 208), asymptomatic (N = 243), and symptomatic (N = 163) infections, respectively.

Burden of diarrhea, hospitalization and mortality due to cryptosporidial infections in Indian children.

Background: Cryptosporidium spp. is a common, but under-reported cause of childhood diarrhea throughout the world, especially in developing countries. A comprehensive estimate of the burden of cryptosporidiosis in resource-poor settings is not available.

The first 1000 days of life: prenatal and postnatal risk factors for morbidity and growth in a birth cohort in southern India.

Objective: To estimate the burden and assess prenatal and postnatal determinants of illnesses experienced by children residing in a semiurban slum, during the first 1000 days of life.

Design: Community-based birth cohort

Setting: Southern India

Participants: Four hundred and ninety-seven children of 561 pregnant women recruited and followed for 2 years with surveillance and anthropometry.

Main Outcome Measure: Incidence rates of illness; rates of clinic visits and hospitalisations; factors associated with low birth weight, various illnesses and growth.

Human and bovine rotavirus strain antigens for evaluation of immunogenicity in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of a single dose live attenuated tetravalent, bovine-human-reassortant, oral rotavirus vaccine in Indian adults.

A single dose of live attenuated tetravalent (G1-G4) bovine human reassortant rotavirus vaccine (BRV-TV) was administered to healthy Indian adult volunteers, who were assessed for safety and immunogenicity of the vaccine with 3:1 randomization to vaccine or placebo. All 20 adult male volunteers in the study had rotavirus specific serum IgA at baseline. There were no side effects or adverse events reported.

Prevalence & risk factors for soil transmitted helminth infection among school children in south India.

Background & Objectives: Soil-transmitted helminths (STH) are a major public health problem in tropical and sub-tropical countries, affecting the physical growth and cognitive development in school-age children. This study was aimed to assess the prevalence and risk factors of STH infection among school children aged 6 -14 yr in Vellore and Thiruvanamalai districts in south India.

Methods: Children aged 6-14 yr, going to government and government aided schools (n=33, randomly selected) in Vellore and Thiruvanamalai districts were screened to estimate the prevalence of STH, and a case control study was done on a subset to assess the risk factors for the infection.

Prevalence and clustering of soil-transmitted helminth infections in a tribal area in southern India.

Objectives: To estimate the prevalence, spatial patterns and clustering in the distribution of soil-transmitted helminth (STH) infections, and factors associated with hookworm infections in a tribal population in Tamil Nadu, India.

Methods: Cross-sectional study with one-stage cluster sampling of 22 clusters. Demographic and risk factor data and stool samples for microscopic ova/cysts examination were collected from 1237 participants.