Quantifying morphological alteration of RBC population from light scattering data.

Studies of RBC morphological alterations, despite their potential clinical and experimental application, are compromised due to lack of simple and rapid techniques. As a complementary approach toward quantitative microscopy, we have reconstituted morphological information from light scattering data obtained from flow cytometer. Normal and poikilocytic agent treated samples were analyzed by microscopy and respective morphological index (MI) was calculated from the morphology based scores assigned to RBC.

Synthesis and self-assembly of amphiphilic homoglycopolypeptide.

The synthesis of the amphiphilic homoglycopolypeptide was carried out by a combination of NCA polymerization and click chemistry to yield a well-defined polypeptide having an amphiphilic carbohydrate on its side chain. The amphiphilicity of the carbohydrate was achieved by incorporation of an alkyl chain at the C-6 position of the carbohydrate thus also rendering the homoglycopolypeptide amphiphilic. The homoglycopolypeptide formed multimicellar aggregates in water above a critical concentration of 0.

Chelating ionic liquids for reversible zinc electrochemistry.

Advanced, high energy-density, metal-air rechargeable batteries, such as zinc-air, are of intense international interest due to their important role in energy storage applications such as electric and hybrid vehicles, and to their ability to deal with the intermittency of renewable energy sources such as solar and wind. Ionic liquids offer a number of ideal thermal and physical properties as potential electrolytes in such large-scale energy storage applications. We describe here the synthesis and characterisation of a family of novel "chelating" ILs designed to chelate and solubilize the zinc ions to create electrolytes for this type of battery.

Primary tuberculosis of the glans penis.

Primary Tuberculosis of penis is an extremely rare entity, even in the developing countries. We report a case of a 31 years old male patient who presented to us with some ulcerated lesions on the glans penis and was diagnosed as primary tuberculosis of glans penis, confirmed by biopsy and supported by a strongly positive Mantoux test and positive TB-PCR. The patient responded to anti- tubercular therapy well.

Bilateral temporalis muscle hypertrophy--two case reports.

Isolated idiopathic bilateral temporalis muscle hypertrophy is a very rare clinical entity. It can change the facial appearance that manifests itself as a morphopsychological conflict for the subject, which is termed as 'Minotaur syndrome' in the medical literature. Here one such case is reported.

Amelioration of moisture stress effect by CaCl pre-treatment in upland rice.

Five varieties of rice viz., Subhadra, Ghanteswari, Sidhant, Jogesh and Khandagiri were grown to study the stress alleviating effect of CaCl at panicle initiation (PI) stage. CaCl (1 %) was given as seed treatment, which ameliorated the adverse effect of drought stress on photosynthesis (Pn), stomatal conductance (Gs), membrane stability index (MSI), leaf moisture retention index (LMRI) and grain weight.

Primary Peritoneal Hydatidosis in a 76-Year-Old Farmer: An Unusual form of a Common Disease.

A 76-year-old farmer presented at our emergency unit with a history of gradual swelling of abdomen without fever, nausea, or urticaria. On examination there was symmetrical enlargement of abdomen with fluid thrill. Contrast-enhanced computed tomography scan showed that the entire peritoneal cavity was distended and occupied by multiloculated noncalcified content of mixed attenuations.

Artemisinin inhibits chloroplast electron transport activity: mode of action.

Artemisinin, a secondary metabolite produced in Artemisia plant species, besides having antimalarial properties is also phytotoxic. Although, the phytotoxic activity of the compound has been long recognized, no information is available on the mechanism of action of the compound on photosynthetic activity of the plant. In this report, we have evaluated the effect of artemisinin on photoelectron transport activity of chloroplast thylakoid membrane.

Brachytherapy after external beam radiotherapy and limited surgery preserves bladders for patients with solitary pT1-pT3 bladder tumors.

Background: Several French, Belgian and Dutch radiation oncologists have reported good results with the combination of limited surgery after external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) followed by brachytherapy in early-stage muscle-invasive bladder cancer.

Patients And Methods: Data from 12 of 13 departments which are using this approach have been collected retrospectively, in a multicenter database, resulting in 1040 patients: 811 males and 229 females with a median age of 66 years, range 28-92 years. Results were analyzed according to tumor stage and diameter, histology grade, age and brachytherapy technique, continuous low-dose rate (CLDR) and pulsed dose rate (PDR).

Temporal variation of metals in water, sediment and tissues of the European chup (Squalius cephalus L.).

The aim of this study was to analyze seasonal variation of levels of Chromium (Cr), Manganese (Mn), Nickel (Ni), Copper (Cu), Zinc (Zn), Cadmium (Cd) and Lead (Pb) in water, sediment and tissues of Squalius cephalus (L., 1758) taken from five different stations chosen at Yamula Dam Lake (Kayseri, Turkey). Concentrations of metals were generally sorted as water < tissue < sediment.

Distortion of β-globin chain of hemoglobin alters the pathway of erythrocytic glucose metabolism through band 3 protein.

Background And Aims: Band 3 is a transmembrane protein of erythrocytes and its cytosolic part regulates glucose metabolism to proceed along the pentose phosphate pathway (PPP) or glycolytic pathway by binding with the central cavity of the β chain of deoxygenated hemoglobin and with some glycolytic enzymes competitively. In β thalassemia major and hemoglobin (Hb)Eβ thalassemia, β chain is either absent or distorted and glucose metabolism may be disturbed. We estimated adenosine triphosphate (ATP), glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) and aldolase activity in oxygenated and deoxygenated state of erythrocytes of β major, HbEβ thalassemia and normal controls to understand the hypothesis that major glucose metabolism within the erythrocytes of these diseases may proceed through the PPP.

Salivary gland tumours: profile and management at a tertiary cancer centre.

Salivary gland tumours comprise a varied group of benign and malignant neoplastic lesions posing a challenge to surgeon. To review the profile of salivary gland tumours presenting to a referral cancer centre and their overall management, a retrospective analysis of prospective head and neck cancer database of the surgical oncology department of Institute Rotary Cancer Hospital (IRCH), All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) was performed. Forty patients of salivary gland tumours treated between 1995 and 2003 were analysed.

Formation pathway of CuInSe2 nanocrystals for solar cells.

Copper, indium, and gallium chalcogenide nanocrystals (binary, ternary, and quaternary) have been used to fabricate high-efficiency thin-film solar cells. These solution-based methods are being scaled-up and may serve as the basis for the next generation of low-cost solar cells. However, the formation pathway to reach stoichiometric ternary CuInSe(2) or any chalcopyrite phase ternary or quaternary nanocrystal in the system has not been investigated but may be of significant importance to improving nanocrystal growth and discovering new methods of synthesis.

Synthesis of poly-L-glutamic acid grafted silica nanoparticles and their assembly into macroporous structures.

Polypeptide-coated silica nanoparticles represent an interesting class of organic-inorganic hybrids since the ordered secondary structure of the polypeptide grafts imparts functional properties to these nanoparticles. The synthesis of a poly-l-glutamic acid (PLGA) silica nanoparticle hybrid by employing N-carboxyanhydride (NCA) polymerization to synthesize the polypeptide chains and Cu catalyzed azide alkyne cycloaddition reaction to graft these chains onto the silica surface is reported. This methodology enables the synthesis of well-defined polypeptide chains that are attached onto the silica surface at high surface densities.

An unusual presentation of primary splenic hydatid cyst.

The larval form of the parasite Echinococcus granulosus causes a hydatid cyst. The most common sites are liver and lungs. We present an unusual case of an isolated primary hydatid cyst of the spleen.

A novel biflavonyloxymethane from Pongamia pinnata and its radical quenching activity.

The root bark of Pongamia pinnata Pierre (syn P. glabra Vent.) has afforded a new biflavonyloxymethane, pongabiflavone, along with a known furanoflavone, 3-methoxy-(7, 8, 2", 3") furanoflavone.

Gold catalyzed glycosidations for the synthesis of sugar acrylate/acrylamide hybrids and their utility.

Propargyl glyco 1,2-orthoesters were exploited for the efficient synthesis of interesting glycomonomers such as glyco-acrylates and acrylamides using gold catalysts. It was observed that propargyl glyco 1,2-orthoesters with hydroxyethyl acrylates gives very good yield of the corresponding glyco-acrylates in a single step in the presence of catalytic amount of gold(III) catalyst; whereas, gold catalyzed glycosidation reaction on hydroxyethyl acrylamides was found to yield the corresponding acrylamidoyl 1,2-orthoester which was then converted to the corresponding glycol-acrylamide in the presence of catalytic amount of TMSOTf. Synthesized glyco-acrylate/acrylamide monomers are shown to undergo thiolate addition as well as free radical polymerization.

Experience of laparoscopic cholecystectomy under spinal anesthesia with low-pressure pneumoperitoneum--prospective study of 300 cases.

Introduction: Having long experience of open upper abdominal surgery under spinal anesthesia and laparoscopic cholecystectomy under general anesthesia, we performed this study of laparoscopic cholecystectomy with low-pressure pneumoperitoneum under spinal anesthesia to assess its safety and feasibility.

Materials And Methods: In a private rural health set-up, 300 patients were selected prospectively for laparoscopic cholecystectomy under low-pressure (8 mm) pneumoperitoneum under spinal anesthesia in a span of three years. Only 3.

Small scale transcript expression profile of Human first trimester placental villi analyzed by a custom-tailored cDNA array.

Human placental trophoblastic mass grows rapidly between 4 and 8 weeks of gestation making it highly vulnerable to external and internal challenges, however, there has been no reported study exploring the developmental molecular characteristics in human first trimester placental villi. In the present study, transcript expressions of human placental villi of normal pregnancies during 6 (n=6), 7 (n=6) and 8 (n=6) weeks of gestation using custom-tailored cDNA-based expression arrays for -400 annotated human gene products were examined. Unsupervised and supervised analyses of expression data revealed that 386 (95%) genes were overtly involved in the first trimester placental villi, and these genes segregated into three clusters specifically corresponding to 6-, 7- and 8-weeks of gestation in principal component analysis.

A novel polymorphism in codon 25 of the KRAS gene associated with gallbladder carcinoma patients of the eastern part of India.

Gallbladder cancer (GBC) is more prevalent than other cancers in North India. The asymptomatic nature of the disease is a problem in the diagnosis and treatment. Analysis of oncogenes or tumor suppressor genes could be of importance in this regard.

Elevated level of carbonyl compounds correlates with insulin resistance in type 2 diabetes.

Introduction: Recent periodicals direct that reactive carbonyl compounds are formed due to existing oxidative stress in type 2 diabetes mellitus, which further nonenzymatically react with proteins and lipids to form irreversible advanced glycation end products (AGE) and advanced lipoxidation end products (ALE). In type 2 diabetes mellitus, insulin resistance plays a pivotal role in hyperglycaemia. In this study, we tried to fi nd the relation between insulin resistance and carbonyl stress.