A rare case of embolic spondylo-discitis after treatment of aortic valve endocarditis.

Background: Infective Endocarditis is associated with a high incidence of embolic events, commonly involving the central nervous system, spleen, kidney, lungs, heart and eyes.

Case Presentation: We report a case of infective endocarditis with late embolization to the L5/S1 region of the spine leading to spondylo-discitis. The disc space infection presented ten days after completion of antibiotic therapy based on blood culture and antibiotic sensitivity.

Extreme Reduction of Disease in Oats Transformed with the 5' Half of the Barley Yellow Dwarf Virus-PAV Genome.

ABSTRACT Barley yellow dwarf viruses (BYDVs) are the most serious and widespread viruses of oats, barley, and wheat worldwide. Natural resistance is inadequate. Toward overcoming this limitation, we engineered virus-derived transgenic resistance in oat.

Mathematical models of the simplest fuzzy PI/PD controllers with skewed input and output fuzzy sets.

This paper unveils mathematical models for fuzzy PI/PD controllers which employ two skewed fuzzy sets for each of the two-input variables and three skewed fuzzy sets for the output variable. The basic constituents of these models are Gamma-type and L-type membership functions for each input, trapezoidal/triangular membership functions for output, intersection/algebraic product triangular norm, maximum/drastic sum triangular conorm, Mamdani minimum/Larsen product/drastic product inference method, and center of sums defuzzification method. The existing simplest fuzzy PI/PD controller structures derived via symmetrical fuzzy sets become special cases of the mathematical models revealed in this paper.

Humoral response to rabies vaccines in pet dogs.

Humoral immune response was studied in dogs vaccinated with different tissue culture vaccines commonly used for immunization of dogs in India. The results revealed that after single dose of vaccination only 56% dogs developed protective titer (> or = 1:8). The response of the three vaccines used in the study was not similar, highlighting the need to maintain post marketing surveillance.

Column performance of granular activated carbon packed bed for Pb(II) removal.

The excessive release of lead from lead acid batteries, smelting plant into the environment is a major concern worldwide. Adsorption process is among the most effective techniques for lead removal from wastewater and activated carbon has been widely used as an adsorbent. In this paper an attempt has been made to investigate the adsorption behaviour of Pb(II) from aqueous systems onto granular activated carbon using the batch mode and continuous mode in a packed bed column with more successive service and regeneration.

Analytical structures and analysis of the simplest fuzzy PD controllers.

This paper deals with simplest fuzzy PD controllers which employ only two fuzzy sets on the universe of discourse of each input variable, and three fuzzy sets on the universe of discourse of output variable. First, analytical structures of the simplest fuzzy PD controllers are derived via triangular membership functions for fuzzification, intersection T-norm, Lukasiewicz OR and Zadeh (1965) OR T-conorms, Mamdani's minimum, Larsen's product and drastic product inference methods, and center of area method for defuzzification. Properties of such fuzzy PD controllers are investigated.

Studies on the removal of Pb(II) from wastewater by activated carbon developed from Tamarind wood activated with sulphuric acid.

The low-cost activated carbon were prepared from Tamarind wood material by chemical activation with sulphuric acid for the adsorption of Pb(II) from dilute aqueous solution. The activated carbon developed shows substantial capacity to adsorb Pb(II) from dilute aqueous solutions. The parameters studied include physical and chemical properties of adsorbent, pH, adsorbent dose, contact time and initial concentrations.

Sparfloxacin induced toxic epidermal necrolysis.

Toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN) is a life-threatening cutaneous adverse drug reaction. TEN is known to occur with the fluoroquinolone class of antibiotics, but only four cases of sparfloxacin induced TEN have been reported to the WHO database. This is another case report of sparfloxacin induced TEN.

Phytotoxicity of cadmium on the physiological dynamics of Salvinia natans L. grown in macrophyte ponds.

The objective of this experiment is to study the potential ability of Salvinia natans L. to use in phytoassay for the cadmium toxicity in ecotoxicological studies. It is a simple and cost competitive method.

Evaluation of efficacy and safety of fixed dose lovastatin and niacin(ER) combination in asian Indian dyslipidemic patients: a multicentric study.

Asian Indian dyslipidemia is characterized by: borderline high low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol and apolipoprotein (apo) B; high triglycerides, low high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and apoA1; and high lipoprotein(a) (lp[a]). We performed a controlled multicentric trial in India to evaluate the efficacy and safety of a fixed dose combination of lovastatin and niacin extended release (niacin(ER)) formulation in patients with moderate to severe dyslipidemia. Consecutive subjects that satisfied the selection criteria, agreed to an informed consent, and with no baseline presence of liver/renal disease or heart failure were enrolled in the study.

Methods for establishing a surveillance system for cardiovascular diseases in Indian industrial populations.

Objective: To establish a surveillance network for cardiovascular diseases (CVD) risk factors in industrial settings and estimate the risk factor burden using standardized tools.

Methods: We conducted a baseline cross-sectional survey (as part of a CVD surveillance programme) of industrial populations from 10 companies across India, situated in close proximity to medical colleges that served as study centres. The study subjects were employees (selected by age and sex stratified random sampling) and their family members.

Reliability of clinical diagnosis in meniscal tears.

This retrospective study was conducted to analyse the reliability of clinical diagnosis in meniscal tear injuries. All patients attending our clinic with knee pain from January 2003 to December 2004 underwent systematic and thorough clinical assessment. One hundred and fifty patients were clinically diagnosed to have meniscal tears.

In vitro pulp chamber temperature rise during composite resin polymerization with different curing lights.

The damaging effect of temperature increase on the pulp tissue during restorative treatment has been a matter of concern in dentistry for many years. Aesthetic restorative dentistry relies on polymerization of light-activated resin composites which can cause damaging effects to the dental pulp as a result of temperature rise caused by both the exothermic reaction process and the energy absorbed during irradiation. This in vitro study was carried out to measure the increase in pulp chamber temperature induced during composite resin-polymerization with various light curing units in three different and common clinical situations (Veneer, Class II, Class III) and the clinical implications of the results.

Re-emergence of multi-drug resistant Shigella dysenteriae with added resistance to ciprofloxacin in north India & their plasmid profiles.

Background & Objectives: Multi drug resistant Shigellae pose a major threat in control of shigellosis with. Shigella dysenteriae being the most prevalent species at our centre before 1994. A gradual decrease in S.

Effects of elevated temperatures on various restorative materials: an in vitro study.

In cases of mass disasters associated with fire, identification of the burnt victims can be a real challenge to the forensic team. Teeth and their restorations play a significant role to aid in the identification process, as various restorative materials have varying resistance to high temperatures. A study was undertaken to evaluate the changes taking place on teeth restored with amalgam, composites, glass ionomers, heat cure acrylic, and ceramics.

Gastrointestinal bleed after leeching in a patient on aspirin therapy.

Leeches ( Hirudo medicinalis ) have been used in health care for their property of bloodletting. Bleed occurring from the site of leech attachment has been well documented. We report a 50-year-old man who was on aspirin therapy for coronary artery disease, and presented with GI bleed after leech treatment for his knee pain.

Sugar amino acids in designing new molecules.

Emulating the basic principles followed by nature to build its vast repertoire of biomolecules, organic chemists are developing many novel multifunctional building blocks and using them to create 'nature-like' and yet unnatural organic molecules. Sugar amino acids constitute an important class of such polyfunctional scaffolds where the carboxyl, amino and hydroxyl termini provide an excellent opportunity to organic chemists to create structural diversities akin to Nature's molecular arsenal. This article describes some of our works on various sugar amino acids and many other related building blocks, like furan amino acids, pyrrole amino acids etc.

A confocal microscopic evaluation of resin-dentin interface using adhesive systems with three different solvents bonded to dry and moist dentinan in vitro study.

Objective: Total dehydration of acid-etched dentin is known to cause the collapse of collagen fiber, which leads to poor hybridization. Dentin-bonding systems with water as a solvent are found to rehydrate the collapsed collagen. Acetone-based adhesives are found to compete with moisture, and the acetone carries the resin deep into the dentin.

Syncope in a middle aged male due to acute rheumatic fever.

Rheumatic fever is a multi system disease which occurs following infection with group A beta hemolytic streptococcus. It is commonest in the age group of 5-15 years but can occur in adults also. First degree atrioventricular block is a common manifestation of acute rheumatic fever and is included in the Jones criteria but Wenckebacks phenomena and complete heart block are relatively rare manifestations of rheumatic fever.

Prevalence of sustained hypertension and obesity in urban and rural school going children in Ludhiana.

Background: Increasing trend of hypertension is a worldwide phenomenon. The data on sustained hypertension in school going children is scanty in India. The present study was conducted to evaluate the prevalence of sustained hypertension and obesity in apparently healthy school children in rural and urban areas of Ludhiana using standard criteria.

Antimicrobial resistance in selected bacterial enteropathogens in north India.

Background & Objectives: The resistance of enteropathogenic bacteria to commonly prescribed antibiotics is increasing both in developing as well as in developed countries. Resistance has emerged even to newer, more potent antimicrobial agents. The present study was therefore undertaken to report the current antibiotic resistance in common bacterial enteropathogens isolated in a tertiary care hospital in north India.