Pleural effusion guidelines from ICS and NCCP Section 1: Basic principles, laboratory tests and pleural procedures.

Pleural effusion is a common problem in our country, and most of these patients need invasive tests as they can't be evaluated by blood tests alone. The simplest of them is diagnostic pleural aspiration, and diagnostic techniques such as medical thoracoscopy are being performed more frequently than ever before. However, most physicians in India treat pleural effusion empirically, leading to delays in diagnosis, misdiagnosis and complications from wrong treatments.

Studying the Presentation of Paget Disease of the Breast.

Paget disease of the breast is a rare breast cancer that accounts for 1-3% of all new presentations of breast cancer. It is characterized by an eczematous and ulcerative lesion of the nipple that may extend to the areola. Nearly 90% of cases are associated with underlying breast cancer.

Histomorphology and Chemical Constituents of Interdigital Gland of Vembur Sheep, .

The interdigital gland is a specialized skin gland located between the digits of Artiodactyla (i.e., even-toed ungulates).

Spondylodiscitis in adults: diagnosis and management.

Spondylodiscitis is often diagnosed late in its course because its symptoms are vague. The incidence in adults increases with age, being seen most commonly in men in their 50s and 60s, so the presence of other medical conditions or infections can make it more difficult to identify spondylodiscitis. Diagnosis is made based on clinical suspicion, raised levels of inflammatory markers, a positive blood or tissue biopsy culture and radiological findings.

Homologous recombination DNA repair gene RAD51, XRCC2 & XRCC3 polymorphisms and breast cancer risk in South Indian women.

Background: Homologous recombination repair (HRR) accurately repairs the DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) and is crucial for genome stability. Genetic polymorphisms in crucial HRR pathway genes might affect genome stability and promote tumorigenesis. Up to our knowledge, the present study is the first to investigate the impact of HRR gene polymorphisms on BC development in South Indian women.

Analysis of pathogenic variants in BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes using next-generation sequencing in women with triple negative breast cancer from South India.

Background: The frequency of triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) incidence varies among different populations suggesting the involvement of genetic components towards TNBC development. Previous studies have reported that BRCA1/2 germline mutations confer a lifetime risk of developing TNBC. However, there is hardly any information regarding the common pathogenic variants (PVs) in BRCA1/2 genes that contribute to TNBC in the Indian population.

A Large Benign Solitary Fibrous Tumor in the Pelvis: A Unique Group.

Solitary fibrous tumors (SFTs) are a rare type of sarcoma and ubiquitous in nature, occurring anywhere in the body. Although only a few hundred cases have been described so far, certain histological features, such as hypercellularity and high mitotic index, have been associated with a more malignant course. Tumor sizes larger than 10 cm have also been associated with higher recurrence rates.

The changing pattern of acute spinal referrals during primary and secondary waves of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating effect on health systems globally. This led to changes in patient access to healthcare particularly spinal services. This study investigates the impact of the pandemic on the volume of patients being referred to and accessing spinal services during both the first and second waves.

Impact of xenobiotic-metabolizing gene polymorphisms on breast cancer risk in South Indian women.

Background: Functional variants of the xenobiotic-metabolizing genes (XMG) might modulate breast cancer (BC) risk by altering the rate of metabolism and clearance of myriad types of potent carcinogens from the breast tissue. Despite mounting evidence on the role of XMG variants on BC risk, the current knowledge regarding their influence on BC development is still fragmentary.

Methods: The present study examined the candidate genetic variants in CYP1A1, NQO1, GST-T1, GST-M1, and GST-P1 in 1002 subjects (502 BC patients and 500 disease-free women).

Multifaceted roles of long non-coding RNAs in triple-negative breast cancer: biology and clinical applications.

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a heterogeneous breast cancer subtype that lacks targeted therapy due to the absence of estrogen, progesterone, and HER2 receptors. Moreover, TNBC was shown to have a poor prognosis, since it involves aggressive phenotypes that confer significant hindrance to therapeutic treatments. Recent state-of-the-art sequencing technologies have shed light on several long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), previously thought to have no biological function and were considered as genomic junk.

Association of HOTAIR (rs920778 and rs1899663) and NME1 (rs16949649 and rs2302254) gene polymorphisms with breast cancer risk in India.

Background: Until now, no study has reported the combined effect of genetic variants of HOTAIR and NME1 towards breast cancer (BC) pathogenesis. Hence, the aim of the present study is to determine the risk of breast cancer development with HOTAIR (rs920778 C > T and rs1899663 G > T) and NME1 (rs16949649 T > C and rs2302254 C > T) genetic polymorphisms in the Indian population for the first time.

Materials And Methods: To investigate the genetic association of these four SNPs, we conducted a population-based case-control study involving 1011 subjects (502 histologically confirmed BC patients and 509 disease-free controls) using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) method.

DNA repair genes hOGG1, XRCC1 and ERCC2 polymorphisms and their molecular mapping in breast cancer patients from India.

Identification of modifier genes predisposing to breast cancer (BC) phenotype remains a significant challenge and varies with ethnicity. The genetic variability observed in DNA repair genes may modulate the cell's ability to repair the damaged DNA and hence, evaluation of genetic variants in crucial DNA damage repair genes is of clinical importance. We performed the present study to evaluate the role of ERCC2-Lys751Gln, hOGG1-Ser326Cys, and XRCC1-Arg399Gln gene polymorphisms on the risk of BC development and its molecular profile in Indian women.

Guidelines for diagnostic flexible bronchoscopy in adults: Joint Indian Chest Society/National College of chest physicians (I)/Indian association for bronchology recommendations.

Flexible bronchoscopy (FB) is commonly performed by respiratory physicians for diagnostic as well as therapeutic purposes. However, bronchoscopy practices vary widely across India and worldwide. The three major respiratory organizations of the country supported a national-level expert group that formulated a comprehensive guideline document for FB based on a detailed appraisal of available evidence.

Dissecting an Outbreak: A Clinico-epidemiological Study of Nipah Virus Infection in Kerala, India, 2018.

Background: An outbreak of Nipah virus infection was confirmed in Kerala, India in May 2018. Five out of 23 cases including the first laboratory-confirmed case were treated at Baby Memorial Hospital (BMH), Kozhikode. The study describes the clinical characteristics and epidemiology of the Nipah virus outbreak at Kozhikode during May 2018.

HOTAIR LncRNA: A novel oncogenic propellant in human cancer.

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are an important novel class of non-coding RNAs having lengths of 200 nucleotides and low expression. The HOX Transcript Antisense Intergenic RNA (HOTAIR) is one of the most extensively studied lncRNAs found dysregulated in human cancer. Although a growing body of evidence suggests a role fo HOTAIR in pathogenesis, disease progression, drug resistance and reduced survival, its mechanism of action remains largely unclear.

sensitization in bronchial asthma: A separate phenotype.

Bronchial asthma is one of the common chronic respiratory illnesses worldwide, with a global disease burden that affects approximately 300 million individuals. It affects 5-10% of the population in developed countries. India constitutes approximately one-tenth of the global disease burden, where an estimated 7 million children are affected by this illness.

Curious case of primary pulmonary mucoepidermoid carcinoma.

Pulmonary mucoepidermoid carcinoma (MEC) is an uncommon tumor constituting only 0.1% to 0.2% of all lung carcinoma.

Evaluation of pheromone-based kit: A noninvasive approach of estrus detection in buffalo.

In view of the silent nature of estrus in buffalo, a noninvasive assay kit has long been felt necessary for easy and effective estrus detection. This study was designed to detect estrus in buffalo using a kit formulated in our laboratory based on pheromone compound. Group I: Urine samples collected at estrus phase and group II: randomly collected urine samples were subjected to the test using the kit.

Minimally invasive surgery in adult degenerative scoliosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis of decompression, anterior/lateral and posterior lumbar approaches.

Background: Minimally invasive approaches for the treatment of adult degenerative scoliosis have been increasingly implemented. However, little data exists regarding the safety and complication profiles of minimally invasive lumbar interbody fusion (LIF) for adult degenerative scoliosis. This study aimed to greater understand different minimally invasive surgical approaches for adult degenerative scoliosis with respect to clinical outcomes, changes in radiographic measurements, and complication profiles via meta-analytical techniques.

Identification of pheromone-carrying protein in the preorbital gland post in the endangered Indian male Blackbuck Antelope cervicapra L.

In mammals, a low molecular mass protein (17-20 KDa) reported from the pheromone sources such as urine, saliva, glandular secretion, etc., as ligand-carrier (pheromone carrier) has been associated with chemo-communication. Since the preorbital gland post is one of the major pheromone sources in Indian Blackbuck, an endangered species, we assumed that it possibly contains low molecular mass protein for chemical communication.

Synthesis of silver nanoparticles using Catharanthus roseus root extract and its larvicidal effects.

Phytosynthesis of silver nanoparticles has attracted considerable attention due to their biocompatibility, low toxicity, cost-effectiveness and being a novel method has an eco-friendly approach. Biological activity of root extracts as well as synthesized silver nanoparticles of Catharanthus roseus were evaluated against larvae of Aedes aegyptiand Culex quinquefasciatus. The structure and proportion of the synthesized nanoparticles was defined by exploitation ultraviolet spectrophotometry, X-ray diffraction, fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy methods.

Effect of timing of surgery on neurological outcome and survival in metastatic spinal cord compression.

Purpose: Metastatic spinal cord compression (MSCC) requires expeditious treatment. While there is no ambiguity in the literature about the urgency of care for patients with MSCC, the effect of timing of surgical intervention has not been investigated in detail. The objective of our study was to investigate whether or not the 'timing of surgery' is an important factor in survival and neurological outcome in patients with MSCC.