Fe and Zn Metal Nanocitrates as Plant Nutrients through Soil Application.

Nanocitrates of iron (Fe) and zinc (Zn) in the form of plant nanonutrients were examined for their behavior in soil and the uptake of these by 20-day old groundnut () seedlings under greenhouse conditions. The Fe (0.04 to 0.

Determinants of Suboptimal Outcome Following Thymectomy in Myasthenia Gravis.

Background: Response to thymectomy in myasthenia gravis (MG) is influenced by various patient-, disease-, and therapy-related factors.

Methods: Retrospective analysis of 128 patients with MG who underwent maximal thymectomy over 15 years was done to identify the determinants of suboptimal clinical outcome.

Results: Among the 128 patients, 62 (48.

A Clinical Study of a Standardized Extract of Leaves of (Roxb ex DC) in Postmenopausal Osteoporosis.

Context: had shown anti-osteoporotic and fracture-healing activities in animal models of postmenopausal osteoporosis (PMO). Standardized extract of leaves of (SEL-Ds) was clinically evaluated for osteoporosis.

Aims: To investigate the anti-osteoporotic activity of in PMO by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA), biochemical markers, and effect on clinical profile.

Neuromyelitis optica and neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder: Natural history and long-term outcome, an Indian experience.

Background: Neuromyelitis optica (NMO) has evolved from devic's classical description to a broader disease spectrum, from monophasic illness to a polyphasic illness with multiple recurrences, disease confined to optic nerve and spinal cord to now brain stem, cerebrum and even endocrinopathy due to hypothalamic involvement.

Objectives: To report, the epidemiological characteristics, clinical presentations, recurrence rate, treatment and response to therapy in 26 patients with NMO and NMO spectrum disorder among the Indian population.

Methods: We performed observational, retrospective analysis of our prospectively maintained data base of patients with NMO, longitudinally extensive transverse myelitis during the period of January 2003-December 2012 who satisfied the national multiple sclerosis society (NMSS) task force criteria for diagnosis of NMO and NMO spectrum disorder.

Multipoint incremental motor unit number estimation versus amyotrophic lateral sclerosis functional rating scale and the medical research council sum score as an outcome measure in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Introduction: Monitoring the disease progression in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a challenge due to different rates of progression between patients. Besides clinical methods to monitor disease progression, such as the ALS functional rating scale (ALSFRS) and the medical research council (MRC) sum score, quantitative methods like motor unit number estimation (MUNE) are of interest.

Objective: The objective of the present study is to evaluate the rate of progression in ALS using multipoint incremental MUNE and to compare MUNE, ALSFRS and MRC sum score at baseline and at 6 months for progression of the disease.

Congenital myasthenic syndromes: Natural history and long-term prognosis.

Introduction: Congenital myasthenia syndrome (CMS) is a rare, heterogeneous group of genetically determined, disorder of neuromuscular transmission. They have a varied presentation and progression and very few studies have addressed the natural history. Aim of the present study is to describe the clinical profile and natural history of patients with CMS.

Guillain-Barre syndrome with acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS) is rarely reported in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia and may be difficult to differentiate from vincristine induced neuropathy. We report two children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia on induction chemotherapy who developed GBS. The diagnostic issues and potential pathogenic mechanisms underlying GBS in pediatric patients with ALL are discussed.

An elusive diagnosis: Scedosporium apiospermum infection after near-drowning.

A 51-year-old male was admitted in our institute following an episode of near-drowning. He later developed ventriculitis and cerebral ring-enhancing lesions. He died following a subarachnoid hemorrhage due to rupture of a mycotic aneurysm involving the right fetal posterior cerebral artery.

Acquired anterior Basal encephalocele in idiopathic hypertrophic pachymeningitis.

This report describes a 49-year-old woman diagnosed as idiopathic hypertrophic pachymeningitis (IHCPM) with imaging evidence of diffuse dural sinus thrombosis. Over the years, secondary to the raised intracranial pressure, she had developed an anterior basal encephalocele through the defects in the cribriform plate of the ethmoid bone. The relation between elevated intracranial pressure and encephalocele is discussed.

Acute subdural effusion in vasculitis.

We report a 29-year-old man with a unique presentation of vasculitis as acute unilateral subdural effusion and meningoencephalitis. Magnetic resonance imaging showed a brainstem lesion that spread to the thalamus over time. There were no systemic features of vasculitis other than a positive pathergy test.

Satoyoshi syndrome.

Satoyoshi syndrome (Komuragaeri disease) is a rare disorder of presumed autoimmune etiology, characterized by painful muscle spasms, alopecia, diarrhea, endocrinopathy with amenorrhoea and secondary skeletal abnormalities. Most of the previous reports are of the Japanese people. We report the first case from India.

Iatrogenic meningitis after lumbar puncture-a preventable health hazard.

Iatrogenic meningitis (IM) is a rare complication of diagnostic and therapeutic lumbar puncture (LP). This study includes cases of IM managed in the Departments of Neurology, of two referral hospitals, in India between January 1984 and April 2002. The diagnosis of IM was made when symptoms of meningitis occurred 24 h to 21 days after LP.

Detection of heat stable mycobacterial antigen in cerebrospinal fluid by Dot-Immunobinding assay.

Background: Isolation of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) specimen in patients with tuberculous meningitis (TBM) is infrequent and carries low sensitivity. Thus development of an alternative laboratory diagnostic test is essential for the early diagnosis and treatment of TBM.

Objective: A simple, rapid Dot immunobinding assay (Dot-Iba), for the laboratory diagnosis of TBM is devised.

Serological diagnosis of human brucellosis: analysis of seven cases with neurological and cardiological manifestations.

Serum Tube Agglutination (STA) test was used as routine test to detect antibrucellar antibodies in diagnosis of brucella infection in sera (n = 75) and CSF (n = 14) from 78 patients with neurological (n = 60) and cardiological (n = 15) complaints in whom brucellosis was suspected, over a period of two and a half years from January, 1997 to July 1999. Seven (neurological-six and cardiac-one) serum samples (9.33%) were positive by STA, while none of the CSFs were positive.

Immunocytochemical method for early laboratory diagnosis of tuberculous meningitis.

A simple immunocytochemical method was standardized for the direct demonstration of mycobacterial antigen in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) specimens of patients with tuberculous meningitis (TBM). CSF-cytospin smears were prepared from 22 patients with a clinical diagnosis of TBM and also from an equal number of patients with nontuberculous neurological diseases (disease control). Immunocytological demonstration of mycobacterial antigens in the cytoplasm of monocytoid cells was attempted, by using rabbit immunoglobulin G to Mycobacterium tuberculosis as the primary antibody.

A comparative evaluation of dot immunobinding assay (Dot-Iba) and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for the laboratory diagnosis of tuberculous meningitis.

The results of a Dot immunobinding assay (Dot Iba) for the detection of mycobacterial antigen in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of 45 patients with tuberculous meningitis (TBM) were compared with the results of a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for the detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. In eight patients with culture proven TBM, Dot-Iba gave positive results, while PCR yielded positive results only in six patients. The overall sensitivities of Dot-Iba and PCR in 37 patients with culture negative (probable) TBM were 75.

A newer approach for the laboratory diagnosis of tuberculous meningitis.

In this prospective study, a simple method was standardized for measuring circulating mycobacterial antigen in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) for the laboratory diagnosis of tuberculous meningitis (TBM). The heat-inactivated CSF specimens from tuberculous and non-tuberculous patients were subjected to sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) - polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) (SDS-PAGE) and they were subsequently transferred onto nitrocellulose membrane (NCM) Using a rabbit polyvalent antibody to M tuberculosis, a heat stable 82 kDa mycobacterial antigen was demonstrated in the CSFs of patients with TBM. This antigen was conspicuous by its absence in the CSFs of non-tuberculous subjects.

Significance of circulating immune complexes in myasthenia gravis.

In this study, circulating immune complexes (CICs) were isolated and characterized in the sera of myasthenia gravis (MG) patients with thymoma and MG patients without any thymic lesions. High titres of antistriational antibodies in the CICs were demonstrated by an indirect immunofluorescence (IF) method in 60 per cent (15/25) MG patients with thymoma. The CICs showed a steady decrease in these 15 patients during the post thymectomy period.

Fulminant cerebral infarction in a patient with nephrotic syndrome.

Fulminant cerebral infarction secondary to arterial thrombosis in adults with nephrotic syndrome is rare. We report a 42 year old male with fulminant right anterior cerebral and middle cerebral artery infarction. Minimal change disease of the kidney was documented by renal biopsy.