A study of serum Vitamin D level and its association with hypertension.

Background: Evidence suggests that low levels of Vitamin D may adversely affect the cardiovascular (CV) system. Several studies have been done regarding the relation and possible causative role of Vitamin D in CV disorders and its well-known risk factors; however, there are limited studies in this part of the world. The aims were as follows: (1) To study the relation between serum Vitamin D level between nonhypertensive and hypertensive patients.

The 2017 Academic College of Emergency Experts and Academy of Family Physicians of India position statement on preventing violence against health-care workers and vandalization of health-care facilities in India.

There have been multiple incidents where doctors have been assaulted by patient relatives and hospital facilities have been vandalized. This has led to mass agitations by Physicians across India. Violence and vandalism against health-care workers (HCWs) is one of the biggest public health and patient care challenge in India.

Deep vein thrombosis in a patient of adenomatous polyposis coli treated successfully with aspirin: A case report.

Background: Deep vein thrombosis is an important cause of morbidity and mortality. However, its association with adenomatous polyposis coli is extremely rare. Here we present an interesting case of deep vein thrombosis associated with adenomatous polyposis coli.

Concurrent meningitis and vivax malaria.

Malaria is an endemic infectious disease in India. It is often associated with other infective conditions but concomitant infection of malaria and meningitis are uncommon. We present a case of meningitis with vivax malaria infection in a 24-year-old lady.

Role of heparan sulfate 2-o-sulfotransferase in prostate cancer cell proliferation, invasion, and growth factor signaling.

Heparan-sulfate proteoglycans (HSPGs) are required for maximal growth factor signaling in prostate cancer progression. The degree of sulfate modification on the covalently attached heparan sulfate (HS) chains is one of the determining factors of growth factor-HSPG interactions. Sulfate groups are transferred to HS chains via a series of O-sulfotransferases.

A case of psychogenic purpura in a female child.

Recurrent spontaneous cutaneous bruising or bleeding through intact skin may be due to underlying emotional stress which may be due to auto-erythrocyte sensitisation. A 9-year-old female child presented with recurrent episodes of oozing from the skin of both lower eyelids and lower peri-orbital areas along with bleeding from tongue which ceased spontaneously after a few minutes without having any induration or oedema at the sites. The child had no systemic abormality, but she was nervous and attention seeking.

Curable genetic instability of a gal4 transgene in Drosophila.

Transgenes, especially those driving production of the GAL4 transcription factor in a specific spatial pattern, are a critical and widely used tool in the Drosophila research community. We recently noticed loss of GAL4-driven reporter gene expression in a series of crosses, and traced that loss of reporter gene expression to stochastic physical loss of the GAL4 gene in the driver line. We have demonstrated that the instability of the GAL4 transgene can be "cured" by treatment of the line with tetracycline, suggesting that the causative agent is of bacterial origin.

The Drosophila Perlecan gene trol regulates multiple signaling pathways in different developmental contexts.

Background: Heparan sulfate proteoglycans modulate signaling by a variety of growth factors. The mammalian proteoglycan Perlecan binds and regulates signaling by Sonic Hedgehog, Fibroblast Growth Factors (FGFs), Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) and Platelet Derived Growth Factor (PDGF), among others, in contexts ranging from angiogenesis and cardiovascular development to cancer progression. The Drosophila Perlecan homolog trol has been shown to regulate the activity of Hedgehog and Branchless (an FGF homolog) to control the onset of stem cell proliferation in the developing brain during first instar.

Perlecan signaling: helping hedgehog stimulate prostate cancer growth.

Perlecan, an extracellular matrix proteoglycan, regulates signaling by a variety of growth factors through protein-protein and protein-carbohydrate interactions. Recent evidence demonstrates that Perlecan modulates sonic hedgehog signaling during both development and neoplasia, in particular in prostate cancer. Perlecan directly binds to sonic hedgehog and is required for its signaling.

Perlecan, a candidate gene for the CAPB locus, regulates prostate cancer cell growth via the Sonic Hedgehog pathway.

Background: Genetic studies associated the CAPB locus with familial risk of brain and prostate cancers. We have identified HSPG2 (Perlecan) as a candidate gene for CAPB. Previously we have linked Perlecan to Hedgehog signaling in Drosophila.

Arabidopsis vegetative storage protein is an anti-insect acid phosphatase.

Indirect evidence previously suggested that Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) vegetative storage protein (VSP) could play a role in defense against herbivorous insects. To test this hypothesis, other AtVSP-like sequences in Arabidopsis were identified through a Basic Local Alignment Search Tool search, and their transcriptional profiles were investigated. In response to methyl jasmonate application or phosphate starvation, AtVSP and AtVSP-like genes exhibited differential expression patterns, suggesting distinct roles played by each member.

Inhibition of prostate cancer proliferation by interference with SONIC HEDGEHOG-GLI1 signaling.

Prostate cancer is the most common solid tumor in men, and it shares with all cancers the hallmark of elevated, nonhomeostatic cell proliferation. Here we have tested the hypothesis that the SONIC HEDGEHOG (SHH)-GLI signaling pathway is implicated in prostate cancer. We report expression of SHH-GLI pathway components in adult human prostate cancer, often with enhanced levels in tumors versus normal prostatic epithelia.

Induction of string rescues the neuroblast proliferation defect in trol mutant animals.

In trol mutants, neuroblasts fail to exit G1 for S phase. Increasing string expression in trol mutants rescues the number of S phase neuroblasts without an increase in M phase neuroblasts. Decreasing string expression further decreased the number of S phase neuroblasts.

Drosophila perlecan modulates FGF and hedgehog signals to activate neural stem cell division.

Mutations in the Drosophila trol gene cause cell cycle arrest of neuroblasts in the larval brain. Here, we show that trol encodes the Drosophila homolog of Perlecan and regulates neuroblast division by modulating both FGF and Hh signaling. Addition of human FGF-2 to trol mutant brains in culture rescues the trol proliferation phenotype, while addition of a MAPK inhibitor causes cell cycle arrest of the regulated neuroblasts in wildtype brains.

Anterior segment dysgenesis and absent lens caused by amniotic bands.

A male infant is described with anterior segment dysgenesis and absent lens caused by amniotic bands.