Resources and Geographic Access to Care for Severe Pediatric Pneumonia in Four Resource-limited Settings.

Pneumonia is the leading cause of death in children worldwide. Identifying and appropriately managing severe pneumonia in a timely manner improves outcomes. Little is known about the readiness of healthcare facilities to manage severe pediatric pneumonia in low-resource settings.

Quality of Communication Life in Individuals with Broca's Aphasia and Normal Individuals: A Comparative Study.

Background: Aphasia is a neurogenic communication disorder with significant deficits in various domains of language and communication. One such type of aphasia, which impacts the quality of life significantly is Broca's aphasia, where the individual is aware of the communication difficulty.

Objective: To compare the Quality of Communication Life (QoCL) between individuals with Broca's aphasia and normal individuals.

Novel variations in NPHS1 gene in children of South Indian population and its association with primary nephrotic syndrome.

Mutations in NPHS1 can lead to disruption of the filtration barrier and cause proteinuria in nephrotic syndrome (NS). The aim of the study was to evaluate NPHS1 mutations, its susceptibility to the disease, and their association in children with steroid-resistant NS; mutation frequency of 9% was observed in patients with steroid-resistant NS, of which, six mutations and two single-nucleotide polymorphisms observed in the study population were found to be novel.

Planning community-based intervention for speech for children with cleft lip and palate from rural South India: A needs assessment.

Background And Aim: A community-based rehabilitation programme, Sri Ramachandra University-Transforming Faces project, was initiated to provide comprehensive management of communication disorders in individuals with CLP in two districts in Tamil Nadu, India. This community-based programme aims to integrate hospital-based services with the community-based initiatives and to enable long-term care. The programme was initiated in Thiruvannamalai (2005) district and extended to Cuddalore (2011).

Response to ban on smoking in public places--a cross-sectional study.

Smoking has become an important global problem that poses serious health hazards. Today even teenagers have got trapped by this addictive habit. To curb this menace, the Government of Tamilnadu has proposed a ban on smoking in public places by introducing the Bill "Tamilnadu Prohibition of Smoking and Spitting 2002".

Methyl methacrylate permeability of dental and industrial gloves.

Our study was undertaken to measure the amount and time it took for methyl methacrylate monomer (MMA) to permeate latex, vinyl and industrial neoprene gloves and to compare the results to obtain a rating of the permeability of each of the gloves studied to MMA. The monomer, permeated under static conditions, was measured using a spectrophotometer. Latex and vinyl clinical gloves became permeable to MMA in a very short amount of time.

Maxillofacial intervention in trauma patients aged 60 years and older.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the incidence of trauma victims of age 60 years and older who required maxillofacial intervention. The study analyses the pattern of injuries and the various factors that predict the treatment plan of these patients. A retrospective study was carried out in 1820 trauma patients who reported to the Sri.

Polyclonal antibody-mediated mitotic inhibition in Chinese hamster ovary cells.

The nucleus of a mammalian cell undergoes profound reorganization when the cell enters mitosis and a number of proteins involved at various levels of the cell cycle have been characterized. The presence of mitotic-specific proteins has been reported and their roles are important in understanding the mechanics of cell division. The ability of antibodies to recognize mitotic protein antigens and further inhibit mitosis is potentially valuable in their role as therapeutic and diagnostic agents in cancer therapy.

Atticoantral disease - revisited.

Atticoantral disease is very common in this part of the world. The clinical presentation and the otomicroscopic examination of the ear may just reveal the tip of the iceberg as to the extent of disease. Often we have found that minimal disease with good hearing have extensive mastoid involvement.

Adenoid hypertrophy presenting with systemic hypertension.

A two and half year old male child was seen with systemic hypertension, left ventricular dysfunction, mitral regurgitation and congestive cardiac failure. Examination revealed adenoid hypertrophy. He was also suffering from obstructive sleep apnea.

GGN repeat length and GGN/CAG haplotype variations in the androgen receptor gene and prostate cancer risk in south Indian men.

The ethnic variation in the GGN and CAG microsatellites of the androgen receptor (AR) gene suggests their role in the substantial racial difference in prostate cancer risk. Hence, we performed a case-control study to assess whether GGN repeats independently or in combination with CAG repeats were associated with prostate cancer risk in South Indian men. The repeat lengths of the AR gene determined by Gene scan analysis, revealed that men with GGN repeats 21 repeats (OR 0.

Antioxidant activity of Arthritin--a polyherbal formulation.

In complete freund's adjuvant induced arthritis in male albino rats, a significant increase in serum lipid peroxidase besides increase in paw swelling and a significant decrease in superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase and total reduced glutathione levels were observed. Arthritin produced a marked reversal of these enzyme levels, besides a significant reduction in paw swelling. The results suggest that, the polyherbal formulation 'Arthritin' exerts its effects by modulating lipid peroxidation and enhancing anti-oxidant and detoxifying enzyme systems.

Interleukin 2 receptor expression in renal biopsies and the diagnosis of acute allograft rejection.

The aim of the study is to test the diagnostic usefulness of assessing interleukin 2 receptor (IL2R) expression in infiltrating lymphocytes in renal biopsies from patients with suspected acute renal allograft rejection and to compare the NIH-CCTT and the Banff 97 systems of classifying the histopathologic changes in acute renal allograft rejection. The expression of interleukin 2 (IL2) and IL2R, as shown immuno-histochemically, is the final step in T cell mediated acute renal allograft rejection. Renal biopsies obtained from 40 patients clinically suspected to have early acute allograft rejection were examined histologically to diagnose acute allograft rejection and classified by the two systems.

Assessment of mortality and marital status of schizophrenic patients over a period of 13 years.

Background: Studies on standardized mortality rates of schizophrenic patients might help to increase the life span of these patients. Such data from developing countries including India are lacking. Investigations that provide clues regarding the quality of their family lives could also be beneficial.

South Indian men with reduced CAG repeat length in the androgen receptor gene have an increased risk of prostate cancer.

The androgen receptor (AR) gene possesses polymorphic CAG tandem repeats and the repeat length has been inversely related to the risk of prostate cancer (PCa). The distinct ethnic variation in the CAG repeat length may be correlated to differences in PCa risk in different populations. To evaluate the CAG repeat length in the AR gene and the implications for PCa, we screened 87 PCa patients and 120 control subjects from South India.

Polymorphisms at GSTM1 and GSTP1 gene loci and risk of prostate cancer in a South Indian population.

Inter-individual differences in cancer susceptibility may be mediated in part through polymorphic variability in the bioactivation and detoxification of carcinogens. The glutathione S-transferases (GSTs), which are active in detoxification of wide variety of carcinogens, have been consistently implicated as cancer susceptibility genes in this context. We here assessed the association of GSTM1 and GSTP1 polymorphisms with susceptibility to prostate cancer in a case-control study of 75 patients and 100 age-matched controls in a South Indian population.

Endovascular Treatment of Cerebral AVM with Onyx - Initial Experience.

Five patients (M:2, F:3; Age range 9-51; N=30 yrs) with cerebral AVM were managed with Onyx embolization through endovascular route in last three months. Two patients had complete occlusion of AVM following embolisation. In remaining three, one had 95% occlusion and other two had 70% and 50% occlusion respectively.

Life skills profile of patients with schizophrenia and its correlation to a feeling of rejection among key family carers.

Background: The behaviour of patients with schizophrenia is of great concern to key family carers. Life skills profile (LSP) is the measure that has considerable importance in assessing the functioning of people with schizophrenia in the community.

Aim: To assess the sociodemographic correlates of LSP, and to find the correlation between LSP and the rejection response of key family carers.

Effect of Ocimum sanctum Linn on the changes in central cholinergic system induced by acute noise stress.

The ethanolic extract from the leaves of Ocimum sanctum Linn was screened for its effects on the noise induced changes in the central cholinergic system of albino rats by investigating the acetylcholine content and acetylcholinesterase activity in discrete areas of brain. Exposure to noise (10 kHz:100 dB) stress for 30 min caused a significant reduction in total acetylcholine content and increase in the activity of acetylcholinesterase in cerebral cortex, corpus striatum, hypothalamus and hippocampus of brain. Pretreatment of the animals with ethanol extract of Ocimum sanctum leaves for 7 days prevented the noise induced changes in these two cholinergic parameters in all the four areas of brain.

Anti-inflammatory and antinociceptive activities of Trewia polycarpa roots.

The alcoholic extract of Trewia polycarpa roots, when administered orally to rats at doses of 50-400 mg/kg, exhibited a dose-dependent anti-inflammatory activity in both acute and chronic models. It also showed a significant antinociceptive action mice in the dose range of 25-200 mg/kg. The extract did not reveal any toxicity in rats up to a dose of 3.

Antibacterial and antifungal activities of Trewia polycarpa roots.

The total alcoholic extract, its chloroform soluble and aqueous fractions of the roots of the plant Trewia polycarpa exhibited varying degrees of antibacterial and antifungal activities when tested with six bacterial and four fungal strains.

Antiinflammatory and antiulcer activities of Bambusa arundinacea.

The extracts of Bambusa arundinacea have been used in Indian folk medicine to treat various inflammatory conditions. The plant has got antiulcer activity also. It is thought that these two properties in the same extract are very much useful in the treatment of inflammatory conditions.

Daily average exposures to respirable particulate matter from combustion of biomass fuels in rural households of southern India.

Indoor air pollution resulting from combustion of biomass fuels in rural households of developing countries is now recognized as a major contributor to the global burden of disease. Accurate estimation of health risks has been hampered by a paucity of quantitative exposure information. In this study we quantified exposures to respirable particulate matter from biomass-fuel combustion in 436 rural homes selected through stratified random sampling from four districts of Tamil Nadu, India.