An unusual cause of pain in the hip

Colorectal Carcinoma is the second biggest killer after lung and bronchial carcinoma. Due to its insidious onset and late manifestation of symptoms a national screening programme was started in 2006 within the UK. We present a rare case of colorectal adenocarcinoma mimicking osteosarcoma and presenting as hip pain at initial consultation in the orthopaedic clinic. Further adding to the rarity of this case is that of an apparent bony metastasis in isolation. Our case demonstrates the vital role that histological sampling plays in the diagnosis and treatment of carcinomatous disease. It also demonstrates the need to maintain high index of clinical suspicion, no matter how benign the presenting complaint may seem.

Dual Functional TiO2-Au Nanocomposite Material for Solid-State Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

Titanium dioxide-gold nanocomposite ((TiO2-Au)(nps)) materials dispersed in poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) (PDDA) polymer electrolyte are employed as solid-state electrolytes in a dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) containing nanocrystalline TiO2 nanoparticle (P25) or (P25-Au)(nps) thin film photoanode adsorbed with a near-IR dye sensitizer, nickel-phthalocyanine (NiPcTs). The photocurrent-photovoltage characteristics of the DSSCs are evaluated under standard AM 1.5 G simulated solar irradiation of 100 mW/cm2. The (TiO2-Au)(nps) nanocomposite material incorporated into the PDDA polymer electrolyte promotes interfacial charge transfer process, reduces crystallinity of the polymer electrolyte and enhances mobility of the /-/I3- redox couple, which are resulted in -6-fold increase in the overall solar to electrical energy conversion efficiency when compared to the unmodified polymer electrolyte based DSSC. When the P25 photoanode is replaced with the (P25-Au)(nps) photoanode, a further 8-fold increase in the overall energy conversion efficiency is achieved, owing to the increas in the charge transport through the photoanode. The photovoltaic performance of the present DSSC configuration is also compared with that of a cell sensitized by using standard N719 dye.

Study of the diversity and short-chain fatty acids production by the bacterial community in overweight and obese Mexican children

Obesity and overweight are health problems of multifactorial etiology, which may include changes in the microbiome. In Mexico, more than 30 % of the child population between 5 and 11 years of age suffer from being overweight or are obese, which makes it a public health issue in progress. The purpose of this work was to measure the short-chain fatty acid concentration by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), and to characterize the bacterial diversity by ion torrent semiconductor sequencing, of 16S rDNA libraries prepared from stools collected from a sample of well-characterized Mexican children for normal weight, overweight, and obese conditions by anthropometric and biochemical criteria. We found that triglyceride levels are increased in overweight and obese children, who presented altered propionic and butyric acid concentrations in feces. In addition, although the colon microbiota did not show a clear bacterial dysbiosis among the three conditions, the abundance of some particular bacteria was changed with respect to normal controls. We conclude from our results that the imbalance in the abundance of at least nine different bacteria as well as altered short-chain fatty acid concentration in feces is associated to the overweight and obese conditions of Mexican children.

Evaluation of Effect of Antiepileptic Drugs on Serum Lipid Profile among Young Adults with Epilepsy in a Tertiary Care Hospital in Pondicherry

INTRODUCTION

Several studies have reported that commonly used antiepileptic drugs like phenytoin, and carbamazepine increase serum High Density Lipoproteins Cholesterol (HDL-C) levels, while some others documented no such effect. Further, some researchers also observed that valproic acid and other newer antiepileptic drugs like lamotrigine and levetiracetam has no influence on serum lipid profile. The present study was planned to assess and compare serum lipid profile of young adult patients on commonly used antiepileptic drugs (phenytoin, oxcarbazepine and valproic acid) and newer antiepileptic drug (levetiracetam) attending Neurology OPD of a tertiary care hospital in Puducherry, India compared to normal subjects.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A prospective hospital based cross-sectional study was conducted in Tertiary care hospital. Epileptic patients attending Department of Neurology and taking antiepileptic drugs for last six months or more and on regular follow up; approximately 60 patients on commonly used antiepileptic drugs (20 on phenytoin, 20 on oxcarbazepine, 20 on valproic Acid) and 20 patients on newer antiepileptic drug (levetiracetam) was included in the study. Age and sex matching 80 controls were taken.

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS

Descriptive statistics explained using mean ± SD. Inferential statistics was used depending on the nature of variables. We used one-way-ANOVA and followed by independent t-test for comparison with control group and statistically significant was considered at p-value <0.05.

RESULTS

We observed statistically significant high mean TC, HDL-C, LDL-C and TG levels in the group receiving phenytoin for more than six months when compared with control group. We observed statistically significant high mean TC, HDL-C and TG levels in the group receiving oxcarbazepine for more than six months when compared with control. However, no significant difference was observed in mean LDL-C levels when compared to control. We did not observe any statistically significant difference among mean TC, HDL-C, LDL-C and TG levels in the group receiving valproate. We did not observe any statistically significant difference among mean TC, HDL-C, LDL-C and TG levels in the group receiving levetiracetam.

CONCLUSION

From the present study we can conclude that CYP enzyme inducer anti epileptic medicines like phenytoin and oxcarbazepine is strongly associated with increased levels of TC, LDL-C, HDL-C and TG where as valproate and levetiracetam showed no significant change. Therefore, the serum cholesterol level should be regularly monitored in patients undergoing therapy with inducer anti epileptic medicines.

Comparison of palonosetron with palonosetron-dexamethasone combination for prevention of postoperative nausea and vomiting in patients undergoing laparoscopic cholecystectomy

BACKGROUND

This randomized double-blind study was designed to compare palonosetron with palonosetron-dexamethasone combination for prevention of post operative nausea and vomiting (PONV) in patients undergoing laparoscopic cholecystectomy.

METHODS

Eighty-four adult ASA 1-2 patients were randomly allocated into two groups. Group P patients received 0.075 mg palonosetron and group PD patients received 0.075 mg palonosetron and 8 mg dexamethasone intravenously before induction of anesthesia. Anesthesia was induced with propofol and fentanyl and maintained with N2O-isoflurane in oxygen. All patients received port-site infiltration with bupivacaine and intravenous diclofenac for postoperative analgesia. Metoclopramide was used as rescue antiemetic. Patients were observed for the incidence of PONV and requirement of rescue antiemetic for 48 h after surgery.

RESULTS

The complete response rate (no vomiting) was significantly higher in group DP as compared to group P between 0-24 h (P=0.004). 18 (42.9%) patients reported nausea and 14 (33.3%) patients had vomiting in group P while 6 (14.4%) patients had nausea and 5 (11.9%) patients complained of vomiting in group DP during 0-24 h. Two patients in group P reported nausea while none in group PD during 24-48 h. No patient had vomiting in either of the groups between 24-48 h. The requirement of rescue antiemetic was also less in group DP as compared to group P. Patients in group DP required less postoperative analgesia and were more satisfied with PONV treatment than group P patients.

CONCLUSION

The palonosetron-dexamethasone combination was more effective as compared to only palonosetron for reducing PONV after laparoscopic cholecystectomy.

Hepatoprotective activity of methanolic extract of Syzygium jambos (Linn.) leaf against paracetamol intoxicated Wistar albino rats

Hepatoprotective activity of methanolic extract of Syzygium jambos (Alston) (Linn.) leaves against Paracetamol-induced hepatic damage in Wistar albino rats was observed at two different doses, 100 and 200 mg/kg body weight. The healthy control, disease control, and standard drug Silymarin-treated groups were also maintained for the comparison. The liver marker enzymes SGOT, SGPT, ALKP, Serum Bilirubin and other metabolic parameters like total cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol were evaluated in all the experimental groups. The changes in liver function parameters were significant in comparison to disease control group and the observed efficacy was comparable to standard drug. The efficacy of the extract was found to be dose dependent. The histopathology study of liver also supports the presence of hepatoprotective activity in S. jambos by showing improved cytoarchitecture of liver cells in the treated groups. The results obtained in this study indicate necessity for further research on isolation and characterization of functional molecules from the extract.

High surface area Ag-TiO2 nanotubes for solar/visible-light photocatalytic degradation of ceftiofur sodium

Titanium dioxide nanotubes (TiO2 NTs) with very high surface area (469 m(2)/g) have been synthesized through a simple hydrothermal method and their surface has been modified using silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs). The Ag NPs deposited TiO2 NTs (Ag-TiO2 NTs) show an extended optical response from UV to visible region coupled with a surface plasmon resonance band and thus can be utilized as a plasmonic photocatalyst. The photoluminescence intensity of TiO2 NTs is lower than that of TiO2 nanoparticles due to the delocalization of photogenerated electrons along the one dimensional nanotubes which reduces the rate of charge recombination. The Langmuir adsorption constant of Ag-TiO2 NTs (for ceftiofur sodium adsorption) is twice that of P25 TiO2. The Ag-TiO2 NTs exhibit excellent photocatalytic activity toward the degradation of ceftiofur sodium (CFS) due to high surface area and mesoporosity of TiO2 NTs. The addition of peroxomonosulfate in the photocatalytic system greatly amplifies the CFS degradation owing to the simultaneous generation of both OH and SO4(-). The catalyst retains its photocatalytic activity at least up to four consecutive cycles.

Comprehensive Review on Natural β-Carbolines as Anti-Malarial Agents

Malaria is one of the major health problems in developing countries. It kills 1-2 million people every year and also it affects financially status of many countries. Developed resistance to aminoquinoline(chloroquine), quinoline methanols (Quinine, Mefloquine) created troubles in malarial chemotherapy and signs of appearance of resistance to artemisinin based combination therapy (ACT) created emergency to develop novel antimalarial agents with high efficacy before spreading of resistance to ACT. From the ages natural products played important role in antimalarial therapy, identification of natural products, semisynthetic and synthetic analogs with potent antiplasmodium activity is one of the best method to develop novel antimalarial agents. In this review, we are presenting the antimalarial activity of natural β-carboline alkaloids and special interest on manzamine alkaloids and their structure activity relationship.

Haemolymphangioma of epiglottis

Lymphangiomas are congenital lesions of the lymphatic system which are most commonly found in the head and neck, with over 90 % of lesions manifesting in children who are less than 2 years of age. Haemolymphangiomas are rare variant of lymphangioma, with the presence of red blood cells within the lymphatic channels. Laryngeal sites are usually in continuity with foci of disease in the neck. In general, symptoms are non-specific and they vary with the site and size of the mass. Usually, they occur before 2 years of age. Isolated cases of lymphangiomas with involvement of epiglottis are rare and only a few cases have been reported so far. We are reporting the case of a six-year-old girl who presented with a mass in the epiglottis.

The incidence of secretory otitis media in cases of cleft palate

OBJECTIVE

Children with a Cleft Palate (CLP) and with or without cleft lips (non-syndromic) universally present with Secretory Otitis Media (SOM). The purpose of this study was to determine the incidence of secretory otitis media that occurs in patients with cleft palates and to confirm the existence of these manifestations by doing a Basic Audiologic Evaluation (BAE).

MATERIAL AND METHODS

A retrospective study was done on forty four male and female children who were within the 2 to 14 years age range, with non-syndromic cleft palates with or without cleft lips, with the symptoms of SOM. Otoscopy examinations were done in all the cases. X-rays of the mastoids (both sides) were done in all the cases to detect the pneumatization of the mastoid air cell system. The Basic Audiologic Evaluation (BAE) includes an evaluation by tympanometry of the middle ear function and an evaluation by pure tone audiometry to establish the type of hearing loss.

RESULTS

A majority of the patients (47.27%) were in the age group of eight-to-fourteen (8-14) years. The Basic Audiologic Evaluation (BAE) revealed that 77.27% of the children had presented with normal hearing; 13.6% had conductive hearing loss and 2.2% had presented with a mixed hearing loss. We noticed that 68.2% of the children had type A curves; 21.2% of the children had type C tympanometry curves; 7.1% had type B curves and 3.5% had Ad curves. The contralateral acoustic reflex was present in 54.5% of the children and 45.5% did not have this reflex. A majority of the patients (46%) showed sclerotic changes in their mastoid air cell systems in the X-rays of the mastoids.

CONCLUSION

The significantly higher prevalence of SOM in the children with cleft was confirmed by the study. Also, the hearing loss which was associated with SOM was evident and it demonstrated that there was a high prevalence of a mild conductive hearing loss when SOM was present. The cleft palate contributed to the occurrence of the secretory otitis media and it required proper ENT and audiological follow ups.

Next generation sequencing and de novo transcriptome analysis of Costus pictus D. Don, a non-model plant with potent anti-diabetic properties

Background

Phyto-remedies for diabetic control are popular among patients with Type II Diabetes mellitus (DM), in addition to other diabetic control measures. A number of plant species are known to possess diabetic control properties. Costus pictus D. Don is popularly known as “Insulin Plant” in Southern India whose leaves have been reported to increase insulin pools in blood plasma. Next Generation Sequencing is employed as a powerful tool for identifying molecular signatures in the transcriptome related to physiological functions of plant tissues. We sequenced the leaf transcriptome of C. pictus using Illumina reversible dye terminator sequencing technology and used combination of bioinformatics tools for identifying transcripts related to anti-diabetic properties of C. pictus.

Results

A total of 55,006 transcripts were identified, of which 69.15% transcripts could be annotated. We identified transcripts related to pathways of bixin biosynthesis and geraniol and geranial biosynthesis as major transcripts from the class of isoprenoid secondary metabolites and validated the presence of putative norbixin methyltransferase, a precursor of Bixin. The transcripts encoding these terpenoids are known to be Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor (PPAR) agonists and anti-glycation agents. Sequential extraction and High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) confirmed the presence of bixin in C. pictus methanolic extracts. Another significant transcript identified in relation to anti-diabetic, anti-obesity and immuno-modulation is of Abscisic Acid biosynthetic pathway. We also report many other transcripts for the biosynthesis of antitumor, anti-oxidant and antimicrobial metabolites of C. pictus leaves.

Conclusion

Solid molecular signatures (transcripts related to bixin, abscisic acid, and geranial and geraniol biosynthesis) for the anti-diabetic properties of C. pictus leaves and vital clues related to the other phytochemical functions like antitumor, anti-oxidant, immuno-modulatory, anti-microbial and anti-malarial properties through the secondary metabolite pathway annotations are reported. The data provided will be of immense help to researchers working in the treatment of DM using herbal therapies.

X-ray diffraction study of nanocrystalline titania thin films prepared by pulsed laser deposition

Pulsed laser deposition of phase pure thin films of rutile and anatase from a rutile target is investigated. Rutile films prepared at the base pressure and at < or =473 K were amorphous and the crystalline quality was improved with increasing substrate temperature. The crystallite size was found to vary from 2 nm to 58 nm in the temperature range 573-973 K. Addition of oxygen has been found to be beneficial in promoting the formation of anatase phase even at a temperature of 673 K. From the base pressure to 10(-4) mbar, films were rutile, while at approximately 0.001 mbar, the rutile phase was found to transform to anatase. Rietveld analysis indicated about 20% of anatase and about 80% of rutile phase for the films prepared at 0.001 mbar of oxygen partial pressure. Good quality anatase films were formed at approximately 0.05 mbar, while the films were amorphous at higher partial pressures of oxygen.