Green synthesis of near-infrared absorbing eugenate capped iron oxide nanoparticles for photothermal application

Nanomaterials exhibit different interesting physical, chemical, electronic and magnetic properties that can be used in a variety of biomedical applications such as molecular imaging, cancer therapy, biosensing, and targeted drug delivery. Among various types of nanoparticles, super paramagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) have emerged as exogenous contrast agents for in vitro and in vivo deep tissue imaging. Here, we propose a facile, rapid, non-toxic, and cost-effective single step green synthesis method to fabricate eugenate (4-allyl-2-methoxyphenolate) capped iron oxide nanoparticles (E-capped IONPs). The magnetic E-capped IONPs are first time synthesized using a medicinal aromatic plant, Pimenta dioica. The Pimenta dioica leaf extract was used as a natural reducing agent for E-capped IONPs synthesis. The crystalline structure and size of the synthesized spherical nanoparticles were confirmed using the x-ray diffraction and electron microscopic images respectively. In addition, the presence of the functional groups, responsible for capping and stabilizing the synthesized nanoparticles, were identified by the Fourier transform infra-red spectrum. These nanoparticles were found to be safe for human cervical cancer (HeLa) and human embryonic kidney 293 (HEK 293) cell lines and their safety was established using MTT[3-(4, 5-Dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2, 5-Diphenyltetrazolium Bromide] assay. These green synthesized E-capped IONPs display a distinct absorbance in the tissue transparent near-infrared (NIR) wavelength region. This property was used for the NIR photothermal application of E-capped IONPs. The results suggest that these E-capped IONPs could be used for deep tissue photothermal therapy along with its application as an exogenous contrast agent in biomedical imaging.

Neurodevelopmental Outcomes in Children Born to Climate Refugee Mothers in Bangladesh: Experiences from Cyclone Aila

Cyclone Aila hit the South-West coast of Bangladesh in May 2009, when in Dacope Upazilla over 50,000 people were left homeless as climate refugees (CRs) for over two years. We determined neurodevelopmental status of children born as CRs compared to their non-Climate Refugee (NCR) counterparts. Pregnant mothers were enrolled from May 2009 to April 2010 in entire Dacope in a study which profiled their health conditions. From among these mothers, 12 months post-Aila 267 CR mother-child dyads, and 552 NCR mother-child dyads were enrolled to assess their children's neurodevelopmental outcomes. There were significantly more landless families among CRs compared to NCRs (p value = 0.0001; OR = 1.86, 95% CI: 1.37 - 2.51). The mean±SD age at assessment of CR children was 8.52±4.57 months compared to a mean age 9.09±4.13 months of the NCR children (p=0.610). Neurodevelopmental Impairments (NDIs) were three times higher in the former (21.3%), compared to the latter (7.4%) group (p=0.0001; OR 3.83, 95% CI: 2.16 - 5.21). Specifically, expressive language (p value 0.002; OR 2.86, 95% CI: 1.46 - 5.57) and gross motor functions (p=0.007; OR 2.27, 95% CI 1.22 - 4.20) were the most significantly affected areas of impairment. Children born to CR mothers had a three times higher proportion of NDIs. The findings are of concern as in Bangladesh large populations are forced to leave their homes and become CRs annually. Optimum antenatal care of pregnant women as well as their offsprings within refugee situations needs to be ensured to prevent NDIs and poor quality of survival.

Neonatal uterine prolapse - a case report

Uterine prolapse is commonly seen in the geriatric age group. Congenital vaginouterine prolapse is a rare condition occurring in neonates and is usually associated with spinal cord malformations in about 85% of cases. Several modalities of treatment have been described for neonatal uterine prolapse. Conservative treatment in the form of simple digital reposition, use of pessary or other self-retaining device is usually sufficient to treat this condition, which is self-limiting and regressive. Here we report our first case of neonatal uterine prolapse, managed successfully with simple digital reposition.

Caudal anesthesia in pediatric surgical practice

Prospective study was carried out on 100 patients since May 2005 in my private practice and in the department of pediatric surgery of MMCH. Under caudal anesthesia along with or without ketaminie induction and gas inhalation all the patients underwent different surgical procedure namely anorectal surgery (eg. anoplasty, rectal polyp), urogenital surgery (Circumcision, hypospadias, meatotomy), groin surgery (hernia, hydrocele) and foot & leg surgery. Calculated dose schedule of drugs used in anesthesia and volume were maintained. Time of giving anesthesia and time of starting analgesia were recorded. Per-operative and postoperative analgesia were evaluated. Every parent was explained regarding the merit of caudal anesthesia calculated and compared with that of general anesthesia. Application of caudal anesthesia with or without ketamine & diazepam induction can be used safely and cost effectively and may be put into protocol in many of the pediatric surgical practice both in institute and also in private practice.

Multi-class classification algorithm for optical diagnosis of oral cancer

We report development of a direct multi-class spectroscopic diagnostic algorithm for discrimination of high-grade cancerous tissue sites from low-grade as well as precancerous and normal squamous tissue sites of human oral cavity. The algorithm was developed making use of the recently formulated theory of total principal component regression (TPCR). The in vivo autofluorescence spectral data acquired from patients screened for neoplasm of oral cavity at the Government Cancer Hospital, Indore, was used to train and validate the algorithm. The diagnostic algorithm based on TPCR was found to provide satisfactory performance in classifying the tissue sites in four different classes - high-grade squamous cell carcinoma, low-grade squamous cell carcinoma, leukoplakia, and normal squamous tissue. The classification accuracy for these four classes was observed to be approximately 94%, 100%, 100% and 91% for the training data set (based on leave-one-out cross-validation), and was approximately 90%, 90%, 85% and 88%, respectively for the corresponding classes for the independent validation data set.

N2 laser excited autofluorescence spectroscopy of formalin-fixed human breast tissue

The paper reports results of an in vitro study on autofluorescence spectroscopy of fresh and formalin-fixed human breast tissue samples to investigate the effect of formalin fixation on the measured autofluorescence spectra. It also explores the applicability of the approach in discriminating cancerous from the uninvolved sites of the formalin-fixed breast tissues based on their autofluorescence spectra. A probability-based diagnostic algorithm, making use of the theory of relevance vector machine (RVM), a powerful recent approach for statistical pattern recognition, was developed for that purpose. The algorithm provided sensitivity values of up to 97% and specificity values of up to 100% towards cancer for both the independent validation data set as well as for the training data set based on leave-one-out cross-validation. These results suggest that autofluorescence spectroscopy may prove to be a valuable additional in vitro diagnostic modality in clinical pathology setting for discriminating cancerous tissue sites from normal sites.

Support vector machine for optical diagnosis of cancer

We report the application of a support vector machine (SVM) for the development of diagnostic algorithms for optical diagnosis of cancer. Both linear and nonlinear SVMs have been investigated for this purpose. We develop a methodology that makes use of SVM for both feature extraction and classification jointly by integrating the newly developed recursive feature elimination (RFE) in the framework of SVM. This leads to significantly improved classification results compared to those obtained when an independent feature extractor such as principal component analysis (PCA) is used. The integrated SVM-RFE approach is also found to outperform the classification results yielded by traditional Fisher's linear discriminant (FLD)-based algorithms. All the algorithms are developed using spectral data acquired in a clinical in vivo laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) spectroscopic study conducted on patients being screened for cancer of the oral cavity and normal volunteers. The best sensitivity and specificity values provided by the nonlinear SVM-RFE algorithm over the data sets investigated are 95 and 96% toward cancer for the training set data based on leave-one-out cross validation and 93 and 97% toward cancer for the independent validation set data. When tested on the spectral data of the uninvolved oral cavity sites from the patients it yielded a specificity of 85%.

Depth-resolved fluorescence measurement in a layered turbid medium by polarized fluorescence spectroscopy

We show that, when a turbid medium with a layered fluorophore distribution is excited by linearly polarized light, measurement of angle-resolved polarized fluorescence can provide depth-resolved fluorescence measurements.

Polarized fluorescence spectroscopy of human tissues

We report the results of a study carried out to investigate the effect of blood absorption on polarized and unpolarized fluorescence from resected tissue samples and tissue phantoms. The signatures of blood absorption were found to be significantly smaller in polarized fluorescence than in unpolarized fluorescence spectra. The reduced effect of blood absorption on polarized fluorescence also leads to reduced site-to-site variability in polarized fluorescence intensity and line shape compared with unpolarized fluorescence.

Fluorescence depolarization in a scattering medium: effect of size parameter of a scatterer

For a monodisperse scattering medium, we investigate the dependence on scatterer size parameter for the change in anisotropy of fluorescence due to single scattering at excitation or emission wavelength. The value for the ratio of the anisotropy of fluorescence after one scattering at excitation or emission wavelength to the initial value was observed to increase with increasing value of scatterer size parameter. The effect of multiple scattering on anisotropy of fluorescence from fluorophores embedded in a scattering medium was incorporated using a photon migration model. The model was validated by experiments carried out on samples with known concentration of polystyrene microspheres as scatterers and riboflavins or reduced form of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide as fluorophores.

Depolarization of autofluorescence from malignant and normal human breast tissues

We report on steady-state measurements on the anisotropy of autofluorescence from malignant and normal breast tissue as a function of tissue thickness. For thin tissue sections the anisotropy from normal tissue was found to be smaller compared with that from malignant tissue. However, the opposite result was obtained for thicker tissues. A phenomenological model was also developed to simulate the dependence of anisotropy on tissue thickness.

Measurement of optical transport properties of normal and malignant human breast tissue

We report measurement of optical transport parameters of normal and malignant (ductal carcinoma) human breast tissue. A spatially resolved steady-state diffuse reflectance technique was used for measurement of the reduced scattering coefficient (mu(s)?) and the absorption coefficient (mu(a)) of the tissue. The anisotropy parameter of scattering (g) was estimated by goniophotometric measurements of the scattering phase function. The values of mu(s)? and mu(a) for malignant breast tissue were observed to be larger than those for normal breast tissue over the wavelength region investigated (450-650 nm). Further, by using both the diffuse reflectance and the goniophotometric measurements, we estimated the Mie equivalent average radius of tissue scatterers to be larger in malignant tissue than in normal tissue.

Breast cancer diagnosis using N2 laser excited autofluorescence spectroscopy

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE

This article reports results of an in vitro study involving 63 patients for the evaluation of the diagnostic potential of N2 laser excited autofluorescence spectroscopy of human breast tissues.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The N2 laser-excited spectra were recorded from benign (fibroadenomas, 35 patients), cancerous (ductal carcinomas, 28 patients), and normal (the uninvolved areas of the resected cancerous specimens). A stepwise multivariate linear regression (MVLR) analysis was developed to analyze the diagnostic content of the breast tissue fluorescence spectra.

RESULTS

Significant changes were observed in the autofluorescence from normal, benign, and cancerous breast tissues, particularly in the spectrally integrated fluorescence intensity. The ratio of mean spectrally integrated intensity from cancerous tissues to that from benign tumor and normal tissues were 3.2 and 2.8, respectively. A discrimination parameter based on spectrally integrated intensity alone provided a sensitivity and specificity of up to 99.6% over the sample size investigated for discrimination of cancerous breast tissues from benign/normal.

CONCLUSION

Our results suggest that a straightforward measurement of the total integrated fluorescence intensity can provide excellent discrimination between cancerous and benign/ normal breast tissues.

Breast cancer diagnosis using N2 laser excited autofluorescence spectroscopy

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE

This article reports results of an in vitro study involving 63 patients for the evaluation of the diagnostic potential of N2 laser excited autofluorescence spectroscopy of human breast tissues.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The N2 laser-excited spectra were recorded from benign (fibroadenomas, 35 patients), cancerous (ductal carcinomas, 28 patients), and normal (the uninvolved areas of the resected cancerous specimens). A stepwise multivariate linear regression (MVLR) analysis was developed to analyze the diagnostic content of the breast tissue fluorescence spectra.

RESULTS

Significant changes were observed in the autofluorescence from normal, benign, and cancerous breast tissues, particularly in the spectrally integrated fluorescence intensity. The ratio of mean spectrally integrated intensity from cancerous tissues to that from benign tumor and normal tissues were 3.2 and 2.8, respectively. A discrimination parameter based on spectrally integrated intensity alone provided a sensitivity and specificity of up to 99.6% over the sample size investigated for discrimination of cancerous breast tissues from benign/normal.

CONCLUSION

Our results suggest that a straightforward measurement of the total integrated fluorescence intensity can provide excellent discrimination between cancerous and benign/ normal breast tissues.

In vitro activities of PS-15, a new dihydrofolate reductase inhibitor, and its cyclic metabolite against Mycobacterium avium complex

PS-15, a new dihydrofolate reductase inhibitor, and its cyclic metabolite were evaluated for in vitro activity against 31 clinical Mycobacterium avium complex isolates. Broth dilution MICs of PS-15 ranged from 16 to 64 micrograms/ml. The cyclic metabolite was three to five times more active than the parent compound. Further evaluation of these compounds in an M. avium-infected murine test system will be of interest.

Remote sensing system to study rodent behaviour

The instrumental system assembled consists of video monitors which projects signals from remotely placed video camera in the rat pen with pan and tilt arrangement and all operations are done through control-room. Signals obtained from the camera will pass through the monitor and then fed into VCR system which records the behavioural events. Studies carried out with the above system has revealed that all the characteristic behaviour of gerbils (Meriones hurricane Jerdon) which is significantly superior (P < 0.001) over the direct observation method. The integrated sensing system is an ideal instrumental set up for viewing and recording the behaviour of rodents as well as other animals in the experimental pen throughout the year under varying weather and light conditions.

Insecticide fingerprinting technique for detection and location of organochlorine insecticide residues in foods

Insecticide fingerprinting technique enables the detection and location of DDT and HCH residues in vegetables through the development of green and prussian blue colors respectively. Cut vegetables are pressed against o-tolidine impregnated paper and exposed to sunlight where colored spots appear instantly. The studies on 18 vegetable varieties revealed the pesticide residues and their distribution in different tissues. This direct method is sensitive (0.3/micrograms for HCH & 0.5/micrograms for DDT) and has special applications in quality control laboratories and food industry.

Testicular atrophy in Gallus domesticus fed acute doses of copper fungicides

Acute oral toxicity of the copper fungicides, copper sulphate and copper oxychloride, were studied in male Gallus domesticus. The median lethal dose for copper sulphate and copper oxychloride determined were 693 and 1263 mg/kg body weight, respectively. Severe diarrhea and delayed mortality (3 to 6 days) was characteristic of copper oxychloride. Liver weights were nearly doubled in birds fed copper oxychloride and marked dose-dependent testicular atrophy was noticed in both copper sulphate and copper oxychloride fed birds. Mild to severe spermatogenetic arrest concomitant with testicular atrophy was observed. Histochemically, the interstitial (Leydig) cells and seminiferous tubules showed intense accumulation of cholesterol-positive lipids. The degree of lipophilia appeared to be directly proportional to the extent of spermatogenetic arrest, and these results are suggestive of steroidogenic inhibition in the Leydig cells of the atrophied testis.

Mammalian toxicity of Technical X-factor I. An acute oral study

Intragastric administration of acute doses of Technical X-factor (beta-isomer free BHC, a byproduct obtained during separation of Lindane from Tech. BHC) carried in peanut oil elicited typical signs of central nervous system depression in adult rats. The computed oral LD50 values of X-factor were 4174 and 5673 mg/kg. body weight for male and female rats respectively indicating that its acute toxicity was of relatively low order compared to Tech. BHC. It is suggested that the low acute mammalian toxicity of X-factor could possibly be due to a direct antagonism of the delta isomer (present in larger proportion in X-factor) with the gamma isomer.

Interconversions and toxicity changes in hexachlorocyclohexane isomers on dispersion in water

Studies on the transformations of hexachlorocyclohexane isomers, alpha-, beta-, gamma- and delta-, in aqueous solution were carried out at 25 +/- 1 degree C over a period of four weeks. Gas liquid chromatographic technique was used for analysis. The results indicated a loss as well as interconversion of all the four isomers with time. The resulting changes in toxicity of the aqueous solution were studied against Drosophila using topical application. Toxicity studies with aqueous solution of technical hexachlorocyclohexane were simultaneously carried out for comparison. Toxicity of the aqueous solutions of alpha-, beta-, and delta- isomers showed an increase while that of the gamma- isomer decreased significantly during the four week experimental period. Aqueous solution of technical HCH was equally toxic as that of the gamma- isomer initially and did not show much decrease in its toxicity at the end. Changes in toxicity of the individual isomer solutions were considered to be due, in part, to interconversions of HCH isomers.

Isomerization of beta-HCH in aqueous solution

beta-HCH was shaken with distilled water at 25 +/- 1 degree C for different time intervals and filtered. The ether extract of the filtrate on analysis by gas liquid chromatography showed the presence of four isomers, alpha, beta, gamma and delta, besides other compounds, thereby indicating isomerization of the beta-isomer in aqueous solution. Further, the ether extract, when dried and dissolved in acetone, showed high toxicity to mosquito larvae, flour beetle larvae and house-flies thereby indicating conversion of the inert beta-isomer to more toxic forms corroborating GLC analysis. Acetone solution of pure beta-HCH was found nontoxic against the insects tested.

Hematological changes produced in mice by ochratoxin A

The effects of ochratoxin A (5 mg/kg, intraperitoneal) on clotting time, hemoglobin, total count of red blood cells and white blood cells and differential count of white blood cells were studied in mice. This mycotoxin caused a significant decrease in the hemoglobin level and in the total count of red blood cells. Among white blood cells there was a significant increase in small lymphocytes and a significant fall in the count of neutrophils, basophils and monocytes in treated mice. The administration of ochratoxin A also prolonged the clotting time by more than 6-fold.

Thin layer chromatography of parathion as paraoxon with cholinesterase inhibition detection

A simple, sensitive, and rapid method is described for the quantitative estimation of ng amounts of parathion (O,O-diethyl O-p-nitrophenyl phosphorothioate) as paraoxon (O,O-diethyl O-p-nitrophenyl phosphate) on thin layer chromatograms. Paraoxon is detected by inhibition, using p-nitrobenzenediazonium fluoroborate as the chromogenic reagent. This chromogenic reagent is more sensitive than Fast Blue B or indoxyl acetate; 0.1 ng may be detected and amounts from 5 to 50 ng may be estimated. The method is a viable alternative to gas chromatographic analysis for parathion.

Colorimetric Method for Estimation of Methyl Iodide Residues on Jo war (Sorghum) and Rice

A new colorimetric method based on the catalytic action of iodide on oxidation of As(III) by Ce(IV) has been developed for the estimation of methyl iodide residues on grains. Methyl iodide residues, in methanolic KOH, are converted to potassium iodide which acts as a catalyst in the timed oxidation of As(III) by Ce(IV). Unreduced eerie salt is measured colorimetrically and the iodide in the sample is calculated. The method is sensitive in the range 0.01 to 0.1 μg iodide.

Colorimetric Method for Estimation of Zineb

Zineb can be determined colorimetrically after reaction with cupric acetate in HC1. The copper salt formed is measured at 370 nm. This method has been applied successfully to the analysis of zineb formulations and zineb on grains and peanut pods.

Rapid Colorimetric Method for Estimation of Ferbam and Ziram Residues on Grains

The rapid colorimetric method for thiram reported earlier has been slightly modified and extended to the analysis of 2 dithiocarbamates (ferbam and ziram). The proposed method is applicable to technical formulations and fieldsprayed grains. Recoveries ranged from 91.35 to 100.50% for a ferbam formulation containing 85% active ingredient and from 88.06 to 100.00% for a ziram formulation containing 80% active ingredient. Recoveries from fortified samples were 93.69 to 99.56%.

Rapid Colorimetric Method for Estimation of Thiram Residues on Grains

A rapid and relatively simple method has been developed for the colorimetric determination of thiram residues on grains. Cuprous chloride is used to form a yellow complex with thiram, which is measured at 420 nm. The method is satisfactory for analyses of 4–200 Mg thiram.