METHODS: Data were obtained from angiographic and medical records of patients treated at Shahid-Rajai, Taleghani, and Loghman Hospitals during the above-mentioned time period. The criteria for definitions and findings were those proposed by the American College of Rheumatology.
RESULTS: A total of 15 patients were identified. The median age at presentation was 36 years and 73.3% of patients were females. Fever was the most common presentation. According to "modified" National Institute of Health criteria, 44.7% of patients were in the acute phase of disease with systemic symptoms such as fever, weight loss, and elevated C-reactive protein (CRP) levels. Immunological markers such as antinuclear antibodies (ANA) and antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (C-ANCA) were absent. The tuberculin test result was positive in 40% of the patients. Vascular bruit was present in 86.7% and hypertension was detected in 53.3% with 13.3% having associated renal artery stenosis. The angiographic manifestations were classified as; type I, cervicobrachial type (26.6%); type II, thoracoabdominal type (20.0%); type III, peripheral type (6.6%); and type IV, generalised type (46.7%). Coronary arteries were involved in three cases, pulmonary in two and renal in two.
CONCLUSION: Based on our findings, the most common clinical, laboratory and angiographic findings were fever, increased erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and stenosis, respectively. Because of dangerous consequences of this disease, attention to fever and increased ESR, especially in young women may be helpful for physicians to prevent diagnosis delay.
OBJECTIVE: To determine whether repetitive tasks performed for long hours by computer operators can lead to peripheral neuropathy as measured by nerve conduction studies of upper extremities.
MATERIAL AND METHODS: We performed nerve conduction tests on 50 computer operators in two study groups. Group I consisted of computer operators who worked a minimum of 6 hours per day at the computer while Group II worked a maximum of 2 hours per day.
RESULTS: Significant differences were observed between groups for most physical signs. In addition, there were significant differences between the groups for nerve conduction velocities of the medial (motor & sensory) and ulnar (motor & sensory) nerves.
CONCLUSION: We found symptoms of pain, paraesthesia and subjective weaknesses as well as decreased conduction velocities of peripheral nerves in computer operators who work long hours. Further nerve conduction studies are needed to confirm predictive value for the development of carpal tunnel syndrome.
KEY WORDS: computer operator, long work hours, nerve conduction studies.
METHODS: Forty-one patients above 60 years of age and an acute displaced fracture of the femoral neck were randomly allocated to treatment by either unipolar or bipolar hemiarthroplasty, in the Department of Orthopaedics, between September 2009 and October 2012. Functional outcome was assessed and compared using Harris hip score and radiological parameters with a follow-up of one year.
RESULTS: The two groups of patients with mean age of 67.3 in bipolar group and 75.6 in unipolar group did not differ in their pre-injury characteristics and perioperative parameters. The mean Harris hip score in bipolar and unipolar groups was 86.18±12.18 and 79.79±15.55, respectively (p=0.183); range of motion was 210.63±28.39 and 181.58±37(p=0.015) with bipolar and unipolar groups, respectively. Functional activities were better in the bipolar group. Complications like painful hip, posterior dislocation, periprosthetic fracture and acetabular erosion were encountered in unipolar prostheses.
CONCLUSION: The use of bipolar endoprosthesis in the management of displaced femoral neck fractures in the elderly was associated with better mean Harris hip score and incidence of complications was limited. Hence, bipolar would be a better option in elderly patients with fracture neck of femur.
KEY WORDS: Unipolar; Bipolar; Hemiarthroplasty.
OBJECTIVE: To study the antimicrobial effect of cinnamon oil coating on K-wire against S. epidermidis and to quantify the most effective concentration of cinnamon oil coating on the K-wire.
METHOD: The cinnamon oil was divided in ten different concentrations, from 0.002% to 1%, and subsequently applied to the Kirschner wire (K-wire). Its antimicrobial effect was determined by agar well diffusion method (MHA). Cinnamon oil coated K-wires were planted on S. epidermidis inoculated Muller-Hinton Agar (MHA) plate. The size of the zone of inhibition was recorded to the nearest mm, and this was compared to gentamycin, fosfomycin, vancomycin, netilmycin.
RESULT: The cream based 1% concentration cinnamon oil coating on K-wire showed the strongest antimicrobial effect on S. epidermidis inoculated MHA plate. This was evident especially in the fourth repetition, with an inhibition zone diameter (IZD) of 19 mm. In the 1% concentration repetitions, the highest mean IZD of the 4 repetitions was 14 mm (intermediate according NCCLS). The mean IZD results demonstrate that cinnamon oil has 46.3% of the effectiveness of gentamycin, 49.1% of fosfomycin, 59.6% of vancomycin, and 43.4% of netilmycin.
CONCLUSION: In this in-vitro study, cream based cinnamon oil coating on K-wire is effective against S. epidermidis, though less effective compared to gentamycin, fosfomycin, vancomycin and netilmycin.
KEY WORDS: Cinnamon oil, K-wire, antimicrobial, S.epidermidis.
METHODS: Adaxial walls of leaf epidermal cells were characterized using high-pressure-frozen freeze-substituted specimens, which retain their native dimensions during observations using transmission and scanning microscopy, accompanied by energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy to identify the role of biogenic silica in wall-based iridescence. Biogenic silica was experimentally removed using aqueous Na2CO3 and optical properties were compared using spectral reflectance.
KEY RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: Blue iridescence is produced in the adaxial epidermal cell wall, which contains helicoid lamellae. The blue iridescence from cell surfaces is left-circularly polarized. The position of the silica granules is entrained by the helicoid microfibrillar layers, and granules accumulate at a uniform position within the helicoids, contributing to the structure that produces the blue iridescence, as part of the unit cell responsible for 2 ° Bragg scatter. Removal of silica from the walls eliminated the blue colour. Addition of silica nanoparticles on existing cellulosic lamellae is a novel mechanism for adding structural colour in organisms.
METHODS: Persea americana seeds were extracted using hot water, and different concentrations of the extract were prepared. The effects of different concentrations (20, 30, 40 g/L) of the hot aqueous P. americana seed extract on alloxan-induced Wistar albino rats were compared with those of a reference drug, glibenclamide. The glucose level of the rats was measured daily, and the weight of the animal was monitored on a weekly basis for 21 days. The oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) was performed at 0, 30, 60, 90 and 120 minutes, and the histopathologies of the liver, kidneys, and pancreas were investigated. Phytochemical analysis of P. americana seed extracts indicated the presence of glycosides, tannins, saponins, carbohydrates, flavonoids, and alkaloids.
RESULTS: The results showed that the extract possessed a significant hypoglycaemic (P < 0.05) effect and reversed the histopathological damage that occurred in alloxan-induced diabetic rats, comparable to the effects glibenclamide. The seeds of P. americana also had anti-diabetic and protective effects on some rat tissues such as the pancreas, kidneys, and liver.
CONCLUSION: In conclusion, the present study provides a pharmacological basis for the folkloric use of the hot-water extract of P. americana seeds in the management of diabetes mellitus.
METHODS: We assessed stress hormones and mood state in 63 subjects (32 men and 31 women) screened for moderate stress and supplemented with a standardized hot-water extract of TA root (TA) or Placebo (PL) for 4 weeks. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) with significance set at p
METHODS: PFTs were carried out for 87 non-smoking male university students who were randomly sampled from the University of Calcutta, Kolkata, India.
RESULTS: The PFTs data obtained in this study did not show a significant variation with that obtained in a previous study. Significant (P < 0.001) differences in the forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1%) and peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR) between the two studies may be attributed to differences in the age and body height, which exhibited significant correlations with the vital capacity (VC), forced vital capacity (FVC), FEV1, FEV1%, and PEFR. Regression equations have been computed to predict PFTs parameters from age and body height.
CONCLUSION: Pulmonary function in the university students of Kolkata was found to have remained mostly unchanged in the last 24 years. The equations computed in this study are considered preferable owing to their substantially smaller standard error of estimate (SEE) than those proposed in the previous study.
RESULTS: Here we report that the treatment of RCC cell lines with azacitidine suppressed cell proliferation in all 15 lines tested. A marked response to azacitidine therapy (>50% reduction in colony formation assay) was detected in the three cell lines with VHL promoter methylation but some RCC cell lines without VHL TSG methylation also demonstrated a similar response suggesting that multiple methylated TSGs might determine the response to demethylating therapies. To identify novel candidate methylated TSGs implicated in RCC we undertook a combined analysis of copy number and CpG methylation array data. Candidate novel epigenetically inactivated TSGs were further prioritised by expression analysis of RCC cell lines pre and post-azacitidine therapy and comparative expression analysis of tumour/normal pairs. Thus, with subsequent investigation two candidate genes were found to be methylated in more than 25% of our series and in the TCGA methylation dataset for 199 RCC samples: RGS7 (25.6% and 35.2% of tumours respectively) and NEFM in (25.6% and 30.2%). In addition three candidate genes were methylated in >10% of both datasets (TMEM74 (15.4% and 14.6%), GCM2 (41.0% and 14.6%) and AEBP1 (30.8% and 13.1%)). Methylation of GCM2 (P = 0.0324), NEFM (P = 0.0024) and RGS7 (P = 0.0067) was associated with prognosis.
CONCLUSIONS: These findings provide preclinical evidence that treatment with demethylating agents such as azacitidine might be useful for the treatment of advanced RCC and further insights into the role of epigenetic changes in the pathogenesis of RCC.