Gastrostomy tubes: Fundamentals,periprocedural considerations,and best practices

Gastrostomy tube placement is a procedure that achieves enteral access for nutrition, decompression, and medication administration. Preprocedural evaluation and selection of patients is necessary to provide optimal benefit and reduce the risk of adverse events (AEs). Appropriate indications, contraindications, ethical considerations, and comorbidities of patients referred for gastrostomy placement should be weighed and balanced. Additionally, endoscopist should consider either a transoral or transabdominal approach is appropriate, and radiologic or surgical gastrostomy tube placement is needed. However, medical history, physical examination, and imaging prior to the procedure should be considered to tailor the appropriate approach and reduce the risk of AEs.     

Heterologous expression of a substance which inhibits receptivity and calling in Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner)

The accessory glands of male moths secrete several proteins, which are known to affect post-mating behaviour in females such as calling, reduction in receptivity, rate of egg maturation and laying, sperm maintenance and release and formation of mating plug. Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner) is a polyphagous pest of numerous crops and it is widely distributed on the Indian subcontinent where it causes severe economic losses. In the present study, receptivity- and calling-inhibiting substance (RCIS), a peptide secreted from the accessory glands of male H. armigera, was sequenced, cloned and expressed in a prokaryote, Escherichia coli. RCIS is a peptide comprising 58 amino acids and had a theoretical molecular weight of 6.03 kDa. It showed 64% similarity with pheromonostatic peptide 1, identified in Helicoverpa zea (Kingan et al., 1995) but differed regarding deletion of four and one amino acids at positions 14–17 and 44, respectively, and insertion of one and five amino acids at position 38 and the terminal position of RCIS, respectively. H. armigera females injected with recombinant RCIS showed reduced receptivity and calling behaviour (in 70–80% of the treated individuals), and mating frequencies decreased by 80%. Recombinant RCIS may be employed to artificially induce non-receptivity in virgin females in order to prevent reproduction.     

Collagen extraction and recent biological activities of collagen peptides derived from sea-food waste: A review

Mostly, collagen is obtained from mammalian sources, but its use is limited because of high cost and various allergic reactions. In this review, different alternative sources of collagen were explored and methods for isolation and peptide generations are summarized. Bioactive peptides are short sequences of 2–20 amino acid residues with positive effect on human health. This review summarizes various biological activities of sea food derived peptides/hydrolysates includes antioxidant, inflammatory, antifreeze, angiotension-I converting enzyme (ACE-I) inhibition, antimicrobial, antiaging, wound healing and anticoagulant activities. Moreover, this review also highlights the therapeutic potential and importance of sea-food derived peptides in various pharmaceutical, biomedical, food and cosmetic industries. This review also proposes biological solution for utilization of seafood derived waste in the development of collagen-based food ingredients that is otherwise cause environmental pollution.     

Inhibitory neuronal changes following a mixed diffuse-focal model of traumatic brain injury

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) can result in excitation: inhibition imbalance, as well as a range of chronic neurological deficits. However, how TBI affects different interneurons, and how this relates to behavioral abnormalities, remains poorly understood. This study examined the effects of a mixed diffuse-focal model of TBI, the lateral fluid percussion injury (LFPI), on interneurons, 8 weeks post-TBI in rats. Brains were labeled with antibodies against calbindin, parvalbumin, calretinin, neuropeptide Y, and somatostatin, and the number of interneurons were assessed in the cortex and hippocampus following LFPI. LFPI caused a reduction in the numbers of interneurons mediating both perisomatic and dendritic inhibition in the somatosensory cortex. In hippocampus, there were heterogenous changes in the number of interneurons while motor cortex, showed no obvious loss in any of the subsets of interneurons after TBI. In parallel to the investigations of changes in the number of interneurons, we also investigated the long-term behavioral consequences of LFPI. Behaviorally, rats given an LFPI displayed transient reduction in performance in motor tasks and were significantly impaired in reversal learning in the water maze task post-TBI. We also report here progressive neurodegeneration in cortex and hippocampus indicated by Fluoro-Jade C in the different brain areas examined after injury. Our findings suggest differential vulnerability of inhibitory neurons to LFPI in the different brain areas examined after injury. These data will aid in evaluation of new treatments for TBI and help target specific neuronal subtypes as a function of injury time and type.     

Interpretation of cytogenetic results in multiple myeloma for clinical practice

The interpretation of cytogenetic abnormalities in multiple myeloma (MM) is often a challenging task. MM is characterized by several cytogenetic abnormalities that occur at various time points in the disease course. The interpretation of cytogenetic results in MM is complicated by the number and complexity of the abnormalities, the methods used to detect them and the disease stage at which they are detected. Specific cytogenetic abnormalities affect clinical presentation, progression of smoldering multiple myeloma (SMM) to MM, prognosis of MM and management strategies. The goal of this paper is to provide a review of how MM is classified into specific subtypes based on primary cytogenetic abnormalities and to provide a concise overview of how to interpret cytogenetic abnormalities based on the disease stage to aid clinical practice and patient management.     

MB2 in maxillary second molar.

Occurrence of the second mesiobuccal canal (MB2) is a frequent finding. Literary reports have shown it to be found more in the cases of the maxillary first molar. However the maxillary second molars have also been found with this variation in a number of canals. This paper presents a case report on the occurrence of a second mesiobuccal canal or the MB2 in the maxillary second molar.