Effective use of simple computer programmes and clay models to demonstrate the planning and operative steps for teaching and presentations

Background:Presenting and demonstrating a surgical procedure in the current era is difficult without good intraoperative pictures and videos. A long, complex, multi-staged surgery is better illustrated by detailed intraoperative images at various stages. Although desirable, it may be difficult due to various reasons.Results:It is a simple technique with a moderate learning curve. Once familiar with technique, one can effectively use the technique to convey the details in much more clear manner.Conclusion:It is a simple and effective way of communicating through digital images, and gives the audience a 3 dimensional idea about the concept.KEY WORDS: Clay models in plasticine surgery, photography, presentations in plastic surgery, teaching and patient education, use of clay models for presentations     

Antibiotic susceptibility of wound isolates in plastic surgery patients at a tertiary care centre

Context:Wound infection increases the hospital stay and adversely affects the recovery of patients. Culture and sensitivity of wound isolates help in proper diagnosis and management of these patients.Aim:To identify common bacteria causing wound infections and their antibiotic sensitivity pattern.Results:There were a total of 150 patients with infected wounds. Most common organism isolated was Pseudomonas followed by Klebsiella and Staphylococcus aureus. All of these organisms were resistant to most routine antibiotics.Conclusion:We suggest a multidisciplinary approach to wound management, rational drug use, routine microbiological surveillance of wounds and institution of hospital infection control policy.KEY WORDS: Bacteria, culture and sensitivity, wound infection     

Listeria monocytogenes meningitis: an uncommon opportunistic infection in HIV/AIDS

OBJECTIVE: To report an interesting case of meningitis caused by Listeria monocytogenes meningitis in an HIV seropositive individual. MATERIALS & METHODS: A previously healthy 45 years old HIV seropositive man, presented with atypical clinical features of meningitis. Blood and Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) were obtained for biochemical and microbiological investigations. RESULTS: CSF analysis showed pleocytosis with lymphocytic predominance. Gram stain of CSF was negative; however culture yielded growth of gram positive bacilli with tumbling motility. Based on relevant biochemical tests the isolate was identified as Listeria monocytogenes. Patient was treated with i.v. ampicillin and recovered completely. CONCLUSION: Listeriosis is relatively rare in HIV/AIDS among the immunodeficient populations. Atypical clinical and laboratory findings make the diagnosis difficult and these infections may go undiagnosed. Since it is easily treated with readily available antibiotics, it is important to diagnose them at the earliest and thereby prevent treatment failure.     

Cervical thymic cyst: a case report

Cervical thymic cysts are rare benign lesions. It should be considered in the differential diagnosis of cervical cysts in paediatric age group. This paper presents a case of a 6 years male child who presented with gradually increasing painless mass on right side of neck. Surgical excision was done. Histopathological study revealed features diagnostic of thymic cyst. It was clinically diagnosed as branchial cleft cyst. Though rare, thymic cysts should be included in the differential diagnosis of neck masses, especially in children.     

Detection of Mycoplasma species in cell culture by PCR and RFLP based method: effect of BM-cyclin to cure infections

PURPOSE: A two-stage nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay system was described that amplifies the 16S-23S rRNA spacer region sequences of Mycoplasma and Acholeplasma infections in cell cultures and virus stocks. METHODS: Established cell lines and virus stocks were screened for the presence of Mycoplasma by using nested PCR using two sets of outer and inner primers, amplifies 16S-23S rRNA. PCR and restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) assay was used to detect and identify most of the species-specific Mycoplasmas involved in cell cultures and virus stock contaminants. Infected cultures detected by PCR-RFLP were further treated with BM-cyclin (5 microg/mL) and passaged for three times and tested for Mycoplasma infections by PCR-RFLP. RESULTS: Mycoplasma pirum and Mycoplasma orale infections were detected by nested PCR. Species specificity was identified by using RFLP of Vsp I, Cla I and Hin dIII restriction enzymes. Mycoplasma infections were cured by treatment with BM-cyclin. This was further confirmed by non-amplification of PCR amplimers in BM-cyclin treated vs. non-treated cultures. CONCLUSIONS: Regular monitoring of cell cultures for Mycoplasma infections and identification of species-specific Mollicutes will identify the source of contaminations. This approach can be used for quality control of the biological reagents used in cell culture and virology laboratories.     

Deletion and recombination events between the DNA-A and DNA-B components of Indian cassava-infecting geminiviruses generate defective molecules in Nicotiana benthamiana

Cloned DNA-B components, belonging to the bipartite begomoviruses Indian cassava mosaic virus (ICMV) and Sri Lankan cassava mosaic virus (SLCMV), family Geminiviridae, when co-inoculated along with previously cloned DNA-A components of the respective viruses onto the experimental host Nicotiana benthamiana, generated defective DNAs (def-DNA) ranging in size from 549 to 1555 nucleotides. All the cloned def-DNAs contained the common region (CR) as well as portions of either DNA-A or DNA-B and, in a few cases, both DNA-A and DNA-B, representing recombinant products, the junction points of which correspond to repeats of 2-11 bases found in the parental molecules. The DNA-B-derived def-DNAs were, in some cases, associated with a decrease in levels of DNA-B, with a concomitant change in the symptoms from downward leaf curling in the older leaves to upward leaf-rolling in newly emerging leaves, more typical of monopartite begomoviruses.     

3D prostate elastography: algorithm, simulations and experiments

A multi-resolution hybrid strain estimator is presented. The estimator is locally initialized by the B-mode tracking stage. Nonlinear and linear stretching regimes are applied in successive RF tracking stages for refining the estimated axial and lateral displacements. A staggering operator is used to derive the strain images from the reconstructed axial displacements. Simulations and experiments, conducted at a center frequency of 12 MHz, 40% fractional bandwidth, on a 128 element transducer with 0.2 mm pitch, with elastographic window length of 2 mm and overlap of 90%, demonstrate a 3-6 dB improvement in the elastographic contrast-to-noise ratio over the results obtained using conventional multi-stage stretching based strain estimators. The average image cross-correlation coefficient obtained using the proposed algorithm was improved by 6-8%. 3D elastographic simulations conducted to study the performance of a 3D elastographic imaging framework predict achievable axial and lateral resolutions of approximately five and ten wavelengths, respectively. A close correspondence between inclusions reconstructed from experimental elastograms and the known physical shape of actual 3D inclusions demonstrates the potential application of 3D elastography for identifying and classifying the detected lesions (invisible in sonograms) on the basis of their shape.     

Antiapoptotic and immunomodulatory effects of chlorophyllin

Chlorophyllin (CHL) was earlier shown to reduce the level of intracellular ROS and apoptosis induced by ionizing radiation and 2,2'-azobis(2-propionimidinedihydrochloride) (AAPH). In the present studies, the effect of CHL on radiation-induced immunosuppression and modulation of immune responses in mice was examined. Chlorophyllin inhibited the in vitro lymphocyte proliferation induced by concanavalin A (Con A) in a dose dependent manner at doses>or=50 microM. At lower doses (10 microM) CHL significantly inhibited activation induced cell death (AICD) in Con A stimulated spleen cells. Spleen cells obtained from CHL treated mice showed an inhibition of response to Con A depending on dose of CHL and the time after its administration. Spleen cells obtained from CHL treated mice (24 h) showed lower inhibition of response to Con A following in vitro (5 Gy) as well as whole body irradiation (2 Gy). The expression of antiapoptotic genes bcl-2 and bcl-xL was up-regulated in these cells. Chlorophyllin treatment of mice led to splenomegaly and increase in the number of peritoneal exudate cells (PEC). The numbers of T cells, B cells and macrophages in the spleen were also increased. Increased phagocytic activity was seen in PEC obtained from CHL treated mice. Most importantly, CHL administration to mice immunized with sheep red blood cells (SRBC) augmented both humoral and cell-mediated immune responses.     

Formulation Development,Optimization, and In Vitro–In Vivo Characterization of Natamycin-Loaded PEGylated Nano-Lipid Carriers for Ocular Applications

The present study aimed at formulating and optimizing natamycin (NT)-loaded polyethylene glycosylated nano-lipid carriers (NT-PEG-NLCs) using Box-Behnken design and investigating their potential in ocular applications. Response surface methodology computations and plots for optimization were performed using Design-Expert^® software to obtain optimum values for response variables based on the criteria of desirability. Optimized NT-PEG-NLCs had predicted values for the dependent variables which are not significantly different from the experimental values. NT-PEG-NLCs were characterized for their physicochemical parameters; NT's rate of permeation and flux across rabbit cornea was evaluated, in vitro, and ocular tissue distribution was assessed in rabbits, in vivo. NT-PEG-NLCs were found to have optimum particle size (<300 nm), narrow polydispersity index, and high NT entrapment and NT content. In vitro transcorneal permeability and flux of NT from NT-PEG-NLCs was significantly higher than that of Natacyn^®. NT-PEG-NLC (0.3%) showed improved delivery of NT across the intact cornea and provided concentrations statistically similar to the marketed suspension (5%) in inner ocular tissues, in vivo, indicating that it could be a potential alternative to the conventional suspension during the course of fungal keratitis therapy.