COSMETIC SCAR AND SCOPE OF REVERSAL AFTER PUERPERAL STERILISATION

Female sterilisation is an important component of National Family Welfare Programme. The target group is best motivated during the puerperium for such a procedure. However laparoscopic sterilisation which has got some distinct advantages, is not technically feasible at this time. The authors have used a technique where the advantages of cosmetic appearance, reduced post operative morbidity and reversibility can be conferred on the puerperal women.After trying out the method individually in some cases, a formal case control study design has been made and an evaluation study has been performed in 122 cases. The technique has been found to be cosmetically more acceptable, both at clientele and peer evaluation levels (p<0.001). Though all the four parameters of post operative morbidity have shown better results for the technique evaluated as against the conventional technique, statistical significance has been achieved in two of the parameters (p<0.05).KEY WORDS: Cosmetics, Female sterilisation, Post operative morbidity     

Knock down of spinal NMDA receptors reduces NMDA and formalin evoked behaviors in rat

Chronic pain remains a major health problem afflicting an estimated 70% of patients with advanced cancer and inflammatory disorders, and up to 94% of patients with spinal cord injuries. Although progress has been made in the pharmacotherapy of chronic pain management, such as usage of adjuvant drugs and more effective methods of drug delivery, the mainstay of clinical pain management still depends on opiates. NMDA receptor activation, at the level of the spinal cord has been shown to play an important role in the facilitation of nociception (pain) in several animal models. Unfortunately, potent NMDA receptor antagonists, such as MK-801 and APV, have toxic properties and low safety margins that preclude their clinical use. We present evidence which indicates that the use of antisense oligonucleotides targeted to the NMDA-R1 receptor subunit (AS-NMDA-R1), but not sense, abolishes NMDA and formalin induced behaviors. Moreover, we demonstrate that spinal administration of AS-NMDA-R1 results in the abolition of staining for immunoreactive NMDA-R1 in the spinal cord. These data provide novel evidence supporting the feasibility of the use of gene therapy approaches in the management of neuropathic pain.     

Trans-scleral cyclophotocoagulation: a tale of two probes

To compare the histological effects of trans-scleral cyclophotocoagulation (TCP) performed with two different probes, the G-probe (IRIDEX Medical Instruments, Mountain View, CA, USA) and the Ciliprobe (Katalyst Surgical, Chesterfield, MO, USA). TCP was performed on two human cadaver eyes from the same corpse. The vertical meridian was marked and opposite sides were treated using either the G-probe or Ciliprobe. The first eye was treated with each probe at 2000ms/2000 mW and the second eye at 3000ms/1500 mW. Histological examination revealed separation and loss of the non-pigmented ciliary epithelium as well as vacuolization in all sections for both probes and settings. Changes to the non-pigmented ciliary epithelium treated at 3000ms/1500 mW were similar between the two probes. A slightly more complete separation of the non-pigmented epithelium was noted on the Ciliprobe treated sections as compared to the G-probe treated sections in the eye treated at 2000ms/2000 mW. Therefore, in human cadaver eyes, both the G-probe and Ciliprobe produced separation, vacuolization, and loss of the non-pigmented ciliary epithelium at two different, clinically utilized settings.     

Standardized extract of Lactuca sativa Linn. and its fractions abrogates scopolamine-induced amnesia in mice: A possible cholinergic and antioxidant mechanism

Objectives: The present study was designed to evaluate the efficacy of Lactuca sativa (LS) Linn. (Asteraceae) against scopolamine-induced amnesia and to validate its traditional claim as memory enhancer.

Methods: Ethanol extract of fresh LS leaves (LSEE), standardized on the basis of quercetin content, was successively partitioned using various solvents viz., hexane, ethyl acetate, and n-butanol in increasing order of polarity. LSEE (50, 100, and 200?mg/kg) and its various fractions (at a dose equivalent to dose of LSEE exhibiting maximum activity), administered orally for 14 days, were evaluated for their memory enhancing effect against scopolamine-induced (1?mg/kg, i.p.) amnesia in 3–4 months old male Laca mice (n?=?6 in each group). The memory enhancing effect was evaluated using behavioural (elevated plus maze, novel object recognition and Morris water maze tests) and biochemical parameters (acetylcholinesterase activity, malonaldehyde, superoxide dismutase, nitrite, catalase, and reduced gultathione content). The results of the test substances were compared with both scopolamine and donepezil that was used as a standard memory enhancer and acetylcholinesterase inhibitor.

Results: Scopolamine elicit marked deterioration of memory and alteration in biochemical parameters in comparison to the control group. LSEE and its n-butanol and aqueous fractions significantly (P?n-butanol fraction (15?mg/kg) exhibited maximum anti-amnesic effect among various tested dose levels.

Discussion: The results exhibited that LS prophylaxis attenuated scopolamine-induced memory impairment through its acetylcholinesterase inhibitory and antioxidant activity validating its traditional claim.     

Synthesis and antimicrobial activity of some new 4-triazolylmethoxy-2H-chromen-2-one derivatives

4-(5-Aryl-4H-[1,2,4]triazol-3-ylmethoxy)-2H-chromen-2-ones have been synthesized by the one pot cyclocondensation reaction of 2-(2-oxo-2H-chromen-4-yloxy)acetohydrazide with aromatic/heterocyclic aldehydes in the presence of ammonium acetate in acetic acid. The structures of all the new compounds have been established on the basis of their analytical and spectral data. These compounds were also evaluated for their antibacterial and antifungal activity against various strains of bacteria and fungi and some are found to possess significant antimicrobial activity when compared with ciprofloxacin and miconazole.     

Singlet oxygen-mediated synthesis of malarial chemotherapeutic agents

Malaria is the leading infectious disease found in humans, affecting third-world countries. Worldwide, more than two billion people are at risk of malaria, with about 500 million clinical cases of malaria each year and one million deaths. In this focused review, an effort has been made to summarize the reactions of singlet oxygen with organic substrates, their stereoselectivity, stereospecificity and utilization in generating dioxetanes and endoperoxides. The study of production and reactivity indications of this exceptional molecule has emerged as a rich and diverse area in the synthesis of antimalarials like artemisinin and its semisynthetic derivatives, structurally simple 1,2,4-trioxanes, sesquiterpene isonitriles, synthetic cyclic, and other acyclic peroxides. Artermisinin, a mainstay in antimalarial drug therapy, meets the dual challenge posed by drug-resistant parasites and rapid advancement of lethal malarial threat. The cardinal mechanism of peroxidation and ring closure in its production are induced by singlet oxygen and acid. Moreover, its complex structure restricts the complete chemical synthesis of artemisinin. Consequently, the limited availability coupled with increasing demand for artemisinin has paved the way for the preparation of synthetic alternatives of artemisinin and its derivatives. Likewise, past evidence of the structure–activity relationship indicate the importance of singlet oxygen in antimalarial drug synthesis. It is anticipated that this compendium on the chemistry of singlet oxygen will be of use to organic/medicinal chemists and pharmacologists working on antimalarial drug development.     

The care of VIPs in the emergency department: Triage,treatment and ethics

People identified as Very Important Persons (VIPs) often present or are referred to the Emergency Department (ED). Celebrities are a small subset of this group, but many others are included. Triage of these patients, including occasional prioritization, creates practical and ethical challenges. Treatment also provides challenges with the risks of over testing, overtreatment, over consultation, and over or under admission to the hospital. This article presents a practical and ethical framework for addressing the care of VIPs in the ED.     

Dose-dependent effect of histamine on liver function markers in immunized rabbits

ObjectiveThe present study was designed to delineate the hepatotoxicological roles of histamine dose-dependently in immunized rabbits.MethodsThe cohort comprised of three groups (II, III and IV), containing 18 rabbits each, and received subcutaneous histamine 50 μg/kg, 100 μg/kg and 200 μg/kg, respectively for 10 days (b.i.d., starting from 3 days prior to immunization until 7 days after immunization). Group I (control, n = 18) received subcutaneous sterile distilled water for 10 days. They were subsequently immunized at day 3 with intravenous injection of SRBC (1 × 10⁹ cells/ml). Blood samples were collected on pre-immunization (pre-I) day 0, as well as on days 7-, 14-, 21-, 28- and 58-post-immunization (post-I). Biochemical parameters aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and bilirubin [total bilirubin (TB), direct bilirubin (DB) and indirect bilirubin (IB)] were determined.ResultsGroups II and IV revealed a significant decrease (on day 0-pre-I) and a significant increase (on days 7-, 14-, 21-, 28- and 58-post-I) in ALT and AST levels, when compared with the corresponding values of groups I and III while group II showed a significant increase in ALT and AST levels as compared to group IV. ALP levels in groups II, III and IV showed a significant enhancement when compared with group I. Moreover, results of TB, DB and IB demonstrated increased levels in group III when compared with groups I, II and IV. The results were found statistically significant (p < 0.05).ConclusionShort-term treatment of histamine produces dose-dependent differential patterns of hepatic dysfunctions suggestive mild liver degeneration warranting further long-term studies.     

A novel audio forensic data-set for digital multimedia forensics

Today, digital multimedia (audio, video, images) is a common evidential source in litigation and criminal justice proceedings, and, not surprisingly, multimedia forensics is an active research area. One particular challenge faced by multimedia forensic researchers is the lack of a comprehensive and publicly available data-set for evaluating existing and new algorithms. This paper presents a digital audio forensic data-set, designed to facilitate evaluation of audio forensic algorithms (e.g. microphone identification, acoustic environment identification and splice detection). This paper also briefly describes the data-collection settings, microphones, speakers, languages and notations used. Existing tamper-detection techniques rely on artefacts due to recording devices, codec and/or the acoustic environment in the audio in question. Experimental results show that the selected approaches achieved promising results.