Comparative evaluation of plain films, ultrasound and CT in the diagnosis of intestinal obstruction.

BACKGROUND: There are limited studies in the literature comparing plain radiography, US and CT in the evaluation of intestinal obstruction. We carried out this prospective study to compare the relative efficacies of these three imaging techniques in patients with intestinal obstruction. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Thirty-two patients presenting with clinical suspicion of intestinal obstruction were subjected to plain radiography, US and CT and the findings were compared with reference to the presence or absence of obstruction, the level of obstruction and the cause of obstruction. The final diagnosis was obtained by surgery (n=25), or by contrast studies and/or clinical follow-up in those who were treated conservatively (n=7). RESULTS: Out of 32 patients, 30 had mechanical intestinal obstruction (22 had small bowel obstruction and 8 had large bowel obstruction). Of the remaining 2 patients, 1 had adynamic ileus and the other had a mesenteric cyst. CT had high sensitivity (93%), specificity (100%) and accuracy (94%) in diagnosing the presence of obstruction. The comparable sensitivity, specificity and accuracy were, respectively. 83%, 100% and 84% for US and 77%, 50% and 75% for plain radiography. The level of obstruction was correctly predicted in 93% on CT, in 70% on US and in 60% on plain films. CT was superior (87%) to both US (23%) and plain radiography (7%) in determining the aetiology of obstruction. CONCLUSION: CT is a highly accurate method in the evaluation of intestinal obstruction especially for determining the level and cause of obstruction and should be the technique of choice when clinical or plain radiographic findings are equivocal.     

Stress degradation studies on varenicline tartrate and development of a validated stability-indicating HPLC method

A simple, rapid and stability-indicating reversed-phase liquid chromatographic method was developed for the assay of varenicline tartrate (VRT) in the presence of its degradation products generated from forced decomposition studies. The HPLC separation was achieved on a C18 Inertsil column (250 mm × 4.6 mm i.d. particle size is 5 μm) employing a mobile phase consisting of ammonium acetate buffer containing trifluoroacetic acid (0.02M; pH 4) and acetonitrile in gradient program mode with a flow rate of 1.0 mL min(-1). The UV detector was operated at 237 nm while column temperature was maintained at 40 °C. The developed method was validated as per ICH guidelines with respect to specificity, linearity, precision, accuracy, robustness and limit of quantification. The method was found to be simple, specific, precise and accurate. Selectivity of the proposed method was validated by subjecting the stock solution of VRT to acidic, basic, photolysis, oxidative and thermal degradation. The calibration curve was found to be linear in the concentration range of 0.1-192 μg mL(-1) (R(2) = 0.9994). The peaks of degradation products did not interfere with that of pure VRT. The utility of the developed method was examined by analyzing the tablets containing VRT. The results of analysis were subjected to statistical analysis.     

Cytocompatibility studies of mouse pancreatic islets on gelatin--PVP semi IPN scaffolds in vitro: potential implication towards pancreatic tissue engineering

Type 1 diabetes is a chronic disorder that results due to auto immune destruction of insulin producing cells, which leads to hyperglycemia in the blood. The development of an ideal scaffold for maintaining the structure and function of islets is a challenge in the field of pancreatic tissue engineering. In this study, gelatin (G) as well as gelatin / PVP (GP) semi interpenetrating polymer network scaffolds have been fabricated by freeze drying technique and cross linked with gluteraldehyde (GTA) and 1-Ethyl-3-[3-dimethylaminopropyl] carbodiimide hydrochloride (EDC), which was abbreviated as GG, GPG (cross linked with GTA) GE, and GPE (cross linked with EDC). The presence of gelatin and PVP in GPE and GPG scaffolds was confirmed through FTIR and TGA. The medium uptake ability of GPE and GPG scaffolds were higher than GG and GE scaffolds. The scaffolds were then analyzed for its ability to maintain the viability and function of mouse pancreatic islet cells in vitro. The results showed that the islets can adhere, but it tends to lose the structure and function on all the scaffolds after day 7, except on GPE where they remained intact up to day 30. Thus the present study clearly demonstrates that gelatin incorporated with PVP and cross linked with EDC scaffolds could support and maintain islet cells for prolonged period.     

HO-3867, a STAT3 inhibitor induces apoptosis by inactivation of STAT3 activity in BRCA1-mutated ovarian cancer cells

BRCA1 plays an important role in DNA damage and repair, homologous recombination, cell-cycle regulation and apoptosis. BRCA-mutated ovarian cancer often presents at an advanced stage, however, tend to have better response to platinum-based chemotherapy as compared with sporadic cases of epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC). In spite of this, most patients will develop a recurrence and eventually succumb to the disease. Preclinical studies are currently investigating natural compounds and their analogs for tumor-directed targets in ovarian cancer. The aim of this study is to investigate whether the STAT3 inhibitor HO-3867, a novel curcumin analog, has a therapeutic effect on BRCA1-mutated ovarian cancer. Our novel agent, HO-3867 and a commercial STAT3 inhibitor, STATTIC, significantly inhibited BRCA-mutated ovarian cancer cells in vitro in a dose- and time-dependent manner. BRCA-mutated ovarian cancer cells treated with HO-3867 exhibited a significant degree of apoptosis with elevated levels of cleaved caspase-3, caspase-7 and PARP. HO-3867 treatment induced more reactive oxygen species (ROS) in BRCA-mutated cells compared with wild-type cells, however, there was no increased ROS when benign ovarian surface epithelial cells were treated with HO-3867. BRCA1-mutated cancer cells had higher expression of Tyrosine-phosphorylated STAT3 (pTyr705) as compared with other STAT proteins. Furthermore, treatment of these cells with HO-3867 resulted in decreased expression of pTyr705 and its downstream targets cyclin D1, Bcl-2 and survivin. In addition, overexpression of STAT3 cDNA provided resistance to HO-3867-induced apoptosis. Our results show that HO-3867, a potent STAT3 inhibitor, may have a role as a biologically targeted agent for BRCA1-mutated cancers either as an adjunct to cytotoxic chemotherapy or as a single agent.     

Synthesis and antimicrobial activity of novel sulfone-linked bis heterocycles

Novel sulfone-linked bis heterocycles pyrazolines in combination with thiadiazoles, oxadiazoles and triazoles were prepared from E-styrylsulfonylacetic acid methyl ester and tested for their antimicrobial activity. The compound 8 showed pronounced activity than the compounds 6 and 7.     

Dental health care waste disposal among private dental practices in Bangalore City, India

Any waste generated consequent to health care activity including any from a home environment is health care waste. Dental practices generate large amounts of waste cotton, plastic, latex, glass and other materials much of which may be contaminated with body fluids. OBJECTIVE: To assess the knowledge, attitude and behaviour of private dental practitioners on health care waste management in Bangalore City. METHODS: A cross-sectional study of 432 private dental practitioners in Bangalore City using a self-administered questionnaire. RESULTS: 389 dentists responded; 64.3% do not segregate waste before disposal and 47.6% hand over health care waste to street garbage collectors; 42.1% felt that there was a lack of waste management agency services and 16.9% felt that a lack of knowledge were the main hurdles. CONCLUSIONS: Dentists need education regarding health care waste disposal methods to improve their knowledge. A large proportion of the dentists are not practising proper methods of health care waste disposal. The existence of legislation governing healthcare waste disposal is not sufficient alone to motivate many practitioners to comply with guidelines.