Molecular detection of Orientia tsutsugamushi strains circulating in Nagaland

The antigenic heterogeneity of Orientia in India is still unknown in many disease endemic areas. The present study aims to characterize the strains of O. tsutsugamushi circulating in Nagaland, Northeast India. Two patients clinically diagnosed with ST and hospitalized in Mon district hospital, Nagaland were identified from whom eschar tissues were collected. Both patients demonstrated antibodies against O. tsutsugamushi along with positive PCR amplification for 56 ?kDa gene. The prototype strain TA763 shared 90.4% homology with the sequences. Both the sequences formed a distinctive cluster demonstrating 100% similarity with strains identified from Thailand, Vietnam, China and southern parts of India.     

Therapeutic effects of topical 0.03% Tacrolimus ointment in children with refractory vernal keratoconjunctivitis in Middle East

ObjectiveThe purpose of this paper is to review the efficacy and safety profile in children treated with topical 0.03% Tacrolimus ointment for vernal keratoconjunctivitis in Middle East and to propose a treatment posology. According to recent studies, a complex non-IgE dependent mechanism plays a relevant role in the pathogenesis of vernal keratoconjunctivitis. Numerous cells and mediators have been found in the serum, conjunctiva and tears of patients with Vernal keratoconjunctivitis.DesignThis case series included 10 patients from a single centre, pediatric department of a tertiary hospital with active symptomatic vernal keratoconjunctivitis. All the patients had proliferative lesions and corneal involvement despite conventional medications, including topical steroids. All other medications, systemic and topical: steroids, antihistamines and cyclosporine, were unsuccessful. Patients were treated with topical 0.03% Tacrolimus ointment twice daily for 8 weeks and then once a day for the next two month followed by thrice a week for two months. The changes in symptoms and signs after treatment were evaluated, also the development of possible complications was assessed.ResultsThe results showed a significant reduction in signs and symptoms after 4 weeks of the treatment. Clinical resolution of giant papillae and corneal lesions were seen within eight weeks and no additional drug was required during that period, except tear substitutes. Treatment was continued for period of two months and then slowly reduced.ConclusionThe use of 0.03% Tacrolimus ointment is safe and effective in children refractory to conventional treatment of vernal keratoconjunctivitis even in high temperature climate as Middle East. Due to the effectiveness of the treatment, the dosage used may be proposed for conventional use.     

Clinical evaluation of technetium-99m infecton for the localisation of bacterial infection

The aim of the study was to distinguish infection from inflammation in patients with suspected infection using technetium-99m Infecton. Ninety-nine patients (102 studies) referred for infection evaluation underwent imaging with 400 MBq^99mTc-Infecton at 1 and 4 h. Most patients had appropriate microbiological tests and about half (56) had radiolabelled white cell scans as well. No adverse effects were noted in any patient. The clinical efficacy of^99mTc-Infecton depended in part on whether imaging was undertaken during intibiotic therapy for infection or not. In consultation with the microbiologist, 5–14 days of appropriate and successful antibiotic therapy was considered adequate to classify some results as true-negatives. The figures for sensitivity and specificity of^99mTc-Infecton for active or unsuccessfully treated infection were 83% and 91% respectively. It is concluded that^99mTc-Infecton imaging contributed to the differential diagnosis of inflammation. It is being used as the first imaging modality when bacterial infection is suspected.     

Atypical angiomyolipoma of kidney in a patient with tuberous sclerosis: a case report with p53 gene mutation analysis

Angiomyolipoma (AML) is the most common benign mesenchymal tumor of the kidney. It belongs to the family of perivascular epithelioid cell tumors and is typically composed of blood vessels, adipose tissue, and smooth muscle- like cells, which are characteristically positive for HMB-45. Results of recent studies suggest that p53 mutation may play an important role in AML progression. Here, we describe a locally destructive renal AML in a patient with tuberous sclerosis. The tumor consisted of mostly epithelioid cells with marked nuclear pleomorphism and frequent mitoses and was positive for HMB-45. The diagnosis of atypical epithelioid AML was made. Codon alteration in the p53 gene was not detected, despite focal p53 immunoreactivity and single nucleotide polymorphism at exon 6. Our finding indicates no definite link between p53 abnormalities and the atypical appearance of AML. To the best of our knowledge, this is the second renal AML case investigated for p53 mutations.     

Fascin,an actin-bundling protein,modulates colonic epithelial cell invasiveness and differentiation in vitro

In epithelial tissue, cell-matrix and cell-cell adhesive interactions have important roles in the normal organization and stabilization of the cell layer. The malignant conversion of epithelial cells involves alterations in the expression and function of these adhesion systems that enable a switch to a migratory phenotype in tumor invasion and metastasis. Fascin is an actin-crosslinking protein that is found in the core actin bundles of cell-surface spikes and projections that are implicated in cell motility. We demonstrate that fascin is not detectable in normal colonic epithelium, but is dramatically up-regulated in colorectal adenocarcinoma. To test the hypothesis that fascin could participate in tumor invasive behavior, we developed a cell culture model to examine the effect of fascin expression on the adhesive interactions, invasiveness, and differentiation of colonic epithelial cells. We report marked effects on the organization of cell-surface protrusions, actin cytoskeleton, and focal adhesions in the absence of alterations in the protein levels of the major components of these structures. These effects correlate with alterations in cell movements on two-dimensional matrix, and increased invasiveness in three-dimensional matrix. The cells also show increased proliferation and decreased capacity for normal glandular differentiation in collagen gels. We propose that up-regulation of fascin, by promoting the formation of protrusive, actin-based, cell-motility structures, could be a significant component in the acquisition of invasive phenotype in colonic carcinoma.     

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.