Head and Neck Pathology and Radiology 2011

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Role of Keystone Species in Aquatic Ecosystem

A keystone species is a species that has a disproportionately large effect on its environment relative to its abundance. Such species play a critical role in maintaining the structure of an ecological community, affecting many other organism s in an ecosystem and helping to determine the types and numbers of various other species in the community

Inhibitory compound produced by Pseudomonas with effectiveness on Vibrio harveyi

Persistence of the antivibrio property of the potential antagonistic probiotics, Pseudomonas MCCB 102 and 103, at di¡erent temperatures, pH and in organic solvents was studied. The antivibrio compound was extracted, puri¢ed and characterized using thin-layer chromatography, high-pressure liquid chromatography, liquid chromatography-mass spectroscopy, UV^ Vis and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and identi¢ed as N-methyl-1-hydroxyphenazine, a phenazine antibiotic. The toxicity of the compound was tested in Penaeus monodon haemocyte culture and the IC50 valuewas found to be1.4 _ 0.31mg L_1. The compound was found to be bacteriostatic at 0.5mg L_1. Its stability to varying temperature, pH, organic solvents, prolonged shelf-life and vibriostatic nature point to its suitability for prophylatic aquaculture application

Effectiveness of Gloves and Infection Control in Dentistry: Student and Provider Perspectives

The objectives of this study were to explore dental and dental hygiene students’, graduate students’, and dental professionals’ preferences for certain types of gloves and the reasons for these preferences (Aim 1), as well as determining their knowledge, attitudes, and behavior concerning the use of dental gloves as a means of barrier protection (Aim 2). Data were collected from 198 dental and forty-six dental hygiene students, thirty-five graduate students, and seventy-nine dental professionals (twenty-eight dentists and fifty-one dental hygienists in private practice). The subjects responded to a self-administered anonymous survey. Professionals (dentists: 96.4 percent and dental hygienists: 92.2 percent) were found to be more likely to have a preference for certain types of gloves than students (dental students: 79.2 percent and dental hygiene students: 76 percent) and graduate students (77.1 percent; p=.033). “Comfort” was most frequently reported as a reason for glove preference. Large percentages of respondents wrongly believed that gloves provide full protection (students: 50.8 percent; graduate students: 25.7 percent; professionals: 30.4 percent), thought that gloves provide protection as long as there is no visible tear (students: 39.7 percent; graduate students: 28.6 percent; professionals: 18.2 percent), and reported that they would not change gloves during an uninterrupted three-hour long procedure (students: 32.2 percent; graduate students: 23.5 percent; professionals: 22.7 percent). These findings should alert dental educators about the importance of educating their students as well as practicing professionals clearly and comprehensively about infection control and the science and rationale supporting recommended guidelines

Mobile IP and Route Optimization: A Simulation Study.

Powerful light-weight portable computers, the availability of wireless networks, and the popularity of the Internet are driving the need for better networking support for mobile hosts. Current versions of the Internet Protocol (IP), make an implicit assumption that the point at which a computer attaches to a network is fixed and its IP address identifies the network to which it is attached. Packets are sent to a computer based on the location information contained in its IP address. Therefore, transparent host mobility is not supported by IP. But there is a growing need for users to be able to connect their portable computers to the Internet at any time, and stay connected even when they are on the move. Amongst various options available to implement host mobility, Mobile IP, which is an IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force) Draft Standard, is the most feasible one. The Mobile IP protocol, that is compatible with the TCP/IP protocol suite, allows a mobile host to move around the Internet without changing its identity. It is an internet (IP) layer solution to host mobility. Route Optimization, which is an extension to Mobile IP, allows a node to cache the location of a mobile host and to send packets directly to that mobile host. This thesis describes the development of a model to simulate Mobile IP with Route Optimization. An event-driven simulator was developed to study this protocol. Using this simulator, experiments were conducted to study the performance of the protocol under various changing network parameters. These experiments also establish the merits of Route Optimization over base Mobile IP

EVALUATION OF THYROID FUNCTION TEST IN OBESE PATIENTS

ABSTRACTObjective: To evaluate thyroid function in 20-50 aged obese people. As obesity is a widespread problem today, knowledge about the factors affectingor influencing it is important. Little is known about the changes in thyroid function obese people. Influence on thyroid hormone synthesis has beenproposed.Methods: Thyroid function test was done for 30 obese and 30 nonobese people, and their thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) levels were compared.Results: Using paired t-test, we found that there is a statistically significant difference between TSH levels in obese and nonobese people at p<0.001.Keywords: Thyroid, Obese, Nonobese, Thyroid function test

Validation of tuna Potential Fishing Zone advisories of Lakshadweep with a note on tuna habitat preferences and biology

Validation of tuna Potential Fishing Zone advisories of Lakshadweep with a note on tuna habitat preferences and biolog

EVALUATIONS OF CURATIVE EFFICACY OF HYDROALCOHOLIC EXTRACT OF APIUM GRAVEOLENS IN EXPERIMENTALLY INDUCED NEPHROLITHIATIC WISTAR MALE RATS

In Indian folk medicine, there is a claim that medicinal plants can treat urolithiasis although there is insufficient scientific evidence. The objective of this study was to evaluate the curative efficacy of hydro alcoholic extract of Apium graveolens in experimentally induced nephrolithiatic rats. Methods: Urolithiasis was induced in male Wistar rats by feeding ethylene glycol in drinking water for 28 days. The curative effects were evaluated after oral administrations of 200 and 400 mg/kg of the extracts from 15 to 28 days. Urine samples were collected 1 day before sacrificing the rats. Blood and kidney samples were gathered under anaesthetic condition at day 28. Results: Hydro alcoholic extract of Apium graveolens reduced significantly in the urinary level of protein, calcium, Uric acid, Creatinine, Oxalate and Phosphate (P < 0.001), whereas it was significantly elevated the levels of magnesium (P < 0.01) compared to lithiatic control. In the kidneys, CaOx crystal deposits were reduced significantly by hydro alcoholic extract of Apium graveolens.(P < 0.01) Conclusion: It has been noted that Hydro alcoholic extract of Apium graveolens  was potent in treating urolithiasis. However, further study is required to assess the efficacy of the active compounds against urolithiasis

Fatty Liver Index in a general population visiting the master health check up in a Tertiary Care Centre

INTRODUCTION : The term NAFLD was coined by Ludwig et al in 1980, it is a spectrum of liver diseases with histologic features of alcohol – induced liver disease that occurs in individuals who do not consume significant quantities of alcohol. The spectrum includes: 1. Fatty liver (hepatic steatosis), 2. NASH – Non alcoholic steatohepatitis, 3. Cirrhosis. Clinically NAFLD is a diagnosis of exclusion of other causes of liver disease. It is characterized histologically by excessive accumulation of hepatic fat in the absence of alcohol consumption. NAFLD is a major cause of liver related to morbidity and mortality. A complete diagnosis of fatty liver disease ideally should define the histology, including the stage and grade of the disease as well as its etiology. It is commonly associated with metabolic syndrome. 80% patient with metabolic syndrome have NAFLD. The risk factors for non alcoholic steatohepatits are obesity, type 2 diabetes mellitus, drugs, female gender, hypertriglyceridemia, hypercholesterolemia. Most patients with fatty liver have insulin resistance. Since the prevalence of fatty liver is increasingly seen in East Asian and India than in western countries this study includes the calculated data for finding the at risk group in our population. AIM OF STUDY : 1. To determine the fatty liver index in general population by using the potential predictors of fatty liver like age , gender, SGOT, SGPT, GGT, BMI, hip waist ratio fasting glucose, fasting insulin, triglycerides and serum cholesterol. 2. To help physician to select patients for liver biopsy and to decide on the treatment. 3. To advice intensified lifestyle counseling to high risk individuals. MATERIALS AND METHODS : This study was conducted at PSG Medical college and hospital, Coimbatore. The study participants were the individuals attending the master health check up clinic and diagnosed to have fatty liver by ultrasonogram. A total number of 206 were included in the study. They were divided equally into cases and controls based on the presence/absence of fatty liver by ultrasound. This study was done during June 2010 to November 2011. The lab results of the study participants were obtained from the computer database and were used to determine the fatty liver index. STUDY DESIGN: Prospective case control study. SAMPLE SIZE: Based on inclusion and exclusion criteria, 104 patients with fatty liver and 104 patients without fatty liver were enrolled. The identification of fatty liver was done by ultrasonographically by hyperechogenicity or brightness of the liver. INCLUSION CRITERIA: Age more than 18 years, Participants diagnosed to have fatty liver in ultrasound abdomen, Non – Alcoholic, Non – Diabetic. EXCLUSION CRITERIA: Alcoholic, Hypothyroidism, Decompensated liver disease, Cirrhosis of liver. DISCUSSION : The natural history of NAFLD remains poorly understood and the search for non – invasive methods with which to identify patients with advanced fibrosis and cirrhosis remains a key issue. In this study, we developed a simple non invasive system composed of routinely measured and easily available variables to find the fatty liver index. Our results highlight the utility of a new panel of biochemical markers for detection of Fatty Liver Index. Among the 103 patients included in this study according to inclusion criteria the major predictors were BMI , hip waist ratio, low HDL levels, triglyceride, GGT and fasting glucose level. Although age increase the risk of obesity and metabolic syndrome NAFLD is not systematically associated with age. 82. In this study age is not associated in any of the multivariate models. According to gender ,this study does not support the hypothesis that any specific gender is a risk factor for NAFLD in the general population which is similarly quoted in a study done in a general population 47. In a study both normal liver and alcoholic liver disease were less likely seen than NAFLD in obese subjects, 38 confirming that BMI is an independent predictor of NAFLD. In this study BMI and hip waist ratio were the strongest predictor of fatty liver in the final model. Among liver enzymes, GGT was an independent predictor of fatty liver while SGOT and SGPT was not associated with fatty liver in this study. In many previous studies an elevated SGPT did discriminate NAFLD either from normal liver or from alcoholic fatty liver, indicating that this enzyme is not an independent predictor of NAFLD. These findings confirmed that there is a high prevalence of NAFLD in subjects without elevated SGPT in general population and that the use of elevated SGPT as a marker of NAFLD has to be discouraged. Triglycerides were the independent predictor of fatty liver as confirmed by previous studies.83. Fasting glucose were also a important predictor after exclusion of insulin in this study.In both normal liver and alcoholic fatty liver hyperglycemia were less likely than in NAFLD, confirming that an altered glucose metabolism is a risk factor for NAFLD. Importantly, hyperglycemia was associated with a greater risk of NAFLD independently from hyperlipidemia even after exclusion of insulin on the contrary insulin was not identified as an independent predictor in this study. Level of HDL cholesterol were low in this study as confirmed by previous study done in a general population Shangai, China sept 2005 indicated that the prevalence of Obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and dyslipidemia were all significantly higher in fatty liver in patients than in controls. In contrast, the level of HDL cholesterol were markedly lower and our study was done to find if these results are consistent in a Indian population. As these variables are easily applied this fatty liver index is easy to employ in routine practices. in our population a FLI 60 ruled in hepatic steatosis as detected by ultrasonography. CONCLUSION : Fatty liver is highly prevalent in our country and is related to multiple metabolic risk factors. In conclusion this study shows that BMI, hip waist ratio, low HDL levels, triglyceride, GGT and fasting glucose level are good predictors of fatty liver. Hepatic steatosis can be ruled out by using the FLI which is a non invasive tool in a comunity level