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Biomedical subjects

M Agrawal

Publications and source records attributed to M Agrawal.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Acute renal failure.

Acute renal failure occurs in 5 percent of hospitalized patients. Etiologically, this common condition can be categorized as prerenal, intrinsic or postrenal. Most patients have prerenal acute renal failure or acute tubular necrosis (a type of intrinsic acute renal failure that is usually caused by ischemia or toxins). Using a systematic approach, physicians can determine the cause of acute renal failure in most patients. This approach includes a thorough history and physical examination, blood tests, urine studies and a renal ultrasound examination. In certain situations, such as when a patient has glomerular disease, microvascular disease or obstructive disease, rapid diagnosis and treatment are necessary to prevent permanent renal damage. By maintaining euvolemia, recognizing patients who are at increased risk and minimizing exposure to nephrotoxins, physicians can decrease the incidence of acute renal failure. Once acute renal failure develops, supportive therapy is critical to maintain fluid and electrolyte balances, minimize nitrogenous waste production and sustain nutrition. Death is most often caused by infection or cardiorespiratory complications.

Acute Kidney Injury↗

OTC cold, cough and allergy products: more choice or more confusion?

Cold and allergy remedies are one of the most confusing markets to consumers. There are several reasons why there is confusion among consumers when forced to select a cough/cold/allergy product. This paper examines the over-the-counter cold/cough/allergy products market specifically with respect to: (1) What are the common pharmaceutical active ingredients in cold/cough/allergy products? (2) What percentage of products are single ingredient, two ingredient, three ingredient or more? (3) What are the common combinations of pharmaceutical ingredients present in cold/cough/allergy products? The answers to the above questions could help health professionals such as pharmacists in rendering services such as counseling consumers when approached with questions about cold/cough/allergy products. The results could also help retailers in developing better shelf placement and positioning of cold/cough/allergy products.

Common Cold↗

Molecular cloning and expression of human grap-2, a novel leukocyte-specific SH2- and SH3-containing adaptor-like protein that binds to gab-1.

The SH2- and SH3-containing adaptor molecules serve to recruit cytosolic signal-transducing molecules to the activated receptor tyrosine kinases. In this study, we report the molecular cloning of a novel adaptor-like protein, Grap-2 (Grb-2 related adaptor protein 2), using the multisubstrate docking protein Gab-1 as bait in the yeast two-hybrid system. Sequence analysis revealed that Grap-2 contains a SH3-SH2-SH3 structure that has a high degree of sequence homology to those of the Grb-2 and Grap adaptor molecules. However, unlike in Grap and Grb-2, the SH2 and the C-terminal SH3 domains of Grap-2 are separated by a 120-amino-acid glutamine-rich sequence that shows no apparent homology to any known molecule or structural motif. The C-terminal SH3 domain of Grap-2 alone is sufficient to bind to Gab-1. Furthermore, Northern blot analysis demonstrated that Grap-2 has two major transcripts of 1.4 and 4.0 kb that can only be detected in tissues rich in leukocytes and in two leukemia cell lines. This highly restricted pattern of expression suggests that Grap-2 may participate in leukocyte-specific protein tyrosine kinase signaling.

Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing↗

A period or not?

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Abdominal Injuries↗

Gingival fibromatosis with prune-belly syndrome.

A case is described in which a child appeared for evaluation with marked gingival overgrowth, facial dysmorphism, and abdominal defects consistent with prune-belly syndrome. The relationship between this case and other reports of gingival enlargement are discussed. Coincidence of the oral, facial, and abdominal abnormalities has not been previously reported.

Child, Preschool↗

Vancomycin-resistant enterococcal colonization in nonhospitalized HIV-infected patients.

We studied fecal colonization with vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) in 89 HIV-infected nonhospitalized patients ages 24 to 62 years, including 70 (79%) men (including 41 homosexual and 5 bisexual men) and 19 (21%) women. Of the 89 patients, 61 (69%) were black, 25 (28%) Hispanic, and 3 (3%) white; 53 (60%) had history of ongoing or recent antibacterial therapy with trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole (29), clarithromycin (18), amoxicillin (7), ofloxacin (3), and metronidazole, doxycycline, dicloxacillin, and cephalexin (1 each). VRE were not isolated from any of the patients studied.

AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections↗

Morbidity after neonatal inguinal herniotomy.

Neonatal inguinal herniotomy is recognised by paediatric surgeons to be a potentially difficult procedure. This study reviewed the clinical, operative, and outcome details of 74 infants undergoing herniotomy at less than 44 weeks' gestation with particular reference to the incidence of complications such as recurrent hernia and testicular atrophy. Follow-up information was obtained in 69 patients (93%, mean follow-up, 8.1 months). There were 8 recurrent hernias in 5 patients (2 bilateral recurrences, 1 second recurrence) giving an overall hernia recurrence rate of 8.6%. There was only 1 case of testicular atrophy (secondary to a wound infection and scrotal abscess). Despite the provision of a consultant-led service, the recurrence rate in neonates is much higher than that seen in the paediatric population as a whole. In light of commissioners' current demands for quality standards and managed healthcare, it is important that outcomes in this high-risk group are defined separately from those of other patients undergoing inguinal herniotomy.

Female↗

Urokinase-type plasminogen activator regulates cranial neural crest cell migration in vitro.

Proper migration and differentiation of neural crest (NC) cells are required for normal development of craniofacial structures, heart and great vessels, sensory and autonomic nervous systems, and other organs with vertebrate embryos. Serine-protease inhibitors reduce NC cell migration in vitro, suggesting the extracellular proteases are important mediators of NC cell migration. While plasminogen activator activity levels are high in NC cells relative to other embryonic tissue, its ability to regulate NC cell migration has not been specifically tested in vivo or in vitro through its ability to convert plasminogen to plasmin. Using a transfilter migration assay, NC cell migration was measured in the presence or absence of plasminogen. Our results showed that plasminogen significantly enhanced NC cell migration. This increase could not be attributed to differences in initial NC cell attachment or cytotoxicity and did not require a chemotactic gradient. The plasminogen-enhanced NC cell migration was blocked by aprotinin (a plasmin inhibitor) and was mimicked by the direct addition of plasmin to the NC cells, indicating that the plasminogen effect was mediated through plasmin generation. Furthermore, anticatalytic-uPA antibody blocked the plasminogen-enhanced NC cell migration showing that NC cell-associated uPA activity was required for this effect. Finally, decreasing NC-uPA activity by treating cells with transforming growth factor-Beta, also blocked the plasminogen-dependent increase in cell migration. These data show that in vitro, NC cell migration is regulated by NC-associated uPA activity suggesting that growth factor-regulation of this activity may play a major role in regulating NC cell migratory capacity in vivo.

Animals↗

Examining the applicability of market forecasting models to new pharmaceutical products.

Developing new products is a complex and risky business, particularly in the pharmaceutical industry. In recent years, several pretest and test market models have been proposed to evaluate the performance of a new product. Although these models have been tested and validated with a wide variety of frequently purchased products, certain unique characteristics of the market for pharmaceutical products render the models subject to modification. This study examines and evaluates the applicability of three types of market forecasting models (Awareness forecasting models, Pre-test market models, and Test market models) in predicting the market potential of new pharmaceutical products.

Awareness↗

Management of alimentary tract duplication in children.

Duplication of the alimentary tract is rare but potentially dangerous. Five of 72 children with alimentary tract duplication treated between 1973 and 1992 died from postoperative complications; a further ten required more than one operation. Ileal duplications were the commonest, occurring in 16 patients (22 per cent). Thoracoabdominal duplications were the most complicated and responsible for much of the overall morbidity and mortality. Surgical complications were related to the size and location of the duplication, communication with the gastrointestinal tract or vertebral canal, presence of heterotopic gastric mucosa and involvement of mesenteric vessels. Complete excision of the duplication should be possible in most cases.

Adolescent↗

New drug adoption models: a review and assessment of future needs.

New drug products today are the key to survival in the pharmaceutical industry. However, the new product development process in the pharmaceutical industry also happens to be one of the riskiest and most expensive undertakings because of the huge research and development costs involved. Consequently market forecasting of new pharmaceutical products takes on added importance if the formidable investments are to be recovered. New drug adoption models provide the marketer with a means to assess new product potential. Although several adoption models are available in the marketing literature for assessing potential of common consumer goods, the unique characteristics of the prescription drug market makes it necessary to examine the current state of pharmaceutical innovations. The purpose of this study, therefore, is to: (1) review new drug adoption models in the pharmaceutical literature, (2) evaluate the existing models of new drug adoption using the ten criteria for a good model as prescribed by Zaltman and Wallendorf (1983), and (3) provide an overall assessment and a ¿prescription¿ for better forecasting of new drug products.

Decision Theory↗

Meconium ileus due to extensive intestinal aganglionosis.

Seven full-term infants with aganglionosis extending into the small bowel presented with clinical, radiological, and operative features of meconium ileus. Misdiagnosis resulted in inappropriate treatment. The correct diagnosis was eventually established by rectal suction biopsy, mostly after either recurrent intestinal obstruction or stomal dysfunction, and after cystic fibrosis had been excluded. For two patients, the results of rectal suction biopsies were initially misleading. Two infants died. Extensive intestinal aganglionosis should be considered a rare possibility in all infants with meconium ileus. In such cases, histological examination of the appendix may avoid this potential pitfall.

Biopsy, Needle↗

An indirect immunoperoxidase assay for rapid serodiagnosis of visceral leishmaniasis.

An easy, inexpensive and rapid indirect immunoperoxidase assay for serodiagnosis of Kala-azar (VL) has been tried using whole promastigotes of L. donovani in dried smear form as antigen. A total of 138 sera were tested including sera from parasite positive cases of VL (32), normal controls from endemic (20) and non-endemic (20) areas, cases of tuberculosis (10), leprosy (10), amoebic hepatitis (10), malaria (10) and tropical splenomegaly (26). All the positive control sera were positive in very high dilutions of serum ranging from 1/500 to 1/64,000. None of the sera with other diseases were positive by this method except 3 cases with tropical splenomegaly were positive in low titres. No other cause could be established in these cases for splenomegaly. Sensitivity and specificity of the test were found to be 100 and 95.3% respectively. Predictive values of the negative and positive tests were 100 and 86.5% respectively.

Humans↗