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Biomedical subjects

M Kumar

Publications and source records attributed to M Kumar.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMed2002

Neonatal outcomes at a subdistrict hospital in north India.

Subdistrict hospitals form the first referral level facilities for essential newborn care services. However, there is a paucity of information on the pattern of neonatal admission and outcomes at this level. The objective of this study was to describe the spectrum of neonatal mortality at a subdistrict hospital. The study was conducted at a 50-bed hospital at Ballabgarh in northern India. The data of the neonates born in this hospital (inborns) and those admitted with sickness after being delivered at home (outborns) were separately analysed for the period 1994-1999. The main outcomes of interests were incidence, distribution, and primary causes of neonatal mortality. Of 6746 inborns and 385 outborns admitted (total 7,137) there were 56 deaths (0.8 per cent) and 38 (0.6 per cent) referrals among inborn and 70 deaths (18.2 per cent) and 37 (9.6 per cent) referrals among outborns. The deaths or referral rates among inborn for different weight groups were 27.7 per cent for < 1,500 g, 7.2 per cent for 1500-1999 g, 1.2 per cent for 2,000-2,499 g, and 0.6 per cent for weight > or = 2,500 g. Most deaths under 7 days of age were related to prematurity [41 per cent (28/69)] and birth asphyxia [38 per cent (26/68)], while those aged between 7 and 27 days were mostly due to sepsis [91 per cent (42/46)]. The results of this study indicate that babies with a birthweight above 1,500 g have a good outcome at this level. Deaths under 7 days of age were mostly due to birth asphyxia and prematurity, while those after 7 days were almost entirely due to sepsis. Referral is an important outcome at this level of service.

Cause of Death↗
PubMed2002

Mammary tuberculosis: report on 52 cases.

Fifty two cases of tuberculosis of the breast encountered over a 15 year period and accounting for 3% of all breast lesions are reported. The classic presentation was a breast lump with associated sinus in 39%, isolated breast lump in 23%, sinus without lump in 12%, and tender nodularity in 23% of the patients. Associated axillary lymphadenopathy was found in 41%. Diagnosis was confirmed by fine needle aspiration cytology or histology in all the cases and antitubercular therapy formed the mainstay of treatment.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2002

Pseudocyst of adrenal gland.

Cysts of the adrenal gland are uncommon. We report a case of symptomatic pseudocyst of adrenal gland in an adult male, which was excised through retropertoneoscopic route. Surgery was uneventful and patient returned to pre-operative activity within seven days of operation. At ten months of follow up patient is asymptomatic and doing well.

Adrenal Gland Diseases↗
PubMed2001

Systematic determination of the packaging limit of lentiviral vectors.

Because of their ability to transduce nondividing cells, human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV)-based vectors have great potential for the therapeutic delivery of genes to cells. We describe here a systematic study of the packaging limit of HIV-based vectors. Restriction endonuclease-generated bacterial chromosomal DNA fragments of different lengths were cloned at three different positions within a lentiviral vector. Vesicular stomatitis virus G protein (VSV G) pseudotyped lentiviral particles were prepared and the different clones were titered on mammalian cells. We observed that the restriction endonuclease site positions at the 5' and 3' ends of the genome were superior with regard to insertional capacity of foreign DNA. In all cases, viral titers decreased semi-logarithmically with increasing vector length. There appears to be no absolute packaging limit because measurable titers were obtained even when the proviral length was in excess of 18 kb. The reduction in titer appears to occur at the level of viral encapsidation, although we cannot exclude limitations in nuclear export of proviral RNA. These results suggest that HIV-based vectors may have a secondary advantage over oncoretroviral vectors because of their greater packaging limit, although the very low titers of the larger vectors will be of limited utility.

Active Transport, Cell Nucleus↗
PubMed2001

Chronic atrial fibrillation in patients with rheumatic heart disease: mapping and radiofrequency ablation of flutter circuits seen at initiation after cardioversion.

BACKGROUND: There is little information concerning mapping and radiofrequency ablation (RFA) of arrhythmias seen during reinduction of atrial fibrillation (AF) after pharmacological and/or electrical cardioversion in patients with chronic AF and rheumatic heart disease. METHODS AND RESULTS: Seventeen patients with rheumatic heart disease and symptomatic chronic AF underwent multisite atrial mapping during reinduction of AF after cardioversion. An organized atrial arrhythmia of varying duration was seen to precede the AF in all patients. The earliest atrial activity during this organized rhythm was near the coronary sinus ostium (CS OS) in 14 patients and along the left side of the interatrial septum (IAS) in 3 patients. RFA was performed in 16 patients (14 near the CS OS and 2 along the IAS). Postablation AF was inducible in 1 patient in whom RFA was preformed near the CS OS and in both patients when it was performed along the IAS. At a follow-up of 6 to 56 weeks (mean, 32 weeks), 10 of the 13 patients who had successful ablation were in sinus rhythm. All patients in whom AF was reinducible immediately after RFA continue to be in AF. CONCLUSIONS: Induced AF in patients with rheumatic heart disease begins as a rapid organized arrhythmia with earliest atrial activity near the CS OS in most patients. RFA targeting the region of the CS OS is successful in suppressing the arrhythmia immediately in most of the patients and in most on follow-up.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

Is sacral instrumentation mandatory to address pelvic obliquity in neuromuscular thoracolumbar scoliosis due to myelomeningocele?

STUDY DESIGN: Prospective study. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the functional outcome of two-stage anterior and posterior instrumented fusion without fixation to the sacrum on 11 patients with neuromuscular scoliosis from thoracolumbar myelomeningocele. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: To our knowledge, there are no published results of combined anterior and posterior correction and fusion without inclusion of the sacrum in neuromuscular scoliosis from thoracolumbar myelomeningocele. In this article we present our experience and critically evaluate the functional outcome on 11 patients with neuromuscular scoliosis. PATIENTS AND METHODS: From July 1, 1992 through June 30, 1995, 11 consecutive patients with severe thoracolumbar scoliosis were admitted at our hospital. The mean age at operation was 12 years 9 months (range 9 years 9 months to 14 years 6 months). All patients underwent a two-stage anterior and posterior spinal reconstruction. The patients were evaluated before surgery and after surgery. RESULTS: All patients were observed for a mean of 4 years 11 months (range 42-88 months) from the time of second stage procedure. Before treatment the mean scoliosis was 81 degrees (range 55-110 degrees ); this was reduced to a mean of 31 degrees (range 8-70 degrees ), and at the final follow-up the correction had deteriorated slightly to a mean of 35 degrees (range 12-80 degrees ). No patient had increased neurologic deficit or showed other major complication. CONCLUSIONS: Pelvic obliquity in thoracolumbar neuromuscular scoliosis from lumbosacral myelomeningocele spontaneously corrected when the scoliotic deformity is adequately addressed with instrumented fusion without inclusion of the sacrum. The correction obtained remained stable at follow-up. In the absence of a control group we believe that sparing lumbar segments from primary fusion offers these patients a better freedom of mobility.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2001

Don't forget your toothbrush!

Patients with rectally inserted foreign bodies can present to accident and emergency departments or general medical practitioners. Rarely dentally related objects are inserted because of their ready availability in the domestic environment. There are many reasons given for their presence in the rectum, most commonly accidental insertion, assault, and psychosexual motives. This case is the first reported incident of a patient using a toothbrush to relieve his pruritus ani and subsequently losing it up into the rectum.

Aged↗
PubMed2001

Evaluation of total choline from in-vivo volume localized proton MR spectroscopy and its response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy in locally advanced breast cancer.

Results of the proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy carried out on normal, benign breast disease and locally advanced breast cancer patients are presented. The in-vivo MR spectra of malignant breast tissue of patients (n = 67) suffering from infiltrating ductal carcinoma are dominated by the water resonance, while the spectra of the unaffected contralateral breast tissue of these patients are mainly dominated by resonance arising from lipids which is similar to the spectra of normal breast tissue obtained from volunteers (controls, n = 16). In addition to the water and lipid peaks, in majority of the patients (approximately 80%) the water suppressed spectra showed a resonance at 3.2 ppm due to choline containing compounds (TCho) before treatment. In patients receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy, absence/reduction in choline was observed in 89% of the patients. TCho was also observed in 2 of 14 benign lesions. The sensitivity and specificity of in-vivo MRS in detecting TCho in malignant tumours was 78% and 86%, respectively. Observation of TCho before treatment and its disappearance (or reduction) after treatment may be a useful indicator of response of locally advanced breast cancer to neoadjuvant chemotherapy.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

Blocking intercellular adhesion molecule-1 on human epithelial cells decreases respiratory syncytial virus infection.

The respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) causes potentially fatal lower respiratory tract infection in infants. The molecular mechanism of RSV infection is unknown. Our data show that RSV colocalizes with intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) on the HEp-2 epithelial cell surface. Furthermore, a neutralizing anti-ICAM-1 mAb significantly inhibits RSV infection and infection-induced secretion of proinflammatory chemokine RANTES and mediator ET-1 in HEp-2 cells. Similar decrease in RSV infection is also observed in A549, a type-2 alveolar epithelial cell line, and NHBE, the normal human bronchial epithelial cell line when pretreated with anti-ICAM-1 mAb prior to RSV infection. Incubation of virus with soluble ICAM-1 also significantly decreases RSV infection of epithelial cells. Binding studies using ELISA indicate that RSV binds to ICAM-1, which can be inhibited by an antibody to the fusion F protein and also the recombinant F protein can bind to soluble ICAM-1, suggesting that RSV interaction with ICAM-1 involves the F protein. It is thus concluded that ICAM-1 facilitates RSV entry and infection of human epithelial cells by binding to its F protein, which is important to viral replication and infection and may lend itself as a therapeutic target.

Antibodies, Monoclonal↗
PubMed2001

Nucleolar organizer region count and subjective AgNOR pattern assessment (SAPA) score in skin tumors.

OBJECTIVE: To study the argyrophilic nucleolar organizer region (AgNOR) count and subjective AgNOR pattern assessment (SAPA) score in cytologic and histologic specimens of various skin tumors. STUDY DESIGN: The study group consisted of 37 patients (14 benign and 23 malignant) of various skin tumors. In all cases, cytology by fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC), and histological specimens were studied by conventional staining and silver staining for AgNOR. RESULTS: The mean count in benign tumors in cytologic specimens was 2.08 +/- 0.01, compared with 5.50 +/- 1.12 in malignant tumors (P<0.001). In histologic specimens, mean count was 2.13 +/- 0.51 in benign, compared with 5.38 +/- 1.10 in malignant tumors (P<0.001). The SAPA score in benign tumors (P<0.001) in cytologic specimens, was 6.07 +/- 0.83, compared with 10.65 +/- 1.27 in malignant tumors, and in histology, it was 6.07 +/- 0.87 in benign, compared with 10.83 +/- 1.15 in malignant tumors (P < 0.001). Melanoma showed the higher AgNOR count compared with squamous cell carcinoma and basal cell carcinoma. The parameters were statistically significant between the grade of tumor in squamous cell carcinoma and the positivity of lymph nodes as demonstrated by SAPA score. No correlation was found between the clinical stage and Clark level of melanoma. Although, AgNOR count and SAPA score showed similar results, the indicators of validity were higher in SAPA than AgNOR count. CONCLUSION: Although, AgNOR count and SAPA score gave similar results, but the indicators of validity were higher in SAPA score than AgNOR count.

Basal Cell Carcinoma↗
PubMed2001

Effects of mutations at the stambh A locus of Drosophila melanogaster.

We report novel findings on the cytogenetic location, functional complexity and maternal and germline roles of the stambh A locus of Drosophila melanogaster. stmA is localized to polytene bands 44D1.2 on 2R. stmA mutations are of two types: temperature-sensitive (ts) adult and larval paralytic or unconditional embryonic or larval lethal. Twelve alleles reported in this study fall into two intragenic complementing groups suggesting that stmA is a complex locus with more than one functional domain. Some unconditional embryonic lethal alleles show a 'neurogenic' phenotype of cuticle loss accompanied by neural hypertrophy. It is shown that embryos of ts paralytic alleles also show mild neural hypertrophy at permissive temperatures while short exposure to heat induces severe cuticle loss in these embryos. stmA exerts a maternal influence over heat-induced cuticle loss. Unconditional embryonic lethal alleles of stmA are also germline lethal.

Alleles↗
PubMed2001

Quinalizarin anchored on Amberlite XAD-2. A new matrix for solid-phase extraction of metal ions for flame atomic absorption spectrometric determination.

Amberlite XAD-2 has been functionalized by coupling it to quinalizarin [1,2,5,8-tetrahydroxyanthraquinone] by means of an -N = N- spacer. Elemental analysis, thermogravimetric analysis, and infrared spectra were used to characterize the resulting new polymer matrix. The matrix has been used to preconcentrate Cu(II), Cd(II), Co(II), Pb(II), Zn(II), and Mn(II) before their determination by flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS). UO2(II) has been preconcentrated for fluorimetric determination. The optimum pH values for maximum adsorption of the metals are between 5.0 and 7.0. All these metal ions are desorbed (recovery 91-99%) with 4 mol L(-1) HNO3. The adsorptive capacity of the resin was found to be in the range 0.94-5.28 mg metal g(-1) resin and loading half-life (t1/2) between 5.3 and 15.0 min. The effects of NaF, NaCl, NaNO3, Na2SO4, Na3PO4, Ca(II), and Mg(II) on the adsorption of these metal ions (0.2 microg mL(-1)) are reported. The lower limits of detection for these metal ions are between 1 and 15.0 microg L(-1). After enrichment on this matrix flame AAS has been used to determine these metal ions (except the uranyl ion) in river water samples (RSD < or = 6.5%); fluorimetry was used to determine uranyl ion in well water samples (RSD < or = 6.3%). Cobalt from pharmaceutical vitamin tablets was preconcentrated by use of this chelating resin and estimated by FAAS (RSD approximately 4%).

Journal Article↗
PubMed2001

Scoliosis in Gordon's syndrome.

Gordon's Syndrome is described as an autosomal dominant condition with the characteristics of short stature, a stiff spine, camptodactyly (89%), cleft palate (27%) and club feet (73%). The authors present a case report of a patient with this rare entity complicated by an unusual complex spinal deformity. There are no prior reports in the literature concerning operative or nonoperative management of deformity in this patient population. Scoliosis in Gordon's Syndrome shares the characteristics of an arthrogrypotic neuromuscular curve and demands extensive soft tissue release for optimal correction.

Abnormalities, Multiple↗
PubMed2001

Development and validation of a stability indicating HPLC assay method for cyclosporine in cyclosporine oral solution USP.

The suitability of the United States Pharmacopeia (USP) assay method for analysing stressed samples of cyclosporine oral solution USP was evaluated for stability samples by analyzing cyclosporine oral solution after acid, alkali, hydrogen peroxide, heat and light treatment. Some of the degradants generated during stress testing, as well as dihydrocyclosporine A, which is a known degradant of cyclosporine A, were not adequately resolved from the cyclosporine peak and mobile phase adjustments did not improve the resolution. In addition, isocyclosporine A, another known degradant of cyclosporine, could not be quantitated as it was eluting too early with the system peaks. Therefore, a binary gradient, reverse phase, stability indicating, HPLC method for the assay of cyclosporine in cyclosporine oral solution USP has been developed and validated. Analysis of degraded samples showed that the cyclosporine A eluted as a spectrally pure peak resolved from its degradation products.

Administration, Oral↗
PubMed2001

Characterization of the antiapoptotic (p35) gene homologue of Spodoptera litura nucleopolyhedrosis virus (SlNPV).

Antiapoptotic genes of baculoviruses have been shown to prevent virus induced apoptosis in insect cells. Dot blot and Southern hybridizations of EcoRI genomic library and genomic digests of Spodoptera litura nucleopolyhedrosis virus (SlNPV) respectively give strong hybridization signals with antiapoptotic DNA (p35 gene) probe of the prototype Autographa californica nucleopolyhedrosis virus (AcNPV). Both the hybridizations indicate the presence of a homologous gene in the 1.8 kb EcoRI-Y fragment of SlNPV. The sequence of 1.244 kb region of this fragment encompasses an open reading frame coding for a polypeptide of 296 amino acids under sequential early (TATA) and late (TAAG) promoter motifs like that in other baculovirus p35 genes. The putative SlNPV p35 ORF expresses abundantly as a 35 kDa protein in Spodopterafrugiperda (Sf9) cells when allowed to express under the polyhedrin promoter of AcNPV.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed2001

Weight gain and adipose tissue metabolism after smoking cessation in women.

BACKGROUND: Cigarette smoking increases the risk of cardiovascular disease, and is an important preventable cause of death and illness. One major deterrent to smoking cessation is a gain in body weight. Understanding the mechanisms that contribute to this weight gain may maximize the success of long-term smoking cessation. We hypothesized that smoking cessation is associated with an increase in adipose tissue lipoprotein lipase (AT-LPL) activity and/or a decrease in lipolysis, two metabolic factors that determine the balance between fat storage and fat utilization, and thus affect the propensity for weight gain. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Ten premenopausal women (37.1+/-6.2 y, 31.7+/-6.4 kg/m(2) body mass index (BMI), mean+/-s.d.) participated in a 4 week smoking cessation program. Measurements of body weight, waist and hip circumferences, adipose cell metabolism and resting metabolic rate were obtained at baseline and after 4 weeks of smoking cessation. RESULTS: Of the 10 women who began the intervention, five successfully completed the smoking cessation intervention. After 4 weeks of smoking cessation, there were significant increases in body weight (95.1+/-13.9-97.7+/-14.4 kg, P<0.05), with no change in waist and hip circumferences or resting energy expenditure. Gluteal AT-LPL activity significantly increased in all women by 2.8-fold (1.65+/-1.30-4.72+/-3.34 nmol/g/min, P<0.05). Abdominal AT-LPL activity increased in four out of the five women, but did not reach statistical significance (1.14+/-0.88-3.50+/-3.76 nmol/g/min, P=0.14). The increase in body weight correlated with the increase in gluteal AT-LPL activity (r=0.89, P<0.05), as well as the baseline activity of gluteal AT-LPL (r=0.86, P=0.06). There were no changes in basal or stimulated lipolysis in the gluteal or abdominal fat depots. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that smoking cessation is associated with significant increases in body weight, as well as changes in adipose cell metabolism, in particular increases in AT-LPL activity. This increase in LPL activity may contribute to the increase in body weight associated with smoking cessation.

Adipocytes↗
PubMed2001

Silver(I) ion-selective membrane based on Schiff base-p-tert-butylcalix[4]arene.

A PVC membrane electrode for silver(I) ion based on Schiff base-p-tert-butylcalix[4]arene is reported. The electrode works well over a wide range of concentration (1.0 x 10(-5)-1.0 x 10(-1) mol dm-3) with a Nernstian slope of 59.7 mV per decade. The electrode shows a fast response time of 20 s and operates in the pH range 1.0-5.6. The sensor can be used for more than 6 months without any divergence in the potential. The selectivity of the electrode was studied and it was found that the electrode exhibits good selectivity for silver ion over some alkali, alkaline earth and transition metal ions. The silver ion-selective electrode was used as an indicator electrode for the potentiometric titration of silver ion in solution using a standard solution of sodium chloride; a sharp potential change occurs at the end-point. The applicability of the sensor to silver(I) ion measurement in water samples spiked with silver nitrate is illustrated.

Journal Article↗