Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

N Singh

Publications and source records attributed to N Singh.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed2005

The occurrence of nymphal stage of Linguatula serrata in water buffaloes (Bubalus bubalis): nymphal morphometry and lymph node pathology.

The mesenteric lymph nodes (MLN) of buffaloes (n = 100) were examined for the presence of parasitic infection. The nymphal stage of Linguatula serrata was observed in two buffaloes. A single white-coloured nymph with transversely striated spines on a segmented body, two pairs of oral suckers and hooks was observed in the MLN. The morphometrics of the nymphs were studied. The affected lymph nodes were grossly enlarged with cyst and showed pathological lesions of fibroblastic reaction with a mild underlying inflammatory zone.

Animals↗
PubMed2005

The Auburn Elective Surgery Pilot Project.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this project was to increase rates of day surgery, reduce elective surgical waiting lists, give patients a guaranteed date of surgery and improve operating theatre utilization. The guiding principle behind the project was to treat the administration of elective surgery as a separate business unit, distinct from emergency surgery. METHODS: Elective surgical referrals for admission from throughout the Western Sydney Health Area Service were pooled. The procedure for surgical admissions was altered in three areas: (i) the use of a new booking and waiting list system administered by a dedicated nurse coordinator who generated the lists for surgery; (ii) restructuring the elective surgical operating sessions; and (iii) planning post-discharge care at the time of operation using model clinical pathways. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: During the project period, the number of the selected surgical procedures performed doubled. Fifty-seven per cent of patients were discharged on the day of surgery. Surgeons took less time to perform procedures. By the end of the trial period, waiting lists for the selected procedures were eliminated. Operating costs as evaluated by the Centre for Health Economics Research and Evaluation were reduced by 25%. The administrative changes to surgical admissions resulted in improved cost and patient throughput for elective surgical admissions with no adverse patient outcomes.

Ambulatory Surgical Procedures↗
PubMed2005

Headache response to glyceryl trinitrate in patients with and without obstructive coronary artery disease.

OBJECTIVES: To examine the hypothesis that glyceryl trinitrate (GTN) may cause headache in patients with normal coronary arteries more often than in patients with obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD). This simple assessment may aid clinicians in the initial evaluation of chest pain syndrome and possible CAD. PATIENTS AND METHODS: 118 patients (66 men and 52 women) with new onset of chest pain were enrolled in this study. Patients were excluded from the study if they had a history of chronic headache, long term nitrates use, or any coronary artery procedures. Mean age of the patients was 62.5 years. Coronary angiography was performed within one month of GTN administration with the usual clinical indications such as recurrent chest pain, abnormal ECG, or abnormal results of stress tests. Thirty patients had normal coronary arteries or minimal or non-obstructive CAD. Eighty eight patients had obstructive CAD defined as luminal narrowing greater than 50% in any one or more of the left or right coronary arteries or their major branches. All the patients had a varying degree of relief of chest pain with GTN administration within 10 minutes. 36% of patients reported significant headache after GTN administration. RESULTS: In patients with normal coronary arteries or minimal CAD, 73% had significant headache caused by sublingual GTN. In patients with obstructive CAD, only 23% had significant headache after GTN use (p < 0.001). There were no differences in patients' sex and vascular risk factors concerning the frequency of headache in patients with or without obstructive CAD. CONCLUSIONS: GTN causes significantly more frequent headache episodes in patients with normal coronary arteries or minimal CAD than in patients with obstructive CAD. This unique finding may provide clinicians with an additional tool for the differential diagnosis of patients with chest pain syndrome.

Aged↗
PubMed2005

Therapeutic targets for the prevention of type 1 diabetes mellitus.

The pathogenesis of type 1 diabetes is multifactorial, involving genetic susceptibility, autoimmune mechanisms, and environmental factors. This article will focus on two main strategies for altering the underlying disease process in type 1 diabetes. The first strategy is to identify individuals at risk for the development of diabetes and to halt the immune process before it leads to overt clinical disease, Promising in vitro and animal studies with nicotinamide, parenteral insulin, and oral insulin led to large clinical prevention studies, such as the European Nicotinamide Diabetes Intervention Trial and the Diabetes Prevention Trial (DPT-1). These studies failed to show that nicotinamide and insulin prevented the disease in at risk relatives of patients with type 1 diabetes and left many questions unanswered. The second strategy focuses on intervention shortly after diagnosis in order to arrest the destruction of beta cells and to preserve residual beta-cell function as long as possible. Cyclosporin was an effective immunosuppressive but was rejected as a potential treatment for type 1 diabetes because of its renal toxicity. Recently, more attention has been focused on an anti-CD3 antibody, on DiaPep277, and on glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD). Animal studies and small short-term human trials with these compounds have suggested that they may be effective interventions in patients recently diagnosed with type 1 diabetes.

Animals↗
PubMed2004

Kinetic size selection mechanisms in heteroepitaxial quantum dot molecules.

Heteroepitaxial growth of Si(0.7)Ge(0.3)/Si(001) films under kinetically limited conditions leads to self-assembly of fourfold quantum dot molecules. These structures obtain a narrowly selected maximum size, independent of film thickness or annealing time. Size selection arises from efficient adatom trapping inside the central pit of the quantum dot molecule when the surrounding islands cojoin to form a continuous wall. Self-limiting growth of nanostructures has significant implications for novel nanoelectronic device architectures such as quantum cellular automata.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2004

Posterior urethral valves: incidence and progress of vesicoureteric reflux after primary fulguration.

This is a prospective study of 20 cases of posterior urethral valves (PUV) presenting between the ages of 12 days and 5.5 years (median 15 months) in order to determine the incidence and progress of vesicoureteric reflux (VUR), hydronephrosis (HN), and renal functional status. The efficacy of fulguration as the sole modality of treatment for PUV was assessed in terms of improvement or disappearance of VUR over a 6-month follow-up period. VUR was present in 60% of the patients, being unilateral in 41.7%. Out of 19 renal units with VUR, reflux subsided in 31.5% by 3 months and 78.94% by 6 months. The blood urea and serum creatinine levels, which were raised in 50% of the patients at presentation, came down to normal by 6 months in all the cases. Improvement in glomerular filtration rates (GFR) was noted in all the children at each follow-up and was found to be statistically significant ( p<0.01). HN was present in all the patients at presentation and was bilateral in 90%. It decreased significantly during the follow-up period, though its complete disappearance was seen only in one case. Vesicoureteric reflux dysplasia syndrome (VURD) was present in two cases. Our study showed that VUR disappeared in a majority of the cases by 6 months once adequate urethral patency was restored, although hydronephrosis persisted.

Child, Preschool↗
PubMed2004

Efficacy of various amendments for amelioration of fly-ash toxicity: growth performance and metal composition of Cassia siamea Lamk.

Plants of Cassia siamea Lamk were grown in garden soil (control), fly-ash (100%) and fly-ash amended by various ameliorants (cowdung manure, press-mud, garden soil; 1:1, w/w). The plants survived in fly-ash (100%) though their growth was less in comparison to the treatments. Fly-ash+press-mud (1:1, w/w) proved to be the best combination as growth (total biomass, leaf number, photosynthetic area, total chlorophyll and protein) was significantly high in this treatment followed by cowdung manure and garden soil. Leaves and roots accumulated significant amount of Cu, Zn, Ni and and Fe. However, the concentration of all the metals was more in roots than leaves except Ni. Although, fly-ash contains high amount of metals but the metal uptake was more in the plants grown in fly-ash+press-mud mixture. Inspite of high metal availability in fly-ash and press-mud mixture, plant growth was good. This might be attributed to the some metal detoxification mechanism active in this treatment. The present study concluded that C. siamea seems to be a suitable plant for developing a vegetation cover on fly-ash dumps.

Analysis of Variance↗
PubMed2004

Clinical value of immunohistochemically detected lymphovascular invasion in endometrioid endometrial cancer.

INTRODUCTION: Lymphovascular Invasion (LVSI) of tumour cells is marked as an important step in the process of tumour metastases and is an important prognostic factor in Endometrial Cancer (EC). Currently, the standard method for assessing LVSI is light microscopic examination of H&E stained sections. Tumour cells within lymphovascular spaces can evade detection on H&E staining if they are present in very small numbers or surrounded by a greater number of circulating cells. Dual immunostaining for epithelial and endothelial cell markers cell markers has been shown to increase detection rate of LVSI significantly. OBJECTIVES: To investigate the clinical significance of LVSI as detected by H&E (LVSI-H&E) and immunohistochemically (LVSI-IHC) in clinically stage I endometrioid EC patients. Methods. Single representative section of 90 patients with stage I endometriod EC were immunostained in accordance with established streptavidin-biotin peroxidase method using a mouse monoclonal pancytokeratin (PCK), clone AE1/AE3 and CD31 endothelial cell marker. The H&E sections and their corresponding immunostained sections were re-examined to identify LVSI. Clinical records were available on 72 patients. The following data were collected: age, race, parity, presentation, associated medical disorders (obesity, diabetes and hypertension), use of Tamoxifen or HRT, menopausal state, recurrence and survival. RESULTS: Overall, LVSI was present in 45 (50%) cases and absent in 45 (50%) cases on IHC, as compared with 17 (19%) and 73 (81%) cases, respectively, on H&E. Statistical analysis revealed significant association between LVSI-H&E and depth of myometrial invasion (P < 0.0001). The median follow-up period was 161 months (range 5-207 months). During the follow-up period, six of 14 cases with evidence of LVSI-H&E presented with recurrence as opposed to six of 58 patients with no evidence (OR = 6.26, 95%: CI = 1.3-30.6). There was a significant association between tumour recurrence rate and LVSI-H&E (P = 0.01). The 5-year recurrence-free survival was 54% for the group with H&E evidence of LVSI (95%: CI = 44-64%) compared with 89% for the group without (95%: CI = 82-97%). There was a significant difference in the recurrence-free survival between the two groups (Chi-square = 6.96, P = 0.008). In contrast, LVSI-IHC was found to be significantly associated only with high-grade tumours (P = 0.01) and survival analysis revealed no statistically significant association with recurrence or survival. CONCLUSIONS: LVSI-H&E in stage I EC remains an important predictive factor of recurrent disease and reduced disease-free interval. Immunohistochemically detected LVSI is a common event, associated with tumour grade and appears to be of no statistically significant clinical value.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

Heterologous expression of a gene encoding a 35 kDa protein of Mycobacterium avium paratuberculosis in Escherichia coli.

The full-length open reading frame coding for a potentially immunogenic 35 kDa protein of Mycobacterium avium paratuberculosis was generated using polymerase chain reaction technology. The gene was inserted in-frame into Escherichia coli expression plasmid pQE32. The resulting recombinant plasmid pPMP35 was transformed into E. coli M15. Analysis of the E. coli induced with isopropyl-beta-D-thiogalactopyranoside revealed that the protein accumulated into the cytoplasm as insoluble inclusion bodies. The level of expression of the recombinant 35 kDa protein (P35) was more than 30% of the total protein of E. coli cells. Expression of the recombinant protein was confirmed by immunoblotting. The P35 reacted with a rabbit antiserum raised against a sonicate of M. a. paratuberculosis. The protein was also recognized by serum from a goat with clinical paratuberculosis. Further, a polyclonal antiserum against P35 recognized a 35 kDa band in a membrane fraction of M. a. paratuberculosis. Also, the protein provoked a significant skin reaction in outbred guinea pigs sensitized with M. a. paratuberculosis, as well as in those sensitized with Mycobacterium avium. The results indicate that the 35 kDa protein of M. a. paratuberculosis is a membrane protein, having a role in the cellular immune response.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed2004

Abolish C3.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Ambulatory Care Facilities↗
PubMed2004

A review of post-trachelectomy isthmic and vaginal smear cytology.

Currently in the UK cervical cancer has a peak incidence in women aged 35-39. Fertility-conserving surgical treatment by radical trachelectomy is established in the management of early disease. This study aimed at establishing the value of cytology in follow-up after trachelectomy. The cytological features of isthmic-vaginal smears post-trachelectomy for cervical cancer are presented together with a discussion of relevant clinical issues. One hundred and ninety seven smears from 32 women were reviewed. Two of the 32 patients developed pelvic recurrences. In both cases recurrence was detected cytologically long before development of a clinical or radiological abnormality. There is, however, a potential for overcall due to the presence of endometrial cells. These were present in large numbers and varying configurations in 58% of smears and led to a false positive report of malignancy in 2% of smears. The rate of referral for a cytologist opinion was significantly higher in smears containing endometrial cells (26%) than those without (13%). While all smears contained squamous cells, 41% contained squamous cells only and it is proposed that such smears should be reported as unsatisfactory in the first 2 years after surgery and negative thereafter, although the absence of glandular cells should be recorded. When an abnormality is reported, smear review and multidisciplinary discussion may avoid unnecessary investigations.

Endometrial Neoplasms↗
PubMed2004

The neutral comet assay detects double strand DNA damage in selected and unselected human spermatozoa of normospermic donors.

The occurrence of DNA breaks in human sperm is of concern to genetic safety in artificial reproduction techniques. Here, we have explored the neutral comet assay (NCA) for evaluating the frequency of spermatozoa with double strand (ds) DNA breaks in normospermic donors. The NCA results into DNA tail formation by fibre extension and by the separation of DNA fragments. Gamma-irradiated native, lysed and lysed plus RNA and protein degraded human sperm nuclei have been used to assess sensitivity and specificity of fragment formation as an indication for ds DNA breaks. At 5 and 10 Gy gamma irradiation, the sensitivity increases in the order: native, lysed, lysed plus RNA and protein degraded. At 10 Gy, a uniform response between donors was obtained. For technical and biological reasons, the NCA underestimates the true incidence of ds DNA breaks by an unknown factor. Semen samples of six healthy normospermic donors were differentiated by swim up and by Percoll density centrifugation, followed by the NCA. In native semen, percentages of sperm nuclei with ds DNA breaks ranged from 15 to 25%. Swim up and selection for high-density sperm nuclei (high Percoll fraction) reduced the frequency of sperm with ds DNA breaks by about one third, whereas an increased frequency was found in the low Percoll fraction. In conclusion, the response to gamma irradiation of DNA fragment formation indicates the NCA to demonstrate ds DNA breaks which is in keeping with theory and experimental results from somatic cells. Ds DNA breaks are a characteristic of the sperm population of normal donors. Current sperm selection procedures reduce the fractions of sperm with ds DNA breaks, yet are not effective in eliminating these cells.

Centrifugation, Density Gradient↗
PubMed2004

T-helper cell responses in liver transplant recipients: correlation with cytomegalovirus and other major infections.

Mitogen concanavalin A (ConA) response and cytomegalovirus (CMV)-specific memory response were assessed in 24 liver transplant recipients and compared with healthy subjects. Transplant recipients as compared to healthy subjects had a lower CMV memory response at 2 weeks (P=0.023), and at 1 month (P=0.06), but a comparable response at 3 months. CMV recipient+/donor+(R+/D+) patients had the greatest increase in CMV-specific memory response at 2-3 months as compared to all other groups. Within this R+/D+ group, CMV-specific memory response was significantly more robust in patients who never had CMV infection as compared to those who developed CMV infection (P=0.035). ConA response at 2 weeks was significantly lower in patients with major infections as compared to those without them (SI 5.4 vs. 38.1, P=0.039). Thus, reconstitution of CMV-specific T-helper cell response was distinct for subsets of liver transplant recipients based on the recipient and donor CMV serostatus. Impairment in proliferative response to ConA identified a subgroup of patients with major infections after liver transplantation.

Antibodies, Viral↗