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Biomedical subjects

S K Pal

Publications and source records attributed to S K Pal.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed2004

Predictive efficacy of Framingham's risk score in Indian scenario--a retrospective case-control study.

To assess the predictive ability of Framingham's risk score in primary prevention in our population, 252 cases and 212 age and sex matched controls were taken up for study. Those patients, who were presenting for the first time with acute coronarysyndrome (ACS) and who did not have any prior manifestations of coronary artery disease (CAD) and whose medical records were available formed the patient group. Framingham's risk score was calculated and the corresponding 10 years risk was assessed in each of them. The patients and controls were divided into two groups--diabetic and non-diabetic. Depending on the 10 years risk, they were further grouped into high risk (10 years risk > 20%), moderately high risk (10 years risk 10 to 20%) and low risk (10 years risk less than 10%). Results were compared and statistically analysed. In the diabetic patients with ACS 14% would have qualified as high risk, 33% as moderately high risk and 53% as low risk whereas in diabetic patients without any manifestation of CAD the distribution was 4% in the high risk, 54% in the moderately high risk and 42% in the low risk. In the non-diabetic subjects, amongst the patients of ACS, 20% would have been in high risk, 39% in moderately high risk and 41% in the low risk. The corresponding figures in the non-diabetic control subjects were 10% in high risk, 22% in the moderately high risk and 68% in the low risk. In the non-diabetic subjects, the mean risk was significantly more in patients than in controls (14.15% versus 8.61%, p <0.01). However, in the diabetic patients there was no significant difference in the mean projected risk between patients with ACS and patients without any manifestation of CAD (11.37% versus 10.41%, p>0.05).

Acute Disease↗
PubMed2003

Quinacrine sterilization of 1997 women in Daharpur, Midnapore, West Bengal, India: a comparison of 3 protocols.

OBJECTIVES: Determine the efficacy of two different dosage regimens of quinacrine placed at each cornual angle, employing a curved inserter, and for fundal placement of doses from 252 mg to 360 mg of quinacrine, depending on the age of the woman. METHODS: 1. The first trial involved 3 double insertions, a month apart, of 50 mg of quinacrine at each cornual angle. This trial was initiated on 14 August 1979 and completed on 26 June 1984 with 418 subjects admitted. 2. The second was a single double insertion of 100 mg at each cornual angle. This trial, initiated on 30 November 1984, was completed on 11 June 1985 with 100 subjects admitted. 3. The third trial began 2 January 1995, was completed 26 January 1998 and included 1479 subjects. There were 2 insertions, a month apart, with fundal placement of all pellets. The dose depended on the woman's age and ranged from 252 mg in the oldest to 360 mg in the youngest. The cut-off date for this trial was 23 January 2003. RESULTS: Only relatively minor side effects or complications were seen. None required hospitalization. Failure rates with multiple low dose or single dose cornual placement of pellets were unacceptably high. When higher doses of fundal placement of quinacrine were used at two visits, one month apart, no failures occurred. CONCLUSIONS: The third protocol shows great promise.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

Femtosecond dynamics of a drug-protein complex: daunomycin with Apo riboflavin-binding protein.

In this contribution, we report studies of the primary dynamics of the drug-protein complexes of daunomycin with apo riboflavin-binding protein. With femtosecond resolution, we observed the ultrafast charge separation between daunomycin and aromatic amino acid residues of the protein, tryptophan(s). Electron transfer occurs from tryptophan(s) to daunomycin with two reaction times, 1 ps and 6 ps, depending on the local complex structure. The formation of anionic daunomycin radical is crucial for triggering a series of chemical reactions in redox cycling. One of the subsequent reactions is the reduction of dioxygen to form active superoxide by the reduced daunomycin. This catalytic process was found to occur within 10 ps. In the absence of dioxygen, charge recombination takes a much longer time, more than 100 ps. These results, along with similar findings in DNA and nucleotides, elucidate that the ultrafast generation of reduced daunomycin radicals by photoactivation is a primary step for the observed photoenhancement of drug cytotoxicity by several orders of magnitude. We also studied the dependence of the dynamics on protein conformations at different ionic strengths and denaturant concentrations. We observe a sharp transition from the tertiary structure to the unfolding state at 2 M of denaturant concentration.

Carrier Proteins↗
PubMed2001

Uptake of isoflurane during prolonged clinical anaesthesia.

Recent evidence has suggested that the rate of uptake of inhalational anaesthetic is constant during maintenance of anaesthesia, contrary to the predictions of multi-compartment uptake models. We measured isoflurane uptake using a totally closed anaesthetic system during up to 10 h of stable anaesthesia for maxillo-facial surgery on 12 adult patients. Liquid isoflurane was injected into the system under computer control to produce an end tidal concentration of 1.3 MAC of isoflurane. Bench tests demonstrated that the leakage from the system was less than 8 microl min(-1), confirming that the rate of injection of isoflurane into the system was a close upper bound on the patients' uptake. Anaesthetic usage for a 70 kg patient was 0.44e(-0.51t)+0.044e(-0.013t)+0.058e(-0.00098t) ml min(-1) of liquid isoflurane, where t is duration of anaesthesia in minutes. There was a continuing reduction in anaesthetic requirement even at the end of the period of study that was statistically significant. These data do not support the notion that isoflurane uptake is constant during stable maintenance of anaesthesia but is compatible with the conventional multi-compartment model of anaesthetic uptake and distribution.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

Internet: a major resource for toxicologists.

Use of the Internet in developing countries is now growing faster. Internet has created a new conduit not only for communication but also in the access, sharing and exchange of information among scientists. The Internet is now viewed as the world's biggest library where retrieval of scientific literature and other information resources are possible within seconds. Large volumes of toxicological information resources are available on the Internet. This review outlines some sites that may be of great importance and useful to the toxicologist.

Internet↗
PubMed2001

Internet resources for the human geneticist.

The Internet is a massive expanding body of information, which is likely to play a significant role for clinicians and researchers across the world. Since its inception in December 1969 the Internet has grown rapidly and is anticipated to expand 1,000% in the coming next few years. Various useful databases on human genetics are already in 'the Net' and many more are being added constantly. The future of human geneticist is in handling of information. In this review of Internet and compilation of important web site addresses we expect to stimulate and instruct human geneticists in navigating the Net. The list of web sites provided in this article is expected to facilitate their search.

Databases, Genetic↗
PubMed2000

Staging of cervical cancer with soft computing.

This paper describes a way of designing a hybrid decision support system in soft computing paradigm for detecting the different stages of cervical cancer. Hybridization includes the evolution of knowledge-based subnetwork modules with genetic algorithms (GA's) using rough set theory and the Interactive Dichotomizer 3 (ID3) algorithm. Crude subnetworks obtained via rough set theory and the ID3 algorithm are evolved using GA's. The evolution uses a restricted mutation operator which utilizes the knowledge of the modular structure, already generated, for faster convergence. The GA tunes the network weights and structure simultaneously. The aforesaid integration enhances the performance in terms of classification score, network size and training time, as compared to the conventional multilayer perceptron. This methodology also helps in imposing a structure on the weights, which results in a network more suitable for extraction of logical rules and human interpretation of the inferencing procedure.

Algorithms↗
PubMed1997

Adjunctive methods of pain control in burns.

Opiates remain the most common form of analgesic therapy in the burn patient today. Because of increased opiate requirements, optimal relief of burn pain continues to be a problem for these patients. The purpose of this article is to summarize those alternative pain control methods that appear in the literature. For instance, in minor burns acetominophen continues to be a useful first line analgesic. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID) and benzodiazepine are generally combined with opiates while entonox seems to be used commonly in the adolescent patients to relieve procedural pain. Antidepressants appear to enhance opiate-induced analgesia while anticonvulsants are useful in the treatment of sympathetically maintained pain following burns. Ketamine has been extensively used during burn dressing changes but its psychological side-effects have limited its use. Clonidine, however, has shown promise in reducing pain without causing pruritus or respiratory depression. Other forms such as transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS), psychological techniques, topical and systemic local anaesthetics are also useful adjuncts.

Analgesia↗
PubMed1997

Genetic studies on primary antibody response to sheep erythrocytes in guinea fowl.

1. The primary antibody response to sheep erythrocytes was determined by haemagglutination test in guinea fowl. The effects of various genetic and non-genetic factors on immune response to sheep RBCs in guinea fowl were also estimated. 2. The immune response to sheep RBCs was normally distributed in guinea fowl with mean titre at 1.534 +/- 0.014. 3. In guinea fowl, effects on titre values of sire and variety (feather colour) were significant whereas sex and sex x variety interaction effects were non-significant. 4. The estimate of heritability for immune response to sheep RBCs in guinea fowl was 0.35 +/- 0.17.

Animals↗
PubMed1997

Inheritance of wing feather development rate in guinea fowl (Numida meleagris).

1. A study of primary wing feather development rate in guinea fowl revealed genetic control through a single pair of sex-linked alleles. The allele for slow feathering (K) was dominant over that for rapid feathering (k+). 2. Wing feather sexing showed 94% accuracy in 10-d-old keets. 3. Incidence of rapid feathering allele (k+) was higher in the population selected for high body weight compared to the unselected population.

Alleles↗
PubMed1997

Auditory evoked response, median frequency and 95% spectral edge during anaesthesia with desflurane and nitrous oxide.

We have studied in 12 patients the effect of desflurane in nitrous oxide on the electroencephalogram (EEG) and the early cortical auditory evoked response (AER). After induction with desflurane, patients' lungs were ventilated to maintain three different end-expiratory concentrations of desflurane (1.5, 3 and 6%) during four consecutive 10-min periods before surgery. As the end-expiratory concentration of desflurane was increased, Pa and Nb (AER) amplitudes decreased and their latencies increased, and spontaneous EEG showed an increase in amplitude and a slowing of frequency. A linear relationship was demonstrated between log10 concentration of desflurane and all variables (P = 0.001). Pa amplitude showed the greatest linearity followed by the derived variable F95 of the EEG. From regression slopes, mean percentage changes of each variable were calculated for a 1 MAC change in desflurane concentration, Pa amplitude showed the largest change (mean 49% (95% confidence interval 40-56%) decrease for a 1 MAC increase). This was greater than that of F95 for a similar confidence interval, indicating better resolution. This study confirms that the early cortical AER is affected by desflurane in a similar manner to that of other anaesthetic agents and as such remains the most promising EEG derived measure of depth of anaesthesia.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

Congenital abnormalities in Durgapur Steel Plant Hospital with special reference to neural tube defect.

In a retrospective study of congenital abnormalities from January, 1991 to December, 1993 in Durgapur Steel Plant Hospital, a referral hospital covering wide industrial belt, the incidence of neural tube defects was detected remarkably high. It was revealed that increased incidence of neural tube defects was found in patients from low socio-economic status with gross nutritional deficiency and inadequate antenatal care.

Congenital Abnormalities↗
PubMed1996

An MLP-based model for identifying qEEG in depression.

Manual differentiation of electroencephalography (EEG) paper recordings in cases of depression is not very helpful. So, a Multilayer Perceptron (MLP) has been used to differentiate the EEG power density spectra (qEEG) in the wakeful state from animals (control, exercised and depressed). The qEEG ranging from 1 to 30 Hz, at 1 Hz increments (30 input features) and also a slow, medium and fast activity (represented by three ranges of frequencies at the input) were used. After training with depressed and control qEEG only, the MLP has been found to distinguish successfully between the normal and the depressed rats in more than 80% of the cases, identifying, in the process, most of the exercised groups' EEG as normal. The reduction in the dimension of input features from 30 individual frequencies to 3 frequency bands has produced similar results. The rules generated for making such distinctions have been found to be similar to the clinical views.

Algorithms↗
PubMed1995

Polymorphic protein expression (profile) in numigall.

Ten protein and enzyme polymorphic systems, viz. haemoglobin, albumin, transferrin, adenosine deaminase, adenylate kinase phosphoglucomutase, esterase-D, glyoxalase, alkaline phosphatase and amylase were studied in numigall (guinea fowl x chicken hybrids) to assess structural gene expression and regulatory gene divergence between the parental species. The investigation revealed presence of both the maternal and paternal electrophoretic components in case of adenosine deaminase, alkaline phosphatase, amylase, albumin and transferrin although no clear differences could be identified for haemoglobin and glyoxalase. Esterase-D and adenylate kinase phenotypes showed a dominance of the chicken type.

Animals↗
PubMed1994

Expression and potential function of the c-mos proto-oncogene in human eggs.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the expression and possible function of the c-mos proto-oncogene in human eggs. DESIGN: Eggs obtained as discarded material from assisted reproductive technology procedures were analyzed for c-mos messenger RNA by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction. As an approach to investigating c-mos function, we measured maturation-promoting factor (MPF) activity (histone H1 kinase) in eggs without and with inhibition of protein synthesis. Detection of RNA transcripts of c-raf was included as control. RESULTS: Transcripts of c-mos were detected in small fractions of individual eggs, indicating that c-mos is abundantly transcribed. Inhibition of protein synthesis resulted in loss of MPF, leading to chromatin decondensation and reformation of a nucleus. C-raf maternal messages were also detectable in individual human eggs. CONCLUSION: The c-mos proto-oncogene is an abundant maternal message in human eggs as in other species. The effects of inhibiting protein synthesis in human eggs are similar to those obtained in mouse and Xenopus eggs, either as a consequence of protein synthesis inhibition or specific ablation of c-mos RNA by injection of anti-sense oligonucleotides. The c-mos gene product is thus likely to play a critical role in human oocyte meiosis by regulating the activity of MPF.

Base Sequence↗
PubMed1993

Expression of proto-oncogenes in mouse eggs and preimplantation embryos.

The expression of several protooncogenes has been investigated in mouse eggs and preimplantation embryos using reverse transcription coupled to amplification of cDNAs by the polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The genes chosen for analysis included both cytoplasmic (c-raf-1, rasH, rasK, and rasN) and nuclear (c-fos and c-myc) proto-oncogenes encoding proteins involved in the transduction of signals from protein-tyrosine kinase growth factor receptors. Transcripts of the cytoplasmic proto-oncogenes were detected both as maternal and embryonic mRNAs at levels (ca. 1,000 copies per egg or embryo) approximately comparable to their levels of transcription in somatic cells. Transcripts of c-fos and c-myc were also detected in both eggs and embryos, although at more variable levels: Maternal transcripts were present at very low levels (ca. 1-10 copies per egg) in growing oocytes and ovulated eggs; embryonic transcription of c-myc increased, reaching mRNA levels of approximately 100-1,000 copies per embryo in four-cell embryos, morula, and blastocysts; in contrast the transcription of c-fos remained at low, barely detectable levels throughout preimplantation development. Although the significance of the low levels of c-fos mRNA is unclear, these results indicate that preimplantation embryos possess the basic intracellular signaling apparatus required to respond to polypeptide growth factors.

Animals↗