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Biomedical subjects

A K Purohit

Publications and source records attributed to A K Purohit.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

Pulmonary function studies in 15 to 18 years age workers exposed to dust in industry.

Pulmonary function tests (VC, FEV1% and FEF25-75%) were evaluated in 15 to 18 years age workers employed in slate pencil industry exposed to silica dust, in wool carpet industry exposed to wool dust and in diamond cutting and polishing exposed to carbon dust. These values were compared with the values obtained in clinically healthy non-smokers of the same age group. The results revealed significant impairment of VC in diamond workers, and FEF25-75% in slate pencil workers. When the values were observed according to smoking habits in diamond workers, VC, FEV1 and FEF25-75% were all significantly reduced in smokers whereas in non-smokers only VC was lowered significantly. Among slate pencil workers FEF25-75% was significantly reduced in both smokers and non-smokers. Wool dust exposed workers showed reduced values than normal subjects. The detailed results including the prevalence of various pulmonary impairments were presented.

Adolescent

Anaplastic astrocytoma of the spinal cord presenting with features of raised intracranial pressure.

Intramedullary tumors of the spinal cord in childhood are usually of low grades (grades I and II) and are most commonly seen in the cervical and cervicothoracic regions. They present with symptoms and signs of spinal cord tumor. It is uncommon to find an anaplastic astrocytoma situated in the thoracolumbar segment of the spinal cord. Whereas papilledema and raised intracranial symptoms have been reported in about 12.5% of cases of spinal cord tumors it is rare to find them presenting initially only with symptoms of raised intracranial pressure and only later followed by spinal cord symptoms. The case of an 11-year-old female child is reported here because of a combination of these two rare features.

Astrocytoma

Nifedipine and blood glucose in normal human volunteers.

The effect of nifedipine, a calcium antagonist on fasting blood glucose level, glucose tolerance, glucose-induced insulin and glucagon secretion was studied in healthy nondiabetic volunteers. Nifedipine 10mg twice daily for four weeks did not affect fasting blood glucose level, glucose tolerance, glucose-induced insulin and glucagon secretion.

Adult

Visual recognition memory for large and small binary pictures.

Recognition memory for pictures was tested using matrices of 0s and 1s as stimuli in two experiments. In the first experiment dimensionality of matrices was varied (5 X 5 and 10 X 10 matrices). The results showed better recognition memory for 10 X 10 matrices. The second experiment investigated the importance of certain areas, such as center or surround, using 10 X 10 matrices only. The results suggested that neither center nor surround is given unusual weight.

Attention

Neurosurgical intervention during resistant phase of motor development of cerebral palsied.

Positive neurological phenomena of cerebral palsied, especially spasticity are best relieved by neurosurgical procedures. But the procedures are indicated only in those cases who have developed resistance to nonsurgical therapies, especially rehabilitative therapy. However, surgical procedure cannot teach a child how to perform motor functions. Therefore, rehabilitative therapy plays immense role in development of motor functions which can be improved best during the physical developmental and learning ability age of the child. Therefore, it is recommended to start neurodevelopmental therapy at a few weeks age of the child, and perform the neurosurgical procedure as soon as the child develops resistance to the therapy. The child has to resume back to therapy following the surgery for further motor development. There are various neurosurgical procedures for the relief of positive neurological phenomena. The present article includes brief description of the procedures and review of the literature. The authors feel that the selective posterior rhizotomy is perhaps the best procedure among all other ablative procedures for the relief of diffuse spasticity of both the lower limbs in strictly selected cases.

Cerebral Palsy