Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to I Jit.
A case of mummification occurring in northwest India (Chandigarh) is described. A middle-aged man developed an abscess on his back and was treated by a mystical man who did not allow him any food or water. After a few days the patient died. On the advice of the mystical man the body was kept in a room which was made hot and dry. The police discovered the body after 2 years. A postmortem examination was conducted and findings are reported.
Measurements of the trachea and the two main bronchi including the subcarinal angle and the angles of the bronchi with the vertical were taken in specimens obtained from 370 adults, 60 children and adolescents up to 17 yr and 27 dead newborns. These measurements showed a gradual increase with age up to a certain point (often 31-35 yr in males and 26-30 yr in females) and stabilised thereafter. There was no sexual dimorphism in measurements till the age of 17 yr and thereafter, the measurements were greater in males than in females (P < 0.001). In adults the body weight and supine body length had a significant correlation with certain measurements of the trachea. The subcarinal angle and the angles of the two main bronchi with the vertical were variable but the angle of the right bronchus with the vertical was always found to be smaller than that of the left. The incidence of different shapes of the trachea at transversely cut upper end was also studied. A U-shaped trachea was present in 33.2 per cent male adults but was not seen in females. This may have some medico-legal importance.
A 25-year autopsy study (1972-1997) of acute poisoning deaths from a tertiary care hospital in northern India (Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh) revealed a steep increase in the incidence of acute poisoning since 1987. The majority (68%) of subjects were between the ages of 14 and 30 years, and there was a male preponderance (69%). The main victims were students and unemployed youths, followed by agricultural workers and domestic workers. The proportion of urban victims increased from 45% in the period from 1972 to 1977 to 72% in the period from 1992 to 1997. The proportion of suicidal deaths increased from 34% in the period from 1972 to 1977 to 77% in the period from 1992 to 1997, whereas accidental deaths decreased from 63% to 17% in the same period. Barbiturates (37%) and copper sulfate (22%) were the most common poisons causing mortality between 1972 and 1977; organophosphates (46%) became the most common between 1977 and 1982. Since 1982, aluminum phosphide (65%) has been the most common poison.
To find out the time of fusion of the basisphenoid with the basilar part of the occipital bone in Northwest Indian subjects, a quadrilateral piece of bone extending from the posterior clinoid processes to the jugular tubercles was removed from 50 male and 34 female autopsy subjects between the ages of 10 and 20 years. The piece of bone was X-rayed and then macerated. In addition CT scan cuts of the basisphenoid were obtained in 46 male and 27 female living subjects between the age of 10 and 19 years. In the males, partial fusion was seen at 13 years while a complete fusion was noticed at 15 years in 25% of the subjects. The age of a boy showing complete fusion should be 15 years or above. If there is no fusion or partial fusion he should be below 19 years as complete fusion is seen in all male subjects at 19 years. In females, the earliest partial fusion was noted at 12 years and complete fusion was present at 13 years in 16.6%. All female subjects showed complete fusion at 17 years. The minimum age of a girl showing complete fusion should be 13 years; if no fusion or partial fusion is seen, her age should be below 17 years.
BACKGROUND: Aluminum phosphide is widely used in India as a fumigant to protect stored grain from pests and rodents. It is marketed in India as 3 g tablets under several brand names as Celphos, Phostek, Quickphos, and Phosphume. If ingested, it is acutely toxic with a high mortality. The present study was undertaken to define any factors which could predict the outcome after an ingestion. METHODS: Between March 1989 and March 1994, 195 patients with aluminum phosphide ingestion were admitted to Nehru Hospital of the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh in Northwest India. The information regarding demography, time elapsed between ingestion and arrival in the hospital, nature of ingestion, dose ingested, symptoms and signs at admission and course during hospital stay was recorded on a proforma. RESULTS: Of 195 patients, 115 died. The deaths could be related to the dose ingested but not to the time elapsed between ingestion and arrival at the hospital. The nonsurvivors had more severe hypotension and metabolic acidosis than the survivors who had more severe vomiting. Autopsies conducted in 115 subjects revealed congestion of liver, spleen, kidneys, adrenals, gastrointestinal tract and brain that correlated with the severity of hypotension. Histopathology did not reveal any specific changes beyond visceral congestion and patchy necrosis of the liver. CONCLUSION: Aluminum phosphide when ingested is highly toxic with fatal dose as low as 1.5 g. The dominant clinical feature is severe hypotension refractory to dopamine.
In paired tests obtained from 425 adults, 50 children and 10 neonates, the incidence of testicular appendices was 76% in adults (93.3% sessile) and 83.3% in neonates/children (88% sessile). An epididymal appendix was present in 21.9% of adults and 20% of neonates/children, out of which 79% were stalked in both types of specimen. Three sessile testicular appendices and 11 epididymal appendices were double. The microscopic structure of the appendices and the ultrastructure of their epithelia are described. Testicular or epididymal appendices were not present in any domestic or laboratory animal examined except the horse.
A radiological examination of both elbows and wrists of 149 Northwest Indian schoolgirls between the ages of 11 and 19 years, of middle socio-economic status, was undertaken to determine the time of fusion of the epiphyses with the metaphyses of the medial epicondyle of the humerus, the proximal end of the radius and the distal ends of both radius and ulna. The data were subjected to discriminant function tests as well as sensitivity and specificity tests. If the epiphysis of the medial epicondyle of the humerus or that of the head of the radius has not fused with metaphysis completely, the age of the girl would be < 16 years. However, the age of the girl should be > 16 years if the distal epiphyses of the radius and the ulna show complete fusion with their respective metaphyses. Discriminant function tests show that 91.95% of girls can be correctly classified as being above or below the age of 16 years.
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The incidence of an articular facet on the conoid tubercle of the clavicle indicating the presence of a coracoclavicular joint was studied in paired clavicles obtained from 1,000 adult subjects aged 18 to 95 years (748 males, 252 females), and 75 children (45 males, 30 females) of known age on whom a medicolegal postmortem had been performed by the second author during 1972-90. The subjects were inhabitants of northwest India. In addition, paired clavicles from 50 neonates and 35 fetuses were also examined. The facet was absent in the fetuses, neonates, and young children. The youngest clavicle showing the facet was from a girl of 13 years, in which it was present bilaterally. In adults the incidence of the facet was 10.1% (bilateral 5.7%, unilateral 4.4%) in males and 8.3% (bilateral 3.6%, unilateral 4.8%) in females. Absence of the facet in the fetuses, neonates, and young children shows that it is not a congenital anomaly.
The proportion of the cortical thickness to the total diameter of the bone (cortical index) was calculated in paired clavicles obtained from 128 male and 82 female medicolegal postmortem subjects who were apparently healthy prior to their accidental death. The ages of the subjects varied from 15 to 85 years. The clavicles were cut either horizontally or parasagittally, and measurements were taken at midclavicle. From the ages of 15 to 30 years, the cortical index increased. It decreased steadily thereafter, with an initial sharp decrease in the age group 31-40 years in both sexes. After the age of 40 years, this rapid decrease in the index continued in the females, but became slow and gradual in the males. Differences between left and right sides were statistically insignificant in both sexes (P greater than 0.05). However, the sexual differences were significant (P less than 0.01) in the age groups from 41 years onwards.
The time of fusion of the sternebrae with one another was studied in sterna obtained from cadavers of 806 male and 212 female adults and 66 male and 29 female children, on whom medicolegal postmortem examinations had been conducted by the senior author. Sterna of 31 neonates were also studied. The bones were X-rayed in an anteroposterior view and later macerated, cleaned, and dried. The sternebrae fused with one another from below upwards. In both sexes, the third and fourth sternebrae showed partial or commencement of fusion in a majority of specimens in the 0-5 years age group. Although the earliest complete fusion was seen in the 6-10 years age group, 100% specimens exhibited complete fusion in the 15-17 years age group. The earliest complete fusion between second and third sternebrae was observed in the 11-14 years age group in both sexes; it was seen in 100% of specimens in males over 25 years and in females over 30 years. The first and second segments showed earliest complete fusion in a boy of 16 years and in a girl of 18 years; 100% of specimens showed complete fusion in the males over 60 years and in the females over 30 years. A mesosternum showing complete fusion of all the sternebrae must be from a subject over 16 years of age if male and over 18 years if female. These observations are at variance with those of workers in Western countries. There has been no other report from India on this subject.
The incidence of the ileal band was recorded in 1,040 northwest Indian subjects varying in age from 1 day to 100 years on whom a medicolegal postmortem had been performed by the author. The band was present in 31.8% of male and 17.5% of female subjects (P less than .05) and was either quadrilateral (60%) or triangular in shape. In addition 25 foetuses, each above 250 mm in crown-rump length, 25 neonates, 25 monkeys (Macaca mulatta), and an equal number of dogs, rabbits, guinea pigs and rats were also dissected, but the band was found to be absent. In all the foetuses dissected and in 24 out of 25 newborns the caecum was found to be either in the subhepatic or right lumbar region. The earliest age at which the band was found was 7 months. As the band was absent in the animals and the newborns, it appears that it develops in man on account of attaining an erect posture.
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The incidence and size of the rhomboid fossa were studied in paired clavicles of North Indians obtained from 20 neonates, 60 children, and 789 adult bodies of known age and sex on which postmortem examinations had been performed by the senior author (except in cases of neonates). The fossa was absent in the newborns but was present bilaterally in 44% of male and 54% of female children below 18 years of age and in 16.5% of male and 20.8% of female children unilaterally. Statistically the sexual differences were not significant (P greater than 0.05). In the adults, the incidence of bilateral fossa was 58.70% in males and 54.14% in females and a unilateral fossa was seen in 13.29% of males and 16.56% of females, but the sexual difference in both cases was insignificant (P greater than 0.05). However, in unilateral cases, the incidence of the fossa was greater on the right than on the left side in both male (P less than 0.001) and female (P less than 0.001) bones. Although racial differences cannot be ruled out, no sexual or side differences in the incidence of the fossa could be found. Factors responsible for creating a deep fossa unilaterally are not understood.
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The mean life span of Callosobruchus maculatus male is 7 days and female is 5 days at 30 +/- 1 degrees C. Age-related study on C. maculatus shows that RNA and protein contents gradually decline with age in male bruchids, whereas in females initially these increase up to the second day of post-emergent life and subsequently decrease. DNA increases up to the third day in males and the fourth day in females representing post-emergent growth, and then declines sharply on the sixth day. The RNA and protein contents per unit DNA decrease steadily in males; however, in females both are highest during the first 2 days, which synchronizes the egg-laying peak. These observations have been found to be statistically significant (p less than 0.01) and suggest that aging is accompanied by a decrease in both RNA and protein synthesis potential.
Protein analyses from head and body revealed changes in content and electrophoretic banding pattern during aging of the banana fruitfly, Zaprionus paravittiger. Total protein content of head and body increased during the first 13 days of post-emergent life, followed by decline with advancing age. Electrophoretic studies indicate that certain proteins present in newly emerged flies disappeared with the advancing age while a few specific proteins appear and accumulate as the total protein content decreases during post-reproductive period.