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Biomedical subjects

P R Kulkarni

Publications and source records attributed to P R Kulkarni.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Thoracic epidural catheters via the caudal and lumbar approaches using styletted multiple port catheters in pediatric patients: a report of three cases.

Advancing catheters from the lumbar and caudal epidural spaces to the thoracic level has been reported to be an alternative to the direct thoracic approach. However, as children grow, the threading of catheters in the epidural space becomes increasingly difficult. This report describes three cases of thoracic epidural placement using a multiport catheter threaded from the caudal and lumbar spaces using electrical stimulation guidance. In the first case, a multiport catheter was threaded 22 cm from the lumbar space to T8 following a failed attempt with a single-port catheter in a 9-year-old boy scheduled to undergo a right nephrectomy. In the second case, a multiport catheter was threaded 26 cm from the caudal space to T9 in a 3-year-old girl undergoing fundoplication. In the last case, a multiport catheter was inserted at the completion of a fundoplication in a 2-year-old girl after it had been confirmed that the single-port catheter inserted prior to surgery had not advanced to the desired thoracic level. The multiport catheter was threaded 17 cm without resistance from the caudal space to T9. In all cases, electrical stimulation was used to confirm the location of the catheter tip at the time of insertion. The position of the catheters was later confirmed by X-ray. The multiport catheter incorporates a stylet, which extends to a closed distal tip, within a catheter body that ejects fluid from three lateral holes in a direction perpendicular to the advancing catheter. These properties may facilitate the reliable advancement of catheters in the epidural space.

Anesthesia, Epidural↗
PubMed2002

A study of antifungal antibiotic production by Streptomyces chattanoogensis MTCC 3423 using full factorial design.

AIMS: To determine the correct levels of the three process parameters identified as the most important for maximum production of antifungal antibiotic by the newly isolated strain of Streptomyces chattanoogensis MTCC 3423. METHODS AND RESULTS: The three independent variables, namely concentration of carbon source (glucose), nitrogen source (soybean meal) and temperature of incubation, were found to be the most important for production of antifungal antibiotic by the isolate Streptomyces chattanoogensis MTCC 3423 from a one-factor-at-a-time study. These variables were varied at three levels in 27 experiments using full factorial design. The results were analysed using statistical software for social sciences, SPSS (version 6.0). They indicated that the optimum combination of the three factors for maximum yield (263.63 U) of the antibiotic was concentration of carbon source (glucose) 5%, concentration of nitrogen source (soybean meal) 1% and temperature of incubation 30 degrees C. The antifungal antibiotic activity of the isolate was estimated against Candida albicans by bioassay. CONCLUSIONS: The S. chattanoogensis MTCC 3423 isolate was found to yield a maximum of 263.63 IU Nystatin ml-1 medium by manipulating the three process parameters of glucose, soybean meal and temperature of incubation. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: As process optimization by single-dimensional search is laborious and time consuming, and does not guarantee determination of optimal conditions, an attempt was made to use a more practical full factorial method. Even though antifungal antibiotic treatment and resistance data have been analysed using SPSS software, there are no reports on antifungal antibiotic production using SPSS.

Antifungal Agents↗
PubMed2000

Effect of preservation techniques and food additives on staphylococcal thermonuclease.

Staphylococcal TNase was found to retain its activity fully even after exposure to chilling and refrigeration temperatures for 24 h. It was not inhibited by p-hydroxy benzoic acid, sorbic acid, methylpropyl p-benzoic acid and sodium nitrite in the concentration range of 0.04 to 0.5%, whereas it was inhibited by 100 ppm of butylated hydroxy anisole (BHA), 200 ppm of butylated hydroxy toluene (BHT), and 300 ppm of propyl gallate. There was not complete inhibition of S. aureus and TNase by tocopherol (TP) and ascorbic acid (AA) even at concentration of 300 ppm. These results indicate that TNase can be used as an index of potentially enterotoxin producing S. aureus contamination in foods subjected to chilling, refrigeration as well as in foods containing common preservatives and antioxidants.

Animals↗
PubMed2000

Effect of gamma irradiation on staphylococcal thermonuclease (TNase).

Stability of staphylococcal thermonuclease (TNase) on exposure to irradiation though expected has not been experimentally established. In the present work. TNase in presence of standard growth media as well as dairy and meat products was found to be completely resistant even at a dose of 10 kGy indicating that the TNase can be used as an indicator of Staphylococcal aureus contamination even in foods in which S. aureus have been destroyed by irradiation. This new application of TNase is being reported for the first time.

Culture Media↗
PubMed2000

Influence of legume blends on fried papad quality.

Legumes and their blends are widely used for the production of papads. Papads with low fat content would be a boon to populations looking for low-calorie foods with retention of organoleptic profile. Judicious blending of legumes such as black gram, green gram, bengal gram, red gram and cowpea revealed that low-fat fried papads could be prepared from a blend of 40:36:24 blend of bengal gram:black gram:green gram flours. The blend had 15.6% lower fat content as compared to the control prepared from black gram flour alone. Other quality parameters such as expansion ratio, texture in terms of crispness, colour and overall organoleptic quality were also evaluated.

Developing Countries↗
PubMed2000

Mini-papad containing cheese powder--a novelty snack food.

The present work reports on attempts to develop mini-papads containing cheese powder to create a novel taste, with potential for urban and export markets. Cheese powder was added to black gram flour at 0-50% levels and papads were prepared in the conventional manner by rolling the dough and drying. These papads were deep-fat fried at 180 degrees C. Upto 20% addition of cheese powder gave no perceptible change in taste or flavour of the mini-papads. At 30% addition brown colouration was observed which decreased the sensory appeal. At 40 and 50% levels, although the mouthfeel and flavour of cheese was desirable, browning increased markedly, which drastically lowered the overall acceptability. Ascorbic acid addition at 0.5-1.0% markedly decreased the browning. The papads had a higher fat content on frying as compared to the control but were excellent organoleptically, suggesting them to be a tasty and crunchy snack food.

Ascorbic Acid↗
PubMed2000

A comparative study on the physical characteristics and cooking quality parameters of commercial brands of Basmati rice.

Randomly selected samples of three popular commercial brands of Basmati rice (designated as A, B and C) available in Mumbai city were studied with respect to their proximate composition and differences in their quality evaluated in terms of length by breadth and elongation ratio, differential length by breadth ratio, water uptake, loss of solids in cooking water, swelling index and volume expansion ratio. The l/b ratio and elongation ratio varied between 4.47 to 4.81 and 1.45 to 1.59 respectively. The differential length by breadth ratio showed a wide variation from 5.88 to 9.48 among the three brands studied. Brand A recorded the highest length by breadth and elongation ratio whereas brand C recorded the highest differential length by breadth ratio. The water uptake values and the loss of solids in the cooking gruel varied between 172 to 262 and 0.87 to 2.70 (g/100 g of rice) respectively, among the three commercial brands. The swelling index and the volume expansion ratio did not show much variation among the three brands ranging between 28 to 31 for the former and 2.00 to 2.21 for the latter. Based on the differential length by breadth ratio, water uptake and swelling index values, which are the most reliable quality indices; brand C was found to be the best followed by brands A and B. The study of the texture of the cooked rice grains indicated that brand C had the softest grains, which was in conformity with the findings in cooking quality characteristics.

Cooking↗
PubMed1997

Association of adenovirus infection with human obesity.

We previously reported that chickens infected with the avian adenovirus SMAM-1 developed a unique syndrome characterized by excessive intra-abdominal fat deposition accompanied by paradoxically low serum cholesterol and triglyceride levels. There have been no previous reports of avian adenoviruses infecting humans. We screened the serum of 52 humans with obesity in Bombay, India, for antibodies against SMAM-1 virus using the agar gel precipitation test (AGPT) method. Bodyweights and serum cholesterol and triglyceride levels were compared in SMAM-1-positive (P-AGPT) and SMAM-1-negative (N-AGPT) groups. Ten subjects were positive for antibodies to SMAM-1, and 42 subjects did not have antibodies. The P-AGPT group had a significantly higher bodyweight (p < 0.02) and body mass index (p < 0.001) (95.1 +/- 2.1 kg and 35.3 +/- 1.5 kg/m2, respectively) compared with the N-AGPT group (80.1 +/- 0.6 kg and 30.7 +/- 0.6 kg/m2, respectively). Also, the P-AGPT group had significantly lower serum cholesterol (p < 0.02) and triglyceride (p < 0.001) values (4.65 mmol/L and 1.45 mmol/L, respectively) compared with the N-AGPT group (5.51 mmol/L and 2.44 mmol/L, respectively). Two subjects positive for SMAM-1 antibodies had antibodies against each others' serum, suggesting the presence of antigens in one or both. When these two serum samples were inoculated into chicken embryos, macroscopic lesions compatible with SMAM-1 infection developed. The inoculation of serum from N-AGPT subjects did not produce such lesions. The presence of increased obesity, antibodies to SMAM-1, reduced levels of blood lipids, and viremia that produces a typical infection in chicken embryos suggests that SMAM-1, or a serologically similar human virus, may be involved in the cause of obesity in some humans.

Adenoviridae↗
PubMed1997

Effect of food processing treatments on generation of resistant starch.

The resistant starch (RS) contents of rice and waxy amaranth starch subjected to processing treatments like cooking by boiling, pressure cooking, roasting, extrusion cooking, frying and drum drying have been reported. Compared to the contents in the native starch, when expressed on dry wt basis, in both cases, cooking by boiling and pressure cooking resulted in increase in RS content whereas all other processing treatments resulted in a decrease in RS contents.

Amaranthus↗
PubMed1997

Low-fat papadams from black gram-tapioca blends.

Papadams, made from black gram (Phaseolus mungo) and largely manufactured on cottage scale are popular in the Indian dietary. Escalating prices of black gram coupled with abundant availability of tapioca flour at almost 1/8th the price of black gram prompted the study of papadam characteristics using blends of black gram and tapioca flour. Tapioca flour up to 25% substitution did not alter the sensory attributes. However, the expansibility of the product decreased on addition of tapioca flour; a fact which could be overcome by using carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) at 3% level of black gram flour. This decreased the oil content to 19.7% and also increased the expansibility to 5.539%.

Bread↗
PubMed1995

Enhancement of inulinase production by Aspergillus niger van Teighem.

Aspergillus niger van Teighem, a soil isolate, was mutagenized by u.v. light. A mutant strain with 3 times increased productivity was generated on exposure of the parent strain to u.v. for 15 min. This mutant on further exposure to u.v. yielded second generation mutants with only marginal increase in inulinase productivity with respect to the parent mutant, but the best yield of 377 U ml-1 was considered promising for industrial use.

Aspergillus niger↗
PubMed1995

Effect of polyols on heat inactivation of Aspergillus niger van Teighem inulinase.

The effect of polyols (ethylene glycol, glycerol, erythritol, xylitol and sorbitol) on partially purified inulinase from Aspergillus niger van Teighem mutant grown on Kuth (Saussurea lappa) root as source of inulin was determined. Seventy per cent of inulinase activity was retained in the presence of 4 mol l-1 sorbitol at 75 degrees C.

Aspergillus niger↗
PubMed1995

Serum cholesterol and triglyceride levels in weight reduction program dropouts.

Dropouts of a weight reduction program are not evaluated for the lasting effects of weight reduction. This study was an attempt to learn about the benefits of weight reduction received and sustained by the dropouts of the program. Ninety-seven males and females dropping out of a dietary weight management program after 16-18 weeks of treatment, and after 9-9.4kg weight loss and wishing to rejoin the program for a second time after at least 9 months' absence from it, were considered for the study. Their body weight, serum cholesterol, serum triglyceride, and blood sugar levels at the beginning of the second attempt, were compared with the respective values at the beginning of the first attempt. All patients had regained the weight lost during their first attempt when they reported for a second attempt. However, serum cholesterol and triglyceride values were 15% and 26% less for females, and 17% and 24% less for males, compared to their respective values on the first attempt, in the subgroup of patients with normal blood sugar levels. In the subgroup with above normal blood sugar levels, however, serum cholesterol and triglyceride values showed an increase by 12% and 17% respectively, for females, and by 2% and 7% respectively, for males, compared to their baseline values on their first attempt. The mechanism responsible for this observation was not uncovered. However, the observation that even an incomplete attempt at weight reduction appears to contribute in maintaining lower levels of serum cholesterol and triglyceride of at least those with normal blood sugar levels, is useful in nutritional counseling for emphasizing the health benefits of the weight reduction.

Adult↗
PubMed1994

Enhancement of beta-galactosidase productivity of Aspergillus niger NCIM-616.

A series of mutations was carried out with Aspergillus niger NCIM-616 as the parent strain. A mutant strain NG-4 with 28% increased beta-galactosidase productivity was produced with N-methyl-N-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine (NTG) at 1500 micrograms ml-1 concentration and exposure time of 60 min. This mutant yielded a third generation u.v.-treated strain, UV-5 with a 117.6% increase in beta-galactosidase productivity with respect to the parent strain.

Aspergillus niger↗
PubMed1992

Estimation of tidal volume from the reservoir bag. A laboratory study.

The accuracy of 21 anaesthetists in estimating tidal volumes from reservoir bag movements was assessed using a model lung apparatus. The breathing system configuration (Mapleson A or D), the grade of anaesthetist, and the years of anaesthetic experience had no effect on accuracy. Greater precision of tidal volume estimation was observed with larger tidal volumes and lower fresh gas flows. The mean systematic error of 18 of the 21 anaesthetists was greater than zero, indicating a general tendency to overestimate tidal volume. This study therefore strengthens the view that clinical observations should be supplemented with information from continuous monitoring devices.

Anesthesia, Inhalation↗