Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to S Prasad.
Isolated optic nerve involvement by the idiopathic inflammatory process is a rare finding and very few reports are available. Here a case of an isolated optic nerve inflammatory pseudotumour presenting with gradually progressive unilateral loss of vision is described. It showed dramatic response to a trial of steroids and its differential diagnoses are discussed.
Inflammatory pulmonary pseudotumour is an uncommon, non-neoplastic, occasionally aggressive spindle cell proliferative process of uncertain nosology. It has distinctive histopathological features and benign clinico-biological behaviour with multifocal lesions or recurrences in a minority of cases. Recognition of this entity is of paramount importance because it has considerable therapeutic and prognostic implications. The radiological features of two patients with pulmonary pseudotumour that was confirmed on histopathological examination are described.
Pigmented villonodular synovitis (PVNS) is usually a mono-articular disorder. Bilateral symmetrical affection of this disease process is exceptional. A case is reported of a patient with PVNS with bilateral, symmetrical hip joint involvement.
GJB2 encodes the protein Connexin 26, one of the building blocks of gap junctions. Each Connexin 26 molecule can oligomerize with five other connexins to form a connexon; two connexons, in turn, can form a gap junction. Because mutations in GJB2 are the most common cause of congenital severe-to-profound autosomal recessive nonsyndromic hearing loss, the effect of the Connexin 26 allele variants on this dynamic 'construction' process and the function of any gap junctions that do form is particularly germane. One of the more controversial allele variants, M34T, has been hypothesized to cause autosomal dominant nonsyndromic hearing loss. In this paper, we present clinical and genotypic data that refutes this hypothesis and suggests that the effect of the M34T allele variant may be dependent on the mutations segregating in the opposing allele.
With marked improvements in stent technology as adjunct to balloon angioplasty for multivessel coronary disease, several newer trials are currently in progress reviewing the optimal revascularization strategy. This review provides background from older studies and addresses the current progress and design of these newer trials.
If foreign genes are ubiquitously expressed in mice using a viral vector, expression is abrogated by CD8(+) cells in 2 to 4 weeks. However, if the expression of the genes is confined to skeletal muscle cells, the CD8(+) T-cell response is much weaker and expression is maintained for more than 6 weeks. These data show that restricting the expression of foreign genes to skeletal muscle cells and presumably to other cells that are inefficient at antigen presentation can prolong the expression of a foreign gene product.
Fetus in fetu is a rare abnormality secondary to the abnormal embryogenesis in a diamniotic, monochorionic pregnancy. It is an unusual condition in which a vertebrate fetus is enclosed within the abdomen of a normally developing fetus. Presented are the computed tomographic findings in two cases in which imaging findings were diagnostic of this entity.
The influence of thiamine on the efficacy of meso-2,3-dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA), diethyldimercapto succinate (DEDMS), alpha mercapto-beta-(2-furyl) acrylic acid (MFA) and alpha-mercapto-beta-(2-thienyl) acrylic acid (MTA) to mobilize cadmium and reverse cadmium-induced biochemical alterations was investigated in cadmium-exposed rats. The thiamine coadministration enhanced the efficacy of MFA and MTA in reducing hepatic and renal burden of cadmium and that of DMSA and DEDMS in mobilizing hepatic cadmium. It also improved the efficacy of DMSA, DEDMS and MFA in reversing the cadmium-induced increase in urinary alkaline phosphatase and aspartate and alanine amino transaminases. The combined treatment with thiamine and DMSA or MFA restricted the urinary loss of zinc and that with thiamine and DEDMS reduced the loss of fecal copper, a general effect of chelation. In conclusion, the administration of thiamine during chelation therapy in cadmium poisoning may be beneficial and more effective than thiol chelating agents alone, which needs to be confirmed in humans.
Intrathoracic extension or primary thoracic origin of fibromatoses is distinctly uncommon. We describe the imaging features in three patients with this condition.
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Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
The effect of letter reversal on the detection of Gestalt patterns was investigated by recording a short latency brain wave response known as the recognition potential (RP). The native language of 12 subjects was English. It was Chinese for 12 others. Three hypotheses were tested. (1) Strings of identical characters displayed on a background of dissimilar characters will evoke the RP. (2) RP latency will be less for normal letter targets than for reversed letter targets. (3) The letter reversal effect will be greater for subjects having longer experience with alphabetical characters. The hypotheses were confirmed. Similar effects of letter reversal were also found for longer latency electrophysiological responses and for behavioral reaction time (RT). The RP latency difference equaled the RT difference. This suggested that letter specific processes operated rapidly, not later, than the latency of the RP, and any subsequent processing had no differential effect on RT.
The widespread availability of new electronic sources of information has exponentially increased the amount of information available to the surgeon in recent years. These new sources of information come in various forms, each of which have their own rules and regulations. This article focuses on Internet mailing lists. The practicalities of mailing lists are discussed, with guidelines to help users find lists of interest, join and contribute to, and use this medium effectively while minimising the time spent on it. Pointers to starting one's own list are provided for the motivated reader.
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Explore the source record for details and available documents.
The efficacy of alpha-mercapto-beta-(2-furyl) acrylic acid (MFA), alpha-mercapto-beta-(5-sodiumsulfonate, 2-furyl) acrylic acid (MSFA) and alpha-mercapto-beta-(5-acetoxymethyl, 2-furyl) acrylic acid (MAFA) to mobilize intracellularly bound cadmium in liver and kidney was investigated in rats pre-exposed to cadmium. MFA was effective in reducing cadmium levels of hepatic and renal supernatant cytosolic fraction (SCF) while MSFA and MAFA were effective in lowering cadmium levels of renal SCF and hepatic SCF respectively. All the chelating agents also enhanced the excretion of cadmium more in feces than in urine. However, substitution on the furan ring lowered cadmium mobilizing efficacy of the parent compound, MFA. The treatment with MFA did not affect the status of endogenous zinc and copper while the treatment with MSFA and MAFA enhanced their excretion. MSFA increased hepatic and renal zinc and renal copper while MAFA increased their copper levels.
Information technology has had a tremendous impact on the outlook of our professional lives. The Internet has revolutionised the speed of access to information with touch of a button. This article discusses the various aspects of information technology which are changing and enhancing our professional lives. It provides tips to enable the busy practising clinician to use the available resources effectively. Problems such as reliability of information on the web and how to assess the quality of such matter are also discussed.