Acute limb ischaemia: not an uncommon complication of COVID-19 infection.

A new variant of coronavirus (2019-nCoV) causing acute respiratory distress in humans was identified for the first time in 2019, in Wuhan, China. One of the many complications of infection with this coronavirus is hypercoagulopathy, resulting in acute thrombosis; often leading to acute limb ischaemia. Herein, we report 20 cases of COVID-19 with peripheral arterial thrombosis involving either upper or lower limbs. Some patients underwent vascular procedures and most had to undergo amputation at some level. All the cases (n=20) were referred to us during the 8-month period June 2020 to March 2021. The most common age group was between 51 and 60 years, of whom 80% were males; all the patients had diabetes. The right lower limb was most affected (50%); 15 patients underwent embolectomy. Twenty-five per cent of patients presented with wet gangrene. One patient with upper limb thrombosis recovered after embolectomy and did not require any amputation. Eighty-five per cent of patients underwent some form of amputation and the mortality rate was 10%. Arterial thrombosis is one complication patients may develop during COVID-19 illness, which may affect the outcome. Patients with comorbid conditions like diabetes are at higher risk of developing arterial thrombosis during COVID-19 infection. Susceptibility to coagulopathy may continue even after patient discharge and it is important that both patients and treating physicians are aware of this limb-threatening complication and seek early medical attention.

Advances in detection algorithms for radiation monitoring.

This paper presents a review of up-to-date advancements in detection algorithms employed in radiation monitoring for generating radiation maps of ground contamination and tracking radioactive release into the atmosphere. Detection algorithms for true count processing, spectroscopy processing, and plume tracking are discussed in chronological order of development. Process steps of detection include height correction, solid-angle correction, background radioactivity correction, Compton continuum elimination, de-noising of gamma-radiation spectra, and recording of plume passage events.

Infusion of human embryonic kidney cell line conditioned medium reverses kainic acid induced hippocampal damage in mice.

BACKGROUND AIMS: Hippocampal neurodegeneration is one of the hallmarks in neurological and neurodegenerative diseases such as temporal lobe epilepsy and Alzheimer disease. Human embryonic kidney (HEK) cells are a mixed population of cells, including neurons, and their conditioned medium is enriched with erythropoietin (EPO). Because EPO is a known neuroprotectant, we hypothesized that infusion of HEK cells or HEK-conditioned medium (HEK-CM) may provide neuroprotection against kainic acid (KA)-induced hippocampal damage in mice. METHODS: Adult CF1 mice were treated with KA to induce hippocampal damage. On 3rd and 5th days after KA treatment, HEK cells or HEK-CM was infused intravenously through the tail vein. On the 7th and 8th days after KA treatment, all groups of mice were subjected to cognitive and depression assessment by use of a novel object recognition test and a forced swim test, respectively. Subsequent to this assessment, mice were killed and the brain samples were used to assess the histopathology and messenger RNA expression for EPO and B-cell lymphoma-2 (Bcl-2). RESULTS: We found that infusion of HEK cells/HEK-CM improves cognitive function and alleviates symptoms of depression. Histological assessment demonstrates complete neuroprotection against KA-mediated excitotoxicity, and the hippocampal cytoarchitecture of HEK cells/HEK-CM treated mice was comparable to normal control mice. HEK cells/HEK-CM treatment could provide neuroprotection by upregulating the endogenous EPO and Bcl-2 in KA-treated mice. CONCLUSIONS: Our present data demonstrate for the first time that infusion of HEK cells/HEK-CM can prevent excitotoxic hippocampal damage and alleviate consequent behavioral abnormalities.

Conditioned Medium Reconditions Hippocampal Neurons against Kainic Acid Induced Excitotoxicity: An In Vitro Study.

Stem cell therapy is gaining attention as a promising treatment option for neurodegenerative diseases. The functional efficacy of grafted cells is a matter of debate and the recent consensus is that the cellular and functional recoveries might be due to "by-stander" effects of grafted cells. In the present study, we investigated the neuroprotective effect of conditioned medium (CM) derived from human embryonic kidney (HEK) cells in a kainic acid (KA) induced hippocampal degeneration model system in in vitro condition. Hippocampal cell line was exposed to KA (200 µM) for 24 hrs (lesion group) whereas, in the treatment group, hippocampal cell line was exposed to KA in combination with HEK-CM (KA + HEK-CM). We observed that KA exposure to cells resulted in significant neuronal loss. Interestingly, HEK-CM cotreatment completely attenuated the excitotoxic effects of KA. In HEK-CM cotreatment group, the cell viability was ~85-95% as opposed to 47% in KA alone group. Further investigation demonstrated that treatment with HEK-CM stimulated the endogenous cell survival factors like brain derived neurotrophic factors (BDNF) and antiapoptotic factor Bcl-2, revealing the possible mechanism of neuroprotection. Our results suggest that HEK-CM protects hippocampal neurons against excitotoxicity by stimulating the host's endogenous cell survival mechanisms.

Lead exposure and its relation to dental caries in children.

UNLABELLED: Environmental pollution is a significant health hazard and is mainly caused by commercialization. The etiology of dental caries is multifactorial and one such factor is exposure to trace element such as lead. AIM: Hence, the present study was carried out to find out the correlation between the levels of lead in the enamel, saliva and dental caries in children. METHOD: 90 children aged 5 years consisting of both genders from different kindergartens along Coastal Karnataka were included in the study. The selected children were divided into 3 groups as; control group, early childhood caries (ECC) group and severe-ECC (S-ECC) group respectively. Enamel and salivary lead level was assessed by using graphite atomic absorption spectrophotometry. RESULTS: Mean enamel lead levels in the control, ECC and S-ECC group were 47.7, 85.45 and 90.43 ppm respectively and mean salivary lead levels were 0.23, 1.7 and 1.77 ppm respectively which was statistically very highly significant (p < 0.001) with no gender predilection. There was a positive correlation seen between the enamel and the salivary lead levels (p > 0.05). CONCLUSION: The enamel and the saliva of all the children had measurable amounts of lead and its levels increased with increase in severity of dental caries proving the cariogenic potential of lead. A positive correlation was seen between the enamel and the salivary lead levels.