Investigating radiation profiles and conducting risk assessment for ecological and environmental components on Vaan and Koswari islands in the Tuticorin group of islands, India.

Natural radioactive concentration assessment was conducted on sediment, water, and biota obtained on Vaan and Koswari islands in the Tuticorin group of islands, Tamil Nadu, India. For biotic and abiotic components, radiation profiles such as gross alpha, beta, primordial radionuclide, polonium, and lead analyses were performed. The gross α and ß range from BDL to 15.18 ± 1.7 Bq/kg and 40.43 ± 4.9 Bq/kg to 105.12 ± 11.7 Bq/kg, respectively. Primordial radionuclides were analyzed using Nal(TI)-based scintillator with PC-MCA, and the concentrations ranged from 13.43 ± 3.3 Bq/kg to 30.97 ± 9.6 Bq/kg with a mean of 21.31 ± 2.7 Bq/kg for 238U; for 232Th, the values ranged from 11.09 ± 2.6 Bq/kg to 33.55 ± 9.5 Bq/kg with an average value of 23.89 ± 3.7 Bq/kg; and for 40 K, the values are 93.33 ± 27.3 Bq/kg to 219.91 ± 39.6 Bq/kg with an average value of 148.27 ± 21.7 Bq/kg. The present study values are lesser than the world average values. 210Po and 210Pb concentrations with an average value were determined to be 33.13 Bq/L and 16.56 Bq/L, 47.55 Bq/L and 22.37 Bq/L in the water sample, and 50.437 Bq kg1 and 62.012 Bq kg1, 46.99 Bq/kg and 58.625 Bq/kg in sediments of Vaan island and Koswari island. The concentrations of 210Po and 210Pb of Pogonias cromis were 19.27 ± 1.5 Bq/kg and 8.27 ± 1.01 Bq/kg, Belonidae 28.54 ± 2.4 Bq/kg and 18.32 ± 2.3 Bq/kg, Lepisosteidae 18.68 ± 1.4 Bq/kg and 11.17 ± 1.8 Bq/kg. The committed effective dosage was determined to be 35.74-54.61 µSv/y for 210Po and 25.39-56.25 µSv/y for 210Pb, in which the 210Pb value is lower; however, the 210Po value is higher than the global average value. The annual committed effective dosage as well as the radiological hazard indices were assessed and found to be much below the global average and the recommended limit, respectively. This research provides an extensive analysis of natural background radiation and establishes a baseline report on the radiological profile of biotic and abiotic factors in the Tuticorin group of islands, namely Vaan and Koswari, in Tamil Nadu, India.

An exploration of pulmonary fitness of construction workers in Delhi NCR in light of the building and other construction workers act, 1996.

Workers in the construction sector are exposed to high concentrations of particulate matter at their workplace. This increases their susceptibility to various respiratory diseases, particularly chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). The study reports comparative pulmonary fitness and hematological parameters of the migrant workers in the construction sector versus other sectors in Delhi. Parameters such as forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1), the ratio of FEV1 to FVC, and peak expiratory flow were measured in both groups using a spirometer. We observed significant differences (P < 0.05) in FEV1 and FVC between both groups. The study thus confirms that workers exposed to poor air quality at the construction site are susceptible to respiratory diseases, particularly ARDS. All of this reflects the poor enforcement of the adequate safety measures well enlisted in social legislations such as the Building and Other Construction Workers Act.

Towards safer non-volatile tissue fixatives: Evaluation of choline-based ionic liquids for fixing ocular tissues.

Volatile organic chemicals (VOCs) are routinely used for processing biological tissue samples in clinical laboratories. Recognizing their serious health and environmental impacts, a few non-volatile green solvents (choline based ionic liquids, ILs) were evaluated as tissue fixatives here. Microscopic evaluation of histo-morphology, fixation and staining quality, and macromolecular integrity (DNA and proteins) were assessed in human eye tissues (sclera, choroid, retinal layers and retinal pigmented epithelium, eyelid and orbit) after IL-fixation. Formalin-fixed tissues were used as standard reference. Microscopic examination revealed favorable histomorphology, tissue fixation and staining characteristics in most tissues immersed in ILs. Time taken to fix, and stability over a period of time (24 h, 48 h, 1 week, 1 month) was also recorded. Electrophoretic analysis revealed stability of cellular proteins and nucleic acids in IL-fixed scleral tissues. Heterogeneity in tissue fixation property relative to the type of ocular tissue, duration of fixation and storage, warrant further design and optimization of ILs to fix biological tissues. The simple cholinium salts based ILs tested here show favorable potential for tissue fixation application, and as an alternative approach to the use of VOCs, towards sustainable biomedical practice.

Mesenchymal chondrosarcoma of the orbit: A case report with 5 years of follow-up.

Mesenchymal chondrosarcoma is a rare orbital tumor. Several case reports of this rare tumor have been published in the literature but only 6 cases have documented a follow up of 5 years or more. We report a case of 28 year-old female who presented with left orbital mass. Computed Tomography (CT) revealed a lobulated mass in the superior extraconal space with dense intralesional calcification. Patient underwent complete resection of the mass and histopathology was suggestive of mesenchymal chondrosarcoma. He was given adjuvant radiotherapy and there was no recurrence or metastasis at 5 years of follow-up. The case highlights that a complete resection with adjuvant radiotherapy in cases of orbital mesenchymal chondrosarcoma offers excellent prognosis.

Cholesterol granuloma: a case series & review of literature.

BACKGROUND: Cholesterol granuloma (CG) is a foreign body reaction to crystallized cholesterol. Orbitofrontal CG is a rare entity with few cases reported in literature. It is usually seen in young to middle-aged males with a history of trauma. Computed tomography features include hypodense lesion-causing bone erosion. CG has typical histopathological features with cholesterol clefts, multinucleated giant cells, histiocytes, foamy macrophages, and altered blood pigments. Management is by total excision of the lesion with curettage of the underlying bone to prevent recurrence. MATERIAL & METHOD: We present an interventional case series of five patients of orbitofrontal CG, two of them females. RESULT: None of the patients gave a history of trauma. Management was by excision of the lesion and curettage confirmed with a 30° rigid endoscope. CONCLUSION: Cholesterol granulomas can present as superior orbital mass lesions in the absence of trauma.

Effect of reproductive seasonality on gamete quality in the North American bison (Bison bison bison).

The objective was to investigate the effects of reproductive seasonality on gamete quality in plains bison (Bison bison bison). Epididymal sperm (n = 61 per season), collected during the breeding season (July-September), had significantly higher post-thaw total motility (36.76 ± 14.18 vs 31.24 ± 12.74%), and lower linearity (0.36 ± 0.06 vs 0.39 ± 0.04) and wobbliness (0.49 ± 0.04 vs 0.51 ± 0.03; mean ± SD) compared to non-breeding season (January-March) samples. Representative samples (n = 4) from each season were used in heterologous IVF trials using cattle oocytes. Cleavage, morulae and blastocyst percentage were higher for breeding vs non-breeding season sperm samples (81.88 ± 6.8 vs 49.94 ± 6.77; 41.89 ± 13.40 vs 27.08 ± 23.21; and 30.49 ± 17.87 vs 13.72 ± 18.98%, respectively). Plains bison ovaries collected during the breeding (n = 97 pairs) and non-breeding (n = 100 pairs) seasons were classified as luteal or follicular. Oocytes recovered from these ovaries were classified into five grades based on morphology. There was no significant difference in the number of luteal ovaries or grades of oocytes recovered. Oocytes were matured, fertilized (with frozen sperm from three bison bulls) and cultured in vitro. Cleavage percentage was higher for oocytes collected during breeding vs non-breeding season (83.72 ± 6.42 vs 73.98 ± 6.43), with no significant difference in subsequent development to blastocysts. In summary, epididymal sperm from non-breeding season had decreased total motility and resulted in reduced embryo production in vitro. Oocytes collected during non-breeding season had reduced ability to be matured, fertilized and/or undergo cleavage in vitro. Data suggested that season influenced gamete quality in plains bison.

Learning style-based teaching harvests a superior comprehension of respiratory physiology.

Students entering medical college generally show vast diversity in their school education. It becomes the responsibility of teachers to motivate students and meet the needs of all diversities. One such measure is teaching students in their own preferred learning style. The present study was aimed to incorporate a learning style-based teaching-learning program for medical students and to reveal its significance and utility. Learning styles of students were assessed online using the visual-auditory-kinesthetic (VAK) learning style self-assessment questionnaire. When respiratory physiology was taught, students were divided into three groups, namely, visual (n = 34), auditory (n = 44), and kinesthetic (n = 28), based on their learning style. A fourth group (the traditional group; n = 40) was formed by choosing students randomly from the above three groups. Visual, auditory, and kinesthetic groups were taught following the appropriate teaching-learning strategies. The traditional group was taught via the routine didactic lecture method. The effectiveness of this intervention was evaluated by a pretest and two posttests, posttest 1 immediately after the intervention and posttest 2 after a month. In posttest 1, one-way ANOVA showed a significant statistical difference (P=0.005). Post hoc analysis showed significance between the kinesthetic group and traditional group (P=0.002). One-way ANOVA showed a significant difference in posttest 2 scores (P < 0.0001). Post hoc analysis showed significance between the three learning style-based groups compared with the traditional group [visual vs. traditional groups (p=0.002), auditory vs. traditional groups (p=0.03), and Kinesthetic vs. traditional groups (p=0.001)]. This study emphasizes that teaching methods tailored to students' style of learning definitely improve their understanding, performance, and retrieval of the subject.

A Giant Apocrine Hidrocystoma Presenting as Lacrimal Gland Mass.

Apocrine hidrocystomas are cysts resulting from obstruction of the apocrine sweat gland ducts. They are usually solitary and seen in the head and neck areas. Apocrine hidrocystomas are rarely seen in the orbit with very few adult cases published in literature until now.

A rare case of bilateral orbital Castleman disease.

Castleman disease is a non-neoplastic cause of lymphadenopathy, first described in 1956 by Dr. Benjamin Castleman. Orbital involvement in Castleman disease is extremely rare. We report a case of bilateral orbital Castleman disease in a 48-year-old Asian male who presented with bilateral inferior dystopia. MRI revealed bilateral extraconal superior orbital mass. Histopathology and immunohistochemistry of the mass revealed features of Castleman disease of hyaline vascular type. Castleman disease should be a differential in suspected idiopathic orbital inflammatory disease and lymphoproliferative disorders.

SHARP: genome-scale identification of gene-protein-reaction associations in cyanobacteria.

Genome scale metabolic model provides an overview of an organism's metabolic capability. These genome-specific metabolic reconstructions are based on identification of gene to protein to reaction (GPR) associations and, in turn, on homology with annotated genes from other organisms. Cyanobacteria are photosynthetic prokaryotes which have diverged appreciably from their nonphotosynthetic counterparts. They also show significant evolutionary divergence from plants, which are well studied for their photosynthetic apparatus. We argue that context-specific sequence and domain similarity can add to the repertoire of the GPR associations and significantly expand our view of the metabolic capability of cyanobacteria. We took an approach that combines the results of context-specific sequence-to-sequence similarity search with those of sequence-to-profile searches. We employ PSI-BLAST for the former, and CDD, Pfam, and COG for the latter. An optimization algorithm was devised to arrive at a weighting scheme to combine the different evidences with KEGG-annotated GPRs as training data. We present the algorithm in the form of software "Systematic, Homology-based Automated Re-annotation for Prokaryotes (SHARP)." We predicted 3,781 new GPR associations for the 10 prokaryotes considered of which eight are cyanobacteria species. These new GPR associations fall in several metabolic pathways and were used to annotate 7,718 gaps in the metabolic network. These new annotations led to discovery of several pathways that may be active and thereby providing new directions for metabolic engineering of these species for production of useful products. Metabolic model developed on such a reconstructed network is likely to give better phenotypic predictions.

Rhythm of carbon and nitrogen fixation in unicellular cyanobacteria under turbulent and highly aerobic conditions.

Nitrogen fixing cyanobacteria are being increasingly explored for nitrogenase-dependent hydrogen production. Commercial success however will depend on the ability to grow these cultures at high cell densities. Photo-limitation at high cell densities leads to hindered photoautotrophic growth while turbulent conditions, which simulate flashing light effect, can lead to oxygen toxicity to the nitrogenase enzyme. Cyanothece sp. strain ATCC 51142, a known hydrogen producer, is reported to grow and fix nitrogen under moderately oxic conditions in shake flasks. In this study, we explore the growth and nitrogen fixing potential of this organism under turbulent conditions with volumetric oxygen mass transfer coefficient (KL a) values that are up to 20-times greater than in shake flasks. In a stirred vessel, the organism grows well in turbulent regime possibly due to a simulated flashing light effect with optimal growth at Reynolds number of approximately 35,000. A respiratory burst lasting for about 4 h creates anoxic conditions intracellularly with near saturating levels of dissolved oxygen in the extracellular medium. This is concomitant with complete exhaustion of intracellular glycogen storage and upregulation of nifH and nifX, the genes encoding proteins of the nitrogenase complex. Further, the rhythmic oscillations in exhaust gas CO2 and O2 profiles synchronize faithfully with those in biochemical parameters and gene expression thereby serving as an effective online monitoring tool. These results will have important implications in potential commercial success of nitrogenase-dependent hydrogen production by cyanobacteria.

Full-field electroretinography under general anesthesia in retinoblastoma.

PURPOSE: To investigate the electrical responses of the retina in retinoblastoma (RB), by recording full-field electroretinography (ERG) under general anesthesia. METHODS: The ERG was recorded using Ephios hand-held portable ERG system, according to International Standards for Clinical Electrophysiology of Vision. Forty-eight eyes of 43 cases and 33 eyes of 33 controls were enrolled. The cases were classified based on international intraocular retinoblastoma classification (IIRC). Forty-eight eyes of cases were divided into 30 cases with active RB and 18 cases with regressed RB. RESULTS: The amplitudes of a- and b-waves were decreased as compared to controls in all subgroups. The implicit times of all RB patients from group A to C differed statistically from controls (p value < 0.05) except for single-flash rod response. The ERG waveforms in group E eyes were non-recordable. The comparison of ERG parameters between active and regressed groups (IIRC groups A and B) was statistically insignificant. Single case follow-up of unilateral RB after systemic chemotherapy showed improvement in amplitudes compared to baseline parameters. CONCLUSIONS: Reduced amplitudes and delayed implicit times were noted in advanced disease. The ERG of RB cases did not follow any specific pattern of waveform. ERG appears to be a dynamic parameter to observe changes following treatment for RB. Although ERG is not a diagnostic test for RB, it can be used as a complementary test to assess the residual retinal function in RB eyes.

Effect of chilling duration on post-thaw characteristics of sperm from the North American bison (Bison bison).

The objective of this study was to determine the duration for which sperm from the North American bison (Bison bison) could be chilled prior to being cryopreserved, without compromising post- thaw sperm quality. This would permit transport of samples collected remotely, to the laboratory (at 4°C) for cryopreservation. Epididymal sperm from plains bison (n = 11) and ejaculated sperm from wood bison (n = 3) were collected, extended and held at 4°C for extended periods of time. At intervals, an aliquot was cryopreserved. Post-thaw sperm motion characteristics were evaluated by computer assisted sperm analysis. Representative plains bison sperm samples (n = 3) were evaluated for their in vitro fertilizing ability in a heterologous system using bovine oocytes. There was no statistical difference in total and progressive motility of plains bison epididymal sperm when cryopreserved after chilling for 24, 48 or 72 h. For wood bison ejaculated sperm, there was no difference in total and progressive motility for sperm cryopreserved following 24 or 48 h of chilling. However, one of the three bulls showed significantly poorer fertilization (based on cleavage rate) with sperm chilled for 72 compared to 24 and 48 h prior to freezing. In conclusion, plains bison epididymal sperm can be chilled for 72 h and wood bison ejaculated sperm can be chilled for at least 48 h prior to cryopreservation without compromising post-thaw sperm motility, while heterologous in vitro fertilization (IVF) assay indicated a between-bull variation in the in vitro fertilizing ability of sperm chilled for an extended duration before cryopreservation.

A novel cross-linked human amniotic membrane for corneal implantations.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of Al2(SO4)3 cross-linked human amniotic membrane for ocular surface reconstruction using tissue culture techniques. The human amniotic membrane was cross-linked with Al2(SO4)3, and the cross-linked human amniotic membrane was characterized for its mechanical properties, percentage of swelling in water, sterility, infrared spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy. The potential of cross-linked human amniotic membrane to support the attachment and proliferation of corneal limbal epithelial cells was assessed in vitro, using static culture system. About 125% increase in the tensile strength was observed in the cross-linked human amniotic membrane compared to human amniotic membrane. Infrared spectroscopy studies have confirmed the cross-linking of human amniotic membrane with Al2(SO4)3. The cross-linked human amniotic membrane was found to be sterile up to 1 year. In culture studies, confluent sheets of epithelial cells were seen at the end of 14th day resembling the morphological features of limbal epithelia. The cross-linked human amniotic membrane has exhibited improved mechanical properties, and the tissue culture studies have shown its feasibility to be used as a limbal transplant. It was concluded that the crosslinked human amniotic membrane with its improved mechanical properties could be used on par with human amniotic membrane.

Occurrence, distribution and sources of petroleum contamination in reef-associated sediments of the Gulf of Mannar, India.

The distribution of saturated hydrocarbons and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) was assessed in superficial sediment samples collected from Mandapam island groups, Gulf of Mannar, India. The hydrocarbon distribution pattern and the n-alkane indices (e.g., carbon preference index (CPI) and natural n-alkanes ratio (NAR)) were deployed to differentiate between the biogenic and anthropogenic sources. Petroleum pollution was indicated by the pristane/phytane ratio close to 1. Presence of a prominent unresolved complex mixture (UCM) as well as hopane concentrations further supported this assertion. The evaluation of petrogenic sources of contamination were also comprehended by various diagnostic ratios of PAHs. The sites associated with shipping activities, tourism, and located near the mainland and accessible portions of the islands exhibited high petroleum contamination. Correlation analysis underlines the significance of combining petroleum-specific marker compounds and diagnostic ratios to improve the assessment of human influence on marine ecosystems.

Distribution and characterization of plastic debris pollution along the Poompuhar Beach, Tamil Nadu, Southern India.

The present study was carried out to determine the characteristics, distribution, and abundance of plastic debris in 25 sediment samples collected from the Poompuhar beach, southeast coast of India. The result reveals that the mean plastic debris abundance was 42 ± 27 particles/m2 dry weight (dw) (1 SD, n = 25) with higher concentrations in the river mouth. The dominant shapes in the study area were fragment (70.7%), followed by fiber (20.7%), and pellet-shaped (8.6%). The dominant colors of the plastic debris were: white-colored (47%) followed by blue (28%) and green (14%). The study further reveals that the dominant polymer type was polyethylene (PE, 63.4%), followed by nylon (PA, 16.9), polyvinyl chloride (PVC, 15.5%), polypropylene (PP, 3.1%), and polystyrene (PS, 1.1%). In the study area, the main source of plastic debris was from land-based fishing and tourism activities, and rainwater runoff from the Cauvery River.

Clinico-pathological correlations of fatty acid synthase expression in retinoblastoma: an Indian cohort study.

Retinoblastoma (RB), the most common intra-ocular malignancy in children under 5 years of age, has an estimated incidence of about 2000 a year in India, where most cases are in advanced stage at the time of diagnosis. Newer therapeutic approaches would reduce the morbidity of chemotherapy in children with RB. Fatty Acid Synthase (FASN), a lipogenic multi-enzyme complex, is minimally expressed in normal human tissues and over expressed in many cancers, making it an attractive target for cancer therapy. We analyzed RB tissues for FASN protein expression by immunohistochemistry, western blot, and ELISA, and FASN mRNA expression by RT-PCR. FASN expression was correlated with the clinico-pathological characteristics of the tumors. FASN immunostaining was positive in all the 44 RB tissues analyzed (100%). However, FASN expression was heterogeneous within the tumor samples. Tumors with invasion of choroid, optic nerve, orbit and/or retinal pigment epithelium showed significantly higher FASN immunoreactivity than the tumors without invasion (P<0.05), supported by western analysis (P<0.05). FASN expression was significantly high in poorly differentiated retinoblastomas (P<0.05). FASN protein and FASN mRNA estimated by ELISA and RT-PCR respectively showed multi-fold expression over the non-neoplastic muller glial cells that varied quantitatively between tumor tissues. FASN mRNA over-expression was substantially lower than the corresponding FASN protein expression values. The present study reports (i) markedly high expression of FASN protein in poorly differentiated and in invasive retinoblastomas, and (ii) multi-fold over-expression of FASN mRNA and protein in RB tissues, although at varying levels, indicating FASN to be a potential therapeutic target in retinoblastoma management.

Baseline distributions and sources of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in reef-associated sediments of Vembar group of Islands, Gulf of Mannar, India.

The study aims to investigate the source and concentration of PAH fractions in the reef sediments of the Vembar group of Islands, Gulf of Mannar, India. The concentration of PAHs ranged from 0.36 to 15.98 ng/g. The reef environment was less contaminated with low-molecular-weight PAH fractions. The accumulation of the LMW-PAH fraction was very less, whereas the HMW fraction was derived from pyrolytic sources. The level of low and high molecular weight PAHs was lower than the level of Effective Range Median (ERM) and Effective Range Low (ERL).The calculated total TEQ value ranged from ND to 10.24 ng/g in the reef sediments.

Distribution of plastic litter in beach sediments of Silver beach, Cuddalore, during Nivar Cyclone - A first report.

The present study was conducted to assess the distribution of plastic debris in pre- and post-cyclonic beach sediments in Silver beach, Cuddalore, southeast coast of India. The total amount of macroplastic in pre-cyclonic beach sediments was higher than that in the post-cyclonic coastal sediments (pre-cyclonic 16.1%; post-cyclonic 5.4%). The polymer varieties in pre- and post-cyclonic sediments were present in the following descending order: Pre-cyclonic sediments: polyvinyl chloride (79.06%) > polyethylene (13.9%) > nylon (6.9%); post cyclonic sediments: polypropylene (31.4%) > polyethylene (30.5%) > polystyrene (16.0) > nylon (15.5%) > polyvinyl chloride (5.1%). The different varieties of polymers with irregular shapes in the sediments are most probably introduced into the coastal environment by cyclonic floods. Wind and cyclone-induced rainfall were the driving forces for the transportation and deposition of plastic debris. The results of this study will be useful to formulate effective beach litter management policies in an attempt to develop long-term solutions.

Characterization and distribution of microplastics in estuarine surface sediments, Kayamkulam estuary, southwest coast of India.

The present study aims to formulate the characterization and distribution of microplastic in the estuarine surface sediments of Kayamkulam estuary, southwest coast of India. The sediments were dominated by fibre and film shaped microplastic substances. The surface sediments were dominated by <1000 µm microplastics. The composition of microplastics in descending order was as follows: polyester > polypropylene > polyethylene. The distribution of microplastics was significantly higher than that observed in the other study regions, except for Pearl river estuary and Guanabara Bay. The distribution of microplastics was chiefly controlled by estuarine inundating water and the distance of the sampling site from the open sea.