Assessment of Nutritional Status and Correlation of Factors With Body Mass Index of Cancer Patients: A Cross-Sectional Study.

BACKGROUND: Decreased diet intake and malnourishment have profound implications on cancer patients' quality of life and survival. Malnutrition increases the risk of postoperative complications, increases hospital length stays, reduces patient's tolerance to radiation and chemotherapy treatment, and results in poor response to treatment. In the present study, we intended to assess the nutritional status of cancer patients and find the correlation of body mass index with anthropometric and blood parameters. MATERIAL & METHODS: The study was prospective and cross-sectional, and 104 patients with newly diagnosed solid tumors were included. Patient demographics, symptoms, and anthropometric and blood parameters were collected. The correlation was estimated with Pearson's correlation coefficient. A p-value of less than 0.05 was considered significant. RESULTS: The association between stages of the disease, dental status, type of diet, and BMI was p=0.701, 0.216, and 0.422, respectively, and was not statistically significant. The anthropometric parameters mid upper arm circumference (MUAC cm), mid arm circumference (MAC cm), and triceps skinfold thickness (TSF mm) correlated with body mass index (BMI kg/m2) and had statistically significant p values of 0.0001, 0.0001, and 0.033, respectively. The correlation was assessed between hemoglobin, red cell distribution width, neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio, and serum albumin levels with BMI, but except for albumin (p=0.05), no other blood parameter correlated. CONCLUSION: Nutritional assessment is vital in recognizing patients at risk of treatment-associated complications and poor responders to treatment. In this study, BMI correlated with anthropometric parameters MUAC, MAMC, and TSF. Baseline dietary assessments of patients will help focus on the nutritional build-up of patients before starting treatment.

Comparison of magnetic resonance imaging and CT scan-based delineation of target volumes and organs at risk in the radiation treatment planning of head and neck malignancies.

INTRODUCTION: Accuracy of target definition is paramount in radiation treatment planning. The optimal choice of imaging modality to define the tumor volume in head and neck tumors is debatable. The study compared MRI and CT scan-based delineation of target volume and Organs At Risk in head and neck cancers. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 54 head and neck carcinoma patients underwent rigid image registration of planning CT images with MRI images. The gross tumor volume of the primary tumor, node, and organs at risk were delineated on both CT and MRI images. A volumetric evaluation was done for gross tumors, nodes, and organs at risk. Dice Similarity coefficient (DSC), Conformity index(CI), Sensitivity index(SI), and Inclusion index(II) were calculated for gross tumor, node, brainstem, and bilateral parotids. RESULTS: The mean volume of the tumor in CT and MRI obtained were 41 .94 cc and 34.76 ccs, mean DSC, CI, SI, and II of the tumor were 0.71, 0.56, 67.37, and 79.80. The mean volume of the node in CT and MRI were 12.16 cc and 10.24 cc, mean DSC, CI, SI, and II of the node were 0.61, 0.45, 62.47, and 64. The mean volume of the brainstem in CT and MRI was 24.13 cc and 21.21 cc. The mean volume of the right parotid in CT and MRI was 24.39 cc, 26.04 ccs. The mean volume of left parotid in CT and MRI, respectively, were 23.95 ccs and 25.04 ccs. CONCLUSIONS: The study shows that MRI may be used in combination with CT for better delineation of target volume and organs at risk for head and neck malignancies.

Biodegradation of naphthalene by biocatalysts isolated from the contaminated environment under optimal conditions.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) pollution occurs in freshwater and marine environment by anthropogenic activities. Moreover, analysis of the PAHs-degradation by the indigenous bacterial strains is limited, compared with other degraders. In this study, naphthalene (NAP) biodegrading bacteria were screened by enrichment culture method. Three bacterial strains were obtained for NAP degradation and identified as Bacillus cereus CK1, Pseudomonas aeruginosa KD4 and Enterobacter aerogenes SR6. The amount of hydrogen, carbon, sulphur and nitrogen of wastewater were analyzed. Total bacterial count increased at increasing incubation time (6-60 days) and moderately decreased at higher NAP concentrations. The bacterial population increased after 48 days at 250 ppm NAP (519 ± 15.3 MPM/mL) concentration and this level increased at 500 ppm NAP concentration (541 ± 12.5 MPM/mL). NAP was degraded by bacterial consortium within 36 h-99% at 30 °C. PAHs degrading bacteria were grown optimally at 4% inoculum concentrations. Bacterial consortium was able to degrade 98% NAP at pH 7.0 after 36 h incubation and degradation potential was improved (100%) after 34 h (pH 8.0). Also at pH 9.0, 100% biodegradation was registered after 36 h incubation. When the agitation speed enhanced from 50 ppm to 150 ppm, increased bacteria growth and increased NAP degradation within 42 h incubation. Among the nutrient sources, beef extract, peptone and glucose supplemented medium supported complete degradation of PAHs within 30 h, whereas peptone supported 94.3% degradation at this time. Glucose supplemented medium showed only 2.8% NAP degradation after 6 h incubation and reached maximum (100%) within 42 h incubation. Bacterial consortium can be used to reduce NAP under optimal process conditions and this method can be used for the removal of various hydrocarbon-compounds.

Adsorption of heavy metals from the aqueous solution using activated biomass from Ulva flexuosa.

The removal of various highly toxic heavy metals from wastewater environment is an important task to improve environment. The biosorption potential of cadmium, cobalt and zinc was evaluated using Ulva flexuosa biomass. The impacts of adsorbent dosage, pH of the medium, contact time, and agitation speed were analyzed. The maximum biosorption potential was reached at pH 4.0, 0.4 g initial biosorbent dosage, contact time 40 min and 30 mg/L initial metal concentration for cadmium, while the other factors were similar to zinc, except 35 min contact time (p < 0.01). The optimum absorption was pH 4, 0.6% adsorbent dosage, after 30 min contact time with the heavy metals and 40 mg/L cobalt concentration. Heavy metal removal efficiency was 94.8 ± 3.3%, 87.5 ± 2.3%, and 90.8 ± 1.4%, for cadmium, cobalt, and zinc, respectively (p < 0.01). The Langmuir constant (R2) was 0.980 for cadmium, 0.838 for cobalt and it was 0.718 for zinc. The present results revealed that the selected acid modified biomass was highly suitable for the adsorption of metal ions such as, Cd2+, Co2+ and Zn2+. The present work revealed the potential application of algal biomass for the removal of various heavy metals from the environment.

The role of non-governmental organizations in residential solid waste management: a case study of Puducherry, a coastal city of India.

Poorly planned and uncontrolled urbanization in India has caused a variety of negative, often irreversible, environmental impacts. The impacts appear to be unavoidable and not easily mitigable due to the mounting public health problems caused by non-segregation of solid wastes at source and their subsequent improper management. Recently in India, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and other civil society organizations have increasingly started to get involved in improving waste management services. Municipal solid waste management being a governmental function, the contribution of NGOs in this field has not been well documented. This study highlights the activities and services of Shuddham, an NGO functioning in the town of Puducherry within the Union Territory of Puducherry in South India. The NGO program promoted much needed awareness and education, encouraged source separation, enhanced door-to-door collection, utilized wastes as raw materials and generated more job opportunities. Even though source separation prior to door-to-door collection is a relatively new concept, a significant percentage of residents (39%) in the study area participated fully, while a further 48% participated in the collection service. The average amount of municipal solid waste generated by residential units in the Raj Bhavan ward was 8582 kg/month of which 47% was recovered through active recycling and composting practices. The study describes the features and performance of NGO-mediated solid waste management, and evaluates the strengths and weaknesses as well as the opportunities and threats of this system to see whether this model can sustainably replace the low-performance conventional solid waste management in practice in the town of Puducherry. The experiences from this case study are expected to provide broad guidelines to better understand the role of NGOs and their contributions towards sustainable waste management practices in urban areas.