Screening for EIA in India: enhancing effectiveness through ecological carrying capacity approach.

Developing countries across the world have embraced the policy of high economic growth as a means to reduce poverty. This economic growth largely based on industrial output is fast degrading the ecosystems, jeopardizing their long term sustainability. Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) has long been recognized as a tool which can help in protecting the ecosystems and aid sustainable development. The Screening guidelines for EIA reflect the level of commitment the nation displays towards tightening its environmental protection system. The paper analyses the screening process for EIA in India and dissects the rationale behind the exclusions and thresholds set in the screening process. The screening process in India is compared with that of the European Union with the aim of understanding the extent of deviations from a screening approach in the context of better economic development. It is found that the Indian system excludes many activities from the purview of screening itself when compared to the EU. The constraints responsible for these exclusions are discussed and the shortcomings of the current command and control system of environmental management in India are also explained. It is suggested that an ecosystem carrying capacity based management system can provide significant inputs to enhance the effectiveness of EIA process from screening to monitoring.

Value of Silver Binding Nucleolar Organiser Regions (AgNOR) in Squamous Cell Carcinomas of Upper Aero-digestive Tract.

BACKGROUND: Study of Silver-binding nucleolar organizing regions (AgNORs) in 50 cases of squamous cell carcinomas (SCC) of upper Aero-digestive tract was carried out with an aim of correlating AgNOR positivity with histological grade of tumour and evaluating value of AgNOR staining in predicting the progress of disease. METHODS: Tissue sections of the cases were stained with 50 percent silver nitrate solution for AgNOR evaluation and the data analysed. All the sections were also stained with haematoxylin and eosin stain for tumour typing and grading. RESULTS: In this study, the mean AgNOR (mAgNOR) score of normal squamous epithelium (50 cases) was 1.56 (range1.00-2.80), that of well differentiated squamous carcinoma (27 cases) was 3.29 (range 2.4-4.6), moderately differentiated squamous carcinoma (21 cases) was 4.29 (range 2.7-5.6) and of poorly differentiated squamous cell carcinoma (2 cases) was 5.21. The mAgNOR scores were statistically significant. Comparison of the percentage AgNOR (pAgNOR) scores between well differentiated and moderately differentiated carcinomas showed that all the pAgNOR values (1-9) were significant. However, pAgNOR 3 and pAgNOR 4 were most significant. Cut off values for pAgNOR score to differentiate between the various grades of squamous cell carcinomas could not be calculated due to lack of data on survival rates. CONCLUSION: AgNOR technique can definitely be used as a supportive tool to routinely performed Hemotoxylin and Eosin staining and may help in prognosis as well as therapeutic decision-making in squamous cell carcinomas. Studies of larger number of cases in a prospective study are needed to arrive at more substantial conclusions.

EWING'S SARCOMA OF MANDIBLE - A RARE NEOPLASM.

Ewing's sarcoma is a highly malignant tumour seen in the age group of 5 to 25 years, primarily afflicts long bones of the extremities followed by pelvis, ribs and vertebrae. The involvement of this lesion in the mandible accounts for only 2% of the reported cases. Ewing's sarcoma particularly in children, poses difficulty in arriving at a diagnosis and could be established only by histopathological and electron microscopic examination. This is a radiosensitive lesion, however, surgery with chemotherapy is the preferred treatment of choice in mandible. A case of Ewing's sarcoma in a 7 year old female patient was managed by chemotherapy and aggressive surgical approach with gratifying results and no recurrence till date.

Extramedullary astrocytoma of conus region : a short report.

A 55 year old man presented with features of cauda equina syndrome. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed a well demarcated intradural extramedullary tumour at L2 vertebra. At surgery it was found to be well encapsulated and had no attachment to spinal cord or root. Histopathology including immunohistochemistry confirmed it to be a low grade astrocytoma.

Paraganglioma of cauda equina: a case report.

Histopathologically and immunologically confirmed case of paraganglioma of cauda equina region is described.

THE PINEAL PARENCHYMAL NEOPLASMS - A CLINICOPATHOLOGICAL STUDY OF FOUR TUMOURS.

Tumours of pineocytes are rare intracranial tumours. They are suspected once the effects of compression of neighbouring structures manifest. Four pineocytic neoplasms are reported, of which one was a spinal metastasis. Clinical features and radiological appearances are described. Histopathological diagnosis was based upon cytoarchitectural patterns which are discussed. Surprisingly all four cases occurred in a period of one month.

Aspergillosis of spine. A case report.

Aspergillosis of spine is a very rare entity generally seen secondary to a primary focus in the lung with or without immune suppression. The authors report one case of aspergillosis of spine without evidence of a primary elsewhere or a predisposing cause.

Congenital dislocation of hips in Malaysian neonates.

A prospective study was carried out in the Maternity Hospital, Kuala Lumpur over a 2-year period. During this time, 52,379 deliveries took place. 36 neonates (0.7 per 1000 births) were found to have congenital dislocation of the hips (CDH) by both the Ortolani and Barlow's manoeuvre. CDH was most common in the females (female to male ratio was 2.3:1), the first borns (50% of the affected cases) and babies who had breech delivery (10.7 per 1000 births). In 21 (58.3%) of the affected neonates, CDH occurred in both hips. According to the classification of newborn infants' hips by Finlay et al, 88.9% of the neonates had unstable hips while 8.3% had pathological hips. Family history of CDH was present in 5% of the patients. 8 (22.2%) of the neonates had other associated congenital abnormalities.