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Purpose: The aim was to study the anatomical variations of the arrangement of structures at the hilum of the lung., Methods: The present study examined the hila of 110 cadaveric lung specimens of south Indian population. The anatomical variations of the arrangement of structures at the hilum were macroscopically observed., Results: It was observed that the variations were higher in the left lung than in the right lung. The variations were observed in 16.1 % of right lungs and 48.2 % of the left lungs. There were some interesting anatomical variations like the two upper pulmonary veins, two pulmonary artery, two bronchi in the hilum of the left lung, three bronchi, four pulmonary veins and four bronchi. The present study was compared with a similar study from the same geographical location. It was observed that the frequency of variations and the hilar morphology of the arrangement of structures differ among the two separate studies from south India., Conclusions: The observations of the present study suggest that the pulmonary hilar morphology is extremely variable.

The medical importance of bacterial biofilms has increased with the recognition of biofilms as one of the major contributors to the slow or non-healing chronic wounds such as diabetic foot ulcers, venous leg ulcers, and pressure ulcers. Being a protected community of microorganisms, biofilms are notoriously refractory to antibiotic treatments. As the conventional treatment modalities have proven ineffective, this study provides the in vitro evidence to support the use of a novel combination of DispersinB(®) antibiofilm enzyme that inhibits biofilm formation and disperses preformed biofilm, and thus making the biofilm bacteria more susceptible to a broad-spectrum KSL-W antimicrobial peptide. The combination of DispersinB(®) and KSL-W peptide showed synergistic antibiofilm and antimicrobial activity against chronic wound infection associated biofilm-embedded bacteria such as Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), Staphylococcus epidermidis, Coagulase-negative Staphylococci (CoNS), and Acinetobacter baumannii. In addition, the wound gel formulation comprising DispersinB(®), KSL-W peptide, and a gelling agent Pluronic F-127 showed a broad-spectrum and enduring antimicrobial activity against test organisms. Furthermore, as compared to commercial wound gel Silver-Sept™, DispersinB(®)-KSL-W peptide-based wound gel was significantly more effective in inhibiting the biofilm-embedded MRSA, S. epidermidis, CoNS, Vancomycin-resistant Enterococci, A. baumannii, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P < 0.05). Thus, this study provides promising evidence for the potential application of antibiofilm-antimicrobial DispersinB(®)-KSL-W wound gel in chronic wound management.

Lateral epicondylitis (LE) or tennis elbow has been the subject of concern during the last 60 years, but the pathogenesis of the LE remains unclear. The LE can be due to the tendinogenic, articular or neurogenic reasons. Numerous theories have been put fourth in the recent past, out of which one of the most popular theories is that the condition results from repeated contraction of the wrist extensor muscles, especially the extensor carpi radialis brevis (ECRB) which may compress the posterior branch of the radial nerve (PBRN) at the elbow during pronation. We studied 72 upper limbs (36 formalin-fixed cadaver) for the origin, nerve supply and the course of PBRN in relation to the ECRB as one of the goal for the present study. The possible presence of an arch of the ECRB around the PBRN was also observed and recorded. The nerve to ECRB was a branch from the radial nerve in 11 cases (15.2%); from the PBRN in 36 cases (50%) and from the superficial branch of the radial nerve in 25 cases (34.7%), respectively. The ECRB had a tendinous arch in 21 cases (29.1%); a muscular arch in 8 (11.1%) cases and the arch was absent in 43 cases (59.7%). When the ECRB had a tendinous or muscular arch around the PBRN, it may compress the same and this condition may worsen during the repeated supination and pronation as observed in tennis and cricket players. The presence of such tendinous or muscular arch should be considered by orthopedicians and neurosurgeons, while releasing the PBRN during LE surgery.

The global regulatory system of Escherichia coli, carbon storage regulator (Csr), was engineered to increase the intracellular concentration of phosphoenolpyruvate. We examined the effects of csrA and csrD mutations and csrB overexpression on phenylalanine production in E. coli NST37 (NST). Overexpression of csrB led to significantly greater phenylalanine production than csrA and csrD mutations (2.33 vs 1.67 and 1.61 g l(-1), respectively; P < 0.01). Furthermore, the overexpression of csrB was confirmed by the observed increase in csrB transcription level. We also determined the effect of overexpressing transketolase A (TktA) or glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (Zwf) in NST and the csrA mutant of NST (NSTCSRA) on phenylalanine production. The NSTCSRA strain overexpressing TktA (NSTCSRA [pTktA]) produced significantly more phenylalanine than that of Zwf (2.39 vs 1.61 g l(-1); P > 0.01). Furthermore, we examined the effect of overexpressing TktA, 3-deoxy-D: -arabino-heptulosonate-7-phosphate synthase (AroF(FR)), and chorismate mutase/prephenate dehydratase (PheA(FR)) together in NSTCSRA (NSTCSRA [pTkaFpA]). It is interesting to note that NSTCSRA [pTkaFpA] produced significantly less phenylalanine than both NSTCSRA [pTktA] and NST overexpressing csrB (NST [pCsrB]) (1.84 vs 2.39 and 2.33 g l(-1), respectively; P < 0.01). Thus, csrB overexpression or csrA mutation in combination with tktA overexpression was more effective than previous approaches that targeted the glycolytic or aromatic pathway enzymes for enhancing phenylalanine production.

Unlabelled: The body of the vertebra can be affected in the majority of the conditions involving the lumbar spine. Multiple references, both books and periodicals, have been reviewed, and the anatomical factors responsible for the vertebral body integrity in the lumbar spine have been included under the following important areas, namely, morphology, development, genetics, microscopic examination using histology, structural architecture, blood supply, neuromuscular control, and biomechanics., Introduction: The anatomy provides a three-dimensional frame work to support the interaction between the physiological and pathological alterations. The body of the vertebra can be affected in a majority of acute or chronic conditions involving the lumbar spine. The etiology of these conditions is multifactorial, which has been dealt with in previous studies sporadically. This study aims to review and incorporate the important anatomical factors which can influence the integrity of vertebral bodies in the lumbar region and manifest as low back pain., Methods: Multiple references, both books and periodicals, have been reviewed for the literature. Electronic databases, including Medline and PubMed, were used to collect the latest information. They were finally arranged in an anatomical framework for the article. An attempt has been made to cover these relevant issues in an integrated way in the article and have been structured into introduction, morphology, development, genetics, microscopic examination using histology, structural architecture, blood supply, neuromuscular control, biomechanics, and conclusion. The aforementioned anatomical aspects, some of which have received less attention in the literature, may be helpful to clinicians for restoring the mobility, stability, and load bearing capacity of the lumbar spine as well as planning better management strategies, especially for the chronic low back pain., Results: In our article all the anatomical factors affecting the integrity of vertebral body, including the morphology, development, genetics, growth and ossification, blood supply, specifically in the lumbar region, have been described, which were not covered earlier. The limitations of this review is its wide dimensions; hence, there are fair scopes of missing many relevant facts, as all of them cannot be compiled in a single article. We have attempted to confine our views to different anatomical domains only, this is our second limitation. Additional studies are required to incorporate and discuss the uncovered relevant scientific details., Conclusions: The integrity of the body of the lumbar vertebra is multifactorial (Fig. 8). The vast spectrum of the anatomical domain influencing it has been summarized. The evolution of erect posture is a landmark in the morphology of human beings and the lumbar lordosis, which has also contributed to the gross design of the vertebral body, is one of the most important adaptations for axial loading and bipedal movements. The role of metamerism in the evolution of vertebrate morphology is repeated in the development of spine. The body of the vertebra is intersegmental in origin, which results in dual vascular and nerve supply, both from superior and inferior aspects of the body of the lumbar vertebrae. The vertebral body ossifies from three primary centers, one for centrum, which will form the major portion of body, and the other two for neural arches. The cartilaginous growth plate is mainly responsible for the longitudinal vertebral growth. Regional differentiation of the vertebral column, and the definite pattern of the structure of the different vertebra, is regulated by a large number of genetic factors, including the Hox genes. The vertebral body design therefore provides the requirements for optimal load transfer by maximal strength with minimal weight. Bone mineral density (BMD), bone quality, microarchitecture, and material properties are the important factors that contribute to bone strength. BMD is highly heritable; bone mineral distribution and architecture are also shown to be under strong genetic influence. All the aforementioned factors finally integrate to ensure mainly the mobility, stability, and load bearing capacity of the lumbar spine.