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Background: Glucokinase‐maturity‐onset diabetes of the young (GCK‐MODY) is a form of diabetes caused by heterozygous inactivating mutations in the GCK gene. Affected individuals maintain their fasting glucose levels at a higher set point (5.4–8.3 mmol/l) than the general population. Hyperglycaemia in women with Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes is known to confer increased risk of fetal congenital abnormalities. The association between GCK‐MODY and congenital abnormalities, however, remains uncertain. Case report: A 35‐year‐old woman in her third pregnancy was diagnosed with gestational diabetes at 13 weeks' gestation (fasting blood glucose 6.0 mmol/L, 1‐h blood glucose 9.2 mmol/l, 2‐h blood glucose 7.3 mmol/l). The morphology scan at 19+2 weeks' gestation showed a Type III sacral agenesis. The woman elected to terminate the pregnancy. Her postpartum oral glucose tolerance test was suggestive of GCK‐MODY (fasting blood glucose 7.4 mmol/l, 1‐h blood glucose 9.3 mmol/l, 2‐h blood glucose 7.3 mmol/l). Mutation analysis of the GCK gene identified a novel heterozygous GCK missense mutation, p.V199M, classified as likely pathogenic, providing molecular confirmation of the suspected GCK‐MODY diagnosis. Discussion: Sacral agenesis is a rare form of sacral abnormality affecting 0.005% to 0.1% of pregnancies. It is a subtype of the caudal regression sequence, a cardinal feature of diabetic embryopathy. This case raises the question as to whether hyperglycaemia in GCK‐MODY may increase the risk of fetal caudal regression syndrome as reported in women with pre‐existing diabetes mellitus. Improved diagnostic rates of GCK‐MODY, and MODY registers that include pregnancy outcomes, are important to further elucidate risk of congenital abnormalities in GCK‐MODY. What's new?: The association between maternal glucokinase‐maturity‐onset diabetes of the young (GCK‐MODY) in pregnancy and fetal congenital abnormalities is unclear.This report describes a case of sacral agenesis in the fetus of a woman who was subsequently diagnosed with a novel GCK‐MODY mutation.The case raises the question as to whether hyperglycaemia in GCK‐MODY may increase the risk of caudal regression syndrome as reported in people with pre‐existing diabetes mellitus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Proton Exchange Membranes (PEMs) based on nanocomposite consisting of Chitosan and Poly (ethylene oxide) (PEO)/modified montmorillonite (H+‐MMT) was prepared by solution casting technique. To appraise PEM performance, the structural properties, hydrolytic stability and transport properties of the prepared membranes were investigated using various characterization methods like FT‐IR, XRD, SEM, AFM, water uptake, swelling ratio, ion exchange capacity (IEC), and proton conductivity measurements. Fabricated blend membranes showed favorable PEM characteristics such as afford comparable proton conductivity, moderate ion exchange capacity and reasonable water uptake. Proton conductivities of the blend membranes are about 2.99 × 10−2 S/cm at room temperature. All the membranes are homogenous that could be revealed from the XRD studies. All the results obtained from this study can be used to conclude that the Chitosan/PEO membrane with H+‐MMT filler is a promising high performance PEM candidate for fuel cell applications in future. POLYM. COMPOS., 40:E301–E311, 2019. © 2017 Society of Plastics Engineers [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

RNA interference (RNAi) refers to the process of post-transcriptional silencing of cellular mRNA by the application of double-stranded RNA (dsRNA). RNAi strategies have been widely employed to regulate gene expression in plants and animals including insects. With the availability of the full genome sequences of major vector mosquitoes, RNAi has been increasingly used to conduct genetic studies of human pathogens in mosquito vectors and to study the evolution of insecticide resistance in mosquitoes. This review summarizes the recent progress in our understanding of mosquito-pathogen interactions using RNAi and various methods of dsRNA delivery in mosquitoes at different stages. We also discuss potential applications of this technology to develop novel tools for vector control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study was aimed to investigate the dose-dependent effects of Salvia haematodes Wall roots ( SHW) extract on male reproductive function and copulatory behaviour in rats. Sexually mature males were assigned to four groups: control and treated (5, 50 and 300 mg kg−1 day−1 for 30 days). At the end of treatment regimes, the reproductive activity viz. body/organ weights, testicular spermatogenesis, daily sperm production rate ( DSP) and epididymal sperm counts, and sexual behaviour including mounting latency ( ML), mounting frequency ( MF), intromission latency ( IL), intromission frequency ( IF), ejaculation latency ( EL), post-ejaculatory interval ( PEI) and penile reflexes ( PE) were assessed. Results showed significant increase in body weight (at 300 mg kg−1), testis/epididymis weights (at 50 and 300 mg kg−1), testicular spermatids, DSP, tubular diameter and epididymal sperm counts (at 50 and 300 mg kg−1doses) in treated compared with control rats. It also produced dose-dependant changes in sexual behaviour. The 5 mg kg−1 dose of extract increased MF and PE, whereas 50 and 300 kg−1 doses caused significant increase in MF, IF, PE, EL (but less than sildenafil citrate treatment), hit rate and seminal plug weight. It is concluded that SHW extract enhances anabolic activity, testicular function and sexual behavioural performance in a dose-dependant manner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nanocomposite polymer blend electrolytes based on poly (ethylene oxide), poly (vinyl pyrrolidone) that contained lithium perchlorate as a dopant, propylene carbonate (PC) as a plasticizer and Barium Titanate (BaTiO3) as a filler were prepared for various concentrations of BaTiO3 using solvent casting technique. The structural and complex formations of the composite electrolyte membranes were confirmed by X-ray diffraction and FTIR analysis. The addition of BaTiO3 nanofillers improved the ionic conductivity of the polymer electrolytes to some extent when the content of the BaTiO3 is 10 wt%. The addition of BaTiO3 also enhanced the thermal stability of the electrolyte. The surface morphology of the sample having a maximum ionic conductivity was studied by AFM. Molecular motion in the polymeric media was supported by fluorescence studies. The charge transfer arises between the polymer blend and Li-ions were confirmed by UV-Vis analysis. POLYM. COMPOS., 36:302-311, 2015. © 2014 Society of Plastics Engineers [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The phenotypic and agar degrading features of an unidentified marine bacteria was investigated. The strain was Gram-negative, obligatory aerobic and non motile. On the basis of several morphological features and a phylogenetic analysis of the genes coding for the 16S rDNA, this strain was identified as Microbulbifer maritimus. On solid agar medium, this isolate produced extracellular agarase which causes agar liquefaction around the colonies. An extracellular agarase was purified by ammonium sulfate precipitation, gel filtration and ion-exchange chromatography on DEAE-cellulose. The purified protein migrated as a single band on sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, and it had a molecular mass of 75.2 kDa. The enzyme exhibited maximal activity at pH 7.5. The kinetic parameters of the enzyme were Km = 3 ± 0.19 mM, Kcat = 160 ± 10 S-1 and Kcat/ Km = 53 ± 10 S-1 · mM-1. (© 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVdF)-polyethyl methacrylate (PEMA) based electrolytes comprising a binary mixture of solvents (EC and PC) (ethylene carbonate and propylene carbonate) and lithium salts LiX (X = ClO4, BF4, CF3SO3) have been prepared using solvent casting technique. The prepared electrolytes were subjected to ionic conductivity, XRD, SEM, and FTIR analysis to understand the salt contribution. Comparison of conductivity studies of the electrolytes with the three salts has also been made. These electrolytes exhibited good electrochemical properties, because they have an ionic conductivity of the order of 10-3 S cm-1, an electrochemical window exceeding 4.5 V and lithium ion transference number averaging above 0.75. Because, the complex containing LiClO4 exhibited maximum conductivity among the other complexes studied, DMA and CV analyses were also been performed and the results are reported. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2011 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Barlow was the first to propose a method to predict optimal stress recovery points in finite elements (FEs). Prathap proposed an alternative method that is based on the variational principle. The optimal points predicted by Prathap, called Prathap points in this paper, have been reported in the literature for linear, quadratic and cubic elements. Prathap points turn out to be the same as Barlow points for linear and quadratic bar elements but different for cubic bar element. Nevertheless, for all the three elements, Prathap points coincide with the reduced Gaussian integration points. In this paper, an alternative implementation of Prathap's best-fit method is used to compute Prathap points for higher-order (viz., 4–10th order) bar elements. The effectiveness of Prathap points as points of accurate stress recovery is verified by actual FE analysis for typical bar problems. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents research which examined the lithium ion conduction behavior of hybrid polymer electrolytes based on poly(ethyl methacrylate) (PEMA). In this study, X-ray diffraction, fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and conductivity studies among others were used in the prepared electrolytes. Poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC/PEMA polymer blend electrolyte with lithium salt was shown to have ionic conductivity.

It is known that the recently introduced unsymmetric 8-node quadrilateral element (US-QUAD8) is highly tolerant to mesh distortions. The high distortion tolerance of US-QUAD8 is due to the ability of the element to satisfy all the desirable compatibility and completeness requirements of the test and trial functions. The element uses isoparametric and metric shape functions as the test and trial functions, respectively. Despite its high distortion tolerance, the element has two defects. The use of metric shape functions as trial functions causes the element to exhibit rotational frame dependence as well as interpolation failure under certain conditions. A detailed investigation into both these problems is reported and remedies are proposed. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What is already known about this subject • The benefits of adverse drug reaction (ADR) monitoring are well-known. • Poor awareness and nonavailability of a central co-ordinating body resulted in lack of ADR monitoring in India. • The National Pharmacovigilance Programme was recently initiated, encouraging ADR monitoring in selected centres, including our centre. What this study adds • This is the first study of its kind at GHQH, Ootacamund that has provided insight into the burden of ADRs here. • The incidence and severity of ADRs documented in our study is lower than those reported in comparable populations in Western studies but more than those reported in India. Aims To ascertain the current burden of ADRs at a Government hospital in Ooty and to assess the severity of reported ADRs and the additional financial burden associated with ADRs. Methods A prospective, spontaneous reporting study was conducted over a period of 9 months of inpatient admissions to the medical wards, co-ordinated by clinical pharmacists. The WHO definition of an ADR was adopted. The Naranjo algorithm scale was used for causality assessment. Confirmed ADRs were classified according to the Wills & Brown [ 7 ] method and assessed for severity and patient outcomes. The average cost incurred in treating the ADRs was calculated. Results Of the total of 187 adverse drug events (ADEs) reported, 164 reports from 121 patients were confirmed as ADRs, giving an overall incidence of 9.8%. This included 58 (3.4%) ADR related admissions and 63 (3.7%) ADRs occurring during the hospital stay. About two thirds of the reactions (102, 62.2%) were classified as probable. The majority of the reactions (88, 53.7%) were mild. Most patients (119, 72.6%) recovered from the incidence. The majority of the reactions were of type H (100, 61%) which indicates that they were not predictable and not potentially preventable. An average cost of 481 rupees (£6) was spent on each patient to manage ADRs. Conclusions The incidence and severity of ADRs documented in our study are lower than those reported in comparable populations in Western studies but more than those reported in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Strong-form patch tests are conducted to assess the mesh-distortion immunity of three types of 8-noded plane quadrilateral elements. Patches with various types of mesh-distortions are considered for the purpose. The PM-QUAD8 element passes all the patch tests, viz., constant-, linear- and quadratic strain patch tests in the strong form. The ability to pass all the patch tests translates to the fact that this element is free from completeness defect as well as compatibility defect. The classical isoparametric element (PP-QUAD8), however, suffers from completeness defect while its metric counterpart (MM-QUAD8) suffers from compatibility defect and hence these two elements fail some of the patch tests. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In Japan, the original Sugiura procedure reported favorable results in non-cirrhotic patients but in the West, the modified Sugiura procedure is not widely accepted because of high rebleeding, morbidity, and mortality in cirrhotics. We retrospectively analyzed the efficacy of our modified Sugiura procedure i.e., devascularization with/without esophageal transection combined with salvage endotherapy and pharmacotherapy for control of a variceal bleed. Materials and Methods: Between January 1999 and December 2004, 912 patients with vanceal bleeding were treated. Of these, 66 (7.2%) patients were subjected to surgery after failed endotherapy/propranolol. Among these 66 patients, 52 had transabdominal devascularization (16 emergency, 36 elective); 14 patients underwent devascularization with esophageal stapler transection (group I), and 38 patients had devascularization without esophageal stapler transection (group II). Another 14 patients underwent elective end-to-side proximal splenorenal shunt surgery. Results: Postoperative mortality was 7.1% in group I, 10.5% in group II (P > 0.05). Mortality for emergency surgery was 31.2% (5/16) but there were no deaths in the elective surgery group. Overall morbidity was 57.1% in group I and 21.0% in group II (P < 0.05). The rates of variceal rebleeding were 7.1% and 7.8%; residual varices were 30.7% and 32.3%; recurrent varices were 7.6% and 5.8% following the group I and group II procedures, respectively, over a mean follow-up period of 39.9 (7-2) months. Esophageal transection-related morbidity (leak, stricture, and bleeding) was 21.4% (3/14) in group I. Conclusions: Devascularization without esophageal stapler transection is a safe and effective procedure for adequate (urgent and long-term) control of variceal bleeding with similar results and less morbidity when compared to devascularization with esophageal transection in cirrhotic patients, as well as non-cirrhotic patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An iterative correction method is proposed to enhance the otherwise poor performance of QUAD8 element in the presence of mesh distortions. The method is based on the idea of applying corrective nodal loads iteratively in order to reduce the malicious effects of mesh distortions. The effectiveness of the method is demonstrated for typical illustrative problems using meshes having different types of mesh distortions of varying degree. The mathematical condition for convergence is discussed. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although frequently unrecognized, rickettsial infections may be an important cause for fever and exanthem in persons presenting to physicians in South India Most often these patients are referred to dermatology departments with a diagnosis of "drug eruption." In the current study the authors analyzed 12 cases of rickettsial fever that were seen in the dermatology department of St. John`s Medical College Hospital, Ban galore, between 1985 and 1989. The distinctive cutaneous eruption was found to be an important clue to an early clinical diagnosis. Specific serodiagnosis enabled us to confirm that Indian tick typhus, a member of the spotted fever group, was the most frequent cause for rickettsial fever presenting at our hospital. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fragmentation patterns resulting from electron impact ionization of 3-(2′-hydroxyethyl)quinolin-2(1 H)-one, three of its monosubstituted derivatives and four of its disubstituted derivatives were studied. The molecular ion of quinolinone-2-etbanol undergoes initial fragmentation with the loss of OH·, H2O, CO, ·CHO, CH2O, CH2OH·, CH2CHOH and HCNO species. The [M - CHO]+ ion is tentatively suggested to have been formed by the expulsion of H· from the [M - CO]+· ion and the [M - CHO]+ peak may be considered as diagnostic of a 2-quinolone-3-ethanol. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents research which examined the local nanotailoring of polymeric photophysics through the application of the gold nanoparticles implantation system. The researchers assessed the photoluminescence spectra and excitation dynamics in polymeric matrix implanted with metallic nanoparticles. They found that the appearance of a photoinduced absorption band due to the overlapping of nanoparticles with an emission band hindered the potential of having amplified spontaneous emission.

Enormous efforts are required to produce MCQs with plausible distractors, which test the understanding of concepts and problem solving abilities. Therefore in the present study, we observed the effect of formulating distractors of the given MCQs on understanding of a particular topic ('Enzymes') of medical Biochemistry in undergraduate medical students. One hundred and thirty-five first year medical students were divided into three groups based on their internal assessment (IA) performance: High performers >75% IA (n = 44), medium performers IA 60- 75% (n = 48), and low performers IA <60% (n = 43). In the first component, a pre-test of 15 MCQs on Enzymology was conducted. Next day, in second component, three groups of students were made to sit in different classrooms. They were given the stem of MCQs from the same topic and were instructed to formulate 3 distracters and 1 key using their textbooks without peer consultation. At the end of this exercise, each student read out the distracters formed by them and was discussed with the teaching faculty. In the third component, 1st post test was conducted the next day and in the last component, a delayed post test was conducted a week later. There was a statistically significant difference between pre-test and post-test in all the high performers and low performers. Also, the retention of performance was seen in all the three groups as there was no statistically significant change in the delayed post-test performance compared to the first post test. Although there was no statistical significance between the gains obtained by all the three groups, appreciable gain was observed for low performers (+ 1.0698). Formulation of distracters of MCQs for a given stem enhanced the comprehension and performance of medical undergraduate students in medical biochemistry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses the case of a 55-year-old female presented with cutaneous metastasis from carcinoma of the cervix. History of the patient's disease; Clinical investigations; Diagnosis.

The article focuses on a medical case where the patient had psoriasis verruciformis. The patient was a 37-year old woman farm worker presented to the skin department of Government General Hospital in Madras, India with complaints of an itchy hyperpigmented linear lesion in the right lower extremity and an ulcerative fleshy mass in the right ankle. Linear hypertrophic lichen planus, linear epidermal nevus, linear porokeratosis of Mibelli, tuberculosis cutis, deep mycosis and cutaneous leishmaniasis were considered and the proliferative lesion was thought to be squamous cell carcinoma. Histopathologic findings proved otherwise and the diagnosis derived was psoriasis verruciformis.

An abstract for the article "Accuracy of ultrasound for the preoperative evaluation of deep infiltrating endometriosis" by E. Dorney, S. Rajendran, K. Graham and others is presented.

An abstract of the article "PAPP-A at 5-11 weeks' gestation and the prediction of pregnancy outcome" by K. Black and others, is presented.

An abstract of the research paper "3D Assessment of the Uterine Cavity By 'Fly Thru' Imaging: A Feasibility Study ," by S. Rajendran and colleagues is presented.

In the current scenario of medicinal chemistry, quinoline plays a pivotal role in the design of new heterocyclic compounds with several pharmacological properties, so the search for new synthetic methodologies and their application in drug discovery has been widely studied. So far, many procedures have been performed for the preparation of quinoline scaffolds, among which Friedländer quinoline synthesis plays an important role in obtaining these heterocycles. The Friedländer reaction involves condensation between 2-aminobenzaldehydes and keto-compounds. The quinoline nucleus, once obtained through the Friedländer synthesis, has been extensively modified so that these derivatives can exhibit a large number of biological activities such as anticancer, antimalarial, antimicrobial, antifungal, antituberculosis, and antileishmanial properties. In this work, the focus is on the applicability of the Friedländer reaction in the synthesis of various types of bioactive heterocyclic quinoline compounds, which to date has not been reported in the context of medicinal chemistry. The main part of this review selectively focuses on research from 2010 to date and will present highlights of the Friedländer quinoline synthesis procedures and findings to address biological and pharmacological activities., (© 2022 John Wiley & Sons A/S.)