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Context and Aim: There is increasing prevalence of post-COVID fungal infection of rhinoorbitocerebral region especially mucormycosis and aspergillosis in India.[1] Early diagnosis of these fungal infections are of utmost importance, since it may improve outcome and survival.[2],[3],[4],[5],[6],[7],[8] The objective of this study was to evaluate and compare routine laboratory diagnostic methods, that is, histopathological examination, KOH wet mount and fungal culture in the diagnosis of post-COVID fungal infections. Materials and Methods: A total of 106 specimens of clinically suspected patients of post-COVID fungal infection of rhinoorbitocerebral region received in histopathology department were included in this study. The data of KOH wet mount and culture were acquired from the microbiology department after histopathological examination. Result: Approximately 88.68% of patients were diagnosed having fungal infections by one of the laboratory methods. The sensitivity of histopathological examination was highest (79.78%), followed by KOH wet mount (58.51%) and fungal culture (35.10%). Rhizopus species of zygomycetes group were the most common isolate (24.24%) on SDA culture. Overall 76% concordance was found between histopathological examination and fungal culture report for morphological identification of fungi. Conclusion: For the diagnosis of post-COVID fungal infection of Rhino-orbito-cerebral region, histopathological examination is was found to be more sensitive and rapid method to detect fungal hyphae. It leads to early treatment, prevents morbidity and mortality.
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@#Introduction: Adventure tourism has become one of Malaysia’s most attractive tourism demands, and mountain climbing is rapidly becoming a popular recreational sport. Exploring mountain adventures offers a dynamic experience, preserving this fascinating activity, yet the climbers are exposed to the risk of altitude sickness, such as Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS). This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of AMS and investigate the effects of high-altitude sickness on the climber profile associated with climbing at Mount Kinabalu, Malaysia. Methods:. The Lake Louise acute mountain sickness LLS score questionnaire collected 95 climber’s data at four different altitudes. SPO2 and Pulse rate was (PR) measured using a finger pulse oximeter. In a cohort study, AMS was measured on day one at 1866m (1st station), 3622m (2nd station), and day two at 3810m (3rd station), and 4095m (4th station). Results: At the altitude of 1866 (Timpohon Gate), the prevalence of AMS was 0%, 30% at 3622m (Laban Rata), 34.7% at 3810m (Sayat-Sayat), and 37.9% at 4095m (Low’s Peak). The overall prevalence of AMS was 37.9% and the majority of AMS cases were moderate in severity and the LLS score is significant with Pulse Rate and peripheral capillary oxygen saturation (SPO2). Conclusion: Concisely, this finding has triggered a need for consideration from multi agencies to enhance mountaineering guidance, especially for beginners or inexperienced hikers, for a suitable package for climbing attempts to reduce the incidence of AMS among Mount Kinabalu climbers.
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Objective To investigate the role of pcgf5a gene during zebrafish embryonic development. Methods pcgf5a morpholine antisense morpholino oligomers(MO) was microinjected to delete the expression of pcgf5a gene, and possible phenotypes were examined in pcgf5a-deficient embryos. The whole mount in situ hybridization and Real-time PCR were used to detect alterations of key genes related to the development of nervous system and eye. Results After pcgf5a gene knockdown, the development of ectoderm and mesoderm of zebrafish embryos were affected. The brain size became smaller, and the eyes developed retarded, and the tail was curled and the body axis was shortened(548/891). In addition, the expressions of sox2(82/98), sox3(73/84), foxg1(70/88), pax6a(36/45), pax2a, vsx2 and rx1(n = 5) were significantly reduced. Conclusion pcgf5a affects the morphogenesis of nervous system and eye, possibly due to regulating the expression of the transcription factors related to their development via the processes of cell proliferation and apoptosis.
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Strongyloides stercoralis is unique among the nematodes, in which it completes its life cycle inside a single human host by causing autoinfection in the host, and it causes hyperinfection leading to persistent and fatal disseminated infections in immunocompromised hosts. The present case report is about strongyloidiasis fatal hyperinfection in a patient with malignant tumor of the tongue on radiotherapy treatment, to highlight the need for clinical suspicion of strongyloidiasis in an immunocompromised host. As per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the mortality in strongyloides hyperinfection syndrome is alarmingly high, a case fatality rate that is almost 90%. Hence, the clinicians should be well equipped to diagnose, treat, and also prevent the fatal consequences of this lethal nematode. Detailed workup for this parasitic infection is crucial, and this case report emphasizes that a simple wet mount stool microscopic examination can clinch the diagnosis.
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Introduction: Onychomycosis is a fungal infection of thetoenails or fingernails that may involve any component of thenail unit, including the matrix, bed, or plate. Onychomycosisis caused by dermatophyte fungi, non dermatophyte mouldsand yeasts. Prevalence rates for OM varying from 3 to 5%have been found in most studies; however, a few reportssuggest a higher prevalence of even up to 26% in the generalpopulation. Hence through this study an attempt was made toidentify the various clinical patterns of onychomycosis and toidentify pattern of drug resistance in onychomycosis.Material and methods: The proposed study was carriedout in Outpatient Department of Dermatology Venereologyand Leprosy, Rohilkhand Medical College and Hospital,Bareilly, a tertiary care hospital in western Uttar Pradeshfor one year (November 2017- October 2018) on patientshowing nail changes suggestive of onychomycosis, usingdirect microscopy using potassium hydroxide. The culturemedium SDA with chloramphenicol was used. Sensitivity toTerbinafine, Fluconazole, Itraconazole and Griseofulvine wasstudied.Result: The most common pattern of onychomycosis seenwas distal lateral subungual onychomycosis. Pattern of drugresistance is maximum with Griseofulvin (49%) and least withTerbinafine (20%).Conclusion: A total of 104 patients were enrolled, withmean age 35.93 years. Males were more commonly involvedcompared to females. The culture results were positive among55 patients and negative in 49 patients. The most commoncausative agent isolated was dermatophyte moulds followedby non-dermatophytes and yeasts.
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Se presentan 2 casos de bacteriemia por Helicobacter cinaedi. El primero se diagnosticó en un varón de 76 años y resultó secundario a la colocación de un acceso vascular; el segundo correspondió a un lactante febril de 37 días de vida, asociado a un cuadro de gastroen-terocolitis aguda. H. cinaedi es un microorganismo que presenta dificultad para desarrollarse en diferentes medios de cultivo y lograr su identificación a nivel de especie. En ambos casos fue fundamental la observación microscópica en fresco de las botellas de hemocultivo, la utilización de la espectrometría de masas y la posterior secuenciación del gen hsp60 para llegar a esa instancia. En los últimos anos se han informado infecciones por H. cinaedi con frecuencia creciente en otras partes del mundo. En este trabajo presentamos los primeros casos de bacteriemia por H. cinaedi documentados en Argentina.
Two cases of bacteremia caused by Helicobacter cinaedi are presented. The first case was diagnosed in a 76-year-old male patient, and was secondary to a vascular access device placement; the second case corresponded to a febrile infant of 37 days of life, and was associated with acute gastroenteritis. H. cinaedi is a microorganism difficult to grow in different culture media and also to identify to species level. In both cases, the microscopic observation of blood culture bottles, the use of mass spectrometry and the subsequent sequencing of the hsp60 gene were essential. In the recent literature, H. cinaedi infections are being reported more frequently. In this report we present the first documented cases of bacteremia caused by H. cinaedi in Argentina.
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Humans , Male , Infant , Aged , Helicobacter Infections/diagnosis , Bacteremia/diagnosis , Argentina/epidemiology , Mass Spectrometry/methods , Blood Culture/methodsABSTRACT
Background: Isolation of two or more than two pathogenic fungi from the same body site in a patient is considered as a rare entity and very few cases have been reported in literature. These types of infections are called as mixed/ combined fungal infections. Author are enumerating ten cases of superficial mycoses in which two different dermatophytes were grown from the same focus.Methods: From clinically suspected cases of dermatophytosis, skin and hair samples were collected from the affected sites and examined by standard mycological procedures. Microscopy was done by using 10% KOH wet mount. Culture was put on Sabouraud’s dextrose agar with cyclohexamide medium. Growth was identified by lactophenol cotton blue mount.Results: Mixed dermatophytes were obtained from tinea corporis (five cases), tinea capitis (four cases) and tinea cruris (one case) patients. Fungal combinations from given cases involved two different species of genus Trichophyton which were as follows: T. violaceum+T. tonsurans, T. verrucosum+T. tonsurans, T. violaceum (violet) and T. violaceum (white), T. mentagrophytes+T. Violaceum, T. rubrum+T. tonsurans, T. violaceum+T. rubrum, T. rubrum+T. mentagrophytes, T. verrucosum+T. mentagrophytes, T. mentagrophytes+T. tonsurans, Malassezia+T. mentagrophytes.Conclusions: Inspite of the frequent occurrence of dermatophytic infections worldwide, reports on mixed dermatophytes are very few. With proper sample collection and proper identification procedures, more cases can be identified and added to the existing literature.
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Introduction: One of the documented leading cause ofblindness in India is cataract as many patients with cataract donot have access to hospitals and surgery and to avoid blindnessdue to cataract, the only remedy is to perform hospital basedcataract surgery on a large scale. There is an increase in anumber of cataract patients due to improved quality of life,health indices and increased life expectancy. Study aimedto see the visual outcome and complications among patientsundergone manual SICS with PC-IOL implantation.Material and Methods: The present prospectiveobservational study was conducted on 72 patients who wereselected in various screening eye camps to undergo cataractextraction surgery by manual small incision cataract surgerytechnique with posterior chamber IOL implantation (MSICSwith PC-IOL).Results: Total of 72 eyes of patients who underwent manualsmall incision cataract surgery were studied. Best correctedpreoperative visual acuity of ≥ 6/60 was found in 13 patientswhile postoperatively on day1 total of 60 patients had visualacuity of ≥ 6/60. The final 6th week postoperative bestcorrected visual acuity of 6/12-6/9 was found in 65 patients.Iris prolapse was seen in 3 patients followed by posteriorcapsule rent which was seen in 2 patients. Mild postoperativeuveitis was seen in 20 followed by striate keratopathy in 8patients while hyphaema was seen in 2 patients.Conclusion: MSICS is a safe and effective procedure, due toits low rates of intraoperative and postoperative complicationswhich are easily treatable. Visual acuity is only one measureof the functional success of cataract surgery and the goodpostoperative visual outcomes achieved by our patientsfurther adds on to its benefits as a good surgical technique.MSICS can be performed as procedure of choice for largevolume cataract surgeries
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PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of three-dimensional virtual reality horse riding simulator training using a head-mounted display on gait and balance in children with cerebral palsy.METHODS: Ten children with cerebral palsy were randomly assigned to the horse riding simulator (HRS) group (n=5) or the horse riding simulator with virtual reality (HRSVR) group (n=5). To evaluate balance, center of gravity (COG) sway velocity and total sway distance of each group were assessed using the Wii balance board, and gait speed and stride length of each group were assessed using a gait analysis system.RESULTS: Intra-group comparisons between pre- and post-intervention measures revealed that there were significant changes in all gait and balance variables such as stride length, gait velocity, COG sway velocity and COG sway distance in the HRSVR group (p<0.05). In the HRS group, there were significant changes in all variables except stride length (p<0.05). In addition, inter-group comparisons showed significant differences between the two groups in stride length, gait velocity and COG sway distance except COG sway velocity (p<0.05).CONCLUSION: The findings of this study suggest that horse riding simulator training combined with 3D virtual reality can be a new positive therapeutic approach for improving functional performance in children with cerebral palsy.
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Child , Humans , Cerebral Palsy , Gait , Gravitation , Horses , Pilot ProjectsABSTRACT
Objective To investigate the significance of whole mount sections after radical prostatectomy in the diagnosis of prostate cancer.Methods The data of 210 patients with radical prostatectomy in the Department of Urology of Northern Jiangsu People's Hospital from April 2018 to July 2015 were collected,of which 150 cases (control group) were examined with routine tissue section examination and 60 cases (study group) were examined with whole mount sections.The age of the study group and the control group were (69.0 ± 5.0) years and (70.0 ± 7.0) years respectively,and PSA was (18.8 ± 2.5) ng/ml and (19.3 ± 2.1) ng/ml respectively.The BMI of the study group was (23.0 ± 1.2) kg/m2,and the control group was (22.8 ± 0.6) kg/m2.The preoperative Gleason score of the study group and the control group were 7.9 ±0.9 and 7.7 ± 1.6 respectively.There were 137 patients (91.3％) with clinical stage cT1-T2 and 13 patients with cT3(8.7％) in control group.In the study group,there were 51 cases (85.0％) with clinical stage cT1-T2,and 9 cases with cT3 (15.0％).There was no significant difference between the two groups (P ＞ 0.05) in term of the patients' demographics.The postoperative Gleason score,positive surgical margin,seminal vesicle invasion lymph node metastasis and pathological stage were compared between the two groups.Results The median prostate volume of the study group was 45.2 (18.3-121.5) ml,and 47.1 (2 1.3-124.2) ml in the control group.The operation time of the study group was 138.2 (119.5-234.1) mins,and 133.5 (116.8-228.2) mins in the control group.In the control group,there were 8 cases(5.3％) with seminal vesicle invasion,and 8 cases (5.3％) with lymph node metastasis.The pathological stages were pT2-T3 in 145 cases(96.7％),and pT4 in 5 cases (3.3％) in control group.The postoperative Gleason score was 8.0 ± 0.9 in control group.In the study group,17 patients (28.3％) with seminal vesicle invasion were pathologically indicated,and there were 6 patients (10.0％) with lymph node metastasis.The pathological stages were pT2-T3 of 57 cases(95.0％),and pT4 of 3 cases (5.0％),postoperative Gleason score was 7.7 ± 1.0 in study group.There was no statistically significant difference in seminal vesicle invasion,lymph node metastasis,pathological stage and postoperative Gleason score between the two groups (P ＞ 0.05).There were 23 patients (15.3％) with positive margins in the control group,and 28 patients(46.7％) in the study group,which showed significant difference (P ＜0.01).For small lesions,there were 7 cases (4.7％) and 22 cases (36.7％) in the control group and the study group,respectively,which showed significant difference (P ＜ 0.01).There were 17 cases (28.3％) of increased Gleason score in the study group,while 31 cases (20.7％) in the control group,with no statistical difference (P =0.232).Conclusions The whole mount section technique can effectively improve the positive surgical margin and the small lesions detection rate in the pathological evaluation of radical prostatectomy,and provide a precise pathological diagnosis for the postoperative treatment and follow-up of the patients.
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Background Congenital stationary night blindness (CSNB) is a common genetic eye disease.Retinal angiogenesis is rarely obtained in retinal degeneration animal.The effects of CSNB on retinal angiogenesis require further study.Objective This study was to improve Chinese ink perfusion technology and to explore the effect of CSNB on oxygen induced neovascularization.Methods Eighteen clean 7-day old SD rats and 18 clean 7-day old CSNB rats were included,twelve SD rats and twelve CSNB rats were chosen randomly for oxygen induced retinopathy (OIR) modeling,and served as OIR group,six SD rats and six CSNB rats were chosen as normal control.Nine rats were chosen randomly from both SD rats and CSNB rats in OIR group,respectively.The rats were separated into 1 ∶ 1 ratio ink group,2 ∶ 1 ratio ink group and conventional ink group,which were perfused with 1 ∶ 1 ratio ink perfusate,2 ∶ 1 ratio ink perfusate and conventional ink,respectively.The unilateral eyes of the rats were prepared for whole-mount retina,the other eyes were performed for paraffin imbedding.The quality of retinal vascular imaging were compared among different ink perfusate groups.The normal control rats,three SD rats in OIR group and three CSNB rats in OIR group were perfused with 2 ∶ 1 ratio ink perfusate.Histopathology examination was performed on the paraffin section,and the number of nuclei breakthrough the inner limiting membrane were counted.Immunocytochemistry were performed on the paraffin section for detecting the expression of von Wilebrand factor (vWF).Results Compared with 1 ∶ 1 ratio ink perfusion and conventional ink perfusion,2 ∶ 1 ratio ink perfusion showed the full vascular net clearly.Histopathology showed that the structure of retina was normal in the normal control group,and there were no endothelial nuclei breakthrough the inner limiting membrane.A large number of endothelial nuclei breakthrough the inner limiting membrane in the OIR group,the number of endothelial nuclei breaking through the inner limiting membrane were (23.08±2.99)/slide and (41.12±9.36)/slide for SD rats and CSNB rats,respectively.The number of endothelial nuclei breakthrough inner limiting membrane was higher in the CSNB rats than that in the SD rats,with no difference between the two group (q =1.70,P =0.50).Immunocytochemistry results showed that v-WF was positive expressed in the cells breakthrough inner limiting membrane.Conclusions Improved ink perfusion method was an easy-to-use whole-mount retina method with good repeatability.Hyperoxia can induce retinal neovascularization of CSNB rats.
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Objective To design a neonatal nasogastric fixation mount to decrease the complications during nasogastric feeding and facilitate the nurse's operation.Methods The mount was composed of a base,a hose rack,a clamp,a freelyrotating roll ball and a fixation knob.Totally 90 preterm infants hospitalized from January to September 2016 were equally and randomly divided into a fixation mount group,a gravity feeding group and a control group using conventional nasogastric feeding.The incidences of the complications during feeding were recorded including emesis,abdominal distension and apnea,and questionnaire survey was carried out on the nurse's satisfaction for the fixation mount.Results The mount reduced the complications related to nasal feeding,increased the nurse's satisfaction.The fixation mount group had the complications incidence rate (30.0％) significantly lower than those of the gravity feeding group (43.3％) and the control group (53.3％).The nurse's satisfaction in the fixation mount group (93.3％) was higher than those in the gravity feeding group (80.0％) and control group (52.0％).Conclusion The nasograstric fixation mount is applicable for the preterm infants in far-infrared radiation table,warmer and infanette,and thus is worthy promoting clinically.
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Objective: To investigate the presence of trichomoniasis among women attending the Obstetrics and Gynaecology Clinic, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre. Methods: A total of 139 high vaginal swabs were taken from the subjects and sent to the laboratory in Amies gel transport media. The specimens were examined for the presence of Trichomonas vaginalis using wet mount, Giemsa staining and cultured in Diamond's medium. Sociodemographic characteristics and gynaecological complaints were obtained in private using structured questionnaire applied by one investigator. Results: The median age was 32 years, with an interquartile interval of 9.96. Most of the subjects were Malays (76.9%) and the remaining were Chinese (15.1%), Indians (2.2%) and other ethnic groups (5.8%). One hundred and thirty eight (99.3%) of the women were married and 98.6%had less than 6 children. More than half (75.5%) of the women's last child birth was less than 6 years ago. Forty seven percent of them were involved in supporting administrative work and 64.7% of the women gave a history of previous or current vaginal discharge. Conclusions: The present study reported zero incidence rate of trichomoniasis. The low incidence rate was postulated due to all women who participated in this study were categorized into a low-risk group.
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a mygdalin ex isting the pro blem of exce ssive sulfurd ioxide evenw ithout sulfur smoked thro ugh “distill-io dometry”. M ethods Hea dspace gas ch romatograph y-flame phot ometric metho d was compa red with dist ill-iodometry method to d etect the con tent of sulfur dioxide in Se men Armeni acae Amarae, and silver ni trate titration and iodometr ic titration w ere used to determine th e pure amygd alin and sam ple through conventional sulfur dioxid e determinati on device. R esults In th e process ofd etermination of sulfur dio xide residues in Chineseh erbal medicin e and decoc tion pieces c ontaining am ygdalin, som e iodine cons umption was caused bya mygdalin dec omposing. C onclusion Co nventional i odometric m ethod and so dium hydrox ide titrationm ethod cann o longer be used for dete ction of sulf ur dioxide r esidue amoun t of Chinese herbal medici ne and decoc tion pieces co ntaining amy gdalin. Objective To explore th e causes ofs ome Chinese herbal medi cine and deco ction pieces containing.
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Objective To investigate the presence of trichomoniasis among women attending the Obstetrics and Gynaecology Clinic, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre. Methods A total of 139 high vaginal swabs were taken from the subjects and sent to the laboratory in Amies gel transport media. The specimens were examined for the presence of Trichomonas vaginalis using wet mount, Giemsa staining and cultured in Diamond's medium. Sociodemographic characteristics and gynaecological complaints were obtained in private using structured questionnaire applied by one investigator. Results The median age was 32 years, with an interquartile interval of 9.96. Most of the subjects were Malays (76.9%) and the remaining were Chinese (15.1%), Indians (2.2%) and other ethnic groups (5.8%). One hundred and thirty eight (99.3%) of the women were married and 98.6% had less than 6 children. More than half (75.5%) of the women's last child birth was less than 6 years ago. Forty seven percent of them were involved in supporting administrative work and 64.7% of the women gave a history of previous or current vaginal discharge. Conclusions The present study reported zero incidence rate of trichomoniasis. The low incidence rate was postulated due to all women who participated in this study were categorized into a low-risk group.
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Background: The aim of the current study is to evaluate the anti-tumor activity of saponins isolated from the roots of Momordica cymbalaria (MC) against dimethylbenz[a]anthracene (DMBA) induced rats. Methods: A steroidal saponin MC (SMC) was isolated from MC fenzl and purified by preparative high-performance liquid chromatography. Breast cancer was induced in 50-day-old female Sprague-Dawley rats by injecting DMBA (6 mg/kg intravenous) in three doses on day 50, 54, and 57. The rats were randomized into four groups; control, DMBA, SMC (100 mg/kg), and tamoxifen (6.6 mg/kg) to DMBA breast cancer rats. The tumor size, volume, hormonal, antioxidant, and whole mount parameters were estimated. Results: Mean tumor size and volume, luteinizing hormone, and progesterone with superoxide dismutases, catalase, and glutathione levels increased significantly (p<0.001); serum estradiol, follicle stimulating hormone with lipid peroxidation decreased significantly (p<0.001) in DMBA-induced breast cancer and vice versa in SMC and tamoxifen. Terminal end buds, terminal ducts, alveolar buds, and lobules decreased significantly (p<0.001) in DMBA-induced breast cancer whereas increased significantly in SMC and tamoxifen. Histological necrosis and hemorrhage along with focal desmoplastic reaction in DMBA-induced breast cancer; ductile elongation and hyperplasia of both ducts and alveoli were prominent, with increased secretory activity in SMC group. The results confirmed the chemopreventive effect of SMC and tamoxifen in DMBA-induced breast cancer. Conclusions: The SMC exhibited anti-tumor activity against mammary cancer, which may be due to its anti-estrogenic, antioxidant activity.
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Background: Tinea corporis is a common superficial dermatophytosis seen in tropical countries. This study was done to compare the efficacy and safety of topical antifungal agents, terbinafine versus sertaconazole in the treatment of tinea corporis. Methods: This study was conducted in Babuji Hospital and Chigateri Government Hospital, Davangere. A total of 60 (n=60) patients were included and divided into two groups of 30 patients each in the study. 1st group - received topical 1% terbinafine hydrochloride and 2nd group - received 2% sertaconazole cream. Patients were advised to apply cream twice daily for 4 weeks. Improvement in clinical parameters like erythema, scaling, itching, and potassium hydroxide (KOH) mount were taken for assessing the efficacy of drugs. They were followed-up at the end of 2, 4, and 6 weeks to assess the improvement of the condition. Complete cure rate was defined as mycological cure with a complete absence of clinical signs and symptoms. For safety data of both drugs presence of any local side effects (like stinging sensation, swelling and increased erythema) were analyzed in both groups. Statistical analysis was done using students paired t-test and unpaired t-test. Results: When two groups were compared at the end of 2 weeks, complete cure rate for terbinafine was 80% as compared to 63.3% for sertaconazole (p<0.003). However, at the end of 4 weeks, sertaconazole was as effective as terbinafine and statistically non-significant (p>0.05) results were obtained. KOH mount was negative in both groups at the end of 2nd week. Local side effects like erythema, swelling, stinging sensation were not noticed during the study in both the groups. Conclusion: From this study, it was shown that 2% sertaconazole cream was as effective as 1% terbinafine cream, though 1% terbinafine had higher rates of complete cure at the end of 2 weeks as compared to sertaconazole.
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Background: Trichomonas vaginalis causes a common sexually transmitted disease trichomoniasis, which may lead to increased risk of transmission of human immunodefi ciency virus infection and other pelvic infl ammatory diseases. Wet mount examination is the most common test for diagnosis, but it has low sensitivity. Acridine orange staining can be used for diagnosis, but it requires special microscopic facility. Culture is considered as the gold standard, but it takes a long time for diagnosis. OSOM Trichomonas Rapid Test is a recently introduced rapid method based on immunochromatographic assay of trichomonal protein antigens. Hence, the present study was done to compare these four diagnostic techniques for detection of trichomoniasis in females with vaginal discharge. Materials and Methods: Vaginal swabs were taken from 835 female patients and wet mount examination, acridine orange staining, culture in Kupferberg medium, and OSOM Trichomonas Rapid Test, were performed. Results: Out of 835 patients included in our study, 68 (8.1%) positive cases of trichomoniasis were detected by culture. OSOM Trichomonas Rapid Test detected 63 (7.5%) cases, acridine orange staining detected 53 (6.3%) cases, whereas, wet mount examination detected only 45 (5.4%) positive cases. OSOM Trichomonas Rapid Test performed well and showed high sensitivity and specifi city of 88.2% and 99.6%, respectively. Conclusion: As OSOM Trichomonas Rapid Test is a point of care test and gave better results than both wet mount examination and acridine orange staining; it can be used as a routine test in peripheral areas lacking laboratory facilities.
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The increasing uses of zinc oxide nanoparticles (nZnO) in industrial and personal care products raise possible danger of using nZnO in human. To determine whether ZnO induces size-dependent anomalies during embryonic organogenesis, mouse embryos on embryonic day 8.5 were cultured for 2 days under 50, 100, and 150 microg of nZnO (< 100 nm) or micro-sized ZnO (mZnO; 80 +/- 25 microm), after which the morphological changes, cumulative quantity of Zn particles, and expressions of antioxidant and apoptotic genes were investigated. Although embryos exposed to 50 microg of ZnO exhibited no defects on organogenesis, embryos exposed to over 100 microg of ZnO showed increasing anomalies. Embryos treated with 150 microg of nZnO revealed significant changes in Zn absorption level and morphological parameters including yolk sac diameter, head length, flexion, hindbrain, forebrain, branchial bars, maxillary process, mandibular process, forelimb, and total score compared to the same dose of mZnO-treated embryos. Furthermore, CuZn-superoxide dismutase, cytoplasmic glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and phospholipid hydroperoxidase GPx mRNA levels were significantly decreased, but caspase-3 mRNA level was greatly increased in nZnO-treated embryos as compared to normal control embryos. These findings indicate that nZnO has severer teratogenic effects than mZnO in developing embryos.
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Animals , Humans , Mice , Absorption , Caspase 3 , Cytoplasm , Embryonic Structures , Forelimb , Glutathione Peroxidase , Head , Nanoparticles , Organogenesis , Prosencephalon , Rhombencephalon , RNA, Messenger , Teratogenesis , Yolk Sac , Zinc OxideABSTRACT
Onychomycosis is a common nail infection caused by dermatophytes, yeast or other non-dermatophyte molds and have been known to be associated with significant physical and psychological morbidity. This study was performed to determine the prevalence and the etiologic agents of onychomycosis in patients attending RIMS, Imphal, Manipur for a period of two years (January 2010 to December 2012). Nail samples of 347 clinically suspected cases of onycomycosis attending dermatology OPD RIMS, Manipur were collected and were subjected to potassium hydroxide (KOH) mounts for direct microscopy and fungal culture on Sabouraud’s dextrose agar (SDA). The male female ratio of the participants was 1:1.81 (165 male and 302 female). Out of 467, 399 (85.44.%) were positive by culture and KOH mount. Young adults in the age group of 21-30 years were commonly affected. In female patients finger nail infection was more common than toe nail infection. Both toe and finger nails involvement were noticed in nine patients of which two were male and seven were female. The most frequently isolated fungus was dermatophytes, in 107 (40.38%) patients followed by Aspergillus spp in 101 (38.11%) and Candida spp in 17 (6.4%). This study demonstrated that dermatophytes, as well as moulds especially Aspergillus spp are commonly isolated from onychomycosis patients in our region.