Melnick- needles osteodysplasty presenting with quadriparesis.

Melnick-Needles syndrome or osteodysplasty, a monogenic heritable bone dysplasia, is characterized by a typical facies and characteristic radiological findings. Less than 70 well-documented cases have been reported in literature; most of them were sporadic. We report the first case from Eastern India in an adolescent male, who had cranio-vertebral junction anomalies and presented with spastic quadriparesis at the age of 13 years.

Psychosomatic illnesses in patients attending the medical outpatient department in a government hospital.

The incidence of psychosomatic illness among Indian patients has been found to be high. Owing to the stigma attached to psychiatric illnesses, most patients remain reluctant to visit a psychiatrist. The result is an overcrowding in the medicine and other specialist departments. A psychiatry department with consultation-liaison psychiatric service in each government hospital is the need of the day.

Effect of kinetin on leaf protein content and its profile in mung bean under salt stress.

Application of NaCl resulted in about 67% reduction in amino acid content and 24% reduction in buffer soluble protein content in mung bean [Vigna radiata (L.) Wilczek.] leaf as compared with the control. Gel electrophoretic profile of buffer soluble protein content in leaf of mung bean showed an extra band in between 29 kD and 45 kD in stress protein profile as compared with control. It was noted that the foliar spray of kinetin (6-furfuryl aminopurine) used in the present study was able to overcome up to certain extent the adverse effects of stress caused by NaCl.

Effect of phytohormone pretreatment on metabolic changes in Vigna radiata under salt stress.

Efficiency of pretreatment as foliar spray of indole-3-acetic acid, gibberellic acid and kinetin (6-furfuryl aminopurine) each ranging from 10(-7) to 10(-5) M in restoring the metabolic alterations imposed by NaCl salinity (E.C. value 4.0 m mhos/cm) was investigated in Vigna radiata (L.) Wilczek. Application of NaCl resulted in about 7% and 9% decrease in phenol content in mung bean leaf and root respectively. In leaf, NaCl caused 40% increase in polyphenol oxidase enzyme activity over the control set. This effect was accentuated in root, where salinity caused 200% increase in the enzyme activity. In leaf and root of mung-bean plant, ascorbic acid content decreased about 29% and 31% respectively under salinity stress as compared with control. Ascorbic acid oxidase enzyme activity increased under stress by about 55% and 23% respectively in leaf and root. It was noted that all the three growth regulators used in the present study were able to overcome to variable extents the adverse effects of stress imposed by NaCl solution.