Intramedullary meningioma of spinal cord: Case report of a rare tumor highlighting the differential diagnosis of spinal intramedullary neoplasms.

A 15-year-old male presented with progressive weakness of both lower limbs with urinary incontinence. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed a spinal intramedullary mass at D7-D8 level. The child was operated with a preliminary diagnosis of an intramedullary tumor. Atypical ependymoma and astrocytoma were considered in the differential diagnosis. Per- and post-operative histopathological examination reported the case as transitional meningioma (WHO Grade I). Spinal intramedullary meningiomas being a rare entity may be confused with other common intramedullary tumors. Though, rare still the possibility of an intramedullary spinal mass of being a meningioma does exist and therefore should be considered in the differential diagnosis of intramedullary tumors.

Assessment of litter degradation in medicinal plants subjected to ultraviolet-B radiation.

Litter decomposition is an important component of global carbon budget. Elevated influx of ultraviolet-B radiation (UV-B) as a consequence of depletion of stratospheric ozone (O3) layer may affect litter decomposition directly or/ modifying the plant tissue quality. Chemical composition of plant can affect litter decomposition. In the present study, three important medicinal plant species i.e. Acorus calamus, Ocimum sanctum and Cymbopogon citratus were exposed to two levels of supplemental UV-B (sUV1 and sUV2) during the growth period and examined the changes in leaf quality and degradation of leaf litters. The sUV2 treatment (+3.6 kJ m-2 d-1) increased the rate of decomposition by 45% and 31% respectively; in leaf litters from O. sanctum and C. citratus, while no significant effect was noticed in A. calamus leaf litter. Higher accumulation of sclerenchymatous tissue around vascular bundles and increased concentrations of total phenols by 39 mg g-1 probably lowered the decomposition rate; finding k value: 0.0049 g g-1 d-1 in leaf litters of A. calamus. The C/ N ratio was increased by 14% at sUV2 in C. citratus, whereas in O. sanctum it decreased by 13.6% after treatment. Results of the present experiment illustrates that firstly UV-B can modify the decomposition rate of leaf litter of test plant species, secondly it can alter the tissue chemistry particularly leaf phenolics, N and P concentrations strongly and thus affecting the decay rate and thirdly UV-B effects on decay rate and leaf chemistry is species specific.

Response of ultraviolet-B induced antioxidant defense system in a medicinal plant, Acorus calamus.

Ultraviolet-B (UV-B) radiation generates an oxidative stress in plant cells due to excessive generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). ROS can denature enzymes and damage important cellular components. In the present study, an important medicinal plant Acorus calamus (Sweet flag) was subjected to two doses of supplemental UV-B radiation (sUV-B): sUV1 (+1.8 kJ m-2 d-1) and sUV2 (+3.6 kJ m–2 d–1) to evaluate the relative response of antioxidant defense potential. Stimulation of activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), ascorbate peroxidase (APX) and glutathione reductase (GR) was observed at initial growth period while the activities of CAT and SOD decreased at later age of sampling. sUV-B induced lipid peroxidation (LPO) was observed showing alteration of membrane properties. No definite trend of change was observed for ascorbic acid (AsA), while increaments in thiol, proline, phenol and protein contents were observed due to sUV-B. Results suggested that sUV-B radiation may stimulate the enzymatic and non-enzymatic defense system of Acorus plants, showing its better adaptation at lower dose of sUV-B.

Meningioma with metastasis from follicular carcinoma thyroid.

A 45-year-old female presented with loss of vision in the left eye, numbness on left half of face and left-sided hemicrania for two months. On the basis of radiological investigations, provisional diagnosis of basal meningioma was made. Tissue sent for histopathological evaluation revealed a dual tumor-meningioma with metastasis from follicular carcinoma, thyroid. To the best of authors' knowledge, this is the first report of a tumor metastasizing to another tumor, where a follicular carcinoma thyroid metastasized to meningioma.

Response of ultraviolet-B and nickel on pigments, metabolites and antioxidants of Pisum sativum L.

Ultraviolet radiation (UV) though harmful but is an important and unavoidable component of terrestrial ecosystem to which plants have been exposed since their migration from aquatic to land habitat. Incoming UV-B radiation and heavy metals abundance in contaminated soils are significant environmental threat affecting metabolic functions of plants through generation of reactive oxygen species. Plants have evolved mechanisms to counteract these reactive radicals and to repair the damage caused by UV-B and heavy metals. This study describes the impact of supplemental UV-B (sUV-B) and nickel (Ni) singly and in combination on photosynthetic pigments, flavonoids, enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidants, metabolites and lipid peroxidation of Pisum sativum L. (pea) plants. Compared to the controls, both the stresses individually and in combination led to reductions in photosynthetic pigments, ascorbic acid, protein and catalase (CAT) activity, whereas a reverse trend was observed for flavonoids, phenol, proline and thiol contents, superoxide dismutase (SOD) and peroxidase (POX) activities and lipid peroxidation (LPO). However, flavonoids increased significantly under individual exposure of sUV-B as compared to other treatments. An increase of LPO by 81% indicated the generation of reactive oxygen species under both the stress conditions. sUV-B and Ni in combination acted synergistically with stimulation of CAT activity by 51.6% , additively on SOD activity with increase of 16.4%, while other parameters showed antagonistic action of both the stresses.

Moyamoya disease--magnetic resonance imaging and magnetic resonance angiographic features.

A rare case of moyamoya disease in a 9-year-old female presented with behavioural disturbances and recurrent hemiparetic attacks is reported. Moyamoya disease is an uncommon form of arteritis which affects the cerebrovascular circulation. Magnetic resonance angiography is a non-invasive technique for evaluation of the carotid and vertebrobasilar circulation. The magnetic resonance angiography findings are typical and characteristic of this disease.