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Abstract | Full Text PDF

The aim of the present study was to assess the predilection for junk food consumption among 15-year-old schoolchildren in North Chennai.
This was a descriptive cross-sectional study conducted among the schools in North Chennai, India. Cluster sampling methodology was used to recruit the subjects for the study. A questionnaire was used to collect the data. A total of 427, 15-year-old schoolchildren participated in the study. Pearson’s chi-square test was performed to determine the significance.
All the participants reported that they liked all types of junk food, and were aware that chemicals were present in the junk food. Nearly 58.3% of the students knew that junk foods caused diseases. All the participants told that their parents were aware about their junk food consumption habits. Nearly 98.1% of students reported that the presence of junk food outlets in and around their school influenced them to consume more junk food, which, as reported by all the students, was increasing day by day.
The study concluded that the predilection for junk food is high and the consumption is increasing day- by day among schoolchildren because of various influential factors.

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Two Schiff bases, namely benzoin thiosemicarbazone (BTSC) and para-anisaldehyde semicarbazone (PAS), were synthesized and characterized. The antineoplastic activities of these Schiff bases were studied against Ehrlich ascites carcinoma (EAC) cells in Swiss albino mice by monitoring tumor cell growth inhibition, tumor weight measurement, survival time of tumor-bearing mice, bioassay of these compounds, and counting the total number of peritoneal cells as well as macrophages. Hematological parameters were also studied. It was found that these compounds significantly reduced tumor cell growth rate, decreased tumor weight, and increased life span of EAC-bearing mice. These test compounds restored the hematological parameters of EAC-bearing mice to normal. These compounds also enhanced the number of macrophages in normal mice. The results obtained were compared with those obtained with the standard drug bleomycin.

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Malankholia (melancholia) is defined as a disorder in which the mental functions are deranged and the afflicted person is more prone toward constant grief, fear, and dubious aggression, and the ability to analyze and interpret things is grossly affected, as enunciated by Jalinus (Galen) and quoted by Zakaria Razi (850–923 AD) in his world renowned treatise “Kitab Al-Havi.” The term melancholia literally means “black humor,” which is the predominant causative factor. Mental ill-health is one of the most disturbing and disabling disorders of life. It affects not only the concerned person but also his/her family and the society as a whole with social stigma attached to it. The problem is steadily on the rise due to factors such as urbanization, industrialization, and increase in lifespan, together with the breakup of the joint family system, with implication of multiple genes augmenting the psychiatric disorders. The prevalence of psychiatric illness is almost
the same globally, about 8–10 per 1000 population. Unani, an age-old traditional system of medicine, has described in its classical text not only the concept of this disorder but also its management with various modes of treatment, which if pursued will mitigate the suffering of humanity to a great extent. The present review manuscript is an attempt to highlight the available literature from the Unani perspective.

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A retrospective study of 122 patients, who were operated between January 1989 and December 2001, was performed D1 dissection was performed in the operations. In this study, initiatives that do not leave macroscopic tumor behind were evaluated as curative resections. The patients who underwent total gastrectomy were mostly reconstructed with omega loop and Braun anastomosis. Among the patients, 81 (66.4%) were male and 41 (33.6%) female. The youngest patient was 26 and the oldest 82 years old. The average age of patients was 58.9 years. Fifty seven patients (46.7%) were treated with curative (R1) resection, while 20 (16.4%) with palliative resection, 20 (16.4%) with surgical bypass, 5 (4.2%) with gastrostomy, 2 (1.6%) with nutritional jejunostomy, and 18 (14.7%) underwent only explorative laparotomy. Patients who were operated were identified as follows: 3 of the patients (2.4%) were in Stage IA, 4 (3.2%) in Stage IB, 23 (18.8%) in Stage II, 11 (9.1%) in Stage IIIA, 16 (13.2%) in Stage IIIB, and 55 (53.3%) in Stage IV. The average life expectancy in the survival analysis of all patients was 44 (± 3) months and the 5-year survival rate was 42.5%. Survival results were found to be consistent with western-sourced results. These results have led to the need of comparison of D1 and D2 dissections with a prospective randomized study.

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The TEL–AML-1 fusion gene resulting from 12: 21 chromosomal translocation is believed to be the most common molecular genetic abnormality in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). This study was conducted to investigate the frequency of this fusion gene in children suffering from ALL attending the oncology unit in the Basrah Hospital for Pediatric and Gynecology during the period May 2009 to April 2010, and point out the different laboratory features associated with this anomaly.
A total of 120 blood samples were collected (60 early-diagnosed ALL children and 60 healthy children as control group). The controls were matched with cases by age and sex. Ribonucleic acid (RNA) was successfully extracted from the fresh blood of 40 ALL cases used for the detection of TEL–AML-1 fusion gene by reverse transcriptase–polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR).
Of the newly diagnosed ALL cases, 27.5% were positive for TEL–AML-1 fusion gene as well as 5% among the control group. All TEL–AML-1 positive cases showed an age peak between 3 and 6 years and tend to occur more frequently among females than males. The TEL–AML-1 positive cases were classified as the standard-risk group and accounted for 72.3%, while 27.3% were the high-risk group (P < 0.05). According to the French-American–British classification criteria, 72.3% of the high-risk and 68% of the standard-risk groups belong to the L2 stage.
The TEL–AML-1 fusion gene identifies a subset of pediatric ALL associated with a number of laboratory markers of good prognosis and should thus be considered in routine molecular work of ALL to confirm its impact on clinical outcome and to design a suitable therapy.

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Goitre is a common endocrine abnormality. It is an enlargement of the thyroid gland. If goitre left untreated. they became giant goitre. Giant goitres are becoming increasingly infrequent because of imaging techniques. Although goitre are asymptomatic,they can compress the trachea or oesophagus and cause clinical symptoms such as dyspnea or dysphagia. We present a case of a giant goitre. A 77-year-old woman consulted our clinic. She had the swelling of her neck, had rapidly progressive increase in shortness of breath and had difficulty in swallowing. The huge mass was surgically removed without complications. The pathological result of the patient reported follicular carcinoma of the thyroid/Hurthle cell carcinoma. As such cases have the risk of malignancy, operations must be performed after
getting a diagnosis to prevent complicated situations.

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In the recent years, treatment strategy for hemodynamically stable patients with splenic trauma has changed to nonoperative therapy as a result of the increased quality of intensive care units (ICUs) and advances in imaging techniques for the diagnosis of the solid-organ traumas. This case report presented the conservative approach for two patients who had
isolated splenic trauma in the ICU. The report was aimed to emphasize the importance of multidisciplinary approach in ICUs to increase the quality of service provided.

Abstract | Full Text PDF

Abstract | Full Text PDF