Extremely High Ferritinemia Associated with Haemophagocytic Lympho Histiocytosis (HLH)

Hyperferritinemia (>10,000 ng/ml) is an important hallmark used as an indicator of infection triggered macrophage activation syndrome leading to hemophagocytic lympho histiocytosis (HLH). Measurement of serum ferritin can be used in diagnosis as well as disease monitoring indicator and prognosis related to HLH, cAPS, sepsis, neoplasm and inflammatory conditions. It is a major contributor to manage critically ill patients as predicting and monitoring indicator. It can be used as acute phase response in conditions of MAS, AOSD, cAPS etc. A case study in our hospital showed extremely high ferritin values along with low hemoglobin, elevated LDH and triglycerides with positive MRSA in sputum culture and macrophage proliferation and hemophagocytosis in the bone marrow examination. Patient showed definite inverse relation with steroid therapy and serum ferritin levels.     

Tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) and estrogen hormone in osteoarthritic female patients

Osteoarthritis of knee joints is a disease of old age in both sex. It is very common after the age of 40 years in elderly females or in postmenopausal phase of females. It is characterized by narrowing of space in joints due to inflammation. The exact mechanism of inflammation in this disease is not yet clear. Tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) may involve in onset of disease. The present study is being carried out in 130 female subject of age group 40–60 years suffering from osteoarthritis of knee joints and 50 normal healthy control female subjects. A correlation is made between TNF-α and estrogen and found significant inverse correlation (r<0.001), between TNF-α and estrogen hormone in osteoarthritic female patients as compared to normal healthy control female group.     

Brain type natriuretic peptide (BNP)—A marker of new millennium in diagnosis of congestive heart failure

The burden of disease in patients with congestive heart failure is high. The future of BNP looks promising as it may be a better diagnostic tool for the diagnosis of CHF in developing countries in new millennium. Natriuretic peptide hormones, a family of vasoactive peptides with many favourable physiological properties, have emerged as important contenders for development of diagnostic tools and therapeutic agents in cardiovascular disease. Measurement of B-type natriuretic peptide has become as an easy-to-perform bedside test. The clinical and diagnostic significance of the measurement of plasma Nt-proBNP in the diseases of the cardiovascular system with particular emphasis on the assessment of patients with heart failure and their effects on predicting survival rate. The plasma levels of Nt-proBrain Natriuretic peptide responds more vigorously after myocardial infarction than those of other natriuretic peptides. This article is an attempt to give a short overview on the utility of BNP-blood levels for the diagnosis and treatment of heart failure     

A study of early childhood education programmes in Delhi,India

Early years is the period of rapid physical and mental growth wherein the foundation for the child's development is laid and therefore, these years are considered extremely critical for the overall development of the child. Given the critical significance of these early childhood years, it is imperative for every child to get the opportunity to develop in a stimulating environment. The early childhood programmes provide this stimulating environment to the children. Extensive research evidence indicates towards the positive impact of early intervention and both short-term and long-term gains of an early childhood programme. However, mere participation in an early childhood programme is not sufficient. The quality of the programme attended by the children at this stage is also crucial. The various provisions provided by the programme to the children determine the quality of an early childhood programme. Curriculum seems to be the basic variable that influences the provisions provided to children in an Early Childhood Care and Education programme and in turn determines the quality of the programmes for children. This article is an attempt to study the variability of provisions provided and curriculum implemented in different early childhood programmes.     

Questioning a dogma

For over half a century, all mutations were believed to be ‘random’, i.e. independent of their effects on the organism in a given environment. This belief was strengthened by experiments by Luria and Delbruck and Lederberg and Lederberg in the middle of the century. Recently, however, many experiments have provided evidence to the contrary. A hot debate therefore ensues at the central stage of evolutionary genetics.     

PCT as a Prognostic Marker in Cardiac Patients with Neutropenic Sepsis: Two Case Reports

Procalcitonin (PCT) is an innovative and highly specific marker for diagnosis of clinically relevant bacterial infection and sepsis. PCT supports early diagnosis and Clinical decision making. A retrospective study of two classical cases of neutropenic sepsis with elevated PCT levels in cardiac ICU was done. PCT was analyzed using Elecsys Brahms PCT kit. Serum PCT levels <0.5 ng/ml and ANC <1,000/mm³ was taken as cutoff. The first patient had initial high levels of PCT 100 ng/ml, TLC 13,600/mm³ and ANC 12,250/mm³. It was followed by drop with subsequent rise in PCT levels and drop in TLC 1,000/mm³ and ANC 70/mm³. The second patient had normal PCT 0.116 ng/ml, TLC 5,600/mm³ and ANC 4,420/mm³ levels followed with sharp increase in all the values with subsequent drop in TLC 2,000/mm³ and ANC 880 cells/mm³. Both the patients died of neutropenic sepsis with multiorgan failure. The case reports showed the correlation of PCT with TLC and ANC levels in predicting the mortality of patients with neutropenic sepsis in cardiac ICU.     

Contributions of bilingual home environment and language proficiency on children’s Spanish–English reading outcomes

This study examines the influence of language environment on language and reading skills and the cross-linguistic contributions to reading outcomes in 132 Spanish–English bilingual children ages 7–12 (52% female; 98% Hispanic). We present three major findings: children's language knowledge is separable into general (e.g., phonological awareness) and language-specific (e.g., meaning, grammar) skills; regular Spanish use positively relates to children's Spanish language and reading skills and does not limit English skills; and Spanish reading comprehension is positively associated with English reading comprehension. The model explains a significant percentage of the variance in English (R² = .89) and Spanish (R² = .87) reading comprehension outcomes. Findings shed light on the interdependence of Spanish and English as they relate to bilingual reading acquisition.