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Genetic Components Related To Left Handedness – A Study

A recent study by scientists reveals about regions of the Human DNA and their association with left handedness. These regions are connected to the brains language related features. An earlier study around handedness had revealed that genes were responsible for 25% of it but the type or name of the genes was unknown.

In India and across the world there were has been a lot of stigma and taboo around being left handed. But, today rarely anyone is of the belief or even discriminates between left and right handed people.

10% of the population in the world is known to be left handed and also includes many well-known individuals like Alert Einstein and Leonardo da Vinci amongst them.

The recent study was published in the journal ‘Brain’ and involved the participation of 40,000 people including 38000 left handed ones. After doing the genetic analysis, the researchers found that it was the DNA regions that linked to left handedness strongly.

As per the researchers the three regions are inside or are responsible for protein code of brain development and patterning. Proteins play a significant role in making microtubules which are scaffolding like building block and are responsible for guiding cell construction.

Microtubules are made up of long chained molecules making up the physical structure of the cells throughout the body also known as cytoskeleton and have the ability to respond to cell singals by quickly assembling and disassembling.

The scientists did study brain scan details of 9000 participants after analyzing their DNA samples. The findings indicate that in left handed people right and left side for brain that deals with language coordinate in a better way compared to right handed ones. These findings thus pave the path for getting deeper into finding if left handed people are better in tasks that involve verbal communication compared to the right handed ones.

Well, as per Gwenaelle Dououad, associate professor at the Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging that it was apparently for the first time that they had been able to establish that in humans the handedness is linked to cytoskeletal differences in the brain.

*Sourced from Internet

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Madarosis – A Condition That Causes Hair Loss of Eyelashes and Eyebrows

A condition that is as rare as one in 500 people suffering from it, is the condition called Madarosis, that leads to loss of hair of the eyelash and eyebrows. The term was initially coined only for loss of eye lashes but now it is used even for loss of hair of the eyebrow. Known to generally not cause scars this condition can lead to hair loss of one or both eyebrows, but in rare cases it could lead to scarring as well. Madarosis also known to be an alert for complex body diseases both complex body and dermatological.

Also, the role of eyelashes is to protect the eyes from foreign bodies and eyebrows of to protect eye’s bony ridges and hence is critical to the health of the eye.

Madarosis

MADAROSIS SYMPTOMS
The preliminary symptoms is that the eyelashes turn brittle leading to eyelash fall. The symptoms include eyelid itching and burning sensation as well as swelling, thinning as well as hair loss from other parts of the body.

MADAROSIS CAUSES
The condition is said to be caused due to many other underlying diseases and health conditions like Trauma, Burns, Psychiatric condition called trichotillomania, eyelid infection like syphilis, leprosy or herpes, chronic blepharitis and eyelid neoplasm. Even genetic conditions like ichthyosiform erythroderma, ehlers-danlos syndrome, cryptophthalmos as well as ectodermal dysplasia are known to cause madarosis

DIAGNOSIS
The doctor examines the patient physically and checks the scalp, eyebrows and eyelids as well as facial skin. The tests done for the same include skin skin scrapping for fungal infection diagnosis, skin swab for bacterial infections diagnosis, dermoscopy for skin examination with the help of a magnifier as well as blood tests.

TREATMENT
The treatment is based on diagnosis and includes the use of medications, borax for infections, biotin supplements for hair repair, cosmetic treatment like eyebrow tattoos, artificial eyebrows, to name a few.

Home-remedies like opting for a protein rich diet, care with doing and choosing makeup and use of castor oil on the eyebrows and eyelashes could help you get rid of infections.

 

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*Sourced from the Internet

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What is Simulation? – Simulator Aided Inter Disciplinary Workshop

What is Simulation?

Simulation is a technique to replace or amplify real-patient experiences with guided experiences. Various types of simulators are used to train and assess different levels of learners. These include mannequin simulators, human cadaver or animal models, computer-based simulation, haptic and/or virtual simulation, as well as simulation using standardized patients. Simulation has been an accepted part of training, assessment and research in high-reliability organizations, such as aviation, nuclear power, and military. Healthcare has adopted simulation from these fields for the purpose of training healthcare providers. Simulation-based learning has been used to shorten the gap that exists between the learning environment and the real clinical environment. Many skill trainers have been developed to actualize real clinical site especially for novice residents .

Utilization of simulatiors has many advantages for medical education:
1) learning can be focused on the level of trainees with various levels of difficulties;
2) learners can either learn the whole procedure process or just focus on certain tasks of the procedure;
3) learners have the opportunity to repetitively practice in quick succession;
4) learners learn in a safe environment where they can be allowed to learn from their mistakes rather than be rescued by their supervisor to keep the patient safe;
5) simulators can provide objective evidence of performance, offering potential for their use for assessment, both formative and summative;
6) simulation can provide practice on certain procedures such as cricothyrotomy, which is a critical life-saving procedure that is uncommon and rarely performed by residents.

Simulation has a potential to promote a new paradigm compared to traditional education tools. Technical skills and non-technical skills can be taught to residents via a standardized and organized simulation program teams.

Simulation based teaching workshop by the department of Anaesthesia and critical care was conducted on 7Th and 8th of Dec 2017.The whole programme had audio-video facilities.The whole process was beamed to the another class room in the Ist floor of the college building.

After the invocation, Dr, Sahajananda welcomed the gathering and the Guest faculty from Perth and Melbourne, Australia.
The guest faculty addressed the gathering and gave introductory lecture.

There were two case scenarios on 7th.
1.A pregnant patient with RTA having sustained chest and pelvic injuries. 16 participants were split into two groups and ask to conduct the management of the case.
2.Pregnant patient with severe PIH
After the procedure the defbreefing was done by the faculty namely: Parasad B Achar and Sunanda Gargeswari,in the ist floor class room. Detailed discussions were also held.
On 8th Dec 2017:

Dr. Sahajanand welcomed the gathering and delegates.He also introduced the guest faculty Dr.Shashikanth Manikappa from Melbourne.
Delegates were split into two batches.There were two case scenarios:
Patient with sepsis and septic shock
Patient in the OT who developed Anaphylaxix.

After the procedure the defbreefing was done by the faculty namely: Dr. Shashikanth and Sahajananda H, in the Ist floor class room. Detailed discussions were also held.

The whole programme was well attended by the residents and faculty from Surgery, Orthopedics, OBG, General Medicine and Pulmonary medicine.

 

Date : 7th Dec 2017 and 8th Dec 2017

Time : 2:00 pm to 6:00 pm

Venue : College first floor lecture hall & Kadamba Auditorium (College auditorium)

Speaker : Dr B. G. Prasad Achar & Ms Sunanda Achar, Melbourne, Australia

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The Technique of Knocking Out Genes – A Sneak Peek

Knocking out genes is a technique which researchers and scientists use when the want to find out
which gene is responsible for production of which protein. In a human body there are around 20,500 different genes that each gene is responsible for making a protein because they are known to be the building blocks for different components of the body be it muscles or bones or brain and more. Apparently, our body is made up proteins. Every gene is responsible for producing a different type of protein and the knocking out technique only helps scientists figure out who is responsible for what.

The Technique of Knocking Out Genes - A Sneak Peek

Knocking out a Gene
The scientists first find out genes with some serious mutation or mistake or create one if needed. These genes are dud genes and do not contribute a bit in production of protein. Now, this gene is injected into the DNA of a healthy cell. The scientists attach a tag called reporter gene to it for identification purpose of whether they have been accepted by the cell. Another identification of reporter genes is that the proteins they produce often glow in blue or green. The scientists apparently fool the DNA in a way. A DNA a we know is made up of long strand of genes and these genes can get damaged but the DNA has an inbuilt mechanism to fix the issue. With the help of a cellular tool box the scientist insert the knocked out gene into the DNA. They do this very smartly by making it look like a perfect copy of the surrounding gene that is to be replaced in that DNA. This disguise of sorts fold the DNA repair system and its swaps the dud gene for the old healthy gene, thus knocking out the original gene.

Some times scientists do not have to swap the gene fully. They can simply insert the reporter gene into the DNA they wish to get rid of, randomly. Now, the reporter gene is wedged in the middle of the old gene. Now, there is an all new piece of DNA inside and if a cell goes to read the gene, the instructions would not make sense to the cell due to its presence there. It would not use the gene to make a protein.

The scientist keep a watch on the process. They observe the working in case it is yeast or bacterium but if it is an embryo, scientists observe on how the animal or plant growth differs from other normal ones.
Today, scientists use different techniques to knock out the genes of any organism they want to. It could be mice or bacteria or for that matter even plants that have knocked out genes. Well, scientists today can knock out even human cells growing in the labs.

Rajarajeswari Medical College and Hospital – MOTTO: Availability of medical facilities is of utmost importance. We aim to serve the healthcare requirements needs to the medically unreached population. Through this, we provide quality medical, paramedical, nursing and allied healthcare education, excellent and compassionate hospital services with state of the art facilities as well as to carry out health research for the betterment of the humankind in tune with the holistic values of the institution.

*source from the internet