We sought to analyse the presence of human papillomavirus (HPV), Chlamydia trachomatis and cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection in women with epithelial ovarian carcinomas. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based detection of microbial infections was carried out. A total of 39 tissue samples were analysed with consensus and type-specific primers for HPV, primers specific for the cryptic plasmid of Chlamydia and primers for glycoprotein B of CMV. The samples analysed showed 40%, 80% and 50% positivity for HPV, Chlamydia and CMV infection, respectively, in cancerous ovarian tissues. The HPV type detected was HPV 6, with its genome integrated to the host genome in case of both invasive and borderline tumours and existed episomally in healthy controls. The patients with Chlamydia (odds ratio [OR] 32; 95% confidence interval [CI] 3.33, 307.65) and CMV infection (OR 8; 95% CI 0.888, 72.10) are at significantly higher risk of development of ovarian tumours. The present study validates the theory of chronic infections and inflammation in the pathogenesis of epithelial ovarian cancer. Further seroepidemiological studies and large fresh tissue sampling may represent the real prevalence of infections among ovarian carcinoma patients. This study is the first of its kind in detecting the bacterial and viral aetiologies in the development of ovarian carcinoma among Indian women.

This study was designed to evaluate the effect of Terminalia chebula fruit extract on the levels of plasma and tissue glycoprotein components in streptozotocin-induced-diabetic rats. Oral administration of T. chebula fruit extract at a concentration of 200 mg/kg body weight for 30 days significantly reduced the levels of blood glucose, glycosylated hemoglobin, urea, and creatinine as well as fucose, hexose, hexosamine and sialic acid in the diabetic rats treated with the fruit extract. The observed decrease in the levels of plasma insulin and C-peptide in the diabetic rats was elevated to near normal by T. chebula fruit extract treatment. Histological observations made on the pancreatic tissue of control and experimental groups also revealed the beneficial effect of T. chebula fruit extract. The efficacy of the fruit extract was comparable with glibenclamide, a known hypoglycaemic drug.

This study is intended to examine the ignition characteristics of a cashew nut shell biodiesel (C100) along with ethyne (acetylene) as a dual fuel in a diesel engine. Cashew nut shell oil is employed in this study owing to non-toxic nature, free from sulphur, biodegradable, and free of aromatics. Ethyne gas was introduced at different flow rate of 2, 4, 6 litres per minute (lpm). Experimental results revealed that duel fuelling ethyne gas to base fuel (C100) at 6 lpm reduce 18.1% CO, 9.7% HC, 6.87% Smoke with 11.1% increase in NO emissions. Higher thermal efficiency was observed for ethyne-biodiesel mixture than neat biodiesel in all flow rates. Furthermore, the heat release and peak pressure were enhanced by duel fuelling ethyne gas to base fuel (C100).

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A case-control study to identify the risk factors for ovarian carcinoma in Tiruchirapalli district, Tamilnadu, India a low incidence population was conducted. The invasive epithelial ovarian cancer case patients were 37. The control group consisted of 74 healthy women, matched according to age categories. Subjects were interviewed in person regarding socio demographic and reproductive characteristics. The unconditional logistic regression was performed and tests of statistical significance were based on difference in the log likelihoods and all p values were 2-sided. In logistic regression analysis, the risk of ovarian cancer was strongly related to the increased physical activity (OR: 3.227, 95% CI: 1.143, 9.108), intake of high fat (OR: 6.286, 95% CI: 0.779, 50.701) early age at menarche (OR: 6.389, 95% CI: 2.143, 19.047), post menopausal status (OR: 3.22, 95% CI: 1.417, 7.316). The use of contraceptive methods, tubal ligation, one birth, late menarche was found to be inversely associated with ovarian cancer risk. The risk of ovarian cancer decreased 80% by one birth event, 40% by use of contraceptives and tubal ligation and six times reduced risk for menarche at later age. The present study thus clearly typified this neoplasm as hormone dependent and it is possible to establish that "ovulation" mechanism determine the level of risk for ovarian cancer in this study population. In addition, the difference in the distribution of histologic subtypes in this population compared with high-incidence populations may point to further differences in risk factors.