Purpose:To establish the strength of the association between routine tear function tests and conjunctival impression cytology (CIC) and to determine whether they simulate the morphological and cytological changes that occur on the ocular surface in dry eye. What are the sensitivity, specificity and positive predictive values of these tests when CIC is considered the gold standard? Methods: The tear film profile included tear film break up time (TBUT), Schirmer's-1, Rose Bengal scores (RBS), and impression cytology. CIC samples were obtained from the inferior bulbar conjunctiva and stained with periodic acid-Schiff and counter stained with hematoxylin and eosin. Results: The mean Schirmer's value was 11.66 ± 5.90 in patients and 17.17 ± 2.97 in controls (p < 0.001). The mean TBUT in participants was 8.88 ± 3.54 and 13.53 ± 2.12 in controls (p < 0.001). Patients had a mean goblet cell density (GCD) of 490 ± 213, while the value for controls was 1,462 ± 661 (p < 0.001). Abnormal CIC was observed in 46.7% cases of dry eye and in 32.8% of controls. The correlation coefficient (L) for Schirmer's was 0.2 and 0.24 for participants and controls, respectively, while TBUT values were 0.26 and 0.38, RBS were 0.5 and 0.5, and GCD was 0.8 and 0.6 in cases and controls, respectively. Conclusions: GCD, RBS, and TBUT were better predictors of morphological and cytological changes in the conjunctiva than Schirmer's in dry eye syndrome. The sensitivity of tear function tests in diagnosing dry eye was TBUT > Schirmer's > RBS, and the specificity was Schirmer's > TBUT > RBS in decreasing order when CIC was considered the gold standard.

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BACKGROUND: Eosinophilic granuloma (EG), one of the three clinical forms of Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH), is a benign inflammatory reaction to an unknown etiologic agent. It most commonly occurs in children and young adults. The most frequently involved bones are the skull, the ribs and the femurs. Alongside the cranium, the maxilla and mandible can also be affected. CASE DETAILS: Herein, we report a case of eosinophilic granuloma in a ten years old boy involving posterior quadrants upper and lower jaws as a destructive lesion involving gingiva, periodontium and alveolar bone. Involvement of other bones is ruled out by nucleotide imaging study. CONCLUSION: EG should be considered as a differential diagnosis whenever there is a bony destructive lesion involving alveolar bone of the Jaws. Early diagnosis and surgical intervention will resolve the lesion.

This research correlates the effect of climatic factors on bluetongue epidemiology in sheep of delta districts in Tamilnadu based on merteriological data collected from 2014 to 2016. There were a total of eighty two villages of delta districts were affected with Blue tongue virus (BTV). We used multiple linear regression analysis to assess the effect of climatic factors on the prevalence of bluetongue. Our results showed that maximum temperature, rain fall and relative humidity positively correlates with the number of BTV epidemic in sheep flocks. These findings suggest that the risk of BTV infections in sheep increased in warm and humid environments. Moreover, climatic factors can be used to forecast the possible epidemic in this area and other regions characterized by similar climatic conditions.

Silver staining of nucleolar organizing regions (NOR) is common, but a standard protocol is lacking. A modification of a rapid silver nitrate staining technique for NORs is presented here. Advantages of the modified technique include reliability, speed, cost and the fact that it can be carried out in the light.