ragini srivastava - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by ragini srivastava

Clinical and experimental rheumatology

Negative affects like depression, anxiety and stress are frequently observed in patients with fib... more Negative affects like depression, anxiety and stress are frequently observed in patients with fibromyalgia (FMS). Understanding the association between FMS and negative affects is likely to help in deciding the choice of treatment. The aim of this study was to determine the correlation between the severity of FMS with the severity of depression, anxiety and stress. Sixty patients with fibromyalgia and 60 healthy controls were included in the study. Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire Revised (FIQR), and Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS21) were administered to both the groups. The mean age of study population was 40.4±9.9 and 36±8.7 for FMS and control groups respectively. Most of the patients were females (93.3%). In subjects without FMS, depression was seen in 5% and was significantly associated with all three components of FIQR (p<0.01), namely pain, symptoms and functional impairment. However, patients with FMS suffered more from all three components assessed in FIQR t...

OBJECTIVE: We evaluated the levels of cerebrospinal fluid concentrations of tumor necrosis factor... more OBJECTIVE: We evaluated the levels of cerebrospinal fluid concentrations of tumor necrosis factor-a, interleukin-6, and interleukin-8 in bacterial meningitis in children. METHODS: The study included children up to 14 years of age admitted to a pediatric ward with fever, headache, vomiting, and seizures. The diagnosis of bacterial meningitis was based on clinical features: physical examination, blood and cerebrospinal fluid cytochemical findings, Gram stain, and bacterial culture. The cerebrospinal fluid levels of tumor necrosis factor-a, interleukin-6, and interleukin-8 were measured in 57 children with bacterial meningitis, 15 with viral meningitis, and 15 controls by enzymelinked immunosorbent assay methods. RESULTS: The mean concentrations of cerebrospinal fluid, tumor necrosis factor-a, interleukin-6, and interleukin-8 were 1108 AE 183, 652 AE 287, and 442 AE 120 pg/mL, respectively, in children with bacterial meningitis and were significantly increased in those in the viral meningitis group (tumor necrosis factor-a : 711 AE 105, IL-6 : 272 AE 161, IL-8 : 175 AE 62 pg/mL; P < 0.001) or control (390 AE 37, 59 AE 17, 19 AE 13 pg/mL, respectively, P < 0.001). At optimum cutoff level based on the receiver operating characteristic curve, cerebrospinal fluid cytokines (tumor necrosis factor-a, interleukin-6, and interleukin-8) showed sensitivity and specificity of 100% for the diagnosis of bacterial meningitis. For differentiation of bacterial from viral meningitis, cerebrospinal fluid level of tumor necrosis factor-a, IL-6, and IL-8 showed sensitivity and specificity of 94.7% and 86.7%, 80.7% and 53.3%, and 89.5% and 86.7%, respectively. CONCLUSION: The increased concentration of cerebrospinal fluid tumor necrosis factor-a, interleukin-6, and interleukin-8 in children with meningitis suggests a role in the pathogenesis of bacterial meningitis and these levels might prove to be useful in children whose diagnosis is in question.

Key Word Index-Vernon& cinerea; Compositae; sterols; stigmast-5,17(20)-dien-3/?-ol; stigmasterol;... more Key Word Index-Vernon& cinerea; Compositae; sterols; stigmast-5,17(20)-dien-3/?-ol; stigmasterol; sitosterol; aliphatic acid; 26-methylheptacosanoic acid, isomontanic acid.

$Research paper thumbnail of Reply to comment on “Negative refraction in 1D photonic crystals”$

I refute the criticisms of Srivastava et al. (2008) [13] raised in Bénédicto et al. [14].

Current medical research and opinion, 2007

Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) has been used for a long time worldwide as a therapy for rheumatoid arth... more Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) has been used for a long time worldwide as a therapy for rheumatoid arthritis (RA). This trial was designed to determine whether HCQ was efficacious and safe in Indian patients with RA. The trial was a multicentre, placebo controlled, randomized and double-blind study. One hundred and twenty-two patients with RA were enrolled in 3 different centres for the trial (26 males and 96 females in the age group of 18-60 years). Patients were randomized to receive either hydroxychloroquine tablets (n = 61) two tablets of 200 mg daily or placebo (n = 61) two tablets daily. After 8 weeks all patients received one tablet of hydroxychloroquine 200 mg daily for 4 weeks. Every patient also received one tablet of Nimesulide 100 mg twice daily. Assessment of response at 12 weeks using modified ACR 20 (American College of Rheumatology 20) criteria where Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ) was replaced by ARA (American Rheumatology Association) functional class. 40.4% of pat...

Clinical and experimental rheumatology, Jan 9, 2015

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Progress In Electromagnetics Research B, 2008

It is well known that under certain conditions, one dimensional photonic crystal (1D-PC) displays... more It is well known that under certain conditions, one dimensional photonic crystal (1D-PC) displays total omni-directional reflection (ODR) band gaps. The enhancement of total omnidirectional reflection band gap in 1D-PC is calculated theoretically. Using Transfer Matrix Method (TMM) and Bloch theorem, the reflectivity of one dimensional periodic structure for TE and TM-modes at different angles of incidence has been calculated.

Indian Journal of Rheumatology, 2006

Out of 27 patients who received MMF, 20 had lupus nephritis ( WHO class III and IV), 3 had MCTD, ... more Out of 27 patients who received MMF, 20 had lupus nephritis ( WHO class III and IV), 3 had MCTD, 2 had IgA nephropathy and 1 each had ANCA + vascultis and dermatomyositis. The mean age was 29.14 ± 9.7 years, and the duration of follow up was 6.41 ± 2.7 months. The dose used was 1537 ± 437 mg/day. During this period, the steroid dose required reduced from 39.60 ± 14.21 mg to 16.70 ± 9.68 mg (P = 0.000). For patients with lupus nephritis, the SLEDAI (systemic lupus erythematosus disease activity index) score improved from 22.45 ± 6.1 to 14.15 ± 6.0 (P = < 0.001). Protenuria decreased from 2732.52 ± 3444.67 mg/day to 1555.83 ± 2197.76 mg/day (P = 0.03). The main toxicity was gastrointestinal side effects in 4 patients (14.8%) and minor infections in 3 patients (11.1%) and leucopenia in 1 patient. Conclusion: MMF is an efficacious, steroid sparing immunosuppressive agent with acceptable safety profile.

Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Infectious Diseases, 2014

Tuberculin skin test has been used as an indicator of latent tuberculosis in patients with Rheuma... more Tuberculin skin test has been used as an indicator of latent tuberculosis in patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) before administration of biologicals. Effect of Disease modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) and steroids on the result of tuberculin skin test (TST) may have important implications in interpretation of results of this test. Objectives. To find the prevalence of positive TST in rheumatoid patients and the effect of standard treatment on the results of TST. Method. In this cross-sectional study two hundred and fifty patients of RA above 18 years of age, classified using 1987 ACR criteria for RA, were enrolled from rheumatology outdoor. Demographics, disease activity, disease duration, and therapy were recorded. All patients underwent TST. Results. Fifty-one (20.4%) patients were found to be tuberculin positive. Tuberculin positivity was not affected by MTX intake but it was significantly low in patients with recent steroid intake as compared to patients who had not taken steroids in last 3 months (3% versus 25%, P = 0.002). Conclusion. Prevalence of tuberculin positivity in patients with RA was found to be low. Results were not affected by methotrexate; however tuberculin skin test results in patients with recent use of steroids are likely to be negative.

Indian Journal of Rheumatology, 2014

Indian journal of clinical biochemistry : IJCB, 2013

Helicobacter pylori infection stimulates strong local inflammatory and specific IgA antibody prod... more Helicobacter pylori infection stimulates strong local inflammatory and specific IgA antibody production. The influence of antibodies on the bacterial colonization is not clear. Here, we have analysed the association between the mucosal IgA level and IL-1β in various manifestations of the infection seen endoscopically. Antral biopsies of 57 dyspeptic patients were taken for culture, histology and estimation of mucosal levels of anti-H. pylori IgA and IL-1β. Mean mucosal IgA level was higher in patients with normal mucosa compared to all other groups and lower IgA level was associated with higher bacterial density. IL-1β was higher in ulcer patients and suspicious malignancy group as compared to normal group and higher level of IL-1β was associated with higher grades of metaplasia. Present study indicates that local immunity seems to have a protective role against H. pylori infection and higher level of IL-1β induced by the pathogen may be associated with metaplasia and carcinogenesis.

Progress in Electromagnetics Research-pier, 2008

Abstract—In this paper a new type of optical filter using photonic band gap materials has been su... more Abstract—In this paper a new type of optical filter using photonic band gap materials has been suggested.A detailed mathematical analysis is presented to predict allowed and forbidden bands of wavelengths with variation of angle of incidence.It is possible to get desired ranges of the electromagnetic spectrum filtered with this structure by changing the incidence angle of light.

$Research paper thumbnail of Negative refraction in 1D photonic crystals$

Solid State Communications, 2008

... solid, and the propagation of electromagnetic waves are forbidden in the photonic band gap (P... more ... solid, and the propagation of electromagnetic waves are forbidden in the photonic band gap (PBG ... In this paper, we have studied the negative refractive behaviours in 1D photonic crystal by the ... in one-dimension photonic crystal, let us consider a 10 period structure of alternating ...

Progress In Electromagnetics Research B, 2008

Negative refraction has been the subject of considerable interest and it may provide the possibil... more Negative refraction has been the subject of considerable interest and it may provide the possibility of a variety of novel applications. It arises in metamaterials that have simultaneous negative permittivity ε and permeability µ, where in-homogeneities are much smaller than the wavelength of the incoming radiation. Recently it has been shown that photonic crystals (PCs) may also exhibit negative refraction although they have a periodically modulated positive permittivity ε and permeability µ. We have theoretically studied the negative refraction in one-dimensional (1D) photonic crystals (PCs) consisting dielectric ZnSe with air. By using transfer matrix method and block theorem we have studied the photonic band structure and group velocity and with the help of group velocity we have obtained the frequency bands of negative refraction. We found that negative refraction may occur near the low frequency edge of the second and fourth bandgaps. We have also studied the effective index of refraction and the transverse position shift through PC that can characterize negative refraction more explicitly.

Progress In Electromagnetics Research B, 2008

In this paper we have theoretically studied the omnidirectional total reflection frequency range ... more In this paper we have theoretically studied the omnidirectional total reflection frequency range of a multilayered dielectric heterostructures. Three structures of Na 3 AlF 6 /Ge multilayer have been studied. The thickness of the two layers of the first and second structure is differing from each other and the third photonic structure is the combination of first and second structures. Using the Transfer Matrix Method (TMM) and the Bloch theorem, the reflectivity of one dimensional periodic structure for TE-and TM-modes at different angles of incidence is calculated. From the analysis it is found that the proposed structure has very wide range of omnidirectional total frequency bands for both polarizations.

Indian Journal of Rheumatology, 2014

Indian Journal of Rheumatology, 2010

The Indian Journal of Pediatrics, 2013

To evaluate the role of serum procalcitonin (PCT) in diagnosis of septic meningitis in children a... more To evaluate the role of serum procalcitonin (PCT) in diagnosis of septic meningitis in children and its efficacy in differential diagnosis. The study included 40 children of septic meningitis admitted in pediatric ward with fever, headache, vomiting and seizure, up to 14 y of age. The diagnosis of septic meningitis was based on clinical features; physical examination, blood and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) cytochemical findings, gram&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39;s stain and bacterial culture. Fifteen cases of aseptic meningitis admitted during same period were also included in the study, and 15 children with normal CSF were taken as control. Serum PCT was measured by ELISA Kit. Serum PCT level was significantly higher in children with septic meningitis than those with aseptic meningitis or in controls (p &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt; 0.001). In culture and gram&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39;s stain positive 7 cases, serum procalcitonin was significantly elevated (24,768.21 ± 6,567.45 pg/mL) than aseptic meningitis(14,451.24 ± 4,266.15 pg/mL) (p &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt; 0.001). Further its level was found significantly elevated in partially treated septic meningitis as compared to aseptic meningitis cases (p &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt; 0.001). At optimum cut off value of ≥ 5,000 pg/mL, based on area under ROC curve, PCT showed sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value of 98.5 %, 93.5 %, 98.6 % and 93.3 % respectively. Serum PCT with cut off level of 15,000 pg/ml showed sensitivity, specificity, PPV and NPV of 92 %, 67 %, 91.4 % and 71.4 % respectively for the differentiation of septic from aseptic meningitis. Serum PCT may be used as diagnostic marker for septic meningitis and its differentiation from aseptic meningitis.

Biochemistry Research International, 2014

Association of oxidative stress and serum prolidase activity (SPA) has been reported in many chro... more Association of oxidative stress and serum prolidase activity (SPA) has been reported in many chronic diseases. The study was aimed at evaluating the correlation of glucose and creatinine to SPA and oxidative stress in patients with diabetic nephropathy (DN) and end stage renal disease (ESRD) concerned with T2DM. 50 healthy volunteers, 50 patients with T2DM, 86 patients with DN, and 43 patients with ESRD were considered as control-1, control-2, case-1, and case-2, respectively. Blood glucose, creatinine, SPA, total oxidant status (TOS), total antioxidant status (TAS), and oxidative stress index (OSI) were measured by colorimetric tests. SPA, TOS, and OSI were significantly increased in case-1 and case-2 than control-1 and control-2, while TAS was significantly decreased ( < 0.001). Blood glucose was linearly correlated to SPA, TOS, TAS, and OSI in control-2, case-1 and case-2 ( < 0.001). Serum creatinine was linearly correlated with SPA, TOS, TAS and OSI in control-2 and case-1 ( < 0.001). In case-2, serum creatinine was significantly correlated with SPA only ( < 0.001). Thus, the study concluded that SPA and oxidative stress significantly correlated with blood glucose and creatinine. SPA, TOS, TAS, and OSI can be used as biomarkers for diagnosis of kidney damage.