Introduction: Accurate information about preferred suicide methods is important for devising strategies and programmes for suicide prevention. Globally, an estimated 815,000 people killed themselves in 2000, making suicide the 13th leading cause of death Objective: The aim of this study is to provide the comprehensive overview of epidemiology, magnitude and patterns of suicide methods. Methods: This is a 5 years (1st Jan. 2006 to 31st Dec. 2010) retrospective review of autopsies conducted in the Department of Forensic Medicine & Toxicology, Lady Harding Medical College (LHMC), New Delhi. The selected cases were studied in detail as to the age, sex, method employed for committing suicide etc. Results: Total 2273 autopsies were conducted during these five year period. Out of total, 315 (11.35%) deaths were of suicide i.e 10.89 suicide/100000 per year. The preferred methods of suicide were poisoning and hanging 43.17% and 40.95% respectively. Self-immolation stands third (11.42%) commonest method of suicide. The majority (n=192, 60.95%) were in the reproductive age group 20-40 yr in both gender. Poisoning by pesticide was common. Male and female ratio of suicide deaths was 2.66:1. Conclusion: Suicide as a social pathology, our study reveals 11.35% suicidal cases of total medico-legal deaths which is quite important figure in the society and requires preventive measures in the social context.

Objectives: To determine the magnitude, manner and causes of death in elder people who were above 50 years of age. Material & Method: Retrospectively analysed the medico-legal post-mortem reports, performed in the Department of Forensic Medicine, Lady Hardinge Medical College, New Delhi, from 2006 to 2010. Findings: Total 2773 autopsies were performed during this period, out of that, 494 cases were of above 50 years older at the time of death. The male and female ratio was 7.98:1. Out of total 494 cases, 180 (36.43%) cases were unidentified/ unknown; 158 (87.77%) male and 22 (12.22%) female. Elderly deaths were categorized as due to un-natural and natural events, constituted 220 (44.53%) and 274 (55.46%) respectively. The pulmonary peumonitis (n=137, 27.73%) was the major cause of natural deaths followed by coronary artery disease (n=65, 13.16%) in identified and unidentified elderly collectively. RTA was the most common (n=126, 25.50%) lethal accident in elderly and followed by Suspected poisoning (n=54, 10.94%). Hanging was the most common mode of suicidal deaths with male predominance whereas homicide is uncommon (n=10, 2.02%). In identified elderly population coronary artery disease (n=60, 50.42%) was the major cause of sudden natural death followed by pulmonary pneumonitis (n=32, 26.89%), tuberculosis (n=17, 14.28%) and in unnatural events RTA (n=110, 58.82%) was most common cause followed by suspected poisoning (n=50, 26.73%).

The accumulation of misfolded proteins is a hallmark feature in numerous human disorders including blood diseases like sickle cell anemia, neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s diseases (AD) and Parkinson’s disease (PD), and metabolic diseases such as type II diabetes.( FEBS Lett. 2001 Jun 8; 498(2-3):204-7.). Misfolded protein aggregates may deposit intra cellularly or extra cellularly in tissues. The conformational changes accompanying Misfolding can result in disruption of the regular function of the protein or may result in a gain of function that is often associated with toxicity. Amyloid peptides represent a subset of misfolded proteins that share unique characteristics. (Cell Mol Life Sci. 2007 Aug; 64(16):2066-78.).

The increasing use of radio frequencies to operate systems remotely has led to concern over changes that may be taking place in biological systems, namely the human population. The investigation proposed will be one in which a wide range of radio and microwave frequencies are employed to test for response of biological molecules to such radiation. The hyaluronic molecule and select DNA will be studied for response and coupling with the radiation from microwave sources. In this laboratory we have radiofrequency generators that cover the range of a few MHz to 40 GHz along with computers and other ancillary devices needed to conduct and analyze the results of an investigation. This research will bring together an expert in the field of Biology and experts in the field of Physics to study this significant research. It is proposed that this collaboration will be a “win-win" situation for India and America in that knowledge will be gained on a very important aspect of human health.

Cervical Cancer (CC) is the third most common cancer in women worldwide. When invasive cancer is diagnosed thecure rate is low resulting in high mortality. The treatment response of invasive and metastatic CC remains unpredictable. There is an unmet need for targeted therapies in CC based on genetic/epigenetic pathways. Towards this goal, utilizing the published evidence of inactivation of tumor necrosis factor receptor superfamily genes (TNFRSF10C/DcR1, and TNFRSF10D/DcR2) play a role in apoptosis in CC, the present proposal seeks to further investigate this pathway to develop clinically significant therapeutic approach to stratify patients for TRAIL-combination therapy. We will investigate the molecular mechanisms regulated by TNFRSF10C and TNFRSF10Dinactivation in TRAIL-mediated apoptosis in CC.Using a panel of well characterized CC cell lines, we will address (i) the contribution of relative roles of TNFRSF10Cand TNFRSF10D gene inactivation in vitro in TRAIL-combination therapy in inducing apoptosis by depletionand over-expression approaches, and (ii) determine the functional role of inactivation of these genes intumoricidal activity of TRAIL-combination therapy in CC tumor xenograft model. Success of these research studies will provide an essential platform for the development of a new molecular based test for stratification of CC for TRAIL targeted therapy.

There is a lack of agreement about the precise terminology to describe how genetic information is related to individuals’ responses to medicines. Various definitions of Pharmacogenetics and pharmacogenomics have been put forward and the terms are sometimes used interchangeably. There early examples, How a genetic component were identified through studies of families or ethnic populations, and careful testing of the phenotype. In common with many fields in the biomedical sciences, advances in molecular biology transformed pharmacogenetics. Therefore, that the focus is now on the specific gene and the sequence variability that is contributing to the variable drug response.