Comparison of carbetocin and oxytocin in the prevention of atonic post-partum hemorrhage following normal vaginal delivery

Background: Post-partum hemorrhage is the leading cause of maternal mortality worldwide. Use of uterotonic drugs in active management of third stage of labour has been found to be most effective in prevention of PPH.  Aims and objectives were to compare the efficacy and safety of carbitocin and oxytocin for prophylaxis of post-partum hemorrhage after singleton, term vaginal deliveries.Methods: Prospective randomized interventional study of 250 women with singleton term pregnancies undergoing vaginal delivery at MGM Women and Children’s Hospital, Kalamboli from May 2021 to May 2022. Participants randomized into 2 groups, group A and B receiving carbitocin and oxytocin respectively. Post-delivery uterine tone, vaginal bleeding, change in Hb and PCV, occurrence of adverse effects used to assess efficacy and safety of both drugs.Results: Carbetocin was statistically equal to oxytocin in preventing uterine atony and hence PPH, with similar duration of uterotonic action and lesser requirement of other uterotonic drugs. There was no incidence of adverse effects in either group.Conclusions: Since carbetocin is an effective, room temperature stable uterotonic drug with minimal side effects, it can be beneficial for use in prevention of PPH in rural settings

Burden and Marital Satisfaction among the Spouses of Persons with Depression

Background: Depression is a very common psychiatric disorder. The burden on the spouse of a depressed individual is considered to be a multi-dimensional problem and is seen in the context of its emotional, psychological, physical and economic consequences. The depressed individual’s aversive interpersonal behaviours may lead spouses to experience depression and problems in marital adjustment. Aim: To study and compare the burden and marital satisfaction among male and female spouses of patients suffering from depression. Materials & Methods: Spouses of patients were inducted from those attending the Department of Psychiatry of Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Chandigarh, India with their partners. A total of 60 spouses of patients with ICD-10 diagnosis of depression fulfilling inclusion and exclusion criteria were recruited for the study. Consecutive sampling was used for data collection. Participants were divided into two groups i.e. Male and Female. Zarit Burden Interview and Marital Satisfaction Scale were used to assess the burden and marital satisfaction respectively. Results: There was no significant difference in burden and marital satisfaction between the two genders which means both the groups are equally vulnerable and prone to develop psychiatric problems like stress, anxiety, depression. Conclusion: Considering the findings, both groups have an equal need to cater to care giving and related responsibilities. The study can be useful in implementing programs to help the spouses and cater the needs of care giving, to handle the burden productively associated with the care giving of their depressed partners, to strengthen their coping and to have a better marital life. Keywords: Depression, burden, marital satisfactio

Ultrasound: A Key To “Sound” Diagnosis And Healing

Since the first “hyperphonograph” was published in 1947, ultrasonography has gained immense popularity worldwide due to it being non-invasive, inexpensive, painless, portable, and ability to not cause any harmful ionizing radiation in both the patient and operator. Ultrasound is being used in the diagnosis and detection of various oral disorders (both hard and soft tissues). This review provides an overview of the most recent advances of ultrasound imaging in dentistry

Comparative evaluation of laparoscopic hysterectomy and non-descent vaginal hysterectomy in women with benign gynaecological disease

Background: Hysterectomy is one of the most frequently performed gynaecological operative procedure all over world, second most to caesarean section in United States. The aim of study was to compare the intraoperative and postoperative complications in patients undergoing non-descent vaginal hysterectomy (NDVH) and Laparoscopic hysterectomy (LH) for benign gynaecological disease.Methods: The prospective one-year study was conducted on 156 patients who required hysterectomy for benign gynaecological conditions. After applying inclusion and exclusion criteria, 75 patients assigned to Group A (NDVH) and 75 to Group B (LH) and both groups were compared.Results: On comparing the two groups there was statistically significant decrease in the duration of surgery (p<0.01, t = 11.65), pain score (p<0.01, t = 2.75) and blood transfusion requirement (p = 0.03, χ2 = 4.80) in group A, while blood loss (p = 0.73, t = 0.33), uterine volume (p = 0.15, t = 1.43), time taken to ambulate (p = 0.06 , t = 0.21), duration of hospital stay (p = 0.07, t = 1.80), conversion to laparotomy (p = 0.13, χ2 = 2.56), febrile morbidity (p = 0.27, χ2 = 1.34), infection (p = 0.42, χ2 = 1.11) and visceral injury was found statistically insignificant.Conclusions: Vaginal hysterectomy is an easier technique with shorter duration of surgery and with minimal infrastructure required and for fixed uterus or huge adnexal mass laparoscopic hysterectomy (LH) should be preferred

Morphological changes in placenta in cases of oligohydramnios

Background: There are gross and microscopic changes in placenta and umbilical cord in complicated pregnancies. The objective of this study was to study pathological (gross and microscopic) changes in placenta, membrane and umbilical cord in cases with oligohydramnios and to study relationship between changes in placenta, membranes and umbilical cord with severity of oligohydramnios.Methods: A total of 50 patients were selected and their placentas were collected after delivery and sent to pathology department in 10 % formalin for histopathological examination. Patients were divided into three groups and the results were compared. Statistical calculations were performed using the SPSS 16.0. In order to detect differences between subjects students t-test was used for continuous variables, while, for categorical variables, the X2 test was used. A p-value of less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant.Results: Atotal of 50 patients were studied for a period of one year and following observations were made, discoid shape placenta in 45 (90.0%), oval in 5 (10.0%), central attachment of umbilical cord in 16 cases (32.0%), eccentric in 33 (66.0%), marginal in 1 (2.0%) case following variables were compared and p value detected, placental maximum diameter (p <0.0001),placental minimum diameters (p = 0.041), mean of cord length (p <0.0001) placental weight (p = 0.273), placental thickness (p = 0.253), acute chorioamnionitis (p <0.0001), chronic chorioamnionitis (p<0.0001), focal squamous metaplasia (p <0.0001), bacterial colonies in subamnion (p <0.0001), meconium staining (p <0.0001), amnion nodosum (p < 0.0001), intra amniotic haemorrhage (p = 0.090), membranous deciduitis with chorioamnionitis (p = 0.081), focal haematoma (p = 0.010), acute inflammatory infiltrate in Wharton’s jelly (p = 0.012), single umbilical artery (p =0.010), intervillous fibrin deposition (p <0.0001), calcification (p<0.0001), chorangiosis (p <0.0001), syncytial knots (p <0.0001), avascular villi (p = 0.011), villous edema (p = 0.090) and infarct (p = 0.090).Conclusions: There are alterations in placental morphology associated with oligohydramnios hence placenta should be examined, which may be useful in predicting perinatal morbidity and mortality

Stress mitigation strategies of plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria: Plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria mechanisms

One of the major challenges that the world is facing currently is the inadequate amount of food production with high nutrient content in accordance with the increase in population size. Moreover, availability of cultivable area with fertile soil is reducing day by day owing to ever increasing population. Further, water scarcity and expensive agricultural equipment have led to the use of agrochemicals and untreated water. Excessive use of chemical fertilizers to increase crop yield have resulted in deleterious effects on the environment, health and economy, which can be overcome to a great extent by employing biological fertilizers. There are various microbes that grows in the rhizospheric region of plants known as plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR). PGPR act by direct and indirect modes to stimulate plant growth and improve stress reduction in plants. PGPRs are used for potential agriculture practices having a wide range of benefits like increase in nutrients content, healthy growth of crops, production of phytohormones, prevention from heavy metal stress conditions and increase in crop yield. This review reports recent studies in crop improvement strategies using PGPR and describes the mechanisms involved. The potential mechanisms of PGPR and its allies pave the way for sustainable development towards agriculture and commercialization of potential bacteria

Serine/threonine protein phosphatase PstP of Mycobacterium tuberculosis is necessary for accurate cell division and survival of pathogen

Protein phosphatases play vital roles in phosphorylation-mediated cellular signaling. While there are 11 serine/threonine protein kinases in Mycobacterium tuberculosis, only one serine/threonine phosphatase, PstP, has been identified. Although PstP has been biochemically characterized and multiple in vitro substrates identified, its physiological role has not yet been elucidated. In this study we have investigated the impact of PstP on cell growth and survival of the pathogen in the host. Overexpression of PstP led to elongated cells and partially compromised survival. We find that depletion of PstP is detrimental to cell survival, eventually leading to cell death. PstP depletion results in elongated multiseptate cells, suggesting a role for PstP in regulating cell division events. Complementation experiments performed with PstP deletion mutants revealed marginally compromised survival, suggesting that all the domains including extracellular domain are necessary for complete rescue. On the other hand, the catalytic activity of PstP is absolutely essential for the in vitro growth. Mice infection experiments establish a definitive role for PstP in pathogen survival within the host. Depletion of PstP from established infections causes pathogen clearance, indicating the continued presence of PstP is necessary for pathogen survival. Taken together, our data suggests an important role for PstP in establishing and maintaining infection, possibly via the modulation of cell division events

Leadership in Open Innovation : An exploratory study on the nature of R&amp;D projects and predominant leadership characteristics in industry-academia collaborations

This study looks at Open Innovation in Research and Development projects and explores the nature of collaboration and leadership characteristics. Thereby perspectives of both industrial and academic partners are considered, focusing primarily on the project level of the collaboration. It is based on the understanding that leadership plays a crucial role in bringing the partners successfully together, based on the prior understanding that academia and industry are potentially different in the nature, objectives and working dynamics of research and development.   This thesis begins with examining the existing literature on the concept of Open Innovation, including benefits and drawbacks of such projects. This leads to uncovering the managerial challenges that such projects encounter which can be mitigated by effective leadership. For this reason, relevant theories on leadership are explored, especially focusing on leadership in R&amp;D contexts, as these kind of projects have special requirements from leaders that differ from traditional projects.  This research is qualitative in nature and takes an abductive approach to theory. 18 semi-structured interviews were conducted, consulting with heads of R&amp;D departments from industrial companies, professors in charge of research labs at universities and representatives from intermediary organisations. The study is exploratory and cross-sectional in nature, as open innovation collaborations in Sweden, the UK and the Netherlands were in the centre of attention. The process of analysis implied the use of a template analysis, which provided the researchers with enough flexibility to code, categorize, and interpret necessary findings. The results show that the nature of Open Innovation collaborations differs from case to case, from mere contractual relationships to collaborative partnerships with a high level of interaction on a daily basis. The key motive for both partners is finance-based, as the universities gain access to funding and the company can save on research expenses. Additionally, companies benefit from access to academic expertise and from potential governmental funding.  Further, there is not a single leader in an industry-university collaboration, rather each entity has a leader of their own and collaborative working is fostered by them. It is deduced that no single leadership theory fits best in the operational level of R&amp;D open innovation functioning, rather it is a mixture of a few popular theories which were predominant in collaborative relationships. The characteristics of leaders in open innovation were deduced and autonomy, communication and joint problem-solving have a prominent role in furthering the R&amp;D collaborative relationship. As a result, a connection between leadership and Open Innovation collaborations was explored.

Leadership in Open Innovation : An exploratory study on the nature of R&amp;D projects and predominant leadership characteristics in industry-academia collaborations

This study looks at Open Innovation in Research and Development projects and explores the nature of collaboration and leadership characteristics. Thereby perspectives of both industrial and academic partners are considered, focusing primarily on the project level of the collaboration. It is based on the understanding that leadership plays a crucial role in bringing the partners successfully together, based on the prior understanding that academia and industry are potentially different in the nature, objectives and working dynamics of research and development.   This thesis begins with examining the existing literature on the concept of Open Innovation, including benefits and drawbacks of such projects. This leads to uncovering the managerial challenges that such projects encounter which can be mitigated by effective leadership. For this reason, relevant theories on leadership are explored, especially focusing on leadership in R&amp;D contexts, as these kind of projects have special requirements from leaders that differ from traditional projects.  This research is qualitative in nature and takes an abductive approach to theory. 18 semi-structured interviews were conducted, consulting with heads of R&amp;D departments from industrial companies, professors in charge of research labs at universities and representatives from intermediary organisations. The study is exploratory and cross-sectional in nature, as open innovation collaborations in Sweden, the UK and the Netherlands were in the centre of attention. The process of analysis implied the use of a template analysis, which provided the researchers with enough flexibility to code, categorize, and interpret necessary findings. The results show that the nature of Open Innovation collaborations differs from case to case, from mere contractual relationships to collaborative partnerships with a high level of interaction on a daily basis. The key motive for both partners is finance-based, as the universities gain access to funding and the company can save on research expenses. Additionally, companies benefit from access to academic expertise and from potential governmental funding.  Further, there is not a single leader in an industry-university collaboration, rather each entity has a leader of their own and collaborative working is fostered by them. It is deduced that no single leadership theory fits best in the operational level of R&amp;D open innovation functioning, rather it is a mixture of a few popular theories which were predominant in collaborative relationships. The characteristics of leaders in open innovation were deduced and autonomy, communication and joint problem-solving have a prominent role in furthering the R&amp;D collaborative relationship. As a result, a connection between leadership and Open Innovation collaborations was explored.