Comparison of ambulatory blood pressure monitoring and self-blood pressure monitoring for diagnosing white coat hypertension amongst pregnant women

Background: White coat hypertension (WCH) is a common and well recognized phenomenon. It is also very prevalent amongst pregnant women and is often diagnosed as chronic/ gestational hypertension leading to unnecessary medications during pregnancy. ABPM is the gold standard for diagnosis of WCH. SBPM is an easy effective and reliable method to measure blood pressure but its efficacy needs to be tested and compared with ABPM in cases of WCH. It is important to compare the two methods in assessing WCH so SBPM can be utilized in cases of WCH, if found useful and efficacious.Methods: All pregnant women who presented to the ANC were screened for hypertension. Those who were diagnosed to be hypertensive in antenatal clinic and these patients were then admitted for ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) for 24 hours and SBPM on 6 hourly bases for 5 days.Results: The ABPM and SBPB readings were noted, tabulated and compared. It was found that the prevalence of ‘WCH’ in this study using ABPM and SBPM were 47.368% (27/54) and 45.614% (26/54) respectively.Conclusions: The results in diagnosing WCH using ABPM and SBPM were comparable

Prevalence of white coat hypertension amongst pregnant women admitted with high BP recordings in ante-natal clinic

Background: White coat hypertension (WCH) is a common and well recognized phenomenon with significant prevalence amongst all age groups. This is also quite prevalent in the pregnant women with an intermediate long term prognosis between hypertensive and normo-tensive individuals. It is important to assess the true prevalence WCH in pregnant women and to prevent unnecessary medications to them during pregnancy but at the same time to keep a timely follow up and a watchful eye on these patients to identify complications at the earliest. Study was conducted at a peripheral secondary level hospital with a small obstetrics and gynecology OPD and ward. 54 patients were diagnosed to be hypertensive in Antenatal Clinic.Methods: All pregnant women who presented to the ANC were screened for hypertension. Those who were diagnosed to be hypertensive in antenatal clinic and these patients were then admitted for Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitoring (ABPM) for 24 hours.Results: The ABPM tracings were checked and tabulated to arrive at the final diagnosis after 24 hrs. The prevalence of ‘WCH’ in this study was 48.15% as 26/54 patients were found to have their average BP < 140/90 mmHg after measurement by ABPM over 24 hours so they were diagnosed as ‘White Coat Hypertension’ patients.Conclusions: Many women who come to ANC in the early pregnancy are diagnosed to have hypertension. WCH is a well known phenomenon in pregnancy. WCH must be ruled out prior to starting these patients on anti-hypertensive medications

Snakes of Telangana: An annotated checklist with new locality records and notes on natural history

With every growing human population and the resultant shrinkage of natural habitats, snakes are frequently encountered in and around human settlements, leading to widespread human-wildlife conflict. Conservation efforts involve rescue &amp; relocation of 'stray' snakes, to mitigate snakebites, human deaths &amp; snake mortality. We utilized snake rescue data of Friends of Snakes Society, Hyderabad, Telangana, recorded between the years 1995 and 2020, to present an annotated snake checklist for Telangana, along with their distribution. Further, opportunistic encounters and temporary captive care of the rescued species yielded significant insights into habitat preferences, dietary choices, aposematic responses, breeding cycles, etc., of various species of this region

Hysteroscopic evaluation of postmenopausal bleeding patients and its correlation with histopathological examination

Background: Menopause is defined according to WHO as the permanent cessation of menstruation resulting from the loss of ovarian follicular activity. It is defined as uterine bleeding occurring after at least 1 year of amenorrhoea. Considering the high accuracy of hysteroscopy in evaluation of postmenopausal bleeding, the present study was carried out with an aim to evaluate hysteroscopic findings in women with postmenopausal bleeding in order to assess the causes of PMB and to determine their prevalence in our population.Methods: This was a prospective observation study, comprising of total number of 50 postmenopausal women attending gynae OPD at department of obstetrics and gynecology, Command Hospital (CH), Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. The data obtained for the purpose of study was fed into computer using Microsoft excel 2013 software.Results: A total of 50 women with complaints of postmenopausal bleeding were enrolled in the study. Maximum number of women had achieved menopause between age 46 and 50 years. Hysteroscopy had an accuracy of 94% for detection of polyps. Hysteroscopy had an accuracy of 90% for detection of atrophy. For fibroid, hysteroscopy had an absolute sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive, negative predictive and accuracy value (100%).Conclusions: The findings of present study suggested that hysteroscopy has a useful role in evaluation of postmenopausal bleeding especially in the diagnosis of polyps and fibroids. Given fewer number of cases, the usefulness of hysteroscopy in evaluation of endometrial cancer and hyperplasia could not be established adequately. Further studies on larger number of sample size will help in providing more useful and confirmatory information

Amelioration of Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis in C57BL/6 Mice by Photobiomodulation Induced by 670 nm Light

The approved immunomodulatory agents for the treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS) are only partially effective. It is thought that the combination of immunomodulatory and neuroprotective strategies is necessary to prevent or reverse disease progression. Irradiation with far red/near infrared light, termed photobiomodulation, is a therapeutic approach for inflammatory and neurodegenerative diseases. Data suggests that near-infrared light functions through neuroprotective and anti-inflammatory mechanisms. We sought to investigate the clinical effect of photobiomodulation in the Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis (EAE) model of multiple sclerosis.The clinical effect of photobiomodulation induced by 670 nm light was investigated in the C57BL/6 mouse model of EAE. Disease was induced with myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) according to standard laboratory protocol. Mice received 670 nm light or no light treatment (sham) administered as suppression and treatment protocols. 670 nm light reduced disease severity with both protocols compared to sham treated mice. Disease amelioration was associated with down-regulation of proinflammatory cytokines (interferon-γ, tumor necrosis factor-α) and up-regulation of anti-inflammatory cytokines (IL-4, IL-10) in vitro and in vivo.These studies document the therapeutic potential of photobiomodulation with 670 nm light in the EAE model, in part through modulation of the immune response

FORMULATION AND EVALUATION OF TELMISARTAN FAST DISSOLVING TABLETS USING JACK FRUIT SEED STARCH AS SUPERDISINTEGRANT

Objective: The main objective of the current study is to enhance the solubility of Biopharmaceutical Classification System (BCS) Class-II drug Telmisartan using jack fruit seed starch as super disintegrant which increases drug release. Methods: Starches were extracted using alkali technique using sodium hydroxide at 0.1%, 0.25%, and 0.5% concentrations and water from Jack fruit seed powder. These starches were evaluated for various phytochemical and physicochemical tests. Fast dissolving tablets were prepared using Telmisartan, jack fruit seed starch and Croscarmellose sodium in various concentrations using wet granulation technique. Various pre and post-compression parameters were evaluated along with in vitro drug release studies, characterization studies like Fourier Transform Infra-Red spectroscopy (FTIR), Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) and accelerated stability studies. Results: Phytochemical tests revealed the presence of only starch in all the extracts. The starch prepared from 0.1% sodium hydroxide (JFS2) showed best physicochemical properties. From in vitro dissolution studies, it was observed that formulations F5 and F11 containing 15% w/w of JFS2 and 15% w/w of croscarmellose sodium showed faster disintegration and increased dissolution rate compared with other formulations. FTIR and DSC studies showed that there were no major interactions among drug and excipients. XRD studies revealed the nature of formulations. Accelerated stability studies revealed the stability of tablets. Conclusion: Thus, the tablets prepared using Jack fruit seed starch revealed the super disintegrant property of starch

A Time Saving Method to Fabricate a Custom Ocular Prosthesis

Ocular prostheses have a long history of successful use. Several&nbsp;variations of the techniques and materials used have been&nbsp;proposed before. The replication of the natural iris by oil painting&nbsp;requires skill and also takes a lot of time. In this article some&nbsp;alternate procedures have been presented to save time while&nbsp;fabrication of a custom ocular prosthesis. Digital photography&nbsp;was used to replicate the iris of the patient, replacing the&nbsp;conventional oil paint technique. Advantages, such as reduced&nbsp;treatment time and increased simplicity make this method an&nbsp;alternative for fabricating ocular prostheses

RNA-seq – Revealing Biological Insights in Bacteria

New technologies are constantly being released and the improvements therein bring advances not only to transcriptome, the focus of this chapter, but also to diverse areas of biological research. Since the announcement and application of the RNA-seq approach, discoveries are being made in this field, but when we consider bacterial species, this progress proceeded a few years behind. However, with the application of RNA-seq derivative approaches, we can gain biological insights into the bacterial world and aspire to uncover the mysteries involving gene expression, organization and other functional genomic features