Prevalence of hypothyroidism in reproductive age group in rural population of Haryana and its effects on menstrual disturbances

Background: Menstrual disorders are a common problem in reproductive age females. These disorders may cause significant anxiety for patients and their families. Thyroid dysfunction is one of the common cause of menstrual irregularities. Aim of the study was to determine the prevalence of hypothyroidism in reproductive age group women (15-45years), describe its various modes of clinical presentation and to assess the menstrual pattern in women with hypothyroidism.Methods: Prospective observational hospital based study during a period of 6 months (January 2020 to June 2020) on patients presenting in OPD in department of obstetrics and gynaecology, SGT medical college, hospital and research institute, Budhera, Gurgaon.Results: Prevalence of hypothyroidism was found to be 52.6% (190 out of total 338 patients) and it increased with increasing age group. 213 patients out of total came with complains of menstrual irregularities. 49.2% with normal menstrual cycle had hypothyroidism while 60.4% presenting with irregular heavy menstrual bleeding had hypothyroidism, p value being 0.019 which was statistically significant.Conclusions: Menstrual irregularities increase with severity of hypothyroidism. So screening for thyroid dysfunction should be included in management plan of menstrual disturbances

Antioxidant activity of fungi isolated from soil of different areas of Punjab,India

The study was carried outto investigate the antioxidant activity of fungi isolated from soil of different areas of Punjab, India and compare their efficiency with a known antioxidant, ascorbic acid. The antioxidant potential of fungal extracts was quantified by DPPH and reducing power assay. Total phenolic contents were estimated using Folins-Ciocalteau (FC) reagent. Out of 113 fungal isolates selected, 51 were having antioxidant potential and these were further assayed quantitatively. All of these showed good activity against DPPH radical while 32 of these isolates demonstrated reducing potential also. In addition, some were equally good as ascorbic acid. The present study demonstrated potential of soil fungi to have antioxidant activity similar to plants and mushrooms. High phenolic content of fungi further highlight their significance as new sources of natural antioxidants. These fungi may provide easier set up for production and purification of natural antioxidants as compared to higher plants

Minimizing localization error and ensure security of DVHOP using random key approach

Communication through the mobile network is need of the hour. Thus localization becomes important issue discussed in this paper. Algorithms are many which can be range free and range based. The DVHOP algorithm with random key is used to solve the localization problem. The localization is required since node when on the go will require to disseminate data then position determinism is paramount which is achieved with the help of localization. Distance could be of any range when mobile nodes are considered hence range free algorithm is considered. Security aspect of the data is paramount. Since node capture attack is common. Ways to detect and prevent the attack in terms of Random key is suggested. The result obtained will be in terms of the localization error which is given both in terms of localization with and without Node capture attack and random key

Antioxidant Activity of Aspergillus fumigatus

The antioxidant activity of Aspergillus fumigatus was assayed by different procedures and correlated with its extracellular total phenolic contents. Different physio-chemical parameters were optimized to enhance the activity. The culture grown under stationary conditions for 10 days at 25°C at pH 7 gave the best antioxidant activity. Statistical approaches demonstrated sucrose and NaNO3 to be the most suitable carbon and nitrogen sources, respectively. Response surface analysis showed 5% sucrose, 0.05% NaNO3, and incubation temperature of 35°C to be the optimal conditions for best expression of antioxidant activity. Under these conditions, the antioxidant potential assayed through different procedures was 89.8%, 70.1%, and 70.2% scavenging effect for DPPH radical, ferrous ion and nitric oxide ion, respectively. The reducing power showed an absorbance of 1.0 and FRAP assay revealed the activity of 60.5%. Extracellular total phenolic content and antioxidant activity as assayed by different procedures positively correlated

Visual Communication Board – Bridge for Communication between Patient and Nurse

Nurses as healthcare professionals focus on serving needs of humanity. Nurses face difficulty while communicating and giving care to patients with impaired communication abilities or compromised communication status. Nursing personnel should look forward to ways of improving patient care by developing communication skills and technical skills to help patients in fulfillment of their needs leading to satisfaction of both the patient and the nurse. Also, hospital administration can enhance patient satisfaction by introducing visual communication board in care of patients with compromised communication. Visual communication board can serve as a bridge for communication between the patient and the nurse, if it is readily available and nurses possess skills to use it

COVID 19 Vaccination strategies in India- A Public Health perspective

COVID-19 has emerged as one of the most challenging pandemics of the recent times.  Although physical-distancing and other transmission-mitigation strategies have helped battling this virus in the most effective way, but this will also paradoxically leave the population without immunity to COVID-19 and thus susceptible to additional waves of infection. Thus, to return to pre-pandemic normalcy, safe and effective vaccination programme is required globally with robust vaccination strategies. This article pens down the important strategies being implemented globally for successful vaccination programme and critically reviewing them from public health perspective

Diagnostic accuracy of HE4 and risk of ovarian malignancy algorithm in prediction of ovarian cancer in patients with pelvic mass: a regional cancer centre experience

Background: The current study was performed with an objective to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of HE4 (human epididymis protein) and ROMA in prediction of ovarian cancer in patients with pelvic mass and to compare HE4 and ROMA with CA-125, and RMI (risk of malignancy index) for ovarian cancer prediction in women with pelvic mass.Methods: This was a diagnostic study enrolling 200 patients with pelvic mass who had been scheduled for Primary surgery. Serum HE4 and CA 125 levels were measured. HE4, CA 125 and ROMA, RMI were evaluated for sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) plots were graphed and area under the curve (AUC) values was calculated to investigate the accuracy of each marker for predicting ovarian malignancy.Results: Overall, ROMA showed the highest accuracy as it correctly classified 139/200 (69.5%) patients compared with 133/200 (66.5%) in HE4 and 109/200 (54.5%) in CA 125 and RMI. There were more patients with benign tumors being correctly identified by HE4 (89/119, 74.7%) and ROMA (74/119, 62.1%), than CA 125 which identified 39/119 (32.7%) patients. In our study in premenopausal women ROMA and HE4 have comparable sensitivity (80%and 75%) but higher specificity (64% and 65%) and NPV (86% and 83%) as compared to CA125 which has sensitivity of (83%) but very low specificity (46%) in differentiating benign from malignant masses. In postmenopausal women, HE4 had highest specificity (88%) and, CA125 has highest sensitivity (86%) in detecting ovarian malignancy.Conclusions: HE4 and ROMA showed a high specificity, but were less sensitivity than CA-125 and RMI in premenopausal women. However, ROMA is of comparable sensitivity and HE4 has highest specificity as compared to CA125 in postmenopausal women

BILIARY DISEASE IN PREGNANCY: A DIAGNOSTIC DILEMMA

This is a case report of a 37-year-old female who presented with deranged liver function tests, epigastric pain, fevers, vomiting, mild hypertension, and proteinuria in pregnancy. This was on a background of gestational diabetes, dyspepsia, and previous cholecystectomy. This case report highlights the importance of considering various causes of liver pathology during pregnancy besides those specifically associated with pregnancy, as well as the necessity of early specialist input to investigate symptomatic choledocholithiasis in pregnancy

Large axillary accessory breast hamartoma: a rare entity

Hamartomas are uncommon benign tumours of axilla and breast. They show varied imaging appearances depending upon the proportion of various tissue elements present. The mammographic, ultrasound and elastographic appearances of a case of left axillary hamartoma is described in a 49 years old Indian patient