A Study to Assess the Knowledge about Birth Preparedness among Primi Gravida Women Attending Antenatal Clinic of Selected Hospitals Dewas, Madhya Pradesh

A study was conducted to assess the knowledge about birth preparedness among primi gravid women attending antenatal clinic on birth preparedness to find out the association between knowledge scores with selected demographic variables. The data was collected with structured interview schedule. The findings demonstrated significant association between the knowledge and the selected demographic variables like education and income of the samples under study

SCREENING, CHARACTERIZATION, AND IN VITRO EVALUATION OF PROBIOTIC PROPERTIES OF LACTOBACILLUS STRAINS

  Objective: The aim of the present investigation was to isolate and identify Lactobacillus strains from dairy and cattle dung samples. Potent isolates were selected for screening by antimicrobial activity; selected lactobacilli were further tested for probiotic properties and adhesive attributes.Methods: Lactobacilli were isolated aseptically on specific de man, rogosa and sharpe medium from dairy and cattle dung samples. Isolates were identified by Gram-staining, motility, catalase, endospore, and carbohydrate fermentation tests. Further, the isolates were screened for antimicrobial activity by disk diffusion assay, and potent lactobacilli were observed for probiotic properties: Acid and bile salt tolerance, gelatinase activity, and autolytic activity. For analyzing the adhesive attributes, isolates were observed for autoaggregation, coaggregation and microbial adhesion to solvents assay.Results: About 12 Lactobacillus strains among 98 isolates exhibited maximum antimicrobial activity were further selected for identifying their probiotic and adhesive attributes. Among 12 selected isolates, cell-free supernatant (CFS) of buffalo milk BM10 and goat milk GM10 showed excellent antimicrobial activity, 20.34±0.02 mm against Staphylococcus aureus and 18.65±0.11 mm against Escherichia coli. Isolates showed survival at pH 2 and 3 and can tolerate 0.2-0.3% bile salt concentrations. The GM5 showed maximum autoaggregation (67.04±0.61%) and minimum coaggregation (11.51±0.50%) showed by GM3. The BM10 exhibited maximum adherent value 64.84±1.41% for n-hexadecane.Conclusion: The two lactobacilli, BM10 and GM10 identified as Lactobacillus fermentum and Lactobacillus pentosus on the basis of phenotypic and sugar utilization tests. The CFS of both lactobacilli can be used as antimicrobial agent. Both isolates showed significant results of probiotic and adhesive attributes, therefore, can be evaluated for clinical and therapeutic applications

PIERS calculator- predicting adverse maternal outcome in preeclampsia

Background: Preeclampsia is a multisystem, highly variable disorder unique to pregnancy. For preeclampsia arising remote from term, supportive and temporizing measures are used to improve perinatal outcome. However, the magnitude of the maternal risks associated with expectant management is unclear. The PIER (preeclampsia integrated estimate of risk) score is a recently designed tool which assesses maternal signs, symptoms, and laboratory findings to generate a valid and reliable algorithm for predicting maternal and perinatal outcome in patients with preeclampsia.Methods: The present study was a prospective hospital based observational study carried out in Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Sultania Zanana Hospital, Gandhi Medical College, Bhopal. A total of 125 women with preeclampsia who fulfilled the inclusion criteria were included in the study. Along with history and examination, all relevant and required investigations were done. The fullPIERS calculator was used to calculate the risk of adverse maternal outcome.Results: In the present study, 82(65.6%) women were in the low risk category and only 4 (4.87%) had adverse maternal outcome. High risk patients were 6 (4.8%) and amongst them 5 (83.33%) women had adverse maternal outcome (p-value <0.00001). The result was statistically significant in identifying high risk cases in our study.Conclusions: The fullPIERS calculator gave good results in prediction of adverse maternal outcome according to risk score in women with preeclampsia in our study. It will help the clinicians better manage the patients with preeclampsia specially remote from term and also help health workers in primary and secondary care centres to identify women who are or may become severely ill and who need specialist care and prevent delays in transporting these women to facilities where they can receive appropriate care

What Is the Role of Agro-Met Information Services in Farmer Decision-Making? Uptake and Decision-Making Context among Farmers within Three Case Study Villages in Maharashtra, India

Scientific studies of climate and meteorology focusing on India show significant increase in the variability and frequency of extreme precipitation events. The increased variability of weather patterns places a huge constraint on farmer’s ability to make strategic agricultural practice decisions. In response, public and private agro-met information services disseminate agro-met information to farmers. Yet, studies still show that there are constraints related to access and understanding of the information. An agro-met information service is based on scientific input from meteorology coupled with agricultural information and this information package is disseminated to farmers. Based on a study in three villages in Maharashtra, India, we show that the relevance of agro-met information differs depending on the decision-making situation. Several factors play an important role in farmer’s agricultural decision-making. The usefulness of the agro-met information from farmer perspectives depends on the access, salience, and credibility of the information. Some subscribers complained about the credibility and the salience of services, while others painted a more positive picture of the service, arguing that there was value in receiving such information. The subscribers mainly valued agro-met information for the ability to undertake precautionary actions. We found that agricultural decision-making was discussed in different arenas; these arenas represented possibilities for farmers to contextualize agro-met information and thereby translate information to timely and appropriate actions suited to the specific local context.publishedVersio

IN VIVO ACUTE TOXICITY, ANTIBACTERIAL, ANTIAQUATIC FUNGAL, ANTHELMINTHIC ACTIVITY OF LACTOBACILLUS PLANTARUM KP894100 AND LACTOBACILLUS ACIDOPHILUS KP942831

Objective: This study observed the antibacterial, antifungal (aquatic and pathogenic fungi), and anthelmintic properties of Lactobacillus plantarum(LP) KP894100 and Lactobacillus acidophilus (LC) KP942831, isolated from a dairy product.Methods: Lactic acid bacteria traditionally used to improve human health. For in vitro antibacterial, antifungal, and antihelminthic studies ofintracellular cell-free extract (ICFE) from LP and LC were produced separately by using filtration methods. ICFE was freeze-dried then resuspendedin citrate phosphate buffer. This ICFE is further used for the antimicrobial and anthelmintic assay. In the antimicrobial assay, ICFE were tested againstpathogenic bacteria, i.e., Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli, Enterococcus faecalis, Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Pseudomonasstutzeri, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and aquatic fungal species including: Aspergillus clavatus, Pythium aphanidermatum Saprolegnia parasitica,Candida albicans, Aspergillus fumigatus, Fusarium oxysporum, Alternaria alternata, Curvularia sp., Mucor sp., Rhizopus stolonifer, Aspergillus niger, andPenicillium chrysogenum. In the anthelmintic assay, young stages of Pheretima posthuma (Indian earthworms) were used. For the analysis of acutetoxicity assay different graded doses (100, 250, 500, 1000 mg/kg bw) of ICFE of LP and LC was administered in Wistar albino rats, respectively, andthe control group received distilled water.Result: The ICFE of both Lactobacillus strains showing strong antibacterial and weak antifungal activity against aquatic fungi except, S. parasitica, andC. albicans. The ICFE shows 100% paralysis and killing efficacy against P. posthuma in 48-72 hrs. In the acute toxicity test, LP and LC did not produceany toxic signs or death at the maximum concentration 1000 mg/kg bw.Conclusion: ICFE of LP and LC possess anthelmintic activity against P. posthuma with only strong antibacterial activity. Both the lactobacillus strainshave strong antibacterial activity and have potential activity against P. posthuma helminthes.Keywords: Antimicrobial, Antifungal, Aquatic fungi, Anthelmintic activity, Pheretima posthuma

Hormonal profile and haematological parameters of male wistar albino rats treated with methanloic extract of Parthenium hysterophorus L.

Changes in hormonal and haematological level were assessed in male wistar albino rats treated with methanolic extract of Parthenium hysterophorus L. The result showed that methanolic extract treatment caused a significant (p &lt; 0.01) reduction of 20 % and 40% in total RBC count (6.25 &plusmn; 0.025 to 5 &plusmn; 0.5 x 106/&micro;L) and haemoglobin (17.1 &plusmn; 0.1892 to 10.2 &plusmn; 0.79 g / dL) respectively in treated rats over control. Unlike haematological parameters, hormonal profile showed a significant increase of 40% (p &lt; 0.05), 200% (p &lt; 0.01), 100% (p &lt; 0.01) and 45.08% (p &lt; 0.001) in follicle stimulating hormone, leutinizing hormone, prolactin and testosterone respectively. The reduction of blood parameters is due to less haemopoiesis or induction of anemia. The increase in hormone level may be a cause of prostate cancer in wistar albino rats

Role of serum folic acid and vitamin B12 levels in abruptio placentae and the fetomaternal outcome

Background: Over the course of pregnancy, there is a steady decline in maternal plasma folate concentration and vitamin B12 concentration about 50%of non pregnant levels. Insufficient folate and vitamin B12 status has been associated with many reproductive complications including abruption, IUGR, pre eclampsia, early pregnancy loss. The aim of the study was to determine the role of serum folic acid and vitamin B12levels in patients with abruptio placentae and to study the feto-maternal outcome in these patients. Feto maternal outcome is seen in terms of mode of delivery whether vaginal or caesarean, period of gestation whether term or preterm, need of blood transfusion, stillbirths. Methods: In this prospective observational study conducted in a tertiary hospital from 2018-2020, 50 pregnant women with abruptio placentae were included and their serum folic acid and vitamin B12 levels were measured by ELIZA method using commercially available kits. Results: Serum folic acid levels were not low in the cases of placental abruption with range= 25 ng/ml to 80.5 ng/ml. Mean folic acid level ±SD is 47.98±13.15 ng/ml and median is 48 ng/ml. In this study vitamin B12 levels were low in the cases, range 14 pg/ml to 70 pg/ml. Mean vitamin B12 value ±SD is 27.15±11.63 pg/ml and median is 25 pg/ml.The rate of caesarean section was 44%, preterm delivery was 64% and stillbirth was 38% in these cases with mean folic acid levels of 48.7±15.4 ng/ml, 46.94±13.85 ng/ml and 46.03±8.13 ng/ml respectively and mean vitamin B12 levels of 23.34±6.74 pg/ml, 28.73±13.44 pg/ml and 28.32±11.75 pg/ml respectively. There was a significant association (p=0.006) between vitamin B12 and mode of delivery. No other significant association was seen between serum folic acid and vitamin B12 levels and the different fetomaternal outcome. Conclusions: Low levels of vitamin B12 is seen in cases with abruptio placentae. The rate of caesarean section, preterm delivery, stillbirth and need of blood transfusion is high but no significant association is seen

Resistance Training Contribute to the Aerobic Components of an Exercise Session in Adults but not as Much in Older Adults

International Journal of Exercise Science 10(3): 406-416, 2017. Previous research has indicated that active adults are able to achieve moderate intensity as measured via heart rate during a typical resistance training (RT) session. The main objective was to identify if overweight adults and older adults can reach aerobic moderate intensity at a rate comparable to adults displaying a recommended body mass index. Twenty participants in each group were asked to visit a fitness facility twice if they self-reported doing RT for a minimum two days per week. At the first session baseline characteristics and maximal lifting capacity for each RT exercise. At the second, intensity was monitored via heart rate monitor during a RT exercise program composed of 10 exercises targeting major muscle groups. Three sets of 10 repetitions at 70% of maximal load were completed for each exercise. Moderate intensity was defined as a minimum of 40% of heart rate reserve. The proportion of time spent at moderate to vigorous intensity between the comparison group and the overweight adult group was not significantly different, with a median (25th -75th) proportion time of 82.6% (69.2-94.6) versus 92.5% (73.3-99.1); p=.54 or an average time of 42 minutes versus 45 minutes. The older adults group, however, spent a lower proportion of time at moderate to vigorous intensity compared with the comparison group, 51.5% (22.0-86.6) or 24 minutes; p\u3c.01 compared with the comparison group. This study suggests that a good proportion of time spent doing RT can contribute to an aerobic component of the international guidelines, and therefore reduce the weekly time commitment especially for men and women age below 60 years old

BACTERIOCIN: A NOVEL APPROACH FOR PRESERVATION OF FOOD

Bacteriocins are antimicrobial peptides which are ribosomally synthesized and produced by Lactic acid bacteria. They play a major role in prevention of human disease such as cancer, inflammatory disease, respiratory infection, systemic infection, intestinal disorder and bacterial infection and also contribute in maintaining the healthy gut microflora. Now day's bacteriocin is emerging as the very promising natural alternative against the antibiotic and chemical preservatives and gaining commercial importance worldwide. The inhibition of pathogenic bacterial strains occurs due to cell permiabilization, but producing strains are protected from it by specific immunity proteins. They are mainly classified in 4 classes: class I, class II, class III, and class IV bacteriocin based on lantibiotics ring. Nisin, Pediocin, Lactococcin B, Acidocin CH5, Curvacin A, and Sakacin are the bacteriocins, which have strong inhibition against pathogenic bacterial strain and used in food preservation. This review article summarizes and focuses on general introduction, classification, ecology and potential applications of bacteriocin as biopreservatives in food industry