Breast cancer survival studies in India: a review

Length of survival of cancer patients is an important indicator for knowing the outcome of treatment in any study. Epidemiological features and biological profile of breast cancer appear to be different in developing countries as compared to Western countries. Knowing the factors that influence survival rates among women with breast cancer may help define early detection actions, and improve treatment and care proposals in all the areas of health. Therefore, this study aims to identify, the publications defining the factors influencing survival for women with breast cancer in India. PUBMED database was searched from January 1990 to April 2016, using the key words Breast cancer, breast cancer outcome and Survival and their corresponding Mesh terms were used in combination with Boolean operators like OR, AND. Five year overall survival rate of breast cancer in India ranged from 40-62%. The results from 16 publications showed that survival of breast cancer varies widely depending on number of factors like age, stage at diagnosis, marital status, educational level, hormonal status, clinical extent of disease and treatment. The publications that make up this review present contributing factors that affect the survival rate of women with breast cancer in India. This information on survival studies can pinpoint the lacunae in treatment modalities and can guide us to do basic and translational research so the preventive strategies can be implemented

Effectiveness of mindfulness based mental fitness training: an impact evaluation study

Background: Mindfulness-based mental fitness training (MBMFT) based on Vipassana is a secular, non-religious method found to be useful in reducing stress, anxiety and depression in a variety of population. Studies have revealed that an increasing percentage of population experiences high stress. The present study was conducted to evaluate impact of a mindfulness-based mental fitness training (MBMFT) programme on levels of stress and resilience among students of school in an industrial establishment.  Methods: Sixty nine students aged 18-20 years of an industrial establishment who volunteered and met the inclusion criteria were included in the study. The participants were randomly divided into two groups, group I (n=35) were given 8 weeks of Mindfulness-Based Mental Fitness Training, and group II (n=34) followed the normal curricula of the school. Questionnaires were completed on psychological well-being and mindfulness by the participants initially and after 08 weeks.Results: The students who underwent MBMFT (group-I) had significantly (p<0.05) higher FFMQ scores at 08 weeks (130.10±9.69) as compared to baseline scores (122.55±12.7) and scores of the group II (117.95±10.1). Group I students also had lower perceived stress scores at the end of 08 weeks of MBMFT. Personal resilience was assessed only for Group-I using Personal Resilience Questionnaire (PRQ). The PRQ score increased significantly (p= 0.000) from mean baseline score of 157.76±10.14 to 166.31±13.01 at the end of 8 weeks.Conclusions: Mindfulness based Mental Fitness Training is an effective method which can be used to enhance the ability of personnel to combat stress. Future large scale multi centric research is required to further validate the effectiveness of MBMFT and to assess feasibility of inclusion of MBMFT as regular aspect in training institutions.

Role of monocyte and lymphocyte counts in prognosis of cervical cancer

Background: Inflammation seems to play a very crucial role in the growth and progression of many cancers. It has been reported that a peripheral blood count has been used as a cost-effective and simple parameter of systemic inflammation in critically ill patients. The aim of this study is to investigate whether components of WBC counts can predict the prognosis of patients with cervical cancer.Methods: Medical records of 549 cervical cancer patients diagnosed between 1 January 2008 to 31 December 2008 were retrospectively analyzed. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis and Cox proportional hazards model were applied to evaluate the effect of white blood cell (WBC) counts on overall survival.Results: The 5-year overall survival of the cohort was found to be 67.7%. On the basis of univariate analysis elevated monocyte count (≥0.515 109/L) and lower lymphocyte count (≤2.075 109/L) were associated with poor overall survival (OS) (p=0.016 and 0.002 respectively). Multivariate Cox proportional hazard analysis showed that higher monocyte and lower lymphocyte levels were a significant independent predictors for worse OS (HR = 1.555, 95% CI = 1.125-2.149; P=0.008) and (HR = 1.712, 95% CI = 1.232-2.379; P= 0.001) respectively. The advanced overall stage and treatment were also found to be independent indicators for poor OS.Conclusions: Pretreatment monocyte and lymphocyte count is an independent predictor of prognosis in cervical cancer patients. Thus it may be a cost effective marker to predict the outcome of cervical cancer patients

Disinfection by 1% sodium hypochlorite through cold fogging: an innovative appropriate technology against COVID-19 in public health

Background: SARS-CoV-2 is an enveloped virus with a fragile outer lipid envelope that makes it more susceptible to disinfectants compared to non-enveloped viruses. In this article, dispensation through cold Fogger was innovated as a measure against aerosol-based transmission of COVID-19 in large, enclosed spaces like hospitals, nursing homes, isolation centers and quarantine facilities.Methods: Ecological exploratory study, to ours effectiveness of 1% sodium hypochlorite through cold fogging against SARS COV-2 technology. Study setting included medical college in Western Maharashtra and the selected COVID-19 hospitals. The data was collated in MS excel and analysed using IBM SPSS version 23.0.Results: Average of 2.9 % HCWs got infected in hospitals where this innovation was used to disinfect, as compared to infections rates of 21.5% and 14.7% in other premier health institutes. There was strong negative correlation between percentage of health care infected and liters of sodium hypochlorite used with R2=0.56. Also, on applying Spearman correlation coefficient there was good negative correlation (-0.8).Conclusions: This appropriate technology has shown significant reduction in infection, with antecedent benefit of decreased morbidity and mortality of precious trained manpower. It gives much better dis-infection at 07 times less the cost and can be conveniently used for dis-infection against COVID-19 at the very periphery of primary health care delivery done at Sub-centres and PHCs

Some reproductive studies in Clarias batrachus with reference to different thermal conditions

Eco-physiological study indicates the Clarias batrachus is a eurythermal fish and able to tolerate the wide range of climatic conditions. The quantitative analysis of nutritional components in gonadal region, such as glucose, proteins and fats showed the variations during exposure of fish to hot and cold temperatures. The fresh water catfish exhibits distinct phases of reproduction and also showed the changes in the levels of energy precursors with change in the excretory products, with respect to adaptability towards different environmental temperature conditions. Gradual increase of glucose, proteins, and cholesterol is observed in the male gonadal tissues. Rectal gland and clasper tissues showed, decreased of urea levels during the exposure of fish to the higher tolerable temperature. However, in female fish, the levels of proteins are significantly enhanced during the high temperature exposure. The levels of urea significantly decreased in the tissues of uterus and brain during the study period, while the lowering of glucose levels in brain indicates the extent of rate of physiological activity of the brain

Review on various Pharmaceuticals and their Pharmacology of Anti-repellents- As a Preventive aspect of Vector (mosquito species) borne Disease

Mosquito is one of the most vexing bloodsucking insects. Malaria, Filariasis, Japanese Encephalitis, Dengue fever, Yellow fever, Chikungunya, and Zika are all transmitted by mosquito species belonging to the genera Anopheles, Culex, &amp; Aedes. Mosquitoes alone infect almost 700 million people each year, resulting in one million fatalities. Malaria, which is caused by Plasmodium parasites and transmitted by female Anopheles mosquito bites, is still a substantial illness that impacts the development of infants and&nbsp;kids. Present review work aims to review various pharmaceutical dosage forms of anti-repellent products and their molecules, mechanism of repellent activity as a preventive of different vector bone diseases. Malaria cases were over 207 million in 2012, with 627,000 deaths reported. In addition, Yellow fever, which is spread by the Haematologus and Aedes mosquitoes, causes 200,000 instances of disease and 30,000 fatalities worldwide each year. Dengue fever is spread by Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus mosquitos, which are responsible for more than 100 million infections yearly. Furthermore, more than 2.5 billion individuals, or about 40% of the world's population, are now in danger of contracting Dengue fever. This review helped to understand the various kinds of vector bone disease and the surveillance of disease data. In addition, the review revealed the various pharmaceutical products would help control the Mosquitoes bits and related disease as preventive aspects and the components of pharmaceutical and their mechanism of action to inhibit the spread of various insects’ related disease

Nutrient dynamics in relation to discharge of sewage in Winganga River water at Pauni, District Bhandara (M.S.), India

The significant sources of organic pollution enhance nutrient contents in the river water. Nitrogen, phosphorous and silicates play very important role in the biological activities of aquatic environments, such as the abundance of vegetation and faunal status. The Wainganga river water at Pauni town is analyzed for nutrient concentrations their inputs and rate of assimilation by organisms. Phosphate concentration ranged from 0.91 mg/l to 2.29 mg/l, ammonia nitrogen ranged from 0.32mg/l to 1.48 mg/l , nitrate nitrogen ranged from-, nitrite from 2.88 mg/l to 7.64 mg/l.

Prevalence of human papilloma virus in cervical smear by DNA PCR testing and its comparison with pap smear

Introduction: Cervical cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer in women worldwide. Cervical cancer kills more women in India than anywhere in the world. There is good evidence that IIPV infection precedes the development of carcinoma cervix by a number of decades and that persistent infection with HPV is necessary for the development and progression of pre-cancerous lesions of cervix to cancer. This study was carried out to assess the prevalence of HPV infection in women attending gyneacology OPD in tertiary care hospital and to study sensitivity and specificity of Pap smear in detecting HPV as compared to HPV DNA PCR Material & Methods: This was a Hospital based Observational study in which all women visiting gyneacology OPD with gyneacological complaints were included in the study. A total of one thousand women were screened for HPV with pap smears and HPV DNA PCR test. Results: Out of the total of1000 women tested, 283 (28.3%) were found to be positive for HPV using HPV DNA PCR and 77 (7.7%) tested positive on PAP smear examination. Highest prevalence (31.2%) of HPV infection was seen in marriage age group of 16-20 and higher prevalence (57.1%) of HPV infection was also seen in women having more than 3 children. Pap smear was found to be 16.6% sensitive and 95% specific, whereas Positive Predictive Value and Negative Predictive Value was found to be 61% and 74% respectively. Discussion: The study reveals HPV prevalence rate of 28.3% in women attending gynaecology OPD of a tertiary care hospital and also prevalence of HPV was found to be highest in sexually active individuals with parity of 3 or more. These results are in agreement to many published national and international studies [12,13,14]. The study results also indicate lower sensitivity and higher specificity of Pap smear in detecting HPV infection, however it still remains the most important practicably available test in early detection of cervical carcinoma