A study of serum lipid profile in normal pregnancy and pregnancy induced hypertensive disorders: a case-control study

Background: Pregnancy induced hypertensive disorders are one of the commonest complication of pregnancy which accounts for 12% of the maternal and perinatal mortality and morbidity. Dyslipidemias are associated with endothelial dysfunction that may result in proteinuria and hypertension which is a clinical hallmark of PIH. It affects both maternal health as well as fetal growth. Hence, this study was done to assess the role of altered lipid profile in the development of PIH.Methods: A Case Control study was conducted at the Department of Biochemistry, Kurnool Medical College and Govt General Hospital, Kurnool in collaboration with its Obstetrics Dept during the period of November 2015-2017. A total of 300 pregnant women, primigravida /multigravida with singleton pregnancy, in the age group of 18‐ 35 years with >20 weeks of gestation were included in the study. Subjects were divided into gestational hypertensives, n=39 (BP ≥140/80) and preeclamptic women, n=111 (≥140/80 and proteinuria) as cases. Age matched normotensive pregnant women, n=150 (BP 120/80) were recruited as Controls. Subjects with history of multiple pregnancies, pregnancy with congenital anomalies, chronic hypertension, diabetes mellitus, cardiac/thyroid/hepatic/renal disease, dyslipidemia were excluded. Total cholesterol, TG, HDL, LDL, VLDL were performed.Results: A comparison of these values between hypertensive and normotensive women showed a significant rise in TC, TG, LDL and VLDL. HDL-C showed a significant decrease in hypertensive women compared to normal pregnant women. LDL: HDL and TG:HDL ratios were higher in PIH group.Conclusions: The results of this study suggests an abnormal lipid metabolism, predominantly high TG concentrations and low HDL-C, which may add to the promotion of vascular dysfunction and oxidative stress seen in PIH. This association is significant in understanding the development of hypertension during pregnancy and is useful in early diagnosis and prevention of PIH

A Graphical Method for Model Selection

In this paper, we present a graphical method for selection of the model among the many competitive models. The proposed method not only selects the model but also tests the equal prediction accuracy of the models

Ranking of districts in Andhra Pradesh using women and children nutrition and health indicators by topsis method

Background: Wide variation exists in the nutritional status of under 5 years children among districts/states and more focus is needed on less developed districts in order to allocate resources. Ranking of districts provide baseline information for allocating resources to poor ranking districts and can be considered for comparison of progress in future studies. Aims & Objectives: To rank the districts of Andhra Pradesh state using a multi-criteria decision making method based on the major nutritional and health indicators. Materials and Methods: Data provided by NFHS-4 on nutrition and health indicators of women and children in the state was used to rank the districts in the state. A multi-criteria decision making technique called TOPSIS is used for ranking of the districts in the state based on the selected health indicators. Results: It is observed that Krishna district ranked first and Vizianagaram holds the last rank. The better performing districts include Krishna, Chittoor, East Godavari, Visakhapatnam and Guntur, whereas poor performing districts include Vizianagaram, Kurnool, Srikakulam and Prakasham. Indicators such as per capita income, urbanization, sanitation, use of clean fuel and maternal education were observed high, while infant and maternal mortality was low in in good performing districts. Conclusion: It is concluded that the district with poor nutrition and health indicator ranked last while those with good indicators ranked first. The priority should be given for the development of poor performing districts to improve the above indicators by allocating more resources

Ranking of districts in Andhra Pradesh using women and children nutrition and health indicators by topsis method

Background: Wide variation exists in the nutritional status of under 5 years children among districts/states and more focus is needed on less developed districts in order to allocate resources. Ranking of districts provide baseline information for allocating resources to poor ranking districts and can be considered for comparison of progress in future studies. Aims & Objectives: To rank the districts of Andhra Pradesh state using a multi-criteria decision making method based on the major nutritional and health indicators. Materials and Methods: Data provided by NFHS-4 on nutrition and health indicators of women and children in the state was used to rank the districts in the state. A multi-criteria decision making technique called TOPSIS is used for ranking of the districts in the state based on the selected health indicators. Results: It is observed that Krishna district ranked first and Vizianagaram holds the last rank. The better performing districts include Krishna, Chittoor, East Godavari, Visakhapatnam and Guntur, whereas poor performing districts include Vizianagaram, Kurnool, Srikakulam and Prakasham. Indicators such as per capita income, urbanization, sanitation, use of clean fuel and maternal education were observed high, while infant and maternal mortality was low in in good performing districts. Conclusion: It is concluded that the district with poor nutrition and health indicator ranked last while those with good indicators ranked first. The priority should be given for the development of poor performing districts to improve the above indicators by allocating more resources

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Not AvailableMaize is the third most important crop after rice and wheat in India in terms of its area coverage and contribution to total food grains production. It is grown in almost all agro-ecological regions, contributing about 22 million tonnes of grain production from about 9 million hectares of land. The production pattern as well as its consumption pattern has dramatically changed in India in the recent past. However, the average crop yield of 2.5 t/ha is still very low as compared to the other Asian countries like Bangladesh (6.8 t/ha), China (5.7 t/ha), Indonesia (4.6 t/ha) and Pakistan (3.8 t/ha) in 2012 (FAOSTAT). This paper has examined the growth and instability in maize production in the major districts of major maize growing States in the country. An attempt has also been made to forecast its production in near and mid-term under different scenarios. The results showed that more than 60 per cent of maize area is observed to be having maize yield less than 2 t/ha. At the same time, huge variability in maize yield between and within the maize growing States was also found. However, the maize yield is estimated to increase little more than 3 t/ha by the year 2020, if the current policy and macro-economic environment continues. It is also expected that the demand for maize in domestic as well as in international market will grow faster than the production growth, creating very good potential for Indian maize in the near future. Therefore, to meet the future growing demand of maize in domestic as well as international market, it is desired to have different growth pathway than the existing trend. To realize that kind of inflection point, India has to gear up its logistics and supply chain to handle the near-double size of the maize output in coming years.Not Availabl

Bootstrap graphical test for equality of variances

Testing hypothesis about variance parameters arises in contexts where uniformity is important and also in relation to checking assumptions as a preliminary to analysis of variance, discriminant analysis and so forth. In this paper, a bootstrap graphical method is developed as an alternative to the Bartlett and Levene tests to test the hypothesis on equality of several variances. An example is given to demonstrate the advantage of bootstrap graphical procedure over the Bartlett and Levene tests from decision making point of view

Chronic Effects of Maternal Low-Protein and Low-Quality Protein Diets on Body Composition, Glucose-Homeostasis and Metabolic Factors, Followed by Reversible Changes upon Rehabilitation in Adult Rat Offspring

Several studies suggest that the maternal protein content and source can affect the offspring’s health. However, the chronic impact of maternal quality and quantity protein restriction, and reversible changes upon rehabilitation, if any, in the offspring, remains elusive. This study examined the effects of maternal low-quality protein (LQP) and low-protein (LP) intake from preconception to post-weaning, followed by rehabilitation from weaning, on body composition, glucose-homeostasis, and metabolic factors in rat offspring. Wistar rats were exposed to normal protein (NP; 20% casein), LQP (20% wheat gluten) or LP (8% casein) isocaloric diets for 7 weeks before pregnancy until lactation. After weaning, the offspring were exposed to five diets: NP, LQP, LQPR (LQP rehabilitated with NP), LP, and LPR (LP rehabilitated with NP) for 16 weeks. Body composition, glucose-homeostasis, lipids, and plasma hormones were investigated. The LQP and LP offspring had lower bodyweight, fat and lean mass, insulin and HOMA-IR than the NP. The LQP offspring had higher cholesterol, T3 and T4, and lower triacylglycerides and glucose, while these were unaltered in LP compared to NP. The majority of the above outcomes were reversed upon rehabilitation. These results suggest that the chronic exposure of rats to maternal LQP and LP diets induced differential adverse effects by influencing body composition and metabolism, which were reversed upon rehabilitation