Role of Alfuzosin in Ureteral Stent Related Urinary Symptoms Score: A Comparative Study

Background: Ureteral stent placement is a routine urological procedure. However, patients inserted with ureteral stent exhibited increased urinary symptoms that compromise patients’ quality of life. Objective: To assess the efficacy of alpha blockers (Alfuzosin) in the management of ureteral stent related urinary symptoms. Methods: Total of 60 patients after ureteral stent insertion was randomly divided into two equal groups; 30 in alfuzosin group and the remaining 30 in control group. Urinary symptoms questionnaire was filled after two weeks and results were statistically analyzed. Results: Urinary symptoms like urgency, frequency and flank pain were significantly less in the alfuzosin group when compared with control group. Conclusion: Alpha blocker (Alfuzosin) was found to be effective in reducing ureteral stent related urinary symptoms. Journal of Gandaki Medical College Vol. 10, No. 1, 2017, page: 28-3

Cause, pattern and outcome of fractures occurring in the pediatric population of rural tertiary health care center of Nepal.

Introduction: Pediatric trauma is a significant burden to health care worldwide. In Karnali province, most of the cases present late. The aim of this study is to determine demographic characteristics, cause, pattern, treatment and outcome of pediatric fractures in tertiary health care center in Jumla. Method: This is a retrospective study done in patients younger than 16 years who presented to our hospital between January 2016 to December 2017. We analyzed demographic data, injury characteristics, fracture pattern, time of presentation, treatment modalities and outcome. Results: There were total of 1028 patients out of which 60% were males. Mean duration of presentation to hospital was 4.8 days. Most common mechanism of injury was fall from height. 85.60 % were managed conservatively and 14.40% were managed operatively. Postoperative outcome was good in 71 % of the cases, fair in 28% and poor in 1% cases. Forearm fracture was the most common presentation, accounting for 358 cases (34.82%) followed by Supracondylar humerus fracture accounting 23.34%. Conclusion: Pediatric fractures constitute a huge proportion of cases in our hospital. As pediatric bones unite readily, the treatment outcome is good in most of the cases even after conservative management and after delayed presentation. Keywords: pediatric fractures, conservative management, supracondylar fractures, delayed presentation

Clinical profile and outcome of neonates admitted to the Neonatal Care Unit in a rural teaching Hospital

Objectives: Neonatal morbidity and mortality rates reflect efficiency of health services of a country. This study was conducted to identify the clinical profile, pattern of diseases and common causes of mortality and morbidity in neonates admitted to neonatology unit. Methods: The study was conducted in Neonatal Unit of Karnali Academy of Health Sciences, Jumla for a period of one year from 1st May 2017 to 30th April 2018. Data of all admitted patients were reviewed and analyzed in terms of gender, gestational age, age at presentation, weight, cause of admission and their outcome. Diagnosis was made on clinical examination, radiological findings and laboratory investigations. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 20. Results: Out of 153 neonates admitted during the study period, 2 were excluded because of deficient record. Full-term neonates were 122(80.7%) while preterm were 29 (19.3%). Low birth weight (LBW) babies were 32 (21.18%).Neonatal sepsis 91 (60.26%) was the most common cause of hospital admissions followed by meconium aspiration syndrome 21(13.9%) and prematurity 10(6.62%). Out of 151 newborns, 112 babies (74.1%) were discharged after improvement, 15(9.93%) left against medical advice, 13(8.6%) babies were referred to higher centers for intensive care and there were 9 (5.9%) mortalities and 2(1.3%) got absconded. Conclusion: The majority of neonatal morbidity is due to sepsis, prematurity and respiratory causes. All these causes are preventable to some extent and, can be effectively treated in order to reduce morbidity and mortality. Keywords: New Born, Mortality, Admission, Sepsi

Flow cytometry based techniques to study testicular acidophilic granulocytes from the protandrous fish gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata L.)

The gilthead seabream is a protandrous seasonal breeding teleost that is an excellent model for studying the testicular regression process which occurs in both seasonal testicular involution and sex reversion. Little is known about the cell types and the molecular mechanisms involved in such processes, mainly because of the lack of appropriate methods for testis dissociation, and testicular cell isolation, culture and functional characterization. We have previously reported that gilthead seabream acidophilic granulocytes infiltrate the testis at post-spawning stage, settle close to the spermatogonia and accumulate intracellular interleukin-1β. In this paper, we report several flow cytometry based assays which allow to establish the role played by gilthead seabream testicular acidophilic granulocytes and permits their quantification

Women's health groups to improve perinatal care in rural Nepal

BACKGROUND: Neonatal mortality rates are high in rural Nepal where more than 90% of deliveries are in the home. Evidence suggests that death rates can be reduced by interventions at community level. We describe an intervention which aimed to harness the power of community planning and decision making to improve maternal and newborn care in rural Nepal. METHODS: The development of 111 women's groups in a population of 86 704 in Makwanpur district, Nepal is described. The groups, facilitated by local women, were the intervention component of a randomized controlled trial to reduce perinatal and neonatal mortality rates. Through participant observation and analysis of reports, we describe the implementation of this intervention: the community entry process, the facilitation of monthly meetings through a participatory action cycle of problem identification, community planning, and implementation and evaluation of strategies to tackle the identified problems. RESULTS: In response to the needs of the group, participatory health education was added to the intervention and the women's groups developed varied strategies to tackle problems of maternal and newborn care: establishing mother and child health funds, producing clean home delivery kits and operating stretcher schemes. Close linkages with community leaders and community health workers improved strategy implementation. There were also indications of positive effects on group members and health services, and most groups remained active after 30 months. CONCLUSION: A large scale and potentially sustainable participatory intervention with women's groups, which focused on pregnancy, childbirth and the newborn period, resulted in innovative strategies identified by local communities to tackle perinatal care problems

Helicobacter pylori Induces Activation of Human Peripheral γδ+ T Lymphocytes

Helicobacter pylori is a Gram-negative bacterium that causes gastric and duodenal diseases in humans. Despite a robust antibody and cellular immune response, H. pylori infection persists chronically. To understand if and how H. pylori could modulate T cell activation, in the present study we investigated in vitro the interaction between H. pylori and human T lymphocytes freshly isolated from peripheral blood of H. pylori-negative donors. A direct interaction of live, but not killed bacteria with purified CD3+ T lymphocytes was observed by microscopy and confirmed by flow cytometry. Live H. pylori activated CD3+ T lymphocytes and predominantly γδ+ T cells bearing the TCR chain Vδ2. Upon interaction with H. pylori, these cells up-regulated the activation molecule CD69 and produced cytokines (such as TNFα, IFNγ) and chemokines (such as MIP-1β, RANTES) in a non-antigen-specific manner. This activation required viable H. pylori and was not exhibited by other Gram-negative bacteria. The cytotoxin-associated antigen-A (CagA), was at least partially responsible of this activation. Our results suggest that H. pylori can directly interact with T cells and modulate the response of γδ+ T cells, thereby favouring an inflammatory environment which can contribute to the chronic persistence of the bacteria and eventually to the gastric pathology

Search for new phenomena in final states with an energetic jet and large missing transverse momentum in pp collisions at √ s = 8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

Results of a search for new phenomena in final states with an energetic jet and large missing transverse momentum are reported. The search uses 20.3 fb−1 of √ s = 8 TeV data collected in 2012 with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Events are required to have at least one jet with pT > 120 GeV and no leptons. Nine signal regions are considered with increasing missing transverse momentum requirements between Emiss T > 150 GeV and Emiss T > 700 GeV. Good agreement is observed between the number of events in data and Standard Model expectations. The results are translated into exclusion limits on models with either large extra spatial dimensions, pair production of weakly interacting dark matter candidates, or production of very light gravitinos in a gauge-mediated supersymmetric model. In addition, limits on the production of an invisibly decaying Higgs-like boson leading to similar topologies in the final state are presente

Enhanced control of self-doping in halide perovskites for improved thermoelectric performance

Metal halide perovskites have emerged as promising photovoltaic materials, but, despite ultralow thermal conductivity, progress on developing them for thermoelectrics has been limited. Here, we report the thermoelectric properties of all-inorganic tin based perovskites with enhanced air stability. Fine tuning the thermoelectric properties of the films is achieved by self-doping through the oxidation of tin (ΙΙ) to tin (ΙV) in a thin surface-layer that transfers charge to the bulk. This separates the doping defects from the transport region, enabling enhanced electrical conductivity. We show that this arises due to a chlorine-rich surface layer that acts simultaneously as the source of free charges and a sacrificial layer protecting the bulk from oxidation. Moreover, we achieve a figure-of-merit (ZT) of 0.14 ± 0.01 when chlorine-doping and degree of the oxidation are optimised in tandem