Role of serum progesterone in threatened miscarriage

Background: Miscarriage is the inadvertent loss of a pregnancy before the fetus is viable. The World Health Organization defines this un-survivable state as an embryo or fetus weighing 500 grams or less, which typically corresponds to a fetal age (gestational age) of 20 to 22 weeks or less.Methods: The present study was conducted in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, M. G. M. Medical College and M.Y. Hospital, Indore from October 2013 to October 2014 on 100 patients.Results: The incidence of first trimester threatened miscarriage, in the Gynaec O.P.D. of M.Y. Hospital, Indore, was 8.8%. The most common risk factor was a history of previous miscarriages in 38% of cases while 9% had advanced maternal age and 35% had advanced paternal age. History of preterm labour was positive in 25% cases and that of congenital anomaly in previous pregnancy in 7% cases. UTI and vaginitis were diagnosed in 10% and 11% cases respectively. Systemic illness was in 24% cases while 6% cases had endocrine disorders. On USG missed miscarriage was found in 8% inconclusive ultrasound was found in 34% cases, rest were normal. Of the 38 cases giving history of previous 1, 2, 3 and more than or equal to 4 miscarriages were 22%, 6%, 8% and 2 % respectively. 36% of the patients presented with bleeding per vaginum. only while 30% had bleeding with pain and 33% cases had only pain in abdomen. On USG 58% had normal scans. USG scan was inconclusive in 34% and only 35% continued with viable pregnancy, rest aborted. 7 of the 100 cases had preterm labour and 51 cases continued to term. Rest 42 aborted. H/o contact, travel, trauma, heavy work did not have any statistically proven effect on outcome of pregnancy.Conclusions: Progesterone assays are currently available in most immunoassay platforms and have shown excellent performance in terms of assay sensitivity, specificity, accuracy and precision with rapid turnaround times. Furthermore, the cost per test for progesterone assay is affordable. Several studies have shown that progesterone is the most specific biomarker for distinguishing viable from nonviable pregnancies. The downfall of progesterone as a biomarker is due to the different cut-off values used by researchers. The cut-off values were also determined on different study populations

Cardiac and Skeletal Muscle Lipotoxicity in a Rat Model of Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension

poster abstractPatients with Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH)experience shift from aerobic to anaerobic respiration in cardiac and skeletal muscle myocytes. This shift can be identified histologically by an increased presence of the glucose transporter Glut 1 in the tissue, indicating increased reliance on cytoplasmic glycolysis. Previous studies have demonstrated that in patients with diabetes, an increase in Glut 1 is accompanied by an increase in fat storage in the cell. Excessive myocyte fat storage may contribute to tissue and systemic inflammation and has therefore been termed ‘lipotoxicity’. This study tested the hypothesis in a PAH rat model that an increase in cardiac and skeletal muscle Glut 1 abundance would be associated with an increase in fat storage in the cell. Oil Red O staining was performed to assay for lipotoxicity in cryosections of right ventricle and soleus muscle tissue, imaged using brightfield microscopy. The experiment was conducted using tissue from a moderately severe PAH phenotype produced by monocrotaline(60 mg/kg) injection, as well as from saline injected control animals. Lipids have been observed in the first few samples tested with Oil Red O staining, and results are still pending as a larger sample size is currently being collected

Effect of air pollutants on physiological parameters and yield attributes of paddy and wheat crops in Faridabad region, India

Air pollution is one of the major problems in the Delhi NCR region due to industrial emissions, traffic congestion, population growth and rapid development. Air pollutants deteriorate the environment, human health, plants and crops. This study focuses on the physiological parameters and yield attributes of paddy and wheat crops in the vicinity of a gas-based national thermal power plant (NTPC) located in Faridabad. Ten sites were selected, including the control site within a 10 km aerial distance from the exhaust chimney stack of the power plant. Major air pollutants, such as NOx, SOx, O3, and PM10, were monitored using Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) guidelines. The air quality index (AQI) was moderately polluted at the sampling site, while good air quality was observed at the control site. The results showed that the photosynthetic rates were reduced to 46% in paddies and 48% in wheat crops. In the vegetative growth stage of paddies and wheat crops, the stomatal conductance of paddies decreased to 0.11 mmol m-2s-1 compared to 0.19 mmol m-2s-1 at the control site. The transpiration rate ranged from 0.6 to 7.7 μmol/m2/s in paddies and 1.2 to 9.8 μmol/m2/s in wheat crops. The R2 value ranged from 0.702 to 0.985, which shows a strong impact of the air quality index on the physiological parameters of crops. The yield reduction due to air pollution in paddies was 11.6%, and in wheat crops, it was 14.8%. This study also provides an inventory of air pollutants in Faridabad region and their subsequent impacts on crops

Influence of the Component Excipients on the Quality and Functionality of a Transdermal Film Formulation

The influence of formulation variables, i.e., a hydrophilic polymer (Methocel® E15) and a film-forming polymer (Eudragit® RL 100 and Eudragit® RS 100), on the physicochemical and functional properties of a transdermal film formulation was assessed. Several terpenes were initially evaluated for their drug permeation enhancement effects on the transdermal film formulations. d-Limonene was found to be the most efficient permeation enhancer among the tested terpenes. Transdermal film formulations containing granisetron (GRN) as a model drug, d-limonene as a permeation enhancer, and different ratios of a hydrophilic polymer (Methocel® E15) and a film-forming polymer (Eudragit® RL 100 or Eudragit® RS 100) were prepared. The prepared films were evaluated for their physicochemical properties such as weight variation, thickness, tensile strength, folding endurance, elongation (%), flatness, moisture content, moisture uptake, and the drug content uniformity. The films were also evaluated for the in vitro drug release and ex vivo drug permeation. The increasing ratios of Methocel®:Eudragit® polymers in the formulation linearly and significantly increased the moisture content, moisture uptake, water vapor transmission rate (WVTR), and the transdermal flux of GRN from the film formulations. Increasing levels of Methocel® in the formulations also increased the rate and extent of the GRN release and the GRN permeation from the prepared films

ATR Mutations Promote the Growth of Melanoma Tumors by Modulating the Immune Microenvironment.

Melanomas accumulate a high burden of mutations that could potentially generate neoantigens, yet somehow suppress the immune response to facilitate continued growth. In this study, we identify a subset of human melanomas that have loss-of-function mutations in ATR, a kinase that recognizes and repairs UV-induced DNA damage and is required for cellular proliferation. ATR mutant tumors exhibit both the accumulation of multiple mutations and the altered expression of inflammatory genes, resulting in decreased T cell recruitment and increased recruitment of macrophages known to spur tumor invasion. Taken together, these studies identify a mechanism by which melanoma cells modulate the immune microenvironment to promote continued growth

Twenty questions about design behavior for sustainability, report of the International Expert Panel on behavioral science for design

How behavioral scientists, engineers, and architects can work together to advance how we all understand and practice design—in order to enhance sustainability in the built environment, and beyond.https://www.nature.com/documents/design_behavior_for_sustainability.pdfPublished versio

Ex vivo culture of mouse skin activates an interleukin 1 alpha-dependent inflammatory response

Ex vivo culture of mouse and human skin causes an inflammatory response characterized by production of multiple cytokines. We used ex vivo culture of mouse tail skin specimens to investigate mechanisms of this skin culture-induced inflammatory response. Multiplex assays revealed production of interleukin 1 alpha (IL-1α), interleukin 1 beta (IL-1β), interleukin 6 (IL-6), chemokine C-X-C motif ligand 1 (CXCL1), granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) during skin culture, and quantitative PCR revealed transcripts for these proteins were also increased. Ex vivo cultures of skin from myeloid differentiation primary response 88 deficient mice (Myd88-/- ) demonstrated significantly reduced expression of transcripts for the aforementioned cytokines. The same result was observed with skin from interleukin 1 receptor type 1 deficient mice (Il1r1-/- ). These data suggested the IL-1R1/MyD88 axis is required for the skin culture-induced inflammatory response and led us to investigate the role of IL-1α and IL-1β (the ligands for IL-1R1) in this process. Addition of IL-1α neutralizing antibody to skin cultures significantly reduced expression of Cxcl1, Il6 and Csf3. IL-1β neutralization did not reduce levels of these transcripts. These studies suggest that IL-1α promotes the skin the culture-induced inflammatory response

Learning from the Experts: Evaluating a Participatory Autism and Universal Design Training for University Educators

Autistic students experience strengths and challenges that can impact their full inclusion in higher education, including stigma. A participatory team of autistic and non-autistic scholars developed an Autism and Universal Design (UD) training. This participatory approach centered the voices of autistic collaborators in training design and evaluation. Ninety-eight educators from 53 institutions across 5 countries completed assessments before training (pre-tests), 89 completed post-tests (after training), and 82 completed maintenance assessments (a month after post-test). Pre-test autism stigma was heightened among males, educators with less autism knowledge, and those who reported heightened social dominance orientation. Autism knowledge, autism stigma, and attitudes toward UD improved with training. Improvements remained apparent a month after post-test but were somewhat attenuated for knowledge and stigma. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first evidence of maintenance of benefits of an autism training over time. Participants’ main reason for enrolling in the study was to gain a better understanding about neurodiversity. Feedback indicates that this goal was reached by most with the added benefit of gaining understanding about UD. Results suggest that interest in one type of diversity (e.g., autism) can motivate faculty to learn UD-aligned teaching strategies that benefit diverse students more generally.Output Status: Forthcomin