Assessment of sleep quality in school children of 6-12 years in COVID-19 pandemic

Background: Sleep disorders in children are one of the common disorders and their frequency has increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study aims to assess the quality of sleep and study the parameters of sleep in school children aged 6-12 years in pandemic with the help of children’s sleep habit questionnaire (CSHQ).Methods: A survey-based study was conducted from December 2020 to March 2021 using the data obtained from CSHQ. The study involved 498 school children, among which 244 were male participants and 254 were female participants. It involved students from schools of Rahata and Mumbai, Maharashtra.Results: The results of the study were withdrawn. Bedtime Resistance had mean value of 11.79±4.56, sleep onset delay had mean of 1.56±0.71. Average of sleep duration was 4.56±2.09. Sleep anxiety had mean of 7.48±3.1, night wakings had mean of 4.27±1.91. Mean of parasomnias was 10.1±4.46. Average of sleep disordered breathing was 4.09±1.86, for daytime sleepiness mean was 13.04±5.44 with significance of p˂0.0001.Conclusions: The study concluded that sleep time became lesser and bedtime became later in present scenario of COVID-19. The subscale items of CSHQ scale have increased values indicating towards altered sleep pattern. The total scoring of CSHQ for age group 6-9 years on average is higher than age group 10-12 years except “sleep onset delay” and “sleep duration”. Also, the total scores of female participants are higher as compared to male participants

Fetomaternal outcome of women with thrombocytopenia in labour

Background: This study was conducted to study fetomaternal outcome in pregnancy with severity of thrombocytopenia. Methods: It was a prospective observational study of fetomaternal outcome of women with thrombocytopenia admitted in labour room of a tertiary health care center of south Gujarat for 1-year period (April 2021-March 2022) after official approval from ethical committee. 100 consecutive consenting women with thrombocytopenia admitted in labour room of New Civil Hospital Surat were enrolled in this study. Results: Mild thrombocytopenia was noted in 68% of the total cases, moderate thrombocytopenia in 27% and severe thrombocytopenia in 5% of cases. 59 subjects belong to age group of 20-25 years, 56 subjects were multipara, 70 subjects were registered antenatally, 68 subjects were delivered beyond 37 weeks of gestation. 48 subjects underwent LSCS and rest were delivered vaginally. 29 subjects had maternal complication. 95 subjects delivered alive baby of which 14 had NICU admission and 5 subjects had preterm still birth baby. Conclusions: Thrombocytopenia is the second most common haematological finding in pregnancy next to anaemia. Majority of cases generally present at gestational age beyond thirty-seven weeks and belong to category of mild thrombocytopenia. Efforts should be made on improving antenatal registration, screening of maternal thrombocytopenia, early diagnosis and treatment

ROBO-CALLING PREVENTION WITH SOFTWARE-DEFINED NETWORKING IN A WIDE AREA NETWORK POLICY FOR UNIFIED COMMUNICATION

Techniques are described herein for blocking robo-calls, spam calls, and telemarketing calls, which are becoming an industry menace. Such calls are blocked by tightly integrating a Software-Defined Networking in a Wide Area Network (SDWAN) controller with a Do Not Call registry. Analytics are used to analyze traffic call patterns, security insights are leveraged such as known malicious Internet Protocol (IP) and domain addresses, and a Call Barring feature may also be applied. This information may be pushed to edge devices to ensure robo-calls do not terminate on SDWAN-led voice endpoints

EVALUATION OF THYROID DISEASES BY HORMONAL ANALYSIS IN PEDIATRIC AGE GROUP

  Introduction: Among endocrine disorders commonly encountered in pediatric age group, thyroid diseases are more frequent. Congenital hypothyroidism is one of the major problems in this age with worldwide incidence of 1:3000-4000 live birth and in India it is 1:2500-2800. Objectives: The aim of this study is to know the prevalence of thyroid diseases in newborn and children by hormonal evaluation. Methodology: We have studied 50 children suspected of having signs and symptoms of thyroid diseases. Hormonal evaluation was done by the estimation of serum TSH, T3 and T4. Results: Out of total 50 children, 16 were detected with abnormal hormone level and diagnosed having thyroid diseases. Out of 16 affected children, 4 had congenital hypothyroidism (25%), 6 had subclinical or acquired hypothyroidism (37.5%), 3 had autoimmune thyroiditis (18.75%) and 3 had goiter with graves disease (18.75%). Conclusion: Congenital hypothyroidism is one of the major preventable thyroid disease if diagnosed early. Other thyroid diseases commonly seen in pediatric age are subclinical hypothyroidism, autoimmune thyroiditis, goiter and rarely hyperthyroidism

Implementation of the Texas Community-Engaged Statewide Consortium for the Prevention of COVID-19

The Community Engagement Alliance (CEAL) Against COVID-19 Disparities aims to conduct community-engaged research and outreach. This paper describes the Texas CEAL Consortium\u27s activities in the first year and evaluates progress. The Texas CEAL Consortium comprised seven projects. To evaluate the Texas CEAL Consortium\u27s progress, we used components of the RE-AIM Framework. Evaluation included estimating the number of people reached for data collection and education activities (reach), individual project goals and progress (effectiveness), partnerships established and partner engagement (adoption), and outreach and education activities (implementation). During the one-year period, focus groups were conducted with 172 people and surveys with 2107 people across Texas. Partners represented various types of organizations, including 11 non-profit organizations, 4 academic institutions, 3 civic groups, 3 government agencies, 2 grassroots organizations, 2 faith-based organizations, 1 clinic, and 4 that were of other types. The main facets of implementation consisted of education activities and the development of trainings. Key recommendations for future consortiums relate to funding and research logistics and the value of strong community partnerships. The lessons learned in this first year of rapid deployment inform ongoing work by the Texas CEAL Consortium and future community-engaged projects

A novel, highly discriminatory risk model predicting acute severe right ventricular failure in patients undergoing continuous‐flow left ventricular assist device implant

Various risk models with differing discriminatory power and predictive accuracy have been used to predict right ventricular failure (RVF) after left ventricular assist device (LVAD) placement. There remains an unmet need for a contemporary risk score for continuous flow (CF)‐LVADs. We sought to independently validate and compare existing risk models in a large cohort of patients and develop a simple, yet highly predictive risk score for acute, severe RVF. Data from the Mechanical Circulatory Support Research Network (MCSRN) registry, consisting of patients who underwent CF‐LVAD implantation, were randomly divided into equal‐sized derivation and validation samples. RVF scores were calculated for the entire sample, and the need for a right ventricular assist device (RVAD) was the primary endpoint. Candidate predictors from the derivation sample were subjected to backward stepwise logistic regression until the model with lowest Akaike information criterion value was identified. A risk score was developed based on the identified variables and their respective regression coefficients. Between May 2004 and September 2014, 734 patients underwent implantation of CF‐LVADs [HeartMate II LVAD, 76% (n = 560), HeartWare HVAD, 24% (n = 174)]. A RVAD was required in 4.5% (n = 33) of the patients [Derivation cohort, n = 15 (4.3%); Validation cohort, n = 18 (5.2%); P = 0.68)]. 19.5% of the patients (n = 143) were female, median age at implant was 59 years (IQR, 49.4–65.3), and median INTERMACS profile was 3 (IQR, 2–3). RVAD was required in 4.5% (n = 33) of the patients. Correlates of acute, severe RVF in the final model included heart rate, albumin, BUN, WBC, cardiac index, and TR severity. Areas under the curves (AUC) for most commonly used risk predictors ranged from 0.61 to 0.78. The AUC for the new model was 0.89 in the derivation and 0.92 in the validation cohort. Proposed risk model provides very high discriminatory power predicting acute severe right ventricular failure and can be reliably applied to patients undergoing placement of contemporary continuous flow left ventricular assist devices.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/150536/1/aor13413_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/150536/2/aor13413.pd

Pearl millet genome sequence provides a resource to improve agronomic traits in arid environments

Pearl millet [Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br., syn. Cenchrus americanus (L.) Morrone], is a staple food for over 90 million poor farmers in arid and semi-arid regions of sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. We report the ~1.79 Gb genome sequence of reference genotype Tift 23D2B1-P1-P5, which contains an estimated 38,579 genes. Resequencing analysis of 994 (963 inbreds of the highly cross-pollinated cultigen, and 31 wild accessions) provides insights into population structure, genetic diversity, evolution and domestication history. In addition we demonstrated the use of re-sequence data for establishing marker trait associations, genomic selection and prediction of hybrid performance and defining heterotic pools. The genome wide variations and abiotic stress proteome data are useful resources for pearl millet improvement through deploying modern breeding tools for accelerating genetic gains in pearl millet.publishersversionPeer reviewe

Use of hyaluronan (Gengigel) in the treatment of gingivitis in orthodontic patients: A clinical, biochemical, and microbiological study

Introduction: To compare the effects of hyaluronan (Gengigel) alone and in combination with scaling using clinical, microbial, and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) parameters. Materials and Methods: In this, the three treatment groups included were scaling, scaling plus local application of Gengigel, and Gengigel alone. The 0.2% hyaluronic acid (HA) gel was applied topically and intrasulcularly 0.8% hyaluronan was applied. The clinical parameters, and microbial and biochemical analyses of gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) LDH were assessed. Intragroup comparisons were made by Student′s unpaired t-test and intergroup comparisons were done using one-way analysis of variance followed by post hoc Turkey′s test. Results: At the end of study period (0-56 day), intergroup comparison demonstrated no significant reduction in plaque index (PI) (0.07 NS), gingival index (GI) (0.99 NS), and LDH (0.70 NS) values. A significant correlation was found between LDH values and bleeding index at all study intervals (0 days, 28 days, and 56 days); gingival index (GI) (0.007 S) was significantly correlated on day 0 and day 56. The microbial reduction was demonstrated. Conclusion: These changes in the clinical, microbial, and biochemical parameters reported with the different treatment modalities clearly support that the use of Gengigel would act as an advantageous adjunct to scaling. Further studies are required to confirm the Gengigel effect using histologic methods