A comparative study of oral, sublingual and vaginal route of misoprostol as cervical ripening agent before surgical method of termination of first-trimester pregnancy

Background: Cervical ripening is a critical step for surgical method of termination of first trimester of pregnancy. Misoprostol, PGE1 analogue have promising role as cervical ripening agent. The present study aimed to compare the efficacy and side effects of oral, sublingual and vaginal misoprostol at dosage of 400mcg for cervical priming before surgical method of termination in first-trimester pregnancy.Methods: It was a prospective hospital based randamosied study. Total 150 patients at 6-12 weeks gestation requesting for medical termination of pregnancy were divided equally in to 3 groups. Every group was advised to have single dose of 400 mcg misoprostol either oral, sublingual or vaginal route respectively 4 hour before suction and evacuation.Results: The sublingual group had highly significant cervical dilatation (P<0.001) and the duration of suction and evacuation was less as compared to the vaginal and oral routes (p<0.000). However, the mean intraoperative blood loss was more in sublingual as compared to the vaginal and oral groups. Loose motions and nausea/vomiting were more with oral routes while blood loss was more in the vaginal route.Conclusions: Thus, it can be concluded from present study that sublingual route of misoprostol is more preferable than oral or vaginal route as pro-abortion cervical ripening agent

A comparative study of 4-hour versus 2-hour action line on who modified partograph

Background: World health organization has promoted modified partograph with action line, 4 hour to left of alert line. While others have used various action line 2, 3, or 4 hours to initiate and guide ‘‘active management’’ decisions. Objectives of the study were to evaluate outcome of labour in terms of caesarean section rate, augmentation of labour and fetal outcome in whom labour has been managed with 4-hour vs 2-hour action line on WHO modified partograph.Methods: This was a randomized, prospective, comparative study. Primigravida, 19-28 years, with single live foetus in vertex presentation without any medical and obstetrical complications, at term pregnancy have been included in the study. Results were compared between Group A, with 100 cases, in whom labour has been managed with WHO modified Partograph with 4-hour action line and Group B, with 100 cases, in whom labour has been managed with that of 2-hour action line.Results: The present study shows that more women in 2-hour arm crossed the action line, compared with the 4-hour arm, and therefore received more interventions to augment labour.  Rate of caesarean section is more in group B (11%) than in group A (9%) which is statistically nonsignificant.Conclusions: Neonatal outcome measured with APGAR score at 5 minute, has shown no significant difference in both groups. Therefore, partograph with 2-hour action line doesn’t show any superiority over that of 4-hour action line but to be associated with higher incidence of intervention. Further research is required in this field of active management.

Food Imports in India: Prospects, Issues and Way Forward

India is one of the fastest growing markets in the world. Among the various sectors contributing to the growth of the economy, food is one of the fastest growing sectors owing to factors such as a large population base, rising middle-class, increase in per-capita income, and greater consumer awareness. Demand for imported food products is increasing due to factors such as reduction in tariffs, changes in consumer preferences and growing adaptability to international cuisine. Several initiatives have been taken by the Indian government in recent years to improve the ease of doing business and reduce the compliance burden through use of technology. Despite these initiatives, India’s ranking compared to other countries in some selective indicators such as documentary and border compliance and logistics performance is quite low. To improve ease of doing business, reduce cost and time taken in importing food products, and improve India’s ranking in logistics performance indicators, there is an urgent need for backend process and information technology (IT) integration across the agencies involved in the import clearance process. Given this background, the objective of this paper is to (a) provide an overview of the food import clearance process in India, (b) identify issues in the import process and (c) make recommendations on how to streamline the process using technology and automation. The paper is based on a survey of key stakeholders engaged in the food import clearance process. Based on a primary survey of 150 stakeholders in the United Kingdom and India, this paper finds that while India is an attractive market for importing food; low penetration of technology in the food import clearance process, lack of inter-agency coordination, and lack of risk management systems impedes the ease of importing food products into India. This paper recommends that in order to enhance ease of doing business, especially for SMEs, there is need to reduce procedural barriers by implementing technology and automation-oriented solutions, and a robust risk management system. In addition, there is a need to conduct continuous regulatory impact analysis to assess the time and cost reduction in importing food into India.JEL classification: F10, F13, L66, O3

Program Actions as Actual Causes: A Building Block for Accountability

Abstract-Protocols for tasks such as authentication, electronic voting, and secure multiparty computation ensure desirable security properties if agents follow their prescribed programs. However, if some agents deviate from their prescribed programs and a security property is violated, it is important to hold agents accountable by determining which deviations actually caused the violation. Motivated by these applications, we initiate a formal study of program actions as actual causes. Specifically, we define in an interacting program model what it means for a set of program actions to be an actual cause of a violation. We present a sound technique for establishing program actions as actual causes. We demonstrate the value of this formalism in two ways. First, we prove that violations of a specific class of safety properties always have an actual cause. Thus, our definition applies to relevant security properties. Second, we provide a cause analysis of a representative protocol designed to address weaknesses in the current public key certification infrastructure

Comparative analysis of the stock markets of China, Russia, Brazil, South Africa and Argentina

In this study that we are conducting, the end goal is to undertake a comparative analysis of the stock markets of Russia, China, South Africa, Argentina and Brazil

Invasive Mechanical Ventilation of COVID-19 ARDS Patients

The purpose of this review article is to analyse evidence on the use of ventilatory strategies and associated cointerventions in adult patients with COVID-19 induced acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and to provide treatment recommendations based on these interventions. For each recommendation mentioned, it is important to consider the quality of the evidence reviews thoroughly before applying these recommendations to specific clinical situations or policy decisions. No guideline or recommendations can consider all the compelling clinical features of individual patients, as they are unique. Thus, it is imperative that clinicians, patients, policy makers, and other stakeholders should not regard these recommendations as mandatory. However, this review article, impartially discusses the nuances of treatment available and management protocols followed in many centres around the world for the consumption of all treating physicians.El propósito de este artículo de revisión es analizar la evidencia sobre el uso de estrategias ventilatorias y cointervenciones asociadas en pacientes adultos con síndrome de dificultad respiratoria aguda (SDRA) inducido por COVID-19 y brindar recomendaciones de tratamiento basadas en estas intervenciones. Para cada recomendación mencionada, es importante considerar la calidad de las revisiones de la evidencia a fondo antes de aplicar estas recomendaciones a situaciones clínicas específicas o decisiones políticas. Ninguna guía o recomendación puede considerar todas las características clínicas convincentes de los pacientes individuales, ya que son únicas. Por lo tanto, es imperativo que los médicos, los pacientes, los responsables políticos y otras partes interesadas no consideren estas recomendaciones como obligatorias. Sin embargo, este artículo de revisión analiza de manera imparcial los matices del tratamiento disponible y los protocolos de manejo seguidos en muchos centros alrededor del mundo para el consumo de todos los médicos tratantes

In Vitro Antidiabetic Effect of Neohesperidin

Objective: The present study was performed to determine in vitro antidiabetic effect of neohesperidin. To evaluate inhibitory effect of neohesperidin on α-amylase and α-glucosidase diabetes causing enzyme. Methods and Materials: Invitro carbohydrate metabolizing enzyme based inhibitory methods were used to determine antidiabetic effect of neohesperidin. Alpha (α)-amylase inhibitory assay was performed using different sources i.e. wheat alpha (α)-amylase enzyme, salivary alpha (α)-amylase and fungal alpha (α)-amylase assay. Alpha (α)-glucosidase inhibitory assay was performed using alpha (α)-glucosidase (B. stearothermophil), alpha (α)-glucosidase rat intestine and alpha (α)-glucosidase from baker’s yeast. Sucrase inhibitory assay from rat small intestine. Result: Neohesperidin possess a potent anti-diabetic by significantly inhibiting alpha amylase activity. Conclusion: It was concluded that enzyme inhibitory activity of neohesperidin shown a significantly higher inhibitory activity on alpha-amylase in comparision to alpha-glucosidase &amp; Sucrase enzymes. Keywords: Neohespiridin, acarbose, alpha-amylase, alpha-glucosidas

Modulation of inhibitory activity of xylanase - α-amylase inhibitor protein (XAIP): binding studies and crystal structure determination of XAIP- II from Scadoxus multiflorus at 1.2 Å resolution

Background: Plants produce a wide range of proteinaceous inhibitors to protect themselves against hydrolytic enzymes. Recently a novel protein XAIP belonging to a new sub-family (GH18C) was reported to inhibit two structurally unrelated enzymes xylanase GH11 and α -amylase GH13. It was shown to inhibit xylanase GH11 with greater potency than that of α-amylase GH13. A new form of XAIP (XAIP-II) that inhibits α-amylase GH13 with a greater potency than that of XAIP and xylanase GH11 with a lower potency than that of XAIP, has been identified in the extracts of underground bulbs of Scadoxus multiflorus. This kind of occurrence of isoforms of inhibitor proteins is a rare observation and offers new opportunities for understanding the principles of protein engineering by nature. Results: In order to determine the structural basis of the enhanced potency of XAIP-II against α-amylase GH13 and its reduced potency against xylanase GH11 as compared to that of XAIP, we have purified XAIP-II to homogeneity and obtained its complete amino acid sequence using cloning procedure. It has been crystallized with 0.1 M ammonium sulphate as the precipitating agent and the three-dimensional structure has been determined at 1.2 Å resolution. The binding studies of XAIP-II with xylanase GH11 and α-amylase GH13 have been carried out with surface plasmon resonance (SPR). Conclusion: The structure determination revealed that XAIP-II adopts the well known TIM barrel fold. The xylanase GH11 binding site in XAIP-II is formed mainly with loop α3-β3 (residues, 102 - 118) which has acquired a stereochemically less favorable conformation for binding to xylanase GH11 because of the addition of an extra residue, Ala105 and due to replacements of two important residues, His106 and Asn109 by Thr107 and Ser110. On the other hand, the α-amylase binding site, which consists of α-helices α6 (residues, 193 - 206), α7 (residues, 230 - 243) and loop β6-α6 (residues, 180 - 192) adopts a stereochemically more favorable conformation due to replacements of residues, Ser190, Gly191 and Glu194 by Ala191, Ser192 and Ser195 respectively in α-helix α6, Glu231 and His236 by Thr232 and Ser237 respectively in α-helix α7. As a result, XAIP-II binds to xylanase GH11 less favorably while it interacts more strongly with α-amylase GH13 as compared to XAIP. These observations correlate well with the values of 4.2 × 10-6 M and 3.4 × 10-8 M for the dissociation constants of XAIP-II with xylanase GH11 and α-amylase GH13 respectively and those of 4.5 × 10-7 M and 3.6 × 10-6 M of XAIP with xylanase GH11 and α-amylase GH13 respectively

Povezanost genskih varijanti akvaporina 7 s kvalitetom sjemena u murrah bivola

The Aquaporin 7 (AQP7) gene, a member of the aqua-glyceroporins, was characterised using Polymerase Chain Reaction-Single Strand Conformation Polymorphism (PCR-SSCP) analysis, in order to investigate the association of genetic variants of the AQP7 gene with semen quality in Murrah bulls. In this study, genomic DNA was extracted from the blood of Murrah bulls (n = 69) using the high salt method. Sequence data were analyzed using Bio Edit software (version 7.0.5) for detecting single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Statistical analysis was carried out using repeated GLM procedure measures (SAS 9.3). Analysis revealed 17 different SSCP variants in the AQP7 gene in Murrah buffaloes. Three unique SSCP band patterns were observed in exons 1 and 4. Exons 5, 7 and 8 showed five, four and two unique SSCP band patterns, respectively. Sequence analysis revealed a total of 20 SNPs (8 in exonic and 12 in intronic region). PCR-SSCP variants of exon 5 were significantly associated (P<0.01) with sperm concentration. SSCP variants of exons 5 and 8 were associated (P<0.05) with sperm viability and post thaw motility (PTM), respectively. The study revealed a high degree of genetic variability in the AQP7 gene in Murrah bulls. The SSCP variants observed are associated with semen parameters which suggests the possibility of using the AQP7 gene as a candidate gene for identification of markers for semen quality traits in buffaloes.Gen akvaporin 7 (AQP7), koji pripada akvagliceroporinima, analiziran je kombinacijom lančane reakcije polimerazom i utvrđivanjem polimorfizma jednolančane konformacije (PCR-SSCP) s ciljem da se istraži povezanost genskih varijanti s kvalitetom sjemena u Murrah bivola. Genomska DNA izdvojena je iz krvi bivola (n = 69) high salt metodom. Za otkrivanje polimorfizma pojedinačnih nukleotida (SNP) sekvencije su analizirane programom Bio Edit (verzija 7.0.5). Statistička analiza provedena je GLM procedurom ponovljenih mjerenja (SAS 9.3). Analiza je pokazala 17 različitih SSCP varijanti AQP7gena u Murrah bivola. Tri jedinstvena SSCP rasporeda linija utvrđena su u egzonima 1 i 4. Egzoni 5, 7 i 8 pokazali su pet, četiri i dva jedinstvena SSCP rasporeda linija. Sekvenciranje je pokazalo ukupno 20 SNP-a (8 u egzonima i 12 u intronima). PCR-SSCP varijante egzona 5 statistički su značajno povezane (P<0,01) s koncentracijom sjemena. SSCP varijante egzona 5 i 8 značajno su povezane (P<0,05) s vijabilnošću spermija i njihovom pokretljivošću nakon odmrzavanja. Istraživanje je pokazalo visok stupanj genetičke varijabilnosti akvaporina 7 u Murrah bivola. Utvrđene SSCP varijante koje su povezane s pokazateljima kakvoće sjemena upućuju na mogućnost upotrebe akvaporina 7 gena kao kandidatnog gena za identifikaciju biljega kvalitete sjemena bivola