Comparative study of vitamin D3 levels in polycystic ovarian syndrome vs non-polycystic ovarian females

Background: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is the most common endocrine disorder in women of reproductive age and has a strong genetic component with a prevalence of 6–10% in the general population. Metabolic disturbances are common in women suffering from PCOS: 30–40% have impaired glucose tolerance and IR with compensatory hyperinsulinemia, and as many as 10% will have type 2 diabetes mellitus by their fourth decade. Recently, vitamin D deficiency has been proposed as the possible missing link between IR and PCOS. Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) and hypovitaminosis D are the two most common endocrine disorders in young women leading to many adverse metabolic consequences.  This study aims to estimate vitamin D3 levels in patients of polycystic ovarian disease and compare it with non PCOS females and to study correlation between Vitamin D3 levels and polycystic ovarian syndrome. Methods: The present patient population case control study was carried out in Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology of Jaipur Golden Hospital diagnosed involving cases of PCOS and controls of non PCOS (48 each) by random sampling method from September 2019 to June 2021. History, general examination, systemic examination and Vitamin D levels was taken for each patient. Results: Mean vitamin D value of cases was 14.57±6.86 ng/ml and that in controls was 29.31±6.53 ng/ml. When we compared the mean vitamin D value of both the groups, there was statistically significant difference found between the two groups. . We found significant negative correlation found between vitamin D value with age and BMI. Conclusions: Hypovitaminosis D is very common in PCOS patients and exacerbates the metabolic abnormalities. It is essential to screen all the PCOS patients for 25OHD deficiency and institute appropriate replacement therapy to prevent the adverse consequences

Impact of health education on unmet needs of contraception in urban slums of Chandigarh, India

Background: Unmet need points to gap between some women reproductive intention and their contraceptive behavior. Unmet need for contraception is mainly attributed to lack of information, negative attitude, fear of adverse effects and social influences. The objective of this study was to investigate awareness and practice of contraceptive usage. And to estimate unmet need of contraception in the studied population and to identify the factors associated with it, and to evaluate impact of health education on unmet needs of contraception.Methods: A community-based longitudinal study was conducted in four randomly selected urban slum areas (colonies) of Chandigarh, India. A systematic two-stage random sample design was adopted.Results: Overall contraceptive awareness rates among women and men were increased from 84.1% to 96.3% and from 82.2% to 95.5% in post-interventional survey as compared to baseline survey. Contraceptive prevalence rates were found to be 57.3% and 65.5% respectively in pre interventional and post interventional surveys, against contraceptive awareness rates of 81.7% and 95.5% respectively, resulting in gaps between knowledge and practice to be unmet needs of contraception to the extents of 24.4% and 30.0% respectively in the two surveys.Conclusions: There is an urgent need of adopting some population specific integral strategies for changing social norms and attitudes of couples regarding reproductive issues, increase in contraceptives awareness as well as practice for reductions in unmet needs of contraception and unwanted/unplanned pregnancies

Postoperative sore throat with 0.05% betamethasone gel and 2% lignocaine jelly used as a lubricant for ProSeal LMA (PLMA) insertion

AbstractPostoperative sore throat (POST) is a minor complication after general anaesthesia. Many agents have been used as lubricant to reduce the incidence of POST with variable efficacy. We conducted a study to compare the incidence of POST with 0.05% betamethasone gel and 2% lignocaine jelly as a lubricant for PLMA insertion in patients undergoing general anaesthesia.Sixty subjects were divided randomly into two groups. Patients in Group I (n=30) had 2.5ml of 0.05% of betamethasone gel while the Group II had 2.5ml of 2% lignocaine jelly applied on the cuff of PLMA. After standard induction and insertion of PLMA cuff inflated to 60cm of H2O and was maintained at the same throughout the surgery. In PACU, patients were inquired about sore throat at immediate and 24h post operative period.POST was not observed in any of the patients of Group I. In group II 33% of the patients had 1st degree and 10% had 2nd degree of sore-throat in immediate post-operative period. After 24h 16% patients had 1st degree sore-throat and 3% patients had 2nd degree of sore-throat in Group II patients. We conclude that lubricating cuff of PLMA with 0.05% of betamethasone gel is effective in reducing the incidence of POST

Framing Research Question and Formulating Hypothesis for Testing: Critical Step in Research

Science is so dynamic that every moment some new advances are happening in each and every field. Medical science is also one of them. To keep pace with the advancements, we always need to update our knowledge to improve our decisions and actions relating to various aspects of medical science. A successful research will largely depend upon how well an investigator frames the research question. To comment upon the research with a degree of certainty, we need to develop a hypothesis, so that, it can be tested statistically by applying required tests of significance

Bactericidal Efficacy of Allium sativum (garlic) Against Multidrug Resistant Vibrio cholerae O1 Epidemic Strains

In recent years, emerging trend of antibiotic resistance in Vibrio cholerae associated with cholera epidemics is a matter of serious concern for the management of the disease. Indiscriminate use of antibiotics generally results in selection of antibiotic resistant strains. Introduction of newer antibiotics is a challenging task for the researchers as bacteria soon attain resistance. Therefore, identifying natural compounds of medicinal importance for control of cholera would be the best alternative. Garlic (Allium sativum) was recognised for many centuries in early Chinese, Egyptian and Indian civilisations as an herbal or traditional medicine. In present study, garlic was selected for screening of antimicrobial efficacy against V. cholerae. A total of 55 V. cholerae strains isolated from various outbreaks/epidemics were subjected to antimicrobial testing as per CLSI, USA 2010 guidelines. Antimicrobial screening of garlic extract was performed against all the multidrug resistant strains of V. cholerae. The garlic extracts showed antibacterial activity against all the V. cholerae strains tested, irrespective of their origin, multidrug resistance and virulence. Antibacterial efficacy of garlic on V. cholerae was also evident from in vivo study on sealed adult mice model. Thus, the Garlic extract harnesses the potential to control infection of multidrug resistant V. cholerae, especially in outbreak like situations in remote and under developed areas where drug supply itself is a challeng

Residues of Pesticides and Herbicides in Soils from Agriculture Areas of Delhi Region, India

This paper presents the residue levels of organochlorine, organophosphate pesticides and herbicides in agricultural soils from Delhi region. Among OCPs, HCH, DDT endosulphan and dieldrin ranged between <0.01-104.14 ng g-1, <0.01-15.79 ng g-1, <0.01-7.57 ng g-1 and <0.01-2.38 ng g-1, respectively. The concentration of OPPs ranged from <0.01-20.95 ng g-1, ND-3.92 ng g-1, ND-31.73 ng g-1, ND-6.46 ng g-1 and ND-6.46 ng g-1 for phosphomidon, monocrotophos, chlorpyriphos, quinolphos and ethion, respectively. Pendimethalin (0.27 ng g-1) was the dominant herbicides followed by butachlor (0.19 ng g-1), and fluchloralin (0.05 ng g-1). Data showed the region was contaminated by technical DDT and technical HCH mixture. The study reveals that the level of some organochlorine pesticides in agricultural soils is a matter of concern for future food chain accumulation and human health so; regular investigation of pesticide residues is recommended on soil health and contamination levels. Keywords: pesticides, herbicides, agricultural soil, Delhi, Indi

Distribution of polychlorinated biphenyls in agricultural soils from NCR, Delhi, India

ABSTRACT Twenty eight polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) congeners including twelve dioxin-lik

Fuzzy reliability analysis of a pulping system in paper industry with general distributions for all random variables

This paper discussed the fuzzy reliability of pulping system in paper industry. Pulping system consists of four subsystems such as Digester, Knotter, Deckers, and Openers. These subsystems are working in series. In subsystems Knotter and Openers, one unit is operative and another unit is kept as cold standby. Fuzzy failure rates and fuzzy repair rates of the subsystems are taken as general. Trapezoidal fuzzy numbers are used to find out the reliability of the pulping system. Using Mehar’s method, the numerical results for reliability are obtained by considering exponential, Rayleigh, and Weibull distributions. On the basis of the results obtained in this study, it is suggested that paper industry management should involve Weibull distributed random variables for pulping system to attain higher reliability

Availability and profit analysis of a two-unit cold standby system for general distribution

This paper discussed a two-unit cold standby system by considering the concepts of degradation, inspection, preventive maintenance (PM), and priority. The unit works as a reduced capacity after its repair and is called degraded unit. There is a single repairman who visits the system immediately. The repairman inspects the failed degraded unit to see the feasibility of repair. If the repair of the degraded unit is not possible, it is replaced by new unit. PM will provide to the system when both the units are degraded and available for use. Priority for operation and repair is provided to new unit over-degraded unit. Various reliability characteristics such as mean time to system failure (MTSF), availability, busy period of the repairman, expected number of visits by the repairman, and profit of the system have been obtained using regenerative point graphical technique. For particular case, the results for MTSF, availability, and profit function are obtained considering exponential, Rayleigh, and Weibull distributions for all random variables