Ovarian tumor: a review

Ovarian cancers are the 7th most common cancers in women. It is found more commonly in elderly age group. The survival depends on the stage of diagnosis and many of the patients present in advanced disease when the prognosis becomes dismal. The dilemma is to differentiate them from benign disease so that the unwanted laparotomies could be saved. Biomarkers and radiological classification may play a role in differentiating benign from malignant and deciding on the management. There is no screening method to diagnose ovarian cancers and the patient presents with nonspecific complaints missing them in early stages. Optimal cytoreduction is required for better overall survival, progression free survival and response to adjuvant chemotherapy. Those women having history of breast, ovary, endometrial, colorectal cancers should be screened for malignancies and genetic testing is advised. Surgery is the mainstay of treatment followed by chemotherapy. Risk reducing salpingoophorectomy can be offered to women having BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation carriers after they complete their family. The area of target therapies is the most recent and promising in treatment of ovarian cancer. They are coming in forefront when chemotherapy toxicity, drug resistance are big hurdles in treatment of ovarian cancer. With recent advances and understanding of the biology of ovarian cancer have led to clinical trials of targeted agents. The  angiogenesis inhibitors and polyadenosine diphosphate-ribose polymerase (PARP) inhibitors are the most developed

A rare case of severe hypertriglyceridemia induced pancreatitis in pregnancy

Acute pancreatitis is caused by various causes such as Gall stone disease, alcoholism, drug abuse but rarely caused by severe hypertriglyceridemia. It typically presents as acute or recurrent pancreatitis. The hypertriglyceridemia can be gestation induced or familial. The family history of the pregnant women needs to be taken in detail. The serum triglyceride levels in the range of 1000 to 2000 mg/dl in patients with type I, III, IV and V hyperlipoproteinemia (Friedrickson's classification) is the identifiable risk factor. The clinical course of hypertriglyceridemia induced pancreatitis is similar to other causes. We hereby report a case of 21-year-old lady G3P1L0A1 with 37 weeks of pregnancy without any family history of hypertriglyceridemia and but with history of recurrent episodes of acute pancreatitis

Comparison of feeding practices among rural and urban mothers and their effect on nutritional status of children

Objective: The objective of this study was to compare the nutritional status in infants based on infant feeding practices among rural and urban areas. Methods: An observational study was carried out in the Department of Paediatrics of a tertiary care hospital of New Delhi. The present study included a total of 1000 children, of which 500 were from rural and 500 from urban background over a period of 1 year. Information on breastfeeding and complementary feeding practices was recorded. Results: In this study, we found that early initiation of breastfeeding (within 1 h after birth) was significantly more common in urban area as compared to rural(71.8% vs. 54.2%; p=0.001). Significantly higher proportion of mothers in urban population (88.0%) was frequently breastfeeding their children than rural ones 76.0% (p=0.001). Practice of night feeding was same in both the groups. Practices of giving prelacteal feeding were significantly higher in rural than in urban area (50.2% vs. 18.4%; p=0.001). Children in whom complementary feeding was introduced beyond 6 months had significantly higher occurrence of malnutrition (68.6% vs. 55.4%; p=0.004). Type of complementary feed did not affect the occurrence of malnutrition. Conclusion: Exclusively, breastfed children below 6 months of age and children where complementary feeding is introduced timely at 6 months have lower incidence of malnutrition as compared to those given top feeding before 6 months and inappropriate complementary feeding beyond 6 months of age

Fetus papyraceous, a rare complication of twin pregnancy: case report

Fetus papyraceous or compressus is the mummified fetus associated with multiple gestation, where one fetus dies in early second trimester, flattened, mummified and compressed between the membranes of the living fetus and the uterine wall. It is more common in monozygotic twins but may occur in dizygotic variety. However, the maternal and fetal complications in affected cases can be severe. We present a case that was diagnosed as dichorionic diamniotic twin gestation in early pregnancy which subsequently resulted in the fetal demise of one twin in second trimester leading to fetus papyraceus, but careful maternal and fetal monitoring leads to successful healthy outcome of mother and surviving fetus

Effect of coloured shade nets on yield and quality of pomegranate (Punica granatum) cv. Mridula in semi-arid region of Punjab

The productivity of pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) cv. Mridula was examined under shade nets of different colours (Red, Black and Green) with shade intensities (Red 50% PAR, Black 50% PAR, Green 35% PAR and 50% PAR) in Abohar, Punjab over two growing seasons. To overcome the evaporation losses, use of fogger and microsprinkler was done along with Kaolin 4% and Borax 0.4% to prevent sunburn and cracking problem. An insect net (50 mesh) was also used to prevent the damage from insects especially pomegranate fruit fly. The experimental results clearly showed that photoselective nets influenced photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) transmitted through the canopy which caused variation in average monthly temperature and humidity. The quality of the fruits was affected under the open field conditions as compared to other treatments. Maximum acidity (0.412%), Vitamin C (13.52 mg/ 100 g), total sugars (13%) and highest antioxidant activity (40.1%) were recorded under open field conditions. Whereas minimum acidity (0.206%), minimum vitamin C (5.80mg/100g), total sugars (6.8%), and total phenols (7.5%) were recorded in the fruits grown under black shade net (50%). On the other hand, the application of shade net had significant impact on the quantitative characteristics. Shading with the net (Red 50%) resulted in the significant increase in the length of the fruits (83.39 mm) along with higher fruit weight (310 g) and highest yield of 6.70 kg/plant as compared to the open field condition (3.14 kg/plant). The results, therefore, demonstrate the potency of photoselective netting (Red colour) for improving the agro-economic performance of horticultural crops especially in harsh climates and arid zones. Placing the red nets over mature plants at intermediate shade levels (35% PAR and 50% PAR) provides higher yield without any detrimental effects on fruit quality

Interspecies Communication and Periodontal Disease

More than 500 bacterial strains may be found in dental plaque. In the beginning, the emphasis was laid on the isolation of bacteria in pure culture to define their properties. However, now, it has been well established that in nature the bacteria exist as a member of polymicrobial community or consortium of interacting species. Interactions among human oral bacteria are integral to the development and maturation of the plaque. These interactions occur at several levels including physical contact, metabolic exchange, small-signal molecule-mediated communication, and exchange of genetic material. This high level of interspecies interaction benefits the microorganism by providing a broader habitat range, effective metabolism, increasing the resistance to host defence, and enhancing their virulence. This generally has a detrimental effect on the host and is attributed to many chronic infections which poses a therapeutic challenge

Phylogeography and Population Structure Analysis Reveal Diversity by Gene Flow and Mutation in Ustilago segetum (Pers.) Roussel tritici Causing Loose Smut of Wheat

Ustilago segetum (Pers.) Roussel tritici (UST) causes loose smut of wheat account for considerable grain yield losses globally. For effective management, knowledge of its genetic variability and population structure is a prerequisite. In this study, UST isolates sampled from four different wheat growing zones of India were analyzed using the second largest subunit of the RNA polymerase II (RPB2) and a set of sixteen neutral simple sequence repeats (SSRs) markers. Among the 112 UST isolates genotyped, 98 haplotypes were identified. All the isolates were categorized into two groups (K = 2), each consisting of isolates from different sampling sites, on the basis of unweighted paired-grouping method with arithmetic averages (UPGMA) and the Bayesian analysis of population structure. The positive and significant index of association (IA = 1.169) and standardized index of association (rBarD = 0.075) indicate population is of non-random mating type. Analysis of molecular variance showed that the highest variance component is among isolates (91%), with significantly low genetic differentiation variation among regions (8%) (Fst = 0.012). Recombination (Rm = 0) was not detected. The results showed that UST isolates have a clonal genetic structure with limited genetic differentiation and human arbitrated gene flow and mutations are the prime evolutionary processes determining its genetic structure. These findings will be helpful in devising management strategy especially for selection and breeding of resistant wheat cultivars

Molecular diagnostic assay for pre-harvest detection of Tilletia indica infection in wheat plants

The current study describes a new diagnostic method for the rapid and accurate detection of Tilletia indica, the pathogen accountable for causing Karnal bunt (KB) disease in wheat. This method uses quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) and a primer set derived from glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) gene of T. indica to identify the presence of the pathogen. The qPCR assay using this primer set was found highly sensitive, with a limit of detection (LOD) value of 4 pg of T. indica DNA. This level of sensitivity allows for the detection of the pathogen even in cases of different growth stages of wheat, where no visible symptoms of infection on the wheat plants can be seen by naked eyes. The study also validated the qPCR assay on ten different wheat cultivars. Overall, this study presents a valuable molecular tool for rapid, specific and sensitive detection of KB fungus in wheat host. This method has practical applications in disease management, screening of wheat genotypes against KB and can aid in the development of strategies to mitigate the impact of Karnal bunt disease on wheat production

Conservation agriculture based crop management practices impact diversity and population dynamics of the insect-pests and their natural enemies in agroecosystems

Human efforts to grow abundant food through the persistent use of resource-intensive farming practices have resulted in declining soil health, and deterioration of ecosystem functions and services. Conservation agriculture (CA) has emerged as a practice to minimize the impacts of conventional resource-exhaustive and energy-intensive agriculture. Minimum soil disturbance, permanent soil cover, and diversification are the key components of CA. Tillage through conventional practices on the other hand has detrimental effects on the soil and environment as it requires deep inversion of soil with instruments such as mouldboard plow, disc plow etc. leaving very less organic matter in soil after establishment of crop. Even though, CA advocates many benefits over conventional agriculture in terms of soil and water conservation, the consequent changes in moisture and temperature regimes due to reduced tillage and surface cover would likely going to influence the biological activity, including insect pests and their natural enemies which dwell within these agroecosystems. The changed crop conditions under CA may favor particular insect communities and their ecological niches. The adoption of such practices may lead to decrease in insect pests with major activity on the crop canopy. However, the activity of the insect pests that spend their maximum life span at the soil surface or beneath the soil surface may increase. Recent insect-pest outbreaks in North-Western India and imbalances reported in Indo-Gangetic Plains point to the need for a better understanding of the inter-relationships between tillage intensity, residue retention, and insect pest population dynamics. The current review analyzes the existing state of knowledge of these dynamics and presents the scenarios that may emerge as CA get more acceptance. This review will help to develop countermeasures to improve performance and ecosystem services of Conservation agriculture (CA) based cropping systems