Study on assessment of knowledge, attitude and practice towards prevention and screening of cervical cancer among couples

Background: Cervical cancer (CC) is caused by Human Papilloma Virus which is sexually transmitted. With the rise in its incidence, it is necessary to know if couple awareness is important to increase uptake of screening. Thus, this study was undertaken to analyze if knowledge, attitude and practice towards prevention and screening of CC in male partners has influence in female counterparts. Methodology: Questionnaire based cross sectional study from August 2022 to August 2023, done in the department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Sikkim Manipal Institute of Medical Sciences. 340 couples (680 participants), ≥18years of age, attending the outpatient department who consented for the study were enrolled. Results: Only 48% of the study population (142 couples) had heard about cervical cancer. There was no significant difference in the knowledge between males and females among couples who had heard about CC. However, there was significant difference in the female counterpart’s knowledge when males had or lacked knowledge on CC (p<0.00001). Assessment of preventive practice showed that only 17% women had done screening test and only 33% of couples used barrier contraception. More than 80 % couples had a positive attitude towards screening and vaccination against the disease. Conclusions: Though the population exhibited positive attitude towards CC prevention but the lack of knowledge led to less preventive practices. Male partner’s knowledge also showed influence on awareness about CC among females. Hence, to increase screening uptake, educational programs should include couples rather than females

TPR5 is involved in directional cell division and is essential for the maintenance of meristem cell organization in Arabidopsis thaliana

Root growth in plants is achieved through the co-ordination of cell division and expansion. In higher plants, the radial structure of the roots is formed during embryogenesis and maintained thereafter throughout development. Here we show that the tetratricopeptide repeat domain protein TPR5 is necessary for maintaining radial structure and growth rates in Arabidopsis thaliana roots. We isolated an A. thaliana mutant with reduced root growth and determined that TPR5 was the gene responsible for the phenotype. The root growth rate of the tpr5-1 mutant was reduced to ~60% of that in wild-type plants. The radial structure was disturbed by the occurrence of occasional extra periclinal cell divisions. While the number of meristematic cells was reduced in the tpr5 mutants, the cell length in the mature portion of the root did not differ from that of the wild type, suggesting that TPR5 is required for proper cell division but dispensable for cell elongation. Expression of the TPR5–GFP fusion protein driven by the TPR5 promoter displayed fluorescence in the cytoplasm of root meristems, but not in mature root regions. DNA staining revealed that frequencies of micronuclei were increased in root meristems of tpr5 mutants. From this study, we concluded that TPR5 is involved in preventing the formation of micronuclei and is necessary for both the activity and directionality of cell division in root meristems

Emergent Surgical Removal of a Misplaced Amplatzer Device from Right Atrium

Surgery is the standard procedure for closure of atrial septal defects (ASDs). Recently, percutaneous transcatheter procedures emerged as therapeutic alternatives for closure of both ASDs and patent foramen ovale. Here, we report a 21-year-old young female underwent ASD closure using an Amplatzer device, unfortunately, however the device misplaced to the right atrium during procedure. Percutaneous extraction of the device was failed; patient was taken for immediate surgical intervention in cardiogenic shock. Amplatzer device was removed surgically on cardiopulmonary bypass successfully, patient recovered well

Submammary incision as right minithoracotomy approach with intercostal nerve exclusion and blockage technique: A comparative study in the young Indian female population undergoing mitral valve replacement

Objective: This study compares the quality of mitral valve (MV) replacement performed through a submammary right thoracotomy incision with nerve sparing opening and closure to the standard midline sternotomy procedure. Materials and Methods: Hundred young female patients underwent MV replacement with 50 patients in the thoracotomy group and the remaining 50 patients in the median sternotomy group between August 2013 and April 2014 with follow-up till August 2015. Demographics, procedures, operative techniques, and postoperative morbidity and mortality, along with follow-up, were recorded in both the patients and compared. Results: In our study, postoperative pain and postoperative drainage were significantly lower in the thoracotomy variant with 60% of the cases draining only 100-200 mL. Morbidity is quite less in the thoracotomy variant with 60% of the cases able to stand up without support postoperatively 12 h after extubation while the number is only 20% in the sternotomy variant and that too with sternal support. Most of the thoracotomy cases were discharged from the hospital within 1 week. On follow-up, there were only two cases, i.e., 4% of the total cases presenting with hypertrophied scar, which is significantly lower than 20% of the sternotomy cases where three cases developed into keloid while in the sternotomy cases, 10 (20%) cases reported with wound discharge and infection. Conclusions: This procedure provides the same quality of treatment through a less traumatic and better cosmetic incision, resulting in less hospital stay and a lower overall cost