A clinical study of fetomaternal outcome in pregnancy with polyhydramnios

Background: Amniotic fluid not only provides protection to the fetus from traumatic forces, cord compression, and microbial pathogens, but also plays an integral role in the normal development of the fetal musculoskeletal, pulmonary, and gastrointestinal systems. Polyhydramnios, defined as an excessive amount of amniotic fluid, complicates approximately 0.4-3.3% of all pregnancies. Fetal conditions that are associated with polyhydramnios include major congenital anomalies and both the immunologic and non-immunologic forms of hydrops foetalis. Maternal medical conditions are also known to be associated with polyhydramnios and subsequently alter perinatal outcome. So by diagnosing these cases as early as possible, these maternal complications can be prevented and advise proper prenatal counseling in relevant cases.Methods: This study was conducted in obstetrics and gynaecology department at a tertiary care hospital, over the period of from September 2015 to September 2016. Prospective observational study.Results: Polyhydramnios is commoner in primigravida. Causative factor are mainly idiopathic after which the most important is fetal defects. Diabetes is also associated finding with polyhydramnios in 8.3% cases. The occurrence of fetal congenital abnormality was directly proportional to the gestational age of pregnancy. Incidence of congenital abnormality was found to be 1.25 %. Congenital heart disease and cleft lip and cleft palate (3%) were the commonest congenital abnormality associated with polyhydramnios followed by anencephaly and spina bifida (3.3%).Conclusions: In our study Idiopathic polyhydramnios was found to be the most common cause of polyhydramnios. A careful study must be done for detection of etiological factors in all cases of polyhydramnios, careful screening, prenatal and antenatal counseling will help to improve the foetal outcome as well as to prevent the maternal complication

Rheology of Active-Particle Suspensions

We study the interplay of activity, order and flow through a set of coarse-grained equations governing the hydrodynamic velocity, concentration and stress fields in a suspension of active, energy-dissipating particles. We make several predictions for the rheology of such systems, which can be tested on bacterial suspensions, cell extracts with motors and filaments, or artificial machines in a fluid. The phenomena of cytoplasmic streaming, elastotaxis and active mechanosensing find natural explanations within our model.Comment: 3 eps figures, submitted to Phys Rev Let

Overexpression of miRNA-9 Generates Muscle Hypercontraction Through Translational Repression of Troponin-T in Drosophila melanogaster Indirect Flight Muscles

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small noncoding endogenous RNAs, typically 21–23 nucleotides long, that regulate gene expression, usually post-transcriptionally, by binding to the 3′-UTR of target mRNA, thus blocking translation. The expression of several miRNAs is significantly altered during cardiac hypertrophy, myocardial ischemia, fibrosis, heart failure, and other cardiac myopathies. Recent studies have implicated miRNA-9 (miR-9) in myocardial hypertrophy. However, a detailed mechanism remains obscure. In this study, we have addressed the roles of miR-9 in muscle development and function using a genetically tractable model system, the indirect flight muscles (IFMs) of Drosophila melanogaster. Bioinformatics analysis identified 135 potential miR-9a targets, of which 27 genes were associated with Drosophila muscle development. Troponin-T (TnT) was identified as major structural gene target of miR-9a. We show that flies overexpressing miR-9a in the IFMs have abnormal wing position and are flightless. These flies also exhibit a loss of muscle integrity and sarcomeric organization causing an abnormal muscle condition known as “hypercontraction.” Additionally, miR-9a overexpression resulted in the reduction of TnT protein levels while transcript levels were unaffected. Furthermore, muscle abnormalities associated with miR-9a overexpression were completely rescued by overexpression of TnT transgenes which lacked the miR-9a binding site. These findings indicate that miR-9a interacts with the 3′-UTR of the TnT mRNA and downregulates the TnT protein levels by translational repression. The reduction in TnT levels leads to a cooperative downregulation of other thin filament structural proteins. Our findings have implications for understanding the cellular pathophysiology of cardiomyopathies associated with miR-9 overexpression

A clinical study of fetomaternal outcome in pregnancy with polyhydramnios

Background: Amniotic fluid not only provides protection to the fetus from traumatic forces, cord compression, and microbial pathogens, but also plays an integral role in the normal development of the fetal musculoskeletal, pulmonary, and gastrointestinal systems. Polyhydramnios, defined as an excessive amount of amniotic fluid, complicates approximately 0.4-3.3% of all pregnancies. Fetal conditions that are associated with polyhydramnios include major congenital anomalies and both the immunologic and non-immunologic forms of hydrops foetalis. Maternal medical conditions are also known to be associated with polyhydramnios and subsequently alter perinatal outcome. So by diagnosing these cases as early as possible, these maternal complications can be prevented and advise proper prenatal counseling in relevant cases.Methods: This study was conducted in obstetrics and gynaecology department at a tertiary care hospital, over the period of from September 2015 to September 2016. Prospective observational study.Results: Polyhydramnios is commoner in primigravida. Causative factor are mainly idiopathic after which the most important is fetal defects. Diabetes is also associated finding with polyhydramnios in 8.3% cases. The occurrence of fetal congenital abnormality was directly proportional to the gestational age of pregnancy. Incidence of congenital abnormality was found to be 1.25 %. Congenital heart disease and cleft lip and cleft palate (3%) were the commonest congenital abnormality associated with polyhydramnios followed by anencephaly and spina bifida (3.3%).Conclusions: In our study Idiopathic polyhydramnios was found to be the most common cause of polyhydramnios. A careful study must be done for detection of etiological factors in all cases of polyhydramnios, careful screening, prenatal and antenatal counseling will help to improve the foetal outcome as well as to prevent the maternal complication

Assessment of utilisation of government programmes and services by pregnant women in India.

BackgroundSince the implementation of various maternal health programs, Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) has significantly declined in India through improvements in maternal health services. However, inequality persists at the regional and socio-economic levels. In light of this, the present study aims to assess the existing regional disparities in utilising various government initiatives for safe motherhood in India.MethodsNational-level datasets such as National Family and Health Surveys (NFHS-3 (2005-06); NFHS-4 (2015-16) and NFHS-5(2019-21); Health Management Information System (HMIS), 2019-20; Sample Registrar System (SRS), 2001-2018) were used in the study. In addition, composite Index and inequality measures (Range, Ratio, and Gini) were calculated to examine inequality. At the same time, the Pearson correlation was used to investigate the correlation between various components of maternal health services and Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR).ResultsThe composite index score (0.65) reflects that India is still far behind the targets of the utilisation of maternal health care services. Within the utilisation of services, the Gini coefficient reveals that the least inequality was recorded in skilled birth assistance deliveries (0.03) and institutional deliveries (0.04). In contrast, the highest inequality was recorded in receiving Iron and Folic Acid (IFA) Tablets for 100 days (0.19) and four Antenatal Care (ANC) visits (0.13) among selected states. Based on the composite score for maternal health utilisation, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, and Delhi were amongst the best performers, whereas Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, and Assam were amongst the worst performers.ConclusionThis indicates that the government's single-minded focus on enhancing institutional deliveries and skilled health-assisted deliveries has detracted from other essential interventions related to maternal health. Therefore, the states with the utilisation of maternal services need to initiate immediate action to increase the ANC and Post-natal Care (PNC utilisation with more attention towards better implementation of existing ANC programmes by the government

Classification of Myopathies on Molecular basis in Drosophila using Raman spectroscopy

Myopathies are muscular diseases in which muscle fibers degenerate due to many factors such as nutrient deficiency, infection and mutations in myofibrillar etc. The objective of this study is to identify the bio-markers to distinguish various muscle mutants in Drosophila (fruit fly) using Raman Spectroscopy. Principal Components based Linear Discriminant Analysis (PC-LDA) classification model yielding >95% accuracy was developed to classify such different mutants representing various myopathies according to their physiopathology

A rare case of plantar epithelioma cuniculatum arising from a wart

A 68-year-old man, a known case of hypertension, coronary artery disease and old cardiovascular accident with right-sided hemiplegia, came with the chief complaints of a large cauliflower like growth with pus discharge on the left heel since 15 years. The patient had sustained a penetrating injury by a thorn on the left heel region few days before the lesion appeared. Dermatological examination revealed a single verrucous lesion measuring 7 × 7 cm on the left heel region associated with discharge of foul smelling cheesy material. There was also a enlarged right inguinal lymph node which was non-tender, firm, measuring 2 cm in diameter with normal overlying skin. X-ray left ankle was done which showed some soft tissue swelling. A skin biopsy showed hyperkeratosis, acanthosis and parakeratosis. Elongated rete ridges with keratinocyte hyperplasia, forming a large mass pressing on the underlying dermis were seen. There was formation of multiple large keratin filled invaginations and crypts. No atypical cells were seen. Based on history, clinical examination and investigations, a diagnosis of epithelium cuniculatum type of verrucous squamous cell carcinoma was made. A wide excision with a flap cover was performed in consultation with the oncosurgeon and the excision sample was sent for histopathological re-examination, which confirmed the diagnosis of epithelioma cuniculatum