Role of partogram in the management of spontaneous labour in primigravida and multigravida

Background: The objective of this study was to analyze the patterns of labour amongst spontaneous parturients using a WHO modified partogram and compare outcomes of labour and their neonatal outcomes amongst the different partogram patternsMethods: This prospective study was carried out in the labour room of the department of obstetrics and gynaecology of Acharya Vinoba Bhave rural hospital, Sawangi Meghe, Wardha, Maharashtra, over a period of two years i.e. from October 2012 to September 2014. Analysis of the progress of labour was done in two hundred and fifty women with the help of modified WHO partogram. The patients were divided into three groups. Group A whose partogram remained to the left of the alert line, group B whose partogram remained between the alert and action line and group C had their partogram crossing the action line. The different types of abnormal labour were studied. The maternal and fetal outcomes were assessed.Results: 67.2% of the women belonged to group A, 22.8% to group B and 10% to group C. Surgical interference and requirement of augmentation increased as the labour curve moved to the right of the alert line. All patients delivered within 12 hours. Timely intervention reduced the incidence of prolonged labour and its sequelae. 82 patients showed abnormal labour patterns. There were no maternal death or neonatal death.Conclusions: The use of modified WHO partogram significantly improves both maternal & neonatal outcome. Routine use of partogram should be implemented in all institutions and all labour rooms in India where delivery care is being given and especially in areas where operative and new-born facilities are lacking to facilitate early referral.

Chemical compositions and antimicrobial activities of Athrixia phylicoides DC. (bush tea), Monsonia burkeana (special tea) and synergistic effects of both combined herbal teas

AbstractObjectiveTo determine the chemical compositions and evaluate the antimicrobial activity of bush tea (Athrixia phylicoides DC.), special tea (Monsonia burkeana) and synergy (combination of bush tea and special tea).MethodsTotal polyphenols were determined using the methods reported by Singleton and Rossi (1965) and modified by Waterman and Mole (1994). Tannins were determined using vanillin HCL methods described by Prince et al. (1978). Total antioxidants were determined using the methods described by Awika et al. (2004). The micro dilution technique using 96-well micro-plates, as described by Eloff (1998) was used to obtain the minimum inhibition concentration (MIC) and minimum microbicidal concentration (MMC) values of the ethanol extracts against the microorganisms under study. The microbes strain used was Gram negative bacteria such as Escherichia coli, Klebsiella oxytoca, Proteus vulgaris, Serratia marcescens, Salmonella typhi, Klebsiella pneumonia; Gram positive bacteria such as Bacillus cereus, Staphylococcus aureus and a fungus Candida albicans.ResultsThe results demonstrated that special tea contains significantly higher content of total polyphenols (8.34 mg/100 g) and total antioxidant (0.83 mg/100 g) as compared to bush tea [total polyphenols (6.41 mg/100g) and total antioxidant (0.63 mg/100g)] and combination of bush tea and special tea [total polyphenols (6.42 mg/100 g) and total antioxidant (0.64 mg/100 g)]. There was no significant difference in tannins between bush tea, special tea and synergy. The results of antimicrobial activity (MIC and MMC) demonstrated that the ethanol extracts of bush tea, special tea and synergy possessed antimicrobial activity against all microorganisms at different zones. The MIC of bush tea ranged from 1.56 to 12.50 mg/mL while the MMC ranged from 0.78 to 12.50 mg/mL. Special tea's MIC ranged from 0.39 to 12.50 mg/mL while the MMC ranged from 0.01 to 12.50 mg/mL. The MIC of synergy ranged from 3.13 to 12.50 mg/mL while the MMC ranged from 3.13 to 12.50 mg/mL without positive synergistic effect recorded.ConclusionsBoth bush and special tea contain total polyphenols, total antioxidants and tannins with special tea containing a significantly higher total polyphenols and total antioxidant as compared to bush tea and synergy. Bush tea, special tea and synergy possess antimicrobial activity at various degrees

P2P Networking and Technology Enablers in Business Applications

The usage of Peer to Peer Networks over the Internet has been growing by exponentially. Apartbfrom the hype surrounding P2P, it has remarkable ramifications on the way the Internet could be used. This is an area which is not explored as well as we would want to. This thesis examines the architectural differences in P2P networks and generic application domains where the principles of P2P are exploited. The usage of P2P in different business verticals and technology enablers that go along with it are presented. The focus is on several case studies each addressing a different use case. The common thread running through all of these use cases is the ability to resolve a business issue. Finally the focus is on how P2P networks might probably change the way the Internet behaves in the near [email protected]

P2P Networking and Technology Enablers in Business Applications

The usage of Peer to Peer Networks over the Internet has been growing by exponentially. Apartbfrom the hype surrounding P2P, it has remarkable ramifications on the way the Internet could be used. This is an area which is not explored as well as we would want to. This thesis examines the architectural differences in P2P networks and generic application domains where the principles of P2P are exploited. The usage of P2P in different business verticals and technology enablers that go along with it are presented. The focus is on several case studies each addressing a different use case. The common thread running through all of these use cases is the ability to resolve a business issue. Finally the focus is on how P2P networks might probably change the way the Internet behaves in the near [email protected]

Direct Evidence on the external stimuli induced dissembly of DNA through microscopic techniques

Calf thymus DNA exhibited a regular network-like structure on mica and copper surfaces, respectively, under atomic force (AFM) and scanning electron (SEM) microscopic techniques while oily streak cholesteric birefringent texture was observed on the glass surface under optical polarizing microscopy (OPM). In the presence of an external stimuli such as temperature, intercalating compounds such as the viologen-linked pyrene 1 and para-tolylacridinium iodide (2) and the minor groove binding spermine (4) prevented the DNA-DNA interactions and thereby perturbed the self-assembly of DNA. In contrast, the major groove binding bovine serum albumin (BSA) and the noninteracting ligand ortho-tolylacridinium iodide (3) did not affect the overall morphology of DNA, as characterized through the AFM, SEM, OPM, and circular dichroism (CD) techniques. As far as we know, this is the first report that presents direct evidence for the perturbation of supramolecular assembly of DNA under various conditions and that can be visualized through different microscopic techniques

Chiral supramolecular assemblies of a squaraine dye in solution and thin films: concentration-, temperature-, and solvent-induced chirality inversion

We prepared novel cholesterol-appended squaraine dye 1 and model squaraine dye 2 and investigated their aggregation behavior in solution and thin films using photophysical, chiroptical, and microscopic techniques. Investigations on the dependence of aggregation on solvent composition (good/poor, CHCl3/CH3CN) demonstrated that squaraine dye 1 forms two novel H-type chiral supramolecular assemblies with opposite chirality at different good/poor solvent compositions. Model compound 2 formed J-type achiral assemblies under similar conditions. The supramolecular assembly of 1 observed at lower fractions of the poor solvent could be assigned to the thermodynamically stable form, while a kinetically controlled assembly is formed at higher fractions of the poor solvent. This assignment is evidenced by temperature- and concentration-dependent experiments. With increasing temperature, the chirality of the kinetically controlled aggregate was lost and, on cooling, the aggregate with the opposite chirality was formed. On further heating and cooling the aggregates thus formed resulted in no significant changes in chirality, that is they are thermodynamically stable. Similarly, at lower concentrations, the thermodynamically stable form exists, but at higher concentration aggregation was found to proceed with kinetic control. Based on these observations it can be assumed that formation of the kinetically controlled assembly might be largely dependent on the presence of the nonpolar cholesterol moiety as well as the amount of poor solvent present. However, under solvent-free conditions, structurally different aggregates were observed when drop cast from solutions containing monomer, whereas a left-handed CD signal corresponding to the thermodynamically controlled assemblies was observed from pre-aggregated solutions

A supramolecular ON-OFF-ON fluorescence assay for selective recognition of GTP

With the objective of developing small molecule based receptors for nucleosides and nucleotides, interactions of a cyclic donor-acceptor conjugate 1 with adenosine, AMP, ADP, CTP, UTP, ITP, ATP, and GTP have been investigated by absorption, steady-state, and time-resolved fluorescence, cyclic voltammetry (CV), NMR, and fluorescence indicator displacement techniques. Titration of 1 with the fluorescent indicator, 8-hydroxy-1,3,6-pyrene trisulfonate (HPTS), resulted in nearly complete fluorescence quenching of HPTS, along with 25% hypochromicity in its absorption spectrum. Benesi-Hildebrand analysis gave a 1:1 stoichiometry for the complex between the receptor 1 and HPTS with an association constant (Kass) of 4.66 × 104 M−1 in buffer. The driving force for such a complexation was evaluated to be the synergistic effects of π-stacking and electrostatic interactions inside the cavity as confirmed by the effect of ionic strength, temperature, and the negative results obtained with the model compound 2. Titration of the nonfluorescent complex [1.HPTS] with various nucleosides and nucleotides resulted in revival of fluorescence of the indicator, HPTS. It was observed that GTP induces maximum displacement of HPTS from the complex [1.HPTS] with an overall fluorescence enhancement of ca. 150-fold. The addition of adenosine, AMP, ADP, CTP, and UTP showed negligible changes, whereas ca. 45- and 50-fold enhancement was observed with ATP and ITP, respectively. The competitive displacement of the indicator by various analytes is found to be in the order GTP (buffer) ≈ GTP (biofluid) » ITP ≈ ATP > UTP > CTP ≈ ADP ≈ AMP ≈ Ade. By virtue of having a better π-electron cloud, GTP undergoes effective electronic, π-stacking, and electrostatic interactions inside the cavity and forms a stable complex with the receptor 1. The uniqueness of this assay is that it differentiates GTP from ATP and other nucleotides and signals the event through a visual "turn on" fluorescence mechanism in buffer as well as in biological fluids

Encapsulation of electron donor-acceptor dyads in β-cyclodextrin cavity: unusual planarization and enhancement in rate of electron-transfer reaction

Interaction of β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) with a few novel electron donor acceptor dyads 1a-c and 2a-c, having aryl and flexible methylene spacer groups, has been investigated through photophysical, chiroptical, electrochemical, NMR, and microscopic techniques. Dyads 1a and 1c, with p-tolyl and biphenyl spacer groups, respectively, exhibited significantly decreased fluorescence quantum yields and lifetimes in the presence of β-CD, while negligible changes were observed for dyad 1b with an o-tolyl spacer. In contrast, spacer-length-dependent significant enhancement in fluorescence quantum yields and lifetimes was observed for dyads 2a-c, with flexible polymethylene (n = 1, 3, 11) spacer groups. Association constants of β-CD encapsulated complexes have been determined and the contrast behavior observed in these systems is explained through an electron transfer (k<SUB>ET</SUB>) mechanism based on calculated favorable change in free energy (ΔG<SUB>ET</SUB> = −1.27 eV) and the redox species characterized through laser flash photolysis studies. Rates of k<SUB>ET</SUB> have been estimated and are found to increase ca. 2-fold in the case of dyads 1a and 1c when encapsulated in β-CD, while significantly decreased k<SUB>ET</SUB> values were observed for the dyads 2a-c with flexible spacer (ca. 9-fold for 2c). As characterized through cyclic voltammetry, 2D NMR [correlated (COSY) and nuclear Overhauser enhancement (NOESY) spectroscopy], and laser flash photolysis studies, theβ-CD encapsulation of dyads with aliphatic spacer groups leads to the conformational unfolding of a sandwich type of structure, whereas dyads with rigid aryl spacer groups undergo unusual planarization as compared to the uncomplexed dyads, resulting in enhanced electron-transfer reaction between the donor and acceptor moieties