A Review on Vitamin D Deficiency

Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin that plays an important role in bone metabolism and seems to have some anti-inflammatory and immune-modulating properties. In addition, recent epidemiologic studies have observed relationships between low vitamin D levels and multiple disease states. Low vitamin D levels are associated with increased overall and cardiovascular mortality, cancer incidence and mortality, and autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis. Although it is well known that the combination of vitamin D and calcium is necessary to maintain bone density as people age, vitamin D may also be an independent risk factor for falls among the elderly. Vitamin D had been linked to skeletal disease including calcium, phosphorus, and bone metabolism, osteoporosis, fractures, muscle strength, and falls. In the 2000s, growing scientific attention turned to non-skeletal chronic diseases as vitamin D deficiency was linked to cancer, cardiovascular diseases, metabolic disorders, infectious diseases, and autoimmune diseases, as well as mortality

Demography of helminth parasites in relation to biometic characteristics of Mastacembalus armatus

The study was conducted to collect and identify helminth parasites of Mastacembalus armatus and also to determine the prevalence intensity and abundance of parasitic infection. 118 M. armatus, obtained from different sampling stations of Yamuna river between March 2008 to February 2009 were examined for endoparasitic helminth infections. Of these only 31 fishes were found infected. Four helminth species including one nematode (Ascaridia ganpatii), two cestodes (Polyonchobothrium armatii, Senga nayari) and one trematode (Eucreadium pandeyi)were found in host fish. The over all monthly infestation of prevalence (0.29), intensity (3.28) and abundance (1.13) were recorded. The maximum infection was recorded in middle size range while very small and larger fishes showed lesser susceptibility to helminth parasites

Research on emotional intelligence among Indian teachers: A Systematic Review and meta-analysis of its correlation with health parameters and impact of gender [version 2; peer review: 2 approved]

Background Emotional intelligence is the self-perception related to identification and regulation of emotions. Several studies have been done among Indian teachers evaluating emotional intelligence in relation to demographic, professional and various psychological parameters, but the variety of scales, teacher types, and conflicting results makes it difficult to draw any meaningful conclusions from this heterogeneous data. The present work aims to synthesize the available data by both qualitative and quantitative analysis and is the first such attempt to include only Indian studies in this field. The main objectives were to determine the correlation of emotional intelligence with teachers’ health parameters and to study the gender difference in emotional intelligence. Methods After a thorough literature search in Google, Google scholar, Scopus, Web of science and Pubmed, fifty-five Indian studies were selected which empirically examined teachers’ emotional intelligence, either alone or in association with another parameter evaluating teachers’ psychological health and performance. After qualitative assessment of major findings, quantitative analysis was performed. Three separate meta-analysis were carried out. The first one with fifteen effect sizes among 3291 participants evaluated correlation with personal health parameters. The second with nineteen effect sizes in 4165 participants evaluated correlation with professional health parameters. The third with twenty-six studies involving 6005 participants assessed effect of gender. Results The results show that almost all studies have used a trait measure, teachers’ emotional intelligence is positively correlated with both personal and professional health parameters and gender has no effect on emotional intelligence. Conclusion Major limitations are a very high degree of heterogeneity of the data, incomplete description of the scales, inadequate randomization and small sample sizes in many studies. The results indicate the importance of emotional intelligence in both personal and professional life of teachers and no effect of gender preparing a solid base for future research

Research on emotional intelligence among Indian teachers: A Systematic Review and meta-analysis of its correlation with health parameters and impact of gender [version 1; peer review: 2 approved]

Background Emotional intelligence is the self-perception related to identification and regulation of emotions. Several studies have been done among Indian teachers evaluating emotional intelligence in relation to demographic, professional and various psychological parameters, but the variety of scales, teacher types, and conflicting results makes it difficult to draw any meaningful conclusions from this heterogeneous data. The present work aims to synthesize the available data by both qualitative and quantitative analysis and is the first such attempt to include only Indian studies in this field. The main objectives were to determine the correlation of emotional intelligence with teachers’ health parameters and to study the gender difference in emotional intelligence. Methods After a thorough literature search in Google, Google scholar, Scopus, Web of science and Pubmed, fifty-five Indian studies were selected which empirically examined teachers’ emotional intelligence, either alone or in association with another parameter evaluating teachers’ psychological health and performance. After qualitative assessment of major findings, quantitative analysis was performed. Three separate meta-analysis were carried out. The first one with fifteen effect sizes among 3291 participants evaluated correlation with personal health parameters. The second with nineteen effect sizes in 4165 participants evaluated correlation with professional health parameters. The third with twenty-six studies involving 6005 participants assessed effect of gender. Results The results show that almost all studies have used a trait measure, teachers’ emotional intelligence is positively correlated with both personal and professional health parameters and gender has no effect on emotional intelligence. Conclusion Major limitations are a very high degree of heterogeneity of the data, incomplete description of the scales, inadequate randomization and small sample sizes in many studies. The results indicate the importance of emotional intelligence in both personal and professional life of teachers and no effect of gender preparing a solid base for future research

Study of the frequency of female genital tract infection using cartridge based nucleic acid amplification test

Background: The aim of the study was to study the frequency of female genital tract infection using cartridge based nucleic acid amplification test (CBNAAT), to study the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and diagnostic accuracy of CBNAAT.Methods: This prospective observational study was conducted among 100 patients as per inclusion criteria with genital tract infection in Swami Vivekanand Subharti University, Meerut over a period of two years. Investigations including ZN staining for acid fast bacillus (AFB), endometrial sampling for histopathology, CBNAAT and BACTEC culture were sent.Results: In a study of 100 patients’ histopathological examination detected tuberculosis in 2% patients while CBNAAT detected tuberculosis in 5% patients. Tubercle bacilli was found in 3% women on AFB stain while in only 1%-woman genital tuberculosis was diagnosed by BACTEC culture.Conclusions: Female genital tuberculosis is detected most frequently when a woman presents with unexplained infertility. Newer technologies allow genital tuberculosis to be identified at an earlier stage and enable us to provide treatment. CBNAAT being a sensitive test picked up more cases than histopathology, culture, AFB stain. Hence CBNAAT should be widely used for early detection of female genital tuberculosis

Colposcopic evaluation in cases of persistent inflammatory Pap smear

Background: The aim of the study was to assess the colposcopic evaluation in cases of persistant inflammatory Papanicolaou (Pap) smear.Methods: This was a prospective analytical study, conducted amongst 78 women attending the outpatient department of obstetrics and gynaecology at Subharti Medical College. Pap smear was performed by the conventional method and colposcopy was done for all 78 sexually active women who came with complaints of pain abdomen, irregular cycles, white discharge per vaginum and urinary tract infections. Final correlation of Pap smear and colposcopy were based on histopathology and human papillomavirus deoxyribonucleic acid (HPV DNA).Results: In this study of 78 women, 21% of women had normal colposcopic findings whereas 79% had abnormal colposcopic findings. Histopathological examination (HPE) findings revealed that 69% women had cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) 1, 23% had CIN II, 6% had CIN III and 3% had SCC. 25% women tested positive for HPV DNA and 75% women tested negative for HPV DNA.Conclusions: Patients with persistent inflammatory Pap smear despite undergoing treatment show changes on Colposcopic directed biopsies.

Non-Typhoidal Salmonellosis: A Major Concern for Poultry Industry

Salmonella is the most important gastrointestinal pathogen distributed ubiquitously. The major serovars involved in Non-typhoidal salmonellosis are S. Typhimurium and S. Enteritidis. In the viewpoint of ban in the export and import of the Salmonella contaminated poultry food and poultry products, the need for rapid detection and mitigation of Salmonella has increased mani-folds. The major problem associated with its control is the growing incidence of antimicrobial resistance, which has been reported worldwide in the recent years. From causing self limiting gastroenteritis they have found to be responsible for several fatal diseases like endocarditis, meningitis, lung infestations, appendicitis, pneumonia, and cerebral abscess in human beings. Targeting several proteins such as adhesive proteins, lipoproteins, outer membrane proteins (Omps) etc. as vaccine candidates may pave a way in its control. So, continuous monitoring using one health approach and development of effective treatment and control strategies are critical

Assessing trait emotional intelligence and its relationship with stress and health behaviour in the education sector: An empirical study from Uttarakhand, India [version 2; peer review: 2 approved]

Background: Emotional intelligence of teachers can affect their mental and physical health as well their performance in school. Both emotional intelligence and health behavior can have an impact on stress. The majority of Indian studies have examined only one type of teacher, have used indigenous scales which are not internationally valid, and have not studied health behaviour. The role of age and gender on emotional intelligence is also a debatable subject which requires larger studies  The present study was undertaken to evaluate the trait emotional intelligence, stress and health behaviour of teachers and to determine their inter-relationship and to assess the role of demographic and professional attributes on emotional intelligence.  Methods: Teachers from different schools, colleges and professional institutes situated in Dehradun and nearby towns in the state of Uttarakhand, India were evaluated by internationally valid tools for the three parameters.   Results:  Emotional Intelligence of teachers has no relation with age, gender, educational qualification, level of teaching or type of institute. It has a negative correlation with stress and a positive correlation with health behaviour. Further, health behaviour is inversely related to stress.  Conclusions: Assessment of emotional intelligence and health behaviour of teachers should be a part of their routine evaluation and training so that specific interventions to reduce stress and to improve their overall health and performance can be appropriately planned

Low Frequency Radio Observations of GRS1915+105 with GMRT

We present the first detailed low frequency radio measurements of the galactic microquasar GRS1915+105 with GMRT. Simultaneous observations were carried out at 610 and 244 MHz. Our data does not show any signature of spectral turn over even at low radio frequency of 244 MHz. We propose that while the radio emission at high radio frequencies could predominantly come from compact jets, the emission at lower frequency originates in the lobes at the end of the jet which acts like a reservoir of low energy electrons.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figure