An exploratory study using the OMI scale to assess the opinion toward mental illness among young adults

Background: Public perception of mental illness is critical for successful treatment seeking behaviour as well as for early diagnosis and surveillance of disease. Two hundred eleven young patients were interviewed at Department of psychiatry, Sir Sunderlal Hospital, Varanasi with the help of consecutive sampling method. Objective: To assess the opinion towards mental illness among young adults by using the opinion on mental illness scale (OMI). Methods: Data was collected using the opinion about mental illness scale (OMI) which consists of 51 questions out of which, 15 questions directly related to the cause, care, and management of mental illness were randomly selected and analyzed. Analysis was done showing Percentage and chi-square tests to see the significance of scores between the respondents. Results: The finding shows that more than 70% of respondents believe that mental illness is a consequence of bad behavior, lack of willpower, or negative beliefs and gap in the treatment seeking behavior and understanding the cause of disease was found. Conclusions: Opinions on Mental health have received increasing attention as a useful strategy to promote early identification of mental illness, reduce stigma and enhance help-seeking behaviors. As part of the National Mental Health Programme, there is a need to raise awareness in order to enhance understanding of mental illness in facilitating early diagnosis and treatment of disease

Sixth cervical vertebra with bilateral double foramen transversarium and non-bifid spine: a rare case

Anatomical knowledge of variations is of utmost clinical importance to all of us as they may be one of the reasons as etiological as well as of surgical importance. Vertebral region also presents many variations. Foramen transversarium are typical feature of cervical vertebrae and give way to neurovascular bundle, like vertebral artery, vertebral veins and sympathetic plexus around them throughout. Foramen transversarium and spine or spinous process of cervical vertebrae are important to all of medical specialists as well as for surgeons specially the surgeons dealing with head & neck surgeries. Knowledge of anatomical/surgical variations is very important for neurosurgeons and radiologists for reporting and planning for surgeries as this type of variation if ignored may be a cause for fatal or undesirable outcome of the surgical procedure or may lead to a different planning/approach at the time or during the surgical procedure. In the present case we observed very uncommon finding of bilateral double foramen transversarium as well as a nonbifid spinous process in sixth cervical vertebra which is extremely rare. Right and left both main foramen transversarium were bilateral symmetrical and rounded in shape. Right accessory foramen transversarium was complete while left was incomplete. Finding of present study is important in neurosurgery for posterior approaches of the cervical vertebrae and also useful for radiological studies to avoid erroneous counting of cervical spines in clinical observations as surface landmark

IMPACT OF DISTURBANCE ON PHYTODIVERSITY IN UNDISTURBED AND DISTURBED CATCHMENT AREAS OF SERLUI RIVER IN VICINITY OF SERLUI-B HYDEL PROJECT, MIZORAM, NORTH-EAST INDIA

The present study was conducted to assess the phytodiversity and economical importance of plant species in the undisturbed and disturbed zones of Serlui-B hydel project which is being constructed on Serlui river in Kolasib district of Mizoram, India. The present study records a total of 82 species belonging to 41 families and 71 genera from both the selected study sites. 70 species belonging to 39 families and 63 genera were found in the undisturbed site whereas 37 species belonging to 16 families and 34 genera were observed in the disturbed site. The similarity index calculated was found to be 0.24 between the undisturbed and disturbed stands. Effect of disturbance along the disturbance gradient and a decrease in species diversity and distribution was recorded. Construction of dam has led to removal of majority of the dominant tree species with secondary growth. The results also indicate that the species dominant at the disturbed site maybe tolerant to stress and able to survive under such harsh influence of disturbance. On the other hand, species sensitive to the disturbance shows poor growth rate and some species were totally eliminated from the disturbed site due to the increased stress caused due to the degree of disturbance. 

Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on safe abortion and family planning services at a tertiary care women’s hospital in Nepal

Background: The COVID-19pandemic emerged as a major public health crisis, which has affected all dimensions of the health care system. Sexual and reproductive health services were severely affected, leading to a decrease in access and service utilization, affecting the overall health of women.Methods: A two-year comparative study, before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, on safe abortion services and family planning, was conducted at Paropakar maternity and women's hospital to assess the impact of COVID-19 on service utilization.Results: Safe abortion services were decreased by 34.4%, and family planning services by 39%, in 2020 as compared to the previous year. Uptake of long-acting reversible contraceptives and permanent methods was most affected. Utilization of services was affected markedly during lockdown, and showed a persistent decline, even after the lockdown was lifted.Conclusions: The COVID-19 pandemic has seriously affected safe abortion and family planning services in Nepal due to lockdown, travel restriction, home isolation, resource reallocation, health facilities serving only emergencies and confusing messages about COVID-19 control. The decline in these services will create additional demand and pressure on the health care system, resulting from unplanned pregnancies and unsafe abortions. Health care staffs should be reoriented about the essential nature of safe abortion and family planning services during emergencies, and the implications of service disruption, on society and the country. Pragmatic and gender sensitive changes to national policies should be made, to ensure that women's health is safeguarded, and safe abortion and family planning included as essential health care services during emergencies.

Evaluation of cardiotocographic and cord blood changes in induced labor with dinoprostone and misoprostol

Background: To evaluate the cardiotocographic abnormalities associated with induction of labour with misoprostol and dinoprostone and comparing the perinatal outcome in terms of cord blood analysis.Methods: This study was conducted in the department of Obstetrics and Gynecology of G.S.V.M. Medical College, Kanpur with 80 patients. Cases were randomly divided into two groups with n=40. In first group 50 µgm misoprostol per vaginally and in second group 0.5 mg of dinoprostone gel was used for induction. Cardiotocography of all the study candidates was performed and following delivery cord blood gas analysis was done.Results: It was found that 45% percent of women treated with misoprostol demonstrated an abnormal tracing event within the initial 24 hours of induction, compared with 17.5% in the dinoprostone gel. Both hypertonus and tachysystole events were significantly more frequent in women treated with misoprostol group and this difference is statistically significant (p=0.0099). We also found that these events occurred earlier after initial misoprostol dosing (6.98 ± 4.14hr), compared with the dinoprostone gel (9.19 ± 6.29 hr).  Conclusions: Cardiotocographic abnormalities are more frequent after misoprostol administration compared with the dinoprostone gel. Neonatal outcome in terms of NICU admission and Umbilical artery cord blood changes are apparently similar in both

Designing a mobile health smokeless tobacco cessation intervention in Odisha, India: User and provider perspectives

OBJECTIVE: There is limited evidence on the development of mobile health (mHealth) interventions for smokeless tobacco (SLT) cessation, despite its widespread use in South Asia. This formative qualitative study explored the perceptions of tobacco users and healthcare providers (HCPs) regarding developing a mHealth intervention for SLT cessation. METHODS: This was a qualitative study using in-depth interviews (IDIs) with tobacco users (n = 26) and primary care physicians (PCPs) (n = 5) and focus group discussions (FGDs) with counsellors (n = 2) in four urban primary health centres (UPHCs) in Berhampur, Odisha from February to March 2020. The data were coded and analysed by two researchers using a framework analysis method. The discussion guides and initial codes were developed based on the Transtheoretical Model (TTM) of behaviour change. RESULTS: The results were elaborated under four themes: (1) Current scenario of SLT use; (2) Barriers and facilitators for quitting SLT; (3) Barriers and facilitators for mHealth counselling; and (4) Design and delivery of the proposed intervention. SLT use was prevalent in the community regardless of sociodemographic factors. Peer factors accounted for both tobacco consumption as well as considering cessation. Participants considered mobile message counselling helpful and acceptable. Not having a mobile phone and illiteracy were identified as barriers while ease of access and rising popularity of social media applications were considered facilitators to the use of mHealth for quitting tobacco. Participants preferred messages that were pictorial, short and simple, in the local language, and tailored to individual's needs. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study that provides evidence within the Indian context that the text messaging platform may be used for delivering an SLT cessation intervention. The integration of a theoretical basis and research findings from target users can guide future intervention development

Inflammatory cytokine profile of VEGF and IL-6 from the endometrium of women with and without endometriosis

Background: Endometriosis affects an estimated 176 million women worldwide, which constitutes 10% of the total female population causing debilitating symptoms of pelvic pain and infertility, which limits the quality of reproductive life of affected women. The present study aimed to assess the serum level of VEGF and pro-inflammatory marker IL-6 in cases and normal healthy control groups.Methods: VEGF and IL-6 serum levels were measured by competitive sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) from 34 subjects with surgically confirmed endometriosis, 16 subjects with adenomyosis and 18 similar  age matched healthy controls with no clinical evidence of the disease or detectable endometriotic lesions at the time of surgical examination. Patients were characterized in terms of their socio-demographic and clinically diagnosed characteristics, including the validated infertility and chronic disease registries.Results: The mean serum level of VEGF was significantly (p<0.0001) higher in case of endometriosis (3887 ng/l) followed by adenomyosis (2588 ng/l) group and lower in case of normal healthy control (665 ng/l) group. The mean serum IL-6 was found to be highly significant (p<0.0001) in case of endometriosis (90.49 pg/ml) followed by adenomyosis (70.37 pg/ml) group and lower in case of normal healthy control (22.97 pg/ml) group.Conclusions: VEGF and IL-6 seems to play a crucial role in the implantation and development of endometriotic lesions, and the disease is associated with significant modulations in the serum levels of VEGF. IL-6 can be a reliable non-invasive diagnostic marker for endometriosis

SIRT2 deacetylase regulates the activity of GSK3 isoforms independent of inhibitory phosphorylation

Glycogen synthase kinase 3 (GSK3) is a critical regulator of diverse cellular functions involved in the maintenance of structure and function. Enzymatic activity of GSK3 is inhibited by N-terminal serine phosphorylation. However, alternate post-translational mechanism(s) responsible for GSK3 inactivation are not characterized. Here, we report that GSK3a and GSK3β are acetylated at Lys246 and Lys183, respectively. Molecular modeling and/or molecular dynamics simulations indicate that acetylation of GSK3 isoforms would hinder both the adenosine binding and prevent stable interactions of the negatively charged phosphates. We found that SIRT2 deacetylates GSK3β, and thus enhances its binding to ATP. Interestingly, the reduced activity of GSK3β is associated with lysine acetylation, but not with phosphorylation at Ser9 in hearts of SIRT2-deficient mice. Moreover, GSK3 is required for the anti-hypertrophic function of SIRT2 in cardiomyocytes. Overall, our study identified lysine acetylation as a novel post-translational modification regulating GSK3 activity