Newspaper – an ICT Instrument to Facilitate Teaching-Learning Process

Proficiency in English language can be a driving force for a person to excel in his/her careers, either at national or international level. Recent statistics indicate that the readership of newspapers, more particularly, that of English newspapers has increased to an appreciable level, and it is this strand which needs to be exploited. In spite of the digital revolution, the sheen of print media has not faded. Edgar Dale’s ‘Cone of Experience’ explicitly states that decoding the textual symbols is at the top of the cone, and thus by reading newspapers, one not only strengthens LSRW skills but also enhances higher order skills – problem solving, research, editorial, autonomous learning competence, and critical analysis. In the teaching- learning process, blended learning and flipped classroom are some methods which can be employed in the process of using newspaper as a learning device. Through activities like description, analysis, and synthesis; comparison and contrast; process description - learners will be able to upgrade their cognitive skills

A Study on Potentiality of Silver as an Investment Asset

In the last few years the countries around the world are facing burden of global economic slowdown and the same is indicated in their slower GDP growth and falling stock market prices. Even under these precarious conditions the commodity markets are experiencing considerable growth and are offering good returns to the investors. Among all commodities, though considered as highly volatile, silver is a very attractive commodity to invest. In contrast to the common belief, silver is relatively a safe investment in the long run and assures significantly high returns to the investors. The present study aims to prove potentiality of silver as an investment asset using simple risk, return analysis and other basic fundamentals. The results of the analysis prove that silver is a good asset for investment vis-à-vis gold and stock markets and is a consistent performer under different economic conditions

Prevalence of bacterial vaginosis in preterm and term labour: a one year study

Background: Presence of intra uterine infections is one of the important risk factors for preterm labour. Bacterial vaginosis is one of the commonest genital infections during pregnancy and the prevalence ranges from 4 to 64% depending upon the racial, geographic factors. Most of the cases of bacterial vaginosis during pregnancy are asymptomatic and goes unrecognized. Some of the studies state that treatment of bacterial vaginosis is not associated with reduction in preterm birth rates among mothers with no history of preterm birth. The present was conducted to study the prevalence of bacterial vaginosis in women presenting with preterm labour and term labour and to analyze the causal relationship between bacterial vaginosis and preterm labour. The study also recorded the outcome of maternal and neonatal complications associated with bacterial vaginosisMethods: An observational study was conducted on 100 patients with preterm and term labour. Swabs were collected from all the patients and bacterial vaginosis was diagnosed based on Amsel’s criteria. Pearson’s chi-square test was used to demonstrate the difference between both groups with respect to various categorical data. Independent t- test was used to compare the mean maternal age and mean gestational age at admission in both the groups.Results: The mean maternal age of members in preterm labour was 25.60+4.295 and of term labour was 25.38 ± 4.01 years. Among preterm labour group only 14 cases were suggestive of bacterial vaginosis and 2 cases among 25 cases in labour group. The proportion of cases who were diagnosed as BV positive based on Amsel’s criteria were found more in preterm labour group than term labour group and was found statistically significant (p value = 0.001). Significantly more number of patients in preterm labour group demonstrated culture swab positivity with pathogenic organisms than in term labour group and was found statistically significant with p value=0.048.Conclusions: The present study clearly demonstrates significant association of preterm labour with bacterial vaginosis. Therefore, the screening for bacterial vaginosis as a routine during pregnancy and its prompt treatment may reduce the risk of preterm labour. This will also go a long way in the prevention of neonatal complications due to prematurity

Etiologic characterization of vulvovaginitis among females attending a tertiary care hospital: a one year study

Background: Vulvovaginitis is one among the major pathologies encountered in reproductive age group. Etiologies are always multiple and candidiasis, bacterial vaginitis and trichomoniasis account for 90% of etiology. The incidence is dependable upon multiple factors like age group, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, geographical locale. Improperly treated and untreated vulvovaginitis is associated with long term complications like infertility, pelvic inflammatory disease in nulliparous females and preterm labour, miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy, chorioamnionitis among pregnant females and recurrent UTIs, cervicitis, endometritis, increased risk of acquiring STIs among normal females. The present study was undertaken with the objective of understanding the etiologies associated with vulvovaginitis among women attending Obstetrics clinic of a tertiary care hospital. The risk factors associated with the conditions, the features of the vaginal discharge and symptoms associated with each etiology were studied.Methods: A cross sectional study for a period of one year was conducted among 200 female patients attending the Department of gynecology for vaginitis and evaluated for etiology. Patient’s risk factors, clinical history, symptoms were collected by questionnaire and specimens were collected from all the cases and processed as per standard guidelines. Bacterial vaginosis was confirmed based on Neugent’s criteria, Trichomoniasis by wet mount examination and candidiasis by culture. The study was approved by the institutional ethical committee.Results: 137 cases of vulvovaginitis were diagnosed based on etiology. Vulvovaginitis was most common among 27-36 years and in multiparous women. Most common causative agent was Candida (59.12%) followed by bacterial vaginosis (22.63%) and Trichomoniasis (18.25%). Vaginal discharge was the commonest symptom (100%) followed by malodor and vulval irritation. Following unhygienic practices was the commonest risk factor associated with Vulvovaginitis.Conclusions: A regular evaluation is mandatory for all the females attending hospital for vaginitis. Successful management reduces the morbid conditions and it’s essential to treat the conditions during the pregnancy which prevents the complications associated like preterm birth, miscarriage etc. and adverse outcomes

Prevalence and associate risk factors of asymptomatic bacteriuria in pregnancy with bacterial pathogens and their antimicrobial susceptibility in a tertiary care hospital

Background: Asymptomatic bacteriuria (ASB) is defined as the presence of actively multiplying bacteria, which is greater than 105/ ml of urine within the urinary tract excluding the distal urethra, at a time when the patient has no symptoms of UTI. Untreated and undiagnosed ASB is associated with adverse maternal and perinatal outcomes. The objective was to determine the profile, prevalence, microbiological isolates with susceptibility, and risk factors of ASB among pregnant women attending an antenatal clinic at a tertiary care hospital, Andhra Pradesh, India.Methods: A prospective cross sectional study with 200 pregnant women was conducted for a period of 3 months from January to March 2016. The mid- stream urine specimen was collected and processed from all the cases and social and baseline obstetric data was collected. The isolates from all the cases of ASB were identified by standard biochemical tests. Antimicrobial susceptibility was performed by Kirby- Bauer disc diffusion method and interpreted as per CLSI guidelines.Results: Prevalence of ASB in our study was 30.5%, mean age of the cases was 27.3± 2.9 years. ASB was most common in 25- 30 year’s age group, during 3rd trimester and among multiparous and multigravidae. Previous history of UTI, pre-eclampsia was having significant association among cases with ASB. Escherichia coli was the predominant isolate in the study followed by K. pneumoniae, CONS (Coagulase-Negative Staphylococci), Staphylococcus aureus, citrobacter and Enterococci.Conclusions: Undiagnosed and untreated asymptomatic bacteriuria is associated with complications during pregnancy. Hence routine screening of antenatal women during all trimesters must be considered in preventing the complications and adverse foetal outcomes particularly with known risk factors like increasing age, multiparity and previous history of UTI

EXPEDIENCY OF MARKERS FOR EARLY DETECTION OF ACUTE KIDNEY INJURY SEQUELAE TO TYPE 2 DIABETES MELLITUS

ABSTRACTObjective: Estimation of Cystatin C (Cys C), traditional markers, inflammatory, and endothelial cell activation markers can identify subjects who areat increased risk for future acute kidney injury (AKI) after diabetes.Methods: A total of 210 subjects, having 70 subjects in each group between the age group of 45-75 years were enrolled in our study.Results: Body mass index (BMI), obesity index, waist circumference, and waist–hip ratio higher in Group III and Group II compared to Group I with asignificant p<0.001. All the biochemical parameters were significantly higher in Group III compared to Group I and Group II with a narrow differencebetween Group III and Group II. Serum Cys C was significantly correlated with creatinine and NO. Whereas serum creatinine (SCr) shows strongpositive correlation with BMI, fasting blood sugar, HbA1c, NO, and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein. Estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) andtriglycerides show inverse relation to creatinine with a significant p-value. The serum Cys C showed an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.950 with acutoff value of 1.06, SCr with an AUC of 0.617, and eGFR with AUC of 0.588.Conclusion: Elevated levels of biomarker Cys C, SCr, and albumin-creatinine ratio are predictors of AKI in the setting of diabetes. Baseline inflammatoryand endothelial activation markers may also be useful for predicting future risk of AKI in diabetes mellitus. Hopefully, the advent of new biomarkerswill help defining the kidney at risk rather than relying simply on creatinine. To date, none of the new AKI biomarkers have undergone a similarrigorous assessment, but the current progress will hopefully lead to success and ultimately to improvement in patient outcome.Keywords: Type 2 diabetes mellitus, Acute kidney injury, Biomarkers, Inflammation, Endothelium

Future Trading in India and Commodity Price Risk Management: A Pragmatic Study

Commodity future markets in India are experiencing unparalleled growth and have attained critical economic significance in the last one decade. On the other hand, instability in commodity prices is becoming an issue of great concern not only for India, but all over the world impacting income, economic growth and a poor adversely. Ever-increasing demand and supply side constraints are adding to the upsurge in prices of metal and agricultural commodities, affecting manufacturers and consumers at the same time. Moreover, farmer participation in the market has been very poor. So the price risk management in commodity is not a cliché but a necessity for the development of future market. In an agriculture based economy like India, commodity derivatives are expected to play a pivotal role in the process of price discovery and risk management. The price discovery in futures markets would not be effective unless spot markets are regulated and integrated. The present paper aims to analyse the performance of futures trading in improvising commodity price risk management in India. The study employs co-integration technique to study the existence of long-term relationship between the spot and future prices of agricultural and metal commodities traded in Indian commodity exchanges. The study also explores the volatility aspect in spot and future prices to test the informational efficiency of the contracts and comment on their suitability for hedging activities. Based on the results, propositions would be made on the nature of speculative conditions and offer suggestions for improvement futures trading in commodities