Association of vaginal infections in Preterm labour

Background: Preterm labour is defined as onset of regular uterine contractions associated with cervical changes between 28-37 completed weeks of gestation. Prematurity is the cause of 85% neonatal morbidity and mortality. Preterm labour has multiple etiologies. Vaginal infections have been associated with increased risk for preterm labour. Screening for genitourinary infections antenatally, especially in high risk cases, prompt recognition and treatment decrease the incidence of preterm labour.Methods: Ours was a prospective and retrospective observational study done at Dr. Pinnamaneni Siddhartha Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Foundation from April 2016 to February 2018 in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. The aim is to study the association of vaginal infections in preterm labour. A total of 116 women in preterm labor were studied. After clinical examination, CBP, CUE, Ultrasound, urine culture and sensitivity were done. Vaginal swab was taken from posterior fornix and sent for culture and sensitivity and gram staining .Culture and sensitivity were done in the Department of Microbiology at our Institute.Results: Out of 116 women in preterm labour, urinary tract infection was seen in 27.58% women. E. Coli was the commonest microorganism isolated in urine (15.51%). Vaginal infections were seen in 33.62% women. Candida was the commonest microorganism isolated in HVS cultures.Conclusions: Screening for genitourinary infections in pregnancy is necessary, especially in high risk cases. Early detection and prompt treatment of genitourinary infections decrease the incidence of preterm labor, thereby decreasing the neonatal morbidity and mortality associated with prematurity

Psychosocial determinants of corruption

Psychosocial determinants of corruption was recommended in order to give emphasis that corruption is innate in nature in which discontentment and security takes place as a motivating factor; why a certain person committed corruption. The researchers used Maslow’s hierarchy of needs which determines the self-actualization as the higher needs of man or a belief that he/she was fully used all their potentials as a result of full satisfaction. In sociological and psychological perspective, man has its own individual characteristics, ability to perceive what is right and what is wrong, as well as the ability to observe and adopt what is being observed. As determinants of corruption two (2) theories are anchored by Bandura’s observation Learning Theory: (1) The Freudian theory which asserts man Id, ego and super –ego; and the (2) second theory eventually imitate observable antisocial acts that would immediately satisfy their needs. Derived propositions are the following: (1) people with low sense of guilt will eventually imitate observable anti-social acts that would immediately satisfy their needs; (2) some people prefer to commit corrupt acts because it has greater payoff but with less threat on legal punishment; and (3) individual with great sense of his moral conscience can achieve self-actualization; (4) actualized people will never engage in corruption; and (5) self-actualized people are incorruptible

Peliosis hepatis: spectrum of imaging findings

OBJECTIVE. It is important to recognize the imaging characteristics of peliosis hepatis because peliotic lesions may mimic several different types of focal hepatic lesions CONCLUSION. We illustrate the spectrum of imaging findings of peliosis hepatis, including sonography, CT, MR, and angiography

Multivariate analysis as a tool for selecting the vine pruning pretreatment towards the highest enzymatic hydrolysis yield

Lignocellulosic materials require pretreatment to remove lignin enabling the enzyme access to the cellulose. This work used multivariate analysis to investigate the acid and alkali pretreatments of vine pruning followed by enzymatic hydrolysis. The best acid pretreatment conditions were H2SO4 1.5%, 120 °C for 30 min, removing 68.7% of hemicellulose, enabling 95.8% of cellulose recovery. However, this treatment was not enough to allow the enzyme hydrolysis. A second step of treatment with NaOH 3.0% at 120 °C without agitation for 60 min led to a material with 75.0% of cellulose and 25.0% of lignin. However, the lowest glucose yield (80.86% and 32.26 g L?1 of glucose) was obtained after the enzyme hydrolysis of this material. The highest glucose yield (98.72% with 35.06 g L?1) was obtained using a pretreated material containing 68.1% of cellulose and 31.9% of lignin obtained after a milder condition (NaOH 2% at 100 °C), thus showing that not all the lignin need to be removed to obtain a high saccharification yield. A less severe pretreatment with no adverse effect on the glucose yield with the advantage of preserving the non-cellulose biomass fractions was effective for vine prune valorization.This study was supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) under the scope of the strategic funding of UIDB/04469/2020 unit, BioTecNorte operation (NORTE-01-0145-FEDER000004), the projects Multibiorefinery (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-016403), FoSynBio (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-029549) and Lignozymes (POCI-01- 0145-FEDER-029773) funded by the European Regional Development Fund under the scope of Norte 2020. In Brazil, this study was funded in part by the Coordenaçao ~ de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) - Finance Code 001, Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnologico (CNPq) and Fundaçao Cearense de Apoio ao Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnologico (FUNCAP). The authors would like to acknowledge the Central Analytical (Physical Department) of Federal University of Ceara for conducting the SEM analysis and the Centro de Tecnologia Canavieira – CTC/Brazil for the support. E. Gudina and L. Rodrigues acknowledge FCT for the Post-doctoral (CEB-BPD/01/2015/07) and sabbatical (SFRH/BSAB/142991/2019) grants, respectively.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Racism as a determinant of health: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Despite a growing body of epidemiological evidence in recent years documenting the health impacts of racism, the cumulative evidence base has yet to be synthesized in a comprehensive meta-analysis focused specifically on racism as a determinant of health. This meta-analysis reviewed the literature focusing on the relationship between reported racism and mental and physical health outcomes. Data from 293 studies reported in 333 articles published between 1983 and 2013, and conducted predominately in the U.S., were analysed using random effects models and mean weighted effect sizes. Racism was associated with poorer mental health (negative mental health: r = -.23, 95% CI [-.24,-.21], k = 227; positive mental health: r = -.13, 95% CI [-.16,-.10], k = 113), including depression, anxiety, psychological stress and various other outcomes. Racism was also associated with poorer general health (r = -.13 (95% CI [-.18,-.09], k = 30), and poorer physical health (r = -.09, 95% CI [-.12,-.06], k = 50). Moderation effects were found for some outcomes with regard to study and exposure characteristics. Effect sizes of racism on mental health were stronger in cross-sectional compared with longitudinal data and in non-representative samples compared with representative samples. Age, sex, birthplace and education level did not moderate the effects of racism on health. Ethnicity significantly moderated the effect of racism on negative mental health and physical health: the association between racism and negative mental health was significantly stronger for Asian American and Latino(a) American participants compared with African American participants, and the association between racism and physical health was significantly stronger for Latino(a) American participants compared with African American participants.<br /

Protective Mechanisms for Depression among Racial/Ethnic Minority Youth: Empirical Findings, Issues, and Recommendations

We (1) review empirical studies that report findings regarding putative protective mechanisms when exposed to risk of depression in African American and Hispanic adolescents; (2) identify key protective mechanisms for different risk contexts that garner empirical support; (3) synthesize the mechanisms identified as protective against depression among racial/ethnic minority adolescents; and (4) discuss improved methods for advancing understanding of resilience against depression in minority youth. The studies were selected from PsycINFO searches that met the following inclusion criteria: participants between 12 and 21&nbsp;years of age, inclusions of racial/ethnic minority members, examining protection through an interaction with a risk factor, and outcome measures of depression, depressed mood, or depressive symptomatology. We found 39 eligible studies; 13 of which included multiple racial/ethnic groups. The following were supported as protective mechanisms, at least preliminarily, for at least one racial/ethnic group and in at least one risk context: employment, extracurricular activities, father–adolescent closeness, familism, maternal support, attending predominately minority schools, neighborhood composition, non-parent support, parental inductive reasoning, religiosity, self-esteem, social activities, and positive early teacher relationships. To investigate protective mechanisms more comprehensively and accurately across individual, social, and community levels of influence, we recommend incorporating multilevel modeling or multilevel growth curve analyses and large diverse samples