School refusal, depression and suicidality in an adolescent girl- the interplay of stress and vulnerability: a case report

The stress vulnerability model emphasizes the interplay of genetic vulnerability, personal characteristics and psychosocial factors in the causation of mental illness. The index case highlights the genesis of psychiatric illness in an adolescent female with a family history of bipolar disorder and substance dependence leading to impaired family interaction and family dynamics. Individual psychotherapy, family therapy and pharmacological management proved beneficial in the index case

Knowledge and attitude regarding epidural analgesia among expectant mothers

Background: Pain relief is an important issue for women in labour. Epidural analgesia provides safe and effective pain relief. But It has not been fully accepted and is not routinely practiced in most of the centres in developing countries despite of many advantages of this technique. Therefore, this study has been conducted with an objective to assess the knowledge and attitude regarding epidural analgesia among expectant mothers.Methods: A descriptive study was conducted on 60 expectant mothers visiting antenatal OPD at DMC & Hospital, Ludhiana selected by convenience sampling technique. Knowledge assessed by using a structured questionnaire and attitude assessed by 3 point likert scale regarding epidural analgesia. Analysis was done using both descriptive and inferential statistics.Results: The findings of the study revealed that 46.7% expectant mothers had below average level of knowledge, 35% had average level of knowledge and 18.3% had good level of knowledge. 96.7 % had positive attitude and only 3.3 % had negative attitude towards epidural analgesia. Correlation between knowledge with attitude was to be significant (r=0.609; p=0.000).Conclusions: Thus, the study concluded that most of women had below average level of knowledge and but they showed positive attitude regarding epidural analgesia.

RNAi — Implications in Entomological Research and Pest Control

RNA interference (RNAi) has progressed swiftly in the past decade to become a convenient and dominant genetic tool that has immense utility in diverse fields. The entomological research, ranging from functional genomics to agriculture, has gained enormous momentum due to this technology. RNAi tool helped to discover the functions of new genes and study the complicated genetic networks, thus providing an evolutionary insight into various processes. RNAi is also becoming a method of choice for controlling insect pest populations. It is envisaged as tailor-made insecticide, which is highly species specific. However, the efficiency of this mechanism is limited by various factors such as the stability of the trigger molecule, the candidate gene selection, delivery system adopted and, most importantly, the choice of the target species. Apart from the successful implication in diverse areas, there are certain drawbacks of this technology such as ‘off-target’ effects, lack of sensitivity of various species, etc. Further research would relieve these limitations and support the manifestation of this genetic tool with much more reliability

A prospective study of comparison of scoring systems in trauma patients

Background: Trauma is a neglected area of the society. It is a health problem that is responsible for mortality and disability, predominantly among the young generation. Thereupon, the risk stratification of such patients become essential to avoid the mortality, for which various scoring systems are employed.Methods: A prospective observational study was conducted among the 300 polytrauma patients who presented in a tertiary care institute over a span of one and half year (March 2018 to December 2019). The severity of injuries of each patient was assessed using various scoring systems (GCS, RTS, AIS, ISS, NISS), and accordingly the outcome (mortality and hospital stay) was recorded.Results: Of the total 300 cases of polytrauma, the young men are most commonly afflicted with road traffic injuries as the leading cause. Most patients presented after a latent period of 2-8 hours since injury with predominantly accidental injuries. Total 21% mortality was observed in this study of which 5% patients succumbed early (<24 hours) despite all possible resuscitative efforts. Mortality was associated with lower GCS and RTS scores but higher ISS and NISS scores.Conclusions: All patients should have their GCS and RTS scores computed on admission along with the primary survey as they are good predictors of outcome and can predict salvageable patients from the non-salvageable ones. Both anatomical scores ISS and NISS can significantly predict the need for emergency life-saving surgery within 24 hours of admission

A study to determine socio demographic corelates of reproductive tract infection amongst women of reproductive age group

Background: Reproductive tract infection (RTI) is a public health problem, especially in developing country like India. The associated odium with this reproductive morbidity is often a stumbling block in seeking health care. The aim was to study the prevalence of RTI symptoms and its socio-demographic corelates.Methods: A cross-sectional study was undertaken in the rural field practice area of department of community medicine, Indira Gandhi Medical College, Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, India, from July 2018 to September 2018. Total sample size calculated was 410. Random sampling was used to select eligible couple to whom a predesigned, pretested, semi-structured and anonymous interview schedule was administered after taking consent.Results: The prevalence of self-reported reproductive tract infections was found to be 41.2%. The prevalence was more in lower socio-economic classes, and it was statistically significant. Other socio-demographic corelates (age, education, occupation) did not showed any significant association.Conclusions: The reproductive tract infections prevalence is found to be considerably high in the women of reproductive age group. The frequency was higher among multigravida women and those using cloth during menstrual periods. RTIs are usually spurned by women and even the health care providers, so there is a need to give due consideration to this aspect of reproductive health

PREVALENCE OF VARIOUS BETA LACTAMASES AMONG GRAM NEGATIVE BACILLI IN URINARY ISOLATES FROM PATIENTS IN A TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL OF NORTHERN INDIA

Objective: Urinary tract infections are considered among the most common infections, occurring either in the community or health-care setting. We are left with very few options for the treatment due to rapid development of antibiotic resistance among the organisms. To find out the prevalence of various types of β-lactamases among urinary isolates.Methods: Seven antibiotic discs (HiMedia) were placed in combinations and approximation in a particular sequence on a 90 mm diameter MuellerHintonagar plate.Results: Out of a total 165 urinary isolates, 66 (40%) isolates were positive for extended spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL) production, AmpC β-lactamases(AmpC) activity was present in 31 (18.78%) isolates, co-production of both ESBL and AmpC was seen in 16 (9.69%) isolates, 3 (1.81%) isolatesproduced metallo β-lactamase (MBL), 2 (1.21%) isolates produced both MBL, and ESBL and 1 (0.60%) isolates were positive for inducible third generation cephalosporin resistance.Conclusion: With the presence of such high prevalence of various β-lactamases in clinical isolates of gram-negative bacilli and also other types ofantibiotic resistance, antibiotic policy should be made, and strict adherence should be followed.Keywords: Extended spectrum β-lactamase, AmpC β-lactamase, Metallo β-lactamase

A comparative study of lip print patterns in monozygotic and dizygotic twins

Background: External surface of lips has many elevations and depressions forming a characteristic pattern called lip prints, the study of which is known as cheiloscopy. This is unique for the individuals like in fingerprints.Methods: The present study was conducted in 40 pairs of twins and their families to evaluate the possibility of variation of lip print patterns in twins and their parents to find out any similarity among twins and their families.  The twins were taken as the primary subject and their parents as the secondary subjects.Results: The subjects with congenital lip deformity and any inflammation were excluded from the study. The lip prints were taken on the cello tape and highlighted with the black printer powder of Oddyessy make. the photographs were taken for the permanent record. The prints were studied on Adobe Photoshop 7.0 software and classified under Tsuchihashi classification.Conclusions: Comparison of lip prints showed that they are unique to each individual and among twins revealed that they are similar but not identical and their characteristics resembled either parent. Since the lip print patterns are unique, lip print analysis can be considered as a tool for personal identification

Patient satisfaction for telemedicine health services in the era of COVID-19 pandemic: A systematic review

IntroductionIn the year 2019, the whole world witnessed the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic has negatively impacted the health care delivery system. This has risen the necessity among health systems across the world to deliver health care services through telemedicine. This systematic review would assess the level of patient satisfaction with telemedicine health services during the time of the COVID-19 pandemic.MethodologyThe literature search was conducted in June 2022 using “PubMed” “Google Scholar” and “Embase” databases. A total of eight articles were included. ROBVIS Analysis was performed for the assessment of bias. Descriptive statistics were performed using Microsoft Excel.ResultsAll included studies were conducted in seven countries/states/cities: India (n = 2), Philippines (n = 1), Saudi Arabia (n = 1), UAE (n = 1), Los Angeles (n = 1), Iran (n = 1), and New York City (n = 1). Most used telemedicine tools were voice calls, video calls and messaging/email. Maximum patients used video for consultation (5 out of 9 studies) followed by voice call (4 out of 8 studies), messaging/emails (2 out of 8 studies) and other telemedicine Apps (2 out of 8 studies). Overall, the level of satisfaction was found highest amongst studies conducted in developed countries/states/cities such as New York City (94.9%), Los Angeles (82.7%), UAE (81%) and Saudi Arabia (77.9%) in contrast to studies conducted in developing countries which includes Philippines (82%), India (73.9; 51.3%) and Iran (43.4%).ConclusionMost of the participants were found to be satisfied with the quality of telemedicine they were offered. This systematic review will help to improve telemedicine services which will eventually improve the health care delivery system.Systematic review registrationhttps://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/#myprospero

Essays on the production of patents, engineers and occupational mobility

This dissertation consists of three essays which combine studies of Industrial Organization and Labor Economics to investigate how institutions, like the intellectual property regime and funded R&D affect the production of patents and engineering degrees. Also occupational mobility in engineers is investigated as a source of additional supply of engineers. In the last two decades there have been significant changes in the interpretation of patent-law in the U.S. Most important for this study, software became a 'patentable subject matter' by 1995. Since 1995 the number of software patents has increased annually at an approximate rate of 15%. In the first essay I examine the impact of this treatment of property rights in patents, with the help of a self-compiled data set that matches firms' patent-portfolios with their financial variables, for the period 1986--2001. The last two essays examine the labor markets and the development of human capital in the engineering profession. I first model the annual production of engineers at the three degree levels (B.S., M.S., and Ph.D.) and four engineering sub-fields over the time period of 1970--1998. Unlike previous models, I disaggregate R&D by the two main performing groups: industry and university. Industry performed R&D is treated as a demand-side variable, while university performed R&D is treated as a supply side variable, through its impact on funding for higher education in engineering. Distributed lags of R&D spending are used as indicators of the extent of long-run opportunities in engineering. Starting salaries are interpreted as indicators of spot labor market conditions for newly minted degrees. A system of equations, models the number of engineering degrees at one degree-level as a potential applicant pool for the next higher degree-level. The availability of foreign students in the applicant pool is also accounted for. One of the major worries in engineering training is the extent to which the number of engineers in subfields in engineering will be mismatched with the demand for engineers in these subfields. Parts of the second and the entire third essay further examine mobility of engineers across engineering sub-fields. (Abstract shortened by UMI.