Study of association of respiratory viruses in the etiology of acute lower respiratory tract infections in children and correlation with clinical and laboratory features: role of emerging new viruses

Background: Viruses are one of the major causes of childhood pneumonia with the respiratory syncytial virus getting great attention as an important organism for pneumonia. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in the Department of Paediatrics, Sree Gokulam Medical College and Research Foundation, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala from May 2022 TO November 2022. 119 children admitted with lower respiratory tract infections were included in this study. Symptoms, signs, and investigation reports including PCR and clinical course in the hospital were recorded. Results: 25% of children were in the age group less than 1 year, 52% were between 1-5 years and 23% were above 5 years. Viruses were isolated in 82 patients (68.9%). The main viruses were respiratory syncytial virus (23.5%), boca virus (16.14%), influenza A (7.5%), influenza B (4.2%), meta pneumonia virus (3.3%), and para influenza virus (2.5%). Patients with boca virus infections had a more severe clinical course. Conclusions: Molecular testing with PCR along with clinical and lab parameters will help us to have more insights into the etiology and clinical presentation of respiratory infections in children and help us to do optimum management avoiding unnecessary antibiotic usage

Neonatal seizures: our experience of incidence, etiology and outcome in a tertiary care centre

Context: Neonatal seizures often evoke a sense of urgency among physician in charge of newborn as they oftenindicate a CNS dysfunction. Incidence of neonatal seizures remains high in our community even in this era ofadvanced perinatal care. Early detection of seizure and its etiology help us to provide specific therapy.Objectives: The purpose of this study was to determine the incidence, etiology and outcome of neonatalseizures. Settings and design: Prospective hospital based descriptive study conducted in the neonatal unit oftertiary care hospital. Material and methods: Consecutive newborns admitted with seizures were included inthis study. Data were collected regarding relevant history and examination, thoroughly evaluated for etiologyand outcome was documented. Analysed by descriptive statistics and conclusions were drawn. Results: Onehundred and eight newborns with seizures were included during study period and incidence of neonatal seizurewas 5.5%. Hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) and sepsis constituted the most common etiologies. HIEwas the most common etiology associated with mortality. Abnormal EEG with supressed background activitywas present in majority of mortality cases. Conclusion: Most of the cases had multifactorial etiology. Measuresfor prevention, prompt recognition and specific management of neonatal seizure help to reduce the burden ofneonatal morbidity in the community

The mediational role of physical activity, social contact and stroke on the association between age, education, employment and dementia in an Asian older adult population

BACKGROUND: Our study aimed to investigate the pathways by which socio-demographic factors, modifiable health and lifestyle risk factors influence each other, and subsequently, lead to dementia. METHODS: We used data from the Well-being of the Singapore Elderly study, a nationally representative survey of the older adult population aged 60 years and above in Singapore. Dementia diagnosis was established using 10/66 dementia criteria. Structural equation modelling (SEM) without latent variable was applied to confirm the hypothesized model. RESULTS: The results of SEM supported the hypothesized model (χ (2) = 14.999, df = 10, p = 0.132). The final model showed that those aged 75–84 years and 85 years and over (vs. 60–74 years), having no formal education, who had completed primary or secondary education (vs. completed tertiary), who were homemakers and retired (vs. paid work), and with a history of stroke were directly associated with higher odds of having dementia, while those who had more frequent contact with friends and neighbors as well as being physically active were directly associated with lower odds of having dementia diagnosis. The study also found that physical activity, more frequent contact with friends and stroke played a significant role as mediators in these relationships. The overall pathways model explained 57.7% of the variance in dementia. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that physical activity, social contact and stroke were potential mediators in the relationship between age, education, employment and dementia. Intervention programmes focusing on physical activity such as exercise and social contact may be useful in reducing the risk of dementia among older adults

Demonstrate observe assist perform versus video assisted teaching in teaching deep tendon reflexes to medical students: a comparative study

Background: Clinical examination of Deep tendon reflexes is a skilled technique that should be taught in an interesting way. Newer teaching learning methods like Video assisted teaching can be utilized  to facilitate self-directed and long term learning  and to cultivate enhanced interest in the study.Method: Among 120 students are divided into 6 groups.  Each group is divided into two batches of 10 members each. 6 batches are taught deep tendon reflexes separately by DOAP.  6 batches are taught deep tendon reflexes separately by video assisted teaching. At the end of teaching and 2 weeks later, each batch is  assessed by OSCE . Objective Structured Clinical Examination checklist marks are systematically entered in an excel sheet and was analysed using unpaired t-test .The perception to each teaching learning method was assessed by feedback Questionnaire using  Likert Scale.Results: On comparing between the effectiveness of video assisted teaching and clinical demonstration of the examination of deep tendon reflexes , students taught by video assisted teaching scored higher marks in the evaluation after two weeks, which was statistically significant. Regarding perception, students favoured both teaching methods for their effectiveness. For clarifying doubts, students favoured DOAP method. For reproducibility and better retaining of memory, students favoured video assisted teaching.Conclusion: Video assisted teaching was equally effective as DOAP in teaching deep tendon reflexes to medical students. For reproducibility and better retaining of memory, Video assisted teaching was perceived better as reflected in the better mean scores two weeks after the teaching sessions

Molecular Frameworks of Nitrogen Response in Plants: A Review

Nitrogen is a crucial element for all living organisms especially plants which rely on substantial nitrogen quantities to sustain their growth and productivity. Crop production is greatly influenced by nitrogen consumption efficiency and a significant amount of nitrogen fertilizers is used to increase yield. Approximately half of N fertilizers are not utilized by the crops and are lost to the environment by polluting water sources or by releasing pollutants into the atmosphere. From the rhizosphere, plants absorb nitrogen in the form of nitrate (NO3-), ammonium (NH4+), or organic nitrogen (amino acids and urea). Plants exhibit an array of sensing and adaptive mechanisms to respond to the diverse nitrogen nutrition conditions which include morphological and physiological responses. Two primary systems govern nitrogen uptake in plants: the High-affinity transport system (HATS) and the Low-affinity transport system (LATS). Nitrate transporters fall into two categories, Nitrate Transporter 1 (NRT1) and Nitrate Transporter 2 (NRT2) transporters, Chloride Channel Family (CLC) transporters and Slow Anion Associated Channel Homologs (SLAC/SLAHs). The ammonium transporter family includes Ammonium Transporter 1 (AMT1) and Ammonium Transporter 2 (AMT2) transporters. The uptake of organic nitrogen is facilitated through amino acid and urea uptake and transport systems. In fluctuating environmental conditions, plants employ nitrogen response mechanisms to fine-tune homeostasis. A comprehensive understanding of these regulatory mechanisms holds the potential to yield valuable insights for the development of crops with enhanced nitrogen use efficiency