Demographic parameters of women with uterine fibroids presenting as abnormal uterine bleeding

Background: Uterine fibroids are commonest benign uterine tumors. Only about 25% women with fibroids are symptomatic. Around 70-80% are discovered incidentally during routine pelvic examination. Using ultrasonography screening, some authors have estimated a cumulative incidence of 70% in all women by age 50. Symptoms attributable to fibroids are mainly abnormal uterine bleeding (AUB), pelvic pressure, pain, and reproductive dysfunction. Heavy and/or prolonged menses is the typical bleeding pattern with myomas. Uterine fibroids are a leading cause of hysterectomy in perimenopausal women, thus, this study was done to find out its prevalence and demography in women presenting with AUB. The objectives of the present investigation were to find out the prevalence of uterine fibroid in women with AUB and to find out the various demographic features of womenMethods: The study was done for 2 years in the Dept of Obstetrics and Gynecology of a rural tertiary institute after taking clearance from institutional ethical committee. All the women presenting with AUB were included in the study. History and demographic features was enquired and entered in a predesigned proforma. All women were clinically examined after consent. Women with suspicion of fibroid were subjected to diagnostic modalities and the reports were followed and correlated.Results: Total 11,841 patients came to Gynaeological OPD during the study period. Out of these 3,878 (32.75%) presented with AUB, 2,126 were diagnosed as having fibroids after examination and investigations. Hence, the prevalence of fibroids amongst the women with AUB was 54.82% and 17.95% amongst all gynaecological patients. Maximum women were between 31-40 years, (64.78% rural and 62.73% urban). Majority were having parity between 1-2 (40.73% in urban, 38.96% in rural).Conclusions: Uterine fibroids are the commonest reason of AUB in reproductive age group with the prevalence of 54.82%. The trends in age incidence have remained the same over the years, commonly affecting women in third decade. There is no difference in incidence of fibroids amongst various socioeconomic classes.

Fabrication and characterization of sol-gel-based coatings on quartz glass to obtain antireflective effect at 1054 nm for optics of high power Nd:phosphate glass laser

In order to obtain higher laser-induced damage threshold (LIDT) and lower loss of laser radiation, the incident radiation must have an insignificant absorbance and high anti-reflectance. In this work, a single-layer porous SiO2-based anti-reflective (AR) coating for the optics of Nd:phosphate laser system has been developed on quartz glass optics adopting sol-gel dip coating technique, following quarter wavelength optical design. As measured by spectroscopic ellipsometer, the refractive index (RI) of the coated layer is found to be similar to 1.2. A maximum transmittance of similar to 99% in single-layer-coated quartz glass has been achieved at 1054 nm. In addition, the non-quarter wavelength-based double layer with an optical design (glass/ 0.7153 M / 1.134 L / air) and triple-layer AR coating with an optical design (glass / 0.28 H / 1.65 M / 1.03 L / air, where H, M and L indicate one-quarter wave thick layers of high, medium and low RI materials) have been fabricated. The deposition of M and H layers has been made from mixed metal oxide precursor sols of zirconia-silica, while L has been made from silica precursor sol to obtain porous silica coating. A maximum transmittance of about 98.1 and 97.6% was found at 1054 nm in double- and triple-layer AR-coated samples, respectively. The LIDT values have been measured on the AR coatings. Based upon the number of layers in the AR coatings, the LIDT values varied in the range of 8.7-2.4 J cm(-2) starting from single to double to triple layer. The AR coatings developed by sol-gel dip coating technique could find application in Nd:phosphate high power laser system

A clinical audit and confidential enquiry of caesarean section indications at rural tertiary health care centre

Background: Worldwide CSR has been steadily increasing beyond recommended level of 15 %by WHO. High CSR have been reported in developed and developing countries. Reasons for increase in CSR are not obvious and somewhat complex. Thus, present study was undertaken to analyze various indications for CS performed at rural tertiary health care centre Sewagram, M.S.Methods: This was prospective study included all women who underwent CS from 1st January 2015 till 30th June 2016. Data was entered in MS excel sheet analyzed with percentage and chi square test using SPSS ver.17.Results: CSR was 36 .88% in present study. As per NICE guidelines CS were classified in four categories based on urgency, women were distributed in each category. Category I had 22.62%, category II -38.61%, category III - 28.37% and Category IV - 10.40% women. In CAT I common indication was foetal bradycardia (71.53%). In CAT II CS, common indication was non reassuring foetal status (38.82%).  Breech presentation (14.74%) and previous scar with doubtfull scar integrity (14.33) were next common indications. In CAT III (43.43%), IV (41.13%) previous LSCS with inadequate pelvis was the common indication. Confidential enquiry revealed that 26.17% (28/107), 20.3% (40/197), 23.17%, (35/151) and 8.3 % (5/60) of CAT I, II, III and IV CS had questionable indications.Conclusions: In this study, CSR was higher than WHO standard. Common indications in primipara was foetal distress while in multiparas primary indication previous LSC

Altered expression of heat shock protein-27 and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 after acute spinal cord injury: a pilot study

Published online: 2019-10-07Background: Spinal cord injury (SCI) leads to serious complications involving primary trauma and progressive loss due to inflammation, local ischemia, or infection. Despite a worldwide annual incidence of 15 to 40 cases per million, methylprednisolone is the only treatment available to alleviate neurologic dysfunction; therefore, research is currently focused on identifying novel targets by biochemical and molecular studies. Purpose: Here, we investigated the expression of various molecular markers at the messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) and protein level at day 0 and day 30 post-SCI. Methods: Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was performed to determine the expression of CASPASE-3 and heat shock protein-27 (HSP-27) in serum samples. Real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was performed to determine the level of mRNA expression of vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-1 (VEGFR-1), VEGFR-2, HSP-27, monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1), and CASPASE-3. Results: HSP-27 expression at day 30, as compared with day 0, showed significant downregulation. In contrast, there was elevated expression of MCP-1. ELISA analysis showed no significant change in the expression of CASPASE-3 or HSP-27. Conclusion: There may be possible opposing role of HSP-27 and MCP-1 governing SCI. Their association can be studied by designing in vitro studies.Vidyasagar Boraiah, Shweta Modgil, Kaushal Sharma, Vivek Podder, Madhava Sai Sivapuram, Gurwattan S. Miranpuri, Akshay Anand, Vijay Gon

Depression, sleeping pattern, and suicidal ideation among medical students in Bangladesh: a cross-sectional pilot study

© 2020, Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature. Background: Depression is a major morbidity and the most common mental disorder among the medical students in medical schools globally. Undergraduate students suffer stress more due to their academic curriculum than the students of other faculties. In low-resource settings like Bangladesh, there is a dearth in research on the mental health of undergraduate medical students. This pilot study was conducted to add to the existing limited evidence by reporting the prevalence of depression and describing sleeping pattern and suicidal tendencies among medical students. Relevantly, we have investigated the overall mental health status among the medical students in Bangladesh. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in two medical colleges of Dhaka between July 2013 and December 2013, among 221 Bangladeshi medical students from first to fifth year. By the convenience sampling technique, data were collected by a pretested, structured, self-administered questionnaire and analysis was done by SPSS version 18.0. Depression was assessed by the validated Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) tool among the respondents. Goldberg’s General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28) was used for assessing overall mental health status. Results: Depression was found in 38.9% of participants, with 3.6%, 14.5%, and 20.8% being severe, moderate, and mild depression, respectively. 17.6% of medical students had suicidal tendency or attempted suicide at least once after attending medical school. The sleeping hours were inadequate and altered after starting this stressful academic course. 33.5% of medical students had poor mental health status. There was a statistically significant association between poor mental health status in the age group less than 22 years old and initial academic study year (1st to 3rd of MBBS). Conclusion: The findings are suggestive of a higher prevalence of depression among early-year medical students and marginal predominance in males. Suicidal tendency is also higher. This calls for further investigation with situation analysis, qualitative explorations, and surveys to explore the burden of such disorders in Bangladesh

Robot-Assisted Prostate Brachytherapy

Abstract: In contemporary brachytherapy procedures, needle placement at the desired target is challenging due to a variety of reasons. A robot-assisted brachytherapy system can potentially improve needle placement and seed delivery, resulting in enhanced therapeutic delivery. In this paper we present a 16 DOF (degrees-of-freedom) robotic system (9DOF positioning module and 7DOF surgery module) developed and fabricated for prostate brachytherapy. Strategies to reduce needle deflection and target movement were incorporated after extensive experimental validation. Provisions for needle motion and force feedback were included into the system for improving robot control and seed delivery. Preliminary experimental results reveal that the prototype system is sufficiently accurate in placing brachytherapy needles

Extreme Evolutionary Disparities Seen in Positive Selection across Seven Complex Diseases

Positive selection is known to occur when the environment that an organism inhabits is suddenly altered, as is the case across recent human history. Genome-wide association studies (GWASs) have successfully illuminated disease-associated variation. However, whether human evolution is heading towards or away from disease susceptibility in general remains an open question. The genetic-basis of common complex disease may partially be caused by positive selection events, which simultaneously increased fitness and susceptibility to disease. We analyze seven diseases studied by the Wellcome Trust Case Control Consortium to compare evidence for selection at every locus associated with disease. We take a large set of the most strongly associated SNPs in each GWA study in order to capture more hidden associations at the cost of introducing false positives into our analysis. We then search for signs of positive selection in this inclusive set of SNPs. There are striking differences between the seven studied diseases. We find alleles increasing susceptibility to Type 1 Diabetes (T1D), Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA), and Crohn's Disease (CD) underwent recent positive selection. There is more selection in alleles increasing, rather than decreasing, susceptibility to T1D. In the 80 SNPs most associated with T1D (p-value <7.01×10−5) showing strong signs of positive selection, 58 alleles associated with disease susceptibility show signs of positive selection, while only 22 associated with disease protection show signs of positive selection. Alleles increasing susceptibility to RA are under selection as well. In contrast, selection in SNPs associated with CD favors protective alleles. These results inform the current understanding of disease etiology, shed light on potential benefits associated with the genetic-basis of disease, and aid in the efforts to identify causal genetic factors underlying complex disease

Causes of blindness and vision impairment in 2020 and trends over 30 years, and prevalence of avoidable blindness in relation to VISION 2020: the Right to Sight: an analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study

Background Many causes of vision impairment can be prevented or treated. With an ageing global population, the demands for eye health services are increasing. We estimated the prevalence and relative contribution of avoidable causes of blindness and vision impairment globally from 1990 to 2020. We aimed to compare the results with the World Health Assembly Global Action Plan (WHA GAP) target of a 25% global reduction from 2010 to 2019 in avoidable vision impairment, defined as cataract and undercorrected refractive error. Methods We did a systematic review and meta-analysis of population-based surveys of eye disease from January, 1980, to October, 2018. We fitted hierarchical models to estimate prevalence (with 95% uncertainty intervals [UIs]) of moderate and severe vision impairment (MSVI; presenting visual acuity from <6/18 to 3/60) and blindness (<3/60 or less than 10° visual field around central fixation) by cause, age, region, and year. Because of data sparsity at younger ages, our analysis focused on adults aged 50 years and older. Findings Global crude prevalence of avoidable vision impairment and blindness in adults aged 50 years and older did not change between 2010 and 2019 (percentage change −0·2% [95% UI −1·5 to 1·0]; 2019 prevalence 9·58 cases per 1000 people [95% IU 8·51 to 10·8], 2010 prevalence 96·0 cases per 1000 people [86·0 to 107·0]). Age-standardised prevalence of avoidable blindness decreased by −15·4% [–16·8 to −14·3], while avoidable MSVI showed no change (0·5% [–0·8 to 1·6]). However, the number of cases increased for both avoidable blindness (10·8% [8·9 to 12·4]) and MSVI (31·5% [30·0 to 33·1]). The leading global causes of blindness in those aged 50 years and older in 2020 were cataract (15·2 million cases [9% IU 12·7–18·0]), followed by glaucoma (3·6 million cases [2·8–4·4]), undercorrected refractive error (2·3 million cases [1·8–2·8]), age-related macular degeneration (1·8 million cases [1·3–2·4]), and diabetic retinopathy (0·86 million cases [0·59–1·23]). Leading causes of MSVI were undercorrected refractive error (86·1 million cases [74·2–101·0]) and cataract (78·8 million cases [67·2–91·4]). Interpretation Results suggest eye care services contributed to the observed reduction of age-standardised rates of avoidable blindness but not of MSVI, and that the target in an ageing global population was not reached

Causes of blindness and vision impairment in 2020 and trends over 30 years, and prevalence of avoidable blindness in relation to VISION 2020 : the right to sight : an analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study

Background: Many causes of vision impairment can be prevented or treated. With an ageing global population, the demands for eye health services are increasing. We estimated the prevalence and relative contribution of avoidable causes of blindness and vision impairment globally from 1990 to 2020. We aimed to compare the results with the World Health Assembly Global Action Plan (WHA GAP) target of a 25% global reduction from 2010 to 2019 in avoidable vision impairment, defined as cataract and undercorrected refractive error.Methods: We did a systematic review and meta-analysis of population-based surveys of eye disease from January, 1980, to October, 2018. We fitted hierarchical models to estimate prevalence (with 95% uncertainty intervals [UIs]) of moderate and severe vision impairment (MSVI; presenting visual acuity from <6/18 to 3/60) and blindness (<3/60 or less than 10° visual field around central fixation) by cause, age, region, and year. Because of data sparsity at younger ages, our analysis focused on adults aged 50 years and older.Findings: Global crude prevalence of avoidable vision impairment and blindness in adults aged 50 years and older did not change between 2010 and 2019 (percentage change −0·2% [95% UI −1·5 to 1·0]; 2019 prevalence 9·58 cases per 1000 people [95% IU 8·51 to 10·8], 2010 prevalence 96·0 cases per 1000 people [86·0 to 107·0]). Age-standardised prevalence of avoidable blindness decreased by −15·4% [–16·8 to −14·3], while avoidable MSVI showed no change (0·5% [–0·8 to 1·6]). However, the number of cases increased for both avoidable blindness (10·8% [8·9 to 12·4]) and MSVI (31·5% [30·0 to 33·1]). The leading global causes of blindness in those aged 50 years and older in 2020 were cataract (15·2 million cases [9% IU 12·7–18·0]), followed by glaucoma (3·6 million cases [2·8–4·4]), undercorrected refractive error (2·3 million cases [1·8–2·8]), age-related macular degeneration (1·8 million cases [1·3–2·4]), and diabetic retinopathy (0·86 million cases [0·59–1·23]). Leading causes of MSVI were undercorrected refractive error (86·1 million cases [74·2–101·0]) and cataract (78·8 million cases [67·2–91·4]).Interpretation: Results suggest eye care services contributed to the observed reduction of age-standardised rates of avoidable blindness but not of MSVI, and that the target in an ageing global population was not reached