Analysis of still births in a tertiary care system and changed scenario over six year period

                       Background: In India, the maternal and infant mortality rates have been steadily decreasing in recent years, but there has been no corresponding decrease in the perinatal mortality. Hence, there is need to evaluate the factors leading to this unfortunate event. The objective of this study was to find out various factors (especially preventable) responsible for perinatal stillbirths.Methods: An analytical comparative study in a tertiary care hospital comparing fresh and macerated still births over a period of one year in 2011 and 2017 and responsible factors were analysed.Results: Amazingly, despite improvement in the antenatal services, more institutional deliveries, there is no change in the incidence of still birth rate. However, there was decrease in the rate of still births due to extreme prematurity and congenital malformations. There was no change in incidence of PIH/ Eclampsia, IUGR and placental causes but there was substantial increase in the incidence of GDM.Conclusions: Perinatal mortality can definitely be reduced by strengthening and improving quality of antenatal services, early identification of high risk pregnancies, timely referral and appropriate intervention

Prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in antenatal women

Background: Vitamin D has an increasingly recognised repertoire of non-classical actions, such as promoting insulin action and secretion, immune modulation and lung development. It therefore has the potential to influence many factors in the developing fetus. Several studies reported the relationship between maternal vitamin D deficiency and adverse maternal and fetal outcomes including gestational diabetes, preeclampsia, preterm labour, low birth weight and increased rate of caesarean section. The present study was undertaken to study the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in antenatal women of Shimla, India.Methods: The study was conducted in the department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Kamla Nehru Hospital, Shimla, India over a period of 12 months. Six hundred women were included in the study.Results: Out of 600 subjects, 568 (94.67%) subjects had vitamin D deficiency and only 32 (5.33%) subjects had sufficient vitamin D levels. Vitamin D deficiency was more common in the vegetarians, dark skinned subjects and in those who were taking vitamin D supplements.Conclusions: It is concluded from this study that there is high prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in antenatal women of Shimla, India

Effect of single low dose intrathecal labor analgesia on maternal and fetal outcome

Background: Labour is one of the most painful experiences women encounter during their lifetime and the experience is different for each women. Aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of low dose intrathecal labour analgesia using fentanyl, bupivacaine and morphine on maternal and fetal outcome.Methods: 100 parturients with uncomplicated pregnancy in spontaneous or induced labor at cervical dilatation 4-6cm were enrolled for the study. They were randomized into two groups of 50 each, using computer based block randomization. Group 1 (N=50) received intrathecal labor analgesia using. Fentanyl (25µg), bupivacaine (2.5mg) and morphine (250µg) and Group 2 (N=50) received programmed labor. The two groups were well matched in terms of age, weight, height, parity, baseline vitals and mean cervical dilatation at the time of administration of labor analgesia . Progress of labor, duration of analgesia, and neonatal APGAR score were recorded. Feto-maternal and neonatal outcomes were studied and compared between the two groups.Results: The mean duration of analgesia in group1 was 238.96±21.888 min whereas the mean duration of analgesia in group 2 was 98.4±23.505 min. The difference was significant P value 0.00. One out of 50 (2%) of the parturients required rescue analgesia in Group 1. On the contrary all 44 parturients in Group 2 required rescue analgesia. Difference was significant (p value=0.00) However duration of the stages of labor, operative and instrumental deliveries and APGAR score did not differ in the two groups.Conclusions: Single shot intrathecal labor analgesia is a safe, effective, reliable, cheap and satisfactory method of pain relief for labor and delivery. Moreover, it is devoid of major side effects

Analysis of genetic and epigenetic variation in in vitro propagated potato somatic hybrid by AFLP and MSAP marker

Background: Genetic and epigenetic changes (DNA methylation) were examined in the tissue-culture propagated interspecific potato somatic hybrids between dihaploid Solanum tuberosum and S. pinnatisectum . Amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) and methylation-sensitive amplified polymorphism (MSAP) were applied to detect the genetic and epigenetic changes, respectively in the somatic hybrids mother plants (1st cycle) and their regenerants (30th cycles sub-cultured). Results: To detect genetic changes, eight AFLP primer combinations yielded a total of 329 scorable bands of which 49 bands were polymorphic in both mother plants and regenerants. None of the scorable bands were observed in term of loss of original band of mother plant or gain of novel band in their regenerants. AFLP profiles and their cluster analysis based on the Jaccard\u2019s similarity coefficient revealed 100% genetic similarity among the mother plant and their regenerants. On the other hand, to analyze epigenetic changes, eight MSAP primer pair combinations detected a few DNA methylation patterns in the mother plants (0 to 3.4%) and their regenerants (3.2 to 8.5%). Out of total 2320 MSAP sites in the mother plants, 2287 (98.6%) unmethylated, 21 (0.9%) fully methylated and 12 (0.5%) hemi-methylated, and out of total 2494 MSAP sites in their regenerants, 2357 (94.5%) unmethylated, 79 (3.1%) fully methylated and 58 (2.3%) hemi-methylated sites were amplified. Conclusion: The study concluded that no genetic variations were observed among the somatic hybrids mother plants and their regenerants by eight AFLP markers. However, minimum epigenetic variations among the samples were detected ranged from 0 to 3.4% (mother plants) and 3.2 to 8.5% (regenerants) during the tissue culture process

Recent advances in bioethanol production from lignocelluloses: a comprehensive review with a focus on enzyme engineering and designer biocatalysts

Many countries have their biofuel policy programs in place as part of their overall strategy to achieve sustainable development. Among biofuels, bioethanol as a promising alternative to gasoline is of substantial interest. However, there is limited availability of a sufficient quantity of bioethanol to meet demands due to bottlenecks in the present technologies to convert non-edible feedstocks, including lignocelluloses. This review article presents and critically discusses the recent advances in the pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass, with a focus on the use of green solvents, including ionic liquids and deep eutectic solvents, followed by enzymatic saccharification using auxiliary proteins for the efficient saccharification of pretreated biomass. Different techniques used in strain improvement strategies to develop hyper-producing deregulated lignocellulolytic strains are also compared and discussed. The advanced techniques employed for fermentation of mixed sugars contained in lignocellulosic hydrolysates for maximizing bioethanol production are summarized with an emphasis on pathway and transporters engineering for xylose assimilation. Further, the integration of different steps is suggested and discussed for efficient biomass utilization and improved ethanol yields and productivity