A clinical study on ultrasonographic measurement of cervical length at 18-24 weeks of gestation and pregnancy outcome

Background: Preterm labour and preterm birth is the leading cause of perinatal mortality, whose incidence is approximately 10% of all live births worldwide. This study was undertaken to evaluate the cervical length ultra-sonographically at 18 to 24 weeks of gestation in asymptomatic women and study the pregnancy outcomes and predicting risk of preterm labour and delivery.           Methods: This hospital based prospective study was conducted by enrolling 1500 antenatal patients with gestations between 18 and 24 weeks, after fulfilling the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Their cervical lengths were measured by USG and they followed through their pregnancy, labour and delivery & all the relevant data were recorded, studied & statistically analysed.         Results: Out of 1500 patients enrolled, 90 were lost to follow up. Therefore, all the result analyses were done for 1410 patients. Majority of the patients belonged to age group 21- 30 years (830= 58.86%), primigravida ( 47.87%), from urban background (67.17%), belonged to lower socio-economic status (61.70%), at 21 weeks of gestation (28.15%). 960 patients had labour at term (68.08%), 360 (25.54%) had preterm  and 90 (6.38%) had postterm labour. With cervical length 3.0 cm, 71 (9.59%) landed up in preterm labour. When statistically analysed, the association between cervical length and gestational age at which labour started were very significant and results showed ᵡ2=190.01 , df= 1,  P< 0.0001 (very significant ). As the cervical length increases, the median gestational age at which labour started also increases which was found to be significant (r = 0.98, P<0.01).Conclusions: Shorter cervices lead to shorter gestations and early labour. Thus ultrasonographic measurement of cervical length at 18-24 weeks of gestation is very important, more so in asymptomatic women and can be utilized as a tool for predicting adverse pregnancy outcome especially preterm labour and delivery

Low noise constant current source for bias dependent noise measurements

A low noise constant current source used for measuring the $1/f$ noise in disordered systems in ohmic as well as non-ohmic regime is described. The source can supply low noise constant current starting from as low as 1 $\mu$A to a few tens of mA with a high voltage compliance limit of around 20 Volts. The constant current source has several stages which can work in a standalone manner or together to supply the desired value of load current. The noise contributed by the current source is very low in the entire current range. The fabrication of a low noise voltage preamplifier modified for bias dependent noise measurements and based on the existing design available in the MAT04 data sheet is also described.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figures, to be published in Review of Scientific Instrument

Selective estrogen receptor modulator: efficacy in abnormal uterine bleeding in perimenopausal women

Background: Abnormal uterine bleeding affects 50% women of perimenopausal age group. The use of ormeloxifene (SERMS) in management of AUB is well known. The objective of the present study was aimed to see the effects of ormeloxifene on different types of endometrium.in the medical management of Abnormal Uterine Bleeding (AUB).Methods: It was Prospective, interventional study. A total of 90 women who attended Outpatient Gynaecology Department, Guwahati with complain of AUB in perimenopausal age group (37-48) were prescribed 60mg ormeloxifene twice weekly for 3 months followed by once weekly for next 3 months after preliminary D and C.Results: Ormeloxifene was found to be more effective in reducing PBAC score and ET in patients with proliferative and secretory endometrium The reduction in mean PBAC score with ormeloxifene (175.3 to 20.93)(p value 0.0001) and ET (9.6 to 2.9 mm) (p value 0.0001) in proliferative endometrium, (179.2 to 14.8 (p value 0.0001) ) and ET 11.1 to 1.9 mm (p value 0.0003)in secretory endometrium was observed after 6 months. However, it was found not to be effective in reducing PBAC score and ET in patients with atrophic endometrium. Change in PBAC SCORE from 176.4 to 150.8 (p value 0.08) and in ET from 2.8 to 2.1mm( p value 0.3) was observed. No major side effects were reported.Conclusions: Ormeloxifene is effective in AUB with proliferative and secretory endometrium

Assessment of genetic divergence for quantitative traits in thermo tolerant tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) genotypes

In the present study, 21 thermo tolerant tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) genotypes were evaluated to delineate the extent of genetic diversity through 10 quantitative traits. The genotypes were categorized into 4 distinct clusters using D2 statistics. Cluster IV had the maximum number (10) of genotypes, where all heat tolerant genotypes grouped together, followed by cluster I (5). Intra cluster analysis revealed that the cluster IV had highest distance, while the inter cluster distance was maximum between cluster III and cluster IV (6.53) indicating the presence of wide range of variability among genotypes of the cluster. Cluster IV recorded maximum cluster mean for yield (579.0), average fruit weight (33.33) and fruit set per cent (54.8) and the cluster III recorded highest mean value for days to 50 percent flowering (67.33). Principal component analysis showed that the first two principal components (PC’s) accounting for 77.6 per cent of total variation. On the basis of inter cluster distance, cluster mean and principal component analysis observed in the present study, a crossing programme involving genotypes from cluster IV will be promising one for developing heat tolerant tomato hybrids

Dimensional versus cut-off renormalization and the nucleon-nucleon interaction

The role of dimensional regularization is discussed and compared with that of cut-off regularization in some quantum mechanical problems with ultraviolet divergence in two and three dimensions with special emphasis on the nucleon-nucleon interaction. Both types of renormalizations are performed for attractive divergent one- and two-term separable potentials, a divergent tensor potential, and the sum of a delta function and its derivatives. We allow energy-dependent couplings, and determine the form that these couplings should take if equivalence between the two regularization schemes is to be enforced. We also perform renormalization of an attractive separable potential superposed on an analytic divergent potential.Comment: 19 pages + one postscript figur

A report on National Seminar on Genetics of Pennisetums and AICPMIP Workshop

In view of the golden Jubilee Celebration of the Indian Society of Genetics and Plant Breeding this year, the AICPMIP Workshop was combined with the second National Seminar on the Genetics of Pennisetums. The National Seminar was held on 2-3 May, and the AICPMIP Workshop on 4-5 May. Both events were very well organized at the Directorate of Rice Research, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad, We present below the highlights of various sessions

Quantitative analysis of bio-active phytochemical(s) in selected scented rice varieties (Oryza sativa) reveals its intake towards advantage against metabolic disorders

210-220Based on ancestral knowledge towards health beneficial effect, the current study led to investigate the content of bioactive phytochemical(s) in the scented rice (variety “joha”) grain indigenous to the NER-India and their effects on the enzyme involved in metabolic disorders and cellular glucose uptake efficacy. Results of both α-glucosidase inhibitory activity and the glucose uptake assay-guided fractionation based on column purification followed by spectral data analysis confirmed the presence of two major bioactive compounds as linoleic (ω-6-fatty-acid) and linolenic (ω-3-fatty-acid) acid. Quantitative analysis showed that linolenic acid content in scented rice verities was 2.1±0.3 mg/g, which is ~1.6 fold higher than its content in non-scented rice variety from the same region. The relative ratio (ω-6/ω-3) of these two essential unsaturated fatty acids content in the scented rice variety seeds was calculated as 23.5±0.6 while, in non-scented rice variety seeds, it was 31.6. Chemical fingerprinting by GCMS and HPLC of methanolic extract of selected rice samples revealed the presence of various fatty-acid along with other volatile and polar compounds. In conclusion, the scented rice seeds contain a better ratio of two essential unsaturated fatty acid compare to non-scented rice seed, which may be an effective choice as diet towards controlling metabolic disorder

Registration of ICMR 356 Parental Line of Pearl Millet

The pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum) restorer line ICMR356 (PI591337), released in 1993, was developed from the cross B282 × J104. It is an elite inbred restorer line with grain yield ranging from 1477 to 3373 kg/ha, which is 51% higher than H77/833-2 but 34% lower than D23. It has a plant height of 109 to 172 cm and a flowering requirement of 49 to 54 days from time of planting. ICMR356 produces 3-7 basal tillers/plant and grains are medium-sized (1000-seed weight of 8.5 g). ICMR356 is more resistant to downy mildew (Sclerospora graminicola) than P7-04 in India and has similar resistance to P7-04 in western Africa

Gajah. Securing the Future for Elephants in India.

It is estimated that six in every ten wild Asian elephants live in India. This report by the Ministry of Environment and Forests in India outlines plans to safeguard the species and associated habitats in the face of rapid economic expansion and development pressures