Technical assistance to the Institute of Reproductive Health, Georgetown University in researching introduction strategies for the Standard Days contraceptive method (SDM)

The Institute of Reproductive Health (IRH), Georgetown University tested the impact of introducing the standard days contraceptive method (SDM) with the technical assistance (TA) of Population Council staff. FRONTIERS technical assistance had the immediate effect of allowing IRH to carry out evaluations of the SDM in Asia and Latin America. The IRH studies also produced important lessons learned on strategies for the introduction of natural methods. IRH staff responsible for the India and Ecuador projects learned specific skills in cost-analysis and research instrument design

In vitro investigation of anti-inflammatory activity and evaluation of phytochemical profile of Syzygium caryophyllatum

This study examined the anti-inflammatory potential of an aquous root extract of Syzygium caryophyllatum (Family: Myrtaceae) and reference drug Declofenac sodium, invitro using heat induced egg albumin denaturation bio assay technique. The concentrations of the root extract used were 781.25, 1562.5, 3125, 6250 and 12500 μg/mL. While diclofenac sodum were 78.12, 156.25, 312.5, 625, 1250 and 2500 μg/mL. Both the extract (r2 = 0.97; P<0.05) and Diclofenac sodium (r2 = 0.87; P<0.05) displayed marked and concentration dependent inhibition of heat-induced protein denaturation with IC50 value of 6.229 *103 μ g/ml and ~1.704*108 μg/mL respectively. Phytochemical analysis of the extract revealed the presence of the flavanoids, phenols, tanins, alkaloids, saponins and amino acids. It is concluded that the aquous root extract of Sri Lankan grown Syzygium caryophyllatum possess marked in vitro antiinflammatory activity which is mediated possibly by flavanoids, tanins and alkaloids. This is a novel finding. Further the results scientifically justify the use of roots of Syzygium caryophyllatum in Sri Lankan traditional medicine to treat inflammation

Antimicrobial susceptibility pattern of bacterial isolates in patients of chronic suppurative otitis media in a tertiary care hospital in India

Background: Chronic suppurative otitis media (CSOM) is a massive public health problem in developing countries like India, especially among low socio-economic class because of malnutrition, overcrowding, poor hygiene, inadequate health care and recurrent upper respiratory tract infections. CSOM cases unless managed effectively may land into various complications such as persistent otorrhoea, hearing impairment, mastoiditis, labyrinthitis, facial nerve paralysis to more serious intracranial abscesses.Methods: The study was carried out in a tertiary care hospital from January 2017 to December 2017 with an aim to determine the microbiological profile of ear discharge in patients suffering from CSOM and their antimicrobial susceptibility pattern using Kirby Bauer disc diffusion method.Results: Out of 630 samples processed, 407 (64.6%) samples were culture positive. Most common organism isolated was Pseudomonas spp. (43.2%) followed by S. aureus (39.1%). Most of isolates recovered were multidrug resistant.Conclusions: Management of CSOM consists mainly of eradicating infection and closure of tympanic membrane. Periodic monitoring of bacterial isolates and their antibiotic susceptibility pattern is necessary for administering appropriate antibiotics as empirical treatment and also helps in reducing the potentially disabling and fatal complications of CSOM

Sea level Projections with Machine Learning using Altimetry and Climate Model ensembles

Satellite altimeter observations retrieved since 1993 show that the global mean sea level is rising at an unprecedented rate (3.4mm/year). With almost three decades of observations, we can now investigate the contributions of anthropogenic climate-change signals such as greenhouse gases, aerosols, and biomass burning in this rising sea level. We use machine learning (ML) to investigate future patterns of sea level change. To understand the extent of contributions from the climate-change signals, and to help in forecasting sea level change in the future, we turn to climate model simulations. This work presents a machine learning framework that exploits both satellite observations and climate model simulations to generate sea level rise projections at a 2-degree resolution spatial grid, 30 years into the future. We train fully connected neural networks (FCNNs) to predict altimeter values through a non-linear fusion of the climate model hindcasts (for 1993-2019). The learned FCNNs are then applied to future climate model projections to predict future sea level patterns. We propose segmenting our spatial dataset into meaningful clusters and show that clustering helps to improve predictions of our ML model

FORMULATION AND EVALUATION OF HYDROGEL WITH ASCORBIC ACID USING ALOE VERA GEL POWDER AS A DRUG CARRIER

ABSTRACTObjective: The aim of this study is to develop a controlled release hydrogel and to evaluate the efficiency of its drug delivery. Even though the synthetic polymer drug carriers will be safely metabolized, they will not impart any health benefit unlike the natural carriers such as starch and Aloe vera. Hence, in the present investigation in vitro release characteristics of ascorbic acid based hydrogel formulated using Aloe vera gel powder as a drug carrier and nutrient fortifying excipient has been used.Methods: Hydrogel is a recent approach of sustained drug delivery which is advantageous because of its unique drug release patterns like swelling and diffusion. Vitamin C is a well known antioxidant which scavenges free radicals and Aloe vera enhances the bioavailability of vitamin C which is also protecting it from degradation along with its other essential properties.Results: Various evaluation parameters have been carried out such as swelling studies and in vitro release studies. These evaluation studies results have shown that maximum swelling percentage was seen at pH 1.4 and least in distilled water which imparts that even in acidic medium the formulated hydrogel can outlive. Appreciable swelling was seen in pH 5.4 and 7.4. Furthermore, the hydrogel was seen to undergo disintegration in distilled water.Conclusion: The in vitro release studies showed that the drug was released at a pre-determined rate over a controlled period of time hence it can be used in sustained drug delivery. The materials used in this study are bio available and biocompatible hence will not impart any toxicity and side-effects

Membership analysis and 3D kinematics of the star-forming complex around Trumpler 37 using Gaia-DR3

Identifying and characterizing young populations of star-forming regions is crucial to unravel their properties. In this regard, Gaia-DR3 data and machine learning tools are very useful for studying large star-forming complexes. In this work, we analyze the $\rm \sim7.1degree^2$ area of one of our Galaxy's dominant feedback-driven star-forming complexes, i.e., the region around Trumpler 37. Using the Gaussian mixture and random forest classifier methods, we identify 1243 high-probable members in the complex, of which $\sim60\%$ are new members and are complete down to the mass limit of $\sim$0.1 $-$ 0.2~$\rm M_{\odot}$. The spatial distribution of the stars reveals multiple clusters towards the complex, where the central cluster around the massive star HD 206267 reveals two sub-clusters. Of the 1243 stars, 152 have radial velocity, with a mean value of $\rm -16.41\pm0.72~km/s$. We investigate stars' internal and relative movement within the central cluster. The kinematic analysis shows that the cluster's expansion is relatively slow compared to the whole complex. This slow expansion is possibly due to newly formed young stars within the cluster. We discuss these results in the context of hierarchical collapse and feedback-induced collapse mode of star formation in the complex.Comment: 23 pages, 15 figures, accepted for publication in Ap

A retrospective study of obstetric hysterectomy cases at tertiary care centre

Background: Postpartum haemorrhage (PPH) is a life-threatening condition. The objective of this study was to determine the incidence, demographic characteristics, indications, and feto-maternal outcomes associated with obstetric hysterectomy in a tertiary care centre.Methods: This is a retrospective analytical study conducted over a period of six years, from March 2014 to April 2020. A total of 68 cases of obstetric hysterectomy were studied at tertiary care centre in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India.Results: Present study reported 68 obstetric hysterectomies per 44663 total deliveries (incidence - 0.15%), out of them 20 following 26446 vaginal deliveries (0.07%) and 48 following 18217 caesarean section (0.26%). Morbidly adherent placenta (29.41%) was the most common indication followed by atonic postpartum haemorrhage (25.00%) and uterine rupture (17.64%). The most frequent sequelae were disseminated intravascular coagulation (26.47%) and febrile morbidity (10.29%), maternal mortality was 16.17% whereas neonatal mortality was 26.47%.Conclusions: The incidence of obstetric hysterectomy has been found to be more following caesarean sections. There is a change in the indications of obstetric hysterectomy in the past two decades with placenta accreta spectrum being the commonest in present study. This is because of rising number of caesarean sections. Patients who underwent emergency obstetric hysterectomy due to atonic PPH had a higher mortality

Evaluation of complication during third stage of labour at tertiary care center

Background: The objective of the present study was to determine the maternal outcome of complications of third stage of labour and to determine the risk factors and evaluate the management protocols for these complications.Methods: This is retrospective study of maternal outcome with complications of third stage of labour carried out at tertiary care centre from June 2016 to December 2019. Patients who developed any complications of third stage of labour after vaginal delivery or caesarean section were included.Results: Complications observed during third stage of labour were atonic PPH 0.82% (74 cases), traumatic PPH 0.55% (50 cases), retained placenta (including placenta accreta spectrum) 0.21% (19 cases), secondary PPH 0.03% (3 cases), uterine inversion 0.03% (3 cases) and amniotic fluid embolism 0.01% (1 case). Maximum cases were seen in 18-24 years of age group. Only 36% patients having atonic PPH responded to medical treatment, 46% patients having atonic PPH responded to conservative surgery, 18% of patients required radical surgery.Conclusions: Third stage complications are potentially life threatening. Associated conditions for third stage complication are high parity, anemia, hydramnios, multiple pregnancy, malpresentation, placenta previa, and adherent placenta. Early anticipation and early intervention with proper planning is required to reduce the maternal morbidity and mortality in third stage complication

Search for brown dwarfs in IC 1396 with Subaru HSC: interpreting the impact of environmental factors on substellar population

© 2024 The Author(s). Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Royal Astronomical Society. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY), https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Young stellar clusters are predominantly the hub of star formation and hence, ideal to perform comprehensive studies over the least explored substellar regime. Various unanswered questions like the mass distribution in brown dwarf regime and the effect of diverse cluster environment on brown dwarf formation efficiency still plague the scientific community. The nearby young cluster, IC 1396 with its feedback-driven environment, is ideal to conduct such study. In this paper, we adopt a multiwavelength approach, using deep Subaru HSC along with other data sets and machine learning techniques to identify the cluster members complete down to ∼ 0.03 M⊙ in the central 22 arcmin area of IC 1396. We identify 458 cluster members including 62 brown dwarfs which are used to determine mass distribution in the region. We obtain a star-to-brown dwarf ratio of ∼ 6 for a stellar mass range 0.03–1 M⊙ in the studied cluster. The brown dwarf fraction is observed to increase across the cluster as radial distance from the central OB-stars increases. This study also compiles 15 young stellar clusters to check the variation of star-to-brown dwarf ratio relative to stellar density and ultraviolet (UV) flux ranging within 4–2500 stars pc−2 and 0.7–7.3 G0, respectively. The brown dwarf fraction is observed to increase with stellar density but the results about the influence of incident UV flux are inconclusive within this range. This is the deepest study of IC 1396 as of yet and it will pave the way to understand various aspects of brown dwarfs using spectroscopic observations in future.Peer reviewe

Effect of early maternal newborn skin to skin contact in labour room on third stage of labour and success at breastfeeding

Background: Immediate postpartum period and birth pose many challenges for the mother and the new-born. Initiation of early skin to skin contact in the labour room can be beneficial to both of them.Methods: Randomized control trial conducted over a period of 7 months in a tertiary care centre enrolling 400 laboring women.200 in the control group were given routine care. In the 200women in the study group, the newborn was given immediate skin to skin contact by placing him/her on the mother’s chest.Results: Duration of third stage of labour was less than 10 minutes in 95%women of study group compared to 56% women in the control group(p<0.01). Placenta was expulsed as a whole in 98% cases in the study group compared to 81% in the control group. Successful breastfeeding was observed in 88% women in study group compared to 54%in the control group(p<0.01). Breastfeeding was initiated within 30 minutes of birth in 96%women in the study group compared to 41% in the control group.Conclusions: Uterus could contract faster with the complete expulsion of placenta and shortening of the third stage of labour with early skin to skin contact. The newborn showed early initiation, success at breastfeeding and longer first breastfeeding with early skin to skin contact