An evaluation of the prevalence, cause and risk factors associated with leucorrhoea in reproductive age group women

Background: The community based study was carried out in women of reproductive age group with a specific aim to evaluate the prevalence and risk factors of leucorrhoea.Methods: In this investigation, a total of 191 women who presented with gynaecological complaint of white discharge and seeking medical assistance was taken as a study sample for PAP smear. The basic details like socio demographic, past obstetric history and menstrual history were included prior to the smear study.Results: High prevalence of vaginal discharge was observed in the age group of 30-39, those who had two parity, previous obstetric history of normal vaginal delivery and usage of Copper T as a method of contraception. The binary logistics model explains the risk factors levels of abnormal vaginal discharge with 95% confident interval. Based on the data analysed, the age group of 30-39 and 40-49 are more likely to have a risk of 3.22 and 2.68 folds respectively. Likewise, the participants with the history of diabetes had a 2.08 folds increased risk of leucorrhoea rather than other complications and 2.21 folds of risk to those who used barrier methods like condom as a contraceptive method.Conclusions: The results concluded that the occurrence of vaginal discharge in women is age dependent and the most common risk factors for causing the vaginal discharge in the reproductive age group i.e. 30-49 years of age, are previous normal vaginal delivery, diabetes and usage of contraceptive methods like intra uterine contraceptive device and barrier methods

Tuberculosis awareness among educated public in two cities in Tamil Nadu

A questionnaire on source of information regarding tuberculosis, signs and symptoms, diagnostic methods, treatment duration and personal and community hygiene relating to tuberculosis, was administered to 446 students and employees with an educational status of high school certificate and above. The main source of information were books and magazines and 86% were aware that the Tuberculosis germ was the causative agent. Symptoms of Tuberculosis such as cough (85%) and loss of weight (74%) were well known. Other symptoms suchchest pain (29%), fever (27%) were less known. Sputum examination as a diagnostic tool was known to 68% while 80% knew about radiograph being used to diagnose the disease. Cough as a method of spread was known to 91%. In this questionnaire the duration of treatment was the least known fact. 28% felt that treatment could be stopped if symptoms disappeared. 16% were aware that the method of sputum disposal was by incineration. The implications are discussed

Toxic metals (Cd and Pb) induced dysfunctioning of antioxidant system in marine fish Sphyraena barracuda (Edwards, 1771) collected from Kpeme, South of Togo

44-51Pollution of aquatic systems has become a recurring problem nowadays. The main goal of this study is to assess the impact of Cd and Pb on the antioxidant system of Sphyraena barracuda collected at Kpeme of South Togo. Two enzymatic biomarkers (catalase and glutathione-S-transferase) and two non-enzymatic biomarkers (malondialdehyde and glutathione) of oxidative stress were measured in various organs like liver, heart, gills and kidney of Sphyraena barracuda. The results indicated that stress was induced by Cd and Pb in these organs through lipid peroxidation and glutathione production. However, there was an alteration of the antioxidant system by low glutathione-S-transferase and catalase activities in the gills. Whereas, in other organs like heart, liver, and kidney, higher activity of glutathione-S-transferase and lesser activity of catalase was observed. From the results, it is very clear that Cd and Pb altered the antioxidant system of fish in comparison to the control samples

Toxic metals (Cd and Pb) induced dysfunctioning of antioxidant system in marine fish Sphyraena barracuda (Edwards, 1771) collected from Kpeme, South of Togo

Pollution of aquatic systems has become a recurring problem nowadays. The main goal of this study is to assess the impact of Cd and Pb on the antioxidant system of Sphyraena barracuda collected at Kpeme of South Togo. Two enzymatic biomarkers (catalase and glutathione-S-transferase) and two non-enzymatic biomarkers (malondialdehyde and glutathione) of oxidative stress were measured in various organs like liver, heart, gills and kidney of Sphyraena barracuda. The results indicated that stress was induced by Cd and Pb in these organs through lipid peroxidation and glutathione production. However, there was an alteration of the antioxidant system by low glutathione-S-transferase and catalase activities in the gills. Whereas, in other organs like heart, liver, and kidney, higher activity of glutathione-S-transferase and lesser activity of catalase was observed. From the results, it is very clear that Cd and Pb altered the antioxidant system of fish in comparison to the control samples

Non-invasive methods for the estimation of mPAP in COPD using Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Purpose Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is associated with a poor outcome in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and is diagnosed invasively. We aimed to assess the diagnostic accuracy and prognostic value of non-invasive cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) models. Methods Patients with COPD and suspected PH, who underwent CMR and right heart catheter (RHC) were identified. Three candidate models were assessed: 1, CMR-RV model, based on right ventricular (RV) mass and interventricular septal angle; 2, CMR PA/RV includes RV mass, septal angle and pulmonary artery (PA) measurements; 3, the Alpha index, based on RV ejection fraction and PA size. Results Of 102 COPD patients, 87 had PH. The CMR-PA/RV model had the strongest diagnostic accuracy (sensitivity 92%, specificity 80%, positive predictive value 96% and negative predictive value 63%, AUC 0.93, p<0.0001). Splitting RHCmPAP, CMR-RV and CMR-PA/RV models by 35mmHg gave a significant difference in survival, with log-rank chi-squared 5.03, 5.47 and 7.10. RV mass and PA relative area change were the independent predictors of mortality at multivariate Cox regression (p=0.002 and 0.030). Conclusion CMR provides diagnostic and prognostic information in PH-COPD. The CMR-PA/RV model is useful for diagnosis, the RV mass index and PA relative area change are useful to assess prognosis. Key Points • Pulmonary hypertension is a marker of poor outcome in COPD. • MRI can predict invasively measured mean pulmonary artery pressure. • Cardiac MRI allows for estimation of survival in COPD. • Cardiac MRI may be useful for follow up or future trials. • MRI is potentially useful to assess pulmonary hypertension in patients with COPD

Dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension.

Dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) time-resolved magnetic resonance (MR) imaging is a technique whereby the passage of an intravenous contrast bolus can be tracked through the pulmonary vascular system. The aim of this study was to investigate the prognostic significance of DCE-MR pulmonary blood transit times in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). Seventy-nine patients diagnosed with PAH underwent pulmonary DCE imaging at 1.5 T using a time-resolved three-dimensional spoiled gradient echo sequence. The prognostic significance of two DCE parameters, full width at half maximum (FWHM) of the first-pass clearance curve and pulmonary transit time (PTT), along with demographic and invasive catheter measurements, was evaluated by univariate and bivariate Cox proportional hazards regression and Kaplan-Meier analysis. DCE-MR transit times were most closely correlated with cardiac index (CI) and pulmonary vascular resistance index (PVRI) and were both found to be accurate for detecting reduced CI (FWHM area under the curve [AUC] at receiver operating characteristic analysis = 0.91 and PTT AUC = 0.92, respectively) and for detecting elevated PVRI (FWHM AUC = 0.88 and PTT AUC = 0.84, respectively). During the follow-up period, 25 patients died. Patients with longer measurements of FWHM (P = 0.0014) and PTT (P = 0.004) were associated with poor outcome at Kaplan-Meier analysis, and both parameters were strong predictors of adverse outcome from Cox proportional hazards analysis (P = 0.013 and 0.010, respectively). At bivariate analysis, DCE measurements predicted mortality independent of age, gender, and World Health Organization functional class; however, invasive hemodynamic indexes CI, PVRI, and DCE measurements were not independent of one another. In conclusion, DCE-MR transit times predict mortality in patients with PAH and are closely associated with clinical gold standards CI and PVRI

Two Distinct Categories of Focal Deletions in Cancer Genomes

One of the key questions about genomic alterations in cancer is whether they are functional in the sense of contributing to the selective advantage of tumor cells. The frequency with which an alteration occurs might reflect its ability to increase cancer cell growth, or alternatively, enhanced instability of a locus may increase the frequency with which it is found to be aberrant in tumors, regardless of oncogenic impact. Here we\u27ve addressed this on a genome-wide scale for cancer-associated focal deletions, which are known to pinpoint both tumor suppressor genes (tumor suppressors) and unstable loci. Based on DNA copy number analysis of over one-thousand human cancers representing ten different tumor types, we observed five loci with focal deletion frequencies above 5%, including the A2BP1 gene at 16p13.3 and the MACROD2 gene at 20p12.1. However, neither RNA expression nor functional studies support a tumor suppressor role for either gene. Further analyses suggest instead that these are sites of increased genomic instability and that they resemble common fragile sites (CFS). Genome-wide analysis revealed properties of CFS-like recurrent deletions that distinguish them from deletions affecting tumor suppressor genes, including their isolation at specific loci away from other genomic deletion sites, a considerably smaller deletion size, and dispersal throughout the affected locus rather than assembly at a common site of overlap. Additionally, CFS-like deletions have less impact on gene expression and are enriched in cell lines compared to primary tumors. We show that loci affected by CFS-like deletions are often distinct from known common fragile sites. Indeed, we find that each tumor tissue type has its own spectrum of CFS-like deletions, and that colon cancers have many more CFS-like deletions than other tumor types. We present simple rules that can pinpoint focal deletions that are not CFS-like and more likely to affect functional tumor suppressors

The effect of surveillance and appreciative inquiry on puerperal infections : a longitudinal cohort study in India

Peer reviewedPublisher PD