Reviewing disease burden among rural Indian women

The disease burden of rural Indian women is reviewed by utilizing the data from the 'Survey of Causes of Death (rural)' annual reports of Registrar General of India supplemented with National family health survey (NFHS-II). The review indicates that bronchitis and asthma are the leading causes while prematurity and heart attacks are second and third respectively. Most of the maternal deaths are concentrated in the age group 20-24 and bleeding is the main cause of maternal death. Tuberculosis of the lungs, malaria and burns are also important causes of death in the early reproductive ages. Rate of suicide, burn, and anaemia diminishes with age. Though nationwide health plans have succeeded in reducing the fatality of women's diseases to a entrain extent, there is however, a great need for improved and effective area-specific health programs to achieve the desired goal

A Numerical Study of Jovian Moist Convection with a new Convective Adjustment Scheme, and Implications for Jupiter’s Water Abundance

Jupiter’s atmosphere features a variety of clouds that are formed from the interplay of chemistry and atmospheric dynamics, from the deep red of the Great Red Spot to the high altitude white ammonia clouds present in the zones. Beneath these upper level clouds, water condensation occurs, and sporadically leads to the formation of towering convective storms, driven by the release of large amounts of latent heat. These storms result in a widespread disruption of the cloud and dynamical structure of the atmosphere at the latitude where they form, making the study of these events paramount in understanding the dynamics at depth, and the role of water in the jovian atmosphere. In this work, we use the Explicit Planetary hybrid-Isentropic Coordinate (EPIC) General Circulation Model (GCM) to study the jovian atmosphere, with a focus on moist convective storm formation from water condensation. We present the addition of a sub-grid scale moist convective module to model convective water cloud formation. We focus on the 24° N latitude, the location of a high speed jetstream, where convective upwellings have been observed every 4-5 years. We find that the convective ability, and vertical mass and energy flux of the atmosphere is strongly correlated with the amount of water, and determine an upper limit of the amount of water in the atmosphere as twice the solar [O/H] ratio

Signs of spiritual distress and its implications for practice in Indian palliative care

Introduction: Given the particularity of spirituality in the Indian context, models and tools for spiritual care that have been developed in Western countries may not be applicable to Indian palliative care patients. Therefore, we intended to describe the most common signs of spiritual distress in Indian palliative care patients, assess differences between male and female participants, and formulate contextually appropriate recommendations for spiritual care based on this data. Methods: Data from 300 adult cancer patients who had completed a questionnaire with 36 spirituality items were analyzed. We calculated frequencies and percentages, and we compared responses of male and female participants using Chi-squared tests. Results: Most participants believed in God or a higher power who somehow supports them. Signs of potential spiritual distress were evident in the participants’ strong agreement with existential explanations of suffering that directly or indirectly put the blame for the illness on the patient, the persistence of the “Why me?” question, and feelings of unfairness and anger. Women were more likely to consider illness their fate, be worried about the future of their children or spouse and be angry about what was happening to them. They were less likely than men to blame themselves for their illness. The observations on spirituality enabled us to formulate recommendations for spiritual history taking in Indian palliative care. Conclusion: Our recommendations may help clinicians to provide appropriate spiritual care based on the latest evidence on spirituality in Indian palliative care. Unfortunately, this evidence is limited and more research is required

Human papillomavirus (HPV) types 16, 18, 31, 45 DNA loads and HPV-16 integration in persistent and transient infections in young women

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>HPV burden is a predictor for high-grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia and cancer. The natural history of HPV load in young women being recently exposed to HPV is described in this paper.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A total of 636 female university students were followed for 2 years. Cervical specimens with HPV-16, -18, -31, or -45 DNA by consensus PCR were further evaluated with type-specific and β-globin real-time PCR assays. Proportional hazards regression was used to estimate hazard ratios (HR) of infection clearance. Generalized estimating equations assessed whether HPV loads was predictive of HPV infection at the subsequent visit.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>HPV loads were consistently higher among women <25 years old, and those who had multiple sex partners, multiple HPV type infections and smokers. HPV-16 integration was encountered only in one sample. Infection clearance was faster among women at lower tertiles of HPV-16 (HR = 2.8, 95%CI: 1.0-8.1), HPV-18 (HR = 3.5, 95%CI: 1.1-11.2) or combined (HR = 2.4, 95%CI: 1.8-6.2) DNA loads. The relationship between HPV-16 and HPV-18 DNA loads and infection clearance followed a clear dose-response pattern, after adjusting for age and number of sexual partners. GEE Odds Ratios for HPV persistence of the middle and upper tertiles relative to the lower tertile were 2.7 and 3.0 for HPV-16 and 3.8 and 39.1 for HPV-18, respectively. There was no association between HPV-31 or -45 DNA loads and persistence.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The association between HPV load and persistence is not uniform across high-risk genital genotypes. HPV-16 integration was only rarely demonstrated in young women.</p

Jovian Vortex Hunter: A Citizen Science Project to Study Jupiter’s Vortices

The Jovian atmosphere contains a wide diversity of vortices, which have a large range of sizes, colors, and forms in different dynamical regimes. The formation processes for these vortices are poorly understood, and aside from a few known, long-lived ovals, such as the Great Red Spot and Oval BA, vortex stability and their temporal evolution are currently largely unknown. In this study, we use JunoCam data and a citizen science project on Zooniverse to derive a catalog of vortices, some with repeated observations, from 2018 May to 2021 September, and we analyze their associated properties, such as size, location, and color. We find that different-colored vortices (binned as white, red, brown, and dark) follow vastly different distributions in terms of their sizes and where they are found on the planet. We employ a simplified stability criterion using these vortices as a proxy, to derive a minimum Rossby deformation length for the planet of ∼1800 km. We find that this value of L d is largely constant throughout the atmosphere and does not have an appreciable meridional gradient

Translational toxicology in setting occupational exposure limits for dusts and hazard classification – a critical evaluation of a recent approach to translate dust overload findings from rats to humans

Background We analyze the scientific basis and methodology used by the German MAK Commission in their recommendations for exposure limits and carcinogen classification of “granular biopersistent particles without known specific toxicity” (GBS). These recommendations are under review at the European Union level. We examine the scientific assumptions in an attempt to reproduce the results. MAK’s human equivalent concentrations (HECs) are based on a particle mass and on a volumetric model in which results from rat inhalation studies are translated to derive occupational exposure limits (OELs) and a carcinogen classification. Methods We followed the methods as proposed by the MAK Commission and Pauluhn 2011. We also examined key assumptions in the metrics, such as surface area of the human lung, deposition fractions of inhaled dusts, human clearance rates; and risk of lung cancer among workers, presumed to have some potential for lung overload, the physiological condition in rats associated with an increase in lung cancer risk. Results The MAK recommendations on exposure limits for GBS have numerous incorrect assumptions that adversely affect the final results. The procedures to derive the respirable occupational exposure limit (OEL) could not be reproduced, a finding raising considerable scientific uncertainty about the reliability of the recommendations. Moreover, the scientific basis of using the rat model is confounded by the fact that rats and humans show different cellular responses to inhaled particles as demonstrated by bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) studies in both species. Conclusion Classifying all GBS as carcinogenic to humans based on rat inhalation studies in which lung overload leads to chronic inflammation and cancer is inappropriate. Studies of workers, who have been exposed to relevant levels of dust, have not indicated an increase in lung cancer risk. Using the methods proposed by the MAK, we were unable to reproduce the OEL for GBS recommended by the Commission, but identified substantial errors in the models. Considerable shortcomings in the use of lung surface area, clearance rates, deposition fractions; as well as using the mass and volumetric metrics as opposed to the particle surface area metric limit the scientific reliability of the proposed GBS OEL and carcinogen classification.International Carbon Black Associatio

Incidence And Duration Of Type-specific Human Papillomavirus Infection In High-risk Hpv-naive Women: Results From The Control Arm Of A Phase Ii Hpv-16/18 Vaccine Trial

Persistence of human papillomaviruses (HPVs) is necessary for cervical carcinogenesis. We evaluated incidence and duration of type-specific HPV infections and the influence of age and number of sexual partners. Methods: Data were obtained from 553 women (15-25 years), who were seronegative and DNA-negative for high-risk HPV (HR-HPV) types and were enrolled in the placebo arm of a randomised trial of the HPV-16/ 18 vaccine (NCT00689741/NCT00120848). They were followed for 6.3 years. Cervicovaginal samples were self-collected at 3-month intervals for up to 27 months, and cervical samples were collected by clinicians at 6-month intervals until study end. Samples were tested for HPV types using a broad-spectrum PCR assay. Incidence rate ratios (RRs) and 95% CIs were used to estimate the association among age, sexual habits and HPV acquisition. Results: Incidence rates (95% CI) using cervical samples were 11.8 (10.4 to 13.4) and 5.6 (4.7 to 6.6) per 1000 women-months for HR-HPVs and low-risk HPVs (LR-HPVs), respectively. Equivalent rates in combined cervicovaginal and cervical samples were 17.2 (15.4 to 19.2) and 6.9 (5.9 to 8.0), respectively. 54 per cent of HR-HPV types from combined cervicovaginal and cervical samples persisted for 1 year compared with 32.3% for LR-HPV types. The risk of acquiring any HPV infection was higher among women aged 1 sexual partner (RR=1.83, 95% CI 1.4 to 2.4) at baseline. Conclusions: HR-HPV infections were more common and lasted longer on average than LR-HPV infections. HPV acquisition was more common in younger women with multiple sexual partners.68GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals S.A