Prevalence of premenstrual syndrome and dysmenorrhea among medical students and its impact on their college absenteeism

Background: Dysmenorrhea and premenstrual syndrome are two most common gynaecological problem leading to college absenteeism seen among female medical students. Aim of the study was to evaluate the factors associated and prevalence of dysmenorrhoea and PMS and its effects on the quality of life, particularly absenteeism from college in female medical students. The health care profession has an obligation to provide and to promote education on menstruation and related subjects.Methods: This is a prospective study, conducted on 100 MBBS students studying in a medical college at Mangalore. All participants were given a preformed questionnaire to complete. Dysmenorrhea was assessed based on WaLiDD scoring system. Diagnosis of PMS in the present study was made according to diagnosis criteria proposed by American College of obstetrician and gynecology. The severity of their condition was assessed based on their absenteeism from college/classes.Results: The average age of the participants was 21 year±1 year. The prevalence of dysmenorrhea was 45% and that of the pre-menstrual syndrome was 68%. Pre-menstrual syndrome (p = 0.05) is significantly associated with overweight, obesity and physical inactivity but not the same for dysmenorrhea. 73% and 60% of students consumed junk food suffered from PMS and dysmenorrhea respectively, 40% of students with dysmenorrhea reported limitation of daily activities and significantly associated with college absenteeism (p = 0.005). The most frequent somatic symptom of PMS in this study was breast tenderness (41%) and affective symptom was irritability (35%).Conclusions: Dysmenorrhea and PMS is highly prevalent among female medical students; it is related to college/class absenteeism. Unhealthy and sedentary lifestyle could be the attributing factors which has to be addressed by health education in order to improve the quality of life and academic performance by the medical students

Comparative study of user friendliness of paperless partogram compared to WHO partogram in preventing prolonged labour

Background: Partogram is being used since 1954 when Friedman described it for monitoring progress of labour. The Paperless Partogram proposed by Dr. Debdas is a low-skill method for detection of abnormal labour. The objective of the present study was to know efficacy and user friendliness of paperless partogram in comparison with WHO partogram in monitoring and management of labourMethods: It’s a comparative study. Total of 100 patients were included in the study where half of the patients were monitored by paperless partogram and the other half by WHO modified partogram. The plotting of the WHO partographs started as soon the cervical dilatation was 4 cm along with regular painful uterine contractions. In the paperless partogram calculation will be two times, an ALERT ETD (estimated time of delivery) and an ACTION ETD. The outcome of labour will be recorded at the end of each partographs.Results: Paperless partogram was better than WHO partogram in terms of documentation, ease of use, learning, time factor, cost effectiveness and monitoring of labour, identification of abnormal labour.Conclusions: In present study paperless partogram was found to be preferred for monitoring of labour

Cervical effacement, as an independent parameter versus modified bishop score, for predicting the favorability of vaginal delivery in a primigravida at 40 weeks gestation and beyond

Background: Dr. Edward Bishop developed the original bishop score. He concluded that elective induction in multiparous women was successful with a score > 8. Calder introduced the modified bishop score in which he replaced cervical effacement with cervical length in cms. Score of 6-12 is favourable. In this study, studied the cervical effacement/ length as an independent predictor of vaginal delivery in a primigravida.Methods: A retrospective observational study was conducted from May 2018 to January 2019. Total participants were divided into two groups on the basis of spontaneous labor and induced labor. Both the groups were assessed individually and collectively in terms of cervical effacement/length and modified bishop score. Study primary outcome was vaginal delivery. The results were reflected in terms of sensitivity, specificity, PPV and NPV. These values were compared for cervical effacement/ length as well as modified bishop score and p value calculated. Also, association between modified bishop score and cervical effacement/length was established.Results: Total number of participants included was n = 91. Those with modified bishop score > 6, 78.16% had vaginal delivery. This gave a sensitivity of 78.16%, specificity of 50%, PPV of 97.14%. Those with cervical effacement of >/=50% or cervical length of /= 50% had modified bishop score >/= 6, reflecting the association between them.Conclusions: Cervical effacement of >/= 50% or cervical length </= 2 cms yielded an equivalently high predictive ability similar to modified bishop score, for spontaneous as well as induced labor. Hence, cervical effacement can be taken as an independent parameter to assess the favorability of successful vaginal delivery in a primigravida

Maternal and fetal out come in meconium stained amniotic fluid in a tertiary centre

Background: This study was undertaken to determine the correlation of amniotic fluid stained with meconium (MSAF) with maternal and fetal outcome.Methods: This prospective observational study was carried out in the Department of obstetrics and gynecology, Yenepoya medical college, Mangalore over a period of 14 months between January 2013 to march 2014. A total of 1000 pregnant women who had completed more than 37weeks of gestation with singleton pregnancies & cephalic presentation were included in this study. MSAF on spontaneous or artificial rupture of membranes were monitored during labour with fetal heart rate abnormality, consistency of liquor, 1 minute and 5 minute Apgar score, LSCS, instrumental delivery, NICU admissions and neonatal complications as outcome variables.Results: Women were divided into two groups: 350 women with MSAF as cases, while 650 women with clear liquor were taken as controls. Among 350 cases with MSAF, 70 % were unbooked and 30 % were booked pts. About 75.7% of women were between 20-30 years of age-group. Primi gravidas constituted 51.4% in study group. Approximately 41.4% cases had gestational ages of 39 -39+6. Among MSAF 55.4% were thin stained & 44.5%were thickly stained. 45.7% showed fetal heart abnormalities on electronic monitoring & presence of fetal bradycardia was higher. Caesarean section rates were nearly triple in cases (45.7% vs 15.7%). Fetal out come in regard to Apgar score at birth, birth asphyxia, MAS, increased NICU admissions were more in cases. Incidence of Male to female was high (52.6% vs 47.3%).Conclusions: Presence of MSAF is worrisome for both the obstetrician and pediatricians view as it increases surgical intervention, birth asphyxia, MAS & NICU admissions

Admission test as a screening test for fetal distress in labour

Background: This study was undertaken with the purpose of evaluating the efficacy of labour admission test as a screening test to identify the compromised fetus or fetus at risk and to correlate with perinatal outcome.Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study of 300 patients in 1st stage of labour admitted to labour room at tertiary care hospital over a period of one and a half years. Patients with Singleton pregnancy, Cephalic presentation & Gestational age beyond 34 weeks were included in this study. A BPL electronic foetal heart monitor was used to perform the admission test. With the patient in left lateral position a 20 minute continuous electronic recording (paper speed of 3 cm per minute) of foetal heart rate and uterine activity was obtained, on a cardiotocograph.Results: Statistical significance was calculated between different categories for different parameters too. A p value of of<0.05 was considered to be statistically significant. Fetal distress was seen 64.71% in Category III group 33.33% with Category II group and 4.74 % in Category I trace. admission test has 97.75% specificity and 95.5% negative predictive value.Conclusions: Admission test makes screening convenient. Since it is non-invasive, patients also cooperate. Admission test helps to plan subsequent management of labour. It is a good predictor of foetal well-being at the time of admission and for the next few hours

Comparison of progress of labour and maternofetal outcome among induced versus spontaneous labour in nulliparous women using modified WHO partograph

Background: Induced or spontaneous labour has implication on the eventual mode of delivery and neonatal outcome. The aim of study is to compare the progress and outcome of induced versus spontaneous labour among nulliparous women using the modified WHO partograph.Methods: Comparative study involving nulliparous women in active phase of labour with the cervix at least 4cm dilated. Those whose labours were induced were compared with those on spontaneous labour; both labouring women were monitored using modified WHO partograph. Outcome measures include the mean duration of labour, the eventual mode of delivery and the Maternofetal outcome. Data were managed using SPSS software. Chi-square t-test and student t-test were used in data analysis. Level of significance was placed at P<0.05.Results: 115 women were compared in each group. There was no difference in mean age group, gestational age at delivery, cervical dilatation on admission, and the level of head of fifth palpable on admission. More women had spontaneous vaginal delivery among those in spontaneous labour (72.1% versus 64.7%) P=0.0001. There were less caesarean section among those in spontaneous labour. The mean Apgar scores were significantly better among induced labour babies (P=0.0001).Conclusions: Induced labour may increase the chances of caesarean section, it does not adversely affect the neonatal outcome. Therefore, it is advised induced labour can be a safe procedure among nulliparous women if labour is partographically monitored

Quasi-particle propagation in quantum Hall systems

We study various geometrical aspects of the propagation of particles obeying fractional statistics in the physical setting of the quantum Hall system. We find a discrete set of zeros for the two-particle kernel in the lowest Landau level; these arise from a combination of a two-particle Aharonov-Bohm effect and the exchange phase related to fractional statistics. The kernel also shows short distance exclusion statistics, for instance, in a power law behavior as a function of initial and final positions of the particles. We employ the one-particle kernel to compute impurity-mediated tunneling amplitudes between different edges of a finite-sized quantum Hall system and and find that they vanishes for certain strengths and locations of the impurity scattering potentials. We show that even in the absence of scattering, the correlation functions between different edges exhibits unusual features for a narrow enough Hall bar.Comment: 16 pages including 4 figures; a more detailed and self-contained version of Phys. Rev. Lett. 99, 190401 (2007), arXiv:0705.0360; this is the final published versio

Trichomonas vaginalis Detection in Urogenital Specimens from Symptomatic and Asymptomatic Men and Women by Use of the cobas TV/MG Test

Trichomonas vaginalis is a prevalent sexually transmitted infection (STI). Diagnosis has historically relied on either microscopic analysis or culture, the latter being the previous gold standard. However, these tests are not readily available for male diagnosis, generally only perform well for symptomatic women, and are not as sensitive as nucleic acid amplification tests (NAATs). Men are largely asymptomatic but carry the organism and transmit to their sexual partners. This multicenter, prospective study evaluated the performance of the cobas T. vaginalis/Mycoplasma genitalium (TV/MG) assay for detection of T. vaginalis DNA compared with patient infection status (PIS) defined by a combination of commercially available NAATs and culture using urogenital specimens. A total of 2,064 subjects (984 men and 1,080 women, 940 [45.5%] symptomatic, 1,124 [54.5%] asymptomatic) were evaluable. In women, sensitivity ranged from 99.4% (95% confidence interval [CI] 96.8 to 99.9%) using vaginal samples to 94.7% (95% CI 90.2 to 97.2%) in PreservCyt samples. Specificity ranged from 98.9 to 96.8% (95% CI 95.4 to 97.8%). In men, the cobas TV/MG assay was 100% sensitive for the detection of T. vaginalis in both male urine samples and meatal swabs, with specificity of 98.4% in urine samples and 92.5% in meatal swabs. The cobas TV/MG is a suitable diagnostic test for the detection of T. vaginalis, which could support public health efforts toward infection control and complement existing STI programs

Anisotropic nanomaterials: structure, growth, assembly, and functions

Comprehensive knowledge over the shape of nanomaterials is a critical factor in designing devices with desired functions. Due to this reason, systematic efforts have been made to synthesize materials of diverse shape in the nanoscale regime. Anisotropic nanomaterials are a class of materials in which their properties are direction-dependent and more than one structural parameter is needed to describe them. Their unique and fine-tuned physical and chemical properties make them ideal candidates for devising new applications. In addition, the assembly of ordered one-dimensional (1D), two-dimensional (2D), and three-dimensional (3D) arrays of anisotropic nanoparticles brings novel properties into the resulting system, which would be entirely different from the properties of individual nanoparticles. This review presents an overview of current research in the area of anisotropic nanomaterials in general and noble metal nanoparticles in particular. We begin with an introduction to the advancements in this area followed by general aspects of the growth of anisotropic nanoparticles. Then we describe several important synthetic protocols for making anisotropic nanomaterials, followed by a summary of their assemblies, and conclude with major applications

CropPol: a dynamic, open and global database on crop pollination

Seventy five percent of the world's food crops benefit from insect pollination. Hence, there has been increased interest in how global change drivers impact this critical ecosystem service. Because standardized data on crop pollination are rarely available, we are limited in our capacity to understand the variation in pollination benefits to crop yield, as well as to anticipate changes in this service, develop predictions, and inform management actions. Here, we present CropPol, a dynamic, open and global database on crop pollination. It contains measurements recorded from 202 crop studies, covering 3,394 field observations, 2,552 yield measurements (i.e. berry weight, number of fruits and kg per hectare, among others), and 47,752 insect records from 48 commercial crops distributed around the globe. CropPol comprises 32 of the 87 leading global crops and commodities that are pollinator dependent. Malus domestica is the most represented crop (32 studies), followed by Brassica napus (22 studies), Vaccinium corymbosum (13 studies), and Citrullus lanatus (12 studies). The most abundant pollinator guilds recorded are honey bees (34.22% counts), bumblebees (19.19%), flies other than Syrphidae and Bombyliidae (13.18%), other wild bees (13.13%), beetles (10.97%), Syrphidae (4.87%), and Bombyliidae (0.05%). Locations comprise 34 countries distributed among Europe (76 studies), Northern America (60), Latin America and the Caribbean (29), Asia (20), Oceania (10), and Africa (7). Sampling spans three decades and is concentrated on 2001-05 (21 studies), 2006-10 (40), 2011-15 (88), and 2016-20 (50). This is the most comprehensive open global data set on measurements of crop flower visitors, crop pollinators and pollination to date, and we encourage researchers to add more datasets to this database in the future. This data set is released for non-commercial use only. Credits should be given to this paper (i.e., proper citation), and the products generated with this database should be shared under the same license terms (CC BY-NC-SA). This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved