Efficacy of Mefipristone for induction of labour in late term pregnancy

Background: Late-term pregnancy defined as one that has reached between 41 0/7 weeks and 41 6/7 weeks of gestation is associated with an increased maternal morbidity as well as an increased risk of fetal and neonatal mortality and morbidity. Mifepristone, an anti-glucocorticoid and antiprogesterone, though not an oxytocic increases uterine activity and causes cervical effacement and dilatation and improves the Bishop score without over/hyper stimulation of uterus. Increased maternal and fetal mortality from late term pregnancy could be prevented by induction of labour. The objective of this study was to know the efficacy of single dose of oral mifepristone in induction of labour in late term pregnancy and to assess the induction delivery interval in the study population.Methods: This was a prospective interventional study conducted in Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at BGS Global Institute of Medical Sciences, Bengaluru. 100 Women with late term pregnancy who fulfilled the inclusion and exclusion criteria were considered for the study after an informed written consent.Results: 73.5% (n=36) of multigravida and 80.4% (n=41) of prim gravida showed improvement in the Bishop score post induction with mifepristone and majority (89.79 % primigravida and 84.31% multigravida) of the study population had vaginal delivery. Multigravida (73.5%) had less induction delivery interval (less than 48hours) compared to primigravida (19.6%).Conclusions: Mifepristone, a progesterone antagonist causes a significant improvement in the Bishop’s score and is associated with an increased rate of vaginal deliveries

A prospective, randomized, single blind study comparing polyglactin-910 fast suture and chromic catgut suture in episiotomy repair

Background: Episiotomy is a standard surgical procedure performed during childbirth to enlarge the vaginal opening and facilitate baby delivery. Effective suturing techniques promote optimal wound healing, minimize complications, and enhance postpartum recovery for women undergoing episiotomy repair. This study aims to compare the effect of two different suture materials- chromic catgut and fast absorbable polyglactin-910 in the repair of episiotomy and its complications. Methods: A prospective, randomized, single blinded study was conducted at the department of obstetrics and gynecology, in a tertiary care hospital in India, between April 2021 and September 2022. Women aged 18-35 years with a singleton pregnancy undergoing vaginal delivery with episiotomy were included after giving informed written consent and fulfilling inclusion and exclusion criteria. Either chromic catgut (n=58) or polyglactin-910 fast (n=58) suture was used in episiotomy repair. The primary endpoint was to assess perineal pain following episiotomy repair using (VAS) visual analogue scale. The secondary endpoints were to assess wound healing using the REEDA scale, short term complications (hematoma, swelling, puerperal fever, dehiscence, wound healing and re-suturing), long term complications (feeling of slight stitches, dyspareunia and suture granuloma), intraoperative suture parameters, and any adverse events were noted. Results: Perineal pain, analgesic requirement, a feeling of slight stitches, and swelling were significantly more in the chromic catgut suture group compared to the polyglactin-910 fast absorbable suture group. Conclusions: The study concluded that polyglactin-910 fast absorbable suture is superior to chromic catgut suture and recommended its use over chromic catgut suture

Contract farming and its implications for input-supply, linkages between markets and farmers in Karnataka

This study is focused on the economic analysis of contract farming with a comparison of income, access to technology and credit of contract and non-contract farmers. The advantages of contract farming for smallholders have also been evaluated. In contract farming, quality inputs such as seeds, fertilizers and plant protection chemicals are provided to the farmers at their farm gate, coupled with the technical advice on production aspects. This not only reduces the working capital needs of farmers but also substantially reduces their transaction cost per unit of output. Borrowing of crop loans has been found 33 per cent higher by non-contract farmers than contract farmers, as the former have to buy material inputs. The net returns have been found higher for contract than non-contract farmers. Within contract farming, net returns have been recorded higher under domestic than foreign contracts for both baby corn and chilli. In the case of non-contract farmers, the net returns (Rs 3,035) have been found less than one-third of domestic contract farmers (Rs 10,610) and slightly more than one-third of foreign contract farmers (Rs 8,050). In the case of chilli also, the net returns realized per acre have been recorded maximum under domestic contract farmers, followed by foreign contract farmers and non-contract farmers. The returns per rupee invested have been noted higher in farming of baby corn in all the three categories than those of chilli farming. The constraints identified in the study include delay in payment and delivery of inputs, delay in lifting the produce, access to seeds, manupulation of grades by the buyers, and high cost of inputs in contract farming. Factors inducing farmers into contract are: low initial investment, better price for the produce, access to market, technical support on package of practices, access to inputs and easy transportation facilities.Farm Management,

Granulosa cell tumours of ovary: variables affecting prognosis

Background: Granulosa cell tumours account for less than 5% of all ovarian malignancies. Limited data is available from India. Methods: 27 patients with diagnosis of granulosa cell tumour of the ovary were treated between 1991 and 2003 at our Institute. The surgical records were reviewed and the patients were staged according to the FIGO system. The clinical and histological findings are correlated with prognosis and survival. Results: Mean age at diagnosis was 46.2 (2- 64) years. The number of patients in various stages was I-19; II-1; III-5 and IV-2. Menstrual irregularity was diagnosed in 22%, and postmenopausal bleeding in 7.4% of women. Twenty-five patients were treated with primary surgery, 9 patients received adjuvant chemotherapy (CT) and only one patients received chemotherapy as primary treatment. Overall survival was 82% at 5 years. Overall survival for stage I was 100% after 5 and 10 years and in stage II-IV, was 56.4% after 5 and 10 years. Mean tumour size was 18cm (range 3-30 cm). Women with larger tumour diameter (>15cm) had significantly worse outcome than those with tumours of smaller diameter (P<0.05). The frequency of observed mitosis influenced the survival rate; with 0-3/10 HPF the survival was 100% in 5 years and with 4/10 HPF the survival was 2.6 years. Conclusion: The tumour size, mitotic rate and stage of disease are well-defined variables and influence the survival significantly and should be considered as important prognostic factors for treatment planning

A study on anxiolytic activity and locomotor behavior of Curcuma amada rhizomes using Wistar albino rats

Background: Global burden of disease statistics indicate that 4 of 10 most important causes of disease worldwide are psychiatric in origin. Anxiety affects 1/8th of total population of the world and is a very important area of research interest in psychopharmacology. Medicinal plants and plant products are the oldest tried health-care products. Their importance is growing not only in developing countries but in many developed countries. Curcuma amada Roxb. (CA) commonly known as Mango Ginger is a rhizomatous aromatic herb which is used in this country for culinary purposes and also to treat various diseases. The rhizomes of Curcuma amada was screened for anxiolytic activity and locomotor behavior in Wistar albino rats.Methods: Wistar albino rats were divided into three groups as control (Distilled water with 0.1% CMC), standard (Diazepam - 1mg/kg) and test - Ethanolic Extract of Curcuma amada Rhizome (EECAR-250 mg/kg). They were administered drugs orally for a period of 10 days, and screened for anxiolytic activity using Light dark arena model and Actophotometer for assessing the locomotor behavior on the 10th day. The number of crossings and time spent in light arena for anxiolytic activity, and the number of movements in Actophotometer was noted. Data was analyzed by one way ANOVA followed by Tukey Kramer multiple comparison test using GraphPad InStat software.Results: Curcuma amada (250mg/kg) showed increased time spent in light arena and decreased locomotor behavior which was statistically significant.Conclusions: Curcuma amada possesses significant anxiolytic with CNS depressant activity

Automatic Discovery and Ranking of Synonyms for Search Keywords in the Web

Search engines are an indispensable part of a web user's life. A vast majority of these web users experience difficulties caused by the keyword-based search engines such as inaccurate results for queries and irrelevant URLs even though the given keyword is present in them. Also, relevant URLs may be lost as they may have the synonym of the keyword and not the original one. This condition is known as the polysemy problem. To alleviate these problems, we propose an algorithm called automatic discovery and ranking of synonyms for search keywords in the web (ADRS). The proposed method generates a list of candidate synonyms for individual keywords by employing the relevance factor of the URLs associated with the synonyms. Then, ranking of these candidate synonyms is done using co-occurrence frequencies and various page count-based measures. One of the major advantages of our algorithm is that it is highly scalable which makes it applicable to online data on the dynamic, domain-independent and unstructured World Wide Web. The experimental results show that the best results are obtained using the proposed algorithm with WebJaccard

Brahmi herbal drink mitigates aluminium chloride induced cognitive impairments

Aluminium chloride (AlCl3) is neurotoxic and has been proposed to be one of the environmental factors responsible for neurodegenerative disease like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disorders. It also causes learning and memory deficit. Bacopa monniera is well known for its memory enhancing property in traditional Indian system of medicine. In the present investigation we aim to evaluate cognitive-enhancing and neuromodulatory property of brahmi herbal drink (BHD), a nutraceutical product from Bacopa monniera extract. BHD was evaluated for physicochemical, sensory attributes and stability studies. Overall acceptability of BHD was good according to hedonic scale/ratings. Stability of the drink is for 6 months without losing its activity. Further, cognitive enhancing and neuromodulatory propensity of BHD was evaluated against AlCl3 treatment in rats. Administration of AlCl3 (100 mg/kg) daily for 23 days significantly increased cognitive impairment as evaluated in elevated plus maze (EPM) and Morris water maze (MWM) tests. BHD supplementation improved cognitive ability by decreasing the transfer and escape latency of EPM and MWM tests respectively. Our results further elucidate that BHD supplementation decreased acetylcholine esterase activity and nitric oxide levels by down-regulating AChE and iNOS expression respectively. BHD supplementation showed it neuroprotective efficacy by up-regulating BDNF expression. AlCl3 induced lipid peroxidation and reactive oxygen species generation was significantly alleviated by BHD and restored antioxidant status levels. All these results demonstrated the cognitive-enhancing and neuromodulatory potential of BHD in counteracting the damage inflicted by AlCl3 on rat brain

FORMULATION AND EVALUATION OF CREAMS CONTAINING CELECOXIB INCLUSIONS FOR TREATING PSORIATIC ARTHRITIS

Objective: The main objective of the present work was to prepare and evaluate creams of celecoxib inclusions which are nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug to treat psoriatic arthritis. Methods: Celecoxib inclusions were prepared using β-cyclodextrin to increase the solubility. These inclusions were incorporated in creams. Cocoa butter, triethanolamine, stearic acid, methylparaben, gum acacia, and coconut oil were used in cream preparation. Fourier transform infrared and differential scanning calorimetry studies were carried out for pure celecoxib and inclusions. Viscosity, pH, homogeneity, and type of emulsion under dye test were evaluation parameters done for creams. Results: All the results obtained were within the limits and confirmed increased solubility of celecoxib inclusions. Conclusion: From the results obtained, increase in solubility of celecoxib drug was confirmed by forming inclusions using β-CD as polymer

Evaluation of analgesic activity of Toxicodendron radicans in animal model using wistar albino rats

Background: Pain forms an integral part of many clinical conditions management is of great importance in every field of medicine. The core of medicine is to preserve and restore patient’s health and to minimize their suffering. Toxicodendron radicans (rhus toxicodendron) is a homoeopathic remedy with anti-inflammatory activity used for various arthritic pain. Rhus toxicodendron is commonly used in skin, mucus membrane affections, pain in joints, tendons, rheumatism in cold season, cellulitis and infection, fever. During the recent exponential rise in the use of alternative medicines and increasing integration into the health service little research has been done on alternative medicine in the context in which it is practiced.Methods: Wistar albino rats were divided into four groups. group 1 received control (normal saline), group 2 received vehicle (alcohol with distilled water in ratio 1:4), and group 3 received standard (diclofenac-10 mg/kg), group 4 and 5 consist of 2 test groups-rhus toxicodendron 30x and 200c respectively. Analgesic activity was assessed using Hot water tail immersion method and Eddy’s hot plate method. Preliminary pilot study was done with 4 doses rhus toxicodendron 6x, 12x, 30x, 200c respectively. Data was analysed by one-way ANOVA followed by Tukey Kramer multiple comparison test. P value <0.05 was considered as significant.Results: In Eddy’s hot plate method, rhus toxicodendron 30 showed increase in paw withdrawal time which was statistically very significant at the end of 1 hr compared to the control group whereas statistically rhus toxicodendron 200 showed extremely significant analgesic property. In hot water tail immersion method rhus toxicodendron 30 showed increase in tail withdrawal time at the end of 1hr compared to the control group which was significant statistically.Conclusions: This study shows that toxicodendron radicans homoeopathic formulations possess significant analgesic property

UTERUS DIDELPHYS IN NULLIPAROUS AND MULTIPAROUS WOMEN – A RARE ENTITY

Uterus didelphys is a rare congenital uterine abnormality in which the embryogenetic fusion of the Mullerian ducts fails to occur. It will lead to the formation of a double uterus with two separate cervices and most often a double vagina with a longitudinal septum as well. Here, we present two different cases of uterus didelphys with varied presentations. The first case is a nulliparous woman presented with post-coital bleeding. On examination, two cervical openings with a longitudinal complete vaginal septum were found, conservative management was done. Findings of didelphys uterus were confirmed on USG. The patient was counseled and discharged. The second case is a multiparous woman with previous cesarean delivery, rupture of membranes, and meconium in this pregnancy with term pregnancy taken up for emergency cesarean section. Dense adhesions and a mass on the right side of uterus were found intraoperatively, which on further inspection confirmed to be patent right horn of uterus. Diagnosis of uterus didelphys was made after doing per speculum and per vaginal examination post-cesarean