Correlation of serum magnesium levels in eclampsia with pritchard and single dose magnesium sulphate regimen

Background: Magnesium sulphate is anticonvulsant of choice for eclampsia. Single dose magnesium sulphate therapy was tried for the management of Eclampsia and Imminent Eclampsia considering the low body mass index of Indian population.Methods: A prospective interventional study comprising of total 80 patients having either eclampsia or imminent eclampsia, to whom the Pritchard or a single dose MgSO4 was given alternatively in a tertiary hospital   from October 2014 to October 2017. Serum magnesium levels, maternal and perinatal outcome and recurrence of convulsions were evaluated using Student- t test and chi square test.Results: Mean Serum Magnesium levels in eclampsia and imminent eclampsia group at 0 min, 30 min, 4 hours in Pritchard regimen were 1.96mg/dl, 5.85mg/dl, 4.68mg/dl while in single dose regimen it was 1.78mg/dl, 462mg/dl, 3.63mg/dl respectively. Those who received Pritchard regimen showed higher level of Serum magnesium levels at 30 minutes and 4 hours than those receiving single dose. By applying T-test it was found that there is a significant difference in serum magnesium levels range in both group but no statistical difference in the control of convulsions in both groups.Conclusions: With increased and almost widespread use of magnesium sulfate in obstetrics there has been concerns regarding its safety. In the study, although P-values are not significant because of small sample size, there is considerable difference in serum magnesium levels 30 min and 4 hours, recurrence of convulsions and maternal morbidity between Pritchard regimen and single dose regimen. The goal which was achieved with Pritchard regimen previously, now can be achieved with single dose regimen in Indian women. Single dose magnesium sulphate is safe and effective in controlling convulsions with improved maternal and perinatal outcome

Study of acceptance of post-abortal contraception in a tertiary care centre

Background: Unsafe abortions is causing about 8% of maternal deaths in India. So, it’s important to use contraception not only for spacing but also to prevent unintended pregnancies. It is well known that fertility is resumed in the immediate cycle following an abortion. Post abortal contraception is very important in preventing pregnancies in the immediate post-abortal period. This study was intended to know the acceptance of post-abortal contraception in women coming for medical termination of pregnancy (MTP) or following spontaneous abortion in tertiary care centre. Thus, it is vital to know the choices made by them, to know the method accepted so that it will be helpful in bringing awareness in those who do not opt for post-abortal contraception. Aims and objectives were to study the acceptance rate of post-abortal contraception. Also, to study the method of contraception accepted.Methods: It was a retrospective cohort study from 2018 to 2020 done in Vani Vilas hospital, BMCRI, a tertiary hospital. A total of 2273 patients were enrolled in the study. Data was collected from both 1st trimester and 2nd trimester abortion patients (spontaneous/induced) from the Comprehensive abortion care register. The acceptance and method of contraception accepted was studied. Inclusion criteria were-women coming to tertiary centre for abortion (spontaneous/induced) to Vani Vilas hospital. Exclusion criteria were-Molar pregnancy and Ectopic pregnancy. Demography, educational status, details of spontaneous or induced abortions, parity and gestational age at abortion, the acceptance and methods of contraception accepted were studied.Results: A total of 2273 patients were included in the study of which 738 were MTP and 1535 were cases of spontaneous abortion. 912 (40.12%) were primigravidae and 1361 (59.87%) were multigravida. Various methods of contraceptives were accepted by 1973 (86.80%) patients, whereas 300 (13.19%) did not opt for any method of contraception. Of 1973 patients,176 (7.7%) underwent sterilization.Conclusions: The acceptance rate of post-abortion contraceptive methods was good. Acceptance of COCs and LARC was almost similar in this study. Immediate acceptance of contraception in the post-abortal period is very crucial in reducing unintended pregnancies and abortions hence family planning services after abortion need to be strengthened

Dynamics of superconducting nanowires shunted with an external resistor

We present the first study of superconducting nanowires shunted with an external resistor, geared towards understanding and controlling coherence and dissipation in nanowires. The dynamics is probed by measuring the evolution of the V-I characteristics and the distributions of switching and retrapping currents upon varying the shunt resistor and temperature. Theoretical analysis of the experiments indicates that as the value of the shunt resistance is decreased, the dynamics turns more coherent presumably due to stabilization of phase-slip centers in the wire and furthermore the switching current approaches the Bardeen's prediction for equilibrium depairing current. By a detailed comparison between theory and experimental, we make headway into identifying regimes in which the quasi-one-dimensional wire can effectively be described by a zero-dimensional circuit model analogous to the RCSJ (resistively and capacitively shunted Josephson junction) model of Stewart and McCumber. Besides its fundamental significance, our study has implications for a range of promising technological applications.Comment: 15 pages, 14 figure

A Strong Jet Signature in the Late-Time Lightcurve of GW170817

We present new 0.6-10 GHz observations of the binary neutron star merger GW170817 covering the period up to 300 days post-merger, taken with the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array, the Australia Telescope Compact Array, the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope and the MeerKAT telescope. We use these data to precisely characterize the decay phase of the late-time radio light curve. We find that the temporal decay is consistent with a power-law slope of t^-2.2, and that the transition between the power-law rise and decay is relatively sharp. Such a slope cannot be produced by a quasi-isotropic (cocoon-dominated) outflow, but is instead the classic signature of a relativistic jet. This provides strong observational evidence that GW170817 produced a successful jet, and directly demonstrates the link between binary neutron star mergers and short-hard GRBs. Using simple analytical arguments, we derive constraints on the geometry and the jet opening angle of GW170817. These results are consistent with those from our companion Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) paper, reporting superluminal motion in GW170817.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figures, 3 tables. Accepted for publication in ApJ Letter

Breeding tomatoes suitable for processing with triple disease resistance to tomato leaf curl disease, bacterial wilt and early blight

India is the second largest producer of tomato with 11 per cent global share and cultivated on an estimated area of 0.76 million hectares with productivity of 24 tonnes per hectare. Less than 1% of the produce is processed when compared to 26% in other major producing countries. Of the estimated more than 41 million tonnes of tomato processed globally, only 130,000 tonnes were processed in India and domestic demand for processed tomato products is expanding at an estimated 30% annually. At present traditional fresh market tomato cultivars are being processed though such cultivars are unsuitable for processing. Processors in India are looking for high yielding tomato cultivars with high total soluble solids (5-6 º Brix), acidity not less than 0.4%, pH less than 4.5 and uniform red colour with a/b colour value of at least 2. In addition, firm fruited tomato cultivars with joint less pedicel (j2) which facilitate mechanical harvesting or rapid hand picking. ICAR-Indian Institute of Horticultural Research has recently developed two high yielding F1 hybrids in tomato viz: Arka Apeksha and Arka Vishesh suitable for processing. On evaluation for three years, both the hybrids recorded good level of total soluble solids (4.5-5º Brix) and colour value of 2. Further, both the hybrids had high yield potential (80-90 tonnes / hectare) with triple disease resistance to tomato leaf curl disease, bacterial wilt and early blight. Arka Apeksha and Arka Vishesh were also bred with jointless pedicel making them suitable for mechanical harvesting. Our experimental studies on vine storability revealed that all the fruits were intact on plants even 110 days after transplanting in the main field facilitating once over harvest

SN2019wxt: An ultrastripped supernova candidate discovered in the electromagnetic follow-up of a gravitational wave trigger

We present optical, radio, and X-ray observations of a rapidly evolving transient SN2019wxt (PS19hgw), discovered during the search for an electromagnetic counterpart to the gravitational-wave (GW) trigger S191213g. Although S191213g was not confirmed as a significant GW event in the off-line analysis of LIGO-Virgo data, SN2019wxt remained an interesting transient due to its peculiar nature. The optical/near-infrared (NIR) light curve of SN2019wxt displayed a double-peaked structure evolving rapidly in a manner analogous to currently known ultrastripped supernovae (USSNe) candidates. This double-peaked structure suggests the presence of an extended envelope around the progenitor, best modeled with two components: (i) early-time shock-cooling emission and (ii) late-time radioactive 56Ni decay. We constrain the ejecta mass of SN2019wxt at Mej ≈ 0.20M⊙, which indicates a significantly stripped progenitor that was possibly in a binary system. We also followed up SN2019wxt with long-term Chandra and Jansky Very Large Array observations spanning ∼260 days. We detected no definitive counterparts at the location of SN2019wxt in these long-term X-ray and radio observational campaigns. We establish the X-ray upper limit at 9.93 × 10−17 erg cm−2 s−1 and detect an excess radio emission from the region of SN2019wxt. However, there is little evidence for SN1993J- or GW170817-like variability of the radio flux over the course of our observations. A substantial host-galaxy contribution to the measured radio flux is likely. The discovery and early-time peak capture of SN2019wxt in optical/NIR observations during EMGW follow-up observations highlight the need for dedicated early, multiband photometric observations to identify USSNe

325 and 610 MHz radio counterparts of SNR G353.6−0.7 also known as HESS J1731−347

HESS J1731−347 also known as SNR G353.6−0.7 is one of the five known shell-type supernova remnants (SNRs) emitting in the very high energy (VHE, energy > 0.1 TeV) γ-ray domain. We observed this TeV SNR with the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT) in 1390, 610 and 325 MHz bands. In this paper, we report the discovery of 325 and 610 MHz radio counterparts of the SNR HESS J1731−347 with the GMRT. Various filaments of the SNR are clearly seen in the 325 and 610 MHz bands. However, the faintest feature in the radio bands corresponds to the peak in VHE emission. We explain this anti-correlation in terms of a possible leptonic origin of the observed VHE γ-ray emission. We determine the spectral indices of the bright individual filaments, which were detected in both the 610 and the 325 MHz bands. Our values range from −1.11 to −0.15, consistent with the non-thermal radio emission. We also report a possible radio counterpart of a nearby TeV source HESS J1729−345 from the 843 MHz Molonglo Galactic Plane Survey and the 1.4 GHz Southern Galactic Plane Survey maps. The positive radio spectral index of this possible counterpart suggests a thermal origin of the radio emission of this nearby TeV source.PC acknowledges support from the Department of Science and Technology via SwaranaJayanti Fellowship award (file no. DST/SJF/PSA-01/2014-15). We thank the staff of the GMRT that made these observations possible. GMRT is run by the National Centre for Radio Astrophysics of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research