A study on contraceptive knowledge, attitudes and practices among women in the reproductive age group

Background: India, with one of the world’s fastest growing populations, is a nation very much in need of contraceptive counselling. To assess the knowledge and attitude regarding family planning methods and contraceptive practices among women of reproductive age group.Methods: A cross-sectional study was performed in which 547 women in the reproductive age group i.e., 15-45 years, attending a tertiary care hospital in Mumbai were interviewed with predesigned validated questionnaire. A total of 547 women were interviewed using a semi-structured questionnaire from January 2016 to December 2016. The proforma included details such as socio-demographic features, questions related to knowledge, attitude and practices (KAP) regarding contraceptive use.Results: Out of 547 women interviewed, 498 (i.e. 91%) had displayed an awareness of family planning methods (permanent/temporary). Out   of these 498 women, about 78% had procured the information from family and friends. 13% got their information through mass media. Only 9% of women had been counselled in detail by health personnel about the various contraceptive options available. Out of 547 women interviewed, 342 (62.5%) were using contraception. More than a third of these women (26.8%), resort to barrier contraception as a contraceptive method of choice for spacing and to prevent an unwanted pregnancy. Only 17% women used OC Pills as a contraceptive method though 66% women knew about them. Though 59.4% of the women knew about IUCDs only 3.5% were actually using IUCD. Most of the women were in the younger age group of 21-30years (62%) and already had one or two children.Conclusions: Ignorance regarding use and side effects various contraceptive methods is the reason for inadequate practice of family planning methods. There should be emphasis on focused awareness programs, based on bridging the knowledge gaps among the women in reproductive age group

A study to correlate histopathological findings in patients with abnormal uterine bleeding

Background: Abnormal uterine bleeding (AUB) is a common gynecological problem associated with considerable morbidity and significantly affects the patients. The aim of the study was to analyze the histopathological patterns of endometrium in patients presenting with AUB and also to determine the incidence of AUB in various age groups.Methods: This is a retrospective study, conducted in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, in a tertiary care teaching hospital, Mumbai, India from March 2016 till date. All cases of AUB were included in the study. Data was entered in microsoft excel and managed in statistical package for the social sciences (SPSS) version 16. Analysis was done in the form of percentages and proportions and represented as tables where necessary.Results: A total of 120 cases were analyzed. Patients’ age ranged from 22-79 years. AUB was most common among the perimenopausal females (41-50years). The most common presenting symptom was heavy menstrual bleeding (53%). Dilatation and curettage (D&C) was performed in all cases and 96 underwent hysterectomy as final resort. Endometrial proliferative pattern was the most common histopathological finding and was seen in 27% patients, followed by endometrial hyperplasia in 13.5% patients, secretory endometrium (12.7%) and disordered proliferative endometrium were seen in 10.9% patients each. Malignancy was detected in 1.7% of cases and endometrial carcinoma was the most common lesion.Conclusions: Endometrial sampling is especially indicated in women above the age of 35 years to rule out malignancy and preneoplasia. Among the females with no organic pathology, normal physiological patterns with proliferative, secretory, and menstrual changes were observed. The most common endometrial pathology in this study was endometrial proliferation

First trimester bleeding and pregnancy outcome

Background: The outcome of first trimester vaginal bleeding is a matter of debate. This study sought to determine the maternal and perinatal outcome in patients presenting with first trimester vaginal bleeding.Methods: This prospective observational study was done on 1007 women with first trimester vaginal bleeding at a tertiary care hospital in Mumbai over a period of one year. A detailed history was taken and USG was done to confirm diagnosis. All these patients were evaluated for the outcomes including  threatened abortions, spontaneous, complete or incomplete abortions, sub-chorionic hematoma, Intra-uterine Fetal Demise, missed abortions, second and third trimester bleeding, Intra-uterine Growth Restriction, premature rupture of membranes and preterm deliveries.Results: Out of the 11835 confinements 1007 patients presented with first trimester vaginal bleeding. The incidence was highest (52.3%) in the age group of 21-30 years. 63.9% primigravidas presented with first trimester bleeding as compared to 36.1% of multigravidas.  It was seen that 76.9% patients who presented before 6 weeks aborted whereas only 7% patients who presented after 10 weeks aborted. Out of the 163 patients that continued pregnancy after first trimester vaginal bleeding 1.8% had a second trimester abortion, 15.3% went into preterm labour 6.75% has premature rupture of membranes and 1.8% had antepartum hemorrhage.Conclusions: According to the results of present study, first trimester vaginal bleeding predicts auxiliary maternal and fetal complications. Also, as the clinical intermediation has an important role in continuance of pregnancy and in reducing the fetal complications precise management and planning by physician is important

A Hospital based cross sectional study to find out factors associated with disease severity and length of hospital stay in COVID-19 patients in Tertiary Care Hospital of Ahmedabad city

Background: Tertiary hospital care may vary from isolation bed ward care to high dependency units (HDUs) with oxygen support to intensive care unit (ICU) where patients may be intubated for mechanical ventilation The major risk factors for severe disease are age more than 60 years and underlying diseases like diabetes, hypertension. COVID-19 patients present at varying levels of severity. Understanding how long patients hospitalized with COVID-19 remain in hospital is critical for planning. Objectives: 1. To determine risk factors associated with disease severity 2. To determine risk factors associated with length of hospital stay in COVID-19 patients 3. To study the disease outcome Material & Methods: This was retrospective record-based study of inpatients with COVID-19 at Tertiary Care Hospital of Ahmedabad City. All patients admitted at tertiary care hospital diagnosed with COVID-19 between April 2020 to June, 2020, were included in present study. Inclusion criteria were all COVID-19 patients admitted at tertiary care hospital during the duration of April 2020 to June 2020. Results: A total of 916 COVID-19 patients were included in the study. Out of 916 total admitted patients 526 (57.4%) were male. 174 (19%) patients having one or more comorbidities like diabetes, hypertension, tuberculosis, heart diseases etc. Total 769 discharged (83.9%), 115 deaths (12.6%) and 32 transferred to other COVID-19 hospital (3.5%) out of total 916 patients admitted during study period. Conclusion: Severity of disease and deaths were associated with age and comorbidities. COVID-19 patients with comorbidities have more deteriorating outcomes compared with patients without

Robust generation of transgenic mice by simple hypotonic solution mediated delivery of transgene in testicular germ cells

Our ability to decipher gene sequences has increased enormously with the advent of modern sequencing tools, but the ability to divulge functions of new genes have not increased correspondingly. This has caused a remarkable delay in functional interpretation of several newly found genes in tissue and age specific manner, limiting the pace of biological research. This is mainly due to lack of advancements in methodological tools for transgenesis. Predominantly practiced method of transgenesis by pronuclear DNA-microinjection is time consuming, tedious, and requires highly skilled persons for embryo-manipulation. Testicular electroporation mediated transgenesis requires use of electric current to testis. To this end, we have now developed an innovative technique for making transgenic mice by giving hypotonic shock to male germ cells for the gene delivery. Desired transgene was suspended in hypotonic Tris-HCl solution (pH 7.0) and simply injected in testis. This resulted in internalization of the transgene in dividing germ-cells residing at basal compartment of tubules leading to its integration in native genome of mice. Such males generated transgenic progeny by natural mating. Several transgenic animals can be generated with minimum skill within short span of time by this easily adaptable novel technique

Metabolomics-Driven Mining of Metabolite Resources:Applications and Prospects for Improving Vegetable Crops

Vegetable crops possess a prominent nutri-metabolite pool that not only contributes to the crop performance in the fields, but also offers nutritional security for humans. In the pursuit of identifying, quantifying and functionally characterizing the cellular metabolome pool, biomolecule separation technologies, data acquisition platforms, chemical libraries, bioinformatics tools, databases and visualization techniques have come to play significant role. High-throughput metabolomics unravels structurally diverse nutrition-rich metabolites and their entangled interactions in vegetable plants. It has helped to link identified phytometabolites with unique phenotypic traits, nutri-functional characters, defense mechanisms and crop productivity. In this study, we explore mining diverse metabolites, localizing cellular metabolic pathways, classifying functional biomolecules and establishing linkages between metabolic fluxes and genomic regulations, using comprehensive metabolomics deciphers of the plant’s performance in the environment. We discuss exemplary reports covering the implications of metabolomics, addressing metabolic changes in vegetable plants during crop domestication, stage-dependent growth, fruit development, nutri-metabolic capabilities, climatic impacts, plant-microbe-pest interactions and anthropogenic activities. Efforts leading to identify biomarker metabolites, candidate proteins and the genes responsible for plant health, defense mechanisms and nutri-rich crop produce are documented. With the insights on metabolite-QTL (mQTL) driven genetic architecture, molecular breeding in vegetable crops can be revolutionized for developing better nutritional capabilities, improved tolerance against diseases/pests and enhanced climate resilience in plants

Juvenile delinquency in India: Causes and prevention

In India, juvenile delinquency is a major problem that has ruined the lives of many young people. Juvenile criminality and related issues have a variety of effects for adolescents, their families, and society as a whole. The issue affects more than just crime victims. It does, however, have consequences for the juvenile delinquents household, career, and society at large. Victims of youthful delinquency are the most obvious victims. The most serious consequences of juvenile offences are socioeconomic and psychological issues that affect their family members and society as a whole. Juveniles participating in robberies, rapes, and assaults are sometimes significant because of psychiatric issues. Juveniles become accustomed to consuming alcohol or other substances as a result of their illicit actions. This study's main purpose is to look at the psychological and legal aspects of juvenile delinquency. The researcher has also thrown light on different judicial framework of Juvenile delinquency and the claim of juvenility with different case laws following with the conclusion

Advantages of pulsatile hormone treatment for assessing hormone-induced gene expression by cultured rat Sertoli cells

In response to various hormonal (follicle-stimulating hormone [FSH] and testosterone [T]) and biochemical inputs, testicular Sertoli cells (Sc) produce factors that regulate spermatogenesis. A number of FSH- and T-responsive Sc-specific genes, necessary for spermatogenesis, have been identified to date. However, the hormone-induced in vitro expression pattern of most of these genes is reported to be inconsistent at various time points in primary rat Sc cultures. As a matter of convenience, cultured Sc are constantly exposed to hormones for a few hours to days in the reported literature, although Sc are exposed to pulsatile FSH and T in vivo. The major aim of the present study is to evaluate the advantage, if any, of the in vitro administration of pulsatile hormone (FSH and T in combination) treatment on gene expression of cultured Sc as compared with that of constant hormone treatment. Pulsatile treatment (a 30-min hormonal exposure every 3 h) mimicking the in vivo condition reveals a more prominent effect of hormones in augmenting gene expression as compared with constant treatment. Our results indicate that the expressions of Stem cell factor (Scf, only responsive to FSH), Claudin11 (only responsive to T) and Transferrin (both FSH- and T-responsive) mRNAs are significantly higher at 12 h upon pulsatile treatment than upon constant hormonal treatment. Maximal expression of relevant genes because of pulsatile treatment with hormones suggests that this protocol provides a more suitable premise for assessing hormone-induced gene expression in isolated Sc than one involving constant exposure to hormones

Analysis of Graphene Based Dielectric Resonator Antenna (DRA)

This paper represents a study of a Graphene based Dielectric Resonator Antenna  (DRA) Antenna. In recent years Dielectric Resonator antenna is been playing a key role for wireless  service requirements. Many structures of DRA have been applied to certain areas as it offers various  benefits such as no inherent conductor loss, simpler coupling and the advantage of being  lightweight. In this project we will be dealing with a conical shaped DRA with a coating of graphene  and a micro strip technique to gain its enhanced features in different applications of ultra-wide band.</p