Stress and stressors experienced by the parents of high-risk neonates admitted in neonatal intensive care unit: Systematic review and meta-analysis evidence available from India

The aim of the systematic review and meta-analysis is to determine the stress and stressors experienced by the parents of high-risk neonates admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) in India. We included both quantitative and qualitative studies. The Joanna Briggs Institute Critical Appraisal Checklist and Critical Appraisal Skill Programme checklist were used to assess the quality of included studies. A systematic search was conducted in PubMed, EMBASE, SCOPUS, EBSCOhost, Web of Science, ProQuest, Microsoft Academic, DOAJ, Indian Citation Index, and J-Gate to identify relevant studies. Additionally, online hand searching was performed on Indian websites of relevant institutions, women and child health departments, repositories, registries, and paediatric journals. Twelve of the 21 quantitative studies found that maternal stress was higher than fathers due to the separation from their babies and the medical condition of the neonate. One qualitative study reported that financial burden, alterations in the parenting role, and concern over domestic issues are significant causes of fathers' stress. A meta-analysis of the included studies assessed the prevalence of maternal, paternal, and parental stress and reported that mothers experienced higher stress levels than fathers across all subscales. The most typical stressors for parents were changes in neonatal looks, behaviour, and altered parental roles. Beyond the immediate NICU care and interactions, other triggering factors of stress among parents must be considered to design multicomponent interventions in a local (Indian) context. Moreover, parental psychological support and regular counselling can be incorporated into the standard neonatal intensive care policy

Risk Factors of Drug Resistance among Tuberculosis Patients of Prakasam District, Andhra Pradesh, India

Introduction: India is leading in the burden of Tuberculosis (TB) according to the new report of the World Health Organisation (WHO) on the disease. Multi-Drug Resistant TB (MDR-TB) cases have been increasing in India. About half of the world’s MDR-TB cases are present in India. Aim: To assess the incidence of drug resistant TB in Prakasam district, Andhra Pradesh, India, in the second quarter of the year 2019 and to determine the risk factors that are responsible to develop drug resistance to anti-tubercular drugs in the study population. Materials and Methods: A Community based cross-sectional study was conducted from April 1st to June 30th in Prakasam district, Andhra Pradesh. All the registered drug resistant TB cases in Prakasam district who gave consent during the study period were taken as sample. The diagnosed drug resistant TB patients were interviewed and proportions of different variables were calculated and chi-square test was used to test significance of results. Results: Out of 209 TB patients, 88 patients were having drug resistant TB in Prakasam district. Prevalence of Drug resistant TB in Prakasam district was calculated as 5.64 per one lac population. In the second quarter of the year 2019-2020, i.e., from April 1st to June 30th, 88 new cases were identified. Incidence of Drug resistant TB in Prakasam district was calculated as 2.38 per one lac population. Male persons (76%), having the age 20-40 years (42%), 40-60 (38.7%) belonging to middle class (45.5%) and migrating for work (85%) are at more risk of developing drug resistant TB. Most of the patients are developing drug resistant TB directly (70.5%) which is an alarming signal. The rifampicin resistant patients were also developing psychological complications (22). Drug toxicity was observed in 55% of the cases. Conclusion: Incidence of drug resistant TB was more in male persons, above 20 years of age, belonging to middle class socio-economic status and migrating for work. Most of the patients developed drug resistant TB directly without previous history of TB. Drug toxicity was observed in half of the cases. Psychological complications were observed in rifampicin resistant patients. Surveillance activity should be addressed properly to combat the risk factors

Finite element computation of multi-physical micropolar transport phenomena from an inclined moving plate in porous media

Non-Newtonian flows arise in numerous industrial transport processes including materials fabrication systems. Micropolar theory offers an excellent mechanism for exploring the fluid dynamics of new non-Newtonian materials which possess internal microstructure. Magnetic fields may also be used for controlling electrically-conducting polymeric flows. To explore numerical simulation of transport in rheological materials processing, in the current paper, a finite element computational solution is presented for magnetohydrodynamic (MHD), incompressible, dissipative, radiative and chemically-reacting micropolar fluid flow, heat and mass transfer adjacent to an inclined porous plate embedded in a saturated homogenous porous medium. Heat generation/absorption effects are included. Rosseland’s diffusion approximation is used to describe the radiative heat flux in the energy equation. A Darcy model is employed to simulate drag effects in the porous medium. The governing transport equations are rendered into non-dimensional form under the assumption of low Reynolds number and also low magnetic Reynolds number. Using a Galerkin formulation with a weighted residual scheme, finite element solutions are presented to the boundary value problem. The influence of plate inclination, Eringen coupling number, radiation-conduction number, heat absorption/generation parameter, chemical reaction parameter, plate moving velocity parameter, magnetic parameter, thermal Grashof number, species (solutal) Grashof number, permeability parameter, Eckert number on linear velocity, micro-rotation, temperature and concentration profiles. Furthermore, the influence of selected thermo-physical parameters on friction factor, surface heat transfer and mass transfer rate is also tabulated. The finite element solutions are verified with solutions from several limiting cases in the literature. Interesting features in the flow are identified and interpreted

Advances in genetics and molecular breeding of three legume crops of semi-arid tropics using next-generation sequencing and high-throughput genotyping technologies

Molecular markers are the most powerful genomic tools to increase the efficiency and precision of breeding practices for crop improvement. Progress in the development of genomic resources in the leading legume crops of the semi-arid tropics (SAT), namely, chickpea (Cicer arietinum), pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan) and groundnut (Arachis hypogaea), as compared to other crop species like cereals, has been very slow. With the advances in next-generation sequencing (NGS) and high-throughput (HTP) genotyping methods, there is a shift in development of genomic resources including molecular markers in these crops. For instance, 2,000 to 3,000 novel simple sequence repeats (SSR) markers have been developed each for chickpea, pigeonpea and groundnut. Based on Sanger, 454/FLX and Illumina transcript reads, transcriptome assemblies have been developed for chickpea (44,845 transcript assembly contigs, or TACs) and pigeonpea (21,434 TACs). Illumina sequencing of some parental genotypes of mapping populations has resulted in the development of 120 million reads for chickpea and 128.9 million reads for pigeonpea. Alignment of these Illumina reads with respective transcriptome assemblies have provided >10,000 SNPs each in chickpea and pigeonpea. A variety of SNP genotyping platforms including GoldenGate, VeraCode and Competitive Allele Specific PCR (KASPar) assays have been developed in chickpea and pigeonpea. By using above resources, the first-generation or comprehensive genetic maps have been developed in the three legume speciesmentioned above. Analysis of phenotyping data together with genotyping data has provided candidate markers for drought-tolerance-related root traits in chickpea, resistance to foliar diseases in groundnut and sterility mosaic disease (SMD) and fertility restoration in pigeonpea. Together with these traitassociated markers along with those already available, molecular breeding programmes have been initiated for enhancing drought tolerance, resistance to fusarium wilt and ascochyta blight in chickpea and resistance to foliar diseases in groundnut. These trait-associated robust markers along with other genomic resources including genetic maps and genomic resources will certainly accelerate crop improvement programmes in the SAT legum

Alcohol use and burden for 195 countries and territories, 1990-2016 : a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2016

Background Alcohol use is a leading risk factor for death and disability, but its overall association with health remains complex given the possible protective effects of moderate alcohol consumption on some conditions. With our comprehensive approach to health accounting within the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2016, we generated improved estimates of alcohol use and alcohol-attributable deaths and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) for 195 locations from 1990 to 2016, for both sexes and for 5-year age groups between the ages of 15 years and 95 years and older. Methods Using 694 data sources of individual and population-level alcohol consumption, along with 592 prospective and retrospective studies on the risk of alcohol use, we produced estimates of the prevalence of current drinking, abstention, the distribution of alcohol consumption among current drinkers in standard drinks daily (defined as 10 g of pure ethyl alcohol), and alcohol-attributable deaths and DALYs. We made several methodological improvements compared with previous estimates: first, we adjusted alcohol sales estimates to take into account tourist and unrecorded consumption; second, we did a new meta-analysis of relative risks for 23 health outcomes associated with alcohol use; and third, we developed a new method to quantify the level of alcohol consumption that minimises the overall risk to individual health. Findings Globally, alcohol use was the seventh leading risk factor for both deaths and DALYs in 2016, accounting for 2.2% (95% uncertainty interval [UI] 1.5-3.0) of age-standardised female deaths and 6.8% (5.8-8.0) of age-standardised male deaths. Among the population aged 15-49 years, alcohol use was the leading risk factor globally in 2016, with 3.8% (95% UI 3.2-4-3) of female deaths and 12.2% (10.8-13-6) of male deaths attributable to alcohol use. For the population aged 15-49 years, female attributable DALYs were 2.3% (95% UI 2.0-2.6) and male attributable DALYs were 8.9% (7.8-9.9). The three leading causes of attributable deaths in this age group were tuberculosis (1.4% [95% UI 1. 0-1. 7] of total deaths), road injuries (1.2% [0.7-1.9]), and self-harm (1.1% [0.6-1.5]). For populations aged 50 years and older, cancers accounted for a large proportion of total alcohol-attributable deaths in 2016, constituting 27.1% (95% UI 21.2-33.3) of total alcohol-attributable female deaths and 18.9% (15.3-22.6) of male deaths. The level of alcohol consumption that minimised harm across health outcomes was zero (95% UI 0.0-0.8) standard drinks per week. Interpretation Alcohol use is a leading risk factor for global disease burden and causes substantial health loss. We found that the risk of all-cause mortality, and of cancers specifically, rises with increasing levels of consumption, and the level of consumption that minimises health loss is zero. These results suggest that alcohol control policies might need to be revised worldwide, refocusing on efforts to lower overall population-level consumption.Peer reviewe

Modulatory Effect of Dietary Inclusion of Aegle marmelos Fruits against Cisplatin - Induced Hepatotoxicity In Wistar Rats

Introduction and alm. Aegle marmelos is an important traditional herbal medicine used in India. The dietary inclusion of the plant has never exposed earlier for its hepatoprotective activity. This study aimed to investigate the modulator efficacy of dietary inclusion of Aegle marmelos against Cisplatin - induced hepatotoxicity in Wistar albino rats.Material and methods. Animals were divided into five different groups; Group I was given basal diets only, Group II was fed basal diets with Aegle marmelos in 4% concentration, while Group III was fed basal diets co-administered with Cisplatin. Group IV and V were administered diets containing 2% and 4% Aegle marmelos respectively, for 27 days prior to Cisplatin administration. Cisplatin was administered to the rats for 3 days leads to a reduction in the activities of the antioxidant enzymes like lipid peroxidation (LPO) and endogenous antioxidant systems such as reduced superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione (GSH) and catalase in liver homogenate caused to produce the impairment of hepatic functions.Results. The administration of fruit part of Aegle marmelos to Wistar rats showed a significant fall in the elevated Lipid peroxidation, superoxide dismutase, glutathione and catalase concentration, moreover, it diminished the increased serum level of alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), acid phosphatase (ACP) and bilirubin.Conclusions. We can conclude that the hepatoprotective activity of Aegle marmeloswas due to its antioxidant effect as evidenced by increasing activity of antioxidant enzymes with enhanced hepatic function and significantly changed the physiological parameters

Evaluation of hepatoprotective and antioxidant activity of Ichnocarpus frutescens (Linn.) R.Br. on paracetamol-induced hepatotoxicity in rats

Purpose: The entire plant including the flowers, of Ichnocarpus frutescens R.Br. (Apocynaceae) has been used for the treatment of cancer, skin infections, diabetes and liver disorder. The present study is aimed at evaluating the hepatoprotective effect of chloroform and methanol extract (CEIF and MEIF) of whole plant of I. frutescens (Linn.) by paracetamol-induced liver damage in rats. Methods: The chloroform and methanolic extracts of I. frutescens (CEIF and MEIF) were studied for their hepatoprotective and antioxidant effects on paracetamol (750mg/kg) induced acute liver damage on Wistar albino rats. The degree of protection was measured by using biochemical parameters such as serum glutamate oxalate transaminase (SGOT) and serum glutamate pyruvate transaminase (SGPT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), bilirubin and total protein. Further, the effects of both extracts on lipid peroxidation (LPO), glutathione (GSH), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) were estimated. Results: CEIF and MEIF at a dose level of 250mg/kg and 500mg/kg produce significant (P<0.05) hepatoprotection by decreasing the activity of serum enzymes, bilirubin, and lipid peroxidation, while they significantly increased the levels of Glutathione (GSH), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) in a dose dependent manner. The effects of CEIF and MEIF were comparable to that of standard drug, Silymarin. Conclusion: From this study, it can be concluded that the chloroform and methanol extract of I. frutescens is not only an effective hepatoprotective agent, but also possesses significant (p<0.05) antioxidant activity

Comprehensive Analysis of Secondary Metabolites in Usnea longissima (Lichenized Ascomycetes, Parmeliaceae) Using UPLC-ESI-QTOF-MS/MS and Pro-Apoptotic Activity of Barbatic Acid

International audienceConsidering the importance of ultra-performance liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-quadrupole time of flight-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-ESI-QTOF-MS/MS) hyphenated techniques for analysis of secondary metabolites from crude extracts, the present study was aimed at identification of secondary metabolites in acetone extract of the lichen Usnea longissima. From our study, 19 compounds were tentatively identified through comparison of exact molecular masses from their MS/MS spectra, mass fragmentation studies and comparison with literature data. In addition, potent cytotoxic activity of U. longissima extract prompted us to isolate four compounds, 18R-hydroxy-dihydroalloprotolichesterinic acid (19), neuropogolic acid (20), barbatic acid (21), and usnic acid (22) from this extract which were adequately identified through mass spectrometry and NMR spectroscopy. All four compounds displayed cytotoxic activity. Barbatic acid (21) manifested doxorubicin equivalent activity against A549 lung cancer cell line with IC of 1.78 µM and strong G0/G1 accumulation of cells. Poly ADP-ribose polymerase (PARP) cleavage confirmed that it induced cytotoxic activity via apoptosis. Finally, our work has discerned the depside, barbatic acid (21) from crude extract as a candidate anti-cancer molecule, which induces cell death by stepping up apoptosis