Research in the assessment of capture and culture fisheries along the Indian coast

A review of the research conducted at National Institute of Oceanography, Goa to assess the capture and culture fishery potential of India is presented in the paper- the primary, secondary and benthic productivity of estuaries and backwaters are elucidated by taking the Mandovi-Zuari estuarine system as an example. The productivity of the coastal and oceanic waters around India are discussed. The expected fishery yield and present level of exploitation are assessed and further course of action discussed in this paper, in culture fisheries the contributions of NIO in the fields of mussel culture, shrimp culture, brine shrimp culture, seaweed culture, horse-shoe crab culture and fish culture are reviewed and discussed

HIV/AIDS Education for Adolescents

BackgroundAmong adolescents, girls are particularly vulnerable not only because they are more likely to be coerced for unprotected sex but also because they are more susceptible biologically to sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), including HIV infection. This study was carried out to determine the effectiveness of an educational intervention programme aimed at girls focusing on knowledge of and attitude to HIV/AIDS. MethodAn educational intervention study was carried out among 791 rural girls (16-19 years) randomly selected using stratified cluster sampling from coastal villages in Udupi Taluk, Karnataka, Southern India. They were educated regarding HIV/AIDS and their awareness levels were evaluated immediately and one month following intervention. Results Around 35-50% of the girls had misconceptions regarding the modes of transmission which significantly reduced to about 8 % after intervention (95% CI of difference in proportion = (9.2, 17.9);

Assessment of Hepatobiliary Status and Cardiometabolic Risk Markers among Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Patients. A Cross-Sectional Study

Objective: Previous studies have shown a higher prevalence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) among patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), and NAFLD itself is a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases (CVD). With both NAFLD and T2DM, there is a vicious circle of disease worsening, with one disease aggravating the development and progression of the other, thereby predisposing to early CVD events. Hence, we aimed to study the association betweenhepatobiliary status and cardiometabolic risk among T2DM patients. Material and methods: Eighty two patients with T2DM without any established liver and cardiac disease were recruited for the study. Routine biochemical parameterswere measured by an autoanalyzer. Parameters such as triglyceride glucose index (TyG index), lipid pentad index, fatty liver disease index (FLDI) etc. were calculated using the established formulas. HbA1c was estimated using Biorad D10 autoanalyzer. Apolipoprotein B (Apo-B), Apo-A, lipoprotein (a) [Lp(a)], insulin, C-peptide were analyzed using ELISA. Results: Significant positive correlation was seen between cardiometabolic risk biomarkers and hepatobiliary biomarkersand significant negative correlation with total bilirubin and De-Ritis ratio. Through stepwise regression, FLDI was found to be a significant factor in the prediction of lipid pentad index (LPI). LPI, TyG index, FLDI were able to differentiate patients with T2DM based on the gold standard HbA1c values for T2DM diagnosis. Conclusions: Increase in hepatobiliary dysfunction contributes to increased CVD risk in T2DM patients. This study highlights the need for collaborative actions of diabetologists and hepatologists in identifying the people with NAFLD among T2DM patients, who should be targeted with intensive therapy to decrease their risk of future CVD events

Mitochondrial physiology

As the knowledge base and importance of mitochondrial physiology to evolution, health and disease expands, the necessity for harmonizing the terminology concerning mitochondrial respiratory states and rates has become increasingly apparent. The chemiosmotic theory establishes the mechanism of energy transformation and coupling in oxidative phosphorylation. The unifying concept of the protonmotive force provides the framework for developing a consistent theoretical foundation of mitochondrial physiology and bioenergetics. We follow the latest SI guidelines and those of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) on terminology in physical chemistry, extended by considerations of open systems and thermodynamics of irreversible processes. The concept-driven constructive terminology incorporates the meaning of each quantity and aligns concepts and symbols with the nomenclature of classical bioenergetics. We endeavour to provide a balanced view of mitochondrial respiratory control and a critical discussion on reporting data of mitochondrial respiration in terms of metabolic flows and fluxes. Uniform standards for evaluation of respiratory states and rates will ultimately contribute to reproducibility between laboratories and thus support the development of data repositories of mitochondrial respiratory function in species, tissues, and cells. Clarity of concept and consistency of nomenclature facilitate effective transdisciplinary communication, education, and ultimately further discovery

Mitochondrial physiology

As the knowledge base and importance of mitochondrial physiology to evolution, health and disease expands, the necessity for harmonizing the terminology concerning mitochondrial respiratory states and rates has become increasingly apparent. The chemiosmotic theory establishes the mechanism of energy transformation and coupling in oxidative phosphorylation. The unifying concept of the protonmotive force provides the framework for developing a consistent theoretical foundation of mitochondrial physiology and bioenergetics. We follow the latest SI guidelines and those of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) on terminology in physical chemistry, extended by considerations of open systems and thermodynamics of irreversible processes. The concept-driven constructive terminology incorporates the meaning of each quantity and aligns concepts and symbols with the nomenclature of classical bioenergetics. We endeavour to provide a balanced view of mitochondrial respiratory control and a critical discussion on reporting data of mitochondrial respiration in terms of metabolic flows and fluxes. Uniform standards for evaluation of respiratory states and rates will ultimately contribute to reproducibility between laboratories and thus support the development of data repositories of mitochondrial respiratory function in species, tissues, and cells. Clarity of concept and consistency of nomenclature facilitate effective transdisciplinary communication, education, and ultimately further discovery

Iron Sucrose Versus Oral Iron Therapy in Pregnancy Anemia

Background: Iron deficiency anemia (IDA) is the most common medical problem in pregnancy. Parenteral iron is a useful treatment, although iron dextran use decreased due to anaphylaxis. Iron sucrose is a newer agent that has overcome the shortcomings of iron dextran. Objective: The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy and tolerance of intravenous iron sucrose (IVIS) therapy with oral iron (OI) therapy in pregnant women with IDA and to study the factors influencing treatment. Materials and Methods: This prospective, randomized clinical trial included pregnant women between 14 and 36 weeks with established IDA who were treated with IVIS or OI (ferrous fumarate). All patients were monitored for laboratory response and adverse effects. Independent sample-t test, Chi square test and ANOVA were used for statistical analysis. P < 0.05 was considered significant. Results: Although hemoglobin increased in both the groups, increase in the reticulocyte count and percentage increase in hemoglobin was significantly higher in the IVIS group than in the OI group (23.62% vs. 14.11%). Serum ferritin was significantly higher in the IVIS group than in the OI group (P = 0.000). The IVIS group had no major side-effects. Compliance was good with OI, although 23% had gastrointestinal side-effects. Patient weight, gestation at diagnosis, initial hemoglobin and ferritin levels did not influence the response to treatment. Conclusion: IVIS is safe and effective in the treatment of IDA during pregnancy. Iron stores increased better with IVIS compared with OI

Impact of Correlation between Multiple Time Point Measurements on Pooled Effect Measures in Meta-analysis

Introduction: Effect estimates obtained from multiple time points based on the same set of subjects are observed to be correlated. There is a need to integrate these correlations in the derivation of pooled summary measures to improve the precision of estimates. The conventional meta-analysis does not consider this dependency into account. Aim: To compare the results obtained from meta-analysis which incorporate various levels of correlation in repeated measures data to the traditional meta-analysis. Materials and Methods: The present statistical analytical study was conducted at Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research, Puducherry, India, from January 2021 to February 2022 on data from a systematic review that studied the effect of analgesics in reducing orthodontic pain using Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) pain score measured at three time points was used for demonstration. This study attempted to illustrate two distinct approaches to deal with dependency between measurements obtained from different follow-ups by adopting constant and degenerating correlation structures. Results: The pooled effect estimates and confidence intervals obtained from models which incorporated correlation were different from the results of traditional approach. Naproxen fared to be better when compared to other two treatments. Pooled effect estimates and confidence intervals from Model 2 and Model 3 hovered around the same values. Non significant difference was observed in the Akaike Information Criterion (AIC) values of Model 2 and Model 3 for all three treatments. The between study variance ranged from 0.07 to 1.46, 1.25 to 3.17 and 0.01 to 0.98 for Acetaminophen, Naproxen and Ibuprofen, respectively. Conclusion: The models which took care of dependency had a better fit to the data over conventional meta-analysis

Economic impact of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: A cross-sectional study at teaching hospital in South India

Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease continues to be the important contribution toward disability, death, and burden in the costs of health care globally. Economic impact of COPD is attributed with substantial direct and indirect costs. COPD affects the productivity of work that poses a burden on the employers and also on individuals in terms of loss of pay, limitation of activities, and related disability. Materials and Methods: Hospital-based cross-sectional study among 24 respondents in selected hospital in Udupi Taluk. Respondents were identified by purposive sampling technique and data were collected in respondent's mother tongue. An interviewer administered questionnaire was used to collect data related to patient's demographic status, disease history, and direct and indirect costs of COPD. Data were analyzed using SPSS software version 15. Results: The mean total direct medical cost that was observed among 24 respondents was Rs. 29,885 ± 11,995.33 and the mean total direct nonmedical cost was Rs. 7,441.25 ± 2,228.90. The mean total direct medical costs of COPD patients with comorbidity were Rs. 28,148.2353 ± 2,578.01580 and for those without comorbid illness was Rs. 13,460.0000 ± 1,255.33528. The observed mean absenteeism in the past 28 days was 193.50 ± 33.62 h. The mean absolute presenteeism of respondents is 72.05 ± 7.55. Conclusions: The major drivers of the total cost were cost of hospitalizations and medication costs. Acknowledging the costs and economic impact of COPD is therefore extremely important in the management of COPD and in reducing the mortality and morbidity related to COPD and in improving adherence to treatment

Factors determining the enrolment in community-based health insurance schemes: A cross-sectional study from coastal South India

Background: Community-based health insurance (CBHI) has been one of the options of health financing in India for a large number of population from the informal sector constituting about 90% of the total population. The objective of this study was to find out what are the factors which have influenced the beneficiaries to enroll in the schemes and also compared them to a noninsured group. Methods: A cross-sectional household survey, on 1639 households, was carried out, which had 1108 insured household and 530 noninsured households with a 2:1 ratio. A multivariate analysis was used to find out the determinants of enrolment. Results: The multivariate analysis revealed that household variables such as gender of household head, religion, and family size were determinants of enrolment. Conclusion: The sociodemographic characteristics of the households do influence the acceptability of the CBHI schemes

An epidemiological overview of child sexual abuse

Child sexual abuse (CSA) is a universal problem with grave life-long outcomes. The estimates vary widely depending on the country under study, the definitions used, the type of CSA studied, the extent of coverage, and quality of data. This study intended to assess the magnitude and the issues related to CSA. We searched databases such as PubMed, Google scholar, web (newspaper reports), and government websites. The relevant data was extracted from these sources for gathering evidence on CSA and secondary data analysis was done. The prevalence of CSA was found to be high in India as well as throughout the world. CSA is an extensive problem and even the lowest prevalence includes a huge number of victims. It also has various adverse effects on the psychological, physical, behavioral, and interpersonal well-being of the victim. Hence, stringent measures should be taken for the prevention and control of this hidden public health issue