Gestational diabetes mellitus, Vitamin D status and fetomaternal outcome

Background: Diabetes is the most common medical complication of pregnancy. Vitamin D deficiency which was initially considered only to influence bone metabolism, is now known to exert a wide spectrum of extra-skeletal effects. Vitamin D deficiency is closely associated with gestational diabetes mellitus, it also leads to adverse maternal and child outcome. Objective of this study was to compare the vitamin D levels in healthy pregnant women and women with gestational diabetes mellitus and to observe the feto-maternal outcome.Methods: This prospective study was carried out on 160 pregnant women between the age group 20-40 years attending the Obstetrics and Gynaecology department of JNMC, AMU, Aligarh from October 2016 to October 2018. Women were divided into group A- normal pregnant women and group B- women with GDM. Estimation of vitamin D was done in both the groups.Results: Mean vitamin D levels were lower in women with GDM as compared to normal pregnant women.Conclusions: Women with vitamin D deficiency have an increased risk of developing GDM and adverse feto maternal outcome as compared to those who had normal level of vitamin

Comparative Bayesian Analysis of GARCH and Stochastic Volatility Models using R and Stan

This study uses modelling and model comparison to compare three widely used GARCH models with their stochastic volatility (SV) counterparts in modelling the dynamics of inflation rates using the Bayesian approach. BRICS country consumer price index (CPI) data are used to assess these models. We find that the stochastic volatility models perform better than the GARCH models most of the time. The stochastic volatility in the leverage (SV-L) model is also demonstrated to be the most effective for the BRICS nations that we took into consideration. The article also looks at which model attributes are crucial in simulating inflation rates. It turns out that when modelling inflation rates, inflation volatility feedback is an important component to take into account. For each of the five countries we took into consideration, SV-L outperforms all other models. The study was done in rstan, a programming language for statistical inference, and the simulation uses the Hamiltonian Monte Carlo (HMC) algorithm of the Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) to sample from the posterior distribution

Effect of Growth Media, pH and Temperature on Yeast to Hyphal Transition in Candida albicans

The transition of C. albicans from unicellular yeast form to filamentous form i.e., pseudohyphae and hyphae is referred to as morphogenesis. C. albicans has the ability to respond to environmental conditions and accordingly changing its cell morphology. Three main morphological forms of C. albicans are unicellular yeast, pseudohyphae and hyphae. The effect of different growth media (Horse serum medium, RPMI-1640, MSGB), incubation temperatures (34˚C, 37˚C, 40˚C) and pH values (5.4, 6.4, 7.4) on germ tube production by C. albicans was evaluated. Horse serum medium noticeably promotes filamentation while RPMI-1640 medium shows moderate filamentation and MSGB media shows moderately low filamentation. The germ tube of C. albicans developed early in 1.5 hr at high temperature i.e., 40˚C. Incubation temperature of 37˚C was associated with highest germ tube formation while 34˚C shows low filamentation. A pH of 5.4 also induces low filamentation, pH 6.4 gives moderately lower than pH 7.4. A pH of 7.4 was best suited for germ tube induction. The peak of mycelium production appears between 1.5 and 6 hr after inoculation of C. albicans culture. These results suggested that environmental factors are important in selectively favoring yeast or hyphal form, most important being the growth medium, incubation temperature and external pH value

Role of Community Based Savings Groups (CBSGs) enhancing the utilization of community midwives in Chitral district of Pakistan

Background: Maternal and infant mortality rates in the district of Chitral in Pakistan are alarmingly high. One of the major reasons for this is the inability of women to access skilled care due to the high costs associated with traveling and utilizing such services. The Aga Khan Health Services, Pakistan (AKHSP) in partnership with the national and provincial Maternal, Neonatal and Child Health (MNCH) program, deployed 28 community midwives (CMWs) in remote villages of Chitral district. This program has also established Community-Based Savings Groups (CBSGs) to support and facilitate access to MNCH services, in particular those delivered by the CMWs. CBSGs are a simple yet cost-effective and sustainable means of providing basic financial services to low income, marginalized, rural populations.The link between CBSGs and utilization of MNCH services is not well understood. This study will assess the relationship between women membership of CBSGs and their utilization of MNCH services, specifically those offered by CMWs, in the community.Methods: The research question will be answered through guided interviews of women in the target population who have delivered within one month. The outcome variable will be the utilization of full continuum of skilled MNCH care (disaggregated by 1+ ANC, 1+ PNC and skilled delivery). The primary independent variable of interest will be participation in a CBSG.Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) will be conducted to generate further understanding and information about the social and financial factors that contribute to health behavior and health provider decision-making during pregnancy.Analysis will be tailored to answer how CBSGs, directly or indirectly, facilitate greater financial and/or social access to CMW services for pregnant women. Furthermore, the extent to which financial or social empowerment through a CBSG leads to greater utilization of CMW services.Discussion: The role of CBSGs and their interlink with the CMWs services to be replicated in other comparable areas in Pakistan as a viable mean to increase MNCH service utilization amongst rural, low income, and marginalized communities. Findings from this research will be disseminated through community, national, and international channels consisting of policy makers and social society groups

CARP-1 Functional Mimetics Are a Novel Class of Small Molecule Inhibitors of Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma Cells

Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is an asbestos-related thoracic malignancy that is characterized by late metastases, and resistance to therapeutic modalities. The toxic side-effects of MPM therapies often limit their clinical effectiveness, thus necessitating development of new agents to effectively treat and manage this disease in clinic. CARP-1 functional mimetics (CFMs) are a novel class of compounds that inhibit growth of diverse cancer cell types. Here we investigated MPM cell growth suppression by the CFMs and the molecular mechanisms involved. CFM-1, -4, and -5 inhibited MPM cell growth, in vitro, in part by stimulating apoptosis. Apoptosis by CFM-4 involved activation of pro-apoptotic stress-activated protein kinases (SAPKs) p38 and JNK, elevated CARP-1 expression, cleavage of PARP1, and loss of the oncogene c-myc as well as mitotic cyclin B1. Treatments of MPM cells with CFM-4 resulted in depletion of NF-κB signaling inhibitor ABIN1 and Inhibitory κB (IκB)α and β, while increasing expression of pro-apoptotic death receptor (DR) 4 protein. CFM-4 enhanced expression of serine-phosphorylated podoplanin and cleavage of vimetin. CFMs also attenuated biological properties of the MPM cells by blocking their abilities to migrate, form colonies in suspension, and invade through the matrix-coated membranes. Both podoplanin and vimentin regulate processes of cell motility and invasion, and their expression often correlates with metastatic disease, and poor prognosis. The fact that phosphorylation of serines in the cytoplasmic domain of podoplanin interferes with processes of cellular motility, CFM-4-dependent elevated phosphorylated podoplanin and cleavage of vimentin underscore a metastasis inhibitory property of these compounds, and suggest that CFMs and/or their future analogs have potential as anti-MPM agents