Puerperal sepsis: predominant organisms and their antibiotic sensitivity pattern

Background: Puerperal sepsis is among the leading cause of preventable maternal morbidity and mortality not only in developing countries but in developed countries as well. This study was undertaken to isolate and identify aerobic bacterial agents of puerperal sepsis among the patients admitted in rural medical college of Maharashtra.Methods: Blood samples were collected from 67 cases of Puerperal sepsis and were cultured aerobically. The organisms were identified by standard biochemical tests. Antimicrobial sensitivity testing done by Kirby Bauer disc diffusion method.Results: Out of 67 samples, 46 (68.65%) yielded growth in blood culture. The isolated organisms were Klebsiella aerogenes, Staph. aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Proteus, E. coli, Streptococcus pyogenes and coagulase negative Staphylococci. Most of the organisms are resistant to commonly used antibiotics such as ampicillin, penicillin and amikacin.Conclusions: Puerperal sepsis is the common life threatening condition in the postnatal period, particularly following vaginal delivery. Early diagnosis and appropriate treatment of puerperal sepsis can make the difference between life and death

Detail image Enhancement Survey

Image enhancement plays important role in the field of image processing. Many images suffer from poor contrast and noise. There is requirement of enhancing the contrast& removing noise to improve image quality. Image enhancement is the process of improving quality of image. Image enhancement produces the image which will give better result than original image. Detail image enhancement is introduced in the field of image processing to solve many problems like blurring, ringing, unnaturalness etc. Detail image enhancement algorithm first decompose source image into a base layer and detail layer via edge preserving smoothing algorithm and amplify detail layer to produce to detail enhanced image. Analysis of different methods of image enhancement is carried out. Existing image enhancement techniques have some drawbacks. The objective of this paper is to determine limitation of the existing image enhancement techniques

Leveraging off-stoichiometry to defeat n-type degeneracy in zinc tin nitride

Over the last decade, identification of new materials with potential applications to a wide variety of technologies has rapidly increased. In particular for solar technology, many new potential absorber materials based on earth-abundant and non-toxic elements have been predicted. These materials, often made in thin film form and known to absorb light 10–1000 times more efficiently than crystalline silicon, could lower photovoltaic (PV) module cost and enable broader solar deployment. One such material is zinc tin nitride (ZnSnN2), a II-IV-nitride analog of the III-nitride materials, which has been identified as a possible solar absorber due to its direct bandgap, large absorption coefficient, and disorder-driven bandgap tunability. Please click Additional Files below to see the full abstract

Prospective, non-randomized, parallel group, comparative observational study to compare maternal and neonatal outcome after regional and general anesthesia for Lower Segment Caesarean Section

Background: LSCS is a routine obstetric procedure performed under general anesthesia (GA) or regional anesthesia (RA). Choice of anesthesia depends on factors like gestational age, parity, co-morbidities, urgency of situation, etc. Both GA and RA involve the use of various medications which may influence maternal and neonatal outcome. As there are few studies comparing maternal and fetal outcome in RA and GA for LSCS in Indian population, the present study was taken up. Objectives of the study was to compare the maternal and neonatal outcome after RA and GA for LSCS.Methods: 60 subjects with indications for LSCS were assigned non-randomly into two groups, 30 for GA and 30 for RA, at the discretion of anesthesiologist. The demographic, anthropometric and clinical data was recorded for all subjects. The maternal outcome after RA and GA for LSCS was assessed by parameters like maternal blood loss, postoperative pain, postoperative nausea and vomiting, maternal satisfaction and neonatal outcome by parameters like birth weight, APGAR scores and NICU admissions. The maternal and neonatal outcome between the two groups was compared.Results: All subjects had clear indications for CS. In most of the subjects it was undertaken as an emergency procedure. GA was preferred in high risk subjects. Maternal blood loss, postoperative pain, NICU admissions, need for resuscitation was less under RA compared to GA. There was no difference in PONV, maternal satisfaction, birth weight and need for intubation.Conclusions: LSCS under RA showed a more favourable maternal and neonatal outcome

IMAGE RETRIEVAL AND OBJECT CATEGORIZATION USING COLOR INTEREST POINT

ABSTRAC

Study of rationality and utilization pattern of antimicrobials in ear, nose, throat outpatient department of Tertiary Care Hospital, Nanded

Background: Antimicrobials are most commonly prescribed drugs worldwide. Around 50% of the prescriptions of antimicrobial drugs are either not needed, inappropriate or in wrong doses. With the widespread use of antimicrobial agents (AMAs), the prevalence of resistance has increased. To evaluate the prescription pattern and utilization of AMA in ear, nose, throat (ENT) outpatient department (OPD) of Tertiary Care Hospital, Nanded.Methods: This prospective study was conducted in ENT OPD of Dr. Shankarrao Chavan Government Medical College, Nanded over a period of 3 months. During this period, approximately 1100 patients visited ENT OPD and 600 prescriptions were evaluated. The excluded patients were of post-operative follow-up and of patients undergoing medical examination for fitness and handicap certificate. Data were collected by using specially designed case report form. Appropriateness of AMA was assessed by Kunin’s modified criteria.Results: Total 600 prescriptions were analyzed out of which (91%) consist of AMA. Most of them reported with upper respiratory tract infections (URTI) (30.4%), chronic suppurative otitis media (21.4%), acute suppurative otitis media (10.4%), tonsillitis (3.3%), sinusitis (2.7%), and others (15%). Amoxicillin (43.9%) was preferred AMA followed by ciprofloxacin (30.6%), cotrimoxazole (5.8%), azithromycin (3.2%), doxycycline (3.2%) cefixime + clavulanate (3.2%), and amoxicillin + clavulanate (1.8%). Single antibiotic was preferred in all prescriptions. In the concomitant medications, antihistaminics were prescribed in 97.22% of patients, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs in 94.96% of patients, and antacids in 87.76% of patients. Fixed-dose combinations were used in 10% of prescriptions. Brand names of AMA were used in 10% of prescriptions. As per the Kunin’s modified criteria, 83% of patients received AMA therapy appropriately, while 17% patients inappropriately.Conclusions: Amoxicillin is the most common AMA prescribed and URTI is the most common diagnosis made. All AMAs should be prescribed only when needed and should be used in proper dose and for proper duration. Institution wise antibiotic policy should be used to contain resistance. Proper training and regular orientation programs of the juniors’ doctors for judicial use of AMAs will foster the habit of rational prescribing of AMA

Synthesis and preliminary biological profile of new NO-donor tolbutamide analogues.

We describe a new class of NO-donor hypoglycemic products obtained by joining tolbutamide, a typical hypoglycemic sulfonylurea, with a NO-donor moiety through a hard link. As NO-donors we chose either furoxan (1,2,5-oxadiazole 2-oxide) derivatives or the classical nitrooxy function. A preliminary biological characterization of these compounds, including stimulation of insulin release from cultured rat pancreatic β-cells and in vitro vasodilator and anti-aggregatory activities, is reported

Retinoblastoma incidence and sunlight exposure

To evaluate positive findings from an earlier report, we studied the relation between retinoblastoma incidence and ultraviolet (UV-B) radiation levels in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) programme areas of the USA using weighted regression, as well as in international data after adjusting for race, economic development, and climate. The association was not statistically significant within the USA (P> 0.20). At an international level, the relation was significant overall and after adjusting for economic development, but it was not significant after adjusting for race and tropical climate, suggesting that environmental factors other than UV-B may be responsible for the geographic patterns of retinoblastoma. © 2000 Cancer Research Campaig