Stress causing dynamic changes of four phytohormones in tobacco and tomato: A GC-MS analysis

Many analytical procedures have been developed to determine the importance of phytohormones in different plants. The work reported here provides a sensitive, accurate and readily accessible gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (GC-MS) technique designed for the simultaneous quantitation of phytohormones indole-3-aceticacid (IAA), abscisic acid (ABA), jasmonic acid (JA) and salicylic acid (SA). These signalling molecules were analysed in two different plants, Tomato and Tobacco grown in vitro. The protocol designed to assess the dynamic changes in endogenous concentrations of hormones to study plant responses to abiotic stresses in leaf tissues. A hormone profiling is obtained from leaves of plants exposed to salt stress show that different plant hormones are involved in diverse physiologicsl processes. Crosstalk between these hormones result in synergetic or antagonic interactions which have important roles to play in abiotic stress response

Dietary diversity and its determinants: A community-based study among adult population of Durgapur, West Bengal

Introduction: Proper diet is essential from the very early stages of life for proper growth and development. Increasing the variety of foods and food groups in the diet helps to ensure adequate intake of essential nutrients. The study was conducted with the objective to assess the dietary diversity pattern and to find the association between dietary diversity score and selected sociodemographic variables among adult population, if any. Materials and Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted between December 2016 and January 2017 among 216 adults with the help of dietary diversity questionnaire from rural and urban field practice area of the Department of Community Medicine, IQ City Medical College, Durgapur, West Bengal, India. Pearson's Chi-square test, Mann–Whitney U-test, and binary multivariable logistic regression analysis were performed using SPSS software. Results: The median dietary diversity score of the participants was 6. Nearly 45.4% of participants had adequate dietary diversity scores. Most common food groups consumed by the participants were starchy staples (100%), followed by oil and oil-based items (99.5%) and milk and milk products (86.1%). Age, residency, type of family, and occupation have a significant association with adequate dietary diversity. Conclusion: Awareness program on dietary diversity should be organized to make people aware about the importance of dietary diversity. Proper diet is essential from the very early stages of life for proper growth and development. Increasing the variety of foods and food groups in the diet helps to ensure adequate intake of essential nutrients

Mobile phone involvement and dependence among undergraduate medical students in a Medical College of West Bengal, India

INTRODUCTION: Mobile phone dependence has become an emerging public health problem. This cross-sectional study was conducted to find out the mobile phone involvement and dependence among undergraduate medical students in a Medical College of West Bengal, India. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A study was conducted at IQ City Medical College, Durgapur, District Burdwan, West Bengal, India, during July–August 2015 among 252 undergraduate medical students. Involvement and dependence were elicited by mobile phone involvement questionnaire (MPIQ) and mobile phone dependence questionnaire (MPDQ), respectively. Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software (version 19.0) was used for analysis. RESULTS: About 14.9% of students were being highly involved with their mobile phone. The mean score of MPIQ was greatest in domain 5, i.e. euphoria followed by domain 2, i.e. behavioral salience and then domain 4, i.e. conflict with other activities. About 19.4% of males and 11.1% of females had high dependence. Mean MPDQ score was higher among males, though it was not significant statistically. Sex, total recharge, and total hours spent on mobile phone could explain between 2.2% and 3.8% variance of the presence of dependence in binary logistic regression. Total recharge (adjusted odds ratio 1.144) and total hours spent on mobile (adjusted odds ratio 1.135) were positively associated with the presence of dependence. CONCLUSION: Many students were highly involved and dependent on mobile phone and they had already been experiencing some health-related problems. There is a need to identify students having high involvement and dependence so as to generate adequate awareness and plan educational or treatment interventions accordingly

Management of Postoperative Hypoxaemia in Patients Following Upper Abdominal Laparoscopic Surgery. - A Comparative Study

Noninvasive ventilation has been shown to reduce acute postoperative hypoxaemia, with significant reduction in the incidence of re-intubation, complications and a trend towards lower mortality. The aim of the study was to determine the effectiveness of CPAP vs venturi therapy in early achievement of oxygenation goals and in prevention of re-intubation for management of postoperative hypoxaemia following laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Forty adult patients of ASA physical status I& II, scheduled for elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy, those were unable to maintain SpO2 > 95% breathing room air after extubation, were recruited for a prospective, randomized comparative study. Patients with PaO2 / FiO2 between 250 and 300 were included in the study and were randomly allocated to one of the two groups to receive oxygen therapy either using a CPAP of 10 cm of water and a FiO2 of 0.5 (Group A) or using a venturi mask of FiO2 of 0.5 (Group B) . All patients were observed postoperatively upto 18 h and were screened by ABG analyses at 6, 12 and 18 h of treatment. SpO2, ECG, heart rate, respiratory rate, temperature and NIBP were monitored throughout the study period. Patients in Group A showed significant improvement in early achievement of adequate oxygenation than those in Group B, although, due to intolerance to CPAP therapy two patients in Group A needed reintubation to maintain adequate oxygenation. To conclude, oxygenation using continuous positive airway pressure is a safe and effective means in improving gas exchange to treat acute postoperative hypoxaemia in conscious and cooperative patients

Evaluation of a quality improvement intervention to reduce anastomotic leak following right colectomy (EAGLE): pragmatic, batched stepped-wedge, cluster-randomized trial in 64 countries

Background Anastomotic leak affects 8 per cent of patients after right colectomy with a 10-fold increased risk of postoperative death. The EAGLE study aimed to develop and test whether an international, standardized quality improvement intervention could reduce anastomotic leaks. Methods The internationally intended protocol, iteratively co-developed by a multistage Delphi process, comprised an online educational module introducing risk stratification, an intraoperative checklist, and harmonized surgical techniques. Clusters (hospital teams) were randomized to one of three arms with varied sequences of intervention/data collection by a derived stepped-wedge batch design (at least 18 hospital teams per batch). Patients were blinded to the study allocation. Low- and middle-income country enrolment was encouraged. The primary outcome (assessed by intention to treat) was anastomotic leak rate, and subgroup analyses by module completion (at least 80 per cent of surgeons, high engagement; less than 50 per cent, low engagement) were preplanned. Results A total 355 hospital teams registered, with 332 from 64 countries (39.2 per cent low and middle income) included in the final analysis. The online modules were completed by half of the surgeons (2143 of 4411). The primary analysis included 3039 of the 3268 patients recruited (206 patients had no anastomosis and 23 were lost to follow-up), with anastomotic leaks arising before and after the intervention in 10.1 and 9.6 per cent respectively (adjusted OR 0.87, 95 per cent c.i. 0.59 to 1.30; P = 0.498). The proportion of surgeons completing the educational modules was an influence: the leak rate decreased from 12.2 per cent (61 of 500) before intervention to 5.1 per cent (24 of 473) after intervention in high-engagement centres (adjusted OR 0.36, 0.20 to 0.64; P < 0.001), but this was not observed in low-engagement hospitals (8.3 per cent (59 of 714) and 13.8 per cent (61 of 443) respectively; adjusted OR 2.09, 1.31 to 3.31). Conclusion Completion of globally available digital training by engaged teams can alter anastomotic leak rates. Registration number: NCT04270721 (http://www.clinicaltrials.gov)