A case report: a very rarely occurring snakebite

Snake bite is one of the most neglected public health issues in poor rural communities living in the tropics. The venomous bites and stings during pregnancy are very rare and it cause significant adverse effects on fetus and mother. Multiple snake bites to two different individuals by a same snake at the same time are rarely reported in literatures. In present case report, husband and wife with two and half month of pregnancy were bitten with multiple bites by same snake at the same time. This unusual and interesting case occurred in a rural area of Ahmedabad, Gujarat. It is also believed that snake discharges maximum of venom on first bite, which may be fatal compared to subsequent bites. The uniqueness of this case lies in the fact that second bite was more serious than the first bite. Woman with two and half month of pregnancy who was bitten first and hade minor effect, and no negative effects on fetus. Man bitten latter with multiple bites and was affected seriously. Both the patients were successfully treated at our hospital.

Health profile of adolescents of Bhavnagar district, Gujarat, India: a cross sectional study

Background: Adolescence and young adulthood are periods of critical development and transition. Adolescent constitutes over 23% of the population in India. Nutrition and health needs of the adolescent are more because of more requirements for growth spurt and increase in physical activity. Objective: To study health profile of adolescents of Bhavnagar district. Methods: The study was carried by Medicine Department, K.J. Mehta Hospital, Amargadh, Bhavnagar during period from September 2014 to August 2015. After taking the permission of principals of 10 schools and consent of the parents of adolescents, 842 adolescents from 10 schools of Bhavnagar district were examined for nutritional deficiencies. The data was collected by predesign, pretested proforma and analyzed using SPSS 17.0 (Trial version).Results: Mean age was 15.8 ± 1.96 years. Out of 867, 433 (51.4%) were boys and 409 (48.6%) were girls. Vitamin A deficiency was present in 53 (6.3%) adolescents. Vitamin B complex deficiency signs were seen in 139 (16.5%) adolescents. Vitamin C deficiency signs were seen in 84 (10.0%) adolescents. PEM was observed in 90 (10.7%) adolescents. The study revealed that 67.0% girls were suffering from anaemia compare to 58.7% of boys. 117 (13.9%) adolescents had visual impairment.  Conclusions: Poor personal hygiene and nutritional deficiency among these adolescents needs great attention and health education.

Lipid profile of patients with diabetes mellitus: a cross sectional study

Background: Dyslipidemia is one of the common disorders which is seen in most of the diabetes patients, which causes cardio vascular disorders. Objective: To detect the lipid abnormality in diabetic patients.Methods: The study was carried out at Medicine Department, K.J. Mehta hospital, Amargadh, Bhavnagar during period from September 2014 to August 2015. The lipid profiles and the fasting blood sugar values of 100 type-1 diabetic patients, 100 type-2 diabetic patients and 50 healthy subjects were studied after taking informed consent. Their serum samples were assessed for fasting blood glucose (FBG), total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL) and high density lipoprotein cho­lesterol (HDL) by using standard biochemical methods. The data was collected by predesign, pretested proforma and analyzed using SPSS 17.0 (Trial version).Results: Maximum Number of patients (37% and 44%) were from age group of 20-29 years in type-1 DM & 50-59 years in type-2 DM respectively. 53% cases of type-1 DM and 70 % cases of type-2 DM had less than 140 mg/dl level of Fasting Blood Sugar (FBS. 49 % patients of type-1 DM and 30% of type-2 showed more than 200 mg/dl level of Post Prandial Blood Sugar (PPBS). Majority of type 2 DM patients (72%) showed high serum cholesterol level, while only 12% of the type1 DM patients showed high serum cholesterol level. 95% of type 1 DM patients showed normal (10-190 mg/dl) serum triglyceride level, while only 26% of type 2 DM subjects showed normal level. Serum LDL level was high (>160 mg/dl) in 78% of type 2 DM patients, while only 19% of type 1 DM patients showed higher value. All patients of type 2 had normal serum HDL level.Conclusions: The frequencies of the high cholesterol, high TG and high LDL levels were higher in the diabetic group, thus indicating that diabetic patients were more prone for dyslipidemia, which could cause cardiovascular disorders.

Assessment of knowledge regarding anaemia and its preventive measures among lactating mothers of North Gujarat region, India

Background: Anaemia in pregnancy and lactation period has detrimental effects on maternal and child health. Objective of this study was to assess knowledge of lactating mothers regarding anaemia and its preventive measures before and after educational intervention.Methods: The interventional study conducted in purposively selected lactating mothers attending the outpatient department of obstetrics and gynecology. Hospital ethical committee permission was obtained. After taking informed consent 100 lactating mothers were selected by systemic random sampling methods. Knowledge of lactating mothers regarding anaemia and its preventive measures was assessed by pre-designed, pre-tested and semi structured questionnaire. Health education for 30 minutes was given to selected lactating mothers. Knowledge of pregnant women for the same was assessed after health education. Thus, collected data was analyzed using Epi info 7.Results: Awareness among lactating mothers regarding causes, signs and symptoms of anemia and dietary sources of iron was 41%, 26% and 5% respectively which was significantly increased to 73%, 56% and 42% respectively after health education. Awareness among lactating mothers regarding factors which inhibit and increase iron absorption was 31% and 22% respectively which was significantly increased to 80% and 65% respectively after health education. Out of 100 lactating mothers only 24% were aware regarding treatment of anemia.Conclusions: Lack of awareness among lactating mothers regarding anemia and its preventive measure should be addressed by health education during hospital visits

Arthroscopic resection of dorsal wrist ganglion

Background: The management of dorsal wrist ganglion ranges from benign neglect to surgical excision. The purpose of this study was to study the results of arthroscopic resection of dorsal wrist ganglion.Methods: Twenty one patients who had undergone arthroscopic dorsal wrist ganglion excision and a minimum of 3 months follow up were included. The preoperative complaint of cosmesis, pain, and duration of swelling, wrist range of motion and size of the ganglion were noted. The duration the patient took to return to a painless wrist with full range of motion was noted. Patient satisfaction with respect to cosmesis and function was noted.Results: The mean age was 23.3 years (range: 13 to 35 years). Pre-operative wrist pain was present in 17 patients and cosmesis was a complaint in 18 patients. 5 patients had a pre-operative restricted range of motion. The mean duration and size of the ganglion was 2.6 months (range: 2 to 4 months) and1.8cm (range: 1 to 3 cm) respectively. The mean duration of follow up was 14.6 months (range: 3 to 24 months). Arthroscopically, dorsal synovitis was present in 10 patients, triangular-fibro-cartilage-complex (TFCC) tear in 2 patients and chondral damage in 1 patient. The ganglion stalk was visualized in 14 patients. Complete painless wrist range of motion was obtained by 20 patients by 3 weeks post-operative.  One patient had a recurrence. All the remaining patients were satisfied cosmetically and functionally with the results.Conclusions: Arthroscopic resection is an effective treatment modality for symptomatic dorsal wrist ganglion with good functional and cosmetic results

MEMSurgery: An integrated test-bed for vascular surgery

Abstract Many surgical procedures require skillful manipulations of blood vessels, especially in conventional invasive or minimally invasive surgical procedures. Current surgical methods do not allow the surgeon to receive any real time feedback of the tissue properties when operating on the vessel. As a result, the unintentional application of excessive force may damage the blood vessel. To minimize such trauma, and to study the interaction of surgical instruments with the vessel structure, we have developed an integrated surgical testbed called MEMSurgery (Microelectromechanical Sensory augmented Surgery). The test-bed integrates four elements: a) force sensors mounted on surgical appliances, b) a feedback control mechanism utilizing the intrinsic mechanical properties of the blood vessel, c) feedback of the force applied on the tissue back to the surgeon through a haptic feedback device, and d) visual feedback by a graphical computer model of the vessel. Finally, we evaluate the performance of MEMSurgery by testing the hypothesis that the combination of haptic feedback, feedback control based on vascular mechanical properties, and real-time visual representation of the vessel will help the surgeon decrease the probability of applying excess force while occluding the blood vessel. To this end, we designed a rodent experimental model to obtain the ideal minimum occlusion force (MOF). After a series of human performance studies, and subsequent comparison to direct application of force on the forceps (without feedback), the results show that the probability of applying reasonable MOF increases from 35.5% to 80%. After a brief training period, the probability increases to 90%

Loop-mediated isothermal amplification (Lamp): A rapid, sensitive, specific, and cost-effective point-of-care test for coronaviruses in the context of covid-19 pandemic

The rampant spread of COVID-19 and the worldwide prevalence of infected cases demand a rapid, simple, and cost-effective Point of Care Test (PoCT) for the accurate diagnosis of this pandemic. The most common molecular tests approved by regulatory bodies across the world for COVID-19 diagnosis are based on Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR). While PCR-based tests are highly sensitive, specific, and remarkably reliable, they have many limitations ranging from the requirement of sophisticated laboratories, need of skilled personnel, use of complex protocol, long wait times for results, and an overall high cost per test. These limitations have inspired researchers to search for alternative diagnostic methods that are fast, economical, and executable in low-resource laboratory settings. The discovery of Loop-mediated isothermal Amplification (LAMP) has provided a reliable substitute platform for the accurate detection of low copy number nucleic acids in the diagnosis of several viral diseases, including epidemics like Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS). At present, a cocktail of LAMP assay reagents along with reverse transcriptase enzyme (Reverse Transcription LAMP, RT-LAMP) can be a robust solution for the rapid and cost-effective diagnosis for COVID-19, particularly in developing, and low-income countries. In summary, the development of RT-LAMP based diagnostic tools in a paper/strip format or the integration of this method into a microfluidic platform such as a Lab-on-a-chip may revolutionize the concept of PoCT for COVID-19 diagnosis. This review discusses the principle, technology and past research underpinning the success for using this method for diagnosing MERS and SARS, in addition to ongoing research, and the prominent prospect of RT-LAMP in the context of COVID-19 diagnosis

Neurovascular coupling: In vivo optical techniques for functional brain imaging

10.1186/1475-925X-12-38BioMedical Engineering Online121-BEOI

Altered Cardiovascular Defense to Hypotensive Stress in the Chronically Hypoxic Fetus.

The hypoxic fetus is at greater risk of cardiovascular demise during a challenge, but the reasons behind this are unknown. Clinically, progress has been hampered by the inability to study the human fetus non-invasively for long period of gestation. Using experimental animals, there has also been an inability to induce gestational hypoxia while recording fetal cardiovascular function as the hypoxic pregnancy is occurring. We use novel technology in sheep pregnancy that combines induction of controlled chronic hypoxia with simultaneous, wireless recording of blood pressure and blood flow signals from the fetus. Here, we investigated the cardiovascular defense of the hypoxic fetus to superimposed acute hypotension. Pregnant ewes carrying singleton fetuses surgically prepared with catheters and flow probes were randomly exposed to normoxia or chronic hypoxia from 121±1 days of gestation (term ≈145 days). After 10 days of exposure, fetuses were subjected to acute hypotension via fetal nitroprusside intravenous infusion. Underlying in vivo mechanisms were explored by (1) analyzing fetal cardiac and peripheral vasomotor baroreflex function; (2) measuring the fetal plasma catecholamines; and (3) establishing fetal femoral vasoconstrictor responses to the α1-adrenergic agonist phenylephrine. Relative to controls, chronically hypoxic fetal sheep had reversed cardiac and impaired vasomotor baroreflex function, despite similar noradrenaline and greater adrenaline increments in plasma during hypotension. Chronic hypoxia markedly diminished the fetal vasopressor responses to phenylephrine. Therefore, we show that the chronically hypoxic fetus displays markedly different cardiovascular responses to acute hypotension, providing in vivo evidence of mechanisms linking its greater susceptibility to superimposed stress.The British Heart Foundatio