Study of clinical profile of cervical cancer patients: a hospital based study

Background: As a consequence of growing and ageing populations, developing countries are disproportionately affected by the increasing number of cancers. Though the situation in India is gradually improving there still exists a disparity between the availability of quality cancer care. With this view, the present study was planned to undertake in this tertiary care institute to find out symptoms, clinical staging, complications and management of cases of carcinoma of cervix.Methods: This was a prospective observational study of carcinoma of cervix carried out at a tertiary care hospital catering services to the people of Maharashtra and neighbouring states. A thorough history including presenting complaints, demographic details, educational status and occupational details, details of menstrual and obstetric history along with any significant past history were recorded on a standard proforma.Results: Most common symptom was per vaginal bleeding which was found in 29 (69.04%). In the present study almost two third of cases i.e. 28 (66.6%) had advanced stage (IIB, III, IV) at the time of admission while the number of cases diagnosed at early stage were only 14 (33.3%). For Wertheim’s hysterectomy, most commonly used approach was transperitoneal 08 (61.53%) while 05 (38.46%) were operated by extraperitoneal approach. Pelvic lymph nodes were positive in 03 (23.07%).Conclusions: A high proportion of patients presented in stages III and IV. This emphasizes the need for early detection of Gynecological cancers in our population. Accordingly, the importance of detection of the pre-clinical stage of the diseases by considering the possibility of initiating cost-effective screening measures needs to be emphasized.

Micropropagation of a Valuable Ethnomedicinal Plant Streblus asper Lour.

A micropropagation protocol is presented for conservation of critically threatened woody tree species, Streblus asper Lour. In vitro axillary bud proliferation followed by multiple shoot induction was obtained using mature nodal segments. Initially, explants were cultured on Murashige and Skoog’s medium supplemented with different concentrations of BA (2.2, 4.4, 6.6, 8.9, 11.1 and 13.3 µM), Kn (2.3, 4.6, 6.9, 9.3, 11.6 and 13.9 µM) or TDZ (2.2, 4.5, 6.7, 8.90, 11.1 and 13.5 µM). These individual levels of cytokinins did not support in vitro shoot regeneration in S. asper. Combinations of cytokinins, Kn with BA or TDZ, significantly influenced shoot regeneration ability. The combination of Kn (4.60 µM) with BA (4.44 µM) evoked an optimum response towards shoot proliferation whereas, medium containing Kn (4.60 µM) plus TDZ (4.54 µM) induced multiple shoot formation. In vitro developed microshoots were rooted on MS half strength medium supplemented with 2.46 µM IBA. The plantlets established in vitro were transferred to pots containing sterilized soil and vermiculite (1:1) mixture and were hardened in the greenhouse with 70-75% survival rate. Key words: Clonal propagation, Cytokinins, Mature nodal explant, Medicinal woody tree, Multiple shoot induction Abbreviations: BA - 6-benzyladenine, IBA - indole 3-butyric acid, Kn - kinetin, µM - micro moles, MS – Murashige and Skoog TDZ - thidiazuron Kranthi Gadidasu et al. Micropropagation of a Valuable Ethnomedicinal Plant Streblus asper Lour.. J Phytol 3/2 (2011) 18-2

Morbidity pattern and health seeking behavior in elderly population of Raipur City, Chhattisgarh, India

Background: Epidemiological transition across globe is considered as the net result of the demographic transition. The shape of the population pyramid is gradually changing from a wide-based and narrow topped form to a barrel-shaped form in recent future (1). Aims & Objectives: 1. To determine morbidity pattern in elderly population, 2. To assess their health care seeking behavior. Material & Methods: Study design- A Community based cross sectional observational study. Study setting - Pt J.N.M. Medical College, Raipur, Chhattisgarh. Study Duration: July 2013 to June 2014. Sampling method: - Multi stage simple random sampling. Sample size: 640. Sample Size were calculated by using statistical formula, n= Z21-?/2 P(1-P)/d. Study tool: Pre-designed, Pre-tested Performa. Ethical consideration-Written document from institutional ethical Committee and Informed Consent from subject. Inclusion criteria: 1. All elderly persons in the age group of 60 years and above who were residing in the study area for at least one year, and willing to Participate in study without compulsion. Exclusion Criteria: 1. Those who were not willing to participate in study. Results & Conclusions: Prevalence of morbidity was 95.31%. Morbidity was positively associated with advancement of age and predominant in females (98.92%) and those belong to slum (98.43%) and lower (98.14%) socio-economic status while inversely associated with Physical activity. Out of total morbid population 70.49% had chronic illness. Most common system involvement was Gastro intestinal system (82.62%). Perception about illness was increased with advancement of age. Majority were seeking therapy from private registered practitioner (35.52%)

Direct Shoot Regeneration from Mature Leaf Explants of Sphaeranthus indicus L., A Multipurpose Medicinal Plant

A rapid and reproducible protocol for in vitro regeneration of Sphaeranthus indicus (Asteraceae), a medicinal herb has been established. Leaf segments isolated from mature plants were cultured on MS medium with different concentrations of 6-benzyladenine (2.2, 4.4, 6.6 and 8.8 µM) or kinetin (1.3, 2.3, 4.6 and 6.9 µM). Inclusion of IAA into BA supplemented medium triggered a high frequency of regeneration response from leaf explants. Maximum number of shoots (12 ±1.15) with highest shoot length (3.0 ±0.73) were obtained directly (without intervening callus phase) from the leaf explants using combination of BA (4.4 µM) and IAA (1.71 µM) within 3-4 week of culture. The elongated shoots were rooted on MS medium fortified with IBA (2.46 µM).The regenerated plantlets were successfully hardened on earthen pots after proper acclimatization under greenhouse conditions

Design of Web Portal for E - Trading for Farmers

At times, the farmers are not able to receive a price to cover his cost of production while the consumers are paying an abnormally high price for the same commodity. It gives the registration and posting to the farmers in this e-Krishi portal. And identify the potential traders and agents to explore market opportunities. This portal provides a web based platform for advertising of their commodities and attract potential buyers with the update and delete post options. And the database contains all the information of farmers which help the buyers to contact them. This portal also provides enabled market and price information on various agriculture commodities from selected markets. From this, it enhances the awareness among farmers in order to enable them to negotiate on a fair basis with middleman

Roles of PsbI and PsbM in photosystem II dimer formation and stability studied by deletion mutagenesis and X-ray crystallography

PsbM and PsbI are two low molecular weight subunits of photosystem II (PSII), with PsbM being located in the center, and PsbI in the periphery, of the PSII dimer. In order to study the functions of these two subunits from a structural point of view, we crystallized and analyzed the crystal structure of PSII dimers from two mutants lacking either PsbM or PsbI. Our results confirmed the location of these two subunits in the current crystal structure, as well as their absence in the respective mutants. The relative contents of PSII dimers were found to be decreased in both mutants, with a concomitant increase in the amount of PSII monomers, suggesting a destabilization of PSII dimers in both of the mutants. On the other hand, the accumulation level of the overall PSII complexes in the two mutants was similar to that in the wild-type strain. Treatment of purified PSII dimers with lauryldimethylamine N-oxide at an elevated temperature preferentially disintegrated the dimers from the PsbM deletion mutant into monomers and CP43-less monomers, whereas no significant degradation of the dimers was observed from the PsbI deletion mutant. These results indicate that although both PsbM and PsbI are required for the efficient formation and stability of PSII dimers in vivo, they have different roles, namely, PsbM is required directly for the formation of dimers and its absence led to the instability of the dimers accumulated. On the other hand, PsbI is required in the assembly process of PSII dimers in vivo; once the dimers are formed, PsbI was no longer required for its stability

Efficacy of Reflective Questioning Instructional Strategy on Students’ Achievement in Gas Laws Contents of Secondary Schools Chemistry

This study investigated the efficacy of reflective questioning instructional strategy on students’ achievement in gas laws contents of secondary schools Chemistry. A pre-test-post-test, control group quasi-experimental research design was adopted in the study. The participants were 129 students (72 females and 57 males) of four intact classes sampled from two government owned secondary schools in Nigeria using multi-stage sampling procedure. Two intact classes each were assigned to experimental and control groups respectively. Data collection was done using a 25-item gas laws achievement test (GLAT). Data collected were analyzed using mean, standard deviation and analysis of covariance (ANCOVA). The result showed that there was a significant difference between the experimental and control groups indicating that reflective questioning instructional strategy enhances students’ achievement in gas laws. Also, there was no significant influence of gender on the mean achievement scores of students in gas laws and there was no significant interaction effect of questioning instructional strategies and gender on students’ achievement in gas laws. Chemistry teachers and pre-service teachers should be trained on how to adopt reflective questioning instructional strategy in the classroom instructions.

Expression Analysis of Four Peroxiredoxin Genes from Tamarix hispida in Response to Different Abiotic Stresses and Exogenous Abscisic Acid (ABA)

Peroxiredoxins (Prxs) are a recently discovered family of antioxidant enzymes that catalyze the reduction of peroxides and alkyl peroxides. In this study, four Prx genes (named as ThPrxII, ThPrxIIE, ThPrxIIF, and Th2CysPrx) were cloned from Tamarix hispida. Their expression profiles in response to stimulus of NaCl, NaHCO3, PEG, CdCl2 and abscisic acid (ABA) in roots, stems and leaves of T. hispida were investigated using real-time RT-PCR. The results showed that the four ThPrxs were all expressed in roots, stems and leaves. Furthermore, the transcript levels of ThPrxIIE and ThPrxII were the lowest and the highest, respectively, in all tissue types. All the ThPrx genes were induced by both NaCl and NaHCO3 and reached their highest expression levels at the onset of stress in roots. Under PEG and CdCl2 stress, the expression patterns of these ThPrxs showed temporal and spatial specificity. The expressions of the ThPrxs were all differentially regulated by ABA, indicating that they are all involved in the ABA signaling pathway. These findings reveal a complex regulation of Prxs that is dependent on the type of Prx, tissue, and the signaling molecule. The divergence of the stress-dependent transcriptional regulation of the ThPrx gene family in T. hispida may provide an essential basis for the elucidation of Prx function in future work