Views, attitudes and experiences of South Asian women concerning sexual health services in the UK: a qualitative study

OBJECTIVE: To explore the views, attitudes, and experiences of South Asian women in the UK regarding sexual health services. METHODS: We performed virtual semi-structured interviews with South Asian women 18 and over living in the UK. We explored participants' experiences of accessing sexual health services, including contraception, smear tests and sexually transmitted infection (STI) tests. We coded interview transcripts and analysed them thematically. RESULTS: From February to April 2021, we conducted 14 interviews with South Asian women between the ages of 18 and 40 living in England and Wales, from February to April 2021. We identified four overarching themes: Access to sexual health services, entry to sexual health services, quality of sexual health services and stigma associated with sexual health services. Important barriers to sexual health services include limited knowledge of local provision, stigma and shame, and concerns about confidentiality. Participants found it difficult to discuss their sexual health (with anyone) and were often being met with judgement and a lack of partnership from clinicians. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that South Asian women are uncomfortable accessing sexual health services and communicating their sexual health concerns with health care professionals. Service providers should collaborate with community-based organisations to ensure that services are discrete, confidential, and culturally appropriate

An ovarian mucinous cystadenoma with adnexal tuberculosis: a case report

We report the occurrence of a case of a benign ovarian tumour- mucinous cystadenoma ovary with adnexal tuberculosis. Our case was a middle-aged Indian woman who presented with abdominal distension and discomfort at the gynaecology clinic of M.Y. hospital, Indore. The data were collected by history-taking, clinical examination, laboratory investigations, transabdominal ultrasonographic examination, and by histopathological study of the excised surgical specimen. It was reported as ovarian mucinous cystadenoma with adnexal TB. This case report emphasizes the significance of thorough evaluation of all women presenting with vague abdominal pains and thorough search of any other pathology in the specimen, like in our case it was tuberculosis. With the increasing awareness of such conditions, more and more cases could be detected and reported.

Cytopathological study of salivary gland lesion in patients at a tertiary care centre, Indore: a one-year study

Background: Fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) is being increasingly used in the diagnosis of salivary gland lesions. However, the diagnosis is still difficult sometimes. Salivary gland lesions account for 2-6.5% of all the neoplasms of the head and neck. The objective of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy and the sensitivity and specificity of FNAC in various salivary gland lesions and their histological correlation wherever possible.Methods: A total of 123 FNACs were done on salivary gland swellings in the Department of Pathology, M.G.M. Medical College, Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India. The PAP stained cytological and H and E stained histopathological slides were studied and correlated.Results: On FNAC, slides were studied and analyzed and the following lesions were observed: Inflammatory lesion (69), Inflammatory cystic lesion (1), Pleomorphic adenoma (29), monomorphic adenoma (1), Warthin’s tumour (2), Benign Cystic lesion (4), Benign lesion (not specified) (4), Adenoid cystic carcinoma (3), Mucoepidermoid carcinoma (2), Metastatic carcinoma (3), and malignant tumour (unspecified) (5). Histopathological correlation was available in 41 cases and studied respectively.Conclusions: The overall sensitivity, specificity and the diagnostic accuracy were 90.2%, 97.6%, and 90.2%, respectively. Hence, the appropriate therapeutic management could be planned earlier. This study documents that FNAC of the salivary gland tumours is accurate, simple, rapid, inexpensive, well tolerated and harmless procedure for the patient

An Optimal Energy Management System for PV/Battery Standalone System

This paper presents an optimal energy management for PV/battery stand-alone system. The system comprises photovoltaic array, battery, inverter and AC loads. PV array is an uncontrollable source due to the variations in irradiations and temperature. To deliver the highest point to the load a maximum power point tracking technique is used. In synchronization with battery bank the system becomes controllable. Modes of operation of the system are defined by the battery bank. Modes of operation are based on the difference between supply and load demand. This paper project proposes an optimal energy management strategy to improve the performance of the PV system. The anticipated system performance is evaluated for varying loads in MATLAB/simulink

Genome wide expression profiling of two accession of G. herbaceum L. in response to drought

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Genome-wide gene expression profiling and detailed physiological investigation were used for understanding the molecular mechanism and physiological response of <it>Gossypium herbaceum</it>, which governs the adaptability of plants in drought conditions. Recently, microarray-based gene expression analysis is commonly used to decipher genes and genetic networks controlling the traits of interest. However, the results of such an analysis are often plagued due to a limited number of genes (probe sets) on microarrays. On the other hand, pyrosequencing of a transcriptome has the potential to detect rare as well as a large number of transcripts in the samples quantitatively. We used Affymetrix microarray as well as Roche's GS-FLX transcriptome sequencing for a comparative analysis of cotton transcriptome in leaf tissues under drought conditions.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Fourteen accessions of <it>Gossypium herbaceum </it>were subjected to mannitol stress for preliminary screening; two accessions, namely Vagad and RAHS-14, were selected as being the most tolerant and most sensitive to osmotic stress, respectively. Affymetrix cotton arrays containing 24,045 probe sets and Roche's GS-FLX transcriptome sequencing of leaf tissue were used to analyze the gene expression profiling of Vagad and RAHS-14 under drought conditions. The analysis of physiological measurements and gene expression profiling showed that Vagad has the inherent ability to sense drought at a much earlier stage and to respond to it in a much more efficient manner than does RAHS-14. Gene Ontology (GO) studies showed that the phenyl propanoid pathway, pigment biosynthesis, polyketide biosynthesis, and other secondary metabolite pathways were enriched in Vagad under control and drought conditions as compared with RAHS-14. Similarly, GO analysis of transcriptome sequencing showed that the GO terms <it>responses to various abiotic stresses </it>were significantly higher in Vagad. Among the classes of transcription factors (TFs) uniquely expressed in both accessions, RAHS-14 showed the expression of ERF and WRKY families. The unique expression of ERFs in response to drought conditions reveals that RAHS-14 responds to drought by inducing senescence. This was further supported by transcriptome analysis which revealed that RAHS-14 responds to drought by inducing many transcripts related to senescence and cell death.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The comparative genome-wide gene expression profiling study of two accessions of <it>G.herbaceum </it>under drought stress deciphers the differential patterns of gene expression, including TFs and physiologically relevant processes. Our results indicate that drought tolerance observed in Vagad is not because of a single molecular reason but is rather due to several unique mechanisms which Vagad has developed as an adaptation strategy.</p

Arterial spectral waveform analysis in the prediction of diabetic foot ulcer healing

Objective: We assessed the association between (1) severity of vessel wall calcification, (2) number of patent vessels at the ankle and (3) arterial spectral waveform features, as assessed on a focused ankle Duplex ultrasound (DUS), and healing at 12-months in a cohort of patients who had their diabetic foot ulcers conservatively managed. Research design and methods: Scans performed on 50 limbs in 48 patients were included for analysis. Patient health records were prospectively reviewed for 12-months to assess for the outcome of ulcer healing. Results: We identified that the number of waveform components, peak systolic velocity, systolic rise time and long forward flow as well as the number of vessels patent at the ankle on DUS, may be useful independent predictors of healing, as noted by the trend towards statistical significance. Conclusion: Arterial spectral waveform features may be useful in predicting the chance of diabetic foot ulcer healing

Molecular epidemiology of Hepatitis B virus genotypes in Pakistan

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Eight genotypes of Hepatitis B virus designated A-H, have been known but in Pakistan, no such data is available on the prevalent HBV genotypes. Therefore, the subject study was conducted to determine HBV genotypes in the indigenous Pakistani population.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A total of 690 individuals were enrolled for HBV screening with EIA and nested PCR. Positive samples were further analyzed to determine HBV genotypes (A-F) by multiplex-PCR using type specific primers.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>110 (15.94%) individuals were positive for HBV, including 64% males and 36% females. Out of these, 66 samples (65.34%) were classified into genotype D, 27 (26.73%) were of genotype B while 5(4.95%) had genotype A. In 3 (2.98%) samples, multiple genotypes were detected (genotype A+B; 2(1.99%) and genotypes B+D; 1(0.99%). Nine (8.18%) samples remained untyable.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>In Asia, genotypes B and C are the most prevalent but our study reveals that genotype D is predominant and HBV infection constitutes a significant health problem in Pakistan.</p

Overexpression of Prothymosin Alpha Predicts Poor Disease Outcome in Head and Neck Cancer

In our recent study, tissue proteomic analysis of oral pre-malignant lesions (OPLs) and normal oral mucosa led to the identification of a panel of biomarkers, including prothymosin alpha (PTMA), to distinguish OPLs from histologically normal oral tissues. This study aimed to determine the clinical significance of PTMA overexpression in oral squamous cell hyperplasia, dysplasia and head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC).Immunohistochemistry of PTMA protein was performed in HNSCCs (n = 100), squamous cell hyperplasia (n = 116), dysplasia (n = 50) and histologically normal oral tissues (n = 100). Statistical analysis was carried out to determine the association of PTMA overexpression with clinicopathological parameters and disease prognosis over 7 years for HNSCC patients.<0.001). Chi-square analysis showed significant association of nuclear PTMA with advanced tumor stages (III+IV). Kaplan Meier survival analysis indicated reduced disease free survival (DFS) in HNSCC patients (p<0.001; median survival 11 months). Notably, Cox-multivariate analysis revealed nuclear PTMA as an independent predictor of poor prognosis of HNSCC patients (p<0.001, Hazard's ratio, HR = 5.2, 95% CI = 2.3–11.8) in comparison with the histological grade, T-stage, nodal status and tumor stage.Nuclear PTMA may serve as prognostic marker in HNSCC to determine the subset of patients that are likely to show recurrence of the disease

Differential cross section measurements for the production of a W boson in association with jets in proton–proton collisions at √s = 7 TeV

Measurements are reported of differential cross sections for the production of a W boson, which decays into a muon and a neutrino, in association with jets, as a function of several variables, including the transverse momenta (pT) and pseudorapidities of the four leading jets, the scalar sum of jet transverse momenta (HT), and the difference in azimuthal angle between the directions of each jet and the muon. The data sample of pp collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV was collected with the CMS detector at the LHC and corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 5.0 fb[superscript −1]. The measured cross sections are compared to predictions from Monte Carlo generators, MadGraph + pythia and sherpa, and to next-to-leading-order calculations from BlackHat + sherpa. The differential cross sections are found to be in agreement with the predictions, apart from the pT distributions of the leading jets at high pT values, the distributions of the HT at high-HT and low jet multiplicity, and the distribution of the difference in azimuthal angle between the leading jet and the muon at low values.United States. Dept. of EnergyNational Science Foundation (U.S.)Alfred P. Sloan Foundatio