IMPACT OF PERCEIVED STRESS ON GENERAL HEALTH: A STUDY ON ENGINEERING STUDENTS

In today’s competitive world, individuals have to undergo varied stressful situations right from their adolescence to old age. Students who are pursuing their higher education cannot keep themselves away from the inevitable and inescapable wrath of anxiety and stress, resultant from the demands of the present education system. Thus, the present research examines the relationship between perceived stress and general health of engineering students. The Perceived Stress Scale (PSS; Cohen et al., 1988), and the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ; Goldberg, 1981) were administered on 139 engineering students from two reputed engineering institutions in India, one in Bangalore and the other in Raipur, aged 18 to 22 years. Data analysis techniques such as Pearson correlation coefficients were used to identify relationships between perceived stress and general health. General health consists of two factors: sense of accomplishment (SOA) and botheration-free existence (BFE). Results showed that both SOA and BFE are negatively correlated with stress. As perceived stress increases, student’s sense of accomplishment (i.e. their zeal to make an impact) decreases, but this relationship was found to be non-significant. Again, stress was negatively correlated with BFE and this time a significant relationship was found, i.e. as stress increases it induces worry and botheration in students. Further, this means that in these institutions, students’ perceived stress induces negative health conditions in them. However, students who can adapt better coping mechanism would have a better state of general health

Clino-radiological and functional outcome of intra-articular distal radius fractures treated with volar locking plate system

Background: No uniform consensus exists to decide type of fixation for unstable distal radius fractures. The objective of the study is to evaluate the patients on regular follow up for radiological & functional status. We evaluated the effectiveness and outcomes of unstable distal radius fractures treated with locking plates.Methods: The study design was prospective observational study. 36 patients with distal radius fractures deemed unsuitable for conservative management underwent ORIF with a volar locking plate. The evaluation methods were clinical examination, DASH score and PRWE score. Patients were followed up from minimum of 2 weeks to 6 months. This data was analysed in MS excel and SPSS software version 19.0 for testing the association between different variables by using the chi-square tests.Results: The mean age of patients was 45 years with male preponderance. As per DASH score 17 patients had zero score implying no disability. In the remaining 19 patients score ranged from 4 to 24 with a mean of 11 indicating good outcome. PRWE score was best in 17 patients and worst in zero patients.Conclusions: The fixation of unstable distal radius fractures with volarly applied locking plates without bone grafting and prolonged immobilisation is an effective method & hence has gained worldwide acceptance and is highly recommended

Physico-chemical analysis of selected ground water samples of Agra city, India

The aim of present study was carried out to assess the status of the groundwater in Agra city .The range of physicochemical parameters like pH (7.2-7.7), EC (1580-5200 mmhos), TDS (1020-4950 mg/l), Turbidity (1.1-31.4 NTU), Total Alkalinity (330-525 mg/l), Total hardness 240-1425 mg/l), Chloride (295-1140 mg/l), Calcium (72-436 mg/l), Magnesium 14.6-151.2 mg/l), Sodium (126.5-1254.9 mg/l) and Potassium (1.9-60.6 mg/l) were found to be higher than the natural background level of groundwater. This indicates the groundwater pollution in selected water samples from 12 sampling sites from Feb. to May 2011 of Agra city. The results considered that the groundwater of the study area in general cannot be considered as good quality

Vision Loss following Small Incision Cataract Surgery: A Case Report

Introduction: Retro-bulbar block is still safe and widely employed anesthetic technique in large volume routine cataract surgery. Nevertheless, the procedure is not free of complication. Case report: A 48 years old man who had small incision cataract surgery of left eye under retro-bulbar block, had vision of hand movement close to face on his first postoperative day. He was given intracameral cefuroxime and subconjunctival gentamycin at the end of the surgery. Fundoscopy of the operated eye showed marked retinal whitening with cherry-red spot in the posterior pole suggestive of cilio-retinal artery occlusion. Optical coherence tomography and optical coherence tomography angiography were done to support and confirm the diagnosis. Conclusion: Retinal artery occlusion secondary to retro-bulbar block or drug induced toxicity following routine cataract surgery is unusual and sometimes dreadful vision threatening complication can occur

Unilateral Phthiriasis Palpebrarum Infestation: A Rare Presentation

Introduction: Phthiriasis palpebrarum is an uncommon eyelid infestation mainly caused by Phthirus pubis also known as crab lice. Case report: A 16 years male presented with redness, itching and watering of the right eye for one week. On slit-lamp biomicroscopic examination lice and nits anchored to the eyelashes along with seborrheic material accumulation was noted. Lice, partial nits along with matted eyelashes were removed and sent to laboratory for microscopic examination. On follow up visit remaining nits were expunged. Conclusion: Meticulous slit lamp biomicroscopic examination should be done in all patients presenting with itching of the eyelids in conjunction with clinical findings resembling seborrhea and evidence for Phthiriasis palpebrarum should be looked for

Single Stage Management of Anorectal Malformation in Male Neonates: Experience of a Tertiary Care Centre

Introduction: Anorectal malformation [ARM] can be treated either by staged procedures or by a single stage procedure. In the present study we have performed single stage surgery of ARM in male neonates. Materials and Methods: Retrospective review of cases of ARM operated over 4 years at Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences, Patna, and Bihar from January 2015 to December 2018 were undertaken. In this study we have compared the results of single stage repair of Anorectal malformation with that of staged procedures performed earlier. Fifty four patients of Anorectal malformation were operated by single stage procedure (category 1) this was compared with staged procedures (category 2). Forty three patients underwent primary PSARP (posterior sagittal anorectoplasty) and the remaining 11 primary APP (abdomino-perineal pull through) procedure. The result of these single stage procedures were compared with that of staged procedures (category 2) in which a total of 39 cases were operated from 2012 to 2014. Result: Mean post-operative hospital stay in category 1 was 11 days and 32 days in category 2. In category 1, 20 patients were analysed. In which PSARP procedure was done in 15 and in 5 patients APP procedure was performed. The Rest of the patients are in follow up. Kelly score was good to fair in 17 patients (85%) and poor in 3 (15%) patients. In category 2 it was good to fair in 28 (71.7%) cases and poor in 11 cases (28%). Conclusion: Single stage surgical repair of anorectal malformation in male neonates is reliable and can be safely performed. Early results are encouraging; however, a long term follow-up is required to get any definite conclusion

Malrotation with Distal Duodenal Necrosis in a Neonate

Malrotation with midgut volvulus often results in gangrene of midgut with relative sparing of duodenum. An extremely unusual case of Malrotation with isolated necrosis of distal duodenum is described with brief review of literature. Isolated duodenal necrosis in association with malrotation is very rare; it increases the complexity of surgery and prolongs hospital stay

Role of Nephrostomy in poorly functioning kidneys in patients with ureteropelvic junction obstruction (UPJO)

Introduction: Several studies have addressed the unique management challenges in poorly functioning kidneys of patients with ureteropelvic junction obstruction. Trial with percutaneous drainage of such kidneys as a guide to choose the type of surgical management would be a solution to this dilemma. We aimed to evaluate the role of percutaneous nephrostomy in treatment of poorly functioning kidneys in pediatric patients with UPJO.Materials and Methods: A prospective study was performed on patients with poorly functioning kidneys (split renal function<10% on renal dynamic scan) and unilateral ureteropelvic junction obstruction from August 2016 to January 2018. Ultrasound-guided nephrostomy was inserted for these patients. Data regarding the differential renal function and glomerular function rate (GFR) was collected before and after nephrostomy insertion. Decision regarding pyeloplasty or nephrectomy of the involved kidney was made based on changes seen in differential function and Glomerular filtration rate following the drainage.Results: Thirty three patients with unilateral UPJO with poorly functioning kidneys were treated during this period. Thirty patients had significant increase in differential function and glomerular filtration rate. These patients underwent pyeloplasty. In 2 patients, these parameters did not increase much and they underwent nephrectomy. One patient had an infected kidney which did not improve significantly on drainage and had to be removed. Of the 30 patients who had pyeloplasty, two developed obstruction after 3 months of removal of double-J stent and needed reoperation.Conclusion: Percutaneous nephrostomy in poorly functioning kidneys with ureteropelvic junction obstruction helps to identify potentially salvageable kidneys which merit pyeloplasty. Kidneys which do not improve with nephrostomy are unlikely to improve with pyeloplasty and therefore nephrectomy is done in such cases.

Water Quality Assessment of Pahuj River using Water Quality Index at Unnao Balaji, M.P., India

The study has been carried to assess the water quality index of Pahuj River at Unnao Balaji, Madhya Pradesh. The samples were collected from 10 different locations and analyzed for various physico-chemical parameters like Temperature, pH, Turbidity, Total Hardness, Chloride, Dissolved Oxygen, Biological Oxygen Demand, Fluoride, Iron and Nitrate. Water Quality Index serves as the basis for environment assessment of water in relation to pollution load categorization and designation of classes. The value of Water Quality Index (WQI) at almost all location indicates that water of Pahuj River at Unnao Balaji is unfit for drinking purpose due to disposal of heavy amount of sewage into the River