Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on mental health of general population in Kashmir Valley, India

Background: The high morbidity and morbidity associated with epidemics and disasters and economic losses thereof is a high psychosocial risk. Estimation of the burden of mental health issues and recognition of various risk groups will lead to better allocation of resources to prevent the increased burden of psychiatric morbidity during the epidemic.Methods: This was an online survey conducted during COVID-19 pandemic based on self reporting DASS 21 scale.Results: Among the participants 49.5% had depression, 34.8% had anxiety and 22.3% had stress in varying severity from mild to extremely severe forms. Female gender, less age, high level of education and unemployment were the risk factors for increased psychiatric morbidity.Conclusions: There is a dire need to recognize the mental health threat due to COCID-19 pandemic and implement the steps to protect the vulnerable population from it.

A comparative prospective study of maternofetal outcome in advanced and younger maternal age group in higher socioeconomic strata

Background: Maternal age in pregnancy is increasing over the world and has been widely documented. Nowadays many women delay their pregnancy even up to the 40th year of life because of different reasons like changing social and economic trend. Simultaneously higher advanced technique and better supported maternal and neonatal care also exist.Methods: To have an idea of balance between advanced age and advanced support this comparative prospective study was done on 40 advanced and 40 younger maternal age groups to compare the pregnancy outcomes. To find out the association Chi-Square and unpaired ‘t’ test was used.Results: It was observed in this study that Assisted reproductive techniques (mode of conception) and cesarean section rates were significantly higher in advanced maternal age. Although there were no significant differences in antenatal and postpartum complications between the two groups.Conclusions: It can be concluded that if a women with advanced maternal age is cared at a hospital with advanced techniques, the adverse pregnancy outcomes will not be different from the non-elderly women

Medical thoracoscopy in evaluation of undiagnosed pleural effusion

Background: Medical thoracoscopy or pleuroscopy, in recent past has received lot of interest for diagnostic as well as therapeutic purposes. In the evaluation of undiagnosed pleural effusion, it has become a key diagnostic modality as it is a cost effective and safe procedure. The aim of present study was to assess the diagnostic yield of medical thoracoscopy in patients with undiagnosed exudative pleural effusion.Methods: This prospective study was conducted at government chest diseases hospital Srinagar between December 2016 to June 2018. One hundred and twenty-five (125) patients who fulfilled inclusion criteria were included in this study. Thoracoscopy was done using rigid thoracoscope under local anesthesia.  Thoracoscopic and histopathological data of enrolled patients was collected prospectively and analysed.Results: Patients enrolled in the study were in the age range of 17 to 82 years and consisted of 80 males and 45 females. Most common thoracoscopic finding was multiple variable sized nodules (53.6%) followed by sago grain infiltration (15.2%). Malignancy was the most common histopathological diagnosis (60.8%) with metastatic adenocarcinoma being the most common histopathological diagnosis (50%). The overall diagnostic yield of thoracoscopy was 90.4%.Conclusions: Medical thoracoscopy is a safe procedure with excellent diagnostic yield for evaluation of undiagnosed pleural effusion with minimal complication rates

A novel idea of pseudo-code generator in quantum-dot cellular automata (QCA)

In present work, we have implemented the pseudo-code (PN-code) generator using quantum-dot cellular (QCA) technology. Simulation results are obtained from QCA designer software. The PN-code generation is of paramount importance for any secure communication system. The complex code generated is used to scramble incoming plain text. At the receiving end, the same code is generated and successfully used to decrypt the transmitted data. The algorithm for generating noise signal is quite simple. The simplicity of the circuit along with the complexity of the code generated makes the circuit attractive for secure message communication

Pulmonary tuberculosis presenting with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS): A case report and review of literature

Tuberculosis is a very highly prevalent disease particularly in the developing world. In India one person dies of tuberculosis every minute. It can be a differential diagnosis of any disease ranging from infections to malignancies. But tuberculosis as a primary cause of respiratory failure requiring mechanical ventilation is an uncommon occurrence. Among patients with pulmonary tuberculosis, those with miliary or disseminated disease or having comorbidities like acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) are especially prone to develop acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). We present a case of a young female with no comorbidities or immuno suppression who presented with ARDS to us. We initially managed with mechanical ventilation and broad spectrum antibiotics, but there was no improvement. Only after anti tubercular therapy (ATT) and corticosteroids the patient recovered