Success of medical management of tubal ectopic pregnancy with Methotrexate in a tertiary hospital in North India

Background: Unruptured ectopic pregnancy can be managed with surgery as well as systemic methotrexate. We aimed to study efficacy of medical management and factors affecting success in strictly selected patients.Methods: It was a three-year prospective observational study. 171 patients with ectopic pregnancy were screened and those fulfilling the strict study criteria were given systemic methotrexate. The single dose regimen was followed. Patients were observed for side effects and signs of rupture. Serial measurement of HCG levels was done to determine success or failure. Various factors were studied which had potential bearing on results.Results: Thirty-one patients received methotrexate. We had an overall success rate of 93%. Two of the participants had surgery due to failure. No major side effects were observed.Conclusions: Carefully selected patients of unruptured ectopic pregnancy can be safely and successfully treated with systemic methotrexate

Dynamics of Team Teaching and Research in a Management School: Learning and Imperatives

This paper discusses the experience of team teaching to address the issues of integration of academic inputs by bringing multi-disciplinary perspective together and thereby enhance learning experience of participants. The paper delves on the process, events and outcome of team teaching by four faculty members at IIM Ahmedabad who collaborated in teaching, writing cases, and doing research for a period of more than three years. The experience has been summarized using the following dimensions: need for team-teaching, existing mechanisms and barriers, opportunities and potential, imperatives, fall-outs and challenges experienced in the process. The cohesion, trust and mutual respect are key imperatives. The other factors contributing to the success of team-teaching are strong felt need by the members for integration in programmes, complementary skills and experiences of team members, frequent programmes with integrated components that provided continuous opportunities for learning, co-location of the instructors, and off-site programmes that provided opportunities for close get-togethers. The autonomy granted by the institution to instructors and co-coordinators to design and execute learning opportunities was also instrumental in the success. In an environment where the rule of the game is individualism, forming teams creates fears of loss of importance and recognition. The experience shows that the competency of the members and the overall effectiveness of the tasks are strengthened if the team believes in “reciprocating interdependence”. This can be possible only if members allow themselves opportunities to experiment, improvise and review

Feed Forward Artificial Neural Network: Tool for Early Detection of Ovarian Cancer

Pathological changes in an organ or tissue may be reflected in proteomic patterns in serum. The early detection of cancer is crucial for successful treatment. Some cancers affect the concentration of certain molecules in the blood, which allows early diagnosis by analyzing the blood mass spectrum. It is possible that exclusive serum proteomic patterns could be used to differentiate cancer samples from non-cancer ones. Several techniques have been developed for the analysis of mass-spectrum curve, and use them for the detection of prostate, ovarian, breast, bladder, pancreatic, kidney, liver, and colon cancers. In present study, we applied data mining to the diagnosis of ovarian cancer and identified the most informative points of the mass-spectrum curve, then used student t-test and neural networks to determine the differences between the curves of cancer patients and healthy people. Two serum SELDI MS data sets were used in this research to identify serum proteomic patterns that distinguish the serum of ovarian cancer cases from non-cancer controls. Statistical testing and genetic algorithm-based methods are used for feature selection respectively. The results showed that (1) data mining techniques can be successfully applied to ovarian cancer detection with a reasonably high performance; (2) the discriminatory features (proteomic patterns) can be very different from one selection method to another

Comparative study of serum urea, creatinine and C-reactive protein level in chronic kidney disease patients with healthy subjects

Background: Chronic diseases are a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in India. Globally, chronic kidney disease is the 12th cause of death and the 17th cause of disability, respectively. CKD is defined as kidney damage or glomerular filtration rate (GFR) <60 mL/min/1.73 m2 for 3 months or more, irrespective of cause. The present study aimed to find out correlation between serum urea, creatinine and C-reactive protein (CRP) level among patients suffering from chronic kidney disease in an urban based tertiary care hospital in Bikaner, western Rajasthan, India.Methods: This study was conducted at Sardar Patel Medical College and Associated Hospitals at Bikaner, Rajasthan from August 2015 to December 2016. There were 50 cases and 50 controls in the age groups from 10 to 60 yearrs. We took fresh samples and performed required tests following standard protocol. CRP has been done by Antigen Antibody reaction (latex method). RFT has been performed on semi-automatic analyzer.Results: Levels of serum urea and creatinine were significantly raised in CKD patients (p-value<0.005) and CRP level was raised in 52% cases. While 48% cases having normal level %), which requires further study.  Renal function tests were significantly higher in cases than controls.Conclusions: Serum creatinine and urea level were significantly higher in cases as compared to control group

Comparative analysis of vaginal misoprostol 400 and 600 single dose for second-trimester termination of pregnancy-a prospective randomized trial

Background: This study was done to compare two dosing schedules of tablet misoprostol single dose 600 µg (M600) versus multiple doses 400 µg (M400), kept per vaginally for second termination of pregnancy and to analyze induction to abortion time, side effects, and failure to achieve termination of pregnancy. Methods: Women admitted for second-trimester pregnancy termination were considered. Inclusion and exclusion criteria were followed. The women were randomized into two groups, with one group receiving single dose of M600 per vaginal and the other one multiple doses of M400, and the two groups were compared in their outcomes. Results: In the present study no statistical significance was found between the two dosing regimens with regard to induction abortion interval, post-expulsion need for suction, and evacuation. Conclusions: The study revealed that the dose between M400 and M600 has not shown significance compared with two dosing regimens. Single dose M600 can be considered for second-trimester pregnancy termination due to better compliance

Size and Shape of Ammonium Perchlorate and their Influence on Properties of Composite Propellant

Most of the composite propellant compositions contain solid loading up to 86 per cent. The main solid ingredients of composite propellant are ammonium perchlorate (AP) and aluminium powder. Therefore, it is a must to characterise these to improve processibility and quality of composite propellant. Effect of particle size on propellants slurry viscosity and ballistic parameters are well documented, however, the effect of oxidizer particle shape is not reported. In the present study, different methods for size and shape characterisation are discussed and effect of size and shape of AP on composite propellant properties are studied. The data indicate that as size of AP decreases, propellant slurry viscosity increases and burn rate increases. The particles having higher shape factor provides less endof mix (EOM) viscosity of propellant slurry and burn rate. Further, effect of size of ground AP on shape is also investigated. From the data thus obtained, it is inferred that as size of ground AP decreases, shape factor decreases, and particles become more irregular in shape.Defence Science Journal, 2009, 59(3), pp.294-299, DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.14429/dsj.59.152

Obesity in Adolescents: Prevalence and Association with Sociodemographic and Lifestyle Factors

Introduction: Overweight and obesity has become a worldwide epidemic and is a growing public health concern. The increase in prevalence and severity of obesity among children and adolescents has been attributed largely to behavioral factors such as changing eating habits and sedentary lifestyles. Objective: To determine prevalence of obesity and abdominal obesity among adolescents and its association with sociodemographic factors and lifestyle. Methods: Present cross-sectional study was conducted in the urban field practice area under the Community Medicine Department of LLRM Medical College, Meerut, among 872 adolescents. All localities in the field area were covered and house to house survey was done. Questions were asked about eating patterns, physical activity and sedentary lifestyle. Data was collected and analyzed using appropriate statistical tests. Results: The prevalence of overweight and obesity was 17.43, 6.88%, respectively. Obesity was significantly higher among females, those who indulged in unhealthy eating habits were physically inactive, watched television for a longer duration and ate junk while watching television. Conclusion: In the present study, we found that high junk food consumption and a sedentary lifestyle were found to be significantly associated with childhood overweight/obesity. As a result, timely interventions should be taken to improve awareness about healthy lifestyle behavior to prevent obesity and its complications among adolescents

Evaluation of peripheral arterial occlusive disease by computed tomography angiography

Background: Characterization of peripheral arterial occlusive disease (PAOD) can be performed with non-invasive angiography using computed tomography (CT). The present study was conducted to evaluate the CT angiographic spectrum of aortoiliac and the lower limb arterial disease in symptomatic patients of peripheral arterial occlusive disease (PAOD) and to classify the lesions according to the Trans-Atlantic Inter-Society Consensus II (TASC II).Methods: The study was carried out in the department of radio-diagnosis in collaboration with departments of cardiothoracic surgery, cardiology and surgery, Safdarjung Hospital and Vardhman Mahavir Medical College, New Delhi. 50 patients aged above 40 years presenting with symptoms and (or) signs of lower limb peripheral arterial disease were recruited into the study after evaluating the renal function. Patient’s clinical history, ABI index and categories of PAOD according to the classification of Fontaine was noted. CT angiography of aortoiliac and lower limb arteries was performed with Philips Brilliance 40 CT unit. The findings in each CT angiography were analysed in respect to site, number, nature and distribution of the lesions and classified individually according to the TASC II.Results: The patients included in the study were all more than 40 years of age. The age range in the study group was 42 years to 75 years. The majority (86%) were male patients. Smoking and dyslipidemia were found to be the main risk factors in our patients. 24% of patients had documentary evidence of ischemic heart disease. On grading with ABI majority of patients (58%) presented in the end stage of the disease (stage IV). On CT angiography, number of lesions detected was 157. 97.4% of lesions were either stenotic or occlusive and 2.54% are with aneurysm. Maximum number of patients had femoropopliteal lesions followed by aortailiac lesions. 14 Winslow pathways were found in 10 patients. Maximum numbers of femoropopliteal lesions (47.29%) belong to type D, type B lesions account for 50% of total aortoiliac lesions based on TASC II classification. Out of 50, 40 were made follow up. Among them 8 were managed with conservative treatment and remaining 32 managed with treatment based TASC II classification.Conclusions: CT angiography is a reliable noninvasive imaging method for the comprehensive and multi parameter evaluation of patients with PAOD. CT angiographic findings are a highly accurate basis for treatment decisions and planning

Engineered nanomaterials for aviation industry in COVID-19 context: A time-sensitive review

Engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) are catalyzing the Industry 4.0 euphoria in a significant way. One prime beneficiary of ENMs is the transportation industry (automotive, aerospace, rail car), where nanostructured multi-materials have ushered the path toward high-strength, ultra-impact-resistant, lightweight, and functionally graded engineered surfaces/components creation. The present paper aims to extrapolate much-needed ENMs knowledge from literature and its usage in the aviation industry, highlighting ENMs contribution to aviation state-of-the-art. Topics such as ENMs classification, manufacturing/synthesis methods, properties, and characteristics derived from their utilization and uniqueness are addressed. The discussion will lead to novel materials’ evolving need to protect aerospace surfaces from unfolding SARS-COVID-19 and other airborne pathogens of a lifetime challenge