Prevalence of menopausal symptoms and perceptions about menopause among postmenopausal women attending Gynaecology OPD at GMC Idukki, India

Background: Idukki is a hilly tract area in the state of Kerala. No studies regarding menopause has been reported from Idukki. This study is done among postmenopausal women in an attempt to shed light on the prevalence of menopausal symptoms and perceptions of postmenopausal women in a panchayat in Idukki district which is typically a rural area. Primary objectives of the study were to find the prevalence of menopausal symptoms in post-menopausal women attending the outpatient department of Government Medical College, Idukki, India and to find the perceptions about menopause among these post-menopausal women. Secondary objectives were to find the mean age and pattern of attainment of menopause among postmenopausal women and to find the treatment seeking behavior of the post-menopausal women residing in this area.Methods: A cross-sectional observational study is done among 100 postmenopausal women attending the outpatient department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. Questions are asked based on interview schedule. The results are then analyzed.Results: The mean age of menopause was 45.69± 4.35. 78% of population had one or more symptoms in the menopausal period. Only 19.5% of the symptomatic women took treatment. 77% had positive perceptions.Conclusions: The awareness of these women in this area is poor thus limiting the treatment seeking behavior. Improvement of awareness is a must to improve the quality of life of post-menopausal women

Joint Center Movement Analysis and 3D Motion Modeling of Upper Arm - Comparison of Several Algorithms with the Visual 3-D Program

600 out of every 100,000 people in the United States today suffer from some form of cerebellar disease that causes major abnormalities in the equilibrium and aligned, coordinated movement of the body. Hence it becomes essential to diagnose the extent of the movement and gait disorder and provide required therapy to the patients. Various developments have been made in the designing and application of interactive software system for body positioning. Object oriented design techniques are used in the field of software engineering for interactive geometric representation of system behavior. Motion analysis of the upper and lower extremities of the body could be beneficial in the diagnosis and therapy of numerous orthopedic and neurological ailments. Mathematical models of neuro-musculoskeletal dynamics establish a scientific basis for movement analysis. As mentioned above, an interactive geometric representation of the system behavior is an important diagnostic tool in orthopedic therapy. This realistic depiction of the human body with respect to the model is a very effective diagnostic tool for clinicians. There are existing biomechanical modeling tools like Visual 3-D etc, that are used for motion analysis. Visual 3-D was developed by the movement disorders laboratory at NIH. The preferred method is to place markers on the segments and calculate the joint center locations using a rigid-body assumption. However studies have shown that markers on the joint centers are subject to artifact (skin movement). Moreover, very few details are provided on the algorithm used by Visual 3-D, and no fixes are provided for marker dropout. This project aims at testing the accuracy of existing biomechanical movement analysis software Visual 3D by calculating the rigid body motion from the spatial co-ordinates of the markers clusters on the subject\u27s upper extremities. This project tries to emulate their approach in a simple and effective manner and at the same time validate the approach by testing it by three different methods by calculating the elbow and wrist locations during a forward reaching motion of the subject. A mathematical model is developed by determining a relationship between the projections of a particular point in two different planes or on a single plane in two different directions [Kinzel, G.L. et. al. 1972]. The computer simulations are performed using MATLAB to calculate the lunematical parameters from the co-ordinates of projections of markers placed on the upper extremities of the subject\u27s body. This relation will aid in quantitative motion analysis of the upper extremities in the rehabilitation setting. This can be extended to in-depth gait analysis of the lower extremities too. This type of biomechanical movement analysis allows us to understand the dynamic implications of a particular impairment, such as spasticity or weakness, in a particular muscle group

Histomorphological and clinicopathological correlates of reflux esophagitis

Background: Inflammatory lesions of the esophagus are major concerns to patients who visit our Medical Out Patient Department (OPD) on a regular basis. Endoscopic examination, with histopathological confirmation is the diagnostic modality employed in many centers. Endoscopic appearance is characteristic, and so are histomorphological findings. In our study we have analyzed the clinical, endoscopic and histomorphological findings of various types of esophagitis. This will help us to arrive at a correct diagnosis to initiate appropriate therapy.Methods: We included 141 cases of esophagitis reported in Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education and Research from January 2016 to December 2020 in our study, mostly the ones which came as biopsy samples in histopathology section. Slides were reviewed, various histological features, clinical and endoscopic findings were correlated. Microsoft excel was used for the calculation of results.Results: Reflux esophagitis was most commonly seen in male patients (64%), between 40-60 years (35%) of age with presenting complaints of heart burn and clinical diagnosis of reflux esophagitis. Classic histological feature for the diagnosis of reflux esophagitis was epithelial hyperplasia noted in 89% male and 86% female patients, followed by increased basal cell thickness noted in 66% male and 55% female patients.Conclusions: Accurate diagnosis of reflux esophagitis is mainly based on histomorphological features. Capillaries in epithelium and basal cell hyperplasia along with history and endoscopic appearance to be considered for the diagnosis of reflux esophagitis

A rare case of cutaneous granular cell tumour

Granular cell tumors are uncommon tumors of uncertain etiology. It accounts for approximately 0.5% of all soft tissue tumors. However, the involvement of skin is rare. Only few cases of cutaneous granular cell tumor is reported till date. Here, we present a case of cutaneous granular cell tumor in a 48 years female patient

भारतीय मात्स्यिकी सर्वेक्षण- एक झलक

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Environmental conditions off Mumbai with reference to Marine Fisheries

The coastal waters of Mumbai indiscriminately receive tremendous input of untreated domestic wastewater and industrial effluents Continuous environmental monitoring of the coastal and marine areas off Mumbai for the period 1996-2001 showed spatial and temporal variations based on seasonal and tidal fluctuations. The W in the creeks frequently recorded nil values. particularly during low tide. Salinity was observed to be very low in the creek and nearshore areas during low tide and monsoon. The plankton and fishery showed a decline in their diversity and catch over the years. From the study area, 25 groups of zooplankton were recorded. Experimental fishing revealed the presence of 96 species of marine living resources representing seaweeds, corals, gorgonids, echinoderms, crustaceans, molluscs. pelagic & demersal fishes and other groups. Microbiological studies indicated fluctuations during premonsoon, monsoon and postmonsoon periods particularly in total coliforms, faecal coliforms and faecal streptococci that indicate faecal contamination

Ethanol induces cell-cycle activity and reduces stem cell diversity to alter both regenerative capacity and differentiation potential of cerebral cortical neuroepithelial precursors

BACKGROUND: The fetal cortical neuroepithelium is a mosaic of distinct progenitor populations that elaborate diverse cellular fates. Ethanol induces apoptosis and interferes with the survival of differentiating neurons. However, we know little about ethanol's effects on neuronal progenitors. We therefore exposed neurosphere cultures from fetal rat cerebral cortex, to varying ethanol concentrations, to examine the impact of ethanol on stem cell fate. RESULTS: Ethanol promoted cell cycle progression, increased neurosphere number and increased diversity in neurosphere size, without inducing apoptosis. Unlike controls, dissociated cortical progenitors exposed to ethanol exhibited morphological evidence for asymmetric cell division, and cells derived from ethanol pre-treated neurospheres exhibited decreased proliferation capacity. Ethanol significantly reduced the numbers of cells expressing the stem cell markers CD117, CD133, Sca-1 and ABCG2, without decreasing nestin expression. Furthermore, ethanol-induced neurosphere proliferation was not accompanied by a commensurate increase in telomerase activity. Finally, cells derived from ethanol-pretreated neurospheres exhibited decreased differentiation in response to retinoic acid. CONCLUSION: The reduction in stem cell number along with a transient ethanol-driven increase in cell proliferation, suggests that ethanol promotes stem to blast cell maturation, ultimately depleting the reserve proliferation capacity of neuroepithelial cells. However, the lack of a concomitant change in telomerase activity suggests that neuroepithelial maturation is accompanied by an increased potential for genomic instability. Finally, the cellular phenotype that emerges from ethanol pre-treated, stem cell depleted neurospheres is refractory to additional differentiation stimuli, suggesting that ethanol exposure ablates or delays subsequent neuronal differentiation

It\u27s Ten O\u27clock: Do We Know Where Our Students Are?

Do we know where our students are will ensure that Virginia Commonwealth University has the ability to identify the current residential location of students at any time such contact is warranted, for instance during an emergency. We propose a system that secures at regular intervals up-to-date contact information. Conceptually, the project is designed to help VCU better serve its students, promote a safer environment, raise student awareness of how crucial it is to provide the university with up-to-date contact information, and ultimately improve the relationship between the institution and its neighboring communities

Spatial Modeling of Local-Scale Biogenic and Anthropogenic Carbon Dioxide Emissions in Helsinki

There is a growing need to simulate the effect of urban planning on both local climate and greenhouse gas emissions. Here, a new urban surface carbon dioxide (CO2) flux module for the Surface Urban Energy and Water Balance Scheme is described and evaluated using eddy covariance observations at two sites in Helsinki in 2012. The spatial variability and magnitude of local-scale anthropogenic and biogenic CO2 flux components at high spatial (250 m x 250 m) and temporal (hourly) resolution are examined by combining high-resolution (down to 2 m) airborne lidar-derived land use data and mobility data to account for people's movement. Urban effects are included in the biogenic components parameterized using urban eddy covariance and chamber observations. Surface Urban Energy and Water Balance Scheme reproduces the seasonal and diurnal variability of the CO2 flux well. Annual totals deviate 3% from observations in the city center and 2% in a suburban location. In the latter, traffic is the dominant CO2 source but summertime vegetation partly offsets traffic-related emissions. In the city center, emissions from traffic and human metabolism dominate and the vegetation effect is minor due to the low proportion of vegetation surface cover (22%). Within central Helsinki, human metabolism accounts for 39% of the net local-scale emissions and together with road traffic is to a large extent responsible for the spatial variability of the emissions. Annually, the biogenic emissions and sinks are in near balance and thus the effect of vegetation on the carbon balance is small in this high-latitude city.Peer reviewe