Incidence and risk factors of intra uterine fetal death: a retrospective study at a tertiary care centre in Kashmir, India

Background: Intrauterine fetal death (IUFD) is the tragic event contributing to high perinatal mortality in developing countries. So many risk factors have been seen associated with IUFD that can be prevented with better antenatal care and timely detection at the earliest so that the prevalence can be decreased. This study was done to identify the risk factors associated with IUFD.Methods: This is a retrospective study from done from March 2017 to March 2018 at skims maternity hospital. IUFD was defined as fetal death beyond 20 weeks of gestation. Records were analyzed and data was compiled.Results: In our study there were total of 2500 deliveries out of which 70 were IUFD. Incidence was 28 per 1000 live births. It was found more common in the age group of 20-29 year (65.71%)  %). Preeclampsia was the risk factor in 17.14% of cases , followed by abruption in 11.42% followed by placenta previa in 7.14% of cases. However, 20% of the cases had unidentified risk factor.Conclusions: Present study was an effort to compile common risk factors associated with IUFD at tertiary centre of Kashmir

Exploring lived experiences of married Pakistani women post-mastectomy

Objective: This qualitative descriptive exploratory study aimed to explore the lived experiences of married Pakistani women, 2 years post-mastectomy.Methods: Twelve participants were recruited through purposive sampling from outpatient oncology clinic from a tertiary care hospital in Pakistan. Interviews were audio-taped and transcribed, and then themes and sub-themes were identified.Results: Women verbalized a range of their experiences throughout the span from diagnosis to mastectomy. One over arching theme, quality of life and four main themes and their subthemes emerged from the data. Following are the themes; from history to diagnosis, worries, coping strategies, and recommendations.Conclusions: The study findings revealed that effective coping strategies were beneficial for these women, as these women coped well after being diagnosed with breast cancer. Strong recommendations were made by the participants for the formulation of support groups, which could help them reduce their anxiety through information exchange

Use of Endoscopic Third Ventriculostomy (ETV) Success Score to Predict the Outcome of Endoscopic Third Ventriculostomy in Obstructive Hydrocephalus

Object: In February 2011 Abhaya V. Kulkarni et al. reported endoscopic third ventriculostomy success score in order to predict the outcome of obstructive hydrocephalus. After ETV the object of the present study was to evaluate this predictive value in our own setup, prospectively.Materials and Methods: From April 2011-November 2012, 110 endoscopic third ventriculostomy procedures were performed for obstructive hydrocephalus of different etiologies at the department of pediatric neurosurgery, the Children’s Hospital Lahore. All of these cases were more than 6 months old and the data was analyzed by the senior author.Results: A total number of 110 patients were operated between April 2011 – November 2012. The patients’ ages ranged from 6 months – 13 years. No child below 6 months was included in this study. Children were stratified into 4 age groups: 6 months – 1 year (Group – 1), 1 year – 2 years (Group – 2), 2 years – 10 years (Group – 3) and more than 10 years (Group – 4). The score was calculated for each patient before surgery according to ETVSS and at the end of 6months the success or failure of the ETV was determined by clinical, radiological measures. Out of 110 patients, only 80 were available at the completion of 6months period after surgery. The ETV was successful in 56 patients (70%). Patients below 1 year achieved lowest success. Of the ten patients with a high probability of ETV success, eight (80%) were successfully treated.Conclusion: The results show that EVT success can be predicted very well by ETVSS and it should help in establishing surgical selection criteria in order to obtain high success rate. It can also help in preparing the patients and their families to the expected outcome

اردو میں جاسوسی فکشن کی سو سالہ تاریخ: مختصر جائزہ

From epics/legends to Sharar, Hadi amp; Ruswa Urdu fiction is rich with detective elements. Neeli Chhatri (1916) of Zafar Imran is placed first in this regard but the traces of detectivev fiction is also found much earlier, e.g in 1892. Munshi Mehboob Alam translated Dike Orber's novel, titled as Do Hareef Suragh-Risan in 1894. Mr. Abdul Ghani translated Arthur Canin Dyle's Yadgar-e-Sharlock Homes as Parkala-e-Aafat in 1903. The first original composition, in this respect, was Khan Ahmed Hussain's Shaheen Chor in 1897. In 1952, Ibn-e-Safi composed the first novel Diler Mujrim in Jasoosi Duniya, Nik'hat Allahabad. It was inspired by Vitor Gun's Iron side's loon. But Imran Series and Jasoosi Duniya brought a revolution in Urdu detective fiction. Countless fiction-writers attempted to compose Imran Series but did not match the standard. But still there are some worh-reading names like Ikram Allahabadi, Teerath Ram, Masood Javed, H. Iqbal and Mazhar Kaleem etc. In this short article, the hundred-year journey of espionage fiction is reviewed with historical continuity, from stylist to copyist to historical traces.  </p

Modulatory effect of single nucleotide polymorphism in Xmn1, BCL11A and HBS1L-MYB loci on fetal hemoglobin levels in ? thalassemia major and Intermedia patients

Objective: This study was aimed to evaluate the influence of these genetic modifiers (HBB gene cluster: rs7482144; BCL11A: rs766432; HBS1L-MYB: rs9399137) on the HbF levels in Thalassemia major and thalassemia intermedia. Methods: The cohort study comprised of 52 patients with ?-thalassemia Intermedia and 64 patients of thalassemia major, all diagnosed in laboratories of Punjab thalassemia prevention program Hb-F was quantified by HPLC (Variant ll- Biorad). Primary mutation analysis and SNPS were done by ARMS PCR. SPSS version 20 i used for data analysis applying multivariate regression analysis. Results: The levels of Hb-F were primarily influenced by alleles of the HBG2, (rs7482144), and BCL11A (rs766432) gene but SNP of HBS1L-MYB (rs9399137) has no significant role. The rs7482144 SNP explained 8.3% of the variation in the Hb-F levels, while 5% of trait variation was explained by rs766432. Conclusion: There is clear association between Hb-F level and SNPs in HBG2, (rs7482144), and BCL11A (rs766432) gene. This correlation is additive and seen both in thalassemia major and thalassemia Intermedia cohorts, more so in case of later. Continuous..

Evaluation of Phenolic Compounds and Antioxidant and Antimicrobial Activities of Some Common Herbs

The study was designed to evaluate the phenolic, flavonoid contents and antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of onion (Allium cepa), garlic (Allium sativum), mint (Mentha spicata), thyme (Thymus vulgaris), oak (Quercus), aloe vera (Aloe barbadensis Miller), and ginger (Zingiber officinale). All extracts showed a wide range of total phenolic contents, that is, 4.96 to 98.37 mg/100 g gallic acid equivalents, and total flavonoid contents, that is, 0.41 to 17.64 mg/100 g catechin equivalents. Antioxidant activity (AA) was determined by measuring reducing power, inhibition of peroxidation using linoleic acid system, and 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical (DPPH) scavenging activity. Different extracts inhibited oxidation of linoleic acid by 16.6–84.2% while DPPH radical scavenging activity (IC50 values) ranged from 17.8% to 79.1 μg/mL. Reducing power at 10 mg/mL extract concentration ranged from 0.11 to 0.84 nm. Furthermore the extracts of these medicinal herbs in 80% methanol, 80% ethanol, 80% acetone, and 100% water were screened for antimicrobial activity by disc diffusion method against selected bacterial strains, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtilis, and Pasteurella multocida, and fungal strains, Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus flavus, Rhizopus solani, and Alternaria alternata. The extracts show better antimicrobial activity against bacterial strains as compared to fungal strains. Results of various assays were analyzed statistically by applying appropriate statistical methods