Knowledge, attitude and practice of menstrual hygiene among adolescent schoolgirls of rural area, Dakshina Kannada, India

Background: Adolescent girls constitute a vulnerable group not only with respect to their social status but also in relation to their health. Menstruation is accompanied by a cultural taboo in almost every society in the world. Although very common issue of everyday of life, menstruation is associated with many menstruations negative attitude in young girls. The young population is seen to be trapped and confused due to the different schools of thoughts at home and the outer world. This indicates an urgency to investigate girls, menstrual needs, to inform effective responses and educate them about the right strategies of menstrual hygiene, attitudes and practices. The aim of our study was to assess the knowledge, attitude and practices about menstrual hygiene among adolescent school girls from rural areas of Dakshina Kannada.Methods: This was a cross sectional study conducted from January 2020 to February 2020 among 130 secondary schools and high school girls of rural area of Dakshina Kannada, using predesigned questionnaire after obtaining informed consent.Results: In our study, most of the students had attained menarche by 12yrs of age. 86.15% were lacking primary knowledge about menstruation, and 80% of our participants had good knowledge about cleanliness of undergarments, and 65% of students knew that menstruation was a physiological phenomenon and 71% of the participants, still believed in the taboos and myths associated with menses and 30% were shy about carrying sanitary products to school. 63.85% participants still used cloth and most worrisome finding of our study is that 63% of our students did not feel comfortable to approach their family/elders/health care workers to solve their queries about menstruation.Conclusions: The study aimed at assessing the knowledge, attitude & practices of the adolescents regarding menstruation and menstrual hygiene. The low level of knowledge among participants is evident from their unpreparedness while entering menarche and their strong views of menstruation as social taboo can be judged from their various restrictions, owing to such strong socio-cultural beliefs and practices. Group discussions, media campaigns, sex education in schools are required to overcome taboo associated with menstruation.

The abdominal aorta and its branches: anatomical variations and clinical implications

Background: Vascular variations regarding the branching pattern of the aorta are important in different laparoscopic surgeries, liver and kidney transplantation, oncologic resections, and various interventional radiological procedures in the abdominal region. The present work was undertaken on cadavers to examine the prevalence of vascular patterns of the important branches of the abdominal aorta. Material and methods: A total of 50 properly embalmed and formalin fixed cadavers were dissected in the abdominal region, and viscera were mobilised to expose the origin of important branches of the abdominal aorta. Celiac trunk, superior mesenteric, inferior mesenteric, right and left renal, left and right gonadal arteries, and the division of the abdominal aorta into right and left common iliac arteries were observed regarding their level of origin and for presence of any anatomical variations. Results: The celiac trunk origin was located at the level of the T12 vertebra in 64% of cadavers, superior mesenteric at L1 in 76%, inferior mesenteric at L3 in 68%, left and right renal at L1 in 82% and 80%, respectively, and left and right gonadal at L2 in 84% and 86%, respectively; whereas the aortic bifurcation was most common at the level of the L4 vertebra in 54% of cadavers. Important anatomical variations were photographed. Conclusions: Defective fusion of the vitelline arteries during the embryonic stage resulted in the aforementioned anatomical variations. Knowledge of aortic variations is useful for appropriate radio diagnostic interventions and is helpful to decrease complications like vascular bleeding while ligating and anastomosing blood vessels, which is an integral part of many abdominal surgeries. (Folia Morphol 2011; 70, 4: 282–286

Health and Wellness Product from Mangosteen (Garcinia mangostana L.) Rind: Bioactive Potentials

Mangosteen rind (MSR) (Garcinia mangostana L.) is a predominant component of the fruit contributing to 62% of the whole fruit. However, utilization of the same for the preparation of health products was not explored due to its sensorially less acceptable parameters. Differential extraction in different polarity solvents of MSR was done and evaluated their acceptability for product preparation.Current study thus is a detailed investigation on bioactivity profiling of MSR fraction and utilization of the same for health product preparation. Among various extracts, 70% ethanol (70%AE) yielded the maximum (15g/100g). Xanthone:Phenolic ratio was 1: 2.8, in 70%AE as opposed to hot water extract – HWE and 50% AE, which contained Xanthone:Phenolic ratio of 1:1.4/5. Higher the phenolic content obviously reduces the bitterness of Xanthones. 70% AE contained phenolics 60.08± 0.213 mg/g and xanthones 22.56± 0.317 mg/g. HPLC analysis revealed a spectrum of phenolic acids such as gallic, chlorogenic, caffeic, epicatechin, catechin and ferulic acids at various levels. Potent Free Radical Scavenging (FRS) activity, cytoprotectivity, DNA protectivity, H+K+ATPase inhibitory (PPAI) activities were observed in 70% AE. Gallic/tannic acid appear to contribute to antioxidant activity; while ferulic acid was responsible for PPAI activity in 70%AE. Among xanthones, although α- mangostin was the dominating component, gartanin, 8 deoxygartanin and 3-isomangostin contributed to FRS activity. The products were prepared from 70%AE which are sensorially acceptable. Data thus for the first time delineate the specific health beneficial role of both phenolic and xanthone constituents in MSR particularly with higher abundance of phenolics than xanthones

Lung morphology: a cadaver study in Indian population

Knowledge of anatomical variations of lung is required by clinicians for accurate interpretation on different imaging techniques. During routine dissection in the anatomy department, a single lung extending uniformly throughout the thoracic cavity was detected in a 35 year old male cadaver. Thereafter a cadaver study was undertaken to report the prevalence of variations involving number, lobes and fissures of lung in Indian population. The thoracic cavities of 29 properly embalmed cadavers containing lungs were dissected and morphological features like number, fissures and lobes were observed for the presence of anatomical variations. The aforementioned single lung cadaver had associated dextrocardia. One accessory lobe on the inferior aspect was observed in 27.2% of lungs studied, whereas supernumerary fissures which were most common in right lower lobe were detected in 35% of lung specimens. The transverse fissure on the right lung was absent in 7.1% and incomplete in 50% of lung specimens. In the right lung, the oblique fissure was absent in 7.1% and incomplete in 39.3% of specimens. The oblique fissure was absent in 10.7% and incomplete in 35.7% of left lungs. Comparative analysis of our work with previous data in the literature suggest that different studies performed on radiological images reported greater prevalence of incomplete or absent pulmonary fissures as compared to various cadaver studies. Our aforementioned findings regarding the variations seen in fissures and lobes of both lungs were different from previous studies. Variations of lung anatomy are important for both the diagnosis and treatment of various diseases involving all the domains of medicine

EPHRINB2 Knockdown in Cervical Spinal Cord Preserves Diaphragm Innervation in a Mutant SOD1 Mouse Model of ALS

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a neurodegenerative disease characterized by motor neuron loss. Importantly, non-neuronal cell types such as astrocytes also play significant roles in disease pathogenesis. However, mechanisms of astrocyte contribution to ALS remain incompletely understood. Astrocyte involvement suggests that transcellular signaling may play a role in disease. We examined contribution of transmembrane signaling molecule ephrinB2 to ALS pathogenesis, in particular its role in driving motor neuron damage by spinal cord astrocytes. In symptomatic SOD1G93A mice (a well-established ALS model), ephrinB2 expression was dramatically increased in ventral horn astrocytes. Reducing ephrinB2 in the cervical spinal cord ventral horn via viral-mediated shRNA delivery reduced motor neuron loss and preserved respiratory function by maintaining phrenic motor neuron innervation of diaphragm. EphrinB2 expression was also elevated in human ALS spinal cord. These findings implicate ephrinB2 upregulation as both a transcellular signaling mechanism in mutant SOD1-associated ALS and a promising therapeutic target

Mineral Composition of Four Edible Mushrooms

Two cultivated mushroom species, namely, Lentinula edodes and Pleurotus florida and two wild growing species Lentinus cladopus and Pleurotus djamor were studied for their mineral contents such as Ca, Mg, Na, K, Fe, Zn, Mn, Cu, Ni, Se, Pb, and Cd by Inductive Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-AES) and also Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy, (AAS). Phosphorus was estimated by spectrophotometric method. K, Ca, Na, and P were in higher concentrations ranging from 59.3 mg to 3634 mg, 8.27 mg–174.9 mg, 22.2 mg–327.4 mg, and 100.5 mg–769.9 mg/100 g dry weight respectively in the four mushroom species studied. Fe, Zn, Mg and Se were ranging from 6.27 mg to 35.3 mg, 1.58 mg–9.44 mg, 21.1 mg–40.7 mg and 0.048 mg–0.182 mg/100 g dry weight, respectively, amongst the mushroom species analyzed. However, Ni, Cu, and Mn contents showed relatively lower concentrations, whereas Pb and Cd were below detectable level. The mushrooms were safe for consumption, in accordance with the permissible tolerance limits of the estimated toxic metals. Implications of the mineral contents on mushroom nutritional value are highlighted