Does visual reaction time change with gender?

Background: The reaction time (RT) of an organism refers to how quickly it reacts to a stimuli. The rate at which the central nervous system analyses sensory data and then executes it as a motor response is measured by RT. The human body responds to different sensory modalities in different ways and at different rates. This is critical in both routine and emergency situations. Gender, age, physical fitness, level of exhaustion, distraction, and alcohol have all been shown to influence RT. Aims and Objectives: The aims of this study were to compare the visual RT of first phase MBBS and BDS students to red and green colors. Materials and Methods: Following ethical approval, 250 first phase medical students, ranging in age from 17 to 20, were selected, and all participants provided written informed consent. Anand Agencies Pune designed an audiovisual RT gadget that was utilized to collect visual response time (VRT). The unpaired t-test was performed to assess the data statistically. Results: The individuals’ VRT for the colors Red (R) (Mean: 0.199 s) and Green (G) (Mean: 0.218 s) were statistically significant (P < 0.001). In addition, the variance of VRT in men (Mean: [R] 0.192 s, [G] 0.206 s) was significantly greater than in females (Mean: [R] 0.209 s, [G] 0.226 s; P < 0.001). The results were tallied and examined statistically. Conclusion: As a result of our research, we discovered that the VRT for green was significantly greater than that of red. This might be due to the fact that green takes longer to process than red. Males react to stimuli faster than females.

Prevalence of thyroid disorder in pregnancy and pregnancy outcome

Background: Thyroid disorders constitute one of the most common endocrine disorders seen in pregnancy. Maternal thyroid function changes during pregnancy and inadequate adaptation to these changes results in thyroid dysfunction. Aim: A prospective and comparative clinical study to know prevalence of thyroid disorder in pregnancy and pregnancy outcome was done. Materials and methods: This study was carried out in pregnant women during 1st trimester who attended antenatal clinic of maternity hospital to know the prevalence of thyroid disorders in pregnant women living in and around and also to know the outcome of pregnancy in women suffering from thyroid disorders. Results: In this study, prevalence of thyroid disorder was 11.6% with 95% CI of 9.64 to 13.54 which was high when compared to other regions in India and in other parts of Asia. Subclinical hypothyroidism and Overt hypothyroidism was 6.4% and 2.8% respectively. Subclinical and Overt hyperthyroidism was 1.8% and 0.6% respectively. Subclinical hypothyroidism was more prevalent and hidden, leading to the poor obstetrical outcome and fetal complications. Rate of miscarriage was high in overt hyperthyroid patients. Conclusion: Due to the immense impact that the maternal thyroid disorder has on maternal and fetal outcome, prompt identification of thyroid disorders and timely initiation of treatment is essential. Thus, universal screening of pregnant women for thyroid disorder should be considered especially in a country like India where there is a high prevalence of undiagnosed thyroid disorder.

Endomyocardial fibrosis is associated with selective deposition of type I collagen.

BACKGROUND: Endomyocardial fibrosis is a distinct form of heart disease leading to restrictive ventricular filling and cardiac failure. The disease is characterized by a marked thickening of the endocardium due to the deposition of dense fibrous tissue composed of wavy bundles of collagen. Changes in collagen composition and an abnormal increase in its concentration result in a stiffer myocardium and ventricular diastolic dysfunction. The nature of cardiac collagens and the relative proportions of collagen types in endomyocardial fibrosis have not been documented in the literature. METHODS AND RESULTS: This study analyzed collagen composition in the cardiac tissues of 13 patients with endomyocardial fibrosis and 6 individuals who were the victims of traffic accidents or suicidal deaths and did not have any heart disease. We estimated the relative proportions of types I and III collagen after pepsin digestion of the tissue and separation of the emerging peptides by sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The mean type I:III collagen ratio was 0.51+/-0.06 in normal individuals, and 0.93+/-0.43 in patients with endomyocardial fibrosis (p<0.05). The alteration in the type I:III collagen ratio was due to a disproportionate increase in type I collagen. CONCLUSIONS: The results indicate that a selective increase in type I collagen may contribute to the impaired diastolic distension of the ventricles in patients with endomyocardial fibrosis.

Hepatic and renal phosphomonoesterases and adenosine triphosphatases in chronic hyperprolactinaemic rats.

Influence of hyperprolactinaemia, induced endogenously by anterior pituitary transplantation on rat hepatic and renal cortical and medullary phosphomonoesterases and adenosine triphosphatases (ATPases) has been investigated. Although prolactin has a stimulatory effect on phosphomonoesterases and ATPases, it exhibits a specific and temporal influence on each subtype of hepatic and renal ATPases and phosphomonoesterases at different durations of pituitary transplantation. The specific activities of alkaline phosphatase and Na(+)-K+ dependent ATPases are activated in all the regions of different durations of experimentation. However, acid phosphatases, Ca2+ and Mg2+ dependent ATPases exhibit a differential response to prolactin in renal cortex, medulla and liver. Direct influence of prolactin on hepatic and renal phosphomonoesterases and ATPases is thus suggested.

Pulmonary vasospasm in rabbits infused with stroma free haemoglobin solution.

Effect of infusion of stroma free haemoglobin solution into mice and rabbits was studied. Though no abnormalities were noted in mice, pulmonary vasospasm and hepatocytic necrosis were seen in all rabbits. In addition to reports that low adenosine deaminase levels in the solution could be a cause of vasoconstriction, it is proposed on the basis of present results that either denaturation of haemoglobin molecule itself or release of super oxide anion during oxygenation of haemoglobin, could cause cellular damage leading to toxicity.