Psychiatric Co-Morbidities in Couples With Infertility At A Tertiary Care Hospital

Background: Infertility is more prevalent nowadays and affects both males and females. It is an extremely challenging and unpredictable situation with social, interpersonal, and financial consequences. Therefore, it affects psychological health and quality of life of the couple. We assessed psychiatric morbidity and quality of life among couples and the relationship of duration of infertility with psychological burden, along with comparison between primary and secondary infertility. Methodology: 75 couples attending a tertiary care hospital in the age range of 18-45 years fulfilling the criteria for infertility and consenting for the study were interviewed and DASS 21 and WHO-QOL BREF was applied to analyze depression, anxiety, stress, and quality of life. Patients with previous psychiatric illness, intellectual disability was excluded. Results: The mean age of males and females was 29.6 years with 75% couples of primary infertility and 25% of secondary infertility. Females showed a higher range of psychiatric morbidity than males with 56% females and 12.2% males had depression, 56% females and 18.1% males had anxiety, 88% females and 66.7% were stressed. The data was clinically significant for anxiety in males and for stress in both males and females. QOL had scores on the lower side with non-significant association between primary and secondary infertility. Conclusions: Infertility has an impact on psychological health, and it affects females more than males. It also impairs QOL of the couple and hence there is need for an integrated approach to reach favorable outcomes.

Potential drug-drug interactions among elderly in-patients with cardiac illness at a tertiary care centre

Background: Drug interactions are major cause of concern in hospitalized patients with cardiac illness especially in elderly population. Therefore, the study was conducted to determine the prevalence and pattern of potential drug-drug interactions (pDDI) and risk factors, if any.Methods: It was a prospective observational study involving 75 elderly in-patients with cardiac diseases. IHEC approval was taken before commencement of study and written informed consent was taken from all the study participants. Data was collected using structured data collection tool. pDDI were analyzed using MEDSCAPE databse. Data was analyzed using SPSS 20.0 in terms of descriptive statistics. Pearson correlation coefficient was used to find the association between the risk factors and potential DDIs. P value of ?0.05 was considered statistically significant.Results: The prevalence of pDDI was found to be 100%. Total 593 pDDI and 33 interacting drug pairs were observed in the study. The common drug interacting pairs were aspirin and furosemide 140 (23.61%), followed by aspirin+ enalapril 98 (16.53%) and heparin and clopidogrel 56 (9.44%). Majority of pDDI 480 (81%) were found to be of moderate severity. A significant association was documented between length of hospital stay (p=0.041) and occurrence of pDDI. A statistically significant correlation (r =0.621; p<0.01) was noted between number of drugs prescribed and total number of pDDIs.Conclusions: A high prevalence of pDDI was observed. The prevalence rate is directly related to number of drugs prescribed and length of hospital stay. Therefore, close monitoring of hospitalized patients is recommended.

Gender Preference for Auditory Versus Visual Routes for Memorization.

Objective: Memory is formed on the basis of sensory stimuli perceived. Vision and Auditory sense are the most common modes to form visual and auditory memory. This study was planned to find the preferred sense route for the formation of memory, between the two genders. Method: In the present cross sectional experimental study, 40 male and 40 female subjects between 18- 20 years of age were tested for visual & auditory memory. Results: The results suggested statistically significant higher scores of ‘Memory Test’ in women in comparison to men (F479 3.312, p=<0.001). The mean score for memory subtests was best for black & white pictures followed by colored pictures, visual words, visual digits, auditory digits and auditory words in that order in men, whereas in women, mean score was best for colored pictures followed by black & white pictures, auditory words, auditory digits, visual words and visual digits. Conclusion: It may be concluded that in men visual sense and in women auditory sense are more effectual for the formation of memory.

Indirect Determinant’s of Obesity in Bank Employees of Urban Vadodara – A Cross Sectional Study.

Obesity has reached epidemic proportions in India as well as in Gujarat state. Recent research has suggested prominent role of indirect unconventional parameters influencing hunger and appetite. A cross sectional study was designed to determine the prevalence of obesity and indirect determinants like pattern of caffeine products and alcohol consumption, depression status and levels of hunger-satiety amongst the non-obese and obese young bank employees of urban Baroda. Bank employees (595) were screened for anthropometric measurements. Pattern of caffeine products and alcohol consumption, depression and hunger-satiety were studied using a score card. Non-obese (100) and obese grade I (126) young bank employees (25-35 yrs) were selected for further study. Out of 595 subjects, 41% were obese (BMI >25) and 20% were overweight. Consumption pattern of caffeine products and alcohol showed that obese subjects consumed more alcohol (57%), cigarette (28%), tea (68%) and coffee (25%) (p<0.001). Depression was more pronounced in non-obese (20%) subjects. Obese subject reported significantly higher (p<0.001) scores for delayed satiety. A strong significant association (p<0.001) was observed between consumption pattern of caffeine products and alcohol, its degree of consumption, and satiety scores of obese subjects. The significant difference in consumption pattern of caffeine products and alcohol, satiety scores and depression between obese and non-obese subjects may have played a role in the higher prevalence of obesity in the Bank employees.

Sensory attributes of Indian fried foods incorporated with different levels of fructooligosaccharides.

Prebiotics are the non-digestible fibers which have the potential to exert a positive effect on human health. They serve as a substrate for microflora in the large intestine and are known to improve overall gut health. Fried foods contribute greatly to the snack foods industries and are specially liked for their crispy texture and unique flavor. Addition of fructooligosaccharides in fried food products has a potential to be developed into a therapeutic food. Hence, the effect of incorporating fructooligosaccharide on sensory qualities of fried products namely vegetable paratha (Shallow fried) and lilva kachori (Deep fried) was investigated. Fructooligosaccharides was added to the one serving of vegetable paratha and lilva kachori’s stuffing at 10 g, 15 g and 5 g, 10 g, and 15 g respectively and were compared with the standard recipes. Three successive trials were conducted for screening the panelist through threshold test. Sensory evaluation was carried out at nine point hedonic scale test for the two products in triplicates. An internal panel of 25 semi trained members evaluated the products for color and appearance, mouthfeel, texture, taste, after taste, and overall acceptability. The results revealed a non-significant reduction in most of the sensory attributes for vegetable paratha, whereas, a significant reduction was observed in texture scores (p<.05). A significant reduction (p<.001) was found in all sensory attribute scores of lilva kachori. Addition upto 5 g fructooligosaccharide did not altered sensory qualities of lilva kachori. The most affected attribute for vegetable parantha was texture (8.6 percent reduction) and for lilva kachori it was color and appearance. Thus it can be concluded that fructooligosaccharides can be incorporated in vegetable paratha upto 15 g and upto 5 g in lilva kachori. An addition of fructooligosaccharide in stuffed fried snacks may serve to fulfill consumer demand for health foods.

Association of interleukin-4 and interleukin-17F polymorphisms in periodontitis in Dravidian ethnicity.

BACKGROUND: Complex network of pro and anti-inflammatory cytokines are known to act in inflamed periodontal tissue. This study explores the distribution of interleukin (IL)-4 (+33 C/T) and IL-17F (7383A/G, 7488A/G) gene polymorphism in chronic and aggressive periodontitis subjects of Dravidian ethnicity. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This case control study consisted of 124 periodontitis individuals comprising of 63 chronic and 61 aggressive periodontitis subjects as cases, and control group consisted of 101 healthy subjects. All subjects were genotyped for IL-4 + 33C/T, IL-17F 7383A/G, 7488A/G by polymerase chain reaction amplification followed by TaqMan assay for IL-4 + 33C/T, restriction enzyme digestion and gel electrophoresis for IL-17F 7383A/G and sequencing for IL-17F 7488A/G. RESULTS: IL-4 + 33C/T was significantly associated with periodontitis (P < 0.05) at both allelic and genotypic level. In subgroup analysis also significant difference (P < 0.05) in allelic distribution between aggressive periodontitis and control group for loci IL-4 + 33C/T was noted. However, there was a lack of association between IL-17F 7383A/G and IL-17F 7488A/G with periodontitis and its sub-groups at both allelic and genotypic levels. CONCLUSIONS: In Malayalam speaking Dravidian population IL-4 + 33C/T loci appears to be an important risk factor for periodontal disease with a leaning towards aggressive periodontitis. The association between IL-17F at 7383A/G and 7488A/G loci with either chronic or an aggressive periodontitis could not be ascertained.

Isolation and identification of acrylamide degrading bacteria from soil.

Acrylamide is an aliphatic amide, which is produced by industrial processes and during heating of food. It is neurotoxic and a suspected carcinogen. In the present study an attempt was made to isolate acrylamide degrading bacteria from soil. The optimum growth conditions and physiological characteristics for the isolated acrylamide degrading bacteria were investigated. The isolated bacterium was identified as Bacillus clausii strain 1779 based on full 16S rRNA molecular phylogeny. The bacteria can degrade 800 mg l-1 acrylamide after eight days of incubation with concomitant cell growth. In addition to above, it also grows optimally at a concentration of acrylamide between 500-2000 mg l-1 between pH 8-10 and temperature and 25 – 45 0C. Thus the isolate would be useful in the bioremediation of environment from acrylamide in alkali conditions.

Standardization of Ethanolic Extract of Cucurbita Maxima Seed.

Standardization is an important step for the establishment of a consistent biological activity, a consistent chemical profile, or simply a quality assurance program for production and manufacturing of herbal drugs preparation of any herbal formulation identification, evaluation and standardization is rudimentary identification involves the morphology, microscopy parameter of plants, evaluation and standardization of herbal drugs includes physical, chemical and biological parameters. These parameters are crucial for preparation of accurate and potent formulation. The present communication attempts to investigate pharmacognostical and phytochemical details of Cucurbita maxima, (Cucurbitaceae). The Preliminary phytochemical analysis revealed presence of carbohydrates, alkaloids, flavonoids, saponins, proteins and amino acids in alcoholic extract. HPTLC studies reveal that alcoholic extract gives 3 spots and alcoholic extract depicts 5 spots on the TLC plate in Butanol: acetic: water solvent system with Ninhydrin as spraying agent and 3 spots with vanillin as spraying agent and with butanol: phenol: water (6:1:1) 4 spots were seen with Ninhydrin as spraying agent and 2 spots were seen with vanillin as spraying agents. The GC/MS of pet ether methyl ester showed number of peaks. Out of which 3 highest peaks in descending order were taken into consideration. OSAZONE were formed which showed needle shaped crystals of glucaosazone. The study revealed specific identities for which may play a key role in identification of plant and can be useful in standardization of the herbal drugs.

Gender based alteration in color perception.

Human beings are able to perceive hundreds of shades of color which depends on the three types of cone system and various ratios of stimulation in response to different wavelengths. Perceptually and cognitively, men and women may experience appearance of color differently. Therefore, this study was planned to assess and compare color vision in male and female subjects. This study was carried out in the department of Physiology, SGRRIM&HS, Dehradun on 60 ocular healthy subjects (equal number of males and females) of 17–22 years of age group. The task was to match 22 test color strips with 2 shade charts of different colors. Total number of correct answers and total time taken in matching all the test color strips with the shade charts was recorded in both the sexes and analyzed. The results of this study showed that overall, females gave more correct responses (P<0.001) and also took less time (P<0.01) than males. Color wise also, females gave more correct responses especially for red (P<.001) and green color (P<0.01). The conclusion states that the females can see more shades of colors than males.

Curved canals: ancestral files revisited.

The aim of this article is to provide an insight into different techniques of cleaning and shaping of curved root canals with hand instruments. Although a plethora of root canal instruments like ProFile, ProTaper, LightSpeed etc dominate the current scenario, the inexpensive conventional root canal hand files such as K-files and flexible files can be used to get optimum results when handled meticulously. Special emphasis has been put on the modifications in biomechanical canal preparation in a variety of curved canal cases. This article compiles a series of clinical cases of root canals with curvatures in the middle and apical third and with S-shaped curvatures that were successfully completed by employing only conventional root canal hand instruments.

Influence of alternate nostril breathing on cardiorespiratory and autonomic functions in healthy young adults.

Alternate nostril breathing (ANB) may modulate cardio-respiratory and autonomic functions. However, the studies are scarce and results highly conflicting. The present study was conducted in healthy young volunteers comprising of males (n=20) and females (n=20) in range of 17-22 years. In both groups respiratory rate (RR/min), heart rate (HR/ min), systolic blood pressure (SBP; mm Hg), diastolic blood pressure (DBP; mm Hg), peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR; L/min) and galvanic skin resistance (GSR; microV) were recorded thrice; once as control and then after 15 min (acute exposure) and following 8 wks of training in ANB (15 min daily). In males the control RR was 16.60 +/- 2.01, HR 75.75 +/- 11.07, SBP-115.9 +/- 7.33, DBP 70.4 +/- 6.28 and PEFR 550.00 +/- 51.50. After 15 min of ANB-RR (14.75 +/- 1.41, P<0.001), HR (68.45 +/- 12.41, P<0.01) and SBP (113.6 +/- 6.04, P<0.05) fell significantly. After 8 wks of ANB training RR (12.35 +/- 1.35, P<0.0001), HR (63.20 +/- 11.11, P<0.001), SBP (109.5 +/- 5.61, P<0.001), declined to much greater extent and PEFR (571.50 +/- 46.26, P<0.01) rose significantly. In females the control RR was 17.25 +/- 1.89, HR-74.90 +/- 12.85, SBP-106.70 +/- 6.91, DBP-68.70 +/- 5.52 and PEFR-394.50 +/- 44.89. After 15 min of ANB RR (15.05 +/- 1.54, P<0.001) and HR (64.75 +/- 9.80, P<0.001) showed significant decline with concomitant rise in PEFR (407.00 +/- 2.31, P<0.05). Following 8 wks training the decrement in RR (12.60 +/-1.50, P<0.0001) and HR (63.30 +/- 8.65, P<0.001) was maintained. SBP (103.10 +/- 4.92, P<0.001) and DBP (65.8 +/- 5.54, P<0.001) decreased further and PEFR (421.00 +/- 38.51 P<0.001) rose, GSR was unaffected by ANB in both males and females. These results suggest that in general there is a tilt towards parasympathetic dominance by alternate nostril breathing. This breathing may be a useful adjuvant to medical therapy of hypertension and COPD.

The effects of right and left nostril breathing on cardiorespiratory and autonomic parameters.

The responses of right nostril breathing (RNB) and left nostril breathing (LNB) on cardio-respiratory and autonomic functions were investigated in healthy student volunteers of both sexes. The RNB and LNB groups comprised of 10 males and 10 females in each in age range of 17-22 years. Initially, in both groups control values of respiratory rate (RR), heart rate (HR), systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBF), peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR) and galvanic skin resistance (GSR) were recorded. The same parameters were recorded after 15 min (acute exposure) and 8 wks of training in RNB and LNB. In males RR (P<0.0001), SBP (P<0.05) and DBF (P<.05) fell significantly after 15 min of RNB. After 8 wks training in RNB, HR (P<0.01) decreased, SBP (P<0.001) declined more profoundly and RR (P<0.0001) and DBP (P<0.05) decrement was maintained. After 15 min of LNB, RR (P<0.01), HR (P<0.01), SBP (P<0.001) and DBP (P<0.01) declined significantly, on 8 wks training, RR (P<0.0001) and HR (P<0.001) decreased further, the decrement in SBP (P<0.001) and DBP (P<0.01) was the same. In females, RR alone fell significantly (P<0.05) after 15 min RNB. After 8 wks RR decrement was more profound (P<0.0001) and DBP also declined significantly (P<0.01). Similarly, 15 min LNB resulted in significant reduction in RR (P<0.001) and HR (P<0.05) only. Following 8 wks, of training in LNB, in addition to RR (P<0.0001) and HR (P<0.05) decrement, SBP (P<0.01) and DBP (P<0.05) also fell significantly. Both in males and females, GSR did not change significantly (P>0.05) either after RNB or LNB (15 min/8 wks). PEFR rose significantly (P<0.05) only in females after 8 wks of LNB. The results suggest that there are no sharp distinctions between effects of RNB and LNB either acute exposure (15 min) or after training (8 wks). However, there is a general parasympathetic dominance evoked by both these breathing patterns.