A study on risk factors and clinical presentation of ectopic pregnancy in women attending a tertiary care centre

Aim: The present study was designed to study the ectopic pregnancy risk factors and their clinical presentation in ectopic pregnancy attending to a tertiary care center. Material and methods: It was a prospective study with 50 cases of ectopic pregnancy conducted in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Narayana Medical College and Hospital, Nellore for a period of 2 years were included. Detailed history suggestive of risk factors for ectopic pregnancy, menstrual and obstetric history was taken. General, systemic, abdominal and vaginal examination was done. Results: A total of 2777 pregnancies were confirmed during the study period, of which 50 cases of ectopic pregnancies were diagnosed, giving an incidence of 1.8%. 74% were in the age group of 21- 30 years. 84% of women were multigravidae and 16% were primigravidae. 80% of the patients had identifiable risk factors, of which past history of PID in 26%, history of previous abortion in 16%, infertility in 10%, uterine anomalies in 4%, history of previous ectopic pregnancy in 6%, usage of IUCD and OCP in 6% each and tubectomy in 6% were noted. 96% had amenorrhea, followed by pain abdomen in 90%, bleeding PV in 68%, fainting and syncopal attack in 16% of the patients. Pallor in 56% of the cases, 18% presented with shock was noted. Percentage of haemoglobin was <7gm% in 28% observed. Evidence of 41 patients with ruptured ectopic were recorded. 7 were unruptured ectopics and 3 were tubal abortions recorded

Determinants of Prakriti, the Human Constitution Types of Indian Traditional Medicine and its Correlation with Contemporary Science.

Background: Constitutional type of an individual or prakriti is the basic clinical denominator in Ayurveda, which defines physical, physiological, and psychological traits of an individual and is the template for individualized diet, lifestyle counseling, and treatment. The large number of phenotype description by prakriti determination is based on the knowledge and experience of the assessor, and hence subject to inherent variations and interpretations. Objective: In this study we have attempted to relate dominant prakriti attribute to body mass index (BMI) of individuals by assessing an acceptable tool to provide the quantitative measure to the currently qualitative ayurvedic prakriti determination. Materials and Methods: The study is cross sectional, multicentered, and prakriti assessment of a total of 3416 subjects was undertaken. Healthy male, nonsmoking, nonalcoholic volunteers between the age group of 20-30 were screened for their prakriti after obtaining written consent to participate in the study. The prakriti was determined on the phenotype description of ayurvedic texts and simultaneously by the use of a computer‑aided prakriti assessment tool. Kappa statistical analysis was employed to validate the prakriti assessment and Chi‑square, Cramer’s V test to determine the relatedness in the dominant prakriti to various attributes. Results: We found 80% concordance between ayurvedic physician and software in predicting the prakriti of an individual. The kappa value of 0.77 showed moderate agreement in prakriti assessment. We observed a significant correlations of dominant prakriti to place of birth and BMI with Chi‑square, P < 0.01 (Cramer’s V‑value of 0.156 and 0.368, respectively). Conclusion: The present study attempts to integrate knowledge of traditional ayurvedic concepts with the contemporary science. We have demonstrated analysis of prakriti classification and its association with BMI and place of birth with the implications to one of the ways for human classification.

Genetic Divesity and Molecular Characterization of Mungbean Genotypes (Vigna radiata (L.) Wilczek).

The present investigation was undertaken to examine the genetic divergence in 50 mungbean germplasm lines for 13 characters using Mahalanobis D2 statistics. The genotypes grouped into eight clusters. Cluster VII had maximum intra-cluster distance while inter-cluster distance was highest between clusters V and VII. Cluster means indicated that none of the clusters was superior for all the characters studied. Therefore, hybridization between genotypes belonging to different clusters is suggested for development of superior genotypes. 10 SSR primers were used for molecular study of which only one gave slight difference among 19 mungbean genotypes. The quality and quantity of DNA used for amplification by PCR is the key to reproducible results and success of genotyping. Especially, DNA purity is extremely crucial for obtaining clear and discriminate patterns. DNA extraction from mungbean is difficult due to presence of contaminants such as phenols. Therefore, the present study was under taken to obtain high quality and pure DNA in mungbean. With few modifications four different DNA extraction protocols were tried in the present study to obtain high quality and pure DNA viz., (I) Doyle and Doyle (1987), (ii) Method of Murray and Thompson (1980), (iii) Porebski et al.(1997), and (iv) Lin et al. (2001). Out of the four methods tried for DNA extraction, the method of Lin et al. (2001) was found most efficient, as the DNA obtained through this protocol was relatively pure which gave amplyfying products in the PCR. The genotype used for the standardization was MGG -361. Molecular characterization of 19 randomly chosen mungbean genotypes was attempted with the eight standardized primers. None of the primers showed scorable polymorphism. The primers VR4, VR5 and VR9, exhibited non specific bands, in addition to the monomorphic bands.

Standardization of DNA Extraction Protocol in Greengram (Vigna radiata (L.) Wilczek).

Green gram is a widely cultivated pulse crop rich in protein, high in vitamin-B content and essential aminoacids. It is easily digestable and low flatulence produced crop. The quality and quantity of DNA used for amplification by PCR is the key to reproducible results and success of genotyping. Especially, DNA purity is extremely crucial for obtaining clear and discriminate patterns. DNA extraction from Green gram is difficult due to presence of contaminants such as phenols. Therefore, the present study was under taken to obtain high quality and pure DNA in Green gram. With few modifications four different DNA extraction protocols were tried in the present study to obtain high quality and pure DNA viz., (i) Doyle and Doyle (1987), (ii) Method of Murray and Thompson (1980), (iii) Porebski et al.(1997), and (iv) Lin et al. (2001). Out of the four methods tried for DNA extraction, the method of Lin et al. (2001) was found most efficient, as the DNA obtained through this protocol was relatively pure which gave amplifying products in the PCR. The genotype used for the standardization was MGG -361.

Diversity in global maize germplasm: Characterization and utilization.

Maize (Zea mays L.) is not only of worldwide importance as a food, feed and as a source of diverse industrially important products, but is also a model genetic organism with immense genetic diversity. Although it was first domesticated in Mexico, maize landraces are widely found across the continents. Several studies in Mexico and other countries highlighted the genetic variability in the maize germplasm. Applications of molecular markers, particularly in the last two decades, have led to new insights into the patterns of genetic diversity in maize globally, including landraces as well as wild relatives (especially teosintes) in Latin America, helping in tracking the migration routes of maize from the centers of origin, and understanding the fate of genetic diversity during maize domestication. The genome sequencing of B73 (a highly popular US Corn Belt inbred) and Palomero (a popcorn landrace in Mexico) in the recent years are important landmarks in maize research, with significant implications to our understanding of the maize genome organization and evolution. Next-generation sequencing and high-throughput genotyping platforms promise to further revolutionize our understanding of genetic diversity and for designing strategies to utilize the genomic information for maize improvement. However, the major limiting factor to exploit the genetic diversity in crops like maize is no longer genotyping, but high-throughput and precision phenotyping. There is an urgent need to establish a global phenotyping network for comprehensive and efficient characterization of maize germplasm for an array of target traits, particularly for biotic and abiotic stress tolerance and nutritional quality. ‘Seeds of Discovery’ (SeeD), a novel initiative by CIMMYT with financial support from the Mexican Government for generating international public goods, has initiated intensive exploration of phenotypic and molecular diversity of maize germplasm conserved in the CIMMYT Gene Bank; this is expected to aid in effective identification and use of novel alleles and haplotypes for maize improvement. Multi-institutional efforts are required at the global level to systematically explore the maize germplasm to diversify the genetic base of elite breeding materials, create novel varieties and counter the effects of global climate changes.

Early diagnosis of bone biopsies--the role of sediment cytology.

This study analyses the role of the cytological examination of the sediment of the formalin in which bone biopsy specimens are received, in the early diagnosis of bone lesions. Of the one hundred lesions studied using this technique, twenty six of thirty three malignant lesions (seventy nine percent) could be diagnosed as malignant when relevant clinical and radiological data were considered. Sixty six benign lesions yielded sparsely cellular smears with benign cell. There was one false positive for malignancy. This simple rapid diagnostic technique can be used to advantage in the early diagnosis, and treatment planning of bone lesions.