From Editors’ Desk.

We are pleased to apprise the members of the Editorial Board, Reviewers, and Research Scholars that within a span of less than 3 years, MGM Journal of Medical Sciences (MGMJMS), a quarterly peer-reviewed scientific journal, has been indexed in Indexed Copernicus with IC value of 83.47 for 2015. The journal is also indexed in Google Scholar, EBSCO, Genamics JournalSeek, and many more indexing and abstracting sources of international repute.

From Editor’s desk.

Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs), also called hospital-acquired infections and nosocomial infections, account for considerable morbidity and mortality all over the world. Reported prevalence rates range widely: Italy 5%, France and UK 6%, and USA 10%. Prevalence rate of HAIs in Indian hospitals has been reported to range from 18 to 35% in intensive care units (ICUs).

From Editor’s desk.

Generalized obesity, in which there is increase in total body fat, is a well-recognized major risk factor for type 2 diabetes, coronary artery disease, hypertension, and other related metabolic disorders. Global incidence of obesity has increased to near epidemic proportions, which correlates well with increasing incidence of the disorders mentioned above.

From Editor’s desk.

This issue contains an interesting article entitled: ‘In Silico-based Study of Cytochrome P450 and Multidrug Resistance Protein 1 from Docking Perspective to Understand Kidney Failure’ by Vasudha Satalkar et al about novel ways of finding nephrotoxic potential of drugs by Bioinformatics Data Analysis.

Dengue, a Global Scourge.

It is estimated that each year about 50 million dengue infections occur, out of which about 500,000 (one percent) develop dengue hemorrhagic fever who need hospitalization. In India, Over 35000 dengue cases have been reported this year till 30th September with 64 deaths. Of course there must be a very large number of unreported cases in addition.

Editorial.

esearch in medical institutions not only leads to an expansion of knowledge and discovery of new medical treatments and cures, but more importantly it also passionately blends purposeful curiosity and innovative creativity with disciplined process, patient observation, and untiring perseverance.

Swine Flu Epidemic in India.

This year swine flu (caused by H1N1 virus) has affected over 34,000 people in India so far, out of whom over 2,100 died, as per the figures collected by Union Health Ministry till April 2, 2015. According to researchers from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the strain of H1N1 virus, which is responsible for the current epidemic, is a mutated virus of 2009 strain, in which the hemagglutinin protein has undergone mutations. One of these mutations has been linked to increased severity of disease (explaining the increased mortality) and another one to its increased infectivity (explaining the large numbers of cases). Fortunately, the two swine flu vaccines (one parenteral and other nasal), currently available in India, have addressed these mutations and are fully effective.

Editorial.

We have pleasure in bringing out the 4th issue of Volume 1 of the MGM Journal of Medical Sciences. With this issue, we shall complete 1 year of this recently launched journal. We are sure, with good response of our esteemed readers, this prestigious publication will grow steadily from issue to issue and earn a niche slot among research publications in medical sciences, not only in India but also in the international domain.

Editorial.

Welcome Azeezia Colg Of Dental Sci. & Research ABSTRACT ‘Teaching is not just another profession. It is a divine responsibility to guide and enlighten’, is said very rightly by our honorable Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi on Teachers’ Day eve on 5th September, 2014. Teaching is one of the noblest professions. Teachers imbibe in themselves the qualities of perseverance, integrity and dedication towards the profession of teaching, by virtue of which they are held in high esteem not only by pupils but also by the entire society. An example is Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, a great revered academic philosopher and scholar. When he became President of India and some of his well wishers expressed their desire for celebrating his birthday, he replied ‘instead of celebrating my birthday, it would be my proud privilege if 5th September is observed as Teachers’ Day’. The keynote of our culture is Acharya Devo Bhava. The scriptures tell us that if you see your Guru and God together, then fall at your Guru’s feet first. This is because your Guru shows you the way to God. And this is why the word ‘guru’ means ‘remover of darkness’. It is the teacher who through intelligence, patience and wisdom polishes the pupil’s intellect and aptitude and shapes their bright future, and that is what should be celebrated.

Editorial.

In our daily lives, we get sucked so willingly into nurturing an engrossingly busy schedule that over time it converts itself into a necessity for fulfilling our self-actualization needs. We are busy bees building our own beehives. It then takes a shock event to occur, for us to realize our frog in the well-situation. It is then that we eventually seek wisdom from the macro picture and realize the tininess of our micro beehive.

Research: An Integral Part of Education and Health Promotion.

Research is a harmonious opera that passionately blends purposeful curiosity and innovative creativity with disciplined process, patient observation and untiring perseverance. Such is the importance of research that without it, humans would still have been scratching each other’s back, sitting aside other apes in forests formed over millions of years, literally! Just look around wherever you are and try to identify anything man-made, that does not have its roots in research. In a lighter vein, this search might be far more difficult than research itself, and hence a potentially new topic for research!

Information, education and communication for emergency contraception.

The utilisation of the emergency contraception pills is very low both in the public and private sectors. The major reason for this under-utilisation is the lack of awareness about the method among the users or the providers. A real need arises to aware the potential users or the healthcare providers like obstetrician and gynaecologists, medical practitioners, family planning counsellors, nurses and ANMs. Wider dissemination of information, education and communication about emergency contraception relating to the proper usage, mode of action and provision is the need. The information, education and communication materials developed should always be in languages socioculturally appropriate to the target audience. Mass media like TV, newspapers and women's magazine should also be included for dissemination of messages. Service providers should be informed correctly about the method. Healthcare providers would need basic scientific information of the contents of the emergency contraception pills, mode of action, indications, contra-indications, etc. Emphasis should be put on the method for use only as an emergency or 'second chance' when a primary method is not used or has failed.

Progesterone receptors on human spermatozoa.

Progesterone, primarily recognized as a female steroid hormone, is reported to affect several sperm functions especially capacitation, motility and acrosome reaction. These effects of progesterone on the spermatozoa are mediated via the progesterone binding sites/progesterone receptor (PR) on the acrosomal membrane. These receptors in response to progesterone increase the intercellular Ca2+ levels and stimulate Ca2+ influx in the mature human spermatozoa via non-genomic mode of actions. Characterization of this receptor reveals that the sperm PR is masked protein and is exposed to the surface by some non-ionic detergents. Localized on to the acrosome region of the spermatozoa, these receptors are recognized by most antibodies directed towards the C-terminal region of the conventional PR. The estimated molecular weight of PR on spermatozoa varies from 27 kDa to 85 kDa. At the molecular level, sequences encoding for the entire DNA and hormone binding domains of the conventional PR are detected in the mRNA derived from spermatozoa. No insertions, deletions or mutations are detected in this region. These results are suggestive of the fact that at least the C terminal region of the conventional PR is conserved in the sperm. It is hypothesized that post-translational modifications or peptide splicing of the conventional PR in spermatozoa may possibly lead to the variant of the steroid hormone receptor. Detailed characterization of the sperm PR will be important in understanding the alternate non-genomic mode of action of steroid hormone receptors.