Knowledge, Attitude and Perception of HIV/Aids Among Antenatal Women and its Correlation with their Socio-Demographic Profile: Study from a Tertiary Care Centre of Northern India.

PURPOSE OF STUDY: To evaluate the knowledge, attitude and perception of HIV/AIDS among antenatal women and to correlate them with their socio-demographic profile. METHODS: We conducted this study on 400 pregnant women attending the antenatal clinic of our hospital for the first time irrespective of their period of gestation, age and parity. All the participants were interviewed with the help of a predesigned questionnaire which included their socio-demographic details and questions to assess their knowledge and attitude toward HIV/AIDS. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 22 and expressed in the form of percentage, frequency distribution, mean, standard deviation and p value. RESULTS: Antenatal women of the study population were having unsatisfactory knowledge about HIV/AIDS and prevention of MTCT. 26% women were totally unaware of any entity like HIV. 44% participants did not know the most common way of spread of HIV. Only half of the subjects knew the correct preventive measures for HIV/AIDS. 54% knew about MTCT, but only 24% knew about its transmission through breast milk. Knowledge and attitude was found to be significantly improving with socioeconomic status. CONCLUSION: Indian antenatal women have poor awareness and wrong perception about HIV/AIDS and its mother to child transmission (MTCT). Targeted educational interventions can be formulated to increase awareness among antenatal women about prevention of vertical transmission of HIV.

Knowledge and awareness about dentistry among medical students, residents, and medical practitioners in Bhairahawa city, Nepal.

INTRODUCTION: Oral health is considered to be a mirror of systemic health and vice-versa. Medical professionals are considered to be the primary caregivers in a given population and as such a vast majority of the population visits them for health-related problems. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the level of knowledge and awareness of dentistry among first-year medical students, residents, and medical practitioners. METHODS: A cross-sectional questionnaire survey was carried out to assess the knowledge and awareness of dentistry among MBBS first-year students, medical residents, and medical practitioners of Bhairahawa city, Nepal. Data analysis was done with SPSS version 11. RESULTS: As per the demographic characteristics out of 147 subjects 82 (55.8%) were male and 65 (44.2%) were female. Most of the participants were from the age group of 21-30 years, 66 (44.9%) and 115 (78.2%) of them were married. Among 147 subjects every respondent (100%) knew about the profession of dentistry giving statistically significant results. CONCLUSION: The present study shows that medical professionals had better knowledge of dentistry as compared to medical students and residents. This unnecessary gap between dental and medical professionals can only be fulfilled by including dental education in both undergraduate and postgraduate medical curriculum.

A prospective study of a new prediction model of vaginal birth after cesarean section at a tertiary care centre.

OBJECTIVE: To create a new and simple model for predicting the likelihood of vaginal birth after cesarean (VBAC) section using variables available at the time of admission. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A prospective observational study was performed at a tertiary care centre in Haryana over a period of 12 months (January 2018 - December 2018) in pregnant women attending the labour room with one previous cesarean section fulfilling the criteria for undergoing trial of labour after cesarean (TOLAC). The sample size was 150. A VBAC score was calculated for each patient using a new prediction model that included variables available at the time of admission such as maternal age, gestational age, Bishop's score, body mass index, indication for primary cesarean section, and clinically estimated fetal weight. The results of the VBAC scores were correlated with outcomes i.e. successful VBAC or failed VBAC. The chi-square test and Student's t-test was used for comparison among the groups. Descriptive and regression analysis was performed for the study variables. RESULTS: Out of 150 TOLAC cases, 78% had successful VBAC and the remainder (22%) had failed VBAC. The observed probability of having a successful VBAC for a VBAC score of 0-3 was 34%, 4-6 was 68%, 7-9 was 90%, and ≥10 was 97%. The prediction model performed well with an area under the curve of 0.77 (95% CI: 0.68 to 0.85) of the receiver operating characteristics receiver operating characteristic curve. CONCLUSION: The present study shows that the proposed VBAC prediction model is a good tool to predict the outcome of TOLAC and can be used to counsel women regarding the mode of delivery in the current and subsequent pregnancies. Further studies of this model and other such models with different permutations and combinations of variables are required.

Quality of YouTube patient information on prostate cancer screening.

Social media is used by patients for health care information. We analyzed the quality of YouTube videos on prostate cancer screening. Most videos (71.1%) mentioned the potential harms of prostate cancer screening. There was no significant difference in risk-related information between videos published before and after the publication of US Preventive Services Task Force 2012 guidelines for prostate cancer screening. In conclusion, the quality of information of YouTube videos on prostate cancer screening is low and the content is potentially misleading.

The crystal structures of Lactococcus lactis MG1363 Dps proteins reveal the presence of an N-terminal helix that is required for DNA binding.

Dps proteins play a major role in the protection of bacterial DNA from damage by reactive oxygen species. Previous studies have implicated the extended lysine-containing N-terminal regions of Dps subunits in DNA binding, but this part of the structure has not previously been observed crystallographically. Here the structures of two Dps proteins (DpsA and DpsB) from Lactococcus lactis MG1363 reveal for the first time the presence of an N-terminal alpha helix that extends from the core of the Dps subunit. Consequently, the N-terminal helices are displayed in parallel pairs on the exterior of the dodecameric Dps assemblies. Both DpsA and DpsB bind DNA. Deletion of the DpsA N-terminal helix impaired DNA binding. The N-terminal Lys residues of Escherichia coli Dps have been implicated in DNA binding. Replacement of the lactococcal DpsA Lys residues 9, 15 and 16 by Glu did not inhibit DNA binding. However, DNA binding was inhibited by EDTA, suggesting a role for cations in DNA binding. In contrast to E. coli, Bacillus brevis and Mycobacterium smegmatis Dps:DNA complexes, in which DNA interacts with crystalline Dps phases, L. lactis DNA:Dps complexes appeared as non-crystalline aggregates of protein and DNA in electron micrographs.

A new species of Protoachlya Upadhyay & Khulbe.

Protoachlya nainitalensis isolated from mixed oak forest soil (Quercus leucotrichophora & Q. floribunda) is described herein. The species is characterised by elongated, cylindrical, smooth walled zoosporangia; spherical and smooth walled oogonia with androgynous and rarely diclinous branches of antheridia. A simplified key of the known Protoachlya species has also been established.