Risk Factors for Hyperglycaemia in Pregnancy in Tamil Nadu,India

Introduction

Hyperglycaemia in pregnancy (HIP), i.e. gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and diabetes in pregnancy (DIP), increases the risk of various short- and long-term adverse outcomes. However, much remains to be understood about the role of different risk factors in development of HIP.

Objective

The aims of this observational study were to examine the role of potential risk factors for HIP, and to investigate whether any single or accumulated risk factor(s) could be used to predict HIP among women attending GDM screening at three centres in urban, semi-urban and rural Tamil Nadu, India.

Methodology

Pregnant women underwent a 75 g oral glucose tolerance test. Data on potential risk factors was collected and analysed using logistical regression analysis. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves, sensitivity, specificity and predictive values were calculated for significant risk factors and a risk factor scoring variable was constructed.

Results

HIP was prevalent in 18.9% of the study population (16.3% GDM; 2.6% DIP). Increasing age and BMI as well as having a mother only or both parents with diabetes were significant independent risk factors for HIP. Among women attending the rural health centre a doubling of income corresponded to an 80% increased risk of HIP (OR 1.80, 95%CI 1.10–2.93; p = 0.019), whereas it was not significantly associated with HIP among women attending the other health centres. The performance of the individual risk factors and the constructed scoring variable differed substantially between the three health centres, but none of them were good enough to discriminate between those with and without HIP.

Conclusions

The findings highlight the importance of socio-economic circumstances and intergenerational risk transmission in the occurrence of HIP as well as the need for universal screening.     

Caries-Preventive Effect of High-Viscosity Glass Ionomer and Resin-Based Fissure Sealants on Permanent Teeth: A Systematic Review of Clinical Trials

Background

Glass-ionomers are traditionally regarded to be inferior to resin as fissure sealants in protecting teeth from dental caries, due to their comparatively lower retention rate. Unlike low-viscosity glass-ionomers, high-viscosity glass-ionomer cements (HVGIC) are placed as sealants by pressing the material into pits and fissures with a petroleum-jelly-coated index finger. Hence, HVGIC sealants are assumed to penetrate pits and fissures deeper, resulting in a higher material retention rate, which may increase its caries-preventive effect.

Methods

The aim of this review was to answer the question as to whether, in patients with fully erupted permanent molar teeth, HVGIC based fissure sealants are less effective to protect against dental carious lesions in occlusal pits and fissures than resin-based fissure sealants? A systematic literature search in eight databases was conducted. Heterogeneity of accepted trials and imprecision of the established evidence were assessed. Extracted sufficiently homogenous datasets were pooled by use of a random-effects meta-analysis. Internal trial validity was evaluated. The protocol of this systematic review was registered with the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO / Nr.: CRD42015016007).

Results

Seven clinical trials were provisionally included for further review. Of these, one was excluded. Seven trial reports reporting on six trials were accepted. From these, 11 datasets were extracted and pooled in four meta-analyses. The results suggest no statistically significant differences after up to 48 months and borderline significant differences in favour of HVGIC sealants after 60 months (RR 0.29; 95% CI: 0.09–0.95; p = 0.04 / RD -0.07; 95% CI: -0.14, -0.01). The point estimates and upper confidence levels after 24, 36, 48 and 60 months of RR 1.36; RR 0.90; RR 0.62; RR 0.29 and 2.78; 1.67; 1.21; 0.95, respectively, further suggest a chronological trend in favour of HVGIC above resin-based sealants. The internal trial validity was judged to be low and the bias risk high for all trials. Imprecision of results was considered too high for clinical guidance.

Conclusion

It can be concluded that: (i) Inferiority claims against HVGIC in comparison to resin-based sealants as current gold-standard are not supported by the clinical evidence; (ii) The clinical evidence suggests similar caries-preventive efficacy of HVGIC and resin-based sealants after a period of 48 months in permanent molar teeth but remains challenged by high bias risk; (iii) Evidence concerning a possible superiority of HVGIC above resin-based sealants after 60 months is poor (even if the high bias risk is disregarded) due to imprecision and requires corroboration through future research.     

Pineal–adrenal–immune system relationship under thermal stress: effect on physiological,endocrine, and non-specific immune response in goats

The purpose of the investigation was to observe the pineal–adrenal–immune system relationships and their influence on non-specific immune response in female goats under short-term thermal stress. Six female goats had been exposed to 40°C and 60% relative humidity in the psychrometric chamber for 17 days. Blood samples were obtained on days 0 and 10 to establish control and thermal stress effects, respectively. Chemical adrenalectomy was achieved by injecting metyrapone (100 mg/kg body weight) followed by exogenous melatonin treatment (0.1 mg/kg body weight) from 11th to 17th day of experiment. Thermal stress significantly (P ≤ 0.05) altered the physiological responses. Metyrapone and melatonin treatment significantly (P ≤ 0.05) reduced the thermal-stress-induced increase in plasma concentrations of cortisol and corticosterone while significantly (P ≤ 0.05) increased the plasma melatonin on days 11 and 17. Furthermore, these treatments significantly (P < 0.05) increased the phagocytic activity of neutrophils as compared to both control and thermal exposure values from 11–17 days of experiment. The data generated from this study help us to understand the functional relationship between pineal, adrenal, and immune system, and how this relationship modifies the non-specific immune response for the well being of goats during thermal stress.     

Caries-preventive effect of glass ionomer and resin-based fissure sealants on permanent teeth: An update of systematic review evidence

Background

The 1980s marked the occasion when Geographical Information System (GIS) technology was broadly introduced into the geo-spatial community through the establishment of a strong GIS industry. This technology quickly disseminated across many countries, and has now become established as an important research, planning and commercial tool for a wider community that includes organisations in the public and private health sectors. The broad acceptance of GIS technology and the nature of its functionality have meant that numerous datasets have been created over the past three decades. Most of these datasets have been created independently, and without any structured documentation systems in place. However, search and retrieval systems can only work if there is a mechanism for datasets existence to be discovered and this is where proper metadata creation and management can greatly help. This situation must be addressed through support mechanisms such as Web-based portal technologies, metadata editor tools, automation, metadata standards and guidelines and collaborative efforts with relevant individuals and organisations. Engagement with data developers or administrators should also include a strategy of identifying the benefits associated with metadata creation and publication.

Findings

The establishment of numerous Spatial Data Infrastructures (SDIs), and other Internet resources, is a testament to the recognition of the importance of supporting good data management and sharing practices across the geographic information community. These resources extend to health informatics in support of research, public services and teaching and learning. This paper identifies many of these resources available to the UK academic health informatics community. It also reveals the reluctance of many spatial data creators across the wider UK academic community to use these resources to create and publish metadata, or deposit their data in repositories for sharing. The Go-Geo! service is introduced as an SDI developed to provide UK academia with the necessary resources to address the concerns surrounding metadata creation and data sharing. The Go-Geo! portal, Geodoc metadata editor tool, ShareGeo spatial data repository, and a range of other support resources, are described in detail.

Conclusions

This paper describes a variety of resources available for the health research and public health sector to use for managing and sharing their data. The Go-Geo! service is one resource which offers an SDI for the eclectic range of disciplines using GIS in UK academia, including health informatics. The benefits of data management and sharing are immense, and in these times of cost restraints, these resources can be seen as solutions to find cost savings which can be reinvested in more research.     

Carnosic acid: A potent chemopreventive agent against oral carcinogenesis

The present study was aimed to investigate the chemopreventive potential of carnosic acid in 7,12-dimethylbenz(a)anthracene (DMBA)-induced hamster buccal pouch carcinogenesis. The chemopreventive potential was assessed by analyzing the tumor incidence, tumor volume and burden as well as by measuring the status of lipid peroxidation, non-enzymatic and enzymatic antioxidants and phase I and phase II detoxification enzymes. Oral squamous cell carcinoma was developed in the buccal pouch of golden Syrian hamsters by painting with 0.5% DMBA in liquid paraffin three times a week for 14 weeks. In the present study, 100% tumor formation was observed in hamsters treated with DMBA alone. Also, the status of lipid peroxidation, antioxidants and phase I and phase II detoxification enzymes were significantly altered during DMBA-induced oral carcinogenesis. Oral administration of carnosic acid at a dose of 10 mg/kg body weight/day to DMBA-treated animals completely prevented the tumor formation in the hamsters’ buccal pouches. Also, carnosic acid exerted potent anti-lipid peroxidative function and stimulated the detoxification cascade during DMBA-induced hamster buccal pouch carcinogenesis. The results of the present study suggest that the chemopreventive potential of carnosic acid is probably due to its anti-lipid peroxidative potential and modulating effect on carcinogen detoxification enzymes during DMBA-induced oral carcinogenesis.     

The Protein Data Bank: unifying the archive

The Protein Data Bank (PDB; http://www.pdb.org/) is the single worldwide archive of structural data of biological macromolecules. This paper describes the progress that has been made in validating all data in the PDB archive and in releasing a uniform archive for the community. We have now produced a collection of mmCIF data files for the PDB archive (ftp://beta.rcsb.org/pub/pdb/uniformity/data/mmCIF/). A utility application that converts the mmCIF data files to the PDB format (called CIFTr) has also been released to provide support for existing software.     

Physiological rhythmicity in Malpura ewes to adapt to cold stress in a semi-arid tropical environment

A study was conducted to assess the rhythmic pattern of physiological parameter in Malpura ewes to adapt to cold stress in a semi-arid tropical environment. Eighteen adult Malpura ewes were selected for the present study. These ewes were randomly allocated into two groups: GI (Open shed; n=9) and GII (Protected; n=9). The study was conducted for a period of 30 days during the peak winter season (December 2011) during which the animals were stall fed. Blood samples were collected at fortnightly interval. The growth, physiological response, blood biochemical response and endocrine response parameters were studied. The results reveal that cold stress had significant negative influence on all the parameters studied in the ewes. In conclusion, it can be said that cold stress had significant influence on the biological functions in the ewes that would result in the impairment of their production and reproductive efficiency as well. The study also indicates the relevance of provision of appropriate protective measures to foster cold during the extreme winter months in the arid and semi-arid tropical areas.     

Role of thymine in protein coding frames of mRNA sequences

Distribution of thymine in protein coding mRNA sequences has been studied here. Our study suggest that thymine in protein coding sequences are not randomly distributed but with probability. Frame1 prefers to have definite amount of thymine. It is observed that the thymine content of frame 4 is also involved in protein coding. Frame 3 prefers to have least amount of thymine. However, frame 2 and frame 6 shows a variable degree of thymine content. The mRNA sequences of heterosexual animals, particularly, the human show a different distribution profile (less thymine in frame 1) compared to that of yeast and plants.