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Background: Patients with personality disorder (PD) are at risk for suicidal behavior and are frequently admitted for this reason to emergency departments. In this context, researchers have tried to identify predictors of their suicidal acts, however, the studies have been mostly retrospective, and uncertainty remains. To prospectively explore factors associated with suicide attempts (SA) in individuals screened for PD from the ecological context of emergencies. Methods: Patients were recruited from two emergency departments after a selfpoisoning episode (n = 310). PDQ-4+ (risk of PD), TAS-20 (alexithymia), SIS (suicidal intent), H (hopelessness), BDI-13 (depression), AUDIT (alcohol consumption), and MINI (comorbidity) questionnaires were completed. SA over the subsequent two years were identified by mailed questionnaires and hospitals' active files. Logistic regression analyses were performed. Results: Having a previous suicidal attempt was linked to a 2.7 times higher chance of recurrence after 6 months, whereas the TAS-20 showed a 1.1 times higher risk at 18 months (OR = 1.1) and the BDI at 24 months (OR = 1.2). Each oneunit increment in TAS-20 and BDI-13 scores increased the risk of SA by 9.8 and 20.4% at 18 and 24 months, respectively. Conclusion: Some clinical features, such as alcohol dependence, suicide intent, and hopelessness, may not be reliable predictors of SA among PD patients. However, in the short term, previous SA and, in the long term, depression and alexithymia may be the most robust clinical predictors to consider in our sample of patients with self-poisoning SA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Research on borderline personality disorder (BPD) has shown that less intensive care is especially effective when patients have been told about their condition. However, problems with diagnosing the disorder are also described in the literature. This study thus aims to explore the factors associated with the challenges of identifying and then communicating a BPD diagnosis to patients. Methods: We analyzed a database of 202 patients of Toulouse University Hospital (France) who had a CIM-10 F60.3 diagnosis. This data was used to identify the sociodemographic and clinical benchmarks associated with patients who had received an established BPD diagnosis prior to their attendance at the hospital's emergency department (ED) in the study period. Results: Sixty-three percentage of the patients admitted to our psychiatric ED had been given an earlier diagnosis of BPD. Those who had not been diagnosed were more likely to: not have undergone any psychiatric follow-up; not have been hospitalized in the psychiatry department; and not have previously attended at the ED. Patients with BPD and a comorbidity of MDD were also less likely to have received a BPD diagnosis before their ED admission. Conclusion: This study found that patients without an established BPD diagnosis who present at the ED are more likely to not be known to the psychiatric care system. This suggests that EDs have a specific role to play in making a diagnosis and the subsequent orientation of care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

College environment has many challenges and may present several events and situations which students have no or little skill to cope with, i.e., meeting students from different cultures, peer pressure for appearance, financial pressure etc. The competition for grades, the need to perform, peer relationships, fear of failure, career choice, teacherstudent relationship, staying at hostel away from home, irregular sessions, incomplete course and many other aspects of college life can pose real life challenges that may manifest itself as stressful for student. Thus the present study aimed at assessing the stress levels among the university students belonging to different socio-economic groups and to find out the gender disparities in stress levels among university students belonging to different socioeconomic groups. Exploratory Research design "and survey method was used to collect the data from the respondents. A total sample of 180 university students in the age group of 18-22 years, comprising of 90 boys (30 each belonging to lower, middle and upper socio-economic group) and 90 girls (30 each belonging to lower, middle & upper socio-economic groups) were selected for the present study. The socio-economic status (SES) of the sample was ascertained using revised version of Kuppuswamy (1962) three factor index of socio-economic status scale. Student's Stress Scale developed by Agrawal (2012) was used to assess the academic and financial levels of stress in students. The results revealed that maximum number of respondents irrespective of their socio-economic group showed average level of stress. A significant gender disparity was seen in the level of stress where in girls showed higher level of stress as compared to boys. A significant variance was seen in the level of stress with regard to the socio-economic status of the respondents where in respondents belonging to middle socio-economic status reported to have higher level of stress as compared to their counterparts from lower and upper socio-economic groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report two rare cases of genital angioleiomyomas (ALs), one each of uterus and cervix. The uterine AL showed a very rare presentation of endometrial polyp, while the cervical AL presented as an intramural cervical growth. We have also reviewed the literature and enlisted all uterine and cervical ALs reported till now. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of relevant guidelines is critical in psychiatric clinical practice to ensure the homogeneity of the global care provided. Consequently, it is important to identify whether they are utilized successfully and, if not, why. This would enable pragmatic solutions to be agreed to improve the organization of care and the removal of any barriers to the guidelines' implementation. The first step in this process, before any exploration of the limitations of the guidelines themselves, involves a determination of whether they are actually applied in clinical practice. We therefore evaluated discrepancies between the guidelines relating to patients with borderline personality disorder and current practices in the psychiatric Emergency Department at Toulouse University Hospital. This was achieved using a reading process involving a panel of eight local experts who analyzed relevant medical files extracted from a database. They were guided by, and instructed to answer, six standardized questions in relation to each file to determine the method's feasibility. A total of 333 files were analyzed to determine whether, in the local experts' judgment, the care provided reflected current guidance. This reading process revealed substantial agreement (0.85%; Fleiss Kappa −0.69), which is a promising outcome and suggests that such methods could be used in future protocols. Moreover, the process is practical and reliable and requires very few materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Very few studies have specifically addressed the role of the acute use of alcohol (AUA) in suicide attempts.Objective: Our study compared the suicide intent scores of self-poisoning patients with and without AUA in order to examine the role of alcohol in attempted suicides.Methods: We recruited 516 patients admitted to the emergency department for self-poisoning. We screened blood alcohol concentrations (BACs) to determine whether these were positive or negative in the two groups. We collected data about covariates such as psychiatric disorders and sociodemographic and suicide characteristics. We then compared suicide intent between the groups, adjusted according to the covariates.Results: The patients with AUA had lower scores for suicide intent, but this factor only reduced the self-reporting score, with the scores for objective circumstances and risk similar between the groups. There was a correlation between BACs and self-reported suicide intentionality, but this was not significant.Conclusion: Acute use of alcohol patients presented with lower suicide intent, as particularly explained by the self-report scores, but there were no differences between the groups in terms of risk and/or the objective circumstances. The role of alcohol in the self-reporting of suicide attempts must be addressed in future studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adolescence is an important period for forming views about oneself and socio cultural ideals. With the beginning with puberty, physical appearance, body image and self-esteem become vital to the overall self-image of an adolescent. These physical and emotional changes could impact critical outcome on overall self-esteem which is an important aspect which determine the overall success and happiness in a person life. Thus the present study aimed at assessing the body image of adolescents and to find out the impact of body image on their self esteem. Exploratory research design was adopted for the present study and survey method was used to collect the data from adolescents in the age group of 15 to 18 years. The sample comprised of 160 adolescents from which 80 adolescent boys and 80 adolescent girls were selected from various schools of the Allahabad city (Uttar Pradesh) India. Body Image States Scale developed by Cash et al. (2002) was used to assess the body image of adolescents. Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale developed by Rosenberg, (1965) was used to determine the self esteem of adolescents. The results revealed a non significant impact of gender on body image and self-esteem of adolescents. The study revealed a significantly positive correlation between body image and self-esteem of adolescents. The study also revealed that majority of the adolescents was moderately satisfied with their body image and possessed moderate level of self esteem. (J ARAHE 22(3):135-147, 2015) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parenting stress may be directly related to child's outcomes, or related indirectly through parenting behaviors, parenting stress model, hypothesize relations between parenting and child outcomes. Relationship between stressed parents and their children differ from normal parent-child relationships because parent and their children interact less frequently due to the increased parental stress and conflict between parents and their growing children increase. These changes in family dynamics could affect level of parental stress and children's academic outputs. The main goal of this investigation is to determine whether parenting stress is truly affecting children's academic outputs and if it really close then what extent. Stratified random sampling technique was adopted to select 150 school going children out of which 75 boys and 75 girls were selected. The boys and girls were further divided into three groups based on their socio economic groups. 25 children each from upper, middle and lower socio economic groups from both the genders were selected from various schools of the Allahabad city. Children in the age group of 6 to 12 years and their parents were selected for the present study. Socio Economic Status scale-by kuppuswami (1962) and Parental Stress Scale-by Berry and Jones (1995) were used in present study. The results revealed that the correlation between parental stress and school going children academic performance was found non-significant because stress of parents of school going children is mostly of moderate level not severe level that is why it was not affecting children's academic performances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The choice of value is the indicator of one's maturity. It helps people create a sense of order in their lives. Out of the various values, religious values are a motivating force, which enable a person to face hardships with courage and saves from the ill effects of failure and disappointments in life. Hence the present study was planned with the objective to find out the religious values of rural and urban adolescent girls and boys belonging to different socio economic groups. A 'Descriptive Research Design' and 'Cross Sectional Survey Method 'was used to collect data from a total of 300 sample comprising of 150 adolescents from rural cultural background and 150 adolescents from urban cultural background which was further divided into 50 adolescents (25 boys and 25 girls) each, from lower, middle and upper socio economic groups using stratified random sampling technique from various Schools and Colleges of Allahabad District. Kuppu Swami's (1962) Socio Economic Status Scale revised by Kumar et al. (2012) and Personal Value Questionnaire by Sherry and Verma (1998) were used to assess Socio Economic Status and Values of adolescents. Results revealed that rural adolescent girls showed high level of religious values indicating that the youth of today have a fair level of faith in God and they do attempt to understand and fear the divine wrath. Significant difference between the religious values of rural and urban adolescents was observed. Urban adolescent boys possessed average to low and urban adolescent girls possessed high to average levels of religious values. The study showed a significant impact of gender (p=0.20) and a non significant impact of socio economic status on religious values of adolescents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies were conducted to evaluate the efficacy of plant products viz., neem oil (2%), iluppai oil (2%), pungarn oil (2%), combination of iluppai and pungam (1: 1) and microbial formulations viz., entomopathogenic fungi, Beauveria bassiana and Verticillium lecanii against the brinjal shoot and fruit borer (BSFB), Leucinodes orbonalis Guenee. The results revealed that newer plant products i.e. oils of iluppai and pungam were at par with standard check endosulfan and were found to be significantly superior than microbial formulations and also showed better efficiency than neem oil in the suppression of BSFB infestation with significant insecticidal property. The yield data also revealed that the maximum yield of marketable fruits was obtained using iluppai oil (202.75 q/ha); the percent gain over control was least with V. lecanii followed by B. bassiana, neem oil, combination of iluppai and pungam oil, pungam oil, iluppai oil (77.8%), and maximum with endosulfan (83.3%). The results thus suggest that newer plant products such as oils of iluppai and pungum are promising botanicals in the integrated pest management strategy against BSFB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Concurrent infection with two agents can result in an illness having overlapping symptoms creating a diagnostic dilemma for the treating physician. The symptoms of dengue may mimic other diseases such as leptospirosis, influenza A, Salmonella Typhi, Japanese encephalitis, chikungunya and malaria. There is paucity of data regarding dengue and typhoid co-infection both in the developed and developing countries. This study attempts to find the current co-infection rates in North Delhi. Materials and Methods: This retrospective study was done between August and November 2013. Medical records of 659 patients exhibiting febrile illness who visited Kasturba Hospital were studied. Dengue specific IgM antibodies were detected by Dengue IgM antibody capture ELISA test. Serodiagnosis of Salmonella infection was conducted by Widal test in the hospital. Results: Of the 659 febrile sera samples tested here, 141 (21.39%) tested positive for dengue. Of these 91 were females and 50 males. Of the dengue cases, eleven were co-infected with enteric fever (11/141= 7.8%). Maximum number of dengue positive cases seen in age group 0-10 y. Case Fatality Rate (CFR) was zero. Age groups of patients co-infected with dengue and typhoid were as follows: 0-10 y: 5, 11-20 y: 3, 21-30 y: 2, >60 y: 1. Conclusion: Co-infection should always be kept in mind while dealing with cases of dengue or enteric fever with or without atypical features. In order to reduce the burden of disease, along with improvement of sanitation and personal hygiene, emphasis should be given on vaccination against typhoid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Genital tuberculosis is fairly common in Indian women due to high prevalence of pulmonary tuberculosis in the general population. Histopathological diagnosis is invaluable but often, diagnosis can be made with reasonable accuracy by Papanicolaou (Pap) smear test if the index of suspicion is kept high. Also, genital tuberculosis is considered to be more common in patients less than 40 years of age and rare after menopause. We describe two cases of cervical tuberculosis in patients over 40 years of age, including a postmenopausal case, diagnosed by smear tests and later confirmed by histopathology and bacteriology. The differential diagnoses as well as problems encountered in the diagnosis of a tuberculous lesion in Pap smears are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An in situ method for measuring nitrate reductase (NR) in free-living Rhizobium cultures has been developed. Arginine, threonine, valine, glutamic acid, tyrosine and tryptophan were found to promote NR synthesis. In root nodules rhizobial nitrate reductase also converts nitrate into NH, thus it provides an alternative to the nitrogenase route for the formation of NH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a case study of a 30-year-old female who was admitted to a hospital because of discharge per vaginuum and menorrhagia. She was diagnosed with psammoma bodies in cervico-vaginal Papanicolao (Pap) smears in ovarian neoplasmas because of their association with malignant disease. Microscopic examinations of the smears showed ectocervical and endocervical cell clusters with no morphological abnormalities.