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The present study deals with the molecular modeling studies of the endothelins (ETs), a multi-functional 21 amino acid (AA) peptides, with sub-types ET-I, II, and III to find the structure property relationship (SPR) of different fragments naturally derived from the cyclic body part of the ETs’ structures together with the structurally similar and common tail sequence (AA 16–21) utilization of the ETs and the dissimilar sarafotoxin-6b (SRT-6b) hexapeptide chain tail, as well as their SPR comparisons to find peptide-based leads as comparable to the ETs, especially ET-I. Approach to plausible vesiculation of the ETs and the involved process as a suggested mechanism is also discussed.

Background & Methods: The aim of the study is to study risk factors associated with gestational diabetes mellitus. Simple random sampling was done to do OGTT for antenatal women coming to OPD. Before doing OGTT, women were briefed about the study and those who given consent regarding study were included. Results: Association of GDM cases with highrisk factors. Most common risk factor associated with GDM is obesity, followed by family history of diabetes and then age >30 years and overall association of GDM with above mentioned risk factors was found to be significant. Conclusion: In India, thinking that only elderly and obese women will develop GDM has become a myth. The startling fact was that GDM was seen mostly in women between 25-29 years of age group and even in women with normal or decreased BMI. This is probably the result of urbanization and its associated poor lifestyle and lack of exercise. Our study has shown the incidence of GDM of 9.4% in antenatal women. But with the global epidemic of diabetes mellitus involving specially our country, the trends will show a rise only. However, in present scenario most important is to screen all antenatal women for GDM for early diagnosis and better management. This should be a routine practice or investigation along with other investigations done during antenatal period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study analysed a total of 272 saffron (Crocus sativus L.) genotypes using multivariate analysis. We carefully observed and recorded information about the floral, morphological and corm attributes. Significant variations were observed among the genotypes for all the traits, indicating a high level of variability and suggesting a great potential for saffron improvement. The phenotypic variances were found to be greater than the estimated genotypic variances. Descriptive data on various morphological traits revealed significant differences in the frequency of phenotype classes as well as a wide distribution range. The high heritability estimates were observed in average number of daughter corms per plant (ANDCPP), initial weight of corms (IWC g), no. of buds/corm (NBPC), – no. of leaves in main sprout, (NLMS), number of sprouted buds per corm (NSBpC) and total number of leaves (TNL), whereas average weight of daughter corms per plant (AWBCPP), corm diameter (CDcm), pistal length (PL) cm, style length (STYLcm), fresh weight of pistals per plant (FWOPPPmg) and stigma length (STML cm), revealed medium sense of heritability. The traits dry weight of pistals per plants (DWOPPP mg), inner tepal width (ITW cm), leaf length (LLcm), number of flowers per corm (NFpC), outer tepal length (OTLcm), parianth length with tube (PLWT cm) and weight of stigma (WSTG mg) exhibited low broad-sense heritability. Principal component analysis (PCA) divulged that the first eight component characters had an eigenvalue greater than one with a contributory cumulative variance of 66.15% to the total variance, while as rest of the 16 components contributed 33.85% of total variation in a set of 272 genotypes of saffron. The eigenvalues for yield attributing traits for significant PCs ranged from 5.48 (PC1) to 1.03(PC8). The current study has revealed that there was a sufficient variability in a set of saffron germplasm lines which forms the basis for performance-based clonal selection. Moreover, identified elite genotypes based on saffron yield and corm attributes could be used in the saffron breeding programme for the development of saffron varieties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Labour, especially in primiparas, is associated with intense pain. Patients labouring without analgesia may experience longer durations in all stages, along with the suffering associated with labour pains. The study was conducted to determine whether a programmed labour regime provided adequate pain relief and accelerated the labour process. Aim: To compare the maternal and perinatal outcomes in patients who underwent conventional labour with those who received programmed labour analgesia. Materials and Methods: This prospective interventional study was conducted in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Medical College and Hospital in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, India. The study duration was one year and five months, from March 2021 to August 2022. A total of 100 patients, including 50 low-risk primiparas in each group with cervical dilatation of 3 to 4 cm, were randomly allocated to the case and control groups. The case group received a programmed labour regime, which involved administering small doses of various drugs such as pentazocine, drotaverine, diazepam, and tramadol. No analgesia was given to the control group. Pain relief assessment was conducted using a Visual Analogue Scale (VAS). The duration of the various stages of labour and the rate of cervical dilatation were assessed in both groups. Data analysis was performed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 23.0. Results: The mean age of the study subjects in the control group was 24.14±2.39 years, and in the case group, it was 24.26±2.49 years. Compared to the control group, 29 (58%) cases experienced mild pain, and 21 (42%) experienced moderate pain. The rate of cervical dilatation was 2.57±1.41 cm/hour in the case group compared to 1.41±0.36 cm/hour in the control group (p-value <0.001). The mean duration of the first (cervical dilatation from 3-4 cm onwards), second, and third stages of labour was 140.2±35.06 minutes, 25.22±9.41 minutes, and 3.56±0.91 minutes, respectively, in the case group. The duration of all stages of labour was significantly reduced in the case group (p-value <0.001). Minimal side effects were observed, with nausea being the most common side effect in 16% of cases. Conclusion: Programmed labour resulted in shorter and more comfortable labour with minimal adverse effects. This method does not require a trained anaesthetist; thus, it can be easily administered in low-resource settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between race, social cohesion and citizenship has become an important issue in recent political and policy debates. In this paper these questions are explored in the context of the changing forms of ethnic minority political engagement and participation that have evolved in the past two decades. We suggest that there are growing tensions in policy debates about the boundaries and limits of multicultural policies, particularly focused around the issue of social cohesion. (Contains 1 note.)

Fiscal policy is important for the economy through spending, taxes, and debt. For this purpose, the government of Pakistan uses different fiscal policy tools to achieve the targets of output, inflation, and unemployment. In this context, the present study analyzes the macroeconomic impacts of fiscal policy tools by using the annual time series data from 1975 to 2020 of Pakistan. The Structural Vector Auto-Regression methodology is used to estimate the effects through shocks produced by government spending and taxes. The results show that a spending shock has a positive effect on variations in output while a negative on unemployment whereas a positive tax shock has a negative impact on output, spending, and inflation. From the policy perspective, the government should use prudent fiscal policy by not increasing the tax rate but widening the tax base. This higher spending can be used to curtail unemployment and increase output. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the exponential spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) pandemic across the world within the 12 months, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) strains are continuously trying to adapt themselves to the host environment by random mutations. When doing so, some variants with evolutionary advantages such as better human to human transmissibility potential might get naturally selected. This short communication demonstrates how the mutation frequency patterns are evolving in 2457 SAR‐CoV‐2 strains isolated from COVID‐19 patients across diverse Indian states. We have identified 19 such variants showing contrasting mutational probabilities in the span of 7 months. Out of these, 14 variants are showing increasing mutational probabilities suggesting their propagation with time due to their unexplored evolutionary advantages. However, the mutational probabilities of five variants have significantly decreased in June onward as compared to March/April, suggesting their termination with time. Further in‐depth investigation of these identified variants will provide valuable knowledge about the evolution, infection strategies, transmission rates, and epidemiology of SARS‐CoV‐2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]