Background: Vitamin D supplementations for asthma control had shown inconsistent results. We aimed to study efficacy and safety of vitamin D supplementation in asthmatic children who were vitamin D deficient. Methods: This double-blind, randomized controlled trial enrolled asthmatic children of 4-12 years of age who had 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] levels <20 ng/mL. The participants were randomized to receive either vitamin D orally 1000 IU/d for 9 months or similar-looking placebo. The primary outcomes were the proportion of children having the Childhood Asthma Control Test (CACT) score of ≥20 at the end of the treatment and adverse effects. Results: The trial included 250 children (125 in each group) with a mean age of 8.1 ± 2.3 years and 180 boys. The baseline parameters were similar between the groups, including CACT score (21.7 ± 4.2 vs 21.9 ± 3.6, vitamin D vs placebo). At the end of the study, the proportion of asthmatic children who had CACT score ≥ 20 was similar between vitamin D and placebo group (93.6% vs 92.0%, P = .625). The number of exacerbations of asthma and side effect profile was also identical between the groups. 25(OH)D levels increased significantly in the vitamin D group (18.06 ± 7.11 vs 12.03 ± 5.98 ng/mL, P < .001). The results did not change when we did subgroup analysis for children with baseline CACT score < 20 and 25(OH)D levels at the end of the study ≥20 ng/mL. Conclusion: Vitamin D supplementation in asthmatic children with vitamin D deficiency did not improve control of asthma.

Assessment of genetic diversity in a crop germplasm is a vital part of plant breeding. DNA markers such as microsatellite or simple sequence repeat markers have been widely used to estimate the genetic diversity in rice. The present study was carried out to decipher the pattern of genetic diversity in terms of both phenotypic and genotypic variability, and to assess the efficiency of random vis-á-vis QTL linked/gene based simple sequence repeat markers in diversity estimation. A set of 88 rice accessions that included landraces, farmer's varieties and popular Basmati lines were evaluated for agronomic traits and molecular diversity. The random set of SSR markers included 50 diversity panel markers developed under IRRI's Generation Challenge Programme (GCP) and the trait-linked/gene based markers comprised of 50 SSR markers reportedly linked to yield and related components. For agronomic traits, significant variability was observed, ranging between the maximum for grains/panicle and the minimum for panicle length. The molecular diversity based grouping indicated that varieties from a common centre were genetically similar, with few exceptions. The trait-linked markers gave an average genetic dissimilarity of 0.45 as against that of 0.37 by random markers, along with an average polymorphic information constant value of 0.48 and 0.41 respectively. The correlation between the kinship matrix generated by trait-linked markers and the phenotype based distance matrix (0.29) was higher than that of random markers (0.19). This establishes the robustness of trait-linked markers over random markers in estimating genetic diversity of rice germplasm.

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Phytosterols or stanols are large group of compounds found exclusively in plants. These are naturally present in plants and are structurally similar to cholesterol. A daily intake of 3 g of phytosterol (or their reduced form stanols) is associated with consistent and reproducible reduction in LDL cholesterol concentrations upto 10% and reduces the risk of coronary heart disease by 20% over a lifetime. Studies have concluded that the effective doses for reduction of cholesterol are between 1.5 and 3g/day, leading to decrease in 8% and 15% of LDL-cholesterol. The principal mechanism of action is based on interference with the solubilization of the cholesterol in the intestinal mucosa. Several studies have validated the cholesterol lowering effect of phytosterols and stanols along with its role in prevention of coronary heart diseases. Plant sterols and stanols appear to be unhazardous to health in a large number of human studies and no evidence of toxicity even at high dose levels has been reported. Changing lifestyle, constant stress and risk towards various diseases have necessitated the need of such vital neutraceuticals to be incorporated in diet and daily food items. Such new foods and formulations should pave the way for greater use of phytosterols in heart health promotion, increasing the long term potential for the creation of innovative functional foods containing plant sterols and their derivatives.

The LMA ProSeal has a higher OLP than the LMA Supreme. The success rate of first attempt insertion and ease of insertion were better for the LMA Supreme group and the insertion time was lower in the LMA Supreme group. The Supreme and ProSeal LMAs were both effective for positive pressure ventilation in laparoscopic cholecystectomy.

The world is suffering from the Coronavirus pandemic and is undergoing some drastic changes in day to day lives. The survey was conducted to analyze the situation of Pharmacy students in India. What are the types of challenges being faced by them during this lockdown due to the Pandemic COVID-19 and how are they getting adapted to the situations? A cross sectional survey was conducted via snowball sampling technique in which 226 participants submitted their response. The chief issue of concern to students was the change in the study pattern which has made the process much difficult for both the faculties and students. Online examination was also be reported as a point of concern. The normal life that we used to have is not acceptable in today&rsquo;s scenario, hence, the institutions have to make the students more comfortable and adaptable towards the online studies and make the most out of it.

Objective To identify clinical and laboratory features that differentiate dengue fever patients from MIS-C patients and determine their outcomes. Methods This comparative cross-sectional study was done at a tertiary care teaching institute. We enrolled all hospitalized children aged 1 month–18 years and diagnosed with either MIS-C and/or dengue fever according to WHO criteria between June and December, 2020. Clinical and laboratory features and outcomes were recorded on a structured proforma. Results During the study period 34 cases of MIS-C and 83 cases of Dengue fever were enrolled. Mean age of MIS-C cases (male, 86.3%) was 7.89 (4.61) years. MIS-C with shock was seen in 15 cases (44%), MIS-C without shock in 17 cases (50%) and Kawasaki disease-like presentation in 2 cases (6%). Patients of MIS-C were younger as compared to dengue fever ( P =0.002). Abdominal pain and erythematous rash were more common in dengue fever. Of the inflammatory markers, mean C reactive protein was higher in MIS-C patients [100.2 (85.1) vs 16.9 (29.3) mg/dL] ( P <0.001). In contrast, serum ferritin levels were higher in dengue fever patients ( P =0.03). Mean hospital stay (patient days) was longer in MIS- C compared to dengue fever (8.6 vs 6.5 days; P =0.014). Conclusions Clinical and laboratory features can give important clues to differentiate dengue fever and MIS-C and help initiate specific treatment. Electronic Supplementary Material Supplementary material is available in the online version of this article at 10.1007/s13312-021-2329-9.

Foetal acidosis is a well established predictor of neonatal outcome and is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. Noradrenaline, despite providing better maternal haemodynamic stability than phenylephrine during caesarean delivery, creates concerns regarding its deleterious effects on neonates. This study compares the incidence of foetal acidosis and umbilical artery base excess during prophylactic noradrenaline and phenylephrine infusion in elective caesarean section.