Objective: To compare the anthropometric and metabolic parameters between normal and deficient Vitamin D PCOS women. Materials and Methods: All women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) women were analyzed over a period of eighteen months from- May 2016 to October 2017. The study participants were divided into two groups as per 25(OH)D level. Those with 25(OH)D level <20 ng/ml (Vitamin D deficient) were taken group I and those having 25(OH)D level ≥ 20 ng/ml i.e., sufficient vitamin D levels were group II. We measured anthropometric measurements and metabolic parameters like lipid profile, fasting insulin, fasting blood sugars and HOMA-IR. Results: Eighty-five women were evaluated during the time period. The mean age of the study sample was 23.34 ± 4.587. Almost 40 % (n=34) of the study sample were vitamin D deficient and more than half of PCOS women (n=51) had sufficient vitamin D levels. Out of 85 women analyzed in this study, 48.23% were obese (Group I: 52.9% and 45.1% in group II). The vitamin D deficient group was comparable with the sufficient group in terms of anthropometric and biochemical parameters, except fasting serum insulin levels, which was infact lower in the vitamin D deficient group as compared to vitamin D sufficient group. None of the parameter showed any significant correlation with vitamin D. Conclusion: Hypovitaminosis is a common occurrence in PCOS women, necessitating the need for screening to prevent future adverse outcome. Further large-scale trials need to be done.

Background: People who inject drugs (PWID) are the key population at risk of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. In this study, HCV infection among PWID was carried out with the objective of determining the proportion of hepatitis C antibody-positive individuals in the state of Manipur, in Manipur, a small northeastern state of India. Aims: The present study aims to establish prevalence data of hepatitis C antibody among population in the state of Manipur, India. The study was conducted from July to December 2018 in the nine districts of state of Manipur. Blood samples were collected for HCV testing; along with this, we conducted awareness sessions during camps. Pre- and post-tests were done using a questionnaire. A total of 2219 participants are PWID and their spouses were enrolled. Results: Male: female ratio was 1885/334. Majorities of the participants were from 25 to 44 years of age. Forty-three per cent were positive in the screening. Ukhrul district has the highest HCV positive closely followed by Churachandpur district. About 13.5% of participants with known human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) status were positive of HCV. Conclusions: HCV infection in PWID in Manipur, Northeast of India, is 43%, most of them are young and co-infection with HIV is seen in 13.5%.

Objectives: The objectives of the study were to explore the fast Fourier transformation (FFT)-transformed individual alpha frequency (IAF)-based electroencephalographic (EEG) correlates of introduction to a special type of meditation, and transcendence shift in meditation novices.Methods: The study was conducted on 34 healthy male student volunteers. The participants were introduced to 15 min of a special type of meditation under the supervision of an expert. EEG was recorded from 19 scalp locations according to the 10–20 international system of electrode placement. To overcome the problems of the fixed band system, IAF-based band method was adopted. The outcome measures were FFT-transformed absolute powers (APs) in the six bands at 19 electrode positions. These outcome measures were analysed for early, middle and late phases (5 min each) of the meditation and compared with the relaxed eyes-closed mental state as the control in the same participants. Results: The special type of meditation showed a trend of decrease in AP over increasing electrodes' positions in theta, lower 1 alpha and lower 2 alpha with progression. However, power in the beta band was consistently decreased, while upper alpha (except in C3) and gamma-band power remained unchanged throughout the meditation. Conclusions: Introduction to a special type of meditation has distinct EEG correlates and resembles a deeper relaxed focus of attention and partial transcendence as compared to the simple relaxation with eyes-closed-state in the novice's participants.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has adversely affected the care of patients with renal diseases, who are at a high risk of contracting COVID-19, in several ways. We searched the search engines such as PubMed, Embase and Google Scholar for articles published from March 2020 to October 2020. Data pertaining to the impact of COVID-19 on renal patients and the referral system were extracted from the various published narrative reviews and the guidelines of the professional organisations. In this review, we have tried to focus on all these aspects, including various challenges faced in delivering routine hospital services and of providing renal replacement therapy. We believe that this unprecedented and globally alarming situation has, by now, taught us enough, so that we can be more careful in executing optimal care of renal patients, should similar situation arise in future.

Coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has resulted in massive health and economic burden. There has been substantial morbidities and mortalities owing to its high transmission rate. Therefore, effective strategies for treatment and prevention are crucial. Vaccines offer a ray of hope for the prevention and controlling the spread. Various new technological platforms have been utilised for vaccine production. The current review provides a brief description of these platforms for vaccine production and an update on the available and upcoming COVID-19 vaccines, discussing their results and outcomes from different trial phases. We have also focused on COVID-19 vaccination drive in India, emergency use authorisation, other candidate vaccines in Indian landscape, and issues involved with their clinical use and current recommendations.