Screening for light-for-gestational age infants: a comparison of three simple measurements

Summary. Fundal height, abdominal girth and abdominal length were measured during routine examination in our antenatal clinic. Standard graphs of fundal height, abdominal girth and the ratio of fundal height to abdominal length were drawn using data from 250 consecutive women with uncomplicated pregnancies. These graphs were used to predict low-birthweight-for-gestation (LGA) in 150 high-risk and 208 low-risk pregnancies. Fundal height measurements had high sensitivity (78–84%) and specificity (84–88%) and were therefore most reliable in screening for LGA babies.     

Specialty choice of medical students in India

The objectives of this study are to investigate undergraduate medical students' attitudes towards different specialties and to investigate whether there are any differences between the attitudes of students of different sex and different socio-economic background. The sample consisted of 692 final-year students from 11 medical colleges in India. Scale values were worked out to find out the actual distance between students' attitudes. Sex differences were observed in the attitude towards surgery, obstetrics and gynaecology, orthopaedics, microbiology, social and preventive medicine and anatomy. There were no statistically significant differences between the attitudes of students from different socio-economic backgrounds.     

Natural Cytotoxicity and Serum Blocking in Malignant Cervical Neoplasia

ABSTRACT: Peripheral blood lymphocytes from 100 patients with various stages and histological types of squamous cell carcinoma of the uterine cervix were assayed for natural killer (NK) cell activity against K562 cells using the single cell cytotoxicity assay in agarose. The effect of autologous serum on NK cell activity and a quantitation of soluble antigen-antibody complexes was also carried out. The cancer patients showed reduced NK activity compared with normal controls, the reduction increasing with tumor load. Another observation was that patients with poorly differentiated tumours showed lower levels of NK activity. Addition of autologous serum resulted in further depression of NK activity in all groups of patients. An increase in circulating immune complexes was also evident in all groups of patients. Here again increase in tumor load and poorly differentiated tumors showed the highest levels. The results point toward a possible disturbance in NK cell activity that could be further depressed by autologous serum factors.     

Indian student doctors'' attitudes towards primary health care, poverty and related issues

An attempt is made to study the attitudes of student physicians towards primary health care, poverty, and related social issues in India. The sample consisted of 464 men and 228 women final-year medical students (a total of 692) from 11 medical colleges in India. An open-ended questionnaire was used. Content analysis was performed on the responses. There were no statistically significant differences between the responses of the students belonging to different socio-economic groups. There were some differences in the responses of the men and women students, especially on the question of poverty and related social issues. The data presented here show that the student physicians do not have a clear understanding of the primary health care approach, or about the social issues that influence health. This study underlines the need for exposing student physicians to the essential aspects of poverty and its impact on health and the importance of the primary health care approach for providing health care to disadvantaged groups.     

Anemia in Experimental Protein Deficiency in the Rhesus Monkey with Special Reference to Iron Metabolism

1. This investigation deals with a study of the anemia of protein deficiencyin Rhesus monkeys.

2. Protein deficiency was induced in 17 rhesus monkeys. Seven animals,given a protein-rich diet, served as controls. The diets of both the groupswere identical in all respects, except protein. All animals were tube-fed toensure adequate caloric intake.

Hematocrit, hemoglobin, erythroctye count, serum iron, serum iron binding capacity, plasma iron tolerance curves, and iron absorption using theFe⁵⁹ fecal recovery method were studied before and at intervals of theexperiment in both deficient and control groups.

Protein-deficient monkeys consistently developed normocytic normochromicanemia of moderate severity. A striking fall in serum iron binding capacity,total proteins and albumin with a rise in gamma globulin was observed inall deficient animals. A significant and comparable fall in serum iron wasalso observed. The Fe⁵⁹ absorption was depressed and there was flatteningof plasma iron tolerance curves. Two deficient animals, refed a high proteindiet, showed reversal of all these changes. The control animals did not showany of these changes.

The mechanism of anemia and decreased iron absorption observed in theprotein-deficient animals and the relevance of these findings to those inKwashiorkor are discussed.

Submitted on November 20, 1964 Accepted on January 25, 1965     

Monoclonal Antibody Defined Phenotypes of Peripheral Blood Lymphocytes in Cancer of the Uterine Cervix

ABSTRACT: Immunological phenotypes of lymphocytes from peripheral blood of 100 patients with different stages and histologies of cancer of the uterine cervix were analyzed using monoclonal antibodies and F(ab)₂fragments of antihuman immunoglobulin. The T lymphocyte population was decreased in advanced cases of the cancer along with a rise in the B cell numbers. The OKT4+ cells generally showed a decrease in the cancer patients in contrast to the increase shown by the OKT8+ cells. The OKT4/OKT8 ratio was altered in this cancer except in patients with stages I and IIA. In terms of histology, the poorly differentiated tumors showed a higher imbalance of the cellular composition when compared to the well-differentiated and moderately differentiated tumor-bearing patients. These findings point toward a possible alteration in the immune effector cells of these cancer-bearing patients.