Chikungunya Epidemic Mortality in India: Lessons from 17th Century Bills of Mortality Still Relevant

Chikungunya is a virus spread by the bite of the Aedes mosquito, which recently reemerged as a massive epidemic in the Indian Ocean islands and India. Chikungunya is generally considered self-limiting and has been reported as non-fatal but, since March 2005, one-third of the 770,000 people in the Indian Ocean Island of R�union (a French territory) have been affected by Chikungunya with 237 deaths. India reported 1.3 million cases of Chikungunya however the Government of India has not reported any deaths. However there is evidence that deaths due to Chikungunya did occur. The lack of official reports of deaths is mainly due to the poor recording of ‘Causes of Death’ in India. The London Bills of Mortality from the 17th provides a very good example of the importance of proper reporting of deaths especially during an epidemic period. This paper reflects on the London bills of mortality and modern day lessons to be drawn from it as well as the reasons behind the apparent lack of death reporting in 2006’s Chikungunya epidemic.

Chikungunya Fever: A Killer Epidemic in Ahmedabad City, India

Background The Chikungunya virus is an alphavirus native to tropical Africa and Asia and is transmitted to humans by the bite of infected Aedes mosquitoes. The symptoms of Chikungunya include sudden onset of fever, severe arthralgia, and maculopapular rash. Thirty percent of the population on the French R�union Island was afflicted with Chikungunya in the past year. They reported 237 deaths. India on the other hand reported 1.39 million cases of Chikungunya but no deaths. Methods Mortality data from 2002-2006 was obtained from the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC). Actual mortality rate of 2006 was compared to the mortality rate of 2002-05 and its statistical significance tests were carried out. Findings Mortality data obtained from the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) suggests that 3112 excess deaths occurred in August-November (epidemic period) compared to the average deaths in the same months during the previous four years. These differences in deaths were found to be highly statistically significant. A peak in excess mortality is seen in the month of September when 1489 additional deaths were recorded. Case fatality rates for Ahmedabad also turn out to be much higher than that of the Reunion Island. Interpretation The Chikungunya epidemic was raging when the excess deaths occurred. There were no other adverse events or other epidemics that took place could explain this excess mortality. Government authorities, WHO and other international public health agencies should take these findings of excess mortality seriously and investigate into this occurrence of excess deaths to understand this reemerging disease and prevent future epidemics and mortality.

Generation of a User Interface Prototype from an Integrated Scenario Specification

This report discusses the design for the generation of a device independent user interface prototype for services offered by a digital library from an Integrated Scenario Specification using class diagrams and collaboration diagrams as input. The project was conceived as an extension to the SUIP tool, which generates a User interface in java. But this approach has an inherent problem. The interfaces thus generated have the java look and feel and this can't be changed if the user so desires. Our design overcomes this drawback by generating the interface in UIML which is device independent and thus it is possible to render the code in java, HTML, WML and other languages. The report aims at providing details about the intricacies of the design and deployment. In addition, it also lists possible enhancements to the code that could be taken up as future work

Impact of different musical nodes and vibrations on plant development

The effects of ambient environmental factors on physiological attributes of plants have been explored extensively. Among all the factors, impact of sound on the plants is an interesting aspect to study. This review attempts to comprehend the impact of sound waves on the development and behaviour of the plants. Musical nodes with healing energy have a certain impact on seeds germination. This can enhance overall plant health by improving growth and resistance, beyond chemical triggers.. In past, seed growth and germination behaviour, influenced by different pre-treatments has been studied for different plants. This review is an effort to provide an indication of the recent results, constraints, and prospective applications of sound wave therapy as a physical trigger for modulating physiological characteristics and giving plants an adaptive benefit. Sound wave therapy is now emerging as a fresh promotion for protecting crops from harmful circumstances and maintaining plant fitness

Increased Mortality Rate Associated with Chikungunya Epidemic, Ahmedabad, India

A total of 3,056 excess deaths epidemiologically linked to chikungunya occurred in 2006

The mental health of survivors of violence against women who accessed supportive services during the COVID-19 pandemic: A narrative thematic analysis

Background: Violence against women (VAW) is a pervasive public health problem in Canada with detrimental impacts on the mental health of survivors. The COVID-19 pandemic led to an increase in the incidence and severity of VAW, deterioration in population level mental health and well-being, and exacerbated barriers to accessing health and social services. People who were already vulnerable to mental illness or people experiencing marginalization across social factors experienced even greater challenges with their mental health. Objectives: We aimed to understand the mental health of VAW survivors accessing services during the pandemic and how experiences differed across diverse life histories and sociodemographic factors. Design: We conducted interviews from April to September 2021, with 10 adult women who had accessed at least one VAW service in the Greater Toronto Area since March 11, 2020. These data were collected as part of a community-based study on the processes, experiences, and outcomes of adapting VAW programming during the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants were sampled through staff contacts at VAW organizations to represent a diverse cross-section of sociodemographic factors and types of services accessed. Methods: We used narrative thematic analysis to analyze our interview data and identified how life histories and sociodemographic factors intersected with themes about their mental health. Results: The research team identified four narrative themes pertaining to survivor mental health: (1) new and exacerbated anxiety, depression, and substance use, (2) feelings of hopelessness and mental exhaustion, (3) shame and low self-esteem, and (4) resiliency. Survivor’s experiences across these themes differed based on personal factors and life histories (e.g. being a newcomer, being a mother, experiences of childhood trauma and abuse, living with a disability, and socioeconomic status). Conclusion: During the pandemic, survivors experienced greater mental health needs and at the same time encountered greater challenges in accessing support, which had significant consequences for their mental well-being. Services that support VAW survivors (as essential services) require increased funding and resources to offer effective, accessible, and timely support that improves the lives of survivors. This support must consider survivors’ unique needs based on personal factors and life histories during and beyond public health emergencies

Basic science232. Certolizumab pegol prevents pro-inflammatory alterations in endothelial cell function

Background: Cardiovascular disease is a major comorbidity of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and a leading cause of death. Chronic systemic inflammation involving tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF) could contribute to endothelial activation and atherogenesis. A number of anti-TNF therapies are in current use for the treatment of RA, including certolizumab pegol (CZP), (Cimzia ®; UCB, Belgium). Anti-TNF therapy has been associated with reduced clinical cardiovascular disease risk and ameliorated vascular function in RA patients. However, the specific effects of TNF inhibitors on endothelial cell function are largely unknown. Our aim was to investigate the mechanisms underpinning CZP effects on TNF-activated human endothelial cells. Methods: Human aortic endothelial cells (HAoECs) were cultured in vitro and exposed to a) TNF alone, b) TNF plus CZP, or c) neither agent. Microarray analysis was used to examine the transcriptional profile of cells treated for 6 hrs and quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) analysed gene expression at 1, 3, 6 and 24 hrs. NF-κB localization and IκB degradation were investigated using immunocytochemistry, high content analysis and western blotting. Flow cytometry was conducted to detect microparticle release from HAoECs. Results: Transcriptional profiling revealed that while TNF alone had strong effects on endothelial gene expression, TNF and CZP in combination produced a global gene expression pattern similar to untreated control. The two most highly up-regulated genes in response to TNF treatment were adhesion molecules E-selectin and VCAM-1 (q 0.2 compared to control; p > 0.05 compared to TNF alone). The NF-κB pathway was confirmed as a downstream target of TNF-induced HAoEC activation, via nuclear translocation of NF-κB and degradation of IκB, effects which were abolished by treatment with CZP. In addition, flow cytometry detected an increased production of endothelial microparticles in TNF-activated HAoECs, which was prevented by treatment with CZP. Conclusions: We have found at a cellular level that a clinically available TNF inhibitor, CZP reduces the expression of adhesion molecule expression, and prevents TNF-induced activation of the NF-κB pathway. Furthermore, CZP prevents the production of microparticles by activated endothelial cells. This could be central to the prevention of inflammatory environments underlying these conditions and measurement of microparticles has potential as a novel prognostic marker for future cardiovascular events in this patient group. Disclosure statement: Y.A. received a research grant from UCB. I.B. received a research grant from UCB. S.H. received a research grant from UCB. All other authors have declared no conflicts of interes

Impact of different musical nodes and vibrations on plant development

The effects of ambient environmental factors on physiological attributes of plants have been explored extensively. Among all the factors, impact of sound on the plants is an interesting aspect to study. This review attempts to comprehend the impact of sound waves on the development and behaviour of the plants. Musical nodes with healing energy have a certain impact on seeds germination. This can enhance overall plant health by improving growth and resistance, beyond chemical triggers.. In past, seed growth and germination behaviour, influenced by different pre-treatments has been studied for different plants. This review is an effort to provide an indication of the recent results, constraints, and prospective applications of sound wave therapy as a physical trigger for modulating physiological characteristics and giving plants an adaptive benefit. Sound wave therapy is now emerging as a fresh promotion for protecting crops from harmful circumstances and maintaining plant fitness.</jats:p

Generation of a User Interface Prototype from an Integrated Scenario Specification

This report discusses the design for the generation of a device independent user interface prototype for services offered by a digital library from an Integrated Scenario Specification using class diagrams and collaboration diagrams as input. The project was conceived as an extension to the SUIP tool, which generates a User interface in java. But this approach has an inherent problem. The interfaces thus generated have the java look and feel and this can't be changed if the user so desires. Our design overcomes this drawback by generating the interface in UIML which is device independent and thus it is possible to render the code in java, HTML, WML and other languages. The report aims at providing details about the intricacies of the design and deployment. In addition, it also lists possible enhancements to the code that could be taken up as future work