Anisotropic silica mesostructures for DNA encapsulation

The encapsulation of biomolecules in inert meso or nanostructures is an important step towards controlling drug delivery agents. Mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSN) are of immense importance owing to their high surface area, large pore size, uniform particle size and chemical inertness. Reverse micellar method with CTAB as the surfactant has been used to synthesize anisotropic mesoporous silica materials. We have used the anisotropic silica nanostructures for DNA encapsulation studies and observed a loading capacity of ~ 8 μ g mg−1 of the sample. On functionalizing the pores of silica with amine group, the amount of DNA loaded on the rods decreases which is due to a reduction in the pore size upon grafting of amine groups

Dental unit water lines: The infectious sources of Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Water quality in the dental unit water lines (DUWLs) is important to the patients and dental healthcare personnel as they are at risk of being infected with Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The aim of the present study was to determine the occurrence of P. aeruginosa contamination in DUWLs and to study the antibiotic resistant profile. A total of 101 dental water samples including air/water spray (26), Ultrasonic scalar (24), Air rotor compressor (26) and Distilled water (25) were screened for P. aeruginosa and 67 samples were found to be contaminated by P. aeruginosa. All these isolates were further subjected to antibiotic susceptibility testing. Among these, 63 (94.02%) showed resistance to ampicillin followed by 39 (58.20%) to amoxicillin, 11 (16.41%) to cefepime, 5 (7.46%) to aztreonam and 1 (1.49%) to gentamicin

An Investigation of Information Sought by Caregivers of Alzheimer’s Patients on Online Peer-Support Groups

Alzheimer’s caregivers seek social support through online communities to deal with their issues. The research team conducted a content analysis of ALZConnected.org to investigate the characteristics of information searched by caregivers and responses received. Two-hundred fifty posts and related responses were randomly selected and analyzed using a classification tool derived from the analysis of 500 posts and related responses spanning a yearlong period. The Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIW C) generated an average tone rating of 25.94 for the posts and 52.69 for the responses. The findings highlighted the caregiver’s need for emotional support (59.6%), and confusion about Alzheimer’s symptoms (12%). Most responses suggested informational resources (40.16%) and advised to seek professional assistance (21.31%). One of the key needs identified to inform future design of an Alzheimer’s Caregiver Forum was a design sensitive to the capabilities of its elder user audience

Role of carboxylate ion and metal oxidation state on the morphology and magnetic properties of nanostructured metal carboxylates and their decomposition products

Sub-micron rods and spheres of cobalt succinate sesquihydrate and iron succinate trihydrate/pentahydrate respectively have been synthesized by the reverse micellar route. These precursors are an excellent source for the synthesis of metal and metal oxide nanoparticles. Cubes of (edge length ~ 150 nm) Fe3O4 and elongated particles of Fe2O3 (~ diameter of 200 nm) were obtained. The role of oxidation state of the metal ion in controlling the morphology of the nanostructured dicarboxylates has been investigated. Rods with shorter length were obtained when longer chain dicarboxylate was used as ligand. Heating in nitrogen atmosphere also provided pure Co and α-Fe nanoparticles. The Fe nanoparticles show nearly 100% superparamagnetism. Temperature-dependent magnetic studies show a Morin-like transition for Fe2O3 nanoparticles at 223 K and the Verwey transition at 115 K for Fe3O4 nanoparticles. Co3O4 nanoparticles showed antiferromagnetic ordering at 20 K

Impact of COVID-19 on cardiovascular testing in the United States versus the rest of the world

Objectives: This study sought to quantify and compare the decline in volumes of cardiovascular procedures between the United States and non-US institutions during the early phase of the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the care of many non-COVID-19 illnesses. Reductions in diagnostic cardiovascular testing around the world have led to concerns over the implications of reduced testing for cardiovascular disease (CVD) morbidity and mortality. Methods: Data were submitted to the INCAPS-COVID (International Atomic Energy Agency Non-Invasive Cardiology Protocols Study of COVID-19), a multinational registry comprising 909 institutions in 108 countries (including 155 facilities in 40 U.S. states), assessing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on volumes of diagnostic cardiovascular procedures. Data were obtained for April 2020 and compared with volumes of baseline procedures from March 2019. We compared laboratory characteristics, practices, and procedure volumes between U.S. and non-U.S. facilities and between U.S. geographic regions and identified factors associated with volume reduction in the United States. Results: Reductions in the volumes of procedures in the United States were similar to those in non-U.S. facilities (68% vs. 63%, respectively; p = 0.237), although U.S. facilities reported greater reductions in invasive coronary angiography (69% vs. 53%, respectively; p < 0.001). Significantly more U.S. facilities reported increased use of telehealth and patient screening measures than non-U.S. facilities, such as temperature checks, symptom screenings, and COVID-19 testing. Reductions in volumes of procedures differed between U.S. regions, with larger declines observed in the Northeast (76%) and Midwest (74%) than in the South (62%) and West (44%). Prevalence of COVID-19, staff redeployments, outpatient centers, and urban centers were associated with greater reductions in volume in U.S. facilities in a multivariable analysis. Conclusions: We observed marked reductions in U.S. cardiovascular testing in the early phase of the pandemic and significant variability between U.S. regions. The association between reductions of volumes and COVID-19 prevalence in the United States highlighted the need for proactive efforts to maintain access to cardiovascular testing in areas most affected by outbreaks of COVID-19 infection

The global burden of cancer attributable to risk factors, 2010-19 : a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

Background Understanding the magnitude of cancer burden attributable to potentially modifiable risk factors is crucial for development of effective prevention and mitigation strategies. We analysed results from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2019 to inform cancer control planning efforts globally. Methods The GBD 2019 comparative risk assessment framework was used to estimate cancer burden attributable to behavioural, environmental and occupational, and metabolic risk factors. A total of 82 risk-outcome pairs were included on the basis of the World Cancer Research Fund criteria. Estimated cancer deaths and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) in 2019 and change in these measures between 2010 and 2019 are presented. Findings Globally, in 2019, the risk factors included in this analysis accounted for 4.45 million (95% uncertainty interval 4.01-4.94) deaths and 105 million (95.0-116) DALYs for both sexes combined, representing 44.4% (41.3-48.4) of all cancer deaths and 42.0% (39.1-45.6) of all DALYs. There were 2.88 million (2.60-3.18) risk-attributable cancer deaths in males (50.6% [47.8-54.1] of all male cancer deaths) and 1.58 million (1.36-1.84) risk-attributable cancer deaths in females (36.3% [32.5-41.3] of all female cancer deaths). The leading risk factors at the most detailed level globally for risk-attributable cancer deaths and DALYs in 2019 for both sexes combined were smoking, followed by alcohol use and high BMI. Risk-attributable cancer burden varied by world region and Socio-demographic Index (SDI), with smoking, unsafe sex, and alcohol use being the three leading risk factors for risk-attributable cancer DALYs in low SDI locations in 2019, whereas DALYs in high SDI locations mirrored the top three global risk factor rankings. From 2010 to 2019, global risk-attributable cancer deaths increased by 20.4% (12.6-28.4) and DALYs by 16.8% (8.8-25.0), with the greatest percentage increase in metabolic risks (34.7% [27.9-42.8] and 33.3% [25.8-42.0]). Interpretation The leading risk factors contributing to global cancer burden in 2019 were behavioural, whereas metabolic risk factors saw the largest increases between 2010 and 2019. Reducing exposure to these modifiable risk factors would decrease cancer mortality and DALY rates worldwide, and policies should be tailored appropriately to local cancer risk factor burden. Copyright (C) 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open Access article under the CC BY 4.0 license.Peer reviewe

Developing Standard Treatment Workflows—way to universal healthcare in India

Primary healthcare caters to nearly 70% of the population in India and provides treatment for approximately 80–90% of common conditions. To achieve universal health coverage (UHC), the Indian healthcare system is gearing up by initiating several schemes such as National Health Protection Scheme, Ayushman Bharat, Nutrition Supplementation Schemes, and Inderdhanush Schemes. The healthcare delivery system is facing challenges such as irrational use of medicines, over- and under-diagnosis, high out-of-pocket expenditure, lack of targeted attention to preventive and promotive health services, and poor referral mechanisms. Healthcare providers are unable to keep pace with the volume of growing new scientific evidence and rising healthcare costs as the literature is not published at the same pace. In addition, there is a lack of common standard treatment guidelines, workflows, and reference manuals from the Government of India. Indian Council of Medical Research in collaboration with the National Health Authority, Govt. of India, and the WHO India country office has developed Standard Treatment Workflows (STWs) with the objective to be utilized at various levels of healthcare starting from primary to tertiary level care. A systematic approach was adopted to formulate the STWs. An advisory committee was constituted for planning and oversight of the process. Specialty experts' group for each specialty comprised of clinicians working at government and private medical colleges and hospitals. The expert groups prioritized the topics through extensive literature searches and meeting with different stakeholders. Then, the contents of each STW were finalized in the form of single-pager infographics. These STWs were further reviewed by an editorial committee before publication. Presently, 125 STWs pertaining to 23 specialties have been developed. It needs to be ensured that STWs are implemented effectively at all levels and ensure quality healthcare at an affordable cost as part of UHC

Systematic Analysis and Review of Path Optimization Techniques in WSN

Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) is a centre of research owing to prevalent applications like military and scrutinizing circumstances of environment. The recent approaches showed that the mobility of sink in a controlled path can enhance the efficiency of energy in WSN, but the constraints of the path make the routing more complicated. Thus, the sink with fixed speed poses less communication time for collecting data via sensor nodes that are arbitrarily deployed. This limitation has noteworthy issues in enhancing data collected and minimizing energy consumption. Moreover, these research constraints led to the design proficient path optimization technique in WSN. This work presents a survey based on path optimization strategies. In addition, a thorough investigation is done based on various parameters. Also, we have analyzed the merits and demerits of conventional path optimization strategies. Finally, future research directions in obtaining efficient path optimization in Wireless Sensor Networks along with the mobile sink are elaborated

Frequency analysis of carbon and silicon nanosheet with surface effects

Silicon-based microelectromechanical system (MEMS) and nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS) have been used to design and fabricate sensitive sensors and actuators. Recent research trends show that graphene and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been used to change the surface properties of silicon-based MEMS and NEMS to improve different mechanical, optical and electrical properties of silicon-based composites. In this paper, we focus on analyzing the vibrational characteristics of silicon-based devices when the surface of silicon is coated with single-layer graphene and horizontally aligned carbon nanotubes (HACNTs). To perform the analysis, we use multi-scale finite element approach for developing graphene–silicon nanocomposites (GSNCs) and carbon nanotube-silicon nanocomposites (CSNC) composites in which interface layer of silicon with graphene or CNT is modeled using bonded contact element. Subsequently, we performed modal analysis to find the first transverse mode frequency of GSNC and CSNC composites for beam with smaller as well as longer lengths. The numerical model is compared with classical beam theory with and without surface effect. For GSNCs composites, we take a fixed-free case with lengths in the range of (20 Å–120 Å) and (400 Å–2000 Å), respectively. For CSNC composites, CNT diameter is varied from (5 Å–30 Å) for single walled nanotube. Subsequently, we analyze the influence of HACNTs-on-silicon on its vibrational characteristics. The analysis presented in the paper demonstrate that GSNCs offer a higher bending stiffness compared to single layer graphene (SLGs) and isolated silicon nanosheet which lead to higher natural frequency. A similar trend is found in the case of HACNTs on silicon NS when the number of tubes increases