Coping Strategies and Perceived Social Support in Wives of Persons with Alcohol Dependence Syndrome

Background:  In India alcohol is the most commonly used substance of abuse. The effect of alcoholism in husbands mostly leads to disturbances in marital life.These effects may directly or indirectly drain out caregivers of substance abusers. One of the most affected among caregivers are the marital partners. In other words it is the wives of substance abusing husband who are the victims. Coping mechanisms are used by the wives to handle the stressful situation has a vital role in reducing psychological difficulties. In case of wives with alcohol dependent husbands, the social support is a buffer for crisis periods. Aim of the study: The study is aimed to enquire the coping strategies and perceived social support of the wives of persons with alcohol dependence syndrome. Material and methods: A total 30 wives of persons with alcohol dependence syndrome according to ICD-10 were taken as the sample using purposive sample collection. Socio-demographic profile was assessed through semi-structured questionnaire while coping strategies was assessed through Ways of Coping Scale (1986) and the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (1988) was applied to assess the perceived social support after taking their informed consent. Data analysis was done using SPSS for descriptive statistics. Results: The result shows that varied types of coping strategies were used by wives of persons with alcohol dependence. In contrast the previous studies suggest use of emotional focused or escape avoidance coping. This study suggests that adaptive copings such as positive reappraisal, seeking social support and problem solving were used in comparison to escape avoidance.  In contrast to previous studies perceived social support was found to be high in this study group. Conclusion: It is well known fact now that coping strategies plays a major role in dealing with stressful life situations and perceived social support also have positive impact over health. Finding from this study suggests that any psychosocial intervention designed for this group must consider these facts and findings. Eventually these findings from the study can be used to help in enhancing the wellbeing of wives of alcohol dependents. Key words: Alcohol Dependence, coping strategies, perceived social suppor

Implicit Methods for Probabilistic Modeling of Gene Reglatory Networks

In silico modeling of Gene Regulatory Networks (GRN) has recently aroused a lot of interest in the biological community for modeling and understanding complex pathways. Boolean Networks (BN) are a common modeling tool for in silico dynamic analysis of such pathways. Although they are known to have effectively modeled many real and complex regulatory networks, they are deterministic in nature and have shortcomings in modeling non-determinism that is inherent in biological systems. Probabilistic Boolean Networks (PBN) have been proposed to counter these shortcomings. The capabilities of PBNs have been so far under-utilised because of the lack of an efficient PBN toolbox. This work addresses some issues associated with traditional methods of PBN representation and proposes efficient algorithms to model gene regulatory networks using PBNs

Intervention of an Upgraded Ventilation System and Effects of the COVID-19 Lockdown on Air Quality at Birmingham New Street Railway Station

High NO2 concentrations (long term average of 383 µg/m3 in 2016/2017) recorded at Birmingham New Street railway station have resulted in the upgrade of the bi-directional fan system to aid wind dispersion within the enclosed platform environment. This paper attempts to examine how successful this intervention has been in improving air quality for both passengers and workers within the station. New air pollution data in 2020 has enabled comparisons to the 2016/2017 monitoring campaign revealing a 23–42% decrease in measured NO2 concentrations. The new levels of NO2 are below the Occupational Health standards but still well above the EU Public Health Standards. This reduction, together with a substantial decrease (up to 81%) in measured Particulate Matter (PM) concentrations, can most likely be attributed to the new fan system effectiveness. Carbon Monoxide levels were well below Occupational and Public Health Standards at all times. The COVID19 pandemic “initial lockdown” period has also allowed an insight into the resultant air quality at lower rail-traffic intensities, which produced a further reduction in air pollutants, to roughly half the pre-lockdown concentrations. This study shows the scope of improvement that can be achieved through an engineering solution implemented to improve the ventilation system of an enclosed railway station. Further reduction in air pollution would require additional approaches, such as the removal of diesel engine exhaust emissions via the adoption of electric or diesel-electric hybrid powered services

Age, exercise, and the outcome of sepsis

Abstract We report on the increasingly important need to diagnose and care for the elderly with sepsis as a distinct patient population. We share an overview of age-related changes in sepsis physiology and the potential role of exercise. See related research by Tyml et al., https://ccforum.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13054-017-1783-

Marital quality in wives of persons with alcohol dependence syndrome

Background: Marriage is a strong bond between couples with the promise of lifelong dedication and emotional wellbeing. The effects of alcoholism in husbands may lead to disturbances in marital life. Lack of understanding, unpredictable behaviour of the husbands, and their irresponsibility in family matters can often lead to poor quality of a couple’s relationship. Aim of the study: The study is aimed to understand the marital quality of the wives of persons with alcohol dependence syndrome. Material and methods: Thirty wives of persons with alcohol dependence syndrome according to ICD-10 were taken as the sample, using purposive sample collection. Socio-demographic profile was assessed through semi-structured questionnaire while Marital Quality Scale (MQS-1995) was applied to assess the marital quality after taking their informed consent. Higher scores indicate poorer quality of marital life. Data analysis was done using SPSS for descriptive statistics. Results: The domain mean scores of rejection, understanding, and decision-making, and the total score of marital quality were high. Thus, indicating poorer quality of marital life among the wives of persons with alcohol dependence. Conclusion: Alcohol dependence is highly associated with poor marital quality as the person with alcohol dependence tends to adapt faulty communication patterns and behaviour which in turn leads to poor adjustment, unhappiness, and a high degree of dissatisfaction with relationships. Treatment plan for this group should be planned keeping these factors in consideration, as a priority

Intervention of an Upgraded Ventilation System and Effects of the COVID-19 Lockdown on Air Quality at Birmingham New Street Railway Station

High NO2 concentrations (long term average of 383 µg/m3 in 2016/2017) recorded at Birmingham New Street railway station have resulted in the upgrade of the bi-directional fan system to aid wind dispersion within the enclosed platform environment. This paper attempts to examine how successful this intervention has been in improving air quality for both passengers and workers within the station. New air pollution data in 2020 has enabled comparisons to the 2016/2017 monitoring campaign revealing a 23–42% decrease in measured NO2 concentrations. The new levels of NO2 are below the Occupational Health standards but still well above the EU Public Health Standards. This reduction, together with a substantial decrease (up to 81%) in measured Particulate Matter (PM) concentrations, can most likely be attributed to the new fan system effectiveness. Carbon Monoxide levels were well below Occupational and Public Health Standards at all times. The COVID-19 pandemic “initial lockdown” period has also allowed an insight into the resultant air quality at lower rail-traffic intensities, which produced a further reduction in air pollutants, to roughly half the pre-lockdown concentrations. This study shows the scope of improvement that can be achieved through an engineering solution implemented to improve the ventilation system of an enclosed railway station. Further reduction in air pollution would require additional approaches, such as the removal of diesel engine exhaust emissions via the adoption of electric or diesel-electric hybrid powered services

An anion induced multisignaling probe for Hg2+Hg^{2+} and its application for fish kidney and liver tissue imaging studies

3′,6′-Bis(diethylamino)-2-(pyridin-2-ylmethyl)spiro[isoindoline-1,9′-xanthen]-3-one (L) was synthesized for the selective fluorescence and colorimetric recognition of Hg2+ at pH 6.0. In addition, L was useful for imaging Hg2+ in fish kidney and liver tissues using a fluorescence microscope. Spirolactam ring opening of L for Hg2+ recognition is strongly influenced by the nature of the mercury salt and found to be NO3−-induced. Other mercury salts such as HgCl2, Hg(CH3COO)2 and Hg(ClO4)2 failed to induce fluorescence and colorimetric response of L under the same experimental conditions. For instance, the former salt does not exhibit spirolactam ring opening but forms a new ionic compound (H3L)2[Hg6Cl18]·2H2O (1), whose structure has been elucidated by single crystal X-ray diffraction. This might be explained by (1) the higher covalent nature of Hg2+ and, hence, the lower acidity of the metal center and its inability to induce the ring opening reaction, and (2) the bulky anion, in the case of Hg(ClO4)2, which is also ionic, faces steric hindrance to accommodate within the N(Et)2 group upon spirolactam ring opening