905 research outputs found
Prevalence of asthma in urban and rural children in Tamil Nadu
Background. There are very few community-based studies
on the prevalence of asthma in Indian children. We aimed to
estimate the prevalence of asthma in children under 12 years of
age and to study possible differences in the prevalence of
childhood asthma in urban and rural areas of Tamil Nadu.
Methods. A total of 584 children from Chennai and 271
children from 25 villages around Chennai formed the urban and
rural groups, respectively. From November 1999 to February
2000, data were collected using a simplified version of the
ISAAC questionnaire, which was administered by trained students.
Symptoms suggestive of asthma or hyperreactive airways
disease in children under 12 years of age were recorded from the
selected urban and rural populations by questioning the parents.
The results were analysed separately for children 0-5 and 6-12
years of age.
Results. Of the 855 children studied, the overall prevalence
of breathing difficulty (including asthma) was 18% and the
prevalence of ‘diagnosed’ asthma was 5%. Twenty-two per cent of urban and 9% of rural children 6-12 years of age reported
breathing difficulty ‘at any time in the past’ (p<0.01). A
significantly higher proportion of 6-12-year-old urban children
also reported nocturnal dry cough (28.4%v. 18.7%,p<0.05).
Urban children reported recent wheeze more often than rural
children (92% v. 77%, p=0.01).
Conclusions. Symptoms suggestive of asthma were present
in 18% of children under 12 years of age. Though the
prevalence of diagnosed childhood asthma was about 5% in both
urban and rural areas, the prevalence of ‘breathing difficulty’ and
nocturnal cough was significantly higher among urban children in
the age group of 6-12 years. Children living in urban areas also
reported ‘recent wheeze’ more often than rural children. Our
data suggest that the actual prevalence of asthma and other
‘wheezy’ illnesses may be higher than that previously documented.
Further studies are needed to confirm the difference in
prevalence between urban and rural children and also to identify
possible causes that could account for the higher urban prevalence
of asthma in Tamil Nadu
Anti diabetic effect of ethanolic extract of leaves of Ocimum sanctum in alloxan induced diabetes in rats
Background: Diabetes mellitus refers to a group of common metabolic disorders that share the phenotype of hyperglycemia resulting from defects of reduced insulin secretion, decreased glucose utilization and increase in glucose production. It is estimated that there are currently 285 million people worldwide and this number is set to increase to 438 million by the year 2030. India has the highest number of patients with known diabetes worldwide, with a prevalence of 11.6%. The aim of the study was to evaluate the anti diabetic activity of ethanolic extract of leaves of plant Ocimum sanctum in alloxan induced diabetes in rats.Methods: The study was conducted on 4 groups of 6 rats each to evaluate the hypoglycaemic effect of ethanolic extract of Ocimum sanctum. Glibenclamide was used as a standard drug and the results were compared in reference to it. Tween 80 was given for both normal and diabetic control groups. The fasting blood sugar levels were recorded on 1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th, 10th days by glucometer.Results: The results indicate that the test compound ethanolic extract of Ocimum sanctum has significant and sustained oral hypoglycaemic activity, comparable with the hypoglycaemic effect of glibenclamide, a sulfonylurea.Conclusion: The hypoglycaemic potential of the test compound is found to be comparable with that of the standard drug glibenclamide
1H-Indole-3-carbaldehyde
In the title compound, C9H7NO, the benzene ring forms a dihedral angle of 3.98 (12)° with the pyrrole ring. In the crystal, N–H⋯O hydrogen bonds links the molecules into chains which run parallel to [02-1]
Towards climate-smart agricultural policies and investments in Telangana
This briefing note summarizes the key findings of the
“Scaling up climate-smart agriculture in the Telangana
State” project, carried out by the International Crops
Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics and partners,
between 1st January 2016 and 31st December 2017
Protocol for: Sheffield Obesity Trial (SHOT): A randomised controlled trial of exercise therapy and mental health outcomes in obese adolescents [ISRCNT83888112]
Background
While obesity is known to have many physiological consequences, the psychopathology of this condition has not featured prominently in the literature. Cross-sectional studies have indicated that obese children have increased odds of experiencing poor quality of life and mental health. However, very limited trial evidence has examined the efficacy of exercise therapy for enhancing mental health outcomes in obese children, and the Sheffield Obesity Trial (SHOT) will provide evidence of the efficacy of supervised exercise therapy in obese young people aged 11–16 years versus usual care and an attention-control intervention.
Method/design
SHOT is a randomised controlled trial where obese young people are randomised to receive; (1) exercise therapy, (2) attention-control intervention (involving body-conditioning exercises and games that do not involve aerobic activity), or (3) usual care. The exercise therapy and attention-control sessions will take place three times per week for eight weeks and a six-week home programme will follow this. Ninety adolescents aged between 11–16 years referred from a children's hospital for evaluation of obesity or via community advertisements will need to complete the study. Participants will be recruited according to the following criteria: (1) clinically obese and aged 11–16 years (Body Mass Index Centile > 98th UK standard) (2) no medical condition that would restrict ability to be active three times per week for eight weeks and (3) not diagnosed with insulin dependent diabetes or receiving oral steroids. Assessments of outcomes will take place at baseline, as well as four (intervention midpoint) and eight weeks (end of intervention) from baseline. Participants will be reassessed on outcome measures five and seven months from baseline. The primary endpoint is physical self-perceptions. Secondary outcomes include physical activity, self-perceptions, depression, affect, aerobic fitness and BMI
Preclinical in vivo longitudinal assessment of KG207-M as a disease-modifying Alzheimer's disease therapeutic
In vivo biomarker abnormalities provide measures to monitor therapeutic interventions targeting amyloid-β pathology as well as its effects on downstream processes associated with Alzheimer’s disease pathophysiology. Here, we applied an in vivo longitudinal study design combined with imaging and cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers, mirroring those used in human clinical trials to assess the efficacy of a novel brain-penetrating anti-amyloid fusion protein treatment in the McGill-R-Thy1-APP transgenic rat model. The bi-functional fusion protein consisted of a blood-brain barrier crossing single domain antibody (FC5) fused to an amyloid-β oligomer-binding peptide (ABP) via Fc fragment of mouse IgG (FC5-mFc2a-ABP). A five-week treatment with FC5-mFc2a-ABP (loading dose of 30 mg/Kg/iv followed by 15 mg/Kg/week/iv for four weeks) substantially reduced brain amyloid-β levels as measured by positron emission tomography and increased the cerebrospinal fluid amyloid-β42/40 ratio. In addition, the 5-week treatment rectified the cerebrospinal fluid neurofilament light chain concentrations, resting-state functional connectivity, and hippocampal atrophy measured using magnetic resonance imaging. Finally, FC5-mFc2a-ABP (referred to as KG207-M) treatment did not induce amyloid-related imaging abnormalities such as microhemorrhage. Together, this study demonstrates the translational values of the designed preclinical studies for the assessment of novel therapies based on the clinical biomarkers providing tangible metrics for designing early-stage clinical trials
Towards climate-smart agricultural policies and investments in Telangana
This briefing note summarizes the key findings of the
“Scaling up climate-smart agriculture in the Telangana
State” project, carried out by the International Crops
Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics and partners,
between 1st January 2016 and 31st December 2017.
This project was carried out with the financial support of the
CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture
and Food Security (CCAFS), Ministry of Environment,
Forests & Climate Change, Government of India and Indian
Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR). Partners involved
in the execution of this project were: the National Bank
for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD); the
Environment Protection Training and Research Institute
(EPTRI); the CGIAR Research Program on Climate change,
Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS); the Prof. Jayashankar
Telangana State Agriculture University (PJTSAU); Department
of Agriculture, Government of Telangana and the International
Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT)
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