Exploring views on satisfaction with life in young children with chronic illness: an innovative approach to the collection of self-report data from children under 11

The objective of this study was to explore young children’s views on the impact of chronic illness on their life in order to inform future development of a patient-based self-report health outcome measure. We describe an approach to facilitating self-report views from young children with chronic illness. A board game was designed in order to obtain qualitative data from 39 children with a range of chronic illness conditions and 38 healthy controls ranging in age from 3 to 11 years. The format was effective in engaging young children in a self-report process of determining satisfaction with life and identified nine domains. The board game enabled children aged 5–11 years with chronic illness to describe the effects of living with illness on home, family, friends, school and life in general. It generated direct, non-interpreted material from children who, because of their age, may have been considered unable or limited their ability to discuss and describe how they feel. Obtaining this information for children aged 4 and under continues to be a challenge

Restoration of uterine redox-balance by methanolic extract of Camellia sinensis in arsenicated rats

Arsenic, an environmental and industrial pollutant causes female reproductive disturbances and female infertility. Several researchers found that the use of Camellia sinensis (CS) (green tea) is effective as an alternative therapeutic strategy in the management of several health ailments. This study explores the role of CS extract against arsenic-induced rat uterine tissue damage. Methanolic extract of CS (10 mg/kg BW) was tested concomitantly in arsenic-treated (10 mg/kg BW) rats for a duration of two-oestrous cycle length (8 days). CS effectively attenuated arsenic-induced antioxidantdepletion and necrosis in uterine tissue. Rats treated with sodium arsenite showed significantly reduced activities of enzymatic antioxidants like superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) in uterine tissue as evidenced by the results of spectrophotometric and electrozymographic analysis. Co-administration of CS significantly reversed the above oxidative stress markers in uterine tissue along with the histopathological changes in ovarian and uterine tissue. Moreover, an increase in the level of transcription factor NF-κB in the uterine tissue in association with reduced serum levels of vitamin B12 and folic acid were mitigated in arsenic fed rats following CS co-administration

Using the methacholine challenge to determine how psychological mechanisms impact asthma symptom perception and quality of life

The first chapter of this thesis reviews the literature exploring the association between anxiety and asthma, and the effect this has had on potential outcomes. The following outcomes are affected by the relationship: quality of life, control, symptom perception, dyspnoea, lung function, and healthcare utilisation. 26 studies were identified after searching four distinct specialist databases of publications. Quality of life and control was reduced in asthmatics who reported higher symptoms of anxiety. Reduction in dyspnea (or breathlessness) and symptom perception was lower in anxious groups and not associated with lung function. Finally, the articles highlighted the link between anxious asthmatic and increased healthcare utilisation. Anxiety plausibly has a role in misinterpretation of symptoms, affecting control, subsequent quality of life, and healthcare use. Limitations of the reviewed studies include a lack of consistency in measuring anxiety and outcomes, a small number of longitudinal studies, and finally a lack of exploration of mechanisms underpinning the association.The empirical paper explored how psychological mechanisms impact on asthmatics perception of breathlessness, quality of life, and control. Anxiety in asthma has been associated with perception of breathlessness, a cornerstone of asthma management. The experimental study used a Methacholine Test (MCT) to reduce lung function to 80% to induce bronchoconstriction to explore the effect of reduced lung function on anxiety, breathlessness, asthma quality of life, asthma control and association with attentional resources. Attentional bias was measured by a computer task (Attentional Network Test, ANT) and a self-report (Attention Control Scale, ACS). 31 participants were recruited for the study. Changes in breathlessness were noted across conditions, independent of lung function. Breathlessness was associated with anxiety and not with Asthma Quality of Life (AQLQ) or their asthma control. In a blockwise regression analysis, anxiety was a significant predictor of quality of life and control of asthma. Perceived breathlessness or anxiety was not significantly associated with attention as measured by ANT, though anxiety was associated with self-reported measures of attentional shift and focus. Subsequently, increased breathlessness during bronchoconstriction revealed a decrease in shifting attention. Attention could be a mechanism to target in improving asthma care; however, further research is needed. Limitations, clinical implications, and future directions for research are discussed

Accurate estimation of start oscillation current for maximum output power in 42 GHz, 200 kW gyrotron

776-781Design of a 42 GHz, 200 kW gyrotron operating at TE03 involves optimization of a guiding magnetic field across the tapered cavity. The start oscillation current (SOC) or starting current is one of the most important parameter to estimate the guiding magnetic field to excite the desired operating mode irrespective of large numbers of competitive modes. This paper presents an accurate method to estimate SOC, based on the linear theory, yielding the guiding magnetic field at which the maximum desired power level is also achieved through the beam-wave interaction simulation using 3D MAGIC-PIC code. The method involves interpretation of the beam wave interaction length as e-1 times of the normalized axial Gaussian electric field profile. This method is successfully applied to low order symmetric operating mode gyrotron. The minimum SOC from the linear theory for the operating mode TE03 and the maximum power from the non-linear theory/code are obtained at the same guiding magnetic field 1.607 T with an error of 0.12% only. The paper also reports the effect of noise on SOC and output power, simultaneously

The consequence of NAC on sodium arsenite-induced uterine oxidative stress

Arsenic consumption through drinking water is a worldwide major health problem. Management of arsenic intoxication with invasive, painful therapy using metal chelators is usually used as a conventional treatment strategy in human. In this present study, we examined the efficacy of oral administration of N-acetyl l-cysteine (NAC) in limiting arsenic-mediated female reproductive disorders and oxidative stress in female Wistar rats. The treatment was continued for 8 days (2 estrus cycles) on rats with sodium arsenite (10 mg/Kg body weight) orally. We examined the electrozymographic imprint of three different enzymatic antioxidants in uterine tissue. Rats fed with sodium arsenite exhibited a significant lessening in the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase and glutathione peroxidase (GPx). Uterine DNA breakage, necrosis, ovarian and uterine tissue damage, disruption in steroidogenesis were also found in arsenic treated rats. Co-administration of NAC at different doses (50 mg/kg body weight, 100 mg/kg body weight, respectively) significantly reversed the action of uterine oxidative stress markers like malondialdehyde (MDA), conjugated dienes (CD) and non protein soluble thiol (NPSH); and noticeably improved antioxidant status of the arsenic fed rats. This ultimately resulted in the uterine tissue repairing followed by improvement of ovarian steroidogenesis. However, this effective function of NAC might be crucial for the restoration of arsenic-induced female reproductive organ damage in rats. Keywords: Arsenic, N-acetyl-l-cysteine, Oxidative stress, Uteru

Study of filamentary behaviour in coaxial dielectric barrier discharge lamp

889-892In this study, filamentary discharges have been investigated at 1.5 mm dielectric-dielectric electrode gap of a coaxial dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) quartz tube filled with nitrogen gas. Different types of discharge patterns have been established in the tube using alternating field (35-45 kHz). Electrical characteristics of the discharge have been investigated, which mainly depend on gas pressure, applied frequency and voltage amplitude. The on set of the discharge current occurs earlier at higher operating voltage due to the increased value of E/n, where E is the electric field and n is the neutral gas density. The observed phenomenon occurs due to increase in rate of voltage rise time. At higher voltage, increase in net current increases the chances of electron impact. Analysis of the voltage versus charge plot (lissajous figure) supports the theory of capacitances of a double barrier discharge. The energy consumed per cycle of the DBD source measured using lissajous figure is few milli joules. Energy consumption per cycle is the key parameter for evaluating the efficiency of the device

Genetic Mapping to Detect Stringent QTLs Using 1k-RiCA SNP Genotyping Platform from the New Landrace Associated with Salt Tolerance at the Seedling Stage in Rice

Rice is the world’s most important food crop, providing the daily calorie intake for more than half of the world’s population. Rice breeding has always been preoccupied with maximizing yield potential. However, numerous abiotic factors, such as salt, cold, drought, and heat, significantly reduce rice productivity. Salinity, one of the major abiotic stresses, reduces rice yield worldwide. This study was conducted to determine new quantitative trait loci (QTLs) that regulate salt tolerance in rice seedlings. One F2:3 mapping population was derived from a cross between BRRI dhan49 (a popular but sensitive rainfed rice variety) and Akundi (a salt-tolerant rice landrace in Bangladesh used as a donor parent). The 1k-Rice Custom Amplicon (1k-RiCA) single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers were used to genotype this mapping population. After removing segregation distortion and monomorphic markers, 884 SNPs generated a 1526.8 cM-long genetic linkage map with a mean marker density of 1.7 cM for the 12 linkage groups. By exploiting QGene and ICIM-ADD, a sum of 15 QTLs for nine traits was identified in salt stress on seven chromosomes. Four important genomic loci were identified (qSES1, qSL1, qSUR1 and qRL1) on chromosome 1. Out of these 15 QTLs, 14 QTLs are unique, as no other study has mapped in the same chromosomal location. We also detected 15 putative candidate genes and their functions. The ICIM-EPI approach identified 43 significant pairwise epistasis interactions between regions associated with and unassociated with QTLs. Apart from more well-known donors, Akundi serves as an important new donor source for global salt tolerance breeding initiatives, including Bangladesh. The introgression of the novel QTLs identified in this study will accelerate the development of new salt-tolerant varieties that are highly resistant to salt stress using marker-enabled breeding

Development of Cooling System for Gyrotron Collector

In this paper, the development of cooling system for 42 GHz, 200 kW gyrotron collector is presented. The design of the cooling duct has been finalized after different analyses such as, the fluid analysis, the thermal analysis, the structural analysis, etc. All analyses have been carried out by ANSYS software and the development of the cooling system based on the final design is performed

Corrigendum: Enhancing Abiotic Stress Tolerance to Develop Climate-Smart Rice Using Holistic Breeding Approach

Agricultural land and resources reduced annually because of climate change thus it is necessary to further increase the productivity of the major staple food rice to sustain food security worldwide. However, rice productivity enhancement is one of the key challenges in abiotic stress-prone environments. The integration of cutting-edge breeding approaches and research management methods in the current varietal improvement pipelines can make a step-change towards varietal improvement for the abiotic stress-prone environments. Proper implementation of breeder’s equations in the crop improvement pipeline can deliver a higher rate of genetic gain. Single Seed Descent based Rapid Generation Advance (RGA) technique in field and greenhouse is the most promising innovations and low-cost, high-throughput marker-assisted selection approaches are applied for rapid and efficient selection for abiotic stress-tolerances. Also improving efficiency, intensity, and accuracy of selection and reducing breeding cycle time through holistic rice breeding that can play an important role in developing climate-smart abiotic stress-tolerant rice for target environments. This information can use as the future direction for rice breeders and other researchers

Distinguish characterization of distinctness, uniformity and stability (DUS) test for BRRI dhan97 and BRRI dhan99 based on zadoks scale (Zadoks et al. 1974).

Distinguish characterization of distinctness, uniformity and stability (DUS) test for BRRI dhan97 and BRRI dhan99 based on zadoks scale (Zadoks et al. 1974).</p