Knowledge, attitude, and practice of pharmacovigilance among health care professionals in a tertiary care hospital: a cross sectional study

Background: Spontaneous reporting of Adverse drug reactions (ADRs) has played an important role in the detection of serious, unsuspected, and unusual ADRs previously not detected during the clinical trials. However, underreporting remains a major obstacle in the implementation of pharmacovigilance program. The present cross-sectional study was conducted to assess the knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) related to pharmacovigilance among the health-care professionals (HCPs) in Tirunelveli Medical College Hospital, Tamilnadu.Methods: To assess KAPs of Health care professionals toward pharmacovigilance and ADR reporting; a predesigned, structured, 12 item questionnaire was used.Results: A total of 200 questionnaires were distributed among the HCPs including Postgraduate, Interns and Staff nurses. 72.7% postgraduates, 54.29% interns and 52.63% of staff nurses were aware regarding the existence of a National Pharmacovigilance Program of India. 72.7% postgraduates, 65.71% interns and 52.63% staff nurses felt that ADR reporting is a professional obligation for them .Only 37.14% interns, 15.79% staff nurses and 11.4% postgraduates have been trained for reporting adverse reactions. Although all staff nurses (100%) followed by 79.50% postgraduates and 48.57% interns experienced ADR in their practice, only 31.58% staff nurses, 20.50% postgraduates and 11.43% interns have ever reported ADR to pharmacovigilance centre.Conclusions: The deficiencies in knowledge and attitude require urgent attention not only to improve the rate of spontaneous reporting, but also for enhanced safety of the patients. Pharmacovigilance should be included in the nursing curriculum and workshops should be conducted for the undergraduate and postgraduate medical students regularly

Development of a Multiplex PCR Assay for Detection of Shiga Toxin-Producing Escherichia coli, Enterohemorrhagic E. coli, and Enteropathogenic E. coli Strains

Escherichia coli O157:H7 and other pathogenic E.coli strains are enteric pathogens associated with food safety threats and which remaina significant cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. In the current study, we investigated whether enterohemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC), Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC), and enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC) strains can be rapidly and specifically differentiated with multiplex PCR (mPCR) utilizing selected biomarkers associated with each strains respective virulence genotype. Primers were designed to amplify multiple intimin (eae) and long polar fimbriae (lpfA) variants, the bundle forming pilus gene bfpA, and the Shiga toxin encoding genes stx1 and stx2. We demonstrated consistent amplification of genes specific to the prototype EHEC O157:H7 EDL933 (lpfA1-3, lpfA2-2, stx1, stx2, and eae-gama) and EPEC O127:H6 E2348/69 (eae-alfa, lpfA1-1, and bfpA) strains using the optimized mPCR protocol with purified genomic DNA (gDNA). A screen of gDNA from isolates in a diarrheagenic E. coli collection revealed that the mPCR assay was successful in predicting the correct pathotype of EPEC and EHEC clones grouped in the distinctive phyogenetic disease clusters EPEC1 and EHEC1, and was able to differentiate EHEC1 from EHEC2 clusters. The assay detection threshold was 2×104 CFU per PCR reaction for EHEC and EPEC. mPCR was also used to screen Argentinean clinical samples from hemolytic uremic syndrome and diarrheal patients, resultingin 91 % sensitivity and 84% specificity when compared to established molecular diagnostic procedures. In conclusion, our mPCR methodology permitted differentiation of EPEC, STEC and EHEC strains from other pathogenic E.coli; therefore, the assay becomes an additional tool for rapid diagnosis of these organisms.Instituto de Genética Veterinari

DECAF score at admission as a tool to predict clinical outcome in acute exacerbation of COPD

Background: The Dyspnea, Eosinopenia, Consolidation, Acidemia, and Atrial Fibrillation (DECAF) score at presentation is designed to predict the risk of death in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Aims and Objectives: To study the DECAF score at admission to predict the clinical outcome of the patients during hospitalization for acute exacerbation of COPD (AE-COPD). Materials and Methods: The study was conducted using a prospective cross-sectional observational study design in a tertiary care center in South India from April 2022 to March 2023. Patients were recruited based on specific inclusion and exclusion criteria. The data corresponding to the five variables of the DECAF score was obtained, and the relation to outcome measures such as survival, ventilation, and duration of stay was measured. Results: Two hundred consecutive patients were assessed. Based on the DECAF score, 102 patients (51%) were classified as low-risk, and this group had no mortalities. In the intermediate-risk group, the mortality rate was 7.4%; in the high-risk group, the observed mortality rate was 38.6%. The differences noted were significant statistically. Higher dyspnea grade as measured by extended Modified Research Council criteria was related to DECAF score was significant and with the outcome. Conclusion: Our study shows that the DECAF score at the initial presentation can be used as a reliable tool to predict the outcome of AE-COPD. Dyspnea grading can be used to predict mortality indirectly

Setting safety standards by designing a low-budget and compatible patient identification system based on passive RFID technology.

This paper outlines a large-scale audit for the enhancement of quality of care and staff and patient safety using passive RFID (Radio Frequency ID) wrist bands, which link to a patient's database, in order to reduce errors in patient care. It has been developed with a collaboration between the University Hospital, Birmingham, UK and Napier University, UK. The key feature of the work is the usage of passive RFID tags as an integral part of a low budget out-of-the box strategic patient information system which should be compatible with most hospital IT systems

Mental Health among Automobile industry workers in Chennai – A Cross-sectional study from a Single Industrial unit

Introduction: Working in a mentally healthy place is necessary for people. Adverse mental health conditions can lead to disruption in work which in turn causes absenteeism, low productivity, and financial constraints. This study intends to assess the levels of depression, anxiety and stress and to determine its associated factors among the workers in the automobile industry in Chennai. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 227 Automobile industry workers in Chennai, India. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect information about the socio-demographic and working details of the study subjects, while the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS -21) was used to assess mental health status. Descriptive variables were expressed as proportions, while Pearson's Chi-square test was used to study the association between dependent and independent variables. Results: A total number of 227 participants were included in the study. More than 80 % of the workers were permanent employees. The prevalence of Depression, anxiety and stress among the study subjects are 38.8%, 43.6 % and 26.9 %, respectively. Workers in the middle age group of 30- 39 years had a higher risk of developing depression, anxiety, and stress than those in the other age groups. For Depression, age, type of family, employment status, and working experience were statistically significant (p<0.05). The sleeping hours, comorbidities, substance use, co-worker support, and supervisor support of the workers were the factors that showed no association with Depression, anxiety, and stress. Conclusion: There is a need for attention to be paid to the development of a healthy psychosocial workplace climate which should be supported by stronger workplace support

Aerodynamic Design Improvement for an Intercity Bus

Intercity buses travel about 250 to 350 km in a stretch and usually are of sleeper coach mode. The exterior styling, sleeper comfort and aerodynamically efficient design for reduced fuel consumption are the three essential factors for a successful operation in the competitive world. The bus body building companies prioritizes the exterior looks of the bus and ignore the aerodynamic aspect. Scientific design of sleepers for increased comfort of the passengers is seldom seen. The overall aim of this project was to redesign an intercity bus with enhanced exterior styling, reduced aerodynamic drag and increased comfort for the passengers. Principles of product design were used to analyze the styling and comfort. The benchmarked high floor bus was redesigned with low - floor for reduced aerodynamic drag. The exterior was redesigned with emphasis on improvised aerodynamic performance and appealing looks. The interior was modified to meet aspirations of the commuters. The results of the redesigned exterior body showed a reduction of about 45% in coefficient of drag and overall aerodynamic drag reduction by 60% due to combined effect of reduced coefficient of drag and frontal area

SnO2-decorated multiwalled carbon nanotubes and Vulcan carbon through a sonochemical approach for supercapacitor applications

Multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and Vulcan carbon (VC) decorated with SnO2 nanoparticles were synthesized using a facile and versatile sonochemical procedure. The as-prepared nanocomposites were characterized by means of transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and Fourier transform infra red spectroscopy. It was evidenced that SnO2 nanoparticles were uniformly distributed on both carbon surfaces, tightly decorating the MWCNTs and VC. The electrochemical performance of the nanocomposites was evaluated by cyclic voltammetry and galvanostatic charge/discharge cycling. The as-synthesized SnO2/MWCNTs nanocomposites show a higher capacity than the SnO2/VC nanocomposites. Concretely, the SnO2/MWCNTs electrodes exhibit a specific capacitance of 133.33 F g−1, whereas SnO2/VC electrodes exhibit a specific capacitance of 112.14 F g−1 measured at 0.5 mA cm−2 in 1 M Na2SO4.S.A. thanks the Feng Chia University in Taiwan for the Visiting Professor appointment. The authors S.A. and T.L.V. thanks DST, New Delhi for the sanction of India–Spain collaborative research grant (DST/INT/Spain/P-37/11 dt.16th Dec 2011) and Generalitat Valenciana for the financial support through ACOMP/2014/137. In addition, acknowledgement is also given to the financial support of Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan, at the grant number of NSC-101-2221-E-035-031-MY3

Experimental studies on thermal protective coating for low pressure gas turbine blades

Paper presented at the 9th International Conference on Heat Transfer, Fluid Mechanics and Thermodynamics, Malta, 16-18 July, 2012.The thermal barrier coatings have many potential applications in the protection of gas turbine engine components, essentially the turbine blades. In this study micro analysis was carried out on Yitria stabilized zirconia (YSZ) coated turbine blades and the results are compared with the uncoated blades. We have used the atmosphere plasma sprayed thermal barrier coating with a thickness of 0.25 mm to withstand the high temperature of about 2000° C. A significant conclusion of the present study is that an increase in thermal coating thickness of 0.25 mm can ensure 50 % increase in the surface temperature of the turbine blades leading to a better thrust performance.dc201