On a Dhole trail: examining ecological and anthropogenic correlates of Dhole habitat occupancy in the Western Ghats of India

Although they play a critical role in shaping ecological communities, many threatened predator species are data-deficient. The Dhole Cuon alpinus is one such rare canid with a global population thought to be < 2500 wild individuals. We assessed habitat occupancy patterns of dholes in the Western Ghats of Karnataka, India, to understand ecological and anthropogenic determinants of their distribution and habitat-use. We conducted spatially replicated detection/non-detection surveys of dhole signs along forest trails at two appropriate scales: the entire landscape and a single wildlife reserve. Landscape-scale habitat occupancy was assessed across 38,728 km2 surveying 206 grid cells of 188-km2 each. Finer scale habitat-use within 935 km2 Bandipur Reserve was studied surveying 92 grid cells of 13-km2 km each. We analyzed the resulting data of dhole signs using likelihood-based habitat occupancy models. The models explicitly addressed the problematic issue of imperfect detection of dhole signs during field surveys as well as potential spatial auto-correlation between sign detections made on adjacent trail segments. We show that traditional ‘presence versus absence’ analyses underestimated dhole habitat occupancy by 60% or 8682 km2 [naïve  =  0.27; ≏ ψL (SE) =  0.68 (0.08)] in the landscape. Addressing imperfect sign detections by estimating detection probabilities [ˆpt(L) (SE)  =  0.12 (0.11)] was critical for reliable estimation. Similar underestimation occurred while estimating habitat-use probability at reserve-scale [naïve  =  0.39; ˆψs (SE) =  0.71 (0.06)]. At landscape scale, relative abundance of principal ungulate prey primarily influenced dhole habitat occupancy. Habitat-use within a reserve, however, was predominantly and negatively influenced by anthropogenic disturbance. Our results are the first rigorous assessment of dhole occupancy at multiple spatial scales with potential conservation value. The approach used in this study has potential utility for cost-effectively assessing spatial distribution and habitat-use in other species, landscapes and reserves

Quantification of Apical Extrusion of Debris Using Five Different Retreatment Files, With and Without Solvent: An In-Vitro Study

Introduction: The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of five different Retreatment files with and without gutta percha (GP) solvent, by quantifying the apical extrusion of endodontic debris during retreatment procedure. Methods: 45 extracted human mandibular premolars were collected and prepared by performing root canal treatment and stored at 37 0C at 100% moisture were fixed inside the eppendorf tube to suspend the roots within the tubes. Samples were divided into nine groups, from Group 1 using H files with xylene as control and groups. Group 2 to 5 with subgroups   a & b, with and without solvent using ProTaper, Mtwo group,D-Race group and R-ENDO system respectively. The samples were weighed before and after retreatment to determine the weight of apical extrusion of debris using analytical weighing balance. The results were statistically analysed and tabulated. (p<0.05). Results: Debris extrusion was significantly higher in group 5b (R-ENDO Retreatment file system without the use of solvent) ie. 0.47±0.447mgs.  All the other test groups extruded some amount of debris apically with the range from 0.11±0.003 to 0.15±0.065 mgs. with no statistical significant difference among them. Conclusion: All the experimental retreatment file systems extruded some amount debris through apical foramen with no significant difference with file systems tested when used with or without the solvent and R-ENDO retreatment file with solvent. But R-ENDO rotary file when used with solvent, extruded least amount of debris among the experimental retreatment files, when used without the solvent.&nbsp

CLAIM: Clinically-guided LGE augmentation for realistic and diverse myocardial scar synthesis and segmentation

Deep learning-based myocardial scar segmentation from late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) cardiac MRI has shown great potential for accurate and timely diagnosis and treatment planning for structural cardiac diseases. However, the limited availability and variability of LGE images with high-quality scar labels restrict the development of robust segmentation models. To address this, we introduce CLAIM: Clinically-Guided LGE Augmentation for Realistic and Diverse Myocardial Scar Synthesis and Segmentation framework, a framework for anatomically grounded scar generation and segmentation. At its core is the SMILE module (Scar Mask generation guided by cLinical knowledgE), which conditions a diffusion-based generator on the clinically adopted AHA 17-segment model to synthesize images with anatomically consistent and spatially diverse scar patterns. In addition, CLAIM employs a joint training strategy in which the scar segmentation network is optimized alongside the generator, aiming to enhance both the realism of synthesized scars and the accuracy of the scar segmentation performance. Experimental results show that CLAIM produces anatomically coherent scar patterns and achieves higher Dice similarity with real scar distributions compared to baseline models. Our approach enables controllable and realistic myocardial scar synthesis and has demonstrated utility for downstream medical imaging task

Disrupting myeloid-specific LXRα phosphorylation promotes FoxM1 expression and modulates atherosclerosis by inducing macrophage proliferation

Macrophages are key immune cells for the initiation and development of atherosclerotic lesions. However, the macrophage regulatory nodes that determine how lesions progress in response to dietary challenges are not fully understood. Liver X receptors (LXRs) are sterol-regulated transcription factors which play a central role in atherosclerosis by integrating cholesterol homeostasis and immunity. LXR pharmacological activation elicits a robust anti-atherosclerotic transcriptional program in macrophages that can be affected by LXRα S196 phosphorylation in vitro. To investigate the impact of these transcriptional changes in atherosclerosis development, we have generated mice carrying a Ser-to-Ala mutation in myeloid cells in the LDLR-deficient atherosclerotic background (M-S196ALdlr-KO). M-S196ALdlr-KO mice fed a high fat diet exhibit increased atherosclerotic plaque burden and lesions with smaller necrotic cores and thinner fibrous caps. These diet-induced phenotypic changes are consistent with a reprogramed macrophage transcriptome promoted by LXRα-S196A during atherosclerosis development. Remarkably, expression of several proliferation-promoting factors including the proto-oncogene FoxM1 and its targets are induced by LXRα-S196A. This is consistent with increased proliferation of plaque-resident cells in M-S196ALdlr-KO mice. Moreover, disrupted LXRα phosphorylation increases expression of phagocytic molecules resulting in increased apoptotic cell removal by macrophages, explaining the reduced necrotic cores. Finally, the macrophage transcriptome promoted by LXRα-S196A under dietary perturbation is markedly distinct from that revealed by LXR ligand activation, highlighting the singularity of this post-translational modification. Overall, our findings demonstrate that LXRα phosphorylation at S196 is an important determinant of atherosclerotic plaque development through selective changes in gene transcription that affect multiple pathways

Trend of intestinal infectious diseases recorded at a tertiary care hospital in India: an ICD-10 analysis

The World Health Organization identifies the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in developing countries as infectious and communicable diseases. Health records coded uniformly using ICD-10 can form an accurate database and conclusions drawn from this are extremely important for understanding the public health situation.The aim of this study is to analyse the trend of intestinal infectious diseases recorded at a tertiary care hospital in India.A retrospective disease index study was conducted on data comprising 5317 cases from 2012 to 2016 for intestinal infectious diseases, analysed with ICD-10.Of these, 5.5% were from the age group 0-5 years; 57.66% were male; and 85% deaths in this cohort (62/73) were due to diarrhoea and gastroenteritis of presumed infectious origin.The findings of this study highlight an urgent need for health education among the population regarding infectious intestinal diseases and to redesign health promotion and preventive strategies for addressing these problems.</jats:p

Awareness and Utilization of Health Insurance Among Selected Population of State of Sikkim, India

On an average, 10% Indians are covered under different types of health insurance schemes, mostly inadequate. This low coverage might be because of lack of awareness about health insurance or might be because of lack of financial literacy. The aim of the present study was to investigate the awareness, and utilization of health insurance in the selected population of State of Sikkim. A cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out in northeastern region (NER) of India, which is considered as one of the backward regions of the country. Sample unit was revisiting Central Referral Hospital Manipal, Gangtok Sikkim. The study was conducted among 1500 Out-patients revisiting the various outpatient departments of the hospital. Finding was significant for awareness of health insurance; enrolment for the scheme; reason for non- enrolment. 49.9% of the non-enrollees were not aware of the health insurance schemes. 25.1% of the participants have utilized the services more than five times in a year. An important finding of the current study is that education and economic class seldom influence peoples’ enrollment in health insurance schemes. The study supports this statement as 89.6% of literates were from non-enrollees group and 77.7% were from lower middle class and upper lower income groups. This indicates the need for financial education for people and their families to take up better financial investment decision and increase their health security. Enhancing the financial literacy and to create awareness and benefits of health insurance among the people of the selected region is important. It is suggested that the issues related financial literacy can be taken up by insurance companies or the organizers by conducting more and more awareness programs in identified regions of low and moderate enrolment across the country

Quality of life among nurses working in different health care setting in the state of Karnataka, India

Context: Nurses reactions on stressors can be physiological, psychological and behavioral leading to stress related to mental and physical diseases that decrease well-being, satisfaction and quality of life. Aim: To investigate the quality of life (QOL) among nurses working in different healthcare settings in hospitals of Karnataka State, India. Settings and Design: This is a cross-sectional study carried out in two regions of Karnataka State, India with a total sample size of 501. Subjects and Methods: WHO evaluation instrument on Quality of Life World Health Organization Quality of Life-Brief Version (WHOQOL-BREF) is the tool used for collecting and analysing data. It composed of four domains: Physical health, psychological health, social relationships and the environmental domain. Statistical Analysis Used: The mean score of items within each domain is used to calculate the domain score. Transformed scores were estimated using the tables for standardizing scores from 0-100. SPSS 16.0 Version is used for statistical analysis. Results: For overall physical health status of nurses was "ill" in both the hospitals (34%; 23%) with significance at 0.01 levels. The mean score for psychological domain was least (41.83). Overall perception of QOL result showed significance at 0.01 level for all domains except for psychological domain. Conclusions: Hospital authorities and health managers of any type of health care setting need to plan for enhancing better quality of life for nurses by planning for better working environment by providing facilities for coping mental demands, software systems and work-rest schedules to reduce the jobs physical demands. Thus, enhance QOL of nurses resulting in better healthcare services to the community

Measuring Indian giant squirrel (Ratufa indica) abundance in southern India using distance sampling

A large body of work on the ecology of sciurids is based on comparing patterns of abundance across either space or time. However, in most cases investigators choose to use surrogate measures of abundance, such as indices based on species or sign encounter rates, or trapping rates. This requires the assumption that detection probabilities are equal at all sites (or time periods) sampled, an assumption that is difficult to meet under field conditions. We demonstrate the application of line transect-based distance sampling, a technique that explicitly models and accounts for detection probability, to estimate ecological densities of Indian giant squirrels in forested habitats. Line transect surveys were carried out at several sites and the number of detections included: 86 (Bandipur), 152 (Nalkeri), 110 (Sunkadakatte), 304 (Muthodi) and 236 (Lakkavalli). The encounter rates ranged from 0.179/km in Bandipur through 0.296/km (Nalkeri), 0.368/km (Sunkadakatte), and 0.625/km (Lakkavalli), to 0.779/km in Muthodi, while the estimated probabilities of detection were 0.517 (Bandipur), 0.532 (Nalkeri), 0.531 (Sunkadakatte) 0.548 (Lakkavalli) and 0.604 (Muthodi). The estimated mean squirrel densities (± standard error of the density) ranged from 2.37 (0.33) squirrels/km2 in Bandipur through 4.55 (0.44) squirrels/km2 in Nalkeri, 4.86 (0.62) squirrels/km2 in Sunkadakatte, to 10.20 (0.82) squirrels/km2 and 12.26 (1.10) squirrels/km2 in Muthodi and Lakkavalli respectively. We discuss design, field survey and data analytic considerations for rigorously estimating squirrel density and abundance

Implementation of International Classification of Diseases 10: Preparedness for E-medical records and health reporting

Context: International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD 10) define the universe of diseases that exist, and classify them according to specified criteria. World Health Organization (WHO) has mandated ICD 10 for health reporting by its member states. In India, few of the hospitals in the state are following the standard coding and reporting system. Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MOHFW), India, have notified the electronic medical records standards to be followed by health care providers in August, 2013 and recommended ICD 10 as reporting standard for both mortality and morbidity. The current study was carried out to promote standard reporting practices and implementation of ICD 10 coding system as per WHO/MOHFW reporting norms in a 150 bedded mission hospital in Udupi District of Karnataka State and successfully implemented with VI phase project. The phases included awareness and knowledge interviews, orientation, training, implementation, and testing. Although the standards and notification have been put up in government MOHFW web pages, it is suggested that the authorized bodies to mandate standard reporting of disease by all types of healthcare providers and upgrading/training programs to be extended to private healthcare sectors as well