Assessment of inhalation technique and predictors of incorrect performance among patients of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma

Background: Poor inhalation technique is responsible for decreasing the efficacy of topical drug therapy in asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary                 disease (COPD). Certain steps of the inhalation technique are erred most often and if ascertained, can be rectified leading to an overall improvement in the technique. The predictors for poor use can also be marked.Methods: Inhaler technique for pressurised metered dose inhalers (pMDI), pressurised metered dose inhaler with spacer and dry powder inhaler (DPI) was assessed in one hundred and five patients who fulfilled the inclusion and exclusion criteria and were enrolled in this study. Inhaler technique was assessed using an ERAS/ISAM Task force report based scores and the lung function using pulmonary function test (PFT).The technique was re-assessed and scored after a period of three months along with the assessment of the lung function by PFT.Results: The mean of ERS/ISAM task force report based score for evaluation of the techniques of inhalation increased from 5.79±2.58 to 8.23±2.41 (p<0.0001) after intervention. The most commonly committed error in the inhalation technique was in step number eight, ten and four by patients using pMDI, pMDI with spacer and DPI, respectively. The faulty technique being the dependent variable/outcome could be explained 16% by the type of inhaler used (r2 = 0.1607) and this is statistically significant (p<0.0001), thus the type of inhaler used was a predictor of poor use.Conclusions: Inhaler techniques improved with systematic training and there was a trend towards improvement in lung function, hence the clinical condition

A luta por soberania epistêmica no Sul: uma homenagem a Sam Moyo

The present tribute to Sam Moyo brings to light his trajectory in the Pan-Africanist tradition of political economy and in the construction of a new autonomous intellectual dynamic between Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean. Born in Zimbabwe under the Rhodesian colonial regime, he began his studies in West Africa in the 1970s, where he obtained his enduring epistemological orientation based on national liberation. There an autochthonous thought of historical materialism was being consolidated at the time, and initiatives for tricontinental collaboration inspired by the Bandung movement were launched. In the following decades, in the neoliberal era, Sam became a world reference in agrarian and land issues, standing out in his defense of the African peasantry and land reform in Zimbabwe. Always faithful to the liberation of the peoples of the continent and the South, his approach integrated a wide range of issues related to development without disciplinary restrictions, making his mission nothing less than the transformation of the social sciences inherited from colonialism. He was the founder of several research initiatives and institutions in Zimbabwe, the continent and the South, being elected president of the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA) in 2008-2011 and having played a leading role in the construction of the Agrian South tricontinental network.El presente homenaje a Sam Moyo pone de manifiesto su trayectoria en la tradición PanAfricanista de la economía política y en la construcción de una nueva dinámica intelectual autónoma entre África, Asia, América Latina y el Caribe. Nacido en Zimbabwe bajo el régimen colonial de Rhodesia, comenzó sus estudios en África Occidental en la década de 1970, donde obtuvo su duradera orientación epistemológica basada en la liberación nacional. Allí se consolidó, durante esa época, un pensamiento autóctono del materialismo histórico y se lanzaron importantes iniciativas de colaboración tricontinental inspiradas en el movimiento Bandung. En las siguientes décadas, en la era neoliberal, Sam se convirtió en un referente mundial en temas agrarios, destacándose en su defensa del campesinado africano y la reforma agraria en Zimbabwe. Siempre fiel a la liberación de los pueblos del continente y del Sur, su enfoque integró una amplia gama de temas relacionados con el desarrollo sin restricciones disciplinarias, haciendo de su misión nada menos que la transformación de las ciencias sociales heredadas del colonialismo. Fue fundador de varias iniciativas e instituciones de investigación en Zimbabwe, en el continente y en el Sur, siendo elegido presidente del Consejo para el Desarrollo de Investigación en las Ciencias Sociales en África (CODESRIA) en 2008-2011 y habiendo desempeñado un papel protagónico en la construcción de la red tricontinental Sur Agrario (Agrarian South).A presente homenagem a Sam Moyo traz à tona a sua trajetória na tradição Pan-Africanista de economia política e na construção de uma nova dinâmica intelectual autônoma entre África, Ásia, América Latina e Caribe. Nascido no Zimbábue sob o regime colonial rodesiano, iniciou os seus estudos na África do Oeste nos anos 1970, onde obteve a sua duradoura orientação epistemológica pautada na libertação nacional. Ali se consolidava à época um pensamento autóctone do materialismo histórico e lançavam-se importantes iniciativas de colaboração tricontinental inspiradas no movimento de Bandung. Nas décadas seguintes, na época neoliberal, Sam se tornou referência mundial em questões agrárias e fundiárias, destacando-se na sua defesa do campesinato africano e da reforma agrária no Zimbábue. Sempre fiel à libertação dos povos do continente e do Sul, a sua abordagem integrava uma vasta gama de questões relativas ao desenvolvimento sem restrições disciplinares, fazendo de sua missão nada menos que a transformação das ciências sociais herdadas do colonialismo. Foi fundador de diversas iniciativas e instituições de pesquisa no Zimbábue, no continente e no Sul, sendo eleito presidente do Conselho para o Desenvolvimento da Pesquisa em Ciências Sociais em África (CODESRIA) em 2008-2011 e tendo protagonizado na construção da rede tricontinental Sul Agrário (Agrarian South)

Cardiometabolic Risk Factors in Pregnancy and Implications for Long-Term Health: Identifying the Research Priorities for Low-Resource Settings.

Cardiometabolic disorders (CMDs), including ischemic heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes are the leading causes of mortality and morbidity in women worldwide. The burden of CMDs falls disproportionately on low and middle-income countries (LMICs), placing substantial demands on already pressured health systems. Cardiometabolic disorders may present up to a decade earlier in some LMIC settings, and are associated with high-case fatality rates. Early identification and ongoing postpartum follow-up of women with pregnancy complications such as hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDPs), and gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) may offer opportunities for prevention, or help delay onset of CMDs. This mini-review paper presents an overview of the key challenges faced in the early identification, referral and management of pregnant women at increased risk of CMDs, in low-resource settings worldwide. Evidence-based strategies, including novel diagnostics, technology and innovations for early detection, screening and management for pregnant women at high-risk of CMDs are presented. The review highlights the key research priorities for addressing cardiometabolic risk in pregnancy in low-resource settings

iNCOVACC COVID-19 vaccine: A Twitter based Social Media Analysis Using Natural Language Processing, Sentiment Analysis, and Topic Modelling

Most, if not all, the vaccine candidates designed to counteract COVID-19 due to SARS-CoV-2 infection require parenteral administration. Mucosal immunity established by vaccination could significantly contribute to containing the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, which is spread by infected respiratory secretions. The world has been impacted on many fronts by the COVID-19 pandemic since early 2020 and has yet to recover entirely from the impact of the crisis. In late 2022 and early 2023, China experienced a new surge of COVID-19 outbreaks, mainly in the country's northeastern region. With the threat of new variants like XBB 1.5 and BF.7, India might experience a similar COVID-19 surge as China and needs to be prepared to avoid destruction again. An intranasal vaccine can elicit multiple immunological responses, including IgG neutralization, mucosal IgA production, and T-cell responses. In order to prevent further infection and the spread of COVID-19, local immune responses in the nasal mucosa are required. iNCOVACC is a recombinant vaccine vectored by an adenovirus that contains a SARS-CoV-2 spike protein that has been pre-fusion stabilized. This vaccine candidate has shown promise in both early and late-stage clinical trials. iNCOVACC has been designed for intranasal administration via nasal drops. The nasal delivery system was created to reduce expenses for those living in poor and moderate-income countries. The newly introduced intranasal COVID vaccine will be beneficial in mass immunizing the public as it does not need any syringe and can be proven to be an effective method to boost immunity against the SARS-CoV-2 virus. This study uses natural language processing (NLP) techniques to analyze the Indian citizen's perceptions of the newly developed iNCOVACC vaccine in social media. For this study, we have used social media posts (tweets) as data. We have analyzed 125,300 tweets to study the general perception of Indian citizens regarding the iNCOVACC vaccine. Our results have indicated 43.19% of social media posts discussing the COVID-19 nasal vaccine in a neutral tone, nearly 34.29% of social media posts are positive, and 22.5% of social media posts discussions are negative. The general positive feeling that the iNCOVACC vaccine will work and the risks in the new vaccine are the two significant aspects Indian citizens voice out in social media posts about the iNCOVACC vaccine

Implementation of GPS System using Blackfin Processor BF527

ABSTRACT In today&apos;s world, human beings want to stay connected with each other and their surroundings. Global Positioning System (GPS) is one of the technologies which is used to determine the exact position of various objects. It is more widely used for military purposes. Various equipments like GPS are increasingly driven by embedded processors, also entering the picture are embedded design needs that include securing intellectual property, lowering power dissipation, minimizing cost, and cutting development time. Blackfin is one such type of processors. In this paper we implement GPS system using BF527. The Software implementation is done using VDK++

SMARThealth Pregnancy: Feasibility and Acceptability of a Complex Intervention for High-Risk Pregnant Women in Rural India: Protocol for a Pilot Cluster Randomised Controlled Trial.

Introduction: India is in the process of a major epidemiological transition towards non-communicable diseases. Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death in women in India. Predisposing independent risk factors include pregnancy-related conditions, e.g., hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP) and gestational diabetes (GDM) - also associated with significant perinatal mortality and morbidity. Early identification, referral and management of pregnant women at increased risk of future CVD may offer opportunities for prevention. In rural India, Community Health Workers (CHWs) provide most antenatal and postnatal care. Innovative solutions are required to address integrated care for rural women during transitions between antenatal, postnatal and general health services. The George Institute's SMARThealth Programme has shown that CHWs in rural India screening non-pregnant adults for cardiovascular risk, using a decision support system, is feasible. Building on this, we developed a targeted training programme for CHWs and a complex system-level intervention that uses mobile clinical decision support for CHWs and primary care doctors to screen high-risk pregnant women. In addition to addressing HDP and GDM, the intervention also screens for anaemia in pregnancy. Methods/Design: A pilot study will be undertaken in two diverse rural districts of India: Jhajjar (Haryana) and Guntur (Andhra Pradesh). Two Primary Health Centre clusters will be randomised to intervention or control groups at each study site. The primary objective of this pilot study is to explore the feasibility and acceptability of the SMARThealth Pregnancy intervention. Secondary objectives are to estimate: (a) prevalence rates of moderate to severe anaemia, HDPs and GDM at the study sites; (b) referral and follow-up rates, and (c) mean haemoglobin and blood pressure values at the routine 6 week postnatal visit. A process evaluation will be conducted to explore the acceptability of the SMARThealth Pregnancy intervention for pregnant women and healthcare workers using qualitative methods. Discussion: It is anticipated that the findings of this pilot study will help determine the feasibility and acceptability of the SMARThealth Pregnancy intervention, and highlight how the intervention might be further developed for evaluation in a larger, cluster randomised controlled trial. Clinical Trial Registration: www.ClinicalTrials.gov, identifier: NCT03968952

Factor Analysis for Technology Management and Its Effectiveness in Indian Opencast Coal Mining

Coal holds utmost significance as a natural energy source propelling a nation’s industrial sector growth. Besides refining coal quality through adept mine technology management, contemporary mining grapples with multifaceted challenges encompassing human resettlement, land reclamation, forest preservation, pollution abatement, and efficient logistics. The coal mining sector serves as a tangible example where technology management assumes real-world importance. Despite adopting state-of-the-art methodologies, open-pit coal mining trails global standards. India’s coal industry faces persistent struggles in accessing suitable domestic coal, relying on imports despite considerable technological strides. Beyond augmenting production capacity or product innovation, technology innovation concepts empower Indian enterprises to reshape their industries. Technology management research within mining remains in its infancy, necessitating a comprehensive grasp of its implications on internal operations and strategic alignment for global competitiveness and effective technology leadership. This study aims to dissect the integral facets imperative for proficient technology management within opencast coal mining domains

Does a farmer's knowledge of minimum support price (MSP) affect the farm-gate price? Evidence from India

Purpose – This paper examines whether farmers' knowledge of the minimum support prices (MSPs) affects farm-gate prices. MSP is the minimum guaranteed price for agricultural commodities announced by the Government of India for 24 commodities. Most farmers in India prefer to sell their produce at the farm-gate due to a small marketable surplus and hence do not directly benefit from MSP. The authors test the common argument in the political discourse that if farmers have knowledge of MSP, then they can bargain with traders during the farm-gate transaction and demand a better price close to MSP. Design/methodology/approach – The authors use matching methods to examine the impact of knowledge of MSP on farm-gate prices. Findings – Using nationally representative data, the authors show that there is no empirical evidence that the knowledge of MSP of the crops leads to higher bargaining power and better farm-gate prices. Practical implications – Price information (MSP in this case) alone cannot improve the bargaining power of farmers and result in a better price realization. As a safety net, MSP fails in the absence of procurement of products by the government. This also raises the question of the equitability of the price support system in India and calls for a rethink of the MSP policy. Originality/value – This study is the first of its kind to examine the anchoring effect of knowledge of MSP on farm-gate prices using a nationally representative dataset