A case control study on behavioural risk factors of anaemia among pregnant women delivered at a tertiary care hospital in Haryana

Background: Anaemia in pregnancy (AIP) is one of the most common preventable causes of maternal morbidity and poor prenatal outcome. World Health Organization (WHO) has accepted up to 11 gm/dl as the normal hemoglobin (Hb) level in pregnancy. In Haryana state, the prevalence of anaemia among pregnant women is 50.2% in urban areas and 58.1% in rural areas. Pregnant women are predominantly susceptible to nutritional deficiencies because of the increased metabolic demands imposed by pregnancy and its related factors. The aim and objective of the study was to determine the behavioural factors associated with anaemia among pregnant women delivering at a tertiary care hospital in Haryana.Methods: This hospital-based case control study was carried out in BPS Government Medical College for Women, Khanpur Kalan, Sonipat (Haryana). Study was conducted for one year. One hundred sixty-eight pregnant women were enrolled for study. Inclusion criteria for cases and controls was age of 18 years and above and residents of Sonepat district. Analysis was performed by using R statistical software.Results: The majority 57 (67.9%) of cases and 49 (58.3%) of controls were in age group of 18-24 years. Among different behavioral risk factors studied, not using bed nets, not wearing shoes consistently, eating pica and no use of the other drugs during pregnancy were significantly associated with anemia during pregnancy. However, on Multivariable Logistic regression analysis, the major behavioral risk factors for anemia were not using bed net during pregnancy (AOR: 1.83, 95% CI: 0.68-5.01), and not wearing shoes consistently during pregnancy (AOR: 2.77, 95% CI: 0.83-10.01). The odds of getting anaemia in pregnant mothers who reported pica during their pregnancy was AOR = 2.85 (CI: 0.90 – 10.01) than odds of mothers who did not report pica during their pregnancy.Conclusions: Consistent use of bed net, wearing shoes and not consuming pica prevent anaemia during pregnancy.

Synthesis of ferrofluid based nanoarchitectured polypyrrole composites and its application for electromagnetic shielding

The monodispersion of magnetic nanoparticles in conducting polymer is the prerequisite to make a high quality composite for tunable electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding. To meet this challenge, we have designed and synthesized ferrofluid based nanoarchitectured polypyrrole composites containing Fe3O4 (8-12 nm) via in situ oxidative polymerization. To tune the microwave signals, polypyrrole composites (PFF) with different monomer/ferrofluid weight ratios have been prepared and characterized in microwave frequency domain. A maximum shielding effectiveness value of SEA(max)) = 20.4 dB (similar to 99% attenuation) due to the absorption of microwave has been observed in the frequency range of 12.4-18 GHz and attenuation level varied with ferrofluid loading. The electrical conductivity of PFF composite is of the order of 10(-2) S cm(-1) order and having superparamagnetic nature with saturation magnetization (M-s) of 5.5 emu g(-1). The lightweight PFF composites with high attenuations can provide full control over the atomic structure and are favorable for the practical EMI shielding application for commercial electronic appliances

Microwave absorption properties of conducting polymer composite with barium ferrite nanoparticles in 12.4-18 GHz

Conducting polymer nanocomposites of polyphenyl amine with bariumferritenanoparticles(50–70nm) have been synthesized via emulsion polymerization. The complex permittivity, permeability, and microwave absorption properties of the composite were studied in the 12.4–18GHz (Ku band) frequency range. The composite has shown high shielding effectiveness due to absorption (SEA) of 28.9dB (∼99.9%), which strongly depends on dielectric loss, magnetic permeability, and volume fraction of bariumferritenanoparticles. The high value of SEA suggests that these composites can be used as a promising radar absorbing materials

Conjugated polymer nanocomposites: Synthesis, dielectric, and microwave absorption studies

Nanocomposites of polyaniline with barium ferrite and titanium dioxide (TiO2) are synthesized via in situ emulsion polymerization. The transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and high resolution TEM result shows the formation of array of nanoparticles encapsulated within the polymer chains during the synthesis process. The high value of microwave absorption, 58 dB (>99.999% attenuation) results from the combined effect of the nanoparticles and the polymer matrix. The amount of barium ferrite has the profound effect on permittivity (ε), permeability (μ), and microwave absorption of the nanocomposite. The contribution to the absorption value comes mainly due the magnetic losses (μ″) in barium ferrite and dielectric losses (ε″) in TiO2 and polyaniline

Shielding and dielectric properties of sulfonic acid-doped π-conjugated polymer in 8.2–12.4 GHz frequency range

This article deals with dielectric and electromagnetic interference shielding properties of the polyaniline doped with dodecyl benzene sulfonic acid (DBSA) synthesized by microemulsion polymerization of aniline in aqueous solution of DBSA. Dielectric constant and shielding effectiveness due to absorption (SEA) were calculated using S-parameter obtained from the vector network analyzer in 8.2–12.4 GHz frequency range. Maximum SEA of 26 dB (>99%) was achieved for polymer sample. The real part ε′ of complex permittivity shows small variation, whereas the imaginary part ε″ is found to decrease with the increase in frequency. Different formulations have been performed to see the effect of monomer to dopant ratio on intrinsic properties of polyaniline. Further characterization of polymer was carried out by UV–visible and thermal gravimetric analysis, whereas the conductivity measurements were carried out by the four-probe method

Synthesis of conducting ferromagnetic nanocomposite with improved microwave absorption properties

The present paper reports the synthesis of polyaromatic amine–ferromagnetic composite with nanosize TiO2 (∼70–90 nm) and γ-Fe2O3 (∼10–15 nm) particles via in situ emulsion polymerization. Magnetic and conductivity studies demonstrate that the conducting ferromagnetic composite possesses saturation magnetization (MS) value of 26.9 emu g−1 and conductivity of the order of 0.46 S cm−1, which are measured by vibrating sample magnetometer and four-probe technique, respectively. It is observed that the presence of the nanosized γ-Fe2O3 in the polyaniline–TiO2 matrix affects the electromagnetic shielding property of the composite. Polyaniline–TiO2–γ-Fe2O3 nanocomposite has shown better shielding effectiveness due to absorption (SEA ∼ 45 dB) than the polyaniline-γ-Fe2O3 (SEA ∼ 8.8 dB) and polyaniline–TiO2 (SEA ∼ 22.4 dB) nanocomposite. The polymer composites were further characterized by high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) technique