Why are some Internet users more prone to adopt prudent Cybersecurity practices than others?

In this first of its kind study, we use the regulatory focus theory to suggest that some types of internet users are more vulnerable to cybersecurity threats than others. A questionnaire based survey was conducted with 222 students of a large public university. The findings of the study show that users with preventive focus were more likely to adopt and implement cybersecurity best practices than those with promotion focus. They also reported lesser number of cybersecurity attacks than students with promotion focus. The findings of the study are not only useful to the student community but also to organizations that employ them currently or will do so in future. Future avenues for research are also suggested for identifying and securing vulnerable internet users

How to Practice Academic Medicine and Publish from Developing Countries?

This is an open access book. The book provides an overview of the state of research in developing countries – Africa, Latin America, and Asia (especially India) and why research and publications are important in these regions. It addresses budding but struggling academics in low and middle-income countries. It is written mainly by senior colleagues who have experienced and recognized the challenges with design, documentation, and publication of health research in the developing world. The book includes short chapters providing insight into planning research at the undergraduate or postgraduate level, issues related to research ethics, and conduct of clinical trials. It also serves as a guide towards establishing a research question and research methodology. It covers important concepts such as writing a paper, the submission process, dealing with rejection and revisions, and covers additional topics such as planning lectures and presentations. The book will be useful for graduates, postgraduates, teachers as well as physicians and practitioners all over the developing world who are interested in academic medicine and wish to do medical research

Towards Pharmacovigilance Using Machine Learning To Identify Unknown Adverse Reactions Triggered By Drug-Drug Interaction

Adverse Drug Reactions (ADRs) are a major cause of morbidity and mortality in world. There is thus a growing need of methods facilitating the automated detection of drugs-related ADR; especially ADRs that were not known from clinical trials but later arise due to drug-drug interactions. In this research our goal is to discover the severe unknown Adverse Drug Reactions caused by a combination of drugs, also known as Drug-Drug-Interaction. We propose to use Association Rule Mining to find the ADRs caused by using a combination of drugs yet not known to be caused if these drugs were taken individually. For evaluation, we will test out the proposed strategies on real-world medical data extracted from the spontaneous adverse drug reaction reporting system called FAERS. The results mined by our tool will be checked both manually by literature review and then verified by domain experts for interestingness and accuracy

Text Mining From Drug Surveillance Report Narratives

Analysis of postmarket drug surveillance reports is imperative to ensure drug safety and effectiveness. FAERS (FDA Adverse Event Reporting System) is a surveillance system that monitors Adverse Events (AEs) from drugs and biologic products. The AEs are reported through MedWatch voluntary reports (initiated from patients and healthcare providers) and mandatory reports (initiated from manufacturers). Much of the information in the voluntary AE reports is narratives or unstructured text. The increasing volume of individual reports, estimated at more than one million per year, poses a challenge for the staff to review large volume of narratives for drug clinical review. We are developing a computational approach using Natural Language Processing and UMLS MetaMap biomedical software to parse the narratives, recognize named-entities in the text and extract consumer/patient and related drug indications and adverse drug reaction information. The goal is to develop a text mining tool that automatically extracts relevant information from the report narratives which can be stored in pre-defined data fields in the FAERS database for efficient searching and querying during clinical review process

The Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Mission: Overview and U.S. Status

The Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Mission is an international satellite mission specifically designed to unify and advance precipitation measurements from a constellation of research and operational microwave sensors. Building upon the success of the U.S.-Japan Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) of the United States and the Japan Aerospace and Exploration Agency (JAXA) will deploy in 2013 a GPM "Core" satellite carrying a KulKa-band Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR) and a conical-scanning multi-channel (10-183 GHz) GPM Microwave Imager (GMI) to establish a new reference standard for precipitation measurements from space. The combined active/passive sensor measurements will also be used to provide common database for precipitation retrievals from constellation sensors. For global coverage, GPM relies on existing satellite programs and new mission opportunities from a consortium of partners through bilateral agreements with either NASA or JAXA. Each constellation member may have its unique scientific or operational objectives but contributes microwave observations to GPM for the generation and dissemination of unified global precipitation data products. In addition to the DPR and GMI on the Core Observatory, the baseline GPM constellation consists of the following sensors: (1) Special Sensor Microwave Imager/Sounder (SSMIS) instruments on the U.S. Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) satellites, (2) the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer- 2 (AMSR-2) on the GCOM-Wl satellite of JAXA, (3) the Multi-Frequency Microwave Scanning Radiometer (MADRAS) and the multi-channel microwave humidity sounder (SAPHIR) on the French-Indian Megha-Tropiques satellite, (4) the Microwave Humidity Sounder (MHS) on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)-19, (5) MHS instruments on MetOp satellites launched by the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT), (6) the Advanced Technology Microwave Sounder (ATMS) on the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) Preparatory Project (NPP), (7) ATMS instruments on the NOAA-NASA Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) satellites, and (8) a microwave imager under planning for the Defense Weather Satellite System (DWSS)

Fracture healing following high energy tibial trauma: Ilizarov versus Taylor Spatial Frame

Introduction: The optimal treatment of high energy tibial fractures remains controversial and a challenging orthopaedic problem. The role of external fi xators for all these tibial fractures has been shown to be crucial. Methods: A fi ve-year consecutive series was reviewed retrospectively, identifying two treatment groups: Ilizarov and Taylor Spatial Frame (TSF; Smith & Nephew, Memphis, TN, US). Fracture healing time was the primary outcome measure. Results: A total of 112 patients (85 Ilizarov, 37 TSF) were identifi ed for the review with a mean age of 45 years. This was higher in women (57 years) than in men (41 years). There was no signifi cant difference between frame types (p=0.83). The median healing time was 163 days in both groups. There was no signifi cant difference in healing time between smokers and non-smokers (180 vs 165 days respectively, p=0.07), open or closed fractures (p=0.13) or age and healing time (Spearman's r=0.12, p=0.18). There was no incidence of non-union or re-fracture following frame removal in either group. Conclusions: Despite the assumption of the rigid construct of the TSF, the median time to union was similar to that of the Ilizarov frame and the TSF therefore can play a signifi cant role in complex tibial fractures

Development of Viral Vectors for Use in Cardiovascular Gene Therapy

Cardiovascular disease represents the most common cause of mortality in the developed world but, despite two decades of promising pre-clinical research and numerous clinical trials, cardiovascular gene transfer has so far failed to demonstrate convincing benefits in the clinical setting. In this review we discuss the various targets which may be suitable for cardiovascular gene therapy and the viral vectors which have to date shown the most potential for clinical use. We conclude with a summary of the current state of clinical cardiovascular gene therapy and the key trials which are ongoing

Effectiveness of Krishna Laddoo in treating malnutrition in anganwadi children

Background: This was a prospective pilot study to estimate the burden of malnutrition in the age groupof 2.5–5 years and to evaluate the usefulness of dietary changes in them. This research was conductedby the Department of Paediatrics Krishna Institute of Medical Sciences, Karad in selected Anganwadiat Rethare Bk., This study was undertaken to combat the issue of malnutrition of children’s in the agegroup of 2.5 to 5 years. According to WHO-Moderate Acute Malnutrition is defined by a weight-for-heightindicator between -3 and -2 z-scores (standard deviations) of the international standard or by a mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) between 11 cm and 12.5 cm. Severe Acute Malnutrition is defined by very low weight for height below -3z scores of the median WHO growth standards by visible severe wasting. The children identified with SAM & MAM were started on a high nutrition laddu called the Krishna laddu which was specially designed by the Krishna Institute of Medical Sciences Deemed To be University to cater to the deficiencies in malnourished children. The aim of the study was to determine the effectiveness of Krishna laddu in treating malnutrition in children aged between 2.5–5 years.Methods: This was a prospective study. Total of 43 children attending the 2 selected anganwadi adoptedby the Krishna Institute of Medical Sciences, Karad (aged between 2.5–5 years) were screened for malnutrition and graded according to Severe Acute Malnutrition and Moderate Acute Malnutrition and were given Krishna Laddu on a daily basis. Their anthropometry was serially recorded on a weekly basis over a period of 1.5 years to determine the effectiveness of the Krishna Laddu in improving the nutritional status in the malnourished children.Results: The prevalence rate of malnutrition was 23% (21% MAM and 2% SAM) in the children aged between 2.5–5 years the given population which was reduced to 8% MAM after their diet was added with Krishna Laddu.Conclusions: Krishna Laddu proved to be beneficial in the nutritional rehabilitation of malnourished children. The highlights of this research were: 1) early identification of malnutrition 2) prompt initiation of a nutritious diet to improve outcome 3) serial monitoring of these children to plot the outcome. 4) All the ingredients used for making the laddu are easily available in the kitchen. 5) The preparation is low cost, making it feasible for use in any setup

EXPRESSION. OF HYBRID VIGOUR AND DOMINANCE IN INTERVARIETAL CROSSES OF COTTON

Level of hybrid vigour and dominance estimates for six quantitative and qualitative parameters were examined in intervarietal crosses of nine cultivars of cotton. Results demonstrated that the parents and their F 1 hybrids differed significantly (P < 0.01) for all the traits studied indicating manifestation of heterosis for all the traits in at least one or more crosses. Highest average heterosis (32.41%), heterobeltiosis (16.37%) and dominance estimates (4.93) were found for number of bolls per plant. The extent of heterotic effects was appreciably influenced by the hybrid genotype, the direction of cross and the trait concerned. The cross Qalandri x Allepo-I may be selected as the superior hybrid combination which could be exploited in cotton breeding programme for developing new high yielding cotton varieties for commercial production