Frequency Dependence of Attenuation Constant of Dielectric Materials

Different dielectric materials have been studied for frequency dependence of attenuation constant. The sensitive cathode ray oscillograph method has been used to evaluate to the dielectric constant and loss factor, and from these attenuation constants have been calculated. The temperature remaining constant, a regular increase has been observed in attenuation constant, at higher frequencies of electro-magnetic propagating wave

Chemistry of Metal Dinitroanthranilates Part I

Copper and silver dinitroanthranilates have been prepared and the stoichiometry of the complexes have been determined by micro analysis, conductometric and potentiometric studies. The IR studies show the presence of -H/Sub2N M bond, where M is silver or copper. Various explosive properties such as explosion delay, explosion temperature and activation energy, explosion pressure, impact sensitivity, friction sensitivity and ballistic mortar power of the these dinitronthranilates have also been studied

HEALTH STATUS OF CHILDREN UNDER SCHOOL HEALTH SERVICES IN DOIWALA BLOCK, DEHRADUN

Background -The introduction of school health services in India dates back to 1909, when school children in the city of Baroda were given the first medical examination. School Health programme ,promoting basic check up of school children for a variety of health related problems, is a systematic effort in raising awareness about health issues among school children and their families. Good health increases enrollment and reduces absenteeism. It also ensures attendance of the poorest and most disadvantaged children to school, many of whom are girls. Aim- To study the morbidity status of the school children & elicit relationship of healthy habits with morbidity pattern. Study Type- Observational study Methodology- A cross sectional survey to find out the morbidity pattern was conducted on 757 school children (340 boys and 417girls), aged 5-16 years studying in class I-VIII in five different schools of Doiwala, Dehradun under Rural Health training centre, Rajeev Nagar. Results- Overall students attendance was 78.2%. Clinical anaemia was higher in Girls (46.7%) as compared to Boys (34.1%). Worm infestation was higher in boys (65.1%) as compared to Girls(57.3%). Over all abnormal Visual acquity(8.5%) or eye abnormality (14%) was noticed among study subjects. Dental Caries (53.1%) and dermatitis (16.3%) were more in boys. Healthy habits like daily bathing (82.6%), daily teeth brushing (61.1%), mouth rinsing after meal (53%) and hair clean/combed (80.2%) were more in girls as compared to boys while trimmed nail was equally (55%) noticed among both the groups. Conclusion- Morbidities found amongst students are basically due to low awareness & negligent behaviour about personal hygiene are the key areas of concern and by active involvement of school teachers improvement in personal hygiene of school children and reduction in related morbidities can be achieved

Dispositional antecedents of promotive and prohibitive voice

We propose that promotive voice, or the expression of suggestions for improving work practices in the organization, and prohibitive voice, or the expression of warnings about factors that can harm the organization, are differentially influenced by employees’ dispositional inclination to be approach and avoidance oriented. Drawing on multisource survey data from 291 employees and their managers, we found that approach orientation had positive relationship with promotive voice and negative relationship with prohibitive voice. By contrast, avoidance orientation had positive relationship with prohibitive voice and negative relationship with promotive voice. Further, voice role expectations, or employees’ beliefs about the extent to which a particular form of voice is expected from them in their daily work, moderated the effects of approach and avoidance orientations. Highlighting the unique nature of voice as a behavior that is especially sensitive to situational cues, the effects of approach and avoidance orientations on promotive and prohibitive voice were stronger when role expectations for that form of voice were weaker. The theoretical implications of these findings are discussed

Challenges in Vaccine Acceptance– A Framework & Toolkit for the COVID -19 Battle

During the first wave of this COVID-19 pandemic, India’s performance was relatively superior among the countries that had their first cases in January 2020. We grouped these countries as ‘January Cohort’ and analysed their relative performance (IJCH, April 2020), supporting India’s management. Fast forward to the present, India’s performance is woefully lacking, accounting for 30% of daily cases and 31% daily deaths with 18% of the world population [Worldometer Coronavirus database, June1,2021). On this same day, 50% of the countries worldwide (110 of 222) reported no deaths and 25% (57) without any daily new cases. Thus, we have faltered with a series of public health missteps despite a good start. The latest and the most remarkable failure of India is the vaccination, despite being the world’s foremost producer. Many of the poor performers initially in the January Cohort, such as UK and USA, focused on ‘vaccinating their way out of the pandemic’ since the roll out of vaccines in December2020. The results are in display starting February 2021- to date, with cases/ deaths on decline in these countries, while India is in a reverse direction. On June 1st, UK reported no COVID-19 deaths and USA had about 31% decline of 14-day moving average

Friend Turns Foe: Transformation of Anti-Inflammatory HDL to Proinflammatory HDL during Acute-Phase Response

High-density lipoprotein (HDL) is a major carrier of cholesterol in the blood. Unlike other lipoproteins, physiological functions of HDL influence the cardiovascular system in favorable ways except when HDL is modified pathologically. The cardioprotective mechanism of HDL is mainly based on reverse cholesterol transport, but there has been an emerging interest in the anti-inflammatory and antioxidant roles of HDL. These latter activities of HDL are compromised in many pathological states associated with inflammation. Further, abnormal HDL can become proinflammatory contributing to oxidative damage. In this paper, we discuss the functional heterogeneity of HDL, how alterations in these particles in inflammatory states result in loss of both antioxidant activity and reverse cholesterol transport in relation to atherosclerosis, and the need for assays to predict its functionality

Current approaches and advances in the imaging of stroke

A stroke occurs when the blood flow to the brain is suddenly interrupted, depriving brain cells of oxygen and glucose and leading to further cell death. Neuroimaging techniques, such as computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging, have greatly improved our ability to visualise brain structures and are routinely used to diagnose the affected vascular region of a stroke patient's brain and to inform decisions about clinical care. Currently, these multimodal imaging techniques are the backbone of the clinical management of stroke patients and have immensely improved our ability to visualise brain structures. Here, we review recent developments in the field of neuroimaging and discuss how different imaging techniques are used in the diagnosis, prognosis and treatment of stroke

Costs analysis of a population level rabies control programme in Tamil Nadu, India

The study aimed to determine costs to the state government of implementing different interventions for controlling rabies among the entire human and animal populations of Tamil Nadu. This built upon an earlier assessment of Tamil Nadu’s efforts to control rabies. Anti-rabies vaccines were made available at all health facilities. Costs were estimated for five different combinations of animal and human interventions using an activity-based costing approach from the provider perspective. Disease and population data were sourced from the state surveillance data, human census and livestock census. Program costs were extrapolated from official documents. All capital costs were depreciated to estimate annualized costs. All costs were inflated to 2012 Rupees. Sensitivity analysis was conducted across all major cost centres to assess their relative impact on program costs. It was found that the annual costs of providing Anti-rabies vaccine alone and in combination with Immunoglobulins was \$0.7 million (Rs 36 million) and \$2.2 million (Rs 119 million), respectively. For animal sector interventions, the annualised costs of rolling out surgical sterilisation-immunization, injectable immunization and oral immunizations were estimated to be \$ 44 million (Rs 2,350 million), \$23 million (Rs 1,230 million) and \$ 11 million (Rs 590 million), respectively. Dog bite incidence, health systems coverage and cost of rabies biologicals were found to be important drivers of costs for human interventions. For the animal sector interventions, the size of dog catching team, dog population and vaccine costs were found to be driving the costs. Rabies control in Tamil Nadu seems a costly proposition the way it is currently structured. Policy makers in Tamil Nadu and other similar settings should consider the long-term financial sustainability before embarking upon a state or nation-wide rabies control programme

ASSESSMENT OF EFFECTIVENESS OF TB POSTING DURING THE COMPULSORY ROTATORY RESIDENTIAL INTERNSHIP (CRRI) PROGRAMME

Research Question: What is the effectiveness of TB posting during the Compulsory Rotatory Residential Internship (CRRI) programme? Objectives: To assess the effectiveness of TB posting during the CRRI programme. To find out the need of making Tuberculosis & Respiratory Diseases Department posting mandatory during CRRI Programme. Study Design: Cross Sectional study. Study Duration: 12 months i.e. 01st April 2009 till 31st March 2010 Participants: 90 students who joined the CRRI programme formed the study group. Out of these 90 interns only 57 (64%) of them joined their two months Compulsory Rotatory Internship in the Department of Community Medicine and these were posted in Tuberculosis & Respiratory Diseases Department for 15 days. Methodology: A pre-designed pre-tested self-administered questionnaire was administered to the participants on the first day and last day of their posting in Tuberculosis & Respiratory Diseases Department. The results were analysed by using suitable statistical package. Results: The mean pre-test score was 28 (49.6%) and the mean post-test score was 38 (61.5%). It was observed that there was a 27% improvement in the knowledge of the participants when the question about the year of launching of RNTCP programme in India was asked. A remarkable improvement (46%) was found in the difference between pre and post-test knowledge of the participants when the questions like “Who are the DOTS providers” and “What is the colour coding of boxes for different categories of patients” were asked. A significant difference in the knowledge was found in the pre and post-test assessment in reference to Tuberculosis and its National Program

Joint B0 and image estimation integrated with model based reconstruction for field map update and distortion correction in prostate diffusion MRI

In prostate Diffusion Weighted MRI, differences in susceptibility values exist at the interface between the prostate and rectal-air. This can result in off-resonance magnetic field leading to geometric distortions including signal stretching and signal pile-up in the reconstructed images. Using a set of EPI data acquired with blip-up and blip-down phase encoding gradient directions, model based reconstruction has recently been proposed that can correct these distortions by using a B0 field estimated from a separate B0 scan. However, change in the size of the rectal air region across time can occur that can result in a mismatch of the B0 field to the EPI scan. Also, the measured B0 field itself can be erroneous in regions of low Signal to Noise ratio around the prostate rectal air interface. In this work, using a set of single shot EPI data acquired with blip-up and blip-down phase encoding gradient directions, a novel joint model based reconstruction is proposed that can account for changes in the off resonance effects between the B0 and EPI scans. For ten prostate patients, using a measured B0 field as an initial B0 estimate, on a 5-point scale (1-5) image quality scores evaluated by an experienced radiologist, the proposed framework achieved scores of 3.50+/-0.85 and 3.40+/-0.51 for bvalues of 0 and 500 s/mm2, respectively compared to 3.40+/-0.70 and 3.30+/-0.67 for model based reconstruction. The proposed framework is also capable of estimating a distortion corrected EPI image even without an initial B0 field estimate in situations where a separate B0 scan cannot be obtained due to time constraint