Health Technology Use in Noncommunicable Disorders: Challenges and Opportunities in India

Health care in India is undergoing a rapid change from its historical focus on acute disease management to a focus more on chronic and continuous care-based model for noncommunicable disorders. Health technology could be a game changer as it has a potential to optimize costs and effectively manage such operations. IT solutions are likely to become an integral part of process management, patient care and the hospital management information system in future. This brief communication describes the key enablers and limitations of using health technology in chronic diseases in developing countries like India

Health Technology Use in Noncommunicable Disorders: Challenges and Opportunities in India

Health care in India is undergoing a rapid change from its historical focus on acute disease management to a focus more on chronic and continuous care-based model for non-communicable disorders. Health technology could be a game changer as it has a potential to optimize costs and effectively manage such operations. IT solutions are likely to become an integral part of process management, patient care and the hospital management information system in future. This brief communication describes the key enablers and limitations of using health technology in chronic diseases in developing countries like India

Analysis of interacting discontinuities in microstrips by mode-matching technique

In this thesis a numerical technique to model general microstrip asymmetric and multiple step discontinuities is presented. The method is based on a magnetic wall waveguide model that is assumed to be valid for describing the electromagnetic fields associated with the microstrip line and in the vicinity of microstrip discontinuities. The fields are expanded in the uniform regions and the mode-matching method is applied at the discontinuities to analyze for the frequency dependent transmission properties of the multi ports. The generalized scattering matrix technique is used to model cascaded interacting discontinuities and is used to compute the properties of double-step and multi port structures. The generalized scattering matrix formulation takes into account the scattering phenomena of the dominant and all of the higher-order modes including evanescent ones. The validity of this model has been discussed extensively, and it is shown that the model can be used to describe the microstrip discontinuities with acceptable accuracy. The technique is applied (1) to study the transmission characteristics of asymmetric step discontinuities; (2) to design a filter for a desired frequency range using interacting asymmetric double step micros trip line; and (3) to design a new nominal 3db power devider of large bandwidth consisting of a three port rectangular patch. The techniques and models presented can be used in computer-aided analysis and design of such circuits

Connective tissue growth factor promoter activity in normal and wounded skin

In skin, connective tissue growth factor (CTGF/CCN2) is induced during tissue repair. However, what the exact cell types are that express CTGF in normal and wounded skin remain controversial. In this report, we use transgenic knock-in mice in which the Pacific jellyfish Aequorea victoria enhanced green fluorescent protein (E-GFP) gene has been inserted between the endogenous CTGF promoter and gene. Unwounded (day 0) and wounded (days 3 and 7) skin was examined for GFP to detect cells in which the CTGF promoter was active, α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) to detect myofibroblasts, and NG2 expression to detect pericytes. In unwounded mice, CTGF expression was absent in epidermis and was present in a few cells in the dermis. Upon wounding, CTGF expression was induced in the dermis. Double immunolabeling revealed that CTGF-expressing cells also expressed α-SMA, indicating the CTGF was expressed in myofibroblasts. A subset (~30%) of myofibroblasts were also NG2 positive, indicating that pericytes significantly contributed to the number of myofibroblasts in the wound. Pericytes also expressed CTGF. Collectively, these results indicate that CTGF expression in skin correlates with myofibroblast induction, and that CTGF-expressing pericytes are significant contributors to myofibroblast activity during cutaneous tissue repair

Comparison of empirical use of low dose aspirin and enoxaprin in the treatment of unexplained recurrent pregnancy loss

Background: Recurrent pregnancy losses have commonly been defined as three or more consecutive spontaneous pregnancy losses. About 1-2% of women suffer from recurrent miscarriages. The cause is multifactorial such as uterine anomalies, endocrine disorders, immunological causes, infections, chromosomal anomalies and maternal autoimmune diseases. In 50-60% of cases recurrent pregnancy losses, the cause remains unclear. Objective of this study was to compare the maternal and fetal outcome in patients with unexplained recurrent pregnancy loss treated with LMWH (Enoxaparin) vs Aspirin during pregnancy.Methods: Women with 3 or more pregnancy losses, aged between 18-40 years, booked for antenatal care and delivery in our hospital between January 2012 and December 2016 were followed till 6 months after delivery.Results: A total number of 146 women were assessed for eligibility. We had 62 women in Group A (aspirin group) and 84 women in Group E (enoxaparin group). Enoxaparin was given to all those ladies who had taken aspirin in previous pregnancies with no live outcome. Good neonatal outcome was observed with Enoxaparin.Conclusions: Live birth rates did not show significant difference between the two study groups. But empirical use of enoxaparin in patients with no live birth who have taken low dose aspirin in previous pregnancy had shown improved results, so enoxaparin should be used empirically as a first line agent in such cases

A training program on the International Model for Policy Analysis of Agricultural Commodities and Trade (IMPACT)

The CCAFS project team at IFPRI in collaboration with the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) team organized a 5-day capacity building workshop at the ICAR - National Institute of Agricultural Economics and Policy Research (NIAP). The workshop was conducted on IFPRI’s IMPACT model and was attended by scientists and senior scientists working in various ICAR institutes, particularly in NIAP. The training course introduced the IMPACT methodology, theory and scenario design to the participants. The course helped them gain an understanding on scenarios and scenario analysis. Participants learned how to use the network of models that make up IMPACT, how each module work and how they interact. They further learned to use IMPACT simulations, to design and run scenarios in IMPACT, and access and use IMPACT results correctly

STAR (Survey for ManagemenT of DiAbetes with FibeR-rich Nutrition Drink): A Pan India Survey to Understand the Physician and Patient Perspective Regarding the Role of Dietary Fiber Supplement in the Management of Type 2 Diabetes

Objectives: The aim of the STAR survey was to understand the physicians’ knowledge, attitude and perception regarding the role of nutritional dietary fiber supplements in the daily management of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). It also aimed to compare the changes in glycemic parameters as well as energy and satiety levels between patients taking a high-fiber supplement and those not taking a fiber supplement. Methods: Two cross-sectional pan-India surveys were conducted. The first was among 152 physicians who had >5 years of experience in treating patients with T2DM and treated >50 patients with T2DM per month. A self-administered paper-based questionnaire was used for the survey. The other survey was conducted among 3,042 patients with T2DM who were receiving treatment with antidiabetics. These patients were further categorized into the Horlicks Diabetes Plus (HDP) group, which consisted of 1,524 patients who had consumed the HDP fiber supplement for a minimum of 3 months and the non-HDP group, which included 1,518 patients who had never consumed HDP. Results: Almost all physicians prescribed fiber-rich nutritional supplements to their patients with T2DM and believed that dietary fiber has an important role in managing glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) values, healthy weight and cholesterol levels. Among the main benefits of HDP seen by physicians were improvement in satiety levels and increase in physical activity, reduction in HbA1c, fasting and postprandial glucose, and reduction in dose and/or number of hypoglycemic medications. All physicians recommended that it was important to increase awareness among patients as well as doctors regarding the benefits of HDP in patients with T2DM. Patients in the HDP group reported a mean decrease of 0.72 in their HbA1c value which was statistically significant at 3 months (8.04 at baseline to 7.32 at 3 months). In contrast, the non-HDP group showed a non-statistically significant decrease of 0.61 in HbA1c from a baseline value of 8.15. Furthermore, patients reported a significant decrease in weight of 3 kg in 3 months from baseline value of 72.11 kg to 69.11 kg. This reduction in weight was observed in 82% patients in the HDP group, while the non-HDP group showed an insignificant weight reduction from a baseline value of 72.14 kg to 71.46 kg in 3 months. About 83% of patients reported feeling full for longer periods of time and 92.62% reported feeling more energetic after starting HDP. The compliance and satisfaction rates with HDP were 96% and 75%, respectively. Conclusion: A high-fiber supplement taken along with patients’ existing antidiabetic treatment plan has the potential to decrease glycemic parameters and weight while increase the satiety and energy levels among patients with T2DM. However, these results need to be evaluated further with long-term clinical studies conducted in the real world.&nbsp

Design and Fabrication of Multi-finger Field Plate for Enhancement of AlGaN/GaN HEMT Breakdown Voltage

The design and fabrication of gate/source connected multi-finger field plate structures using TCAD ATLAS simulation software is presented. The designed field plate structures are fabricated on indigenous AlGaN/GaN HEMT devices. AlGaN/GaN HEMT devices with field plate structures exhibit about three times improvement in breakdown voltage of device and are in close agreement with the simulation results. Integration of field plates in device have resulted in higher VDS (drain to source voltage) operation and improvement in output power of AlGaN/GaN HEMT devices. Incorporation of field plates also decrease the reverse leakage current of HEMT devices

SYNTHESIS AND BIOLOGICAL EVALUATION OF NOVEL IMIDAZOLE BASED COMPOUNDS

Objective: Some new imidazole derivatives (3i-xii) were synthesized as per design synthetic protocol scheme. The structures of newly prepared compounds were confirmed by modern analytical technique and elemental analysis. Methods: All the synthetic compounds were screened for their antimicrobial activity against bacterial results showed good to remarkable activity. The MIC (minimum inhibitory concentration) values were determined by comparison to ciprofloxacin (anti-bacterial) and fluconazole (anti-fungal) as standard drug. Among them, compound 3iv and 3x exhibited notable antimicrobial activity. These compounds may be used as new template for the searching of potential antimicrobial agents. Results: The purity of the compound was verified with the help of TLC (B: A, 9:1). % age of yield was found 83% and melting point noted 151-1520C. Compounds (3ii, 3viii and 3ix) were shown moderate activity against E. coli, S. aureus, M. luteus and K. pneumonia, whereas compounds (3iii, 3vii, 3xi and 3xii) showed mild activity against few bacterial strainsμg/ml.  The compounds of electron releasing imidazole derivatives (3ii, 3iv, 3viii, 3ix, 3x and xi) presented comparatively better anti-fungal activity than the compounds of electron withdrawing imidazole derivatives (3iii, 3vii and 3xii). Conclusion: The biological activity result revealed that all the newly synthetic compounds 3i-xii [4-(biphenyl-4-yl)-2-(substituted phenyl)-1H-imidazole] exhibited better antibacterial activity as compared to antifungal activity in compare to reference drug.        Peer Review History: Received 7 February 2017;   Revised 11 March; Accepted 13 March, Available online 15 March 2017 Academic Editor: Dr. Asia Selman Abdullah, Al-Razi university, Department of Pharmacy, Yemen, [email protected] UJPR follows the most transparent and toughest ‘Advanced OPEN peer review’ system. The identity of the authors and, reviewers will be known to each other. This transparent process will help to eradicate any possible malicious/purposeful interference by any person (publishing staff, reviewer, editor, author, etc) during peer review. As a result of this unique system, all reviewers will get their due recognition and respect, once their names are published in the papers. We expect that, by publishing peer review reports with published papers, will be helpful to many authors for drafting their article according to the specifications. Auhors will remove any error of their article and they will improve their article(s) according to the previous reports displayed with published article(s). The main purpose of it is ‘to improve the quality of a candidate manuscript’. Our reviewers check the ‘strength and weakness of a manuscript honestly’. There will increase in the perfection, and transparency. Received file:        Reviewer's Comments: Average Peer review marks at initial stage: 6.5/10 Average Peer review marks at publication stage: 8.5/10 Reviewer(s) detail: Dr. Emmanuel O. Olorunsola, Department of Pharmaceutics & Pharmaceutical Technology, University of Uyo, Nigeria, [email protected] Dr. Xinwei Li, Jilin University, China, [email protected] This article has been cited by: Recent developments in orally disintegrating mini tablets Sachin Sarashetti, Vikas Jain, Gowda D V, Pooja Mallya, Satish Babu. International journal of research in pharmaceutical sciences 2020, 11(3), 3606-3612. Pubme

Synthesis of new Imidazole Derivatives as effective Antimicrobial Agents

In the present work, some new imidazole derivatives (3i-xii) were synthesized as per design synthetic protocol scheme. The structures of newly prepared compounds were confirmed by modern analytical technique (IR, 1H-NMR, Mass spectral data) and elemental analysis, results found in full agreement with their assigned structures. All the synthetic compounds were screened for their antimicrobial activity against bacterial strains viz. Escherichia coli (E. coli, MTCC 2961), Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus, MTCC 3160), Bacillus subtilis (B. subtilis, MTCC 121), Klebsiella pneumoniae (K. pneumoniae, MTCC 3040) and Micrococcus luteus (M. luteus, MTCC 7527)) and fungal strains viz. Candida albicans (C. albicans, MTCC 227), Aspergillus niger (A. niger, MTCC 277) and Aspergillus flavus (A. flavus, MTCC 418) ; results showed good to remarkable activity. The MIC (minimum inhibitory concentration) values were determined by comparison to ciprofloxacin (anti-bacterial) and fluconazole (anti-fungal) as standard drug. Among them, compound 3iv and 3x exhibited notable antimicrobial activity. These compounds may be used as new template for the searching of potential antimicrobial agents