Fabrication and characterisation of low density polyethylene (LDPE)/multi walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) nano-composites

Carbon nanotubes (CNT) have shown extraordinary electrical, mechanical properties as well as many other physical properties. The aim of this study is to explore the scope of CNT/LDPE nano-composites for engineering applications. Nano-composites of LDPE and MWCNT are generally prepared by using the melt blending method but in the present investigation these have been prepared by using solvent mixing method. Xylene has been used as a solvent which can dissolve low density polyethylene (LDPE) at about 125 °C. The solution of LDPE in xylene has been ultrasonicated with various percentages of MWCNT (0, 1, 2, 5, 10 wt% of MWCNT) composite to form thin film after drying. MWCNT used in this study have been synthesised by electric arc discharge method. Characteristics of these composites have been determined by Raman spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Raman spectroscopy revealed variation in intensity of CNT's peak with variation in concentration of CNT. The results indicated that intensity of CNT's peak was found to increase with the increase in concentration of CNT which indicated the type of interaction between polymer and CNT. SEM analysis reveals CNT-polymer interfacial adhesion and shows agglomeration of CNT's at some locations and presence of individual tubes at other locations. These investigations show that LDPE/MWCNT composites can be fabricated using simple solvent mixing method. Further investigation on the effect of MWCNT on mechanical, electrical and thermal properties of LDPE based composites are in progress

Study of Sleep Disorders among Young Children Using Hindi Translated and Validated Version of Pediatric Sleep Questionnaire

Objective: The objective of this study is to assess the prevalence of sleep disorders among children aging between 4 and 9 years using Hindi version of Pediatric Sleep Questionnaire (PSQ). Methods: This study had two parts first, translation and validation of PSQ into Hindi language, and second, assessment of the prevalence of sleep disorders using PSQ Hindi version. Hindi PSQ was distributed in randomly chosen primary schools in a semi-urban area. The children were requested to get them filled by their parents. When the questionnaires were returned, responses were analyzed. Results: Most of the items of the Hindi version had perfect agreement with original questionnaire in a bilingual population (κ =1). Totally, 435 children were included in the field study having average age of 6.3 years. Obstructive sleep apnea was reported in 7.5% children; symptoms suggestive of restless legs syndrome were reported by 2%–3%; teeth grinding by 13.9% and sleep talking by 22.6% children. Conclusion: PSQ Hindi version is a validated tool to screen for sleep disorders among children. Sleep disorders are fairly prevalent among young children in India

Evidence and gap map report: Social and Behavior Change Communication (SBCC) interventions for strengthening HIV prevention and research among adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) in low‐ and middle‐income countries (LMICs)

Abstract Background Adolescent girls and young women (AGYW), aged 15–24 years, are disproportionately affected by HIV and other sexual and reproductive health (SRH) risks due to varying social, cultural, and economic factors that affect their choices and shape their knowledge, understanding, and practices with regard to their health. Socio‐Behavioral Change Communication (SBCC) interventions targeted at strengthening the capabilities of individuals and their networks have supported the demand and uptake of prevention services and participation in biomedical research. However, despite growing global recognition of the domain, high‐quality evidence on the effectiveness of SBCC remains scattered. This evidence and gap map (EGM) report characterizes the evidence base on SBCC interventions for strengthening HIV Prevention and Research among AGYW in low‐ and middle‐income countries (LMICs), identifying evidence gaps and outlining the scope of future research and program design. Objectives The objectives of the proposed EGM are to: (a) identify and map existing EGMs in the use of diverse SBCC strategies to strengthen the adoption of HIV prevention measures and participation in research among AGYW in LMICs and (b) identify areas where more interventions and evidence are needed to inform the design of future SBCC strategies and programs for AGYW engagement in HIV prevention and research. Methods This EGM is based on a comprehensive search of systematic reviews and impact evaluations corresponding to a range of interventions and outcomes—aimed at engaging AGYW in HIV prevention and research ‐ that were published in LMICs from January 2000 to April 2021. Based on guidance for producing a Campbell Collaboration EGM, the intervention and outcome framework was designed in consultation with a group of experts. These interventions were categorized across four broad intervention themes: mass‐media, community‐based, interpersonal, and Information Communication and Technology (ICT)/Digital Media‐based interventions. They were further sub‐categorized into 15 intervention categories. Included studies looked at 23 unique behavioral and health outcomes such as knowledge attitude and skills, relationship dynamics, household dynamics, health care services, and health outcomes and research engagement. The EGM is presented as a matrix in which the rows are intervention categories/sub‐categories, and the columns are outcome domains/subdomains. Each cell is mapped to an intervention targeted at outcomes. Additional filters like region, country, study design, age group, funding agency, influencers, population group, publication status, study confidence, setting, and year of publication have been added. Selection Criteria To be eligible, studies must have tested the effectiveness of SBCC interventions at engaging AGYW in LMICs in HIV prevention and research. The study sample must have consisted of AGYW between the ages of 15–24, as defined by UNAIDS. Both experimental (random assignment) and quasi‐experimental studies that included a comparison group were eligible. Relevant outcomes included those at the individual, influencer, and institutional levels, along with those targeting research engagement and prevention‐related outcomes. Results This EGM comprises 415 impact evaluations and 43 systematic reviews. Interventions like peer‐led interactions, counseling, and community dialogues were the most dominant intervention sub‐types. Despite increased digital penetration use of media and technology‐driven interventions are relatively less studied. Most of the interventions were delivered by peers, health care providers, and educators, largely in school‐based settings, and in many cases are part of sex‐education curricula. Evidence across geographies was mostly concentrated in Sub‐Saharan Africa (70%). Most measured outcomes focused on disease‐related knowledge dissemination and enhancing awareness of available prevention options/strategies. These included messaging around consistent condom use, limiting sexual partners, routine testing, and awareness. Very few studies were able to include psychographic, social, and contextual factors influencing AGYW health behaviors and decisions, especially those measuring the impact of social and gender norms, relationship dynamics, and household dynamics‐related outcomes. Outcomes related to engagement in the research were least studied. Conclusion This EGM highlights that evidence is heavily concentrated within the awareness‐intent spectrum of behavior change and gets lean for outcomes situated within the intent‐action and the action‐habit formation spectrum of the behavior change continuum. Most of the evidence was concentrated on increasing awareness, knowledge, and building risk perception around SRH domains, however, fewer studies focused on strengthening the agency and self‐efficacy of individuals. Similarly, evidence on extrinsic factors—such as strengthening social and community norms, relationships, and household dynamics—that determine individual thought and action such as negotiation and life skills were also found to be less populated. Few studies explore the effectiveness of these interventions across diverse AGYW identities, like pregnant women and new mothers, sex workers, and people living with HIV, leading to limited understanding of the use of these interventions across multiple user segments including key influencers such as young men, partners, families, religious leaders, and community elders was relatively low. There is a need for better quality evidence that accounts for the diversity of experiences within these populations to understand what interventions work, for whom, and toward what outcome. Further, the evidence for use of digital and mass‐media tools remains poorly populated. Given the increasing penetration of these tools and growing media literacy on one end, with widening gender‐based gaps on the other, it is imperative to gather more high‐quality evidence on their effectiveness. Timely evidence generation can help leverage these platforms appropriately and enable intervention designs that are responsive to changing communication ecologies of AGYW. SBCC can play a critical role in helping researchers meaningfully engage and collaborate with communities as equal stakeholders, however, this remains poorly evidenced and calls for investigation and investment. A full list of abbreviations and acronyms are available in Supporting Information: Appendix F

Design and Feasibility Analysis of a Smartphone‐Based Digital Cognitive Assessment Study in the Framingham Heart Study

Background Smartphone‐based digital technology is increasingly being recognized as a cost‐effective, scalable, and noninvasive method of collecting longitudinal cognitive and behavioral data. Accordingly, a state‐of‐the‐art 3‐year longitudinal project focused on collecting multimodal digital data for early detection of cognitive impairment was developed. Methods and Results A smartphone application collected 2 modalities of cognitive data, digital voice and screen‐based behaviors, from the FHS (Framingham Heart Study) multigenerational Generation 2 (Gen 2) and Generation 3 (Gen 3) cohorts. To understand the feasibility of conducting a smartphone‐based study, participants completed a series of questions about their smartphone and app use, as well as sensory and environmental factors that they encountered while completing the tasks on the app. Baseline data collected to date were from 537 participants (mean age=66.6 years, SD=7.0; 58.47% female). Across the younger participants from the Gen 3 cohort (n=455; mean age=60.8 years, SD=8.2; 59.12% female) and older participants from the Gen 2 cohort (n=82; mean age=74.2 years, SD=5.8; 54.88% female), an average of 76% participants agreed or strongly agreed that they felt confident about using the app, 77% on average agreed or strongly agreed that they were able to use the app on their own, and 81% on average rated the app as easy to use. Conclusions Based on participant ratings, the study findings are promising. At baseline, the majority of participants are able to complete the app‐related tasks, follow the instructions, and encounter minimal barriers to completing the tasks independently. These data provide evidence that designing and collecting smartphone application data in an unsupervised, remote, and naturalistic setting in a large, community‐based population is feasible

Table_1_Digital neuropsychological measures by defense automated neurocognitive assessment: reference values and clinical correlates.DOCX

IntroductionAlthough the growth of digital tools for cognitive health assessment, there’s a lack of known reference values and clinical implications for these digital methods. This study aims to establish reference values for digital neuropsychological measures obtained through the smartphone-based cognitive assessment application, Defense Automated Neurocognitive Assessment (DANA), and to identify clinical risk factors associated with these measures.MethodsThe sample included 932 cognitively intact participants from the Framingham Heart Study, who completed at least one DANA task. Participants were stratified into subgroups based on sex and three age groups. Reference values were established for digital cognitive assessments within each age group, divided by sex, at the 2.5th, 25th, 50th, 75th, and 97.5th percentile thresholds. To validate these values, 57 cognitively intact participants from Boston University Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center were included. Associations between 19 clinical risk factors and these digital neuropsychological measures were examined by a backward elimination strategy.ResultsAge- and sex-specific reference values were generated for three DANA tasks. Participants below 60 had median response times for the Go-No-Go task of 796 ms (men) and 823 ms (women), with age-related increases in both sexes. Validation cohort results mostly aligned with these references. Different tasks showed unique clinical correlations. For instance, response time in the Code Substitution task correlated positively with total cholesterol and diabetes, but negatively with high-density lipoprotein and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels, and triglycerides.DiscussionThis study established and validated reference values for digital neuropsychological measures of DANA in cognitively intact white participants, potentially improving their use in future clinical studies and practice.</p