An Exploratory Study to Assess the Knowledge, Perception, Practice and Factors Influencing Non-adherence to Regular Exercise Regime among Elderly Women in Selected Community of Delhi

Introduction: The profound shift in the proportion of older or elderly Indians, taking place in the context of changing family relationships and limited social support system will bring with it a variety of social, economic and health care policy challenges.Objectives: The primary objective of the study was to assess the Knowledge, Perception and Practice of regular exercise regime among elderly women and to determine the factors influencing regular exercise regime among elderly women.Methods: The quantitative research approach with an exploratory survey research design was selected. 100 elderly women belonging to age group of 60-80 years were selected using purposive sampling technique from Tughlakabad extension, an urban area of Delhi. A structured interview schedule was used to collect the data. The data obtained was tabulated in Microsoft Excel Spread Sheet and was analyzed in terms of objective of the study using descriptive and inferential statistics.Results: The findings revealed that majority of the women were having average knowledge (80%) and good perception (89%) but almost half of them (48%) were having poor practice of regular exercise. The most common reasons for non-adherence to regular exercise regime were that exercise can be replaced with house hold works (71%) and difficulty to find time from busy schedule (67%). Knowledge and perception, knowledge and practice were found to be significantly related. A significant association was observed with knowledge regarding exercise regime and educational status of women whereas practice was found significantly associated with their family income, education and working status.Conclusion: The study findings revealed that although the elderly women had good perception and average knowledge about the regular exercise regime, their practice for the same was poor. It was observed that elderly women had access to public amenities like parks for walking and open gym for practicing different exercises so there is a need for motivation, encouragement and support from the family members and society so that they can utilize these facilities

The role of manganese dysregulation in neurological disease: emerging evidence

Manganese is an essential trace metal. The dysregulation of manganese seen in a broad spectrum of neurological disorders reflects its importance in brain development and key neurophysiological processes. Historically, the observation of acquired manganism in miners and people who misuse drugs provided early evidence of brain toxicity related to manganese exposure. The identification of inherited manganese transportopathies, which cause neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative syndromes, further corroborates the neurotoxic potential of this element. Moreover, manganese dyshomoeostasis is also implicated in Parkinson's disease and other neurodegenerative conditions, such as Alzheimer's disease and Huntington's disease. Ongoing and future research will facilitate the development of better targeted therapeutical strategies than are currently available for manganese-associated neurological disorders

An Update on the Phenotype, Genotype and Neurobiology of ADCY5-Related Disease.

Adenylyl cyclase 5 (ADCY5)-related phenotypes comprise an expanding disease continuum, but much remains to be understood about the underlying pathogenic mechanisms of the disease. ADCY5-related disease comprises a spectrum of hyperkinetic disorders involving chorea, myoclonus, and/or dystonia, often with paroxysmal exacerbations. Hypotonia, developmental delay, and intellectual disability may be present. The causative gene encodes adenylyl cyclase, the enzyme responsible for the conversion of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) to cyclic adenosine-3',5'-monophosphate (cAMP). cAMP is a second messenger that exerts a wide variety of effects via several intracellular signaling pathways. ADCY5 is the most commonly expressed isoform of adenylyl cyclase in medium spiny neurons (MSNs) of the striatum, and it integrates and controls dopaminergic signaling. Through cAMP pathway, ADCY5 is a key regulator of the cortical and thalamic signaling that control initiation of voluntary movements and prevention of involuntary movements. Gain-of-function mutations in ADCY5 have been recently linked to a rare genetic disorder called ADCY5-related dyskinesia, where dysregulation of the cAMP pathway leads to reduced inhibitory activity and involuntary hyperkinetic movements. Here, we present an update on the neurobiology of ADCY5, together with a detailed overview of the reported clinical phenotypes and genotypes. Although a range of therapeutic approaches has been trialed, there are currently no disease-modifying treatments. Improved in vitro and in vivo laboratory models will no doubt increase our understanding of the pathogenesis of this rare genetic movement disorder, which will improve diagnosis, and also facilitate the development of precision medicine approaches for this, and other forms of hyperkinesia

Endocrinal assessment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients as compared to control groups

Background: Hormones also take part in respiratory control via peripheral chemo receptors or by their local effects on the lungs and the airways. In chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients, respiratory muscles are required to work efficiently than normal individuals to establish a sufficient respiration. Changes in serum hormone levels of COPD patients adversely affect functioning of respiratory muscles. Objective of the study was to assess endocrinal profile in COPD patient with comparable control groups.Methods: A Hospital based Case control study conducted at Department of Pulmonary Medicine, Late B.R.K.M Government Medical College, Jagdalpur, Chhattisgarh, India during July 2016 to January 2017. Study included 75 diagnosed cases of COPD in which moderate, severe, very severe COPD was 25 in each of this group (per GOLD ‘s guideline) and compared to age matched 25 healthy control.Results: In this study serum growth hormone and serum testosterone showed significant difference between COPD cases and control group and fair significant difference in serum FSH between COPD cases and control groups. There was no significant correlation between serum growth hormone, serum testosterone and serum FSH with COPD grading. There was no statistically difference observed in serum LH (p=0.425) level between COPD cases and control groups. Present study showed there was statistically difference in FT3, FT4 and TSH level between COPD cases and control groups. There was significant negative correlation between FT4 levels between COPD grading. But no correlation seen between COPD grading and control with respect to serum FT3 and TSH level.Conclusions: Endocrinal assessment in present study showed significant decrease in serum growth hormone and serum testosterone in COPD patients, which are anabolic hormones. Early detection and correction of such an anabolic hormonal abnormality may prevent skeletal and diaphragmatic muscle weakness, and improve respiratory drive of COPD patients

Landmine Neutralization: Air Excavator

The Landmine Neutralization team’s goal is to help neutralize dangerous ordnance in wartorn areas around the world. To accomplish this, the project team is working with our client, the HALO Trust. They are the world’s largest demining non-governmental organization. The HALO Trust works in many countries to remove the debris of war, including improvised explosive devices, landmines, and unexploded ordnance. We are helping our client achieve their goals through designing, prototyping, and testing of an earth and debris excavator that uses air to excavate areas. This project will help HALO’s deminers clear debris and dust from war-torn areas to help in their effort of neutralizing potential improvised explosive devices and unexploded ordnance. The team found that even though there is commercially available excavation equipment, they are either expensive, too big and cumbersome, cannot be remotely operated and integrated into an excavator, or lack the precision. We will be focusing on designing our prototype to operate reliably in harsh environments while fulfilling our client’s specifications for the excavation unit. Our client requested us to design our excavation unit to be easily installed onto their Volvo full-size excavators and their custom-made rakes.https://mosaic.messiah.edu/engr2020/1001/thumbnail.jp

Psychiatric blood biomarkers: avoiding jumping to premature negative or positive conclusions

Blood biomarkers may provide a scientifically useful and clinically usable peripheral signal in psychiatry, as they have been doing for other fields of medicine. Jumping to premature conclusions, negative or positive, can create confusion in this field. Reproducibility is a hallmark of good science. We discuss some recent examples from this dynamic field, and show some new data in support of previously published biomarkers for suicidality (SAT1, MARCKS and SKA2). Methodological clarity and rigor in terms of biomarker discovery, validation and testing is needed. We propose a set of principles for what constitutes a good biomarker, similar in spirit to the Koch postulates used at the birth of the field of infectious diseases

Locality-oblivious cache organization leveraging single-cycle multi-hop NoCs

Locality has always been a critical factor in on-chip data placement on CMPs as accessing further-away caches has in the past been more costly than accessing nearby ones. Substantial research on locality-aware designs have thus focused on keeping a copy of the data private. However, this complicatesthe problem of data tracking and search/invalidation; tracking the state of a line at all on-chip caches at a directory or performing full-chip broadcasts are both non-scalable and extremely expensive solutions. In this paper, we make the case for Locality-Oblivious Cache Organization (LOCO), a CMP cache organization that leverages the on-chip network to create virtual single-cycle paths between distant caches, thus redefining the notion of locality. LOCO is a clustered cache organization, supporting both homogeneous and heterogeneous cluster sizes, and provides near single-cycle accesses to data anywhere within the cluster, just like a private cache. Globally, LOCO dynamically creates a virtual mesh connecting all the clusters, and performs an efficient global data search and migration over this virtual mesh, without having to resort to full-chip broadcasts or perform expensive directory lookups. Trace-driven and full system simulations running SPLASH-2 and PARSEC benchmarks show that LOCO improves application run time by up to 44.5% over baseline private and shared cache.Semiconductor Research CorporationUnited States. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Semiconductor Technology Advanced Research Network

Politics of Caste-based Exclusion and Poverty Alleviation Schemes in Rural India

While social inclusion and inclusive societies are commendable goals, and also reflected in legislation and policies, the persistence of poverty and social deprivation suggests the need engage with how In spite of legislation prohibiting caste-based exclusionary practices in India, and implementation of reservation policies and welfare schemes, the vast majority of the Dalits – the so-called ‘lower castes’ continue to Caste-based stratification represents one of the most pervasive forms of social exclusion injustice with the so-called ‘lower castes’ or Dalits having been historically exposed to multiple exclusions and the majority continuing to experience social deprivation and poverty. Associated with the Hindu tradition, the caste ideology legitimises inequality according to the status of birth, restricts interactions between the castes, and accords differential privileges according to where a person is placed in the caste ladder. Since gaining Independence, the government of India has enacted legislation penalising caste-based exclusionary practices such as untouchability, and implemented reservation policies as well as welfare schemes to improve the upward mobility of the Dalits. This paper is concerned with the ways in which Dalits have been included in and benefited from such targeted legislation and schemes. Based on fieldwork conducted in 'Ambedkar' villages (with special programmes for Scheduled castes) and 'Non-Ambedkar' villages in Uttar Pradesh, it was found that, in spite of progressive legislations, schemes, central monitoring system and a pro-Dalit political party in power, there were no significant changes in the livelihood options of the Dalits in Ambedkar and non-Ambedkar villages. The paper shows that the relatively ‘high’ castes used their economic, political and patronage powers to influence the local government, implementing agencies and the police to subvert these schemes in their favour, resulting in the adverse incorporation of the Dalits into schemes specifically targeted to their benefit. The problem was compound by the fragmented nature of government and NGO interventions, which did not sufficiently recognize the interlocking and cumulative nature of the exclusions and atrocities experienced by poor Dalits, particularly with respect to their human rights, human development and human security in their daily lives. Under these circumstances, caste-based ideologies and practices continued to perpetuate the lower status of the Dalits by integrating them into programmes and schemes in accordance with dominant norms, values, rights and processes of inclusion and exclusion. The paper suggests that countering social inclusion and promoting secure and sustainable social inclusion of vulnerable groups involves unpacking and challenging the norms of inclusion that often validate the values of the more powerful, while discrediting which often favour the more powerful political and economic prorecognising the different ways in inclusion and exclusion which multiple the government and other concerned actors need to develop multiple strategies at different levels to develop more effective and sustainable ways of the Dalits in rural India

Peripheral Blood Cell Gene Expression Diagnostic for Identifying Symptomatic Transthyretin Amyloidosis Patients: Male and Female Specific Signatures

BACKGROUND: Early diagnosis of familial transthyretin (TTR) amyloid diseases remains challenging because of variable disease penetrance. Currently, patients must have an amyloid positive tissue biopsy to be eligible for disease-modifying therapies. Endomyocardial biopsies are typically amyloid positive when cardiomyopathy is suspected, but this disease manifestation is generally diagnosed late. Early diagnosis is often difficult because patients exhibit apparent symptoms of polyneuropathy, but have a negative amyloid biopsy. Thus, there is a pressing need for an additional early diagnostic strategy for TTR-aggregation-associated polyneuropathy and cardiomyopathy. METHODS AND FINDINGS: Global peripheral blood cell mRNA expression profiles from 263 tafamidis-treated and untreated V30M Familiar Amyloid Neuropathy patients, asymptomatic V30M carriers, and healthy, age- and sex-matched controls without TTR mutations were used to differentiate symptomatic from asymptomatic patients. We demonstrate that blood cell gene expression patterns reveal sex-independent, as well as male- and female-specific inflammatory signatures in symptomatic FAP patients, but not in asymptomatic carriers. These signatures differentiated symptomatic patients from asymptomatic V30M carriers with >80% accuracy. There was a global downregulation of the eIF2 pathway and its associated genes in all symptomatic FAP patients. We also demonstrated that the molecular scores based on these signatures significantly trended toward normalized values in an independent cohort of 46 FAP patients after only 3 months of tafamidis treatment. CONCLUSIONS: This study identifies novel molecular signatures that differentiate symptomatic FAP patients from asymptomatic V30M carriers as well as affected males and females. We envision using this approach, initially in parallel with amyloid biopsies, to identify individuals who are asymptomatic gene carriers that may convert to FAP patients. Upon further validation, peripheral blood cell mRNA expression profiling could become an independent early diagnostic. This quantitative gene expression signature for symptomatic FAP could also become a biomarker to demonstrate significant disease-modifying effects of drugs and drug candidates. For example, when new disease modifiers are being evaluated in a FAP clinical trial, such surrogate biomarkers have the potential to provide an objective, quantitative and mechanistic molecular diagnostic of disease response to therapy.We acknowledge the following sources of research funding: NIH U19 A1063603 (DRS, SMK), NIH DK46335 (JWK) and NIH R01AG19259 (JNB)info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Towards precision medicine for pain: diagnostic biomarkers and repurposed drugs

We endeavored to identify objective blood biomarkers for pain, a subjective sensation with a biological basis, using a stepwise discovery, prioritization, validation, and testing in independent cohorts design. We studied psychiatric patients, a high risk group for co-morbid pain disorders and increased perception of pain. For discovery, we used a powerful within-subject longitudinal design. We were successful in identifying blood gene expression biomarkers that were predictive of pain state, and of future emergency department (ED) visits for pain, more so when personalized by gender and diagnosis. MFAP3, which had no prior evidence in the literature for involvement in pain, had the most robust empirical evidence from our discovery and validation steps, and was a strong predictor for pain in the independent cohorts, particularly in females and males with PTSD. Other biomarkers with best overall convergent functional evidence for involvement in pain were GNG7, CNTN1, LY9, CCDC144B, and GBP1. Some of the individual biomarkers identified are targets of existing drugs. Moreover, the biomarker gene expression signatures were used for bioinformatic drug repurposing analyses, yielding leads for possible new drug candidates such as SC-560 (an NSAID), and amoxapine (an antidepressant), as well as natural compounds such as pyridoxine (vitamin B6), cyanocobalamin (vitamin B12), and apigenin (a plant flavonoid). Our work may help mitigate the diagnostic and treatment dilemmas that have contributed to the current opioid epidemic