Synthesis Of Carbohydrate Functionalized Dendrons For Use As Multivalent Scaffold And In Self-Assembled Structures

Carbohydrates are implicated in a large number of biological processes ranging from cell-cell interactions to bacterial and viral infection. Lectins are carbohydrate-binding proteins that are generally specific for certain sugars. However, typical carbohydrate–lectin interactions tend to have very low monomeric binding affinities. In many cases, the binding of saccharide ligands by protein receptors can be improved significantly through the attachment of multiple saccharide residues to a common support. Dendronized polymers constitute a class of macromolecules whose nanoscale size, rigidity, and functionality can be controlled with precision by tuning their molecular architecture. It is hypothesized that due to their large size and tunable properties, carbohydrate-functionalized dendronized polymers can be designed to be highly efficient ligands for lectins. In the current work, we generated a library of dendronized polymers, with different generations of mannose-terminated dendrons conjugated to a polycaprolactone backbone to study their lectin binding abilities. This work also describes the self-assembly of amphiphilic linear-dendron hybrids synthesized from galactose-functionalized dendrons coupled with a linear polypeptide poly-γ-benzyl-L-glutamate (PBLG). Collectively, this work provides the synthesis and applications of mannose and galactose based glycodendrons and their applications in ultra-high multivalent scaffolds and self-assembled structures for carbohydrate-lectin binding studie

To study the impact of design considerations on customer satisfaction in a dialysis facility of a super-specialty tertiary care hospital in Delhi, India

Background: In recent times, patient focused hospital architecture is gaining attention. The current scenario demands to provide living spaces for families rather than ware houses for the sick. Attitudes, aspiration and values of the society must be clearly understood while planning a facility.Methods: This prospective cross sectional observational study was carried out over a period of one year at the Dialysis unit of a tertiary care, super specialty hospital in North India with the objective to establish that minor structural changes can enhance customer delight which includes patients and their attendants of a chronic disease patient population visiting a health care facility and satisfaction of the staff of the facility. The tool used was a structured 5 point Likert scaled questionnaire including unstructured interviews. These were held with 200 patients availing treatment in the old and new dialysis unit each and who have at least had three dialysis treatments within 6 months in the both the units. Also, for staff satisfaction, 25 staff working for at least one month in the old unit and new unit each. Data was analysed using SPSS 17.0 software.Results: Good design and quality of care were regarded important for patient experience. For patients, overall functioning and efficiency of the processes in the facility dependent on the design of the building was most important. Just over half of all surveyed patients felt that design impacted their relationship with their doctor and the quality of the care received. For attendants, waiting area including billing facility fetched the highest parameter for satisfaction. For staff the importance of access to support services, safety and provision of basic facilities resonated with the patient views presented above. Privacy, confidentiality and patient safety through careful design of waiting room, reception and consulting room were high staff priorities. Design that facilitated communication between team members also emerged as an important area although the change in design did not make much difference in emotional wellbeing and work life balance of the staff.Conclusions: This study did not yield sufficient data to confirm or refute either concept, though clearly this merit further investigation. Some unexpected findings were reported. Specifically, the survey data rated privacy and the availability of comfortable physical conditions as the highest priority for both staff and patients

Financial Well-Being: Individualistic Behavior

Namrata Jain's poster on a survey of people's financial well-being

Sinus histiocytosis with massive lymphadenopathy : is the lymph node enlargement always massive?

Sinus histiocytosis with massive lymphadenopathy (SHML) is a benign proliferating histiocytic disorder, predominantly of lymph nodes with extra-nodal involvement in some cases. It is a self-limiting disease and has a good prognosis; however some patients need steroid therapy. Therein lays a need to differentiate it from other lympho proliferative disorders of poorer prognosis. Clinically, it is suspected only when there is a significant lymph node enlargement in younger age group as the term signifies. Recently, we came across a case where a middle-aged female presented with a subtle swelling in submental region, clinically suspected of reactive or tubercular etiology. However on fine needle aspiration cytology, the smears showed many histiocytes, some of them showing lymphocytes and plasma cells in their cytoplasm, a morphological feature called as ?emperipolesis? classically seen in SHML. The present case is reported because of unusual clinical presentation and possibly the need for a revision of existing terminology

Examining the Impacts of Robot Service on Hotel Guest Experience

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI)The aim of the study is to assess the impact of robot service on hotel guest experiences. Application of technology in tourism and hospitality services is growing each day. Using robots in hospitality establishment is becoming more and more popular, mainly because it can help cut down the labor costs, increase efficiency and reduce human contacts. Very few studies, however, have been done on examining customer experience regarding robots used in the hotel. Social media sites such as TripAdvisor are popular platforms where people share their first-hand experiences. Hence, this study focuses on studying the reviews of robotic hotels. Using the software Leximancer, reviews were studied and categorized in different themes to understand if the presence of the robot would create positive or negative experience for customers. The sample of the study included total of 2383 reviews related to robotic hotels from TripAdvisor from January 2011 to October 2020. The findings highlighted the major themes as Room, Robot, Hotel and Staff and their relationship with the ratings. It also provided insights into the contribution of robot service to consumer’s hotel experiences.2021-12-0

COVID-19 disease and comorbidity: an outcome? A study on Indian population in a COVID care hospital

Background: The world has been severely affected by the novel coronavirus disease (Covid-19). Continuously rising number of cases has put a significant strain on healthcare resources of all countries of the world. Preliminary studies show that people suffering from comorbid conditions are at a relatively higher risk of severe disease and poor outcome.Methods: We studied the risk of ICU admission in 152 Covid-19 positive patients with comorbidity compared to those without comorbid conditions. We studied effect of old age (>65 years), male sex, presence of at least one comorbidity, presence of multiple comorbidities, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, CAD, respiratory disease, neurological disease, skin disease, and hypothyroidism on outcome of coronavirus disease with two tailed Student’s t-test, odds ratio, Chi-square test was used to test significance of results at 95% confidence interval 95% (95% CI). Fisher’s test was also used if one expected value (row total × column total/grand total) was less than 5.Results: In this study, 23 (15.13%) required ICU care. We found higher odds of ICU admission in Covid-19 patients in case of presence of comorbid condition (OR=7.3, 95% CI=2.674, 20.038), diabetes mellitus (OR=2.8, 95% CI=1.035, 8.028), hypertension (OR=1.3, 95% CI=0.396, 4.258), coronary artery disease (OR=2.3, 95% CI=0.430, 12.978) and malignancy (OR=6.5, 95% CI=1.516, 28.54). Case fatality rate (CFR) of those with comorbid conditions was higher (7.55) compared to those without comorbidity (3.03).Conclusions: This study shows that presence of comorbid conditions in Covid-19 positive patients results in significantly higher risk of ICU admission and poor outcome

EFFECTS OF AEROBIC EXERCISE ON INDIVIDULAS WITH DOWN SYNDROME VIA TELEREHABILITATION

BACKGROUND: Most of the children and adolescents with Down’s syndrome (DS) have poor aerobic capacity, physical fitness and demonstrate diminished cognitive abilities. Recent studies suggest that increased physical activity may prove to be important for maintaining components of cognition, including memory along with physical fitness. In addition, there is interest among practitioners in determining the efficacy of virtual exercise classes, which can be more convenient for clients. However, it is unknown whether group exercise classes delivered over videoconferencing achieve desired outcomes—particularly in special populations such as those with DS. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effect of aerobic exercise practiced over video conferencing on physical fitness and cognition in individuals with DS METHOD: A pilot study was carried out with 5 individuals having DS. 10 weeks of an aerobic exercise protocol of moderate intensity was delivered via videoconferencing. Before and after the 10-week intervention, VO2max was estimated using a previously established method, and cognitive ability was assessed using a 61-item questionnaire. RESULT: Following the 10-week intervention, significant increases were noted for both aerobic fitness as well as cognitive abilities CONCLUSION: Aerobic exercises will help to maintain or improve physical fitness in individuals with DS. Perhaps more importantly, it is also apparent that aerobic exercise positively affects cognitive function as well. Videoconferencing is an effective platform for delivering aerobic exercise prescriptions in cases where in-person practice is not possible. Future work is needed to determine whether these outcomes are achieved with a larger sample and across a broader population of those with DS

To evaluate the efficacy of ropivacaine with dexmedetomidine and ropivacaine with dexamethasone in fascia iliaca compartment block for post-operative pain relief in fracture femur surgeries: A comparative randomized study

Background: Patients with femur fracture experience severe post-operative pain. Fascia iliaca compartment block (FICB) is a safe and effective approach for providing post-operative analgesia. Aims and Objectives: The aim of the study was to compare the post-operative pain relief with dexmedetomidine and dexamethasone with ropivacaine in FICB. Materials and Methods: This prospective, double-blinded, randomized controlled, and clinical study was done on 105 patients, with ASA physical status I-II, aged between 18 and 70 years, undergoing surgery for femur fracture. Patients were randomly allocated into three groups. All patients received FICB by landmark technique before spinal anesthesia. Group A patients received 38 mL of 0.25% ropivacaine and dexmedetomidine, Group B received 38 mL of 0.25% ropivacaine and dexamethasone and Group C received 38 mL of 0.25% ropivacaine. Patients were assessed for analgesia during positioning and post-operative period using visual analog scale (VAS). Hemodynamic parameters and time for first rescue analgesia were recorded. Results: The mean VAS score at 6 h after surgery was 0.74±0.95 in Group A, in Group B 2.26±0.95, and in Group C was 4.23±1.17, which was statistically significant (P<0.05). The time for first rescue analgesia was 13.03±1.79 h in Group-A, 8.31±1.11 h in Group B and 5.94±0.87 h in Group C (P<0.001). Conclusion: Addition of dexmedetomidine or dexamethasone to ropivacaine for FICB in femur fracture patients prolongs post-operative analgesia compared to ropivacaine alone

Evaluation of hair growth promoting activity of petroleum ether extract of Abrus precatorius Linn. on Wistar Albino rats

In present investigation was carried out to screening of hair growth promoting potentiality of petroleum ether extract of Abrus precatorius leaf. Preliminary chemical tests and TLC analysis revealed the presence flavonoids and saponins. Hair growth promoting activity of petroleum ether of Abrus precatorius was screened by considering different parameters which included time taken for covering bald patch, length of hair produced, percentage of hair follicles in anagen and telogen phases, time of hair growth initiation and completion and level of minerals in blood. The petroleum ether extract of Abrus precatorius showed a very good hair growth promoting activity at a dose of 300 mg/kg which was comparable to that of 2% minoxidil. After 30 days of treatment with test and standard drugs it was observed that, time taken for covering the bald patch, hair growth initiation and completion time and quantitative hair growth were found to be comparable to that of the standard drug. An increase in percentage of hair follicles turning from telogen phase to anagen phase was noted. The control treated group of animals showed poor hair growth for all the parameters. Keywords: Abrus precatorius Linn, Anagen, Catagen, Telogen, Minoxidi