Attitudes of undergraduates towards mental illness: A comparison between nursing and business management students in India

Background. Mental illness is an important public health issue worldwide; stigmatisation and negative attitudes towards people with mental illness are widespread among the general public. However, little is known about the attitudes of undergraduates to mental illness.  Purpose. To compare the attitudes towards mental illness among undergraduates enrolled in nursing courses v. those enrolled in Bachelor of Business Management (BBM) courses.  Methods. A cross-sectional descriptive design was adopted for the present study. A total of 268 undergraduates were selected to complete the Attitude Scale for Mental Illness (ASMI) and the Opinions about Mental Illness in the Chinese Community (OMICC) questionnaires.  Results. We found significant differences between the number of nursing and BBM students who agreed with statements posed by the questionnaires, e.g., that they would move out of their community if a mental health facility was established there (χ2=16.503, p<0.002), that they were not afraid of treated mentally ill people (χ2=15.279, p<0.004), and that people with mental illness tend to be violent (χ2=14.215, p<0.007) and dangerous (χ2=17.808, p<0.001). Nursing students disagreed that people with mental illness are easily identified (χ2=30.094, p<0.000), have a lower IQ (χ2=70.689, p<0.000) and should not have children (χ2=24.531, p<0.000). Nursing students were more benevolent than BBM students, as they agreed that people with mental illness can hold a job (χ2=49.992, p<0.000) and can return to their former position (χ2=11.596, p<0.021), that everyone faces the possibility of becoming mentally ill (χ2=38.726, p<0.000), and that one should not laugh at the mentally ill (χ2=17.407, p<0.002). Nursing students held less pessimistic attitudes, as they felt that the mentally ill should receive the same pay for the same job (χ2=10.669, p<0.031) and that the public are prejudiced towards people with mental illness (χ2=17.604, p<0.001). Conclusion. College students’ attitudes towards people with mental illness vary based on the course that they are enrolled in. Attitudes may be positively improved by revising curriculum design to incorporate educational sessions about mental illness. These are essential steps to combat discrimination, and potentially enhance the promotion of human rights for the mentally ill

Geospatial Technologies in the extraction of Groundwater Potential Zones

The utmost source which is contributing to the supply of water to the society is groundwater. Depletion of undergroundwater is enormously caused by eruptive growing rate of human population along with needs in the form of industrialand urbanized growth, indigent practices in irrigation methods and deforestation. As surface fresh water is very limit, waterdemand is drastically increasing for the needs. In this connection, there is immense predominant for the natural sourcecalled groundwater. It is mandatory for the communities not only to targeting the resource called groundwater but also toprovide remedial measures to replenishment the groundwater. Enormous investigations are in the process globally, to meetthe requirement to compensate resource for the needs in all aspects. Geospatial techniques are playing vital role in theextraction of groundwater resources by means of spatial and temporal data variations along with its integration analysis inthe form of separable layers to derive the solutions. In this connection, Nandyal mandal of Kurnool is selected to demarcatethe potential zones of groundwater by using this geospatial technology.The main motto of the research work is to identifythe effective potential groundwater zones by applying methodsand integration techniques of Geographic InformationSystem and remote sensing. This gives more information for the planning and management of the ground water.Byemploying geospatial technologies, the integrated composite output for potential zones is demarcated with help of keyparameters such as drainage, lineament, slope, geology, geomorphology, land use land cover and existing groundwaterlevels. All these thematic layers are extracted by using the satellite data and other available sources by using remote sensingand GIS. All these themes are demarcated using basic elements to identify the respective classes. Proper weightages areassignedtoeachclassofallthemesintheformofseparatecategorybasedonimportanceofweightagefromexcellenttopoor based on suitability to avail the groundwater sources. This process is applied for the considered themes and isreclassified based on results. It is then integrated with weighted overlay operation in ARCGIS environment. Appropriateweightage percentages which are equal to 100%, are given prior to overlay analysis of hydrology tools of ArcGIS. Variouszones like excellent, very good, good, moderate, poor are categorized for the integrated potential zones of groundwatersource. The use of suggested methodology is applied and demonstrated for a selected case study area in Nandyal Mandal ofKurnool District of Andhra Pradesh, India. Integrated output layout will be effectively useful in the demarcation of potentialresource zones. This demarcation area zone system is not only to identify the zones but also helpful in the replenishing theresources of the study area. The digital elevation model is also used to extract slope and drainage themes of the study area.The groundwater potential zones were obtained by overlaying all the thematic maps in terms of weighted overlay analysismethod using the spatial analysis tool in ArcGIS 10.1. This ground water potential information will be useful for effectiveidentificationofsuitablelocationsfor extractionofsuchgroundwater

Rapid Mapping of Landslides in the Western Ghats (India) Triggered by 2018 Extreme Monsoon Rainfall Using a Deep Learning Approach

Rainfall-induced landslide inventories can be compiled using remote sensing and topographical data, gathered using either traditional or semi-automatic supervised methods. In this study, we used the PlanetScope imagery and deep learning convolution neural networks (CNNs) to map the 2018 rainfall-induced landslides in the Kodagu district of Karnataka state in theWestern Ghats of India.We used a fourfold cross-validation (CV) to select the training and testing data to remove any random results of the model. Topographic slope data was used as auxiliary information to increase the performance of the model. The resulting landslide inventory map, created using the slope data with the spectral information, reduces the false positives, which helps to distinguish the landslide areas from other similar features such as barren lands and riverbeds. However, while including the slope data did not increase the true positives, the overall accuracy was higher compared to using only spectral information to train the model. The mean accuracies of correctly classified landslide values were 65.5% when using only optical data, which increased to 78% with the use of slope data. The methodology presented in this research can be applied in other landslide-prone regions, and the results can be used to support hazard mitigation in landslide-prone regions

Discovery of ferromagnetism with large magnetic anisotropy in ZrMnP and HfMnP

ZrMnP and HfMnP single crystals are grown by a self-flux growth technique, and structural as well as temperature dependent magnetic and transport properties are studied. Both compounds have an orthorhombic crystal structure. ZrMnP and HfMnP are ferromagnetic with Curie temperatures around 370 K and 320 K, respectively. The spontaneous magnetizations of ZrMnP and HfMnP are determined to be 1.9 μB/f.u. and 2.1 μB/f.u., respectively, at 50 K. The magnetocaloric effect of ZrMnP in terms of entropy change (ΔS) is estimated to be −6.7 kJ m−3 K−1 around 369 K. The easy axis of magnetization is [100] for both compounds, with a small anisotropy relative to the [010] axis. At 50 K, the anisotropy field along the [001] axis is ∼4.6 T for ZrMnP and ∼10 T for HfMnP. Such large magnetic anisotropy is remarkable considering the absence of rare-earth elements in these compounds. The first principle calculation correctly predicts the magnetization and hard axis orientation for both compounds, and predicts the experimental HfMnP anisotropy field within 25%. More importantly, our calculations suggest that the large magnetic anisotropy comes primarily from the Mn atoms, suggesting that similarly large anisotropies may be found in other 3d transition metal compounds

Akt-Induced Phosphorylation of N-CoR at Serine 1450 Contributes to Its Misfolded Conformational Dependent Loss (MCDL) in Acute Myeloid Leukemia of the M5 Subtype

10.1371/journal.pone.0070891PLoS ONE88-POLN

Activation of Akt by the Bacterial Inositol Phosphatase, SopB, is Wortmannin Insensitive

Salmonella enterica uses effector proteins translocated by a Type III Secretion System to invade epithelial cells. One of the invasion-associated effectors, SopB, is an inositol phosphatase that mediates sustained activation of the pro-survival kinase Akt in infected cells. Canonical activation of Akt involves membrane translocation and phosphorylation and is dependent on phosphatidyl inositide 3 kinase (PI3K). Here we have investigated these two distinct processes in Salmonella infected HeLa cells. Firstly, we found that SopB-dependent membrane translocation and phosphorylation of Akt are insensitive to the PI3K inhibitor wortmannin. Similarly, depletion of the PI3K regulatory subunits p85α and p85ß by RNAi had no inhibitory effect on SopB-dependent Akt phosphorylation. Nevertheless, SopB-dependent phosphorylation does depend on the Akt kinases, PDK1 and rictor-mTOR. Membrane translocation assays revealed a dependence on SopB for Akt recruitment to Salmonella ruffles and suggest that this is mediated by phosphoinositide (3,4) P2 rather than phosphoinositide (3,4,5) P3. Altogether these data demonstrate that Salmonella activates Akt via a wortmannin insensitive mechanism that is likely a class I PI3K-independent process that incorporates some essential elements of the canonical pathway

Caste Gender and Occupational Outcomes

This chapter discusses an important concern of public policy in India which is to ensure that all persons, regardless of gender, caste, or religion, are treated fairly in the jobs market. A key aspect of this relates to inter-group differences in the likelihood of attaining different levels of occupational success. The issue here is whether these differences in likelihood are justified by differences in the distribution of employee attributes or whether they are, wholly or in part, due to employer bias. This chapter attempts to answer these questions using unit record data from the Indian Human Development Survey relating to the period 2011–12. Of particular interest to this chapter is that the Survey provides details about the occupations of approximately 62,500 persons by placing them in one or more of 99 occupations; these are aggregated in chapter 4 into six broad occupational categories. Using these data, the chapter (focusing on men and women between the ages of 21 and 60) employs the methods of multinomial logit to estimate the probabilities of persons being in these occupational categories, after controlling for their gender/caste/religion and their employment-related attributes. The main focus is the issue of differences between men and women, and differences between persons belonging to different social groups, in their likelihood of being in the different employment categories. Data on these men and women were used to decompose the observed difference between the groups, in their average proportions in the different occupations, into an “employer bias” and an “employee attributes” effect

Innate Immune Response of Human Plasmacytoid Dendritic Cells to Poxvirus Infection Is Subverted by Vaccinia E3 via Its Z-DNA/RNA Binding Domain

Plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) play important roles in antiviral innate immunity by producing type I interferon (IFN). In this study, we assess the immune responses of primary human pDCs to two poxviruses, vaccinia and myxoma virus. Vaccinia, an orthopoxvirus, was used for immunization against smallpox, a contagious human disease with high mortality. Myxoma virus, a Leporipoxvirus, causes lethal disease in rabbits, but is non-pathogenic in humans. We report that myxoma virus infection of human pDCs induces IFN-α and TNF production, whereas vaccinia infection does not. Co-infection of pDCs with myxoma virus plus vaccinia blocks myxoma induction effects. We find that heat-inactivated vaccinia (Heat-VAC; by incubating the virus at 55°C for 1 h) gains the ability to induce IFN-α and TNF in primary human pDCs. Induction of IFN-α in pDCs by myxoma virus or Heat-VAC is blocked by chloroquine, which inhibits endosomal acidification required for TLR7/9 signaling, and by inhibitors of cellular kinases PI3K and Akt. Using purified pDCs from genetic knockout mice, we demonstrate that Heat-VAC-induced type I IFN production in pDCs requires the endosomal RNA sensor TLR7 and its adaptor MyD88, transcription factor IRF7 and the type I IFN feedback loop mediated by IFNAR1. These results indicate that (i) vaccinia virus, but not myxoma virus, expresses inhibitor(s) of the poxvirus sensing pathway(s) in pDCs; and (ii) Heat-VAC infection fails to produce inhibitor(s) but rather produces novel activator(s), likely viral RNA transcripts that are sensed by the TLR7/MyD88 pathway. Using vaccinia gene deletion mutants, we show that the Z-DNA/RNA binding domain at the N-terminus of the vaccinia immunomodulatory E3 protein is an antagonist of the innate immune response of human pDCs to poxvirus infection and TLR agonists. The myxoma virus ortholog of vaccinia E3 (M029) lacks the N-terminal Z-DNA/RNA binding domain, which might contribute to the immunostimulating properties of myxoma virus

Canagliflozin and Renal Outcomes in Type 2 Diabetes and Nephropathy

BACKGROUND Type 2 diabetes mellitus is the leading cause of kidney failure worldwide, but few effective long-term treatments are available. In cardiovascular trials of inhibitors of sodium–glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2), exploratory results have suggested that such drugs may improve renal outcomes in patients with type 2 diabetes. METHODS In this double-blind, randomized trial, we assigned patients with type 2 diabetes and albuminuric chronic kidney disease to receive canagliflozin, an oral SGLT2 inhibitor, at a dose of 100 mg daily or placebo. All the patients had an estimated glomerular filtration rate (GFR) of 30 to 300 to 5000) and were treated with renin–angiotensin system blockade. The primary outcome was a composite of end-stage kidney disease (dialysis, transplantation, or a sustained estimated GFR of <15 ml per minute per 1.73 m 2), a doubling of the serum creatinine level, or death from renal or cardiovascular causes. Prespecified secondary outcomes were tested hierarchically. RESULTS The trial was stopped early after a planned interim analysis on the recommendation of the data and safety monitoring committee. At that time, 4401 patients had undergone randomization, with a median follow-up of 2.62 years. The relative risk of the primary outcome was 30% lower in the canagliflozin group than in the placebo group, with event rates of 43.2 and 61.2 per 1000 patient-years, respectively (hazard ratio, 0.70; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.59 to 0.82; P=0.00001). The relative risk of the renal-specific composite of end-stage kidney disease, a doubling of the creatinine level, or death from renal causes was lower by 34% (hazard ratio, 0.66; 95% CI, 0.53 to 0.81; P<0.001), and the relative risk of end-stage kidney disease was lower by 32% (hazard ratio, 0.68; 95% CI, 0.54 to 0.86; P=0.002). The canagliflozin group also had a lower risk of cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction, or stroke (hazard ratio, 0.80; 95% CI, 0.67 to 0.95; P=0.01) and hospitalization for heart failure (hazard ratio, 0.61; 95% CI, 0.47 to 0.80; P<0.001). There were no significant differences in rates of amputation or fracture. CONCLUSIONS In patients with type 2 diabetes and kidney disease, the risk of kidney failure and cardiovascular events was lower in the canagliflozin group than in the placebo group at a median follow-up of 2.62 years