Population structure and genetic differentiation among the substructured Vysya caste population in comparison to the other populations of Andhra Pradesh, India

The present paper focuses on the study of the patterns of genetic microdifferentiation among one of the substructured caste populations of Andhra Pradesh, namely Vysya, with reference to 17 other Telugu speaking populations from the same region of India. A total of 302 individuais from the three Vysya subgroups (101 of Arya Vysya, 100 from Kalinga Vysya and 101 from Thrivarnika) were typed in 17 blood groups and protein polymorphisms. Nei's gene diversity analysis, as well as neighbour-joining tree and UPGMA cluster diagrams, derived from standard genetic distances, R-matrix analysis and a regression model for investigating the patterns of external gene flow and genetic drift due to isolation under the island model, were done at two levels: (1) considering only the three Vysya populations and (2) considering common loci among 20 populations of Andhra Pradesh. Seven of the 17 systems investigated were found to be monomorphic among all the three Vysya groups. The UPGMA tree and bidimensional scaling of the D2 distances derived from R-matrix analysis show a very distinct cluster of Vysya populations. Application of the model of regression of average heterozygosity versus the distance of populations from the centroid shows the three Vysya populations placed as clear outliers above the theoretical regression line. Different approaches employed in this study give support to the hypothesis of different origin and/or demographic story for the three Vysya groups compared with other populations of Andhra Pradesh.Fil: Lakshmi, N.. Andhra University; IndiaFil: Demarchi, Dario. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Antropología de Córdoba. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Filosofía y Humanidades. Instituto de Antropología de Córdoba; ArgentinaFil: Veerraju, P.. Andhra University; IndiaFil: Rao, T. V.. Andhra University; Indi

Pressure Ulcer Risk and Prevention: Examining the Inter-Rater Reliability of the National Database of Nursing Quality Indicators® (NDNQI)

ABSTRACT Measuring and reporting performance have become the norm. The purpose of this descriptive multi-site (N = 36 NDNQI-participating hospitals) study was to examine the reliability of the National Database of Nursing Quality Indicators® (NDNQI®) pressure ulcer (PrU) risk and prevention measures. This is the first known study to examine the inter-rater reliability of these measures. Data for Part 1 of this two-part study were extracted from 1,637 patient records by 120 raters. One rater at each hospital was considered the "expert". Agreement between the expert and non-expert raters was calculated for the risk measures. Among the patients, 530 were "at risk" for PrU, and included in calculations of agreement for the prevention measures. In Part 2, raters completed an online survey about the methods they use to collect these data. Cohen's kappa values varied widely within and across hospitals. Because most patients were assessed for PrU risk, and those at risk received prevention, the prevalence of a "Yes" response was high suggesting prevalence-adjusted kappa (PAK) may be a better estimate of inter-rater reliability than Cohen's kappa. PAK values for: Skin assessment, PAK = .977, 95% CI [.966 - .989]; Risk assessment, PAK = .978, 95% CI [.964 -.993]; Time since last risk assessment, PAK = .790, 95% CI [.729 - .852]; Risk assessment scale, PAK = .997, 95% CI [.991 - 1.0]; Risk status, PAK = .877, 95% CI [.838 - .917]; Any prevention, PAK = .856, 95% [.769 - .943]; Skin assessment documented, PAK = .956, 95% CI [.904 - 1.0]; and Pressure-redistribution surface use, PAK = .839, 95% CI [.763 - .916] indicated substantial to near perfect agreement. PAK values for: Routine repositioning, PAK = .577, 95% CI [.494 - .661]; Nutritional support, PAK = .500, 95% CI [.418 - .581]; and Moisture management, PAK = .556, 95% CI [.469 - .643] indicated moderate agreement. Results provide support for the reliability of all (5) PrU risk measures, and three of six prevention measures. Areas of disagreement between the expert and non-expert raters should direct education to improve reliability. Results of the online survey suggest raters need further training on the NDNQI guidelines for PrU data collection

A prospective observational study on prescribing patterns of drugs used in alcoholic liver disease patients at tertiary care teaching hospital

Background: Rational drug prescribing can be defined as appropriate drugs prescribed in the right dose, at correct time intervals and for a sufficient duration. Alcoholic Liver Disease (ALD) and its complications are the principle cause for morbidity and mortality rate and accounts for elevated social and economic costs. The drug use will be a challenge for the physicians as there was no specific treatment for ALD, and decisions regarding treatment are critically depends on the symptoms and complications.Methods: A uni-centric prospective (observational) study was conducted for a period of 6months, to evaluate the current prescribing patterns used in treating ALD. All the patients admitted with diagnosis of ALD in General medicine department, both male and female medical wards were included in the study. General medicine outpatient department, special population such as pregnancy and psychiatry, patients below 18years and those who are not willing to sign in informed consent form was excluded from the study.Results: Number of males (98.02%) between age group 31-40years (29.6%) was more prone when compared to females (1.77%). Portal hypertension (30.35%) followed by jaundice (11.30%) and Ascites (10.71%) were frequently observed complications associated co-morbidities with ALD. WHO prescribing indicators showed deviation from there standard reference values. Diuretics (15.73%), antibiotics (13.14%), vitamin supplements (11.11%) and antacids (10.13%) categories were the most commonly prescribed for patients. The drugs prescribed from NLEM-2015 (82.11%) shows deviation from standard values.Conclusions: Futhermore, multi-centered studies should be conducted to draw best results on prescribing patterns of ALD in India

Reduction of Silver Ions by Cell Free Extracts of Westiellopsis

Biosynthesis of silver nanoparticles using Westiellopsis sp. (A15), a filamentous cyanobacterium belonging to the family Fischerellaceae, has been demonstrated. Aqueous silver ions (Ag+) when exposed to the culture filtrate of Westiellopsis were reduced in the solution, which were characterized by biophysical measures utilizing the UV-Vis spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and FTIR. The nanoparticles exhibited the maximum absorbance at 420 nm in UV-Vis spectroscopy, while the SEM micrograph revealed that the aggregated nanoparticles vary in size between 20 nm and 5 µm. However, the FTIR analysis provided evidence for presence of proteins in the filtrate to be involved in the reduction of silver ions

Observations on the monsoon prawn fishery in Kerala

The ban on trawling in Kerala from June 15th to July 30th coincides with the southwest monsoon. During the period fishermen venture into the sea with their traditional/motorised crafts and gears such as thermocol boats (Alapuzha) and Thanguvallom (Ernakulam and Thrissur). The latter is operated with outboard engines and operate up to 8 km from the shore. The thermocol boats fish very near the shore (up to 3 km). The gear operated are ring seines or thangu vala and gill nets. The unique phenomenon in the monsoon season known as mud-bank or ‘chakara’ is characterised by calm areas close to the shore

GCIP water and energy budget synthesis (WEBS)

As part of the World Climate Research Program\u27s (WCRPs) Global Energy and Water-Cycle Experiment (GEWEX) Continental-scale International Project (GCIP), a preliminary water and energy budget synthesis (WEBS) was developed for the period 1996–1999 from the “best available” observations and models. Besides this summary paper, a companion CD-ROM with more extensive discussion, figures, tables, and raw data is available to the interested researcher from the GEWEX project office, the GAPP project office, or the first author. An updated online version of the CD-ROM is also available at http://ecpc.ucsd.edu/gcip/webs.htm/. Observations cannot adequately characterize or “close” budgets since too many fundamental processes are missing. Models that properly represent the many complicated atmospheric and near-surface interactions are also required. This preliminary synthesis therefore included a representative global general circulation model, regional climate model, and a macroscale hydrologic model as well as a global reanalysis and a regional analysis. By the qualitative agreement among the models and available observations, it did appear that we now qualitatively understand water and energy budgets of the Mississippi River Basin. However, there is still much quantitative uncertainty. In that regard, there did appear to be a clear advantage to using a regional analysis over a global analysis or a regional simulation over a global simulation to describe the Mississippi River Basin water and energy budgets. There also appeared to be some advantage to using a macroscale hydrologic model for at least the surface water budgets

Synthesis of N-(3-arylprop-2-ynyl)substituted olanzapine derivatives as potential inhibitors of PDE4B

The linkage between dopamine D2 receptors and PDE activity via cAMP prompted us to design a series of novel N-(3-arylprop-2-ynyl)substituted olanzapine derivatives as potential inhibitors of PDE4B. The target compounds were conveniently prepared by using a simple and inexpensive method involving Pd/C-mediated CC bond forming reaction under Sonogashira conditions. A number of compounds were synthesized by using this strategy in good yields. Some of the compounds showed promising inhibition of PDE4B when tested in vitro that was supported by the docking studies

Anti diabetic effect of ethanolic extract of leaves of Ocimum sanctum in alloxan induced diabetes in rats

Background: Diabetes mellitus refers to a group of common metabolic disorders that share the phenotype of hyperglycemia resulting from defects of reduced insulin secretion, decreased glucose utilization and increase in glucose production. It is estimated that there are currently 285 million people worldwide and this number is set to increase to 438 million by the year 2030. India has the highest number of patients with known diabetes worldwide, with a prevalence of 11.6%. The aim of the study was to evaluate the anti diabetic activity of ethanolic extract of leaves of plant Ocimum sanctum in alloxan induced diabetes in rats.Methods: The study was conducted on 4 groups of 6 rats each to evaluate the hypoglycaemic effect of ethanolic extract of Ocimum sanctum. Glibenclamide was used as a standard drug and the results were compared in reference to it. Tween 80 was given for both normal and diabetic control groups. The fasting blood sugar levels were recorded on 1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th, 10th days by glucometer.Results: The results indicate that the test compound ethanolic extract of Ocimum sanctum has significant and sustained oral hypoglycaemic activity, comparable with the hypoglycaemic effect of glibenclamide, a sulfonylurea.Conclusion: The hypoglycaemic potential of the test compound is found to be comparable with that of the standard drug glibenclamide