Knowledge, Attitude and Practice on Blood Donation among Health Science Students in a University campus, South India

Background: The major part of demand for blood in India has been meeting through voluntary blood donations. The healthy, active and receptive huge student population is potential blood donors to meet safe blood requirements. However, there is a paucity of studies on awareness and attitude among health science students on voluntary blood donation. Objective: The objective of this study was to determine the knowledge and attitude about blood donation among health science students. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 410 health sciences students from different streams in a University campus of South India through a structured survey questionnaire in the year 2009. Results: The overall knowledge on blood donation was good, but majority (62%) of students never donated blood. Knowledge level was found highest among allied health science (53.1%) and lowest among pharmacy students (20.7%). ‘Feeling of medically unfit’ and ‘never thought of blood donation’ were the major reasons for not donating blood. A significant association was observed between different streams of students and levels of knowledge and attitude about blood donation. Conclusion: This study elicits the importance of adopting effective measures in our campuses to motivate about voluntary blood donation among students

Eco-friendly Sustainable Multiphase Polymer Systems for Advanced Functions

When Eric Fawcett and Reginald Gibson discovered polyethylene accidentally, they never realized how useful their discovery will be for mankind, similar to how Charles Goodyear’s idea of adding sulphur to polyisoprene would revolutionize the tire and other rubber industries. Although those discoveries centuries ago have never realized their current impact, however, the fact is undeniable on how polymer science has conquered the world, gaining an irreplaceable position from a utilitarian perspective

FATTY ACID COMPOSITION OF THE FRUITS OF SYZYGIUM ZEYLANICUM (L.) DC. VAR. ZEYLANICUM

Objective: Wild indigenous fruits are believed to be extremely nutritious, contributing a great deal to the general health of the tribal and rural population. To validate this claim, systematic studies are required to estimate their nutritional composition. The objective of the study was to analyze the fatty acid composition of Syzygium zeylanicum (L.) DC. var. zeylanicum.Methods: The fatty acid composition of S. zeylanicum var. zeylanicum fruits were analysed by GC-MS/MS.Results: The major fatty acids were cis-oleic acid (43.47±0.62 %) and linoleic acid (31.14±0.35%). Total monounsaturated fatty acids in the sample was 44.21%. Omega-6, omega-7 and omega-9 fatty acids were detected. The polyunsaturated fatty acids in thefruits were linoleic acid (31.14±0.35 %) and arachidonic acid (0.15±0.22 %), whereas 24.51 % of the total fatty acids were saturated. The ratio of unsaturated to saturated fatty acids was approximately 3:1. The order of abundance of fatty acids, in some of the healthiest oils, viz. olive, canola, peanut oils is, Oleic acid>Linoleic acid>Palmitic acid>Stearic acid and the same order was observed in the present study.Conclusion: Fruits of S. zeylanicum var. zeylanicum too shows a healthy balance between unsaturated and saturated fats.Â

A detailed study of methotrexate treatment in ectopic pregnancy

Methotrexate is a folic acid antagonist, it works by inhibiting the dihydrofolate by interfering with the DNA synthesis. Ectopic pregnancy is a life threatening condition that may cause maternal mortality. The main aim of this review to show the efficacy of systemic methotrexate and shows the importance of methotrexate treatment in management of ectopic pregnancy with surgical treatment and dosage regimen with protocol treatment. The selection criteria of candidates in this review is pregnant women with <5000miu/ml, adrenal mass <4cm, presence of peritoneum <100mland no sign of cardiac activity. Data collections are made from most relevant article between the periods of 1987-2020. Ectopic pregnancy is an emergency condition if not timely diagnosed and most of the cases where identified in first trimester

A review on the unexplored and underutilized Arenga species in India

The Genus Arenga which includes some of the magnificent palms of the world, their multipurpose utility and diversity is been reviewed to shed light on the wide potentialities of the different species. Of the 24 species reported only few of them has been recognized as candidates for domestication from the wild. Four species namely Arenga pinnata, A. obtusifolia, A. micranta and A. wightii have been reported from India. Their ecological aspects, utilization and conservation strategies of the tribal communities have been discussed. Seed biology of few species has been reviewed along with the available data generated through scientific studies. Although most of the members in this Genus have the potential to be explored commercially, they still fall into the underutilized category. The review is mainly intended to highlight the untapped resources from different species in this Genus which will promote more scientific studies and result in proper conservation and sustainable utilization of these valuable palms.&nbsp

Effects of Daily News Sentiment on Stock Price Forecasting

Predicting future prices of a stock is an arduous task to perform. However, incorporating additional elements can significantly improve our predictions, rather than relying solely on a stock's historical price data to forecast its future price. Studies have demonstrated that investor sentiment, which is impacted by daily news about the company, can have a significant impact on stock price swings. There are numerous sources from which we can get this information, but they are cluttered with a lot of noise, making it difficult to accurately extract the sentiments from them. Hence the focus of our research is to design an efficient system to capture the sentiments from the news about the NITY50 stocks and investigate how much the financial news sentiment of these stocks are affecting their prices over a period of time. This paper presents a robust data collection and preprocessing framework to create a news database for a timeline of around 3.7 years, consisting of almost half a million news articles. We also capture the stock price information for this timeline and create multiple time series data, that include the sentiment scores from various sections of the article, calculated using different sentiment libraries. Based on this, we fit several LSTM models to forecast the stock prices, with and without using the sentiment scores as features and compare their performances.Comment: 9th ICBAI conference on December'2022 at IIM Bangalor

Chitosan-based electroconductive inks without chemical reaction for cost-effective and versatile 3D printing for electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding and strain-sensing applications

The burgeoning interest in biopolymer 3D printing arises from its capacity to meticulously engineer tailored, intricate structures, driven by the intrinsic benefits of biopolymers—renewability, chemical functionality, and biosafety. Nevertheless, the accessibility of economical and versatile 3D-printable biopolymer-based inks remains highly constrained. This study introduces an electroconductive ink for direct-ink-writing (DIW) 3D printing, distinguished by its straightforward preparation and commendable printability and material properties. The ink relies on chitosan as a binder, carbon fibers (CF) a low-cost electroactive filler, and silk fibroin (SF) a structural stabilizer. Freeform 3D printing manifests designated patterns of electroconductive strips embedded in an elastomer, actualizing effective strain sensors. The ink's high printability is demonstrated by printing complex geometries with porous, hollow, and overhanging structures without chemical or photoinitiated reactions or support baths. The composite is lightweight (density 0.29 ± 0.01 g/cm3), electroconductive (2.64 ± 0.06 S/cm), and inexpensive (20 USD/kg), with tensile strength of 20.77 ± 0.60 MPa and Young's modulus of 3.92 ± 0.06 GPa. 3D-printed structures exhibited outstanding electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding effectiveness of 30–31 dB, with shielding of &gt;99.9 % incident electromagnetic waves, showcasing significant electronic application potential. Thus, this study presents a novel, easily prepared, and highly effective biopolymer-based ink poised to advance the landscape of 3D printing technologies.</p

Evaluation of in vivo antidiabetic activity of Notonia grandiflora Wall.

The aim of this study was to determine the in vivo hypoglycaemic activity of ethyl acetate extract of Notonia grandiflora (EANG) in albino wistar rats. EANG was orally administrated to STZ (40 mg/kg, i.p, b.w) induced diabetic rats at the doses of 100 and 200 mg/kg b.w for 21 days. The effect of EANG on blood glucose, body weight, plasma insulin, urea, uric acid, creatinine, Hb, HbA1C, liver glycogen content, bilirubin level, liver enzymes (Serum glutamate pyruvate transaminases, serum glutamate oxaloacetate transaminases, alkaline phosphatase) were measured in the diabetic rats. Treatment of EANG significantly lowered the levels of blood glucose and glycosylated haemoglobin. It also restored body weight, liver glycogen content, and serum insulin level in diabetic rats in a dose-dependent manner. A significant reduction in the activity of liver function enzymes associated with diabetes and serum levels of renal parameters after treatment with EANG was observed, signifying the protective effects of EANG in diabetes-associated complications. Hence, it could be used as a safer complementary drug in the management of diabetes and associated complications

Sugarcane Bagasse-Derived Activated Carbon- (AC-) Epoxy Vitrimer Biocomposite: Thermomechanical and Self-Healing Performance

Vitrimeric materials have emerged as fascinating and sustainable materials owing to their malleability, reprocessability, and recyclability. Sustainable vitrimeric materials can be prepared by reinforcing polymeric matrix with bioderived fillers. In the current work, a sustainable vitrimer is prepared by incorporating biomass-derived activated carbon (AC) filler into the epoxy matrix to achieve enhanced thermal and mechanical properties. Thus, prepared biocomposite vitrimers demonstrate a lower-temperature self-healing (70°C for 5 min) via disulfide exchanges, compared to the pristine epoxy vitrimers (80°C for 5 min). Significantly, the self-healing performances have been studied extensively with the flexural studies; and changes in material healing efficiency have been demonstrated based on the observed changes in modulus

Global funding trends for malaria research in sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic analysis

Background Total domestic and international funding for malaria is inadequate to achieve WHO global targets in burden reduction by 2030. We describe the trends of investments in malaria-related research in sub-Saharan Africa and compare investment with national disease burden to identify areas of funding strength and potentially neglected populations. We also considered funding for malaria control. Methods Research funding data related to malaria for 1997–2013 were sourced from existing datasets, from 13 major public and philanthropic global health funders, and from funding databases. Investments (reported in US$) were considered by geographical area and compared with data on parasite prevalence and populations at risk in sub- Saharan Africa. 45 sub-Saharan African countries were ranked by amount of research funding received. Findings We found 333 research awards totalling US$814·4 million. Public health research covered $308·1 million (37·8$275·2 million (33·8%). Tanzania ($107·8 million [13·2$97·9 million [12·0%]), and Kenya ($92·9 million [11·4%]) received the highest sum of research investment and the most research awards. Malawi, Tanzania, and Uganda remained highly ranked after adjusting for national gross domestic product. Countries with a reasonably high malaria burden that received little research investment or funding for malaria control included Central African Republic (ranked 40th) and Sierra Leone (ranked 35th). Congo (Brazzaville) and Guinea had reasonably high malaria mortality, yet Congo (Brazzaville) ranked 38th and Guinea ranked 25th, thus receiving little investment. Interpretation Some countries receive reasonably large investments in malaria-related research (Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda), whereas others receive little or no investments (Sierra Leone, Central African Republic). Research investments are typically highest in countries where funding for malaria control is also high. Investment strategies should consider more equitable research and operational investments across countries to include currently neglected and susceptible populations