Carotid intima medial thickness as a marker of atherosclerosis in ankylosing spondylitis

Background: Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS) is an inflammatory disorder of unknown cause that primarily affects the axial skeleton; peripheral joints and extraarticular structures are also frequently involved. The present study was planned to generate more data on this subject with the aim of measuring the CIMT in AS, as these patients are more prone to develop early atherosclerosis and develop early macro vascular complications like CAD.Methods: It was a cross-sectional study with a sample size of 60 patients. The study group included 30 patients with a known history or clinical features suggestive of AS. The control group included 30 normal adult subjects without any previous history. All subjects included in the study underwent detailed clinical history, analysis, physical examination and necessary investigations.Results: CIMT in the control group was 0.54±0.19 mm and in the AS group was 0.65±0.21 mm. The difference was found to be statistically significant (P0.05), showing comparable age between the two groups. The age to CIMT showed positive correlation which was statistically significant (r=0.405, p=0.026).Conclusions: Results of this study showed that there is a higher prevalence of subclinical atherosclerosis (20%) in AS patients as compared to controls as evidenced by a higher CIMT. Every effort should be made in order to control inflammation and traditional risk factors in this population, to avoid the consequences of accelerated atherogenesis

Improving Communication Between Health Care Professionals and Parents: A Quality Improvement Initiative

This quality improvement initiative was undertaken in a tertiary care neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) to improve communication between the HCP and parents related to the sick neonates admitted in NICU as measured by increase in parental satisfaction score from base line (34.5%) to 80% in 3 months time. A team was formulated to evaluate the reasons for low parental satisfaction resulting from communication between HCP and the parents of sick neonates and to further plan strategies for improving the same. Multiple PDSA cycles were implemented. The results of the all PDSA cycles were discussed amongst team members. Satisfaction of parents related to communication with HCP increased to more than 80% in 3 months time followed by increase up to 90% in sustenance phase. Multiple simple feasible interventions led to improvement in communication between the HCP and parents as evident by increase in satisfaction score (40.8 ± 4.3 vs. 40.8 ± 4.3 vs. 91.3 ± 4.8, p < 0.001). There was significant improvement in the satisfaction scores of the mothers on communication related to sick neonate in NICU at the end of intervention phase as well as in the sustenance phase. Multiple simple doable and feasible interventions had led to the improvement in communication between the HCP and parents hence improving the satisfaction of parents related to their communication with HCP

STUDY OF MEDICINAL PLANTS DESCRIBED IN DURGA SAPTSATI (AN HOLISTIC ANCIENT TREATISE)- A CRITICAL STUDY

Durgā Śaptaśatī is an important, spiritual and renowned text of Hindu religious scripture describes the glory of Goddess Durgā with deep mysteries and learning's inside it. The beautiful description of this text reveals the trio combination of work-worship and knowledge like the three Mandākinī at one place. In this way, medicinal plants like Padma (Lotus), Akṣa, Bandhūka (Midday Flower), Candana (Sandalwood), Pāṭala (Rose), Kalhāra (Red water lily), Mātuluṇga (Citron) and Pārijāta (Night-flowering coral jasmine) are also described in "Durgā Śaptaśatī". This paper deals with the taxonomic description, medicinal properties and uses of medicinal plants described in Durgā Śaptaśatī

Role of Digitalization in Election Voting Through Industry 4.0 Enabling Technologies

The election voting system is one of the essential pillars of democracy to elect the representative for ruling the country. In the election voting system, there are multiple areas such as detection of fake voters, illegal activities for fake voting, booth capturing, ballot monitoring, etc., in which Industry 4.0 can be adopted for the application of real-time monitoring, intelligent detection, enhancing security and transparency of voting and other data during the voting. According to previous research, there are no studies that have presented the significance of industry 4.0 technologies for improving the electronic voting system from a sustainability standpoint. To overcome the research gap, this study aims to present literature about Industry 4.0 technologies on the election voting system. We examined individual industry enabling technologies such as blockchain, artificial intelligence (AI), cloud computing, and the Internet of Things (IoT) that have the potential to strengthen the infrastructure of the election voting system. Based upon the analysis, the study has discussed and recommended suggestions for the future scope such as: IoT and cloud computing-based automatic systems for the detection of fake voters and updating voter attendance after the verification of the voter identity; AI-based illegal, and fake voting activities detection through vision node; blockchain-inspired system for the data integrity in between voter and election commission and robotic assistance system for guiding the voter and also for detecting disputes in the premises of election booth

CLASSICAL SIGNIFICANCE AND VARIOUS ASPECTS OF BHOJANA (MEAL) AND BHĀJANA (UTENSIL) AS PER ĀYURVEDA- A CLASSICAL ANALYSIS

Food is considered to be the path of health and salvation. Desire of food, easy digestion of ingested food, proper excretion of feces, urine and flatus, lightness of body, longevity and happiness are known to be features of health. Health is dependent upon food and the food looks for proper method. In the present era, everyone wants to know only about tasty food, but people are not much aware of the rules of food preparation, rules of proper intake, and proper utensils for food intake, etc. Practicing appropriate diet-regimen, pertinent demeanor, appropriate sleep and wake up makes a person devoid of distress. In this way a vast description of salutary diet regimen is available in the treatise of Āyurveda. This paper deals with the use of utensils and methodology of food intake mentioned in Kaśyapa Saṃhitā and other Ayurvedic scriptures

Streamlined and Cost-Effective Genomic DNA Extraction Method for Lichens, Mushrooms, and Endolichenic Fungi: Enabling DNA Barcoding and Molecular Research

Extraction of nucleic acids in pure form from organisms is of paramount importance for DNA based identification and other molecular studies. Over the past few decades, DNA-barcoding has emerged as a powerful technique, facilitating species identification across various ‘difficult to identify’ life-forms. Fungi, being an immensely diverse group of microorganisms, contribute significantly to global biodiversity, with estimates ranging from 2.2 to 3.8 million species. However, a vast majority of this diversity remains unidentified, and many fungal species are considered cryptic. Therefore, numerous large- and small-scale DNA-barcoding projects are being conducted worldwide to unravel this rich biodiversity. However, the rigidity and high complex polysaccharides content of fungal cell-wall presents a significant obstacle, making the extraction of high-quality genomic DNA a challenging task across varied fungal organisms. In this study, we employed a modified CTAB based method to isolate and purify high-quality PCR-amplifiable genomic DNA primarily from lichens and tested it on other fungal life forms as well, including, mushrooms, endolichenic fungi, and parasitic fungi. Remarkably, the isolated DNA proved successful as a template in PCR reactions, serving the purposes of DNA barcoding, RAPD as well as for metagenomic analysis effectively. This versatile protocol demonstrated its utility across all the fungal life forms investigated in this study, offering a universal, cost-effective, and efficient approach for fungal DNA isolation

Self-directed learning and job exploration among Nepalese youth: South Asian perspective

The study examined the Nepalese youth’s self-directed learning and job-seeking characteristics. It collected primary data from fresh graduates of Nepal’s leading universities to understand self-directed learning motivations and job search behavior. It focused on graduates enrolled in different job preparatory programs to improve their chances of securing employment in 2022. Using a five-point Likert scale, the survey covered general information, self-learning, and job-searching. The purposive sample field survey in Kathmandu Valley from July to December 2022 targeted 500 respondents and yielded 327 completed surveys for analysis. Data analysis shows a substantial correlation between self-directed learning and job-seeking among Nepalese young people (β = 0.877, CR = 18.203, p < 0.01). A substantial positive correlation was identified between self-monitoring, adaptability, and job-seeking activity (β = 0.927, p = 0.000). Likewise, this study found a substantial positive correlation between motivation and job-seeking activity (β = 0.887, p < 0.00), and goal setting and planning have a significant favorable effect on job-seeking behavior (β = 0.445, p < 0.00). Such findings contribute valuable insights into the interplay of self-learning elements and their implications for the job-seeking behavior of young individuals in the Nepalese context. The importance of promoting self-directed learning and emphasizing fundamental attributes has grown significantly as young individuals navigate the dynamic job marketplace and seek assistance in integrating into employment. Acknowledgment The authors would like to express profound gratitude and appreciation to the University Grant Commission (UGC) Nepal for supporting this research (FRG-78/79-Mgmt 02)

Reduced regional brain cortical thickness in patients with heart failure.

AimsAutonomic, cognitive, and neuropsychologic deficits appear in heart failure (HF) subjects, and these compromised functions depend on cerebral cortex integrity in addition to that of subcortical and brainstem sites. Impaired autoregulation, low cardiac output, sleep-disordered-breathing, hypertension, and diabetic conditions in HF offer considerable potential to affect cortical areas by loss of neurons and glia, which would be expressed as reduced cortical thicknesses. However, except for gross descriptions of cortical volume loss/injury, regional cortical thickness integrity in HF is unknown. Our goal was to assess regional cortical thicknesses across the brain in HF, compared to control subjects.Methods and resultsWe examined localized cortical thicknesses in 35 HF and 61 control subjects with high-resolution T1-weighted images (3.0-Tesla MRI) using FreeSurfer software, and assessed group differences with analysis-of-covariance (covariates; age, gender; p<0.05; FDR). Significantly-reduced cortical thicknesses appeared in HF over controls in multiple areas, including the frontal, parietal, temporal, and occipital lobes, more markedly on the left side, within areas that control autonomic, cognitive, affective, language, and visual functions.ConclusionHeart failure subjects show reduced regional cortical thicknesses in sites that control autonomic, cognitive, affective, language, and visual functions that are deficient in the condition. The findings suggest chronic tissue alterations, with regional changes reflecting loss of neurons and glia, and presumably are related to earlier-described axonal changes. The pathological mechanisms contributing to reduced cortical thicknesses likely include hypoxia/ischemia, accompanying impaired cerebral perfusion from reduced cardiac output and sleep-disordered-breathing and other comorbidities in HF

Disseminated peritoneal leiomyomatosis: a rare entity with diagnostic conundrum

Disseminated peritoneal leiomyomatosis (DPL) is a rare, usually benign disease primarily affecting premenopausal women. It is signalized by multiple smooth muscle nodules which grossly or radiologically may simulate peritoneal carcinomatosis or disseminated intraabdominal malignancies. A case study of 45 year female who presented with DPL after 8 years of hysterectomy is reported here