Social Determinants Predicting the Community Pharmacists' Workforce Preparedness for, and Response to, the Public Health Emergencies

Objectives:To identify the predicting factors that contribute to preparedness for public health emergencies among community pharmacists in India.Methods:Multistage cluster sampling was done. The geographic breakdown was done based on villages and areas and used as clusters. A simple random method was done in the first stage to select the villages as clusters. From each selected village, a simple random method was done in the second stage to select the areas. From each selected area, all the community pharmacies were selected. The survey questionnaire had 3 sections with 43 items: (A) demographic information, (B) preparedness, (C) response toward infectious diseases. The participants chose “Yes/No”, in sections B and C. A score of 1 was given for “Yes”, and a score of zero was given for “No”.Results:Multiple correlation analyses were conducted between participants’ preparedness and response (PR) scores and independent variables. The independent variables such as “More than one Pharmacist working in a pharmacy”, “Pharmacists who are trained more than once on disaster management”, and encountered more than 1 patient with the infectious disease were positively and significantly correlated with the dependent variable (PR scores).Conclusions:Community pharmacists were aware of the issues they may face in their community concerning public health emergencies. They believed that the medications available in their pharmacy are sufficient to face any emergency. They could identify the clinical manifestations of public health emergency conditions and provide counselling to the customers toward them. Community pharmacists who were trained more than once in disaster management were the strongest predicting factor.<br/

THE RELATION BETWEEN INTERNET, DEPRESSION, SELF-ESTEEM AND SOCIAL ATTACHMENT ON COGNITIVE FUNCTION OF HEALTH CARE INDIVIDUALS

Objective: To assess the internet use in health care individuals and its impact on depression, self-esteem and social attachment on cognitive function of health care individuals.Methods: This was a cross-sectional survey which included one hundred and ten healthcare individuals (Physician, Pharmacist, Psychologist, Social worker and Nurses) in this study conducted in Radianz healthcare and research private limited. Young's internet addiction test and depression score, self-esteem (Rosenberg's) score and MoCA were used to measure internet addiction and psychological variables. EPI 2012 was used for statistical analysis.Results: Out of 110 individuals, the majority of individuals, depressed individual were more addicted to the internet and found to be significant by using depression score. Relationship between baseline values and follow up values in internet addiction was significant (P=0.07636). After follow up the internet addiction found to be reduced as it was greatly affected in initial survey.Conclusion: This study concluded that there is relationship between the internet addiction and depression, cognitive function and self-steam. The depressed individuals were more addicted to the internet followed by abnormal cognitive function and low self-esteem individuals. Internet addiction may be a relevant clinical construct and early diagnostic tools that needs extensive research even in developing nations to explore the relationship. Depression is greatly associated with the internet addiction so if can we reduce the depression then can be reduced internet addiction

Thermal protection properties of aerogel-coated Kevlar woven fabrics

This paper investigated the thermal properties of aerogel-coated Kevlar fabrics under both the ambient temperature and high temperature with laser radiation. It is found that the aerogels combined with a Kevlar fabric contribute to a higher thermal insulation value. Under laser radiation with high temperature, the aerogel content plays a vital role on the surface temperature of the fabrics. At laser radiations with pixel time 330 μs, the surface temperatures of the aerogel coated Kevlar fabrics are 400-440°C lower than that of the uncoated fabric. Results also show that the fabric temperature is directly proportional to pixel time. It can be concluded that the Kevlar fabrics coated with silica aerogel provides better thermal protection under high temperature

Thermo-physiological properties of 3D warp knitted spacer fabrics for car seat application

475-485Thermal comfort properties of 3-Dimensional knitted spacer fabrics have been studied in order to replace the existing polyurethane foams in the car seat and back supports. The influence of different characteristics of spacer fabrics, like structure, areal density, thickness and density on thermo-physiological performance has been studied. The potential thermal behavior is identified with the support of the thermal conductivity and resistance evaluation. The air and water vapor permeability have been measured and analyzed in-order to study the breathable performance of spacer fabrics. Advance statistical evaluation and two-way analysis of variance is used to analyze the significance of various factors on required properties. The result shows that spacer fabric with a hexagonal net structure has more open structure on surface than lock knit fabrics, which results in highly permeable to air with good thermal conductivity. It is also observed that, the hexagonal net fabrics have the ability to pass more water vapor than the fabrics with lock knit structure on the surface. These findings are the important requirements for designing the car seats with required thermal comfort properties using 3D spacer fabrics

Stevens-Johnson syndrome induced by phenytoin: a case report

Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS) and Toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN) are rare (one to two per 10,00,00 population per year) but life threatening adverse drug reactions. Antiepileptic drugs-induced Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS) is a life-threatening severe cutaneous adverse reaction, amongst anti-epileptics; carbamazepine and phenytoin are the major culprits. We report here a case of SJS due to phenytoin (CTC vs 2 Grade 3)

Ventilator associated pneumonia: unravelling prevalence risk factor and antibiotic usage

Background: Hospital acquired infections, are a leading cause of mortality and morbidity. Ventilator associated pneumonia, one of the hospital acquired illnesses. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the prevalence, risk factors, causative organism, and antibiotic usage for the treatment of ventilator-associated pneumonia. Methods: Between May 2022 and October 2022, 50 patients participated in an ambispective and observational study conducted across several ICU departments at Adichunchanagiri Hospital, BG Nagara, Karnataka. Reviewing and evaluating daily patient case sheets, laboratory results, and treatment charts of participants who were hospital inpatients provided pertinent data needed for the study. Volunteers were enrolled after taking consent from each of them, a suitably designed data collection form was used to collect all the necessary information. Microsoft Excel was used to enter the data. Version 28 of SPSS was used to analyze the data. Statistical significance was determined by using a P-value of less than 0.05. Results: The study included 50 patients and discovered a 60% prevalence of ventilator-associated pneumonia in the general community. Staphylococcus aureus accounted for 26.7% of all gram-positive bacteria, whereas Enterobacter and Klebsiella species accounted for 16.7%. Metronidazole was given in 64% of instances, with accidents being the most frequent risk factor (40%). Conclusions: Within the specified population, the incidence of ventilator-associated pneumonia is 60%, with Staphylococcus aureus identified as the most predominant bacterial pathogen. Metronidazole is the most frequently prescribed antibiotic, and accidents are the key risk factors that cause ventilator-associated pneumonia.

Prevalence, risk factors, causative organism and antibiotic susceptibility of catheter associated urinary tract infections

Background: The most common nosocomial infection is catheter-associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI), with a 3-7% daily risk of developing CAUTI in acute care settings. This study's goal was to identify the prevalence, risk factors, causative organism of CAUTI and understanding the organism's current antimicrobial agent sensitivity profile. Methods: Total 120 patients participated in a prospective and observational study conducted at Adichunchanagiri Hospital, Karnataka. Reviewing and evaluating patient case sheets, laboratory results, and treatment charts of participants who were hospital inpatients provided data needed for the study. Microsoft Excel was used to enter the data and version 28 of SPSS to analyze the data. Statistical significance was determined by using a P-value of less than 0.05. Results: It was discovered that 12.5% of HAI cases were linked to catheter use. The most prevalent microbial agent in the current investigation was E. coli (41.7%). According to the current study, women are more likely than men to get UTIs. An underlying medical condition was found to have a strong correlation with UTIs in the current investigation. For CAUTI, drug resistance to cefotaxime and tigecycline was noted. Conclusions: The study suggested that gender, age extremes, use of antibiotics, length of stay in intensive care unit, diabetes mellitus, immunosuppressive medication, and indwelling urinary devices are the major risk factors for CAUTI. E. coli was the most common microbiological agent in the current study. Therefore, to assist doctors in the treatment and management of CAUTIs, ongoing surveillance of antimicrobial resistance patterns is required

LIFESTYLE FACTORS: AN ALARM TOWARDS HYPERTENSION

Cardiovascular disease is the number one cause of death worldwide in which hypertension is responsible for an annual death of 7.1 million. There exist a causal relationship between low levels of occupational and/or leisure-time Physical Activity and an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. An additional possible reasons may be reduced sleep duration/quality and individuals knowledge of their disease and its treatment. Objective: This study was conducted to assess the prevalence of hypertension and risk factors associated, concentrating on literacy status, physical exercise, occupation and sleep pattern in rural population. Method: It was a questionnaire based study carried out in two phases with Blood Pressure measurement. Result: The study results showed low literacy rate and maximum prevalence of hypertension in farmers and house wives, with a lifestyle devoid of routine physical exercises and with advancing age. Conclusion: The study concluded with the positive relationship between risk factors. Keywords: Hypertension, Physical Exercise, Literacy, Occupation, Risk Factors

Towards an improved representation of carbonaceous aerosols over the Indian monsoon region in a regional climate model: RegCM

Mitigation of carbonaceous aerosol emissions is expected to provide climate and health co-benefits. The accurate representation of carbonaceous aerosols in climate models is critical for reducing uncertainties in their climate feedback. In this regard, emission fluxes and aerosol life cycle processes are the two primary sources of uncertainties. Here, we demonstrate that the incorporation of a dynamic ageing scheme and emission estimates that are updated for the local sources improves the representation of carbonaceous aerosols over the Indian monsoon region in a regional climate model, RegCM, compared with its default configuration. The respective mean black carbon (BC) and organic carbon (OC) surface concentrations in 2010 are estimated to be 4.25 and 10.35 µg m−3 over the Indo-Gangetic Plain (IGP) in the augmented model. The BC column burden over the polluted IGP is found to be 2.47 mg m−2, 69.95 % higher than in the default model configuration and much closer to available observations. The anthropogenic aerosol optical depth (AOD) increases by more than 19 % over the IGP due to the model enhancement, also leading to a better agreement with observed AOD. The respective top-of-the-atmosphere, surface, and atmospheric anthropogenic aerosol short-wave radiative forcing are estimated at −0.3, −9.3, and 9.0 W m−2 over the IGP and −0.89, −5.33, and 4.44 W m−2 over Peninsular India (PI). Our results suggest that the combined effect of two modifications leads to maximum improvements in the model performance in regions where emissions play a dominant role.</p