The healthcare conundrum at the bottom of the pyramid

[Extract] The need to examine health care issues have been continually emphasized in consumer research due to its signicant consumer welfare and public policy implications (Menon et al., 2006). Recent research on health care in the BOP context have focused on the legitimacy and sustainability of health care practices (Agarwal et al., 2017; Bucher et al., 2016), but there has been scant research addressing the healthcare-seeking behavior of BOP consumers. Our research aims to extend this body of work by examining 1) how financial deprivation levels lead BOP consumers to focus on different aspects of health care, which subsequently infuence their preferences toward different healthcare campaigns and 2) the mediational role of self-esteem

Molecular Pathology of Lung Cancer

Lung cancers, due to delays in diagnosis and availability of limited treatment resources, have become the leading cause of cancer-related death globally. With the recent advances in the identification of molecular mechanisms and profile of lung cancer, the understanding of novel characteristics of the molecular pathology of lung cancers as well as knowledge of driver mutations has been enhanced that has led to the development and success of targeted strategies against lung cancer. Diagnosis and treatment of this heterogeneous group of cancer have been revolutionized with the advent of the identification of genetic alterations. This chapter will summarize the etiopathogenesis, current knowledge depicting the series of events associated with the development of lung cancer, the molecular mechanism of most common and relevant genetic alterations in lung cancer along with a brief about the use of targeted therapies in lung cancer patients

Glycosylated Hemoglobin among Non-diabetic Patients Diagnosed as Benign Thyroid Lesions on Cytology: A Cross Sectional Study from a Tertiary Care Centre in India

Background: Hypothyroidism and diabetes usually coexist and are the most common endocrine disorders seen in India (1). Glycosylated Hb (HbA1c) is used for assessment of glycemia and American Diabetic Association (ADA) has recommended its use in diabetes and prediabetes (2). A value between 5.7% and 6.5% represents prediabetes while a value ≥6.5% is considered as diabetes mellitus (3). Glycosylated hemoglobin is a fraction of hemoglobin that undergoes non-enzymatic glycation over the circulatory life span of erythrocytes (4). Several studies have shown glycosylated Hb varies in different conditions like hemoglobinopathies, pregnancy and chronic kidney disease (5).Thyroid hormone plays an important role in glucose homeostasis (6). TSH regulates hematopoiesis in bone marrow (7). Hypothyroidism depresses the marrow which causes decreased erythrocyte production which alters the life span of erythrocytes. Altered life span causes spurious elevation of HbA1C (8, 9, 10). Hence, glycosylated Hb not only depends on glycemia but also on life span of RBC (11). Conditions which effect erythrocyte turnover or survival lead to falsely high or low Hb A1C levels (12). RBC turnover is increased in thyrotoxic states whereas hypothyroidism has the opposite effect (3).In the present study, we hypothesise that glycosylated hemoglobin shows variation in individuals with altered thyroid status. It also aim to establish if a correlation exits between fasting plasma glucose level and hemoglobin with glycosylated hemoglobin in patients with altered thyroid status.Aims and Objectives: To find a correlation between thyroid profile and glycosylated Hb in non-diabetic patients who have been diagnosed on cytology as benign thyroid lesions and Compare the fasting blood glucose and hemoglobin with glycosylated Hb in these patients.Material and Methods: A cross sectional study on 50 cases cytologically diagnosed as benign thyroid lesions in the Department of Pathology in ESIC Medical College and Hospital Faridabad were included in the study with consent of ethical committee.Data Analysis: Pearson’s coefficient was applied to test the association between variables. The significance level was set at 5%.Results: Out of 50 patients (n=25) 50% were hypothyroid, (n=13) 26% were hyperthyroid and (n=12) 24% were euthyroid and (n=22) 88% hypothyroid patients presented with HbA1C >6.5% and were labeled as Diabetic, (n=3) 12% hypothyroid patients were labelled as prediabetic and none was nondiabetic. Most of the euthyroid (n=11) 92% and all of the hyperthyroid patients (n=13) 100% had HbA1C in the nondiabetic range of 6.5%). The correlation of HbA1C with TSH, Hb and MCH of these patients showed statistical significance (p 6.5%) or prediabetic (HbAIc between 5.7 to 6.5%)

ECMO: a lifesaving modality in ARDS during puerperium

Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is an uncommon condition encountered in pregnancy. The incidence of ARDS in pregnancy has been reported to be 1 in 6229 deliveries with mortality rates to range from 24% to 39% in pregnant patients. An essential component in management of ARDS involves good communication between the obstetrics team and critical care specialist and a fundamental understanding of mechanical ventilatory support. In critically ill patients where both cardiorespiratory support is required, Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) can be used to help maintain the vital functions. ECMO is a temporary cardio respiratory or respiratory support in critically ill patients who are unresponsive to conventional management.  In present case a young female with post-partum ARDS was successfully managed with extra corporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO)

Enhanced Auto Language Prediction with Dictionary Capsule -- A Novel Approach

The paper presents a novel Auto Language Prediction Dictionary Capsule (ALPDC) framework for language prediction and machine translation. The model uses a combination of neural networks and symbolic representations to predict the language of a given input text and then translate it to a target language using pre-built dictionaries. This research work also aims to translate the text of various languages to its literal meaning in English. The proposed model achieves state-of-the-art results on several benchmark datasets and significantly improves translation accuracy compared to existing methods. The results show the potential of the proposed method for practical use in multilingual communication and natural language processing tasks.Comment: 21 Page

Managing motives and design to influence web site revisits

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to better understand the relationship between web site design characteristics and revisit intention by examining the roles of satisfaction and consumer motives, thus providing managers with strategies that they can adopt to secure revisiting consumers at their web sites.Design/methodology/approachThis paper uses survey method to collect data from 238 respondents and mediation hypotheses are tested with structural equation modelling using LISREL.FindingsThe results indicate that for goal‐directed consumers web site content and customization play a more significant role in influencing their satisfaction and revisit intentions than convenience. However, for experiential consumers, content and convenience play a more significant role in satisfaction and revisit intentions than customization options at a web site.Research limitations/implicationsOne type of online business is used as a stimulus in this study. Future studies may include different types of web sites. Also, researchers in the future may use actual behavior, instead of intention, to increase the validity of the results.Practical implicationsThis paper suggests that marketers interested in revisiting consumers should focus on web site characteristics that lead to satisfaction during their web visit. Also, marketers need to pay attention to the consumer motives at the web site, so that the web site characteristics can be tailored to the motives and would ultimately lead to positive consumer outcomes.Originality/valueThis is the first paper that investigates the moderating effect of consumer motives and mediating effect of web site satisfaction on web site characteristics and revisit intention relationship.</jats:sec