Nutritional Status of School Age Children (5-14 years) in a Rural Health Block of North India (Kashmir) Using WHO Z-Score System

Objective: To assess the nutritional status of school going children in Rural Block Hajin. Methods: School children from various primary and middle level educational facilities from a rural health block were surveyed during the School Health Program. Height and weight was measured following standard procedures. MS Excel and Interactive statistics page were used for analysis of data. Results: Both mean weight and height were higher in females than males. The overall prevalence of under nutrition was 19.2%. The prevalence of underweight was lowest in 5 year female (0.0%) and highest in 6 year male (21.5%). For Stunting 7 year males recorded the lowest (0.0%) and 12 year males the highest (28.5%) prevalence. The highest and lowest prevalence of wasting was recorded in 6 year old females (2.56%) and 9 year old males (24.6%) respectively. Prevalence of thinness was lowest in 13 year old females (14.2%) and highest in 13 year old males (47.1%).Conclusion: The nutritional status of school age children in this health block are comparatively better even though a large number of children still fall below the cutoff for various nutritional indicators

Factors influencing the catalytic oxidation of benzyl alcohol using supported phosphine-capped gold nanoparticles

Open Access Article. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence.Two phosphine-stabilised gold clusters, Au101(PPh3)21Cl5 and Au9(PPh3)8(NO3)3, were deposited and activated on anatase TiO2 and fumed SiO2. These catalysts showed an almost complete oxidation of benzyl alcohol (>90%) within 3 hours at 80 °C and 3 bar O2 in methanol with a high substrate-to-metal molar ratio of 5800 and turn-over frequency of 0.65 s−1. Factors influencing catalytic activity were investigated, including metal–support interaction, effects of heat treatments, chemical composition of gold clusters, the size of gold nanoparticles and catalytic conditions. It was found that the anions present in gold clusters play a role in determining the catalytic activity in this reaction, with NO3− diminishing the catalytic activity. High catalytic activity was attributed to the formation of large gold nanoparticles (>2 nm) that coincides with partial removal of ligands which occurs during heat treatment and catalysis. Selectivity towards the formation of methyl benzoate can be tuned by selection of the reaction temperature. The catalysts were characterised using transmission electron microscopy, UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy

Ocular morbidity among diabetics attending the preventive ophthalmic clinic of a tertiary care institute with special reference to diabetic retinopathy

Background: Non communicable diseases have taken over previously life threatening infections in the demographic transition. As the burden of NCDs including diabetes is increasing at an alarming rate the complications related to these diseases are also increasing leading to huge morbidity. Likewise, blindness/ visual impairment due to diabetic retinopathy is now slowly and steadily replacing refractive errors and cataracts as a cause of morbidity.Methods: This cross sectional study was carried over a period of one year in an ophthalmic unit of a tertiary health care institute in which known diabetic patients were screened for diabetic retinopathy besides various modifiable and non-modifiable risk factors.Results: Overall prevalence of diabetic retinopathy in our study population was found to be 29.0%. Among various risk factors duration of diabetes, hypertension, HbA1C >6.5% and serum creatinine >1.1 mg/dl were found to be significantly associated with diabetic retinopathy.Conclusion: Regular screening for diabetic retinopathy besides prevention and strict control of risk factors is key to prevention and progression of blindness/ visual impairment due to diabetic retinopathy

Assessment of knowledge and practices of tuberculosis health care providers under revised national tuberculosis control program in Kashmir valley of Jammu and Kashmir, India

Background Although Tuberculosis (TB) is both preventable and curable; but it still remains a leading infectious cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Low case detection rate is still a problem in few states of India which to some extent could be attributed to provider’s lack of knowledge, inadequate skills, callous practices and not following RNTCP guidelines. Objectives To assess the knowledge level and practices of health personnel providing TB care. Methods This Cross sectional study was conducted in Kashmir Valley .50% DMC’s from each RNTCP operated district were selected. Public health personnel (Doctors, Laboratory technicians and DOT providers) working under the program and private practitioners providing TB care in these districts were assessed for their knowledge and practices. Results 215 health providers of different cadres were studied. 38.6% of public health doctors, 29.0 % of DOT providers and 50% of Laboratory technicians were contractual workers. 52.0% private practitioners and more than 3/4th public health personnel were trained under RNTCP and working for 1-3 years for the program. Knowledge of public health medical officers regarding operational component of program e.g. for TB diagnosis(100.0%), TB defaulter (100.0%), number of sputum samples required for case detection (91.0%) a TB suspect (80.0%) and on other components was better than those of private practitioners. Lab technicians and DOT providers were also well versed with operational component of program. Good practices were reportedly observed in all types of health workers regarding tuberculosis. Conclusions Despite having good knowledge and practices of TB among health personnel case detection rate is low in the valley which needs to be introspected as less number of patients are sent from PHI’s and general OPD’s for sputum examination to DMC’s thus stressing the need for modular training or CME for all health personnel

Identifikasi Senyawa Radikal Pada Asap Rokok Dengan Metode Pengamatan Resonansi Spin Elekron

  Cigarette smoke contains substances such as polymetric carbon, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) aza-arenes, N-nitrosamines and various types of other organic chemicals. This content is classified as a dangerous compound because the reaction can cause the formation of free radicals. Free radicals are atoms or molecules that have one or more unpaired electrons and are reactive looking for their electron pair. Its reactivity causes free radicals to be said to be dangerous if identified in the body. Free radicals in the body will bind to cell or tissue components, causing cells to become abnormal. This study aims to identify radical compounds in cigarette smoke currently circulating in the market. This research was conducted using Electron Spin Resonance (ESR) equipment to observe the electron resonance caused by the radical compound of cigarette smoke. The results showed that the cigarette smoke used as a sample contained manganese dioxide radical compounds (Mn2O2) and iron (II) sulfide (FeS) compounds. Keywords : Cigarette smoke, Free radicals compound, Mn2O2, Fe

Nutritional Status of School Age Children (5-14 years) in a Rural Health Block of North India (Kashmir) Using WHO Z-Score System

Objective: To assess the nutritional status of school going children in Rural Block Hajin. Methods: School children from various primary and middle level educational facilities from a rural health block were surveyed during the School Health Program. Height and weight was measured following standard procedures. MS Excel and Interactive statistics page were used for analysis of data. Results: Both mean weight and height were higher in females than males. The overall prevalence of under nutrition was 19.2%. The prevalence of underweight was lowest in 5 year female (0.0%) and highest in 6 year male (21.5%). For Stunting 7 year males recorded the lowest (0.0%) and 12 year males the highest (28.5%) prevalence. The highest and lowest prevalence of wasting was recorded in 6 year old females (2.56%) and 9 year old males (24.6%) respectively. Prevalence of thinness was lowest in 13 year old females (14.2%) and highest in 13 year old males (47.1%).Conclusion: The nutritional status of school age children in this health block are comparatively better even though a large number of children still fall below the cutoff for various nutritional indicators

Molecular Characterization of teflon, a Gene Required for Meiotic Autosome Segregation in Male Drosophila melanogaster

Drosophila melanogaster males lack recombination and have evolved a mechanism of meiotic chromosome segregation that is independent of both the chiasmatic and achiasmatic segregation systems of females. The teflon (tef) gene is specifically required in males for proper segregation of autosomes and provides a genetic tool for understanding recombination-independent mechanisms of pairing and segregation as well as differences in sex chromosome vs. autosome segregation. Here we report on the cloning of the tef gene and the molecular characterization of tef mutations. Rescue experiments using a GAL4-driven pUAS transgene demonstrate that tef corresponds to predicted Berkeley Drosophila Genome Project (BDGP) gene CG8961 and that tef expression is required in the male germ line prior to spermatocyte stage S4. Consistent with this early prophase requirement, expression of tef was found to be independent of regulators of meiotic M phase initiation or progression. The predicted Tef protein contains three C2H2 zinc-finger motifs, one at the amino terminus and two in tandem at the carboxyl terminus. In addition to the zinc-finger motifs, a 44- to 45-bp repeat is conserved in three related Drosophila species. On the basis of these findings, we propose a role for Tef as a bridging molecule that holds autosome bivalents together via heterochromatic connections

Photocatalytic H2O2 Production Over Photocatalysts Prepared By Phosphine-protected Au101 Nanoparticles on WO3

Photocatalytic H2O2 synthesis is an appealing and feasible strategy to replace the energy- intensive, tedious, and waste-generating anthraquinone process. Often, pure metal oxides show low activity in photocatalytic H2O2 production and therefore metal co-catalysts are required to improve the photoactivity. This work investigated photocatalytic H2O2 production using monodisperse gold nanoclusters Au101(PPh3)21Cl5 supported on WO3. From HRTEM imaging, the Au101 size in the uncalcined samples is in the cluster regime (<2 nm) and after calcination at 200 °C the size increases to ca. 4.5 nm. The roles of Au101 have been identified to reduce the charge carrier recombination and provide the active sites for O2 reduction which significantly enhances the photoactivity. Both uncalcined and calcined Au101/WO3 photocatalysts produce over 75 mM g-1 h-1 of H2O2 under UV light irradiation while the pure WO3 is inactive. At early times (up to 30 min), the production rate of H2O2 from calcined Au101/WO3 reaches 173 mM g-1 h-1 and is almost double the rate of the uncalcined catalyst (93 mM g-1 h-1). The higher photoactivity of calcined versus uncalcined Au101/WO3 can be attributed to the aggregated Au101 and removal of phosphine ligands from the Au core as verified by HRTEM and XPS. The reaction rate decreases over time which is attributed to the reverse reaction. Using a simple kinetic model, the rate constant of the H2O2 formation (kf) for uncalcined and calcined Au101/WO3 are 2.07 and 6.31 mM h-1, while the rate constant of the H2O2 decomposition (kd) for uncalcined and calcined Au101/WO3 are 0.49 and 2.93 h-1, respectively. This work highlights a simple preparation of highly active photocatalysts to produce H2O2 derived from Au101 clusters and WO3