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

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Not AvailableExtraction of chitosan from deep-sea mud shrimp (Solenocera hextii) shell waste was conducted using a chemical method by altering the deacetylation times. The degree of deacetylation of extracted chitosan were 75.5 ± 0.36, 85 ± 0.38 and 87± 0.32 %, and the molecular weights were 263.95±1.16, 52.61± 0.44, and 5.15± 0.14 kDa respectively for CH-1.5, CH-3, and CH-6. Deacetylation time significantly influenced the structure and physico- chemical properties of chitosan. SEM results exposed smooth granular surface structure and XRD peaks obtained were identical with commercial chitosan. Deacetylation time for CH-3 was found optimum for commercial ex- traction of this natural biopolymer resource. Water binding and fat binding capacities of the extracted deep-sea mud shrimp chitosan were significantly higher than commercial chitosan from coastal shrimp and are suitable for many functional food applications.Not Availabl