A Descriptive Study to Assess the Knowledge About Facts and Prevailing Myths Regarding COVID-19 in General Public

Objective: To assess the knowledge about coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) among the population. To assess the prevailing myths regarding COVID-19. Methodology: This survey with descriptive design was conducted on 117 residents of Ghaziabad, to assess the facts about COVID-19 as well as prevailing myths regarding COVID-19. A structured questionnaire was used to conduct the survey. Participants participated actively in this research. Result: Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics. Out of 117 respondents, 82 were males and 35 were females. Out of 117 subjects, 71.65% had correct knowledge of COVID-19, and 28.35% did not have the correct knowledge regardingthe disease. Myths were not prevalent among the study subjects. Conclusion: The study showed that most people had correct knowledge about the facts of COVID-19. Myths were not prevalent

A Descriptive Study to Assess the Knowledge About Facts and Prevailing Myths Regarding COVID-19 in General Public

To assess the knowledge about coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) among the population. To assess the prevailing myths regarding COVID-19. Methodology: This survey with descriptive design was conducted on 117 residents of Ghaziabad, to assess the facts about COVID-19 as well as prevailing myths regarding COVID-19. A structured questionnaire was used to conduct the survey. Participants participated actively in this research. Result: Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics. Out of 117 respondents, 82 were males and 35 were females. Out of 117 subjects, 71.65% had correct knowledge of COVID-19, and 28.35% did not have the correct knowledge regarding the disease. Myths were not prevalent among the study subjects. Conclusion: The study showed that most people had correct knowledge about the facts of COVID-19. Myths were not prevalent

Vitamin D and sleep duration: a possible link

Background: Normal-range sleep duration is an important factor for general health and metabolism. Insufficient or excessive sleep duration is associated with various chronic physical or mental illness, such as obesity, hypertension, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, depression, and other psychiatric diseases. Sleep duration is mainly affected by circadian rhythm, and circadian rhythm is affected by the melatonin level controlled by the light exposure. Therefore, sun exposure has an important role for determining sleep time. Aim and objective was to find an association between self-reported sleep duration with serum vitamin D levels in healthy adults. Methods: A cross sectional study was carried out on 150 first professional MBBS students. They were asked about their sleep duration via a questionnaire and their morning samples of serum vitamin D was taken. All the data was put in SPSS software and analyzed. Results: There was a definite positive correlation between sleep duration and the concentration of 25(OH)D in this study (r=0.11, p<0.05). Conclusions: The present study revealed that vitamin D [25(OH)D] deficiency was an independent predictor of insufficient sleep among healthy adults

Neurophysiological Mechanisms of Statistical Learning in Adults with and without Reading Disorders

The artificial grammar learning (AGL) task first introduced by Reber (1967) as well as similar paradigms (e.g., Jost et al., 2015) are thought to elicit implicit statistical learning (SL) of underlying patterns in typical readers. However, previous research has shown that individuals with dyslexia often show difficulty with such incidental learning, on AGL and other SL tasks (Kahta & Schiff., 2016; Singh, Walk and Conway, 2018). Because few studies have investigated this link between statistical learning and reading ability, the current study was designed to examine the neurophysiological and behavioral correlates in adults with and without a reading disorder diagnosis. Sixteen reading impaired and thirty-seven typically reading adults were recruited for the study and completed the AGL, and SL (visual-motor; auditory-motor) tasks, followed by completion of questionnaires eliciting awareness of underlying patterns. During these tasks, behavioral measures such as response times and grammaticality classifications were recorded. Additionally, event-related potentials (ERPs) were also acquired during the computerized tasks. Following this, normed assessments indexing cognitive, reading and spelling ability as well as basic musical ability were administered to participants. Prevalence of attention-deficit symptoms was also accounted for by administration of a checklist. The aim was to assess the underlying mechanisms of implicit-statistical learning such as transition-timing and chunking as well as grammaticality (algebraic patterns and ordinal knowledge) via varied task paradigms (SL and AGL respectively) and non-linguistic stimuli. Although behavioral results were comparable across groups, ERP amplitude differences vary in topology across groups – especially for grammaticality and chunk strength, but not so much for the transition timing paradigms. For atypical readers, correlations were only found between symbol search scores and ERP responses for grammaticality. Thus, overall, the current study highlights the need to assess participants in terms of overall learning capacity before investigating the link between implicit-statistical learning capacity and reading ability. Additionally, findings indicate that participants were not as sensitive to non-linguistic items across learning paradigms as they might have been to purely linguistic items

Evaluation of enhanced particle swarm optimization techniques for design of RC structural elements

In this paper, the use of extended versions of basic Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) to Reinforced Concrete (RC) structural elements has been presented. The aim of extended versions of basic particle swarm optimization techniques to seek the global optima by maximizing the explorations area and minimizing the exploration time. Optimal sizing and reinforcement of RC structural members have been found by employing these techniques. The algorithms are coded in C++ and their effectiveness was tested in some benchmark mathematical functions. The different variables of each structural element have been considered as continuous functions and rounded off appropriately to imbibe the practical relevance of the present study

ADAM AND AMS SCALE FOR ASSESSING ANDROPAUSE AMONG AGING INDIAN MEN

Objective: According to Indian Census 2011, India has 9% of population above the age of 60 years. Since andropause related effects are gradual and mimic many disease processes, clinical diagnosis is difficult to make. Very few studies have been done in North India to assess the awareness about andropause in males, which is why this study was conceived. To assess the awareness and knowledge about Andropause and its treatment modalities in males of Chandigarh.Methods: The present study was conducted at Urban Health Training Centre (UHTC-44 B) of Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector 32, Chandigarh (GMCH) in male patients attending outpatient department. This non-interventional, individual cross sectional study was done from Aug 2010- Aug 2011 in males 40 years and above. Systematic random sampling was done and study sample comprised of 757 males. The subjects were given pre-structured and pre-tested questionnaire that had questions pertaining to socio-demographic profile, Ageing Men Score scale (AMS scale), ADAM scale (Androgen Decline in Ageing Men), views about andropause and its treatment modalities.Results: Maximum subjects were from age group 40-49yrs (342; 45.17%), followed by those in age group of 60-69 years (141; 18.6%). 530 respondents (70%) indicated previous awareness regarding andropause or male menopause. Among andropause aware subjects, 440 (83.02%) respondents had poor knowledge about andropause and only 90 (16.98%) test takers actually had good knowledge about andropause. Age and marital status had little effect on knowledge of andropause. 627 (82.82%) had symptoms positive for andropause. Only 123 (19.61%) respondents were aware of treatment for andropause, 158 (25.21%) were willing to take treatment for andropause in form of testosterone injections or transdermal patches when informed about treatment options by health care workers. 360 (57.41%) respondents believed that healthy diet, exercise, herbal medications, Viagra and/or multivitamins can be used to treat andropause and refused to take testosterone injections. Remaining 239 (38.11%) respondents were not able to decide whether they want to take any treatment for andropause.Conclusion: Though awareness about andropause was seen among most men but the study shows the need for provision of health education to increase the knowledge of andropause among adult males

Effects of Land Cover Change on Water Quality in Urban Streams at Two Spatial Scales

This study examines the relationships between land cover change and water quality change in three urbanizing watersheds in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States: Burnt Bridge Creek, Salmon Creek, and the Tualatin River. All three watersheds have had many of their water quality parameters exceeding Total Maximum Daily Loads as required by their state’s environmental agencies in the past decades. By using the National Land Cover Datasets classified by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) for 1992, 2001 and 2006 and water quality data for a period between 1991 and 2010, this paper aims to examine whether changes in land cover are causing changes in water quality at two different spatial scales - at the sub-watershed scale and at a 100 meter riparian buffer scale. We used spatial regression models to identity the major determinants of changes in water temperature (WT), total suspended solids (TSS), dissolved oxygen (DO), and total phosphorus (TP) over time at different scales. The results show that each parameter reacts differently to land cover change depending on the scale of analysis. Both DO and WT showed significant relationships with land cover parameters on the watershed scale but not as much on the riparian buffer scale. TP shows significant relationships at the watershed scale, but TSS shows no significant relationships at the watershed scale. WT shows the only significant change in water quality over the past twenty years and is positively related to change in urban land cover. Topographic variables become significant in explaining the variations in WT and TP at the riparian scale. DO is mostly explained by mean slope for both 1992 and 2001 at both scales, but urban land cover became an important predictor in 2006 at both scales. Our analysis also suggested that there may be a potential lag between changes in land management and changes in water quality across different scales

Evaluation of enhanced particle swarm optimization techniques for design of RC structural elements

In this paper, the use of extended versions of basic Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) to Reinforced Concrete (RC) structural elements has been presented. The aim of extended versions of basic particle swarm optimization techniques to seek the global optima by maximizing the explorations area and minimizing the exploration time. Optimal sizing and reinforcement of RC structural members have been found by employing these techniques. The algorithms are coded in C++ and their effectiveness was tested in some benchmark mathematical functions. The different variables of each structural element have been considered as continuous functions and rounded off appropriately to imbibe the practical relevance of the present study

Comparison of the effect of different medicaments on surface reproduction of two commercially available Polyvinyl Siloxane impression materials: an Invitro Study

Objective:To determine the effect of different retraction cord medicaments on surface detail reproduction of polyvinyl siloxane impression materials and compare this effect on any two brands of commercially available polyvinyl siloxane impression materials. Material and methods: Four stainless steel dies were made according to ADA specification no.19. Three dies were treated with aluminium chloride (5%), ferric sulphate (13.3%) and epinephrine (0.1%) while the fourth one was left untreated to serve as control. Two impression materials (Dentsply and 3M ESPE) were used. Results: All the three medicaments adversely affected the surface detail reproduction of both the brands of the polyvinyl siloxane impression materials. These effects were statistically significant as compared to untreated control. The impressions of 3M ESPE brand have shown better surface detail reproduction as compared to Dentsply impression material. Conclusion: Surface detail reproduction of the polyvinyl siloxane impression materials is adversely affected by the retraction cord medicaments. The presence of moisture or any traces of the medicaments should be removed from the tooth surface to provide a dry field for the correct reproduction of the surface detail of these material

Effects of agro-chemicals practices in economic production of cabbage in valley districts of Manipur, India

Present investigation was conducted in Thoubal district and Imphal East district of Manipur, India to assemble the information about the economics of cabbage production, checking the practices done by farmers while using agro-chemicals and identifying the problems encountered by the producers in cabbage production. NPK was the most popular inorganic fertilizer amongst farmers. As such 59 farms applied fertilizer twice and 26 farms applied more than twice before harvesting. Different irrigation practices were encountered where use of pipes was more popular (53 farms) relative to the use of bucket irrigation (32 farms). Hoeing or hand fork were the most efficient tools for weed management (66 farms) followed by hand picking (21 farms). Majority of the farmers (79 farms) applied insecticides to control insect pest and fungicides as the major means of diseases management (78 farms). Overall the average cost of cultivation was worked out to be Rs. 18007.18 farm-1 with the cost of large farms much higher than the small farms which is estimated as Rs. 26827.12 farm-1 and Rs. 12126.35 farm-1 respectively. The main problems faced by farmers were pest and diseases problems, insufficient irrigation, inadequate electricity for irrigation, infertility of soil, non-availability of fertilizers in time and suitable plant protection chemicals. The study concluded that cabbage farmer misused pesticides in terms of its types and quantity used in order to increase its production. In addition, consumers were exposed to high pesticide residue levels due to limited or no waiting period before cabbage heads were harvested