Superhydrophobic surface coatings for protection against water-soluble chemical and biological contaminants

School of Energy and Chemical Engineering (Chemical Engineering)Superhydrophobic surface coating materials have been inspired by many natural systems like lotus leaf and insect wings. Due to their remarkable anti-wetting behavior, superhydrophobic coating materials have been used in a wide range of applications. Regardless of their promising functionalities, commercial accessibility of these materials is still inadequate due to encountering several challenges in terms of material compatibility, robustness, cost, complexity, uniformity, scaling-up hitches, and durability. While there is an abundance of reported methods for the fabrication of artificial superhydrophobic surfaces, the consideration of these limiting factors is critical for the broader applicability of superhydrophobic surfaces. The aim of the thesis is to promote the broader applicability of superhydrophobic surfaces for the use in protection from biological and chemical contaminants in real-life applications. This aim has been achieved by investigating the current limitations of uncoated surgical face mask surfaces and attempting to solve them by developing a simple coating method for making reusable superhydrophobic surgical face mask for protection against bacteria and viruses (Chapter 2). Following this, bio-adhesive based eco-friendly, and fluorine-free nano coating has been developed for various solid and porous substrates to use for protection against water-soluble chemical contaminants like acid rain and organic dyes (Chapter 3). After that, the fabrication of superhydrophobic sand for increasing water withholding capacity of agricultural land for arid regions and use this modified sand for oil/water separation (Chapter 4).clos

Prevalence of smart phone addiction, sleep quality and associated behaviour problems in adolescents

Background: World is ever changing due to advancement in realm of science and technology, one such advancement is in field of smart phones. The ubiquity of smart phone technology raises concern for its addiction among adolescents and its relationship with quality of sleep, mental and physical health problems. Objective of the study was to investigate magnitude of smart phone addiction and evaluate the impact of smart phone addiction on their mental health and sleep quality.Methods: A cross‑sectional study was conducted on sample comprising of 587 students of repudiated school. Students were assessed with a specially designed proforma and Smart phone addiction scale (SAS) which was self‑administered by the students. Subjects were classified into smartphone non-user group, a low smartphone user group and a high smartphone user group. Subsequently depression anxiety and stress sub scores (DASS-21) scale were administered to asses associated behaviour problems, investigate sleep quality Pittsburgh sleep quality inventory was administered (PSQI).Results: Out of 587 subjects who completed the questionnaires 12.9% (n=76) were not using smart phones, (n=315) 53.62% were low users and (n=196) 33.3% were high users of Smart phone as estimated by Smart Phone addiction scale. Those who used smart phone excessively had high Global PSQI scores and DASS-21scores in terms of depression, anxiety and stress.Conclusions: With increasing popularity of smart phones, youths spend significant time on smart phone thereby developing addictive tendencies. This study concludes that youths are not only addicted but are also developing significant sleep and behaviour problems owing to excessive smart phone usage

PREVALENCE OF COMMON MENTAL DISORDERS AND ASSOCIATED COMORBID CONDITIONS IN AN URBAN SLUM OF INDORE, M.P – A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY

Introduction: Epidemiology plays an important role in providing interpretation of disease occurrence in populations, change of disease rate, and the associated factors related to occurrence. Physical health problems not only coexist with mental disorders such as depression, but can also predict the onset and persistence of depression. A study of a nationally representative sample of the United States showed 79% of all ill people were comorbid. Aims and Objectives: The aims of this study were to study the comorbid condition in subjects with common mental disorders (CMD). Methods: It was a community-based and cross-sectional study carried out in an urban Slum. Slum was divided into four quadrants and 10% of the population was taken. A total of 150 houses were visited by random sampling and the sample size was calculated to be 294. The study was recorded in a pilot tested pre-designed validated semi-structured questionnaire. Four hundred and twenty-three out of 467 people were included in the study which was conducted in two phases. First phase was the screening phase which included history, general examination, and demographic profile along with self-reporting questionnaire (SRQ-20) to measure the presence of mental illness. Socioeconomic status of family and quality of life was evaluated using Kuppuswami socioeconomic status scale. Subjects scored 7 and above selected for the study and further evaluated using mini international neuropsychiatric interview plus in the second phase. Results: In the present study, highest percentage of CMD was 26.47%, belonging to 16–25 age group and distress was found in 16.07% and severe distress in 7.80% with SRQ-20 scoring between 7 and 13 and >14, respectively, with higher proportion of females. The prevalence of CMD was 238.77/1000 and 11.88% and 8.91% subjects were found hypertensive and diabetic respectively. Conclusion: There is need to consider the impact of common psychological health problems that urban slum communities are facing today and CMD can be a major contributor to slum’s overall burden of functional impairment

The clinical and etiological profile of atrial fibrillation after echocardiography in a tertiary care centre from North India - a cross sectional observational study

Background: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common sustained arrhythmia in clinical practice. In western countries, rheumatic heart disease (RHD) is a rare cause of atrial fibrillation but in developing countries like India it is one of the commonest cause of atrial fibrillation. We studied etiology, left atrial size and the incidence of left atrial appendage clot in patients with atrial fibrillation at our institution so that guidelines could be formulated to manage the patients of AF in the hours of emergency.Methods: 110 consecutive patients of atrial fibrillation coming to emergency, cardiology and medicine outpatient department over a period of one year were enrolled for the study. Ethical committee clearance was taken. Detailed history were taken, clinical presentation reviewed  and examination were carried out. All patients were subjected to transthoracic echocardiography and for transesophageal echocardiography if required.Results: The mean age of patients in the study was 58.42±14.27 years (range 22-90 years). Maximum numbers of patients were in the age group of 61-70 years (26.37%). Out of 110 patients with atrial fibrillation, 72 patients (65.46%) were females and 38 patients (34.54%) were males. Majority of patients presented with more than one symptom. Out of 110, 66 patients (60%) had RHD. Among RHD patients, 50 patients (45.55%) were females and 16 patients (14.55%) were males. Next common causes were hypertensive heart disease and degenerative valvular heart disease.Conclusions: In our study RHD was the most common cause of atrial fibrillation, followed by hypertensive heart disease and degenerative valvular heart disease. Mitral valve involvement was seen in all patients of RHD. Left atrial enlargement was seen in majority of patients, so left atrial enlargement could be a predictor of atrial fibrillation. Patients of left atrial enlargement are more prone to develop left atrial appendage clot

Surface innovation for fabrication of superhydrophobic sand grains with improved water holding capacity for various environmental applications

The extreme evaporative loss of water from topsoil complicates cultivation in arid areas, and artificial plastic mulches that imitate sand mulches may minimize such water losses. However, the application of such plastic mulches is limited by their high cost and non-biodegradability. In this study, we developed superhydrophobic sand grains to reduce evaporative water loss from soil. Sea sand (SS) was coated with silica sol, which was prepared by the hydrolysis of tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) under alkaline conditions, followed by treatment with perfluorodecyltrichlorosilane (FDTS). A facile step was optimized for fabricating hydrophobic sand grains with contact angle of 151?? and rolling-off angle of 9.5?? to confirm the hydrophobicity and anti-droplet properties of the modified sand grains. The sands modified with engineered nanomaterials have shown the enhanced water holding and storage efficiency, and they can be applied as an oil sorbent scaffold to absorb oil (chloroform) from water selectively due to their water repelling properties. The coated superhydrophobic sand grains displayed anti-droplet and self-cleaning features, and withheld water for extended periods of time, which could benefit agriculture in arid regions and various environmental applications

Fabrication of Highly Anti-droplet Sand Mulches with Enhanced Water Holding Capacity and Oil-water Separation

Evaporative loss of water from the upper layer of soil in the arid areas became the burning environmental issue. However, artificial plastics that mimic sand mulches may minimize the evaporative loss of water. These plastic mulches possess utility limitation due to their cost and non-biodegradability. In response, a highly anti-droplet sand mulches have been produced for reducing the evaporation loss of water. A simple modification was conducted for fabricating hydrophobic sand mulches with a high contact angle more than 150?? and a lower rolling off angle less than 10??. In this experiment, the sea-sand was also modified by applying an anti-droplet coating using a silica sol, which has been modified to attain hydrophobicity. The produced anti-droplet sand mulches were characterised by Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). This hydrophobic sand mulches with core-shell structure have the capability of withholding water for longer period of time which could benefit the agriculture in the arid regions. The modified sands can also be applied as oil sorbent to absorb oil (chloroform) from water selectively because of water repellence characteristics. In this study, the application of this hydrophobic coating is a simple approach to offer anti-droplet and self- cleaning features to sand mulches for various applications

Nature and incidence of upper limb injuries in professional cricket players <it>a prospective observation</it>

Abstract Introduction Cricket is the most popular sport in India, and is gaining in importance in all south-east Asian countries. The purpose of this study was to prospectively investigate the incidence, nature, and site of acute upper limb injuries sustained by professional cricketers of north India over a period of one year. Material & methods 95 cricket players (mean age 18.9 years) were prospectively evaluated for nature and incidence of upper limb injuries from 1st November 2008 to 31st October 2009. For the purpose of comparison the calculated injury incidence included injuries sustained during match as well as practice. Injuries were also grouped according to the type of cricket activities such as batting or fielding. Results Out of 95 players evaluated, 24 were bowlers, 19 were batsmen, 8 were wicket keepers and the other 44 cricketers declared themselves as all rounders. There were a total of 16 upper limb injuries in 16 (16.8%) players. The majority of injuries (10/16) occurred while fielding. Out of 16 injuries, 11 were seen in hand, 3 were observed in elbow, while 2 patients suffered from shoulder problem. Twelve were acute injuries while 4 were classified as repetitive stress injuries (RSI). Conclusion The incidence of upper limb injuries in cricketers at the professional and semi-professional level is significant, causing them to miss matches or practice for a significant number of days. This is the first study of Indian cricketers which documents the high incidence of upper limb injuries. The study highlights the importance of injury surveillance for Indian cricket. It is a concern which needs to be addressed by the players, coaches, teachers, administrators and medical personnel involved with cricket.</p