28 research outputs found

    Structured teaching programme on knowledge about polycystic ovarian syndrome among adolescent girls

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    Background: Polycystic ovarian syndrome is a common female endocrine disorder affecting 4 – 18% of women in their reproductive age. It is common in adolescent girls. Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome affects throughout the life and produce gynaecological and metabolic health problems. The aim of this study to create the awareness about the polycystic ovarian syndrome to the adolescent girls.Methods: A Quantitative approach with pre- experimental design was used to study the effectiveness of STP on Poly Cystic Ovarian Syndrome. Ninety-four adolescent girls aged between 15 – 18 years were conveniently selected. Data was collected by using Structured Knowledge questionnaire.Results: The mean post-test knowledge score (22.55± 3.57) was higher than that of mean pre-test mean knowledge score (11.13± 3.32) and the mean difference was11.42. The ‘t’ calculated value was 23.45 which is higher than the tabulated value of 1.98 (df 93 at p< 0.05). Therefore, research hypothesis was accepted. So, it can be interpreting that structured teaching programme is effective in improving the knowledge of adolescent girls.Conclusions: The findings of the study revealed that STP was effective in enhancing the knowledge of adolescent girls on PCOS. Hence the study concluded that structured teaching programme had a great potentiality to increase the awareness on PCOS

    Nanomaterials in Tissue Engineering for Sustainable Healthcare Solutions

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    Nanomaterials have become viable contenders in the field of tissue engineering, providing adaptable frameworks for long-lasting healthcare solutions. This work included the characterization of many types of nanoparticles, such as gold, silver, iron oxide, and quantum dots. The aim was to identify and understand their specific physicochemical features that are crucial for their use in tissue engineering. The gold nanoparticles had a diameter of 20 nm, a surface area of 30 m^2/g, and a positive zeta potential of +20 mV. In contrast, the silver nanoparticles had a smaller diameter of 15 nm, a surface area of 25 m^2/g, and a negative zeta potential of -15 mV. Iron oxide nanoparticles displayed a greater size of 30 nm, a higher surface area of 40 m^2/g, and a zeta potential of +10 mV. In contrast, quantum dots had the lowest size of 10 nm and a zeta potential of +30 mV. In addition, the characteristics of the scaffold, such as the size of its pores, its porosity, and its mechanical strength, were assessed. These features were shown to have a vital role in controlling how cells behave and in promoting tissue regeneration. The Poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) scaffolds had a pore size of 100 µm, a porosity of 80%, and a mechanical strength of 20 MPa. In contrast, the collagen scaffolds had a smaller pore size of 50 µm, a greater porosity of 90%, and a lower mechanical strength of 15 MPa. The gelatin scaffolds had a pore size of 75 µm, a porosity of 85%, and a mechanical strength of 18 MPa. On the other hand, the chitosan scaffolds had a larger pore size of 120 µm, a porosity of 75%, and a higher mechanical strength of 25 MPa. Moreover, the assessment of cell survival and proliferation on scaffolds containing nanomaterials revealed their considerable influence on cellular behavior. Notably, gold nanoparticles exhibited the greatest cell viability rate of 95% and a substantial rise in cell proliferation. Finally, the drug release patterns from drug delivery systems based on nanomaterials demonstrated regulated and prolonged release kinetics, emphasizing its potential in improving therapeutic results. In summary, this work clarifies the many uses of nanomaterials in tissue engineering and emphasizes their importance in creating sustainable healthcare solutions

    The Uli Dataset: An Exercise in Experience Led Annotation of oGBV

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    Online gender based violence has grown concomitantly with adoption of the internet and social media. Its effects are worse in the Global majority where many users use social media in languages other than English. The scale and volume of conversations on the internet has necessitated the need for automated detection of hate speech, and more specifically gendered abuse. There is, however, a lack of language specific and contextual data to build such automated tools. In this paper we present a dataset on gendered abuse in three languages- Hindi, Tamil and Indian English. The dataset comprises of tweets annotated along three questions pertaining to the experience of gender abuse, by experts who identify as women or a member of the LGBTQIA community in South Asia. Through this dataset we demonstrate a participatory approach to creating datasets that drive AI systems

    Generation of a mutator parasite to drive resistome discovery in Plasmodium falciparum

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    In vitro evolution of drug resistance is a powerful approach for identifying antimalarial targets, however, key obstacles to eliciting resistance are the parasite inoculum size and mutation rate. Here we sought to increase parasite genetic diversity to potentiate resistance selections by editing catalytic residues of Plasmodium falciparum DNA polymerase δ. Mutation accumulation assays reveal a ~5–8 fold elevation in the mutation rate, with an increase of 13–28 fold in drug-pressured lines. Upon challenge with the spiroindolone PfATP4-inhibitor KAE609, high-level resistance is obtained more rapidly and at lower inocula than wild-type parasites. Selections also yield mutants with resistance to an “irresistible” compound, MMV665794 that failed to yield resistance with other strains. We validate mutations in a previously uncharacterised gene, PF3D7_1359900, which we term quinoxaline resistance protein (QRP1), as causal for resistance to MMV665794 and a panel of quinoxaline analogues. The increased genetic repertoire available to this “mutator” parasite can be leveraged to drive P. falciparum resistome discovery

    Global burden of 369 diseases and injuries in 204 countries and territories, 1990–2019: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

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    Background: In an era of shifting global agendas and expanded emphasis on non-communicable diseases and injuries along with communicable diseases, sound evidence on trends by cause at the national level is essential. The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) provides a systematic scientific assessment of published, publicly available, and contributed data on incidence, prevalence, and mortality for a mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive list of diseases and injuries. Methods: GBD estimates incidence, prevalence, mortality, years of life lost (YLLs), years lived with disability (YLDs), and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) due to 369 diseases and injuries, for two sexes, and for 204 countries and territories. Input data were extracted from censuses, household surveys, civil registration and vital statistics, disease registries, health service use, air pollution monitors, satellite imaging, disease notifications, and other sources. Cause-specific death rates and cause fractions were calculated using the Cause of Death Ensemble model and spatiotemporal Gaussian process regression. Cause-specific deaths were adjusted to match the total all-cause deaths calculated as part of the GBD population, fertility, and mortality estimates. Deaths were multiplied by standard life expectancy at each age to calculate YLLs. A Bayesian meta-regression modelling tool, DisMod-MR 2.1, was used to ensure consistency between incidence, prevalence, remission, excess mortality, and cause-specific mortality for most causes. Prevalence estimates were multiplied by disability weights for mutually exclusive sequelae of diseases and injuries to calculate YLDs. We considered results in the context of the Socio-demographic Index (SDI), a composite indicator of income per capita, years of schooling, and fertility rate in females younger than 25 years. Uncertainty intervals (UIs) were generated for every metric using the 25th and 975th ordered 1000 draw values of the posterior distribution. Findings: Global health has steadily improved over the past 30 years as measured by age-standardised DALY rates. After taking into account population growth and ageing, the absolute number of DALYs has remained stable. Since 2010, the pace of decline in global age-standardised DALY rates has accelerated in age groups younger than 50 years compared with the 1990–2010 time period, with the greatest annualised rate of decline occurring in the 0–9-year age group. Six infectious diseases were among the top ten causes of DALYs in children younger than 10 years in 2019: lower respiratory infections (ranked second), diarrhoeal diseases (third), malaria (fifth), meningitis (sixth), whooping cough (ninth), and sexually transmitted infections (which, in this age group, is fully accounted for by congenital syphilis; ranked tenth). In adolescents aged 10–24 years, three injury causes were among the top causes of DALYs: road injuries (ranked first), self-harm (third), and interpersonal violence (fifth). Five of the causes that were in the top ten for ages 10–24 years were also in the top ten in the 25–49-year age group: road injuries (ranked first), HIV/AIDS (second), low back pain (fourth), headache disorders (fifth), and depressive disorders (sixth). In 2019, ischaemic heart disease and stroke were the top-ranked causes of DALYs in both the 50–74-year and 75-years-and-older age groups. Since 1990, there has been a marked shift towards a greater proportion of burden due to YLDs from non-communicable diseases and injuries. In 2019, there were 11 countries where non-communicable disease and injury YLDs constituted more than half of all disease burden. Decreases in age-standardised DALY rates have accelerated over the past decade in countries at the lower end of the SDI range, while improvements have started to stagnate or even reverse in countries with higher SDI. Interpretation: As disability becomes an increasingly large component of disease burden and a larger component of health expenditure, greater research and developm nt investment is needed to identify new, more effective intervention strategies. With a rapidly ageing global population, the demands on health services to deal with disabling outcomes, which increase with age, will require policy makers to anticipate these changes. The mix of universal and more geographically specific influences on health reinforces the need for regular reporting on population health in detail and by underlying cause to help decision makers to identify success stories of disease control to emulate, as well as opportunities to improve. Funding: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. © 2020 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open Access article under the CC BY 4.0 licens

    Global age-sex-specific fertility, mortality, healthy life expectancy (HALE), and population estimates in 204 countries and territories, 1950-2019 : a comprehensive demographic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

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    Background: Accurate and up-to-date assessment of demographic metrics is crucial for understanding a wide range of social, economic, and public health issues that affect populations worldwide. The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2019 produced updated and comprehensive demographic assessments of the key indicators of fertility, mortality, migration, and population for 204 countries and territories and selected subnational locations from 1950 to 2019. Methods: 8078 country-years of vital registration and sample registration data, 938 surveys, 349 censuses, and 238 other sources were identified and used to estimate age-specific fertility. Spatiotemporal Gaussian process regression (ST-GPR) was used to generate age-specific fertility rates for 5-year age groups between ages 15 and 49 years. With extensions to age groups 10–14 and 50–54 years, the total fertility rate (TFR) was then aggregated using the estimated age-specific fertility between ages 10 and 54 years. 7417 sources were used for under-5 mortality estimation and 7355 for adult mortality. ST-GPR was used to synthesise data sources after correction for known biases. Adult mortality was measured as the probability of death between ages 15 and 60 years based on vital registration, sample registration, and sibling histories, and was also estimated using ST-GPR. HIV-free life tables were then estimated using estimates of under-5 and adult mortality rates using a relational model life table system created for GBD, which closely tracks observed age-specific mortality rates from complete vital registration when available. Independent estimates of HIV-specific mortality generated by an epidemiological analysis of HIV prevalence surveys and antenatal clinic serosurveillance and other sources were incorporated into the estimates in countries with large epidemics. Annual and single-year age estimates of net migration and population for each country and territory were generated using a Bayesian hierarchical cohort component model that analysed estimated age-specific fertility and mortality rates along with 1250 censuses and 747 population registry years. We classified location-years into seven categories on the basis of the natural rate of increase in population (calculated by subtracting the crude death rate from the crude birth rate) and the net migration rate. We computed healthy life expectancy (HALE) using years lived with disability (YLDs) per capita, life tables, and standard demographic methods. Uncertainty was propagated throughout the demographic estimation process, including fertility, mortality, and population, with 1000 draw-level estimates produced for each metric. Findings: The global TFR decreased from 2·72 (95% uncertainty interval [UI] 2·66–2·79) in 2000 to 2·31 (2·17–2·46) in 2019. Global annual livebirths increased from 134·5 million (131·5–137·8) in 2000 to a peak of 139·6 million (133·0–146·9) in 2016. Global livebirths then declined to 135·3 million (127·2–144·1) in 2019. Of the 204 countries and territories included in this study, in 2019, 102 had a TFR lower than 2·1, which is considered a good approximation of replacement-level fertility. All countries in sub-Saharan Africa had TFRs above replacement level in 2019 and accounted for 27·1% (95% UI 26·4–27·8) of global livebirths. Global life expectancy at birth increased from 67·2 years (95% UI 66·8–67·6) in 2000 to 73·5 years (72·8–74·3) in 2019. The total number of deaths increased from 50·7 million (49·5–51·9) in 2000 to 56·5 million (53·7–59·2) in 2019. Under-5 deaths declined from 9·6 million (9·1–10·3) in 2000 to 5·0 million (4·3–6·0) in 2019. Global population increased by 25·7%, from 6·2 billion (6·0–6·3) in 2000 to 7·7 billion (7·5–8·0) in 2019. In 2019, 34 countries had negative natural rates of increase; in 17 of these, the population declined because immigration was not sufficient to counteract the negative rate of decline. Globally, HALE increased from 58·6 years (56·1–60·8) in 2000 to 63·5 years (60·8–66·1) in 2019. HALE increased in 202 of 204 countries and territories between 2000 and 2019

    Mapping inequalities in exclusive breastfeeding in low- and middle-income countries, 2000–2018

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    Exclusive breastfeeding (EBF)—giving infants only breast-milk for the first 6 months of life—is a component of optimal breastfeeding practices effective in preventing child morbidity and mortality. EBF practices are known to vary by population and comparable subnational estimates of prevalence and progress across low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) are required for planning policy and interventions. Here we present a geospatial analysis of EBF prevalence estimates from 2000 to 2018 across 94 LMICs mapped to policy-relevant administrative units (for example, districts), quantify subnational inequalities and their changes over time, and estimate probabilities of meeting the World Health Organization’s Global Nutrition Target (WHO GNT) of ≥70% EBF prevalence by 2030. While six LMICs are projected to meet the WHO GNT of ≥70% EBF prevalence at a national scale, only three are predicted to meet the target in all their district-level units by 2030

    A Narrative Review on Effectiveness of Green Tea on Reduction of Body Weight among Obese Young Adult Girls

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    &lt;p&gt;Several developed and developing countries around the world view obesity as a medical issue. Numerous experts are striving to reduce obesity since it boosts the risk of numerous serious illnesses, such as osteoarthritis, coronary cardiovascular disease, hypertension, diabetes that does not depend on insulin, and particular types of cancer. The prevalence of obesity continues to rise worldwide, but it is especially severe in India, which is now the third-most obese country in the world, only behind the US and China. In such a context, the rise in obesity and disorders associated with obesity centers on the growing impact of lifestyle changes, particularly eating patterns, such as the consumption of junk food. A healthy lifestyle, which includes both exercise and good nutrition, is the answer to this issue. It is advantageous for obese people to lose weight since it lowers their risk of mortality and morbidity.Aim- The narrative review's goal is to learn how effective &nbsp;green tea is at helping obese young adult girls lose weight.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Keywords:- BMI, Green Tea, being Obese, and Assessment Adolescents and Young Adults.&lt;/p&gt

    A case of extended spectrum beta-lactamase producing Salmonella enterica serotype paratyphi A from India

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    Enteric fever caused by Salmonella enterica is a systemic infection with high rates of morbidity and mortality. Increasing antibiotic resistance in S. enterica has led to shift in the choice of antibiotics used against this organism from chloramphenicol and ampicillin to trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, fluoroquinolones, and extended-spectrum cephalosporins. Resistance to cephalosporins, due to the production of extended-spectrum beta-lactamases (ESBLs), is the cause of serious concern worldwide. So far, these enzymes have been detected in many species of the family Enterobacteriaceae including different serotypes of S. enterica. To the best of our knowledge, however, ESBL production in Salmonella Paratyphi A has not yet been reported from India. We present here a case of ESBL producing Salmonella Paratyphi A from India. This is a worrisome finding with grave clinical implications, since the dissemination of this resistance trait would further limit the therapeutic options available for the treatment of enteric fever

    Coexistence of local structural heterogeneities and long-range ferroelectricity in Pb-free (1x)Ba(Zr0.2Ti0.8)O3x(Ba0.7Ca0.3)TiO3(1−x) Ba (Zr_{0.2}Ti_{0.8})O_{3−x}(Ba_{0.7}Ca_{0.3})TiO_{3} ceramics

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    Environmentally benign (1−x) Ba (Ti0.8_{0.8}Zr0.2_{0.2}) O3_3−x (Ba0.7_{0.7}Ca0.3_{0.3}) TiO3_3 (BZT-BCT) ceramics are promising materials due to their remarkable high piezoresponse [Liu and Ren, Phys. Rev. Lett. 103, 257602 (2009)]. In this Letter, by focusing on local and average structure in combination with macroscopic electromechanical and dielectric measurements we demonstrate the structure property relationship in the tetragonal BZT-BCT ceramic. During high-temperature cubic to tetragonal phase transformation, polar nanoregions are manifested through the spontaneous volume ferroelectrostriction at temperatures below ∼477 K. Temperature-dependent local structural investigations across the Zr KK edge extended x-ray absorption fine-structure spectroscopy reveal an anomalous collaboration between the ZrO6_6 and TiO6_6 octahedra. These octahedra compromise their individuality during polarization development. The presence of domains of submicron size embedded inside the macroscopic ferroelectric regions below Tm_m, as well as their hierarchical arrangement, is observed by piezoresponse force microscopy. Effects of the existence of the structural/polar heterogeneities below Tm_m are observed also when polarizabilities of the poled and unpoled samples are compared; the poled sample is found to be more susceptible to the electric field. In addition, by using electric field dependent x-ray diffraction studies we also show that this ceramic under field exhibits a reduction of tetragonal distortion, which is consistent with earlier reports
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