A study to assess the effectiveness of relaxation therapy on stress and anxiety among caregivers of mentally ill patients in Sneka Mind Care Centre at Tirunelveli

A study to assess the effectiveness of relaxation therapy on Stress and Anxiety among caregivers of mentally ill patients in Sneka Mind Care Centre at Tirunelveli. The objectives of the study is to assess the Stress and Anxiety level of caregivers of mentally ill patients and to find out the effectiveness of relaxation therapy. Quantitative research approach with pre experimental - one group pre test and post test design was adopted to this study. The study was conducted among the caregivers of mentally ill patients at Sneka Mind Care Centre at Tirunelveli. Convenience sampling technique was adopted to select 60 caregivers of mentally ill patients. Data collection was done by using caregivers Stress assessment scale and Beck Anxiety Inventory. Relaxation therapy was administered for the samples. The data gathered were analyzed by descriptive and inferential statistical method and interpretation was done on the basis of the objectives of the study. The findings revealed that there was highly significant difference in level of Stress and Anxiety among caregivers of mentally ill patients after rendering the relaxation therapy. During pre test, in caregivers Stress assessment the analysis of pre test out of 60 samples 47 (78.3%) had moderate level of Stress and 13 (21.6%) had severe level of Stress. In Modified Beck Anxiety Inventory Scale the analysis of pre test out of 60 samples 38(63.3%) had moderate Anxiety and 22(36.6%) had severe anxiety. So it indicates that moderate and severe level of Stress and Anxiety was common among caregivers of mentally ill Patients and they require some relaxation measure. In post test care givers Stress assessment, the mean post test score was 23.4 and standard deviation was 7.29. The mean difference was 28.5. The obtained paired ‘t ‘ test value 20.26 which is more than the table value at 0.05 level of significance. In Modified Beck Anxiety Inventory Scale, the mean post test score was 26.3 and standard deviation was 5.62.The mean difference is 25. The obtained paired ‘t’ test value 21.36 which is more than the table value at 0.05 level of significance. Hence the research hypothesis (H1) was accepted and it was inferred that relaxation therapy is effective in reducing the level of Stress and Anxiety among caregivers of mentally ill patients. From the results of the study it is concluded that rendering relaxation therapy to the caregivers of mentally ill patients was effective in reducing Stress and anxiety. The caregivers of mentally ill patients with Stress and Anxiety can include this therapy in their routine activities. The caregivers leisure time may be enough and utilized for doing this relaxation therapy

Impact and mitigation of space weather effects on GNSS receiver performance

It is well known that Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signals suffer from a number of vulnerabilities, out of which a potential severe vulnerability is the effect of space weather. Space weather effects on the signals transmitted by GNSS include the effect of ionospheric perturbations and solar radio bursts. Intense solar radio bursts occurring in the L-band can impact the tracking performance of GNSS receivers located in the sunlit hemisphere of the Earth and are therefore a potential threat to safety-critical systems based on GNSS. Consequently monitoring these events is important for suitable warnings to be issued in support to related services and applications. On the other hand, the space weather effects leading to ionospheric perturbations on the GNSS signals are either due to dispersion or scintillation caused by plasma density irregularities. Scintillation can cause cycle slips and degrade the positioning accuracy in GNSS receivers. The high-latitude scintillation occurrence is known to correlate with changes in the solar andinterplanetary conditions along with a consequential impact on GNSS receiver tracking performance. An assessmentof the GNSS receiver tracking performance under scintillation can be analysed through the construction of receiver phase-locked loop (PLL) tracking jitter maps. These maps can offer a potentially useful tool to provide users with the prevailing tracking conditions under scintillation over a certain area and also be used to help mitigate the effects of scintillation on GNSS positioning. This paper reviews some of recent research results related to the impact and mitigation of space weather effects on GNSS receiver performance

The persistence of equatorial spread F - an analysis on seasonal, solar activity and geomagnetic activity aspects

The persistence (duration) of Equatorial Spread F (ESF), which has significant impact on communication systems, is addressed. Its behavior during different seasons and geomagnetic activity levels under the solar maximum (2001) and minimum (2006) conditions, is reported using the data from the magnetic equatorial location of Trivandrum (8.5° N; 77° E; dip 0.5° N) in India. The study reveals that the persistence of the irregularities can be estimated to a reasonable extent by knowing the post sunset F region vertical drift velocity (Vz) and the magnetic activity index Kp. Any sort of advance information on the possible persistence of the ionospheric irregularities responsible for ESF is important for understanding the scintillation morphology, and the results which form the first step in this direction are presented and discussed

Observational evidence for the plausible linkage of Equatorial Electrojet (EEJ) electric field variations with the post sunset F-region electrodynamics

The paper is based on a detailed observational study of the Equatorial Spread F (ESF) events on geomagnetically quiet (<I>A<sub>p</sub></I>≤20) days of the solar maximum (2001), moderate (2004) and minimum (2006) years using the ionograms and magnetograms from the magnetic equatorial location of Trivandrum (8.5° N; 77° E; dip lat ~0.5° N) in India. The study brings out some interesting aspects of the daytime Equatorial Electrojet (EEJ) related electric field variations and the post sunset F-region electrodynamics governing the nature of seasonal characteristics of the ESF phenomena during these years. The observed results seem to indicate a plausible linkage of daytime EEJ related electric field variations with pre-reversal enhancement which in turn is related to the occurrence of ESF. These electric field variations are shown to be better represented through a parameter, termed as "E", in the context of possible coupling between the E- and F-regions of the ionosphere. The observed similarities in the gross features of the variations in the parameter "E" and the F-region vertical drift (<I>V<sub>z</sub></I>) point towards the potential usage of the EEJ related parameter "E" as an useful index for the assessment of <I>V<sub>z</sub></I> prior to the occurrence of ESF

Association of PPARα Intron 7 Polymorphism with Coronary Artery Disease: A Cross-Sectional Study

The allelic variants of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha (PPARα) can influence the risk of coronary artery disease (CAD) by virtue of its effect on lipid metabolism. However, the role of PPARα intronic polymorphism with CAD has received little attention. The association of allelic variants G/C at intron 7 of the PPAR-alpha gene with CAD was examined in a hospital-based Indian population. PPAR genotyping was performed in 110 male patients with CAD and 120 age and ethnically matched healthy males by PCR amplification of the gene followed by restriction digestion. Presence of C allele showed a positive association with CAD (OR = 2.9; 95% CI [1.65–4.145]; P = .009) and also with dyslipidaemia (OR = 2.95, 95% CI (1.5–4.39); P < .05). Impaired lipid metabolism in carriers of the PPARα Intron 7C allele is possibly responsible for the predilection to CAD

Effect of the 24 September 2011 solar radio burst on precise point positioning service

An intense solar radio burst occurred on 24 September 2011, which affected the tracking of Global Navigation Satellite Systems’ (GNSS) signals by receivers located in the sunlit hemisphere of the Earth. This manuscript presents for the first time the impacts of this radio burst on the availability of Fugro’s real-time precise point positioning service for GNSS receivers and on the quality of the L band data link used to broadcast this service. During the peak of the radio burst (12:50–13:20 UT), a reduction in the L band signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is observed. For some receiver locations, a reset in the position filter is observed, which can be either due to the reduction in the L band SNR or the reduction in the number of tracked GNSS satellites. This reset in the position filter is accompanied by degradation in the positioning accuracy, which is also discussed herein