Stigmata of complications on the quality of life of type 2 diabetic patients

Background: Diabetes is a chronic metabolic disorder the prevalence of which has continued to evolve with time. For such chronic illness where there is no permanent remedy, it is important to establish that therapy really makes people feel better. The purpose of the study was to analyze the quality of life (QOL) in a group of diabetic patients with or without complications and its impact on their day to day living.Methods: 270 type 2 DM patients were enrolled for this retrospective done at S P Medical College Bikaner. Assessment of QOL was done with “The audit of diabetes dependent quality of life scale (ADDQoL).”  This composed of 19 domain specific items and their response options.Results: All 19 parameter of QOL were found to be negatively impacted (-4.28 to -6.08) in DM patients. Most negatively impacted parameters were personal life, sexual life and physical work (-6.08, -5.57, -5.11 respectively).Widower patients had worst quality of life as compared to married patients. Modality of treatment had major impact on QOL with patient on insulin therapy having worse QOL as compared to other treatment modality.Conclusions: Patients with DM not only have impairments in their physical functioning but have statistically significant impairment of all aspects of QOL. The stigmata of living with diabetes had influence on every aspect including physical, psychological and social aspects of QOL. Optimal glycaemic control will not only prevent the development of long standing complication but will also help in improving QOL and general wellbeing of the patients

Serum Prolidase Activity and Oxidative Stress in Diabetic Nephropathy and End Stage Renal Disease: A Correlative Study with Glucose and Creatinine

Association of oxidative stress and serum prolidase activity (SPA) has been reported in many chronic diseases. The study was aimed at evaluating the correlation of glucose and creatinine to SPA and oxidative stress in patients with diabetic nephropathy (DN) and end stage renal disease (ESRD) concerned with T2DM. 50 healthy volunteers, 50 patients with T2DM, 86 patients with DN, and 43 patients with ESRD were considered as control-1, control-2, case-1, and case-2, respectively. Blood glucose, creatinine, SPA, total oxidant status (TOS), total antioxidant status (TAS), and oxidative stress index (OSI) were measured by colorimetric tests. SPA, TOS, and OSI were significantly increased in case-1 and case-2 than control-1 and control-2, while TAS was significantly decreased (P<0.001). Blood glucose was linearly correlated to SPA, TOS, TAS, and OSI in control-2, case-1 and case-2 (P<0.001). Serum creatinine was linearly correlated with SPA, TOS, TAS and OSI in control-2 and case-1 (P<0.001). In case-2, serum creatinine was significantly correlated with SPA only (P<0.001). Thus, the study concluded that SPA and oxidative stress significantly correlated with blood glucose and creatinine. SPA, TOS, TAS, and OSI can be used as biomarkers for diagnosis of kidney damage

Drug adherence to anti-tubercular treatment during COVID-19 lockdown in Haldwani block of Nainital district

Background: India saw one of the stringent lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the wake of this period, the normal functioning of medical services was affected. People were reluctant to seek medical attention and notification of Tuberculosis dipped. The aim of the study was to estimate the proportion of non-adherence to anti-tubercular treatment and to identify the factors affecting the non-adherence to treatment. Methods: A retrospective community-based study was conducted among 284 tuberculosis patients. They were interviewed using a pre-designed questionnaire consisting of WHO dimensions of non-adherence and lockdown related questions. Results: The proportion of non-adherence to treatment was found to be 5.3%. Factors like chronic diseases, depression, without knowledge on how the disease is transmitted and that medication can be discontinued once the symptoms subsided, alcohol consumption, and trouble accessing medicine were found to be the determining factors in non-adherence to the treatment. Conclusions: Non-adherence to anti-tuberculosis treatment in our study was low but the various dimensions of adherence along with lockdown related factors had significant impact on it. To further minimize non-adherence during emergency like the lockdown due to COVID-19 pandemic, corrective measures must be explored and implemented

Effect of Syzygium cumini (jamun) seed powder on dyslipidemia: a double blind randomized control trial

Background: Diabetes is a metabolic syndrome characterized by disturbance in carbohydrate, fat and protein metabolism. Dyslipidemia, commonly associated in diabetes, is major risk factor for macrovascular complications leading to CAD, major contributor to mortality associated with diabetes. Managing DM without side effects is challenge that attracts researchers toward plant based new products. Many studies have found anti-diabetic and anti-hyperlipidemic properties of seeds of Syzygium cumini, attributed to saponins, glycosides and flavonoids. So it should be further explored for its benefits.  The aim was to study the effect of jamun seed powder on dyslipidemia in type 2 DM. Methods: Patients with type 2 DM were randomly divided in two groups- group A was supplemented with 10 gms/day jamun seed powder and group B was given placebo powder. Patients and investigators were blinded about treatment allocated. Lipid profile was noted at baseline and 30th, 60th and 90th day. All the data was collected and analyzed at the end of study.Results: Improvement in dyslipidemia was seen after 60 days of supplementation with S. cumini seed powder. Statistically significant decrease in cholesterol levels by 10.55% and 15.79% in mean triglyceride levels by 8.28% and 13.66%, LDL-c levels by 10.29% and 14.50% was noticed at 60th and 90th day, respectively, reduction in VLDL-c levels by 9.38%, 12.90% and 20.69% was noted at 30th, 60th and 90th day. HDL-c increased significantly by 11.11% and 13.89% in males and 10.81% and 16.21% in females after 60 and 90 days of supplementation with S. cumini seed powder.Conclusions: A significant overall effect of S. cumini supplementation was found in improvement of lipid profile in type 2 diabetes subjects. However, above results are seen in small number subjects, further multicenter studies with larger sample size, supplementation dose and time should be planned and its effects in detail should be explored.

A study of the risk factors and outcome in patients with upper gastrointestinal bleed presenting to a tertiary care center in Kumaon region of Uttarakhand

Background: Upper gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding refers to blood loss within the intraluminal GI tract from any location between the upper esophagi to the duodenum at the level of the ligament of Treitz. Bleeding from the upper GI tract may present as hematemesis, melena, hematochezia, occult GI bleeding, and anemia. Aims and Objectives: The aims of this study were to study the risk factors and outcome in upper GI bleed patients presenting to a tertiary care center in Kumaon region of Uttarakhand. The primary objective was to estimate the proportion of mortality in upper GI bleed patients attending a tertiary care center. The secondary objective was to study the risk factors associated with upper GI bleed and their effect on mortality. Materials and Methods: This was a hospital-based observational prospective clinical study, carried out in the Department of General medicine, Dr. Susheela Tiwari Memorial Hospital and associated Government Medical College, Haldwani, from January 2020 to September 2021 after obtaining ethical clearance from the Institutional Review Committee and informed consent from the patient or patient relatives. Statistical testing has been conducted with the Statistical Package for the Social Science software (SPSS version 20.0). Results: The factors associated with mortality using multivariate analysis were high international normalized ratio (INR), low albumin, raised serum glutamic oxaloacetic transaminas, high Child Pugh Score, and high model for end stage liver disease (MELD) score found to be significant. Conclusion: The mortality rate in our patients was 18% and factors associated with increased mortality were high INR, low Albumin, raised creatinine, high Child Pugh Score, high MELD score, and presence of spontaneous bacterial peritonitis

Ras hyperactivation versus overexpression : Lessons from Ras dynamics in Candida albicans

We thank Prof. Neta Dean for the CIp10ADH1-Cherry plasmid and Prof. Aaron Mitchell for the BWP17 strain. We gratefully acknowledge Prof. Sudipta Maiti, TIFR, Mumbai, India for providing the data acquisition software. We also appreciate the feedback and discussions with Dr. Rohini Muthuswami, SLS, JNU as well as from the Protein Society group, New Delhi while this study was taking shape. We thank Prof. Alok Bhattacharya for Cytochalasin D. The GC-MS and fluorescence lifetime measurements were carried out at the Advanced Instrumentation Research Facility (AIRF), JNU. Confocal images were recorded either at the central instrumentation facility (CIF), SLS, JNU or at AIRF, JNU. This work was supported by project grants from Department of Biotechnology (DBT, Project grant no. BT/PR20410/BRB/10/1542/2016) and Department of Science and Technology (DST, Project grant no. SB/SO/BB-011/2014), India to S.S.K; and project grants from Department of Information Technology, (DIT, Project grant no. 12(4)/2007-PDD), India to S.S. for FCS setup. In addition, both S.S. and S.S.K. thank DBT-BUILDER for funding support (Project grant no. BT/PR5006/INF/153/2012). S.S.K. also acknowledges funding support from UGC Resource Networking grant to the School of Life Sciences. We thank DST-PURSE and JNU for assistance with funding for publication. G.S.V. and S.C.S. received a fellowship from UGC; V.A.P., B.Y., P.J., N.P., M.F.K. acknowledge CSIR for fellowships. S.L.S. received a fellowship from ICMR. D.T.H. and M.F.K. thank DBT-BUILDER for funding.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Interaction of oxygen (O+7) ion beam on polyaniline thin films

High-energy ion beam irradiation of the polymers is a good technique to modify the properties such as electrical conductivity, structural behaviour and mechanial properties. Polyaniline thin films doped with hydrochloric acid (HCl) were prepared by oxidation of ammonium persulphate. The effect of Swift Heavy Ions irradiation on the electrical and structural properties of polyaniline has been measured in this study. Polyaniline films were irradiated by oxygen ions (energy 80 MeV, charge state O+7) with fluence varying from 1 × 1010 to 3 × 1012 ions/cm2. The studies on electrical and structural properties of the irradiated polymers were investigated by measuring V-I using four probe set-up and X-ray diffraction (XRD) using Bruker AXS, X-ray powder diffractometer. V-I measurements shows an increase in the conductivity of the film, XRD pattern of the polymer shows that the crystallinity improved after the irradiation with Swift Heavy Ions (SHI), which could be attributed to cross linking mechanism.Subhash Chandra1*, S Annapoorni2, R G Sonkawade3, P K Kulriya3 Fouran Singh3, D K Avasthi3, J M S Rana1 and R C Ramola1 1Department of Physics, H N B Garhwal University, Badshahi Thaul Campus, Tehri Garhwal-249 199, Uttarakhand, India 2Department of Physics and Astrophysics, University of Delhi, Delhi-110 007, India 3Inter University Accelerator Center, Aruna Asaf Ali Marg, New Delhi-110 067, India E-mail : [email protected] of Physics, H N B Garhwal University, Badshahi Thaul Campus, Tehri Garhwal-249 199, Uttarakhand, India Department of Physics and Astrophysics, University of Delhi, Delhi-110 007, India Inter University Accelerator Center, Aruna Asaf Ali Marg, New Delhi-110 067, Indi

Technology for Improving Street Dog Welfare and Capturing Data in Digital Format during Street Dog Sterilisation Programmes

Street dogs survive on food handouts provided by individuals, or the wider community yet typically receive limited to no veterinary care. They can also carry a variety of zoonotic diseases such as rabies, posing a significant risk to human and dog population health. Dog sterilization is one of the most humane and effective methods available to control street dog populations. Dog sterilization programs, particularly those operating at a large-scale, often face a variety of challenges including limited resources, staffing, and less-than-ideal facilities. Record keeping is often a challenge as well, which can complicate the return of a sterilized dog to their location of capture. Street dogs are territorial, and the return of a dog to an incorrect location is fraught with various welfare issues, as well as an increased risk of postoperative complications, including death. Humane Society International developed a mobile phone-based application called ‘HSIApps’ drawing on years of field experience and data collection in street dog location recording, as well as clinical and postoperative treatment. HSIApps facilitates the return of dogs back to their exact captured location, which ensures dog welfare, and generates reports of a variety of useful data variables to maximize the efficacy and reliability of sterilization programs

Artificial Light at Night: A Global Threat to Plant Biological Rhythms and Eco-Physiological Processes

Light is crucial environmental factor for primary resource and signalling in plants and provide optimum fitness under fluctuating environments from millions of year. However, due to urbanization, and human development activities lot of excess light generated in environment during night time and responsible for anthropogenic generated pollution (ALAN; artificial night light pollution). This pollution has cause for serious problem in plants as it affects their processes and functions which are under the control of light or diurnal cycle. Plant biorhythms mostly diurnal rhythms such as stomatal movements, photosynthetic activity, and many more metabolic processes are under the control of period of light and dark, which are crucially affected by artificial light at night. Similarly, the crucial plant processes such as pollination, flowering, and yield determining processes are controlled by the diurnal cycle and ALAN affects these processes and ultimately hampers the plant fitness and development. To keep in mind the effect of artificial light at night on plant biorhythm and eco-physiological processes, this chapter will focus on the status of global artificial night light pollution and the responsible factors. Further, we will explore the details mechanisms of plant biorhythm and eco-physiological processes under artificial light at night and how this mechanism can be a global threat. Then at the end we will focus on the ANLP reducing strategies such as new light policy, advanced lightening technology such as remote sensing and lightening utilisation optimisation