Cross-sectional associations of personal efforts and beliefs and depressive symptoms among older adults in India.

Whilst there is growing evidence on the increased vulnerability of older adults to depression, there is limited research on potentially mitigative factors against symptoms of depression at a population level. This research examined associations of possible protective factors (personal efforts and beliefs) and depressive symptoms among older adults in India. This cross-sectional study used data from the Longitudinal Aging Study in India with 31,464 respondents aged 60 years and above. Depressive symptoms were assessed using the 10-item Centre for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale. Multivariable linear regression was used while exploring the associated factors of depressive symptoms. The mean score of depressive symptoms was 2.94 (CI 2.92, 2.96). Older adults who engaged in moderate [aCoef: -0.11, CI -0.18, -0.05], vigorous [aCoef: -0.09, CI -0.16, -0.03], or both types of physical activity [aCoef: -0.10, CI -0.19, -0.02] had lower likelihood of depressive symptoms in comparison to those who were physically inactive. Older adults who participated in social activities were less likely to have depressive symptoms [aCoef: -0.44, CI -0.50, -0.39] compared to their socially inactive counterparts. Further, older adults who perceived religion as very important [aCoef: -0.29, CI -0.41, -0.17], who had high life satisfaction [aCoef: -0.78, CI -0.82, -0.73], who had good self-perceived health [aCoef: -0.29, CI -0.33, -0.25] and those who had high self-perceived social standing [aCoef: -0.39, CI -0.47, -0.31] had lower likelihood of depressive symptoms in comparison to their respective counterparts. Physical activity, social participation, voluntary work and financial contribution to family, religiosity, life satisfaction, self-perceived health and self-perceived social standing are associated with lower likelihood of depressive symptoms among community-dwelling older adults in this study. Future longitudinal studies should explore these factors that can guide interventions against depression in old age

A Smart Remote Monitoring System for Prenatal Care in Rural Areas

The complications in maternity especially the women lives in rural sector can be reduced through regular monitoring of their vitals like blood pressure, SpO2 and fetal growth. The internet of things (IoT) is the modern technology bridges the gap between the traditional clinical setting with its consumers as well promotes the telemedicine industry into great levels of accessing proactive healthcare facilities. The predominant aim of this work is to bring a remote monitoring device which assesses the significant health indicators of the pregnant women and their fetus status cost effectively. In order to build such kit, the biosensors like heart rate, SpO2, pressure, temperature and load cell which gives the weight of the fetus are integrated into Arudino board. The sensor readings are processed through ThingSpeak. The timely medical attention is proposed upon observing abnormal physiological vitals of the women which is implemented through a buzzer system in this device. Like such devices in realism help to predict the pregnancy risk and decrease the mortality rate

Patterns of healthcare utilisation in children and young people: a retrospective cohort study using routinely collected healthcare data in Northwest London

Objectives With a growing role for health services in managing population health, there is a need for early identification of populations with high need. Segmentation approaches partition the population based on demographics, long-term conditions (LTCs) or healthcare utilisation but have mostly been applied to adults. Our study uses segmentation methods to distinguish patterns of healthcare utilisation in children and young people (CYP) and to explore predictors of segment membership. Design Retrospective cohort study. Setting Routinely collected primary and secondary healthcare data in Northwest London from the Discover database. Participants 378,309 CYP aged 0-15 years registered to a general practice in Northwest London with one full year of follow-up. Primary and secondary outcome measures Assignment of each participant to a segment defined by seven healthcare variables representing primary and secondary care attendances, and description of utilisation patterns by segment. Predictors of segment membership described by age, sex, ethnicity, deprivation and LTCs. Results Participants were grouped into six segments based on healthcare utilisation. Three segments predominantly used primary care; two moderate utilisation segments differed in use of emergency or elective care, and a high utilisation segment, representing 16,632 (4.4%) children accounted for the highest mean presentations across all service types. The two smallest segments, representing 13.3% of the population, accounted for 62.5% of total costs. Younger age, residence in areas of higher deprivation, and presence of one or more LTCs were associated with membership of higher utilisation segments, but 75.0% of those in the highest utilisation segment had no LTC. Conclusions This article identifies six segments of healthcare utilisation in CYP and predictors of segment membership. Demographics and LTCs may not explain utilisation patterns as strongly as in adults which may limit the use of routine data in predicting utilisation and suggests children have less well-defined trajectories of service use than adults

DEVELOPMENT AND VALIDATION OF STABILITY-INDICATING RP-UPLC METHOD FOR THE SIMULTANEOUS ESTIMATION OF TEZACAFTOR AND IVACAFTOR IN FORMULATIONS

Objective: Aim of the present research work was to develop a sensitive, rapid and accurate, stability-indicating RP-UPLC method for the simultaneous estimation of tezacaftor and ivacaftor in formulations. Methods: The chromatographic separation of the mixture of tezacaftor and ivacaftor was attained in isocratic method utilizing a mobile phase of 0.1 % orthophosphoric acid and acetonitrile in the proportion of 50:50%v/v utilizing a HSS C18 column which has dimensions of 100×2.1 mm, 1.7 m particle size and the flow rate of 0.3 ml/min. The detection system was monitored at 292 nm wavelength maximum with 1.5 ml injection volume. The present method was validated as per the guidelines given by the ICH for specificity, accuracy, sensitivity, linearity and precision. Results: The retaining time for tezacaftor and ivacaftor were achieved at 1.071 min and 0.530 min, respectively. Tezacaftor, ivacaftor and their combined drug formulation were exposed to thermal, acidic, oxidative, photolytic, and alkaline conditions. The developed method was highly sensitive, rapid, precise and accurate than the earlier reported methods. The total run time was decreased to 2.0 min; hence, the technique was more precise and economical. Stability studies directed for the suitability of the technique for degradation studies of tezacaftor and ivacaftor. Conclusion: The projected method can be utilized for routine analysis in the quality control department in pharmaceutical trades

Study on drug profile used in common pregnancy influenced issues and its complications

Background: Pregnancy influenced issues are common among pregnant women treated by medications that causes complication in mother and fetus. The study aims to identify patients with pregnancy influenced issues like gestational diabetes mellitus, gestational hypertension, gastroesophageal reflux disease and anaemia. To assess the drug used pattern along with antibiotic therapy and to observe the above disease related complications.Methods: A hospital based prospective observational study was conducted at department of obstetrics and gynecology in Rajah Muthiah Medical College and Hospital. Totally 100 patients enrolled and data was collected using data collection form.Results: Out of 100 patients, high prevalence occurred in 26-30 years of age. Primarily gestational hypertension (39%), treated with Tab. Labetatol and complications were premature delivery, low birth weight. Anaemia (25%) cases treated with Tab. Ferrous sulphate, Iron sucrose and Folic Acid, Preterm delivery as complication. Gestational diabetes mellitus (18%) treated with Metformin and Human Insulin and complications were preterm delivery, maternal obesity, increased child weight. GERD (8%) treated with Pantoprazole, Ondansetron, Bifilac and complications were weight loss, dehydration, low birth weight. In pre-operative cases, 79% received antibiotics as monotherapy and 21% as dual therapy. In post-operative cases, 41% received antibiotics as monotherapy and 59% as dual therapy. Metronidazole (95%) given in both post and pre- operative conditions.Conclusions: The present study provides valuable insight about the overall drugs used in pregnancy related diseases and complications arise. We hope our data will make necessary recommendations to all health care professionals and pregnant women to ensure all pregnancy related safety measures were taken

Examining the association between health status and subjective life expectancy among older Indian adults based on the mindsponge approach

AbstractGender and socioeconomic differences in subjective life expectancy (SLE) are an unexplored arena in the geriatric literature concerning low-resource settings. Information on several health outcomes that might influence the SLE could guide targeted interventions, particularly in countries with rapidly ageing populations like India. This study aimed to explore SLE and the associations of SLE with the objective and subjective health status of older Indian adults, based on the mindsponge mechanism that links the contextual factors with individuals' evaluation of health. Data from the Longitudinal Ageing Study in India were used and the final sample included 5969 older adults aged 60 years and above. Independent t-tests were used to assess the gender difference in SLE according to various health-related factors. Additionally, we used generalized linear regression models (GLMs) with a logit link and a binomial family to fulfil the study objectives. The proportion of older adults who reported a 100% probability of survival for a 1-year period was nearly 38%, compared with 12% and 6% of the respondents who reported the same for 5 and 10 years survival periods, respectively. Older men reported a greater average probability of own survival than older women for all the time periods. Older men who reported poor self-rated health had a significantly lower SLE for a 1-year period (β = −0.232, SD = 0.107) and a 5-year period (β = −0.226, SD = 0.077) than those who reported good self-rated health. On the other hand, older women with poor self-rated health had a significantly lower SLE for a 10 years time horizon than women with good self-rated health. Underweight men had significantly lower SLE for a 1-year period than men with normal BMI (β = −0.213, SD = 0.097). Further, cognitively impaired women reported significantly lower SLE for a 1-year period (β = −0.399, SD = 0.108) and 5 years period (β = −0.160, SD = 0.077). Depressed older men reported significantly lower SLE for 1-year period (β = −0.309, SD = 0.101), 5-year period (β = −0.194, SD = 0.084), and 10-year period (β = −0.129, SD = 0.071). The current findings, supporting the mindsponge mechanism, indicate that older adults base their estimation of longevity on health factors that they are aware of or not. This finding has significant implications for health professionals and public policy in planning targeted interventions that can benefit at-risk population cohorts.</jats:p

Origin of Ferroelectricity in Orthorhombic LuFeO3_3

We demonstrate that small but finite ferroelectric polarization ($\sim$0.01 $\mu$C/cm$^2$) emerges in orthorhombic LuFeO$_3$ ($Pnma$) at $T_N$ ($\sim$600 K) because of commensurate (k = 0) and collinear magnetic structure. The synchrotron x-ray and neutron diffraction data suggest that the polarization could originate from enhanced bond covalency together with subtle contribution from lattice. The theoretical calculations indicate enhancement of bond covalency as well as the possibility of structural transition to the polar $Pna2_1$ phase below $T_N$. The $Pna2_1$ phase, in fact, is found to be energetically favorable below $T_N$ in orthorhombic LuFeO$_3$ ($albeit$ with very small energy difference) than in isostructural and nonferroelectric LaFeO$_3$ or NdFeO$_3$. Application of electric field induces finite piezostriction in LuFeO$_3$ via electrostriction resulting in clear domain contrast images in piezoresponse force microscopy.Comment: 12 pages, 8 figure

Wealth disparity and frailty among community-dwelling older adults in India

Due to the vast socioeconomic diversity among its residents, studying health inequality in India is of particular interest. This study aimed to investigate the wealth-based inequalities in physical frailty and to quantify the contributions of potential predictors of frailty to this inequality. Data were drawn from the first wave of the Longitudinal Ageing Study in India (LASI) conducted during 2017–18. Logistic regression analysis was used to examine the association between wealth status and frailty. We used the concentration index to measure the magnitude of wealth-related inequality in frailty. A decomposition analysis based on the logit model was used to assess the contribution of each predictor to the total inequality. The prevalence of physical frailty was significantly higher among the older adults in the poor group than in the non-poor group [Difference (poor vs. non-poor): 6.4%; p < 0.001]. Regression results indicated that older adults in the poorest group were 23% more likely to be physically frail than those in the richest category [Adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 1.23; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.11, 1.38]. The overall concentration index of frailty was 0.058 among the older adults, indicating that frailty is more concentrated among older adults with poor wealth status. Body mass index, wealth index, educational status, and region were the major and significant contributors to the socioeconomic status (SES) related inequalities in frailty. Results suggest the need for formulating effective prevention and intervention strategies to decelerate the development of physical frailty among older adults in India, especially those with poor socioeconomic background.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-022-14434-

Characterization of protease from Alcaligens faecalis and its antibacterial activity on fish pathogens Author Details

Abstract Alcaligens faecalis AU01 isolated from seafood industry effluent produced an alkaline protease. The optimum culture conditions for growth as well as enzyme production were 37 o C and pH 8. The partially purified protease had specific activity of 9.66 with 17.77% recovery with the molecular weight of 33 kDa and it was active between 30-70 o C and optimum being at 55 o C and pH 9. The enzyme retains more than 85% activity at 70 o C and 78% even at pH 10.The enzyme inhibited the growth of fish pathogens such as Flavobacterium sp., Pseudomonas fluorescens, Vibrio harveyi, Proteus sp. and Vibrio parahaemolyticus. From the present study it can be concluded that Alcaligens faecalis AU01 has the potential for aquaculture as probiotic agent and other several applications