A STUDY ON KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDES, AND PRACTICES FOR THE PREVENTION OF DIABETIC FOOT IN RURAL TERTIARY CARE TEACHING HOSPITAL

Objective: To assess the knowledge, attitude, and practice of diabetic patients regarding care of their own feet.Methods: This is a cross-sectional study conducted in the inpatient department of surgery at Adichunchanagiri hospital and research centre, B. G. Nagara, Karnataka, India from 1st Nov. 2016 to 31st Dec. 2016. The relation between gender and knowledge, attitude and practices of people with diabetes patients were compared by using the Chi-square test at 95% confidence interval at p<0.05.Results: Out of 51 patients, 72.54% were male and 27.46% female and 45.1% of the patients were in the age range 61-80 y. The mean SD of the age was 60.49±14.02. The mean SD of body weight of the patient was 66.17±8.54. The majority of the patients 45.1% were farmers and 41.7% were illiterate. Most of them did not know the practice of correct foot hygiene (39.22%) and what abnormalities observe in their feet (66.67%). We found that 90.2% patients were engaged in foot self-care practice and more than half of them (54.1%) always inspected their footwear before using it. Interestingly, more women were involved in foot care (100%) as compared to men (86.46%) but statistically not significant (p=0.147).Conclusion: We found that patients were not having sufficient knowledge about the correct hygiene of the foot, what abnormalities to observe in their feet and about ideal footwear. Even though females were showing interest towards self-care examination and foot care practice, it is essential that all the diabetic patients must be educated about the knowledge, attitude and foot self-care practice to prevent diabetic foot related complications

ABHRAK BHASMA AND SiO2 INFLUENCED FREE RADICAL STATUS IN LIVER AND KIDNEY OF CCl4-INDUCED ACUTELY INTOXICATED MALE ALBINO RAT

Objective: The objective of the study was to study the mechanism of action of abhrak bhasma-mediated liver and kidney protection in CCl4-induced acute hepatotoxicity-induced male albino rats. Action of abhrak bhasma is compared with the action of SiO2 in similar experimental conditions to differentiate the role of silicon. Methods: Male albino rats (Rattus norvegicus) were used for experiments. The acute hepatotoxicity was induced by daily dose of CCl4 (3.0 ml/kg body wt for 7 days consecutive). Concurrent treatment of abhrak bhasma in graded doses (10, 20, 30, and 40 mg) was given for 7 days (PO). SiO2 (10, 20, 30, and 40 mg) in graded doses was also given in independent groups of rats as silica control. Lipid peroxidation (LPO) in liver and kidney was studied by malondialdehyde (MDA) estimations as parameter of toxicity and also to study protection. Results: CCl4-induced hepatotoxicity (MDA levels) is partially managed by low doses of SiO2 but not by high doses. Abhrak bhasma hepatoprotective activities were dose dependent. A 40 mg dose maintained normal levels of LPO. Abhrak bhasma also protected associated renal toxicity. Conclusion: Abhrak bhasma protected CCl4-induced hepatotoxicity and also associated renal toxicity. Silicon from both SiO2 and abhrak bhasma is hepatoprotective in 10 ml doses (10 and 20 mg) but silicon processed in abhrak bhasma by traditional Ayurvedic processes increased its potency and hepatoprotection and added the potency of renal protection

Equitable total domination in graphs

A subset ‫ܦ‬ of a vertex set ܸሺ‫ܩ‬ሻ of a graph ‫ܩ‬ ൌ ሺܸ, ‫ܧ‬ሻ is called an equitable dominating set if for every vertex ‫ݒ‬ ‫א‬ ܸ െ ‫ܦ‬ there exists a vertex ‫ݑ‬ ‫א‬ ‫ܦ‬ such that ‫ݒݑ‬ ‫א‬ ‫ܧ‬ሺ‫ܩ‬ሻ and |݀݁݃ሺ‫ݑ‬ሻ െ ݀݁݃ሺ‫ݒ‬ሻ| 1, where ݀݁݃ሺ‫ݑ‬ሻ and ݀݁݃ሺ‫ݒ‬ሻ are denoted as the degree of a vertex ‫ݑ‬ and ‫ݒ‬ respectively. The equitable domination number of a graph ߛ ሺ‫ܩ‬ሻ of ‫ܩ‬ is the minimum cardinality of an equitable dominating set of ‫.ܩ‬ An equitable dominating set ‫ܦ‬ is said to be an equitable total dominating set if the induced subgraph ‫ۄܦۃ‬ has no isolated vertices. The equitable total domination number ߛ ௧ ሺ‫ܩ‬ሻ of ‫ܩ‬ is the minimum cardinality of an equitable total dominating set of ‫.ܩ‬ In this paper, we initiate a study on new domination parameter equitable total domination number of a graph, characterization is given for equitable total dominating set is minimal and also discussed Northaus-Gaddum type results

Isolation, identification and molecular characterization of Ralstonia solanacerum isolates collected from Southern Karnataka

Bacterial wilt caused by Ralstonia solanacearum, is the major threat to tomato cultivation in all tomato growing areas of Karnataka.  R. solanacearum was isolated from the infected host plants collected from different locations of southern Karnataka. The identity of the isolates was established using morphological, biochemical, and molecular analysis using species specific PCR primers. The race and biovar specificity of pathogen was determined through pathogenicity test on different host plants and the ability of isolates to use carbohydrates, respectively. Phylotype classification was done by phylotype specific multiplex PCR using phylotype specific primers. All the bacterial isolates showed the characteristic creamy white fluidal growth with pink centre on the Tetrazolium chloride medium. Further, the isolates amplified at 280 bp, which confirmed the identity of pathogen as Ralstonia solanacearum. Our results showed that all isolates belonged to Race 1 of the pathogen. Among different isolates obtained, four isolates each were identified to be Biovar III and Biovar IIIA, repectively, while two isolates were identified as Biovar IIIB. All the ten isolates were affiliated to Phylotype I of Ralstonia solanaceraum species complex. These findings may help in devising the management practices for bacterial wilt of tomato in southern Karnataka

Evaluating assumptions of scales for subjective assessment of thermal environments – Do laypersons perceive them the way, we researchers believe?

International audienc

Bottom-up Infrastructures: Aligning Politics and Technology in building a Wireless Community Network

Contemporary innovation in infrastructures is increasingly characterized by a close relationship between experts and lay people. This phenomenon has attracted the attention from a wide range of disciplines, including computer-supported cooperative work (CSCW), science and technology studies (S&TS), organization studies and participatory design (PD). Connecting to this broad area of research, the article presents a qualitative case study concerning the building and maintenance of a grassroots, bottom-up information infrastructure in Italy, defined as wireless community network (WCN). Methodologically, the research is based on qualitative interviews with participants to the WCN, ethnographic observations and document analysis. The aim of the article is to understand the alignment between the technical work implied in building this bottom-up infrastructure and the political and cultural frameworks that move people to participate to this project. Relying on the field of science & technology studies, and in particular on the notions of ‘inverse infrastructure’ and ‘research in the wild’, we disclose the WCN’s peculiar innovation trajectory, localized outside conventional spaces of research and development. Overall, the presentation of the qualitative and ethnographic data allows to point out a more general reflection on bottom-up infrastructures and to enrich the academic debate concerning bottom-up infrastructuring work and other similar typologies of collaborative design projects in the domain of infrastructures

Association of the rs738409 polymorphism in PNPLA3 with liver damage and the development of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In a genome-wide association scan, the single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs738409 in the patatin-like phospholipase 3 gene (<it>PNPLA3</it>) was strongly associated with increased liver fat content. We investigated whether this SNP is associated with the occurrence and progression of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in the Japanese population.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>SNP rs738409 was genotyped by the Taqman assay in 253 patients with NAFLD (189 with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis [NASH] and 64 with simple steatosis) and 578 control subjects. All patients with NAFLD underwent liver biopsy. Control subjects had no metabolic disorders. For a case-control study, the <it>χ</it>²-test (additive model) was performed. Odds ratios (ORs) were adjusted for age, gender, and body mass index (BMI) by using multiple logistic regression analysis with genotypes (additive model), age, gender, and BMI as the independent variables. Multiple linear regression analysis was performed to test the independent effect of risk allele on clinical parameters while considering the effects of other variables (age, gender, and BMI), which were assumed to be independent of the effect of the SNP.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The risk allele (G-allele) frequency of rs738409 was 0.44 in the control subjects and 0.60 in patients with NAFLD; this shows a strong association with NAFLD (additive model, <it>P </it>= 9.4 × 10^-10). The OR (95% confidence interval) adjusted for age, gender, and BMI was 1.73 (1.25-2.38). Multiple linear regression analysis indicated that the G-allele of rs738409 was significantly associated with increases in aspartate transaminase (AST) (<it>P </it>= 0.00013), alanine transaminase (ALT) (<it>P </it>= 9.1 × 10^-6), and ferritin levels (<it>P </it>= 0.014), and the fibrosis stage (<it>P </it>= 0.011) in the patients with NAFLD, even after adjustment for age, gender, and BMI. The steatosis grade was not associated with rs738409.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>We found that in the Japanese population, individuals harboring the G-allele of rs738409 were susceptible to NAFLD, and that rs738409 was associated with plasma levels of ALT, AST, and ferritin, and the histological fibrosis stage. Our study suggests that <it>PNPLA3 </it>may be involved in the progression of fibrosis in NAFLD.</p

Evaluating assumptions of scales for subjective assessment of thermal environments – Do laypersons perceive them the way, we researchers believe?

People's subjective response to any thermal environment is commonly investigated by using rating scales describing the degree of thermal sensation, comfort, and acceptability. Subsequent analyses of results collected in this way rely on the assumption that specific distances between verbal anchors placed on the scale exist and that relationships between verbal anchors from different dimensions that are assessed (e.g. thermal sensation and comfort) do not change. Another inherent assumption is that such scales are independent of the context in which they are used (climate zone, season, etc.). Despite their use worldwide, there is indication that contextual differences influence the way the scales are perceived and therefore question the reliability of the scales’ interpretation. To address this issue, a large international collaborative questionnaire study was conducted in 26 countries, using 21 different languages, which led to a dataset of 8225 questionnaires. Results, analysed by means of robust statistical techniques, revealed that only a subset of the responses are in accordance with the mentioned assumptions. Significant differences appeared between groups of participants in their perception of the scales, both in relation to distances of the anchors and relationships between scales. It was also found that respondents’ interpretations of scales changed with contextual factors, such as climate, season, and language. These findings highlight the need to carefully consider context-dependent factors in interpreting and reporting results from thermal comfort studies or post-occupancy evaluations, as well as to revisit the use of rating scales and the analysis methods used in thermal comfort studies to improve their reliability

The Scales Project, a cross-national dataset on the interpretation of thermal perception scales

Thermal discomfort is one of the main triggers for occupants’ interactions with components of the built environment such as adjustments of thermostats and/or opening windows and strongly related to the energy use in buildings. Understanding causes for thermal (dis-)comfort is crucial for design and operation of any type of building. The assessment of human thermal perception through rating scales, for example in post-occupancy studies, has been applied for several decades; however, long-existing assumptions related to these rating scales had been questioned by several researchers. The aim of this study was to gain deeper knowledge on contextual influences on the interpretation of thermal perception scales and their verbal anchors by survey participants. A questionnaire was designed and consequently applied in 21 language versions. These surveys were conducted in 57 cities in 30 countries resulting in a dataset containing responses from 8225 participants. The database offers potential for further analysis in the areas of building design and operation, psycho-physical relationships between human perception and the built environment, and linguistic analyses