“Do I need exercise?” A Qualitative Study on Factors Affecting Leisure-Time Physical Activity in India

Physical activity can reduce the risk of premature mortality from various chronic diseases. Previous research in Kerala, India indicates several barriers which can impact physical activity levels. Perceptions about the importance of health-promoting physical activity were examined among adults in Kerala and various facilitators, motivators and barriers to physical activity were identified using focus group discussions and interviews with key informants. At present, the attitude of people and health professionals is that physical activity has to be taken up when diagnosed with a disease (obesity, diabetes) and advised by a health professional. Men were more likely to start exercising after being advised by a health worker compared to women who were restricted by family roles and gender norms. Hence, there is an urgent need to include physical activity in all health communications to increase awareness about the role of physical activity in health promotion and disease prevention

EVALUATION OF LIVER FUNCTION MARKERS AMONG WORKERS IN JEWELLERY UNITS

Objectives: Jewellery making unit workers are exposed to potent toxic chemicals and heavy metals during the manufacturing process. Various alloys are used during the manufacturing process of gold in which silver is used in higher concentration. The induction of metallothioneins (MTs) might occur due to the occupational exposure to heavy metals. Hence, the relationship of silver or MTs with liver function markers were investigated. Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted in the jewellery making units located in Coimbatore, Tamilnadu. A total of 211 participants [exposed (n = 158) and control (n = 53)] were included for the study and their liver function markers namely alanine amino transferase (ALT), aspartate amino transferase (AST), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), total protein, albumin, total/direct bilirubin and total cholesterol were estimated. Levels of serum silver and MTs were also assessed. Results: There were significant (p<0.05) increases of serum silver, MTs, ALT, AST, total cholesterol, total/direct bilirubin and significant (p<0.05) decrease of ALP, total protein and albumin in exposed groups compared to control group. Levels of MTs were positively correlated with ALT, AST, total cholesterol, total/direct bilirubin and were negatively correlated with albumin, total protein and ALP. Conclusion: The significant changes of liver function enzymes were observed due to the prolonged period of exposure to silver. However releases of these markers were in the normal range which might be due to the induction of MTs. The elevated levels of MT in the serum compared to control group pointed out that it might provide a cellular defense strategy against silver

Alemtuzumab and CXCL9 levels predict likelihood of sustained engraftment after reduced-intensity conditioning HCT

Overall survival after reduced-intensity conditioning (RIC) allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) using alemtuzumab, fludarabine, and melphalan is associated with high rates of mixed chimerism (MC) and secondary graft failure (GF). We hypothesized that peritransplantation alemtuzumab levels or specific patterns of inflammation would predict these risks. We assessed samples from the Bone Marrow Transplant Clinical Trials Network 1204 (NCT01998633) to study the impact of alemtuzumab levels and cytokine patterns on MC and impending or established secondary GF (defined as donor chimerism \u3c5% after initial engraftment and/or requirement of cellular intervention). Thirty-three patients with hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (n = 25) and other IEIs (n = 8) who underwent HCTs with T-cell-replete grafts were included. Patients with day 0 alemtuzumab levels ≤0.32 μg/mL had a markedly lower incidence of MC, 14.3%, vs 90.9% in patients with levels \u3e0.32 μg/mL (P = .008). Impending or established secondary GF was only observed in patients with day 0 alemtuzumab levels \u3e0.32 μg/mL (P = .08). Unexpectedly, patients with impending or established secondary GF had lower CXCL9 levels. The cumulative incidence of impending or established secondary GF in patients with a day 14+ CXCL9 level ≤2394 pg/mL (day 14+ median) was 73.6% vs 0% in patients with a level \u3e2394 pg/mL (P = .002). CXCL9 levels inversely correlated with alemtuzumab levels. These data suggest a model in which higher levels of alemtuzumab at day 0 deplete donor T cells, inhibit the graft-versus-marrow reaction (thereby suppressing CXCL9 levels), and adversely affect sustained engraftment in the nonmyeloablative HCT setting. This trial was registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov as #NCT01998633

Effectiveness of different matrix metalloproteinase inhibitors on the microtensile bond strength of self etch adhesive: An In Vitro study

AIM OF THE STUDY: To study the effectiveness of different Matrix metalloproteinase inhibitors on the microtensile bond strength of self etch adhesive (Clearfil SE Bond) over 7 days, 30 days and 90 days. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Sound extracted molar teeth were included in the study and were randomly divided into 4 groups. A flat mid coronal dentin surface were prepared using a diamond disc. In group 1 (Clearfil SE Bond) and group 4 (Clearfil SE Protect – Fluoride containing adhesive) was applied and cured for 20 seconds. In group 2 and group 3, 0.5% Green tea extract and 6.5% Grape seed extract were prepared and rubbed over dentin surface for 60 seconds. Over pretreated surface, bonding agent was applied and cured. Finally composite build up was done and cured. They were mounted on acrylic blocks and dentin beams of 1.0 mm2 were obtained. 10 dentin sticks per group were stored in water and bond strength were tested using Universal testing machine on 7 days, 30 days and 90 days. RESULTS: There was a significant increase in bond strength after 30 and 90 days comparing to 7 days. Among the groups, Grape seed extract had shown increase in bond strength followed by Clearfil SE Protect, Green tea extract and Clearfil SE Bond. CONCLUSION: Pretreatment with Grape seed extract can provide better bond strength but requires additional clinical step. Clearfil SE Protect had shown better bond strength and durability than Clearfil SE bond and Green tea extract

Determining Efficient Machine Learning Techniques for Grading of Knee Osteoarthritis

Osteoarthritis (OA) of the Knee is a degenerative joint disease mainly caused due to loss of articular cartilages. The paper introduces an approach to quantify knee osteoarthritis (OA) severity using KL grades. This approach combines EDA (Exploratory Data Analysis), Pre-processing and Feature Engineering techniques. The amount of damage to the knee can be graded using KL scale (0-4). The automated detection of Knee Osteoarthritis (KOA) based on KL grades which corresponds to severity stages has been given in the paper. In the study public dataset from Osteoarthritis Initiative (OAI) has been used to evaluate the proposed approach with very promising results. Different accuracy metrices like F1 score, Receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC), Area Under Curve (AUC) and Precision were used to find the best algorithm amongst the classification models in Machine learning. Random forest and Decision trees algorithms were considered efficient giving an accuracy of 96.9% and 91.6% respectively. Our study is an economically better approach when compared to x-rays for OA detectio

Comparison of Reversible SOC-Based Renewable Energy Storage Systems for the Netherlands and India

The present study explores a hybrid energy storage system (HESS) for a microgrid, with Li-ion batteries for short-term storage coupled with a reversible solid oxide cell (rSOC) system for seasonal energy storage in hydrogen. A comparison of system size and capital cost shows that using a HESS leads to significant savings compared to a system with only batteries, with a capital cost reduction of up to 75 %. The study also reveals that Jodhpur (India) has greater needs for seasonal storage, and sees greater benefits from the use of a HESS than a temperate region like Groningen (Netherlands), due to the very high variability of wind energy, combined with the high share of wind energy in India. This shows that reversible solid oxide cell systems are a serious contender for energy storage in different climatic regions

A Study on Gender Preferences and its Sociocultural aspects among Married Women (18-45 Years) in Rural Gurugram

INTRODUCTION: Declining sex ratio is a major concern worldwide, especially in a developing country like India. The role of sociocultural factors in gender preference is known since ages. The skewed sex ratio in India is attributed to selective female feticides and misuse of technological advancements. This also has a strong influence on contraceptive acceptance among couples. OBJECTIVES: The present study was conducted to explore the contraceptive use, gender preferences and its determinants among married women in rural Gurgaon. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted among married women (18-45years) residing in the rural field practice area of SGT medical college and hospital, Gurugram. The sample size was found to be 400. Systematic random sampling technique was used to recruit the study participants.  Pre- tested, pre-designed questionnaire was used for data collection. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: Among 400 married women, current contraceptive usage among study population was found to be 58.25%. The most common method of contraception used by the study subjects was intrauterine contraceptive device. The preference for male child was found among 49.5% women. The reasons cited for such preference were propagation of family name (48.2%), financial dependability in the old age (34%), social responsibilities are carried out by males (25.3%) and males are lesser economic liability (31%). Lower age group of mother, nulliparity, Hindu religion, lower educational status and lower socioeconomic status were found to be the determinants of male child preference in the present study. CONCLUSION: There is need of awareness and education amongst women and both the genders deserve equal respect without any preferences

SYNTHESIS AND STRUCTURAL STUDIES OF 1-[(8-NITRONAPHTHO[2,1-B]FURAN-2-YL) CARBONYL] PIPERIDINE

Naphtho [2,1-b] furan-2-carboxyazide has been synthesized from ethyl 8-nitronaphtho [2,1-b] furan-2-carboxylate, by first converting into 8-nitronaphtho [2,1-b] furan-2-carboxyhydrazide , followed by diazotization. The reaction of carboxyazide with piperidine resulted in nucleophilic substitution reaction giving 1- [(8-nitronaphtho [2, 1-b] furan-2-yl) carbonyl] piperidine (NNFCP). The compound has been characterized by FT-IR, 1HNMR, Mass spectral data and X-ray diffraction analysis

A security suite for wireless body area networks

Wireless Body Area Networks (WBANs) have gained a lot of research attention in recent years since they offer tremendous benefits for remote health monitoring and continuous, real-time patient care. However, as with any wireless communication, data security in WBANs is a challenging design issue. Since such networks consist of small sensors placed on the human body, they impose resource and computational restrictions, thereby making the use of sophisticated and advanced encryption algorithms infeasible. This calls for the design of algorithms with a robust key generation / management scheme, which are reasonably resource optimal. This paper presents a security suite for WBANs, comprised of IAMKeys, an independent and adaptive key management scheme for improving the security of WBANs, and KEMESIS, a key management scheme for security in inter-sensor communication. The novelty of these schemes lies in the use of a randomly generated key for encrypting each data frame that is generated independently at both the sender and the receiver, eliminating the need for any key exchange. The simplicity of the encryption scheme, combined with the adaptability in key management makes the schemes simple, yet secure. The proposed algorithms are validated by performance analysis.Comment: 20 pages, 10 figures, 3 tables, International Journal of Network Security & its Applications (IJNSA

Biomedical Signal Processing and Healthcare Applications: Innovations and Challenges

Biomedical Signal Processing takes into consideration the steps and the stages included in the preprocessing of physiological signals, recording the data, and examining the trends in the dataset. Such an aspect has been achieved with the aid of digital transformation of the working grounds in the healthcare industry. Through the inclusion of thematic analysis, key themes and concepts are drawn based on the secondary qualitative evidence gathered, and the information was inspected as per the views and opinions of the authors and co-authors