Contributing Factors to Diabetic Brain Injury and Cognitive Decline

The link of diabetes with co-occurring disorders in the brain involves complex and multifactorial pathways. Genetically engineered rodents that express familial Alzheimer\u27s disease-associated mutant forms of amyloid precursor protein and presenilin 1 (PSEN1) genes provided invaluable insights into the mechanisms and consequences of amyloid deposition in the brain. Adding diabetes factors (obesity, insulin impairment) to these animal models to predict success in translation to clinic have proven useful at some extent only. Here, we focus on contributing factors to diabetic brain injury with the aim of identifying appropriate animal models that can be used to mechanistically dissect the pathophysiology of diabetes-associated cognitive dysfunction and how diabetes medications may influence the development and progression of cognitive decline in humans with diabetes

A Hand-Based Biometric Verification System Using Ant Colony Optimization

This paper presents a novel personal authentication system using hand-based biometrics, which utilizes internal (beneath the skin) structure of veins on the dorsal part of the hand and the outer shape of the hand. The hand-vein and the hand-shape images can be simultaneously acquired by using infrared thermal and digital camera respectively. A claimed identity is authenticated by integrating these two traits based on the score-level fusion in which four fusion rules are used for the integration. Before their fusion, each modality is evaluated individually in terms of error rates and weights are assigned according to their performance. In order to achieve an adaptive security in the proposed bimodal system, an optimal selection of fusion parameters is required. Hence, Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) is employed in the bimodal system to select the weights and also one out of the four fusion rules optimally for the adaptive fusion of the two modalities to meet the user defined security levels. The databases of hand-veins and the hand-shapes consisting of 150 users are acquired using the peg-free imaging setup. The experimental results show genuine acceptance rate (GAR) of 98% at false acceptance rate (FAR) of 0.001% and the system has the potential for any online personal authentication based application.

A New Hand Based Biometric Modality & An Automated Authentication System

With increased adoption of smartphones, security has become important like never before. Smartphones store confidential information and carry out sensitive financial transactions. Biometric sensors such as fingerprint scanners are built in to smartphones to cater to security concerns. However, due to limited size of smartphone, miniaturised sensors are used to capture the biometric data from the user. Other hand based biometric modalities like hand veins and finger veins need specialised thermal/IR sensors which add to the overall cost of the system. In this paper, we introduce a new hand based biometric modality called Fistprint.  Fistprints can be captured using digital camera available in any smartphone. In this work, our contributions are: i) we propose a new non-touch and non-invasive hand based biometric modality called fistprint. Fistprint contains many distinctive elements such as fist shape, fist size, fingers shape and size, knuckles, finger nails, palm crease/wrinkle lines etc. ii) Prepare fistprint DB for the first time. We collected fistprint information of twenty individuals - both males and females aged from 23 years to 45 years of age. Four images of each hand fist (total 160 images) were taken for this purpose. iii) Propose Fistprint Automatic Authentication SysTem (FAAST). iv) Implement FAAST system on Samsung Galaxy smartphone running Android and server side on a windows machine and validate the effectiveness of the proposed modality. The experimental results show the effectiveness of fistprint as a biometric with GAR of 97.5 % at 1.0% FAR

A study on seroprevalence of hepatotropic viruses among HIV-positive individuals attending the integrated counselling and testing centre (ICTC) in Mayo hospital of Nagpur city, Maharashtra, India

Background: Infection with human immunodeficiency virus type-1 and its end stage, acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is the major public health challenge of modern time. A variety of exogenously acquired infectious agents appear to influence the pace of HIV replication, the destruction of CD4+ T cells, and HIV transmission to infants and sexual partners. More persistent elevations in plasma HIV levels have been seen in patients with chronic infections (such as those with tuberculosis and herpes and hepatitis viruses), and such co-infected patients have a more rapid loss of CD4+ T cells and an increased rate of progression to AIDS and death. Within India, variable co-infection rates have been reported from region to region. With the above background, the present study was undertaken to study the seroprevalence of hepatotropic viruses (Hepatitis B virus and Hepatitis C virus) in HIV-positive individuals attending the Integrated Counselling and Testing Centre (ICTC) in Mayo hospital of Nagpur city, Maharashtra, India.  Methods: The current prospective study was conducted in the department of microbiology, Indira Gandhi government medical college and Mayo general hospital, Nagpur (Maharashtra) from August 2005 to August 2007. All the patients attending ICTC were included in the study. 300 HIV negative matched controls were also included in the study. All the individuals who were positive for HIV infection were selected for this study and further tested for the presence of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and anti-HCV antibodies. Data was compiled in MS excel. Then it was analyzed using online statistical calculator and chi square test were applied with value of P <0.05 was considered statistically significant for interpretation of finding.  Results: Maximum numbers of HIV positive patients (38.8%) were in age group of 31-40 years. Present study showed male preponderance in HIV positive patients. Males showed a slightly high seroprevalence of HBsAg (9.21%) compared to females (7.57%) among HIV positive patients. The difference in positivity of two viral agents studied in HIV positive patients was highly significant as compared to HIV-negative individuals (P <0.001).  Conclusion: On the basis of the findings that the co-infection of hepatotropic viruses (HBV and HCV) were significantly higher in HIV positive cases than controls, the study concludes that the chronic viral hepatitis is a serious concern in HIV-infected patients. Thus, there is an urgent need to ensure the screening of the same in HIV-infected patients.

Prevalence of smokeless tobacco use among school going adolescent students of Raipur city Chhattisgarh state, India

Background: Tobacco consumption in various forms in recent years is a proven risk factor and contributes substantially to the emerging epidemic. Increasing tobacco use and its impact on physical and psychosocial health is a worldwide public health concern affecting the early youth and whole life of the individuals. Tobacco is used in different forms and health effects are seen irrespective of the form in which it is used. Smokeless tobacco is found to be as addictive and harmful as smoking. Objectives: To assess the prevalence and factors influencing smokeless consumption among high school students in Raipur city.Methods: Study design: Cross-sectional, Study area: 16 selected high schools of Raipur city, in which 12 were government schools and 4 private schools. Study subjects: 1006 high-school students, Sampling technique: Two stage cluster sampling according to probability proportional to size, Study tool: Predesigned pretested questionnaire. Statistical analysis: Data was entered in Microsoft excel sheet and analyzed in Epi info 7 software.Results: The mean age of students in the study was 15 years. The prevalence of smokeless tobacco consumption was 10%. Majority male 80.9% were users, mean age of initiation was 13 years (SD 7.07), Peer pressure (76%) was the reason for initiation. Pocket money 57.1% found to be the major source of purchasing. Strong association of family member tobacco use and promotional advertisement were found.Conclusion: Study reflects smokeless tobacco use was prevalent among adolescent students and there is a need for targeted interventions to reduce the risk and deleterious consequences.

Knowledge and response of health care workers after needle - stick injury in a tertiary care hospital setting in tribal Rajnandgaon, Chhattisgarh, India

Background: Health care workers (HCW) who have occupational exposure to blood are at increased risk for acquiring blood-borne infections. Occupational exposure to blood can result from per-cutaneous injury (needle stick or other sharps injury), muco-cutaneous injury or contact with non-intact skin. Hence not only doctors and nurses even laboratory technicians, housekeeping personnel and hospital waste handlers are at risk of harboring the blood borne infections through needle-stick injury (NSI).Methods: The present prospective cross sectional study was carried out at the 400 bedded Government Medical College Hospital, Rajnandgaon, Chhattisgarh, India, during period from November 2015 to August 2016. Out of total study participants, 18 were doctors, 142 nurses and 20 lab technicians from different clinical departments/wards of the hospital. Data was collected by using a predesigned pretested questionnaire and analyzed using appropriate statistical software.Results: Out of 180 HCW, 149 (82.78%) were females and, 31 (17.22%) were males. Majority 78 (43.3%) of the subjects said that the physician should be consulted after NSI within one hour. 51.1% of the subjects surprisingly replied that it was not necessary to report NSI. Around 72 (40%) of the subjects had history of NSI sometime in their life till then. Out of total exposed respondents, 56/72 (77.8%), took ICTC consultation. Out of total subjects who consulted ICTC, 51/56 (91.1 %), were suggested to take PEP by the ICTC physician. Out of 51 subjects who were advised PEP (Post Exposure Prophylaxis) by ICTC Physician, 45 (88.2%) started PEP within 1 hr of NSI. Majority of the participants replied that most probability of getting NSI was while drawing blood sample from the patients (29.2%). 68.9% of the study subjects were immunized completely against Hepatitis B.Conclusions: The study subjects had adequate knowledge about NSI and their response in the form of actions that have to be taken after NSI was also satisfactory. The response in the form of taking consultation from a specialist and taking PEP was appreciable but it needs to be improved upon

Effect of Psychoneurobics (Meditation Technique) on Status of Anxiety in Patients Undergoing Cataract Surgery: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Introduction: Anxiety is a normal adaptive reaction to stress. Preoperative anxiety around cataract surgery affects a large proportion of patients, despite advances in technique and anesthesia administration. Thus, cancellation of cataract surgery due to anxiety is a challenge in the preoperative care of patients. Psychoneurobics is a meditation technique through complete involvement of mind, body and soul in which cosmic energy is inhaled through the power of mind and then transferred to the body’s neuro system. So the objective of the present study was to assess the effect of psychoneurobics on anxiety level of patients undergoing cataract surgery. Materials and Methods: A prospective randomized control study was carried out in a private eye hospital. One hundred patients undergoing cataract surgery were enrolled and randomized into two groups, namely, experimental group (receiving psychoneurobics and counseling both, n=50) and control group (receiving counseling only, n=50). Anxiety was measured using Amsterdam Preoperative Anxiety and Information Scale (APAIS) preoperatively before and after the psychoneurobics and counseling. Result: In the study, during first assessment, done before psychoneurobics/counseling, anxiety level of experimental group was found higher than the control group. However, in second assessment (after intervention), experiment group receiving psychoneurobics showed a higher decrease in anxiety (APAIS score) than control group. This finding was statistically significant (7.74±2.15 vs. 12.2±2.64, p<0.001). Conclusion: Psychoneurobics, the mind-body intervention, was found to be effective in reducing the anxiety of patients undergoing cataract surgery. Clinical Trial Registration: CTRI/2018/04/01299

Amylin and Diabetic Cardiomyopathy – Amylin-Induced Sarcolemmal Ca\u3csup\u3e2+\u3c/sup\u3e Leak Is Independent of Diabetic Remodeling of Myocardium

Amylin is a pancreatic β-cell hormone co-secreted with insulin, plays a role in normal glucose homeostasis, and forms amyloid in the pancreatic islets of individuals with type-2 diabetes. Aggregated amylin is also found in blood and extra-pancreatic tissues, including myocardium. Myocardial amylin accumulation is associated with myocyte Ca2+ dysregulation in diabetic rats expressing human amylin. Whether deposition of amylin in the heart is a consequence of or a contributor to diabetic cardiomyopathy remains unknown. We used amylin knockout (AKO) mice intravenously infused with either human amylin (i.e, the aggregated form) or non-amyloidogenic (i.e., monomeric) rodent amylin to test the hypothesis that aggregated amylin accumulates in the heart in the absence of diabetes. AKO mice infused with human, but not rodent amylin, showed amylin deposits in the myocardium. Cardiac amylin level was larger in males compared to females. Sarcolemmal Ca2+ leak and Ca2+ transients were increased in myocytes isolated from males infused with human amylin while no significant changes occurred in either females injected with human amylin or in rat amylin-infused mice. In isolated cardiac myocytes, the amylin receptor antagonist AC-187 did not effectively block the interaction of amylin with the sarcolemma. In conclusion, circulating aggregated amylin accumulates preferentially in male vs. female hearts and its effects on myocyte Ca2+ cycling do not require diabetic remodeling of the myocardium