Blue and Uv-Emitting Upconversion Nanoparticles: Synthesis and (Bio) Analytical Applications.

Rare-earth based upconverting nanoparticles (UCNPs) have attracted much attention due to their unique luminescent properties. The ability to convert multiple photons of lower energy to ones with higher energy through an upconversion (UC) process offers a wide range of applications for UCNPs. The emission intensities and wavelengths of UCNPs are important performance characteristics, which determine the appropriate applications. However, insufficient intensities still limit the use of UCNPs; especially the efficient emission of blue and ultraviolet (UV) light via upconversion remains challenging, as these events require three or more near-infrared (NIR) photons. The aim of the study was to enhance the blue and UV upconversion emission intensities of Tm3+ doped NaYF4 nanoparticles and to demonstrate their utility in in vitro diagnostics. As the distance between the sensitizer and the activator significantly affect the energy transfer efficiency, different strategies were explored to change the local symmetry around the doped lanthanides. One important strategy is the intentional co-doping of active (participate in energy transfer) or passive (do not participate in energy transfer) impurities into the host matrix. The roles of doped passive impurities (K+ and Sc3+) in enhancing the blue and UV upconversions, as well as in influencing the intense UV upconversion emission through excess sensitization (active impurity) were studied. Additionally, the effects of both active and passive impurity doping on the morphological and optical performance of UCNPs were investigated. The applicability of UV emitting UCNPs as an internal light source for glucose sensing in a dry chemistry test strip was demonstrated. The measurements were in agreement with the traditional method based on reflectance measurements using an external UV light source. The use of UCNPs in the glucose test strip offers an alternative detection method with advantages such as control signals for minimizing errors and high penetration of the NIR excitation through the blood sample, which gives more freedom for designing the optical setup. In bioimaging, the excitation of the UCNPs in the transparent IR region of the tissue permits measurements, which are free of background fluorescence and have a high signal-to-background ratio. In addition, the narrow emission bandwidth of the UCNPs enables multiplexed detections. An array-in-well immunoassay was developed using two different UC emission colours. The differentiation between different viral infections and the classification of antibody responses were achieved based on both the position and colour of the signal. The study demonstrates the potential of spectral and spatial multiplexing in the imaging based array-in-well assays.Siirretty Doriast

Study of factors affecting maternal and fetal outcome in HIV positive women

Background: HIV virus infection was detected first time in India in Tamil Nadu in April 1986; India has the third largest HIV epidemic in the world. In 2013, HIV prevalence in India was an estimated 0.3 percent. The pregnant women and her unborn child who are HIV reactive are mostly innocent bearers of the brunt of the infection. Mother-to-child transmission of HIV is a major route of new infections in children. Without any intervention, the risk of transmission of HIV from infected pregnant women to her child is estimated to be around 20- 45%.Early diagnosis of children born to HIV positive mother using HIV DNA PCR and treating children who are diagnosed HIV-positive with antiretroviral drugs within their first 12 weeks of life reduces mortality by 75%.Methods: This retrospective data analytic study of HIV positive pregnant women who attended antenatal clinic and delivered at M.Y. Hospital, Indore from January 2011 to December 2013 .For screening of ANC patients ELISA method was used. For the children, HIV DNA was done by sending the dried blood smear on blot paper and was sent to the reference laboratory Kasturba Hospital, Mumbai and used for diagnosis at 6 week and 6 month.Results: Only 50% of HIV positive children were started on ART, 20% died, 20% loss to follow up and 10% were not willing for follow up. Also 30% mothers practiced mixed feeding. Neonatal mortality rate was 54.87 per thousand live births which is more than the seronegative mothers.Conclusions: First HIV DNA testing can be done at 72 hours to detect antenatal HIV transmission. Early testing can pick up these cases early and ensure treatment. Mixed feeding should be strongly discouraged by counseling and modern methods of communication

Outcome of children born to human immunodeficiency virus positive mothers - A retrospective study

Background: Mother-to-child transmission of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a major route of new infections in children.The use of anti-retroviral therapy and nevirapine to mother-baby pairs has shown to be quite effective in preventing the transmissionof virus from mother-to-child. Objectives: To analyze the incidence of HIV transmission in children born to HIV-infected pregnantwomen and to analyze the outcome of these children. Methods: This retrospective study was conducted in a tertiary care referralhospital of central India for a period of 3 years. Data analysis of the mothers with HIV-positive serology up to their delivery andfollow-up of their babies for 18 months was performed. Perinatal mortality rate (PMR) and neonatal mortality rates (NMRs),mother-to-child transmission rate, and the outcome of their children on the basis of various factors - such as maternal CD4 count,treatment taken, and feeding practices - were analyzed. Results: 161 HIV-positive mothers gave birth to 164 babies (including1 triplet and 1 twin) during the study period. An incidence of mother-to-child transmission was 8.06% and it was influenced bymaternal CD4 count, maternal comorbidities, mode of delivery, and feeding practices. In our study, PMR was 48.78/1000 live births;NMR was 54.87/1000 live births as compared to 25/1000 live births in children born to seronegative mothers. Conclusion: The riskof vertical transmission of HIV from mother-to-baby was 8%. Maternal HIV transmission is the primary means by which infantsbecome infected. Hence, the prevention of maternal HIV transmission is of paramount importance

Feasibility analysis of design for remanufacturing in bearing using hybrid fuzzy-topsis and taguchi optimization

The tremendous advancement in technology, productivity and improved standard of living has come at the cost of environmental deterioration, increased energy and raw material consumption. In this regard, remanufacturing is viable option to reduce energy usage, carbon footprint and raw material usage. In this manuscript, using computational intelligence techniques we try to determine the feasibility of remanufacturing in case of roller bearings. We collected used N308 bearings from 5 different Indian cities. Using Fuzzy-TOPSIS, we found that the roundness, surface roughness and weight play a vital role in design for remanufacturing of roller bearings. Change in diameter, change in thickness and change in width showed minimal influence.  We also used Taguchi analysis to reassess the problem. The roundness of inner and outer race was found to be the most influential parameters in deciding the selection of bearing for remanufacturing. The results suggest the bearing designer to design the bearing in such a way that roundness of both races will be taken cared while manufacturing a bearing. However, using Taguchi the weight of the rollers was found to be of least influence. Overall, the predictions of Taguchi analysis were found to be similar to Fuzzy-TOPSIS analysis

A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY TO ESTIMATE THE PREVALENCE OF HYPERTENSION IN URBAN FIELD PRACTICE AREA OF MEDICAL COLLEGE IN METROPOLITAN CITY OF INDIA

Objectives: The objectives of the study were to estimate the prevalence of hypertension in people above 35 years and to study the sociodemographic profile of the study subjects. Methods: The study was a cross-sectional study conducted in urban field practice area of medical college. Five chawls were selected by simple random sampling out of 42 chawls. Males and females above 35 years of age living in study area formed a sample frame. Sample size was calculated and it was 667. As per the protocol, informed written consent and demographic details with clinical data were obtained from the patients. Results: A total of 667 participants were included from five chawls. Maximum number of participants, that is, 37%; were from the age group of 35 to 44, consisting of 41% males and 59% females. Around 67% of study respondents belonged to the age group of 35–54 years. Around 3/4th of study respondents had studied up to primary school and secondary and high school. Out of 263 males, 37%, that is, 98 respondents were hypertensive, and out of 404 females, 152, that is, 38% were hypertensive. Hence, the total prevalence of hypertension in this study was 37.5%. Conclusion: Hypertension is the new era pandemic which is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the world and is ranked third as a cause of disability-adjusted life years. To control hypertension, it is imperative to identify and modify its risk factors

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

Reducing the environmental impact of surgery on a global scale: systematic review and co-prioritization with healthcare workers in 132 countries

Abstract Background Healthcare cannot achieve net-zero carbon without addressing operating theatres. The aim of this study was to prioritize feasible interventions to reduce the environmental impact of operating theatres. Methods This study adopted a four-phase Delphi consensus co-prioritization methodology. In phase 1, a systematic review of published interventions and global consultation of perioperative healthcare professionals were used to longlist interventions. In phase 2, iterative thematic analysis consolidated comparable interventions into a shortlist. In phase 3, the shortlist was co-prioritized based on patient and clinician views on acceptability, feasibility, and safety. In phase 4, ranked lists of interventions were presented by their relevance to high-income countries and low–middle-income countries. Results In phase 1, 43 interventions were identified, which had low uptake in practice according to 3042 professionals globally. In phase 2, a shortlist of 15 intervention domains was generated. In phase 3, interventions were deemed acceptable for more than 90 per cent of patients except for reducing general anaesthesia (84 per cent) and re-sterilization of ‘single-use’ consumables (86 per cent). In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for high-income countries were: introducing recycling; reducing use of anaesthetic gases; and appropriate clinical waste processing. In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for low–middle-income countries were: introducing reusable surgical devices; reducing use of consumables; and reducing the use of general anaesthesia. Conclusion This is a step toward environmentally sustainable operating environments with actionable interventions applicable to both high– and low–middle–income countries

Study of factors affecting maternal and fetal outcome in HIV positive women

Background: HIV virus infection was detected first time in India in Tamil Nadu in April 1986; India has the third largest HIV epidemic in the world. In 2013, HIV prevalence in India was an estimated 0.3 percent. The pregnant women and her unborn child who are HIV reactive are mostly innocent bearers of the brunt of the infection. Mother-to-child transmission of HIV is a major route of new infections in children. Without any intervention, the risk of transmission of HIV from infected pregnant women to her child is estimated to be around 20- 45%.Early diagnosis of children born to HIV positive mother using HIV DNA PCR and treating children who are diagnosed HIV-positive with antiretroviral drugs within their first 12 weeks of life reduces mortality by 75%.Methods: This retrospective data analytic study of HIV positive pregnant women who attended antenatal clinic and delivered at M.Y. Hospital, Indore from January 2011 to December 2013 .For screening of ANC patients ELISA method was used. For the children, HIV DNA was done by sending the dried blood smear on blot paper and was sent to the reference laboratory Kasturba Hospital, Mumbai and used for diagnosis at 6 week and 6 month.Results: Only 50% of HIV positive children were started on ART, 20% died, 20% loss to follow up and 10% were not willing for follow up. Also 30% mothers practiced mixed feeding. Neonatal mortality rate was 54.87 per thousand live births which is more than the seronegative mothers.Conclusions: First HIV DNA testing can be done at 72 hours to detect antenatal HIV transmission. Early testing can pick up these cases early and ensure treatment. Mixed feeding should be strongly discouraged by counseling and modern methods of communication

Strategic implications of changing rule of halves in hypertension: A cross-sectional observational study

Context: The burden of non-communicable diseases will sooner overwhelm the health system of the country and could curtail future economic development. Hypertension causes highest cardiovascular morbidities. To attain target Blood Pressure (BP), different strategies are required, which are area specific. The validity of rule of halves of hypertension in various settings needs to be studied for developing strategies for that particular geographical area. To utilize the resources in more efficient way, strategies need to differ in rural-urban and underserved- well-served areas. Aims: The present study aims at exploring whether the rule of halves holds good in the city of Mumbai as the findings of such research may have implications on strategies to control hypertension in communities. Hence, the objectives of this study are to ascertain the proportion of persons with hypertension with respect to the status of diagnosis, treatment, adequate treatment, and validate it with existing rule of halves. Setting and Design: Study was conducted in the urban field practice area of a teaching hospital and medical college of Mumbai that comprises 42 chawl (housing structures); study design- cross-sectional observational study. Materials and Methods: This observational cross-sectional study was conducted over a period of 18 months in the field practice area of a teaching hospital and medical college of Mumbai with a total population of 43,069. Sample size was 667. After ethical clearance, participants were interviewed using pretested semi-structured interview schedule that included socio-demographic factors, risk factor evaluation, clinical examination, and anthropometry. Subjects with diagnosed hypertension were questioned thoroughly about hypertension adherence. Statistical Analysis: Descriptive statistics was applied on quantitative data. Results: A total of 667 people from five chawls of age more than 35 years were included into the study. The mean age of study subjects was 50.84 ± 11.47 years. Out of total 667 respondents, 20.3% respondents were normotensive, 50.3% respondents were pre-hypertensive, 25.3% respondents were in stage 1 hypertension, and 4% respondents were in stage 2 hypertension. In contrary to the classical rule of halves, the present study shows only 31% of the diagnosed hypertensives are adequately treated. Conclusions: The strategies in the national programs are from the traditional understanding of rule of halves and emphasize increasing awareness and treatment. Family physician should actively involve in regular screening, treatment, and adherence of hypertension treatment. As a part of primary care, community participation is required for effectively achieving the target BP goal of the population