A descriptive study to assess the knowledge, attitude and practices regarding health hazards management against traffic pollution among traffic policemen working at Udaipur District.

Introduction and Aim- Traffic police personnel are suffering from many health hazards like skin irritations, varicose veins, arthropathy, photosensitivity, lung diseases, certain cardiovascular diseases, cancers etc due to their nature of duty. The aim of study was to assess the knowledge, attitude and practices regarding health hazards management against traffic pollution among traffic policemen working at Udaipur District. Methods- A descriptive study was conducted in Udaipur District and sample size was 60 traffic policemen who were working at traffic intersections. Structured knowledge questionnaire, likert scale and observational practice checklist was used as tools for data collection. Results- The findings of the study revealed that most of the traffic policemen (75%) had average knowledge, 86.5% had favourable attitude and all traffic policemen had poor practices regarding health hazards management against traffic pollution. There was positive co-relation between knowledge & practices and attitude & practices. Place of posting and attended any educational programme on traffic pollution and its health hazards had association with knowledge of traffic policemen and no association of attitude and practice with demographic variables. Discussion- It was concluded that traffic policemen had average knowledge, favourable attitude and poor practices regarding health hazards management against traffic pollution. Keywords: Knowledge, attitude, practices, traffic pollution, health hazards, traffic policeme

A Study to Assess Knowledge and Attitude among Late Adolescents towards Alcoholism in Selected Colleges at Udaipur (Rajasthan)

Alcohol abuse is a major health problem in India and world at large. For the past thirty to forty years alcohol consumption has increased tremendously. The transition to college involves major individual and contextual change in every domain of life; at the same time, heavy drinking and associated problems increase during this transition. For most students, heavy drinking and associated problems tend to peak during college amid the abundance of explicit and subtle expectations and opportunities to drink. In a few short years, the excessive drinking and concomitant negative consequences experienced by many students that would likely reflect diagnosable alcohol misuse at other points in the life span simply run their course and stop. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that about 140 million people throughout the world suffer from alcohol dependence. Most alcoholics develop alcoholism during adolescence. Non-experimental descriptive research design was adopted for this study to assess the knowledge and attitude of adolescents towards alcoholism. A data was obtained from 60 late adolescents and the sample was selected by using convenient sampling method. The tool used for the study was structured interview schedule. The data was analyzed and interpreted by using simple descriptive and inferential statistics. Findings show that among 60 adolescents, 61 percent were having moderately adequate knowledge, 31.7 percent were having inadequate knowledge and only 6.7 percent were having adequate knowledge. Out of 60 adolescents, majority of the adolescents 60 percent were having favorable attitude, 25 percent were having most favorable attitude and only 15 percent were having unfavorable attitude. Credible, evidence based educational campaigns in the mass media about the consequences of alcohol abuse have been recommended to prevent alcohol abuse amongst adolescents. Keywords: Alcoholism, Adolescent, Knowledge, Attitude

Reliable Integrated Satellite Terrestrial Communications using MIMO for Mitigation of Microwave Absorption by Earths Oxygen

Microwaves are used to communicate with satellite and terrestrial communication networks. But as microwaves pass through the Earth’s atmosphere, the oxygen gas absorbs microwave. In this 5G era, when the whole world is moving towards high data-rates and reliable communications, this absorption affects the data transmission in Integrated Satellite/Terrestrial Communication (ISTC) systems, which leads to degradation of the system performance. The multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) technology has become a boon for modern wireless communication systems to achieve the necessities of higher data-rates and communication reliability. The paper analyses the MIMO effect on block error rate (BLER), error vector magnitude (EVM) and throughput performance of the data transmission with different MIMO configurations. The paper establishes that better data-rates as well as reliable data communication is achieved with higher order MIMO configurations. MIMO 8×1 provides 5, 20 and 42.5 times improved performance to BLER; 5.26%, 25% and 81.82% in throughput; and 10.34%, 23.07% and 28% in EVM calculations as comparable to MIMO 4×1, MIMO 2×1 and SISO 1×1, respectively at 15 dB signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). The authors also give a new concept of multi-cellular layers based mobile communication network, useful for future smart cities

Ectopic expression of the homeobox gene Cdx2 is the key transforming event in a mouse model of t(12;13)(p13;q12) acute myeloid leukemia; a novel mechanism in AML

This thesis demonstrates for the first time that activation of a proto-oncogene by a chromosomal translocation can be the key step in myeloid leukemogenesis, even if a fusion gene is generated and expressed in parallel. This mechanism of AML leukemogenesis was proven in a murine model of t(12;13)(p13;q12) AML, showing that myeloid leukemogenesis is induced by the ectopic expression of Cdx2 and not by the ETV6/CDX2 chimeric gene. Mice transplanted with bone marrow cells retrovirally engineered to express Cdx2 rapidly succumbed to fatal and transplantable AML. In contrast, mice which were transplanted with BM cells expressing the fusion gene alone did not develop AML. The transforming activity of Cdx2 was dependent on an intact homeodomain and the N-terminal transactivation domain. Although mice transplanted with ETV6/CDX2 expressing BM cells did not develop overt disease, these animals suffered from a mild myeloproliferation. Experiments testing the effect of simultaneous expression of the Cdx2 and the fusion gene showed no acceleration or change in phenotype of the disease compared to expression of Cdx2 alone, again demonstrating that the ectopic expression of Cdx2 was the key event in this leukemia model. These findings link proto-oncogene activation to myeloid leukemogenesis, an oncogenic mechanism so far associated mainly with lymphoid leukemias and lymphomas. Our model constitutes the first functional proof that activation of a proto-oncogene by a chromosomal translocation is the key leukemogenic event in AML. As many fusion proteins expressed in AML have clearly no leukemogenic potential in experimental in vivo models, this mechanism might be more important for the development of AML than previously thought and should be included in the pathogenetic models of this disease

Echocardiographic assessment of the impact of cardiovascular risk factors on left ventricular systolic function in patients with acute myocardial infarction

Background: Objectives of current study were to determine the magnitude of left ventricular systolic dysfunction in patients with acute myocardial infarction in the rural sub-population of Uttar Pradesh in India and to evaluate the impact of cardiovascular risk factors on the risk of impairment of left ventricular systolic function. Methods: One hundred and fifty seven consecutive patients with first acute myocardial infarction were enrolled into the study. Most patients were male (73.2%) and the mean age of presentation was 52.7 years. Two dimensional echocardiography was utilized to assess conventional parameters such as Left Ventricular End-Diastolic Diameter (LVEDD), Left Ventricular End-Systolic Diameter (LVESD), LV End-Diastolic Volume (LVEDV), LV End-Systolic Volume (LVESV) and Left Ventricular Ejection Fraction (LVEF). The LV volumes (end-systolic and end-diastolic) and LVEF were calculated from the conventional apical two-and four-chamber images using the biplane Simpson’s technique. LV systolic function was considered depressed when LVEF was less than 45%. The chi-square test was used in the statistical analysis to compare proportions and a logistic regression model was used to assess the independent effect of the each variable.Results:The study projects a high proportion (42.7% of the patient population) of left ventricular systolic dysfunction in patients with Acute Myocardial Infarction (AMI). No association was found between gender or age and LV systolic dysfunction. The proportion of patients with diabetes mellitus was higher in the sub-group of patients with impaired LV systolic function (45.2% vs. 30.2%, P = 0.01); the proportion of patients with history of current or past smoking was also higher in the sub-group of patients with impaired LV systolic function (48.9% vs. 34.2%, P = 0.03). On the other hand, hypertension and dyslipidemia were not associated with impaired LVEF. After adjustment of other variables, diabetes and smoking were associated with a significantly higher risk of LV systolic dysfunction (diabetes: OR = 3.73; 95% CI = 1.25-11.16; smoking: OR = 3.8; 95% CI = 1.37-11.05).Conclusion:Since the proportion of patients with LV systolic dysfunction in patients with AMI remains relatively high, LV systolic function variables such as LVEF and LVESV should be echocardiographically evaluated in all patients with AMI. Since the post-infarction LV systolic function remains the single most important determinant of survival, treatment of AMI patients should be aimed at limitation of infarct size and prevention of ventricular dilation. Moreover, cardiovascular risk factors such as diabetes mellitus and smoking have a significant impact on the likelihood of impairment of LV systolic function in patients with AMI and hence could influence long-term prognosis.

Explicit MBR All-Symbol Locality Codes

Node failures are inevitable in distributed storage systems (DSS). To enable efficient repair when faced with such failures, two main techniques are known: Regenerating codes, i.e., codes that minimize the total repair bandwidth; and codes with locality, which minimize the number of nodes participating in the repair process. This paper focuses on regenerating codes with locality, using pre-coding based on Gabidulin codes, and presents constructions that utilize minimum bandwidth regenerating (MBR) local codes. The constructions achieve maximum resilience (i.e., optimal minimum distance) and have maximum capacity (i.e., maximum rate). Finally, the same pre-coding mechanism can be combined with a subclass of fractional-repetition codes to enable maximum resilience and repair-by-transfer simultaneously

Study of hair dye poisoning and its outcome in tertiary care rural institute

Background: Hair dye poisoning is not rare but is an emerging poisoning in India. The main component of hair dye causing toxicity is para phenylene diamine (PPD). Due to its easy availability and low cost, it is becoming a common mode of self-poisoning in rural area. A prospective study was planned to assess the clinical profile and outcome in patients with hair dye poisoning.Methods: This prospective observational study was conducted on 260 patients of para-phenylene-diamine (hair dye) poisoning, hospitalized in the medical unit of UP Rural Institute of Medical Science and Research, Saifai from January  2011-2014 over a period of  4 years. The diagnosis of PPD poisoning was based on history of ingestion and clinical manifestations. All cases were thoroughly evaluated for different complications and were treated accordingly.Results: Out of 260 cases enrolled, majority were females and were in the age group of 21-30 years. The intent of poisoning was suicidal in 100% cases. Cervico-facial edema was the most common presentation followed by respiratory distress, hypotension and generalised bodyache. Nephro-toxicity was observed in 58.46% cases. Myocarditis was observed in 11.53% cases. Mortality in PPD poisoning was high (21.53%) due to cardiotoxicity and renal failureConclusions: Hair dye (PPD) poisoning is hepato-nephro as well as myo and cardiotoxic.

Chronic complications in newly diagnosed patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus in rural area of western Uttar Pradesh, India

Background: Diabetes is a serious public health problem that threatens the quality of life. Studies have shown that its prevalence is rapidly increasing. In India many studies have been done on diabetes and its complications but most of the studies have been done in urban area. There is limited data on diabetes from rural area. Our study is an attempt to provide data on diabetes in rural area that will guide health care professionals in managing the disease appropriately. The aim of the study was to determine the prevalence of chronic complications in newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients from rural area of western Uttar Pradesh, India.Methods: The study was conducted on 306 newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes mellitus patients. Each patient was screened for diabetic complications, hypertension, dyslipidemia, and body mass index. Standard protocols were used to make the diagnosis of retinopathy, neuropathy and nephropathy.Results: There were 174 males and 132 females. Majority were less than 60 years of age. 20.26% of patients had neuropathy 15.36%, retinopathy and 5.56%, nephropathy. Risk factors of macro-vascular complication such as hypertension, obesity, and dyslipidemia were observed in 38.9, 55.9%, and 54.6% of patients respectively. Coronary artery disease was noticed in 9.15%.Conclusions: Present study shows that high prevalence of micro vascular complications was present at diagnosis along with cardiovascular risk factors among T2DM patient from rural area of western Uttar Pradesh, India.

Sphingobacterium multivorum causing fatal meningoencephalitis: a rare case report

We report a case of fatal meningitis caused by bacteria, Sphingobacterium multivorum, probably first time being reported from India. S. mulivorum has been isolated from various clinical specimens but it is only rarely been associated with serious infections. Sphingobacterium species are generally resistant to aminoglycosides and polymyxin B. Susceptibility to β-lactam antibiotics is variable, requiring testing for individual drug. This 36 year male had two weeks history of high-grade fever with altered sensorium and occasional seizures. Patient admitted with septicemia and subsequently developed meningitis and succumbed to his illness after being discharged against medical advice. His CSF culture yielded S. multivorum subsequently confirmed by mini API, bioMérieux Inc. Marcy-l’Etoile France. Due to its rare association with common clinical conditions, it requires a high degree of suspicion and expertise to prove its presence in clinical specimens. Since this bacterium is inherently resistant to many classes of antibiotics, a vigilant and efficient microbiological work up is needed to establish its diagnosis and prompt treatment