Psychological impact on near relatives of patients admitted in intensive care unit

Background: It is recognized that ICU patients are exposed to massive stresses both from their life-threatening illness and the necessary intensive medical procedures they are subjected to. These stresses may lead to psychological problems like depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder. However, the psychological demands and impact of the ICU on the near relatives of these patients are often not appreciated. We aimed to determine the prevalence of anxiety and depression and the influence of ICU specific interventions on the development of psychological symptoms in relatives of ICU patients.Methods: This prospective, questionnaire-based observational study was conducted on all consenting near relatives of patients on admission in the intensive care unit during the study period. The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale and the General Health Questionnaire were used to determine the presence of psychological disorders during this study.Results: In this study, GHQ demonstrated a 72.5% prevalence of psychological illness in near relatives of ICU patients. The prevalence of psychological illness using Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) was 56.3% on the anxiety scale and 55% on the depression scale.Conclusions: Critical care can result in the development of psychological disorders among near relatives of ICU patients. Intensive care physicians need to pay more attention to their care's impact on the psychological health of their patients’ near relatives.

Novel Integration of Conductive-ink Circuitry with a Paper-based Microfluidic Battery as an All-printed Sensing Platform

The addition of powered components for active assays into paper-based analytical devices opens new opportunities for medical and environmental analysis in resource-limited applications. Current battery designs within such devices have yet to adopt a ubiquitous circuitry material, necessitating investigation into printed circuitry for scalable platforms. In this study, a microfluidic battery was mated with silver-nanoparticle conductive ink to prototype an all-printed sensing platform. A multi-layer, two-cell device was fabricated, generating 200 μA of direct electrical current at 2.5 V sustained for 16 minutes with a power loss of less than 0.1% through the printed circuitry. Printed circuitry traces exhibited resistivity of 75 to 211 10-5 Ω m. Resistance of the printed traces increased upwards of 200% depending on fold angle and directionality. X-ray diffraction confirmed the presence of face-centered cubic silver after sintering printed traces for 30 minutes at 150°C in air. A conductivity threshold was mapped and an ink concentration of 0.636 μL mm-3 was identified as the lower limit for optimal electrical performance

Ford\u27s Venture in Mexico

Ford announced in April 2016 that it was planning on investing $1.6 billion to build a Focus manufacturing plant in San Luis Potosi, Mexico. In January 2017, the company announced that it will be withdrawing from the project and pursuing alternative operations. This paper serves as an exploration of the social, cultural, political, and economic factors that influenced Ford’s decision, with an in depth analysis of the impact of Ford’s withdrawal on the company, its stakeholders, and the U.S. and Mexico regions

The Amino Acid Composition of Four Varieties of Rice from India

In recent years, emphasis has been placed on the evaluation of protein quality rather than the total quantity of protein in foods. This is indeed a timely approach, as utilization of the amino acids, which are constituents of proteins, is dependent on all of the essential amino acids being present simultaneously and in proper proportion. Because rice is widely used by the people in India and since there is no particularly rich source of protein, other than the pulses, in the diet of common people, more information on the amino acid composition of the foods (especially rice) commonly consumed, is necessary to evaluate rice as a source of protein in the diet. This approach is also of value in the practical nutrition education program in India. Though certain foods may be low in specific amino acids, they may supplement each other when eaten at the same time. Thus knowing the amino acid composition of the rice varieties commonly eaten, a nutritionist may be able to raise the level of health and well-being of the population in specific areas, by assisting them in achieving a good state of protein nutrition, without altering the basic dietary pattern. With the above views in mind, the present study of the amino acids in some varieties of rice eaten in Bombay state of India, was undertaken

The role of natural factors (part 2): Indian summer monsoon in climate change period—observation and CMIP5 models

This is the final version. Available on open access from Springer via the DOI in this recordThis study discusses the role of natural factors and related teleconnections for Indian summer monsoon (ISM) with a special emphasis on later two decades of the last century. The combined influence of the sun and volcanos on ISM is examined using observational data as well as CMIP5 model outputs. Possible mechanisms relating to a disruption of the usual ENSO-ISM teleconnection for those decades are explored. Observation suggested that the regional Hadley circulation, via the NAO in the northern hemisphere and Indian Ocean Dipole in the southern hemisphere, may have a role in the change in ISM behaviour. Such features though captured well in the observation are shown missing in models. Additionally, it indicates that differences among models mainly originate in a regional level, which could be due to inconsistency in representing regional teleconnection features. Interestingly, all models perform reasonably well in terms of global thermodynamic scaling arguments. The overall study underpins important areas, where natural factors influence regional climate, but models miss out and suggest discrepancies among each other. Such knowledge has major implications in regional as well as global scale. The modelling community will also greatly benefit by an improved representation of ENSO and ISM in models

Strain Engineering of Antimonene by a First-principles Study: Mechanical and Electronic Properties

In this work, we investigate the mechanical and electronic properties of monolayer antimonene in its most stable beta-phase using first-principles calculations. The upper region of its valence band is found to solely consist of lone pair p-orbital states, which are by nature more delocalized than the d-orbital states in transition metal dichalcogenides, implying superior transport performance of antimonene. The Young's and shear moduli of beta-antimonene are observed to be ~25% higher than those of bulk antimony, while the hexagonal lattice constant of the monolayer reduces significantly (~5%) from that in bulk, indicative of strong inter-layer coupling. The ideal tensile test of beta-antimonene under applied uniaxial strain highlights ideal strengths of 6 GPa and 8 GPa, corresponding to critical strains of 15% and 17% in the zigzag and armchair directions, respectively. During the deformation process, the structural integrity of the material is shown to be better preserved, albeit moderately, in the armchair direction. Interestingly, the application of uniaxial strain in the zigzag and armchair directions unveil direction-dependent trends in the electronic band structure. We find that the nature of the band gap remains insensitive to strain in the zigzag direction, while strain in the armchair direction activates an indirect-direct band gap transition at a critical strain of 4%, owing to a band switching mechanism. The curvature of the conduction band minimum increases during the transition, which suggests a lighter effective mass of electrons in the direct-gap configuration than in the free-standing state of equilibrium. The work function of free-standing beta-antimonene is 4.59 eV and it attains a maximum value of 5.07 eV under an applied biaxial strain of 4%

The role of natural factors (Part 1): Addressing on Mechanism of different types of ENSO, related teleconnections and solar influence

This is the final version of the article. Available from Springer Verlag via the DOI in this record.The role of natural factors, mainly the sun, is explored on major tropospheric modes of variability in a holistic way. It formulates a flow chart, depicting coupling in the ocean-atmosphere system, initiated by solar decadal variability that involves El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO). Possible mechanisms for Canonic ENSO, Modoki ENSO and Canonic-Modoki ENSO are proposed considering their relevance to the decadal variation of Hadley, Walker circulation and mid-latitude jets. The upper stratospheric feature of the polar vortex is included too. Teleconnections by the ENSO on Indian Summer Monsoon (ISM) with a special emphasis on the later two decades of the last century is discussed. The disruption of usual ENSO-ISM teleconnection during that period is also attended. Subsequent analyses presented some results of solar signature which could possibly trigger different types of ENSO, agreeing with proposed mechanisms of the flow chart. It addressed the changing pattern of ENSO behaviour since the 1970s. The overall study can benefit the modelling community by an improved representation of ENSO in models and a better representation of ISM teleconnection via regional Hadley cell

Teleconnections between tropical SST modes and Indian summer monsoon in observation and CMIP5 models

The Indian summer monsoon (ISM) plays a crucial role in the well-being of billion Indians. This study discusses teleconnection between ISM with two dominant tropical sea surface temperature modes, namely, the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD). Results are analyzed for observation and CMIP5 simulations in both historical and future scenarios. ENSO and IOD exert an offsetting impact on ISM. Due to an overly strong control by ENSO, the majority of CMIP5 models simulate an unrealistic IOD and ISM rainfall correlation, that might contribute to major uncertainties in ISM simulations in both historical as well as in future projections. For ENSO, the further focus was on the East Pacific type or Canonical ENSO and the Central Pacific type or ENSO Modoki, and their regional teleconnection was explored. Regions of Central North East India suggest strong teleconnection in models that matches with observation, though for ENSO Modoki case that completely disappears in the future. In terms of mechanism, tropic and mid-latitude connection, the influence of regional Hadley circulation, and the role of the Sun were addressed. Finally, a hypothesized mechanism was proposed for disruption of ISM–ENSO teleconnection in the latter two decades of the last century

Association of the Indian summer monsoon with the northern hemisphere mid-latitude circulation

The association between the mid-latitude circulation and rainfall over the Indian region on an intraseasonal time-scale is investigated by considering 11 years (1974-1984) of Northern Hemisphere 500 hPa geopotential heights and rainfall data for the Indian summer monsoon months June through to September. On the basis of extensive correlation analysis between the geopotential heights and rainfall, it is seen that three regions over the mid-latitudes, the Manchurian region, the Algerian region and the Caspian sea region show positive correlation with rainfall over India, with higher values north of 20°N latitude. Lead and lag correlations between the heights at the locations identified above and rainfall over India reveals that some common element of low-frequency variability is influencing the mid-latitude circulation and Indian rainfall. On the interannual scale the connections between the winter-time low-frequency patterns (the Pacific/North Atlantic, the West Pacific Oscillation, the North Atlantic Oscillation and the Eurasian) and Indian summer monsoon rainfall (ISMR) are investigated. Only the West Pacific Oscillation pattern shows a significant relationship with the ISMR. Further, the interannual and the decadal variability is examined by using the Northern Hemisphere zonal index data for the period 1900-1993. Results reveal that the decadal-scale variability of the ISMR and the circulation features of the Northern Hemisphere are connected