Study of quality of sleep in patients with psychiatric illness under remission in relation to quality of life and functional disability

Sleep is one of the essential biological rhythms of a human being. Sleep disturbances could precipitate psychiatric illnesses like schizophrenia, bipolar affective disorder, depression, anxiety disorders, substance use disorders, etc. Even when psychiatric disorders are successfully treated, sleep disturbances often fail to remit. The quality of sleep in such patients is badly affected and influences the daytime functioning and impairs the overall quality of life. The aim of the study. To study quality of sleep of patients with psychiatric illness under remission in relation to quality of life and functional disability. Material and methods. Patients attending the review outpatient department of Tertiary hospital are selected for the study. Patients diagnosed with bipolar affective disorder and schizophrenia according to ICD-10 criteria were taken. Patients meeting remission criteria for bipolar affective disorder i.e., YMRS score </=8, MADRS score </=10 and for schizophrenia –eight PANSS signs and symptoms score <3 are selected from them. Quality of sleep is compared with quality of life and functional disability. Results: Mean age was found to be 36.59. Mean PSQI score is 8.35. The mean score of physical quality of life domain is 58.28, mean score of psychological quality of life domain is 56.63, mean score of social quality of life domain is 55.39, and mean score of environmental quality of life domain is 55.41. Mean score of functional disability score is 30.14. Conclusion: Poor quality of sleep in Schizophrenia and BPAD needs to be addressed

Taking Synchrony Seriously: A Perceptual-Level Model of Infant Synchrony Detection

Synchrony detection between different sensory and/or motor channels appears critically important for young infant learning and cognitive development. For example, empirical studies demonstrate that audio-visual synchrony aids in language acquisition. In this paper we compare these infant studies with a model of synchrony detection based on the Hershey and Movellan (2000) algorithm augmented with methods for quantitative synchrony estimation. Four infant-model comparisons are presented, using audio-visual stimuli of increasing complexity. While infants and the model showed learning or discrimination with each type of stimuli used, the model was most successful with stimuli comprised of one audio and one visual source, and also with two audio sources and a dynamic-face visual motion source. More difficult for the model were stimuli conditions with two motion sources, and more abstract visual dynamics—an oscilloscope instead of a face. Future research should model the developmental pathway of synchrony detection. Normal audio-visual synchrony detection in infants may be experience-dependent (e.g., Bergeson, et al., 2004)

The amazing spectrum of light – LASER

“In right light at right time everything is extraordinary”- says Aaron Rose. This is very true with respect to lasers. Discovery of lasers from the spectrum of light has revolutionized the technology in many fields. The word “LASER” means Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation. They offer many useful clinical applications for general dentists in the diagnosis and treatment of patients. There are many clinical, aesthetic, and psychological reasons to use lasers. Herein we present a brief overview of “THE AMAZING SPECTRUM OF LIGHT

An Efficient and Trustworthy Resource Sharing Platform for Collaborative Cloud Computing

Software as a Service (SaaS) is an important flavor of cloud computing to provide comprehensive Business emulsion. modernization in cloud computing are foremost to a promising future for cloud association, where wide-reaching spotted distributed cloud resources belonging to diverse organizations or individuals are collectively used in a compliant manner to provide services. —The collaborative cloud computing(CCC) which is collaboratively supported by various organization (Google, IBM, AMAZON, MICROSOFT) offers a promising future for information rescue. Human beings look after to keep things simple by moving the complex feature to computing. As a consequence, we prefer to go to one or a limited number of sources for all our information needs. In contemporary scenario where information is replicated, modified (value added), and scattered geographically; retrieving information in a suitable form requires lot more effort from the user and thus difficult. For instance, we would like to go directly to the source of information and at the same time not to be burdened with additional effort. We propose a novel idea to utilize SaaS in the academic sector as an application, cloud campus and also to incorporate collaborative cloud computing (CCC) platform in four tasks: User and Service identity management, overall QoS based resource selection, resource overloadcontrol, feedback system

Greedy Algorithms for Finding Entanglement Swap Paths in Quantum Networks

The entanglement swap primitive facilitates the establishment of shared entanglement between non-adjacent nodes in a quantum network. This shared entanglement can subsequently be used for executing quantum communication protocols. The fundamental problem in quantum networks is to determine a path for entanglement swapping in response to demands for entanglement sharing between pairs of nodes. We investigate variants of this problem in this work. We propose a framework of Greedy algorithms that can be tweaked towards optimizing on various objective functions. In conjunction with a novel Spatial and Temporal (split across multiple paths) splitting approach to entanglement routing, we use this framework, which we call GST, to investigate the scenario when the demands are specified in terms of a starting time and a deadline. Considering the fragile nature of quantum memory, "bursty"demands are natural, and therefore the setting is important. We study the algorithm for maximizing the number of satisfied demands and the number of entangled pairs shared. We report empirical results on the performance against these objective functions, and compare with a naive algorithm that involves neither temporal and spatial splitting of the demands, nor the greedy approach to scheduling the demands

Draft genome sequence of Sclerospora graminicola, the pearl millet downy mildew pathogen:Genome sequence of pearl millet downy mildew pathogen

Sclerospora graminicola pathogen is one of the most important biotic production constraints of pearl millet worldwide. We report a de novo whole genome assembly and analysis of pathotype 1. The draft genome assembly contained 299,901,251 bp with 65,404 genes. Pearl millet [Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.], is an important crop of the semi-arid and arid regions of the world. It is capable of growing in harsh and marginal environments with highest degree of tolerance to drought and heat among cereals (1). Downy mildew is the most devastating disease of pearl millet caused by Sclerospora graminicola (sacc. Schroet), particularly on genetically uniform hybrids. Estimated annual grain yield loss due to downy mildew is approximately 10?80 % (2-7). Pathotype 1 has been reported to be the highly virulent pathotype of Sclerospora graminicola in India (8). We report a de novo whole genome assembly and analysis of Sclerospora graminicola pathotype 1 from India. A susceptible pearl millet genotype Tift 23D2B1P1-P5 was used for obtaining single-zoospore isolates from the original oosporic sample. The library for whole genome sequencing was prepared according to the instructions by NEB ultra DNA library kit for Illumina (New England Biolabs, USA). The libraries were normalised, pooled and sequenced on Illumina HiSeq 2500 (Illumina Inc., San Diego, CA, USA) platform at 2 x100 bp length. Mate pair (MP) libraries were prepared using the Nextera mate pair library preparation kit (Illumina Inc., USA). 1 ?g of Genomic DNA was subject to tagmentation and was followed by strand displacement. Size selection tagmented/strand displaced DNA was carried out using AmpureXP beads. The libraries were validated using an Agilent Bioanalyser using DNA HS chip. The libraries were normalised, pooled and sequenced on Illumina MiSeq (Illumina Inc., USA) platform at 2 x300 bp length. The whole genome sequencing was performed by sequencing of 7.38 Gb with 73,889,924 paired end reads from paired end library, and 1.15 Gb with 3,851,788 reads from mate pair library generated from Illumina HiSeq2500 and Illumina MiSeq, respectively. The sequences were assembled using various assemblers like ABySS, MaSuRCA, Velvet, SOAPdenovo2, and ALLPATHS-LG. The assembly generated by MaSuRCA (9) algorithm was observed superior over other algorithms and hence used for scaffolding using SSPACE. Assembled draft genome sequence of S. graminicola pathotype 1 was 299,901,251 bp long, with a 47.2 % GC content consisting of 26,786 scaffolds with N50 of 17,909 bp with longest scaffold size of 238,843 bp. The overall coverage was 40X. The draft genome sequence was used for gene prediction using AUGUSTUS. The completeness of the assembly was investigated using CEGMA and revealed 92.74% proteins completely present and 95.56% proteins partially present, while BUSCO fungal dataset indicated 64.9% complete, 12.4% fragmented, 22.7% missing out of 290 BUSCO groups. A total of 52,285 predicted genes were annotated using BLASTX and 38,120 genes were observed with significant BLASTX match. Repetitive element analysis in the assembly revealed 8,196 simple repeats, 1,058 low complexity repeats and 5,562 dinucleotide to hexanucleotide microsatellite repeats.publishersversionPeer reviewe

Younger age of escalation of cardiovascular risk factors in Asian Indian subjects

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Cardiovascular risk factors start early, track through the young age and manifest in middle age in most societies. We conducted epidemiological studies to determine prevalence and age-specific trends in cardiovascular risk factors among adolescent and young urban Asian Indians.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Population based epidemiological studies to identify cardiovascular risk factors were performed in North India in 1999–2002. We evaluated major risk factors-smoking or tobacco use, obesity, truncal obesity, hypertension, dysglycemia and dyslipidemia using pre-specified definitions in 2051 subjects (male 1009, female 1042) aged 15–39 years of age. Age-stratified analyses were performed and significance of trends determined using regression analyses for numerical variables and Χ²test for trend for categorical variables. Logistic regression was used to identify univariate and multivariate odds ratios (OR) for correlation of age and risk factors.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In males and females respectively, smoking or tobacco use was observed in 200 (11.8%) and 18 (1.4%), overweight or obesity (body mass index, BMI ≥ 25 kg/m²) in 12.4% and 14.3%, high waist-hip ratio, WHR (males > 0.9, females > 0.8) in 15% and 32.3%, hypertension in 5.6% and 3.1%, high LDL cholesterol (≥ 130 mg/dl) in 9.4% and 8.9%, low HDL cholesterol (<40 mg/dl males, <50 mg/dl females) in 16.2% and 49.7%, hypertriglyceridemia (≥ 150 mg/dl) in 9.7% and 6%, diabetes in 1.0% and 0.4% and the metabolic syndrome in 3.4% and 3.6%. Significantly increasing trends with age for indices of obesity (BMI, waist, WHR), glycemia (fasting glucose, metabolic syndrome) and lipids (cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, HDL cholesterol) were observed (p for trend < 0.01). At age 15–19 years the prevalence (%) of risk factors in males and females, respectively, was overweight/obesity in 7.6, 8.8; high WHR 4.9, 14.4; hypertension 2.3, 0.3; high LDL cholesterol 2.4, 3.2; high triglycerides 3.0, 3.2; low HDL cholesterol 8.0, 45.3; high total:HDL ratio 3.7, 4.7, diabetes 0.0 and metabolic syndrome in 0.0, 0.2 percent. At age groups 20–29 years in males and females, ORs were, for smoking 5.3, 1.0; obesity 1.6, 0.8; truncal obesity 4.5, 3.1; hypertension 2.6, 4.8; high LDL cholesterol 6.4, 1.8; high triglycerides 3.7, 0.9; low HDL cholesterol 2.4, 0.8; high total:HDL cholesterol 1.6, 1.0; diabetes 4.0, 1.0; and metabolic syndrome 37.7, 5.7 (p < 0.05 for some). At age 30–39, ORs were- smoking 16.0, 6.3; overweight 7.1, 11.3; truncal obesity 21.1, 17.2; hypertension 13.0, 64.0; high LDL cholesterol 27.4, 19.5; high triglycerides 24.2, 10.0; low HDL cholesterol 15.8, 14.1; high total:HDL cholesterol 37.9, 6.10; diabetes 50.7, 17.4; and metabolic syndrome 168.5, 146.2 (p < 0.01 for all parameters). Multivariate adjustment for BMI, waist size and WHR in men and women aged 30–39 years resulted in attenuation of ORs for hypertension and dyslipidemias.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Low prevalence of multiple cardiovascular risk factors (smoking, hypertension, dyslipidemias, diabetes and metabolic syndrome) in adolescents and rapid escalation of these risk factors by age of 30–39 years is noted in urban Asian Indians. Interventions should focus on these individuals.</p

Systemic Inflammation and the Increased Risk of Inflamm-Aging and Age-Associated Diseases in People Living With HIV on Long Term Suppressive Antiretroviral Therapy.

The ART program in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) like India, follows a public health approach with a standardized regimen for all people living with HIV (PLHIV). Based on the evidence from high-income countries (HIC), the risk of an enhanced, and accentuated onset of premature-aging or age-related diseases has been observed in PLHIV. However, very limited data is available on residual inflammation and immune activation in the populations who are on first-generation anti-HIV drugs like zidovudine and lamivudine that have more toxic side effects. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to evaluate the levels of systemic inflammation and understand the risk of age-associated diseases in PLHIV on long-term suppressive ART using a large number of biomarkers of inflammation and immune activation. Blood samples were obtained from therapy naïve PLHIV (Pre-ART, = 43), PLHIV on ART for >5 years (ART, = 53), and HIV-negative healthy controls (HIVNC, = 41). Samples were analyzed for 92 markers of inflammation, sCD14, sCD163, and telomere length. Several statistical tests were performed to compare the groups under study. Multivariate linear regression was used to investigate the associations. Despite a median duration of 8 years of successful ART, sCD14 ( < 0.001) and sCD163 ( = 0.04) levels continued to be significantly elevated in ART group as compared to HIVNC. Eleven inflammatory markers, including 4E-BP1, ADA, CCL23, CD5, CD8A, CST5, MMP1, NT3, SLAMF1, TRAIL, and TRANCE, were found to be significantly different ( < 0.05) between the groups. Many of these markers are associated with age-related co-morbidities including cardiovascular disease, neurocognitive decline and some of these markers are being reported for the first time in the context of HIV-induced inflammation. Linear regression analysis showed a significant negative association between HIV-1-positivity and telomere length ( < 0.0001). In ART-group CXCL1 ( = 0.048) and TGF-α ( = 0.026) showed a significant association with the increased telomere length and IL-10RA was significantly associated with decreased telomere length ( = 0.042). This observation warrants further mechanistic studies to generate evidence to highlight the need for enhanced treatment monitoring and special interventions in HIV-infected individuals

Analyzing the Impact of Demonetization on the Indian Stock Market: Sectoral Evidence using GARCH Model

On 8th November 2016, the Government of India demonetized its two highest currency notes in the denomination of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000. The purpose of demonetization was to tackle the corruption and black money prevailing in the country. The stock market is one of the areas which pools a large amount of funds, the present study is an analytical attempt to examine the impact of demonetization on Indian stock market. For the purpose of the study, various statistical techniques have been used such as Graphical Analysis, Summary Statistics (i.e. Mean, Standard Deviation, Skewness, and Kurtosis), Augmented Dickey-Fuller Test and GARCH Model. The study utilizes the GARCH model to examine the impact of demonetization on Nifty 50 Index and across sectoral indices in India considering a period of 200 days prior and post event date by framing necessary dummy variables. The study found the data to be stationary using the Augmented Dickey-Fuller Test. A significant negative impact of demonetization on stock market returns was evidenced from Nifty 50 Index and sectoral indices such as Nifty Auto Index, Nifty Financial Services Index, Nifty FMCG Index, Nifty IT Index, Nifty Media Index, Nifty Private Bank Index, and Nifty Realty Index. The study found the Nifty Realty Index to be affected most because of demonetization. The results of the study will help the Governing bodies to examine the impact of demonetization and frame necessary policies. The results will also be useful for investors and other market participants for framing investment and trading strategies

Home Away From Home

Home away from home is an e-commerce application for short stays of homes or apartments. It allows property owners to advertise and lease them for a short period of time. It has three different account types: one for e-commerce admin, second for owner who wants to lease his/her property and third for someone who wants to rent a property. The functionalities of this application include uploading photos, setting preferences, auditing, property listings, bookings, payment processing, post-rental ratings, surveys and web mapping. The renter can search for properties based on ratings and reviews, property owner can manage property reservation, e-commerce admin specifies authority and restrictions on the users. The main goal of this application is to make the job easy allowing everyone to perform quick transactions like for the Owner to manage the property details, Customer to quickly get good deals followed by easy checkout and Administrator to manage properties and financial details. Many such functionalities have been embedded to explore, book and travel benefitting the user