Skill up; gradation of anganwadi workers pertaining to growth chart plotting and interpretation in rural areas of Varanasi district, India

Background: The task of using the growth chart by Anganwadi Workers (AWWs) for growth monitoring requires technical skill. It was hypothesized that skill up-gradation can make a difference in the performance of AWWs in regard with growth monitoring. The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of intervention in improving skill of AWWs regarding growth chart plotting and interpretation.Methods: It was a field based interventional study, which was conducted in rural areas of Varanasi district, India. A total of 66 AWWs each from Chiraigaon (intervention) and Cholapur (control) community development blocks of Varanasi district was selected for the study. Each AWW was provided 3 weight readings of different ages for plotting and 4 filled growth charts for interpretation. Chi square test has been applied to assess the significant difference.Results: Only around 10% of AWWs could correctly plot all 3 growth charts and similar proportion of AWWs could also correctly interpret all 4 filled growth charts. The planned intervention could significantly improve their skill of growth chart plotting and interpretation and during end line survey 41% and 77% of AWWs could correctly plot all 3 growth charts and interpret all the four growth charts, respectively.Conclusions: The developed hypothesis is proved, and intervention was found effective in significantly improving the skills of AWWs in regard with growth monitoring

Enhancer-A Time Commit Protocol

Abstract-This paper contains content with the investigating the performance implications of providing transaction atomicity for a deadline real time applications operating on distributed data. Considering all the commit protocols and discussing all phases of the commit protocols and examine their working model over different aspects of distributed database. Implementing distributed real time database system(DRTDBS) content which must be design on all level of database architecture to support timely execution of request. The enormous progress in applications of distributed database systems necessitates formulation of an efficient atomic commitment protocol. The efficiency of these protocols is vital when higher transaction throughput is to be supported. The existing blocking commit protocols affect over the capacity of system resources, which worsens in distributed database system Many existing real time commit protocols try to enhance system performance by allowing a committing participant to share its data to an executing participant, thus it reduces data inaccessibility

Traditional use of medicinal plants among the tribal communities of Chhota Bhangal, Western Himalaya

The importance of medicinal plants in traditional healthcare practices, providing clues to new areas of research and in biodiversity conservation is now well recognized. However, information on the uses for plants for medicine is lacking from many interior areas of Himalaya. Keeping this in view the present study was initiated in a tribal dominated hinterland of western Himalaya. The study aimed to look into the diversity of plant resources that are used by local people for curing various ailments. Questionnaire surveys, participatory observations and field visits were planned to illicit information on the uses of various plants. It was found that 35 plant species are commonly used by local people for curing various diseases. In most of the cases (45%) under ground part of the plant was used. New medicinal uses of Ranunculus hirtellus and Anemone rupicola are reported from this area. Similarly, preparation of "sik" a traditional recipe served as a nutritious diet to pregnant women is also not documented elsewhere. Implication of developmental activities and changing socio-economic conditions on the traditional knowledge are also discussed

Ginger extract inhibits LPS induced macrophage activation and function

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Macrophages play a dual role in host defence. They act as the first line of defence by mounting an inflammatory response to antigen exposure and also act as antigen presenting cells and initiate the adaptive immune response. They are also the primary infiltrating cells at the site of inflammation. Inhibition of macrophage activation is one of the possible approaches towards modulating inflammation. Both conventional and alternative approaches are being studied in this regard. Ginger, an herbal product with broad anti inflammatory actions, is used as an alternative medicine in a number of inflammatory conditions like rheumatic disorders. In the present study we examined the effect of ginger extract on macrophage activation in the presence of LPS stimulation.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Murine peritoneal macrophages were stimulated by LPS in presence or absence of ginger extract and production of proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines were observed. We also studied the effect of ginger extract on the LPS induced expression of MHC II, B7.1, B7.2 and CD40 molecules. We also studied the antigen presenting function of ginger extract treated macrophages by primary mixed lymphocyte reaction.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We observed that ginger extract inhibited IL-12, TNF-α, IL-1β (pro inflammatory cytokines) and RANTES, MCP-1 (pro inflammatory chemokines) production in LPS stimulated macrophages. Ginger extract also down regulated the expression of B7.1, B7.2 and MHC class II molecules. In addition ginger extract negatively affected the antigen presenting function of macrophages and we observed a significant reduction in T cell proliferation in response to allostimulation, when ginger extract treated macrophages were used as APCs. A significant decrease in IFN-γ and IL-2 production by T cells in response to allostimulation was also observed.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>In conclusion ginger extract inhibits macrophage activation and APC function and indirectly inhibits T cell activation.</p

Research on information systems failures and successes: Status update and future directions

The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10796-014-9500-yInformation systems success and failure are among the most prominent streams in IS research. Explanations of why some IS fulfill their expectations, whereas others fail, are complex and multi-factorial. Despite the efforts to understand the underlying factors, the IS failure rate remains stubbornly high. A Panel session was held at the IFIP Working Group 8.6 conference in Bangalore in 2013 which forms the subject of this Special Issue. Its aim was to reflect on the need for new perspectives and research directions, to provide insights and further guidance for managers on factors enabling IS success and avoiding IS failure. Several key issues emerged, such as the need to study problems from multiple perspectives, to move beyond narrow considerations of the IT artifact, and to venture into underexplored organizational contexts, such as the public sector. © 2014 Springer Science+Business Media New York

Antiepileptic drugs’ tolerability and safety – a systematic review and meta-analysis of adverse effects in dogs

<p>Various anti-epileptic drugs (AEDs) are used for the management of idiopathic epilepsy (IE) in dogs. Their safety profile is an important consideration for regulatory bodies, owners and prescribing clinicians. However, information on their adverse effects still remains limited with most of it derived from non-blinded non-randomized uncontrolled trials and case reports.</p><p><span>This poster won third place, which was presented at the Veterinary Evidence Today conference, Edinburgh November 1-3, 2016. </span></p><br /> <img src="https://www.veterinaryevidence.org/rcvskmod/icons/oa-icon.jpg" alt="Open Access" /

N-Acetylcysteine inhibits platelet-monocyte conjugation in patients with type 2 diabetes with depleted intraplatelet glutathione: a randomised controlled trial

AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: The aim of this study was to determine whether oral dosing with N-acetylcysteine (NAC) increases intraplatelet levels of the antioxidant, glutathione (GSH), and reduces platelet–monocyte conjugation in blood from patients with type 2 diabetes. METHODS: In this placebo-controlled randomised crossover study, the effect of oral NAC dosing on platelet–monocyte conjugation and intraplatelet GSH was investigated in patients with type 2 diabetes (eligibility criteria: men or post-menopausal women with well-controlled diabetes (HbA(1c) < 10%), not on aspirin or statins). Patients (n = 14; age range 43–79 years, HbA(1c) = 6.9 ± 0.9% [52.3 ± 10.3 mmol/mol]) visited the Highland Clinical Research Facility, Inverness, UK on day 0 and day 7 for each arm of the study. Blood was sampled before and 2 h after oral administration of placebo or NAC (1,200 mg) on day 0 and day 7. Patients received placebo or NAC capsules for once-daily dosing on the intervening days. The order of administration of NAC and placebo was allocated by a central office and all patients and research staff involved in the study were blinded to the allocation until after the study was complete and the data fully analysed. The primary outcome for the study was platelet–monocyte conjugation. RESULTS: Oral NAC reduced platelet–monocyte conjugation (from 53.1 ± 4.5% to 42.5 ± 3.9%) at 2 h after administration and the effect was maintained after 7 days of dosing. Intraplatelet GSH was raised in individuals with depleted GSH and there was a negative correlation between baseline intraplatelet GSH and platelet–monocyte conjugation. There were no adverse events. CONCLUSIONS/INTERPRETATION: The NAC-induced normalisation of intraplatelet GSH, coupled with a reduction in platelet–monocyte conjugation, suggests that NAC might help to reduce atherothrombotic risk in type 2 diabetes. FUNDING: Chief Scientist Office (CZB/4/622), Scottish Funding Council, Highlands & Islands Enterprise and European Regional Development Fund. TRIAL REGISTRATION: isrctn.org ISRCTN89304265 ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00125-012-2685-z) contains peer-reviewed but unedited supplementary material, which is available to authorised users

Monodisperse α-Fe2O3 Mesoporous Microspheres: One-Step NaCl-Assisted Microwave-Solvothermal Preparation, Size Control and Photocatalytic Property

A simple one-step NaCl-assisted microwave-solvothermal method has been developed for the preparation of monodisperse α-Fe2O3 mesoporous microspheres. In this approach, Fe(NO3)3 · 9H2O is used as the iron source, and polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) acts as a surfactant in the presence of NaCl in mixed solvents of H2O and ethanol. Under the present experimental conditions, monodisperse α-Fe2O3 mesoporous microspheres can form via oriented attachment of α-Fe2O3 nanocrystals. One of the advantages of this method is that the size of α-Fe2O3 mesoporous microspheres can be adjusted in the range from ca. 170 to ca. 260 nm by changing the experimental parameters. High photocatalytic activities in the degradation of salicylic acid are observed for α-Fe2O3 mesoporous microspheres with different specific surface areas

Particle-yield modification in jet-like azimuthal di-hadron correlations in Pb-Pb collisions at sNN\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 2.76 TeV

The yield of charged particles associated with high-$p_{\rm T}$ trigger particles ($8 < p_{\rm T} < 15$ GeV/$c$) is measured with the ALICE detector in Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}$ = 2.76 TeV relative to proton-proton collisions at the same energy. The conditional per-trigger yields are extracted from the narrow jet-like correlation peaks in azimuthal di-hadron correlations. In the 5% most central collisions, we observe that the yield of associated charged particles with transverse momenta $p_{\rm T}> 3$ GeV/$c$ on the away-side drops to about 60% of that observed in pp collisions, while on the near-side a moderate enhancement of 20-30% is found.Comment: 15 pages, 2 captioned figures, 1 table, authors from page 10, published version, figures at http://aliceinfo.cern.ch/ArtSubmission/node/350