Comparative evaluation of effect of green tea and green coffee on blood cholesterol level and body weight in albino rats

Background: Overweight and obesity are chronic medical condition responsible for risk factors for many non-communicable diseases. Development of rapid upsurge of these condition in medium and low-income group countries increased the awareness and uses of many types of remedies. Along with other natural herbal products green tea and green coffee have also became popular in communities. Aim of this study was to compare the effect of green tea and green coffee on blood cholesterol and weight in experimental animals.Methods: The experiment of this study was conducted in the Department of Pharmacology, MGM Medical college, Jamshedpur after ethical approval. 24 albino rats were selected and divided randomly in four groups A B C D. Group ‘A’ was kept as control group, group ‘B’ was given fat rich diet to produce hypercholesterolemia, group ‘C’ and ‘D’ were given green tea and green coffee respectively along with cholesterol rich diet. Weight and cholesterol level of rats were measured on 1st day, 2nd week and 4th week.Results: There was significant increase in serum cholesterol in non-treated animals as compared to control group but parameter showed significant less rise of cholesterol and weight in treated group by both green tea and green coffee than non-treated group. The comparative effect of green tea and green coffee had not much difference.Conclusions: This study has provided the information that natural products like green tea and green coffee are useful and helpful in preventive therapy of dyslipidemia and obesity

Perceptions regarding an ‘effective medical teacher’ among undergraduate students of a medical college in Puducherry

Background: To find the characteristics of an effective medical teacher, as perceived by the under graduate medical students who are at different stages of the MBBS course.Methods: A cross sectional study was done among all the undergraduate medical students studying in a medical college and hospital in Puducherry. The undergraduate students were visited in batches and students were explained regarding objectives and those who consented for the study were administered with a validated and pretested questionnaire in line with the objective of the study. The results are expressed in the form of proportions and percentages and the chi-square-test was used to test the significance of difference observed between different batches of studentResults: The most important qualities perceived by the students for being an effective medical teacher are creating interest in the subject, having good communication skills, providing good resource material, inspiring and motivating students, being easily approachable, respecting students/ patients / other staff, being enthusiastic, energetic and good listener. There is a significant difference in the perceived importance among different batch of students in the domain of teaching skills of a medical teacherConclusions: This study identified qualities of medical teachers related to their teaching skills, usage of teaching learning methods, approach towards students and their personal qualities that are perceived to be more important by medical students

Pengaruh Strategi Pemasaran Syariah Terhadap Keputusan Menginap Konsumen Pada Penginapan Belatuk Guest House Syariah Samarinda

 Penelitian ini bertujuan penelitian ini adalah mengetahui apakah ada pengaruh produk, harga, lokasi, dan promosi terhadap keputusan menginap konsumen di Belatuk Guest House Syariah Samarinda.Penelitian ini menggunakan 100 responden yang merupakan customer yang menginap di Belatuk Guest House Syarian Samarinda. Penelitian ini perlu dikaji secara kuantitatif,oleh karena itu jawaban yang diperoleh dari hasil kuesioner akan diukur dengan menggunakan skala likert dalam lima tingkatan. Analisis data adalah proses penyederhanaan data ke dalam bentuk yang mudah dibaca dan diinterpretasikan. Teknik analisis yang digunakan untuk menganalisis data guna menguji hipotesis pada penelitian ini adalah teknik analisis regresi berganda. Perhitungan ini dilakukan menggunakan sistem komputerisasi dengan program SPSS. Uji analisis menunjukkan bahwa produk, harga, lokasi, dan promosi berpengaruh positif dan signifikan terhadap keputusan menginap konsumen pada Belatuk Guest House Syariah Samarinda. Hasil penelitian menyatakan bahwa secara simultan Produk, Harga, lokasi, dan promis berpengaruh signifikan terhadap keputusan menginap konsumen pada penginapan Belatuk Guest House Syariah Samarind

Common morbidities and felt needs of salt pan workers in a coastal area of Tamil Nadu, India

Background: The occupational hazards faced by salt pan workers during their occupation are myriad, a fact compounded by the lack of basic amenities at their workplace and lack of awareness regarding usage of personal protection equipment.Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out among fifty-six salt pan workers in Marakkanam, Tamil Nadu to assess their common health problems and a qualitative component was added to assess their felt needs in work place and daily living. Data was collected using pre-designed data collection sheet for assessing the common morbidities. For the qualitative aspect of the study, in-depth interviews were conducted among twenty workers based on convenient sampling, using open ended questions. Data was collected after obtaining informed consent and steps were taken to ensure confidentiality at all stages.Results: The most common health problem of the workers in present study area included dental caries (41.7%), skin conditions (38.1%) musculoskeletal problems (36.7%) and anemia (35.1%) being other significant health problems. The qualitative aspect of the study revealed that the felt needs were improvement of their working conditions and more social support from the Government and the employers. There was very little awareness among the workers regarding use of PPE and none of them used any form of PPE.Conclusions: Salt pan workers had dental problems, dermatological problems and musculoskeletal problems as most common morbidities among them. Harsh working conditions, financial insecurity etc. are some of their work-related problems. Provision of housing facility and financial assistance during off- season by the government, basic amenities at the work place, paid leave in case of injuries, and insurance schemes for them by employer are their main felt needs. They also had no awareness regarding usage of personal protective equipment at the work place

Screening for retinopathy, risk factors, adherence to treatment and complications among diabetic and hypertensive individuals attending a primary care centre in Puducherry, India

Background: The increasing prevalence and incidence of diabetes and hypertension with increasing age and adult age group are at high risk of developing diabetic and hypertensive retinopathies.Methods: The study was conducted in a rural area of Puducherry, data collection was carried over a period of six months. Self-reported patients of diabetes and hypertension were included in the study and predesigned questionnaire was used to collect the information about socio-demographic details, risk factors, physical activity, history related to DM/HTN and history of fundus examination.Results: Majority of patients screened for diabetes 56% and hypertension 47% was by government hospital. The proportion of diabetics and hypertensives who had undergone fundus examination to rule out diabetic and hypertensive retinopathy was found to be 29.3% (12) and 14.5% (10). Complications such as neuropathy and retinopathy were given by 36.5% (15) and 2.4% (1) of diabetic patients Two third of the patients 64.1% had sedentary life style.Conclusions: Health care providers need to plan for larger coverage of fundus examination among diabetic and hypertensive patients

Nutritional status and various morbidities among school children of a coastal area in South India

Background: Malnutrition and poor health among school children is the common cause of low school enrolment, high absenteeism, early dropout and poor classroom performance. This study was conducted to assess the various morbidities and nutritional status among school children.Methods: This descriptive study was conducted during year 2013 in a higher secondary school located in a coastal area of Puducherry. A total of 714 students were interviewed and examined. A pre-designed and pre-tested questionnaire was used to interview and examine all the participated students. Body weight and height were measured using standardized procedures. WHO criteria for classification of nutritional status was used. Visual acuity and colour vision was assessed using Snellen’s chart and Ishihara’s pseudo isochromatic chart respectively. Mean scores and proportions were calculated and chi-square test was applied. P value of <0.05 was considered as statistically significant.Results: Among 714 student, 369 (51.4%) were males and 345 (48.6%) were females. The mean age of children was 10.2 ± 3.1 years. Among all age groups and both sexes, the observed BMI was lower as compared to the reference values. The prevalence of underweight among children of 5-9 years was (30.7%) and (1.1%) were severely underweight. The prevalence of stunting was 10.4%, including 0.1% of severely stunted children. A total of 30.7% children were thin (low BMI for age). Pallor (39.5%), myopia (34.9%) and dental caries (14.7%) were the common morbidities observed among children. The pallor was observed more commonly among girls and this difference was statistically significant (p value <0.05).Conclusion: Under-nutrition is a prevalent condition among school children. Apart from various nutritional programmes, health education to parents, community and school teachers are quite important to address this problem.

Stress mitigation strategies of plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria: Plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria mechanisms

One of the major challenges that the world is facing currently is the inadequate amount of food production with high nutrient content in accordance with the increase in population size. Moreover, availability of cultivable area with fertile soil is reducing day by day owing to ever increasing population. Further, water scarcity and expensive agricultural equipment have led to the use of agrochemicals and untreated water. Excessive use of chemical fertilizers to increase crop yield have resulted in deleterious effects on the environment, health and economy, which can be overcome to a great extent by employing biological fertilizers. There are various microbes that grows in the rhizospheric region of plants known as plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR). PGPR act by direct and indirect modes to stimulate plant growth and improve stress reduction in plants. PGPRs are used for potential agriculture practices having a wide range of benefits like increase in nutrients content, healthy growth of crops, production of phytohormones, prevention from heavy metal stress conditions and increase in crop yield. This review reports recent studies in crop improvement strategies using PGPR and describes the mechanisms involved. The potential mechanisms of PGPR and its allies pave the way for sustainable development towards agriculture and commercialization of potential bacteria

Patient and health system delay among new pulmonary tuberculosis patients diagnosed at medical college hospitals in Puducherry, India

Background:Early diagnosis of the disease and prompt initiation of treatment are essential for an effective tuberculosis (TB) control program. The delay in the diagnosis and treatment may worsen the disease, increases the risk of death and enhances tuberculosis transmission in the community. This study was done to assess the extent of various delays and their determinants among TB patients.Methods:A cross-sectional study including retrospective medical record review and patient interviews was conducted during the year 2010 in and around union territory of Puducherry in India. A structured questionnaire used in the WHO multi-country study to estimate the diagnostic and treatment delay in TB was used to interview the patients. Average estimates and proportions were calculated for continuous and categorical variables respectively. Unadjusted odds ratios (OR) were calculated. Level of significance was determined at 95% confidence level (P value <0.05) and all tests applied were two-sided.Results:A total of 138 new sputum smear positive TB patients were included in the study. The mean age of participants was 41.8 years ± 17.3 years (range 15-87 years). Majority (67.4%) of the patients were male and married (68.8%). Majority (86%) of the patients were literate. The median patient delay, health system delay and total delay was 36 days, 28.5 days and 81 days respectively. The place of residence (OR = 0.39, 95% CI = 0.18-0.87) and family size (OR = 0.45, 95% CI = 0.21-0.97) were found as the determinants of various delays for TB patients.Conclusion:Patient and health care system delay for TB patients is long. There is need to improve the referral mechanism to ensure an early initiation of treatment for TB patients diagnosed a tertiary care hospitals.

Role of active and passive surveillance in early case detection and prevention of disease spread in COVID-19 pandemic: our experience

Background: Strong surveillance systems which include both active and passive surveillance are the important steps to halt a disease outbreak by early case detection and management, which helps in breaking the chain of transmission. The main aim of this article is to share our experience regarding the active and passive surveillance done during COVID 19 spread in the year 2021.Methods: The early case detection of COVID 19 cases through active and passive surveillance was slightly different from the usual methods that are carried out for regular known communicable diseases. Active surveillance was done round the clock by screening of all vehicles entering the union-territory of Puducherry and by house-to-house survey. Passive surveillance was carried out by screening of various symptomatic patients attending to hospitals which needed motivation of health personnel as well as awareness among the general public.Results: Out of 12 Govt. PHCs (3,30,000population) where active and passive surveillance was conducted, the total number of individuals referred to designated COVID centre by active and passive surveillance is 30 and 110 respectively for COVID testing and further management.Conclusions: Active and Passive surveillance plays a major role in early case detection and prevention of disease spread in COVID-19 pandemic

What is preventing India from developing an inclusive national framework for older people?

Despite having the second largest population of people over age 60, India has yet to generate an effective national framework for confronting the exigencies of later life, especially those that are derived from a lifetime of poverty. This article demonstrates that this lack of interest in 'past' generations is driven by the unfortunate coincidence of externally endorsed concerns and concepts, and internal politics. Foundational assumptions on the economy and development and on old-age capacities and inter-generational relations, push for evidence collation which disincentivises more empirically relevant analyses, creating the fiction of dependency ratios and preventing the generation of evidence-based knowledge on later life. The consequence is that India prioitises current and future generations over ‘past’ generations. Policies on older people, who are treated as 'other' at international and national levels, are tied to competition for votes at national and state elections. Currently, policy is not designed around the concept of older people's rights, nor of meeting need. The first outcome of external and internal drivers is that national and state governments are not interested in, nor know, how many older people qualify for a pension; instead they fix budget ceilings and, at a local level, allocate and manage pensions in a random fashion. The second outcome is that pension values are allowed to wither on the vine, waiting on the political context in which one or more parties places a pension uplift at the centre of their manifest