Health Seeking Behavior among Rickshaw Pullers in Delhi and Their Acceptance of Using Mobile Phoneto Seek Health Information

Background: Rickshaw pullers of India are one among the vulnerable population in India and have no or limited access to health service and have poor health condition. Most of them are migrants and have shifted to urban cities like Delhi and Agra to earn a livelihood to support their families left behind. Low socioeconomic status, unhygienic living environment, and improper diet, lead to their health problems. As they are unable to visit their families frequently they keep in touch with them through mobile phones. Although health information seeking of the consumers through the mobile has received great attention, limited attempt has been made to understand the same in context of vulnerable population. The aim of this study is to explore the health seeking behavior of rickshaw pullers in Delhi and their acceptance towards the use of mobile phones to seek health related information Subjects and Method: This was a qualitative study with case studies approach conducted at two metro stations and market place where there were significant available numbers of rickshaw pullers. A sample of 75 rickshaw pullers was selected by simple random sampling. The data were collected by survey of rickshaw pullers based on semi-structured questionnaires. Results: This study found out that more than 90% of the rickshaw pullers were migrants from North Indian states and 70% had migrated more than five years ago. Regarding their health seeking behavior most of them used home based cures or consulted pharmacies and local doctors. Many were unaware of the government health facilities and the services available to them. Their intention to seek health information through mobiles and use the information was influenced by the information quality, perceived value, ease of use, method and cost of receiving information and trust on the source. Conclusion: The current study throws light on the factors affecting the mobile based health information seeking behavior of the rickshaw pullers and provides valuable insights that can be used for developing mobile health interventions for the vulnerable population. Keywords: health information, mobile phones, rickshaw pullers, health seeking behavio

Studying the Behaviour of Model of Mirror Neuron System in Case of Autism

Several experiment done by the researchers conducted that autism is caused by the dysfunctional mirror neuron system and the dysfunctions of mirror neuron system is proportional to the symptom severity of autism. In the present work those experiments were studied as well as studying a model of mirror neuron system called MNS2 developed by a research group. This research examined the behavior of the model in case of autism and compared the result with those studies conducting dysfunctions of mirror neuron system in autism. To perform this, a neural network employing the model was developed which recognized the three types of grasping (faster, normal and slower). The network was implemented with back propagation through time learning algorithm. The whole grasping process was divided into 30 time steps and different hand and object states at each time step was used as the input of the network. Normally the network successfully recognized all of the three types of grasps. The network required more times as the number of inactive neurons increased. And in case of maximum inactive neurons of the mirror neuron system the network became unable to recognize the types of grasp. As the time to recognize the types of grasp is proportional to the number of inactive neurons, the experiment result supports the hypothesis that dysfunctions of MNS is proportional to the symptom severity of autism. Keywords— Autism, MNS, mirror neuron, neural network, BPT

Randomised controlled trial: comparing effects of metformin versus myoinositol versus metformin and myoinositol on ovarian functions and metabolic factors in polycystic ovarian syndrome

Background: Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) characterized by anovulation and features of hyperandrogenism (clinical or biochemical) and insulin resistance. Metformin and myoinositol being insulin sensitizers improve clinical and biochemical parameters. This study was done to compare the effects of these drugs on clinical features and biochemical profile.Methods: A randomized, comparative, clinical study was conducted on 72 patients. The patients were randomized with the help of computer-generated random numbers and were allocated to either of the three treatment groups A, B and C. Patients in group A received metformin 500 mg TDS, group B received myoinositol 1000 mg BD, group C received combination of metformin 500 mg and myoinositol 550 mg BD for 24 weeks. At first visit patients detailed history and baseline investigations were recorded. Follow up was done 24 weeks after start of therapy to assess the improvement in clinical and biochemical profile.Results: There was significant improvement in menstrual irregularities, cutaneous manifestations, pregnancy rate, LH/FSH ratio, insulin sensitivity and HOMA-IR after 24 weeks of treatment in all three groups (p value <0.05), although there was greater improvement in cases treated with combination of metformin and myoinositol than metformin and myoinositol alone.Conclusions: The combination of metformin and myoinositol has resulted in more significant reduction in insulin resistance and improvement in metabolic and hormonal profile along with regularization of menstrual cycles and spontaneous conception than metformin and myoinositol alone

A case of endometrial tuberculosis complicated by Pott’s spine with paraplegia

Extra-pulmonary tuberculosis has shown an increasing trend in developing countries and accounts for 15-20% of total tuberculosis cases in India. Extra-pulmonary cases are usually diagnosed late due to vague and subtle signs & symptoms at a stage when major irreversible tissue damage had occurred. Tuberculosis is a chronic disease with infection remaining dormant for years in body to get activated whenever the immunity decreases. Spinal and cranial TB has the gravest manifestations, while the abdominal, female genital or pelvic TB poses a challenge because of lack of specific diagnostic tests. Here we are reporting a case of endometrial tuberculosis which was diagnosed very late, followed by treatment default and finally got complicated with Pott’s spine with paraplegia due to haematogenous spread. Timely intervention and anti-tubercular treatment improved the symptoms. It stresses on keeping the high suspicion of tuberculosis in unresponsive and persistent general symptoms.

BIOCOMPATIBILITY STUDIES OF SILVER DOPED HAP/ALUMINA BY SOL-GEL METHOD

Silver doped hydroxyapatite (Ag- HAP) coated of alumina having antibacterial properties is of great interest for the development of new biomedical applications. In the current study pure hydroxyapatite (HAP), 1.5wt% (0.9gm)Ag doped in hydroxyapatite (Ag-HAP) coated on alumina disk were processed and characterized. Pure HAP and Ag-HAP were synthesized using the sol-gel method. Calcium nitrate tetrahydrate Ca(NO3)2.4H2O as a source of Ca precursor, phosphorous pentaoxide (P2O5) as a source of P precursor and Silver Nitrate (AgNO3) as a source of Ag precursor were used. Samples were characterized using SEM, FTIR, ECA (in Ringer's solution) and OCA. SEM study shows the granular like Ag-HAP. The formation HAP and Ag-HAP was confirmed using FTIR and XRD. Wettability study shows that the surface of Ag-HAP is more hydrophilic as compared to pure HAP Samples. Corrosion study reveals that Ag-HAP has lesser corrosion rate as compared to HAP. There is no toxic effect of Ag-HAP as found by bacterial cell culture test

Oxidant and solvent stable alkaline protease from Aspergillus flavus and its characterization

The increase in agricultural practices has necessitated the judicious use of agricultural wastes into value added products. In this study, an  extracellular, organic solvent and oxidant stable, serine protease wasproduced by Aspergillus flavus MTCC 9952 under solid state fermentation. Maximum protease yield was obtained when the strain was grown under wheat bran and corn cob mixture (1:1) incubated for 48 h at pH 9.0 and temperature 37°C with 50% of initial moisture content. The partially purified enzyme showed wide range of pH optima (8.0-12.0) and pH stability (7.0-12.0), whereas, optimum temperature was 40°C and was stable over a wide range of temperature 30-45°C. The protease was extremely stable towards several organic solvents. The enzyme retained 80% of its original activity in the presence of non ionic and ionic surfactants and 100% with 10% H2O2 after 1 h of incubation at 30°C. In addition, the enzyme showed excellent compatibility with some commercial powder detergents. The compatibility of our protease with several detergents, oxidants and organic solvents suggests its possible use in detergent industry and peptide synthesis.Key words: Alkaline protease, solid state fermentation, PMSF, organic solvent