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This study aims to evaluate the expectation of and need for psychological counselling among primary care attender in a practice where the majority of patients are of Asian origin.
Method:
All consecutive adult patients attending 10 surgeries per week (assess 20 patients per surgery) asked to participate in the study. Patients were asked to complete 2 questionnaires:
1. Demographic data
2. Acculturation
In one month period 127 patients completed two questionnaires.
Results:
About 60% of Asian patient preferred to talk to either general practitioner or friend or relative whereas half of the European patient preferred to talk to GP and only 2 would talk to a friend or relative. 15% of Asian preferred to see male professional, but 60% of European preferred the same. Similar number reported that if they were suffering from anxiety or depression they would prefer taking tablets from their general practitioner. 25% of Asian preferred to see a counsellor or therapist of their own background whereas 40% of European patient preferred the same.
Discussion:
There is very little information, if any, on ethnic minority views about the type of services they would like to receive. This study has demonstrated that there is unmet needs with regards to gender and preference for professional from similar ethnic background. There is a need to merge patient need and preference in an efficacious manner also for the services to change and develop in a planned and efficacious consumer lead rather than provider lead.
Schizophrenia is a severe mental disorder with a relatively high toll on the quality of life of the patient and caregiver. It has a high financial, emotional and psychosocial burden. Surprisingly, optimum academic and educational outcomes in individuals with schizophrenia have been a neglected area of research and service provision.
Objectives
Development of an interview schedule assessing the helpful and hindering factors affecting the educational attainment in persons with schizophrenia.
Methods
Twenty-one participant were recruited (11 patients and 10 caregivers) from August 2014 to 2015 using purposive sampling and interviewed in a semi-structured qualitative fashion. Patients were between 16–25 years of age. Data collection and interpretation continued iteratively till saturation of factors was achieved. The list of factors (hindering/helping) was compiled and sent to a panel of 14 experts. They rated the schedule and the individual factors on a Likert scale. Reliability and validity parameters were tested and the final schedule was formulated.
Results
The final schedule contained 17 hindering and 18 helping factors. Detailed instructions to the interviewer for administration of the schedule are included. The factors have been further subdivided into illness related and illness unrelated. Some of the major hindering factors were symptoms of illness, medication side effects, delay in treatment initiation, perceived conflict in parents, lack of motivation. The major helpful factors were adequate symptom control, withholding inpatient care, spirituality, and peer group acceptance.
Conclusions
Service provisions for ensuring optimal educational achievement can be formulated by assessing the felt needs and hindrances of patients and their caregivers.
Disclosure of interest
The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.
We present photo-ionization and morpho-kinematic analyses of the ejecta of novae. The sample consists of ten novae belonging to the Fe II, He/N and hybrid classes. The Fe II class of novae in the sample have bipolar cone-like structures, with or without equatorial rings with inclination angle in the range of 40°–60°. The He/N novae have bullet-nose curve along with bipolar cone-like structures and equatorial rings with an inclination angle of ~80°. The hybrid nova in the sample is a bipolar frustum of prolate spheroid along with bipolar cone-like structures and equatorial rings with an inclination angle of 63°.
Spiking Neural Networks propose to mimic nature’s way of recognizing patterns and making decisions in a fuzzy manner. To develop such networks in hardware, a highly manufacturable technology is required. We have proposed a silicon-based leaky integrate and fire (LIF) neuron, on a sufficiently matured 32 nm CMOS silicon-on-insulator (SOI) technology. The floating body effect of the partially depleted (PD) SOI transistor is used to store “holes” generated by impact ionization in the floating body, which performs the “integrate” function. Recombination or equivalent hole loss mimics the “leak” functions. The “hole” storage reduces the source barrier to increase the transistor current. Upon reaching a threshold current level, an external circuit records a “firing” event and resets the SOI MOSFET by draining all the stored holes. In terms of application, the neuron is able to show classification problems with reasonable accuracy. We looked at the effect of scaling experimentally. Channel length scaling reduces voltage for impact ionization and enables sharper impact ionization producing significant designability of the neuron. A circuit equivalence is also demonstrated to understand the dynamics qualitatively. Three distinct regimes are observed during integration based on different hole leakage mechanism.
Cosmopolites sordidus (Germar), commonly known as banana corm weevil, is an important economic pest in Asia that can cause severe yield loss depending upon the stage at which infestation occurs. In spite of its economic importance, little is known about the population structure of this pest in India. Random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) and amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) were used to characterize the population genetic structure of C. sordidus collected from five hot spot locations in India. Nineteen RAPD primers and five selective AFLP primer combinations generated 147 and 304 amplification products, respectively. UPGMA dendrograms generated with both marker systems failed to reveal populations clustered based on geographic distance, which was confirmed by the Mantel test, which did not show a strong correlation between genetic distance and geographic distance. Values of indices of genetic identity showed that the populations were closely related. Though the gene flow estimate (Nm) between the populations was 0.469, suggesting restricted gene flow, the populations are not genetically distinct. These observations suggest that the range expansion of this banana pest in India has taken place through transport of infested corms and plant material, resulting in genetically close populations that are geographically distinct. These results provide important information on the population structure of this pest in India, which will aid in designing suitable strategies for its control and management, especially with respect to insecticide resistance.
Despite immense efforts, vaccine against visceral leishmaniasis has yet not been developed. Earlier our proteomic study revealed a novel protein, cofactor-independent phoshoglycerate mutase (LdiPGAM), an important enzyme in glucose metabolism, in T helper cells type 1 (Th1) stimulatory region of soluble Leishmania donovani antigen. In this study, LdiPGAM was biochemically and molecularly characterized and evaluated for its immunogenicity and prophylactic efficacy against L. donovani. Immunogenicity of recombinant LdiPGAM (rLdiPGAM) was initially assessed in naïve hamsters immunized with it by analysing mRNA expression of inducible nitric oxide (NO) synthase (iNOS) and other Th1/T helper cells type 2 cytokines, which revealed an upregulation of Th1 cytokines along with iNOS. Immunogenicity of rLdiPGAM was further evaluated in lymphocytes of treated Leishmania-infected hamsters and peripheral blood mononuclear cells of Leishmania patients in clinical remission by various parameters, viz. lymphoproliferation assay and NO production (hamsters and patients) and levels of various cytokines (patients). rLdiPGAM induced remarkable Lymphoproliferative response and NO production in treated Leishmania-infected hamsters as well as in patients and increase in interferon gamma (IFN-γ), interleukin-12 (IL-12p40) responses in Leishmania patients in clinical remission. Vaccination with rLdiPGAM exerted considerable prophylactic efficacy (73%) supported by increase in mRNA expression of iNOS, IFN-γ and IL-12p40 with decrease in transforming growth factor beta and interleukin-10. Above results indicate the importance of rLdiPGAM protein as a potential vaccine candidate against visceral leishmaniasis.
To measure the output sound pressure levels of personal music systems and evaluate their effect on hearing.
Methods:
Output sound pressure levels at preferred volume settings and listening environment were measured using a manikin. Effects of personal music system use on hearing were evaluated using pure tone audiometry (in conventional and extended high frequency ranges), transient evoked otoacoustic emissions, syllable identification in noise, intensity discrimination, frequency discrimination and temporal modulation transfer function.
Results:
Results showed, alarmingly, that large proportions of young adults are using personal music systems at levels higher than the safety limits set by regulatory bodies. Individuals who listened to personal music systems at levels higher than 80 dB LAeq exhibited poorer extended high frequency thresholds, reduced transient evoked otoacoustic emission amplitudes, poorer frequency discrimination, reduced modulation detection thresholds at 32 Hz modulation frequency, and reduced syllable identification in noise at −5 dB signal-to-noise ratio. Listening levels were significantly correlated with extended high frequency thresholds and transient evoked otoacoustic emission amplitudes.
Conclusion:
These results suggest that listening to music through personal music systems at higher volume levels may be hazardous to hearing.
High temperature stress at critical growth stages is a major risk factor for wheat in many wheat growing areas globally. Developing weather indices relating to yield reductions in wheat is an urgent requirement for weather-index-based crop insurance. The objectives of the present study were to: (i) identify critical phenological stage(s) for heat stress, (ii) quantify the impact of heat stress at critical growth stage(s) and (iii) work out thresholds of temperature for obtaining above average, average and below average yield of wheat. For achieving these objectives, 11 years’ experimental data for three cultivars (HD-2285, K-8804 and K-9107) under three sowing dates at the Kanpur Centre located in the Indo-Gangetic Plains of Uttar Pradesh, India were used. Among the eight phenological stages, the milk stage (growth stage 73) was identified as most sensitive for high maximum and minimum temperatures to adversely affect yield. The rate of yield reduction with unit increase in maximum and minimum temperatures (°C) was found to be highest in K-8804 and lowest in HD-2285. The optimum ranges of maximum temperature during anthesis, milk, dough and maturity stages are 19·7–21·9, 24·2–26·5, 26·1–28·8 and 29·5–30·8 °C, respectively and those for minimum temperature are 4·3–6·2, 8·3–9·7, 11·5–12·4 and 13·0–15·1 °C, respectively. The thresholds of temperature during critical stages and quantification of heat stress on yield will be of use in devising weather-index-based crop insurance products in wheat and also for breeding temperature-stress-resistant genotypes. This method of devising weather indices in the present study can be used in other crops and regions of the world as an adaptation strategy for climate change.
To quantify the effect of thermal stress and photothermal quotient (PTQ) on yield components, eleven years experimental data of three cultivars (HD-2285, K-8804 and K-9107) under three sowing dates at Kanpur centre were analysed. Number of grains per ear (NG), grain weight per ear (GW) and 1000-grain weight (TG) were identified as prime yield contributing components in HD-2285, K-8804 and K-9107, respectively. GW was highly sensitive to maximum temperature (MXT) while NG was sensitive to minimum temperature (MNT) during jointing (JNT) to anthesis (ATS) as well as the total growing season in all the cultivars. In both HD-2285 and K-8804, optimum MXT and MNT during JNT to ATS are 22.7–24.6 and 7.0–7.9 °C, respectively for obtaining maximum NG. Optimum MXT for GW ranged from 15.8–17.3 °C during tillering (TLR) to JNT stage in K-8804 and K-9107 while it was 20.4 °C during JNT to ATS stage in HD-2285. MXT, MNT and PTQ of 23.6 °C, 9.2 °C and 25 MJ/m2/day/ °C, respectively during JNT to ATS in K-9107 were found optimum for higher TG.
A high gain ZnO nanowire (NW) based photodetector was fabricated, which was sensitive to photoexcitation at or below 370 nm corresponding to the band-edge of ZnO. At an incident wavelength of 370 nm and a bias field of 5 kV/cm, the maximum responsivity was over 105 A/W corresponding to an extremely high photoconductive gain of the order of 106. Through this work we provide experimental evidence of the role of surface and defects in carrier dynamics, resulting in enhanced photoresponse. Using intensity and temperature dependence of the rise and decay rates of photocurrent, we present a detailed analysis that provides an estimate of the activation energies of carrier trapping mechanisms.
Edited by
Priyankar Upadhyaya, UNESCO Professor and Director at Malaviya Centre for Peace Research, Banaras Hindu University, India,Samrat Schmiem Kumar, Research Fellow at the Department of Cultural Studies and Oriental Languages, University of Oslo, Norway
India is a vast country with multitude perspectives, peoples and ways of life. It is probably the most culturally, ethnically and religiously diverse country in the world. Some of the most prominent philosophies and notions of peace, including non-violence, co-existence, unity and compassion, have emerged from the Indian sub-continent. At the same time, India is also characterized as a state with state and non-state-led violence, political corruption, social injustice and communal divisions. The freedom it gained from the British Raj in 1947 led to mass-violence among its communities, a historical memory that still haunts relations among the South Asian states. India is a country of dissimilarity and contrasts. Peace itself is understood from many perspectives such as plural, relational and sometimes even contradictory. Portraying peace work in the Indian context through a singular lens is, in fact, an impossible task.
This chapter aims at presenting a plurality of philosophies and practices of non-violence and peace works in India. Mohandas K. Gandhi, Vandana Shiva, Mata Amritanandamayi and social movements such as Chipko and Narmada Bachao, represent different understandings of peace, non-violence and peace works. We have chosen to focus on these peace contributors as their efforts and determination led to societal transformations and have inspired many in both India and abroad. Although their messages of peace are comparable, as individuals and social movements, they represent peace work in different historical periods and socio-cultural settings. What all peace workers have in common is that they propagate civil resistance, nonviolence and compassion as powerful tools for personal, social and political transformation. Most of them actively resist(ed) subjugation, by external rulers or the global market economy, both of which are viewed as obstacles for local self-governance and sustainable livelihoods.
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of lengthening of voice onset time and burst duration of selected speech stimuli on perception by individuals with auditory dys-synchrony. This is the second of a series of articles reporting the effect of signal enhancing strategies on speech perception by such individuals.
Methods:
Two experiments were conducted: (1) assessment of the ‘just-noticeable difference' for voice onset time and burst duration of speech sounds; and (2) assessment of speech identification scores when speech sounds were modified by lengthening the voice onset time and the burst duration in units of one just-noticeable difference, both in isolation and in combination with each other plus transition duration modification.
Results:
Lengthening of voice onset time as well as burst duration improved perception of voicing. However, the effect of voice onset time modification was greater than that of burst duration modification. Although combined lengthening of voice onset time, burst duration and transition duration resulted in improved speech perception, the improvement was less than that due to lengthening of transition duration alone.
Conclusion:
These results suggest that innovative speech processing strategies that enhance temporal cues may benefit individuals with auditory dys-synchrony.
This experiment was conducted to study the long-term effect of soil management treatments on crop yields, sustainability yield indices (SYI) and soil fertility in rainfed semi-arid tropical Alfisol at Hayathnagar Research Farm, Hyderabad, India, during the period 1995 to 2009. The experiment was conducted in a split–split plot design with conventional tillage (CT) and minimum tillage (MT) as main factors, surface application of sorghum stover @ 2 t ha−1 (SS), fresh Gliricidia loppings @ 2 t ha−1 (GL) and ‘no’ residue (NR) as sub-factors and levels of N viz. 0 (N0), 30 (N30), 60 (N60) and 90 (N90) kg N ha−1 as sub–sub factors in a castor–sorghum two-year rotation. On an average, CT maintained 30.4 and 57.0% higher grain yields of sorghum and castor, respectively, over MT. Between two residues, GL performed well in both the crops. The highest yields of sorghum (1425 kg ha−1) and castor (876 kg ha−1) were recorded at 90 kg N ha−1. CT maintained higher SYI of 0.44 compared to MT (0.38) and higher agronomic efficiency (AE) of 13.5 and 6.76 kg grain kg−1 N for sorghum and castor crop, respectively. Use of crop residue as mulch had an advantage in increasing the yield of both the crops with increase in rainfall under CT even without N application (control), probably by making the soil more receptive to water infiltration, better moisture storage and by reducing the evaporative losses. Using response functions, the optimum fertilizer N requirement was also computed for a given set of tillage and residue combinations. The revised optimum fertilizer N doses for sorghum and castor varied from 45 to 56 kg ha−1 and 46 to 74 kg ha−1, respectively, under different tillage and residue combinations and could be recommended depending upon the soil management practices.
This study aimed to evaluate the effect of lengthening the transition duration of selected speech segments upon the perception of those segments in individuals with auditory dys-synchrony.
Methods:
Thirty individuals with auditory dys-synchrony participated in the study, along with 30 age-matched normal hearing listeners. Eight consonant–vowel syllables were used as auditory stimuli. Two experiments were conducted. Experiment one measured the ‘just noticeable difference’ time: the smallest prolongation of the speech sound transition duration which was noticeable by the subject. In experiment two, speech sounds were modified by lengthening the transition duration by multiples of the just noticeable difference time, and subjects' speech identification scores for the modified speech sounds were assessed.
Results:
Subjects with auditory dys-synchrony demonstrated poor processing of temporal auditory information. Lengthening of speech sound transition duration improved these subjects' perception of both the placement and voicing features of the speech syllables used.
Conclusion:
These results suggest that innovative speech processing strategies which enhance temporal cues may benefit individuals with auditory dys-synchrony.
In this work, TOPO(tri-octyl phosphine oxide)/TOP(tri-octyl phosphine)-capped cadmium selenide (CdSe) quantum dots (QD's) of varied sizes (5–9 nm) prepared at different input Cd:Se precursor ratio's (1:1–2:1) using chemical route were dispersed in conducting polymer matrices viz poly[2-methoxy,5-(2-ethyl-hexyloxy)-1,4-phenylene vinylene] (MEH-PPV) and poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) respectively. The properties of polymer:CdSe nanocomposites are evaluated by means of photoluminescence (PL), UV-VIS absorption, Raman, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) techniques respectively. The emission and structural properties of polymer-CdSe nanocomposites are found to be dependent on their morphology. The better quality of smallest sized CdSe QD's (size ~5 nm) in conjunction with regioregular P3HT polymer, leads to higher photostability of P3HT:CdSe QD's nanocomposites as compared to that for corresponding MEH-PPV:CdSe nanocomposites, thus making it as an attractive candidate for hybrid solar cells application.
This study aimed to compare outcomes for mastoidotympanoplasty and for tympanoplasty alone in cases of quiescent, tubotympanic, chronic, suppurative otitis media.
Study design:
Single-blinded, randomised, controlled study within a tertiary referral hospital.
Methods:
Sixty-eight cases were randomly allocated into two groups. In group one, 35 ears underwent type one tympanoplasty along with cortical mastoidectomy. In group two, 33 ears underwent type one tympanoplasty alone. Outcome measures were as follows: perforation closure and graft uptake, hearing improvement, disease eradication, and post-operative complications.
Results:
There were no statistically significant differences in hearing improvement, tympanic perforation closure, graft uptake or disease eradication, comparing the two groups at three and six months post-operatively.
Conclusion:
Mastoidotympanoplasty was not found to be superior to tympanoplasty alone over a short term follow-up period. Hence, it may not be necessary to undertake routine mastoid exploration at this stage of disease.
There are considerable data on the possible association between streptococcal infection and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), particularly the relation between Sydenham’s chorea (SC) and OCD. However, neuropsychiatric sequelae related to streptococcal infection are mainly reported in children. In this preliminary study, we examined prevalence of OCD in a group of adult subjects with established rheumatic heart disease (RHD). We hypothesized that the rate of OCD would be higher than the known general population rates.
Method:
One hundred adult subjects with RHD were evaluated for OCD and other comorbid psychiatric disorders using well-known psychiatric assessment tools. A qualified psychiatrist conducted the assessments. The diagnoses were made according to DSM-IV criteria.
Results:
The rate of clinical OCD and subclinical OCD was 10% and 3%, respectively (n = 13), a rate much higher than the 1–3% rate reported in general population. Of the 13 subjects, only three had a history of SC (23%).
Conclusions:
OCD could be a long-term sequel in adults with a history of rheumatic fever in childhood, even in the absence of frank chorea. The findings call for systematic research in this little explored area.
In vitro propagation followed by PCR, and a PCR-based method capable of the direct detection of Blastocystis in faeces were utilized to detect Blastocystis from various hosts in Australia, including primates and their handlers from the Perth Zoo. In addition, Blastocystis isolates from dogs and humans living in a localized endemic community in Thailand were also characterized genetically. PCR-based detection directly from faeces was shown to be more sensitive compared with in vitro culture for the detection of Blastocystis. Moreover, phylogenetic analysis of Blastocystis isolates amplified utilizing in vitro techniques prior to PCR revealed that this method favoured the preferential amplification of Blastocystis subtype 5 over subtype 1. This study is the first to provide molecular-based evidence supporting the zoonotic potential of Blastocystis in dogs, possums and primates in a natural setting.