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Background: Pregnancy, though joyful, may be a time of fear and anxiety. Twenty percent of pregnant women in developed nations report a fear of childbirth, and 6%–10% describe a severe fear that is crippling. This could lead to adverse maternal and fetal outcomes. Data on fear of childbirth among pregnant women are lacking in India and would help in incorporating measures to enhance routine antenatal care. Methodology: With the objective of documenting fear of childbirth and associated factors, a cross-sectional study was conducted in rural Karnataka among women availing antenatal care services, using a face-validated 30 item questionnaire developed by the authors which was then scored to determine fear of childbirth. Results: Of 388 women studied, 45.4% (176) had a fear of childbirth. The commonest fears documented were: not feeling confident about childbirth, being afraid or tense about the process of childbirth, fear of labor pains, and fear of cesarean section. Teenage pregnancy, nulliparity, primigravida status, and having no living child were significantly associated with fear of childbirth. Conclusion: Overall, 45.4% (176) of women had a fear of childbirth. It is important to identify and address the various fears of childbirth that women may have, as revealed by this study, with a view to providing information and reassurance to the mother, with the aim of improved maternal and fetal outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Tuberculosis (TB) is an airborne communicable disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Infection is most likely to occur when an individual is exposed to someone with pulmonary TB on a day-to-day basis, such as by living or working in close quarters with someone who has an active disease. This study was undertaken using reliable screening and investigation tools for assessing the incident latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) among healthcare workers (HCWs). Methodology: This descriptive longitudinal study was conducted among 600 HCWs at a tertiary care hospital in Bengaluru city for a period of 1 year 4 months (March 2016–June 2017). All HCWs were stratified according to their work profile as doctors, nurses, laboratory technicians, nursing aides, pharmacists, laundry workers (only those who come in contact with patients), dietary workers (only those who come in contact with patients), and workers from housekeeping department. Study subjects were enrolled in proportion to their population size. The data were collected by administering TB screening questionnaire and performing tuberculin skin test (TST). All the subjects who had negative TST reaction were followed up after 1 year from March 2017 to June 2017. Results: The study subjects consisted of 600 HCWs with a mean age of 27.8 ± 7.1 years. Initially, 600 study subjects underwent TST, 2 of whom were not contactable between 48 and 72 h of test administration. Of the remaining 598 subjects, 120 (20.1%) had a positive TST reaction. After 1 year, of the 478 subjects who tested negative, 345 study subjects underwent the repeat TST and 67 (19.4%) of the study subjects had a positive TST reaction. Conclusion: The prevalence of LTBI was 20.1% and it was significantly associated with age, place of residence, education, work commute time, and mode of transport. The incidence of LTBI was 19.4% and it was significantly associated with gender, place of residence, education, work commute time, and marital status. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-performing photodetector was fabricated by the ITO/Ge heterojunction device. Due to a small bandgap Ge semiconductor, ITO/Ge photodetector showed a significantly high photoresponse for long wavelengths. For ITO/Ge photodetector fabrication, an optically transparent and electrically conductive ITO layer was deposited on a Ge substrate and spontaneously formed a rectifying junction. The HRTEM image revealed the presence of GeO at the interface of the ITO and Ge. The XPS and UPS studies were carried out to realize the band-offset structure of ITO/Ge photodiode. When the p-type Ge and ITO are brought into contact, the Fermi levels of both the materials are lined up. Besides, the energy bands of Ge are pinned to the Fermi level of the ITO layer at the junction. The band bending effect is depicted from the band offset of the ITO/Ge photodetector. We discuss an effective method of the ITO/Ge heterojunction device fabrication and suggest a strong route for high-performing broad range wavelength (600-900 nm) photodetectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a large-scale applicable nanolens-embedding solar cell. An electrically conductive and optically transparent indium-tin-oxide (ITO) thin film was coated on a Si substrate. After then, periodically patterned ITO nanodome-arrays were formed on the ITO film by using a nano-imprint method. This structure is effective to reduce the incident light reflection for broad wavelengths and also efficient to drive the incident photons into a light-absorbing Si substrate. There exist two electric fields. One is by a p/n junction and the other is by the light absorption into Si. We designed nanolens structures to overlap two electric fields and demonstrate highly improved solar cell performances of current and voltage values from a planar structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]