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Background and Objective: India, a highly heterogeneous country, has no common reference standards for predicting spirometry values, with very few recent studies from south India. This study aimed to create reference equations for rural south Indian adults, based on a population‑based survey in Vellore, south India and compare it with other equations from India. Methods: The data from 583 non‑smoking, asymptomatic participants (30 years and older) from a spirometry‑based survey for airflow obstruction (rural Vellore, 2018), were used to develop equations for FEV1, FEV1/FVC, and FVC. The dataset was divided for development (70%) and validation (30%), by gender. Differences between observed and predicted values were assessed using the new equations and comparisons made with other equations from India. Results: Predictions with Vellore rural equations were closest to the previous south Indian equations from urban Bangalore. However, the Bangalore equations led to overestimation of FVC values in males, and of both FEV1 and FVC values in females. Using the rural Vellore equations also led to a higher percent of males being classified as having airflow obstruction, compared to the Bangalore equations which underestimated airflow obstruction in this rural population. Comparison with previously derived Indian equations from other parts of the country showed pronounced variations. Conclusions: Our study reiterates the need for representative rural and urban studies of adults from various parts of India, to obtain region specific reference equations, given the wide variations in spirometry values in “normal” individuals, due to social heterogeneities of the Indian population and resulting complexities in defining normal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To identify peri-conceptional diet patterns among women in Bangalore and examine their associations with risk of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). Design: BAngalore Nutrition Gestational diabetes LifEstyle Study, started in June 2016, was a prospective observational study, in which women were recruited at 5–16 weeks' gestation. Peri-conceptional diet was recalled at recruitment, using a validated 224-item FFQ. GDM was assessed by a 75-g oral glucose tolerance test at 24–28 weeks' gestation, applying WHO 2013 criteria. Diet patterns were identified using principal component analysis, and diet pattern–GDM associations were examined using multivariate logistic regression, adjusting for ' a priori ' confounders. Setting: Antenatal clinics of two hospitals, Bangalore, South India. Participants: Seven hundred and eighty-five pregnant women of varied socio-economic status. Results: GDM prevalence was 22 %. Three diet patterns were identified: (a) high-diversity, urban (HDU) characterised by diverse, home-cooked and processed foods was associated with older, more affluent, better-educated and urban women; (b) rice-fried snacks-chicken-sweets (RFCS), characterised by low diet diversity, was associated with younger, less-educated, and lower-income, rural and joint families; and (c) healthy, traditional vegetarian (HTV), characterised by home-cooked vegetarian and non-processed foods, was associated with less-educated, more affluent, and rural and joint families. The HDU pattern was associated with a lower GDM risk (adjusted odds ratio (aOR): 0·80/sd, 95 % CI (0·64, 0·99), P = 0·04) after adjusting for confounders. BMI was strongly related to GDM risk and possibly mediated diet–GDM associations. Conclusions: The findings support global recommendations to encourage women to attain a healthy pre-pregnancy BMI and increase diet diversity. Both healthy and unhealthy foods in the patterns indicate low awareness about healthy foods and a need for public education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In September 2019, young people in India led a series of protest events, taking inspiration from a digital campaign for a series of Climate Strikes. Our article explores these events in the context of "millennial India," particularly in terms of the networks that emerged in the course of climate action in two different regions. By using evidence from Delhi in the north and Bengaluru in the south, we also develop a comparative sociology of digital-first environmental movements and show how the significance of Twitter can only be understood in relation to the formations of social capital on the ground. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Health tourism is a term that has risen from the rapid growth of industry where people from all around the world are travelling to other countries to obtain good medical care. Due to Covid-19 Pandemic, industry showed reduction in the amount of people travelled to India for medical purposes, but the domestic medical industry in India is trying best to have its share from the emerging global market. Narayana Health, Bangalore has given importance to attract international patients through various marketing methods and its low cost strategies. The present research paper aimed to find out opportunities and challenges of health tourism in Bangalore and factors that attract international patients to Narayana Health. Researchers also studied international marketing strategies followed by Narayana Health. The researcher conducted exploratory research with quantitative and qualitative variables. Using convenient sampling researcher collected primary data from 50 international Patients Collected data was analysed descriptively using SPSS. Thematic content analysis with some grounded theory was used to analyse qualitative data. NVivo12 Pro software was used for the qualitative data analysis. Results indicate Narayana Health hospital in Bangalore is attracting many international patients using unique marketing strategy and cost effective practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Variability in the levels of these trace elements may reflect altered insulin metabolism and poor glycaemic control in the background of elevated oxidative stress. Mineral metabolism is another entity that may be disrupted by diabetes mellitus. Conversely, there are studies implicating early imbalances of trace elements in upsetting glucose homeostasis and insulin metabolism. Aim: To estimate and compare serum zinc, copper and magnesium in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (DM) patients with non diabetic controls and to correlate the serum zinc, copper and magnesium with Glycated Haemoglobin levels in Type 2 DM. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted at the Sapthagiri Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Center, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India. The study included 30 Type 2 DM patients and 30 healthy, age and gender matched controls without Type 2 DM. Their serum levels of zinc, copper and magnesium were measured and compared. Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 16 software was used to perform the statistical analysis. The data obtained was subjected to descriptive statistical analysis. Results: Mean±SD of serum zinc in Type 2 DM and controls was 93.44±46.99 μg/dL and 121.74±37.15 μg/dL, respectively. Serum zinc was significantly decreased in Type 2 DM. However, there was no significant alteration with respect to serum copper and magnesium. Pearson’s correlation analysis showed that the association between HbA1c with zinc (r=0.069, p=0.718), copper (r= -0.094, p=0.622) and magnesium (r=0.116, p=0.543) was random. Conclusion: Zinc deficiency noticed in Type 2 DM patients may be due to increased excretion in urine. Zinc oral preparations are cheap and easily available. Considering these, it can be further explored if micronutrient supplementation would help to improve the glycaemic variability in Type 2 DM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article engages migration studies and urban studies to examine the differentiated roles of highly skilled Indian migrants in the metropolitan real estate markets of the UAE and India. It aims at highlighting their transnational engagement in the property market 'back home' in the absence of conditions for a real cosmopolitan social fabric in the UAE. Despite the demographic significance of Indian migrants in the UAE, the illiberal politics of migration management prevailing in the UAE have relegated them to transience. Dubai has been at the forefront of certain reforms to encourage foreigners to invest in the local property market, with uncertain results so far. Conversely the Indian real estate sector has developed techniques to capture migrant remittances and channel them into the booming metropolitan property markets of India. I will explore these mechanisms with a focus on the fast-growing South Indian metropolis of Bangalore through a qualitative multi-sited research project conducted in Bangalore and Dubai. It aims at highlighting the importance of transnational connexions between the urban fabric of these two cities, and more generally the significance of international migrations and remittances for urban dynamics in the Global South. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Personal identification is an important role of forensic experts during mass disasters like earth quakes, tsunamis, and plane crash etc. Stature determination is an important factor in establishing identity in forensic practice. Forensic anthropometrists use various anthropometric techniques to determine stature from such dismembered body parts. These techniques aim to derive equations from various body measurements that could estimate stature in males and females. Aim: The aim of present study is to correlate index and ring finger lengths and stature in both sexes and to derive linear regression equations to estimate stature. Materials and Method: The study was conducted in the Department of Forensic Medicine & Toxicology, M.S. Ramaiah Medical College Bangalore in the year 2019. The material consisted of 150 young and healthy students (66 males and 84 females) in the age group of 20-21 years after taking informed consent to participate in the study. Subjects of south Indian origin were selected based on their mother tongue. The data obtained were computed and analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS, version 25.0) computer software. Results: In the present study, mean stature, index finger length and ring finger length were significantly higher in males than females. Statistically significant correlation was observed between stature, index finger length and ring finger length in right and left hands. Correlation coefficient was higher among males than females. Among males left ring finger length and in females right index finger length showed more correlation with the stature. Conclusion: Sex specific linear regression formulae were derived for estimating stature from index finger length and ring finger length. Study concludes that stature can be estimated from the index finger length and ring finger lengthwith a reasonable accuracy among South Indians. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]