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Background: The COVID-19 pandemic declared as a global health emergency by World Health Organisation on March 24 2020, had many impacts on the health of the people especially mental health of children. Objectives: To find the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on mental health and to determine the associated factors among children studying in various schools of Kanyakumari District of Tamil Nadu. Material and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 400 school children selected through convenient sampling studying in selected schools of Kanyakumari District. A questionnaire covering 4 different domains with minimum score as 0 and maximum as 41, grouped as normal (> 30), borderline (15-30) and abnormal (<15) was used for data collection. The data collected was entered into MS excel and was analysed using SPSS version 26.0. Results: Among the study participants 14 % of adolescents had abnormal mental health status, which was more among girls (15.7%) and around 67.5% of the adolescents had Borderline mental health status, which was more among boys (70.45%) and this association was found to be statistically significant (p < 0.001).Physical health factors domain was the most affected among girls (20.56%) and educational factors were affected the most among boys (19.54%) and these associations were found to be statistically significant. Conclusion: Effective mental health promotion strategies that are tailored to the needs of boys and girls has to be in place starting from schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A pressure regulator in a system of the base shroud failed during service. The pressure regulator is intended to regulate the inlet pressure of 275 to 50 kg/cm2 outlet pressure. The working medium is stated to be nitrogen gas. On disassembly of the system, a brown layer was observed on the seating surface of poppet of the main regulator. A brown layer was also observed on the spring pocket and on the spring end surface which was in contact with the poppet. Metallographic tests and hardness measurement were carried out on the components to reach to the cause of failure. The poppet of the pressure regulator failed to function in service due to rusting of its seating surface by crevice corrosion and partial closure of the holes. The crevices at contact surface between the poppet and the spring seems to have formed by settlement of a stagnant condensed moisture along the surface. Partial closure of the holes was due to the presence of condensed moisture as well as rust. Spring made of AISI 302 austenitic stainless steel did not corrode at all, while poppet made of AISI 420 martensitic stainless steel corroded heavily. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study is aimed at reducing NOx, Smoke, HC, CO emissions from single-cylinder, four-stroke, and water cooled diesel engine. The research engine is fueled with diesel and two blends of butanol and diesel at atmospheric conditions. Neat diesel is termed as D100, 10%, and 20% Volume of butanol dispersed in D100 is termed as D90B10 and D80B20 respectively. The chemical and physical properties of D100, D90B10 and D80B20 fall within the limits of ASTM standards. Results revealed that enhanced chemical properties and higher latent heat of vaporization of butanol lowered the CO, HC, smoke, and NOX emissions of diesel fueled research diesel engine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study analyzes the emission pattern of Decanol combined Jatropha biodiesel (JBD100) fueled diesel engine and compared with conventional diesel fuel (D100). Experiments were conducted in a single-cylinder, 4-stroke naturally aspirated diesel engine with an eddy current dynamometer at a constant speed of 1800 rpm. Modified fuel was prepared using a mechanical agitator, in which the Decanol concentration was varied from 10 to 20% to JBD100. The physicochemical properties of Decanol combined biodiesel are within ASTM limits. JBD100 promotes a lower level of carbon monoxide (CO) hydrocarbon (HC), and smoke emissions with notable increases in NOx and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. An inclusion of 20% Decanol in JBD100 reduces the NOx, Smoke, CO, and HC emission by 7.4%, 4.4%, 5.7%, and 5.9%, respectively, under full brake power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Needle stick injuries (NSIs) pose a significant occupational hazard, exposing healthcare workers to the risk of blood borne infections and other associated health complications. Understanding the prevalence and identifying the contributing risk factors is crucial for developing targeted interventions and enhancing safety protocols to mitigate the incidence of such injuries. Aims & Objectives: •To estimate the prevalence of needle stick injuries among healthcare workers of a tertiary care hospital. •To describe the risk factors associated with occurence of Needle Stick Injury. Materials and Methods: The hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted at Kanyakumari Government Medical College & Hospital for a period of 2 months (August -- September 2022). The study population comprised 301 individuals, including consultants, postgraduates, interns, nursing students, staff nurses, paramedical workers, technicians, and cleaning staff. Simple random sampling was employed as the sample technique by using Random number table. Informed consent was obtained from the study participants in the regional language after explaining the purpose of study. Institutional Ethical Committee clearance was obtained before data collection. Data was collected using a pre-tested and semi-structured questionnaire, details about devices involved in recent injuries, factors associated with needle stick injuries, types of injuries, duty timings, time of reporting, and actions taken after injuries were obtained and data were entered into MS EXCEL and analyzed using SPSS version 22.0. Results: Paramedical Workers and Staff Nurses constitute the highest percentages of NSIs at 27% and 12%, respectively. The locations where NSIs frequently occur include the Emergency Ward (26%) and Intensive Care (27%). Hypodermic needles are identified as the primary cause (39%), with procedures (38%) and recapping (22%) being the leading activities linked to NSIs. Lack of awareness about the reporting process is identified as a significant reason, with 6.38% of participant were not aware of the reporting procedures. Conclusion: The study not only highlights the prevalence and characteristics of NSIs among healthcare workers but also emphasizes the importance of understanding reporting barriers. The findings to be reported targeted interventions to enhance occupational safety, improvement in reporting practices ultimately contribute to a safer working environment for healthcare professionals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plant diseases caused by vector-transmitted viruses like begomovirus inflict serious damage in terms of yield and colossal loss in many crops, predominantly Chilli. Coupled with bleak farm awareness and lack of management options, they could severely hamper remuneration prospects. In this connection, the profitability of the farm level begomovirus management strategies has been analyzed in this study. A sample of 100 chilli farmers were surveyed with focus on their perceptions of begomovirus caused diseases. Findings revealed a majority of farmers (80 per cent) experienced cross loss due to viral diseases. Positive changes in output and production cost were also reported with the adoption of management strategies, which in turn were categorized in to: low, medium and high. Besides, it was also revealed that when compared with no management strategy, the change in the gross margin was 17 per cent, 26 per cent and 80 per cent after the adoption of low, medium and high level of management strategies, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coir waste, as, its name indicates, is a waste by product of the coir manufacturing industry. Past records show that for every ton of fiber extracted, about two tons of coir waste is produced. Thus handling of coir waste has become an immediate concern due to its massive accumulation and lack of dumping yards. The present work aims to study the use of coir waste to control the volume change behavior of marine clay keeping sustainable development in focus. Consolidation tests, swelling pressure tests, and three-dimensional (3D) shrinkage strain tests were conducted to analyze the effect of addition of coir waste on volume change behavior. Coir waste consists of pith along with some short fibers which were separated to study their independent effects on volume change behavior. Volumetric swelling of optimum soilpith- fiber mix was also studied by conducting three-dimensional free swell tests. Mixing of coir waste with expansive soil helps to mitigate the volume change behavior of expansive soil. Thus the material which was considered as a curse to the environment and the society has turned out to be a boon to the civil engineering community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cocolog groynes are new form of soft stabilization method, which can be used for restoration of river meanders. After an extensive literature review, it was observed that conventional impermeable groynes behave in a different manner compared to the cocolog groynes which are permeable in nature. Hence, the objective of the present study was to analyze the effect of significant geometrical and hydraulic properties of cocolog groynes on scour and flow patterns in meandering channels. The experimental studies were conducted in a scaled physical model of meandering channel with series of cocolog groynes installed at aspect ratios between 2 and 4, density ratios between 0.12 and 0.18, relative lengths between 0.14 and 0.2 and for orientation angles from 30º to 150º. The desirable range of these parameters for cocolog groynes in meandering channels were obtained as 2.5 to 3.0, 0.14 to 0.16, 0.16 to 0.18 and <90º, respectively, after analyzing the bed scour and dimensionless mean velocity in both streamwise and transverse directions. The study provides an appropriate layout of an eco-friendly soft river bank stabilization technique, which not only promotes vegetation but also restores the river banks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To identify parameters/factors that may contribute to the differential sensitivity to etoposide in two clones isolated from the human ovarian carcinoma SKOV-3 cell line, which does not express p53 and is resistant to platinum-based regimens. Methods: Differential sensitivity of the cells to etoposide was monitored by microscopy to observe morphological changes, by flow cytometry analyses to detect cell cycle perturbations, and by molecular/biochemical assays to identify events involved in induction of apoptosis. Results: Etoposide treatment (1) induced apoptosis in one clone, ES, but not in another clone, ER, (2) had no effect on the expression of the antiapoptotic proteins Bcl-2 and Bcl-XL in both cell clones, whereas the proapoptotic proteins Bak and Bax were dramatically upregulated in ES, but not ER cells, and (3) induced more extensive processing of procaspase-8, procaspase-9, and the caspase-3-targeted substrates, topoisomerase I and PARP, in ES cells. Ectopic overexpression of Bcl-2 in ES cells failed to inhibit etoposide-induced apoptosis. Conclusions: The differential susceptibility of ES and ER cells to etoposide-induced apoptosis is associated with differences in several events rather than with a specific single genetic regulator of the apoptotic machinery. We propose that the differential response of ovarian cancer patients to etoposide treatment is associated with the number of etoposide-sensitive cells in the tumor. Copyright © 2006 S. Karger AG, Basel [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Oral surgical procedures gives rise to aerosols which include saliva, nasopharyngeal secretion, organic particles and blood. The aerosols act as a carrier for various bacteria and hence become a potent source for infection. Oral surgical procedures are highly prone to create contamination of aerosols and pathogens which arise from the blood. White coats worn by dentists and the dental chair are highly potent to be contaminated with bacteria and has been an important risk factor in the transmission of infection in the hospital. There is very little evidence available in the current literature regarding contamination of white coats worn by dentists and contamination present in the dental chair. With this background this study was designed to determine the level and type of bacterial contamination on the white coat and the dental chair in the department of oral and maxillofacial surgery at Karpaga Vinayaga Institute of Dental Sciences, Madhuranthagam, Chengalpet. Materials and method: All the participants were subjected to pre-tested self-administered questionnaire to assess their perception on contamination of white coat and the frequency of washing. Samples for the study were taken from the white coats of undergraduate final year students, interns and various sites of dental chair. Sampling was carried out by an inert vector and the microorganisms were recovered later for analysis. Sterile cotton swab, and Stuart's transport media with proper microbiological quality control check which were Approved by Clinical Laboratory Standards Institute were used. Result: Among 200 students, participants more than half of the students (60%) stated that the number of white coats used in a week was one, of which 75% were final year students and 45% were interns. It was found to be statistically significant (P=0.032*). Majority of the final year students (70%) reported that their white coat was last washed a week ago and there was a statistically significant difference found between final year and interns (P = 0.021*). Almost 50% of interns got their white coats washed twice a week and 70% of final years once a week. There was a statistically significant difference found between final year and interns (P = 0.024. More than half (55%) of the study participants wear their white coats before entering the respective department or laboratory, of which (87%)were final years and (23%) were interns and it was found to be statistically significant (P=0.036*). Interestingly, a greater number of students (90%) agreed that they never had the practice of exchanging their white coat with their colleagues some or the other time, of which 88% were final years and 92% were interns. Conclusion: White coats have been shown to harbor potential contaminants and may have a role in cross infection of pathogenic microorganisms. Thus current study highlight's the situation of dental cross infection in the form of Students perception, attitude and practice of having more than one white coat, periodic washing of white coats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soft soil as a pavement subgrade leads to early pavement failure or increased pavement thickness. Ground improvement techniques have been used as a solution to this. The published studies on coir waste treated soft soil depict that the adverse volume change characteristics of clayey soils are mitigated by the resistance offered by coir waste. However, on analyzing, it can be seen that the engineering properties of coir waste treated soil are on a lower side. Hence, an additional stabilizer lime was used in combination with coir waste to investigate the enhancement in strength and reduction in deformation behavior. This paper presents the experimental studies carried out to investigate how the addition of lime to soil treated with coir waste affects various aspects like compression behavior, undrained shear strength, and deformation behavior. The degree of expansion and effect of the curing period was also analyzed and an optimized design model was arrived to quantify the strength in terms of lime content added to the coir waste treated soil and its curing period. Design charts for pavement thickness over treated subgrade soil were also developed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cocologs, which are made out of coir fibers, have proven to be an erosion control product along river banks. Cocologs are densely packed coconut fibers wrapped in coir net. This paper presents the laboratory experimental results on the permeability characteristics of cocologs. The permeability of cocologs is a critical parameter in the design of cocolog-stabilized geostructures. In this study, the experiments to determine the permeability of cocologs were carried out in a modified permeability test apparatus using clear water as the permeating medium. The effect of different parameters such as the density of cocolog, opening size (d) of outer cover and orientation of cocologs on the permeability of cocolog was investigated. It was found that the permeability of cocologs increases from 20 mm/s to 85 mm/s when density decreases from 220 kg/m3 to 100 kg/m3. The opening size of the outer net covering of cocologs should not be reduced below a d/L (opening size to the length of cocologs) ratio of 0.0075. It is concluded that the density of cocolog is the only governing parameter which has a significant influence on the permeability of cocologs. Furthermore, an empirical relationship was developed to determine the permeability of cocologs considering the effect of different parameters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: School education is an important part of child's overall growth. But, during the process of attaining school education, children are burdened with heavy back packs which can cause serious health issues. Objectives: The objectives of the study were to assess the knowledge and attitude of school teachers about the ill effects of carrying heavy back packs in children. Materials and Methods: A school based cross sectional study was done among 264 school teachers teaching 6th to 8th standard selected through multistage stratified random sampling technique from selected schools of Kanyakumari district from May 2022 to May 2023. Data collected using a predesigned pre tested and self-administered questionnaire was entered into MS Excel and was analysed using SPSS version 26.0. Results: The results revealed that only 31.8 % of the school teachers knew that the ideal proportion of back packs, 56.4 % knew that the heavy bag packs can cause headache, neck pain and leg pain, 49.2 % knew that it causes shoulder pain and 43.6% knew that it causes back pain in students. For questions on attitude, 20.5 % and 42% of them agreed that heavy back packs can be a reason for tiredness and that it can cause mental stress, respectively. Conclusion: While only half of the participants were knowledgeable about the physical effects of heavy back packs in students, less than half of them were of the attitude that it can have mental and emotional effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents case report of a 64 year old man with a two month history of increasing dysphagia and weight loss. Report that upper gastrointestinal endoscopy was performed and a lesion was identified in the region of the gastro-oesophageal junction, which was biopsied; Information that the patient underwent both a F-fluorodeoxy-glucose positron emission tomography study and a 16 detector computed tomography examination; Questions related to the diagnosis of the patient.

Rationale: Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) affects over 200 000 people annually in the USA. Despite causing severe, and often refractory, hypoxaemia, the high mortality and long-term morbidity of ARDS results mainly from extra-pulmonary organ failure; however the mechanism for this organ crosstalk has not been determined. Methods: Using autologous radiolabelled neutrophils we investigated the pulmonary transit of primed and unprimed neutrophils in humans. Flow cytometry of whole blood samples was used to assess transpulmonary neutrophil priming gradients in patients with ARDS, sepsis and perioperative controls. Main results: Unprimed neutrophils passed through the lungs with a transit time of 14.2 s, only 2.3 s slower than erythrocytes, and with <5% first-pass retention. Over 97% of neutrophils primed ex vivo with granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor were retained on first pass, with 48% still remaining in the lungs at 40 min. Neutrophils exposed to plateletactivating factor were initially retained but subsequently released such that only 14% remained in the lungs at 40 min. Significant transpulmonary gradients of neutrophil CD62L cell surface expression were observed in ARDS compared with perioperative controls and patients with sepsis. Conclusions: We demonstrated minimal delay and retention of unprimed neutrophils transiting the healthy human pulmonary vasculature, but marked retention of primed neutrophils; these latter cells then 'deprime' and are re-released into the systemic circulation. Further, we show that this physiological depriming mechanism may fail in patients with ARDS, resulting in increased numbers of primed neutrophils within the systemic circulation. This identifies a potential mechanism for the remote organ damage observed in patients with ARDS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study which examined the relationship between sestamibi accumulation and multidrug resistance-related P-glycoprotein (P-gp) expression in a large series of surgically excised parathyroid tumours. Results indicate that smaller adenomas were more likely to be sestamibi negative than larger lesions. The authors said that the findings suggest an association between P-gp membrane expression and false-negative sestamibi scan result.

Recently we demonstrated that in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) macrophage-oxidative burst activity is increased and NADPH oxidase mRNA is induced. The herbal phenylethanoid acteoside isolated from Plantago lanceolata L. was shown to exhibit anti-oxidative potential. Using the dextran sulphate sodium (DSS)-induced colitis model, in this study we have assessed whether systemic application of acteoside affects colitis. Colitis was induced by DSS in Balb/c mice. Treatment with acteoside (120, 600 µg/mouse/day) was performed intraperitoneally. The colon lengths were determined. Colonic tissue was scored histologically (max. score 8) by a blinded investigator. T cells isolated from mesenteric lymph nodes (MLN) were stimulated with anti-CD3 antibody in the presence of interleukin (IL)-2 (final concentration 10 U/ml). After incubation for 24 h, IL-1β, IL-6, IL-12 tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-α and interferon (IFN)-γ levels in supernatants were analysed by the beadlyte® cytokine detection system. Histological scoring of colonic tissue revealed that application of acteoside was followed by a significantly improved histological score. In acute colitis the histological score was 3·2 with acteoside versus 5·2 with phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) ( P < 0·02). In chronic colitis both 120 µg (3·3 versus 5·2) or 600 µg acteoside (3·0 versus 5·2) significantly ameliorated colitis (both P < 0·02). Stimulated MLN from mice with chronic DSS-induced colitis treated with acteoside showed a significant down-regulation of IFN-γ secretion (195 pg/ml with 600 µg acteoside versus 612 pg/ml with PBS, P < 0·02). Inhibition of oxidative burst activity with acteoside reduced mucosal tissue damage in DSS colitis and could be a therapeutic alternative for IBD treatment. Further studies of this agent are warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction and Objectives Eosinophils are major cellular effectors of allergic inflammation and represent an important therapeutic target in asthma. While much is understood about the generation and activation of eosinophils, little is known about their intravascular kinetics and physiological fate. The purpose of this study was to image sites of eosinophil distribution and measure eosinophil kinetics in healthy individuals using autologous 111-Indium-labelled eosinophils. Methods To determine "gold standard" kinetics of minimally-manipulated eosinophils, mixed leucocytes were isolated from the blood of healthy volunteers, labelled with 111-Indium-tropolonate and re-injected. Blood was sampled 0.75-72 h post-injection. Neutrophils and eosinophils were isolated in parallel, and cell-associated radioactivity was measured. To image sites of eosinophil margination/uptake eosinophils were purified using plasma-Percoll gradients and anti-CD16 immunomagnetic beads, labelled with 111-Indium-tropolonate and re-injected. The distribution of eosinophils was recorded by γ camera dynamic imaging (0-40 min) followed by static imaging up to 72 h. Results Using minimally manipulated granulocytes we found that the 45 min neutrophil recovery was 57±10% (n=7) and the intravascular lifespan was 10.3±0.1 h, in agreement with previous studies. By contrast, the 45min recovery of eosinophils was 15±2% (n=7) and eosinophil lifespan was 25.2±3.8 h. Moreover, eosinophils appeared to re-circulate at ~4 h and 9 h before mono-exponential removal. Using 111-Indium-eosinophils and γ camera imaging, we demonstrated initial retention of cells in the lungs, clearing to baseline by 40 min, with some early accumulation in the liver and progressive accumulation in the spleen (n=3). Simultaneous blood sampling showed that the 45 min recovery and intravascular lifespan of purified labelled eosinophils were 11±2% and 29.3±2.1 h, respectively, comparable to minimally manipulated cells. Purified cells also exhibited recirculation at ~6 h and 12 h. Of note, the disappearance of eosinophils from the liver at 6 h and 9 h coincided with their re-appearance in circulating blood, suggesting the liver as a possible site of transient eosinophil sequestration. Conclusions This work provides the first in vivo measurements of eosinophil kinetics in healthy volunteers. Our data suggest that 111-In-labelled-eosinophils can be used to monitor the organ distribution and fate of eosinophils non-invasively. This technique may have an important role in assessing the therapeutic effects of eosinophil-targeted drugs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]