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This study involves the utilization of Iron Oxide and Thespesia populnea plant leaves as a protective coating for TMT rod surfaces in marine environments. Initially, the inhibitor was extracted from Thespesia populnea plant leaves using ethanol, and subsequently, Iron Oxide nanoparticles (FeNPs) were synthesized. Iron oxide nanoparticles were synthesized using a chemical precipitation process and their size effects were studied using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), Fourier ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-Visible), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Nanoparticle solutions were prepared and coated on the TMT rod and exposed to marine environment corrosion. At ten Coatings of FeNPs, the corrosion inhibition rate reached a maximum of 91.2% for 8mm rods, 95.4% for 10mm rods, and 98.7% for 16 mm rods respectively. The inhibition results showed that the FeNPs followed a physical adsorption process since they obeyed the Langmuir adsorption isotherm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: Collaborative care models for depression have been successful in a variety of settings, but their success may differ by patient engagement. We conducted a post-hoc analysis of the INDEPENDENT trial to investigate the role of differential engagement of participants on health outcomes over 3 years. Settings and Design: INDEPENDENT study was a parallel, single-blinded, randomised clinical trial conducted at four socio-economically diverse clinics in India. Participants were randomised to receive either active collaborative care or usual care for 12 months and followed up for 24 months. Method: We grouped intervention participants by engagement, defined as moderate (≤7 visits) or high, (8 or more visits) and compared them with usual care participants. Improvements in composite measure (depressive symptoms and at least one of three cardio-metabolic) were the primary outcome. Statistical Analysis: Mean levels of depression and cardio-metabolic measures were analysed over time using computer package IBM SPSS Statistics 25. Results: The composite outcome was sustained the highest in the moderate engagers [27.5%, 95% confidence interval (CI): 19.5, 36.7] and the lowest in high engagers (15.8%, 95% CI: 8.1, 26.8). This pattern was observed for individual parameters – depressive symptoms and glycosylated haemoglobin. Progressive reductions in mean depressive symptom scores were observed for moderate engagers and usual care group from baseline to 36 months. However, in high engagers of collaborative care, mean depressive symptoms were higher at 36 months compared to 12 months. Conclusion: Sustained benefits of collaborative care were larger in participants with moderate engagement compared with high engagement, although a majority of participants relapsed on one or more outcome measures by 36 months. High engagers of collaborative care for co-morbid depression and diabetes may need light touch interventions for longer periods to maintain health and reduce depressive symptoms.

An extensive study on the determination of the natural radioactivity (238U, 232Th and 40K) levels in soil samples of Chennai city, India has been undertaken and the results of the same are compared with the levels reported in other Indian cities as well as other parts of the world. The radioactivity content in the soil samples, the absorbed dose rate, annual effective dose equivalent, radium equivalent activity, internal and external hazard indices were calculated and compared with UNSCEAR 2000 recommended values. In addition to the above, mapping of indoor natural background gamma radiation levels has been made using thermo luminescent dosemeters throughout Chennai city and the same are reported. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Background: This study investigated the association between depression and glucose intolerance in urban residents of southern India. Methods: Subjects were recruited from the Chennai Urban Rural Epidemiology Study, carried out on a representative sample of 26,001 subjects recruited from Chennai city in southern India. Subjects with known diabetes were excluded (n = 1,498). Of the remaining 24,503 subjects, fasting capillary blood glucose (FBG) estimation were available for 23,787 subjects (response rate, 97.1%) in whom depression was assessed using a validated instrument, the Patient Health Questionnaire-12. Subjects with FBG values >=126 mg/dL were termed as subjects with newly diagnosed diabetes (NDD), those with values between 100 and 125 mg/dL as having impaired fasting glucose (IFG), and those with <100 mg/dL as having normal fasting glucose (NFG). Results: The overall prevalence of depression was 14.3% (3391 of 23,787 subjects), and an increasing prevalence of depression was seen with increasing grades of glucose intolerance: NFG (13.1%), IFG (15.7%), and NDD (19.7%) (trend [chi](2) = 57.1, P < 0.001). The prevalence of depression was higher in females at all grades of glucose intolerance. Risk for depression was higher among NDD subjects compared to NFG subjects (odds ratio = 1.12, 95% confidence interval 1.03-1.22, P = 0.01) and IFG subjects (odds ratio 1.21, 95% confidence interval 1.02-1.44, P = 0.03) and also for IFG compared to NFG subjects (odds ratio = 1.12, 95% confidence interval 1.02-1.21, P = 0.01) after adjusting for age, gender, body mass index, hypertension, and socioeconomic status. Conclusion: The prevalence of depression increases with increasing grades of glucose intolerance and is highest among those with diabetes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Self-stigma-the internalization of negative community attitudes and beliefs about a disease or condition-represents an important barrier to improving patient care outcomes for people living with common mental disorders and diabetes. Integrated behavioral healthcare interventions are recognized as evidence-based approaches to improve access to behavioral healthcare and for improving patient outcomes, including for those with comorbid diabetes, yet their impact on addressing self-stigma remains unclear. Using secondary data from the Integrating Depression and Diabetes Treatment (INDEPENDENT) study-a trial that aimed to improve diabetes outcomes for people with undertreated and comorbid depression in four urban Indian cities via the Collaborative Care Model-we longitudinally analyzed self-stigma scores and evaluated whether change in total self-stigma scores on diabetes outcomes is mediated by depressive symptom severity. Self-stigma scores did not differ longitudinally comparing Collaborative Care Model participants to enhanced standard-of-care participants (mean monthly rate of change in Self-Stigma Scale for Chronic Illness-4 Item scores; B = 0.0087; 95% CI: -0.0018, 0.019, P = .10). Decreases in total self-stigma scores over 12 months predicted diabetes outcomes at 12 months (HbA1c, total effect; B = 0.070 95%CI: 0.0032, 0.14; P < .05), however depressive symptoms did not mediate this relationship (average direct effect; B = 0.064; 95% CI: -0.0043, 0.13, P = .069). Considering the local and plural notions of stigma in India, further research is needed on culturally grounded approaches to measure and address stigma in India, and on the role of integrated care delivery models alongside multi-level stigma reduction interventions. Trial registration : ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02022111. https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT02022111., Competing Interests: SH is a technical adviser for the non-profit organization Possible for which he receives no compensation. The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2024 Halliday et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

Aims: Patient satisfaction is associated with positive diabetes outcomes. However, there are no identified studies that evaluate both patient- and clinic-level predictors influencing diabetes care satisfaction longitudinally., Methods: Data from the INtegrating DEPrEssioN and Diabetes treatmENT trial was used to perform the analysis. We used fixed and random effects models to assess whether and how changes in patient-level predictors (treatment assignment, depression symptom severity, systolic blood pressure, body mass index, LDL cholesterol, and haemoglobin A1C) from 0 to 24 months and clinic-level predictors (visit frequency, visit cost, number of specialists, wait time, time spent with healthcare provider, and receiving verbal reminders) measured at 24 months influence diabetes care satisfaction from 0 to 24 months., Results: Model 1 (patient-level predictors) accounted for 7% of the change in diabetes satisfaction and there was a significant negative relationship between change in depressive symptoms and care satisfaction (β = -0.23, SE = 0.12, p < 0.05). Within Model 1, 2% of the variance was explained by clinic-level predictors. Model 2 included both patient- and clinic-level predictors and accounted for 18% of the change in diabetes care satisfaction. Within Model 2, 9% of the variance was attributed to clinic-level predictors. There was also a cross-level interaction where the change in depression had less of an impact on the change in satisfaction for those who received a verbal reminder (β = -0.11, SE = 0.21, p = 0.34) compared with those who did not receive a reminder (β = -0.62, SE = 0.08, p < 0.01)., Conclusions: Increased burden of depressive symptoms influences diabetes care satisfaction. Clinic-level predictors also significantly influence diabetes care satisfaction and can reduce dissatisfaction in primary care, specifically, reminder calls from clinic staff., (© 2024 The Author(s). Diabetic Medicine published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Diabetes UK.)

Aims: The INtegrating DEPrEssioN and Diabetes treatmENT (INDEPENDENT) trial tested a collaborative care model including electronic clinical decision support (CDS) for treating diabetes and depression in India. We aimed to assess which features of this clinically and cost-effective intervention were associated with improvements in diabetes and depression measures., Methods: Post-hoc analysis of the INDEPENDENT trial data (189 intervention participants) was conducted to determine each intervention feature's effect: 1. Collaborative case reviews between expert psychiatrists and the care team; 2. Patient care-coordinator contacts; and 3. Clinicians' CDS prompt modifications. Primary outcome was baseline-to-12-months improvements in diabetes control, blood pressure, cholesterol, and depression. Implementer interviews revealed barriers and facilitators of intervention success. Joint displays integrated mixed methods' results., Results: High baseline HbA1c≥ 74.9 mmol/mol (9%) was associated with 5.72 fewer care-coordinator contacts than those with better baseline HbA1c (76.8 mmol/mol, 9.18%, p < 0.001). Prompt modification proportions varied from 38.3% (diabetes) to 1.3% (LDL). Interviews found that providers' and participants' visit frequencies were preference dependent. Qualitative data elucidated patient-level factors that influenced number of clinical contacts and prompt modifications explaining their lack of association with clinical outcomes., Conclusion: Our mixed methods approach underlines the importance of the complementarity of different intervention features. Qualitative findings further illuminate reasons for variations in fidelity from the core model., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose., (Copyright © 2024 Primary Care Diabetes Europe. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: Collaborative care (CC) is a multicomponent team-based approach to providing mental health care with systematic integration into outpatient medical settings. The 12-month INDEPENDENT CC intervention improved joint disease control measures in patients with both depression and diabetes at 12 and 24 months following randomization., Objective: This study investigated the durability of intervention effects on patient outcomes at 36 months following randomization., Participants: Adult patients with poorly controlled T2D and depression in India randomized to CC or usual care., Design: Post hoc analyses of between-group differences in patient outcomes at 36 months post-randomization (N = 331) and maintenance of outcomes from 12 to 36 months (N = 314)., Main Measures: We evaluated combined risk factor improvement since baseline, defined as ≥ 50.0% reduction in Symptom Checklist Depression Scale (SCL-20) scores along with reduction of at least 0.5 percentage point hemoglobin A1C, 5 mmHg systolic blood pressure, or 10 mg/dL low-density lipoprotein cholesterol. Improvements in single risk factors were also examined., Key Results: There were no between-group differences in improvements since baseline in multiple or single risk factors at 36 months. Patients in the CC group with improved outcomes at 12 months were more likely to maintain a ≥ 50.0% reduction since baseline in SCL-20 scores (CC [54.9%] vs. UC [40.9%]; RR: 1.27 [95% CI: 1.04, 1.56]) and 0.5 percentage point reduction since baseline in hemoglobin A1C (CC [31.9%] vs. UC [19.5%]; RR: 1.64 [95% CI: 1.11, 2.41]) at 36 months., Conclusions: While improvements since baseline in patient outcomes did not differ between the collaborative care and usual care groups at 36 months, patients who received CC were more likely to maintain improvements in depressive symptoms and glucose levels at 36 months if they had achieved these improvements at the end of active intervention., Trial Registration Number: NCT02022111., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Society of General Internal Medicine.)

Background: Stress levels increase tremendously in adolescence. Indian adolescents derive much of their stress from school and family pressures. Developing a standardized tool to assess adolescent stress can help early diagnosis. This article aimed to assess the reliability and validity of the ADOlescence Stress Scale (ADOSS)., Methods: ADOSS was administrated by trained interviewers to 100 adolescents (10-17 years) of both sexes in Chennai, South India. Salivary cortisol was used as an objective measure of stress in 40 adolescents. Reliability was assessed within a two weeks interval. Exploratory factor analysis was done for the baseline ADOSS scores. The internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha and spilt-half correlation), test-retest agreement (Kappa value), and inter-rater reliability (ICC) were assessed. Pearson correlation between salivary cortisol and ADOSS score was done., Results: The inter-factor correlation between the inherent four ADOSS factors (personal, academic, family, and social) was between 0.73 and 0.87, and split-half correlation was between 0.70 and 0.83, showing that the factors are reliable and coherent. Test-retest agreement was Kappa: 0.63, P = 0.001, and ICC was 0.84. Pearson correlation showed a statistically significant positive correlation between cortisol levels and ADOSS scores ( r = 0.87, P = 0.001)., Conclusion: ADOSS is a reliable and valid tool to assess the overall stress of Indian adolescents in the age group of 10-17 years., Competing Interests: The authors declare no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article., (© 2022 The Author(s).)

A clinical trial is the most foolproof method to evaluate the efficacy of a new intervention. Successful completion of clinical trials depends on the retention of the participants enrolled. Poor participant retention can lead to significant time and cost burden and have potentially adverse biases on the results. A high retention rate of participants is an important criterion for the validity and credibility of randomized controlled clinical trials. Many long-term trials fail due to low retention of study participants. Efforts at participant retention should start even before the first participant is recruited into the study. Retention is not only the responsibility of the investigators but also all other stakeholders in a clinical trial. In recent years, retention materials, participant camps, and introduction of national study coordinators have helped in improving retention. Quality of the relationship developed between the research staff and the study participant is a key factor for success of any trial. In our experience, in the context of resource-challenged low- and middle-income countries, we have found that it is possible to achieve high retention rates, 95%-100%. The rapport built between the investigating team and the participant plays a vital role in retention. In addition, personalized care, including listening to the participant's problems and enabling to contact investigators or study team at any time of the day, has shown benefits in retention., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts of interest., (Copyright: © 2022 Perspectives in Clinical Research.)

Objective: To assess the cost-effectiveness of collaborative versus usual care in adults with poorly controlled type 2 diabetes and depression in India., Research Design and Methods: We performed a within-trial cost-effectiveness analysis of a 24-month parallel, open-label, pragmatic randomized clinical trial at four urban clinics in India from multipayer and societal perspectives. The trial randomly assigned 404 patients with poorly controlled type 2 diabetes (HbA1c ≥8.0%, systolic blood pressure ≥140 mmHg, or LDL cholesterol ≥130 mg/dL) and depressive symptoms (9-item Patient Health Questionnaire score ≥10) to collaborative care (support from nonphysician care coordinators, electronic registers, and specialist-supported case review) for 12 months, followed by 12 months of usual care or 24 months of usual care. We calculated incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs) in Indian rupees (INR) and international dollars (Int'l-$) and the probability of cost-effectiveness using quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) and depression-free days (DFDs)., Results: From a multipayer perspective, collaborative care costed an additional INR309,558 (Int'l-$15,344) per QALY and an additional INR290.2 (Int'l-$14.4) per DFD gained compared with usual care. The probability of cost-effectiveness was 56.4% using a willingness to pay of INR336,000 (Int'l-$16,654) per QALY (approximately three times per-capita gross domestic product). The willingness to pay per DFD to achieve a probability of cost-effectiveness >95% was INR401.6 (Int'l-$19.9). From a societal perspective, cost-effectiveness was marginally lower. In sensitivity analyses, integrating collaborative care in clinical workflows reduced incremental costs by ∼47% (ICER 162,689 per QALY, cost-effectiveness probability 89.4%), but cost-effectiveness decreased when adjusting for baseline values., Conclusions: Collaborative care for patients with type 2 diabetes and depression in urban India can be cost-effective, especially when integrated in clinical workflows. Long-term cost-effectiveness might be more favorable. Scalability across lower- and middle-income country settings depends on heterogeneous contextual factors., (© 2022 by the American Diabetes Association.)

Aims: We aimed to determine what key resources, mechanisms, and contextual factors are necessary to integrate depression and diabetes treatment into low-resource settings., Methods: A realist evaluation framework was employed to conduct a comparative case study. Data were collected through document review, key informant interviews ( n = 4), activity logs, and interviews with implementing health care providers (n = 11) to test and refine program theories for collaborative care., Results: Efforts to enhance patient care coordination (i.e., adapting clinics' patient flow and resources, on-going trainings, and on-site support for care coordinators) improved implementation of depression treatment by usual care diabetes physicians. Clinician's avoidance of the term depression was identified as a barrier to mental health counseling and treatment., Conclusions: The variations in organizational features and processes linked to implementation activities across two clinics provided an opportunity to examine how and why different contextual factors help or hinder the implementation process. Findings from this study demonstrate that successful implementation of an integrated depression and diabetes care model is feasible in a low-resource setting, while the revised program theories provide an explanatory framework of coordinated care implementation processes that can inform future efforts to disseminate and scale this care model., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.