Fabrication and characterization of fish gelatin-based magnetic nanocomposite for biomedical applications.

Bionanocomposite is considered an advanced way to bridge the gap between the structural and functional material and achieve the desired properties in the nanocomposite. This present study highlighted the synthesis of fish gelatin-based magnetic nanocomposite (GMNC) using three different concentrations of gelatin (6% w/v, G12% w/v, and 18% w/v) individually, through the in situ coprecipitation method. The effect of gelatin concentration on the structural, functional, magnetic properties, and biocompatibility of the GMNC was studied successfully. This variation reduces the crystallite size from 20.8 to 12.2 nm. GMNC obtained at minimum gelatin concentration (6% w/v) produced well-dispersed sphere-shaped magnetite nanoparticles with an average particle size of 33 nm without aggregation. All three reported superparamagnetic behavior at 293 K. It also noted the highly biocompatible and biodegradable nature of GMNC with a high magnetic response at a low magnetic field. This study reported the perspective of this functionalization method for biomedical applications, as GMNC is a potential carrier material that is easily attached to drug molecules through the free functional residues of gelatin molecules. The present study also performed the in vitro drug release behavior of 5'Fluorouracil-loaded GMNC (GF) at physiological conditions (pH 7.4 and 37 °C). It indicates the prepared GF exhibits a sustained drug-release profile for up to 48 h. Hence, these results strongly supported that the functionalized GMNC would be a potential carrier material for advanced drug delivery applications.

Lung Health Care pilot project trims patient pill load and antibiotic prescription in primary health care settings in Kerala, India.

INTRODUCTION: Kerala, the southern Indian state piloted Lung Health Care Project (LHCP) which is a locally adopted version of WHO recommended Practical Approach to Lung health (PAL). The current study assessed the impact of the project on the prescribing practices of doctors and consumption of antibiotics and other drugs. METHODS: This study compared performance of primary health care institutions with regard to drug prescriptions and consumptions before and after the implementation of the project. Chronic respiratory disease (CRD) patients in institutions implemented the project were interviewed in the OPD at exit and their prescriptions were documented at baseline and after six months. Focus group discussions were conducted with doctors to explore the reasons behind changes in drug consumption pattern. RESULTS: In the project implementing institutions, mean number of drugs prescribed for CRDs was 3.88 (SD 1.50) and 2.73 (SD 1.18) at baseline and after six months respectively (p < 0.001). Adjusted odds ratio for prescribing an antibiotic and injection to a CRD patient during impact assessment at institutions implementing project was 0.34 (95% CI 0.15-0.75 p 0.008) and 0.39 (95% CI 0.20-0.74 p 0.004) respectively, as compared to baseline. The factors which helped in reducing antibiotic and injection use as felt by the doctors were presence of a protocol, good quality trainings, supportive supervision and monitoring, availability of alternate drugs and good participation of staff nurses especially in-patient education. CONCLUSION: Strict adherence to diagnostic and management algorithms of Lung health care project in a primary health care setting in India helped in reducing pill burden to patients and prescription of antibiotics and injections.

Patients' perception towards directly observed treatment - A qualitative study from Kollam district, Kerala, southern India.

BACKGROUND: The Direct Observation of Treatment (DOT) is an important component of the country's TB Control strategy. Standards of TB care in India and the End TB strategy emphasised the importance of a patient-centered approach to foster adherence. A qualitative study was conducted to explore the perception of people with Tuberculosis in Kerala regarding DOT, mechanisms to make the treatment of TB more patients centered and to identify the preferable mechanisms to ensure adherence. METHODS: Six focus group discussions were conducted - two among people with TB from rural area, two among people with TB in urban area, one among multipurpose health workers of rural area and one among key field staff of TB control in urban area. RESULTS: Patients who were on a strict DOT were unhappy about the issues of confidentiality, patient inconvenience and provider centered approach. A flexible, patient centered approach were a family member can act as the DOT provider with guidance from a trained health worker was evolved as the most acceptable and comfortable mode of treatment to majority of the TB patients. They felt that a strict external monitor as a DOT provider was not a necessity in majority of the cases. Only practical way to effectively incorporate ICT in monitoring patient compliance in current scenario was identified as daily phone call reminders. Patients also expressed their concerns in keeping the medicines for entire duration at home. CONCLUSION: A flexible patient wise individualized system based on patient's behavior, literacy and awareness along with attitude of family members is needed to ensure adherence to anti TB drugs.

Removal of ocular artifacts from EEG using adaptive thresholding of wavelet coefficients.

Electroencephalogram (EEG) gives researchers a non-invasive way to record cerebral activity. It is a valuable tool that helps clinicians to diagnose various neurological disorders and brain diseases. Blinking or moving the eyes produces large electrical potential around the eyes known as electrooculogram. It is a non-cortical activity which spreads across the scalp and contaminates the EEG recordings. These contaminating potentials are called ocular artifacts (OAs). Rejecting contaminated trials causes substantial data loss, and restricting eye movements/blinks limits the possible experimental designs and may affect the cognitive processes under investigation. In this paper, a nonlinear time-scale adaptive denoising system based on a wavelet shrinkage scheme has been used for removing OAs from EEG. The time-scale adaptive algorithm is based on Stein's unbiased risk estimate (SURE) and a soft-like thresholding function which searches for optimal thresholds using a gradient based adaptive algorithm is used. Denoising EEG with the proposed algorithm yields better results in terms of ocular artifact reduction and retention of background EEG activity compared to non-adaptive thresholding methods and the JADE algorithm.