Do Ionic Liquids Exhibit the Required Characteristics to Dissolve, Extract, Stabilize, and Purify Proteins? Past-Present-Future Assessment.

Proteins are highly labile molecules, thus requiring the presence of appropriate solvents and excipients in their liquid milieu to keep their stability and biological activity. In this field, ionic liquids (ILs) have gained momentum in the past years, with a relevant number of works reporting their successful use to dissolve, stabilize, extract, and purify proteins. Different approaches in protein-IL systems have been reported, namely, proteins dissolved in (i) neat ILs, (ii) ILs as co-solvents, (iii) ILs as adjuvants, (iv) ILs as surfactants, (v) ILs as phase-forming components of aqueous biphasic systems, and (vi) IL-polymer-protein/peptide conjugates. Herein, we critically analyze the works published to date and provide a comprehensive understanding of the IL-protein interactions affecting the stability, conformational alteration, unfolding, misfolding, and refolding of proteins while providing directions for future studies in view of imminent applications. Overall, it has been found that the stability or purification of proteins by ILs is bispecific and depends on the structure of both the IL and the protein. The most promising IL-protein systems are identified, which is valuable when foreseeing market applications of ILs, e.g., in "protein packaging" and "detergent applications". Future directions and other possibilities of IL-protein systems in light-harvesting and biotechnology/biomedical applications are discussed.

Residue behavior and consumer risk assessment of spirotetramat and chlorpyrifos on cabbage heads and cropped soil.

A field experiment following good agricultural practices was laid out to study the dissipation of spirotetramat (90 g a.i. ha-1 and 180 g a.i. ha-1) and chlorpyrifos (400 g a.i. ha-1 and 800 g a.i. ha-1) on cabbage heads and soil. Samples were processed using quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, and safe (QuEChERS) method for residue estimation of spirotetramat and chlorpyrifos, which were further detected using HPLC-PDA and GC-FPD respectively. The residues of spirotetramat on cabbage heads reached below detection limit (BDL) (< 0.05 mg kg-1) on 7th and 10th day and for chlorpyrifos, BDL (< 0.01 mg kg-1) was achieved on 10th and 15th day for X and 2X dose, respectively. On 20th day after second spray, residues in soil were found to be BDL for both the pesticides. Half-life of spirotetramat and chlorpyrifos was found to be 3 and 2 days, respectively while a safe pre-harvest interval (PHI) of 9 days for spirotetramat and 10 days for chlorpyrifos is suggested on cabbage. The dietary risk assessment studies for various age groups of Indian population, ascertained safety of treated cabbage heads for consumption, as current study revealed that hazard quotient (HQ) < 1 and theoretical maximum dietary intake (TMDI) < maximum permissible intake (MPI) for both the pesticides at respective PHI.

Residue estimation and dietary risk assessment of fenvalerate, novaluron, and profenofos in bell pepper grown under protected and open field conditions.

Residue studies were conducted in bell pepper crops (green and yellow bell pepper) to ensure the safe use of fenvalerate, profenofos, and novaluron (under open field and protected conditions) in randomized block design (RBD) following three applications at a 10-day interval over two consecutive years, 2021 and 2022. A robust analytical method was developed using quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, and safe (QuEChERS) extraction and gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS) for the determination of pesticide residues in bell pepper samples. The half-lives for fenvalerate were 2.47-2.87 and 2.50-3.03 days on bell pepper under open field conditions, whereas the corresponding values for bell pepper under protected conditions were 3.84-4.58 and 4.17-4.71 days, during 2021 and 2022, respectively. Profenofos displayed half-lives of 2.03-2.65 and 2.15-2.77 days in open field conditions and 3.05-3.89 and 3.16-3.78 days in protected conditions during 2021 and 2022, respectively. Similarly, novaluron had half-lives of 2.87-3.49 and 3.24-3.75 days under protected conditions in 2021 and 2022, respectively. The maximum residue limits (MRLs) were calculated to be 0.6 mg/kg for fenvalerate, while for profenofos it was 0.7 mg/kg on bell pepper under open field conditions at double doses, at the proposed pre-harvest interval (PHI) of 3 days. Likewise, for bell peppers grown under protected conditions, MRLs at the PHI of 3 days were determined to be 0.8 mg/kg for fenvalerate, 0.3 mg/kg for novaluron, and 1.5 mg/kg for profenofos. A dietary risk assessment study indicated that the percentage of acute hazard index (% aHI) was significantly lower than 100, and hazard quotient (HQ) values were below 1, signifying no acute or chronic risk to consumers. These findings underscore the safety of consuming bell peppers treated with fenvalerate, profenofos, and novaluron under the protected and open field conditions.

Residue behaviour and health risk assessment of chlorpyrifos and mancozeb in apple fruits and soil.

Mancozeb residue estimation was done using second derivative ultraviolet spectroscopy by Shimadzu ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometer, and chlorpyrifos was estimated by QuEChERS technique using GC-FPD. The persistence for chlorpyrifos was carried out at two locations, and for mancozeb, persistence studies were carried out at four locations. Initial deposits of mancozeb on apple fruits ranged from 1.33 to 1.63 mg/kg at the recommended dose and from 2.55 to 3.26 mg/kg at double the recommended dose at all four locations. Chlorpyrifos residues in apple fruits had an initial deposit of 0.94-0.99 mg/kg at recommended dose and 1.75-1.92 mg/kg at double the recommended dose. Mancozeb residues in apple fruit were below the detection limit (BDL) after 20 days at recommended dose and after 25 days at double the recommended dose at two locations, while mancozeb residue at the other two locations and the residues of chlorpyrifos at all locations reached BDL after 15 and 20 days at recommended and double the recommended doses, respectively. Half-life of mancozeb varied from 3.07 to 4.02 days at recommended dose and from 3.30 to 4.32 days at double the recommended dose, whereas chlorpyrifos residues dissipated to half their initial concentration on 2.33-2.35 days at recommended dose and 2.89-2.90 days at double the recommended dose. The soil samples showed no presence of residues of chlorpyrifos and mancozeb at harvest. The risk assessment revealed that hazard quotient for the intake of mancozeb was in the range of 0.06-0.13% and 0.20-0.44% for rural and urban population, while for the intake of chlorpyrifos, hazard quotient was in the range of 0.10-0.12% for rural population and 0.33-0.38% for urban population, and theoretical maximum dietary intake (9.67 × 10-5 mg/person and 3.18 × 10-4 mg/person for rural population and urban population in case of mancozeb and 3.22 × 10-5 mg/person and 1.06 × 10-4 mg/person for rural population and urban population in case of chlorpyrifos) was also found to be less than maximum permissible intake (1.38 mg/kg for mancozeb and 0.60 mg/kg for chlorpyrifos). The results of risk assessment thereby indicated that apple consumption does not pose a risk to human health.

Assessment of Treatment Plan Quality between Flattening Filter and Flattening Filter Free Photon Beam for Carcinoma of the Esophagus with IMRT Technique.

Background: As compared to the flattened photon beam, removing the flattening filter (FF) from the head of a gantry decreases the average energy of the photon beam and increases the dose rate, leading to an impact on the quality of treatment plans. Objective: This study aimed to compare the quality of intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) treatment plans for esophageal cancer with and without a flattened filter photon beam. Material and Methods: In this analytical study, 12 patients, who had already been treated with a 6X FF photon beam, were treated based on new IMRT methods using a 6X the flattening filter-free (FFF) photon beam. Both 6X FF IMRT and 6X FFF IMRT plans used identical beam parameters and planning objectives. All plans were evaluated with planning indices and doses for organs at risk (OARs). Results: Insignificant dose variation was for HI, CI, D98%, and V95% between FF and FFF photon beam IMRT plans. FF-based IMRT plan delivered a 15.51 % and 11.27% higher mean dose to both lungs and heart than the FFF plan, respectively. The integral dose (ID) for the heart and lungs was 11.21% and 15.51%, respectively, less in the IMRT plan with an FFF photon beam. Conclusion: In contrast to the FF photon beam, a filtered photon beam-oriented IMRT plan provides significant OAR sparing without losing the quality of the treatment plan. High monitor units (MUs), low ID, and Beam on Time (BOT) are major highlights of the IMRT plan with FFF beam.

Matching N supply for yield maximization in salt-affected wheat agri-food systems: On-farm participatory assessment and validation.

Driven by the UN-SDGs of achieving food security and agricultural sustainability, it remains more challenging in degraded ecosystems to simultaneously improve the crop performance without creating unintended favour for excessive fertilization and associated environmental consequences. We assessed the N-use pattern of 105 wheat-growers in sodicity affected Ghaghar Basin of Haryana, India, and then experimented upon to optimize and identify indicators of efficient N use in contrasting wheat cultivars for sustainable production. The survey results revealed that majority of farmers (88%) have increased their reliance on N nutrition (∼18 % extra N), and even extended their duration of N scheduling (12-15 days) for better plant adaptation and yield insurance in sodicity stressed wheat; albeit to a greater extent in moderately sodic soils applying 192 kg N ha-1 in 62 days. The participatory trials validated the farmers' perception of using more than the recommended N in sodic lands. This could realize the transformative improvements in plant physiological [higher photosynthetic rate (Pn; 5 %) and transpiration rate (E; 9 %)] and yield [more tillers (ET; 3 %), grains spike-1 (GS; 6 %) and healthier grains (TGW; 3 %)] traits culminating in ∼20 % higher yield at 200 kg N ha-1 (N200). However, further incremental N application had no apparent yield advantage or monetary benefits. At N200, every additional kilogram of N captured by the crop beyond the recommended N improved grain yields by 36.1 kg ha-1 in KRL 210 and 33.7 kg ha-1 in HD 2967. Further, the varietal differences for N requirements, with 173 kg ha-1 in KRL 210 and 188 kg ha-1 in HD 2967, warrants the need of applying balanced fertilizer dose and advocate revision of existing N recommendations to cope up the sodicity induced agricultural vulnerability. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and correlation matrix showed N uptake efficiency (NUpE) and total N uptake (TNUP) as the highly weighted variables illustrating strong positive association with grain yield, and potentially deciding the fate of proper N utilization in sodicity stressed wheat. Key insights suggested that combining participatory research with farmers' knowledge and local perspective could be decisive in better integration of technologies, and serving to adapt the real-time soil sodicity stress and sustaining wheat yields with economized farm profits.

Role of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) in assessment of asthma control in children.

INTRODUCTION: Data are scarce on hs-CRP as a biomarker for airway inflammation in pediatric asthma. We aimed to examine correlation between hs-CRP and asthma control levels. METHODS: Children with physician-diagnosed asthma, ages 6-15 years, were enrolled. GINA-2016 criteria were used to assess the level of asthma control. The relationships between serum hs-CRP and each of asthma control measures (asthma control criteria, spirometry, impulse oscillometry, eosinophil counts and fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) were assessed. RESULTS: 150 asthmatic children were enrolled; 52 (35%) had well controlled asthma, 76 (51%), and 22 (14%) children had partly controlled and uncontrolled asthma, respectively. Median (IQR) values of hs-CRP were 0.47 (0.1, 1.67) mg/L in well controlled, 0.30 (0.1, 1.83) mg/L in partly controlled, and 2.74 (0.55, 3.74) mg/L in uncontrolled asthma (p = 0.029). Using receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve analysis, area under the curve for hs-CRP (mg/L) to discriminate between uncontrolled and (controlled + partly controlled) asthma was 0.67 (95% CI 0.55, 0.80) and a cutoff 1.1 mg/L of serum hs-CRP level had a sensitivity of 68.1% with specificity of 67.97%. In two groups of hs-CRP (<3 mg/L) and hs-CRP (≥3 mg/L), high hs-CRP group had higher proportion of uncontrolled asthmatic children (p = 0.03). CONCLUSION: We observed higher serum hs-CRP values in children with uncontrolled asthma, suggesting its potential role as a biomarker of asthma control.

Clinical risk assessment of chronic kidney disease patients using genetic programming.

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is one of the serious health concerns in the twenty-first century. CKD impacts over 37 million Americans. By applying machine learning (ML) techniques to clinical data, CKD can be diagnosed early. This early detection of CKD can prevent numerous loss of life. In this work, clinical data set of 400 patients, available on the UCI repository, are taken. Unfortunately, this data set doesn't have an equal distribution of CKD and Non-CKD samples. This imbalanced nature of data highly influences the learning capabilities of classifiers. Genetic Programming (GP) is an ML technique based on the evolution of species. GP with standard fitness function, also impacted by this imbalanced nature of data. A new Euclidean distance-based fitness function in GP is proposed to handle this imbalanced nature of the data set. To compare the robustness of the proposed work, other classification techniques, K-nearest neighborhood (KNN), KNN with particle swarm optimization (PSO), and GP with the standard fitness function, is also applied. For ten-fold cross-validation, the KNN shows an accuracy of 83.54% with an AUC value of 0.69, the PSO-KNN shows an accuracy of 96.79% with an AUC value of 0.94, and the GP, with the newly proposed fitness function, supersedes KNN and PSO-KNN and shows the accuracy of 99.33% with an AUC value of 0.99.

Concentric Circle Technique for Assessment of Femoral Head Deficiency in Osteonecrosis of Femoral Head.

Introduction There is a lack of standardized objective tools to assess collapse for osteonecrosis of the femoral head (ONFH) patients' follow-up. We describe a quantitative technique of collapse assessment using a superimposed concentric circular ring matching the intact part of the femoral head in anteroposterior (AP) radiographs. Methods We retrospectively analyzed 30 normal femoral heads and 30 ONFH (15 pre-collapse,15 post-collapse) in anteroposterior hip radiographs. A best-fitting circle was superimposed on articular margins of the femoral head and the maximum width of the deficient zone of the femoral head (not matching the circle) was measured. The width (pW) was measured as percentage-width in proportion to the circle's diameter. The findings were compared among normal and ONFH radiographs. Intraclass correlation coefficients were calculated for intraobserver and interobserver reliability of the measurements. Results The mean femoral head deficiencies predicted by pW were 0.2±0.5% for normal hip, 2.8±1.1% for pre-collapse, and 8.9±3.8% for post-collapse radiographs. We observed significant differences in the measurements of pW among the control group, pre-collapse and post-collapse groups. Interobserver and intraobserver reliabilities for the measurements were high. Conclusion The described concentric circle technique is a simple and reliable method for objective assessment of subtle alterations in the sphericity of the femoral head and can be helpful for the radiographic follow-up of ONFH patients.

Treatment Seeking Behavior, Treatment Cost and Quality of Life of Head and Neck Cancer Patients: A Cross-Sectional Analytical Study from South India.

BACKGROUND: Head and neck cancer constitute one-third of all cancers. Due to the complex nature of Head and Neck Cancer treatment, expenditure on cancer treatment are higher and the Quality of Life of patients is also compromised. The objectives of the study were to determine the time taken by patients for seeking care from registered medical practitioners, time to definitive diagnosis and treatment initiation, expenditure incurred, and Quality of Life. METHODS: The present study was a cross-sectional descriptive involving outpatient with head and neck cancer reported to the department of radiotherapy, regional cancer center, JIPMER. The quality of life was assessed using validated FACT-Hand N scales. RESULTS: The preferred first contact for seeking care for most was the private sector (52%). The median (IQR) presentation interval, diagnostic interval, and treatment initiation interval were 36.5 (16 - 65.7), 14 (7 - 31.5), and 65.5 (45 - 104) days respectively. The average indirect cost incurred was INR 8424 (4095-16570) in JIPMER, which was spent over an average duration of 240 days. The median (IQR) wage loss by the patients and/or caregivers was INR18000 (5250-61575). The source of expenditure was mainly from their family savings (56%). Functional well-being was severely impaired. The patients with occupation, head of the family, and early stage of cancer had a statistically significant quality of life. CONCLUSION: The majority of the patients were diagnosed in the regional cancer center, JIPMER although their preferred first point of contact was private practitioners. The average time interval from diagnosis to treatment initiation was more than two months. The expenditure during the treatment was mainly because of indirect cost and wage loss. The functional quality of life was severely impaired for the majority of the cases.

Assessment of healthcare worker's hand hygiene and infection prevention practices of their personal belongings in a healthcare setting: a survey in pre COVID-19 era and literature review on standard disinfection practices.

BACKGROUND: Healthcare workers' (HCW) hands and personnel belongings are vehicles of transmission of nosocomial infections. Knowledge, attitude, and practice of hand hygiene have been extensively studied suggesting adequate knowledge but poor compliance. Similar data on aprons, mobile phone and stethoscope disinfection practices are lacking. This becomes an extensively important topic of discussion in current COVID-19 pandemic where inadequacy in hygiene practices is devastating. AIM: To study the knowledge, attitude, and infection prevention practices of HCWs aprons, electronic devices, stethoscopes, and hands. METHODS: A cross sectional questionnaire-based survey was conducted among HCWs of Medicine ward and ICU. RESULTS: Sixty-six HCWs responded to the survey. Awareness that hands, aprons, mobile phones, stethoscopes could cause cross transmission and knowledge of correct practices was present in majority of the respondents. Hand hygiene was performed by 65.2% of the respondents before touching a patient and 54.5% after touching the patient surroundings while 13.6% performed only when it was visibly soiled. Mobile phones and stethoscopes were disinfected by 13.6 and 30.3% of the respondents after each patient encounter, respectively. Aprons were washed after using them at a stretch for a median duration of 5 days (1-30 days). Forgetfulness, lack of reinforcement, lack of time, inadequate awareness on standard disinfection practices and fear of damaging electronic devices from disinfectants use were reasons for poor compliance. CONCLUSIONS: There is an urgent need to spread awareness and formulate standard guidelines on disinfection practices especially for mobile phones, stethoscopes, and aprons in addition to reinforcing hand hygiene practices.

Assessment of areca nut use, practice and dependency among people in Guwahati, Assam: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Areca nut is the fourth most commonly used psychoactive substance worldwide after tobacco, alcohol and caffeine. In India, it is perceived in various ways, ranging from a 'fruit of divine origin' in Hindu religious ceremonies to a mouth freshener. Areca nut use both on its own and with tobacco additives is addictive. The aim of this study was to understand the pattern of areca nut consumption, to determine the Knowledge, Attitude and Practices (KAP) among areca nut users and the dependency associated with areca nut use. METHODS: A cross sectional study was conducted in Guwahati, Assam using a self-administered questionnaire eliciting the pattern of areca nut consumption, KAP among users and understanding their dependency using Betel Quid Dependence Scale. The chewers of areca nut alone with or without betel quid, gutkha and tobacco participated in the study. Areca nut users were selected using purposive sampling method from the vendor shops of all the four assembly areas of the city. Their participation was voluntary and free not to answer or quit the survey. The data was analysed using SPSS software. RESULTS: A total of 500 participants were approached in all four areas, 479 completed the survey (response rate 95%). The people who participated in the study were mostly male with an average age of 40 years, educated to secondary level or higher, married and self-employed. Betel quid with tamul was the most prevalent form of areca nut chewing in both men and women. About 441 (92%) participants experienced pleasure when chewing areca nut and 327 (68%) chewed it to relieve stress. Only 86 (18%) of subjects had ever tried to quit chewing areca nut and 387 (81%) thought that it was highly addictive. The results revealed relatively high levels of endorsement for 'physical and psychological urgent need' (mean = 43%) and 'increasing dose' (mean = 50%), whereas endorsement level for 'maladaptive use' was low (mean = 16%). CONCLUSION: Areca nut use (tamul) is of major concern in India and many Southeast Asian countries and its use has been increasing across the globe. The evidence suggests a dependence similar to tobacco use and policy makers need to refine its strategy for control of its use by engaging with multiple stakeholders and adapting it to local context with surveillance and cessation guidelines in order to address this issue.

Development and validation of a questionnaire to assess socio-behavioural impact of COVID-19 on the general population.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: The aim of the study is to develop a valid and reliable tool to assess sociobehavioural changes due to COVID among the general population. METHODS: This mixed method study has two phases. Phase I for questionnaire development (literature review, focus group discussion, expert evaluation and pilot testing). Phase II for establishing construct validity via factor analysis and internal consistency via Cronbach's ɑ by administering the questionnaire on 179 participants. RESULTS: A questionnaire comprising 33 questions and five domains was developed having Cronbach's α of 0·82. CONCLUSION: The developed questionnaire is a concise, easy to administer and valid tool to assess socio-behavioural changes.

Artificial Intelligence-assisted chest X-ray assessment scheme for COVID-19.

OBJECTIVES: To study whether a trained convolutional neural network (CNN) can be of assistance to radiologists in differentiating Coronavirus disease (COVID)-positive from COVID-negative patients using chest X-ray (CXR) through an ambispective clinical study. To identify subgroups of patients where artificial intelligence (AI) can be of particular value and analyse what imaging features may have contributed to the performance of AI by means of visualisation techniques. METHODS: CXR of 487 patients were classified into [4] categories-normal, classical COVID, indeterminate, and non-COVID by consensus opinion of 2 radiologists. CXR which were classified as "normal" and "indeterminate" were then subjected to analysis by AI, and final categorisation provided as guided by prediction of the network. Precision and recall of the radiologist alone and radiologist assisted by AI were calculated in comparison to reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) as the gold standard. Attention maps of the CNN were analysed to understand regions in the CXR important to the AI algorithm in making a prediction. RESULTS: The precision of radiologists improved from 65.9 to 81.9% and recall improved from 17.5 to 71.75 when assistance with AI was provided. AI showed 92% accuracy in classifying "normal" CXR into COVID or non-COVID. Analysis of attention maps revealed attention on the cardiac shadow in these "normal" radiographs. CONCLUSION: This study shows how deployment of an AI algorithm can complement a human expert in the determination of COVID status. Analysis of the detected features suggests possible subtle cardiac changes, laying ground for further investigative studies into possible cardiac changes. KEY POINTS: • Through an ambispective clinical study, we show how assistance with an AI algorithm can improve recall (sensitivity) and precision (positive predictive value) of radiologists in assessing CXR for possible COVID in comparison to RT-PCR. • We show that AI achieves the best results in images classified as "normal" by radiologists. We conjecture that possible subtle cardiac in the CXR, imperceptible to the human eye, may have contributed to this prediction. • The reported results may pave the way for a human computer collaboration whereby the expert with some help from the AI algorithm achieves higher accuracy in predicting COVID status on CXR than previously thought possible when considering either alone.

Comprehensive study on impact assessment of lockdown on overall ambient air quality amid COVID-19 in Delhi and its NCR, India.

Indian government announced the complete lockdown from 25 March, 2020 for all outdoor activities across the country due to containment of COVID-19. This study is an attempt to assess the impacts of lockdown on ambient air quality in five cities of Indian National Capital Region including Delhi, Gurugram, Noida, Ghaziabad and Faridabad. In this context, the data of air pollutants (PM10, PM2.5, NOx, NO, NO2, SO2, NH3, SO2, CO, and C6H6) from 36 locations of the study area were analyzed from 1st March to 1st May, 2020. The results showed that PM10 and PM2.5 level decreased upto 55-65 %. NOx and NO have shown maximum reduction (∼ 50-78 %). Similarly, consistent and significant reduction in other air pollutants such as SO2 (∼33 %), CO (∼45 %), NH3 (∼27 %) and C6H6 (∼53 %) has been observed. During lockdown Air Quality Index (AQI) shows improvement as its value significantly decreased (∼ 45 %-68 %). An interesting feature observed that during first week of lockdown O3 decreased but later it increased by ∼19-27%. The study suggests that this pandemic gives lessons for interventions for urban air pollution mitigation in controlling the health impact due to urban air pollution.

Assessment of Preventive Practices Followed by General Public During COVID-19 Pandemic - A Cross-Sectional Survey From India.

Objectives COVID-19 has infected millions of people across the globe, leading to hundreds of thousands of deaths. Currently, there are no vaccines available for COVID-19, and the most effective way to curb its spread is to follow preventive practices. The present study aimed to assess the extent of adoption of preventive practices among the general population in India. Methods A web-based cross-sectional survey was carried out recruiting 964 participants from all over India through purposive sampling. A pre-validated questionnaire consisting of 37 questions was used to collect data. Items 1A to 18A covered various preventive practices and items 1B to 19B covered reasons for not following those preventive practices. Descriptive statistics, chi-square tests, t-tests and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) were conducted. Results Most participants reported taking precautions such as wearing masks (91.80%), covering both nose and mouth (79.14%) and avoiding hand shaking (83.40%). However, practices like following social distancing in public places (51.76%) and workplace (51.04%), frequent hand washing/sanitising (63.59%) and washing hands for at least 20 seconds (45.44%) were less commonly observed. Participants failed to follow social distancing because of overcrowding and lack of space. They also found it cumbersome to wash hands multiple times. Female participants and people residing in metropolitan and small cities were fairly doing well in following preventive practices. Conclusion The study helped in identifying the glitches in following various preventive practices against COVID-19 during unlock phase and reasons for the failure to perform these practices.

Comparison of three low-cost techniques to control fogging of sealed eyewear in a simulated operating room environment: A preliminary analysis.

PURPOSE: In the current COVID pandemic, hermetically sealed eyewear is recommended for safe surgical practices to prevent eye contact with contaminated airborne particles or aerosols. These sealed eyewears definitely reduce the risk of contamination of eyes. However, there is a constant issue of fogging up of the inner surface that prevents good surgical visibility which can impair surgeons' performance and their ability to perform fine tasks, especially in operating rooms with temperature and humidity controlled as per the COVID guidelines. We investigated the effectiveness of surface-modified anti-fog polyethylene terephthalate(PET) films and the application of a detergent-based surfactant liquid, applied to the inner aspect of viewing frame, and addition of filtered vents in the prevention of fogging up of the protective eyewears in a simulated operating room environment. METHODS: Ten volunteer orthopedic surgeons tested three modifications of a poly-hydrocarbon based hermetically sealed eyewear as a) application of a surface-modified anti-fog PET film on the inner aspect of eyewear, b) application of a detergent-based surfactant coating on the inner aspect of the protective eyewear, and c) addition of two filtered vents/holes on each side of the protective eyewear, covered with an N95 mask cutting. The testing was performed while completing a synthetic bone-based surgical task in a simulated operating room environment of 24-26° temperature and humidity between 40 and 70%, for a maximum of 2 h. The duration to the loss of clear visibility (ability to read a newspaper) and workable visibility (ability to perform the surgical task) was recorded for each volunteer. RESULTS: The detergent-based surfactant provided the longest duration of clear visibility (69.3 ± 8.16 min) and the workable visibility was maintained for more than 2 h. The second best durations of clear visibility (31.9 ± 3.75 min) and workable visibility (41.6 ± 5.39 min) were provided by the surface-modified anti-fog PET film. The addition of the filtered vents provided only a marginal improvement in the visibility. CONCLUSION: A detergent-based surfactant coating of the viewing surface provides a simple, inexpensive and effective solution to the problem of fogging of the protective eyewears. Besides this, the workable vision is maintained for a prolonged duration.

Development of cost effective metal oxide semiconductor based gas sensor over flexible chitosan/PVP blended polymeric substrate.

In the present work, biodegradable and flexible chitosan/polyvinylpyrrolidone (CHP) polymeric substrate was fabricated by solvent casting method. This is a novel demonstration of the combination of natural polymer (chitosan) and synthetic polymer (PVP) for next-generation semiconductor device applications. The ZnO thin films were successfully synthesized on these polymeric substrates by facile drop-casting method for gas sensing applications. The hydrogen gas sensing properties of ZnO deposited on the polymeric substrate and SiO2 substrate show similar performance. The structural, morphological, optical, thermal, and tensile strength of the CHP substrate were studied using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), UV-visible spectroscopy, Derivative thermogravimetric analysis (DTG), and Universal testing machine (UTM), respectively. Our study suggests that the biodegradable CH/PVP flexible polymeric substrate provides a new way for the implementation of an eco-friendly green substrate in numerous electronic device applications.

Socio-demographic factors associated with HIV prevalence among pregnant women attending antenatal clinics in six Southern States of India: Evidences from the latest round of HIV sentinel surveillance.

BACKGROUND: HIV/AIDS is a global public health issue and its transmission in a defined geographic region is influenced by the interplay of sociodemographic and behavioral factors. Better understanding of sociodemographic characteristics of HIV-positive individuals is required to prevent the spread of HIV among the general population. OBJECTIVES: The objective of the study was to find the association between HIV prevalence and sociodemographic characteristics of pregnant women aged 15-49 years attending the antenatal clinics (ANCs) in six Southern states of India. METHODS: The data from the latest round of HIV sentinel surveillance, a cross-sectional study, conducted during January-March 2017 among ANC attendees were considered for this analysis. Blood samples along with other relevant information were collected from 98,634 pregnant women from 248 sites across the states. The association between HIV prevalence and sociodemographic variables was examined using multivariable logistic regression. RESULTS: The highest HIV prevalence was reported in Karnataka (0.38%) and Andhra Pradesh (0.38%), followed by Telangana (0.33%), Odisha (0.28%), Tamil Nadu (0.27%), and Kerala (0.05%). In all states, the prevalence was highest among illiterate pregnant women exception being Kerala, wherein the prevalence was highest in pregnant women with schooling up to primary education. A significant association was found between HIV prevalence and spouse occupation in Karnataka and Odisha and spouse migration in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. CONCLUSIONS: Need for improvising the interventions for the young, illiterates, having a migrant spouse, and spouse occupation as truckers/hotel staff is recommended to the stakeholders involved in HIV management of the six southern states of India.