ABSTRACT
Background: According to WHO statistics, close to 3 million deaths occur every year due to harmful use of alcohol of which 3.2 lakh people are aged between 15-29 years. College students are more prone to experimenting and risk taking behavior. Keeping this in mind, our study was aimed to assess the alcohol use patterns and factors associated with alcohol consumption among college students. Methodology: A cross-sectional study was conducted including college students from various streams in the South Indian states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Data was collected from 1129 participants using a self-administered questionnaire consisting of 4 sections including socio-demographic details, alcohol use patterns, attitude towards alcohol consumption and media exposure. Results: Prevalence of alcohol consumption in the sample population was found to be 31% (348). Among the 348, 30.2% (105) reported that one of the reasons for the consumption of the first drink of alcohol was peer-pressure. Higher prevalence of alcohol consumption seen among the groups with higher media exposure and higher tolerance to alcohol advertising was found to be statistically significant. The study statistics show that 600(53.14%) participants were exposed to actors consuming alcohol in media more than 10 times in the past 30 days while only 320(28.34%) reported seeing warnings or health education material in the same duration. Conclusion: Considering the above findings, it is high time policy makers focused on using media for health promotion and health education, since it is proving to have the potential to influence the decisions and lifestyles of the future generations.
ABSTRACT
Background: Disrespect and abuse have a negative impact on the quality of care provided in the public health facilities, thereby impacting the public health‑care utilization of the patients. Objectives: This study aims to capture the burden and determinants of disrespect and abuse faced by the patients who seek care from public health facilities in Tamil Nadu. Methods: This study was conducted among 4917 participants at outpatient and inpatient levels in 18 public health facilities across six districts in Tamil Nadu. Institutional disrespect and abuse were reported as proportion with 95% confidence interval (CI). Logistic regression model was done to assess the determinants of institutional disrespect and abuse. Results: Overall, the proportion of participants facing some form of institutional disrespect and abuse was 9.8% (95% CI: 9.0%–10.6%). Elderly patients (≥60 years) (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 2.71; 95% CI: 1.27–5.76), widowed/separated/divorced (aOR = 1.99; 95% CI: 1.11–3.57), patients with higher educational qualification (aOR = 1.82; 95% CI: 1.25–2.64), patients belonging to the richest quintile in terms of socioeconomic status(aOR = 4.96; 95% CI: 3.59–6.84), and patients having some form of chronic disease (aOR = 1.37; 95% CI: 1.07–1.75) had significantly higher odds of facing institutional disrespect and abuse. Conclusion: Almost one in ten patients visiting secondary and tertiary care public health facilities in Tamil Nadu had faced some form of disrespect during their hospital visit/stay. The findings from our study should be taken up and further qualitative exploration to identify the reasons for such disrespectful care and corrective solutions should be suggested.
ABSTRACT
Advanced glycation end-products (AGEs) are implicated in the pathogenesis of diabetic complications including cardiac dysfunction and heart failure. We aimed to investigate the effects of circulatory AGEs on the oxidative stress parameters in the rat hearts, and also to examine the protective role of gallic acid (GA) in attenuating the AGEs-induced oxidative stress. The experimental Wistar rats were infused with in vitro synthesized rat serum albuminderived AGEs intravenously at a dose of 50mg/kg/day, for 30 days with or without GA. The control animals received equal amount of unmodified rat serum albumin (RSA) intravenously for 30 days. The rats treated with AGEs alone exhibited increased plasma levels of creatine kinase (CK) (p<0.01), and lactate dehydrogenese (LDH) (p<0.001), when compared with controls. In parallel, a significant increase in the levels of the oxidative stress makers lipid peroxides (LPO) (p<0.001), and protein carbonyls (PCO) (p<0.01) were found in AGEs-RSA infused rat hearts compared with control rat hearts. The antioxidant enzymes analysis revealed a significant decrease (p<0.01, respectively) in the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) in AGEs-RSA infused rat hearts compared with control rat hearts. Gallic acid co-treatments (administered oral gavage daily at a dose of 25 mg/kg) normalized the decreased levels of antioxidant enzymes in the cardiac tissue on AGEs infusion. The results of the present study provide in vivo evidence that the circulating AGEs induce oxidative stress in the heart, and GA attenuates AGEs-mediated cardiotoxicity.
ABSTRACT
This study documents the postnatal growth, age estimation and development of the foraging behaviour of the fulvous fruit bat Rousettus leschenaulti under captive conditions. At birth, the young were naked and pink with closed eyes and folded pinnae. By day four of age, their eyes had opened and the pups began to move. The mean length of forearm in 5-day-old pups was 24.9 mm and body mass was 10.8 g, equivalent to 32.3% and 14.2% of the values from postpartum females. The length of forearm and body mass increased linearly until 45 and 50 days, respectively, and thereafter maintained an apparent stability. The epiphyseal gap of the fourth metacarpal-phalangeal joint increased until 15 days, then decreased linearly until 75 days and thereafter closed. Age was estimated quantitatively, based on linear changes observed in the length of the forearm and epiphyseal gap. Pups began to roost separately, but adjacent to their mothers when 30 days old and flew clumsily when they were about 40 days old. After attaining clumsy flight, the young bats made independent foraging attempts feebly by biting and licking small fruit pieces. Young bats were engaged in suckling as well as ingesting fruits when they were about 50 days old. Between 55 and 65 days, they flew well and fed on fruits. At the age of 75 days, the young bats were completely weaned and at two months, their foraging behaviour was similar to that of their mothers. There was no significant difference in the growth pattern of the young maintained in captivity compared with those under natural conditions.
Subject(s)
Animals , Body Weight , Chiroptera/anatomy & histology , Feeding Behavior , Female , Flight, Animal , Male , Sound Localization , Time FactorsABSTRACT
The insulin-like activity of bis-glycinato oxovanadium (IV) complex on experimental diabetes has been studied. Rats made diabetic with streptozotocin, after one month, were fed ad libitum with bis-glycinato oxovanadium (IV) complex (30 mg/100 ml) for fifteen days. The altered blood glucose, urea, cholesterol, triglycerides, liver glycogen and the activities of liver enzymes such as hexokinase, lactate dehydrogenase and fructose-1, 6-bisphosphatase, were reverted to normal levels in bis-glycinato oxovanadium (IV) complex treated diabetic rats, thereby suggesting for the insulin-mimetic effect of bis-glycinato oxovanadium (IV) in experimental diabetes.