Psychiatric morbidity in the community: A population based-study from Kerala.

BACKGROUND: Estimates of psychiatric morbidity in the community will help service development. Participation of trained nonspecialist health-care providers will facilitate scaling up of services in resource-limited settings. AIMS: This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of priority mental health problems in populations served by the District Mental Health Program (DMHP). SETTINGS AND DESIGN: This is a population-based cross-sectional survey. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We did stratified cluster sampling of households in five districts of Kerala. Trained Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) identified people who had symptoms suggestive of schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. Clinicians evaluated the information collected by the ASHAs and designated individuals as probable cases of psychosis or noncases. Screening instruments such as General Health Questionnaire-12, CAGE questionnaire, and Everyday Abilities Scale for India were used for identifying common mental disorders (CMDs), clinically significant alcohol-related problems, and functional impairment. RESULTS: We found 12.43% of the adult population affected by mental health conditions. We found CMD as most common with a prevalence of 9%. The prevalence of psychosis was 0.71%, clinically significant alcohol-related problems was 1.46%, and dementia and other cognitive impairments was 1.26%. We found informant-based case finding to be useful in the identification of psychosis. CONCLUSIONS: Mental health problems are common. Nonspecialist health-care providers can be trained to identify psychiatric morbidity in the community. Their participation will help in narrowing the treatment gap. Embedding operational research to DMHP will make scaling up more efficient.

Effect of W-TiO2 composite to control microbiologically influenced corrosion on galvanized steel.

Microorganisms tend to colonize on solid metal/alloy surface in natural environment leading to loss of utility. Microbiologically influenced corrosion or biocorrosion usually increases the corrosion rate of steel articles due to the presence of bacteria that accelerates the anodic and/or cathodic corrosion reaction rate without any significant change in the corrosion mechanism. An attempt was made in the present study to protect hot-dip galvanized steel from such attack of biocorrosion by means of chemically modifying the zinc coating. W-TiO2 composite was synthesized and incorporated into the zinc bath during the hot-dipping process. The surface morphology and elemental composition of the hot-dip galvanized coupons were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The antifouling characteristics of the coatings were analyzed in three different solutions including distilled water, seawater, and seawater containing biofilm scrapings under immersed conditions. Apart from electrochemical studies, the biocidal effect of the composite was evaluated by analyzing the extent of bacterial growth due to the presence and absence of the composite based on the analysis of total extracellular polymeric substance and total biomass using microtiter plate assay. The biofilm-forming bacteria formed on the surface of the coatings was cultured on Zobell Marine Agar plates and studied. The composite was found to be effective in controlling the growth of bacteria and formation of biofilm thereafter.

Application of discriminant analysis-based model for prediction of risk of low back disorders due to workplace design in industrial jobs.

The occupational exposure limits of different risk factors for development of low back disorders (LBDs) have not yet been established. One of the main problems in setting such guidelines is the limited understanding of how different risk factors for LBDs interact in causing injury, since the nature and mechanism of these disorders are relatively unknown phenomena. Industrial ergonomists' role becomes further complicated because the potential risk factors that may contribute towards the onset of LBDs interact in a complex manner, which makes it difficult to discriminate in detail among the jobs that place workers at high or low risk of LBDs. The purpose of this paper was to develop a comparative study between predictions based on the neural network-based model proposed by Zurada, Karwowski & Marras (1997) and a linear discriminant analysis model, for making predictions about industrial jobs according to their potential risk of low back disorders due to workplace design. The results obtained through applying the discriminant analysis-based model proved that it is as effective as the neural network-based model. Moreover, the discriminant analysis-based model proved to be more advantageous regarding cost and time savings for future data gathering.

Epidemiological study on foot-and-mouth disease in cattle: seroprevalence and risk factor assessment in South Omo zone, south-western Ethiopia.

A cross-sectional sero-epidemiological study was conducted in seven districts of the South Omo zone, south-western Ethiopia, between October 2008 and May 2009 with the objective of determining the seroprevalence of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) in cattle and identifying the potential risk factors associated with the disease. In total, 770 cattle sera samples were collected and submitted to the National Veterinary Institute (NVI), Debre Zeit, Ethiopia, for screening using the 3ABC-ELISA. The overall seroprevalence of 8.18% (n=63) was recorded in the study. The highest district-level prevalence was observed in Bennatsemay district (30.2%), and the lowest prevalence was in Malle and Debub Aari districts, each with prevalence of 6.3%. The difference in seropositivity of FMD in the studied districts was found to be statistically significant. From the various risk factors analysed, age of animal, contact history with wild animals, distance of the herd from parks and wild animals' sanctuary and movement pattern of herds in search of pasture and water from area to area were found to be significantly associated (P<0.05) with the seroprevalence of FMD. The results of this study showed that FMD is an important cattle disease in the study areas. Thus, an appropriate control strategy has to be designed and applied, which could involve regulation of transboundary cattle movement, prevention of contact with wildlife and vaccination against the circulating virus strain.

Effect of Fasciola gigantica excretory secretory antigen on rat hematological indices.

The present study was undertaken to investigate the effect of Fasciola gigantica excretory secretory antigen (Fg-ESA) on rat hematological indices. Fg-ESA was prepared by keeping thoroughly washed 40 F. gigantica flukes in 100 ml phosphate buffer saline (PBS) for 2 h at 37 degrees C, and centrifuging the supernatant at 12,000 g at 4 degrees C for 30 min. The protein content of Fg-ESA was adjusted to 1.8 mg/ml. The rats were randomly divided into two groups of six rats each. Rats in group A received 0.5 ml of Fg-ESA intraperitoneally (i.p.) for 7 days, whereas control rats in group B received 0.5 ml of PBS i.p. for 7 days. Hemograms of both groups were studied initially and on days 0, 2, 4, 14 and 21 after the final injection of Fg-ESA or PBS. Progressive and significant (p < 0.01) declines in the values of hemoglobin, hematocrit, and total erythrocyte count were observed without significant (p > 0.05) changes in the values of mean corpuscular hemoglobin, mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration, or mean corpuscular volume in group A. Thus, we conclude that Fg-ESA induces normocytic normochromic anemia in rats.

Role of excretory-secretory metabolites of Fasciola gigantica in modulating delayed-type hypersensitivity in rats.

The role of excretory-secretory metabolites of Fasciola gigantica in modulating the delayed type of hypersensitivity in the host (rats) was investigated. Eighteen rats of either sex, aged 3-4 months, were assigned to three groups of 6 animals each. Rats in group 1 served as non-inoculated controls and each rat in this group was administered only Freund's complete adjuvant on day 7. Animals in groups 2 and 3 were administered inoculation dose(s) of somatic F gigantica antigen (SFgA) and excretory-secretory F gigantica antigens (ESFgA) according to the experimental schedule. The delayed-type hypersensitivity was monitored by assessing alterations in the foot pad thickness, its histopathology and lymphocyte proliferation assay. It was observed that the ESFgA caused diminution in delayed-type hypersensitivity response to a significant level (p <0.01) against SFgA in rats. This finding was further confirmed by lower stimulation indices of peripheral blood mononuclear cell in rats sensitized with ESFgA prior to inoculation of SFgA (group 1) than in nonsensitized rats receiving only SFgA (group 2).

Characterization of nucleoprotein gene sequence of an Indian isolate of rabies virus.

Rabies occurs in all parts of Indian sub-continent except Andaman and Nicobar and Lakshadweep group of islands. The full-length nucleoprotein (N) gene sequence of a rabies virus isolate from India is reported for the first time and the same has been compared with available N gene sequences from the database. A central domain of 230 amino acids (aa) from aa 141 to aa 370 exhibited more than 95% similarity. There were 8 amino acid positions (aa 29, 32, 38, 84, 119, 379, 438, and 439) at which substitution was unique for Indian isolates but common for laboratory strains. In antigenic epitopes, except for a single amino acid difference at the antigenic site IV, the amino acids were conserved. The Indian isolate also possessed two Bam HI sites (aa 247 and 278), while the other Asian isolates had only one site at aa 278 or were not digested with Bam HI at all. Phylogenetic analysis also demonstrated that the Indian isolate was closely related to the Sri Lankan isolate and grouped in the cluster that comprised of the isolates from other Asian countries namely China and Pakistan.