Putative Role of Cardio Metabolic Risk Among Poorly Controlled Asthmatics in South Indian Population     

Murugaiyan Sathish Babu  K. P. Sreesoorya  Surendra K. Menon  Subiman Saha  A. R. Srinivasan  S. Arul Vijaya Vani  R. Reeta  V. Kuzhandai Velu 《Indian journal of clinical biochemistry : IJCB》2017,32(2):225-229

Mortality and morbidity attributed to asthma remains to be the biggest nightmare worldwide. Hence, the study was aimed to compare the cardio metabolic risk factors as assessed by Body mass index (BMI), waist hip ratio (WHR), serum triacylglycerol and uric acid in well controlled and poorly controlled asthmatics and to correlate these parameters with the severity of asthma. A case control study was conducted on 90 subjects who were segregated into well controlled asthmatics (n = 30) and poorly controlled asthmatics (n = 30) who were diagnosed based on Global initiative for Asthma management guidelines and healthy volunteers (n = 30). Centrifuged fasting venous blood samples were used for biochemical analysis, pulmonary function test, BMI, and waist hip ratio (WHR) were measured. The statistical analysis was done using SPSS version 17. There was a significant increase in BMI, WHR, lipid profile, serum uric acid and decrease in forced expiratory volume (FEV1), forced vital capacity (FVC), and FEV1/FVC in poorly controlled asthmatics. There was a significant association between FEV1 and serum uric acid, BMI and Triacylgycerol in poorly controlled asthmatics. Poorly controlled asthmatics have greater risk of developing cardiometabolic problems. Serum uric acid can be used as one of the severity markers in asthma to assess cardio metabolic risk.  相似文献   

Are Mauritians ready for e-Government services?     

Ramessur Taruna Shalini   《Government Information Quarterly》2009,26(3):536-539

Mauritius, a country that represents one of the leading advocates of e-Governance in Sub-Saharan Africa, has taken significant action to improve e-readiness dimensions and as such ranks high in terms of e-readiness index with respect to other Sub-Saharan African countries, based on the United Nations Global e-Government Readiness index. A close look at the usage rate of e-Government services such as online application, however, reveals that it is very low while online transaction is still rhetoric. This paper therefore assesses whether the high e-readiness index gives a true indication of the citizens' e-readiness using available secondary data sources. It further explores the factors facilitating and inhibiting citizens' e-readiness through the administration of a survey questionnaire. The main findings reveal that the barriers inhibiting citizens' e-readiness are resistance to change, absence of opportunities for e-participation and e-consultation, and lack of awareness. The main facilitators of citizens' e-readiness emanating from the analysis are awareness campaigns which tease out the advantages of online public services compared to traditional methods of service delivery, building of trust in government, and managing change.  相似文献   

Bridges Between Cultural and Digital Worlds in Revolutionary Egypt     

Ramesh Srinivasan 《The Information Society》2013,29(1):49-60

Networks are both imagined and directly experienced. While most people have trouble concretely explaining what networks are and how they structure our world, very few doubt their prominence in an increasingly globalized world where information moves at a dizzying pace. Networks speak to the link between the local and global—linking an event in a small village in Tunisia to the evening news in London. Yet they bind peoples and ideas not only across distance, but also in proximity. How are such networks imagined by peoples across dimensions of class, religion, gender, and generation in the dynamic environment that is revolutionary Egypt today? This article presents initial findings from initial ethnographic and interview-focused fieldwork conducted with Egyptians across a range of demographics. It presents insights around how technological, institutional, and human networks coordinate to present convergent and divergent actions, insights that shape an ever-changing Egyptian political reality.  相似文献   

Where Information Society and Community Voice Intersect     

Ramesh Srinivasan 《The Information Society》2013,29(5):355-365

Information and communication technology (ICT) development initiatives have begun to acknowledge the power and importance of cultural and community-focused belief systems. Yet the vast majority of such initiatives tend to preidentify developmental goals that communities hold. Paulo Freire's writings have influenced development initiatives by introducing the possibility of working with communities to orient projects. While these “participatory” initiatives have involved soliciting community feedback relative to a research project whose goals were formulated in the university or development institution, they do not go far enough to harness actual visions held by communities. It is important to conceptualize a model and methodology of engaging communities to develop and articulate their own goals of information access and ultimately, an indigenous approach toward cultural, political, and economic aspects of development. This approach holds promise to sustain communities within a return on the investment and efforts of the researcher or institution. This article closes by describing a current initiative in Southern India that reflects the described methodology.  相似文献   

Sadi Carnot and the second law of thermodynamics     

J Srinivasan 《Resonance》2001,6(11):42-48

The second law of thermodynamics is one of the enigmatic laws of physics. Sadi Carnot, a French engineer played an important role in its discovery in the 19th century. We recount here how he proposed the basic postulates of this law although he did not fully understand the first law of thermodynamics.  相似文献   

Computer based modelling and simulation     

N. K. Srinivasan 《Resonance》2001,6(4):69-77

Most systems involve parameters and variables, which are random variables due to uncertainties. Probabilistic methods are powerful in modelling such systems. In this second part, we describe probabilistic models and Monte Carlo simulation along with ‘classical’ matrix methods and differential equations as most real situations are complex (with several variables) and involve uncertainties.  相似文献   

Dr Smith goes to Los Alamos     

S. G. Srinivasan  S. S. Hecker  P. S. Follansbee  M. I. Baskes 《Resonance》2006,11(6):8-25

Long before the complex pressure-temperature phase diagram of plutonium (shown below) was determined, Cyril Stanley Smith’s suggestion that adding small amounts of some impurity atoms to liquid plutonium might retard its undesirable transformation to the brittle alpha phase enabled the fabrication of the world’s first nuclear device tested successfully in New Mexico on July 16, 1945.  相似文献   

CFTR Gene Mutations and Asthma in Indian Children: A Case–Control Study     

Pratibha Dixit  Shally Awasthi  Nutan Maurya  Sarita Agarwal  M. Srinivasan 《Indian journal of clinical biochemistry : IJCB》2015,30(1):35-42

Cystic Fibrosis Trans membrane conductance regulator (CFTR) gene is an asthma susceptibility gene. In the present study we investigated the possible association of CFTR gene mutations in Indian asthmatic children as compared to controls. The study included 250 asthmatics and 250 age and sex matched controls. Case to control ratio for sample size was 1:1. Genotyping was performed for 24 CFTR gene mutations by ARMS-PCR and PCR–RFLP method. Among 24 CFTR gene mutations, heterozygous allele of R553X mutation was found in 4 (1.6 %) asthmatic cases and 2 (0.8 %) controls. Value of FVC and FEV1/FVC ratio were significantly lower in heterozygous individuals (p value <0.05). No significant difference was observed in the genotype and allele frequency of R553X mutation (OR = 1.339, 95 % CI = 0.755–2.374, p value = 0.685). Furthermore, all wild type homozygous alleles were observed in remaining 23 CFTR gene mutations. Our data concludes that R553X mutation was not significantly associated in Indian asthmatic children.  相似文献   

To Establish the Reference Intervals of Lipid Profile in Punjab     

Vaneet Kaur  Minni Verma  Amandeep Kaur  Shalini Gupta  Kamaljit Singh 《Indian journal of clinical biochemistry : IJCB》2012,27(3):290-295

Overnight fasting samples of 1,031 apparently healthy people of Punjab visiting the hospital over a period of 3 years were tested for serum lipid profile. The mean ± SD of serum total cholesterol, triglycerides, high density lipoprotein cholesterol, low density lipoprotein cholesterol and very low density lipoprotein cholesterol in mg/dl were 182.2 ± 33.9, 122.4 ± 33.4, 44.1 ± 6.8, 113.9 ± 32.0, 24.6 ± 7.1 respectively. When these subjects were grouped according to age and sex, no appreciable difference was observed between most of the groups. Serum triglycerides were found to be low and HDL-C was high in females when compared with males of similar age and vice versa. With advancing age, total cholesterol and low density lipoprotein cholesterol levels were found to be higher in women. The present study suggests that the obtained lipid values should be taken into consideration during clinical evaluation.  相似文献   

Bohrium — A new element in the periodic table     

Srinivasan Natarajan 《Resonance》2000,5(5):95-100

Conclusions As can be seen from the above, due to the marginally higher half-life of Bh, some experiments could be carried out to find out about the chemical nature of the element. Since the elements are produced in extremely small quantities (a few atoms in many cases), it is difficult to confirm the stability of most of these elements. If the half-lives are as long as predicted (region of stability), and there are sufficient yields, there are exciting possibilities for chemical studies of the super-heavy elements. It is likely that the heavy elements may also have multiple oxidation states. In this context, 10–100 atoms of the super-heavy species are needed depending on the half-life. If, on the other hand, we are limited to a few atoms of these super-heavy species, it is likely that any further use of them would be very restricted. However, the Holy Grail of super-heavy elements has been one in which one began by creating a handful of atoms and perhaps, one day we may learn to produce them in sufficient quantity for real chemical investigations.  相似文献