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Background: Health is the basis for an individual's well-being and survival. Quality of life (QoL) is a subjective perception of an individual's position in life that acts as a holistic factor in contributing to and determining the health and well-being of an individual. Health care education is a challenging and stressful academic path. Adolescence is defined as a period of "storm and stress" and this is the phase during which an individual steps into college life, which again is a transitional and stressful period. Aim: This study aimed to assess the QoL of adolescent health care students in Chennai, India. Methods: This cross-sectional study was initiated after obtaining Institutional Ethics Committee clearance. Firstand second-year Nursing and Allied Health Sciences (AHS) students (18-19 years) were included in the study (n - 113). After obtaining the basic details, QoL was assessed using the World Health Organization Quality of Life Abbreviated questionnaire questionnaire, which contains 26 items assessing physical, psychological, social, and environmental health. Results: The majority of the study participants were from year I (56.6%) and AHS department (53.1%). Gender-wise, female participants (70.8%) were more than males. QoL scores showed that adolescent health care students had moderate QoL, and females were found to have better physical (p: 0.04) and environmental health (p: 0.001) scores than their counterparts. Conclusion: This study showed that adolescent health care students have moderate QoL, and females were found to have better QoL than males. Adolescence is the prime period of life. Thus, supportive measures, such as foundation sessions and orientation classes, should be provided to adolescent health care students to ensure a healthy life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban Green Spaces (UGS) provide essential ecosystem services and greatly aid in ameliorating the local climate and quality of life. UGS face an immense threat with rapid urbanization and governance apathy. With the induction of government backed initiatives like AMRUT and Smart Cities Mission, preserving and developing open spaces became integral to the urban planning practice and local area development. The Ease of Living Index (EOLI) provides multiple indicators related to UGS with varied weights. However, the present UGS condition in the most liveable cities with high green scores have quality and quantity shortcomings. This research derives and compares the Urban Greening Index (UGI) for the most liveable Indian cities as per the 2018 EOLI report. Mumbai was on the top three cities decreed most liveable as per EOLI 2018. This study used Landsat 8 remote sensing imagery with summer and winter variations for 2016 and 2019. Geospatial analysis using GIS was undertaken to derive the UGI for Mumbai. The methods adopted by EOLI to derive the green indicators, were found to be inadequate to assess the actual ground realities. The EOLI methods lacked actual consideration of vegetation quality, spatial arrangement within urban cores and clusters, proximity to residential areas, accessibility, and ecosystem services valuation, among other vital aspects. The study stipulates amended indicators that could be incorporated to better assess the EOL for Indian cities.

Well performing recreational open spaces (ROSs) are essential amenities that improve the quality of urban life in the context of rapid urbanization prevalent in developing nations. In Indian cities, the quantity and quality of recreational amenities like parks and playgrounds do not compare well with global standards. Design interventions that are undertaken while developing ROSs significantly impact their value in terms of attractiveness, accessibility, and usability. To evaluate this impact, an empirical survey of select ROSs was conducted in Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Chennai. The analysis revealed the dichotomous nature of design interventions. Multiple interventions or ‘too much design’ resulted in the open space losing its ‘openness’ and allowed only an orchestrated use of space. Whereas the lack of any intentional intervention or ‘too little design’ resulted in informality, which made the open space susceptible to encroachment. Using photographic evidence, this essay illustrates the dichotomous nature of design intervention affecting the use value of ROSs in urban India.

The main intention of this paper is to scrutinize the problem of internal model-based dynamic output feedback nonfragile reliable control problem for fractional-order glucose–insulin system. Specifically, a robust control law that represents the insulin injection rate is designed in order to regulate the level of glucose in diabetes treatment in the existence of meal disturbance or external glucose infusion due to improper diet. By the construction of suitable Lyapunov functional, a novel set of sufficient conditions is derived with the aid of linear matrix inequalities for obtaining the required dynamic output feedback control law. In particular, the designed controller ensures the robust stability and disturbance attenuation performance against meal disturbance of the glucose–insulin system. Numerical simulation results are performed to verify the advantage of the developed design technique. Specifically, the irregular blood glucose level can be brought down to normal level by injecting suitable rate of insulin to the patient. The result exposes that the level of blood glucose is sustained in the identified ranges via the proposed dynamic output feedback control law.

The locus coeruleus is the seat of a brain-wide neuromodulatory circuit. Using optogenetic and electrophysiological tools to selectively interrogate noradrenergic neurons in non-human primates, Ghosh and Maunsell show how locus coeruleus neurons contribute to a specific aspect of visual attention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the political and aesthetic significance of the Townscape movement, an architectural and planning movement that emerged in the 1940s and advocated for urban density, individuality, and vibrant street life. Townscape's vernacular, human-scale vision of urban life was a significant strand in post-war planning culture, one that existed alongside the archetypal forms of social democratic planning, from new towns to tower blocks. By examining the writings of key Townscape figures associated with the Architectural Review , this article argues that Townscape engaged with the tensions at the heart of the post-war social democratic project—individualism versus community, debates over expertise and authority, and responses to the culture of affluence. In doing so, it contributes to a broader urban historiography on the post-war 'return to the city', showing how post-war urbanism, usually depicted as an American phenomenon centred around the figure of Jane Jacobs, had its counterpart in a uniquely British planning movement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Intelligence is the ability to learn and adapt rapidly and is highly variable among individuals. The existence of language can be attributed to the brain and its capability to learn. Language, therefore, must be learnable by children. Very few studies correlate the language skills and the intelligence level of the person. Aim of the Study: The aim of this study was to correlated languages known and intelligence. We hypothesized that the mental circuitry responsible for linguistic skills must be more refined among those who know more languages. Materials and Methods: A correlational questionnaire-based study was conducted on 205 subjects of the age group of 19–22 years, who were required to fill in a case study form and take an IQ test (Cattell's Culture Fair Intelligence Test). The number of languages known among the 205 participants ranged from 1 to 6. Intergroup comparison was made using Pearson Correlation, Kruskal–Walli's test, and Mann–Whitney U-test. Results: When the Pearson Correlation was used, we did not find a statistically significant difference among the groups. No correlation between the number of languages known and the IQ of a person was evident (The Pearson Correlation Coefficient-0.029 and P = 0.677). The IQ in those who knew two or more languages were higher, while it was highest in those who knew four languages (P < 0.001). Conclusion: From the results, we could conclude that there is no direct correlation between the languages known by a person and the IQ. However, their comprehension capability may be better. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Therapeutic hypothermia (TH) improves survival and neurodevelopmental outcome in neonatal hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE). Both, hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia are common in infants with HIE. The relationship between hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia, and immediate outcome has not been well described. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of newborn infants with HIE (N= 56) was conducted. Blood glucose concentrations recorded during the first 96 hours were noted. Glucose levels of infants who underwent TH (TH group, N= 20) were compared with those that did not undergo TH (No-TH group, N= 36). The relationship between blood glucose and mortality and/or moderate/severe disability was determined. RESULTS: Mean±SD blood glucose concentration during the first 24 hours of age was significantly higher in the TH group (148±65 mg/dl), compared with the No-TH group (113±50 mg/dl; p = 0.02), despite a lower glucose infusion rate in the former (4.05±1.77 mg/kg/hr vs. 5.36±2.51 mg/kg/hr; p = 0.04). One hundred percent of infants (n = 9) in the TH group with blood glucose levels >200 mg/dl during the first 24 hours of age died or had moderate/severe disability, compared with 54.5% of those with blood glucose <200 mg/dl in this group (p = 0.03). A similar effect was not present in the No-TH group. CONCLUSION: Hyperglycemia on the first day portends poor outcome in newborn infants undergoing TH for HIE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]