Exploring the complexities of slum vulnerability in Haryana, India: a qualitative research journey into economic, social, physical, and health dimensions.

Purpose: The study explores the conditions contributing to slum dweller's vulnerability to poor health and examines interplay between economic, physical/infrastructural, and social factors affecting health status to inform policy and programme.

Methods: The methodology deployed for data analysis was mixed deductive-inductive. A deductive framework was adapted for categorizing the data into four broad themes: Economic, Physical/Infrastructure, Social, and Health.

Comprehensive profiling of traditional herbomineral formulation Manasamitra vatakam in rat brain following oral administration and in-silico screening of the identified compound for anti-Alzheimer's activity.

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: Multi-targeted drug therapy has received substantial attention for the treatment of diseases of multifactorial origin, such as neurodegenerative diseases. Manasamitra vatakam (MMV) is a traditional Ayurvedic formulation used to improve cognitive impairment and mental illness. Here we have used a unique method for leveraging the barrier properties of the intestinal and blood-brain barrier (BBB) to screen and identify the bioactive molecules against Alzheimer's disease (AD).

Molecular epidemiology of seborrheic dermatitis/dandruff associated Malassezia species from northern India.

Malassezia is a commensal that sometimes becomes pathogenic under the influence of diverse factors. Several species of Malassezia are difficult to culture, making traditional methods of identification challenging. The problem with molecular typing of Malassezia in association with seborrheic dermatitis/dandruff (SD/D) arises due to the unavailability of these fastidious yeast cultures.

A Cross-sectional Study to Identify Risk Factors for Hepatitis C in Punjab, India.

Background: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) antibody prevalence in Punjab, India (0.56%) is higher than the national average (0.32%), but primary drivers of local transmission are unclear.

Projected impact of fast-tracking of anti-retroviral treatment coverage on vertical transmission of HIV in India.

One of the five high-level goals under Phase V of the National AIDS and STD Control Programme (NACP) of the Government of India is the elimination of vertical transmission of HIV. In this paper, we estimate the potential impact of maintaining and enhancing the anti-retroviral treatment under the NACP in terms of averting new infections and vertical transmission rates vis-à-vis no intervention scenario. We used India's HIV Estimates 2022 models to create treatment coverage scenarios of no interventions, status quo, business as usual, on-track and fast-track scenarios from 2023 to 2030.

Functional Characterization of Thyroid Peroxidase Missense Variants Causing Thyroid Dyshormonogenesis in Asian Indian Population.

Introduction: Thyroid dyshormonogenesis (TDH) is a subgroup of congenital hypothyroidism with recessive inheritance resulting from disease-causing variants in thyroid hormone biosynthesis pathway genes, like DUOX2, TG, TPO, SLC5A5, SLC26A4, IYD, DUOXA2, and SLC26A7. Thyroid peroxidase (TPO) is a crucial enzyme involved in thyroid hormone biosynthesis and is one of the frequently mutated genes in patients with TDH. The purpose of the study was to describe the in silico and functional characterization of novel variants in TPO gene identified in patients with TDH.

COVID-19 Stigma and Discrimination in a North Indian State: A Concurrent Mixed Method Study.

We measured COVID-19-related stigma and discrimination and its drivers using a concurrent mixed-methods design in Punjab. The simple random sampling was used to select blocks, subcenters, and urban primary healthcenters from each of the four selected districts. The systematic random sampling was used to select households.

Infectious optic neuropathy (ION), how to recognise it and manage it.

Optic neuropathy can be of infectious or non-infectious/idiopathic aetiology. Many infectious organisms can cause optic neuropathy that can be of varied presentation including papillitis, retrobulbar optic neuritis, neuroretinitis, and optic perineuritis. Detailed history, ocular, systemic/neurologic examination along with appropriate laboratory evaluation can help clinicians to identify the infectious agent causing optic neuropathy.

Production and characterization of biologicals for disease diagnosis and pathological evaluation of elephant endotheliotropic herpesvirus (EEHV).

Elephant endotheliotropic herpesviruses (EEHV) belong to the family Herpesviridae and cause a highly fatal hemorrhagic infection in elephants. EEHV poses a global threat to the already endangered elephant population. Since EEHV is a non-cultivable virus, there is a scarcity of specific diagnostics, therapeutics, and vaccines.

Family and facility care variables attributing to postnatal depression among women in two tribal-dominated districts of Odisha: Log model analysis to suggest intervention.

Introduction: It is a proven fact that women are affected by poor mental health predominantly in the postnatal period. This is authenticated by the use of a validated and tested Edinburg Postnatal Depression scale (EPNS), which is a simple tool to measure depression among women after delivery by posing 10 questions and this is also validated in Odia language. Odisha has made laudable progress in delivering Maternal and Child Health care to women even in tribal-dominated districts through its robust Comprehensive Obstetrics care network restricting home delivery almost to a mere 4%-5% and reducing maternal deaths by 60%-70% as per the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5).

Cost-Effectiveness Analysis of Denosumab in the Prevention of Skeletal-Related Events Among Patients With Breast Cancer With Bone Metastasis in India.

Purpose: Denosumab is clinically superior to zoledronic acid (ZA) for preventing and delaying time to first and subsequent skeletal-related events (SREs) among patients with breast cancer (BC) with bone metastases. We evaluated the cost and health benefits of denosumab and ZA (once every 4 weeks and once every 12 weeks) among four different molecular subtypes of BC with bone metastases in India.

Materials And Methods: A Markov model was developed in Microsoft Excel to estimate lifetime health consequences and resulting costs among cohort of 1,000 patients with BC with bone metastasis, for three intervention scenarios, namely denosumab (once every 4 weeks), ZA (once every 4 weeks), and ZA (once every 12 weeks).

Rapid Decline of SARS-CoV-2 Viral Load in Single vs. Double-Dose (Short-Interval <6 Weeks) ChAdOx nCoV-19 Vaccinated Health-Care Workers.

The present work was carried out during the emergence of Delta Variant of Concern (VoC) and aimed to study the change in SARS CoV-2 viral load in Covishield vaccinated asymptomatic/mildly symptomatic health-care workers (HCWs) to find out the optimum isolation period. The SARS CoV-2 viral load was carried out in sequential samples of 55 eligible HCWs which included unvaccinated (UnV; n = 11), single-dose vaccinated (SDV, n = 20) and double-dose vaccinated [DDV, n = 24; short-interval (<6 weeks)] subjects. The mean load of envelope (E) gene on day 5 in SDV [0.

Understanding the diabetes self-care behaviour in rural areas: Perspective of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and healthcare professionals.

Background: Diabetes self-care behaviour plays a crucial role in managing the diabetes effectively and preventing complications. Patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and health care professionals (HCPs) of rural areas often face unique challenges when it comes to diabetes self-care practices (SCPs). Therefore, this study aim to explore the perspectives of patients with T2DM and HCPs on diabetes SCPs.

Effectiveness of a school-based behavioural change intervention in reducing chronic disease risk factors in Chandigarh, India: a cluster-randomised controlled trial.

Background: Early behavioural risk factors such as unbalanced diets, physical inactivity and tobacco and alcohol consumption lead to chronic diseases in later life. We conducted a cluster-randomised controlled trial to measure the effect of a school-based health-promotion intervention in reducing the behavioural risk factors of chronic diseases.

Methods: Twelve public schools in the Chandigarh, India were randomised to the intervention and control arm.

Lessons for TB from the COVID-19 response: qualitative data from Brazil, India and South Africa.

Background: Brazil, India and South Africa are among the top 30 high TB burden countries globally and experienced high rates of SARS-CoV-2 infection and mortality. The COVID-19 response in each country was unprecedented and complex, informed by distinct political, economic, social and health systems contexts. While COVID-19 responses have set back TB control efforts, they also hold lessons to inform future TB programming and services.

Leveraging Large Language Models (LLM) for the Plastic Surgery Resident Training: Do They Have a Role?

 Large language models (LLMs) are designed for recognizing, summarizing, translating, predicting, and generating text-based content from knowledge gained from extensive data sets. ChatGPT4 (Generative Pre-trained Transformer 4) (OpenAI, San Francisco, California, United States) is a transformer-based LLM model pretrained on public data as well as data obtained from third-party sources using deep learning techniques of fine tuning and reinforcement learning from human feedback to predict the next text. We wanted to explore the role of LLM as a teaching assistant (TA) in plastic surgery.

High prevalence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) antibodies among unvaccinated children of Chandigarh, Northwest India, in a household-based paediatric serosurvey post-second wave of pandemic (June to July 2021).

Objective: Current national severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) vaccination policy covers children aged >12 years. Unvaccinated, uninfected children remain susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 and play a role in community transmission, as paediatric infection is mostly mild or asymptomatic. To estimate the proportion of susceptible children in a community for public health measures, there is a need to assess the extent of natural infection.

Future thinking and anticipatory pleasure in adolescents with major depression: Association with depression symptoms and executive functions.

Objective: Impairments in episodic future thinking and anticipatory pleasure were noted to explain the depressive symptoms in adults however similar studies are not there in adolescents. This study examined whether there are impairments in episodic future thinking and anticipatory pleasure in clinically-depressed adolescents as compared to non-depressed adolescents, and their association with depression when controlled for executive functions and anxiety symptoms among the depressed adolescents.

Methods: The study included 29 adolescents with major depression and 29 adolescents from local schools through convenient sampling technique.

Experimental safety testing confirms that the NSAID nimesulide is toxic to Gyps vultures in India.

Population declines of Gyps vultures throughout South Asia were caused by unintentional poisoning by the NSAID diclofenac, which was subsequently banned. However, other vulture-toxic NSAIDs are available, including nimesulide, which, in experiments carried out in South Africa, was shown to be toxic to Gyps vultures. We report on safety-testing of nimesulide carried out on Himalayan Griffons G.

Patterns of exposure to smoked tobacco advertisements among youths in India and its association with smoked tobacco use: a Latent Class Analysis.

Objectives: Youths are exposed to multiple sources of tobacco advertisements. We sought to examine patterns of exposure to smoked tobacco advertisements through various modes among Indian youths and its association with smoked tobacco use.

Study Design: Cross-sectional survey design.

Distally based lateral supramalleolar flap for reconstructing distal foot defects in India: a prospective cohort study.

Purpose: Defects involving the ankle and foot are often the result of road traffic accidents. Many such defects are composite and require a flap for coverage, which is a significant challenge for reconstructive surgeons. Various locoregional options, such as reverse sural artery, reverse peroneal artery, peroneus brevis muscle, perforator-based, and fasciocutaneous flaps, have been used, but each flap type has limitations.