Menstrual hygiene management and menstrual problems among adolescent girls in an urban area in north India: A cross-sectional study.

Introduction: Most adolescent women face many restrictions, which become much more severe during menstruation. In India, millions of adolescent girls drop out of school every year due to menstruation-related problems and restrictions. Despite extensive research, a paucity of literature was observed on the level of knowledge, attitude, and practices of adolescent girls regarding menstruation.

Dielectric probing of low-temperature degradation resistance of commercial zirconia bio-ceramics.

Objectives: To investigate the effect of the stability of oxygen vacancies on the low-temperature degradation (LTD) resistance of two kinds of commercial zirconia-based materials (3Y-TZP ceramics and Ce-TZP/AlO composites) via the dielectric probing methods.

Methods: The commercial 3Y-TZP ceramics and Ce-TZP/AlO composites were prepared via conventional solid-state methods. Density, phase content, microstructure, strain, and biaxial flexural strength (BFS) of two materials were investigated using Archimedes method, XRD, SEM, strain-electric field (S-E) loops and ball-on-ring methods, respectively.

Study of the prevalence of tobacco consumption among apparently healthy adult males in an urban area.

Background: Keeping in view the role of tobacco consumption as a modifiable risk factor in various diseases and gaps in scientific knowledge among the apparently healthy adult male population in India, the researchers chose to undertake this study.

Materials And Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among apparently healthy adult males employed in various government offices to determine the prevalence of tobacco consumption. The minimum sample size to estimate a 95% confidence interval for the prevalence of tobacco consumption with 5% absolute precision was calculated to be 340.

A cross-sectional survey on fruit bat-human interaction in Pakistan; one health perspective.

Objective: Several factors, such as residential area topography, population density, and lack of infrastructure, were hypothesized to contribute toward respondents' knowledge, attitude, and practice regarding disease transmission. The present study was designed to investigate the knowledge, attitudes, and perception of human-fruit bat interaction by student respondents located in ten districts within the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces in Pakistan.

Method: A cross-sectional survey was conducted by trained enumerators in academic institutions using a structured questionnaire among student respondents (n = 1466), living in two topographically distinct (Mountainous and Plain) residential regions of the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) provinces in Pakistan regarding their history of bat encounters.

Rising trend of dengue in urban areas: A challenge.

Context: Dengue, a mosquito-borne illness, is endemic over 100 countries around the world. Dengue cases have been on rise in India in the past decade. The present study was conducted to describe dengue cases of a ward in an urban area.

Clinico-epidemiological study of an outbreak of typhoid in North India.

Introduction: Typhoid fever is endemic in India. There have been various outbreaks of typhoid fever reported from different parts of India. Considering the outbreak potential of typhoid, the present study was undertaken wherein an outbreak of typhoid occurred in a city in northern India.

Engineered resistance and risk assessment associated with insecticidal and weeds resistant transgenic cotton using wister rat model.

Stacking multiple genes into cotton crop to cop up multiple biotic stresses such as insects and weeds is a promising tool to save crop from losses. Transgenic cotton variety, VH-289, with double Bt and cp4EPSPS genes under the control of 35S promoter was used for the expression analyses and biosafety studies. The transgenic cotton plants were screened through PCR amplification of fragments, 1.

Study of impacts of brickkiln emanations on soil quality of agriculture lands in selected areas of District Bhimber, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan.

The pollution is hot issue of current era in world and the current study was carried to explore impacts of brickkilns' emanations on physiochemical properties of agricultural lands from District Bhimber of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Pakistan. In this research, various edaphic characteristics: pH, soil organic matter, organic carbon, water holding capacity, cation exchange capacity and heavy metal contamination in soils nearby of brickkilns were determined. The pH of soil ranged from 5.

Dielectric Barrier Discharge (DBD) Plasma Coating of Sulfur for Mitigation of Capacity Fade in Lithium-Sulfur Batteries.

Sulfur particles with a conductive polymer coating of poly(3,4-ethylene dioxythiophene) "PEDOT" were prepared by dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma technology under atmospheric conditions (low temperature, ambient pressure). We report a solvent-free, low-cost, low-energy-consumption, safe, and low-risk process to make the material development and production compatible for sustainable technologies. Different coating protocols were developed to produce PEDOT-coated sulfur powders with electrical conductivity in the range of 10-10 S/cm.

Performance Evaluation of a Carbon Nanotube Sensor for Fatigue Crack Monitoring of Metal Structures.

This article describes research that investigated the ability of a carbon nanotube (CNT) sensor to detect and monitor fatigue crack initiation and propagation in metal structures. The sensor consists of a nonwoven carrier fabric with a thin film of CNT that is bonded to the surface of a structure using an epoxy adhesive. The carrier fabric enables the sensor to be easily applied over large areas with complex geometries.

Impact of Hajj on the S. pneumoniae carriage among Indian pilgrims during 2016- a longitudinal molecular surveillance study.

Background: The population flow dynamics of Hajj increases the probability of pneumococcal acquisition and amplification among Hajis. This multi-site longitudinal molecular surveillance study was designed to assess the impact and potential variations of pneumococcal carriage in a single cohort of pre and post-Hajj pilgrims from India.

Method: A total of 3228 pre and post-Hajj, nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal swabs were collected from 807 pilgrims with an interval of 40 ± 5 days.

Evaluation of two cotton varieties CRSP1 and CRSP2 for genetic transformation efficiency, expression of transgenes Cry1Ac + Cry2A, GT gene and insect mortality.

Expression of the transgene with a desirable character in crop plant is the ultimate goal of transgenic research. Transformation of two Bt genes namely Cry1Ac and Cry2A cloned as separate cassette under 35S promoter in pKHG4 plant expression vector was done by using shoot apex cut method of Agrobacterium. Molecular confirmation of putative transgenic cotton plants for Cry1Ac, Cry2A and GT gene was done through PCR and ELISA.