Factors associated with inequality in composite index of anthropometric failure between the tribal communities in wayanad district of Kerala.

Background: Tribal children in India bear a higher burden of undernutrition when compared to other communities. However, inequality within tribal communities is under-researched.

Objectives: To examine the factors associated with inequality in undernutrition between Paniya and Kurichiya tribal communities in Wayanad district of Kerala.

Human rights and legal dimensions of self care interventions for sexual and reproductive health.

Understanding the user, the health system, and the environment is key to ensuring that self care interventions for sexual and reproductive health are not only available but safe and empowering for all, say

Silent voices: institutional disrespect and abuse during delivery among women of Varanasi district, northern India.

Background: A considerable amount of qualitative evidence reporting abusive treatment of women during delivery by health providers is available. However, there is a dearth of information regarding the actual prevalence and nature of such abuse, which this study aimed to explore.

Methods: We conducted a community based cross-sectional study using a contextually adapted version of the Staha (meaning 'respect' in Swahili) project questionnaire among 410 rural women who delivered between June, 2014 to August 2015 at any health facility of Varanasi district, northern India.

Poverty, food security and universal access to sexual and reproductive health services: a call for cross-movement advocacy against neoliberal globalisation.

Universal access to sexual and reproductive health services is one of the goals of the International Conference on Population and Development of 1994. The Millennium Development Goals were intended above all to end poverty. Universal access to health and health services are among the goals being considered for the post-2015 agenda, replacing or augmenting the MDGs.

Design and methodology of a community-based cluster-randomized controlled trial for dietary behaviour change in rural Kerala.

Background: Interventions targeting lifestyle-related risk factors and non-communicable diseases have contributed to the mainstream knowledge necessary for action. However, there are gaps in how this knowledge can be translated for practical day-to-day use in complex multicultural settings like that in India. Here, we describe the design of the Behavioural Intervention for Diet study, which was developed as a community-based intervention to change dietary behaviour among middle-income households in rural Kerala.

Are social franchises contributing to universal access to reproductive health services in low-income countries?

A social franchise in health is a network of for-profit private health practitioners linked through contracts to provide socially beneficial services under a common brand. The early 21st century has seen considerable donor enthusiasm for promoting social franchises for the provision of reproductive health services. Based on a compendium of descriptive information on 45 clinical social franchises, located in 27 countries of Africa, Asia and Latin America, this paper examines their contribution to universal access to comprehensive reproductive health services.

The macroeconomic environment and sexual and reproductive health: a review of trends over the last 30 years.

The social services provided in any country are determined by resource allocation. How money is spent, the way in which programmes are organised, and the services that are prioritised can have important implications for health, including the sexual and reproductive health of men and women. Choices in how resources are allocated are influenced by a number of factors.

Community knowledge on malaria among febrile patients in an endemic district of Orissa, India.

Background & Objectives: Evidence on the community knowledge and perceptions on malaria are crucial to design appropriate health communication strategies for malaria control. Orissa, an Indian state with a large proportion of indigenous populations and hilly terrains contributes to the highest malaria burden in India. A study was undertaken to assess the knowledge on malaria among community members who had experienced fever and chills in the endemic district of Boudh in Orissa.

Complement component C1q and anti-hexon antibody mediate adenovirus infection of a CAR-negative cell line.

Realization of the potential clinical utility of recombinant adenovirus for gene therapy or vaccine development depends on a better understanding of the role of naturally occurring or therapy-induced anti-adenovirus antibodies. This study addresses the impact of anti-adenovirus neutralizing antibodies and the complement protein C1q on adenovirus infection of coxsackie and adenovirus receptor (CAR)-positive, and especially CAR-negative cells. Initially, transduction efficiency of adenovirus vectors was assessed in the presence or absence of human sera derived from healthy individuals that were seropositive for anti-adenovirus neutralizing antibodies.

Determination of particle heterogeneity and stability of recombinant adenovirus by analytical ultracentrifugation in CsCl gradients.

Recombinant adenoviruses (rAd), widely used as vectors for gene therapy, are generally purified by column chromatography and frequently contain empty capsids and other aberrant forms of virus particles. To determine particle heterogeneity we utilized analytical ultracentrifugation (AUC) in CsCl density gradients. Preparations of three different rAd vectors were assessed.

Investigations of PEGylated recombinant adenovirus, using fluorescein-labeled polyethylene glycol.

As with certain successful protein drug treatments, the attachment of polyethylene glycol (PEG) molecules to recombinant adenovirus (rAd) can augment their therapeutic potential. Unlike these proteins, the rAd particle has thousands of target sites for PEG conjugation. The reliable measurement of the average number of PEG molecules attached to the virion, or the degree of PEGylation (DP), is crucial not only for the characterization of PEGylated virus but also for optimization of the PEGylation reaction.

Characterization of hemodynamic events following intravascular infusion of recombinant adenovirus reveals possible solutions for mitigating cardiovascular responses.

Intravascular administration of recombinant adenovirus (rAd) in cancer patients has been well tolerated. However, dose-limiting hemodynamic responses associated with suppression of cardiac output have been observed at doses of 7.5 x 10(13) particles.

Characterization of empty capsids from a conditionally replicating adenovirus for gene therapy.

As virus vectors for gene therapy approach the goal of successful clinical treatment, it is increasingly necessary for the product to be fully characterized. Empty capsids are perhaps the main extraneous component of recombinant adenovirus (rAd) products that are purified by column chromatography. Two diverse rAd products, one a replication-defective rAd and the other a conditionally replicating rAd, show different protein compositions of their empty capsids.

Understanding health sector reforms and sexual and reproductive health services: a preliminary framework.

To understand the implications of health sector reforms for sexual and reproductive health services, there are three major dimensions to consider. The first two relate to the context in which health sector reforms are introduced: the characteristics of the health system, and that of reproductive and sexual health services located within it. The third dimension has to do with the content and scope of health sector reforms introduced into this context, and the actors and processes through which it is introduced.

Unmet need for reproductive health in India.

Using data from the National Family Health Survey of 1992-93 and the individual reproductive histories of a cross-section of 70 women from rural Tamil Nadu, this paper exposes the limited extent to which women in India have been able to achieve their reproductive intentions and the failure of health services to meet their considerable reproductive health needs. Of the 70 women, 69 had been unable to achieve their reproductive intentions, not only non-users of contraception but also ever-users, and all 69 had an unmet need for reproductive health services. Sterilisation is often the first and only method of contraception taken up and only after a series of wanted, mistimed and unwanted pregnancies, miscarriages, induced abortions and neonatal and infant deaths.