To assess the adherence to antiretroviral therapy among HIV positive patients attending ART centres in Haryana and its effect on their quality of life

Background: Acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) is now considered as a manageable chronic illness with the availability of ART. A high level of adherence (>95%) is required for antiretroviral therapy to be effective. It is a syndrome that builds a vacuum in a person affecting his/her quality of life (QOL) as a whole. Aim& Objective: The aim of our study was to determine adherence and its effect on their quality of life among HIV/AIDS patients attending FIART (Facility Integrated Anti-retroviral therapy) clinic. Materials and Methods: Using a cross-sectional study design,  257 HIV positive patients receiving antiretroviral therapy at Facility integrated anti-retroviral therapy centre Ambala Haryana. QOL of patients taking ART was assessed using WHO-QOL-BREF questionnaire.  Results: Of 257 participants, 88.3% were found to be adherent, adherent to ART therapy and ambulatory had better QOL (p < 0.05) than their counterparts from other socio-clinical strata. Mean scores of physical (70.89±7.384), psychological (47.37±9.174), social (51.97±11.119) & environmental domains (52.33±9.081), were having highest in patients those who were adherent (adherence rate >95%) to ART therapy. Conclusion: Adherence to antiretroviral therapy in Haryana India is suboptimal. Intensive adherence counselling should be provided to all patients before initiation of antiretroviral therapy and on every visit to FIART centre

Estimating Time to Clear Pendency of Cases in High Courts in India using Linear Regression

Indian Judiciary is suffering from burden of millions of cases that are lying pending in its courts at all the levels. The High Court National Judicial Data Grid (HC-NJDG) indexes all the cases pending in the high courts and publishes the data publicly. In this paper, we analyze the data that we have collected from the HC-NJDG portal on 229 randomly chosen days between August 31, 2017 to March 22, 2020, including these dates. Thus, the data analyzed in the paper spans a period of more than two and a half years. We show that: 1) the pending cases in most of the high courts is increasing linearly with time. 2) the case load on judges in various high courts is very unevenly distributed, making judges of some high courts hundred times more loaded than others. 3) for some high courts it may take even a hundred years to clear the pendency cases if proper measures are not taken. We also suggest some policy changes that may help clear the pendency within a fixed time of either five or fifteen years. Finally, we find that the rate of institution of cases in high courts can be easily handled by the current sanctioned strength. However, extra judges are needed only to clear earlier backlogs.Comment: 12 pages, 9 figures, JURISIN 2022. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:2307.1061

Predictors of Practice of breast self-examination among women in District Ambala (Haryana)

Background: Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women and its early detection is critical to improve survival. Breast self-examination is a cheap, basic and non-intellectual method to detect breast cancer. Aims and objectives: 1To determine the knowledge, attitude and practices regarding breast self-examination2. To explain the various factors which affect the practice of BSE Material and Methods: The present study was carried out among 300 women residing in rural and urban areas of district Ambala using a self-designed pretested semi-structured questionnaire. Results: In this study 127 (42.3%) of the participants had heard of BSE and 107 (35.7%) of the participants knew how to perform BSE.  Overall, 47.7%, 30.3%, and 22% of the study participants had poor (<50%), medium (50–75%), and good knowledge (>75) on BSE, respectively. Educational qualification, knowing the three positions to perform BSE, knowing how often should BSE be done, taught how to do BSE, BSE is a useful tool to detect breast cancer were seen to be significantly associated   with practice of BSE. Conclusion: This study elucidates that the knowledge as well as practice of BSE was significantly low in the population. This study provides insights into the various factors which affect the practice of BSE

Glycemic Control and Its associated Determinants among Type II Diabetic Patients at Tertiary Care Hospital in North India

Introduction: Good glycemic control has been defined as achieving a target of fasting plasma glucose level of between 80 and 110 mg/dl, or glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA1C) of <7.0%. Poor glycemic control is highly correlated with chronic conditions related to the damaging effects of hyperglycaemia, resulting in serious complications. To restrict and delay the complications of diabetes mellitus, good glycemic control is essential. Objective: To identify the determinants associated with poor glycemic control among Type 2 diabetes mellitus patients. Method: A cross sectional study was conducted among 403 confirmed type 2 diabetic patients who attendedone of the tertiary care hospitals of North India over a period of six months (July- December 2021). The collected data was analysed using IBM SPSS version 28. Chi-square test was applied to compare various determinants of glycemic control. A p-value of <0.05 was considered to be statistically significant. Results: Out of 403 participants, 57.6% had poor glycemic control of diabetic condition. Higher age of participants, illiteracy, being overweight, having positive history of smoking and alcohol, longer duration of diabetes, participants taking both oral and insulin treatment for diabetes, taking medicine irregularly were the significant determinants of poor glycemic control. Conclusion: Higher percentage(57.6%) of poor glycemic control was observed in the study.To improve the glycemic control, efforts should be made towards improving modifiable factors like overweight, smoking, alcohol, regularity of medication etc. Good lifestyle interventions help in control of poor glycemic control

A Rare Manifestation of Cysticercosis Infestation

There are many causes of urticaria, which may vary from infections to malignancy. Among the infections, infestations by cysticercosis (larval stage of the tapeworm called Taenia solium) is an important cause. The present report is of forty four years old female who presented with urticaria and swelling on face. The swelling was later diagnosed as cysticercosis by noninvasive ultrasonography. The urticaria subsided after the treatment of cysticercosis. We report this case for rarity of its presentation. Key words: cysticercosis, chronic urticaria, Taenia solium, ultrasonograph

Managing sub-gingival fracture by multi-disciplinary approach: Endodontics-forced orthodontic extrusion and prosthetic rehabilitation

Traumatized anterior teeth with sub-gingival crown fractures are a challenge to treat. The management of sub-gingival fractures includes exposing the cervical margin followed by appropriate coronal restoration. The treatment modalities, which involve exposing the cervical margin, are surgical crown lengthening and orthodontic extrusion. This paper reports a case of fractured maxillary anterior tooth at the sub-gingival level that was managed by forced orthodontic extrusion after endodontic treatment followed by esthetic rehabilitation, a much forgotten technique not utilized routinely yet conservative and cost-effective

A study of menstrual hygiene management in urban and rural adolescent girls in Ambala (Haryana)

Background: Adolescent girls often lack knowledge regarding reproductive health including menstruation hygiene. Poor menstrual hygiene can be a precursor reproductive tract infections and even cancer cervix. Objectives: To study the menstrual hygiene management among rural and urban school going adolescent girls Material and Methods: A community based cross sectional study was conducted among 420 adolescent girls (10 - 19 years). A self-designed semi- structured questionnaire was used to study the knowledge and practise regarding menstrual hygiene. Results: Knowledge about menstruation before attainment of menarche was 69% in urban and 58.9% in rural. Mother was the main source of information. Still 23.6% girls were using cloth or towels as menstrual absorbent, and 26.6% girls in rural area were washing their menstrual absorbent to be reused.91.7% and 81% girls had some restriction during menstruation Conclusion:&nbsp; Awareness in urban adolescent girls was more in comparison to rural girls. The usage of sanitary pads was similar in both rural and urban areas. Menstrual hygiene was better in urban than rural areas. It is imperative that adolescent girls be educated about the, significance of menstruation, and proper hygienic practices during menstruation. Sex education in school curriculum can help in resolving misconceptions about menstruation

Exceptionally High Protection of Photocarcinogenesis by Topical Application of (-)-Epi gal locatechin-3-Gal late in Hydrophilic Cream in SKH-1 Hairless Mouse Model: Relationship to Inhibition of UVB-Induced Global DNA Hypomethylation

(-)-Epigallocatechin-3-gal late (EGCG) has been shown to have potent antiphotocarcinogenic activity, but it was required to develop a cream-based formulation for topical application. For topical application, we tested hydrophilic cream as a vehicle for EGCG. Treatment with EGCG (≈ 1 mg/cm2 skin area) in hydrophilic cream resulted in exceptionally high protection against photocarcinogenesis when determined in terms of tumor incidence, tumor multiplicity, and tumor size in a SKI-11-11 hairless mouse model. EGCG also inhibited malignant transformation of ultraviolet B (UVB)-induced papillomas to carcinomas. In order to determine the mechanism of prevention of photocarcinogenesis, we determined the effect of EGCG on global DNA methylation pattern using monoclonal antibodies against 5-methyl cytosine and DNA methyltransferase in the long-term UV-irradiated skin because altered DNA methylation silencing is recognized as a molecular hallmark of human cancer. We found that treatment with EGCG resulted in significant inhibition of UVBinduced global DNA hypomethylation pattern. Longterm application of EGCG did not show any apparent sign of toxicity in mice when determined in terms of skin appearance, lean mass, total bone mineral content, and total bone mineral density but showed reduction in fat mass when analyzed using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. These data suggest that hydrophilic cream could be a suitable vehicle for topical application of EGCG, and that EGCG is a promising candidate for future cancer therapies based on its influence on the epigenetic pathway