Depression and its Association with Housing conditions and Family among Pregnant Women of Rural Varanasi

Background: Depressive disorders were the second leading cause of years lost due to disability in 2010 after low back pain and leading cause of disability adjusted life years (WHO 2010). Gestational depression may lead to low birth weight, premature births etc. Housing and family are important aspects of one daily life which if are unsatisfactory can increase stress level of its members. Aims & Objectives: The aim of this study is to see the relationship of housing and family with depression among pregnant women. Material & Methods: This is a community based cross sectional study of 220 pregnant women in 10 randomly selected villages of Chiraigaon, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh during one year period; using predesigned, pretested and semi structured interview schedule for assessing housing and family conditions. Results: Depression was found to be more in women living in kutcha house, nuclear family and illiterate husband, husband as head of family and belonging to lower socio-economic status. Increasing number of female child also increases depression. Conclusion: Housing structure, education of husband, socio-economic status and number of daughters should be assessed in every pregnant woman as these affect depressive state of pregnant women which can adversely affect the outcome of pregnancy

Natural Hazards Perspectives on Integrated, Coordinated, Open, Networked (ICON) Science

This article is about the state of ICON principles Goldman et al. (2021), https://doi. org/10.1029/2021EO153180 in natural hazards and a discussion on the opportunities and challenges of adopting them. Natural hazards pose risks to society, infrastructure, and the environment. Hazard interactions and their cascading phenomena in space and time can further intensify the impacts. Natural hazards’ risks are expected to increase in the future due to environmental, demographic, and socioeconomic changes. It is important to quantify and effectively communicate risks to inform the design and implementation of risk mitigation and adaptation strategies. Multihazard multisector risk management poses several nontrivial challenges, including: (a) integrated risk assessment, (b) Earth system data-model fusion, (c) uncertainty quantification and communication, and (d) crossing traditional disciplinary boundaries. Here, we review these challenges, highlight current research and operational endeavors, and underscore diverse research opportunities. We emphasize the need for integrated approaches, coordinated processes, open science, and networked efforts (ICON) for multihazard multisector risk management

Impact of COVID-19 on health services utilization in Province-2 of Nepal: a qualitative study among community members and stakeholders

Background The COVID-19 pandemic has posed unprecedented challenges and threats to the health care system, particularly affecting the effective delivery of essential health services in resource-poor countries such as Nepal. This study aimed to explore community perceptions of COVID-19 and their experiences towards health services utilization during the pandemic in Province-2 of Nepal. Methods The semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted among purposively selected participants (n = 41) from a mix of rural and urban settings in all districts (n = 8) of the Province 2 of Nepal. Virtual interviews were conducted between July and August 2020 in local languages. The data were analyzed using thematic network analysis in NVivo 12 Pro. Results The findings of this research are categorized into four global themes: i) Community and stakeholders’ perceptions towards COVID-19; ii) Impact of COVID-19 and lockdown on health services delivery; iii) Community perceptions and experiences of health services during COVID-19; and iv) COVID-19: testing, isolation, and quarantine services. Most participants shared their experience of being worried and anxious about COVID-19 and reported a lack of awareness, misinformation, and stigma as major factors contributing to the spread of COVID-19. Maternity services, immunization, and supply of essential medicine were found to be the most affected areas of health care delivery during the lockdown. Participants reported that the interruptions in health services were mostly due to the closure of health services at local health care facilities, limited affordability, and involvement of private health sectors during the pandemic, fears of COVID-19 transmission among health care workers and within health centers, and disruption of transportation services. In addition, the participants expressed frustrations on poor testing, isolation, and quarantine services related to COVID-19, and poor accountability from the government at all levels towards health services continuation/management during the COVID-19 pandemic. Conclusions This study found that essential health services were severely affected during the COVID-19 pandemic in all districts of Province-2. It is critical to expand and continue the service coverage, and its quality (even more during pandemics), as well as increase public-private sector engagement to ensure the essential health services are available for the population

SoCCAR: Detecting System-on-Chip Security Violations Under Asynchronous Resets

Modern SoC designs include several reset domains that enable asynchronous partial resets while obviating complete system boot. Unfortunately, asynchronous resets can introduce security vulnerabilities that are difficult to detect through traditional validation. In this paper, we address this problem through a new security validation framework, SoCCCAR, that accounts for asynchronous resets. The framework involves (1) efficient extraction of reset-controlled events while avoiding combinatorial explosion, and (2) concolic testing for systematic exploration of the extracted design space. Our experiments demonstrate that SoCCAR can achieve almost perfect detection accuracy and verification time of a few seconds on realistic SoC designs

COVID-19 vaccination up-take in three districts of Nepal

Vaccine hesitancy during the COVID-19 pandemic continues to be an issue in terms of global efforts to decrease transmission rates. Despite high demand for the vaccines in Nepal, the country still contends with challenges related to vaccine accessibility, equitable vaccine distribution, and vaccine hesitancy. Study objectives were to identify: 1) up-take and intention for use of COVID-19 vaccines, 2) factors associated with vaccine up-take, and 3) trusted communication strategies about COVID-19 and the vaccines. A quantitative survey was implemented in August and September 2021 through an initiative at the Nepali Ministry of Health and Population Department of Health Services, Family Welfare Division. Data were collected from 865 respondents in three provinces (Bagmati, Lumbini, and Province 1). Ordinal multivariate logistic regression was utilized to determine relationships between vaccination status and associated factors. Overall, 62% (537) respondents were fully vaccinated and 18% (159) were partially vaccinated. Those respondents with higher education (p \u3c .001) and higher household income (p \u3c .001) were more likely vaccinated. There were also significant differences in vaccine up-take across the three provinces (p \u3c .001). Respondents who were vaccinated were significantly more likely to perceive vaccines as efficacious in terms of preventing COVID-19 (p = .004) and preventing serious outcomes (p = .010). Among both vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals, there was a high level of trust in information about COVID-19 vaccines provided through local health-care workers [e.g. nurses and physicians]. These results are consistent with other findings within the South Asia region. Targeted advocacy and outreach efforts are needed to support ongoing COVID-19 vaccination campaigns throughout Nepal

Exploring potential strategies for globalization of New Zealand SMEs

In today’s competitive business environment, sustaining a competitive advantage in any form of business operation is not only dependent on the local market; an effective presence in global markets is also a critical element. This research focuses on exploring a potential strategy for globalization of New Zealand SMEs. This study identifies and develops a strategic model for New Zealand businesses to participate in global business communities, targeting those small and medium enterprises for which the migration to globalization is an enormous challenge. This strategic model aims to identify the barriers that constrain New Zealand SMEs from globalizing their international operations, and to review the factors which restrict them from entering a foreign market. The literature review (of this research) more precisely defines the topic, by considering the definitions of globalization, and international business in general. The New Zealand business environment, its working culture, and finally the SME sector within New Zealand businesses are explored. A qualitative approach was then followed, with the objective of gathering data from owners/managers of New Zealand SMEs. Twenty one interviews were conducted with the owners/managers of local SMEs from a mixed combination of business sectors and activities. The main focus was to interview businesses already having international operations, followed by those businesses willing to internationalize or export in the future, and those businesses that have not yet thought to enter a global market. A high percentage of response was received, and the information gathered from the interviews collated for further analysis. After analyzing the results of this study, it can be concluded that local SMEs are generally unwilling to establish relationships with their overseas counterparts. The attitudes of local SMEs were found to be somewhat unplanned towards globalization and so they are generally not successful in globalizing. These businesses also demonstrated a lack of cultural understanding of different nations, and approach international exporting in the same way as they do business in New Zealand, without considering the importance of cultural differences, sensitivities and diversity in approaching unalike nations. The study, therefore, considered all the challenges noted above, and developed a proposed strategic plan which could guide domestic SMEs to successfully globalize their business operations

The technique of laparoscopic hepatic bisegmentectomy with regional lymphadenectomy for gallbladder cancer

Background: Laparoscopic hepatic bisegmentectomy (s4b and s5) with regional lymphadenectomy (LHBRL) for patients with gallbladder cancer (GBC) is rarely reported. Aims: The aim of the study was to describe the technique of LHBRL in patients with GBC and to present our initial experience. Patients and Methods: This retrospective study was conducted on twenty patients with GBC who were considered for LHBRL by the described technique. These patients either had a suspicion of GBC (SGBC) or had an incidental diagnosis of GBC (IGBC). Appropriate statistical methods were applied. Results: Twelve patients (60%) had SGBC and eight patients (40%) had IGBC. Eighteen patients (90%) were females and median age was 50 (range: 28–70) years. Median (range) surgical blood loss was 120 ml (80–400), operation time was 300 (200–480) min and hospital stay was 5.5 (2–10) days. No patient had iatrogenic complication during LHBRL. Five (25%) patients required conversion to open method. Four patients (20%) who developed complications were managed conservatively. All but three patients (25%) with SGBC had a benign disease on final biopsy. TNM stage of 17 patients (85%) with adenocarcinoma was T1bN0 in 3 (17.6%), T2N0 in 6 (35.3%), T3N0 in 2 (11.7%) and T1-3N1 in 6 (35.3%). The median lymph node count was 10 (range: 4–24) and resection margins were negative (R0) in all. The overall survival was 82.3%. During a median follow-up of 22 months, two patients died due to disease recurrence and one patient died due to myocardial infarction. Conclusion: The described technique of LHBRL is safe and feasible for patients with GBC without extrahepatic involvement

Assessment of hand hygiene practices among rural population in Basti district of Uttar Pradesh

Background: Hand washing is a preventive method for prevention of most of the communicable disease. Hand washing with soap is the most effective and cost-effective method to reduce the global burden of infectious disease. Present study was conducted to study hand washing practices in rural population. Objectives: The objectives are as follows: (i) To assess the hand washing practices in rural areas (ii) To identify the factors associated with hand washing practices (iii) To determine the association between hand washing and infectious diseases. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out in rural area of Basti city of Uttar Pradesh to assess the knowledge, awareness and perception of hand washing practices by house to house survey during the period of July 2021 to September 2021. Data were collected by prevalidated and pre-tested questionnaire. Data were entered into Microsoft Excel and analyzed using SPSS version 17.0. Results: A total of 1245 participants were included in this study. A total of 26 participants were excluded in accordance with the exclusion criteria like incomplete information. All the participants (100%) practiced hand washing after defecation. The major source of information for motivation of hand washing was practices was family (41.9%) followed by school (38.3%) and mass media like Radio, Television etc. (19.8%). Literacy status plays significantly associated with medium of hand washing.Conclusion: Among all the study participants who practiced hand washing, majority of them used water with soap and is influenced by factors such as age, frequency of health facility visits, and previous infections. The efforts are needed to encourage hand washing practices in those who were only using water for hand washing

Internet addiction and sleep quality among adolescents in a peri-urban setting in Nepal: A cross-sectional school-based survey.

BackgroundExcessive use of the internet among adolescents often led to later bedtimes and poor sleep quality. This study assessed the relationship between internet addiction and sleep quality among adolescents in a peri-urban setting in Nepal.MethodThis cross-sectional study employed a questionnaire survey among 390 adolescent students recruited from two schools in Kirtipur Municipality in Nepal. The Internet Addiction Test and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index were used to assess internet addiction and poor sleep quality respectively. The association between internet addiction and sleep quality was analysed by logistic regression.ResultsOne-fifth (21.5%) of the participants were identified with borderline internet addiction and 13.3% with possible internet addiction. Poor sleep quality was found among 31% of the participants. Internet addiction was significantly associated with poor sleep quality (OR = 1.85, p = 0.022 for borderline, and OR = 3.98, p = ConclusionAdolescents with internet addiction were more vulnerable to suffer from poor sleep quality. It is recommended that municipalities and schools should aware the adolescent students on the adverse effects of excessive internet use including poor sleep quality. The findings have implications for adolescents, parents, school authorities and researchers