ASSESSMENT OF REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH AWARENESS AMONG ADOLESCENT GIRLS IN A CITY OF SOUTH INDIA: AN INTERVENTIONAL STUDY.

Background: An adolescent in the age group of 10 – 19 years is subjected to the vicious cycle of early marriage, early and repeated pregnancies, poor nutrition and ill health. Betterment can only occur by educating them and promoting health awareness and healthy behavior among them. A study to identify the lacunae in awareness levels among this demographic and measures to overcome the same through targeted education is the need of the hour.Objectives: The objectives of this study are to assess the existing Reproductive Health awareness among adolescent girls and to evaluate the change in awareness levels after educational intervention.Methods: An educational interventional study was carried out in high schools and pre university colleges in a city in south India. A total of 800 students from Class VIII to XII from 6 educational institutions were studied using a standardized, pre validated questionnaire.Results: The mean age of the study population was found to be 14.91 (+ 1.45) years. Teaching intervention improves knowledge on reproductive and sexual health (p < 0.001). Predictors of poor pre intervention knowledge levels: those with uneducated fathers (OR= 0.31, p=0.005); not on social networking sites (OR= 0.23, p<0.001); lower age (early adolescence) (OR= 2.46, p<0.001); school going adolescents (OR= 3.47, p<0.001)Conclusion: This study highlights the gross lacunae present among adolescent girls with respect to reproductive and sexual health awareness. Various measures must be put into place to ensure better reproductive health of the adolescent

Bilateral Variability of the Quadriceps Angle (Q angle) in an Adult Indian Population

Abstract Objective(s) The objective of this study was to document and explain bilateral differences in the Q angle. Materials and Methods Two hundred limbs of healthy adult Indian volunteers were studied. The Q angle was measured using a goniometric method with the subjects supine, quadriceps relaxed and lower limbs in neutral rotation. The relative lateral placement of the tibial tuberosity with respect to the centre of the patella was measured. Appropriate statistical tests were used to determine the bilateral variability in the Q angle and the lateral placement of the tibial tuberosity. Inter-observer variation of the above mentioned parameters were studied in twenty limbs. Results The average Q angle value of all the 200 limbs was 12.73 °C; the mean value on the right was 12.86 °C and 12.60 °C on the left. When the Q angle and the lateral placement of the tibial tuberosity were considered in pairs a significant difference was noted in males. The Q angle value on the right side was more often greater than the left. The relative lateral placement of the tibial tuberosity showed a significant positive correlation with the Q angle. The intra-class correlation coefficient was 0.66 for the Q angle and 0.8 for the lateral placement of the tibial tuberosity. Conclusion The present study shows that bilateral variability in the Q angle could be attributed to an alteration of the relative placement of the tibial tuberosity with respect to the centre of the patella

Commonly reported negative experiences on social media are associated with poor mental health and well-being among adolescents: results from the “LifeOnSoMe”-study

IntroductionCyberbullying has been extensively studied and is associated with adverse mental health outcomes in adolescents. However, adolescents may also experience a range of other negative experiences, such as name-calling, threats, exclusion, and unwanted attention or contact from others. Few studies have investigated how adolescents’ mental health is affected by these relatively common and less severe types of negative experiences on social media (SOME). To assess the association between mental health outcomes and two aspects of negative experiences on SOME; unwanted attention and negative acts and exclusion.MethodsThis study is based on a survey conducted in 2020/21 consisting of 3,253 Norwegian adolescents (56% female, Mage = 17 years). Eight statements about negative experiences on SOME were asked and combined into two composite measures: “Unwanted attention from others” and “Negative acts and exclusion.” Dependent variables in regression models were symptoms of anxiety, symptoms of depression, and mental well-being. Covariates in all models included age, gender, subjective socioeconomic status, and amount of SOME-use.ResultsBoth “negative acts and exclusion” and “unwanted attention from others” on SOME were consistently positively associated with self-reported symptoms of depression and anxiety, and negatively associated with mental well-being in both crude and adjusted analysis.DiscussionThe results are indicative of an important relationship between experiencing negative events on SOME, even presumably less severe events, and worse mental health and well-being. Future research should extricate the potential causal relationship between negative experiences on SOME and mental health, as well as exploring potential precipitating and intermediating factors

Menstrual history in women with down syndrome - A review

The parents of 130 Down Syndrome (DS) females aged 15 to 40 years were requested to pen the information about the menstrual cycle details. Only 10 responded to the request. In view of the absence of information on DS in India regarding menstrual history, the present investigation has been undertaken. It has given the following observations: The axillary and pubic hair is present in most of the females. Most of them have a normal voice. As for the menstrual history, the age of onset of menstruation was at an average age of 15.5 years, the previous and the present menstrual history are normal in most of them. None of the females have pain during menstruation, premenstrual tension or mid menstrual pain or spotting. Most of them need help in changing sanitary pads. One has been hysterectomized. Hence, appropriate regular gynecological care is emphasized

Management of developmental anomalies in maxillary lateral incisors: A case series

Talons cusp and palate-radicular groove are commonly occurring developmental anomalies in permanent maxillary lateral incisors. These anomalies present with various esthetic and functional complications that require prophylactic and definitive treatment plans. It is essential to have a thorough knowledge of these anomalies for their correct diagnosis and successful management. This case series presents etiology and various treatment modalities for the management of these commonly occurring developmental anomalies in the maxillary lateral incisors

Qualitative Dermatoglyphics In Idiopathic Epilepsy

Genetic aetiology has been proposed for both idiopathic epilepsy and dermatoglyphics. Hence, the present study has been undertaken to find out the existence of any correlation between dermatoglyphics and idiopathic epilepsy. Material consisted of 100 patients (58 males and 42 females) and 100 controls (52 males and 48 females). Patient′s age ranged from 5 to 40 years and controls were between 18 and 25 years. Dermatoglyphics were obtained by painting method. Qualitative parameters observed were percentage frequency of fingerprint patterns (loops, whorls and arches,), patterns in hypothenar area/ interdigital are and flexion creases (Simian crease, sydney line). On comparison with controls, in males, with hands combined, loops (52.24%) and arches (7.93%) were increased and whorls (39.83%) were decreased (p<0.05). In females, with hands combined, arches (13.1%) and whorls (36.43%) were increased and loops (50.48%) were decreased (p< 0.03). Significant differences have not been observed for the patterns in hypothenar area /interdigital area and flexion creases. These dermatoglyphics features could be used as additional markers to evaluate patients of epilepsy

Mitotic index in Down syndrome - Is it an indicator of immunological status

Down syndrome (DS) is a condition in which the genes on chromosome 21 occur in three copies. This is supposed to influence the growth in the tissues of the body and this could lead to a decreased mitotic index. In view of this, the present investigation was carried out using peripheral lymphocyte culture to find out whether there is a change in mitotic index in DS patients. Mitotic index in male and female patients was reduced to an average of 3.64 and 3.82 respectively. Thus, the index could be an indicator of the reduced immunological status of the individual with DS

Management of self-inflicted dental injuries with various nonsurgical techniques: Case series

Children have a common habit of exploring carious or traumatically exposed teeth using various foreign objects such as metal screws, staple pins, darning needles, pencil leads, beads, paper clip, and toothpicks, which may sometimes break inside the pulp chamber or root canal. Majority of such cases are asymptomatic and hence diagnosed accidentally on routine radiographic examination. However, embedded foreign objects may sometimes act as a potential source of infection and are convoyed with pain or recurrent swelling. Dentists must be aware of the self-inflicted dental injury, its consequences, and selection of the all-inclusive treatment strategies giving due consideration to cost-benefit ratio of the different treatment options. This case series highlights the possible dental consequences of placing foreign objects in the mouth and various management strategies. Four cases of self-inflicted dental injuries involving patients aged 10–20 years are presented and investigated from the endodontic, pedodontic, and psychiatric viewpoints. In all cases, the cause has been easily identified by clinical appearance corroborated with a good history. This paper discusses a nonsurgical technique to retrieve these objects from the root canal with minimal damage to internal tooth structure

Heterotypic interactions can drive selective co-condensation of prion-like low-complexity domains of FET proteins and mammalian SWI/SNF complex

Abstract Prion-like domains (PLDs) are low-complexity protein sequences enriched within nucleic acid-binding proteins including those involved in transcription and RNA processing. PLDs of FUS and EWSR1 play key roles in recruiting chromatin remodeler mammalian SWI/SNF (mSWI/SNF) complex to oncogenic FET fusion protein condensates. Here, we show that disordered low-complexity domains of multiple SWI/SNF subunits are prion-like with a strong propensity to undergo intracellular phase separation. These PLDs engage in sequence-specific heterotypic interactions with the PLD of FUS in the dilute phase at sub-saturation conditions, leading to the formation of PLD co-condensates. In the dense phase, homotypic and heterotypic PLD interactions are highly cooperative, resulting in the co-mixing of individual PLD phases and forming spatially homogeneous condensates. Heterotypic PLD-mediated positive cooperativity in protein-protein interaction networks is likely to play key roles in the co-phase separation of mSWI/SNF complex with transcription factors containing homologous low-complexity domains