Age at Menarche and Menstrual Problems Among School‑Going Adolescent Girls of a North Indian District

Background: Menstruation and related problems are difficult issues for adolescent girls and are a common reason for consulting healthcare providers.Objectives: To study age at menarche and menstrual problems among school girls in Lucknow district of north India.Materials and Methods: A cross‑sectional study was carried out in urban as well as rural schools of Lucknow district from October 2008 to September 2009. Multistage random sampling was used to select the requisite number of girls. A total of 847 school‑going adolescent girls between 10 and 19 years of age were interviewed and examined. Statistical analyses were done using percentage and Chi‑square test. Results: Out of 847 adolescent girls, 76.7% (650) girls had attained menarche. The overall mean age at menarche was 12.84 (1.4) years. The age at menarche and duration of menstrual flow were significantly associated with place of schools. About one‑fourth of the girls in all the three age groups (10‑13, 14‑16 and 17‑19 years) had irregular menstrual cycle. Overall, 73.7% (479/650) girls had dysmenorrhea, with 74.3% (323/435) girls in urban schools and 72.6% (156/215) girls in rural schools. There was no significant association between reproductive tract illnesses and place of schools.Conclusion: Menstruation is an important milestone for adolescent girls and menstrual problems are common among adolescent girls. So, there is a need to explain everything correctly about menstruation. It was suggested that a strong need exists for strong health educational activities among the adolescent girls, their parents, and teachers for effective management of menstrual problems among all adolescent girls. Keywords: Adolescent girls, dysmenorrhea, Lucknow district, menstruatio

Boondh: The journey of a raindrop in the drylands

This book gives you glimpses of our work in 13 project sites and also features path breaking initiatives that were successfully implemented at other sites in India

Patterned surfaces with the controllable drug doses using inkjet printing

Data availability: The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request

Stripes and the t-J model

We investigate the two-dimensional t-J model at a hole doping of x = 1/8 and J/t = 0.35 with exact diagonalization. The low-energy states are uniform (not striped). We find numerous excited states with charge density wave structures, which may be interpreted as striped phases. Some of these are consistent with neutron scattering data on the cuprates and nickelates.Comment: 4 pages; 4 eps figures included in text; Revte

Lattice anisotropy as microscopic origin of static stripes in cuprates

Structural distortions in cuprate materials offer a microscopic origin for anisotropies in electron transport in the basal plane. Using a real-space Hartree-Fock approach, we consider the ground states of the anisotropic Hubbard (t_x \ne t_y) and t-J (t_x \ne t_y, J_x \ne J_y) models. Symmetrical but inhomogeneous (``polaronic'') charge structures in the isotropic models are altered even by rather small anisotropies to one-dimensional, stripe-like features. We find two distinct types of stripe, namely uniformly filled, antiphase domain walls and non-uniform, half-filled, in-phase ones. We characterize their properties, energies and dependence on the model parameters, including filling and anisotropy in t (and J). We discuss the connections among these results, other theoretical studies and experimental observation.Comment: 18 pages, 16 figures, 8 table

Charge and Spin Dynamics of an Ordered Stripe Phase in La_(1 2/3)Sr_(1/3)NiO_4 by Raman Spectroscopy

For La_(1 2/3)Sr_(1/3)NiO_4 -- a commensurately doped Mott-Hubbard system -- charge- and spin-ordering in a stripe phase has been investigated by phononic and magnetic Raman scattering. Formation of a superlattice and an opening of a pseudo-gap in the electron-hole excitation spectra as well as two types of double-spin excitations -- within the antiferromagnetic domain and across the domain wall -- are observed below the charge-ordering transition. The temperature dependence suggests that the spin ordering is driven by charge ordering and that fluctuating stripes persist above the ordering transition.Comment: 5 pages, 4 EPS figures; to appear in Phys. Rev. Let

Antiferromagnetism and phase separation in electronic models for doped transition-metal oxides

We investigate the ground state properties of electronic models for doped manganites and nickelates. An effective t - J like Hamiltonian is derived from the case of strong Hund coupling between the conduction electrons and localized spins by means of the projection technique. An attractive interaction for conduction electrons and an anti-ferromagnetic coupling of the localized spin are obtained. A large ratio of the attraction to effective electron hopping, which is modulated by the spin background, will lead to the phase separation. The anti-ferromagnetic phase and the phase separation appear in the case of either high or low density of electrons. The possible relevance of the phase separation to the charge stripe phase in the manganites and nickelates is discussed.Comment: 12 pages, ReVTEX, 3 figures. To appear in Phys. Rev. B (RC), (01Oct., 1998

Spin Dynamics in an Ordered Stripe Phase

Inelastic neutron scattering has been used to measure the low-energy spin excitations in the ordered charge-stripe phase of La(2)NiO(4+d) with d=0.133. Spin-wave-like excitations disperse away from the incommensurate magnetic superlattice points with a velocity ~60% of that in the d=0 compound. Incommensurate inelastic peaks remain well-resolved up to at least twice the magnetic ordering temperature. Paramagnetic scattering from a d=0.105 sample, which has a N\'eel-ordered ground state, shows anomalies suggestive of incipient stripe correlations. Similarities between these results and measurements on superconducting cuprates are discussed.Comment: 5 pp, 2 col., REVTeX, 4 epsf figures embedded with psfig; Abstract and introduction have been revise