Boundedness of smooth bilinear square functions and applications to some bilinear pseudo-differential operators

This paper is devoted to the proof of boundedness of bilinear smooth square functions. Moreover, we deduce boundedness of some bilinear pseudo-differential operators associated with symbols belonging to a subclass of $BS^0_{0,0}$.Comment: 27 page

COVID-19 and impairment of mental health: public health perspective

Objectives: The objective of the article is to understand the impact of COVID-19 on the mental health of the members of the general population. Introduction: The coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has forced the public health authorities to implement unprecedented public health measures with an intention to control the spread of the infection. Methods: An extensive search of all materials related to the topic was carried out in the PubMed search engine and World Health Organization website and a total of 27 articles were selected based upon the suitability with the current review objectives. Results: In order to reduce the caseload and interrupt the chain of transmission of the novel viral infection, it was envisaged that people should stay indoors unless it is extremely essential. This intervention did play its part in reducing the caseload, but significantly affected the daily routine of the people, which in turn accounted for a significant impact on the mental health of the people. Considering the ongoing development and the impact of COVID-19 infection on the mental health of people, there is an immense need to implement strategies to improve the lifestyle of the general population and the health care professionals. Conclusion: To conclude, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has created a state of public health emergency on the global scale. The infection has impacted people from all walks of life and is also responsible for precipitating a number of psychological and mental disorders. Thus, it is the need of the hour to identify those individuals who are prone to psychological disorders, and take urgent steps to ensure the preservation and improvement of the mental health of people. Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic; Mental health; Depression

Community monitoring: A strategy to watch out for

India’s National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) was launched in 2005 on a nationwide scale with a vision to provide universal access to equitable, affordable and quality health care. In particular, it aims to meet the health needs of the poor and vulnerable in mostly rural areas, such as women, children and the elderly. The Mission is distinguished by in-built flexible mechanisms, so that local needs and priorities can be identified and addressed and local initiatives promoted. Central to these mechanisms is the role of community ownership and participation in management, which is seen as an important prerequisite within the NRHM. This article explores the development and use of community-based monitoring (CBM), which involves drawing in, activating, motivating and capacity building so that the community and its representatives can directly give feedback about the functioning of public health services, including input to improving planning of those services. The focus of this monitoring process is mainly on ‘fact finding’ and ‘learning lessons for improvement' rather than on ‘fault finding’. This article describes the objectives and stages of CBM and also discusses its current status and challenges. The most important reasons for the success of CBM are strong civil society engagement, the involvement of public health personnel as well as the community as principal stakeholders, adequate geographic representation and the crucial role played by the Monitoring and Planning Committees. Community-based monitoring of health services is a key strategy of the NRHM to ensure that services reach those for whom they are intended. This framework is consistent with the ‘Right to Health Care’ approach since it places health rights of the community at the centre of the process. It also seeks to address gaps in the implementation of various programs, thereby enhancing transparency down to the grassroots level. Keywords: Community, community mobilisation, community monitoring, community ownership and participation in management, health care, public healt

Role of contact tracing in containing the 2014 Ebola outbreak: a review

Background: The 2014 outbreak of Ebola virus disease which emerged in the month of March in the year 2014 in Guinea has been declared as a public health emergency of international concern.Objectives: The objectives of the review article are to assess the role of contact tracing in the Ebola outbreak and to identify the challenges faced by the health workers while performing contact tracing.Methods: An extensive search of all materials related to the Ebola outbreak and contact tracing was carried out in PubMed, Medline, World Health Organization website and Google Scholar search engines. Keywords used in the search included Ebola virus disease, West-Africa, contact tracing, World Health Organization. Overall 60 articles were selected and included in the discussion.Results: Contact tracing is an important strategy in epidemiology and refers to the identification and diagnosis of those individuals who have come in contact with an infected person. It ultimately aims to reduce the time span required to detect and treat a case of an infectious disease and hence significantly minimize the risk of transmission to the subsequent susceptible individuals. In-fact, contact tracing continues to remain an important measure, as it aids the epidemiologist in containing the infection.Conclusion: The strategy of contact tracing has a great potential to significantly reduce the incidence of cases of Ebola virus disease. However, its success is eventually determined by the level of trust between the community and the public health system and the quality of the diagnostic & treatment services.Keywords: Ebola virus disease, West-Africa, contact tracing, World Health Organizatio

Mainstreaming of Ayurveda, Yoga, Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, and Homeopathy with the health care delivery system in India

AbstractIndia has a population of 1.21 billion people and there is a high degree of socio-cultural, linguistic, and demographic heterogeneity. There is a limited number of health care professionals, especially doctors, per head of population. The National Rural Health Mission has decided to mainstream the Ayurveda, Yoga, Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, and Homeopathy (AYUSH) system of indigenous medicine to help meet the challenge of this shortage of health care professionals and to strengthen the delivery system of the health care service. Multiple interventions have been implemented to ensure a systematic merger; however, the anticipated results have not been achieved as a result of multiple challenges and barriers. To ensure the accessibility and availability of health care services to all, policy-makers need to implement strategies to facilitate the mainstreaming of the AYUSH system and to support this system with stringent monitoring mechanisms

Sharp weighted estimates for multi-frequency Calder\'on-Zygmund operators

In this paper we study weighted estimates for the multi-frequency $\omega-$Calder\'{o}n-Zygmund operators $T$ associated with the frequency set $\Theta=\{\xi_1,\xi_2,\dots,\xi_N\}$ and modulus of continuity $\omega$ satisfying the usual Dini condition. We use the modern method of domination by sparse operators and obtain bounds $\|T\|_{L^p(w)\rightarrow L^p(w)}\lesssim N^{|\frac{1}{r}-\frac{1}{2}|}[w]_{\mathbb{A}_{p/r}}^{max(1,\frac{1}{p-r})},~1\leq r<p<\infty,$ for the exponents of $N$ and $\mathbb{A}_{p/r}$ characteristic $[w]_{\mathbb{A}_{p/r}}$

Fostering Directly Observed Treatment in Tuberculosis: A Program Manager’s Perspective

Global Tuberculosis (TB) report (2013) has revealed that an estimated 8.6 million people developed TB of which, India accounts for almost 26% of the cases. These estimates clearly suggest that the country’s efforts to achieve Millennium Development Goal 6 by 2015 have not delivered the desired output. In India, the TB prevention and control activities are supervised and implemented under the Revised National TB Control Program (RNTCP), which recognizes that implementation of a good quality Directly Observed Treatment with Short course chemotherapy (DOTS) is the first priority for TB control. Directly Observed Treatment (DOT) is the key element in DOTS strategy, in which a DOT provider insures and supports the patients in consuming their drugs throughout the course of treatment. In order to meet the country’s vision to achieve universal access of TB care, the RNTCP has launched a “treatment adherence scheme” (public-private partnership scheme). Further, an evidence-based integrated strategy should be formulated for addressing the identified barriers which advocates universal administration of DOT. To conclude, DOT in RNTCP insures long-term adherence to the treatment, with right drugs in right doses, at right intervals and thus plays an indispensable role in improving the outcome indicators of the program and the quality of life in patients