Adolescent childbearing in sub-Saharan Africa

This article examines whether increased years of schooling exercised a consistent impact on delayed childbearing in sub-Saharan Africa. Data were drawn from Demographic and Health Surveys conducted in eight countries over the period 1987-1999. Multiple logistic regressions were used to assess trends and determinants in the probability of first birth during adolescence. Girls' education from about the secondary level onwards was found to be the only consistently significant covariate. No effect of community aggregate education was discernible, after controlling for urbanity and other individual-level variables. The results reinforce previous findings that improving girls' education is a key instrument for raising ages at first birth, but suggest that increases in schooling at lower levels alone bear only somewhat on the prospects for fertility decline among adolescents.adolescence, Africa, developing countries, education, fertility, fertility determinants

Computerized Morphometric Analysis of Human Femoral Articular Cartilage

Objective. Articular cartilage shows changes with age that are considered to be the most important factors in the development and progression of osteoarthritis. The studies on age changes in articular cartilage have been traditionally based on individual observations but this approach is limited by its subjectivity and bias, yielding considerable variability. So the present study was conducted to observe various age related changes in morphology of femoral articular cartilage using computerized morphometric analysis. Design. The articular cartilage specimens were divided into two groups according to age: group 1 (n = 16) below 40 years (16–40 years) and group 2 (n = 12) above 40 years (41–86 years) of age. 5 μm thick paraffin sections were stained with H&E and analyzed using Image Pro Express image analysis software for quantitative analysis of articular cartilage. Various parameters, that is, total thickness of the cartilage, area of lacunae in each zone, area of subchondral cavities, and number of chondrocytes per 10,000 μm2 area in each zone were measured. Results. Significant difference with age was found in the total thickness and area of lacunae in zone 3. Conclusions. Not much difference is observed in articular cartilage morphology with age. So ageing is not the only risk factor in development of osteoarthritis

TRIVIDHA KARMA IN SURGICAL PARLANCE- A CONCEPTUAL STUDY

In Ayurvedic classics there are various types of treatment and Shastra chikitsa is one among them. Purva Karma Pradhana Karma, Paschat Karma are Trividha Karma. According to Acharya Sushruta, Purva Karma means preparation of patient along with collecting all the materials needed during the Pradhana karma. Ashtaviddha Shastra Karma is included in Pradhana Karma. Paschat Karma includes post operative care. Sushruta division of surgical activity into three parts i.e., pre- operative, operative and post-operative based on sound scientific principles. Sushruta has also described the pre-operative appreciation of foreign body, its size, shape, and exact location within the body and appropriate instrument for its removal should be selected pre-operatively. He has also mentioned the pre-operative diet and starvation for various types of surgeries. He has also emphasized that asepsis and antisepsis precaution should be taken, wound should be protected from dangerous and invisible creatures (Nishachara). Fumigation of Vranitaagara should be done for ten days, twice a day. By virtue of this article, we can understand the systematic method of arranging the surgical experience of arranging the surgical experience of the older surgeon, about preliminary measures, principal measures and after measures. All the procedures included under these three headings i.e., Trividdha karma plays an important role in successful and complication free surgery

Adolescent reproductive behaviour in Northeast Brazil : trends and differentials

Thèse numérisée par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal

Comprendre les dynamiques de l’utilisation des contraceptifs oraux au Brésil : facteurs associés avec l’interruption, l’échec et le changement de méthode contraceptive

La prévalence de la contraception est relativement élevée parmi les femmes brésiliennes, la pilule étant la méthode réversible la plus populaire. Cependant, des disparités en matière d’événements reproductifs persistent selon la région de résidence et le groupe social. Cette étude analyse les facteurs associés avec l’interruption, l’échec et le changement de méthode contraceptive au Brésil, dans le but d’améliorer la base factuelle sur les dynamiques de la pratique contraceptive. Des modèles statistiques de mesure de risque concurrent multi-niveaux sont appliqués aux données provenant de l’Enquête démographique et de santé de 1996. Les résultats indiquent que les risques les plus faibles d’échec contraceptif et d’abandon de la contraception – c’est-à-dire le fait de ne plus recourir à aucune méthode –, sont associés à certaines caractéristiques dont on soupçonne fortement qu’elles sont reliées à une plus grande motivation pour la régulation de la fécondité. Ces caractéristiques sont, notamment, l’âge de la femme, son niveau d’études et son exposition aux médias. En outre, la probabilité de passer de la pilule au condom, d’un intérêt particulier dans cette ère du VIH/SIDA, augmente avec la scolarité. Élargir l’accès aux différentes méthodes contraceptives, améliorer la connaissance chez le personnel de la santé des technologies contraceptives et accroître la supervision médicale de la pratique contraceptive pourraient être considérés comme les clés de l’amélioration de la qualité des services de santé reproductive.Contraceptive prevalence is relatively high among Brazilian women, with orals the most popular reversible method. However, important differentials persist across regions and social groups in reproductive outcomes. This study examined the factors associated with discontinuation, failure and switching of orals in Brazil, with the aim of increasing the evidence base on contraceptive use dynamics. Multilevel competing risks hazard models were applied to data from the 1996 Demographic and Health Survey. Results showed lower risks of contraceptive failure and of switching to no method associated with certain characteristics-notably woman’s age, education and media exposure-presumably related to increased motivation for fertility control. The risk of switching from orals to condoms, of particular interest in the era of HIV/AIDS, increased with level of education. Expanding access to a range of contraceptive methods, improving knowledge among health agents of contraceptive technologies and increasing medical supervision of contraceptive practice may be considered key to expanding quality reproductive health care services for all

Role of Vitamin D from sun in breast cancer Prevention

For our vitamin-D needs the solar ultraviolet B photons (290-315 nm) penetrates into the skin where they cause the photolysis of 7-dehydrocholesterol to precholecalciferol. Once formed, precholecalciferol undergoes a thermally induced rearrangement of its double bonds to form cholecalciferol.The majority of South Asians never reached sufficiency in vitamin D status. Lifestyle differences, with lower oral intake, sun exposure and rates of cutaneous production due to darker skin, indicate that standard advice on obtaining sufficient vitamin D needs modification for the South Asian community. This becomes more important when required for cancer prevention. In view of ample evidences,1-6 of protective role of sun exposure especially in breast cancer as it raises vitamin D leve7, It is felt that there is need that it be highlighted in cancer preventionguidelines. There is need to generate country/region specific data also to document quantitative narration ontime and type of sun exposure for cancer prevention. Serum vitamin D status of American people using data of National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2012 in USA(NHANES)8reported serum 25 (OH) D among 20-49 yrs age group (n=5454) 62.06±0.84 nmol/L, higher than average 25nmol/L in south Asian population in this report. Some of the reasons for low vitamin D are old age, female gender, high altitude, dark skin, less sun light, dietary habits and absence of vitamin D in diet

Cost of Conservation of Agrobiodiversity

The cost of conservation of germplasm stored in gene banks i.e., ex-situ collections has been studied in other parts of the world to estimate direct and indirect contributions by various actors involved in conservation. This is the first study of its kind in India done in collaboration with National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources, New Delhi. This was part of a sponsored research by Centre for Development Research, Germany. The limitations of this study are also listed so that future research in this regard can be pursued better. One of the costs not included is the cost of sharing data with local communities for enabling them to access germplasm in times of need. This is an important component of conservation and would require translation of gene bank and associated database in local language, making them available through public kiosks. This cost has not been included in any study on the subject so far. Separately, studies are underway to look at the conservation of germplasm under in-situ conditions.

Outdoor Time is Not Associated with Metabolically Healthy Overweight and Obesity Phenotype in Canadian Children Aged 6-14 Years

International Journal of Exercise Science 13(2): 383-394, 2020. A large proportion of children living with obesity have favorable cardiometabolic profiles despite their adiposity levels, who are referred to as metabolically healthy overweight or obese (MHO). However, the contribution of active outdoor time to the MHO phenotype is unknown. The purposeof this study was to investigate the association between outdoor time and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) with the MHO phenotype. A cross-sectional analysis of overweight/obese children aged 6-14 (n= 386) from the Canadian Health Measures Survey was performed. Outdoor time was self-reported using five questions in relation to the school schedule to produce a computed score ranging from 0-25. MVPA was measured using accelerometers. The MHO phenotype was defined based on the absence of cardiometabolic risk factors: triglycerides, HDL-cholesterol, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, and glucose (MHO: 0 cardiometabolic risk factors). The proportion of children living with obesity with the MHO phenotype was 58.5%. No significant differences were observed between MHO and non-MHO according to outdoor time or MVPA (p \u3e 0.05). Logistic regressions indicated that outdoor time was not significantly associated with the MHO phenotype (OR: 0.99, 95% CI = 0.92-1.06; p = 0.694), while MVPA was significantly associated with the MHO phenotype (OR: 1.41, 95% CI = 1.01-1.98; p = 0.047) after adjusting for confounders.We conclude that outdoor time is not associated with the MHO phenotype, even though Canadian children living with obesity are more likely to be MHO with greater amounts of MVPA, regardless of whether these activities are completed outdoors or not