Dynamics of contraceptive use among women attending multi-speciality hospital in Faridabad district of Haryana

Background: Population of India is growing at a very fast rate while its resources are limited which will lead to decrease in per capita availability of resources. Contraceptive methods are the simplest way to address this issue of population explosion by preventing the unwanted pregnancies. The objective of this study was to assess awareness and practices regarding contraceptive use and its determinants among women attending gynecology OPD of multi-specialty hospital in Faridabad district of Haryana.  Methods: A cross-sectional study was planned among 200 patients from gynecology OPD in a multi-specialty hospital of Faridabad district of Haryana. The questionnaire consisted of questions about socio-demographic data and data related contractive awareness and practices. Data was analyzed by SPSS software version 21.0.Results: Mean age of study subjects was 29.4±4.3 years. Out of 200 participants, about one fourth (77.5%) were aware about contraception and more than half (59.5%) of them were using contraception methods. Factors like age and education status, occupation and area of residence were found to be statistically significantly (p<0.001) associated with contraception knowledge and practice. Barrier method was most common method of contraception followed by Oral contraceptive pills.Conclusions: This study concludes that knowledge about contraception was high as about one fourth (77.5%) were aware about contraception while practice of contraception was relatively low as compare to knowledge as two fifth (40.5%) of them were not using any contraception methods. So, there is a need to increase awareness about importance of contraception practice among study population

Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy (4th edition)

In 2008, we published the first set of guidelines for standardizing research in autophagy. Since then, this topic has received increasing attention, and many scientists have entered the field. Our knowledge base and relevant new technologies have also been expanding. Thus, it is important to formulate on a regular basis updated guidelines for monitoring autophagy in different organisms. Despite numerous reviews, there continues to be confusion regarding acceptable methods to evaluate autophagy, especially in multicellular eukaryotes. Here, we present a set of guidelines for investigators to select and interpret methods to examine autophagy and related processes, and for reviewers to provide realistic and reasonable critiques of reports that are focused on these processes. These guidelines are not meant to be a dogmatic set of rules, because the appropriateness of any assay largely depends on the question being asked and the system being used. Moreover, no individual assay is perfect for every situation, calling for the use of multiple techniques to properly monitor autophagy in each experimental setting. Finally, several core components of the autophagy machinery have been implicated in distinct autophagic processes (canonical and noncanonical autophagy), implying that genetic approaches to block autophagy should rely on targeting two or more autophagy-related genes that ideally participate in distinct steps of the pathway. Along similar lines, because multiple proteins involved in autophagy also regulate other cellular pathways including apoptosis, not all of them can be used as a specific marker for bona fide autophagic responses. Here, we critically discuss current methods of assessing autophagy and the information they can, or cannot, provide. Our ultimate goal is to encourage intellectual and technical innovation in the field