RESUMEN
Background: Uttar Pradesh is the most populated state of the country having population of 199.581 million and total fertility rate of 3.3 (annual health survey [AHS] 2012�13) with high fertile trajectory. Currently, female sterilization accounts for about 18.4% and male sterilization for 0.3% of all sterilizations in Uttar Pradesh (AHS 2012�13). A strategy to promote men's involvement in effective birth control is needed to reduce the population growth. Since no scalpel vasectomy (NSV) is an easy method but still not being utilized; hence, the purpose of this research is to ascertain various factors of nonutilization of NSV. Objectives: The objective of the study is (i) to determine the barriers among married males for adopting NSV as a method of family planning, (ii) to determine the awareness about NSV, (iii) to suggest measures to increase uptake of NSV by the people. Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out. A two-staged multistage random sampling technique was used. Lucknow is divided into eight Nagar Nigam zones. In the first stage, two urban slums from each geographical zone were selected randomly. In the second stage, from each selected slum a sample of 24 eligible households was selected at random to achieve the desired sample size. Results: It was observed that among the study participants maximum 89.2% perceived Sociocultural barriers, while 0.6% of the participants perceived service delivery barriers. However, 14% of the participants also perceived procedure-related barriers as the most important cause for not accepting NSV. Conclusion: Measures should be taken to remove these barriers, and increase uptake of NSV.
RESUMEN
Eriobotrya japonica locally called as loquat in Kashmir has been studied in various parts of the world but little work has been reported on Kashmiri loquat. The chemical nature of fruits and vegetables offers a great diversity of biological properties and plays an important role in the field of pharmacology. There is a quest for newer drugs with few adverse effects and this poses a challenge for the development of new drugs. The study was undertaken to study the activities of ethanolic extract of Eriobotrya japonica fruits in streptozotocin induced diabetic rats. The phytochemical screening of the plant was also done. The animals were divided into five groups. Normal Control group received only the vehicle. Toxic group included those animals in which diabetes was induced by streptozotocin. The 3rd group was those animals which received streptozotocin and standard antidiabetic drug-glibenclamide. 4th group included those diabetic animals which received 50 mg/kg b.w dose of fruits of Eriobotrya japonica. 5th group animals included those diabetic animals which received 100 mg/kg b.w of the plant extract. The biochemical parameters that were evaluated were blood glucose levels and lipid profile tests. The body weight was also checked. Histopathology of pancreas was also done. The results showed significant decrease in blood glucose levels, lipid profile tests in animals treated with different doses of the plant extracts. Histopathology of pancreas also showed positive results.
RESUMEN
The availability of safe and effective vaccines has renewed interest in the epidemiology of varicella worldwide. To date published data on the epidemiology of varicella in Pakistan is very scarce. Therefore, we conducted a study to determine the age-specific seroprevalence rate of varicella-zoster virus (VZV) antibodies in Pakistan. Between December 1997 and March 1998, 1,509 healthy volunteers aged between 1 month and 30 years were recruited from the Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi areas. Demographic information, socioeconomic status and past medical history were obtained by questionnaire. Serum samples were assayed for IgG antibodies against VZV by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Overall 41.8% (600/1,435) of those tested were found to be seropositive for VZV antibodies. No difference was found in results obtained from the different cities. A higher seroprevalence was observed among women (45.2%) compared to men (39.6%). Seroprevalence rates increased with age and were 28.4% in those aged 0-5 years, 41.5% in the 6-10 year age group, 42.5% in the 11-15 year age group, 46.7% in the 16-20 year age group and 53.6% in those aged 21-30 years. Socioeconomic status was not a significant risk factor for VZV seropositivity. This is the first report of the seroepidemiology of VZV in Pakistan. The results indicate that seroprevalence of VZV increases with age in the Pakistani population studied. As in other tropical countries, there is greater susceptibility to varicella among the adolescent and young adult population. The results of this study suggest that these at-risk groups should be included in vaccination programs aimed at reducing the public health impact of varicella.