A Review of Evidence-Based Dating Violence Prevention Programs With Behavioral Change Outcomes for Adolescents and Young Adults.

Adolescent dating violence (DV) is not only a social but also a public health problem, necessitating the development and scale-up of prevention strategies. We conducted a review of the literature to identify adolescent and young adult DV prevention programs that have shown promising behavioral outcomes. The literature search covered articles published from 1996 to 2022 and indexed in Medline, Cochrane, Scopus, PsycINFO, and Embase. The review focused on programs implemented and evaluated in the United States or Canada that included intervention and comparison groups, a baseline assessment, and at least one post-assessment conducted after the intervention exposure. Promising behavioral outcomes were defined as positive, statistically significant differences between intervention and comparison groups with respect to DV perpetration or victimization or bystander behavior in relation to DV. A total of 118 articles were screened by abstract and read in-depth. Eighteen programs that met the inclusion criteria were identified. Of these programs, one showed reductions in DV victimization, six showed reductions in DV perpetration, and nine showed behavioral reductions in both violence perpetration and victimization. The review highlighted that while multiple programs have demonstrated efficacy in preventing or reducing intimate partner violence in North American youth populations, more robust research on the replication of these programs outside researcher-controlled environments is needed. Furthermore, issues with program inclusivity, such as with sex and gender-minority individuals, should be considered in future intervention development and replication research.

Fabrication of gelatin functionalized silver nanoparticles for blood group profiling.

We report the fabrication of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) surface functionalized with gelatin at different concentrations (G10/G20/G40 AgNPs) with an average particle size of ∼200 nm, bioconjugated with antisera antibodies (AsAbs) of the major and clinically significant blood groups (CSBGs) at different titres from neat to 1:128. Bioconjugation using ionic interaction at pH 7.4 enabled 'end-on' configuration, with the -NH2 group of the antibody free for interaction with the red blood cell antigen, as confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The tube agglutination test (TAT) revealed optimum agglutination with G20NPs, while SDS PAGE confirmed the optimal titre as 1:8 for the major blood groups A, B, AB and O. Bioconjugated AgNPs coated onto microtitre assay plates with the major blood groups and CSBGs to enable simultaneous identification, were validated against the TAT on 400 random blood samples for the major blood groups and revealed high accuracy (95%). While similar accuracy was seen for most of the CSBGs with only false negatives, the method was not found to be suitable for the Kell, Kidd and Duffy groups. The absence of false positives reflects high safety, and eliminates the risk of a mismatched blood transfusion. The method uses diluted blood and hence could enable point-of-care detection. The significantly lower AsAb requirement also provides a cost advantage.

Concomitant medication use and clinical outcome of repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS) treatment of Major Depressive Disorder.

BACKGROUND: Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS) is commonly administered to Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) patients taking psychotropic medications, yet the effects on treatment outcomes remain unknown. We explored how concomitant medication use relates to clinical response to a standard course of rTMS. METHODS: Medications were tabulated for 181 MDD patients who underwent a six-week rTMS treatment course. All patients received 10 Hz rTMS administered to left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), with 1 Hz administered to right DLPFC in patients with inadequate response to and/or intolerance of left-sided stimulation. Primary outcomes were change in Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology Self Report (IDS-SR30) total score after 2, 4, and 6 weeks. RESULTS: Use of benzodiazepines was associated with less improvement at week 2, whereas use of psychostimulants was associated with greater improvement at week 2 and across 6 weeks. These effects were significant controlling for baseline variables including age, overall symptom severity, and severity of anxiety symptoms. Response rates at week 6 were lower in benzodiazepine users versus non-users (16.4% vs. 35.5%, p = 0.008), and higher in psychostimulant users versus non-users (39.2% vs. 22.0%, p = 0.02). CONCLUSIONS: Concomitant medication use may impact rTMS treatment outcome. While the differences reported here could be considered clinically significant, results were not corrected for multiple comparisons and findings should be replicated before clinicians incorporate the evidence into clinical practice. Prospective, hypothesis-based treatment studies will aid in determining causal relationships between medication treatments and outcome.

Reassessment of risk factors for oral cancer.

A total of 140 cases of histologically confirmed oral cancer were evaluated for their demographic details, dietary habits and addiction to tobacco and alcohol using a pre-designed structured questionnaire at the Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences, Sevagram in Central India. These cases were matched with three sets of age and sex matched controls. Oral cancer was predominant in the age group of 50-59 years. Individuals on a non-vegetarian diet appeared to be at greater risk of developing oral cancer. Cases were habituated to consuming hot beverages more frequently and milk less frequently than controls. Consumption of ghutka, a granular form of chewable tobacco and areca nut, was significantly associated with oral cancer cases. Cases had been using oral tobacco for longer duration than controls, and were habituated to sleeping with tobacco quid in their mouth. Most cases were also addicted to smoking tobacco and alcohol consumption. Bidi (a crude cigarette) smoking was most commonly associated with oral cancer. On stratified analysis, a combination of regular smoking and oral tobacco use, as well as a combination of regular alcohol intake and oral tobacco use were significantly associated with oral cancer cases. Synergistic effects of all three or even two of the risk factors - oral tobacco use, smoking and alcohol consumption- was more commonly seen in cases when compared to controls.