The association between access to key household resources and violence against women.

We provide the first comprehensive analysis of the association between two key household resources (drinking water and toilet access) and both non-partner violence (NPV) and intimate partner violence (IPV) experienced by women. We use data from a nationally representative household survey for India obtained from the latest (fourth) round of the National Family Health Survey conducted in 2015-16. We employ logistic regression method and also use inverse-probability-weighted regression adjustment to control for selection bias. We find that NPV decreases with access to drinking water, while IPV decreases with provision of toilets. These results are found to be robust to an alternative method viz. propensity score matching and selection on unobservables using the Rosenbaum bounds approach.

Efficacy of leflunomide as a steroid-sparing agent in treatment of Indian giant cell arteritis patients: A 2-year follow-up study.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the effectiveness of leflunomide as a steroid-sparing agent among Indian patients with giant cell arteritis (GCA) and to assess the changes of "halo sign" within affected arteries, detected ultrasonographically, after remission. METHODS: In this prospective observational study, patients fulfilling American College of Rheumatology criteria for GCA and having halo sign in temporal artery ultrasound were treated with leflunomide and predefined tapering dose of prednisolone. Ultrasounds of temporal and axillary arteries were done at baseline and after remission were achieved. RESULTS: Twenty-two GCA patients were followed up for a median duration of 24 months (interquartile range, IQR: 18-33). All patients showed clinical improvement and steroids could be stopped in 17 out of 22 patients. Median time to achieve remission (symptom-free with normal inflammatory markers) was 3 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.4-3.6) months. Median time to achieve reduction to prednisolone dose <5 mg/d was 9 months (95% CI: 7-11). Prednisolone dose could be reduced in all patients while on leflunomide, suggesting steroid-sparing effect and a steroid-free remission could be achieved after a median of 14 months (95% CI: 9.4-18.6). Ultrasonographically, all patients showed improvement of halo signs, after 8 weeks (IQR 7.25-12). Seven patients experienced a clinical relapse after 12 months (IQR: 5-21) of initial remission. The predictors of relapse were duration of symptoms before initiation of immunosuppression therapy and delayed achievement remission by strict criteria. CONCLUSION: This study showed efficacy and safety of leflunomide as a steroid-sparing agent in Indian GCA patients.

Microscopy of non-birefringent transmissive phase samples using Sagnac laser interferometer.

A cyclic interferometer, appropriately combined with a long working distance microscope objective, is adapted for quantitative phase microscopy. In such an arrangement, the sample information, in terms of the diffracted orders emerging from the sample, is carried by both the counter propagating beams within the cyclic interferometer. However, positioning the sample close to the input/output cube beam splitter and use of a suitably converging laser beam of light as the input to the interferometer ensure that only one of the counter propagating beams carries the object information to the objective while the other beam, which serves as the reference, allows only the undiffracted component to contribute to the process of image formation. Use of suitable polarization optics renders the interferometer its polarization phase shifting property. Using the proposed arrangement, the experimental results showing the quantitative 3D phase rendering of polystyrene microspheres and micro-wells etched in glass are presented.

Role of transcranial Doppler ultrasonography in stroke.

Transcranial Doppler sonography is a non-invasive, non-ionising, inexpensive, portable and safe technique that uses a pulsed Doppler transducer for assessment of intracerebral blood flow. This article deals with the principles and technique of transcranial Doppler sonography. It gives a brief overview of its use in evaluation of intracranial steno-occlusive disease, subarachnoid haemorrhage, and extracranial diseases (including carotid artery disease and subclavian steal syndrome). The role of transcranial Doppler in detection of microembolic signals and evaluation of right to left shunts is also dealt with. Finally, its use in acute stroke is briefly outlined.

Differential expression of RAR-ß and RXR-γ transcripts in cultured cranial neural crest cells.

In situ hybridization reveals that RAR-ß and RXR-γ genes in mesencephalic neural crest cultures are independently regulated. RAR-ß transcripts are found in all cells, with a slight increase in signal/cell with time in culture. In contrast, the distribution of RXR-γ transcript is initially uniform but becomes increasingly heterogeneous, so that after 72 h in culture, a significant proportion of cells lack transcripts while a small subpopulation contains very high levels of message. These differences in the behaviour of the RARß and RXRγ genes in vitro can be related to differences in their expression patterns in vivo.