Economic hardship and perpetration of intimate partner violence by young men in South Africa during the COVID-19 pandemic (2021-2022): a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Economic hardship is a potential trigger for intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetration. While higher IPV rates have been reported in low-income regions, few African studies have focused on IPV being triggered by economic hardship among young men during the COVID-19 pandemic. We therefore estimated economic hardship's effect on IPV perpetration by young men in eThekwini District, South Africa, during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey of COVID-19 pandemic experiences was conducted among youth aged 16-24 years through an anonymous self-administered questionnaire, including questions about economic hardship (increased difficulty accessing food or decreased income) and IPV perpetration. A prespecified statistical analysis plan with a directed acyclic graph of assumed exposure, outcome, and confounder relationships guided our analyses. We measured association of economic hardship and IPV perpetration through odds ratios (ORs) computed from a multivariable logistic regressions adjusted for measured confounders. Secondary outcomes of physical and sexual IPV perpetration were analyzed separately using the same specifications. Propensity score matching weights (PS-MW) were used in sensitivity analyses. Analysis code repository: https://github.com/CAndrewBasham/Economic_Hardship_IPV_perpetration/ RESULTS: Among 592 participants, 12.5% reported perpetrating IPV, 67.6% of whom reported economic hardship, compared with 45.6% of those not reporting IPV perpetration (crude OR = 2.49). Median age was 22 years (interquartile range 20-24). Most (80%) were in a relationship and living together. Three quarters identified as Black, 92.1% were heterosexual, and half had monthly household income < R1600. We estimated an effect of economic hardship on the odds of perpetrating IPV as OR = 1.83 (CI 0.98-3.47) for IPV perpetration overall, OR = 6.99 (CI 1.85-36.59) for sexual IPV perpetration, and OR = 1.34 (CI 0.69-2.63) for physical IPV perpetration. PS-MW-weighted ORs for IPV perpetration by economic hardship were 1.57 (overall), 4.45 (sexual), and 1.26 (physical). CONCLUSION: We estimated 83% higher odds of self-reported IPV perpetration by self-reported economic hardship among young South African men during the COVID-19 pandemic. The odds of sexual IPV perpetration were The seven-times higher by economic hardship, although with limited precision. Among young men in South Africa, economic hardship during COVID-19 was associated with IPV perpetration by men. Our findings warrant culturally relevant and youth-oriented interventions among young men to reduce the likelihood of IPV perpetration should they experience economic hardship. Further research into possible causal mechanisms between economic hardship and IPV perpetration could inform public health measures in future pandemic emergencies.

Engineering a Remedy to Modulate and Optimize Biopharmaceutical Properties of Rebamipide by Synthesizing New Cocrystal: In Silico and Experimental Studies.

PURPOSE: Rebamipide (REB) a potent anti-ulcer agent, has not been exploited to its full potential, owing to it extremely poor solubility, leading to highly diminutive bioavailability (<10%). The purpose is to carry out its solid-state modification. METHOD: Cocrystallisation was done with three GRAS coformers namely citric acid (CA), 3,4-dihydroxybenzoic acid (DHBA) and oxalic acid (OXA) employing the liquid-assisted grinding method. Cocrystal formation was based upon amide-carboxyl and amide-hydroxyl supramolecular synthons. Characterization of novel cocrystals i.e. RCA, RDHBA and ROXA was carried out by DSC, PXRD and additionally by FT-IR spectroscopy. Chemical structures have been determined utilizing the PXRD pattern by Material Studio®. Furthermore, cocrystals were subjected to solubility and intrinsic dissolution rate (IDR) evaluation. Also, pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic studies were performed and compared with pure rebamipide. RESULT: The appearances of a single sharp melting endotherm in DSC, along with novel characteristic peaks in PXRD infer the existence of a new crystalline form. Shifting in characteristic vibrations in FT-IR spectroscopy supports the establishment of distinct hydrogen-bonded networks. Structural determination revealed that RCA crystallizes in 'Bb2b' space groups whereas RDHBA in 'P1' and ROXA crystallize out in the 'P-1' space group. All the cocrystals exhibited superior apparent solubility and almost 7-13 folds increase in IDR. Furthermore, 1.6-2.5 folds enhancement in relative bioavailability and remarkable amplification in anti-ulcer, anti-inflammatory and the antioxidant potential of these cocrystals were observed. CONCLUSION: The study ascertains the advantages of cocrystallization, with RCA showing greatest potential and suggests a viable alternative approach for improved formulation of rebamipide.

Imbalanced Breast Cancer Classification Using Transfer Learning.

Accurate breast cancer detection using automated algorithms remains a problem within the literature. Although a plethora of work has tried to address this issue, an exact solution is yet to be found. This problem is further exacerbated by the fact that most of the existing datasets are imbalanced, i.e., the number of instances of a particular class far exceeds that of the others. In this paper, we propose a framework based on the notion of transfer learning to address this issue and focus our efforts on histopathological and imbalanced image classification. We use the popular VGG-19 as the base model and complement it with several state-of-the-art techniques to improve the overall performance of the system. With the ImageNet dataset taken as the source domain, we apply the learned knowledge in the target domain consisting of histopathological images. With experimentation performed on a large-scale dataset consisting of 277,524 images, we show that the framework proposed in this paper gives superior performance than those available in the existing literature. Through numerical simulations conducted on a supercomputer, we also present guidelines for work in transfer learning and imbalanced image classification.

Effect of Ultrasonic Instrumentation in Treatment of Primary Molars.

AIM: The aim of this study is to describe the protocol used in the treatment of pulpally necrosed primary molars and to evaluate the effectiveness of ultrasonic instrumentation technique in primary dentition. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 50 primary molars in 40 children, ranging from 8 to 10 years of age, were endodonti-cally treated using standard protocols and ultrasonic instrumentation. The follow-up was done for each case ranging from 1 to 2/4 years. RESULTS: Clinical and radiographic controls showed a success rate of 97.5%, considering an evaluation time of 19 ± 9.02 months. CONCLUSION: The use of ultrasonic instrumentation in primary molars with pulpal necrosis succeeded in reducing appointment time and showed a high success rate. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: Ultrasonic instrumentation should be used as a standard protocol in instrumentation of endodontic treatment of primary molars so as to increase the success rate of primary teeth pulpectomies.

Comparison of Film Thickness of Two Commercial Brands of Glass lonomer Cement and One Dual-cured Composite: An in vitro Study.

AIM: The present study is undertaken to examine the film thickness of three most commonly used luting cements and to determine their usage as a luting agent. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study was carried out strictly according to the guidelines of American Dental Association (ADS) specification no. 8. Two glass slabs of 5 cm in length and 2 cm in width were used. One glass slab was kept over the other glass slab and the space between the two glass slabs was measured using metallurgical microscope at the power of 10*. Two brands of glass ionomer cement (GIC) and one dual-cured resin cement were used in this study. The test cement is sandwiched between two glass slabs. A static load of 15 kg was applied using universal testing machine on the glass slabs for 1 hour and the space present between the two glass slabs was measured using metallurgical microscope at the power of 10*. RESULTS: Greatest film thickness was found in group III (Paracore) followed by group II (micron) and lowest in group I (GC luting and lining cement). All the tested samples can be used for luting purposes. CONCLUSION: Greatest film thickness was observed in Paracore followed by micron and lowest in GC luting and lining cement. This suggests that the 25 to 27°C is ideal for mixing of the cement when used for luting consistency. The cement with film thickness more than 30 urn should never be used for luting purposes. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: The dentist should choose the luting cement with utmost care noting the film thickness and bond strength of the cement. The cement with low exothermic heat production and good bond strength should be encouraged.

Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice towards HIV Patients among Dentists.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: Discrimination by some health care workers, including dentists, against human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infected persons has been noted. The main aim of the present study was to assess the knowledge, attitude, and practice towards HIV patients among the dentists of Trichur district, Kerala. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 206 dentists practicing in Trichur district of Kerala. Data was collected using a pretested, self-administered 26-item questionnaire and was statistically analyzed using SPSS software version 20. RESULTS: Out of 206 participants, 39.3% were unwilling to treat HIV patients. A statistical significance was found between willingness to treat HIV infected patients and age groups (P = 0.0001) as well as between the willingness to treat HIV infected patients and ethical responsibility (P = 0.0001). CONCLUSION: Staff fears and increased personal risk are found to be the most frequently reported concerns in treating HIV patients among dentists of Trichur district, Kerala. Senior dentists showed more reluctance to treat HIV positive individuals.