The top 100 cited articles in menstrual health among adolescent girls: a citation analysis.

BACKGROUND: Menstrual health is an important public health concern where it is still considered a taboo, and adolescent girls often lack knowledge about menstrual health, face limited access to sanitation facilities, and struggle with the affordability of sanitary materials. Every year numerous articles are published; however, only a few of them would be influential in the evolution of a particular field. The number of citations received by an article serves as a quality factor for the impact of the article in a particular field. Citation analysis analyses the relationship between citations received by articles. From the literature search, no citation analysis was conducted on menstrual health. Hence the objective of the study was to identify the articles which received hundred or more citations and also to identify the leading countries, journals, study designs, and departments conducting research on menstrual health. METHODS: Citation analysis was done with search terms pertaining to adolescent and menstrual health using Google Scholar as a database in Publish or Perish software. The articles retrieved were exported to Microsoft Excel. Articles that received a hundred or more citations were screened for the type of article, department, and country where the study was conducted. A descriptive analysis of the hundred or more cited articles was done in Microsoft Excel. RESULTS: A total of 982 articles pertaining to menstrual health among adolescent girls were retrieved. There were hundred articles with hundred and more citations pertaining to the menstrual health of adolescent girls. Cross-sectional study design, Obstetrics and Gynaecology department, India and USA countries, and PLOS ONE journal had the most citations in research on menstrual health among adolescent girls. The top ten articles were on menorrhagia, menstrual hygiene practices, Water, Sanitation and hygiene (WASH), stigma on menstruation, and education on menstrual health. CONCLUSION: The hundred cited articles on menstrual health among adolescent girls were mainly from high-income countries and were of more observational in nature than interventional. Thus, highlighting the need to strengthen experimental studies on the menstrual health of adolescent girls in Lower-middle-income countries.

Menstrual health is an important public health entity where menstrual health management remains poor among adolescent girls in lower-middle-income countries. From the literature, it has been observed that there is a lack of research pertaining to menstrual health. Research-related performances are evaluated through various objective measures; one of them is the number of citations received by the articles, which implicates the impact of the article in a particular field. Hence the objective of our study was to enlist the articles pertaining to menstrual health on adolescent health, which received hundred and more citations. The most common study design, department, country, and journal were determined from articles that received hundred and more citations. The study results showed that the Cross-sectional study design, Obstetrics and Gynaecology department, India and USA countries, and PLOS ONE journal conducted research with the highest number of articles having hundred and more citations. The top ten articles included research pertaining to domains such as menorrhagia, menstrual hygiene practices, Water, Sanitation, and hygiene (WASH), stigma on menstrual health, and education on menstrual health, which are imperative with respect to adolescent girls' menstrual health. From the current citation analysis, it is evident that there is a need for strengthening research on menstrual health, which will generate evidence-based interventions and help policymakers implement necessary policies for adolescent health.

Effectiveness of school-based sexual and reproductive health education among adolescent girls in Urban areas of Odisha, India: a cluster randomized trial.

BACKGROUND: Various studies revealed that adolescent girls have limited knowledge pertaining to sexual and reproductive health (SRH). The current study assessed the effectiveness of SRH education among adolescent girls in urban areas of Odisha, India. METHODS: The study design was a cluster randomized trial, where the clusters composed of eight Odia (regional language) medium government girls' high schools in Bhubaneswar, the capital city of the state of Odisha, India. For the selection of study participants, adolescent girls who were studying in the ninth and tenth standards were recruited from each school. Eight schools were randomized through restrictive randomization at a 1:1 ratio, with four schools each in the intervention and control arm. Baseline and end-line assessments were done using a pre-tested, semi-structured questionnaire. Following baseline assessment, an intervention was given with the help of handbooks developed by the study authors to the schools in the intervention arm. Outcomes included change in knowledge, attitude and practices pertaining to SRH. RESULTS: In our study at baseline, there were a total of 790 students, where 469 (59.4%) students were in the intervention arm, and 321 (40.6%) students were in the control arm. At baseline, only 282 (60.1%) in the intervention arm and 171 (53.3%) in the control arm were aware that physical bodily changes due to puberty were normal. After the intervention, there was a statistically significant increase in knowledge in intervention group 367 (94.8%) (p-value < 0.001). Most students used sanitary pads as absorbent, 97.2% in the intervention group and 98.4% in the control group. However, after the intervention, the use of other absorbents reduced to zero in the intervention group with a statistically significant difference (p < 0.05). The number of students having awareness on different methods of contraception increased from 51 (10.9%) to 337 (87.1%) in the intervention arm (p < 0.001), and of those having awareness on STIs/RTIs increased from 177 (38.2%) to 371 (96.1%) in the intervention group (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: From our study, there is a significant proportional change in knowledge, attitude, and practices pertaining to SRH. Our study recommends policymakers and program managers for the implementation of comprehensive SRH in the regular school curriculum. Trial registration CTRI/2021/01/030490, registered on January 15, 2021. Prospectively registered at https://ctri.nic.in/Clinicaltrials/login.php.

Adolescent girls lack adequate knowledge pertaining to sexual and reproductive health, for which they face various issues such as teenage pregnancy, unsafe abortions and sexually transmitted infections. Hence the authors conducted this study to assess the effectiveness of school-based sexual and reproductive health education among adolescent girls in Odisha state of India in terms of improving knowledge, attitude and practices pertaining to reproductive health. A total of eight vernacular (Odia language) medium schools were selected for the conduct of the study, and the schools were randomly assigned where four schools received SRH education, and the other four received no intervention. A baseline assessment pertaining to SRH was done among adolescent girls studying in ninth and tenth classes of all eight schools, and then education was given to the four schools in the intervention arm. Students were educated on topics such as puberty, menstrual health, pregnancy, contraception and STIs/RTIs with the help of handbooks prepared by the authors. After 3 months of providing education, an endline assessment was done for the adolescent girls in all eight schools. There was an increase in knowledge, attitude and practices pertaining to SRH among the students who received education when compared to those who didn't. Hence our study recommends policymakers and program managers include SRH education in the regular school curriculum.

Revolutionizing Dental Imaging: A Comprehensive Study on the Integration of Artificial Intelligence in Dental and Maxillofacial Radiology.

Recent advancements in deep learning and artificial intelligence (AI) have profoundly impacted various fields, including diagnostic imaging. Integrating AI technologies such as deep learning and convolutional neural networks has the potential to drastically improve diagnostic methods in the field of dentistry and maxillofacial radiography. A systematic study that adhered to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) standards was carried out to examine the efficacy and uses of AI in dentistry and maxillofacial radiography. Incorporating cohort studies, case-control studies, and randomized clinical trials, the study used an interdisciplinary methodology. A thorough search spanning peer-reviewed research papers from 2009 to 2023 was done in databases including MEDLINE/PubMed and EMBASE. The inclusion criteria were original clinical research in English that employed AI models to recognize anatomical components in oral and maxillofacial pictures, identify anomalies, and diagnose disorders. The study looked at numerous research that used cutting-edge technology to show how accurate and dependable dental imaging is. Among the tasks covered by these investigations were age estimation, periapical lesion detection, segmentation of maxillary structures, assessment of dentofacial abnormalities, and segmentation of the mandibular canal. The study revealed important developments in the precise definition of anatomical structures and the identification of diseases. The use of AI technology in dental imaging marks a revolutionary development that will usher in a time of unmatched accuracy and effectiveness. These technologies have not only improved diagnostic accuracy and enabled early disease detection but have also streamlined intricate procedures, significantly enhancing patient outcomes. The symbiotic collaboration between human expertise and machine intelligence promises a future of more sophisticated and empathetic oral healthcare.

A time-motion study of the COVID-19 vaccination process in an urban primary health center of Odisha, India.

Vaccination is a critical tool in protecting against COVID-19. It is essential to know the time for each activity in a COVID-19 vaccination process for better management, especially during a pandemic. Thus, we conducted a time-motion study to identify activities that led to delayed/increased waiting time in an urban primary health center in Bhubaneswar, India. We observed 196 COVID-19 vaccine beneficiaries over one month (June 2021) from when they arrived at the vaccination center until they left the center. A data collection form and a Stopwatch were used to estimate the time taken for various activities involved in COVID-19 vaccine delivery. The time taken was expressed in mean and median. We also compared the time taken during the first and second doses using the Mann-Whitney U test. The total mean time spent at the vaccination center was 40:56 ± 20:52 minutes. The activity that took the longest was 'waiting time in queue before vaccination', which was 34:22 ± 20:56 min constituting 82% of the total time. The activity that took longer for the second dose than the first was the beneficiary verification in the Co-WIN portal with a median of 27 seconds and 36 seconds, respectively (p < .001). This study will help program managers formulate better strategies to improve the vaccination process making it more efficient.

Adverse events following immunization of COVID-19 (Covaxin) vaccine at a tertiary care center of India.

The study aimed to assess the adverse events following COVID-19 vaccine (Covaxin) immunization at a tertiary care institution and also assess the predictors of the adverse events following immunization (AEFI). The prospective observational study was conducted in a tertiary care institute among the Covaxin beneficiaries between June 28 and September 6, 2021. A total of 1826 participants were assessed for any local or systemic adverse events after seven days of vaccination. A telephonic interview was conducted, and the beneficiaries were assessed according to the adverse event grading. A total of 1826 participants were assessed for AEFI, and 544 (29.8%) reported at least one of the AEFI. No severe adverse events were reported, and about 1.6% had moderate AEFI. Pain at the injection site (14.6%), fever (9.7%), and myalgia (5.9%) were the common adverse events reported by the participants. AEFI incidence was higher in the first dose (38.1%) when compared to the second dose (26.4%), and this finding was significant with a p < 0.001. The major factors associated with AEFI were female sex, history of an allergic reaction, presence of comorbidities, acute infection in the past 3 months, and intake of chronic medications. Precaution needs to be taken while vaccinating individuals having allergies, comorbidities, acute infection in the last 3 months, and individuals on chronic medication.

Effect of plant growth-promoting Streptomyces sp. on growth promotion and grain yield in chickpea (Cicer arietinum L).

The physiological and molecular responses of six strains of Streptomyces sp. (CAI-13, CAI-85, CAI-93, CAI-140, CAI-155 and KAI-180), with their proven potential for plant growth-promotion (PGP) in rice were studied to understand the mechanisms causing the beneficial effects. In this investigation, those six strains were evaluated for their PGP capabilities in chickpea in the 2012-13 and 2013-14 post-rainy seasons. All of the Streptomyces sp. strains exhibited enhanced nodule number, nodule weight, root weight and shoot weight at 30 days after sowing (DAS) and pod number, pod weight, leaf area, leaf weight and stem weight at 60 DAS in both seasons over the un-inoculated control. At chickpea crop maturity, the Streptomyces strains had enhanced stover yield, grain yield, total dry matter, pod weight, seed number and seed weight in both seasons over the un-inoculated control. In the rhizosphere, at crop maturity, the Streptomyces strains also significantly enhanced soil biological and mineral nutrient traits including microbial biomass carbon, dehydrogenase activity, total nitrogen, available phosphorous and organic carbon in both seasons over the un-inoculated control. Of the six strains of Streptomyces sp., CAI-85, CAI-93 and KAI-180 were found superior to CAI-155, CAI-140 and CAI-13, in terms of their effects on root and shoot development, nodule formation and crop productivity. Scanning electron microscopy micrographs had revealed the success in colonization of the chickpea roots by all six strains. This investigation further confirms the broad-spectrum of PGP activities by the selected Streptomyces sp.