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Objectives This study measures the prevalence of risk factors among pregnant women and young children aged 12-24 months in a rural community in West Bengal, India. Methods Community health workers (CHWs) enrolled women and children into this 2015 cross-sectional study. Pregnant women were evaluated for underweight, anemia, and abnormal blood pressure. Children were evaluated for underweight, abnormal head and upper arm circumferences, and low scores from the Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ). Data were collected on smartphones and tablets or by paper. Results More than half of the 279 women (59.9%) had a risk factor during pregnancy: 48.7% were anemic, 35.1% had low blood pressure, and 7.5% were underweight. Among the 366 children, 59.3% had a risk factor, including 24.0% with low ASQ scores and 49.7% who had abnormal anthropometric measures. Conclusions for Practice Vulnerable populations, such as pregnant women and young children, needed a greater connection to doctors in this rural community. This study demonstrated the feasibility of CHWs to listen to health concerns and connect underserved populations with health care services., Author(s): Abram L. Wagner [sup.1] , Lu Xia [sup.2] , Priyamvada Pandey [sup.3] , Sandip Datta [sup.4] , Sharmila Chattopadhyay [sup.3] , Tanusree Mazumder [sup.4] , Sujay Santra [sup.4] , [...]

In the present study, wild-type Drosophila melanogaster collected from stock culture were sub-cultured in three different types of solid culture media (corn, barley and wheat) and control medium for two weeks to produce F1 generation. The duration of larval and pupal development, number of pupal cases and hatched flies were scored for first generation. The results were analyzed by using one-way ANOVA, Bonferroni multiple comparison test and paired sample t-test. The control medium showed no pupal cases and hatched flies. Among all the three solid culture media tested, corn meal, barley meal and wheat meal, the latter showed highly significant results at p=0.001 than others. However, this parameter was not affected by the carbohydrate amount in the media. The present investigation is an attempt to evaluate the influence of different formulated solid culture media on the life span and reproduction of fruit flies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Community health workers (CHWs) have been placed in many rural areas in India to increase villagers’ connections to basic preventive health care. In this study, we describe how pregnant women and mothers of young children react when CHWs inform them that they, or their child, are at high risk of pregnancy-related complications or early childhood developmental delays, and further screening and health care from a physician is recommended. Methods: In this longitudinal study in rural villages in West Bengal, India, pregnant mothers, as well as mothers of children aged 12–24 months, were screened for high risk complications. They were re-contacted and asked questions regarding how and to what extent did visits by the CHWs improve their household’s overall health behavior, along with details about what additional care, if any, they sought. These responses are presented by different demographic and medical characteristics. Results: Of the 231 pregnant women, all said they had sought additional care in response to the CHW visit, and all stated that feedback from the CHW resulted in improvement to their health behaviors. Most (90%) pregnant women gave birth at an institution. Among the 213 mothers of young children who were followed up, all sought additional care in response to the CHW’s visit. Most (67%) mentioned that they had a significant improvement in their health behaviors following feedback from the CHW, and the rest stated that they had some improvement. Conclusions: With the proper training, CHWs can be partners in health care to improve the health of vulnerable populations, not only in rural areas of India, but also in other developing countries. CHWs can promote positive health outcomes in their villages of residence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Libellulidae and Coenagrionidae are the most dominant families among dragonflies and damselflies. The present study deals with the diversity, occurrence and present status of libellulids and coenagrionids within the Regional Institute of Education Campus in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India (RIEC). The major objectives of this study are to prepare a preliminary checklist of libel ulids and coenagrionids species in the RIEC and to find out the status and distribution of genera and species in their respective families. This study is also aimed at systematic planning for developing different strategies for conservation of odonates in the campus. During this study a total of 24 species have been recorded out of which 20 species belong to the family Libellulidae representing 15 genera and four species belong to the family Coenagrionidae representing four genera. The findings of this study are based on the survey which was carried out for a period of four months in 2015. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]