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The data supports an association between lower levels of Se, Zn, vitamin E, and risk of carcinoma of the gallbladder and suggest that Cu/Zn ratio could be a useful parameter in evaluating the patients of carcinoma of the gallbladder.

AIM: The aim was to determine the epidemiology of ocular trauma in a large teaching hospital in northern India over 4 years from 2010 to 2014. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This prospective, hospital-based, observational study was conducted at the Ophthalmology and Emergency Outpatient Departments of S. S. Hospital, Institute of Medical Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India, from March 2012 to February 2016. Detailed history was taken with special consideration to time, place and session of trauma, mode of injury, and type and nature of traumatic agent. All patients were thoroughly examined as per the standard clinical procedures to identify the type, extent, and severity of injury and impact on ocular structure and vision. Follow-up period was 6 months. Statistical analysis was based on age, sex, residence, marital status, occupation, per capita income, type of trauma and nature of damage, etc. RESULTS: Out of 402 patients, 293 (72.9%) were male and 109 (27.1%) were female. Overall male-to-female sex ratio was 2.7:1. Patients were aged between 2 and 70 years (mean: 26.48 ± 15.88, median: 23 years). The most vulnerable age group was 6–15 years (24.38%) followed by 16–25 years (23.88%). Maximum patients belonged to rural background (61.94%). The extent of ocular trauma was 3.93% (95% confidence interval: 3.23–4.63). Majority of participants were single (78.11%) and rest were married. About 112 (27.9%) participants were illiterate and 24.4% had primary education only. One hundred and eighty-eight (46.8%) participants belonged to lower and lower middle socioeconomic status. The cases were clustered in Rs. 1000–5000 per capita income. Most of the injuries occurred in summer season (46.18%) and in afternoon between 12.00 and 17.59 h (48.8%). Majority of trauma occurred away from home (66.20%) mainly on street (28.6%) and playground (9.2%). The most common injury was nonoccupational (82.3%) including sports related (23.9%) and road traffic accident (23.6%). Mechanical injuries were accounted for 89.3% of all eye injuries, and most common source was wooden object (24.9%) followed by metallic objects (20.9%). Traumatic agents were blunt and sharp in 56% and 17% of cases, respectively. Majority of traumatic agents were solid (82.1%). Seven percent of victims were drowsy during trauma and 98.4% of participants were not using any protective device at the time of injury. In 60.7% of cases, time elapsed between injury and treatment was between 1 and 24 h. Around 44.5% had isolated ocular trauma and rest 55.5% were polytrauma cases. Three hundred and sixty-eight (91.5%) participants had unilateral involvement and 8.5% had bilateral involvement. Almost 52.8% had injuries of adnexa and 32.8% had globe injuries. More than half of the study participants had ≥3 ocular structure involvement. After 6 months, 14.8% of the right eyes and 25.5% of the left eyes showed poor outcome. CONCLUSION: This study highlig...

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To collect baseline data on community stigma against leprosy and leprosy-related knowledge and ideas, with a view to develop contextualised community education and stigma reduction interventions. The data will also be used to evaluate subsequent stigma-reducing interventions. Methods: Community members (n ¼ 371) in Chandauli District, India, were interviewed, using a knowledge questionnaire, the EMIC Community Stigma Scale (EMIC-CSS) and Social Distance Scale (SDS). In the latter two scales, a higher sum score indicates a higher level of stigmatizing and negative attitudes of community members towards leprosy-affected people. Linear and quantile regression analyses were applied to explore the relation between (sociodemographic) covariates and the level of negative attitudes. Results: Community members indicated that avoidance of people affected by leprosy, problems with (prospective) marital life, concealment, and shame and embarrassment are present. Linear regression showed that knowing people affected by leprosy and being a government employee significantly increased one's mean EMIC-CSS score, whereas a higher level of education significantly decreased this. Additionally, community members reported a desire to create social distance between people affected by leprosy and their children. Quantile regression showed that

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In spite of great efforts done by the Government of India to tackle the problem of malnutrition, proportion of population normal on nutrition scale has been stationary; nearly half of them have been a victim of under- and over-nutrition. Over a period, undernutrition has declined but this has been compensated by overnutrition. Hidden hunger is a still an unfinished agendum. The achievement of food grain security at the national level did not percolate down, and households' food insecurity and level of chronic food insecurity are still high. High economic growth rates have failed to improve food security in India. There is a need and scope for organizational, financial, and managerial reforms in this direction. The repercussion of malnutrition is not limited to physical deterioration, but it also affects the psychological level of victims. The legislative, service, and educational approaches should be optimized to fulfill the dream of malnutrition-free India.