This study revealed significant differences between the oral hygiene behaviour and caries status of dental and medical students; furthermore, caries status was significantly influenced by the oral hygiene behaviour.

Background:Adolescents are at substantial risk of acquiring behaviors which might influence their health status. This study was aimed to assess the proportion of school going adolescents (both males and females) with poor self-perceived health and its associated factors.Methodology:A cross-sectional study was conducted in three major cities of Pakistan i.e. Karachi, Lahore and Quetta. From each city, six (6) secondary schools were randomly selected (3 public and 3 private). Pre-tested, self-administered questionnaire was distributed to students. Binary logistic regression analysis was conducted to determine independent factors associated with poor self-perceived health.Results:Approximately 29% adolescents (119/414) reported poor self-perceived health. Individual and parental factors significantly associated with poor self-perceived health were being male (AOR = 1.75, 95% CI: 1.09 – 2.79), living in extended family (AOR = 2.65, 95% CI: 1.66 – 4.22), unskilled employment of father (AOR = 2.17, 95% CI: 1.35 – 3.48), lack of parental-child communication (AOR = 1.74, 95% CI: 1.03 – 2.91) and unfair treatment by parents (AOR = 1.80, 95% CI: 1.09 – 2.96). Life style factors such as use of smokeless tobacco (AOR = 2.14, 95% CI: 1.26 – 3.96) and unhealthy diet (AOR = 3.60, 95% CI: 1.76 – 7.33) were associated with poor self-perceived health.Conclusion:Better employment opportunities for father, parental counseling and increase awareness for adolescents about healthy diet are recommended to improve adolescent self-perceived health in Pakistan.

ObjectivesThe rising burden of preventable risk factors for non-communicable diseases (NCDs) among adolescents is a major public health challenge worldwide. We identified the preventable risk factors for NCDs in adolescents.MethodsIn a school-based study, pre-tested structured questionnaires were completed by 414 adolescents (14 to 17 years) at six schools in three cities in Pakistan. The chi-squared test and adjusted odds ratio (aOR) with 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated in a multinomial logistic regression analysis.ResultsOver 80% of the adolescents had unhealthy diets, and 54% were physically inactive. Most adolescents were exposed to passive smoking, and 14% were also current smokers. More than one-third of participants chewed betel nut, and one-quarter used oral tobacco. More girls were physically inactive (OR, 4.07; 95% CI, 2.69 to 6.17), whereas a greater proportion of boys were current smokers (OR, 2.17; 95% CI, 1.19 to 3.91), exposed to passive smoking (OR, 2.57; 95% CI, 1.72 to 3.83), and using betel nut (OR, 2.03; 95% CI, 1.34 to 3.06). Only 3.1% of the participants were without any preventable lifestyle risk factor for NCDs, and over 80% had ≥2 factors. Co-existence of risk factors was independently associated with fathers being blue-collar workers (aOR, 3.57; 95% CI, 1.07 to 11.92) and parents not treating their child fairly (aOR, 5.05; 95% CI, 1.29 to 19.78).ConclusionsMost of the adolescents studied had preventable risk factors for NCDs. These results warrant comprehensive and integrated interventions to prevent lifestyle risk factors, and parents are front-line stakeholders.

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The manufacturing process for products with high degree of precision is very critical and hence increasing the surface quality, wherever possible has been the prime motive, so many leading companies are working with high precision CNC-VMC series for operations such as Drilling, Tapping, Turning, Milling, etc. Surface roughness is the most important indicator of surface quality in machined items. So as to achieve that changing machine parameters as per product size and environment is necessary. In this research, the parameters which are taken into account are : spindle speed, feed rate, and depth of cut. Taguchi Design is utilized in this study to find the best combination of parameters to reach out to the maximum surface finish criteria. For various combinations of three parameters: spindle speed, feed rate, and depth of cut, experiments are carried out using the Taguchi orthogonal array. The surface roughness Ra is analyzed for each experiment run using Taguchi. Keywords: Taguchi Method, Spindle Speed, Feed rate, Surface finish, Surface roughness, Depth of cut.