Community Setup Research Articles

IJCM_409A: Prevalence And Pattern of Self-Medication With Antibiotics: A Community- Based Cross-Sectional Study From South-East Delhi

Background: Antibiotics are commonly self-medicated drugs worldwide, with over 50% purchased and used without a prescription. Antibiotic resistance has emerged as a global public health concern. Although many studies have been conducted worldwide to study the prevalence and pattern of self-medication with antibiotics and associated socio-demographic factors (SMA), very few have been conducted in India, and no such studies have been conducted in Delhi in community setup, especially in post-pandemic setup. Objective: 1. To estimate the prevalence and pattern of self-medication with antibiotics among the adults residing in the field practice areas of a medical college in South-East Delhi. 2. To determine the socio-demographic factors and their association with self-medication with antibiotics among the study subjects. Methodology: A cross-sectional analytical study was conducted in South-East Delhi. The sample size was calculated as 200 considering an absolute error of 5% at a 95% level of significance. Simple random sampling was done to select households by using a Random number generator. The total sample size of 200 was distributed proportionately between the UHTC and RHTC, according to Probability Proportional to Size (PPS). One individual from each selected household of age = 18 years who has used antibiotics in the past 3 months and met the eligibility criteria was included in the study. A self-designed, pre-tested, validated, structured questionnaire was used to collect the data. Results: 71(35%) out of 200 of the participants practiced SMA. Nearly 42% of them lived in urban areas. 30% had an education level of high school and above. The Chi-square test revealed that the participant’s level of education was significantly associated with SMA. The frequency of SMA ranges from one to a maximum of five times in the past 3 months. 69% of the respondents administered antibiotics twice in the past 3 months. The indications for SMA were fever (34%), followed by cold and flu (23%) and UTI (14%). Most of the participants who practiced SMA obtained antibiotics from the pharmacy (75%) followed by leftovers from previous treatment (17%). Conclusion: The study revealed that more than one-third of the respondents practiced SMA. The findings from the present study indicate the necessity of activating antimicrobial stewardship programs throughout the country, as well as implementing effective legislation to prohibit dispensing antibiotics without prescription.

Role of Customary Governance in Resource Management of a Legal Pluralist Indigenous Community

This paper explores the role of customary governance in sustainable natural resources management within a pluralist indigenous community. It employs qualitative research design in which key informant interviews, focus group discussions and observations were used as research tools. It discusses how customary governance has worked for the management of resources of Lowa community, Lomanthang, upper-Mustang. It considers legal pluralism and modernization as major theories to analyze sustainable resource management issues in the community setup. The modern governance system has influenced in effecting customary governance system at all levels including the political-economic. The political influence is made subtly through colonizing tools such as development, education, and modernization. The Ghenpa governance system in Lomanthang has withstood several assimilation processes with state intervention and is now strongly opposing the western type of modernization. Although modernization opened the door of Lomanthang to a wide variety of people from outside, the coexistence and complementary relationship between the state legal system and Ghenpa customary governance kept the legal pluralist indigenous community more intact.

Artistic Means and Therapeutic Effects in Sri Lankan Healing Rituals

Artistic expressions in the realms of mutually integrated sound culture and visual culture count as the essential elements of the traditional healing rituals in Sri Lanka. While music has a key role in the therapeutic process, visual ingredients provide the ritual setting with a glamour that exceeds the day-to-day domestic environment experience. Made for the occasion, a decorated ritual setting is the first sign to publicly announce the event and to create visual excitement. Its main aim is to welcome the invisible supernatural beings responsible for a disease. The sound produced by voices (chants, incantations, blessings, poetry, dialogues) and musical instruments (drums, handbells, hand cymbals, conch shells, anklets) aims to assure participation of community members and to act as a medium of connecting supernatural beings with the human world. Besides the visual and aural stimuli, the main roles in Sri Lankan healing rituals are given to unity thinking ,community caring, and community setup .Lessons learned from traditional healing rituals which integrate music, dance, visual arts, crafts ,and drama for the sake of individual comfort and the community’s wellbeing, have potential to benefit a variety of disciplines with a focus on artistic and/or therapeutic practices and outcomes such as medical and applied ethnomusicology and anthropology, psychomusicology, sociomusicology, visual arts, music therapy, including community music therapy and ethnomusic therapy, dance/movement therapy, psychotherapy, drama therapy, and more. The author’s arguments are expected to contribute to knowledge and understanding of holistic healing practices of Sri Lanka as non-pharmacological treatments marked by mutually interrelated artistic means and therapeutic effects.

Assessment of the risk of developing type 2 diabetes using the Indian diabetes risk score in an urban community in Chandigarh, India: A cross-sectional study.

The urban poor is a group that is known to be vulnerable to the adoption of a more urbanized lifestyle that places them at a higher risk for diabetes. Identification of at-risk individuals using simple screening tools like the Indian diabetes risk score developed by Madras Diabetes Research Foundation (MDRF-IDRS) and appropriate lifestyle interventions could greatly help in preventing or postponing the onset of diabetes and thus reducing the burden of the disease on the community and the nation as a whole. A cross-sectional study was conducted on individuals ≥30 years (n = 1533) of both genders in an urban colony of Chandigarh during a period of 1 year. A stratified two-stage systematic random sampling was adopted. The risk of developing Type 2 diabetes mellitus was assessed using IDRS. The total risk score of each participant was analyzed and compared. Biochemical investigations, including blood glucose and lipid profiles for detecting diabetes, were conducted. Data were presented in percentages and proportions. The statistical analysis of the data was performed by using the Chi-square test and logistic regression analysis. The prevalence of diabetes was 3.1% in the present study. Overall, the mean IDRS was found to be 52.14 ± 16.01. Elderly persons aged 60 years and above had higher IDRS. IDRS showed significant variability with age (P < 0.001). Females had significantly higher IDRS as compared to males (P = 0.002). The association between socioeconomic class and risk status was highly significant statistically (P < 0.001). IDRS among individuals with diabetes was found to be significantly higher (64.29 ± 13.92) as compared to non-diabetics. Among all, 749 (48.7%) had high IDRS, whereas 54 (3.5%) had low IDRS. There were 734 (47.8%) with moderate IDRS. IDRS was found to be highly sensitive for detecting the risk of diabetes, suggesting its potential use as a screening tool in community setup for the purpose of detecting diabetes.

Determinants of Female Early Marriages: A Case Study of District Lodhran, Pakistan

Early marriage refers to child marriage before the age of 18. It is a global issue of grave concerns about teenagers' health, social well-being, and human rights. Early marriages are disproportionately more common among poor women of less developed nations. Almost half of child marriages take place in South Asia. It requires designing effective local community interventions to avoid poverty, poor health, nutrition deprivations, and other adverse consequences. While Pakistan homes about 19 million underage brides, until recently, it has not paid enough attention to evidence-based policy development. Particularly, the research on child marriages in less developed regions like South Punjab is limited. This study has explored the factors inducing early marriages from the perspective of child brides in a local community setup. Data is collected through a self-administrated and regionally representative survey from March to April 2020 using snowball sampling. Descriptive statistics, association measures, and binary logistic regression are used for analysis. The reliability and validity of the instrument are checked by confirmatory analysis. It is observed that literacy levels reduce the odds of early marriages among females. However, poverty and mass media exposure are likely to induce underage marriages of females positively. Disparities in gender and region are also significant factors for females' early marriages. For instance, the ratio of early marriages in rural areas is higher than in urban areas. In addition, the employment status and parental perception about early marriage also adversely affect child marriage. These findings suggest that the primary education of girls should be made compulsory. Policies must consider increasing and improving the media exposure and employment opportunities in South Punjab to provide support and empower vulnerable females.

Experiences, Challenges, and Initiatives on Water Resource Management of a Small Island Community: The Case of Basco, Batanes, Philippines

With the increasing water demand across different sectors: residential, commercial, agriculture, tourism, and energy, management of this finite resource is a major challenge in harnessing and sustaining its availability. The increasing demand for water from various stakeholders of Basco, Batanes puts pressure on the availability of water. These supply constraints are rooted in the current management setup aside from its biophysical characteristics. The main objective of the study is to better understand the water-related issues and concerns and the operation and implementation of water resource strategies and programs in the case of the small island community in Basco, Batanes. Specifically, it aims to i) characterize the existing water supply systems in a small island community; and ii) assess the challenges, experiences, and efforts in water resources management. Guided with the Integrated Water Resource Management principles (IWRM), the experiences, issues, challenges, and opportunities in water resources management in the small island community were assessed. The available water sources and existing water systems were characterized, and challenges and initiatives toward effective resource management were also evaluated. The methods employed were secondary data collection; detailed household, commercial, and institutional sectors surveys; Focus Group Discussions (FGD) using Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) matrix; Key Informant Interviews (KIIs) with key officials in the Local Government Unit (LGU) to capture data on the current operation and implementation of water-related programs. Results showed that Basco, the capital of Batanes, only has two major sources of water: Racuaranum (upstream) and Miaga (downstream) springs. It has no perennial or ephemeral streams. The intermittent streams only flow for a few minutes during heavy rainfall events. Their other sources of water are deep wells and rainwater for everyday use. With the limited budget and human resources of the small island community, localized integrated water resource management highlights the importance of institutional aspects towards its success. A framework on effective resource management emphasized the importance of institutional synergies in small island community setups, such as: joint implementation of watershed management plans, enhancement of technical and financial capabilities given a limited budget and human resources, improvement, and maintenance of water facilities, etc. The complexities of the issues surrounding water resources management could be best addressed by the consolidated efforts of government institutions, the private sector, and the local community within the small island, prioritizing environmental sustainability, economic efficiency, and social equity.

1253-P: Differences in Screening-Detected Type 2 Diabetes—Evidence from Two Campaign Setups in Denmark

Background: Early detection of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) increases life expectancy of T2DM patients and reduces societal health care costs. Targeted screening campaigns are used for early detection of T2DM, but different campaign setups may yield different detection results. Methods: Between June and November 2022, the Danish Diabetes Association offered free capillary A1c tests to individuals at high risk of developing diabetes based on the Leicester’s Risk Score questionnaire (score ≥ 16 points). Two campaign setups were applied: a) an event-based community screening campaign in 20 of the largest Danish cities using a portable Point of Care Testing analyzer and b) a social media campaign offering at-home self-sampling tests using mailed Hemoglobin Capillary Collection System. Results: A total of 1,337 and 2,655 individuals at high risk were tested through the community and the social media setup, respectively. The proportion of men and women in both setups were evenly balanced across all age groups. However, compared to the social media setup, in the community setup the proportion of individuals aged below 60 years was 14 percentage points lower, while the proportion of individuals aged 70 years or older was 14 percentage point higher. While 2.6% of the participants in both setups had A1c values ≥ 48 mmol/mol, 8.8% in the community setup and 15.6% in the social media setup had A1c values of 42-47 mmol/mol. The relative difference in the proportion of participants with A1c values of 42-47 mmol/mol was balanced across all age groups. Conclusions: Targeted community and social media screening campaigns are complementary. While older individuals (70 years or above) tend to participate in the community screening campaign, younger individuals (below 60) tend to participate in social media screening campaign. However, social media campaigns for at-home self-sampling prove highly efficient in detecting individuals with A1c values of 42-47 mmol/mol compared to community campaigns. Disclosure N.Cayuelas mateu: Other Relationship; Abbott Diagnostics. T.Thybo: Other Relationship; Abbott Diagnostics.

Chilonga cultural landscape in the shadow of eviction: living cultural heritage, livelihoods and minority Indigenous people’s rights under threat in Zimbabwe?

ABSTRACT Indigenous people’s cultural heritage is increasingly being subjected to political, social, and economic pressures in the light of capitalism, foreign investment, and displacement perpetuated by external development programmes. Shangaan people in Chilonga communal lands, Chiredzi District in Masvingo Province of south-eastern Zimbabwe are victims of such regimes as the government seeks to evict them from their ancestral lands. The Zimbabwean government’s plan to relocate the Shangaan people from their communal territory is problematic for many reasons; it shows the government’s failure to uphold human rights, respect property rights, Indigenous rights, and cultural rights. The displacement has a longer-lasting socio-cultural, ecological, and economic impact, affecting cultural diversity and socio-cultural interactions as the government plans to forcefully remove families from their heritage and way of life and change their community set-up. This may, in turn, lead to new patterns of inequalities, loss of cultural heritage, and vulnerabilities. This article disentangles such dynamics and sheds light on endangered human rights, cultural heritage, and its practitioners.

Prophylactic effect of Ayurveda interventions in prevention of COVID 19 in selected containment zones of Delhi

BACKGROUND: The exponential rise of cases and associated morbidity and mortality has managed to make COVID-19 a serious threat. Minimising the transmission of disease by prevention and control strategy forms the core-pillar of response. Ayurveda with its holistic approach can potentially promote disease prophylaxis both at the individual as well as community levels. This clinical study was executed in a community set-up to explore the potential of Ayurvedic interventions in COVID-19 prophylaxis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study was conducted as an open label community based study in six selected containment zones of Delhi on 9200 individuals with an objective to record the incidence of COVID-19 in these areas. The selected Ayurvedic Interventions (Ashwagandha, Maha Sudarshan Ghan Vati, Samshamani Vati) were distributed in the dose of two tablets of 250 mg each twice daily after food with lukewarm water for a period of one month. Onset of any COVID-19 related clinical symptoms, patient satisfaction in general health parameters and incidence of ADR/AE were taken as outcome measures. RESULTS: 9010 participants were recruited with mean age of 37.9 years. A total of 12 participants (0.17%) were reported positive during the intervention period, among 279 who underwent testing (because of contact tracing or symptoms). Participants who were devoid of any symptoms throughout the trial period were 98.8%. Statistically significant improvement was observed in parameters of general well-being at the end of study period. CONCLUSION: Ayurveda interventions demonstrated potential as a safe prophylactic measure against COVID 19 with comparatively good compliance and minimal adverse effects.

Unintended Consequences of Coronavirus on Education Participation in Budalangi Sub-County of Busia, Kenya

This study looked at the unintended effects of coronavirus infections on students’ engagement in school in the Kenyan region of Budalangi. Floods frequently occur in the Budalangi region. The impact of child labor on student engagement was examined in this study. Due to the financial crisis and the terrible circumstances they experienced while living at the camps, the majority of students were unable to access learning materials online since their parents could not afford to support their children’s education. Notably, the majority of the pupils residing in the camps helped their parents with manual labor to make a living, including gathering sand, laboring in rice fields, and fishing along the shores of the River Nzoia and Lake Victoria. The studies also determined how teen pregnancies and young marriages affect student participation. These activities made it difficult for them to study. Poor return rates and low engagement rates in education are hence symptoms of the issue. This is a result of the community setup’s poor social and economic ties. This is consistent with what the UNICEF Executive Director said about how COVID-19 has affected students’ participation in school. He emphasized that COVID-19 had a detrimental effect on students’ attendance.

Knowledge, attitude and perception of perimenopausal and menopausal changes in middle age women (40-45 years) of urban population

: Menopause is the period in women’s life when menstruation ceases for atleast 12 months. Perimenopause refers to the time during which body makes the natural transition to menopause. M Majority women attain menopause without having adequate knowledge and approaches to cope with the menopausal changes. So, they face many physical and psychological disorders during their menopause. So knowledge and awareness regarding it is very necessary.: To study knowledge, attitude and perception of perimenopausal and menopausal changes in middle age women of 40-45years of urban population.: It was a cross-sectional study in urban population (community set-up).: 100 female participants between the age group 40-45 years having regular or irregular menstrual cycle were asked to fill a self-made questionnaire which was face validated. : Descriptive analysis.: 99% women have heard about the term perimenopause and menopause of which 96% women have knowledge about it. 46% were aware about the physical symptoms, 84% about the emotional/psychological symptoms, 78% about the hormonal deficiency related symptoms and 92% about the bone and muscle related problems. 41% of women had knowledge about Hormonal Replacement Therapy. 51% of the women have knowledge about the exercise which helps cope with perimenopause and menopause symptoms.: More efforts are needed for creating awareness about symptoms, complication and risk factors associated with perimenopause and menopause and importance of exercise as the first line of treatment option to cure the symptoms.

HRNET: AI-on-Edge for Mask Detection and Social Distancing Calculation.

The purpose of the paper is to provide innovative emerging technology framework for community to combat epidemic situations. The paper proposes a unique outbreak response system framework based on artificial intelligence and edge computing for citizen centric services to help track and trace people eluding safety policies like mask detection and social distancing measure in public or workplace setup. The framework further provides implementation guideline in industrial setup as well for governance and contact tracing tasks. The adoption will thus lead in smart city planning and development focusing on citizen health systems contributing to improved quality of life. The conceptual framework presented is validated through quantitative data analysis via secondary data collection from researcher’s public websites, GitHub repositories and renowned journals and further benchmarking were conducted for experimental results in Microsoft Azure cloud environment. The study includes selective AI models for benchmark analysis and were assessed on performance and accuracy in edge computing environment for large-scale societal setup. Overall YOLO model outperforms in object detection task and is faster enough for mask detection and HRNetV2 outperform semantic segmentation problem applied to solve social distancing task in AI-Edge inferencing environmental setup. The paper proposes new Edge-AI algorithm for building technology-oriented solutions for detecting mask in human movement and social distance. The paper enriches the technological advancement in artificial intelligence and edge computing applied to problems in society and healthcare systems. The framework further equips government agency, system providers to design and construct technology-oriented models in community setup to increase the quality of life using emerging technologies into smart urban environments.

Does performance and operational superiority of point-of-care test make it the investigation of choice in confirming syphilis?

According to the World Health Organization, 6 million cases of syphilis occur every year. Serological tests for syphilis form the mainstay of diagnosis for syphilis. We evaluated the performance of point-of-care test (POCT) against other specific treponemal test for confirming the diagnosis of syphilis. Does performance and operational superiority of POCT make it the investigation of choice in confirming syphilis? Retrospectively, data were analyzed of 599 serum samples from Apex Regional sexually transmitted disease centre, Safdarjung Hospital, New Delhi, received for testing by syphilis treponemal assays (both nontreponemal reactive and nonreactive). These samples underwent treponemal testing for syphilis by the Treponema pallidum hemagglutination (TPHA), fluorescent treponemal antibody absorption test (FTA-ABS), and POCT. Performance characteristics (sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value [PPV], negative predictive value [NPV], and diagnostic accuracy), and operational characteristics of POCT and TPHA were evaluated against the gold standard FTA-ABS. A total of 599 samples were evaluated, of which 61.76% were positive by FTA-ABS. On analysis, the sensitivity was 91.08% and 91.89%, specificity was 89.08% and 87.34%, PPV was 93.09% and 92.14%, NPV was 86.08% and 86.96%, and diagnostic accuracy was 90.32% and 90.15% for POCT and TPHA, respectively. The lower cost, shorter turnaround time, lesser infrastructure and workforce need, and easy availability make the POCT operationally superior to TPHA. Owing to its operational superiority and higher specificity POCT can replace TPHA for confirming the diagnosis of Syphilis. POCT are affordable, equipment free, have room temperature storage, and yield result within 15 minutes, enabling same day testing and treatment. It can be used in a resource limited setting, for community setup or even self-testing.

The engagement CUBE: a dialogical tool for designing, facilitating and monitoring engaged research and teaching strategies

PurposeCommunity engaged research and learning strategies are considered meaningful methods for universities to demonstrate their critical importance to today’s societies. At the same time, it is stressed that not all approaches are equally beneficial, highlighting the need for well-considered design and delivery. This paper aims to outline a helpful tool in this regard: the engagement CUBE.Design/methodology/approachThe engagement CUBE was developed by a learning community set-up at a Belgian university to explore the potential of engaged practices for meeting both needs and assets of its urban surroundings. A series of learning circles was organized for discussing recent research findings, experiences and ambitions with engaged campus-community initiatives and support targeted (re)design.FindingsThe CUBE is a helpful instrument for navigating the complex fabric of engaged practices. It is to be used as a dialogic tool, facilitating collaborative meaning negotiation and decision-making among participants in engagement strategies. Its purpose is both to help design a supportive environment for establishing partnerships that build on shared ownership and mutual learning, as to stimulate capacity-building for taking responsible change-oriented action.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to the existing literature on engaged teaching and research by emphasizing the need of acknowledging conflict as an important condition for fostering insightful learning and genuine transformation. The authors will argue that adopting a conflict perspective also allows for a more critical examination of the emerging concept of university social responsibility.

EXTENDED SPECTRUM BETA LACTAMASE PRODUCING UROPATHOGENS IN A TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL IN SOUTH INDIA: A CLINICO MICROBIOLOGICAL STUDY

Introduction: Urinary Tract Infection (UTI) is the most common bacterial infection encountered in both hospital and community setup and the presence of drug resistance carries remarkable clinical implication. Drug resistant phenotypes like ESBL (Extended Spectrum Beta lactamase producers) are difcult to treat causing increased morbidity. Aims: The present study aims to determine the prevalence of ESBL producing Enterobacteriacea among Uropathogens and to determine the Antibiotic susceptibility pattern. Materials and Methods :A total of 726 urine samples were obtained and processed as per standard microbiological techniques .Antibiotic susceptibility testing was done by Kirby Bauer disc diffusion method. All the isolates were screened for ESBL production and conrmed by Double Disc Synergy test (DDST).Differences between the antibiotic susceptibility pattern ,Various risk factors were assessed among the ESBL producing and non ESBLproducing bacteria and the signicance was analyzed . Statistical analysis used:Chi square test.(p &lt; 0.05 signicant) Results: A total of 726 urine samples were processed of which 421 bacteria belonging to Enterobacteriaceae were included in the study. Most common organism isolated was Escherichia coli 279 (66.27%).Highest susceptibility was observed for Imipenem 361 (85.7%) and Amikacin 356 (84.5%).Out of 461 isolates, 235 (55.8%) isolates were positive for ESBL screening all the isolates were conrmed with DDST. There was a signicant difference for Diabetes mellitus, CAUTI and Inpatients among the antibiotic susceptibility pattern between ESBL and non ESBL producers.(p&lt;0.0001) Conclusions: Early detection of Multidrug resistance isolates like ESBLproducers in routine testing could help avoid treatment failure. Screening for ESBL production needs to be carried out regularly in every clinical diagnostic laboratory to guide clinicians in proper selection of antibiotics. Continued monitoring of the susceptibility pattern of ESBLproducing bacteria will provide valuable information regarding the local antimicrobial susceptibility pattern which in turn will guide in choosing the initial empirical therapy

The Public Sphere and the Changing News Media Environment in Poland: Towards Structural Polarisation

This paper explores current result of gradual structural changes affecting news media environment in Poland. Its main argument is that these developments have led to a growing structural polarisation. Such polarisation penetrates news media coverage, journalistic community setup and self-regulatory frameworks, users’ perspectives and various news media spaces, including mainstream media and digital natives. The gaps grow between societal camps with liberal and conservative orientations, young and old, urban and non-urban communities, well and poorly educated.

Gender Differences in Osteoarthritis of Knee: An Indian Perspective.

Introduction:The global burden of knee osteoarthritis (KOA) is on the rise with advancing age, as life expectancy is improving worldwide. The literature shows a higher prevalence and incidence of KOA in women. The gender differences are seen not only in the developing world but also in the developed world. KOA at advanced stage can be quite disabling affecting the individuals' functioning capacity. The available treatment modalities can improve the quality of life significantly. The aim of this review is to study the gender differences in epidemiological and clinical aspects of KOA in Indian population.Methods:The keywords “knee osteoarthritis, Gender, India,” “knee osteoarthritis, Sex, India,” and “knee osteoarthritis, Prevalence, India” are used for data search for retrieving data from Indian studies in MEDLINE and Google Scholar. The broad inclusion criteria were clinical and radiological diagnosis of KOA, inclusive of both men and women and excluded articles with rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory arthritis, and secondary causes of arthritis.Results:A total of 18 articles were found to fulfill the broad inclusive criteria. Majority of the articles were cross-sectional prevalence studies either done in a community setup or in tertiary care hospitals. The overall prevalence of KOA in these studies ranges from 27.1% to 66.1%, depending on the lower age limit of the study population. Postmenopausal women are affected more than premenopausal women. High body mass index, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and osteoporosis were the common comorbid conditions.Discussion & Conclusion:The gender difference in the incidence and prevalence is seen in several cross-sectional studies and case series in the Indian literature. However, there is a paucity of data on clinical presentation, progression of the diseases, disability scoring at various stages of the KOA, and management.

A Descriptive study to assess the knowledge regarding Family Planning Methods among Degree students in a selected college, Kolar with a view to develop health education pamphlet

Background: It is calculable that the world population can increase 2.5 billion over the next 43 years, from the current 6.7 billion to 9.2 billion in 2050. Family planning is pivotal to ensuring the health and development of youth, reducing unnecessary health risks, and improving their opportunities and productive livelihoods. Studies showed that the most of the students (17–19 years) are more likely to experiment with sexual activities while lacking knowledge on sexual health and protective measures. Unsafe sex has been estimated to be the second most important worldwide issue for health. Aims/Objectives of the study: To assess the Knowledge regarding family planning methods among degree students. To find the association between knowledge with selected demographic variables, regarding family planning methods among degree students. Methods: Descriptive cross-sectional survey using structured Knowledge questionnaire among 100 UG students from the Mahila Samaja degree College were selected respectively by using a purposive sampling technique. Results: Results were analyzed by description and inferences statistics and findings shows that, majority of respondents 82% of participants are having inadequate knowledge, 18% of participants are having moderate knowledge &amp; none of the participants had adequate knowledge, regarding family planning methods Conclusion: The study emphasizes that public Universities should consider a possible curriculum restructuring to incorporate family planning updates. And nurses play a pivotal role working in Hospital as well as in the Community setup should educate and provide awareness to the adolescents regarding Family Planning methods. Keywords: Family planning methods, Degree students, Knowledge

PV sharing in local communities: Peer-to-peer trading under consideration of the prosumers’ willingness-to-pay

Distributed on-site PV generation enables traditional consumers to become active participants in a decentralized energy system. In this work, a linear program optimizing peer-to-peer trading between prosumers of a local energy community with PV systems and battery energy storage systems (BESSs) is developed. The community members are characterized by their individual willingness-to-pay for purchasing PV electricity generated by the community, which reflects their ambitions to reduce marginal emissions from the grid. By adding the willingness-to-pay, prosumers do not prefer their own PV generation over the community's generation. The objective function of the optimization model maximizes the social welfare, which means maximizing the self-consumption of the entire community and optimally allocating generation between prosumers. The method is applied to community set-ups including households and small businesses. Results of an arbitrary case-study show improvements in the overall profitability of the PV systems and BESSs. BESSs further decrease imports from the grid by 15% due to flexibilities. The willingness-to-pay is a promising tool to save marginal emissions from the grid, and the case-study shows annual savings of up to 38%. The results show that the community set-up is able to sustain without any subsidies and it can compete in the electricity market.

Cygane: iz Belarusi v Sibir' (po dokumentam i materialam XVIII — pervoj poloviny XIX v.)

In the 14th — 15th century the Belarussian part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth became a center of ethnic minorities, among which Gypsies stood out. Until the first half of the 18th century, they enjoyed the patronage of the local magnates, thanks to which they got a lean system of self-government and were able to fill their own economic niche. In the 18th century, Gypsies of Belarus were forced to leave their traditional places of residence. As a result, they came to Walachia, Moldavia and Siberia. At the end of the 18th — early 19th century Romani had a mostly semi-nomadic lifestyle in Siberia, many of them settled in cities and engaged in trade and crafts. The present paper approaches the issues of the ethnic-dispersive Gypsies community setup in Siberia, the basis of which was laid by Belarusian Gypsies. The paper is written mainly based on archive material, introduced into scientific circulation for the first time.