Easterine Kire represents a significant contemporary literary figure from Nagaland, whose writings profoundly explore the intricate social, political, and historical contexts of the Naga community. In Bitter Wormwood, she delves into the complex intersections of history, politics, and trauma, reconstructing Naga identity through lived experience, memory, and acts of defiance. Employing frameworks derived from postcolonial and trauma theory, especially those articulated by Cathy Caruth and Sanjib Baruah, the novel illustrates the profound impact of historical violence, colonial disruptions, and political marginalisation on the formation of Naga consciousness. Kire’s narrative intricately weaves together personal experiences of trauma, creating a shared repository of resilience that connects individual pain to the larger tapestry of communal history. The novel situates the Naga struggle within the broader framework of India’s postcolonial nation-building, examining how marginalised histories contest prevailing nationalist narratives. By re-centring marginalised voices, Kire enacts a form of “history from below,” demonstrating how literature can function as an alternative space for historiography and healing. Recollection, articulated through narrative, manifests as a vital endeavour for survival and ethical restoration, navigating the intricate interplay among trauma, selfhood, and optimism. This research paper examines the representation of personal and collective trauma in Bitter Wormwood, the reconstruction of Naga identity, and the role of literature in safeguarding subaltern histories.

This study evaluates the effectiveness of a virtual academy training program in enhancing continuous medical education for family medicine physicians in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Dubai's primary healthcare sector has implemented this virtual training initiative to provide ongoing education and skill development for family medicine practitioners working in primary care centers. A convergent mixed-methods design combined quantitative survey data from 166 participants with qualitative insights from 27 in-depth interviews. The study examined the impact of the training on physicians' knowledge, clinical competence, overall satisfaction, and the key challenges and opportunities in implementing virtual programs. Results showed that 88% agreed that the sessions improved their awareness of the latest practices, and 72.5% were more confident in diagnosing and treating common illnesses. 85.5% reported successfully putting the training skills to work at their clinics. Participants also noticed improvement in handling essential procedures, with 81.3% agreeing. Qualitative analysis reinforced these findings, highlighting the importance of interactive, case-based learning and the need for more hands-on opportunities. Barriers identified included time constraints, scheduling conflicts, and limited direct practice opportunities. The findings indicate that virtual CME is an effective strategy for upskilling family medicine physicians in Dubai. Hybrid learning models, protected learning time, and optimised session design can further enhance its impact. These insights offer practical guidance for healthcare policymakers and organisations aiming to strengthen medical education through digital innovation in the UAE and similar contexts.

Anticipatory guidance (AG) is a cornerstone of preventive pediatric health care, emphasizing proactive, age-appropriate counseling to prepare parents and caregivers for children’s upcoming developmental, behavioral, and health-related changes. In pediatric dentistry, AG plays a critical role in preventing early childhood caries, promoting healthy oral habits, reducing traumatic dental injuries, and establishing the concept of a dental home early in life. This scoping review aims to map the existing literature on anticipatory guidance with a particular focus on pediatric oral health, prenatal counseling, infancy, early childhood, and special health care needs. The review also identifies key domains of AG, historical evolution, clinical applications, and challenges to implementation. By synthesizing evidence from guidelines, policy documents, and empirical studies, this review highlights the importance of anticipatory guidance as an effective preventive strategy and underscores gaps for future research and clinical practice.

Consumers around the world are turning to natural ingredients to enhance flavor and promote health and well-being, as food industry around the globe has seen a surge. The innovative technologies are brought in to ensure that food is available but safe and beneficial to all. Therefore, Nanoencapsulation is gaining much importance in nutraceuticals and encapsulation of food components. Considering the global food security and food safety we must move forward the ultimate sustainable food production, processing, preservation, bioavailability and food packaging techniques, which will assist and gives more economical as well environment friendly results. The main objective of this review is to create understanding for different nano encapsulating techniques, being used by producer to attain more profit and more sustainable products. On the other hand, Encapsulation technique can be used for the protection and controlled release of bioactive compounds towards targeted sides. These encapsulation processes include emulsification, coacervation, freeze drying, super critical fluid techniques, emulsification-solvent evaporation techniques and spray drying. All these processes have somehow limited utilization and exemplification in food industry. The Producer who has capacity to generate more advanced or extra ordinary approach in food industry should not lemmatized to conventional techniques of encapsulation. We cover some advances in encapsulation procedures which are not applicable to food but being utilized in pharmaceutical industry as well. Furthermore, we have given some suggestions to both producers as well as consumer aspect to make better understanding of cooperation in future.

Hemangiomas are common tumors that exhibit microscopic blood vessel proliferation. Congenital hemangiomas frequently present from birth and may become increasingly noticeable over time. Their origin is most likely developmental rather than malignant. This report describes a 6-year-old girl's gingival hemangioma and the way a sclerosing agent was used to treat it. The aim of this case report is to demonstrate the therapeutic benefits of boiled saline as a sclerotherapy for oral hemangiomas. Boiled saline is a safe and effective sclerosing therapy for oral hemangiomas. This method provided our patient with significant symptom relief at a minimal cost with few complications.

Background: Febrile cases represent a major diagnostic and management challenge in tertiary healthcare facilities. Early diagnostic screening has been advised for therapeutic and admission decisions but its practical effect on clinical pathway, and patient outcome is under investigated. This study will assess the impact of early diagnostic screening on clinical care, patterns of hospitalization, and patient-reported outcomes of adults presenting with fever in tertiary care hospitals in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Methods: A hospital-based cross-sectional study was done over a period from January to December 2024 in two tertiary care hospitals, Dhaka. One hundred and twenty successive adult febrile patients (antipyretic cut-off value: ≥38°C) were taken. A structured questionnaire and medical record review were used to gather information on screening, clinical management, hospitalization outcomes, and patient satisfaction. Predictors of hospital admission were determined by multivariable logistic regression. Results: 70.8% of the patients received early diagnostic screening with CBC (82.4%) and rapid antigen tests (58.8%) being performed most frequently. Patients screened were significantly more often admitted (56.5% vs 20.0%, p<0.001) and spent less time in hospital (mean days: 2.8 vs 3.5, p=0,023). Screening results guided treatment in 82.4% of cases. Early testing was an independent positive predictor of admission with aOR=4.85 (95% CI 1.92 — 12.25) in adjusted analysis. Patient satisfaction was much higher in patients screened (88.3% vs 28.6% satisfied, p<0.001). Conclusion: Unstructured, early diagnostic screening results in more targeted therapy and higher rates of admission, yet shorter hospital stays and patient satisfaction. It should be incorporated into febrile illness algorithms with preference in using this pan-malaria primer technology for better patient care, and effectiveness of health system in tertiary hospitals.

Precision nutrition is a potentially disruptive paradigm of nutritional science that seeks to precisely customize food advice depending on the biological, genetic, environmental, and lifestyle factors of individuals. The intensive research growth in human and animal nutrition, nutrigenomics, metabolomics and data-driven methods has produced a convoluted and multidisciplinary literature that is difficult to synthesize in terms of conventional narrative methods. The current paper presents a combined bibliometric and scientmetric review of the world-wide research on precision nutrition published in PubMed index between 2005 and 2025 which incorporates the performance analysis, science mapping and multivariate conceptual approaches. One hundred and thirty-two publications were analyzed in 81 sources with the help of Bibliometrix R package and VOSviewer. Temporal analysis indicated that the output of research has increased significantly since 2015 as a result of increasing use of omics technologies, microbiome research, and computational analytics. The source analysis revealed that there is a high concentration of journal that has a few core nutrition journals that cover a huge percentage of the publications, which is in line with the law of Bradford. The geographic evaluation showed that the high-income nations, especially the United States and Western Europe, had been dominant, with a moderate yet growing cooperation at the international level. The keywords co-occurrence networks, density mapping, and overlay visualization revealed diet-health interaction, nutrigenomics, and human nutritional status as the key themes of research, whereas artificial intelligence and microbiome-based personalization and precision feeding in animals became emerging directions. Several correspondence analyses also showed the specific conceptual axes between molecular and omics-oriented research on the one hand and, on the other hand, applied and preventive nutrition areas. All the results point to parallel, but still not fully integrated processes of human and animal precision nutrition studies. The paper has provided a strategic overview of intellectual, thematic, and future directions of the field of precision nutrition, which offers a solid evidence base to guide interdisciplinary research, translational implementation, and policy formulation.

Background: In dengue-endemic countries such as Bangladesh, early discrimination of dengue from other acute febrile illnesses (AFI) in outpatient practice is a pivotal practical strategy to expedite proper case management and optimize resource utilization, but the predictive value of common symptoms like myalgia and chills are poorly quantified. The prevalence, diagnostic accuracy and independent predictors for laboratory confirmed dengue among adults’ outpatients in Dhaka, Bangladesh were the objectives of this study. Methods: A hospital-based cross-sectional study was carried out in two tertiary hospitals, Dhaka during the period from January to December 2025. The consecutive AFI (History & examination duration ≤7 days) adults older than 18 years were included. Symptoms were assessed using a structured questionnaire and included information on myalgia (presence and severity, from 1 to 10), and chills. NS1 antigen and/or IgM antibody using a WHO-prequalified rapid test (SD BIOLINE Dengue Duo) were used to confirm dengue illness. Summary (max 100 words): Diagnostic accuracy was determined, and independent predictors were identified using multivariate logistic regression. Results: Dengue prevalence was 42.2% (76/180) in a total of 180 studied individuals. Myalgia was reported in 93.4% vs 68.3% in dengue-positive than dengue-negative patients (p<0.001) revealing a high sensitivity (93.4%) but low specificity It was the prevalent symptom/sign among both cases and controls (Table 2A). Myalgia (≥5 score) had a specificity 55.8%. Chills were less predominantly observed among dengue-positive patients (44.7% vs 71.2%, p<0.001) and had moderate specificity 71.2%. In multivariate analysis, myalgia was a strong independent predictor (aOR=5.87, 95% CI: 1.99–17.29), while chills were inversely associated with dengue (aOR=0.41, 95% CI: 0.21–0.80). Conclusions: Severe myalgia is a sensitive clinical marker, whereas chills should raise the possibility of other causes. Targeting such symptom presentations can help contribute to early clinical suspicion and prioritize testing in the outpatient settings affected by dengue epidemics.

Sweet pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) production is seriously restricted by anthracnose disease caused by Colletotrichum spp., leading to significant yield losses globally. Dependence on synthetic fungicides has raised serious concerns over fungal resistance, environmental contamination, and human health risks, necessitating ecofriendly alternatives. This study investigated the antifungal potential of aqueous extracts from neem (Azadirachta indica) seeds and onion (Allium cepa L.) bulbs against anthracnose in sweet pepper under controlled pot conditions. The design employed weekly foliar applications of 200 ml/m² neem seed extract, onion bulb extract, or untreated control on anthracnose-inoculated plants. Parameters assessed were leaf number, plant height, fruit yield, disease severity and agronomic efficiency index. Both extracts significantly improved vegetative growth, increased fruit yield, and reduced disease incidence compared to the control. Neem seed extract exhibited slightly better performance in promoting leaf retention and plant height. Strong positive correlations were observed between growth traits and yield, while disease severity showed significant negative correlations with productivity. The findings reveal that neem seed and onion bulb extracts effectively suppress anthracnose, improve plant performance, and offer promising eco-friendly alternatives to synthetic fungicides for sustainable sweet pepper cultivation.

Physician training provides a critical lens for examining the structural strengths, limitations, and ethical orientations of healthcare systems. This commentary reflects on internal medicine training within tertiary settings in Doha [Qatar] and Ottawa [Canada] analyzing how organizational design and sociocultural context influence continuity of care, supervisory accessibility, documentation practices, evidence integration, and equity. Drawing on first-hand clinical engagement, the discussion moves beyond descriptive comparison to interrogate institutional responsibilities toward trainees, particularly the proportionality of educational benefit relative to the financial, emotional, and logistical burdens of international training pathways. By centering trainee narratives, this work underscores experiential insight as foundational to meaningful health system reform. How physicians are trained ultimately shapes clinical competence, ethical integrity, and the humanism of care delivery.

Introduction: Childhood disability represents a significant public health challenge in low-resource settings, yet detailed epidemiological profiles of children attending special education institutes in Bangladesh remain scarce. This study aimed to identify the pattern of disabilities and associated socio-demographic, perinatal, and familial characteristics among differently abled children attending Islami Bank Medical College and Hospital in Rajshahi, Bangladesh. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 120 children attending Islami Bank Medical College and Hospital in Rajshahi, Bangladesh. Data were collected via face-to-face interviews with mothers or guardians using a pre-tested, partially structured questionnaire. Disability types, birth history, maternal health, and familial factors were analyzed using descriptive statistics and chi-square tests in SPSS version 22. Result: The mean age of children was 8.85 (±4.25) years; 66.7% were male. Autism spectrum disorder was the most common disability (44.2%), followed by cerebral palsy (15.8%), Down syndrome (15.0%), and multiple disorders (13.3%). Half (50.8%) exhibited multiple co-occurring disability characteristics. Significant associations were found between disability type and sex (p<0.05), prematurity/low birth weight (p<0.001), birth trauma (p<0.001), and maternal age at conception (p<0.001). Despite 90.8% antenatal care coverage, 92.5% of mothers did not take folic acid during the first trimester, and 95.0% were unaware of micronutrient deficiencies. Conclusion: Autism is the predominant disability among children in this setting, with notable links to perinatal factors and maternal age. Critical gaps persist in maternal nutrition awareness and perinatal care. Findings underscore the need for targeted autism services, strengthened perinatal interventions, and integrated maternal health education to mitigate disability risks and improve outcomes for differently abled children in Bangladesh.

Background: Early and accurate diagnosis of dengue fever (DF) is indispensable for patient management and outbreak control in endemic areas such as Bangladesh. S ns1 as an early diagnostic marker is a challenge, and there are many formats of “rapid test” (RDT) today, the sensitivity and specificity of all RDT in relation to molecular gold standard has yet not been well defined for use among more vulnerable population with highest dengue burden. The objective of this study was to assess the diagnostic performance of a commercial NS1 RDT and an NS1 ELISA with reference to real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) for early dengue diagnosis. Methods: A prospective diagnostic accuracy study was conducted from July 2024 to June 2025 at two tertiary hospitals in Dhaka. We enrolled 200 consecutive patients with acute febrile illness (≤5 days) meeting the WHO suspected dengue case definition. Serum was simultaneously tested with the SD BIOLINE Dengue Duo NS1 rapid diagnostic test (RDT), the PANBIO™ Dengue Early enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and a multiplex real time reverse transcriptase PCR. Sensitivity, specificity, predictive values and concordance (Cohen’s kappa) were estimated with 95% confidence intervals (CI). Performance was analyzed by day of illness and association with RT-PCR cycle threshold (Ct) values. Results: Out of the total 200 patients, confirmed RICT dengue-positive was found in 124 (62.0%) by RT-PCR. The NS1 ELISA was significantly more sensitive compared with the RDT (91.9% [85.6-96.1] versus 74.2% [65.5-81.6]; p<0.001). Specificities were 96.1% (88.9-99.2) with ELISA and 92.1% (83.6-97.0) with RDT. ELISA testing had good concordance with RT-PCR (κ=0.87), whereas the RDT administered only a moderate concordance (κ=0.66). Sensitivity of both tests waned with delay in presentation, but this was more marked for the RDT which registered a sensitivity of 59.1% by day 4-5. The most influential factor for both tests false negative was high RT-PCR Ct values (low viral load). Conclusion: The NS1 ELISA is far superior to the NS 1 RDT for early diagnosis of dengue in Bangladesh hospital. Though the RDT serves as a rapid triage tool, it comes with a high false-negative rate after the early febrile stage, and should be used cautiously. A reflex testing algorithm with RDT as initial screening, followed by ELISA confirmation of negative RDT cases, should be considered in order to maximize early case detection and patient management.

Medical humanities, an interdisciplinary field, analyzes illness narratives to study the representation of disease, medicine and medical professionals. Among the illness memoirs, the patient as well as the doctor narratives became popular, as majority of the readers experienced a therapeutic relief of their hidden fears related with disease and death. The victory of modern medicine, challenges faced by the medical professionals and the doctor-patient relationship are the main themes of medical memoirs. The present study focuses on the doctor memoirs and it tries to study how far bioethical concepts have influenced the depiction of medical experience by doctors.

Background: In many urban and peri-urban settings, access to safe drinking water continues to be a major public health issue. Although infrastructure has improved, the association of multidimensional household water access and clinical gastrointestinal (GI) morbidity is incompletely described for hospital-based populations. We sought to examine the relationships of household drinking water access across dimensions with GI morbidity among patients and their caregivers in tertiary hospitals in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Methods: A hospital-based, analytical cross-sectional observational study was carried out from July to December 2025 in two tertiary-care centers. The sample of 150 patients were recruited by consecutive sampling. Data was obtained through face-to-face interviews with a structured questionnaire which included collection of socio-demographics, methods of access to household water (source, treatment, availability and perceived quality), GI morbidity in the past six months. Independent predictors of GI morbidity were determined by multivariable logistic regression. Results: The prevalence of household GI morbidity was 72.0%. Strong bivariate predictors of GI illness included, unimproved water source (90.5% vs. 58.6% for improved sources, p<0.001), no water treatment (94.4% vs. 59.4% for treated water, p<0.001), access <12 hours/day (78.3% vs 66.7%, p=0.035) and belief that there are problems with perceived quality of drinking water (85.3 % VS.43.8 %, P< 0.001). In multivariate analysis, not practicing household water treatment was the most significant independent risk factor (aOR=8.45; 95% CI: 2.68-26.68). Additional strong predictors were perceived water quality problems (aOR=6.03), use of unimproved water sources (aOR=2.91) and access <12 hours/day (aOR=1.72). Conclusion: This study exhibits a robust, independent relationship between unimproved household water access, and in particular lack of point-of-use treatment with GI morbidity. The results point to a dual approach for public health: widespread household water treatment should be promoted as an immediate measure; and also, parallel investment in reliable, higher-level source improved infrastructure that can address the burden of waterborne disease in other such urban settings.

The Santals are an ethnic tribal group who mostly inhabit the states of Jharkhand, Bihar, West Bengal, Odisha, Chatisgarh, and Assam. There is also a sizable Santal minority in neighboring Bangladesh and a small population in Nepal. Santals constitute the largest group among tribal communities. They belong to the Proto-Australoid race. The settlement of Medinipur known as Santal was first mentioned in Walter Hamilton's narrative (1820). He said that in the jungles lived an impoverished, oppressed class known as Santals. Some believe the term 'Santal' originated from 'Saont' or 'Samanta'. Once, an area of East Medinipur was known as 'Samantabhum' or 'Saont'. Most likely, they were the original inhabitants of this region. They also mentioned this place 'Sant Disham' or 'Sant Desh' in their mythology. 'Santal' means inhabitant of 'Sant Desh'. The Santal tribe of India have a traditional tribal lifestyle. Forest trees and flora serve the basic needs of Santal tribe.The tribes are also engaged in fishing and cultivation. Theys are also skilled in the production of musical instruments, mats, baskets, and other crafts.The Santal tribe is divided mainly into twelve sects viz. Soren, Murmu, Mandi, Kisku, Hansda, Besra, Tudu, Baske, Hembrom, Pauria, Bedea and Choral. Each sect has a totem symbol of its own. The traditional marriage system in Santal tribe is a religious practice as a goddess of happiness and heaven. In this paper we see the different kinds of rituals which are practiced by the Santal tribe from hundred and thousand years in their marriage and remarriage.