BACKGROUND Active engagement in 12-Step self-help groups (SHG) is associated with improvements in substance use outcomes during and after treatment, yet levels of participation in SHG meetings in the U.K. remain low. METHOD An RCT investigating the impact of active referral to SHG, delivered by doctors or 12-Step peers during inpatient treatment on both inpatient and post-treatment meeting at...

Advancing the practical utility of nonlinear optical microscopy requires continued improvement in imaging depth and contrast. We evaluated second-harmonic generation (SHG) and third-harmonic generation images from ex vivo human skin and showed that a sub-40 fs, 1060-nm Yb-fiber laser can enhance SHG penetration depth by up to 80% compared to a >100 fs, 800 nm Ti:sapphire source. These results d...

In this review, we describe recent developments in functional metamaterials based on coupled resonators. We first consider coupled resonator metamaterials that mimic electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT). We present a circuit model for EIT-like metamaterials and introduce a new coupled resonator in which the coupling is provided by a field gradient so that the group velocity can be var...

introduction: in a prospective blind study, we evaluated sonohysterography (shg) as a diagnostic tool for uterine cavity and tubal patency and compare shg with laparoscopy in tubal patency and hysterosalpyngography for uterine anomaly as gold standard methods. material and methods: 76 infertile patients undergone shg and hsg and laparoscopy and comparison between the different diagnostic techni...

Objectives: Specific health guidance (SHG) has served as a preventive intervention for metabolic syndrome in Japan since 2008. For SHG, professionals guide diet and physical activity to achieve body weight (BW) waist circumference (WC) reductions. Since 2013, SHG using information communication technology (ICT-based SHG) also been available. Therefore, this study, we examined the effects of ICT...

Much of the ICT interventions for rural transformation are exogenous in nature (development from outside), in the sense that they use a “push” approach towards development, without considering the nature and problems of an individual member of the rural community. Information and knowledge transactions, especially with dis-empowered people and groups, are a complex process and ICT needs to be a...

The cancerous spread of slum has been a rampant problem in urban areas worldwide. The acute shortage of housing facilities compels the poor to live in slums. Proper rehabilitation is considered as a very essential remedial measure to provide better living environment to slum peoples. This study is an essential attempt to gauge the effectiveness of a rehabilitation program, which studies the cha...

BACKGROUND India has made large strides in reducing maternal mortality ratio and neonatal mortality rate, yet care-seeking behavior for appropriate care is still a challenge. We conducted a qualitative study to understand the process of recognition and care-seeking for maternal and newborn illnesses in rural India where a health intervention through women's self-help groups (SHG) to improve mat...

The wide spread of self-help groups (SHGs) in both urban and rural communities in Nigeria and the low empowerment of the members economically, socially, politically and psychologically raises a lot of questions about what exactly is happening, since the primary objective of forming the SHGs is to empower the members holistically. The overall aim of the paper is to identify and discuss the facto...