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Item A model for digital mental healthcare: Its usefulness and potential for service delivery in low- and middle-income countries(Indian J. Psychiatry, 2019) Savita Malhotra; Subho Chakrabarti; Ruchita ShahBackground: Using digital technology to deliver mental health care can possibly serve as a viable adjunct or alternative to mainstream services in lessening the mental health gap in a large number of resource deficient and LAMI countries. Conventional models of telepsychiatric services available so far, however, have been inadequate and ineffective, as these address only a small component of care, and rely on engagement of specialists who are grossly insufficient in numbers. Aim: To describe an innovative digital model of mental health care, enabling and empowering the non-specialists to deliver high quality mental health care in remote areas. Methods: The model is powered by an online, fully automated clinical decision support system (CDSS), with interlinked modules for diagnosis, management and follow-up, usable by non-specialists after brief training and minimal supervision by psychiatrist, to deliver mental health care at remote sites. Results: The CDSS has been found to be highly reliable, feasible, with sufficient sensitivity and specificity. This paper describes the model and initial experience with the digital mental health care system deployed in three geographically difficult and remote areas in northern hill states in India. The online system was found to be reasonably comprehensive, brief, feasible, user-friendly, with high levels of patient satisfaction. 2594 patients assessed at the three remote sites and the nodal center represented varied diagnoses. Conclusions: The digital model described here has the potential to serve as an effective alternative or adjunct for delivering comprehensive and high quality mental health care in LAMI countries like India in the primary and secondary care settings.Item An insight on sampling, identification, quantification and characteristics of microplastics in solid wastes(Trends Environ. Anal. Chem., 2022) Palas Samanta; Sukhendu Dey; Debajyoti Kundu; Deblina Dutta; Rohit Jambulkar; Rahul Mishra; Apurba Ratan Ghosh; Sunil KumarMicroplastics (MPs) have attracted wide attention all over the world as a remarkable pollutant. While MPs are spreading throughout several complex environmental matrices, various experiments till date have been pre-liminary concentrate on aquatic ecosystems. Terrestrial sources namely solid waste-origin have remains unex-plored, although they contribute largely for aquatic microplastics origin. Simultaneously, terrestrial systems under human activity, like healthcare units, are likely to be polluted by various plastic ingredients. Solid waste MPs sources primarily include sanitary landfilling, food waste, wastewater treatment end-product (sludge), tire wear, textile washing and paint failure. These microplastics caused adverse impacts on ecosystem, environment, and health. Accordingly, the present study addressed solid waste MPs' occurrence and sources, identification, quantification, characterization, fate, and degradation pathways for developing comprehensive management strategies following the principles of circular economy. In particularly, this paper critically demonstrated solid waste MPs sources, solid waste MPs sampling followed by identification and quantification by adopting com-bined chemical (e.g., spectroscopy viz., Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, and Raman spectros-copy), physical (e.g., microscopy such as transmission or scanning electronic microscopy, TEM or SEM) and thermal analyses. Additionally, the strengths and limitations of each analytical technique are discussed critically with practical aspect. Further, the MPs related national and international regulations or laws and their subse-quent relevance to solid waste MPs management with future challenges are discussed very critically. Finally, the outcomes of the review paper will be valuable to different stakeholders for effective policy implementation.Item A Qualitative Assessment among Personnel Working in Community-Led Development Program Settings Regarding Sexualized Substance Use(Brain Sci., 2022) Binata Marik; Nupur Mahajan; Rohit Sarkar; Rochana Mitra; Rajiv Dua; Sumit AggarwalSexualized substance use (SSU) is the practice of psychotropic substance use before or during sex to increase sexual pleasure. The growing use of SSU has a strong association with sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Community health mobilizers (CHMs) are agents who assist in decreasing the global burden of disease in the communities they serve. They work as unit managers, counselors, or field workers. The managers and counselors have a minimum of a bachelor's degree, and field workers have a minimum of a higher secondary education. This study aimed to qualitatively assess the knowledge gaps regarding SSU among CHMs. In-depth interviews (IDIs) were conducted in New Delhi, India with nineteen CHMs. Majority of the CHMs were men (n = 9, 47%) followed by transgender (TG) persons (TG females n = 5, 26.3%; TG males n = 1, 5.2%), and women (n = 4, 21.1%). Knowledge gaps were identified among the CHMs regarding different types of sexualized substances, drug procurement, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection prevention, and complex health issues associated with SSU. It suggested the need for periodic workshops and training for upgradation of existing knowledge and practices among the CHMs. This formative research may help social scientists to develop protocols for conducting multi-centric, community-based studies across the country for further validation and exploration.