Stroke is becoming a major public health issue in our country due to the fact that there is an increasing life span of our population. Due to advancement of acute management of stroke, three out of four people will survive beyond the acute phase of stroke. Stroke care providers are still debating regarding the exact period of the terminology ‘longer-term stroke’; however many agreed that long-term of stroke refers to the period of one year and thereafter as this period is the determinant for longer-term survival. Management beyond the first year of stroke is complex, encompasses all aspects of patient’s life; physical, psychological and integration into community. Rehabilitation being the cornerstone of longer-term stroke management should now focused on more evidence-based approach as to be effective and relevant to the stroke patients.

Previous studies explain the time course of withdrawal symptoms among smokers pre and post quit attempt, either withor without the help of medication. Studies showed that male Muslim smokers could quit smoking during Ramadan sincefasting relate to the changes in psychosomatic, daily activities and nicotine withdrawal symptoms. This study aimed toinvestigate the time course of withdrawal symptoms among smokers who used nicotine patch to quit smoking duringfasting in Ramadan. A total of 40 eligible Muslim males who tried to quit smoking was selected and provided with smokingcessation counseling for the duration of 8 to 10 weeks while on nicotine patch. Participants level of withdrawal symptomswas recorded by using nine items of Minnesota Nicotine Withdrawal Scale over a period of 60 days. Participant’s carbonmonoxide reading and body weight were measured within six months including pre and post-Ramadan fasting. Over fourweeks of the fasting month, the measured withdrawal symptoms such as urge to smoke (P ≤ 0.001), depressed mood (P≤ 0.001), irritability/frustration or anger (P ≤ 0.05), anxiety (P ≤ 0.05), difficulty concentrating(P ≤ 0.001), restlessness(P ≤ 0.001), difficulty going to sleep (P ≤ 0.001) and impatient (P ≤ 0.05) significantly decreased except appetite by theend of week 4. Time course analyses demonstrated that all outcome measures showed good effects during cessation infasting month. The point prevalence abstinence at first month of quitting was 67.5% which is higher in fasting month.This has shown positive clinical implications in managing smoking cessation program during Ramadan with the aid ofnicotine patch.

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has infected more than 8 million people globally since its discovery in December 2019. For COVID-19 prevention, the World Health Organization recommended regular handwashing with soap, cough etiquette, mask wearing and social distancing. However, COVID-19 is rather difficult to contain because of its high transmissibility property. Gargling is effective for reducing infection in the respiratory tract. Most antiseptic gargles have antimicrobial properties against common respiratory pathogens. No published study on the effectiveness of antiseptic gargling among COVID-19 patients has been available to date. This article reviewed available literature on methods and solutions available for gargling and their effect on respiratory tract infections.

Influence of citronella and chlorpyrifos on oviposition and duration for completing life cycles for Chrysomya megacephala and Chrysomya rufifacies infesting decomposing rabbit carcasses was studied. Male rabbit carcasses (n = 12) were equally divided into control, citronella- and chlorpyrifos–treated groups, and left to decompose for 14 consecutive days. C. megacephala was the first necrophagous fly oviposited in all control and citronellatreated carcasses followed by C. rufifacies. Although initial oviposition of C. megacephala was delayed (4-6 hours) in citronella-treated carcasses (P < 0.05), prolongation in completing its life cycle was not observed. Neither delayed initial oviposition nor prolonged life cycle for C. rufifacies in citronella-treated carcasses was observed. Oviposition was delayed for chlorpyrifos-treated carcasses (0.42 g/L), and eclosion of eggs remained unsuccessful. The findings deserve consideration because these chemicals are easily accessible and can be used by cunning criminals to confuse forensic entomologists while estimating minimum postmortem interval.