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Empirical evidence supporting the associations between malaria incidence and climatic factors has remained controversial, buffering the progress in the Global Malaria Program that aims to eliminate 90% of the world malaria burden by 2030. This study has aimed to evaluate the nature and extent at which these relations are maintained across all the malaria endemic countries of Africa and Asia-Pacific region. We have utilized the last two decades of malaria incidence, annual minimum temperature, and annual precipitation time series data (2000-2020) for the two most malaria-impacted regions. These data were fitted in the generalized linear model and the mixed effects model. The results showed that there exists a large heterogeneity in malaria incidence across the countries, and between the regions. Last two decadal tendencies showed significant reductions in the disease burden in almost all the countries in the Asia Pacific, with several exceptions or relatively slowed reductions in the Africa. We found significant changes in the positive linear associations between malaria incidence, annual minimum temperature, and annual precipitation across African countries. Many Asia-Pacific countries namely Bangladesh, Bhutan, Indonesia, South Korea, Nepal, Thailand, Vietnam showed negative effects in the associations with the annual precipitation. This study indicates that increasing temperature within the range of 12-30 °C can generate positive effects on malaria incidence, but the nature and extent of precipitation effects vary across countries and at a large regional scale., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) have posed serious risk to marine ecosystems due to their carcinogenic properties, and persistence in the environment and elevated bioaccumulation. It, therefore, becomes essential to examine spatial distribution, composition, and sources of PAHs. In this study, we have examined these PAH variations in the South China Sea (SCS) and East China Sea (ECS), that are experiencing rapid population and economic growth by the surrounding developing countries. It revealed high seasonal variations that significantly differ between dissolved and particulate PAHs concentrations. Spatial variations of PAHs across sites remain relatively insignificant. Persistently high particulate concentrations of the Naphthalene (Nap) were observed, whereas the dissolved concentrations of Fluorene (Flu) and Phenanthrene (Phen) remained prevalent across all the seasons. The result of non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) strongly reflects the weak dispersions of PAHs across the seasons and the contrasting effects of the phase partitioning. Principal component analysis indicates that the primary source of PAH contamination is coal tar or petroleum distillation. However, estimated risk quotient (RQ) values of both the dissolved and particulate PAHs in all the seasons are far below the high-risk levels, while dissolved PAHs displayed relatively higher values. This study signifies the importance of phase petitioning for PAHs monitoring and potential risk assessments., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest All authors declare that they have no actual or potential competing financial interests. The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Menarche and menopause are two major components of a woman's reproductive life. Ages at menarche and menopause vary widely between and within populations and are influenced by various factors, both genetic and environmental. The present community-based cross-sectional investigation aimed to assess the association between ages at menarche and natural menopause among women belonging to the indigenous Rajbanshi population of North Bengal, India. The investigation was carried out from January 2015 to May 2015 among 510 Rajbanshi women aged between 45 and 55 years residing in the district of Darjeeling, West Bengal, India. A structured schedule was used to collect data on ages at menarche and natural menopause, marital status, parity, education, age of first and last pregnancies, duration of breastfeeding, nature of occupation, health status, smoking and monthly family income. Anthropometric measurements of height and weight were recorded and Body Mass Index (BMI) calculated. The statistical analyses, which included descriptive statistics and binary logistic regression (BLR), were done using SPSS. The women's mean age of menarche and median age of natural menopause were 12.52 years and 50 years, respectively. The BLR analysis indicated that education, age at first pregnancy had significant effects on the age at natural menopause among women who experienced menarche at <12 years of age (p<0.05). In the case of women who attained menarche at ≥12 years of age, marital status, age at last pregnancy, parity, education, duration of breastfeeding, smoking, occupation, monthly income and BMI had a greater influence on age at natural menopause. There appears to be an indirect association between age at menarche and age at natural menopause, along with different predictor variables, among the Rajbanshi women.

Abstract: Overweight and obesity are one of the most neglected public health problems in both developed and developing countries. Prevalence of overweight and obesity among post-menopausal women are increasing at a rapid pace. The present study aims to assess effects of socio-economic, demographic and lifestyle variables on prevalence of overweight and obesity among post-menopausal rural women belonging to an ethnic population of eastern India. This study has been carried out among 510 Rajbanshi women aged between 45-56 years and residing in the district of Darjeeling, West Bengal. Height and weight along with a number of socio-economic, demographic and lifestyle variables were recorded and body mass index (BMI = weight/height kg/m 2 ) was calculated. The WHO (2000) cut-offs were utilized to assess prevalence of overweight (BMI ≥ 23.00-24.99 kg/m 2 ) and obesity (BMI ≥ 25.00 kg/m 2 ). The statistical tests (ANOVA, chi-square and binary logistic regression) were done using SPSS (version 17.0).The prevalence of overweight and obesity were observed to be high among those aged 45-50 years (30.63%, 4.26%) and 50-56 years (32.36%; 18.91%). The binary logistic regression analysis indicated that age, marital status, parity, age at menarche, occupational status, age at first pregnancy, monthly income, education, use of oral contraceptives and tobacco use had significant effects on overweight and obesity ( p < 0.05). Age, parity, education, use of oral contraceptives, age at menarche, tobacco use, occupation, monthly income, age at first and last pregnancy were observed to have greater influence on prevalence of overweight and obesity. Overweight and obesity associated with post-menopausal women require increased attention and a multidisciplinary approach for better health conditions among such women.

Introduction: Forensic anthropology involves the identification of human remains for medico-legal purposes. Estimation of sex is an essential element of medico-legal investigations when identification of unknown dismembered remains is involved., Aim: The present study was conducted with an aim to estimate sex from index and ring finger lengths of adult individuals belonging to an indigenous population of eastern India., Materials and Methods: A total of 500 unrelated adult individuals (18-60 years) from the Rajbanshi population (males: 250, females: 250) took part in the study. A total of 400 (males: 200, 200 female) participants were randomly used to develop sex estimation models using Binary Logistic Regression Analysis (BLR). A separate group of 200 adults (18-60 years) from the Karbi tribal population (males 100, females 100) were included to validate the results obtained on the Rajbanshi population. The univarate and bivariate models derived on the study group (n=400) were tested on hold-out sample of Rajbanshi participants (n=100) and the other test population of the Karbi (n=200) participants., Results: The results indicate that Index Finger Length (IFL) and Ring Finger Length (RFL) of both hands were significantly longer in males as compared to females. The ring finger was longer than the index finger in both sexes. The study successfully highlights the existence of sex differences in IFL and RFL (p<0.05). No sex differences were however, observed for the index and ring finger ratio. The predictive accuracy of IFL and RFL in sex estimation ranged between 70%-75% (in the hold out sample from the Rajbanshi population) and 60-66% (in the test sample from the Karbi population). A Receiver Operating Curve (ROC) analysis was performed to test the predictive accuracy after predicting the probability of IFL and RFL in sex estimation. The predicted probabilities using ROC analysis were observed to be higher on the left side and in multivariate analysis., Conclusion: The study concludes that sex estimation from index and ring finger lengths could be of utility when more reliable means of sex estimation are not available during medico-legal investigations.

Background: Overweight and obesity are the accumulation of high body adiposity, which can have detrimental health effects and contribute to the development of numerous preventable non-communicable diseases. This study aims to evaluate the effect of socio-economic, demographic and lifestyle factors on the prevalence of overweight and obesity among adults belonging to the Rengma-Naga population of North-east India., Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted among 826 Rengma-Naga individuals (males: 422; females: 404) aged 20-49 years from the Karbi Anglong District of Assam, using a two-stage stratified random sampling. The socio-economic, demographic and lifestyle variables were recorded using structured schedules. Height and weight were recorded and the Body Mass Index (BMI) was calculated using standard procedures and equation. The WHO (2000) cut-off points were utilized to assess the prevalence of overweight (BMI ≥23.00-24.99 kg/m(2)) and obesity (BMI ≥25.00 kg/m(2)). The data were analysed using ANOVA, chi-square analysis and binary logistic regression analysis using SPSS (version 17.0)., Results: The prevalence of overweight and obesity were 32.57% (males: 39.34%; females: 25.50%) and 10.77% (males: 9.95%; females: 11.63%), respectively. The binary logistic regression analysis showed that age groups (e.g., 40-49 years), education (≥9(th) standard), part-time occupation and monthly income (≥Rs.10000) were significantly associated with overweight and obesity (p<0.05)., Conclusions: Age, education occupation and income appear to have higher associations with overweight and obesity among adults. Suitable healthcare strategies and intervention programmes are needed for combating such prevalence in population.

Background: Undernutrition is a global public health problem that causes premature morbidity and ill-health conditions and has long-lasting physiological effects in children. The present study assesses the prevalence of wasting [low mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC)-for-age] among children and to determine the association of wasting with different socio-economic and socio-demographic variables., Methods: The present cross-sectional study was conducted among 1222 pre-school children (boys: 589; girls: 633), aged 1-5 years, in Darjeeling district, North Bengal, India, using multistage stratified random sampling method. The MUAC was measured using the standard anthropometric procedure. Low MUAC-for-age was assessed by comparing with a standard age-sex-specific reference population (WHO, 1995). Children with MUAC value were found to be the z-scores <-3SD, and <-2 SD were considered to be severely and moderately wasted, respectively. The socio-economic and socio-demographic variables were recorded using structured schedule methods. The data were statistically analyzed based on descriptive statistics, chi-square analysis and logistic regression using SPSS (version, 17.0)., Results: The age-specific mean MUAC ranged from 126.1-142.5 mm (boys) and 126.9-136.4 mm (girls). The prevalence of wasting was very high (boys: 62.3%; girls: 63.3%) (p>0.05). The logistic regression analysis observed that age, gender, birth order, area (rural), maternal education, household income and mothers' age were significantly associated with the prevalence of wasting (p<0.05)., Conclusion: Using MUAC-for-age, a high prevalence of wasting was observed among the children. Birth order, maternal education and maternal occupation were important determinants of wasting. There is an urgent requirement of nutritional intervention programmes to ameliorate the nutritional status of the children.

Forensic anthropology involves identification of human remains in a legal situation. Along with the other three parameters of forensic anthropology, i.e., age, sex and ethnicity, stature estimation is an essential element of medico-legal investigations when identifications of unknown dismembered remains are involved. The present study was conducted with an aim to find the correlation between stature and the lengths of the index and ring fingers and to derive linear and multiple regression models for estimation of adult stature from the index finger and ring finger measurements. The subjects chosen for the study were composed of adult individuals belonging to the "Rajbanshi", an ethnic community of North-eastern India. A total of 500 adults (250 males and 250 females) aged between 18 years and 60 years took part in the study. All the measurements were taken using standard techniques. Stature, index finger length and ring finger length were significantly longer in the males than the females. The correlation coefficient (r) between stature and finger lengths was observed to be positive and statistically significant. Linear and multiple regression models were derived for estimation of stature from a length of index and ring fingers. The predictive accuracy of stature estimation was higher for the females than the males. It was observed that the values of the correlation coefficient (r) and the coefficient of determination (R(2)) increased in multiple regression models when compared to the linear regression models. The study also focuses on the usability of sex-specific regression models in forensic casework. The study concludes that such regression models, as those derived in the present work, can be of significant utility in the estimation of stature., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd and Faculty of Forensic and Legal Medicine. All rights reserved.)

Background: The composition of fat mass (FM) and fat-free mass (FFM) are now considered to be important indicators of body composition., Aim: This cross-sectional study determines the body composition using FM and FFM among children., Subjects and Methods: The study was conducted among 1248 children (619 boys; 629 girls) aged 5-12 years and belonging to the Bengalee Muslim population of West Bengal, India. Anthropometric measurements of height, weight, triceps and sub-scapular skin-folds were recorded and body mass index (BMI) calculated. Body composition was assessed using FM and FFM., Results: The age-specific mean values of FM and FFM ranged from 1.93-3.07 kg (boys) and 1.91-3.62 kg (girls) and from 14.69-23.44 kg (boys) and 14.18-22.87 kg (girls), respectively. Statistically significant sex differences were observed in FM and FFM (p < 0.05). Age- and sex-specific smooth percentile curves were derived for BMI, FM and FFM using the L, M and S modelling approach for further evaluation of body composition., Conclusion: These findings are important for future investigations in the field and in epidemiological and clinical settings so as to accurately identify risk of lower or higher adiposity and body composition using FM and FFM.

Background: The present cross-sectional study evaluates the utility of the Composite Index of Anthropometric Failure (CIAF) over conventional nutritional indices for nutritional assessment. It also assesses the impact of various socio-economic and demographic factors on the CIAF., Subjects and Methods: Height, weight, age, socio-economic and demographic data were recorded from 3444 children (1682 boys; 1762 girls) aged 1-12 years and residing in Darjeeling district, West Bengal, India. The conventional anthropometric indices and CIAF were compared with the NCHS reference data to assess prevalence of under-nutrition. A multinomial logistic regression was used to assess the impact of different socio-economic and demographic variables on the CIAF., Results: Prevalence of under-nutrition was observed to be 21.5% (wasting), 43.3% (stunting) and 52.0% (underweight). This increased to 63.6% using the CIAF. The multinomial logistic regression odds showed that children suffering from double and multiple failures were significantly associated with the socio-economic and demographic variables., Conclusion: The CIAF provides more precision in identifying the nutritionally vulnerable segment of the population. The disaggregation of CIAF has an adequate potential to enhance the efficacy of a nutritional intervention programme by identifying double or multiple failures.

Background: Upper arm muscle area (UMA) and upper arm fat area (UFA) were introduced for assessment of child nutritional status., Aim: This cross-sectional study assesses child nutritional status using UMA and UFA. It also evaluates the suitability of upper arm muscle area by height (UAMAH) for assessing child under-nutrition with respect to stunting and wasting., Subjects and Methods: The study was conducted among 1248 children (619 boys; 629 girls) aged 5-12 years belonging to the Bengalee Muslim Population of West Bengal, India. Anthropometric measurements of height, weight, mid-upper arm circumference and triceps skin-fold were recorded. Nutritional status was assessed using UMA, UFA and UAMAH. Percentile curves were derived using the least median square method., Results: Mean age specific values of UMA, UFA and UAMAH of boys and girls were markedly below the 5th percentile. Using UAMAH, a very high proportion of children (boys, 91.28%; girls, 88.55%) were found to be under-nourished. Prevalence of stunting (boys, 39.74%; girls, 41.49%) and wasting (boys, 19.55%; girls, 15.74%) were also found to be high., Conclusion: The combination of UMA, UFA, UAMAH and conventional nutritional indices appear to be useful for assessment of child under-nutrition.

Dermatoglyphic print comparisons can be utilized to establish personal identification in forensic cases. The northern part of the state of West Bengal, India, is the home to many ethnic populations. Two such populations are the Rajbanshi and the Mech. Palm prints were collected from 192 adult Rajbanshi (105 men and 87 women) and 100 adult Mech (50 men and 50 women) individuals for print comparison using the standard ink and roll print method. The dermatoglyphic variables studied were mainline formulae, termination of mainline, positional variation of axial triradii, and true pattern of hypothenar and thenar configuration area. There were differences between the Rajbanshi and Mech individuals with respect to these dermatoglyphic variables. The uses of these variables appear to be limited only to ethnic identification, not personal identification. The present investigation further highlights the racial affinity, sex, and bilateral differences among Rajbanshi individuals using dermatoglyphic palmar variables., (© 2010 American Academy of Forensic Sciences.)

The present cross-sectional study examines the association of maternal nutritional status, body composition and socio-economic status with newborn low birth weight (LBW). It was conducted on 503 mothers and their singleton newborns in an urban hospital in Siliguri, West Bengal, India. The maternal anthropometric measurements (weight, height, mid-upper arm circumference and triceps skinfold), socio-economic variables (education, household income, occupation and birth order) and newborn birth weight were recorded. The average birth weight was 2.746 (+/-0.40) kg and 17.30% of the newborns had LBW. The multinomial regression analysis showed maternal age, height, weight nutritional status, birth order and household income to have significant associations with newborn LBW. The receiver operating characteristic curve-area under curve analysis showed maternal weight and mid-upper arm circumference to be the best surrogate measures of LBW.

Background: In India, children show a high incidence of undernutrition and constitute a highly susceptible group., Aim: The present cross-sectional study assesses the prevalence of undernutrition among school-going children belonging to three communities in the same geographical and ecological habitat., Subjects and Methods: A total of 906 boys and 964 girls in the age group of 5-12 years and belonging to the Rajbanshi, Tea-labourer and Bengalee Muslim communities residing in North Bengal, India were included. Height-for-age, weight-for-age and weight-for-height were used to evaluate their nutritional status and these were compared with the NCHS reference data. The statistical methods used included chi-square and multinomial logistic regression analysis., Results: There were wide variations in stunting, underweight and wasting among the children of the three ethnic communities. Significant gender differences were observed between and within the communities. Children from Tea-labourer and Bengali Muslim were more affected in comparison to the Rajbanshi. Multinomial logistic regression analysis showed that gender, ethnic community and number of siblings are significantly associated with undernutrition. Family size does not seem to be associated with undernutrition., Conclusion: There is a high prevalence of undernutrition among the children. Urgent nutritional intervention is necessary to ameliorate their nutritional status.