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This paper addresses the pervasive challenge of localization within indoor navigation systems. Many existing systems grapple with this issue, relying on marker-based methods, Bluetooth beacon localization, and image processing. However, these solutions often necessitate the placement of predetermined markers within the environment, presenting limitations such as marker deterioration over time, spatial constraints, and associated costs. In response, we propose a novel point cloud registration-based approach. This method involves the creation of a comprehensive global point cloud representing the entire indoor environment, effectively serving as a three-dimensional virtual map. Concurrently, a mixed-reality device is utilized to generate a local point cloud specific to the device’s current location within the building. By aligning and registering the local cloud with the global counterpart, the device’s precise location within the virtual map can be determined. This approach enables seamless navigation within indoor environments without the reliance on physical markers, offering a versatile and cost-effective solution to the challenge of localization in indoor navigation systems. Finally, an error analysis was also done to test localization accuracy for different illumination conditions, demonstrating the effectiveness of this method.

Abstract Background Network analysis, commonly used to describe the patterns of multimorbidity, uses the strength of association between conditions as weight to classify conditions into communities and calculate centrality statistics. Our aim was to examine the robustness of the results to the choice of weight. Methods Data used on 27 chronic conditions listed on Australian death certificates for women aged 85+. Five statistics were calculated to measure the association between 351 possible pairs: odds ratio (OR), lift, phi correlation, Salton cosine index (SCI), and normalised-joint frequency of pairs (NF). Network analysis was performed on the 10% of pairs with the highest weight according to each definition, the ‘top pairs’. Results Out of 56 ‘top pairs’ identified, 13 ones were consistent across all statistics. In networks of OR and lift, three of the conditions which did not join communities were among the top five most prevalent conditions. Networks based on phi and NF had one or two conditions not part of any community. For the SCI statistics, all three conditions which did not join communities had prevalence below 3%. Low prevalence conditions were more likely to have high degree in networks of OR and lift but not SCI. Conclusion Use of different statistics to estimate weights leads to different networks. For exploratory purposes, one may apply alternative weights to identify a large list of pairs for further assessment in independent studies. However, when the aim is to visualise the data in a robust and parsimonious network, only pairs which are selected by multiple statistics should be visualised.

Abstract Background Most estimates of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) prevalence, including all official figures in Australia and many other countries, are based on self-report. Self-report has been shown to overestimate RA, but the ‘gold standard’ of reviewing individual medical records is costly, time-consuming and impractical for large-scale research and population monitoring. This study provides an algorithm to estimate RA cases using administrative data that can be adjusted for use in multiple contexts to provide the first approximate RA cohort in Australia that does not rely on self-report. Methods Survey data on self-reported RA and medications from 25 467 respondents of the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health (ALSWH) were linked with data from the national medication reimbursement database, hospital and emergency department (ED) episodes, and Medicare Benefits codes. RA prevalence was calculated for self-reported RA, self-reported RA medications, dispensed RA medications, and hospital/ED RA presentations. Linked data were used to exclude individuals with confounding autoimmune conditions. Results Of 25 467 survey respondents, 1367 (5·4%) women self-reported disease. Of the 26 840 women with hospital or ED presentations, 292 (1·1%) received ICD-10 codes for RA. There were 1038 (2·8%) cases by the medication database definition, and 294 cases (1·5%) by the self-reported medication definition. After excluding individuals with other rheumatic conditions, prevalence was 3·9% for self-reported RA, 1·9% based on the medication database definition and 0·5% by self-reported medication definition. This confirms the overestimation of RA based on self-reporting. Conclusions We provide an algorithm for identifying individuals with RA, which could be used for population studies and monitoring RA in Australia and, with adjustments, internationally. Its balance of accuracy and practicality will be useful for health service planning using relatively easily accessible input data.

Background: Demonstrating keratin is crucial in diagnosing various epithelial pathologies and is typically done through histological and immunohistochemical (IHC) methods. While IHC staining for keratin is highly specific, it can be costly and time-consuming. Therefore, common histological staining methods for keratin, suitable for routine histotechniques labs, are gaining importance. Methodology: Twenty formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue blocks, each representing histologically confirmed normal oral mucosa (NOM), hyperorthokeratosis (HOK), and well-differentiated squamous cell carcinoma (WDSCC), were retrieved. Five histological sections of 4-μ thickness from each block were stained using routine hematoxylin and eosin (H and E), modified pap stain (mPap), Ayoub-Shklar (AS), Dane-Herman (DH), and Alcian blue-PAS stains (AB-PAS). Two independent observers evaluated the stained sections and scored staining specificity and intensity. Statistical comparisons were made. Results: All sections of NOM, HOK, and WDSCC showed positive staining for keratin with each of the five stains used. The staining specificity and intensity scores were highest with the AS stain and lowest with the AB-PAS stain. Conclusion: Routine H and E, mPap, AS, and DH stains effectively stained keratin with adequate intensity in NOM, HOK, and WDSCC. However, while AB-PAS stain also positively stained keratin, its staining intensity was poor across all three tissue types.

Grain amaranth (Amaranthus hypochondriacus L.) has gained increasing attention as a potential nutrient-rich crop with numerous health benefits. The present study was carried out, during the summer (kharif) season of 2019 and 2020 at College of Agriculture, Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology, Bhubaneswar, Odisha to evaluate morpho-quantitative and biochemical parameters of grain amaranth. Four varieties of grain amaranth in five different replications were taken. Morpho-quantitative assessment indicated that, Suvarna (11.23 q/ha) yielded the most, GA 2 flowers opened 50% after 45.68 days, whereas BGA 2 took 51.52 days. The RMA 7 variety matured in 102.5 days, while the Suvarna variety matured in 104.2 days. RMA 7 had the longest panicle (38.9 cm), whereas Suvarna had the smallest (35.68 cm). Suvarna had the most plants (74.3), followed by BGA 2 (73.5). Biochemical analysis revealed that, BGA 2 contained more chlorophyll (1.537 mg/g), and RMA 7 had more total carbohydrate (319 mg/g). Moreover, BGA 2, GA 2, Suvarna and RMA 7 exhibited comparable phenol content. Moreover, Fe (66 mg/100 g), Mg (284.5 mg/100 g), Mn (5.71 mg/100 g), Zn (11.3 mg/100 g), Ca (178.7 mg/100 g), and K (400.50 mg/100 g) were detected by ICP-OES analysis. FTIR and HPTLC analysis indicated more number of functional group present in the varieties. Thus, the present study unveiled that seeds of grain amaranthus varieties are rich source of different essential elements, and other essential biochemical parameters, with higher antioxidant activity. Hence this pseudocereal can be used to provide good food supplements to the infants as well as adults.

Abstract Objective To develop a consumer and community involvement (CCI) strategy for the Women’s Health Research, Translation and Impact Network (WHRTN), an initiative of the Australian Health Research Alliance (AHRA). Type of program A national network, comprising representatives from 14 nationally-accredited research translation centres that aims to embed CCI at a systems level, to improve equity and health outcomes across women’s health. Methods A CCI Sub-Committee of WHRTN was established, chaired by a Consumer Advisor/Advocate. This committee invited both internal and external Consumer Advisor/Advocates to participate in a workshop, to guide the development of WHRTN’s CCI Strategy in women’s health research. Results A CCI Strategy document was written with input from workshop attendees and leading academics in women’s health and has now been implemented into WHRTN, informing all aspect of the Network’s programs and activities. Discussion Broad and early consumer involvement can facilitate meaningful partnerships between researchers and community, and enable genuine consumer contributions to research across strategy development, priority setting and undertaking research. Appropriate finances and time need to be allocated for CCI, with training in CCI a key enabler for its effective implementation.

Abstract Objective: This study examined adherence to dietary guidelines and symptoms of sleep problems (e.g. taking a long time to fall sleep or waking up early) and their associations in a sample of older Australian women (68–73 years of age). Design: This was a population-based cross-sectional study. Adherence to the dietary guidelines was measured using a validated FFQ and reported as a diet quality score. Symptoms of sleep problems were measured using five questions and a total score was derived. Multivariate linear regression was used to investigate the association between these outcomes, adjusted for the potential confounding influence of demographic (i.e. age and marital status) and lifestyle (i.e. physical activity, stress, alcohol intake, sleep medication use) variables. Setting: Respondents from the 1946–1951 cohort of the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health who completed Survey 9 were included. Participants: Data from n 7956 older women (mean age ± sd: 70·8 ± 1·5) were included. Results: 70·2 % reported having at least one symptom and 20·5 % had between 3 and 5 symptoms of sleep problems (mean score ± sd: 1·4 ± 1·4, range 0–5). Adherence to dietary guidelines was poor with an average diet quality score of 56·9 ± 10·7 (range 0–100). Better adherence to dietary guidelines was associated with fewer sleep problem symptoms (β: –0·065, 95 % CI: –0·012, –0·005) and remained significant after adjusting for confounding influences. Conclusions: These findings support the evidence that adherence to dietary guidelines is associated with symptoms of sleep problems in older women.

Abstract Purpose: To report a case of a young female who presented with scotoma in the right eye for few days. Case Report: Krill's disease or acute retinal pigment epithelitis (ARPE) is a self-limiting retinal disease with no specific treatment. Typical clinical and imaging features helped us to diagnose her with ARPE. Intravenous methylprednisolone (IVMP), which gives a rapid anti-inflammatory response, was advised. An SD-OCT scan post-injection showed a reduction in hyperreflectivity and height of lesion at day 3 and near total resolution by day 5. Conclusion: This case suggests rapid resolution of ARPE with the use of IVMP.

Endometriosis is a common yet under-recognised chronic inflammatory disease, affecting 176 million women, trans and gender diverse people globally. The National Endometriosis Clinical and Scientific Trials (NECST) Registry is a new clinical registry collecting and tracking diagnostic and treatment data and patient-reported outcomes on people with endometriosis. The registry is a research priority action item from the 2018 National Action Plan for Endometriosis and aims to provide large-scale, national and longitudinal population-based data on endometriosis. Working groups (consisting of patients with endometriosis, clinicians and researchers) developing the NECST Registry data dictionary and data collection platform started in 2019. Our data dictionary was developed based on existing and validated questionnaires, tools, meta-data and data cubes – World Endometriosis Research Foundation Endometriosis Phenome and Biobanking Harmonisation Project, endometriosis CORE outcomes set, patient-reported outcome measures, the International Statistical Classification of Diseases-10th Revision Australian Modification diagnosis codes and Australian Government datasets: Australian Institute for Health and Welfare (for sociodemographic data), Medicare Benefits Schedule (for medical procedures) and the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (for medical therapies). The resulting NECST Registry is an online, secure cloud-based database, prospectively collecting minimum core clinical and health data across eight patient and clinician modules and longitudinal data tracking disease life course. The NECST Registry has ethics approval (HREC/62508/ MonH-2020) and is registered with the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ACTRN12622000987763).

Abstract Aims The role of depression in subsequent infertility, miscarriage and stillbirth remains unclear. This study aimed to examine the association of a history of depression with these adverse outcomes using a longitudinal cohort study of women across their reproductive life span. Methods This study used data from participants in the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health who were born in 1973–1978. Participants (N = 8707) were followed up every 3 years from 2000 (aged 22–27) to 2018 (aged 40–45). Information on a diagnosis of depression was collected from each survey, and antidepressant medication use was identified through pharmaceutical prescription data. Histories of infertility, miscarriage, and stillbirth were self-reported at each survey. Time-lagged log-binomial models with generalized estimating equations were used to assess the association of a history of depression up to and including in a given survey with the risk of fertility issues in the next survey. Results Women with a history of depression (excluding postnatal depression) were at higher risk of infertility [risk ratio (RR) = 1.34, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.21–1.48], miscarriage (RR = 1.22, 95%CI: 1.10–1.34) and recurrent miscarriages (≥2; RR = 1.39, 95%CI: 1.17–1.64), compared to women without a history of depression. There were too few stillbirths to provide clear evidence of an association. Antidepressant medication use did not affect the observed associations. Estimated RRs of depression with infertility and miscarriage increased with age. Conclusions A history of depression was associated with higher risk of subsequent infertility, miscarriage and recurrent miscarriages.

Background: Over the last decade, an emerging role of novel cytokines in the pathogenesis of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) has been proposed. The present study was implemented to provide a more accurate estimate of the effect size of the association between leptin, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), and interleukin-6 (IL-6) and the risk of GDM.Methods: Online databases were looked up to January 2023 using the search string: (leptin OR TNF-α OR IL-6) AND “gestational diabetes.” Observational studies investigating the association of selected cytokines and GDM risk were included. Odds ratios and their 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were extracted and random-effects models were used to estimate the pooled effect.Results: Twenty-four studies were included in the meta-analysis. A significant association was found between higher circulating leptin and the risk of GDM and the pooled estimate was 1.16 (95%CI: 1.07, 1.27). Higher circulating levels of IL-6 and TNF-α were associated with increased risk of GDM, and the pooled estimates were 1.35 (95%CI: 1.05, 1.73) and 1.28 (95%CI: 1.01, 1.62), respectively.Conclusions: The studied cytokines could be implicated in the GDM pathogenesis and used as potential biomarkers for assessing the GDM risk. Additional longitudinal studies with large sample sizes are needed for a further evaluation of these findings.

Despite an increasing number of studies demonstrating the potential mental health benefits of greenspace, few longitudinal studies have been reported. We aimed to assess associations between two metrics of residential greenspace exposure and anxiety symptoms in a cohort of Australian women living in major cities.Our study comprised 3,938 women, born between 1973 and 78. Anxiety symptoms in the previous month were assessed at follow-up every three years during 2003–2018, using the anxiety subscale of the Goldberg Anxiety and Depression Scale. The three-month seasonal average normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) was estimated from 30 m Landsat satellite images in a 500 m buffer (NDVI500m) around participants’ address at each survey (higher NDVI indicates more green vegetation). The annual fractional cover of non-photosynthesising vegetation was estimated (fNPV500m, with higher values indicating greater levels of dead leaf litter or dry grass).A generalised estimating equation assessed associations between greenspace measures and anxiety symptoms (as odds ratios [ORs]), adjusting for repeated outcomes and individual-level covariates. Additional analyses focused on women experiencing substantial changes in between-survey exposure due to moving, and adjusting for nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and fine particulate matter (PM2.5) exposure, among others.A standard deviation (SD) (0.12 units) increase in NDVI500m was significantly associated with lower odds of anxiety symptoms (OR: 0.96, 95% CI: 0.93–0.99) in the adjusted model. An SD (5.2%) increase in annual fNPV500m was consistent with the direction expected for that exposure, but not significant in the adjusted model (OR: 1.03, 95% CI: 0.99–1.07). NDVI500m was modestly attenuated when air pollutants were adjusted for, while fNPV500m only became significant when PM2.5 was adjusted for. Between-survey contrasts had no clear effect for NDVI500m. Moving to a higher fNPV500m area, compared with a similar fNPV500m area, was consistently associated with anxiety symptoms (OR: 1.15, 95% CI: 1.02–1.31). NDVI500m was generally associated with lower odds of anxiety symptoms, while fNPV500m was generally associated with higher odds of anxiety, depending on the covariates considered.

Abstract Background Symptoms can be strong drivers for initiating interaction with the health system, especially when they are frequent, severe or impact on daily activities. Research on symptoms often use counts of symptoms as a proxy for symptom burden, however simple counts don’t provide information on whether groups of symptoms are likely to occur together or whether such groups are associated with different types and levels of healthcare use. Women have a higher symptom burden than men; however studies of symptom patterns in young women are lacking. We aimed to characterise subgroups of women in early adulthood who experienced different symptom patterns and to compare women’s use of different types of health care across the different symptom subgroups. Methods Survey and linked administrative data from 7 797 women aged 22–27 years in 2017 from the 1989–95 cohort of the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health were analysed. A latent class analysis was conducted to identify subgroups of women based on the frequency of 16 symptom variables. To estimate the associations between the latent classes and health service use, we used the “Bolck, Croon and Hagenaars” (BCH) approach that takes account of classification error in the assignment of women to latent classes. Results Four latent classes were identified, characterised by 1) low prevalence of most symptoms (36.6%), 2) high prevalence of menstrual symptoms but low prevalence of mood symptoms (21.9%), 3) high prevalence of mood symptoms but low prevalence of menstrual symptoms, (26.2%), and high prevalence of many symptoms (15.3%). Compared to the other three classes, women in the high prevalence of many symptoms class were more likely to visit general practitioners and specialists, use more medications, and more likely to have had a hospital admission. Conclusions Women in young adulthood experience substantially different symptom burdens. A sizeable proportion of women experience many co-occurring symptoms across both physical and psychological domains and this high symptom burden is associated with a high level of health service use. Further follow-up of the women in our study as they enter their late 20 s and early 30 s will allow us to examine the stability of the classes of symptoms and their associations with general health and health service use. Similar studies in other populations are needed to assess the generalisability of the findings.

Abstract Background Hysterectomy, particularly when conducted in women younger than 45 years, has been associated with increased risk of non-communicable diseases. In India, research indicates that hysterectomy is a common procedure for women, but there have been no studies on its long-term effects. We examined patterns of hysterectomy amongst women in India and associations with their health and well-being in later life. Methods This analysis utilised the first wave of the Longitudinal Study on Aging in India, a nationally representative study of adults that included a module on health and well-being. We analysed data on 35,083 women ≥45 years in India. We estimated prevalence of hysterectomy and performed multivariable logistic regression to identify associated risk factors and to examine the association between hysterectomy status and eight self-reported chronic conditions, hospitalisation and mobility. Results The prevalence of hysterectomy among women >=45 years was 11.4 (95% CI: 10.3, 12.6), with higher odds among urban women (aOR: 1.39; 1.17,1.64) and higher economic status (highest compared to lowest quintile: aOR: 1.95; 1.44, 2.63). Hysterectomy history was associated with four chronic conditions: hypertension (aOR: 1.51; 95% CI: 1.28, 1.79), high cholesterol (aOR: 1.43; 1.04, 1.97), diabetes (aOR: 1.69; 1.28, 2.24), and bone/joint disease (aOR: 1.54; 1.20, 1.97) and higher odds of any hospitalisation in the past year (aOR: 1.69; 1.36, 2.09). Conclusions In India, evidence suggests that hysterectomy is associated with major chronic conditions. The assessment for hysterectomy as a treatment option for gynaecological morbidity should consider potential health consequences in later life.

Abstract Background Previous studies of lifestyle characteristics and risk of miscarriage have mostly been retrospective and failed to account for induced abortions. We examine whether pre-pregnancy body-mass index, alcohol intake and smoking influence the risk of miscarriage after accounting for induced abortions. Methods We conducted a prospective cohort study of 9213 women with 26,594 pregnancies participating in the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health. We examined whether body-mass index, smoking and alcohol intake prior to pregnancy was associated with miscarriage. We estimated adjusted relative risks (RR) using generalized estimating equations with an exchangeable correlation matrix. We explored the impact of accounting for induced abortion by first excluding all induced abortions, and secondly including 50% of induced abortions in the comparison group. Results Of the 26,592 pregnancies which occurred during the follow-up period, 19% ended in a miscarriage. We observed an increased risk of miscarriage according to pre-pregnancy obesity compared to normal weight (adjusted RR 1.13; 95% CI 1.05, 1.21), smoking between 10 and 19 cigarettes per day compared to not smoking (adjusted RR 1.13; 95% CI 1.02, 1.25), but not smoking 20 or more cigarettes per day (adjusted RR 1.07; 95% CI 0.94, 1.21) and risky drinking (≥2 units per day; adjusted RR 1.15; 95% CI 1.03, 1.28) compared to low risk drinking (

Objective: The aim is to study respiratory diseases in children staying in a stone quarry. Methods: Prospective longitudinal study. All 85 children staying in the stone quarry near Pune were followed for respiratory symptoms and nutritional status by monthly visits for a period of 18 months. At the time of enrolment, Hemogram, Chest X- ray Postero-anterior view (PA), Tuberculin Test (TT), Peak Expiratory Flow Rate{PEFR }(Of children age: 5-12 yrs.) was done. Results: In those 85 children, there were 394 episodes of respiratory infections (3.09 episodes per child per year). They had 53 episodes of pneumonia requiring admission. TT test was positive in 9.4%of children. Eosinophilia was present in 16.47% of children. PEFR in these children was significantly lower than that of children of the same height (P < 0.05); 64.2% of all children were malnourished; 42.8% had moderate malnutrition and 21.4% had severe malnutrition. None of them had received even vaccines provided under EPI completely. Conclusion: Children staying in the stone quarry have frequent respiratory infections. They have a higher rate of pneumonia requiring admission. TT positivity is high. They have a lower PEFR. Immunization coverage is poor.

Background and Aims: To compare the sedoanalgesic effects of dexmedetomidine alone or with combination of ketamine. Material and Methods: After getting ethical approval and informed patient consent, 60 adult surgical patients, were randomly divided into two groups. Group KD (n = 30); received dexmedotomidine 0.5 μg/kg/h mixed with ketamine 0.5 mg/kg/h and Group DEX (n = 30); received dexmedotomidine at 0.5 μg/kg/h infusion only. In both the groups, study drugs were titrated (dexmedetomidine- 0.2-0.7 μg/kg/h and ketamine 0.2-0.7 mg/kg/h) to achieve target sedation. Hemodynamic variables, pain scores, sedation scores, and patient satisfaction were recorded. Qualitative and Quantitative data were analyzed with Pearson Chi-squared test and analysis of variance test, respectively. All analyses were done by using statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) version 16.0. Results: Pain scores were higher in group DEX than in group KD at 2 h and 4 h which was statistically significant (P < 0.05). At the end of 2 h, sedation scores were higher in group KD than in group DEX and was statistically significant (P < 0.05). Length of intensive care unit stay was almost comparable in both groups, and the time to tracheal extubation was lesser in ketamine-dexmedetomidine group as compared to the dexmedetomidine alone group. However the difference was statistically non-significant. Conclusions: By combining dexmedetomidine with ketamine we observed lower incidence of hypotension and bradycardia. Dexmedetomidine with ketamine combination therapy could be used safely and effectively as sedo-analgesic agent.

Background Social relationships are associated with mortality and chronic conditions. However, little is known about the effects of social relationship satisfaction on multiple chronic conditions (multimorbidity).Aims To examine whether social relationship satisfaction is associated with the accumulation of multimorbidity.Methods Data from 7 694 Australian women who were free from 11 chronic conditions at 45–50 years of age in 1996 were analysed. Five types of social relationship satisfaction (partner, family members, friends, work and social activities) were measured approximately every 3 years and scored from 0 (very dissatisfied) to 3 (very satisfied). Scores from each relationship type were summed to provide an overall satisfaction score (range: ≤5–15). The outcome of interest was the accumulation of multimorbidity in 11 chronic conditions.Results Over a 20-year period, 4 484 (58.3%) women reported multimorbidities. Overall, the level of social relationship satisfaction had a dose–response relationship with the accumulation of multimorbidities. Compared with women reporting the highest satisfaction (score 15), women with the lowest satisfaction (score ≤5) had the highest odds of accumulating multimorbidity (odds ratio (OR)= 2.35, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.94 to 2.83) in the adjusted model. Similar results were observed for each social relationship type. Other risk factors, such as socioeconomic, behavioural and menopausal status, together explained 22.72% of the association.Conclusions Social relationship satisfaction is associated with the accumulation of multimorbidity, and the relationship is only partly explained by socioeconomic, behavioural and reproductive factors. Social connections (eg, satisfaction with social relationships) should be considered a public health priority in chronic disease prevention and intervention.

Abstract Background To determine the relationship between clusters of back pain and joint pain and prescription opioid dispensing. Methods Of 11,221 middle-aged participants from the Australian Longitudinal Study of Women’s Health, clusters of back pain and joint pain from 2001 to 2013 were identified using group-based trajectory modelling. Prescription opioid dispensing from 2003 to 2015 was identified by linking the cohort to Pharmaceutical Benefit Scheme dispensing data. Multinomial logistic regression was used to examine the association between back pain and joint pain clusters and dispensing of prescription opioids. The proportion of opioids dispensed in the population attributable to back and join pain was calculated. Results Over 12 years, 68.5 and 72.0% women reported frequent or persistent back pain and joint pain, respectively. There were three clusters (‘none or infrequent’, ‘frequent’ and ‘persistent’) for both back pain and joint pain. Those in the persistent back pain cluster had a 6.33 (95%CI 4.38-9.16) times increased risk of having > 50 opioid prescriptions and those in persistent joint pain cluster had a 6.19 (95%CI 4.18-9.16) times increased risk of having > 50 opioid prescriptions. Frequent and persistent back and joint pain clusters together explained 41.7% (95%CI 34.9-47.8%) of prescription opioid dispensing. Women in the frequent and persistent back pain and joint pain clusters were less educated and reported more depression and physical inactivity. Conclusion Back pain and joint pain are major contributors to opioid prescription dispensing in community-based middle-aged women. Additional approaches to reduce opioid use, targeted at those with frequent and persistent back pain and joint pain, will be important in order to reduce the use of opioids and their consequent harm in this population.

An experiment was conducted at research farm of ICAR-Indian Institute of Farming Systems Research, Modipuram, Uttar Pradesh during 2016–17 to 2018–19 to develop integrated farming systems (IFS) model which has diverse commodities/components, viz. crops (1.04 ha), dairy (2 Murrah buffaloes and 1 Gir cow), horticulture (0.22 ha), fishery (0.1 ha), mushroom (0.02 ha), poultry (10 birds), vermicompost unit (0.02 ha), kitchen garden (0.002 ha) and boundary plantation with fruit trees (200 m in running length). The total productivity of all cropping sequences surged up to 124.96 tonnes/1.04 ha/year when yields of the whole system were transformed into sugarcane equivalent yield (SEY). Gross and net returns from crop components of IFS model were obtained in the extent of `282×103/1.04 ha/ year and `199×103/1.04 ha/year and B:C ratio 3.37. The overall farm product of all components in the form of SEY was 246.95 tonnes/1.5 ha/year and 164.63 tonnes/ha/year. Similarly, gross return from involving all components of IFS model was erected at `777×103/1.5 ha/year and `518×103/ha/year and net return `491×103/1.5 ha/year and `328 × 103/ha/year with B:C ratio of 3.37 for the entire IFS model. Given total availability of farm-based waste (19950 kg/ year) was recycled within the system in the form of compost, vermicompost (VC), crops residues, litter falls, weeds and green manure (GM). As regards to livelihood security, the IFS approach had adapted to meet the homegrown family needs of cereals, pulses, oils, fruits, milk, meat, eggs and vegetables.

Purpose Previous studies have identified associations between individual reproductive factors and chronic disease risk among postmenopausal women. However, few have investigated the association of different markers of reproductive function, their interactions and risk factors of chronic disease among women approaching menopause. The Menarche-to-PreMenopause (M-PreM) Study aims to examine the relationship between reproductive factors across the reproductive lifespan and risk indicators for chronic disease among women in their early-to-mid-40s. The purpose of this cohort profile paper is to describe the rationale, study design and participant characteristics of the M-PreM Study.Participants Women born in 1973–1978 who participated in the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health (ALSWH) were invited to undertake a clinical or self-administered assessment. A total of 1278 women were recruited from June 2019 to June 2021.Findings to date The study measures included functional, cognitive and cardiometabolic tests, anthropometry, spirometry, respiratory health questionnaires, physical activity, sleep patterns, sex hormones, and cardiovascular and metabolic markers; whereas blood and saliva samples were used for the analysis of genetic variants of genes associated with reproductive characteristics and chronic disease. The mean age of the clinic and self-assessed participants was 44.6 and 45.3 years, respectively. The menopausal status of participants was similar between the two arms of the study: 38%–41% premenopausal, 20% perimenopausal, and 36% took oral contraception or hormone replacement therapy. Approximately 80% of women had at least one child and participants reported experiencing pregnancy complications: preterm birth (8%–13% of pregnancies), gestational diabetes (10%) and gestational hypertension (10%–15%).Future plans The biomedical data collected in the M-PreM Study will be linked to existing ALSWH survey data on sociodemographic factors, health behaviour, reproductive function, and early life factors collected over the past 20 years and health administrative data. The association between reproductive factors and risk indicators of chronic disease will be analysed.

Abstract Background Healthy Living after Cancer (HLaC) was a national dissemination and implementation study of an evidence-based lifestyle intervention for cancer survivors. The program was imbedded into existing telephone cancer information and support services delivered by Australian state-based Cancer Councils (CC). We report here the reach, effectiveness, adoption, implementation, and maintenance of the program. Methods In this phase IV study (single-group, pre-post design) participants - survivors of any type of cancer, following treatment with curative intent - received up to 12 nurse/allied health professional-led telephone health coaching calls over 6 months. Intervention delivery was grounded in motivational interviewing, with emphasis on evidence-based behaviour change strategies. Using the RE-AIM evaluation framework, primary outcomes were reach, indicators of program adoption, implementation, costs and maintenance. Secondary (effectiveness) outcomes were participant-reported anthropometric, behavioural and psychosocial variables including: weight; physical activity; dietary intake; quality-of-life; treatment side-effects; distress; and fear of cancer recurrence and participant satisfaction. Changes were evaluated using linear mixed models, including terms for timepoint (0/6 months), strata (Cancer Council), and timepoint x strata. Results Four of 5 CCs approached participated in the study. In total, 1183 cancer survivors were referred (mostly via calls to the Cancer Council telephone information service). Of these, 90.4% were eligible and 88.7% (n = 791) of those eligible consented to participate. Retention rate was 63.4%. Participants were mostly female (88%), aged 57 years and were overweight (BMI = 28.8 ± 6.5 kg/m2). Improvements in all participant-reported outcomes (standardised effect sizes of 0.1 to 0.6) were observed (p

Abstract Objectives: To report rates of perinatal mental health screening from 2000 to 2017 and investigate factors associated with not being screened both antenatally and postnatally more recently (2013–2017). Methods: A longitudinal community‐based study of self‐reported perinatal mental health screening with a national sample of 7,566 mothers from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health reporting on 9,384 children. The main outcome measure was whether mothers were asked about their emotional wellbeing by a health professional, including completing a questionnaire. Results: From 2000 to 2017, the percentage of women not screened decreased from 40.6% to 1.7%. The percentage of women screened both antenatally and postnatally increased from 21.3% to 79.3%. From 2013 to 2017, women who were older (aOR, 0.65; 95%CI, 0.52–0.81) or had reported emotional distress (aOR, 0.77; 95%CI, 0.60–0.99) were less likely to have been screened both antenatally and postnatally. Conclusions: Despite improvements, perinatal mental health screening is not yet universal. One‐in‐five women are not screened both antenatally and postnatally, including women in high‐risk populations such as those who have reported emotional distress. Implications for public health: Women are in regular contact with health professionals in the perinatal period. This opportunity to detect women at risk of perinatal mental health issues is too important to be missed.

Background: Accumulating evidence indicates early life exposure to air pollution, a suspected neurotoxicant, is negatively associated with children’s neurodevelopment. Objectives: To explore the role of multiple exposure periods to ambient particulate matter with diameter

We present three-particle mixed-harmonic correlations 〈cos⁡(mϕa+nϕb−(m+n)ϕc)〉 for harmonics m,n=1−3 for charged particles in sNN=200 GeV Au+Au collisions at RHIC. These measurements provide information on the three-dimensional structure of the initial collision zone and are important for constraining models of a subsequent low-viscosity quark–gluon plasma expansion phase. We investigate correlations between the first, second and third harmonics predicted as a consequence of fluctuations in the initial state. The dependence of the correlations on the pseudorapidity separation between particles show hints of a breaking of longitudinal invariance. We compare our results to a number of state-of-the art hydrodynamic calculations with different initial states and temperature dependent viscosities. These measurements provide important steps towards constraining the temperature dependent viscosity and longitudinal structure of the initial state at RHIC.

We present the first measurement of the proton–Ω correlation function in heavy-ion collisions for the central (0–40%) and peripheral (40–80%) Au + Au collisions at sNN=200 GeV by the STAR experiment at the Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collider (RHIC). Predictions for the ratio of peripheral collisions to central collisions for the proton–Ω correlation function are sensitive to the presence of a nucleon–Ω bound state. These predictions are based on the proton–Ω interaction extracted from (2+1)-flavor lattice QCD calculations at the physical point. The measured ratio of the proton–Ω correlation function between the peripheral (small system) and central (large system) collisions is less than unity for relative momentum smaller than 40 MeV/c. Comparison of our measured correlation ratio with theoretical calculation slightly favors a proton–Ω bound system with a binding energy of ∼ 27 MeV. Keywords: Correlations, Femtoscopy, NΩ dibaryon

Context: Radiological investigations play a pivotal role in the diagnosis and treatment of a wide range of procedures. Aim: To assess the knowledge regarding adverse consequences of radiological examination and encourage awareness regarding radiation protection amongst general public. Settings and Design: A questionnaire-based cross-sectional study conducted amongst patients visiting the dental outpatient department. Materials and Methods: 1,000 adult male and female patients within the age of 20–70 years who visited the outpatient department during May–July 2017 were included in the study. Statistical Analysis: Comparison of frequencies of responses to each item with age and gender was done using chi square test. For all statistical tests, P < 0.05 was considered to be statistically significant, keeping α error at 5% and β error at 20%. Results: 85.3% participants had visited a hospital earlier and 69.3% had undergone the procedure of an X-ray earlier. Out of those patients, only 24.7% of the participants had any knowledge about the equipment or the procedure while taking a radiograph. 5.2% of the participants were given any safety measures during the radiological procedure. 14.4% had knowledge of the risks and hazards associated with radiation. Conclusions: This short study showed that there is a need for educating the general population about the hazards and risks associated with radiation exposure.

Health assessments have potential to improve health of older people. This study compares long-term health care utilisation, physical functioning, and mortality for women aged 75 years or over who have had a health assessment and those who have not. Prospective data on health service use, physical functioning, and deaths among a large cohort of women born 1921-26 were analysed. Propensity score matching was used to produce comparable groups of women according to whether they had a health assessment or not. The study population included 6128 (67.3%) women who had an assessment, and 2971 (32.7%) women who had no assessment. Propensity matching produced 2101 pairs. Women who had an assessment had more use of other health services, longer survival, and were more likely to survive with high physical functioning compared to women with no assessment. Among women who had good baseline physcial functioning scores, women who had an assessment had significantly lower odds of poor outcomes at 1000 days follow-up compared to women who had no assessment (OR: 0.67, 95%CI: 0.52, 0.85). This large observational study shows the real-world potential for assessments to improve health outcomes for older women. However, they also increased health service use. This increased healthcare is likely to be an important mechanism in improving the women's health outcomes.

ObjectiveThere are concerns that lumbar spine imaging represents low value care. Our aim was to examine the use of lumbar spine imaging [radiography, computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)] over 20 years, and costs and person-level characteristics of imaging in a large cohort of Australian women.MethodsThe Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health (ALSWH) is a longitudinal population-based survey of women randomly selected from national health insurance scheme (Medicare) database. This study examined 13458 women born in 1973-1978 who consented to link their ALSWH and Medical Benefits Scheme records. Self-reported data on demographics, body mass index, depression, physical and mental health, and back pain were collected in each survey performed in 1996, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2009, 2012, and 2015. Data on lumbar spine imaging from 1996 to 2015 were obtained from the Medical Benefits Scheme database.Results38.9% of women underwent some form of lumbar spine imaging over 20 years. While radiography increased from 1996 to 2011 and decreased thereafter, CT and MRI continued to increase from 1996 to 2015. In women with self-reported back pain, depression and poorer physical health were associated with imaging, with no significant differences in types of imaging. Based on imaging rates in ALSWH, the estimated costs for Australian women aged 30-39 years were AU$51,735,649 over 2011-2015.ConclusionsLumbar spine imaging was common in population-based Australian women, with rates increasing over 20 years. Depression and poor physical health were associated with lumbar spine imaging. Raising awareness of this in clinicians is likely to result in significant cost savings if clinical guidelines are followed, with the potential of freeing resources for high value care and health outcomes.

Technological advancement is the key driver for economic growth and sustainable development. Geospatial Technologies applications and tools available today are being used for improved performance of a country towards all major verticals of economy. In a bid to attract investment and ensure hassle-free land acquisition for major projects, the Odisha government decided to create land banks for industrial development using advanced technology applications. In the present paper Geo-informatics, ICT and space technology inputs are used to create Web-GIS based solutions for Land Bank creation. High resolution ortho-images, geo-referenced digital revenue cadastral datasets, Revenue RoR data, satellite derived spatial datasets and utility attribute datasets of state department are used to create the Web-GIS Odisha land bank. Emphasis was given to develop a portal that offers an interactive platform and provide detailed information with regards to availability of industrial plots or land plot clusters based on location specific attributes in terms of connectivity, rail and road linkages and other physical and social infrastructure available in the vicinity. Conversely, the developed system helps an investor to identify suitable land plots in the vicinity of the utility, sub-utility selected by an investor as per his requirement. It enables prospective investors to identify suitable land in Odisha from the comfort of their offices. A prospective investor can define preferred parameters such as the district, size of land required, facilities available in the vicinity and proximity to existing developed infrastructure etc. based on which the portal identifies and returns information regarding the suitable land parcels available in the State. The outputs are web-hosted in public domain for use by all stakeholders interactively under GOPLUS (Govt. Odisha Portal for Land use and Services) through gis.investodisha.org.

We present a measurement of inclusive J/ψ production at mid-rapidity (|y|

Fluctuations of conserved quantities such as baryon number, charge, and strangeness are sensitive to the correlation length of the hot and dense matter created in relativistic heavy-ion collisions and can be used to search for the QCD critical point. We report the first measurements of the moments of net-kaon multiplicity distributions in Au+Au collisions at sNN=7.7, 11.5, 14.5, 19.6, 27, 39, 62.4, and 200 GeV. The collision centrality and energy dependence of the mean (M), variance (σ2), skewness (S), and kurtosis (κ) for net-kaon multiplicity distributions as well as the ratio σ2/M and the products Sσ and κσ2 are presented. Comparisons are made with Poisson and negative binomial baseline calculations as well as with UrQMD, a transport model (UrQMD) that does not include effects from the QCD critical point. Within current uncertainties, the net-kaon cumulant ratios appear to be monotonic as a function of collision energy.

New measurements of directed flow for charged hadrons, characterized by the Fourier coefficient v1, are presented for transverse momenta pT, and centrality intervals in Au+Au collisions recorded by the STAR experiment for the center-of-mass energy range sNN=7.7–200 GeV. The measurements underscore the importance of momentum conservation, and the characteristic dependencies on sNN, centrality and pT are consistent with the expectations of geometric fluctuations generated in the initial stages of the collision, acting in concert with a hydrodynamic-like expansion. The centrality and pT dependencies of v1even, as well as an observed similarity between its excitation function and that for v3, could serve as constraints for initial-state models. The v1even excitation function could also provide an important supplement to the flow measurements employed for precision extraction of the temperature dependence of the specific shear viscosity.

Abstract Objective: To determine the combined longitudinal effect of body mass index (BMI) and physical activity (PA) on health‐related quality of life (HrQoL), using the SF‐6D (SF‐36) utility measure. Methods: Five waves of self‐reported data from the 1946–51 cohort (n=5,200; data collection, 2001–2013) of the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health were used. Mixed effect models were employed to address the objective. Results: Women with high PA experienced higher HrQoL regardless of BMI group, however, for those healthy or overweight, there was a very small decline in HrQoL over time. Women reporting no PA levels experienced the lowest baseline mean SF‐6D score within each BMI group, with decreasing trajectories over the follow‐up period. The rate of decline was greatest in women with obesity. Within each BMI group, there was a large, increasing gap in HrQoL between those who reported no and low PA over time. Women with obesity and high PA experienced similar HrQoL trajectories to women with normal weight or overweight with low PA levels. Overweight women with moderate PA experienced similar HrQoL to those with low PA but normal weight. Conclusions: PA may mitigate the adverse effect of overweight and obesity on HrQoL at mid‐life, at higher activity levels. Implications for public health: PA benefits HrQoL regardless of body mass, with larger gains for those currently not physically active. Moderate to high PA may mitigate the effect of overweight and obesity.

The transversity distribution, which describes transversely polarized quarks in transversely polarized nucleons, is a fundamental component of the spin structure of the nucleon, and is only loosely constrained by global fits to existing semi-inclusive deep inelastic scattering (SIDIS) data. In transversely polarized p↑+p collisions it can be accessed using transverse polarization dependent fragmentation functions which give rise to azimuthal correlations between the polarization of the struck parton and the final state scalar mesons.This letter reports on spin dependent di-hadron correlations measured by the STAR experiment. The new dataset corresponds to 25 pb−1 integrated luminosity of p↑+p collisions at s=500 GeV, an increase of more than a factor of ten compared to our previous measurement at s=200 GeV. Non-zero asymmetries sensitive to transversity are observed at a Q2 of several hundred GeV and are found to be consistent with the former measurement and a model calculation. We expect that these data will enable an extraction of transversity with comparable precision to current SIDIS datasets but at much higher momentum transfers where subleading effects are suppressed. Keywords: Transversity, Di-hadron correlations, Interference fragmentation function

Abstract Background Age at natural menopause (ANM) is considered as a biologic marker of health and ageing. The relationship between intimate partner violence (IPV) and ANM is currently unknown, and whether smoking plays a role in this relationship is unclear. The aim of this study was to examine the association between IPV and ANM and to quantify the effect mediated through smoking. Methods Data were drawn from the 1946–51 cohort of the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health, a prospective cohort study first conducted in 1996. History of IPV (yes or no) was self-reported at baseline. ANM was confirmed by at least 12 months of cessation of menses where this was not a result of medical interventions such as bilateral oophorectomy or hysterectomy and categorised as

The inclusive J/ψ transverse momentum spectra and nuclear modification factors are reported at mid-rapidity (|y|

We report the direct virtual photon invariant yields in the transverse momentum ranges 16 GeV/c the production follows TAA scaling. Model calculations with contributions from thermal radiation and initial hard parton scattering are consistent within uncertainties with the direct virtual photon invariant yield.

Background and purpose — There are concerns that mental health (MH) may influence outcomes of total knee arthroplasty (TKA) or total hip arthroplasty (THA). We examined effects of poor MH before surgery on long-term outcomes of osteoarthritis-related TKA or THA in women. Patients and methods — The data were from 9,737 middle-aged participants (47–52 years) and 9,292 older participants (73–78 years) in the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health who completed surveys between 1998 and 2013. Dates of arthroplasties were obtained from the Australian Orthopaedics Association National Joint Replacement Registry. Participants without procedures were matched with participants with procedures. Trajectories of the Short-Form 36 scores for physical functioning, bodily pain, social functioning, and mental health based on mixed modeling were plotted for participants with and without surgery (stratified according to mental health, separately for TKA and THA, and for middle-aged and older participants). Results — In middle-aged women with poor and good MH, TKA improved physical function and reduced bodily pain, with improvements sustained up to 10 years after surgery. TKA contributed to restoration of social function in women with good MH, but this was less clear in women with poor MH. In both MH groups, mental health appeared to be unaffected by TKA. Similar patterns were observed after THA, and in older women. Interpretation — Recovery of physical and social function and reductions in pain were sustained for up to 10 years after surgery. Improvements in physical function and pain were also observed in women with poor mental health. Thus, in our view poor mental health should not be a contraindication for arthroplasty.

A linseed cultivar ‘Arpita’ was released in Odisha for cultivation both under rainfed and utera (paira) cropping situations by the State Sub- Committee on Crop Standards, Notification and Release of Varieties for Agricultural Crops, Government of Odisha, Bhubaneswar in its meeting held on 05.12.2014. It matures in 104 days, yields 849 kg seed per hectare under rainfed condition and contains 35.67 per cent drying oil. It has yield advantage of 89.01 per cent, 11.22 per cent and 54.27 per cent over national check ‘Indira Alsi 32’, zonal check ‘Sharda’ and local check ‘OLC 10’, respectively. It is resistant to wilt and powdery mildew, and moderately resistant to bud fly.

Abstract Background Obtaining population-level estimates of the incidence and prevalence of dementia is challenging due to under-diagnosis and under-reporting. We investigated the feasibility of using multiple linked datasets and capture–recapture techniques to estimate rates of dementia among women in Australia. Methods This work is based on the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health. A random sample of 12,432 women born in 1921–1926 was recruited in 1996. Over 16 years of follow-up records of dementia were obtained from five sources: three-yearly self-reported surveys; clinical assessments for aged care assistance; death certificates; pharmaceutical prescriptions filled; and, in three Australian States only, hospital in-patient records. Results A total of 2534 women had a record of dementia in at least one of the data sources. The aged care assessments included dementia records for 79.3% of these women, while pharmaceutical data included 34.6%, death certificates 31.0% and survey data 18.5%. In the States where hospital data were available this source included dementia records for 55.8% of the women. Using capture–recapture methods we estimated an additional 728 women with dementia had not been identified, increasing the 16 year prevalence for the cohort from 20.4 to 26.0% (95% confidence interval [CI] 25.2, 26.8%). Conclusions This study demonstrates that using routinely collected health data with record linkage and capture–recapture can produce plausible estimates for dementia prevalence and incidence at a population level.

Summary: Background: Early menopause is linked to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease mortality; however, the association between early menopause and incidence and timing of cardiovascular disease is unclear. We aimed to assess the associations between age at natural menopause and incidence and timing of cardiovascular disease. Methods: We harmonised and pooled individual-level data from 15 observational studies done across five countries and regions (Australia, Scandinavia, the USA, Japan, and the UK) between 1946 and 2013. Women who had reported their menopause status, age at natural menopause (if postmenopausal), and cardiovascular disease status (including coronary heart disease and stroke) were included. We excluded women who had hysterectomy or oophorectomy and women who did not report their age at menopause. The primary endpoint of this study was the occurrence of first non-fatal cardiovascular disease, defined as a composite outcome of incident coronary heart disease (including heart attack and angina) or stroke (including ischaemic stroke or haemorrhagic stroke). We used Cox proportional hazards models to estimate multivariate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% CIs for the associations between age at menopause and incident cardiovascular disease event. We also adjusted the model to account for smoking status, menopausal hormone therapy status, body-mass index, and education levels. Age at natural menopause was categorised as premenopausal or perimenopausal, younger than 40 years (premature menopause), 40–44 years (early menopause), 45–49 years (relatively early), 50–51 years (reference category), 52–54 years (relatively late), and 55 years or older (late menopause). Findings: Overall, 301 438 women were included in our analysis. Of these 301 438 women, 12 962 (4·3%) had a first non-fatal cardiovascular disease event after menopause, of whom 9369 (3·1%) had coronary heart disease and 4338 (1·4%) had strokes. Compared with women who had menopause at age 50–51 years, the risk of cardiovascular disease was higher in women who had premature menopause (age

Quark interactions with topological gluon configurations can induce chirality imbalance and local parity violation in quantum chromodynamics. This can lead to electric charge separation along the strong magnetic field in relativistic heavy-ion collisions – the chiral magnetic effect (CME). We report measurements by the STAR collaboration of a CME-sensitive observable in p+Au and d+Au collisions at 200 GeV, where the CME is not expected, using charge-dependent pair correlations relative to a third particle. We observe strong charge-dependent correlations similar to those measured in heavy-ion collisions. This bears important implications for the interpretation of the heavy-ion data.

J/ψ suppression has long been considered a sensitive signature of the formation of the Quark-Gluon Plasma (QGP) in relativistic heavy-ion collisions. In this letter, we present the first measurement of inclusive J/ψ production at mid-rapidity through the dimuon decay channel in Au+Au collisions at sNN=200 GeV with the STAR experiment. These measurements became possible after the installation of the Muon Telescope Detector was completed in 2014. The J/ψ yields are measured in a wide transverse momentum (pT) range of 0.15 GeV/c to 12 GeV/c from central to peripheral collisions. They extend the kinematic reach of previous measurements at RHIC with improved precision. In the 0-10% most central collisions, the J/ψ yield is suppressed by a factor of approximately 3 for pT>5 GeV/c relative to that in p+p collisions scaled by the number of binary nucleon-nucleon collisions. The J/ψ nuclear modification factor displays little dependence on pT in all centrality bins. Model calculations can qualitatively describe the data, providing further evidence for the color-screening effect experienced by J/ψ mesons in the QGP. Keywords: Quark-gluon plasma, Color-screening, J/ψ suppression

Perilla is an important underutilized oilseed crop cultivated by tribal farmers in hilly areas of north-eastern region of India. It is grown by tribal and marginalised farmers in the traditional form of agriculture. The crop has good oil quality and plays an important role in providing nutritional security to the tribal farmers. There is a need to evaluate the traditional landraces grown by tribal farmers for studying the important traits which can help develop high yielding variety with quality traits. For this purpose, 29 Perilla genotypes were evaluated to assess the genetic variation. Wide spectrum of variability was observed for all 16 characters. The genotypic variance was moderate to high for the characters resulting in high heritability and moderate to high genetic advance values. Seed yield per plant positively correlated with all the traits except days to 50% flowering, leaf width, petiole length and seed oil content. The Perillagenotypes were grouped into seven distinct clusters. An analysis of the percentage contribution of individual characters towards genetic diversity revealed that seed yield per plant, Mn content and Cu content were the major characters contributing to genetic diversity in Perilla. Based on the results it is concluded that Perilla genotypes exhibit a widerange of variability for most of the traits. Some genotypes possessed desirable genes for more than one character and hence could be utilized directly or included in hybridization programme.

The thirty seven inbreds of quality protein maize of diverse origin, evaluated in RBD showed significant difference among the inbreds in respect of grain yield and its component traits. The characters like days to 50 % tasseling, days to 50 % silking and days to 75% dry husk were less influenced by the environmental factors because of lower differences in magnitudes between GCV and PCV. On the contrary, the characters like cob girth, number of kernels per row, number of kernel rows per cob and grain yield per plant were much influenced by the environmental factors as evidenced from higher differences in magnitude of PCV and GCV. High heritability with low genetic advances for characters like days to 50% tasseling, days to 50 % silking and days to 75 % dry husk indicated the predominance of non-additive gene action whereas high heritability with high genetic advance was reported for cob weight indicating the role of additive gene action. The characters viz., cob weight, 100- kernel weight, plant height, ear height, and no. of kernels per row were highly and positively correlated with grain yield per plant at genotypic and phenotypic levels. Ear height (0.837), days to 50 % silking (0.526) and number of kernels/rows per cob (0.455) in that order had large positive direct effect on grain yield per plant at genotypic level. Similar trend was also observed at phenotypic level. The indirect effects were generally small with only a few exceptions. A close examination of all the direct and indirect effects of the components traits on yield indicated the presence of enough scope for yield improvement through selection for no of leaves per plant, cob length, no. of kernels per row, cob weight and 100-kernel weight. Based on 14 quantitative characters, the 37 quality protein maize inbreds were grouped into13 clusters following D2 analysis and Tocher™s method of grouping. Among the yield traits, days to 50 % silking, days to 50% tasseling, days to 75% dry husk, cob weight, 100 kernel weight and grain yield per plant were found to be the major contributor towards genetic divergence. The overall clustering pattern indicated that QPM 3-7, QPM 9-18, and QPM 1110-7-2 were much divergent from rest of the inbreds in the experiment. Similarly, the inbreds of cluster III and XI and inbreds of clusters IX, III and X were distantly and distinctly related to each other. The pattern of clustering as stated above further indicated that there was no strict association between inbreds developed from diverse base populations.

Azimuthal correlations of charged hadrons with direct-photon (γdir) and neutral-pion (π0) trigger particles are analyzed in central Au+Au and minimum-bias p+p collisions at sNN=200 GeV in the STAR experiment. The charged-hadron per-trigger yields at mid-rapidity from central Au+Au collisions are compared with p+p collisions to quantify the suppression in Au+Au collisions. The suppression of the away-side associated-particle yields per γdir trigger is independent of the transverse momentum of the trigger particle (pTtrig), whereas the suppression is smaller at low transverse momentum of the associated charged hadrons (pTassoc). Within uncertainty, similar levels of suppression are observed for γdir and π0 triggers as a function of zT (≡pTassoc/pTtrig). The results are compared with energy-loss-inspired theoretical model predictions. Our studies support previous conclusions that the lost energy reappears predominantly at low transverse momentum, regardless of the trigger energy.

The STAR Collaboration presents for the first time two-dimensional di-hadron correlations with identified leading hadrons in 200 GeV central Au+Au and minimum-bias d+Au collisions to explore hadronization mechanisms in the quark gluon plasma. The enhancement of the jet-like yield for leading pions in Au+Au data with respect to the d+Au reference and the absence of such an enhancement for leading non-pions (protons and kaons) are discussed within the context of a quark recombination scenario. The correlated yield at large angles, specifically in the ridge region, is found to be significantly higher for leading non-pions than pions. The consistencies of the constituent quark scaling, azimuthal harmonic model and a mini-jet modification model description of the data are tested, providing further constraints on hadronization.