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Introduction: Falls are an important health problem among elderly, with various consequences. The objectives of this study were to estimate 1-year incidence of falls, distribution, and severity of fall-related injuries and to determine risk factors for fall risk among the elderly population aged =60 years. Methods: A total of 140 urban community-dwelling participants aged =60 years were studied using an investigator-administered questionnaire. Short physical performance battery, chair stand test, handgrip strength, and anthropometric measurements were done. The Chi-square test was done to compare fallers and nonfallers. Logistic regression was done for independently associated risk factors. Results: One-year incidence of falls was 14.3%; 17.6% among women and 9.1% among men. Sixty percent of participants had multiple falls. Seventy-five percent of the fallers were overweight or obese. Sprain was the most common reported fall-related injury (20%), whereas 45% had no injuries. Depression (60%), osteoporosis (80%), poor activities of daily living (90%), and polypharmacy (35%) were significantly associated with falls. Osteoporosis (odds ratio: 14.89; 95% confidence interval: 1.91-115.95) was independently associated with fall risk. Conclusions: The burden of falls among urban elderly was low. The majority of the population experienced multiple falls. Since chronic diseases including osteoporosis and poor mobility were directly associated with the risk of falls, further longitudinal studies may explore the health-related and socioenvironmental risks further. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bipolaris sorokiniana, a key pathogenic fungus in the wheat leaf blight complex, was the subject of research that resulted in the development of fifty-five polymorphic microsatellite markers. These markers were then used to examine genetic diversity and population structure in Indian geographical regions. The simple sequence repeat (SSR) like trinucleotides, dinucleotides, and tetranucleotides accounted for 43.37% (1256), 23.86% (691), and 16.54% (479) of the 2896 microsatellite repeats, respectively. There were 109 alleles produced by these loci overall, averaging 2.36 alleles per microsatellite marker. The average polymorphism information content value was 0.3451, with values ranging from 0.1319 to 0.5932. The loci's Shannon diversity varied from 0.2712 to 1.2415. These 36 isolates were divided into two main groups using population structure analysis and unweighted neighbour joining. The groupings were not based on where the isolates came from geographically. Only 7% of the overall variation was found to be between populations, according to an analysis of molecular variance. The high amount of gene flow estimate (NM = 3.261 per generation) among populations demonstrated low genetic differentiation in the entire populations (FST = 0.071). The findings indicate that genetic diversity is often minimal. In order to examine the genetic diversity and population structure of the B. sorokiniana populations, the recently produced microsatellite markers will be helpful. This study's findings may serve as a foundation for developing improved management plans for the leaf blight complex and spot blotch of wheat diseases in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bipolaris species are known to be important plant pathogens that commonly cause leaf spot, root rot, and seedling blight in a wide range of hosts worldwide. In 2017, complex symptomatic cases of maydis leaf blight (caused by Bipolaris maydis) and maize leaf spot (caused by Curvularia lunata) have become increasingly significant in the main maize-growing regions of India. A total of 186 samples of maydis leaf blight and 129 maize leaf spot samples were collected, in 2017, from 20 sampling sites in the main maize-growing regions of India to explore the diversity and identity of this pathogenic causal agent. A total of 77 Bipolaris maydis isolates and 74 Curvularia lunata isolates were screened based on morphological and molecular characterization and phylogenetic analysis based on ribosomal markers—nuclear ribosomal DNA (rDNA) internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region, 28S nuclear ribosomal large subunit rRNA gene (LSU), D1/D2 domain of large-subunit (LSU) ribosomal DNA (rDNA), and protein-coding gene-glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH). Due to a dearth of molecular data from ex-type cultures, the use of few gene regions for species resolution, and overlapping morphological features, species recognition in Bipolaris has proven difficult. The present study used the multi-gene phylogenetic approach for proper identification and diversity of geographically distributed B. maydis and C. lunata isolates in Indian settings and provides useful insight into and explanation of its quantitative findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The objective was to determine odds of frailty syndrome with coexistence of hypertension and depression among oldest-old adults. Methods: We analysed secondary data from 167 community-dwelling hypertensive participants aged 80 years and older from a cross-sectional study of frailty conducted in India. Data included sociodemographic, medical history, physical performance, functional limitations, mobility-disability, cognition, depression, sleep, frailty syndrome and chronic diseases. Odds of frailty syndrome was compared among individuals having only hypertension, and individuals having hypertension and depression. Chi-square test, t-test and logistic regression were performed to determine odds of frailty. Results: Frailty was significantly higher (OR:4.93;95%CI:1.89-12.84) among individuals having hypertension and coexisting depression, compared to individuals having only hypertension. Men (OR:5.07;95%CI:1.02-25.17) and women (OR: 4.58;95%CI:1.36-15.40) with hypertension and depression showed a higher risk of frailty, compared with hypertension alone. Logistic regression models were adjusted for age, sex, cognitive impairment, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, cardiovascular diseases, anaemia, diabetes, obesity, physical performance, activities of daily living and 4-meter walking speed. Conclusion: Coexistence of hypertension and depression increased risk of frailty syndrome among men and women above 80 years of age by almost 5 folds. Treating depression in hypertensive older individuals may reduce the risk of frailty among them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]