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Continuous use of fertilizers decreasing the biological activity of the soil. Fertile soils teem with microorganisms, which directly contribute to the biological fertility of the soil. Microorganisms are responsible for the availability of nutrients to the plants which are already exist in the soil. Hence, the present study focused on to investigate the effect of natural farming on soil microorganisms and enzymes activity of maize rhizospherein comparison with inorganic and organic farming during the autumn season of 2016-17 at Agricultural College, Jagtial. The results of the investigation revealed that the population of microbes (bacteria and fungi) at 30, 60 Days After Sowing (DAS) and harvest was unaffected by variety (Aswini) or hybrid (DHM 117). But, among the different farming methods, organic farming recorded higher bacterial (19, 29 and 22.5 x 10-7 CFU{Colony Forming Unit} g-1 dry soil) and fungi (8.25, 14.67 and 10.25 x 10-5 CFU g-1 dry soil) population at 30, 60 DAS and harvest stage respectively and significantly superior to inorganic and natural methods. The microbial population in inorganic method was inferior to that in absolute control similar to microbial population, highest urease activity was recorded in organic method at 30, 60 DAS and harvest (52.92, 68.33 and 33.25 µg NH4+ g-1 2 h-1, respectively) and it was superior to inorganic and natural farming which were at a par with each other. Significantly higher activity of dehydrogenase was observed with organic farming at 30, 60 DAS and harvest (1.65, 2.29 and 1.72 µg TPF g-1 day-1) compared to natural farming and inorganic farming. The activity of urease and dehydrogenase remained similar with DHM 117 or Aswini.

Infertility is a serious problem of not being able to conceive despite regular intercourse for more than a year. Natural conception is seen to be achieved in 80%–85% of couples. About 15% of couples suffer infertility with male factor contributing to almost 50% of cases. Paradoxically, on traditional assessment, the underlying etiology of male contribution towards infertility remains unrecognized in 30% of the patients and thereby grouped as idiopathic. Diagnostics of male infertility cannot therefore be limited to usual semen analysis only. The spectrum of the recent research encourages the experts in the field to approach the Clinical, Molecular and cytogenetic shades associated with the problem besides secondary factors like life style and environment. Clinical assessment sums the medical history and physical examination of the affected individual. Molecular and cytogenetic analysis help gain new insights in understanding the problem and thereby an advantage for a successful assisted reproductive treatment (ART). Given the cost and burden ART puts in and prior to application of any invasive techniques, understanding precisely the etiology associated with male infertility is essential for the fertility specialist to circumvent inefficient or any unproductive steps in the fertilization process besides helping in counseling patients on their chance of success with the use of reproductive technology.

There is credible evidence that the 1984–Bhopal–methyl isocyanate (MIC)–gas–exposed long-term survivors and their offspring born post-exposure are susceptible to infectious/communicable and non-communicable diseases. Bhopal’s COVID-19 fatality rate suggests that the MIC–gas tragedy survivors are at higher risk, owing to a weakened immune system and co-morbidities. This situation emboldened us to ponder over what we know, what we don’t, and what we should know about their susceptibility to COVID-19. This article aims at answering these three questions that emerge in the minds of public health officials concerning prevention strategies against COVID-19 and health promotion in the Bhopal MIC-affected population (BMAP). Our views and opinions presented in this article will draw attention to prevent and reduce the consequences of COVID-19 in BMAP. From the perspective of COVID-19 prophylaxis, the high-risk individuals from BMAP with co-morbidities need to be identified through a door-to-door visit to the severely gas-affected regions and advised to maintain good respiratory hygiene, regular intake of immune-boosting diet, and follow healthy lifestyle practices.

Objective In mental retardation/intellectual disability, genetic etiologies have been conventionally identified in about 40% of cases and chromosomal aberrations stand as the most prevalent genetic abnormality associated with it. So far, neither the frequency nor the nature of chromosomal abnormalities among patients with syndromic ID in this region of India is clear. Therefore, the present study was designed to identify the most common types of chromosomal abnormalities in syndromic intellectually disabled patients of Kashmir and to compare our results with those of similar studies reported elsewhere. Methods Cytogenetic analysis was carried out on 266 children diagnosed with intellectual disability with syndromic facies.Cytogenetic analysis was performed by using the GTG banding technique. Results Cytogenetic analysis revealed chromosomal abnormalities in 69.17% of the selected cases. Free trisomy 21 was found to be the most common (84.23%) cytogenetic anomaly in these cases. Besides, mosaic trisomy 21 was observed in 9.78% of cases while 3.26% of the cases had trisomy 21 as a robertsonian translocation. Also cases with 47,XY, +21, t(5;19)(q13;q13.3) karyotype, 47,XX, +21, t(11;12)(11q12;12q24.2) karyotype and 47,XY, +21, inv9(p12;q13) karyotype, 46, XY, dup (21q22-qter) karyotype were observed. Conclusion The cytogenetic analysis of intellectual disability cases of the present study reveals trisomy 21 as a major contributor in the syndromic mental retardation cases of Kashmir. Besides, the frequency of free trisomy of chromosome 21 and advanced maternal age in the syndromic cases of our study is much higher as compared to that reported by different studies across India.

Background Primary amenorrhea (PA) is proposed to have multiple etiological factors that include genetic factors, intrauterine malformations, endocrine dysfunction and environmental factors, as revealed by previous studies pertaining to amenorrhea. However, among the various proposed etiologies, genetic factors appear to be highly associated with PA as approximately 40% of PA cases have been found to have genetic causes. Aim of the study The present study was proposed to establish the frequency and pattern of chromosomal abnormalities in PA cases of Kashmir. Subjects and methods A total of 108 females within the age group of 14–33 years and having a history of amenorrhea were included in the study. Peripheral blood lymphocyte cultures were set for each subject according to standard protocol and chromosomal analysis was carried out on well spread metaphases by the help of Cytovision software Version 3.9. Results The results of the present study reveal that the incidence of chromosomal abnormalities in PA cases of this region is almost similar with those of many reports around the world. However, we report two unique chromosomal alterations viz., 46,XX, dup2q(13) and 46,XX, t(2,5)(p11.2;q34) that have not been found elsewhere in the literature. Conclusion The results of the present study indicate that chromosomal analysis of females with PA, after the exclusion of non-genetic causes, should be essentially considered for the precise diagnosis and the development of more successful treatment. The study being the first of its kind in this part of the world forms the basis for further studies of the PA cases of this region. The precise molecular characterization of the unique breakpoint regions reported in our study can possibly help in the identification of new genes involved in primary amenorrhea.

The Bhopal gas tragedy involving methyl isocyanate (MIC) is one of the most horrific industrial accidents in recent decades. We investigated the genotoxic effects of MIC in long-term survivors and their offspring born after the 1984 occurrence. There are a few cytogenetic reports showing genetic damage in the MIC-exposed survivors, but there is no information about the associated cancer risk. The same is true about offspring. For the first time, we here assessed the micronucleus (MN) frequency using cytokinesis-blocked micronucleus (CBMN) assay to predict cancer risk in the MIC-affected population of Bhopal. A total of 92 healthy volunteers (46 MICaffected and 46 controls) from Bhopal and various regions of India were studied taking gender and age into consideration. Binucleated lymphocytes with micronuclei (BNMN), total number of micronuclei in lymphocytes (MNL), and nuclear division index (NDI) frequencies and their relationship to age, gender and several lifestyle variabilities (smoking, alcohol consumption and tobacco-chewing) were investigated. Our observations showed relatively higher BNMN and MNL (P

Clastogen induced chromosome breakage analysis is widely used for the differential diagnosis of Fanconi's anemia. Mitomycin-C (MMC) induced chromosome fragility test was performed on the cultured lymphocytes of 50 children with clinical suspicion of Fanconi's anemia. According to the results of the MMC test, the patients were divided into two subgroups: FA displaying typical sensitivity to MMC and non FA. The present study revealed 7(14%) of examined patients to have a FA cellular phenotype with increased MMC-induced chromosome fragility. The percentage of MMC-induced aberrant cells was increased more than 36 times in FA patients (Mean=67.14%) when compared to non FA patients (Mean=1.82). The number of MMC-induced breaks/cells was more than 09 times higher in FA patients (Mean=2.42 breaks/cell) when compared to non FA patients (Mean=0.25 breaks/cells). Our results indicate that the clastogen induced sensitivity test is a reliable in vitro method for verification of the FA cellular phenotype. The study being the first of its kind from Kashmir (North India) lays the basis for further studies on patients of this region with a clinical suspicion of FA.

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The present study was proposed to unveil the incidence and pattern of chromosomal abnormalities in recurrent spontaneous abortion couples of Kashmir, North India. A total of 71 couples within the age group of 24 to 42 years and having history of two or more recurrent spontaneous abortions were included in the study. Peripheral blood lymphocyte cultures were set for each subject according to standard protocol and chromosomal analysis was carried out on well spread metaphases by the help of Cytovision software Version 3.9. The incidence of chromosomal abnormalities in spontaneous abortion couples of this region was found to be 7.75% that include numerical (1.40%) as well as structural (7.75%) chromosomal abnormalities. Both males (2.11%) and females (5.63%) possessed chromosomal aberrations that comprised balanced translocations (4.22%), duplications (0.70%), deletions (0.70%) and inversions (2.11%). Besides, We report three unique balanced translocations viz., t(1;3)(q24.3;p25)(1 case); t(6,16)(p11;q23)(1 case) and t(7;14)(p13;q12)(2 cases). that have not been found elsewhere in the literature. We conclude from the present study that chromosomal alterations do occur as an etiology in the RSA couples of Kashmir and their incidence is consistent with many reports around the world. The precise molecular characterization of the unique breakpoint regions reported in our study could help in identification of new genes involved in recurrent spontaneous abortions. The study being the first of its kind in this part of the world forms the basis for further studies of the couples of this region with recurrent spontaneous abortions.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) is considered to be the lifeblood of economic development, especially for a developing country like India. It plays an important role in the long-run development of a country not only as a source of capital, but also for enhancing competitiveness of the domestic economy through transfer of technology, strengthening infrastructure, raising productivity, and generating employment opportunities. The financial sector is always the key sector for the overall development of any country, and the banking sector is the primary sector amongst all. Indian banking has come a long way since India adopted economic reforms in 1991. Today, Indian banks are as technology savvy as their counterparts in the developed countries. The competitive and reform forces have led to the emergence of the Internet, e-banking, ATM, credit cards, and mobile banking too in order to attract and retain the customers by a bank. This paper aimed at examining the impact of foreign direct investment on performance of select private sector banks such as Kotak Mahindra Bank Limited and IndusInd Bank Limited. Multiple linear regression technique was adopted to study the impact. This paper found that FDI had a significant positive impact on total business, business per employee (BPE), and total income of the banks; however, FDI had a negative impact on profit per employee (PPE) and total net profits of the selected banks.

A device capable of continuously monitoring an individual's levels of alertness in real-time is highly desirable for preventing drowsiness and microsleep related accidents. This paper presents a development of non-intrusive and light-insensitive video-based system that uses computer-vision methods to measure facial metric for identifying visible facial signs of drowsiness and behavioral microsleep. The developed system uses a remotely placed camera with a near-infrared illumination to acquire the video. The computer-vision methods are then applied to sequentially localize face, eyes, and eyelids positions to measure ratio of eye closure. The system was evaluated in frontal images of nine subjects with varying facial structures and exhibiting several ratio of eye closure and eye gaze under fully dark and ambient lighting conditions. The preliminary results showed promising results with sufficient accuracy to distinguish between fully closed, half closed, and fully open eyes.

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The purpose of this study was to demonstrate the efficacy of oral ephedrine in preventing hypotension following subarachnoid block. Two hundred women, ASA physical status I or II, undergoing lower abdominal surgery were randomly divided into two groups (n = 100 each). All patients were given routine oral premedication consisting of diazepam 10 mg and ranitidine 150 mg at bed time and at 90 min before surgery. In addition, Group I patients received ephedrine 30 mg, orally, 30 min before subarachnoid block was administered. Group II received only routine premedication. After starting an iv line and preloading with 10 ml.kg-1 crystalloid, patients were given 0.5% heavy bupivacaine 3.2 to 3.6 ml, depending on body weight, intrathecally. Patients with decreases in blood pressure of 20% were given ephedrine i.v., in increments, in addition to crystalloids. Despite a similar level of block (T3-T4) and i.v. fluids, the total dose of ephedrine supplement in Group I was 4.3 +/- 4.8 mg compared with 11.6 +/- 9.4 mg in Group II (P0.01). Also, 55 patients in Group I required intraoperative inotrope supplement compared with 83 in Group II (P0.01). We conclude that oral ephedrine premedication is a simple and effective way of reducing the incidence of hypotension in patients undergoing lower abdominal surgery under subarachnoid block.

While the possibility of early intervention following the initial onset of psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia is an exciting development, a closer examination of the nature and content, as well as the timing, of treatment is required for this new approach to be successful. Modification and integration of diverse treatments need to be empirically investigated for their potentially greater effectiveness in patients who are, in general, much younger, naive to the mental health system, and possibly capable of full integration into society. Reducing delay in treatment initiation may be complex, may involve adopting early identification strategies, and may pose significant systemic and conceptual challenges. The 2 aspects of early intervention—integration of phase-specific treatments and early case identification—need to go hand in hand to ensure that another opportunity will not be missed in our efforts to improve the outcomes of these most serious of all mental disorders.