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On one hand the horizon of human rights is expanding but at the same time the crime rate is also increasing. In this context, custodial deaths are among most contentious deaths for investigation by forensic experts. These deaths sometimes invite mass resentment and condemnation. Not that always such deaths are due to unnatural or violent causes; indeed most of the time they are due to natural causes. To analyse custodial deaths from all aspects present prospective study was undertaken. A total of 135 (119 male and 16 female) cases of custodial deaths were examined in detail over a study period of 2 years. Based on place of confinement 100 cases (74.07%) died in jail custody, 33 cases (24.45%) died in mental hospital custody and in 2 cases (1.48%) death occurred in police custody. Among 92 cases (out of 135) in which final cause of death was declared, the death was natural in 95.65% while in 4.35% it was unnatural. Pulmonary tuberculosis was the most common natural cause among prison custodial deaths (22.8%, n=16). In mental hospital custody coronary artery disease (12.8%, n=9) was the leading cause of natural death. As far as unnatural deaths are concerned, there were two cases each of suicidal and accidental deaths (2.17% each) and no case of homicidal death was noticed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Prior vaccination is often studied for its impact on individuals' post-infection prognosis. Ayurveda, Yoga, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy (AYUSH) medicines, advised by the Government of India as prophylaxis during the first wave of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, were consumed by the masses in 2020. A study was therefore undertaken to observe any association between the prior usage of AYUSH prophylactic medicines and post-infection severity as reported by recovered COVID-19 individuals., Methods: This was a retrospective, multi-centre, cohort study conducted in 21 cities of India from 5th August to 30th November 2020. Data from recovered COVID-19 patients, of either sex or any age, captured information about AYUSH prophylactic medicines intake prior to infection, disease severity, symptomatology, duration of complaints, etc. The study participants were grouped into AYUSH intake and non-intake. Primary composite outcome was the disease clinical course. Secondary clinical outcomes were the rate of and time to clinical recovery., Results: Data of 5,023 persons were analysed. Ayurveda or homeopathic prophylactic medicines were consumed by more than half of the study participants: that is, 56.85% ( n  = 1,556) and 56.81% ( n  = 1,555) respectively. The overall adjusted protective effect (PE) of AYUSH prophylactic intake against moderate/severe forms of COVID-19 disease was 56.7% (95% confidence interval [CI], 48.7 to 63.50; p  < 0.001). Adjusted PE for homeopathy and Siddha was 52.9% (95% CI, 42.30 to 61.50; p  < 0.001) and 59.8% (95% CI, 37.80 to 74.10; p  < 0.001), respectively. A statistically significant association was found between AYUSH prophylactic medicine intake and clinical recovery more frequently by the 3rd day of illness (χ 2  = 9.01; p  = 0.002). Time to resolution of symptoms in the AYUSH intake group was on average 0.3 days earlier than in the non-intake group ( p  = 0.002)., Conclusion: AYUSH prophylactics were associated with statistically significant levels of protection against COVID-19 disease severity. Amongst these, previous intake of homeopathy or Siddha medicines was associated with some protection against moderate/severe illness and with a somewhat quicker clinical recovery. Prospective studies with experimental research design are needed to validate the findings of this study., Study Registration: Clinical Trials Registry-India (CTRI/2020/08/027000)., Competing Interests: None declared., (The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).)

Characterization of crop-growing environments in relation to crop's genotypic performance is crucial to harness positive genotype-by-environment interactions (GEI) in systematic breeding programs. Given that, the study aimed to delineate the impact of diverse environments on crop phenology and yield traits of dwarf-statured field pea, pinpointing location(s) favoring higher yield and distinctiveness within breeding lines. We tested twelve field pea breeding lines across twenty locations in India, covering Central Zone (CZ), North Western Plain Zone (NWPZ), North Eastern Plain Zone (NEPZ), and Northern Hill Zone (NHZ). Across these locations, maximum and minimum temperatures during flowering (TMAX F , TMIN F ) and reproductive period (TMAX RP , TMIN RP ) ranged 18.9-28.3, 3.3-18.0, 15.0-30.8, and 7.9-22.1 o C, respectively. Meanwhile, notable variations in phenological and agronomic traits (coefficient of variation) were observed: flowering (31%), days to maturity (21%), reproductive period (18%), grain yield (48%), and 100-seed weight (18%). Combined ANOVA demonstrated an oversized impact of environment (81%) on yield, while genotype and GEI effects were 2% and 14%, respectively. The variables TMIN F , TMIN RP , and cumulative growing degree-day showed positive correlations with yield, while extended vegetative and maturity durations negatively influenced yield (p < 0.05). Additionally, linear mixed-models and PCA results explained that instability in crop phenology had significant influence on field pea yield. Seed weight was markedly varied within the locations (9.9-20.8 g) and both higher and lower seed weights were associated with lower yields (Optimal = 17.1 g). HA-GGE biplot-based on environment focus-scaling demonstrated three mega-environments and specific locations viz. Kota (CZ), SK Nagar (CZ), Raipur (CZ), Sehore (CZ), and Pantnagar (NWPZ) as the ideal testing-environments with high efficiency in selecting new genotypes with wider adaptability. The study findings highlight distinct impact of environments on crop phenology and agronomic traits of field pea (dwarf-type), hold substantial value in designing efficient field pea (dwarf-type) breeding program at mega-environment scale., (© 2024. The Author(s) under exclusive licence to International Society of Biometeorology.)

Northwest part of India is an agriculturally active region experiencing rapid rise in food production and steep decline in groundwater levels. The freshwater requirement is mostly met by regional aquifers which are inherently heterogeneous and undergoing extensive human inducted perturbations. These factors pose great challenge in planning sustainable groundwater management. In this study, environmental isotopes ( 2 H, 18 O, 13 C, 3 H and 14 C) were applied to understand the regional recharge mechanism during the last 30 ka and hydrogeological controls impacting the aquifer dynamics and inter-aquifer connectivity of the Ghaggar River basin. Rayleigh distillation modeling indicates that major groundwater recharge is through monsoonal rains while rainfall during other seasons is lost either through evaporation or surface runoff. The evaporation loss is estimated to be 1.5 to 10% and more pronounced in the southern part of the study area. Regional recharge from Siwalik foothills contributes to groundwater up to a depth of 250 m below ground level (bgl). The lumped parameter modeling (LPM) using 3 H data estimated groundwater ages 34.7 ± 12.1 and 95.8 ± 11.3 years for shallow and deep aquifers respectively. Radiocarbon dating indicates presence of paleogroundwater (0.4 to 28.6 ka before present, BP) in the deeper aquifer of central part of the study area. Interpretation of the paleowater and paleoprecipitation isotope data in conjunction with available paleogeomorphologic information suggests two different recharge phases. Phase I extending from ~28.6 to 10.1 ka, showed ~48-61% contribution from isotopically depleted perennial river system. Phase II spanning from ~12.5 to 0.4 ka BP showed insignificant contribution from river recharge, which can be attributed to the decreased strength of the perennial river flows. The research methodology proposed in this study will be beneficial in improving the understanding of groundwater storage and its variability with changes in regional climatic conditions., 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 © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: Household air pollution resulting from biomass and coal stoves is implicated in more than one-third cases of annual deaths from chronic lung diseases worldwide and nearly 3% of lung cancer deaths. This burden is borne largely by poor women in the developing countries. We carried out a study to evaluate its association with respiratory symptoms in women in a rural area., Methods: The study was carried out using a standard questionnaire, in 92 households including 174 women. The data on respiratory symptoms in women, kitchen type and location in households, type of fuel used for cooking, permanent ventilation in kitchen, presence of exhaust, history of tobacco smoking and indoor pollution level were obtained. Spirometery of participants was conducted. The indoor particulate matter (PM10, PM2.5 and PM1) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were measured in each home., Results: The households were divided into two groups according to the location of the kitchen. In 46 households (Group A) women had a separate room as kitchen for cooking with good ventilation and exhaust conditions; and in the remaining 46 households (Group B) cooking was done in the living area. Seventy (76.1%) households used biomass fuel for cooking and heating (37; 80.4%, in Group A versus 46; 100% in Group B). The proportion of women with respiratory symptoms for one year or more was significantly high in Group B compared to Group A (13.0% versus 3.1% p = 0.01). The households which did not have a separate kitchen (Group B) had higher particulate matter and VOCs concentration., Conclusions: This study contributes to the growing evidence of adverse impact of indoor air pollution from biomass combustion on health of females. Results of the study demonstrated significantly high particulate matter (PM2.5), in households not using a separate room for cooking with biomass fuel.

The present work was focused to evaluate in vitro antioxidant of Pleurotus florida. The hydroethanolic extract was prepared by macerating basidiocarp with water:ethanol (1:1). The antioxidant potential was evaluated by 1,1-diphenyl-2-picryl-hydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity, reducing power, chelating effects on ferrous ions, total antioxidant capacity, and lipid peroxidation inhibitory activity. Further total flavonoid and phenolic content was also estimated. The comparison between different antioxidant assays was done by correlation coefficient. The results from the antioxidant assays showed that hydroethanolic extract (HEE) might act as radical scavenger to a certain extent. The distinct scavenging activities of HEE can be due to the diverse phytochemical constituents. Being a rich source of antioxidants, P. florida can be used as an accessible source of natural antioxidants with consequential health benefits.

Pancervicovaginal smears taken from 350 women using an intrauterine contraceptive device (IUD) were screened for the presence of actinomycetes organisms. Of the 12 cases in which actinomycetes-like organisms were seen in Papanicolaou-stained smears, the presence of actinomycetes organisms was confirmed by immunofluorescence in 10 cases. The prevalence of actinomycetes infection was thus 2.8% (10 of 350 cases) in the IUD users. Eight (4.3%) of 173 symptomatic subjects had actinomycetes infections. Two of the positive cases were asymptomatic. Eight of the ten patients with confirmed actinomycetes infection were using the Cu T device while two were wearing the Lippes Loop IUD. Seven of the ten patients had been using an IUD for more than two years. The time of insertion of the IUD (postpuerperal, postmenstrual or after medical termination of pregnancy) did not show any correlation with the presence of actinomycetes infection. Actinomyces israelii was responsible for the infection in eight cases while Arachnia propionica was seen in two cases. The organisms could not be grown in culture.