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Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has infused in every walk of life effecting the technology fields, such as launching satellites, managing businesses across the globe, and also enabling social networking. The technological tools provide students in discovering, classifying, and enhancing the knowledge towards mathematical concepts and relationships. The purpose of this study is to enhance students' learning in mathematics through teaching multimedia instructional strategy. The study was performed over the 60 IX standard students selected randomly. 30 students constituted the experiment group and 30 students constituted the control group. Multimedia instructional strategy were applied to experiment group and traditional method of instruction were implemented on the control group. Before the treatment both group were diagnosed and pretested and taught through multimedia for experimental group and traditional method for control group. After the intervention both groups were assessed by post-test. After 20 days both groups were tested by retention and then analysed by t-test. The results show that, experimental group students have more retention in learning mathematics. So this is an evidence that technological devices must enhance the students learning mathematics.

The purpose of the present study was to investigate postgraduate students' attitude towards the teaching profession according to their gender, locality of residence, locality of educational institution, stream of study, and annual income of the parents. A descriptive survey design was adopted with a sample of 207 postgraduate students selected using a purposive sampling technique. A three-point attitude scale was constructed and validated by the investigator to collect data. The scale comprised of 40 statements including both positive and negative statements. The collected data were analysed with statistical techniques such as mean, standard deviation, and "t"-test. The results revealed that postgraduate students had favourable attitude towards the teaching profession. Further, it was found that the variables such as gender, locality of residence, locality of educational institution, stream of study, and annual income of the parents had no influence on postgraduate students' attitude towards the teaching profession. This shows that the postgraduate students had similar attitude towards the teaching profession.

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Agriculture is considered the leading field around the world, which is also the backbone of India. Agriculture is in a flawed state because the temperature changes, along with their uncertainty, cause huge damage to the crops during the manufacturing process. So, the appropriate prediction of crop expansion plays a vital role in the management of crop growth. This prediction can enhance the federated industries to make their sustainability toward the occupation. Recently, the farmers have not selected suitable crops for their cultivation based on soil factors. This makes a negative impact on crop yield, and thus, the Indian farmers can suffer from severe losses besides the monetary front. Hence, the optimal crop recommendation model has to consider different parameters of the soil for forecasting the best crop for cultivation, which increases crop growth and crop production. Thus, this research work explores a new crop recommendation model for precision agriculture intending to promote crop yield and alleviate the loss to farmers. Initially, this research work gathers the standard data regarding the agricultural parameters of some areas. Then, the deep features using an autoencoder, and statistical features are gathered along with the Principal Component Analysis (PCA)-based features. Next, all three sets of features are fused and fed to the developed Adaptive Henry Gas Solubility Optimization (AHGSO) for selecting the optimal features. Finally, the chosen optimal features are fed to the recommendation stage, where a Gated Recurrent Unit with Ridge Classifier (GRU-RC) is suggested for getting the precise outcome regarding the recommended crop suitable to that agricultural parameter. Here, the optimal solutions are attained by tuning the parameters of GRU and ridge classifier with the same I-HGSO. At last, the results obtained from the hybrid method can be considered more efficient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Technology offers tremendous opportunities for increasing the effectiveness and efficiency of education. Students, faculty and administrators now use technology extensively in their daily activities and have become technologically literate. The trend of using e-learning as learning and teaching tool is now rapidly expanding into education. Many educators and researchers have high hopes for e-learning, believing that it would provide more access to information and communication, and would ultimately lead to a new revolution in education. This paper focuses on impact of e-learning environment on the teacher effectiveness, with reference to Personal effectiveness, Teaching skill and Research and academic activities. This study intends to find the relationship between the teacher effectiveness and the selected background variables, to identify the background variables which are contributing to the impact of e-learning on teacher effectiveness and to estimate the extent of the contribution of the background variables to the impact of e-learning on teacher effectiveness. In order to measure this researcher developed a research tool to measure the teacher effectiveness. The tool was administered to 250 teachers serving in colleges of engineering and technology and university departments. The finding of the study reveals that the teacher effectiveness of the teachers on the whole is high with the assistance of e-learning environment.

The trend of using e-learning as a teaching tool is now rapidly expanding into education. Although e-learning environments are becoming popular there is minimal research on the impact of e-learning on the teachers. The purpose of this study is to develop a tool to measure the impact of e-learning on the teachers' of higher education in the Indian scenario. Initially the tool was constructed with 53 statements and administered to 300 teachers of Higher Education. Out of these 53 statements 17 statements focused on personal effectiveness, 21 statements focused on teaching skills and 15 statements focused on research and academic work. In order to standardize the tool the researcher applied Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, Cronbach Alpha test, Correlation and 't' test. After the item analysis 30 statements were selected with the dimensions personal effectiveness (10), Teaching skills (13) and Research and Academic work (7).

India boasts of a vast freshwater resource network (rivers, wetlands, and groundwater), which has unique ecological, social and economic values associated with it. Despite their importance for both people and biodiversity, its freshwater ecosystems (FWEs) are heavily impacted through multiple factors such as pollution, overexploitation, habitat loss/modification and climate change. India is also among the hotspots of water resource overuse that has caused a serious decline in freshwater availability.Given that healthy FWEs lie at the centre for supporting the country's ecology, health, economy, livelihoods and ultimately achieving multiple policy goals, it is crucial that holistic and focused efforts are made to protect, conserve, and restore all types of FWEs.We call for an urgent and a greater focus on implementing conservation actions for FWEs in India and suggest the following strategy to enhance focus on their conservation: (1) establishing a shared freshwater conservation vision at a national scale, (2) developing and including national freshwater conservation goals within global efforts, (3) conducting simultaneous conservation action planning at regional scales and (4) bridge planning to implementation gap by strengthening key enabling conditions: i) mainstream FWE conservation within key existing governance instruments, ii) secure sustainable conservation funding, iii) improve data access and knowledge translation; iv) create national awareness around importance of FWEs; v) facilitate collaboration among key actors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

COALESCE, a collaborative network studying the impacts of carbonaceous aerosols, measured PM2.5 mass and its constituents at several regionally representative sites in India. This study reconciles the reconstructed mass (RCM) from PM2.5 chemical constituents with gravimetric PM2.5 mass measured during 2019 at three COALESCE sites (Bhopal, Mesra, and Mysuru). To evaluate the extent of mass closure, the spatiotemporal variability of organic matter/organic carbon (OM/OC), filter sampling artifacts of OC, nitrate, and aerosol liquid water (ALW) were assessed. The annual loss of total particulate OC from Teflon filters varied across Bhopal (0.46–1.35 μg m−3), Mesra (0.30–0.92 μg m−3), and Mysuru (0.16–0.68 μg m−3). Likewise, the range of nitrate volatilization was 0.7–2.7 μg m−3 at Bhopal, 0.5–2 μg m−3 at Mesra, and 1.3–2.2 μg m−3 at Mysuru. Also, the range of ALW mass was 2.6–6.8 μg m−3 at Bhopal, 3.2–9.5 μg m−3 at Mesra, and 0.8–3.8 μg m−3 at Mysuru. Seasonality was observed in the value of OM/OC with an increase during the pre‐monsoon season at all sites viz., Bhopal (2.20), Mesra (1.61), and Mysuru (2.02) compared to their annual averages, suggesting enhanced contribution of secondary organics to OC. The method developed for estimating RCM in this study resulted in better mass closure compared to using conventional RCM algorithms. Overall, this study provides a robust data validation strategy and India‐specific species coefficients for use in the RCM algorithm. The outcomes of this study can guide regional aerosol sampling, chemical analyses, and model–measurement reconciliation efforts. Plain Language Summary: This work investigates the relationships between surface PM2.5 and its chemical constituents across three locations in India through a mass closure investigation. The study enhances traditional mass reconstruction methodology by accounting for residual aerosol liquid water and volatilization losses of nitrates and organics, as well by using seasonal coefficients in the reconstruction algorithm. The seasonality of the volatilization losses and value of OM/OC provide insights on primary and secondary organic carbon across the sites. The application of seasonal coefficients improved the agreement between the RCM (reconstructed PM mass from chemical species) and PM2.5. Overall, this study provides a better understanding of the relationship between surface PM2.5 and its chemical constituents in India and will help guide sampling and chemical speciation efforts for aerosol mass apportionment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Copper (Cu), an essential trace element, is toxic if consumed in excessive amounts. Ruminants, particularly sheep, are highly susceptible to chronic copper poisoning and cause acute death. Spontaneous copper poisoning in sheep was reported from many parts of the world however limited reports are available from India. Hence the present investigation was undertaken to report the occurrence of chronic copper poisoning in an intensively maintained Pattanam breed of sheep flock and its therapeutic management. Methods: An investigation was carried out to ascertain the possible cause of increased mortality in an intensively maintained 130 male lambs aged between 8 to 10 month old belongs to Pattanam breed during the month of September 2020 following death of 21 animals within a period of 15 days. Affected flock was inspected and samples were collected for biochemical analysis, toxicological, bacteriological and pathological examination. Result: Affected animals showed depression, anorexia, jaundice, hemoglobinurea and accelerated breathing. At necropsy, the dead animals showed generalized icterus, lung edema, yellow to orange coloured liver and gun metal kidney. Histopathological lesions include lung edema, centrilobular hepatic necrosis, bile stasis, renal tubular necrosis and formation of tubular cast. Toxicological analysis of liver revealed the copper level of 781 mg/kg dry matter basis. Source of copper was identified as a commercial mineral mixture supplement intended for cattle was supplemented along with concentrate feed. The flock was treated with chelating agent (D-penicllamine) and supportive therapies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study was conducted at the Molecular Entomology Laboratory of the Department of Entomology, GBPUAT, Pantnagar, India during 2022-23, to investigate the life cycle of onion thrips, Thrips tabaci Lindeman, on onion cv. Agrifound Light Red. The incubation period ranged from 3.33±0.58 days. The larval period for the first and second instars was 2.33±0.57 and 2.66±1.15 days, respectively. The pre-pupal phase lasted for 2.00±1.00 days. The pupal phase lasted for 7.33±3.51 days. The pre-oviposition period was 4.33±1.52 days. The egg-laying continued for 21.66±9.29 days. The post-oviposition period was 3.66±1.15 days. The adults lived for 24.66±10.69 days with a total developmental period of 17.66±6.02 days at 25±1°C and 70±10% RH. The average number of eggs laid by a female over her lifespan was 54.67±13.05. The morphometric studies revealed that the average lengths of the first and second instar larvae, pre-pupa and pupa were 0.36±0.55 and 0.88±0.25, 0.83±0.10 and 0.97±0.15 mm, respectively. However, the adult stages measured 0.99±0.11 mm (male) and 1.50±0.16 mm (female). The male's breadth with wing expansion was 0.97±0.24 mm while the female's was 1.34±0.35 mm. Understanding the biology, morphometrics and life habits of this insect pest can help us to create successful integrated pest management (IPM) techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Capsicum annuum L., also known as bell or sweet pepper, is a globally significant horticultural crop in the Solanaceae family. India’s red and yellow colored capsicum holds 13th rank in export. In India, color capsicum is a valuable crop, yielding 2.34 times more per square meter in protected cultivation comparing open field. Tamil Nadu contributes 16,689 tonnes on 284 hectares, comprising 5.13% of India’s total. Modern agriculture benefits from automation and robotics, especially in protected cultivation for selective, high-quality capsicum harvesting, reducing labor fatigue. In consideration to the issues like timely and repetitive harvestings and shortage of labour a study was focused to develop a robotic harvester. The study evaluated the engineering attributes of red and yellow capsicum during protected cultivation, classified into size categories A, B and C. Moisture content ranged from 83.6% to 87.12%. Capsicum dimensions spanned 57 mm to 110 mm in length, 52 mm to 98 mm in width, and 51 mm to 96 mm in thickness. Red capsicum had slightly larger arithmetic, geometric, square mean, and equivalent diameters, with sphericity ranging from 0.89 to 0.93. Surface area varied from 87 cm² to 316 cm², volume from 108 cm³ to 363 cm³, and mass from 67 g to 226 g, with red capsicum slightly larger. The highest static friction coefficient was with aluminum, at 0.61 to 0.66. Using the CIELAB model for color estimation, the significant color difference for red and yellow capsicum were 79.26 and 70.28 respectively. Moisture content was negatively correlated with aspect ratio and sphericity, and other attributes had positive correlations. This data is valuable for potential capsicum harvesting mechanization in robotics and protected cultivation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Villages are the backbone of India. Rural households constitute 70% of India’s population. Financial inclusions help rural households to open a bank account and encourage them to do more financial activities. Innovations in communications technology and mobile phone penetration in rural villages change rural households’ digital finance behaviour. The government has taken many initiatives to make rural households be digitally literate. Despite all the initiatives of the government, the rural house still lags behind. This study has taken rural households as the target audience to find out their digital financial behaviour with respect to savings, remittances, payments, credit and investments. A multi-stage stratified random sampling method is adopted to carry out the study. Rural households’ opinions are collected using structured questionnaires. The collected data is quantitatively analysed with the help of SPSS tools. The findings of this study revealed that financial behaviour traits are identified as a motivator, moderator and excluded. Security traits of digital finance transactions play a vital role in significant discrimination of different digital finance behaviours. Findings of Structural Equation Modelling reveal that the accessibility of various digital finance platforms can influence their digital financial behaviours in a broad way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

End stage heart failure carries a poor prognosis with a 5-year survival of only 25%. This review article describes the progress of heart transplantation as a separate surgical discipline in India over that last 30 years, selection of heart transplant donors, selection of recipients and details of technique, post operative management and factors affecting long-term outcome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Burns constitute a major cause of deaths, both suicidal & accidental in the world & our country. As per the National crime record bureau of India, burns one among the common method of suicide and the rate of fatal suicidal burns was 2.6% in 2021. In Tamil Nadu, the rate of suicide is 11.5%, and also, being the second highest among the other states.(1) This study is undertaken with the aim to study sociodemographic profile of burns case brought to autopsy at tertiary medical college, along with the pattern & outcome. Methods: A cross sectional study was done in a total of 53 cases of burns brought for medicolegal autopsy during the study period. Data including age, gender, socioeconomic status, manner of burns, % of burns, duration of survival were all collected based on pre structured proforma & further was analysed using standard statistical method. Results and Conclusion: Burns incidence is seen in mostly age group 31-40, with majority of them being females (62.27%).suicidal burns are more common (73.59%), with >75%(66.03% ) burns being more. About 35.8% survived for 1-7 days prior to succumbing death. Enhancing a better mental& physical environment should be the priority. Early & effective treatment can be useful in reducing the mortality due to burns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic created one of the biggest disruptions in human life. We were all confined within the walls of our homes or offices with day-to-day life worldwide seriously affected. In this context, access to and efficient use of technology determined the course of daily life for vast sections of the world's population. However, there was (and still is) a severe pre-existing global divide between the Global North and Global South vis-à-vis digital access. This paper attempts to understand this digital divide and how it has widened during the pandemic in the Global North and Global South with reference to India and the United States (US). This is initiated by analyzing certain factors within each country, namely positional and personal categorical inequalities. Through the cases of the US and India, the authors conclude that the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the global digital divide between the two worlds, affecting core social sectors like education and health. The larger implication of this is a broadening inequality between the Global North and Global South in leading development indicators like the Human Development Index. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the present investigation was to scrutinize the production of biomass and C storage budgeting that varies in diverse forest types of Himalayan dry-temperate and alpine forest ecosystem, India. Dry-temperate and alpine forest ecosystem is classified into nine forest types viz., 13C1-Dry broadleaved and coniferous forests (DBCF), 13C2a-Neoza pine forest (NPF), 13C2b-Dry deodar forest (DDF), 13C3- West Himalayan high level dry bluepine forest (DBF), 14C1a- West Himalayan sub-alpine birch forest (SBF), 14C1b- West Himalayan sub-alpine fir forest (SFF), 15C1- Birch-rhododendron scrub forest (BSF), 15C3-Alpine pasture (AP) and 16C1-Dry alpine scrub (DAS). Vegetative biomass (trees, shrubs and herbs) was ranged from 0.29 in AP to 252.24 t ha-1 in DDF. Total detritus biomass varied significantly among these forest types with maximum in BSF (5.99 t ha-1) and minimum in DAS (0.11 t ha-1). However, total detritus C density was recorded highest in BSF (3.00 t C ha-1) and lowest in DAS (0.06 t C ha-1). Among forest types total soil C density (humus + soil) varied significantly in 0-40 cm layer. BSF showed maximum C density (130.39 t C ha-1), while minimum was recorded in DAS (37.73 t C ha-1. Total ecosystem C density (vegetation + soil + detritus) among forest types displayed highest value for DDF (212.21 t C ha-1), whereas minimum value (38.43 t C ha-1) for DAS. Hence, this investigation suggests that in dry-temperate and alpine forest ecosystem, DDF should be encouraged for augmentation of biomass and C stock in Indian Himalaya. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To assess the functional outcomes of the unstable intertrochanteric fractures in the osteoporotic individuals treated by primary cemented hemiarthroplasty by early mobilization and immediate weight-bearing, restoration of limb length, and gait Assessment. It is a prospective study of 17 elderly patients with comminuted intertrochanteric fractures managed with cemented hemiarthroplasty attending to the Department of Orthopaedics, Government General Hospital, Rangaraya medical college, Kakinada. 17 cases of unstable intertrochanteric fractures were treated with cemented bipolar hemiarthroplasty. The average follow-up period was 12 months. The average age was 72.75 years with a standard deviation of 5.56. Most (82.3%) of the patients presented with Boyd and Griffin type 2 fracture. The functional assessment by HHS showed good to excellent outcomes in most of the patients (64.7%). 2 patients had abductor weakness, 1 patient had superficial surgical site infection, one had hypotension, and 1 patient had bedsore. Primary cemented bipolar prosthetic replacement in comminuted intertrochanteric fractures in the elderly patients provide s painless, stable, and mobile hip joint so that we can institute early postoperative mobilization which can avoid the consequences of prolonged recumbency. Hemiarthroplasty also avoids a second procedure in such elderly patients with multiple comorbidities as there is a high risk of failure of internal fixation in patients with poor bone quality, subjecting them to a second surgery and anaesthesia being a risky proposition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept and design of the 2 kWp polycrystalline floating photovoltaic (PV) system for agricultural irrigation purposes are presented in this paper. The well‐known major advantage of the floating PV system is its installation in the presence of water, which leads to cooling of the PV system that improves its efficiency. In addition to that, the floating PV system reduces the wastage of cultivation area required for its installation, and also, it reduces evaporation of water (for 20% of float cover) by the factor of 22.23 cm/year. But the floating PV systems face some confrontations such as low electrical reliability and reduced life of the mechanical structure due to nearby water surface. As an attempt to overcome the above issues, a small‐scale floating PV system prototype in a water reservoir at Kothavadi village, Tamil Nadu, India has been developed. The system comprises of a floater, mechanical structure, PV module, supporting anchor, under water cable, and motor. The power generated out of this proposed system is utilized for pumping the water from a nearby bore well, and pumped water is stored in the same reservoir where the floating PV system is installed. The water in the reservoir can be used by the farmer for their necessity. In this study, the energy production (month by month) is monitored. Furthermore, the economic analysis and PV modeling have been performed along with some maintenance aspects. The study helps the scientists and engineers to comprehend the performance and commercial viability of floating PV for rural farmers. It is anticipated that this work will inspire and direct farmers to install a floating PV irrigation system as a perfect alternate for the conventional systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mosaic disease of sponge gourd caused by begomovirus becomes a major constraint for its cultivation by farmers with limited resources in India. From field collected symptomatic leaf sample of sponge gourd, full-length DNA-A and DNA-B components were characterized by sequencing of products obtained by RCA. Sequence analysis revealed the presence of a bipartite begomovirus, tomato leaf curl New Delhi virus (ToLCNDV), with two distinct DNA-A molecules having 89.1% identity among themselves, and one DNA-B molecule sharing identity of 96% with earlier reported ToLCNDV isolates from India. Besides, the association of tomato leaf curl New Delhi alphasatellite and tobacco leaf curl Patna betasatellite were also detected. Additionally, presence of ToLCNDV was ascertained through PCR assay in different parts of the fruit viz., pericarp, mesocarp and immature seed. Further, presence of virus in matured seed and seedlings shown through serological assay confirmed its seed borne nature. To our knowledge, this is the first report of seed transmissible nature of ToLCNDV causing mosaic disease on sponge gourd. Moreover, we identified two moderately resistant entries of advanced breeding lines against the mosaic disease through field screening. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The clinical course of COVID-19 has been complicated by secondary infections, including bacterial and fungal infections. The rapid rise in the incidence of invasive mucormycosis in these patients is very much concerning. COVID-19-associated mucormycosis was detected in huge numbers during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in India, with several predisposing factors indicated in its pathogenesis. This study aimed to evaluate the epidemiology, predisposing factor, cumulative mortality and factors affecting outcomes among the coronavirus disease COVID-19-associated mucormycosis (CAM). Methods: A multicenter retrospective study across three tertiary health care centers in Southern part of India was conducted during April-June 2021. Results: Among the 217 cases of CAM, mucormycosis affecting the nasal sinuses was the commonest, affecting 95 (44%) of the patients, orbital extension seen in 84 (38%), pulmonary (n = 25, 12%), gastrointestinal (n = 6, 3%), isolated cerebral (n = 2) and disseminated mucormycosis (n = 2). Diabetes mellitus, high-dose systemic steroids were the most common underlying disease among CAM patients. The mucormycosis-associated case-fatality at 6 weeks was 14%, cerebral or GI or disseminated mucormycosis had 9 times higher risk of death compared to other locations. Extensive surgical debridement along with sequential antifungal drug treatment improved the survival in mucormycosis patients. Conclusion: Judicious and appropriate management of the predisposing factor and factors affecting mortality associated with CAM with multi-disciplinary approach and timely surgical and medical management can be much helpful in achieving a successful outcome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Childhood obesity is emerging as a major public health issue of the twenty- first century with an alarming rise in its prevalence in several developing countries. Obesity has reached epidemic levels in developed countries. It is emerging as a major health problem in developing countries such as India, particularly in urban settings. Most studies related with Obesity and its complications like Hypertension, Diabetes mellitus in early adulthood, but the data's in rural children are less. Aim: To assess the prevalence of obesity among rural school children of 6-12 years of age and to determine factors associated with obesity Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 100 children aged 6-12 years using a semi structured questionnaire. Risk factors like socio-economic status, BMI were taken into account. Results: The mean age of the children was 9.03±1.8. The prevalence of Overweight, obesity and Underweight is 8%, 6% and 8% respectively and majority of the children, 78% were found to be normal. The proportion of obesity was more among males (4%) than females (2%), whereas the proportion of overweight was more in females 6% compared to males 2%. Conclusions: This study concluded that the overall prevalence of overweight was higher than obesity with 8% and 6% respectively. There was also an equal proportion of underweight. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: BP monitoring is mandatory in all newborns to find out the cardiac as well as renal diseases. Premature infants have a limited ability to auto regulate cerebral blood flow when compared to full-term infants and hypotension is a major concern in them. Measures should be taken to detect neonatal hypotension and hypertension as earlier as possible and thereby they can be managed well. Aim: To determine the normative distribution of blood pressure in healthy newborns in the tertiary care setting in 1st 48 hours of life. To find out the factors affecting blood pressure in healthy newborn and to find out relationship between blood pressure distribution and anthropometric measurements of neonates. Materials and Methods Study design: This is a descriptive cross sectional study was conducted in the post-natal ward of DR.SMCSI Medical College Hospital, Karakonam, Kerala, India. Study population: Newborns in the postnatal ward after physical examination including modified Ballard assessment and APGAR score at 1 and 5 minutes were selected for the study. Study size: Study consisted of 400 Newborn. Study tools and Data collection procedure: Blood pressure measurements were taken at age 0–24 hours and 25-48 hours, three times at five minutes interval to get average values. BP measurement was performed with the neonate in the supine position, either awake or quiet or during sleep. The newborn was left for 10-15 min after the application of appropriate size cuff to the right arm to ensure quietness [12] . The automatic cuff inflation and deflation by the instrument rendered display of the BP values (systolic, diastolic and MAP) on the screen. Values are disregarded if any movement occurred during the measurement. The entire procedure was repeated twice as a standardization procedure for deriving on a single valid measurement. Weights of infants were measured by placing the baby naked on an infant’s weighing scale and length of the newborn was measured using an Infantometer. Results: The mean SBP, DBP and MAP for term babies in the first 24 hours of life were 70.7±14 mmHg, 39.1±11 mmHg and 49.6±11 mmHg respectively. For preterm, the corresponding values were 70.1±21 mmHg, 36.5±12 mmHg and 47.7±13.8 mmHg respectively. A significant positive correlation (p value<0.05) was observed between heart rate and blood pressure values of newborns both at 0-24 and 25- 48 hours of life. Conclusion: The normative distribution of mean arterial pressure in the term neonates in the first 48 hours of life was 49±9 mmHg. The normative distribution of mean arterial pressure in the preterm neonates in the first 48 hours of life was 47±13 mmHg. All three parameters (SBP, DBP, and MAP) were lower in preterm neonates compared to term neonates. DBP and MAP values significantly rose with increase in the birth weight of neonates at 0- 24 hours. Blood pressure values of neonates are also influenced by gestational diabetes mellitus and use of antenatal steroid. Maternal age and maternal BMI were found to have a significant influence in the blood pressure values of their babies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soil erosion is a severe environmental problem worldwide, especially in tropical regions. The Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE), one of the universally accepted empirical soil erosion models, is quite commonly used in tropical climatic conditions to estimate the magnitude and severity of soil erosion. This study, apart from identifying the role of individual parameters in influencing the results of the RUSLE, also aims at refining the RUSLE results by incorporating the state-of-the-art technique Persistent Scatterer Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (PSInSAR) in a GIS environment by utilizing its ability to measure minute surface changes in millimetre levels. Apart from this novel approach of prioritising soil erosion classes using PSInSAR, the eroding surface conditions were also studied using low coherence value (<0.75 in this study). The spatially and temporally averaged annual soil loss and net soil erosion (2015-2019), derived through RUSLE and transport limited sediment delivery (TLSD) approach, respectively, was improved by spatially integrating the PSInSAR velocity map. The integrated methodological framework is demonstrated for a tropical river basin in South India (Muvattupuzha River Basin [MRB]), which shows a mean rate of net soil loss of 6.8 ton/ha/yr, and nearly 8% of the area experiences deposition. Our approach to improve the accuracy of RUSLE-based soil erosion classes using PSInSAR techniques clearly demarcated the areas that call for utmost priority in implementing management practices. The corollary results show that the very severe soil erosion class is characterized by PSI velocity with higher negative values, followed by the successively lower classes. Results strongly suggest that RUSLE output can be improved as well as validated using a velocity map derived from radar data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we developed and analyzed a mathematical model for explaining the transmission dynamics of COVID‐19 in India. The proposed SIuIkR model is a modified version of the existing SIR model. Our model divides the infected class I of SIR model into two classes: Iu (unknown infected class) and Ik (known infected class). In addition, we consider R a recovered and reserved class, where susceptible people can hide them due to fear of the COVID‐19 infection. Furthermore, a non‐monotonic incidence function is deemed to incorporate the psychological effect of the novel coronavirus diseases on India's community. The epidemiological threshold parameter, namely the basic reproduction number, has been formulated and presented graphically. With this threshold parameter, the local and global stability analysis of the disease‐free equilibrium and the endemic proportion equilibrium based on disease persistence have been analyzed. Lastly, numerical results of long‐run prediction using MATLAB show that the fate of this situation is very harmful if people are not following the guidelines issued by the authority. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Edible oil is an integral part of everyday cooking, due to remarkable gain in vegetable oil consumption in India over the past few decades. Accomplishing edible oil requirement of the ever-growing population is a formidable task before the country. On the contrary, annual compound growth rate of major edible oilseeds in India is declining. This phenomenal disparity in demand and supply of vegetable oil in the country is tending to bother through profuse investment on overseas purchase. At this point of time, in order to meet on-growing demand of edible oil, rice bran oil can be the available option before the country. India being the major producer of rice, yields significant amount of bran which contain upto 24% edible grade superior quality vegetable oil. It essentially contains 48.48% oleic acid, 35.26% linoleic acid, 14.54% palmitic acid, 8.15% free fatty acid besides contain good number of antioxidants such as tocopherols, tocotrienols and oryzanol. Therefore, rice bran oil became the integral part of oil market in India and abroad. Inspite of its benefits, it has not been fully exploited. If its potentiality is harnessed completely, rice bran oil could emerge as silver lining of Indian edible oil economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The field of animal movement ecology has advanced by leaps and bounds in the past few decades with the advent of sophisticated technology, advanced analytical tools, and multiple frameworks and paradigms to address key ecological problems. Unlike the longer history and faster growth of the field in North America, Europe, and Africa, movement ecology in Asia has only recently been gaining momentum. Here, we provide a review of the field from studies based in India over the last 11 years (2011-2021) curated from the database, Scopus, and search engine, Google Scholar. We identify current directions in the research objectives, taxa studied, tracking technology and the biogeographic regions in which animals were tracked, considering the years since the last systematic review of movement ecology research in the country. As an indication of the growing interest in this field, there has been a rapid increase in the number of publications over the last decade. Class Mammalia continues to dominate the taxa tracked, with tiger and leopard being the most common species studied across publications. Invertebrates and other small and medium-sized animals, as well as aquatic animals, in comparison, are understudied and remain among the important target taxa for tracking in future studies. As in the previous three decades, researchers have focussed on characterising home ranges and habitat use of animals. There is, however, a notable shift to examine the movement decision of animals in human-modified landscapes, although efforts to use movement ecology to understand impacts of climate change remain missing. Given the biogeographic and taxonomic diversity of India, and the fact that the interface between anthropogenic activity and wildlife interactions is increasing, we suggest ways in which the field of movement ecology can be expanded to facilitate ecological insights and conservation efforts. With the advancement of affordable technologies and the availability of analytical tools, the potential to expand the field of movement ecology, shift research foci, and gain new insights is now prime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inter-University Accelerator Centre (IUAC) came into existence as Nuclear Science Centre in 1984. A 15UD Pelletron accelerator was installed and it started delivering accelerated charged particle beams in 1991. Various experimental research facilities were set up in parallel at the Centre. All these facilities have been and are being extensively used by scholars and researchers from various universities and institutes in India. Research activities in nuclear physics, materials science and other inter-disciplinary fields are the main thrust at the laboratory. Nuclear physics research carried out at IUAC has made an indelible mark in the understanding of nuclear structure and nuclear reaction dynamics using heavy ion beams at near and above Coulomb barrier energy region. This review article presents the details of the various experimental facilities and highlights of research contributions in nuclear reactions and nuclear structure, spanning three decades. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Periarthritis of shoulder typically is referred to as the spontaneous onset of gradually progressive shoulder pain and severe limitation of movement. Recently Sleeper stretch and Cross body stretch are used to stretch the posterior shoulder tightness to improve internal rotation range of motion and they prove effective in improving internal rotation range of motion of shoulder joint in posterior capsular tightness. Aim & objectives of the study: To compare the effect of sleeper and cross body stretch versus muscle energy techniques in subjects with Periarthritis of shoulder. Data analysis and results: Data analysis and result of this study shows that there was statistically significant improvement in the variable of pain in VAS and Shoulder Abduction ROM in pre post analysis of data after the intervention of Sleeper, cross body stretches in control group and Muscle Energy Techniques (MET) after intervention in both groups. After intervention of treatment, the experimental group is showing statistically better improvement in reduction of Pain in VAS but not Shoulder Abduction ROM when compared to control group. Conclusion: It was concluded that both sleeper, cross body stretches of shoulder and Muscle Energy Techniques for Shoulder have statistically significant better reduction in Pain in VAS and Shoulder Abduction ROM in the treatment of Periarthritis, whereas Muscle Energy Techniques have statistically slightly better results of pain reduction and range increase in Periarthritis shoulder ROM when compared to sleeper and cross body stretches of shoulder. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the study is to examine the current scenario of farmers’ suicide in India. Farmer suicides in India refer to the national catastrophe of farmers committing suicide since the 1990s. The farmers’ suicide rate in India had ranged between 1.4 and 1.8 per 100,000 total population, over a 10-year period through 2005, however the corona virus disease (COVID-19) has impacted not only physical health but also mental health and wellbeing globally. These impacts can be critically higher among marginalized individuals and populations like farmers and agricultural laborers in India. While most of them live in poor socioeconomic conditions, recent psychosocial challenges due to the COVID-19 lockdown had brought endless suffering in their lives. In this way, presentstudy depicts about farmers and farm workers suicide amind COVID 19 India has been discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: An arsenal of Antiepileptic Drugs (AED) is used in the management of childhood seizure disorders. Most of them are taken long-term. These drugs have the potential to cause hyperlipidemia by inducing the P450 enzyme system. The alteration in lipid profile caused by long-term use of antiepileptic drugs in children needs to be studied to reduce the risk of future atherosclerosis. Aim: To analyse the effect of antiepileptic drugs on serum lipid profile in children with epilepsy in a tertiary care. Materials and Methods: This prospective descriptive study was conducted in the Outpatient and Inpatient Wards of the Department of Paediatrics and Neurology, Institute of Child Health and Hospital for Children, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, from February 2017 to September 2017. The study involved a total of 155 children, who were on monotherapy antiepileptic drugs for at least 6 months (33 on phenytoin, 42 on phenobarbitone, 20 on levetiracetam, 20 on carbamazepine, 40 on sodium valproate). A corresponding numbers of children, who attended the General Outpatient Department for acute upper respiratory tract and were otherwise healthy, were included as controls. A blood sample (3 mL) was drawn after an overnight fast for serum glucose, liver enzymes, total cholesterol, High Density Lipoprotein-Cholesterol (HDL-C), Low Density Lipoprotein-Cholesterol (LDL-C), Very Low Density Lipoprotein (VLDL) cholesterol and Triglycerides (TG) measurement. Chi-square test was performed to find out the significance of association and independent t-test was used to compare the mean between various groups. Results: Cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzyme inducers like carbamazepine, phenytoin and phenobarbitone significantly modified serum lipids in epileptic children when compared to healthy controls. In children on long-term phenytoin monotherapy, mean cholesterol levels were significantly higher in the cases compared to controls (156.73±31.93 mg/dL vs 105.03±8.60 mg/dL, p-value <0.0001), significantly elevated triglycerides (123.48±25.99 mg/dL vs 87.88±12.16 mg/dL, p-value <0.0001), and HDL-C level was significantly lower (44.52±10.14 mg/ dL vs 56.73±12.56 mg/dL, p-value <0.0001) than in controls. Phenobarbitone use was associated with significantly higher levels of cholesterol (164.97±34.41 mg/dL vs 107.76±9.28 mg/dL, p-value <0.0001), LDL (155.27±28.55 mg/dL vs 93.36±6.81 mg/ dL, p-value <0.0001), and triglycerides (125.55±42.19 mg/dL vs 86.30±8.12 mg/dL, p-value <0.001) and lower HDL (46.30±9.47 mg/dL vs 57.73±14.41 mg/dL, p-value <0.0001). Levetiracetam was not associated in significant alteration in both liver enzymes and lipid profile (p-value >0.05). Carbamazepine monotherapy was associated with higher levels of cholesterol (180.50±28.06 mg/dL vs 112.15±13.55 mg/dL, p-value <0.0001), LDL (138.85±22.55 mg/dL vs 82.45±12.12 mg/dL, p-value<0.0001) and triglycerides (142.80±9.48 mg/dL vs 85.40±6.29 mg/dL, p-value <0.0001) when compared to healthy controls. There was no alteration in lipid profile in valproate monotherapy. Valproate monotherapy was associated with significant increase in levels of SGOT and SGPT when compared to mean levels (40.35±11.208 (IU/L), and 40.70±8.809 (IU/L), respectively) observed in other AEDs and significant increase in SGPT levels when compared to healthy controls (36.50±10.61(IU/L) in cases vs 40.70±8.81 (IU/L) in controls). Conclusion: Levetiracetam did not produce significant changes in the serum lipid profile and liver enzymes and appears to be safe to use in children for long-term epilepsy management especially in children with baseline deranged lipid profile. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Science and technology are the main drivers of a country's development. With the advent of science and technology digital world is now flourishing than ever before. In many sectors, digital platforms are vaguely being used as a growth engine. Therefore, illiteracy in digital platforms causes knowledge poverty and it ultimately acts as a prime barrier in development. India being the country with agrarian background, for its comprehensive development digital literacy certainly complements with traditional wisdom in agriculture. Digital platforms have range of utility in agriculture, most importantly timely supply of required information on production, processing, marketing, extension etc., unfortunately, digital literacy among Indian agriculture inhabitants is meagre. If the opportunities available in digital sciences are properly explored, there is ample chances of making agriculture more productive, efficient and profitable. Despite innumerable opportunities, technophobic farmers, substandard educational and economic status, fragmented land holdings, lack of awareness and exposure to contemporary technologies are some of the reasons which can be attributed to this kind of snail's pace adoption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To understand the spatio-temporal dynamics and the effect of climate on fruit rot occurrence in arecanut plantations, we evaluated the intensity of fruit rot in three major growing regions of Karnataka, India for two consecutive years (2018 and 2019). A total of 27 sampling sites from the selected regions were monitored and the percentage disease intensity (PDI) was assessed on 50 randomly selected palms. Spatial interpolation technique, ordinary kriging (OK) was employed to predict the disease occurrence at unsampled locations. OK resulted in aggregated spatial maps, where the disease intensity was substantial (40.25–72.45%) at sampling sites of the Malnad and coastal regions. Further, Moran's I spatial autocorrelation test confirmed the presence of significant spatial clusters (p ≤ 0.01) across the regions studied. Temporal analysis indicated the initiation of disease on different weeks dependent on the sampling sites and evaluated years with significant variation in PDI, which ranged from 9.25% to 72.45%. The occurrence of disease over time revealed that the epidemic was initiated early in the season (July) at the Malnad and coastal regions in contrary to the Maidan region where the occurrence was delayed up to the end of the season (September). Correlations between environmental variables and PDI revealed that, the estimated temperature (T), relative humidity (RH) and total rainfall (TRF) significantly positively associated (p = 0.01) with disease occurrence. Regression model analysis revealed that the association between Tmax, RH1 and TRF with PDI statistically significant and the coefficients for the predictors Tmax, RH1 and TRF are 1.731, 1.330 and 0.541, respectively. The information generated in the present study will provide a scientific decision support system, to generate forecasting models and a better surveillance system to develop adequate strategies to curtail the fruit rot of arecanut. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Justification: Suicide is an important cause of adolescent mortality and morbidity in India. As pediatricians are often the first point of contact for adolescents and their families in the healthcare system, they need guidelines to screen, assess, manage and prevent adolescent suicidal behavior to ensure survival, health and mental well-being of this vulnerable population. Objectives: To formulate guidelines to aid pediatricians for prevention and management of adolescent suicidal behavior. Process: Indian Academy of Pediatrics, in association with Adolescent Health Academy, formed a multidisciplinary committee of subject experts in June, 2019 to formulate guidelines for adolescent suicide prevention and management. After a review of current scientific literature and preparation of draft guidelines, a national consultative meeting was organized on 16 August, 2019 for detailed discussions and deliberations. This was followed by refining of draft guidelines, and discussions over e-mail where suggestions were incorporated and the final document was approved. Guidelines: Pediatricians should screen for mental distress, mental disorders and suicidal and para-suicidal (non-suicidal self-injury) behavior during adolescent health visits. Those with suicidal behavior should be referred to a psychiatrist after providing emergency healthcare, risk assessment, immediate counselling and formulation of a safety plan. Pediatricians should partner with the community and policymakers for primary and secondary prevention of adolescent suicide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Global trends show a high prevalence of refractive errors among children. The prevalence of vision impairment due to uncorrected refractive errors among school children is increasing and the need for management of other ocular conditions is also reported. This study presents the status of eye health and pattern of daily activities among the school children of a tribal location in Tamil Nadu, South India.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in 13 schools of Karumandurai cluster, Salem district in Tamil Nadu, India. A three-phased comprehensive school screening protocol was conducted to understand the prevalence of vision impairment, refractive error, and other ocular conditions along with a survey about the daily activities of the children at school and home.Results: Among the 3655 children screened, the prevalence of vision impairment was found to be 0.62% (n = 23, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.42-0.94) and prevalence of refractive error was 0.30% (n = 11, 95%CI 0.17-0.54), among which 0.11% (n = 4) were already wearing spectacles. A total of 44 children (1.20%; 95%CI 0.90-1.61) were found to have other ocular problems and among them, 14 (0.38%) had visual acuity less than 20/30 (6/9). Almost 84% of children required surgical or specialty eye care services. Vision impairment was more in children with other ocular conditions compared to refractive errors (P < 0.001).Conclusion: The prevalence of vision impairment and refractive errors in this tribal area was less. Ocular conditions were more prevalent than refractive errors in this tribal region with the majority of children needing specialty or surgical eye care services. This implies the need for access to secondary or tertiary eye care centers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: About 10% of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus at the time of diagnosis have more than one risk factor for developing foot ulceration, and it increases to 15% in a lifetime. The risk of development of Diabetic foot ulcers/gangrene can be prevented by the patient's self-foot care practice at home. The present study aimed to determine the prevalence of awareness of self-foot care practice among diabetic patients in a rural setting. The study also aimed to identify the factors preventing dry or wet diabetic gangrene development and subsequent amputation. Methods: A hospital-based cross-sectional study was carried out among 1687 people with diabetes mellitus (DM) who attended orthopedic and diabetic OPD in a tertiary care hospital in Kamrup, Assam, India. An appropriate self-explanatory questionnaire about knowledge of self-foot care practice was given to all study participants. Foot examination was performed by authors participated in the study on all patients. The observations and results were categorized according to the International Diabetes Federation foot risk categories. Results: Of 1687 patients included in this study, 298 (17.7%) had foot ulcers of various grades, 164 (9.76%) had peripheral vascular disease, and 484 (28.7%), had peripheral neuropathy of different grades. After multivariate analysis, patients on insulin and combination therapy and peripheral neuropathy were significantly associated with the presence of foot ulcers. The mean knowledge score was as low as 9.7 ± 4.8 out of a total score of 23. Low awareness and knowledge were associated with low mean scores due to a lack of formal education (8.3 ± 6.1). Among the 1687 patients, only 381 (22.5%) are aware and have some knowledge about self-foot care, and 686 (40.6%) had their feet examined by a doctor only once since their initial diagnosis. The incidence of development of diabetic-related complications was significantly low in those who know about foot self-care as well as those whose feet had been inspected by a physician at least once. Conclusion: The incidence of development of diabetic-related complications was significantly low in those who know about foot self-care as well as those whose feet had been examined by a physician of family doctors at least once. There is a need to educate all patients of diabetes about self-foot care. It is prudent to establish an integrated foot care services within primary care centers and in the diabetic clinic to identify feet at risk, institute early preventive measures, and provide continuous foot care education through images videos on WhatsApp to patients and primary health care givers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: COVID-19 infected kidney transplant patients need specialist care in tailoring their immunosuppression drugs alongside routine care. Methods and Materials: This is an observational data from a single center of 12 kidney transplant recipients (KTR) who were hospitalized with COVID-19 from April 2020 to November 2020. The demographics, COVID treatment including immunosuppressive drug regimen were reviewed. Their graft function during the stay, at the time of discharge, and 30 days after discharge was also reviewed. Results: Of 12 patients included, 83% were male patients. The median age was 37 years and the median time since transplant was 42 months. Common comorbidities were diabetes (50%), hypertension (50%), and cardiovascular disease (8%). Ninety-two percent had triple immunosuppressive regimen whereas 8% were in steroid-free protocol. Fifty percent had mild COVID, 8% had moderate disease, and 41% has severe COVID which was managed with institution-specified protocol. Steroids dose was increased in all patients. Antimetabolite was uniformly withdrawn in all patients irrespective of disease severity. Acute kidney injury was noted in 50% of patients which recovered to baseline at discharge. Graft function at 2 weeks and 30 days after discharge was stabilized close to their baseline value. Mortality was 8%. Conclusion: Reduction of immunosuppression, especially the withdrawal of antimetabolites, was found to be safe without graft rejection in KTRs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Potential field methods are use to map the substructural features such as faults, fractures, shear zones and altered zones in the part of Vindhyan fringe belt of northern, MP. Geologically, the study area is represented by Vindhyan Supergroup of Meso to Neoproterozoic age. The area is mainly covered by alluvium which is characterized by river gravels, sand and residual soil. Bouguer gravity anomaly contour map brought out a broad gravity variation 'high' in southern part due to upliftment of basement rocks/ presence of denser rock below the Vindhyan formation, whereas gravity 'low' in northern part due to presence of low depression zone (altered/ weathered Sandstone and Limestone). The high dominant anomaly is observed in the southern and northern parts which may be due to effect of basement/ basic dyke of BGC and the presence of Ferruginous Shale and Ferruginous Sandstone, respectively. The 'high' residual gravity anomaly aligned approximately NW-SE is recorded and interpreted as inferred lineament on Bouguer gravity anomaly map in central part of the map which is reflected from shallow feature and not observed on geological map. The residual magnetic map shows clear increase of the numbers of the local magnetic anomalies with different polarities along with various shapes, extensions and orientations. The inferred as lineament in central part are clearly reflected in THDR and TDR map of gravity data, while the THDR of the magnetic data is not represented properly. The map of the TDR of the magnetic data depicts close to zero magnetic values that coincide with edges or boundaries of inferred lineament in central part of the map. The majority of solutions are falling varying depth from 0.5 to 2.5 Km. The solution of gravity data is falling at inferred lineament and contact between two litho-units varying depth from 0.5 to 2.5 Km in central part of the map. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Indigofera cassioides Rottl. Ex. DC. is a large shrub, distributed throughout the hills of India. Because of its reported robust antioxidant potential and phytoconstituents content, we were interested in investigating the in vitro thrombolytic and in vivo cardioprotective effect of methanolic leaves extract of Indigofera cassioides. An in vitro thrombolytic model was used to evaluate the clot lysis effect of different concentrations of Indigofera cassioides along with streptokinase as a positive control and distilled water as a negative control. Cardioprotective activity of methanolic leaves extract of Indigofera cassioides has been evaluated in isoproterenol-induced myocardial infarction in rats. The treatment was designed as four groups of six animals each as follows. Group I: Control, Group II: Isoproterenol alone, Group III: Methanolic leaves extract of Indigofera cassioides (200 mg/kg) and Group IV: Methanolic leaves extract of Indigofera cassioides (400 mg/kg). To evaluate the efficacy of methanolic leaves extract of Indigofera cassioides treatment against isoproterenol-induced myocardial damage, biochemical parameters and histopathological studies were carried out. High-performance thin-layer chromatography fingerprint analysis of methanolic leaves extract of Indigofera cassioides revealed the presence of terpenoid and flavonoid compounds. Methanolic leaves extract of Indigofera cassioides shows a dose-dependent clot lysis effect. Isoproterenol-induced animals exhibited significantly altered lipid profile, alanine transaminase, aspartate transaminase, alkaline phosphatase and also elevate serum cardiac activity markers creatine phosphokinase-myocardial band and lactate dehydrogenase, which were reversed near to normal levels in the pre-treatment of methanolic leaves extract of Indigofera cassioides. In conclusion, methanolic leaves extract of Indigofera cassioides exhibited significant thrombolytic activity which might be an aid to reduce the myocardial infarction. The cardioprotective effect of methanolic leaves extract of Indigofera cassioides was confirmed by the reduction in cardiac marker enzymes, altered lipid profile and protection histopathological changes on heart tissues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The research for analyzing the smile characteristics in the Indian population has been limited with contradictory outcomes. This consensus statement aims to critically review the literature and provide basic practice guidelines on dental aesthetics related to the Indian population. Clinical Considerations: 9 clinicians and 6 resource persons from dental colleges in India collaborated in this consensus statement which covered 6 topics along with 6 introductory and 6 conclusive remarks. The statement was developed through a colloquium conducted on topics; global aesthetics: different smile design proportions and guidelines, patient perspective towards aesthetic dentistry in India, a literature survey of aesthetic dentistry for the Indian population, macro and micro-aesthetics, multidisciplinary approach in aesthetic dentistry, inclusion of high-end technologies in Indian modern-day practice, followed by a panel discussion to devise and establish the practice guidelines of aesthetic dentistry in India. The Consensus Statement has been formulated according to AGREE Reporting checklist. Conclusion: The experts and panelists reached a Consensus on protocols to institute clinical practice guidelines of aesthetic dentistry for Indians. However, based on all available literature from India, further research is required to investigate many questions that have not been previously considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The fluoride ion toxicity has been associated with both dental fluorosis and neurotoxicity; dental fluorosis has tended to be considered with respect to tooth appearance and function rather than as a marker for neurotoxicity.Aims and Objectives: This study assessed the intelligence quotient (IQ) of school-going children aged 10-12 years in villages of Nalgonda district with different fluoride levels.Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among the permanent residents of Nalgonda district of Telangana state, India. A total of 480 government schoolchildren aged 10-12 years were selected by stratified random sampling from three different areas with different levels of naturally occurring fluoride in drinking water. Intelligence levels were assessed by conducting the Ravens standard progressive matrices test (1991 edition).Statistical Analysis: The data were subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA), Student's t-test, and Krustal-Wallis ANOVA. A logistic regression model was performed (SPSS version; 21(IBM corporation, Chicago,IL, USA)).Results: The mean IQ levels were more in the villages with low fluoride concentration in drinking water (15.26) compared to villages with medium fluoride content (12.91) and high fluoride content (9.1). A significant statistical association was found (P < 0.001).Conclusion: The overall IQ levels in children exposed to high fluoride level significantly lower than the low fluoride areas. Thus, children intelligence can be affected by high water fluoride levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban air pollution and exposure-related health impacts are being noticed and discussed very intensely in India. On the other hand, source-specific control is the primary focus for policymakers; however, diverse and complex sources make it difficult to immediately see the action and consequent impacts on better air quality. Many cities across the world have witnessed high air pollution levels at traffic junctions, more so in all Indian cities. Site-specific air pollution reduction can be a promising solution for managing the pollution level at highly polluted locations. CSIR-National Environmental Engineering Research Institute, India, has designed and developed Wind Augmentation and purifYing Unit (WAYU) to remove particulate and gaseous pollutants from urban hot spots such as traffic locations. In the present study, the authors attempted to evaluate the performance of two different designs of WAYU for the removal of particulate matters from polluted air at different traffic locations in Delhi City, the national capital territory of India. The performance analyses show that the current design of WAYU removes PM10 and PM2.5 concentrations in the range of 34–49% and 19–25%, respectively from the inlet air. The total PM collected from all WAYU devices was 34.19 kg from 120,557 operating hours' at all the sampling sites. The PM removal rate depends on the size-segregated particulate matter pollution load in the ambient air. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The human population residing in monazite bearing Kerala coast are exposed to chronic low dose and low dose rate external gamma radiation due to Th232 deposits in its beach sand. The radiation level in this area varies from < 1.0 to 45.0 mGy/year. This area serves as an ideal source for conducting large-scale epidemiological studies for assessing risk of low dose and low dose rate radiation exposure on human population. The areas with a dose level of ≤1.50 mGy/year are considered as normal level natural radiation areas (NLNRAs) and areas with > 1.50 mGy/year, as high level natural radiation areas (HLNRAs). HLNRAs were further stratified into three dose groups of 1.51-3.0 mGy/year, 3.01-6.00 mGy/year and > 6.0 mGy/year. The present study evaluates the effects of chronic low dose radiation (LDR) exposure on the birth prevalence of Congenital Heart Diseases (CHD) among the live newborns monitored in hospital based prospective study from NLNRAs and HLNRAs of Kerala coast, India. Methodology: Consecutive newborns were monitored from two hospital units located in the study area for congenital malformations. Referred CHD cases among the newborns screened were confirmed by conducting investigations such as pulse oximetry, chest X-ray, electrocardiogram and echocardiogram etc. Results: Among the newborns screened, 289 CHDs were identified with a frequency of 1.49‰ among 193,634 livebirths, which constituted 6.03% of overall malformations and 16.29% of major malformations. Multiple logistic regression analysis suggested that the risk of CHD among the newborns of mothers from HLNRAs with a dose group of 1.51-3.0 mGy/year was significantly lower as compared to NLNRA (OR = 0.72, 95% CI: 0.57-0.92), whereas it was similar in HLNRA dose groups of 3.01-6.00 mGy/year (OR = 0.55, 95% CI: 0.31-1.00) and ≥ 6.0 mGy/year (OR = 0.96, 95% CI: 0.50-1.85). The frequency of CHDs did not show any radiation dose related increasing trend. However, a significant (P = 0.005) reduction was observed in the birth prevalence of CHDs among the newborns from HLNRA (1.28‰) as compared to NLNRA (1.79‰). Conclusion: Chronic LDR exposure did not show any increased risk on the birth prevalence of CHDs from high-level natural radiation areas of Kerala coast, India. No linear increasing trend was observed with respect to different background dose groups. The frequency of CHD was observed to be 1.49 per 1000 livebirths, which was similar to the frequency of severe CHD rate reported elsewhere in India and was much less than the reported frequency of 9 per thousand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intra-medullary devices are the most common mode of fixation of inter-trochanteric fractures. Short proximal femur nails (PFN) used for fixing these fractures, unlike the long nails, are non-anatomic and are usually straight with no curvature in antero-posterior plane. As a result, there is always a chance of the nail tip impinging against the anterior cortex of femur. A total of 80 patients with trochanteric fractures (AO 31A2 and 31A3), operated with short PFN, were followed up retrospectively and prospectively from 2019 to 2021, for a period of 6 months. All fractures were fixed with PFNs, with nails ranging from 170 to 250 mm. Radiological analysis was done on hip lateral X-rays (taken at 6 months) using Angle at Distant Axis (ADA) and Nail Tip Position (NTP). Functional outcome analysis was done using Harris Hip Score. Patients were graded into 2 groups according to ADA (ADA>4° and ADA<4°). Incidence of anterior thigh pain was noted in patients on follow up and was statistically evaluated with nail size, nail diameter, ADA and NTP. Mean ADA was 4.19° ± 1.45; mean NTP grade was 1.98 ± 1.11. Mean nail size was 201.87 mm with a mean nail diameter of 9.76 mm. Twenty patients complained of anterior thigh pain on follow-up. Twenty-five patients had NTP grade 3 or above of which 16 complained of anterior thigh pain (p < 0.001). Fifty-five patients had nail diameter of 10 mm or above of which 14 had anterior thigh pain (p < 0.01). Fifty-three patients had a nail length of 200 mm or above of which 16 patients complained of thigh pain on follow up (p < 0.01). There is a mismatch of short PFNs with anterior bow of femur. Use of shorter nails with narrow diameters will avoid this mismatch to an extent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Juice quality and nutrient status were studied in different maturity stages of 16 sugarcane clones under normal and water-logged conditions in two cropping seasons. In both the cropping seasons, the brix of juice showed an increasing trend towards maturity (18.78 to 20.23%), while sucrose content in juice reached its maximum in the 11th month (17.78%) and declined in the 12th month (16.71%). Reducing sugar varied from 0.45 to 2.15%, and out of 16 clones studied, seven recorded less than 1.0% reducing sugars under water logged conditions. The clones that showed higher brix and sucrose content registered lesser values of reducing sugars and vice-versa. Juice electrical conductivity varied from 0.90 (88 WL 2137 and 98 WL 1357) to 1.80 (88 WL 1072), while pH of the juice did not show significant variation among clones. Under water logging conditions, nitrogen and potassium content in juice significantly varied among the clones, while phosphorous content did not show significant variation. In both planting seasons, the clones WL 1061, 92 WL 1029, 93 WL 1297, 97 WL 633, 99 WL 379, and 91 WL 629 recorded comparatively better juice quality parameters under water logged conditions similar to that of resistant standards (Co 62175 and Co 8231). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Lack of reliable data in India drove the "Surveillance of Enteric Fever in India" (SEFI) concept. Hybrid surveillance, combining facility-based surveillance for the crude incidence, and a community-based healthcare utilization survey (HCUS) to calculate the factor needed to arrive at the adjusted incidence, was used in 6 sites. The HCUS aimed to determine the percentage of utilization of study facilities by the catchment population for hospitalizations due to febrile illness.Methods: Population proportional to size sampling and systematic random sampling, in 2 stages, were used to survey 5000 households per site. Healthcare utilization was assessed.Results: Febrile illness accounted for 20% of admissions among 137 990 individuals from 30 308 households. Only 9.6%-38.3% of those admitted with febrile illness sought care in the study hospitals. The rate of rural utilization of the private sector for hospitalization was 67.6%. The rate of hospitalization for febrile illness, per 1000 population, ranged from 2.6 in Manali to 9.6 in Anantapur; for 25.8% of the deaths associated with febrile illness, no facility was used before death.Conclusions: One in 5 hospitalizations were associated with fever. Rural utilization of the private sector for hospitalization due to febrile illness was more than that of the public sector. Healthcare utilization patterns for hospital admissions due to febrile illness varied across sites. A meticulously performed HCUS is pivotal for accurate incidence estimation in a hybrid surveillance.Clinical Trials Registration: ISRCTN72938224. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tapentadol is a synthetic opioid analgesic that has been on the market in India since 2011. According to international studies, there is a low danger of abuse and diversion. Prescription opioid pain reliever abuse remains a major public health concern. Tapentadol, a prescription painkiller, differs from opioids such as oxycodone and morphine in that it has two modes of action: opioid receptor agonism and norepinephrine reuptake inhibition. Tapentadol has been on the market in India for eight and a half years. Our center was the topic of a single peer-reviewed research in 2017 that detailed two instances of abuse. Tapentadol is less likely to be diverted, abused, addicted, overdosed, or sold on the street than other prescribed opioids. This article reviews uses, pharmacological properties and abuse of tapentadol as it is the most serious issues like addiction, seeking behavior, withdrawal, and physical dependency .The main challenge with tapentadol use is controlling the ratio of MOR agonist to NRI. Finally, tapentadol provides both nociceptive and neuropathic pain relief, but there are concerns about abuse and reliance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article the dynamic connectedness between the five agricultural commodities is examined by implementing the Diebold and Yılmaz (VAR based) and Time-Varying Parameter Vector Autoregressions (TVP-VAR) measures for understanding the time-varying variance-covariance mechanism using daily data for the period of 2005 to 2019. The findings reveal that at an overall level all the commodity prices are less susceptible to significant volatility shocks from other commodities specifically before the introduction of the pan-India electronic trading portal (eNAM). Cotton prices do not show any variation due to spillover from others for the entire study period. The volatility spillover is visible post eNAM period particularly for the commodity stock prices. Whereas at an overall level the total directional connectedness has gone down in the post eNAM era. The network analysis suggests that the commodity stock prices show a stronger association as compared to market prices. Generally commodity prices show volatility connectedness but with respect to their own market which means strong spillover is missing among both the markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective. To retrospectively evaluate the clinical outcome of carcinoma nasopharynx patients treated with the IMRT technique. Methods. Eighty-one nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients who were treated with IMRT with or without chemotherapy between the period January 2011 and December 2014 at a comprehensive tertiary cancer center, Kerala, India, were included in the study. The mean age was 43 years (range 13–77 years), and majority of the patients were males (67.9%). The stagewise distribution of disease at presentation was 2 (2.5%) in stage I, 19 in stage II (23.5%), 31 (38.3%) in stage III, and 29 (35.8%) in stage IV. All patients were treated using simultaneous integrated boost (SIB) schedule using IMRT with 6 MV photon to a dose of 66 Gy in 30 fractions, 2.2 Gy per fraction prescribed to high-risk PTV; 60 Gy in 30 fractions, 2 Gy per fraction to intermediate risk PTV; and 54 Gy in 30 fractions, 1.8 Gy per fraction to low-risk PTV. Concurrent chemotherapy with cisplatin was offered to patients with stage II and above disease. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy with cisplatin and 5FU was given to patients with initially advanced disease (T3, T4, N2, and N3). Survival estimates were generated using the Kaplan–Meier method. The univariate analysis was performed using log-rank tests. Results. The 5-year locoregional control (LRC), distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS), disease-free survival (DFS), and overall survival (OS) rates were 87.5%, 87%, 61.6%, and 62.5%, respectively. The 5-year OS was 100% for stage I (n = 2), 67% for stage II (n = 19), 70.4% for stage III (n = 31), and 68.1% for stage IV (n = 29). The DFS at 5 years was 100% for stage I, 61.1% for stage II, 56.2% for stage III, and 84.8% for stage IV disease. The univariate analysis showed that age, nodal stage, and use of induction chemotherapy showed an improved trend towards OS, though the results were not statistically significant. The predominant pattern of failure in the present study was distant metastasis. Most patients who developed distant metastasis in our study had either an advanced T stage or N3 disease at presentation. Conclusion. The present study shows our initial experience with IMRT for nasopharyngeal carcinoma. The compliance to RT was good in this study. The 5-year LRC and OS rate of nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients treated with IMRT were 87.5% and 62.5%. Distant metastasis was the main pattern of failure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]