Search

Papaya Ring Spot Virus disease is wide spread across papaya growing countries ofthe world and is one ofthe major impediments in successful papaya cultivation. Genetically engineered papaya varieties viz., SunUp and Rainbow have already been developed and commercialized in USA using coat protein mediated resistance. However, transgenic papaya conferring resistance to papaya ringspot virus has not been developed in India till date due to lack of suitable genetic transformation protocol for Indian papaya varieties and unavailability of coat protein gene construct for harbouring broad-spectrum resistance. The current study reports an efficient gene delivery mechanism in papaya. Young globular embryos infected for 30 minutes with Agrobacterium tumefaciens strain LBA 4404 harbouring hairpin loop of truncated coat protein gene and subsequently co-cultivated in presence of 100 pM acetosyringone and ImM spermidine in dark for 72 hours gave rise to independent transgenic events characterized by PCR, dot blot hybridisation and RT-PCR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Information on genetic diversity of different commercial coffee cultivars grown in India during the last 90 years is scarce. In the present study, the genetic diversity of selected coffee cultivars, along with some advanced breeding lines, was evaluated using random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD), inter-simple sequence repeat (ISSR), and sequence-related amplified polymorphism (SRAP) markers. The average polymorphism information content (PIC) or the genetic diversity of ISSR primers (0.365) was higher than that for both RAPD (0.222) and SRAP primers (0.346). The average resolving power (Rp) of SRAP primers (13.29) was slightly lower than that of RAPD (13.60) but higher than that of ISSR primers (11.23). The genetic similarity among various cultivars using Jaccard's similarity coefficients ranged from 0.74 to 0.99 using RAPD, 0.48 to 0.94 using SRAP marker, and 0.57 to 0.95 using ISSR systems. Based on the marker analysis, all 24 coffee cultivars were clustered into two major groups, of which one is represented by cultivars belonging to C. arabica and the other group represented by C. canephora. Of the three marker systems used, the SRAP marker system was more informative and amplified several cultivar-specific fragments. The use of molecular markers can speed up genetic improvement of coffee cultivars. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Oral squamous cell carcinoma is a devastating disease accounting for 50-70% of total cancer mortality in India. The disease is mediated by a diversity of endogenous and environmental stimuli. "Free radicals" are postulated to be involved in pathogenesis of oral squamous cell carcinoma. The antioxidant defence system of the body protects cell injury induced by these free radicals. Oxidative damages or alterations occur when there is imbalance, between free radicals production and cell's oxidant capacity. Such types of oxidative stress may lead to cytotoxicity, mutation and change in genetic expression resulting in carcinogenesis. Objectives: To investigate the dynamic alterations of antioxidant level in tumor tissue and blood of oral squamous cell carcinoma patients. Material and Method: Levels of antioxidants such as reduced glutathione (GSH) and ascorbic acid (AA) and the activities of Antioxidant enzymes superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxides (GPx), glutathione reductase (GR), were estimated in the tumor tissue and blood of 40 oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) patients and in 20 healthy subjects as control. Results Significantly, increased levels of GSH, GPx, GR and AA, and significantly decreased activity of SOD was observed in tumor tissue (p < 0.001) and in tumor-free tissue of oral sqamous cell carcinoma patients, as compared with healthy subjects. In contrast, decrease in antioxidants (GSH, GPx, GR and AA p <0.001, SOD p <0.05 respectively) was observed in the blood of oral squamous cell carcinoma patients, as compared with healthy subjects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High alumina and silica content in the iron ore affects coke rate, reducibility, and productivity in a blast furnace. Iron ore is being beneficiated all around the world to meet the quality requirement of iron and steel industries. Choosing a beneficiation treatment depends on the nature of the gangue present and its association with the ore structure. The advanced physicochemical methods used for the beneficiation of iron ore are generally unfriendly to the environment. Biobeneficiation is considered to be ecofriendly, promising, and revolutionary solutions to these problems. A characterization study of Salem iron ore indicates that the major iron-bearing minerals are hematite, magnetite, and goethite. Samples on average contains (pct) FeO-84.40, Fe (total)-59.02, AlO-7.18, and SiO-7.53. Penicillium purpurogenum (MTCC 7356) was used for the experiment . It removed 35.22 pct alumina and 39.41 pct silica in 30 days in a shake flask at 10 pct pulp density, 308 K (35 °C), and 150 rpm. In a bioreactor experiment at 2 kg scale using the same organism, it removed 23.33 pct alumina and 30.54 pct silica in 30 days at 300 rpm agitation and 2 to 3 l/min aeration. Alumina and silica dissolution follow the shrinking core model for both shake flask and bioreactor experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Teaching, training, and evaluation in general surgery has not been peer reviewed in India. An archaic 3 years residency, thesis writing, and evaluation at the end of 3 years leading to award of master's degree (MS) in general surgery has continued since 1950s. Immense growth in knowledge, emergence of new sub-specialties and surgical technologies has mandated a change in the existing surgical residency programme. Aim: To obtain a peer opinion on the existing surgical residency programme. Setting and Design: Cross sectional survey, 70 residents and 25 surgical teachers of five medical institutions, a pilot study in northern India. Materials and Methods: A close ended, interviewer-administered questionnaire based on 5-point Likert scale with 25 items of teaching, training, and evaluation on existing PG surgical residency programme. Results: Majority subjects felt that thesis was an important part of learning experience and it should continue. Opportunity to assist senior surgeons was adequate, but seniors should also assist the resident surgeon under training, a mentor-mentee type training pattern should be evolved, multiple evaluations on content, surgical skills, ethical, and managerial skills should evolve rather than a single examination conducted by internal/external examiners at the place of training after 3 years. A 5-years MCh in general surgery for academically oriented students including exclusive training in minimally invasive procedures, clinical epidemiology, pre-hospital and trauma management, and vascular surgery was suggested by many responders for a limited number of seats in general suregry. Conclusion: Broad-based training during general surgical residency in theoretical knowledge, open and endoscopic surgical skills, research methodology, critical appraisal, ethics and inter-personal skills should be part of revised programme along with multi-point evaluation and thesis writing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents a multicenter study of single-dose liposomal amphotericin B in the treatment of visceral leishmaniasis in India. Safety profile of the drug; Percentage of cure of the drug; Impact of widespread antimony resistance on the use of amphotericin B; Adverse events seen.

Domestic violence is a health care problem of epidemic proportion causing not only immediate trauma but also contribute to a number of chronic health problems. It is worldwide in distribution and most common victims are women and children. Indian society leaves it cocooned by feelings of guilt and embarrassment. It is national shame for any country and this can be fostered with combined collaboration and communication. The typical and well patterned non-accidental injuries in head, neck and maxillofacial regions are routinely recognized by dentists. Therefore, a registered dentist can recognize and intervene in domestic violence and/or may act as collaborative partner along with other health care workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thirty genotypes of field pea were evaluated during rabi (2007-08) to study the nutrient composition. The range of proximate principals of these test genotypes were as follows: ash, 1.70 to 2.70 per cent; fiber, 1.23 to 1.84 per cent; protein, 18.20 to 24.67 per cent; oil, 1.28 to 2.17 per cent; carbohydrates, 57.95 to 63.53 per cent. Analysis of variance revealed that the mean sum of square due to genotypes were significant for all the character. Low levels of coefficient of variability were observed for all the characters, which suggested that genotypes did not differ much for these characters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: A lecture theatre with dimension 16m×8.4m×3.6m located at Roorkee (28.58°N, 77.20°E) in the northern region of India, is selected to calculate the monthly and annual cooling load (kWh) and cooling capacity of air conditioning system by a computer simulation. The paper also presents the results of a study investigating the effect of different glazing systems on windows and the reduction in building cooling load. DesignBuilder software has been used for the computer simulation for calculating the cooling load. The paper aims to investigate the reduction in thermal gains and cooling load requirements by varying the U-values of different glazing types, insulating the ceiling, providing cool roofs, interior and exterior insulation on walls, and replacing the conventional fluorescent tube lamp (FTL) by energy efficient compact fluorescent lamp (CFL). Installation of false ceiling, wall insulation, different glazing types and lighting systems are cost effective with normalized annual saving ranging from 17% to 19.8% from this retrofitting project. Furthermore, the study also highlights the potential of reducing the emission of CO2 and equivalent carbon credit. Retrofitting techniques strongly influence the level of energy saving, although the payback period is generally quite long of order 8years. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

A letter is presented which discusses the outbreak of ckiyungya in Jamshedpur, Jhatkhand, India in 2011. It mentions that a suspected case was defined as a person with acute history of fever with either joint pain, rash headache, myalgia, photophobia or arthralgia. The letter also reports that important preventive and control measures suggested to Indian district health authorities include awareness among people about how to avoid mosquito bites.

India's healthcare landscape is characterized by a multitude of public and private healthcare providers, yet its health systems remain weak in many areas. Informal healthcare providers (IHPs) bridge this gap, particularly in rural India, and are deeply embedded within local communities. While their importance is widely recognized, there is a knowledge gap regarding the specifics of their social networks with actors in health systems. The aim of this study was to map the social networks of IHPs to elucidate the type and nature of their relationships, in order to explore opportunities for intersectoral collaboration to achieve universal health coverage (UHC). We have adopted the social network analysis (SNA) approach using qualitative ego-network methodology to evaluate the types and strengths of ties in the Indian Sundarbans. A total of 34 IHPs participated in the study. Qualitative data were analysed using NVivo10 and Kumu.io was used to visualize the social networks. Results show that the 34 IHPs had a total of 1362 ties with diverse actors, spanning the government, private sector and community. The majority of the ties were strong, with various motivating factors underpinning the relationships. Most of these ties were active and have continued for over a decade. The robust presence of IHPs in the Indian Sundarbans is attributable to the numerous, strong and often mutually beneficial ties. The findings suggest a need to reconsider the engagement of IHPs within formal health systems. Rather than isolation, a nuanced approach is required based on intersectoral collaboration capitalizing on these social ties with other actors to achieve UHC in impoverished and underserved regions globally., (© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press in association with The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.)

The coastal regions of India, particularly the Bay of Bengal, are highly vulnerable to the severe weather conditions induced by tropical cyclones. This study presents a comprehensive analysis of the changes in vegetation cover, shoreline dynamics, and meteorological variations resulting from Cyclone Michaung and subsequent post-monsoon events along the coastal zones of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, India. A suite of vegetation indices, including the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Modified Vegetation Condition Index (mVCI), and Disaster Vegetation Damage Index (DVDI), were employed to assess changes in vegetation cover. The Digital Shoreline Assessment System (DSAS) was utilized to evaluate shoreline changes, and a range of meteorological variables were analyzed to assess the impacts of Cyclone Michaung and post-monsoon events. The findings reveal significant ecological impacts, with a notable decrease in Very Healthy Vegetation from 5.71% to 1.30%. The mean value of mVCI shifted from -0.2 to -0.16, indicating vegetation stress. DVDI analysis showed that 56.49% of the area experienced moderate damage, while 40.24% suffered severe vegetation damage. Additionally, erosion was observed along 79.46% of the shoreline transects in the study area. These insights are critical for assisting coastal managers in developing resilient coastal systems. Remarkably, a significant change in rainfall was recorded between the pre-cyclone period and the landfall day, with maximum rainfall intensifying from 13.93 mm/h on December 3rd to 164.26 mm/h on December 4th, and subsequently decreasing to 144.39 mm/h on December 5th., 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 © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The increasing rates of forest cover change and heightened vulnerability to deforestation present significant environmental challenges in Northeast India. This study investigates the dynamics of forest cover change and susceptibility to deforestation in this region from 2001 to 2021, utilizing data from the Hansen Global Forest Change (HGFC) product on the Google Earth Engine (GEE) platform. A suite of multicriteria decision-making (MCDM) models-including VlseKriterijumska optimizacija I Kompromisno Resenje (VIKOR), Simple Additive Weighting (SAW), Evaluation Based on Distance from Average Solution (EDAS), and Weighted Aggregates Sum Product Assessment (WASPAS)-was employed to assess changes in forest cover and deforestation susceptibility across varied zones. Multicollinearity tests confirmed the relevance of the factors influencing deforestation. Statistical validations, such as the Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test, underscored the models' robustness, revealing statistically significant outcomes. Additionally, Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve and Area Under the Curve (AUC) analysis demonstrated the superior fit of the VIKOR model (AUC = 0.938) compared to SAW (AUC = 0.901), EDAS (AUC = 0.895), and WASPAS (AUC = 0.864) in predicting current deforestation susceptibility. Validation affirmed the reliability of all MCDM methods, with VIKOR displaying high sensitivity (True Positive Rate, TPR = 0.878) and optimal AUC (0.938). Correlation analyses among the models identified significant inter-relationships, notably a positive correlation between EDAS and SAW, and a negative correlation between VIKOR and SAW. The regions of Assam, Nagaland, Mizoram, and Arunachal Pradesh were identified as experiencing significant forest cover loss, indicating a pronounced susceptibility to future deforestation. These findings underscore the need for immediate intervention to address this critical environmental issue., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.)

In many developed and developing nations, lakes are the primary source of drinking water. In the current scenario, due to rapid mobilization in anthropogenic activities, lakes are becoming increasingly contaminated. Such practices not only destroy lake ecosystems but also jeopardize human health through water-borne diseases. This study employs advanced hierarchical clustering through multivariate analysis to establish a novel method for concurrently identifying significantly polluted lakes and critical pollutants. A systematic approach has been devised to generate rotating component matrices, dendrograms, monoplots, and biplots by combining R-mode and Q-mode analyses. This enables the identification of contaminant sources and their grouping. A case study analyzing five lakes in Bengaluru, India, has been conducted to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed methodology. Additionally, one pristine lake from Jammu & Kashmir, India, has been included to validate the findings from the aforementioned five lakes. The study explored correlations among various physical, chemical, and biological characteristics such as temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen, conductivity, nitrates, biological oxygen demand (BOD), fecal coliform (FC), and total coliform (TC). Critical contaminants forming clusters included conductivity, nitrates, BOD, TC, and FC. Factor analysis identified four primary components that collectively accounted for 85% of the overall variance. Following identification of pollution hotspots, the study recommends source-based pollution control and integrated watershed management, which could significantly reduce lake pollution levels. Continuous monitoring of lake water quality is essential for identifying actual contaminant sources. These findings provide practical recommendations for maximizing restoration efforts, enforcing regulations on pollutant sources, and improving water quality conditions to ensure sustainable development of lakes., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Background: Clinical trials play a crucial role in biomedical research, and it is important to register them in public registries to ensure transparency and prevent research waste. In this study, we wished to determine what steps need to be taken to identify every clinical trial run in India that has been registered in any of the (non-Indian) World Health Organization-recognised primary registries. Of the 16 registries, we studied all except that of the European Union, which will be studied separately., Methods: Two methodologies were employed for each registry, except for four that did not facilitate one or the other method. Methodology A involved downloading all the records in a registry and querying them. Methodology B involved conducting a search via the registry website., Results: Only four registries provided consistent results with both methodologies. Seven registries had different results from the two methodologies. Of these, in four cases, in Methodology A one field indicated that the study ran in India, while another indicated otherwise., Conclusions: The above-mentioned ambiguities should be addressed by the concerned registries. Overall, this study reinforces the need for improved data accuracy and transparency in clinical trial registries and emphasizes the importance of resolving complications faced by users while navigating the registries. Ensuring accurate and comprehensive registration of clinical trials is essential for meta-research and the use of such data by a variety of stakeholders., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Currently, sea turtle habitats are being altered by climate change and human activities, with habitat loss posing an urgent threat to Indian sea turtles. Thus, the objective of this study is to analyze the dynamic shoreline alterations and their impacts on Olive Ridley Sea Turtle (ORT) nesting sites in Gahirmatha Marine Wildlife Sanctuary from 1990 to 2022. Landsat satellite images served as input datasets to assess dynamic shoreline changes. This study assessed shoreline alterations and their rates across 929 transects divided into four zones using the Digital Shoreline Analysis System (DSAS) software. The results revealed a significant 14-km northward shift in the nesting site due to substantial coastal erosion, threatening the turtles' Arribada. This study underscores the need for conservation efforts to preserve nesting environments amidst changing coastal landscapes, offering novel insights into the interaction between coastal processes and marine turtle nesting behaviors., 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 © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

This investigation analyzed shoreline evolution along India's Digha Coast from 1992 to 2022, using multispectral Landsat satellite images and the Digital Shoreline Analysis System (DSAS). Methods included identifying zones and transects, shoreline extraction, and applying spatial statistical techniques. The study area, divided into five zones with 587 transects, enabled both short- and long-term analysis. Key findings indicate that the mean long-term rate of shoreline change is -0.54 m per year, with 70.70 % of transects experiencing erosion and 29.30 % accretion. Notably, Zone V had the highest accretion rate (8.55 m/year), while Zone III faced the most erosion (-7.47 m/year). Short-term analysis from 1997 to 2017 indicated significant erosion, contrasting with accretion during 1992-1997 and 2017-2022. Particularly, Zones II, III, and IV underwent major erosion, especially from 1997 to 2002. The study underscores the need for continuous shoreline management strategies and demonstrates geospatial technology's effectiveness in capturing coastal landscape changes., 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 © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: Multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) results in treatment failure and poor clinical outcomes. This study was carried out with the aim to determine the pattern of drug resistance against Mycobacterium tuberculosis towards first line ATT (anti-tubercular treatment) in sputum smear-positive patients using Line Probe Assay (LPA)., Methods: A cross sectional prospective study was carried out in a tertiary care Hospital of Meerut. A total of 898 sputum samples (on spot and early morning) collected from 449 suspected pulmonary tuberculosis patients as per RNTCP guidelines were screened by microscopy. Decontamination was done by N-acetyl-l-cysteine and sodium hydroxide. Then smear positive samples were subjected to 1st line drug susceptibility testing (DST) using LPA GenoType® MTBDRplus (HAIN Life Science) assay, a molecular method which allows rapid detection of Rifampicin (Rif) and Isoniazid (INH) resistance., Results: The overall burden of MDR TB in this geographical area was 7.9 %. Mono-resistance with Rif alone was around 2.8 %. However, the mono-resistance with INH (inhA gene) and INH (katG gene) was 2.8 % and 1.1 % respectively. Drug resistance of Rif was due to mutations in rpoB gene while resistances to INH were more commonly due to mutation in inhA gene followed by katG gene. TB was more commonly seen in the age group of 30-59 years (43.8 %) and predominantly in males., Conclusion: Tuberculosis positivity rate is high in Western Uttar Pradesh. Burden of MDR TB in Western Uttar Pradesh was similar to National data. Line probe assay can be used as a primary method to diagnose multi drug resistant TB as done in present study which can help in earlier initiation of correct therapy., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest None declared., (Copyright © 2024 Tuberculosis Association of India. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The present investigation delineates groundwater potential zones (GPZ) in the Jhargram district through an integrated approach employing analytical hierarchical process (AHP), remote sensing, and geographical information systems (GIS). Twelve parameters were utilized for GPZ analysis based on the Groundwater Potential Index, subsequent to multicollinearity testing. Classification of GPZ yielded five distinct categories: very poor, poor, moderate, good, and very good. Validation through receiver operating characteristics (ROC) and cross-validation with borewell yield data affirmed prediction accuracies of 78.4% and 84%, respectively. Spatial distribution analysis revealed that 30.39%, 30.86%, and 13.19% of the surveyed area fell within the poor, moderate, and good potentiality zones, respectively, whereas 15.86% and 9.69% were categorized as very poor and very good GPZs. Sensitivity analysis highlighted the significance of geology, elevation, geomorphology, slope, and lineament density as influencing parameters; elimination of any single parameter engendered significant alterations in the GPZ classification. The investigation culminated in the formulation of a block-wise sustainable groundwater management blueprint designed to inform policy initiatives., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.)

Background: Over time, COVID-19 testing has significantly declined across the world. However, it is critical to monitor the virus through surveillance. In late 2020, WHO released interim guidance advising the use of the existing Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System (GISRS) for the integrated surveillance of influenza and SARS-CoV-2., Methods: In July 2021, we initiated a pan-India integrated surveillance for influenza and SARS-CoV-2 through the geographically representative network of Virus Research and Diagnostic Laboratories (VRDLs) across 26 hospital and laboratory sites and 70 community sites. A total of 34,260 cases of influenza-like illness (ILI) and Severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) were enrolled from 4 July 2021 to 31 October 2022., Findings: Influenza A(H3) and B/Victoria dominated during 2021 monsoon season while A(H1N1)pdm09 dominated during 2022 monsoon season. The SARS-CoV-2 "variants of concern" (VoC) Delta and Omicron predominated in 2021 and 2022, respectively. Increased proportion of SARI was seen in extremes of age: 90% cases in < 1 year; 68% in 1 to 5 years and 61% in ≥ 8  years age group. Approximately 40.7% of enrolled cases only partially fulfilled WHO ILI and SARI case definitions. Influenza- and SARS-CoV-2-infected comorbid patients had higher risks of hospitalization, ICU admission, and oxygen requirement., Interpretation: The results depicted the varying strains and transmission dynamics of influenza and SARS-CoV-2 viruses over time, thus emphasizing the need to continue and expand surveillance across countries for improved decision making. The study also describes important information related to clinical outcomes of ILI and SARI patients and highlights the need to review existing WHO ILI and SARI case definitions., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Potdar, Vijay, Mukhopadhyay, Aggarwal, Bhardwaj, Choudhary, Gupta, Kaur, Narayan, Kumar, Singh, Abdulkader, Murhekar, Mishra, Thangavel, Nagamani, Dhodapkar, Fomda, Varshney, Majumdar, Dutta, Vijayachari, Turuk, Majumdar, Sahoo, Pandey, Bhargava, Negi, Khatri, Kalawat, Biswas, Khandelwal, Borkakoty, Manjushree, Singh, Iravane, Kaveri, Shantala, Brijwal, Choudhary, Dar, Malhotra, Jain and ILI-SARI Surveillance Team.)

Traditionally coal has been extensively used as a dominating fossil fuel in a wide range of industries due to its abundance. In India, industries like thermal power plants, cement industries, iron, and steel industries along with many captive power plants consume a huge quantity of coal each year to meet energy demand. Coal combustion releases blackish-grey colored fly ash waste is one of the most imperative sources of radionuclides like Radium ( 226 Ra), Thorium ( 232 Th), Potassium ( 40 K) and Uranium ( 238 U). The estimated industrial fly ash is ∼308.416 Million Tonnes (MT) in 2019, considered as an emerging environmental problem. This study represents the first-ever radionuclide emission from Indian fly ash generated across various major industries. The results reveal that the estimated 226 Ra, 232 Th, 238 U, and 40 K radionuclides were estimated to be ∼27.473 TBq, ∼44.351 TBq, ∼41.089 TBq, and ∼111.091 TBq respectively. The potential radionuclide hotspot regions across the nation are identified, which could be used as an important tool to assess its impact on the chronic exposure of millions of residents living near these sources. Cleaner or green energy could be the best alternative to combat the unseen health disaster. More effective and safe utilization of fly ash can minimize the hazardous effect of radionuclides emission., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Saroj Kumar Sahu reports administrative support, article publishing charges, and writing assistance were provided by the Ministry of Earth Sciences. Saroj Kumar Sahu reports a relationship with Ministry of Earth Sciences that includes: funding grants and non-financial support., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Odisha's coastline supports various development activities that are critical to the state and national economy, such as oil and gas, ports and harbors, power plants, fishing, tourism, and mining that continues to not only detriment the coastal ecology but also affect the overall shoreline morphodynamics. The morphological changes are complicated processes involving both natural and human-induced drivers, but it is critical to understand how recent development activities further impact beach morphodynamics and shoreline dynamicity. The study analyzes the overall shoreline morphodynamics in response to the recent development of port and other related infrastructure for annual and decadal scale using two-dimensional (2-D) shoreline changes along with detailed 3-D beach profile volumetric changes for different studied zones along the Gopalpur coast. The results reveal that nearly all studied zones of the Gopalpur shoreline, Zone-4 (EPR = -05.64 m a -1 and LRR = -04.25 m a -1 ), Zone-3 (EPR = -04.51 m a -1 and LRR = -07.01 m a -1 ) and Zone-1 (EPR = -2.85 m a -1 and LRR = -01.46 m a -1 ), experienced erosion between 2010 and 2020 except Zone-2 (EPR = 24.31 m a -1 and LRR = 25.96 m a -1 ), which showed overall sign of deposition. The interannual shoreline analysis depicted that Zone-1 (tourist beach area) remained almost stable, Zone-2 (south of the breakwater of Gopalpur Port) showed accretion trends, Zone-4 (north side of the port) dominantly showed an erosion pattern, whereas Zone-3 (port area) showed a high level of uncertainty in the context of erosional or deposition trends. Calculated volumetric loss along the surveyed 3-D beach profiles supports these 2-D changes for all the studied zones. The results showed substantial changes in coastal morphodynamics in different studied zones of the Gopalpur region and severe erosion along its northern segment of the constructed coastal infrastructure. These findings can potentially promote effective coastal zone management and prevent further deterioration along the Gopalpur coast in future., 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 © 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: Kocuria kristinae is a commensal organism, sometimes considered as a lab contaminant, but its repeated isolation from clinical samples in immunocompromised patients should raise red flags., Materials and Methods: We confirmed the infection with re-isolation of the organism from the same site before starting treatment. For the identification of Kocuria kristinae we used IDGP cards on VITEK 2 compact system. Antibiotic susceptibility test was done manually following CLSI guidelines 2018 for Coagulase-negative staphylococci., Results: A total of 510 major head neck oncosurgeries were performed during the period of two years. Out of which 120 patients had skin and soft tissue infections. Out of these infected patients, 90 were culture positive and of these Kocuria kristinae were isolated in 12 patients. Resistance to penicillin and oxacillin is seen in all isolates., Conclusion: Kocuria kristinae should not be ignored as a commensal flora or lab contaminant in immunocompromised hosts. Its Increase in resistance pattern is a matter of concern. It is an ignored opportunistic pathogen whose detailed sensitivity test should be developed to treat patients timely and effectively., Competing Interests: None

The long- to short-term morphodynamic response in low-lying coastal wetlands raises serious concerns worldwide about the loss of their biodiversity and ecological ramifications due to change in tidal amplitude and cyclonic events. One such place worth studying is Chilika lake, India, a prominent Ramsar site, the largest brackish water lagoon in Asia, and the second-largest coastal lagoon in the world. It experiences frequent cyclone landfalls and strong littoral drift that tends to open/close the tidal inlet. The goal of this study was to analyze the response of slow onset events such as long- (1952-2020) to short-term (~annual scale from 1989 to 2020) tidal inlet movement, shoreline change (1990-2020 with almost every five-year interval), spit morphodynamics (~annual scale from 1989 to 2020) on ecological ramification in Chilika lake as well as the implications of sudden onset event such as cyclonic landfall. In this study, we used the Digital Shoreline Change Analysis System (DSAS) to compute the statistics of shoreline change rate by calculating end point rate (EPR) values for short-term shoreline change (1990, 1995, 2000, 2005, 2011, 2016, and 2020) and weighted linear regression (WLR) for long-term shoreline change (1990-2020). The results show that Chilika lake experienced both erosion and accretion processes with a remarkably high erosion rate of 19.87 m year -1 and accretion of 16.91 m year -1 during a long-term scale (1990-2020). The average erosion and accretion rates were 2.25 m year -1 and 4.67 m year -1 , respectively, during the past three decades (1990-2020). The short-term analysis suggests that the highest mean erosion of 4.37 m year -1 occurred during 2005-2011, mainly due to cyclonic storms, reduction in sediment discharge, and lunar eclipse, which induced tide with very high amplitude in August 2008. Overall, the annual scale analysis of tidal inlet shows a shifting trend towards the northward side even after the artificial opening of an inlet in 2000. It can be ascribed mainly to the prevalent direction of longshore drift along this coast. This study observed that the landfall of cyclones significantly affects the spit morphodynamics and opening of the tidal inlet, which defines the inflow of the seawater into the lagoon and further substantial impacts on the ecological ramification. The current study's methodology can be extended to comprehend the response of long- to short-term changes of the tidal inlet, shoreline, and spit morphodynamics on the ecological ramification of coastal lagoons worldwide along with impacts of sudden-onset events caused by cyclonic landfall., 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.)

Worldwide mining activities are one of the major anthropogenic activities that have caused high forest cover loss (FCL). In this study, we have quantified FCL in Odisha State due to mining activities analyzing Hansen Global Forest Change (HGFC) time series data for the period of 2001-2019 in Google Earth Engine platform. Our analysis suggests that Nabarangpur, Puri, Kendrapara, and Kalahandi districts lost more than 20% of their forest cover during this period. Rayagada and Koraput were the top two districts that recorded the highest FCL with mean change rates of 13.81 km 2 /year and 7.17 km 2 /year, respectively. The results point out that mining operations have grown in recent years in Odisha State, and the increase in these activities has contributed to the increase in FCL. This study offers a cost-effective methodology to monitor FCL in mining areas which will eventually contribute to the protection of forest biodiversity and forest dwelling tribal population., (Copyright © 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

The tropical cyclones impact both the eastern and western coasts of India, causing severe socio-environmental problems. This study analyzed shoreline changes and vegetation degradation caused by cyclone Nisarga and monsoon events in Maharashtra coastal zone and Mumbai region, India. In this study, the shoreline change was studied using the Net Shoreline Movement (NSM) statistical technique embedded in the digital shoreline analysis system (DSAS) tool. The effects of the cyclone on the vegetation were mapped using the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), and the rainfall distribution from Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) data. The correlation between rainfall data and vegetation loss was analyzed using geographically weighted regression. The results also show that 90% of the events were concentrated in the 80-300 mm classes, being classified as sudden increases. This cyclone caused erosion in 56.32% of the shoreline; the highest erosion level was observed along the coastal zone of Maharashtra (near Mumbai city). Cyclone Nisarga has also impacted the vegetation loss most prominently in the region, with mean EVI in pre-cyclone equal to 0.4 and post-cyclone equal to 0.2. These eco-physical studies using geospatial technology are needed to understand the behavior of changes in shoreline and vegetation and can also help coastal managers plan for resilient coastal systems after the passage of tropical cyclones., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Here we report the genomic history of Gurjars and framed the useful set of autosomal STRs for Gujjar population. We designed this study with a total number of 215 Gurjars from district Saharanpur (previously known as Gujarat due to presence of many Gujjar zamindars), Moradabad, Bulandshahr, Ghaziabad, Meerut, Noida and NCR Delhi. Locus SE33 was found the most polymorphic and discriminating marker for Gujjar population while locus TPOX is the least. Ancestral information of Gurjars was revealed by comparing the Gujjar's population data with 19 neighbouring populations. In Neighbor Joining (NJ) tree Gurjars were found closer to Gujjars of Jammu region, population of Rajasthan and Uttarkhand, due to the same stock of gene pool., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

In this study, we have analyzed how geo-ecological cues for endangered Olive Ridley turtles' mass nesting behavior got modified by impact of four severe cyclones during 2010-2019 that made landfall in the vicinity of Rushikulya estuary, which is one of the largest mass nesting congregation (arribada) sites in the world. Analyzing last 10 years of shoreline dynamics, we show that even the slightest modification in beach morphology influenced their nesting behavior in Rushikulya rookery. Shoreline change analysis showed periodic phases of high/low erosion and the northward longshore sediment movement, which becomes impeded by the southern spit, the length of which increased by about 1800 m. During the analyzed period, the nesting behavior of Olive Ridley turtle was greatly influenced by changes in land use and land cover pattern around the Rushikulya rookery. Such reductions in tree cover and marshy land areas were majorly driven by anthropogenic activities and extreme weather events, such as cyclones. We also report increased mortality of turtles, no or false mass nesting events due to significant loss and/or erosion of the nesting sites due to cyclones. The results indicate that conservation of Olive Ridley turtles should be more holistic, or ecosystem centric, rather than species centric. It is important to maintain the ecological integrity of their habitat for highly synchronized mass nesting event and eventually their survival., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Aims: To study the feasibility of diabetes education through telemedicine in patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) hospitalized for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) management., Methods: This was a prospective study of 100 patients with DM who were admitted in a COVID isolation ward for management of COVID-19. Patients managed with multiple subcutaneous insulin injections were eligible. During teleconsultation, diabetes education including insulin injection technique was given by a diabetes educator via a phone call (audio and video) during hospitalization. They were also re-assessed after 2 weeks of discharge from the hospital via teleconsultation or in-person., Results: Out of 100 patients, 72.0% had prior history of diabetes while 28.0% were newly diagnosed. The median age of our cohort was 56 years and median duration of diabetes was 7.0 years. Telemedicine as a mode of consult for diabetes education was accepted by 96.0% of patients during hospitalization. At 2 weeks' follow-up, 77.0% patients were following insulin instructions correctly and were satisfied with this mode of consultation., Conclusion: Diabetes education using telemedicine as a technology is feasible, acceptable, and effective in the management of most patients with DM. Telemedicine appears to be an effective way to replace routine visits in special situations., (Copyright © 2021 Diabetes India. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: To evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the national lockdown on the demographic and clinical profile of patients presenting with ocular trauma., Methods: In this retrospective, hospital-based, comparative analysis, patients presenting to the emergency department with ocular trauma in the following COVID-19 period (March 25, 2020 to July 31, 2020) were compared with patients in the pre-COVID-19 period (March 25, 2019 to July 31, 2019)., Results: Overall, 242 patients (COVID-19 period: 71 and pre-COVID-19 period: 171) presented with ocular trauma. The mean age of the patients in COVID-19 and pre-COVID-19 periods were 26.7 ± 17.3 and 34.1 ± 20.3 years, respectively (P = 0.008). A majority of patients (68.6%) in both groups were from the rural background. Home-related injuries were common in the COVID-19 period (78.8%) as compared to pre-COVID-19 period (36.4%) (P < 0.0001). Iron particles (29.5%) were the common inflicting agents in the COVID-19 period while it was plant leaves (25.5%) in the pre-COVID-19 period. The most common ocular diagnosis was open globe injury (40.8%) in the COVID-19 period and microbial keratitis (47.9%) in the pre-COVID-19 period. Surgical intervention was required in 46.4% of patients in the COVID-19 period and 32.1% of patients in the pre-COVID-19 period (P = 0.034)., Conclusion: During the COVID-19 period., there was a significant decline in the number of patients presenting with ocular trauma. In this period, a majority of patients sustained ocular trauma in home-settings. About half the patients required surgical intervention which was most commonly rendered in the form of primary wound repair., Competing Interests: None

Background: Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis is a fatal form because of high morbidity and poor recovery. Improper use of first line medicines and default treatment are the prime reasons of developing resistance of mycobacterium towards conventional anti- TB drugs. Nurses with refined knowledge, current evidence and positive attitude can prevent arising of MDR TB cases by ensuring adequate treatment, promoting treatment adherence and real time case monitoring. Because of paucity of data, present study was aimed to assess efficacy of m-learning in improving knowledge and attitude of nurses about the prevention and control of MDR-TB., Methods: In this Quasi-randomized study, nurses working in the unit of pulmonary, emergency, respiratory ICU, general medicine of AIIMS Rishikesh during the months of August-October 2019 were involved. The number of participation was 190 (95 in each group; experimental and control) where m-learning intervention was available only for experimental group. There were structured questionnaire to measure knowledge and dichotomous checklist to evaluate attitude of nurses of both group before and one week after the provision of m-learning module., Results: Both the group was homogeneous and m-learning intervention was effective to improve knowledge, when compared post-test knowledge score between experimental and control group (18.2 ± 5.4 vs 12.4 ± 4.4; P < 0.001); however, this one-time social media based intervention could not improve attitude of participants (10.3 ± 1.8 vs. 9.9 ± 1.8; P = 0.175)., Conclusion: Hence, m-learning is useful for knowledge development among large number of nurses within limited resource setting but frequent provision of technology based module is recommended to acquire positive attitude among nurses., Competing Interests: Conflicts of interest The authors have none to declare., (Copyright © 2020 Tuberculosis Association of India. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: A waterborne outbreak of hepatitis E virus occurred in the Jamshedpur city of Jharkhand from March 2018 to October 2018. The aim of the present study is to study the hepatitis E virus outbreak clinically, serologically and etiologically., Methods: Five hundred and eighty-four clinically and biochemically documented cases were screened for the hepatotropic viral markers (HepatitisA, B, C, and E) by the ELISA. Demographic data such as gender, age, clinical diagnosis, location, outcome and time of admission were extracted from the online hospital management system. Water samples from the affected area were tested for HEV RNA detection. Genotyping of HEV virus was carried out by sequencing and phylogenetic analysis., Results: Hepatitis E genotype 1 was confirmed as the major etiological agent in this outbreak due to the faecal contamination of drinking water supply while establishing illegal water connections. Mixed infection of HEV-HAV (5.31%) or HEV-HBV (0.91%) was also detected in the present series of acute viral hepatitis., Conclusion: The study highlights the importance of screening for both enterically transmitted hepatotropic viral markers as well as the parenterally transmitted hepatotropic viral markers during the outbreaks of acute viral hepatitis., (Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.net.)

Background: Visual impairment disproportionately affects people in the low-income countries. A high proportion of visual impairment can be prevented or cured. Yet, care seeking for eye health is restricted for women and older adults. This article uses the intersectionality approach to understand how eye care seeking behaviour changes in men and women with increase in age and visual impairment in a poor and underserved region of India. It brings forth the commonalities and differences between the various groups., Methods: The article is based on qualitative data. Persons aged 50 years and more are categorized into young-old, middle-old and old-old. Men and women with low vision/ high visual impairment have been selected from each of the three age groups. In-depth interviews have been carried out with 24 study participants. Data saturation has been attained. The JHPIEGO Gender Analysis Framework underpins the study. The narrative data has been coded in NVivo 10 software., Results: Various symptoms are associated with visual impairment. The young-old with low vision do not report much difficulty due to visual impairment. Study participants with high visual impairment, and in the older age groups do. Difficulty in the discharge of regular chores due to visual impairment is rarely reported. Impaired vision is considered to be inevitable with advancing age. Care seeking is delayed for eye health. Typically, outpatient care from nearby health care facilities has been sought by men and women in every group. Inpatient care is limitedly sought, and mostly restricted to men. Eye care seeking behaviour changes among men with increase in age and visual impairment. Women consistently seek less care than men for both outpatient and inpatient eye care. Study participants of both genders become dependent with increasing age and visual impairment. Traditional patriarchal privileges enjoyed by men (such as mobility and economic independence) decrease with age. The vulnerability of women gets compounded with time., Conclusions: The article presents a granulated understanding of eye care seeking behaviour among older adults in India. Such differentials need to be taken cognizance of in programmes promoting universal access to health care. Existing conceptualizations on access to health care need to be revisited.

The outcome of a retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) program initiated in five districts of Odisha over 3 years with partnerships between the government and non-government organizations was prospectively analyzed. The mentoring partners trained the district ophthalmologists and neonatal care providers; the program was handed over when the trainees were considered competent enough to diagnose and treat babies with ROP. During the project period (July 2016-June 2019), 3058 babies were examined; ROP was detected in 33.81% (n = 1034) and 5.06% (n = 159) babies required treatment. At the end of the project, ROP screening was possible in all five districts, and treatment was possible in three districts. ROP care nodal centers were built in one government medical college. To strengthen the initial gain, we recommend creating an Odisha Retinopathy of Prematurity (OD-ROP) steering committee with private-public partnerships to support the program and monitor its progress in other districts of Odisha., Competing Interests: None

Aim: This study evaluated the prevalence of prediabetes and type 2 diabetes mellitus in the Gwalior-Chambal region of India., Methods: A cross-sectional house-to-house survey was conducted on a population of 7608 subjects, aged between 20 and 79 years for fasting blood glucose level in finger-prick blood. Participants were stratified based on blood glucose levels, gender, age, family history, etc. to assess their impact., Result: The prevalence of type 2 diabetes and prediabetes in the Gwalior-Chambal region was found to be 11.4% and 5.7%, respectively. The prevalence of diabetes was significantly higher in the urban population (12.7%) while that of prediabetes was higher in the rural population (7.9%). Male subjects recorded a higher prevalence of prediabetes (8.2%, OR 1.54 in rural; 5.1%, OR 1.26 in urban) as well as diabetes (rural 9.2%, OR 3.15; urban 16.5%, OR 1.57). Both prediabetes and diabetes were recorded as being higher in those subjects leading a sedentary lifestyle and in the aged population. The prevalence of hyperglycemia was much higher in those with a family history of type 2 diabetes (30.6% in rural, 21.5% in urban). Almost half of the diabetics in the rural population were diagnosed for the first time. The multivariate regression analysis identified male gender, increasing age of 30 years and above, and positive family history as significant risk factors for diabetes whereas age of 40 to 79 and less physical activity were significant risk factors for prediabetes., Conclusion: Family history of diabetes, and sedentary lifestyle appeared as key factors promoting prediabetes and diabetes in the Gwalior-Chambal region. A lack of awareness appeared as one of the major causes of the high prevalence in the rural region.

To meet the challenges of food security in a sustainable way, technological intervention in agriculture is of prime importance. With the existing conventional technologies supporting high yield, better crop production and protection, the emphasis is now on use of nanotechnology. Exploring new applications of nanotechnology has gained momentum in recent years and has shown acceptance in sectors like food, medicine, chemistry etc. As compared to other sectors, the accepted role in agriculture can still be considered on the marginal side in terms of nanotechnology application. Nanotechnology offers a potential to open large scope of novel application in the fields of biotechnology and agricultural industries due to unique physicochemical properties. Nanoparticles can be used in herbicides, nano-pesticide, nano-fertilizers, or genes, which target specific cellular organelles in plant to release their content. It can potentially play an instrumental role in minimizing the application losses of agrochemicals due to their more stable emulsion, higher coverage on leaf surface, precision application, etc. Understanding that the conventional and macro-technologies in agriculture do not ensure sustainable food security and environmentally safe methods; the researchers are now inclined for more précised nanotechnology based applications. There is still a huge untapped potential of nanomaterials to be used a future technology in agriculture which remains to be explored. Besides offering potential benefits, there are high concerns about the potential challenges associated with nanoparticles. To address the safety concerns about nanoparticles, it is important that a strong regulation system should be developed. Presently, very few countries have started focusing on keeping nanoregulation on their agenda. It is very important for agricultural and biodiverse country like India to set up norms of use nanoregulation and bring nanotechnology on the safe technology net., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Oral contraceptives pills (OCPs) are common and a convenient form of contraception. The use of hormonal contraceptives by women has been considered to influence gingival and periodontal disease progression., Aim: This study was conducted to assess the effect of oral contraceptive pills on the periodontal health., Materials and Method: A cross-sectional comparative study was conducted among 200 females aged 18 years and above of Jaipur city. The study subjects were divided into two groups i.e. contraceptive users and non-contraceptive users, each group consisted 100 females. Data was collected using Modified WHO Performa (1997). Periodontal status was examined using Community Periodontal Index (CPI) and Loss of Attachment (LOA). Chi-square test and one sample t-test was used for statistical analysis and P value was set (p< 0.05) as significant., Results: Mean CPI score in subjects and non-contraceptive users was 2.34+ 0.81 and 1.16+ 0.89 respectively. Mean LOA score in each group was 0.28+ 0.45 and 0.19+ 0.50 respectively., Conclusion: Oral Contraceptive pills had adverse effects on periodontal health.

Background: The aim of this study is to determine the prevalence of Metabolic syndrome (MetS) in the people of Gwalior. Three criteria viz., National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III (NCEP ATP III) criteria, International Diabetes Federation (IDF) criteria and Harmonized criteria for MetS were employed to assess the prevalence of metabolic syndrome in this region, their concordance with respect to this population was recorded., Methods: The cross-sectional study involved the people, who had attended the Diabetes clinic at the Centre for Translational Research, Jiwaji University during 2015-2017. A total of 1190 participants within the age group of 20-79 years of either gender were included in the study. Anthropometric parameters, blood pressure, blood glucose and lipid profile of all subjects were assessed. Student's 't' test, Kappa statistics and Binary logistic regression model were used to analyze the data., Results: The percentage of prevalent MetS was found to be 72.7, 50.2 and 53.9 following Harmonized criteria, NCEP ATPIII and IDF criteria respectively. The prevalence was found to be maximum in centrally obese female population, aged between 51 and 60 years with the presence of hyperglycemia and reduced HDL- C. Harmonized and IDF criteria showed good agreement (κ 0.85). Regression analysis showed that, high body mass index, hypertension and dyslipedimia were the most critical predictive risk factors of MetS., Conclusions: Maximum prevalence of MetS was recorded when the Harmonized criteria was followed. A good agreement was observed between Harmonized vs. IDF criteria. MetS if detected early especially in apparently healthy subjects; paves way for preventive measures to be designed in order to avert the incidence of diabetes and other risks related to cardio vascular disease., (Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

This study presents distribution of organochlorines (OCs) including HCH, DDT and PCBs in urban soils, and their environmental and human health risk. Forty-eight soil samples were extracted using ultrasonication, cleaned with modified silica gel chromatography and analyzed by GC-ECD. The observed concentrations of ∑HCH, ∑DDT and ∑PCBs in soils ranged between < 0.01-2.54, 1.30-27.41 and < 0.01-62.8 µg kg -1 , respectively, which were lower than the recommended soil quality guidelines. Human health risk was estimated following recommended guidelines. Lifetime average daily dose (LADD), non-cancer risk or hazard quotient (HQ) and incremental lifetime cancer risk (ILCR) for humans due to individual and total OCs were estimated and presented. Estimated LADD were lower than acceptable daily intake and reference dose. Human health risk estimates were lower than safe limit of non-cancer risk (HQ < 1.0) and the acceptable distribution range of ILCR (10 -6 -10 -4 ). Therefore, this study concluded that present levels of OCs (HCH, DDT and PCBs) in studied soils were low, and subsequently posed low health risk to human population in the study area.

Aim: To study feasibility of simultaneous integrated boost by intensity modulated radiotherapy (SIB-IMRT) in patients undergoing breast conserving surgery and its impact on cosmesis and dosimetry., Patients and Methods: Between January 2014 and June 2017, all breast cancer patients fulfilling inclusion and exclusion criteria were enrolled in a prospective study conducted at a tertiary cancer centre in North India. All patients received adjuvant radiotherapy by simultaneous integrated boost technique following breast conserving surgery. Clinical information including patient and pathological characteristics, observed acute and chronic toxicities along with cosmesis using Harvard score were recorded and analysed. Univariate analysis and multivariate logistic regression analysis were performed for those variables which were found to be significant (p < 0.050) to study the influence of clinicopathological and dosimetric factors on toxicity and cosmetic outcome., Results: Maximum acute skin toxicity during treatment was Grade 0-1 in 68.2% and Grade 2-3 in 31.8% of cases, respectively. Fibrosis was the commonest late toxicity with ≥Grade II fibrosis being noted in 16.3% of cases. Assessment of global cosmesis at 12 months follow-up showed good/excellent cosmesis in 88.4% of cases. Mean age, tumor size and homogeneity index (HI) were the significant factors associated with fair or poor cosmetic outcome and ≥Grade 2 fibrosis on multivariate analysis. Telengectasia and breast edema were more frequent in patients with larger tumor size/GTV volume. There were 5 recurrences including 1 ipsilateral local breast tumor recurrence., Conclusion: SIB-IMRT is a dosimetrically feasible option in patients undergoing breast conserving surgery and provides good/excellent cosmetic outcome., (Copyright © 2018 National Cancer Institute, Cairo University. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

In India approximately 1 million people get burnt every year and most of them are from the lower or middle income strata. Therefore it is obligatory to find out an economic way of treatment for the affected populace. Since use of human skin allograft is the gold standard for the treatment of burn wound, in-house skin banking for a burn unit hospital is prerequisite to make the treatment procedure affordable. Although, there was one skin bank at India till 2009, but it was difficult for a single bank to cover the entire country's need. Looking at the necessities, National Burns Centre (a tertiary burn care centre) along with Rotary International and Euro Skin Bank collaborated and developed an effective cadaveric skin banking model in Mumbai, Maharashtra in 2009. Initial two to three years were formation phase; by the year 2013 the entire system was organized and started running full fledged. The model has also been replicated in other states of India to accommodate the large burn population of the country. This paper therefore, gives a step by step account of how the bank evolved and its present status., (Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Introduction: *Work attributed to Department of Pediatric Orthopaedics, Chacha Nehru Bal Chikitsalaya, Geeta Colony, Delhi-110031(India)This study tested the hypothesis whether the lymphocyte/monocyte ratio (L/M ratio) altered significantly during treatment of paediatric osteoarticular tuberculosis (OATB) for it to be a useful monitor of the response to therapy., Material and Methods: Thirty immunocompetent paediatric patients with OATB treated with 6 months of uninterrupted multidrug anti-tubercular treatment with resultant clinical and radiological healing of the lesion were included. Haemoglobin, total leucocyte, monocyte and lymphocyte count, and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) were collected at 0, 2 and 6 months, and were analysed., Results: The L/M ratio altered from high (11) at the start of treatment towards normalisation (9) at 2 months and (7.7) at 6 months. There was no correlation with declining ESR levels., Conclusions: The L/M ratio may have potential as an effective biomarker response., (© The Author(s) 2015.)

The concentrations of total dissolved uranium (U), its isotopic composition ((234)U, (235)U, (238)U) and two long lived Ra isotopes ((226)Ra and (228)Ra) in alluvial aquifers of groundwater were determined to investigate the groundwater flow pattern in the south-western (SW) Punjab, India. Particular attention was given to the spatial variability of activity ratios (ARs) of (234)U/(238)U and (226)Ra/(228)Ra to predict the possible sources and supply process of U into the water from the solid phase. The measured groundwater (234)U/(238)U ARs were ∼1 or >1 in the shallow zone (depth < 30 m) with high U concentration and <1 in the deeper zone (depth > 30 m) with relatively low U concentration. The simultaneous elevated U concentration and (234)U/(238)U ARs in waters were possibly due to differences in imprints of rock-water interactions under hydrologic conditions. However, (234)U/(238)U ARs < 1 clearly indicate the lack of recharge from surface water to groundwater leading to (234)U deficit in groundwater. This deficit might be also attributed to alpha recoil processes under strong dissolution. Overall, the decreasing pattern of (234)U/(238)U ARs observed from SE to SW or NW ward clearly indicates a groundwater flow paths from SE to SW/NW. Similarly, (226)Ra/(238)U ARs < 1 for all water samples reflect that the precursor (238)U is fairly mobile relative to (226)Ra. This might be due to unusually high amount of (238)U in groundwaters and subsequently the different geochemistry of the two isotopes. On the other hand, (226)Ra/(228)Ra ARs in groundwaters varied widely and observed about 50-300 times higher than (238)U/(232)Th ARs in granitic rocks or soils. Such elevation in ARs might be attributed to different dissolution properties of their parents during water-rock interactions or lattice damage during decay or local enrichments of uranium in the aquifers., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: Visceral Leishmaniasis (VL) is a vector-borne infectious disease, caused by the protozoan Leishmania donovani, which is transmitted by phlebotomine sand flies. In an earlier study in Bihar, India, we found an association between incidence of VL and housing conditions. In the current study we investigated the influence of housing structure and conditions in and around the house on the indoor abundance of Phlebotomus argentipes, the vector of VL in this area., Methods: In each of 50 study villages in Muzaffarpur district, we randomly selected 10 houses. Light traps were installed in each house for one night during three annual peaks of sand fly density over two successive years. Sand flies captured were morphologically identified and segregated by species, sex and feeding status. Data on housing conditions and socio-economic status were also collected. We fitted a linear mixed-effects regression model with log-transformed P. argentipes counts as outcome variable and village as random effect., Results: P. argentipes was found in all but four of the 500 households. There was considerable variability between the years and the seasons. On bivariate analysis, housing structure, dampness of the floor, keeping animals inside, presence of animal dung around the house, and socio-economic status were all significantly associated with sand fly density. Highest sand fly densities were observed in thatched houses. In the multivariate model only the housing structure and socio-economic status remained significant., Conclusions: Better housing conditions are associated with lower sand fly densities, independent of other socio-economic conditions. However, in this area in Bihar even in the better-built houses sand flies are present.

Background: Oxytocin (OT) injections have been indiscriminately used to milk cattle in dairy industries. There is no study available regarding surveillance of OT in market milk samples., Material and Methods: OT from milk samples was extracted by precipitation with trichloroacetic acid and passed through the solid phase extraction column. OT was eluted and evaporated to dryness under a gentle stream of nitrogen. The residue was either dissolved in milli Q water or buffer for analysis through HPLC or EIA. The intake assessment of OT through milk was assessed through the Food Frequency Recall method employing a Food Frequency Questionnaire. On the basis of milk consumption and the values of OT in milk, the actual intake of OT was calculated., Results: In the present study, a total of 55 milk samples (39 milkman and 16 branded) were analyzed for occurrence of OT by EIA and UV-HPLC from different locations of Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh (India). OT contamination in milkman samples was found to be 21 pg/mL to 18.9 ng/mL with the mean value of 8.9 ng/mL. The average daily intake of OT in terms of µg/day/person was highest (2.3-2.4 µg/day/person) in 1-3-year age group., Conclusions: Since there is no prescribed level of OT in milk and the intake of OT through this commodity is quite high there is need to implement regulatory laws so that non-physiological OT exposure may not occur in children which may have deleterious effects.

Background: Visceral Leishmaniasis (VL) is a life threatening neglected infectious disease in the Indian subcontinent, transmitted by the bite of female sand flies. Estimation of the infectivity in the vector population, collected in different seasons, may be useful to better understanding the transmission dynamics of VL as well as to plan vector control measures., Methodology: We collected sand flies from highly endemic regions of Bihar state, India for one year over three seasons. The species of the sand flies were confirmed by species-specific PCR-RFLP. Leishmania donovani infection was investigated in 1397 female Phlebotomus argentipes using PCR, targeting the Leishmania specific minicircle of the kDNA region. Further, the parasitic load in the infected sand flies was measured using quantitative PCR., Conclusion: Though sand flies were most abundant in the rainy season, the highest rate of infection was detected in the winter season with 2.84% sand flies infected followed by the summer and rainy seasons respectively. This study can help in vector elimination programmes and to reduce disease transmission.