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Introduction: Alcohol and tobacco use has been proposed to significantly affect COVID-19 outcomes. The study aimed to estimate the prevalence of alcohol and tobacco use among COVID-19-positive patients and compare it with the general population prevalence rates. It also aimed to assess and determine the association between the severity of COVID-19 illness and the complications with alcohol and tobacco use., Method: For this, a cross-sectional, retrospective, telephone-based study was conducted using a structured questionnaire among COVID-19 diagnosed patients in the district of Deoghar of the Indian state of Jharkhand. A multinomial logistic regression is done to determine the association., Results: Among 1,425 patients interviewed, tobacco and alcohol were used by 22.31 and 9.96%, significantly more than the prevalence of tobacco ( Z  = 4.9485, p  < 0.00001) and alcohol use ( Z  = 7.118, p  < 0.00001), respectively, in the district (tobacco-11.7% and alcohol-4.8%).In a regression model, patients with co-morbidity had higher odds of severe [3.34 (1.99-5.62)] and moderate [2.95 (1.97-4.41)] COVID-19. Young [0.12 (0.04-0.38)] and middle-aged individuals [0.23 (0.13-0.4)], people below the poverty line 0.28 (0.11-0.69) are at lower odds of severe COVID-19. Tobacco users [1.58 (1.16-2.14)], alcohol users [1.53 (1.03-2.28)], incomplete vaccination [3.24 (1.49-7.01)], and patients with comorbidity [3.6 (2.79-4.68)] were found to have higher odds of post-COVID-19 complications., Discussion: People with COVID-19 in our study population had significantly higher tobacco and alcohol use compared to the general population. Tobacco and alcohol use significantly increases the risk of post-COVID-19 complications. The study highlights the need for addiction treatment services to prevent complications during future pandemics., 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 © 2024 Narasimha, Nath, Alam, Kumari, Kumari, Kumari, Kaur and Varshney.)

In dealing with water pollution and freshwater scarcity, on-site treatment and reuse of domestic wastewater has shown to be a promising solution. To increase on-site wastewater treatment and reuse, some cities, among them Bengaluru in India, have mandated the installation and use of the necessary technology in certain building types. However, even with a mandate, a successful and sustainable implementation of the technology, including reliable operation, monitoring, and maintenance, depends on the acceptance (i.e. positive valuation) of the technology and its use by the (prospective) users. Literature on technology acceptance indicates perceived costs, risks, and benefits of the respective technology as key predictors of acceptance. Therefore, the present online study assessed this relationship for on-site systems in Bengaluru. The relation was analysed separately for mandated users of on-site systems (N = 103) and current non-users (i.e. potential prospective users, should the mandate be expanded; N = 232), as the perceptions might differ between the two groups, due to the personal experience with the technology among users. The results show that for mandated users and non-users, acceptance of on-site systems is explained by perceived benefits only, namely a positive image of users, environmental benefits, and, only for non-users, also financial benefits for the city. The findings suggest that interventions aimed at promoting on-site systems should include emphasis on the benefits of on-site systems. Whenever possible, interventions should be tailored to the target group's individual cost, risk, and benefit perception., 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 © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Single parent adoption (SPA) is a relatively new construct worldwide and in India. The Ministry of Women and Child Development, Government of India, has laid down criteria for adoption in general and SPA in particular, in conjunction with the Juvenile Justice Act (Care and Protection of Children), 2015. There is scant literature on this topic of SPA, more so in India, that looks into the various psychological nuances of SPA from a mental health professional's (MHP) perspective. This review paper aims to assess SPA from the perspective of a MHP that will focus on its various legal nuances as well as the psychological connotations attached to it. For this, a search strategy was employed that included a thorough literature search from two databases (PubMed and Google Scholar) with relevant keywords related to the topic. The various legal issues pertaining to SPA in the current scenario, the psychological issues and challenges faced by single parents, the behavioral outcomes of adoptees who are adopted by single parents, and ways to deal with the various obstacles of SPA are discussed., Competing Interests: None

The present study aimed to investigate an outbreak of Theileria annulata (T. annulata) infection in an organized dairy cattle farm in Madhya Pradesh, India, using clinical and molecular techniques. Following the deaths of two crossbred cattle in March 2021, 43 blood samples were collected from infected and apparently healthy animals and examined by blood smear and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) techniques. The blood smear examination showed that 23.25% of samples were positive for Theileria organisms, while conventional PCR targeting the 18S ribosomal RNA (18S rRNA) and T. annulata merozoite surface antigen-1 (TAMS-1) genes revealed that 32.55% of samples were positive for T. annulata. PCR targeting cytochrome b (Cytb) gene showed 46.51% of samples were positive for T. annulata. Haematological analysis confirmed clinical signs of infection in affected animals, which were treated with buparvaquone @ 2.5 mg/kg body weight intramuscularly along with supportive medicine. Two 18S rRNA gene amplicons were sequenced and analysed in a phylogenetic tree and haplotype network with 54 Indian and 38 foreign sequences. The phylogenetic tree revealed two groups with a high posterior probability and bootstrap value, while the haplotype network revealed 35 haplotypes, with haplotype 1 (H1) being the most abundant and several single haplotypes clustering around it, indicating fast and widespread expansion. Genetic diversity indices and neutrality tests confirmed that the population was expanding. These studies highlight the significance of prompt and precise diagnosis and management of T. annulata outbreaks and provide insights into its evolutionary history and population dynamics of T. annulata in India, which could aid improving disease preventive and control strategies., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Background: Overuse of smartphone amongst today's young generation has assumed an epidemic proportion. Assessment of severity of Nomophobia and Smartphone use related problems is important as it can help to ascertain the current adverse consequences of Smartphone problematic use. The study aims to assess the association between smartphone dependence, nomophobia and quality of life in undergraduate medical and nursing students in a tertiary care referral hospital cum medical institution in India., Subjects and Methods: This cross-sectional study involved 437 medical and nursing undergraduate students, which involved assessing their dependence for smartphone and nomophobia using the Test for Mobile Phone dependence (TMD) questionnaire brief version and Nomophobia Questionnaire (NMP-Q) respectively., Results: The average hours spent on smartphone per day for the study population was 3.2 hours. Smartphone dependence was found in 12% of study participants. Nearly 50% in each batch had moderate degree of nomophobia and around 13-15% had severe nomophobia. Both smartphone dependence and nomophobia were significantly associated with each other and had significant associations with poorer quality of life in the medical and nursing students. Preclinical medical students scored higher in all the domains of Smartphone dependence and nomophobia questionnaire and were associated with poor quality of life compared to other batches., Conclusion: Excessive smartphone use is associated with poorer quality of life in medical and nursing students. More studies in future are required that will involve various age groups and other educational streams which willadd up to the existing knowledge on technology addiction.

Large-scale impact assessments of soil-transmitted helminth (STH) programs are essential for determining the frequency of mass drug administration (MDA). In baseline surveys, the prevalence of STHs in the Indian States of Chhattisgarh and Himachal Pradesh was 80.2% in 2015 and 29.0% in 2016, respectively. In 2018, we estimated the prevalence and intensity of STHs after six rounds of biannual MDA in Chhattisgarh and annual MDA in Himachal Pradesh. We conducted multistage cluster sampling surveys in preschool-age children (PSAC), school-age children (SAC), and adolescent cohorts. Stool samples from 3,033 respondents (PSAC, n = 625; SAC, n = 1,363; adolescents, n = 1,045) in Chhattisgarh and 942 respondents (PSAC, n = 192; SAC, n = 388; adolescents, n = 362) in Himachal Pradesh were examined for presence of STH infection using the Kato-Katz method. The overall cluster-adjusted prevalence in Chhattisgarh was 11.6% among all age groups (95% CI, 5.6-22.4)-an 85.5% reduction in the prevalence since 2015. Prevalence was not significantly different across cohorts (PSAC, 11.0% [95% CI, 5.0-22.6]; SAC, 10.9% [95% CI, 5.2-21.6]; adolescents, 12.8% [95% CI, 6.2-24.5]). Ascaris lumbricoides was the most common helminth, with most infections of light intensity. In Himachal Pradesh, only three STH infections were detected in 2018, resulting in a cluster-adjusted prevalence of 0.3% (95% CI, 0.1-1.7)-a 99.0% reduction in prevalence since 2016. All infections were of light intensity. Both states showed substantial improvements in socioeconomic and water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) indicators since the baseline surveys. Extensive reductions in prevalence and intensity are linked to sustained, high deworming coverage, as well as socioeconomic WASH indicators.

Purpose: Globally, breast cancer is the leading malignancy in females. Indeed, Asian cohorts show prevalence of breast cancer among women with ages below 40 years. Moreover, these younger cases are globally characterized by poorer prognostic features as well as survival outcomes, than older sufferers with ages above 40 years. Despite this, comparative analyses between older and younger cohorts are sparse from India, where data from the country's eastern part falls shortest. This study attempted a comprehensive analysis of breast cancer between these two cohorts representing the Eastern Indian subcontinent., Methods: Documenting retrospective case-files registered between 2010 and 2015, 394 cases of younger (<40 years) and 1250 older (≥40 years) sufferers of primary breast cancer were noted. The relevant features and follow-up information were also retrieved. Kaplan-Meier analyses were performed to evaluate the survival outcome., Results: The data, in general, revealed a high percentage of younger sufferers from Eastern Indian regions. Moreover, this younger cohort showed poor survival. Among the younger cohort, cases with poor pathological features (triple negative, node-positive, grade III) were proportionately higher than the older cohort. Indeed, survival among these categories scored significantly low, compared to the older cohort., Conclusion: This Eastern Indian subcontinental data matched the analyses from other parts of India as well as Asian data and clearly showed the prevalence of younger sufferers of breast cancer with poor clinico-pathological features and survival outcomes., Impact: Analyzing age-based features and outcomes from Eastern India, this study provides data in supplementing Indian and Asian scenarios of breast cancer., Competing Interests: None

In this study, fog water samples collected from New Delhi and its satellite township Sonipat for 2 years 2015-16 and 2016-17 are characterized by soluble ions and internal buffering capacity. The pH of fog water is close to 5.6 due to the limited contributions of Ca 2+ and Mg 2+ ions by virtue of low wind speed during winters. NH 4 + and Ca 2+ were dominant cations in fog at both sites during both sampling years. NH 4 + and Ca 2+ contributions were similar in New Delhi during 2015-16, but Ca 2+ increased during 2016-17 on account of construction activities. Emissions from agriculture fields through fertilizer applications and animal breeding lead to an increase of NH 4 + compared to Ca 2+ at Sonipat. SO 4 2- was comparable with Cl - , followed by NO 3 - ions. Plastic burning in this region during wintertime was a possible source of Cl - ions. Acid neutralization decreases as NH 4 +  > Ca 2+ and Mg 2+ for all samples in Sonipat and as Ca 2+  > NH 4 + and Mg 2+ in New Delhi. Higher NO 3 - in New Delhi was due to vehicular emissions. Vehicular emissions in New Delhi and agriculture fields in Sonipat were dominant sources of organic acids. Observed internal buffering capacity was different than theoretical values over a pH range from 4 to 7 in New Delhi, whereas both buffering capacities were close to each other in Sonipat samples. Lead in fog water at both sites was higher than prescribed safe limits for drinking water. Pollution sources were responsible for higher concentrations of metals, organic acids, and soluble ions in fog in New Delhi compared to that in Sonipat., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

The course of clinical management in chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) often faces a road-block in the form of front-line (imatinib) therapy resistance. Subsequently, several hotspot mutations were clinically validated in the kinase domain (KD) of BCR-ABL1, in deterring imatinib sensitivity and further, made targeted by next-generation tyrosine-kinase-inhibitor (TKI) drugs. Identifying KD mutations, occurring even at low frequencies, became pertinent here. Globally, cohorts from different origins were tested and the mutational spectra were mapped to categorize clinical management as well as related pathological features of CML. Moreover, targeted deep sequencing could reveal the mutational landscape more efficiently than the less sensitive Sanger sequencing method. However, no such efforts were reported from Eastern Indian cohorts of imatinib-resistant CML-sufferers. This study assessed a prospective study cohort of imatinib-resistant CML cases from Eastern India. Following dissecting the molecular and clinical parameters, the mutational spectrum was comparatively examined using conventional Sanger and next-generation deep sequencing method. This cohort showed a prevalence of e14a2-p210 variant of BCR-ABL1 and acquired resistance against imatinib, while the disease was mostly confined in its chronic phase. Together with a few common hotspot mutations identified in this cohort, deep sequencing revealed cases with a candidate mutation, otherwise undetermined by Sanger method. Also, cases with a second low frequency mutation were identified upon applying deep sequencing. Along with highlighting a few aspects of CML biology employing an Eastern-Indian cohort, this data could mark the immense importance of deep sequencing to contribute in the clinical management of CML upon front-line therapy resistance., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors have no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

In order to find out the genetic structure and characterize the forensic features of 23 autosomal STRs in the population of Assam, PowerPlex® Fusion 6C amplification kit was employed to genotype 292 unrelated individuals from Assam, India. A total of 79 different alleles were observed across 23 autosomal STRs with the corresponding frequency of alleles, which ranges from 0.002 to 0.406. Selected 23 loci were observed useful together with the highest value of combined discrimination power (CPD = 1), combined exclusion power (CPE = 0.999999999914), combined paternity index (CPI = 3.04 × 10 9 ), and all studied loci combined showing the lowest matching probability which is (CPM = 1.29 × 10 -29 ). Additionally, in comparison with neighboring population, Assam population showed genetic closeness with Indian population. The genetic data of the present study will enrich the existing Indian autosomal DNA database and be useful for forensic and genealogical applications., (© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Introduction: Philadelphia chromosome (Ph) marks a group of leukemia with almost all cases of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), a subset of acute lymphoid leukemia (ALL) and rare cases of acute myeloid leukemia (AML). In the era of precision medicine, such cases are successfully managed with tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) drugs. This study examined the features and long-term outcome of Ph+ve cases from a tertiary cancer care center from Eastern Indian subcontinent., Materials and Methods: Reviewing retrospective case-records registered between 2005 and 2015, cases of CML and ALL were documented under Ph+ve category; while no instance of Ph+ve AML was found., Results: In CML cohort, adult and juvenile incidences were 95.2% and 4.8% respectively; in ALL cohort, the same was found for 66.67% and 33.33% cases. Among the CML cases, 10-year overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) were significantly affected upon the phase of disease at time of detection. Furthermore, both OS and PFS significantly dropped whenever non-TKI-based treatment was applied prior to TKI-commencement. Long-term (10-year) sensitivity to 1st generation TKI, imatinib, was noted 88.51% and 83.33% for adult and juvenile CML cohorts, respectively. For Ph+ ALL cohort, the OS was benefitted upon combinatorial TKI and chemotherapy. However, large fractions of affected individual from CML as well as ALL cohorts were found to discontinue follow-up., Conclusion: Together with differences in outcome on the basis of drug-use from onset, age (juvenile versus adult) and stage at diagnosis, our analyses bring forward the real-world scenario of Ph+ve leukemia managed with precision medicine., Competing Interests: Disclosure The authors have no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2021. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

This study was conducted to explore the genomic diversity and forensic characterization of 15 autosomal microsatellite markers in the East Indian Tripuri population. In the studied population, we observed 158 different alleles with the average 10.53 alleles per locus. The locus D2S1338 (PIC= 0.862) was found to be the most polymorphic wheres locus TPOX (PIC= 0.647) as the least polymorphic, among all the studied loci. The locus FGA was found with the highest number of effective alleles (Nall=19) whereas locus TH01 showed least number of effective alleles (Nall=6). The cumulative values for matching probability (CPm), power of discrimination (CPD), power of exclusion CPE), and paternity index (CPI) were found as 1.94×10 -18 , 1, 0.999998, and 4.8×10 5 respectively. The studied population showed genetic closeness with the Gorkha population. In neighbor-joining tree, Tripura population pooled with the population of Nepal and Tibet. The genetic data obtained from the present study will not only enrich the existing autosomal STR database but will also be useful for forensic DNA application and genealogical studies., (© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Reports of genetic association of polymorphisms with lung cancer in the Indian subcontinent are often conflicting. To summarise and replicate published evidence for association with lung cancer and its subgroups. We performed a meta-analysis of candidate associations on lung cancer, its histological subtypes and smoking status in the Indian subcontinent following PRISMA guidelines. Multiple testing corrections were done by the Benjamini-Hochberg method through assessment of significance at a false discovery rate of 10%. We genotyped and investigated rs1048943/CYP1A1 in a case-control sample from eastern India, followed by its global meta-analysis using a similar protocol. Meta-analysis of 18 variants of 11 genes reported in 39 studies (7630 cases and 8169 controls) showed significant association of rs1048943/CYP1A1 [2.07(1.49-2.87)] and rs4646903/CYP1A1 [1.48(1.93-1.95)] with overall lung cancer risk at 10% FDR, while nominal association (p < 0.05) was observed for del1/GSTT1, del2/GSTM1, rs1695/GSTP1 and rs17037102/ DKK2. Subtype analysis showed a significant association of del1/GSTT1 with adenocarcinoma, rs4646903/CYP1A1 with squamous carcinoma, and rs1048943/CYP1A1 with both. Association of rs4646903/CYP1A1 in smokers and effect modification by meta-regression analysis was observed. Genotyping of rs1048943/CYP1A1 that presented significant heterogeneity (p < 0.1) revealed an association with adenocarcinoma among eastern Indian smokers, while a global meta-analysis in 10458 cases and 10871 controls showed association with lung cancer and its subgroups. This study identified the susceptibility loci for lung cancer and its covariate-subgroups., (© 2021. The Author(s).)

Smokeless tobacco (SLT) consumption is presumed to be one of the major causes of high incidence of oral cancer in India. The present study aimed to document various types of SLT products consumed and their potential impact on the genome instability on the population from Assam state in Northeast India. A cross-sectional study (n = 5000) showed that 60.56 % of the study population consumed at least one of the three forms (sadagura, zarda and khaini) of SLT of which 52.0 % were only sadagura users. Genotoxicity assessment using buccal cytome assay in 240 age and sex matched volunteers revealed that except for zarda, other forms of SLT induced significantly higher incidence micronuclei in the buccal epithelial cells compared to the control individuals. Similar effects were also observed in other cytome parameters related to cell proliferation, cytokinesis defects and cell death. Significantly higher incidence of micronucleus was observed among sadagura and khaini users in lymphocyte cytokinesis-blocked micronucleus assay. The addition of lime in sadagura increased the pH and anion levels which possibly result in higher absorption and may lead to the development of cellular anomalies., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Mental health is a neglected health issue in developing countries. We test if mental health issues are particularly likely to occur among some of the most vulnerable children in developing countries: those that work. Despite falling in recent decades, child labor still engages 168 million children across the world. While the negative impacts of child labor on physical health are well documented, the effect of child labor on a child's psychosocial wellbeing has been neglected. We investigate this issue with a new dataset of 947 children aged 12-18 years from 750 households in 20 villages across five districts of Tamil Nadu, India. Our purpose-built survey allows for a holistic approach to the analysis of child wellbeing by accounting for levels of happiness, hope, emotional wellbeing, self-efficacy, fear and stress. We use a variety of econometric approaches, some of which utilize household-level fixed effects and account for differences between working and nonworking siblings. We document a robust, large and negative association between child labor and most measures of psychosocial wellbeing. The results are robust to a battery of exercises, including tests for selection on unobservables, randomization inference, instrumental variable techniques, and falsification exercises., (© 2021 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Background: Atopic Dermatitis (AD) has been associated with the loss of function (LoF) mutations in Filaggrin ( FLG ) gene and increase in relative abundance of specific microbes in the lesional skin, predominantly in Caucasians. Our study aims to determine, in Indian AD patients, (a) the prevalence of FLG LoF and missense mutations, and (b) the nature and extent of dysbiosis and altered microbial pathways with and without mutations in FLG . AD patients ( n = 34) and healthy controls ( n = 54) were recruited from India in this study and shotgun sequencing was carried out in a subset of samples with adequate microbiome DNA concentration. Host DNA from the same subset of samples was subjected to FLG coding region sequencing and host-microbiome association was estimated. Results: The prevalence of FLG LoFs that are associated with AD globally were significantly lesser in our cases and controls (8.6%, 0%) than those reported in Europeans (27%, 2.6%). Staphylococcus aureus was present only on AD skin [abundance in Pediatric AD: 32.86%; Adult AD: 22.17%], but not on healthy skin on which Staphylococcus hominis (Adult controls: 16.43%, Adult AD: 0.20%; p = 0.002), Cutibacterium acne s (Adult controls:10.84%, Adult AD: 0.90%; p = 0.02), and Malassezia globosa (Adult controls: 8.89%, Adult AD: 0.005%; p = 0.001) were significantly more abundant. Microbial pathways mostly associated with skin barrier permeability, ammonia production and inflammation (Arginine and Proline metabolism, Histidine Metabolism and Staphylococcus aureus infection) were significantly enriched on AD skin metagenome. These pathways are also reported to impair antimicrobial peptide activity. Among AD patients with missense single nucleotide polymorphisms harboring "potentially damaging" alleles in FLG gene, damaging allele dosage was significantly ( p < 0.02) positively correlated with relative abundance of phylum&#95;Proteobacteria up to order&#95; Pseudomonadales and negatively correlated with phylum&#95; Firmicutes up to species&#95; Staphylococcus aureus . Conclusion: Our study has provided evidence that host DNA profile is significantly associated with microbiome composition in the development of AD. Species and strain level analysis showed that the microbial pathways enriched in AD cases were mostly found in MRSA strains. These evidences can be harnessed to control AD by modulating the microbiome using a personalized strategy. Our findings on the association of FLG genotypes with the microbiome dysbiosis may pave the way for a personalized strategy to provide a more effective control of AD., (Copyright © 2020 Nath, Kumari, Bandyopadhyay, Sinha, Majumder, Mitra and Mukherjee.)

Introduction: Bidi, a leaf rolled cigarette, is the most popular form of smoking in India. Bidi cigarette contains higher tar, ammonia, and nicotine content than a conventional cigarette and is more hazardous., Aim of Study: The aim of this study was to determine the effect of bidi smoking on periodontitis by assessing the interleukin (IL)-1β and IL-8 from a gingival crevicular fluid (GCF)., Materials and Methods: A total of 60 patients were selected, which included 40 patients diagnosed with chronic periodontitis (20 bidi smokers and 20 non-bidi smokers) and 20 periodontal healthy controls. Diseased and healthy sites were selected from each of the chronic periodontitis subjects. Clinical parameters assessed were plaque index (PI), gingival index (GI), periodontal probing depth (PPD), recession (RC), and clinical attachment level (CAL). Pooled GCF samples were taken from the same site and analyzed for IL-1β and IL-8 using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay., Results: Bidi smokers displayed decreased levels of IL-1β and IL-8 than non-bidi smokers for both healthy and diseased sites and significantly reduced IL-8 levels among bidi smokers when compared to controls. Among bidi smokers, the diseased site had significantly higher levels of IL-8 than the healthy site. Non-smoker subjects with chronic periodontitis especially diseased sites contained significantly higher amounts of IL-1β and IL-8 than smokers and controls. The PI scores were highest among bidi smokers with reduced BOP and GI scores., Conclusions: Bidi smoking influenced the cytokine profile among periodontitis patients exhibiting decreased levels of IL-1β and IL-8., Competing Interests: None

Several studies have demonstrated associations between interleukin-18 polymorphisms and risk of systemic lupus erythematosus in different populations except one of Indian origin. We therefore investigated for the influence of interleukin-18 (-1297T/C, -607A/C, -137G/C; + 105A/C) polymorphisms on genetic susceptibility and clinical expression of the disease in Indian systemic lupus erythematosus patients. A total of 200 systemic lupus erythematosus patients and 201 controls were recruited. Genotyping of interleukin-18 polymorphisms were performed by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism. Serum interleukin-18 levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Interleukin-18 (-1297T/C; -137G/C) polymorphisms showed significant association with genetic susceptibility to the disease in our systemic lupus erythematosus cohort. Stratification analysis revealed -1297CC and -1297C associated with renal involvement (odds ratio = 3.4, correcting p value = 0.0207), (odds ratio = 2.0, correcting p value = 0.0054) respectively. Additionally, -1297C allele frequency was significantly increased in patients with anti-nucleosome antibody (odds ratio = 2.1, correcting p value = 0.0301). Haplotype analysis showed CC haplotype strongly associated with serositis (odds ratio = 9.1, correcting p values = 0.0009) and neurologic involvement (odds ratio = 9.3, correcting p value = 0.0018). We reported a 2.7-fold increase in serum interleukin-18 levels in patients (511.5 ± 242.3 pg/ml) compared to controls (189.4 ± 80.8 pg/ml) ( p < 0.0001). Furthermore, interleukin-18 levels were positively correlated with disease activity ( r = 0.548, p = 0.0001) and renal involvement in the patients with lupus nephritis ( r = 0.569, p < 0.0001). In summary, interleukin-18 polymorphisms elucidated in this study appear to confer genetic susceptibility to the disease and are associated with renal, serositis and neurologic involvement in Indian systemic lupus erythematosus patients.

Background: In 2007, a field observation from India reported 11% misclassification among 'new' patients registered under the revised national tuberculosis (TB) control programme. Ten years down the line, it is important to know what proportion of newly registered patients has a past history of TB treatment for at least one month (henceforth called 'misclassification'). Methods: A study was conducted among new smear-positive pulmonary TB patients registered between March 2016 and February 2017 in 18 randomly selected districts to determine the effectiveness of an active case-finding strategy in marginalised and vulnerable populations. We included all patients detected through active case-finding. An equal number of randomly selected patients registered through passive case-finding from marginalised and vulnerable populations in the same districts were included. Before enrolment, we enquired about any history of previous TB treatment through interviews. Results: Of 629 patients, we interviewed 521, of whom, 11% (n=56) had past history of TB treatment (public or private) for at least a month: 13% (34/268) among the active case-finding group and 9% (22/253) among the passive case-finding group (p=0.18). No factors were found to be significantly associated with misclassification. Conclusion: Around one in every ten patients registered as 'new' had previous history of TB treatment. Corrective measures need to be implemented, followed by monitoring of any change in the proportion of 'previously treated' patients among all registered patients treated under the programme at national level., Competing Interests: No competing interests were disclosed.

Background: Axshya SAMVAD is an active tuberculosis (TB) case finding (ACF) strategy under project Axshya (Axshya meaning 'free of TB' and SAMVAD meaning 'conversation') among marginalized and vulnerable populations in 285 districts of India., Objectives: To compare patient characteristics, health seeking, delays in diagnosis and treatment initiation among new sputum smear positive TB patients detected through ACF and passive case finding (PCF) under the national TB programme in marginalized and vulnerable populations between March 2016 and February 2017., Methods: This observational analytic study was conducted in 18 randomly sampled Axshya districts. We enrolled all TB patients detected through ACF and an equal number of randomly selected patients detected through PCF in the same settings. Data on patient characteristics, health seeking and delays were collected through record review and patient interviews (at their residence). Delays included patient level delay (from eligibility for sputum examination to first contact with any health care provider (HCP)), health system level diagnosis delay (from contact with first HCP to TB diagnosis) and treatment initiation delays (from diagnosis to treatment initiation). Total delay was the sum of patient level, health system level diagnosis delay and treatment initiation delays., Results: We included 234 ACF-diagnosed and 231 PCF-diagnosed patients. When compared to PCF, ACF patients were relatively older (≥65 years, 14% versus 8%, p = 0.041), had no formal education (57% versus 36%, p<0.001), had lower monthly income per capita (median 13.1 versus 15.7 USD, p = 0.014), were more likely from rural areas (92% versus 81%, p<0.002) and residing far away from the sputum microscopy centres (more than 15 km, 24% versus 18%, p = 0.126). Fewer patients had history of significant loss of weight (68% versus 78%, p = 0.011) and sputum grade of 3+ (15% versus 21%, p = 0.060). Compared to PCF, HCP visits among ACF patients was significantly lower (median one versus two HCPs, p<0.001). ACF patients had significantly lower health system level diagnosis delay (median five versus 19 days, p = 0.008) and the association remained significant after adjusting for potential confounders. Patient level and total delays were not significantly different., Conclusion: Axshya SAMVAD linked the most impoverished communities to TB care and resulted in reduction of health system level diagnosis delay., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Study Objective: This study was undertaken to compare the analgesic efficacy of ultrasound-guided single-shot caudal block with ultrasound-guided single-shot paravertebral block in children undergoing renal surgeries., Design: Randomised, interventional, blinded clinical trial., Setting: Operating rooms of All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India., Patients: 50 children aged 2-10 years, of ASA status I/II, posted for elective renal surgeries., Interventions: The children were randomised into two groups (Group C-caudal block, Group P-paravertebral block). After induction of general anesthesia, single-shot caudal or paravertebral block was performed under ultrasound guidance, with 0.2% ropivacaine with 1:200000 adrenaline., Measurements: Time to first rescue analgesia, time to perform blocks, intraoperative and post-operative hemodynamics, post-operative FLACC scores, incidence of complications, parental satisfaction scores were recorded., Main Results: Children in Group P had significantly longer duration of analgesia (p < 0.0004) than Group C. Post-operative FLACC scores (p < 0.005) and analgesic requirements (p < 0.0004) were lower in Group P. The mean fentanyl requirement over 24 h in group P was 0.56 ± 0.82 μg/kg, compared to 1.8 ± 1.2 μg/kg in group C. Parents in Group P reported greater satisfaction (p < 0.02). No complications were seen in either of the groups., Conclusion: This study showed superior analgesia and parental satisfaction with single-shot paravertebral block in comparison to single-shot caudal block for renal surgeries in children. However, the block performance in children requires adequate expertise and practice., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: There is limited evidence on whether active case finding (ACF) among marginalised and vulnerable populations mitigates the financial burden during tuberculosis (TB) diagnosis., Objectives: To determine the effect of ACF among marginalised and vulnerable populations on prevalence and inequity of catastrophic costs due to TB diagnosis among TB-affected households when compared with passive case finding (PCF)., Methods: In 18 randomly sampled ACF districts in India, during March 2016 to February 2017, we enrolled all new sputum-smear-positive TB patients detected through ACF and an equal number of randomly selected patients detected through PCF. Direct (medical and non-medical) and indirect costs due to TB diagnosis were collected through patient interviews at their residence. We defined costs due to TB diagnosis as 'catastrophic' if the total costs (direct and indirect) due to TB diagnosis exceeded 20% of annual pre-TB household income. We used concentration curves and indices to assess the extent of inequity., Results: When compared with patients detected through PCF (n = 231), ACF patients (n = 234) incurred lower median total costs (US$ 4.6 and 20.4, p < 0.001). The prevalence of catastrophic costs in ACF and PCF was 10.3 and 11.5% respectively. Adjusted analysis showed that patients detected through ACF had a 32% lower prevalence of catastrophic costs relative to PCF [adjusted prevalence ratio (95% CI): 0.68 (0.69, 0.97)]. The concentration indices (95% CI) for total costs in both ACF [-0.15 (-0.32, 0.11)] and PCF [-0.06 (-0.20, 0.08)] were not significantly different from the line of equality and each other. The concentration indices (95% CI) for catastrophic costs in both ACF [-0.60 (-0.81, -0.39)] and PCF [-0.58 (-0.78, -0.38)] were not significantly different from each other: however, both the curves had a significant distribution among the poorest quintiles., Conclusion: ACF among marginalised and vulnerable populations reduced total costs and prevalence of catastrophic costs due to TB diagnosis, but could not address inequity.

Vegetative and reproductive phenology of Barringtonia acutangula, a floodplain tree species was studied at Chatla floodplain, Assam North East India with the aim to investigate vegetative and reproductive phenology under stressful environment of seasonal submergence and to assess the impact of environmental variables (temperature and precipitation) on tree phenophases. Quantitative assessment was made at 15 day interval for all the phenophases (leaf initiation, leaf-fall, flowering and fruiting) by tagging 40 (forty) trees over aperiod of two years (2012-14).To test seasonal influence on the phenology of Barringtonia acutangula different phenophases were correlated with environmental variables and statistical spearman's rank correlation coefficient was employed. Aridity index was computed that delineate influence of rainfall and temperature together on any phenophases. Leaf initiation showed positively significant correlation with temperature (r(s) = 0.601, p = < .05) during the year 2012-2013 whereas it was significantly correlated with rainfall (r(s) = 0.583, p = < .05) and aridity index (r(s) = 0.583, p = < .05) during the year 2013-2014. Leaf-fall was significant negatively correlated with temperature (r(s) = -0.623, p = < .05), rainfall (r(s) = -0.730, p = < .01) and aridity index (r(s) = -0.730, p = < .01) for both the studied years. Flowering was significantly influenced by temperature (r(s) = 0.639, p = < .05), rainfall (r(s) = 0.890, p = < .01) and aridity index (r(s) = 0.890, p = < .01) while in one month lag flowering was significantly correlated with rainfall (r(s) = 0.678, p = < .01) in 2012-13. Fruiting was also positively significant with temperature (r(s) = 0.795, P < .05), rainfall (r(s) = 0.835, P < .01) and aridity index (r(s) = 0.835, P < .01) for both the years. During one month lag period fruiting was positively correlated with temperature, rainfall and aridity index in both the years. Temperature, rainfall and aridity index were major determinants of the various vegetative and reproductive phenology of B. acutangula and any changes in these variables in future due to climate change, might have profound effect on phenophases of this tree species.

On the basis of relative abundance, frequency and biovolume, the important value index ranks were assigned to individual cyanobacteria in phytoplankton samples collected from fourteen water resources of Central India. The mcyABDE genes were detected in all the blooms with Microcystis (-aeruginosa, -viridis, -panniformis, -botrys) as being the major constituent morphospecies. On the other hand, blooms composed of primarily Oscillatoria (-limosa,-agardhii, -laetevirens) along with Anabaena, Nostoc, Phormidium and Spirulina as sub-dominant forms exhibited quite a patchy distribution of one or the other mcy genes. Fifty percent of Microcystis- but none of the Oscillatoria dominant blooms produced microcystins-RR and desmethyl-RR at 0.03-0.41mgg(-1) bloom dry mass. Traces of dissolved microcystin was detected in lake water, which is well below the WHO guideline. Irrespective of cyanobacterial composition and microcystin production ability, during the study period 43-64% of the cyanobacterial bloom samples exhibited association of viable but nonculturable forms of Vibrio cholerae O1 and O139, as evident from amplification of the antigen genes. We believe that spread of endemic cholera is the major threat associated with harmful algal blooms., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The harvest of non-timber forest products (NTFPs), together with other sources of anthropogenic disturbance, impact plant populations greatly. Despite this, conservation research on NTFPs typically focuses on harvest alone, ignoring possible confounding effects of other anthropogenic and ecological factors. Disentangling anthropogenic disturbances is critical in regions such as India's Western Ghats, a biodiversity hotspot with high human density. Identifying strategies that permit both use and conservation of resources is essential to preserving biodiversity while meeting local needs. We assessed the effects of NTFP harvesting (fruit harvest from canopy and lopping of branches for fruit) in combination with other common anthropogenic disturbances (cattle grazing, fire frequency and distance from village), in order to identify which stressors have greater effects on recruitment of three tropical dry forest fruit tree species. Specifically, we assessed the structure of 54 populations of Phyllanthus emblica, P. indofischeri and Terminalia chebula spread across the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, Western Ghats to ask: (1) How are populations recruiting? and (2) What anthropogenic disturbance and environmental factors, specifically forest type and elevation, are the most important predictors of recruitment status? We combined participatory research with an information-theoretic model-averaging approach to determine which factors most affect population structure and recruitment status. Our models illustrate that for T. chebula, high fire frequency and high fruit harvest intensity decreased the proportion of saplings, while lopping branches or stems to obtain fruit increased it. For Phyllanthus spp, recruitment was significantly lower in plots with more frequent fire. Indices of recruitment of both species were significantly higher for plots in more open-canopy environments of savanna woodlands than in dry forests. Our research illustrates an approach for identifying which factors are most important in limiting recruitment of NTFP populations and other plant species that may be in decline, in order to design effective management strategies.

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: A large group of ethnic communities living in Unakoti district of Tripura, India is still dependent on traditional herbal remedies for treatment of diabetes. Valuable information collected from these communities in the present investigation is important in maintaining their indigenous knowledge of folklore medicine., Methods: Systematic and extensive field surveys were conducted during 2011-2013 among the ethnic inhabitants of Unokati district, Tripura, India covering all the seasons to collect information on their traditional herbal medication system for treatment of diabetes. Obtained data were analysed through fidelity level (FL), use value (UV) and relative frequency of citation (RFC) to authenticate the uniqueness of the species being used for diabetes treatment., Results: In this current study a total of 39 medicinal plant species belonging to 37 genera and 28 families were presented, used by the traditional healers of Unakoti district, Tripura, India for diabetes treatment. FL, UV and RFC values of collected plants for the selected study area ranges between 06% and 100%, 0.07% and 2.64% and 0.02% and 0.51% respectively. Out of 39 collected plants, 11, 5 and 3 plant species have showed significant (<50%) FL, UV and RFC values respectively., Conclusion: Like many other ethnic communities of the world, inhabitants of Unakoti district depend on a traditional medication system to treat diabetes. Documented floras are locally available and need proper further pharmacological validation to endorse their traditional use in a modern health care system. This will help in the development of effective herbal antidiabetic medicines in near future., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The genus Drimia (syn. Urginea), commonly called squill, represents a species complex, infrageneric delimitation being ill-defined due to morphological variability, population variation within species and polyploidy. In the present study, fluorescent chromosome banding and measurements of nuclear DNA content by flow cytometry were performed in five Indian species of Drimia: Drimia indica, Drimia polyantha, Drimia razii, Drimia wightii and Drimia coromandeliana to elucidate taxonomic relationship and obtain possible insights into the evolutionary processes within this group. All taxa analyzed exhibited similar karyomorphology with subtle differences accounted by nucleolar chromosomes. Nuclear DNA content ranged from 20.41 pg/2C in D. polyantha to 40.80 pg/2C in D. coromandeliana and was positively correlated with chromosome number (r = 0.67, P = 0.02) and total diploid chromatin length (r = 0.59, P = 0.06). Fluorescent chromosome banding revealed the presence of CMA(+ve)/DAPI(-ve) signals associated with nucleolar chromosomes presumably coincident with NOR in all species and unique CMA(+ve) signals in diploid populations of D. indica. Satellite polymorphism between homologous NOR-bearing chromosomes was observed which supports hybrid origin of the taxon. UPGMA dendrogram and scatter diagrams based on karyological parameters indicated a close relationship of D. indica, D. razii and D. polyantha while D. wightii and D. coromandeliana appeared distant. D. wightii appeared more close to D. indica than to all other species based on genome size and karyomorphology. As a whole, D. indica showed high intra-specific variability with populations exhibiting intergrading characters with other species. In conclusion, it is likely that hybridization followed by reproductive isolation of polymorphic forms arising by adaptation to different ecological niches resulted in species diversification of Drimia in India, probably from a common ancestor similar to D. indica.

Coal in India is extracted generally by semi-mechanized and mechanized underground mining methods. The Bord and Pillar (B & P) mining method still continues to be popular where deployment of manual miners is more than that of other mining methods. The study is conducted at haulage based mine of Eastern Coalfields of West Bengal. Underground miners confront with a lot of hazards like extreme hostile environment, awkward working posture, dust, noise as well as low luminosity. It is difficult to delay the onset of fatigue. In order to study the physiological responses of trammers, various parameters like working heart rates, net cardiac cost and relative cardiac cost including recovery heart rate patterns are recorded during their work at site. Workload classification of trammers has been done following various scales of heaviness. The effect of environment on the physiological responses has been observed and suitable recommendations are made. The work tasks are bound to induce musculoskeletal problems and those problems could be better managed through rationalizing the work-rest scheduling.

The study assessed 54 advertisements of 145 different drugs, published over one year (from December 2011 to November 2012) in an Indian medical journal, circulated widely mainly among general practitioners (GPs). The ethical guidelines of the World Health Organization (WHO) and Organisation of Pharmaceutical Producers of India (OPPI) for medicinal drug promotion were applied. The brand name was mentioned in all advertisements (100% compliance both with the WHO and OPPI criteria) and the names of the active ingredients were also mentioned in 128 (90.14%) advertisements. However, major adverse drug reactions were mentioned in only two advertisements (1.37%); precautions, contraindications and warnings in only two (1.37%); and major interactions in only one (0.68%). Only three advertisements (2.06%) were well substantiated with references. To ensure the ethical promotionof drugs among GPs, journals must introduce compulsory review and appraisal of promotional advertisements by a dedicated review board, including at least one member trained in pharmacology and one representative from the medical division of a pharmaceutical company.

The present study was carried out to determine the serum total cholesterol (TC) level in young adults of Dibrugarh town of Assam and to find the association of serum cholesterol level with body mass index (BMI) and waist-circumference (WC). A cross-sectional study was done among 150 healthy young adults aged 20-30 years. TC was estimated by the enzymatic method. Hypercholesterolemia was defined as TC > 200 mg/dl. Cases were classified into different categories of BMI and WC according to the recommendations of WHO/IASO/IOTF (2000). The range of TC level in the study group was found to be (146-212) mg/dl. Mean cholesterol level in males and females were 169.5±3.6 and 172.3±15.09 mg/dl respectively. 7% of the cases had hypercholesterolemia. TC was significantly correlated with BMI (r=0.90, p<0.001) and WC (r=0.73, p<0.001 in males and r=0.86, p<0.001 in females). We conclude that young adults ≥20 years of age and especially who are overweight should be advised routine cholesterol testing so that preventive measures can be adopted to avoid hypercholesterolemia and it's complications in future life.

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: Ricinus communis L. (Rc), of Euphorbiaceae family is a widespread plant in tropical regions and it is used in traditional medicines as an antifertility agent in India and different parts of the world., Aim of the Study: The aim of the present study is to revalidate the ethnobotanical knowledge by evaluating the activity of only crude stem bark extracts of Rc. In this study, effects of extracts on male contraceptive efficacy were experimented in vitro with human sperm sample. The work is based on primordial and contemporary therapeutic uses of this plant., Materials and Methods: In this study, dose of petroleum ether extract, ethyl acetate extract, acetone extract and lyophilised aqueous extract of Rc were added to fresh human semen in 1:1 volumetric ratio. As the aqueous extract showed a promising result in 1:1 ratio, therefore, the Hypo-osmotic swelling test (HOS), Nuclear chromatin decondensation test (NCD) and Acrosomal status and function test (AFT) were also carried out with the aqueous extract of Rc., Results: The sperm immobilisation effects of the extract appeared immediately in a dose-dependent manner when the samples were treated with four different extracts of this plant. At a concentration of 100mg/mL, 100% (p<0.001 and p<0.05) sperms lost their progressive motility. At a concentration of 300 mg/mL, 100% (p<0.001 and p<0.05) became immotile when treated with aqueous extract. There was 88% (p<0.001 and p<0.05) morphological deformities in sperm sample due the effect of aqueous extract when they were tested for HOS and 91% (p<0.05) sperms behaved against NCD as compared to control group. Also there was a distinct decline (p<0.05) in AFT with increase in dosage concentration., Conclusion: The findings of the study revealed that aqueous stem bark extract of the plant showed dose dependent loss of sperm motility by influencing the morphological deformation, blockage in nuclear envelope and distinct declination in acrosomal status of spermatozoa. This research, thus, opens up scope for future exploration of bark of the plant as commercial source of new male contraceptive., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Early and intensive intervention can have a profound impact on the quality of life for children at risk for autism. Hence a high degree of suspicion towards babies exposed to known risk factors is warranted. Previous studies have shown that different perinatal factors like antepartum bleeding, postmaturity, birth asphyxia, meconium aspiration syndrome, anaemia in early infancy and exposure to toxins of various origins makes an infant susceptible to development of autism; attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and other neurodevelopmental disorders in later life.This study aims to find out the association of perinatal risk factors in relation to development of autism spectrum disorders. All babies who are at least three years of age, attending the neurodevelopment and early intervention clinic at SSKM Hospital at Kolkata taken as cases. Age matched controls were taken from general paediatric OPD of the same hospital. After history taking, physical and neurological examination, developmental maturity was assessed by the Denver Developmental Screening Test (DDST) and Vineland Social Maturity Scale (VSMS). A semi-structured parent's questionnaire and the modified checklist for autism in toddlers (M-CHAT) was used to screen for autism. Diagnosis was confirmed by DSM-IV-TR (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders - Fourth Edition, Text Revision) criteria. Significant correlation was found between presence of antepartum haemorrhage, pregnancy induced hypertension, preterm delivery and autism in the baby. Perinatal complications are important risk factor for autism. Knowing the risk factors will help clinicians to be aware of the avoidable complications, and to undertake either preventive steps or intense intervention to reduce the degree of disability.

Studies on community structures of earthworms of rubber (Hevea brasiliensis) plantations and their adjacent mixed forests in West Tripura (India) revealed that both the studied sites harvoured 10 earthworm species. Nine species (Pontoscolex corethrurus, Kanchuria sp 1, Metaphire houlleti, Drawida papillifer papillifer, Drawida assamensis, Gordiodrilus elegans, Eutyphoeus assamensis, Eutyphoeus comillahnus and Eutyphoeus gigas) were common to both. While Octochaetona beatrixwas found only in the rubber plantations, Dichogaster affinis was restricted to the mixed forest only. Earthworms were found mostly within 15 cm depth of soils having mean temperature of 27 degrees C, moisture of 23%, pH of 4.57, organic matter of 1.34% and water holding capacity of 36%. Mean earthworm density in rubber plantations (115 ind. m(-2)) was significantly higher (p = 0.003, t = 3.83) than that in the mixed forests (69 ind. m(-2)) due to dominance of Pontoscolex corethrurus, an exotic species. Numbers of dominant species were two (P. corethrurus and D. assamensis) in the rubber plantations and five (P. corethrurus D. assamensis, D. papilliferpapillifer, M. houlleti and Kanchuria sp 1) in the mixed forests. Compared to the mixed forests, significantly low (p<0.05) Shannon diversity index (H) and species evenness and high index of dominance in the rubber plantation were evaluated.

Seventeen short tandem repeats (DYS389I, DYS390, DYS389II, DYS19, DYS385a/b, DYS393, DYS391, DYS392, DYS439, DYS438, DYS456, DYS458, DYS635, Y(GATA)H4, DYS437, and DYS448) from the non-recombining region of the human Y-chromosome were analyzed in 750 unrelated males representing four major linguistic families of India using AmpFlSTR(®) Yfiler(®) PCR Amplification kit. A total of 612 distinct haplotypes were observed, of which 545 were unique. Rare alleles for the loci DYS456, DYS458, DYS635, Y(GATA)H4, and duplication at the loci DYS389I and DYS389II were also observed. To understand the genetic diversity of the Indian population, and utility of Y-STRs in forensics, the locus diversity, haplotype diversity, and discrimination capacity in all populations was determined. MDS plot based on pairwise Φ(st) and AMOVA revealed the high genetic heterogeneity among the Indian populations due to linguistic diversity and social stratification., (Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Forty-two cases of orbital lesions in superolateral quadrant were evaluated in our study by fine needle aspiration biopsy. Cases were histologically proven wherever possible. In 92.85% cases the diseases were correctly diagnosed. Females were mainly affected. Lymphomatous tumours were diagnosed on the basis of atypical lymphoid proliferation, correlated with clinical features and findings of computed tomographic scan and managed by radiotherapy. Pseudotumours, dermoid and epithelial tumours of lacrimal gland were diagnosed accurately except in one case of malignant mixed tumour where the malignant component was aspirated. Pseudotumours were treated by steroid, dermoid by excision. In case of adenocarcinoma and adenocystic carcinoma, tumour masses were removed by lateral orbitotomy and radiotherapy was applied when bony erosion was present. One case of eosinophilic granuloma was treated by radiotherapy and curettage. The suspected case of intra-osseous cavernous haemangioma did not turn up for treatment.

Physical and optical properties of biomass burning aerosols in Northeastern region, India analyzed based on measurements made during February 2002. Large spatial extent of Northeastern Region moist tropical to moist sub-tropical forests in India have high frequency of burning in annual dry seasons. Characterization of resultant trace gases and aerosols from biomass burning is important for the atmospheric radiative process. Aerosol optical depth (AOD) observed to be high during burning period compared to pre- and post-burning days. Peak period of biomass burning is highly correlated with measured AOD and total columnar water vapor. Size distribution of aerosols showed bimodal size distribution during burning day and unimodal size distribution during pre- and post-burning days. Size distribution retrievals from biomass burning aerosols show dominance of accumulation mode particles. Weighted mean radius is high (0.22 microm) during burning period. Columnar content of aerosols observed to be high during burning period in addition to the drastic reduction of visibility. During the burning day Anderson sampler measurements showed dominance of accumulation mode particles. The diurnal averaged values of surface shortwave aerosol radiative forcing af biomass burning aerosols varies from -59 to -87 Wm(-2) on different days. Measured and modeled solar irradiances are also discussed in the paper.

The purpose of this study was to estimate the average angle of femoral neck anteversion in an Indian population. A total of 300 dry femora were classified by standard anatomical norms into male and female types and left-side and right-side types. They were evaluated by the Kingsley Olmsted and parallelograph methods, and the data were statistically analyzed. The average angles of anteversion obtained were 8.1 degrees and 8.3 degrees by the Kingsley Olmsted and parallelograph methods, respectively. The average female-type bone showed about 3 degrees more anteversion than the male-type bone. The average left-sided bone showed about 1.6 degrees more anteversion than the right-sided bone. A statistically significant difference existed between the sexes and the sides. The Kingsley Olmsted and parallelograph methods were found to be comparable with a correlation coefficient of 0.99. Altogether, 42.33%, 57.66%, and 79.00% of bones had readings of 5 degrees -10 degrees, 0 degrees -10 degrees, and 0 degrees -15 degrees, respectively. Thus, femoral neck anteversion has been found to be less in the Indian population than in Western populations.

The maturational sequence of growth in the transverse measures of head, face and trunk has been studied on a sample of 500 male Jats of North India, measured cross-sectionally, ranging in age from 10.0 to 19.0 years. This clearly reveals the existence of both cephalo-caudal and caudo-cephalic directions of maturation. The existence of multiple gradients is also observed at different age levels within the head and face measures and also between the cephalo-facial and trunk breadths. Growth has not ceased among Jats of North India by age 19, and a slight increase in the breadths of head, face and trunk is expected beyond 19 years.