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Two new species of Agaricus, namely A. midnapurensis and A. purpureosquamulosus, belonging to A. subg. Minores, are proposed here as new to science based on specimens collected in West Bengal, India. Agaricus midnapurensis is distinguished by its medium-sized basidiomata with a pileus covered by greyish brown to brown or dark brown squamules, ellipsoid to broadly ellipsoid basidiospores with a mean value of 7.3 x 5.4 μm, and broadly clavate to pyriform cheilocystidia, 22-28 x 10-14 μm. Agaricus purpureosquamulosus has purplish coloured pileus squamules, ellipsoid to elongate basidiospores with a mean value of 7.3 x 4.5 μm, and clavate cheilocystidia measuring 17-21 x 5-7 μm. In addition, A. glabriusculus is reported for the first time in India. Detailed morphological descriptions, field photographs of the collected basidiomata, comparisons with morphologically similar species and a phylogenetic tree based on the nrDNA ITS sequence data are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Backdrop: Aortic atherosclerosis continues to be a complex process, with the genetic factors, personal lifestyles, alterations in local hemodynamics, vascular injury, age related changes, endothelial inflammation and autoimmune diseases, all contributing to its pathogenesis. The scenario of atherosclerosis in India is appalling with highest loss in potentially productive years of life. As study of atherosclerosis in living population is difficult, invasive and expensive especially in the developing countries, autopsy studies have been proved to be a good method for assessing atherosclerosis. So, the present study was planned to evaluate the prevalence of atherosclerosis, with the clinic-demographic profiles of the victims of aortic atherosclerosis and analysing the risk factors associated with it. Material and Methods: This is a cross-sectional descriptive study which was conducted to detect aortic atherosclerosis among all the deceased who got referred to R.G. Kar Medical College Police Mortuary for autopsy between 1st April to 30th September, 2014. Resusts: Majority of the victims belonged to 4th to 8th decades, with male preponderance in all the age groups. Though the residence has got no significant implication on atherosclerosis, age turned out to be the single most culprit in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis, with hypertwnsion, hyperlipidemia, hyperglycemia and smoking playing their significant parts. Conclusion: The authors feel, in most cases, atherosclerosis can be prevented as most risk factors associated with this illness are directly connected with the lifestyle of an individual. In this regard, educational campaign that focuses on informing the members of the society about the dangers of atherosclerosis, its causes, and the ways of its prevention is likely to reduce the occurrence of this disease and thus improve the overall health level of the nation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Leprosy in pediatric population continues to remain as one of the major public health problems in India. BCG vaccination has been implicated in producing some protection against leprosy. Objectives: The present study intended to find out the patterns of leprosy in the pediatric age group (<12 years) and to determine the proportion of paucibacillary (PB) and multibacillary (MB) leprosy cases among the BCG-vaccinated and nonvaccinated groups. Methodology: It is a cross-sectional study among patients with leprosy up to the age of 12 years attending a tertiary care hospital in Eastern India by comprehensive history taking and through clinical examination. The history of BCG vaccination was enquired and the BCG scar was looked for to determine the BCG-vaccinated and nonvaccinated group. After collecting the data in a predesigned case sheet, the data were analyzed. Result: Of the 137 patients included in this study, 71.53% belonged to the 11–12 years age, 27.74% the 5–10 years age, and 1 patient the <5 year age group. The sex ratio was 1:1.63. PB leprosy was more common than MB leprosy. Smear positivity, deformity, and reaction were not very frequent. Among the vaccinated patients, the ratio of PB and MB leprosy was 5.3:1, while in the nonvaccinated group the ratio was 1.2:1. Data analysis showed that the proportion of MB leprosy was statistically significant in the nonvaccinated group than in the vaccinated group (p = 0.0352). Conclusion: Our study pointed that BCG vaccination might have a role in enhancing the cell-mediated immunity (CMI). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have analyzed 16 earthquake waveform data recorded during the period from 2006 to 2013 at broadband station lying at the premises of Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad in the Eastern Indian Shield region. Coda window lengths of 30, 40 and 50 s were selected after thorough analysis of the waveforms. The Coda Q (Q) values were computed using single back scattered method. The earthquakes parameters were compiled from catalogue of Indian Meteorological Department (Nodal agency under Govt. of India for record keeping and data sharing), New Delhi. The estimated average Q values for three coda windows 30, 40 and 50 s are Q = 259.1f, Q = 275.9f and Q = 397.1f, respectively. The average Q value estimated from the Q values for the time windows 30, 40 and 50 s is found to be Q = 313.2f. Thus, the attenuation follows the power law relationships (e.g., Q = Qf), and the moderate to higher values of frequency parameters (n) obviously show that the Q value is a strong function of frequency. The increasing values of Q with increasing lapse time indicating the depth dependency of attenuation, and accounts for decreasing heterogeneity towards deeper level beneath the study area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report here about the practice of using metanil yellow, a non permitted synthetic dye, in the adulteration of some food items produced by the organized and unorganized sectors located in different districts in West Bengal, India. We considered three food items- turmeric powder, ladoo and besan for the detection of the presence of metanil yellow. We observed that 58 of the 253 samples i.e. 20.94% of total samples contain metanil yellow in which 36.21% of the positive samples contained the metanil yellow below the maximum permissible limit i.e., below the 100 mg kg-1 food samples and 63.79% of the positive samples contained above the maximum permissible limit i.e., above the 100 mg kg-1 food samples as specified in the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act of India (PFA, 2008). We observed insignificant presence of metanil yellow in besan samples. We did not observe significant presence of metanil yellow in the same food samples collected from the organized sectors. We also found that all the positive samples i.e., the samples containing significant amount of metanil yellow were prepared from the food items collected from the unorganized sectors. From the study it is concluded that the unorganized sectors practice to use metanil yellow indiscriminately to adulterate the food items. We suggest strict governmental vigilance to prevent food adulteration with metanil yellow to avoid human health hazards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract  Groundwater quality assessment is important to ensure sustainable safe use of water. However describing the overall water quality in the Dhanbad coal mining area of India is difficult due to the spatial variability of multiple contaminants and wide range of indicators that could be measured. An attempt has been made to study the spatial variation of groundwater quality based on an integrated analysis of physico-chemical parameters and use of Geographic Information System (GIS). Using GIS contouring methods with Arcview 3.2a, spatial distribution maps of Hardness, pH, TDS, HCO3, SO4, NO3, Ca, Mg, Cl, and F have been created. From the Water Quality Index map it is inferred that despite the mining and heavy industry, the quality of water is predominantly good to excellent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Nephrogenic fibrosing dermopathy (NFD) is a newly proposed clinical entity resembling scleromyxedema. This is mainly found in patients with chronic renal failure who have undergone hemodialysis. Nearly all cases have been reported in the Western population., Objective: We sought to assess whether NFD cases occurred in a non-Western population and to ascertain the frequency, clinical characteristics, histopathology, and natural history of the condition in the event of its occurrence., Methods: Patients postdialysis in the nephrology department of a tertiary referral hospital in Kolkata, India, were evaluated clinically and histopathologic assessment was done on the basis of a clinical scoring to ascertain the frequency of the condition and its characteristics. This report is based on the findings of the first 3 years of an ongoing study., Results: NFD was diagnosed in 6 of 2146 patients postdialysis 0.28%). In transplant recipients undergoing dialysis, NFD was diagnosed in 2 of 43 patients (4.65%). The average number of dialyses undergone by the patients was 7.2 (range: 2-16). Of the 6 cases of NFD, 5 conformed to the diagnosis of chronic kidney disease-V. Among them, 3 were noninsulin-dependent diabetes mellitus and one each were cases of chronic glomerulonephritis and systemic lupus erythematosus. One case followed dialysis in acute tubular necrosis. All cases clinically showed circumscribed thickening, roughened texture, hardening, xerosis, and infiltrated papules, plaques, or both. One case showed rippled pigmentation, four showed varied hyperpigmentation, two demonstrated localized fibrosis, and one resembled papular mucinosis. Increased thickness of dermis, increased number of plump spindle cells, abundance of thick collagen bundles with prominent clefts, and sparse small, multinucleated histiocytes were the hallmark of microscopic findings., Limitations: The inherent nature of the study precluded the inclusion of NFD cases without any background of dialysis, which have now been reported. No statistical conclusions may be established from our small series., Conclusion: To our knowledge, this is the first reported series of NFD outside North America and Europe.