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Background: Leprosy or “Hansen Disease” is chronic inflammatory disease caused by Mycobacterium leprae. This disease is the oldest disease known to mankind. Leprosy is also known as “Kushtaroga.”. Leprosy was considered as an eradicated disease in 2005 but still a large number of leprosy cases are being reported in India. Aims and Objectives: The aim of the study was to demonstrate that leprosy even being eradicated continuous to be a major health concern with changing trends. Materials and Methods: This study is a a hospital-based crossectional study; it involves all new patients of leprosy attending dermatology O.P.D HIMS, Safedabad, Barabanki, U.P. from 2015 to 2016. The cases were classified as per Ridley – jopling classification. Skin biopsies were taken from all clinically suspected cases of leprosy and these biopsies were studied using H&E stain. Results: In our study, 53 leprosy cases were registered from April 2015 to April 2016. According to demographic details of leprosy cases, maximum number of cases were in the age group 31–40 years 38.9% and in individuals <20 years 10.5%. Majority of cases were males (11.3%). The family history of leprosy was present in 9.4% of patients. Hypopigmented lesion on skin was most common symptom (32.1%). TT was most common clinical diagnosis (26.4%). IL was common histopathological diagnosis (26.4%). Atrophy of epidermis was seen in 50.9% of patients. Paucibacillary was seen in 62.3% of patients. Most of the cases were from Safedabad. Conclusion: Leprosy although reported to be eradicated still continues to be one of the common communicable disease in Uttar Pradesh, India. This necessitates to strengthen screening of cases, early detection, and revival of our knowledge regarding the disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainable coexistence of different components of an ecosystem is a fundamental requirement for the overall welfare of the human population worldwide. Despite this fact, continued growth in human population, increasing demand for various available natural resources, and invasion of all inhabitable habitats have led to the destruction of the coexistence of wildlife and human and also caused the fragmentation of natural habitat for the wildlife in India. This in turn may viciously affect the rural population residing in the nearby area of such regions, for example, the area covered for sanctuaries, which are established in consideration to provide protection to the indigenous wildlife. Hence, it becomes essential to mitigate such conflicts to create a healthy environment for cosurvival of all stakeholders. Here, in this study, we have tried to figure out the possible reasons and provide certain cures to avoid the recurring human-wildlife conflicts in one of the largest wildlife sanctuaries, Hastinapur wildlife sanctuary, situated in Uttar Pradesh, India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: "Foundation course" is an orientation program for MBBS students at time of entry into medical college. Aims: To study the MBBS student's perception of relevance and level of confidence in application of skills acquired in foundation course and its predictors. Settings and Design: A cross sectional study was done among second year MBBS students at a medical college in central Uttar Pradesh, India. Methods and Material: Data was collected online using a Google form over 1 month. About 97 (out of 200) students participated in the study. Final analysis was done for 94 responses. Statistical Analysis Used: Chi Square test for proportions. Results: Overall 83% students found foundation course to be relevant. Sessions on professional development & ethics (94.6%), biomedical waste management (94.6%), social responsibility of doctors (91.5%), communication skill (93.6%), role and responsibilities of Indian Medical Graduate (93.6%), universal precautions (91.5%), immunisation (91.5%) and assessing E –resource (90.4%) were rated as most relevant. Computer skills and sports/extra-curricular activities were perceived as non-relevant by 29% and 16% students respectively. Overall 61% students were confident about application of knowledge/skills acquired in the foundation course. A significant difference was observed for gender and medium of education with regards to level of confidence in application of certain skills/knowledge. Conclusions: Foundation course was perceived as relevant by most students. However, level of confidence with regards to application of skills/knowledge was found to be variable with significant difference for some variables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stem rust caused by Puccinia graminis f. sp. tritici (Pgt) is a devastating disease of wheat worldwide since time immemorial. Several wheat stem rust outbreaks have been reported worldwide including India. Approximately 7 mha wheat area in central and peninsular India is highly vulnerable to stem rust epidemics. In this study, a repository of 29 single genotype uredospore pathotypes, representing five geographical regions, was characterized by investigating their virulence phenotype and simple sequence repeat (SSR) genotypes using 37 reproducible polymorphic SSR markers, 32 of which had ≥ 0.50 polymorphic information content (PIC) value. Virulence phenotypes were used to evaluate the virulence frequency (VF) and construct a hypothetical evolutionary hierarchy of these pathotypes. We projected seven lineages to explain the evolutionary pattern of the Pgt population. The VF of these pathotypes ranged between 0% and 100%. The virulence-based neighbor-joining (NJ) cluster analysis grouped Pgt pathotypes into five virulence groups. Likewise, five molecular groups were categorized using molecular genotypes. The molecular grouping was supported by principal coordinate analysis (PCoA), which revealed 25% of the cumulative variance contributed by the first two axes. Analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) revealed 8 and 92% of the variation among and within the populations, respectively. The Mantel test confirmed a positive but weak correlation (R 2 = 0.15) between virulence phenotypes and SSR genotypes. The highest and lowest values of different genetic diversity parameters (Na, Ne, I, He, uHe, and %P) revealed maximum and minimum variability in the Pgt population from Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, respectively. The population structure analysis clustered 29 Pgt pathotypes into two subpopulations and an admixture. Our results demonstrated that there was significant genetic diversity among Pgt pathotypes resulting from their long-distance dispersal ability complemented by gene flow. These findings provide insights into the virulence patterns, genetic variations, and possible evolution of Pgt pathotypes, which would support strategic stem rust resistance breeding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the current digital information environment, a well-defined e-platform is required to organize, store, retrieve and disseminate of information efficiently--the web portal facilitates users to access a wide range of web-based information resources. Here, an attempt has been made to create awareness about Uttar Pradesh higher education digital library portal. This study was conducted to the analysis of Uttar Pradesh higher education digital library portal and the findings of the study are that Uttar Pradesh higher education digital library has more than 70,000 econtents available in different streams and students of higher-level educational institutions are taking advantage of it. The notes and educational contents of the best teachers of the Uttar Pradesh state are accessible to every student without cost. This digital library portal is a godsend for those students who do not have access to the contents of an uninterrupted internet connection in this age of online learning. They can use this to download study material at their leisure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective Interferon gamma ( IFN-γ) is a pro-inflammatory cytokine playing a pivotal role in both innate and adaptive immune responses. A single nucleotide polymorphism located in the first intron of the human IFN-γ gene can influence the secretion of cytokine. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the association of IFN-γ T/A gene polymorphism with the risk of cervical cancer. Design Case–control study. Setting Uttar Pradesh State in India. Sample Two hundred cases with histologically proven cancer of the cervix and healthy controls ( n = 230), age and ethnicity matched were recruited in this study. Methods Genotyping was performed for bi-allelic +874 (T/A) polymorphism of IFN-γ by amplification refractory mutation system method. Main outcome measures Low producer IFN-γ +874 AA genotype was associated with high risk for cervical cancer, which further modulated the increased risk in tobacco users. Results IFN-γ AA genotype which is low producer of IFN-γ was associated with increased risk of cervical cancer (OR = 2.43, P = 0.003). Allele A was at 1.54-fold increased risk of cervical cancer (OR=1.54, P = 0.002). The AA genotype showed statistically significant risk with high stage (III + IV) of cervical cancer (OR = 4.99, P = 0.001). In tobacco users, AA genotype showed significantly increased susceptibility to cervical cancer (OR = 5.08, P = 0.010). Conclusion Variation in IFN-γ +874 AA genotype because of ethnicity in north-Indian population may represent an important susceptibility biomarker for cervical cancer risk as well as other diseases and should be explored further. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reports on a study conducted in cane-sugar mills in Uttar Pradesh, India which indicates aerial prevalence of clinically important thermophilic actinomycetes. Control site for comparisons; Profile on the sugar mills; Symptoms of the participants o f the study; Main outcome measures; Major species involved in the sensitization of bagasse workers.