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Introduction: Sex determination is a critical step in the identification of individuals in forensic medicine. Cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) is an excellent tool for analyzing the volume of paranasal sinuses that can be used for sex determination. Aim: To measure and compare sexual dimorphism in the bizygomatic distance and the volumes of the maxillary and sphenoidal sinuses on CBCT images and evaluate their significance in sex determination. Materials and Methods: A retrospective study was conducted using 102 CBCT scans, which were analyzed using ITK-SNAP software to determine the volumes of the maxillary sinus and sphenoidal sinuses. The bizygomatic width was measured in the axial section. The differences in the volumes of the maxillary and sphenoidal sinuses and bizygomatic width were assessed for their significance in sex determination. The study population was divided into male and female groups (51 males and 51 females). The age range was 20–75 years. Statistical analysis was conducted using independent t-tests and discriminant functional analysis. Results: Statistically significant differences were observed in bizygomatic width, right maxillary sinus volume, left sphenoidal sinus volume, total maxillary sinus volume, and total sphenoidal sinus volume (P < 0.05). Conclusion: Adult paranasal sinus volumes and bizygomatic width analyzed using CBCT may be useful for sex determination in forensic investigations.

The American Psychological Association defines trauma as "an emotional response to a terrible event. . . ." Trauma can be experienced as a response to either physical or emotionally disturbing circumstances. The Journalism and the Pandemic Project from the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) and the Tow Center for Digital Journalism at Columbia University, in their global survey of journalists, have studied the impact of the pandemic on journalists across the globe. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused varying degrees of disruptions in the personal and professional lives of journalists. Traumatic experiences like covering traumatic events up close, COVID-induced health issues, job loss, pay cuts, and insecurity at the workplace have consumed journalists like never before. Overwhelming emotions like shock, helplessness, loneliness, depression, and anxiety are some of the reactions observed by mental health experts. Indian journalists, too, like their counterparts across the globe, have had to take on the challenges posed by this unprecedented crisis. This article intends to study the impact of the pandemic on Indian journalists both from physical and emotional perspectives. The objectives of the study include--(a) to analyze the journalists' response to traumatic experiences during the pandemic, (b) to study the nature of trauma experienced by journalists during the pandemic, (c) to analyze how traumatic experiences affected the journalists, and (d) to explore and analyze how journalists managed to cope with the traumatic experiences. The study adopts social cognitive theory (SCT) as the framework. SCT comprises four goal realization processes: self-observation, self-evaluation, self-reaction, and self-efficacy. The four components are interrelated, and all influence motivation and goal attainment. Social cognition includes diverse processes linking the perception of social information with a behavioral response, including perception, attention, decision-making, memory, and emotion. The post-traumatic reactions include re-experiencing the traumatic event in flashbacks, recurrent nightmares, and intrusive memories, hypervigilant arousal, impaired concentration, depression, sleep disturbances, self-devaluation, avoidance of reminders of traumatic experiences, emotional detachment from others, and disengagement from aspects of life that provide meaning and self-fulfillment, which impair intrapersonal, interpersonal, and occupational functioning. The scope of the study covers the journalists' responses to traumatic experiences specific to the pandemic. The study adopts a mixed research method with a thematic analysis of the qualitative data from interviews of journalists followed by a factor analysis of the quantitative data from the survey of the journalists.

Introduction: Diabetes Mellitus (DM) is the most common noncommunicable disease and the fifth leading cause of death worldwide. Recent research has demonstrated that low Vitamin D levels and high Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) in middle-aged and elderly populations represent a risk factor for Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM). Aim: To estimate the Vitamin D and VEGF levels in study subjects with T2DM and healthy controls and to correlate the Vitamin D level and VEGF with HbA1c % in study subjects with T2DM. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was undertaken from October 2014 to November 2016 at the Department of Medicine in collaboration with the Department of Biochemistry, Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute, Bangalore. The study included 50 T2DM subjects on oral hypoglycaemic agents for five years and 50 age and sex-matched healthy controls selected randomly from the general population. In all the study subjects, Random Blood Glucose (RBG), LFT, Renal Function Test (RFT), HBA1c, serum Vitamin D, and serum VEGF were estimated. Student t-test and Chi-square/Fisher-Exact test were used to find the significance of study parameters between cases and controls. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was done to assess the risk factors for DM. Results: The mean age of the cases was 50.9±9.7 years and of controls was 49.76±7.7 years. Among the 50 cases, 19 (38%) were men and 31 (62%) were women. Among the 50 controls, 27 (54%) were men and 23 (46%) were women. The mean Body Mass Index (BMI) among cases was 27.21±4.59 and in controls was 24.82±2.63 (p-value=0.0016). The mean serum 25(OH) Vitamin D levels in cases were 11.39±3.32 ng/mL and in controls were 28.06±11.14 ng/mL (p-value

Abstract Background Lung malignancy is the most common cause of death worldwide. The main role of pathologist is to differentiate small cell from other cell types as treatment and prognosis varies. Although histopathology is routinely done, squash smears yield better cytomorphology. Aims and objectives To study the clinical history, evaluate the diagnostic yield by means of cytology and histopathology correlation followed by determination of sensitivity and specificity of squash smear cytology for detection of lung malignancies. Materials and methods The present study was an observational analytical study conducted over a period of 3.5 years. Total 60 squash smears were obtained by computed tomography-/bronchoscopy-guided biopsy and stained with Papanicolaou and May-Grunwald stain. Squash smears were correlated with histopathological findings. Statistical analysis Statistics in the form of sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, positive likelihood ratio, and negative likelihood ratio were done. Results Out of total 60 cases, 71.67% cases were males and 65% cases were smokers. Right lung was mostly involved (65%). The major symptom noted was dyspnea on exertion (90%). In 66.7% cases, malignancy was reported while in 10% suspicious and in 23.3% negative for malignancy. The most common malignancy diagnosed was squamous cell carcinoma (18.3%). The sensitivity and specificity of 92.1% and 83.3% were calculated respectively for squash smear, while the positive predictive value (PPV) was 94.6% and the negative predictive value (NPV) was 76.9%. Conclusion Squash smear cytology utilization in diagnosis of lung malignancy is a simple, fast, and reliable procedure with good sensitivity and specificity. It can be used as complementary to histopathology when need arises.

Background and Aims: Bedside ultrasound (US) is used to evaluate gastric residual volume (GRV) and assess aspiration risk. We examined the accuracy of US-guided measurement of GRV using Perlas's formula, by two trained anaesthesiologists, in patients who had consumed different types and volumes of fluids. Methods: Patients with no risk factors for delayed gastric emptying were included. Each assessor independently determined the baseline US-guided GRV. The patients were randomly allocated to receive no drink or 100 or 200 mL of water or milk. US-guided GRV was re-assessed within 5 min after the intervention. Investigators were blinded to the measurements performed by each other and to the randomisation arm. The primary outcome was the agreement between actual volumes consumed and estimated change in GRV. Results: Agreement between actual volume consumed and estimated change in GRV was poor [Intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) 0.46, 95 confidence interval (CI) 0.09 to 0.72; P = 0.09 for assessor 1 and ICC 0.37; 95 CI 0.02 to 0.66; P = 0.03 for assessor 2]. Conclusion: US-guided GRV measurements using Perlas's formula, performed by trained anaesthesiologists may not be a reliable measure of GRV. Keywords: Gastric emptying, pyloric antrum, stomach content, ultrasonography, Author(s): Sayali S. Khandekar [1]; Jeson R. Doctor [1]; Shilpa K. Awaskar [1]; Nidhin K. Alex [1]; Lipika R. Medha [1]; Priya Ranganathan (corresponding author) [1] INTRODUCTION Patients receiving sedation [...]

Background and Aims: Bedside ultrasound (US) is used to evaluate gastric residual volume (GRV) and assess aspiration risk. We examined the accuracy of US-guided measurement of GRV using Perlas's formula, by two trained anaesthesiologists, in patients who had consumed different types and volumes of fluids. Methods: Patients with no risk factors for delayed gastric emptying were included. Each assessor independently determined the baseline US-guided GRV. The patients were randomly allocated to receive no drink or 100 or 200 mL of water or milk. US-guided GRV was re-assessed within 5 min after the intervention. Investigators were blinded to the measurements performed by each other and to the randomisation arm. The primary outcome was the agreement between actual volumes consumed and estimated change in GRV. Results: Agreement between actual volume consumed and estimated change in GRV was poor [Intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) 0.46, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.09 to 0.72; P = 0.09 for assessor 1 and ICC 0.37; 95% CI 0.02 to 0.66; P = 0.03 for assessor 2]. Conclusion: US-guided GRV measurements using Perlas's formula, performed by trained anaesthesiologists may not be a reliable measure of GRV.

A field experiment was conducted during 2 consecutive years (2017-18 and 2018-19)with 12 treatment combinations at Vegetable Research Farm, Nauni, Solan with an objective to study the effects of different planting methods, mulches and training systems on flowering, fruiting, yield and incidence of diseases of tomato (Solanum Lycopsersicum L.) var. Solan Lalima. Plants grown on raised beds had minimum incidence of buckeye rot (4.19%), severity of Alternaria leaf blight (3.80%), incidence of bacterial leaf spot (2.38%) and incidence of Fusarium wilt (3.45%) and higher yield per plot (127.57 kg) and per hectare (899.96 q). Black polythene mulch responded best for lower incidence of buckeye rot (4.45%), severity of Alternaria leaf blight (4.01%), incidence of bacterial leaf spot (2.47%) and incidence of Fusarium wilt (3.62%) and higher yield per plot (129.42 kg) and per hectare (913.05 q), respectively. T1 also recorded lower incidence of buckeye rot (4.09%), severity of Alternaria leaf blight (3.67%), incidence of bacterial leaf spot (2.33%) and incidence of Fusarium wilt (3.36%) and higher yield per plot (46.46 kg) and per hectare (327.74 q). Regarding consortium effect, the minimum incidence of buckeye rot (3.46%), severity of Alternaria leaf blight (2.80%), incidence of bacterial leaf spot (1.84%) and incidence of Fusarium wilt (2.60%) disease was recorded in P1M1T1 treatment combination (raised bed + black polythene mulch + two stem training system). This combination was also better for all the growth and yield contributing characters.

Nine new species viz., Sycophila drupacea sp. nov., S. arnottiana sp. nov., S. religiosa sp. nov., S. virens sp. nov., S. infectoria sp. nov., S. wayanadensis sp. nov., S. batheri sp. nov., S. tinctoria sp. nov. and S. gibbose sp. nov. were described and reported from five different fig species, Ficus drupacea, F. arnottiana, F. religiosa, F. virens and F, tinctoria, from Wayanad regions of Kerala, India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The aim of this study was to compare the levels of serum vitamin B12 of transfusion-dependent thalassemic (TDT) children with that of healthy controls. The other objectives were to compare the occurrence of vitamin B12 deficiency in cases and controls and to find out any correlation between serum vitamin B12 of cases with their clinical, hematological, and laboratory parameters. This study was proposed as routine supplementation with folic acid is advised in TDT, but there are no guidelines for screening and supplementation of vitamin B12 for these patients. Methods: Thirty TDT children under 18 years and an equal number of age- and sex-matched controls were evaluated. Results: The mean levels of vitamin B12 in TDT group (260.17 ± 86.26 pg/mL) were lower than that of controls (337 ± 213 pg/mL) (P = 0.57). Correlation analysis of serum vitamin B12 levels with several parameters did not reveal any significant result. Conclusions: Similar large-scale multicentric studies are warranted before formulating guidelines for vitamin B12 screening and supplementation in thalassemics. Till then it may be prudent that TDT must be regularly screened for deficiency if the resources permit or else they must be routinely supplemented.

A field experiment was conducted during Kharif 2019 at the Experimental Farm of the Department of Agronomy of CSK Himachal Pradesh Krishi Vishvavidyalaya, Palampur (H.P.) to investigate the effect of different tillage systems and varieties on yield of rice. The treatments consist of three rice varieties (HPR 1156, HPR 2656 and HPR 2795) which were tested under three tillage systems viz., conventional tillage, and minimum tillage without residue and minimum tillage with residue retention. The experiment was set up in a split plot design, with the tillage system in the main plot and rice cultivars in the sub plots, and it was triple replicated. The texture of the soil at the test site was silty clay loam in texture, acidic in reaction and in terms of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, it was evaluated as medium. Significantly higher no. of panicles per meter square were observed in minimum tillage without residue though this treatment was at par with conventional tillage while significantly lower number of panicles m-2 were recorded with minimum tillage with residue retention. Significantly greater number of grains per panicle and panicle length were recorded in conventional tillage while minimum tillage with residue retention recorded lower values of number of grains per panicle and panicle length. Different tillage practices had no effect on the test weight of rice. Among different varieties tested, HPR 2656 recorded greater number of panicles per square meter which was at par with variety HPR 1156. Significantly higher number of grains per panicle and panicle length were recorded with HPR 2795 while the other two varieties were at par with each other. Rice variety HPR 1156 produced grains that had significantly greater test weight while the other two varieties (HPR 2795 and HPR 2656) were at par with each other with respect to this parameter. In terms of yield, conventional tillage produced much larger grain yield, straw yield, and biological yield and was at par with minimum tillage without residue. Among different varieties tested, HPR 2795 recorded much greater grain, straw and biological yields.