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The main aim of this study was to examine the association between periodontitis and increased risk of AMI (acute myocardial infarction) along with prevalence and distribution of two major periodontal pathogens Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans(A. a) and Porphyromonas gingivalis(P. g),in a small tertiary care hospitals of South India.

AbstractAn attempt has been made in the present cross-sectional study to know the association between overweight/obesity and hypertension in an adult female population from Tirupati town of Andhra Pradesh, India. Data on body mass index, waist and hip circumference, waist hip ratio, blood pressure, other demographic and life style measures were collected from 772 adult healthy females. The percentage prevalences were hypertension: 5.41%; obesity: 1.4% and WHR: 66.29%. Mean systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) did not show significant variation across the BMI quintiles, however BMI>25.0 kg/m2 evinced with an increased blood pressure. A significant increase in mean SBP (0.381, p < 0.05) and DBP (0.343, p < 0.05) are noticed with advancement of age. The odds of hypertension are : >60 yrs (0.12, 95%CI; 0.06, 0.26), overweigh (1.34, 95% CI, 0.29, 6.13), obesity (4.37, 95%CI: 0.86, 22.18), higher socio-economic status (1.24, 95% CI: 0.61, 2.53), mild physical activity (17.10, 95%CI: 6.97, 41.97. In conclusion, it is attributed that body mass index is associated with hypertension under the changing socio-economic and life style transition.

AbstractThe rise of the NGOs in the global context is identified as an important phenomenon, which has implication for the development prospects of the poor. In recent years, all the developmental sectors emphasise on incorporation of women’s participation in development. Different social and religious values, belief, norms, prejudices have kept the women far away from such development. Many development organisations throughout the country are putting concerted efforts towards women empowerment through SHGs and one such organization is Viswa Santhi Balananda Kendram (VSBK), Andhra Pradesh. The headquarters of the organisation is in Guntur and it works in the districts of Guntur and Prakasam districts of Andhra Pradesh. It focuses on the effects of the SHGs on women’s participation and exercising control over decision-making, both in family matters and in group activities.

AbstractWatershed programme is an integrated one, addressing the problems in rain-fed areas. It addresses the environmental and ecological problems like deforestation, over-utilization of water and most importantly it seeks to convert unsustainable agriculture to sustainable agriculture besides tackling unemployment and under-employment faced by the farmers as well as landless people. Of all the beneficiaries, the most benefited under watershed porgramme are the farmers of all types, like large, small and marginal farmers. Watershed brings them many favours like improvement in the ground water levels, restoration of eroded soils, crop rotation, improved agricultural technology, increased and improved animal husbandry, more green fodder to their milch and draught cattle etc., Hence, the present study focuses on the management of watersheds by the NGOs (Non-Government Organizations) claiming success and the impact on farmers in Prakasam district of Andhra Pradesh, India.

Seven ADHgenes, identified until now, located in the long arm of human chromosome 4, produce seven different isozymes involved in the metabolism of ethanol to acetaldehyde. Of the more than 500 SNPs reported in the coding and non‐coding regions of these genes in the world databases, 11 are more extensively studied. Three SNPs, ADH1B Arg47His (Exon3), ADH1B Arg369Cys (Exon9) and ADH1C Val349Ile (Exon8), are functionally validated in terms of phenotype‐genotype correlations and are in specific linkage disequilibrium (LD) with non‐coding SNPs. However, the frequency of each SNP and configuration of LD varies among populations. The Indian populations studied were conspicuous by the complete absence of African specific allele ADH1B*369Cys, the negligible frequency of East Asian specific ADH1B*47His allele and the presence of a novel SNP ADH1B A3529G (Intron3). The ADH1C*349Ile was the only functional allele polymorphic with a strong LD block in all the populations studied and the high Fstvalue observed for the non‐coding ADH1B Rsa1 variant was in conformity with world populations.Am. J. Hum. Biol. 19:338–344, 2007. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.

AbstractIn order to elucidate the effect of income levels and seasonal variation on growth pattern of preschool children, body-weight measurement was assessed in 200 pre-schoolers, in different communities like Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST), Backward Class (BC) and Other Caste (OC) with a sample size of 50 (25 boys+25 girls) in each group in the rural areas of Srikalahasti, Chittoor District, Andhra Pradesh. Nutritional grades were classified based on ICDS charts and family income was assessed and classified as low income group(LIG), middle income group(MIG) and high income group(HIG). Scheduled caste, ST and BC communities were observed to have a high percentage of grade-I malnutrition, whereas in OC community normals were observed to be high. The data shows that growth faltering was high in summer (41%) followed by Autumn (29%), Rainy (15%) and winter seasons (14%). The percentage distribution of normals were decreasing and malnutrition grade I & II were increasing when income levels were decreasing. In all the income groups prevalence of growth faltering in summer was more or less equal, and in autumn season low income group shown high percentage of faltering followed by middle and high income groups. Taking caste into the consideration, low income group was represented by high percentage growth faltering in the decreasing order ST>SC>BC>OC. Most of the SC, ST depend on daily labour, and because of non-availability of work in summer, food intake may be low which reflects on growth of children.

AbstractWith a view to know the average relationship of 14 anthropometric measurements, taken on the 1565 Sugali children (854 boys and 711 girls) of both sexes aged I to 20 years simple correlation co-efficients between pairs of variables and against age a straight line is fitted for the data. Among boys the relationship between all measurements is strong except for skinfold measurements. No negative correlation is noticed between anthropometric measurements of girls. All anthropometric measurements show an almost linear relationship with age. The skinfold measurements are presenting downward trend in boys and upward trend in girls.

AbstractThe degree of success or failure experienced by an organism in its effort to respond adaptively to an environmental challenge is estimated by different health indicators like fertility, mortality and morbidity. The rate of fertility, mortality and morbidity which are the expression of health and disease are studied among Kurichias - a tribal population of Kerala, in relation to consanguinity to understand the structure of a population. Consanguineous marriages are practised more than the non-consanguineous. The autosomal and sex-linked inbreeding co-efficients are 0.0608 and 0.0688 respectively. The age at marriage is less among the women of consanguineous marriages than the non-consanguineous marriages. Low fertility, live births and, high prenatal, postnatal mortality rate and hereditary diseases are observed among consanguineous couples than the non-consanguineous couples. The congenital malformations are observed only in consanguineous marriages. Among consanguineous marriages, the disease prevalence, prenatal, postnatal mortality and morbidity are very high due to the increase in homozygosity and enhanced risk of hereditary disease transmitted through recessive alleles.

AbstractSouth Asian Countries have high prevalence of coronary heart disease (CHD) in parallel with economic development. Thus India is facing the high burden of CHD. Hence, live present study is aimed to assess CHD risk factors like serum lipids and lipoproteins in relation to obesity and distribution of body fat with reference to age. sex and life styles in an Indian population (Tirupati. Chittoor District. Andhra Pradesh). Information was collected on physical exercise, habits of smoking and alcoholism, body mass index (BMI). waist hip ratio (WHR), percent fat besides estimation of serum cholesterol (SC). high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDLC) and triglycerides (TG) from a volunteer sample of 190 males and 140 females with an age range of 20-70 years The age pattern show increased serum cholesterol, low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDLC). TG with age. and major increase occurs earlier in men than women Differences in mean lipid levels and body fat distribution are observed within groups of BMI and physical exercise in both sexes and. smoking and alcoholism in males. Obesity Grade I and II equally associated with low physical exercise exhibited rise in lipid pattern and higher exercise reduced the lipid levels even in the presence of smoking and alcoholism. Partial correlation coefficients between BMI and body fat distribution and within body fat distribution arc distinctly higher in females than males. In both sexes lipid pattern found good association with BMI. Multiple regression analysis reveals that variance in lipid levels is explained by age and obestiy. The study concludes that most powerful correlates of CHD risk factors were age and body mass, with physical exercise and fat distribution in females serving as moderate predictors of CHD.

Convection has a significant role in maintaining the atmospheric dynamics and thermodynamics; particularly in the tropical regions, it can often lead to the formation of clouds and precipitation, release of latent heat, etc. Microwave radiometers (MWRs) have evolved as a powerful tool for monitoring the genesis and evolution of the convection over a site. Ground-based MWRs are installed at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR, (SDSC SHAR) Sriharikota (13.72°N; 80.18°E) located over south coastal Andhra Pradesh, the south-east coast of India in 2014. MWR provides high temporal resolution vertical profiles of temperature, vapour density and liquid column measurements. The mean profiles of temperature and vapour density of upper-air ascents of GPS radiosonde and microwave radiometer (MWR) are compared for the same location. After the middle of October, the rainfall pattern over south peninsular India and in particular Tamil Nadu and south coastal Andhra Pradesh is due to the arrival of the north-easterly/easterly winds. The aim of the present study is to use MWR products for the north-east monsoon (NEM) onset study. In addition to the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) and operational WRF models, reanalysis data products were also used for the study. The association between the temporal evaluation of thermodynamic profiles and NEM onset has been tested for 3 years. The present results suggest that during the period of NEM onset, 3–5 days early signatures can be observed by MWR.

AbstractIn the present study the blood samples of 92 unrelated subjects of the Telugu speaking fishing community of coastal Andhra Pradesh were analysed for ABO and Rh (D) blood groups. The overall picture of ABO percentage is O (45.65%)> B (32.60%) >A (15.21%) > AB (6.52%). The frequency of Rh+ve (92.39%) is more than Rh-ve (7.60%).

AbstractPresent study has been conducted to know the nutritional status of 1422 Sugali adults (705 males and 717 females) aged 21 to 60 years belong to 10 Sugali Thandas located in four mandals of Cuddapah district, Andhra Pradesh. The degree of mainutrition is assessed by using Body Mass Index (weight/height2). The study reveals that both Sugali males and females present high percentage in'Normal' grade and less percentage in 'severe' degree malnutrition 'Grade I obesity' is negligble in both males (0.57%) and females (0.98%).

AbstractThe incidence of blood groups ABO and Rhesus has been reported in 132 unrelated individuals of Pattapu, a marine fishing community of Nellore District of coastal Andhra Pradesh. The blood group O was observed with highest frequency (46%) followed by B (30%), A (22%) and the AB (2%). The distribution of allele frequencies of the blood groups among the Pattapu population showed similarities with other caste populations of Andhra Pradesh.