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Eighty indigenous rice genotypes were evaluated for twenty-nine quantitative and quality traits, planted in RCBD with three replications. The data on different characters were analyzed through Mahalanobis' generalized distance D2 (1936) and Principal Component Analysis for estimating genetic diversity and identification of superior rice genotypes. On the basis of genetic distance the 80 genotypes were grouped into 18 clusters following Tocher's method. Among them, five clusters contain more than one genotype, while thirteen clusters contain single genotype. The genotypes of cluster VIII and IX showed a higher (19816.1) inter cluster distance followed by cluster IV and VIII (12414.7). Cluster V has been discovered to have the largest intra-cluster distance. In order to increase the genetic diversity of rice, genotypes from these clusters may be crossed. On the basis of PCA findings, among all genotypes contributing their presence in more than one PC with high PC score only five genotypes viz., Biranjphool Shivram, Jeera Phool, Basmati Purani, Kardhana Baldev and Kailari Ram Madan confine with favourable yield as well as quality associated PCs, and had excellent remark for both the traits. These genotypes might be utilized in hybridization programme for the transfer of good yield as well as good quality traits in the recipient rice genotypes for the development of promising rice cultivars.

The facts pertaining to the inheritance of basic and value addition traits are prerequisite in designing much suited breeding strategies to harness substantial genetic gain in crop plants. The present study was aimed at comprehensive scrutiny of the quantitative traits, responding drought tolerance in rice through generation mean analysis (GMA). We have evaluated six generations ( P1, P2, F1, F2, B1 and B2) of cross, HUR-917 × DRR Dhan-42. The results revealed that all scales, A, B, C and D were significant for yield and attributing traits under irrigated and drought conditions, reflecting the presence of epistasis. Major yield contributing traits like days to 50% flowering (DFF), days to maturity (DM), plant height (PH), panicle length (PL), flag leaf length (FLL), number of grains per panicle (NGPP) and test weight (TW) showed the presence of duplicate epistasis under both conditions. Whereas, traits like the number of earbearing tillers (NEBT) and grain yield per plant (GYPP) shown duplicate epistasis under drought. The results suggest the prevalence of additive gene effect and non-allelic interactions/epistasis effect on the genetic control of majority of the yield traits. Additive (d) effect and dominant × dominant (l) gene interaction was the only significant portion of gene controlling grain yield per plant in the rice. The positive additive gene effect indicates that HUR-917 contributes more to the trait than DRR Dhan-42 and vice versa.

Abstract: The prevalence of type 2 diabetes mellitus has been increasing worldwide. As the therapeutic options for type 2 diabetes mellitus have evolved over the last 2 decades, national and global guidelines related to type 2 diabetes mellitus pharmacotherapy issued by various organizations have tended to vary in their recommendations. This narrative review aimed to analyze the key recommendations by major global and national guidelines on the initiation of insulin therapy in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus over the last 20 years. Strategies for insulin therapy for titration and intensification were also assessed. All guidelines recommend initiation of insulin (basal/premixed/other formulations) when glycemic targets are not achieved despite lifestyle measures and oral antidiabetic drugs. In the recent decade, early initiation of insulin has been recommended when the glycated hemoglobin levels are >10% or blood glucose levels are ≥300 mg/dL (16.7 mmol/L). Initiation is recommended at a dose of 10 units or 0.1–0.2 U/kg. Titration is advised to achieve the optimal dosage, while intensification is recommended when glycemic targets are not achieved despite titrating to an acceptable level. Glucose monitoring at periodic intervals is recommended for adequate glycemic control. The guidelines further suggest that the choice of insulin should be individualized, considering the clinical status of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. The physicians as well as patients should be a part of the decisions made regarding the therapeutic choice of regimen, preparation, and delivery device.

Hypercholesterolemia is a kind of hyperlipidemia in which an individual's blood contains excessive non-high-density lipoprotein (non-HDL) cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, which has emerged as a significant covariate of coronary heart disease. Descriptive, bivariate and multivariable regression analyses were used to unearth the current hypercholesterolemia levels, probable risk factors, and its impact on other metabolic diseases among adolescents using data on 35,830 adolescents aged 10-19 years from the Comprehensive National Nutrition Survey, India, 2016-18. Findings suggest that the mean lipid levels for total cholesterol, LDL, HDL, and triglycerides were 140.6, 84.1, 47.3, and 95.3, respectively, with females bearing the higher burden. The study further identified early adolescents, urban residents, and overweight individuals at a higher risk of having elevated non-HDL. Western and Eastern regions bore higher LDL levels. Further, for a unit increase in TSFT risk of having high LDL increased by 2.55 times. Zinc deficits are at 2.13 times higher risk compared to zinc sufficient. Adolescents consuming unhealthy diets were at higher risk of elevated LDL. The study contends that it is essential to prevent the increasing levels of lipid profiles among Indian adolescents. Vitamin and mineral deficiencies and unhealthy dietary habits are significantly associated with high LDL and non-HDL levels. In the longer run, this might cause the early onset of complex cardiometabolic disorders, which would disrupt the individual's social and economic well-being. Hence, appropriate interventions are needed to curtail these early onsets by primarily focusing on adolescents. Key messages

Background: The nationwide lockdown imposed in four phases incited by the spread of the COVID in India led simultaneous ramifications, the most rampant of them being the mass exodus of labor migrants to their native places enhancing their multidimensional vulnerability. This paper analyses five dimensions of the vulnerability of the migrant workers returning from high contagion zones in million-plus cities to low-risk rural areas, its contribution to the surge of COVID infections in their native places, and challenges to the public health system. Data and methods: The SARS-CoV-2 attributable cases and deaths have been taken from the COVID19 India Org website (https://www.covid19india.org/. The total number of COVID cases per lakh population is computed using a district-level projected population as on March 31, 2020. The data on reverse migration has been collated from the Ministry of Railways. It deals with six states having the maximum share of reverse migration in the country. Indicators measuring vulnerability towards preventive practices of COVID at the household level are obtained from the fourth round of Indian DHS.1 Results: There was a sixteen fold increase in clusters of COVID cases once workers employed in the unorganized sectors distressed across the country started reverse migration in May 2020. The increasing number of COVID cases in the rural dominated districts of the migrant-receiving states overburdened their hitherto stressed public health system. States receiving the maximum share of return migrants during the lockdown was Uttar Pradesh, followed by Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Odisha, and Jharkhand. The two most unsettling vulnerabilities were their inability to follow social distancing norms and lack of water, soap, or detergent for ensuring hand hygiene. Massive unemployment and disadvantage for the urban economy in terms of shortage of workers were other components of the multidimensional vulnerability of labor migrants engaged in unorganized sectors. Conclusions: The spread of awareness among the returnees about precautions, ensuring norms of micro-level social distancing in their households and villages is the need of the hour. Public health’s response to COVID-19 should establish a COVID care center in each of around 700 district hospitals with all necessary infrastructures, including trained human resources, medicines, oxygen ventilators, etc. The governments at the origins and the destinations should ensure mechanisms to protect the migrants against multidimensional vulnerabilities that pose a threat to their entities during socio-economic and health emergencies.

Thirty eight of diverse genotypes oat (Avena sativa L.) were evaluated to examine the genetic variability, heritability, genetic advance, correlation, path coefficient analysis and genetic divergence during rabi 2015-16. Observations were recorded for days to 50% flowering, plant height, number of leaves per plant, flag leaf area, number of tillers per plant, stem girth, number of green pods per spike, length of spike, leaf stem ratio, dry fodder yield and green fodder yield per plant. Analysis of variance revealed substantial amount of variability among the genotypes for all the characters under study, indicated wide spectrum of variability among the genotypes. High heritability coupled with high genetic advance were revealed number of leaves per plant, stem girth, number of green pods per spike, leaf stem ratio, dry fodder yield per plant and green fodder yield per plant, indicating the preponderance of additive gene effects for these traits and hence may prove useful for effective selection. Green fodder yield showed significant and strong positive correlation with plant height, flag leaf area, stem girth and dry fodder yield per plant at both genotypic and phenotypic level. Therefore, these characters are useful to the breeders in selecting suitable plant type. Path coefficient analysis exhibited high positive and direct influence of number of leaves per plant, dry fodder yield per plant, stem girth and flag leaf area towards green fodder yield. By improving number of leaves per plant, flag leaf area, stem girth and dry fodder yield per plant, the green fodder yield in oats might be improved. Those traits were influenced green fodder yield via other traits, should also be given importance while improving the green fodder yield in oats. The inter cluster distances were higher than intra cluster distances suggesting presence of high genetic diversity between lines of any two cluster than the lines present within the cluster. Cluster II is characterized by line having maximum number of prominent traits studied and contributed more towards divergence, so the direct selection for these would be helpful. The study provided the opportunity to identify genotypes to be used in future breeding programme.

The different physicochemical parameters, including pH, total dissolved solids (TDS), alkalinity, chloride, total hardness, sulphate, and nitrate, were used to analyse ground water samples near Bhalswa Lake in the North West Delhi area of India. water samples were obtained from locations across Bhalswalake, such as: In order to determine the groundwater quality surrounding Bhalswa Lake, the concentration of pH, electrical conductivity, total dissolved solids (TDS), hardness, alkalinity, chloride, sulphate, nitrate, and phosphate was measured in groundwater samples. Bhalswa Lake is both a residential neighbourhood and a trash dump. Effects of this analysis revealed that groundwater is heavily polluted and unsafe for drinking and household operations since it includes strong chemical contaminants. Water Quality Index of groundwater at various locations around Bhalswa Lake was also found to be unsuitable, reflecting extremely polluted groundwater status at almost all sampling sites.

The present investigation was carried out the genetic analysis of breeding material through components of variance, nature and magnitude of gene effects, genetic variability, heritability, genetic advance, correlation coefficients, general and specific combining ability effects and heterosis among yield and it components in parents and F1’s hybrids. Ten diverse parents i.e., UP Chari-1, HC-308, UP Chari-2, HC-171, Pant Chari-8, CSV-17, Pant Chari-6, CSV-84, Pant Chari-5 and Rajasthan Chari-1, germplasm selected from SVPUA&T, Meerut, U.P. Ten parents diallel set excluding reciprocals was made during the season of kharif 2018 by raising the crop at Crop Research Centre of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel University of Agriculture & Technology, Meerut. All the 45 crosses and their ten parents were grown during kharif season 2019. All the 45 F1’s hybrids along with ten parents were sown in randomized block design with three replications. Observations were recorded on days to 50% flowering, plant height, leaf breadth, leaf length, stem girth, leaves per plant, leaf area, leaf stem ratio, total soluble solids and green fodder yield. Analysis of variance for parents and crosses showed highly differed significantly for all the characters. Parents vs crosses exhibited highly significant for the attributes namely, days to 50% flowering, plant height, leaf breadth, leaf length, leaf area and green fodder yield, which indicated that wide genotypic differences among the parental lines and F1’s hybrids. High heritability coupled with high genetic advance as percent of mean was observed for the traits viz., plant height, and leaves per plant, leaf area, stem girth, leaf stem ratio and green fodder yield, suggesting that the genes governing these characters may have additive effect.

Background: Recognizing the need for good quality, scientific and reliable information for strengthening mental health policies and programmes, the National Mental Health Survey (NMHS) of India was implemented by National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS), Bangalore, in the year 2015–2016. Aim: To estimate the prevalence, socio-demographic correlates and treatment gap of mental morbidity in a representative population of India. Methods: NMHS was conducted across 12 Indian states where trained field investigators completed 34,802 interviews using tablet-assisted personal interviews. Eligible study subjects (18+ years) in households were selected by a multi-stage, stratified, random cluster sampling technique. Mental morbidity was assessed using MINI 6. Three-tier data monitoring system was adopted for quality assurance. Weighted and specific prevalence estimates were derived (current and lifetime) for different mental disorders. Mental morbidity was defined as those disorders as per the International Statistical Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision Diagnostic Criteria for Research (ICD-10 DCR). Multivariate logistic regression was conducted to examine risk for mental morbidity by different socio-demographic factors. Survey was approved by central and state-level institutional ethical committees. Results: The weighted lifetime prevalence of ‘any mental morbidity’ was estimated at 13.67% (95% confidence interval (CI) = 13.61, 13.73) and current prevalence was 10.56% (95% CI = 10.51, 10.61). Mental and behavioural problems due to psychoactive substance use (F10–F19; 22.44%), mood disorders (F30–F39; 5.61%) and neurotic and stress-related disorders (F40–F48; 3.70%) were the most commonly prevalent mental morbidity in India. The overall prevalence was estimated to be higher among males, middle-aged individuals, in urban-metros, among less educated and in households with lower income. Treatment gap for overall mental morbidity was 84.5%. Conclusion: NMHS is the largest reported survey of mental morbidity in India. Survey estimated that nearly 150 million individuals suffer from one or the other mental morbidity in India. This information is to be used for planning, delivery and evaluating mental health programming in the country.

Background: Medulloblastoma (MB) is the most common solid malignant pediatric brain neoplasm. Group 3 (G3) MB, particularly MYC amplified G3 MB, is the most aggressive subgroup with the highest frequency of children presenting with metastatic disease, and is associated with a poor prognosis. To further our understanding of the role of MSI1 in MYC amplified G3 MB, we performed an unbiased integrative analysis of eCLIP binding sites, with changes observed at the transcriptome, the translatome, and the proteome after shMSI1 inhibition. Methods: Primary human pediatric MBs, SU_MB002 and HD-MB03 were kind gifts from Dr. Yoon-Jae Cho (Harvard, MS) and Dr. Till Milde (Heidelberg) and cultured for in vitro and in vivo experiments. eCLIP, RNA-seq, Polysome-seq, and TMT-MS were completed as previously described. Results:MSI1 is overexpressed in G3 MB. shRNA Msi1 interference resulted in a reduction in tumour burden conferring a survival advantage to mice injected with shMSI1 G3MB cells. Robust ranked multiomic analysis (RRA) identified an unconventional gene set directly perturbed by MSI1 in G3 MB. Conclusions: Our robust unbiased integrative analysis revealed a distinct role for MSI1 in the maintenance of the stem cell state in G3 MB through post-transcriptional modification of multiple pathways including identification of unconventional targets such as HIPK1.

Contents Antisperm antibodies have been found in repeat-breeding(RB) cows, and those causing agglutination and/or immobilization of sperm are considered to be closely related to unexplained infertility. However, a standard protocol for identifying antisperm antibodies (ASA) in cattle is not validated. Therefore, an investigation was undertaken to evaluate sperm immobilization (SIT), sperm agglutination (SAT) and immunoperoxidase (IPT)assays for detection of ASA in serum and their respective threshold levels for confirmation. Animals (heifers, normally breeding, repeat-breeding and pregnant animals) that were free from IBR, brucellosis and uterine infections (screened by clinical examination) were included in the study. Sperm agglutinating, sperm immobilizing and antisperm antibodies evaluated by respective assay were significantly higher (p

The present study describes pathological findings in 25 cases of Peste des Petits Ruminants (PPR) infection. Out of 462 goats carcass examination, in which 262 cases were from slaughtered animals and 200 cases were from fallen animals. On post mortem examination, pathological findings included erosive ulcerative stomatitis, severe haemorrhagic enteritis along with enlarged mesenteric lymph node. The large intestine of affected animals showed pathognomonic haemorrhages like zebra striping (zebra marking) and ecchymotic haemorrhages in abomasum. Histopathological lesions were characterized by syncytial cell formation, infiltration of mononuclear cells with eosinophilic intranuclear inclusions in alveolar macrophages of lungs section. Gross and histopathological lesions were suggestive for PPR infection, which was further confirmed from the specialized PPR laboratory in Mukteshwar (Uttarakhand) Regional Station of ICAR, IVRI using s-ELISA.

Background: Morphological examination of the marrow requires a combination of a properly prepared bone marrow aspirate smear, a trephine biopsy section and an imprint of core biopsy. Some conditions often result in a dry tap and are best studied by marrow biopsy.The major drawbacks of biopsy sections are their thickness, precludingfine morphologic detail.The objective of this study was to compare the diagnostic accuracy, cellularity and cytomorphology from bone marrow biopsy core imprint smears with bone marrow aspiration smears.Materials and Methods: Imprint smears were prepared from 138 cases subjected to bone marrow examination. The bone marrow aspiration, imprint smears andbone marrow biopsy sections were examined and were categorized into five different groups on cytomorphological basis: Non-malignant alterations and normal marrow, Myeloid neoplasms, Plasma cell myeloma, myelo-infiltrative disease and absence of residual disease and further delineated into specific entities wherever necessary.Results: Out of 138 cases, non-malignant alterations and normal marrow was the largest subgroup (N=87, 63%), followed by myeloid neoplasms (N=26, 18.5%), Plasma cell myeloma (N=13, 9.4%), myelo-infiltrative disease (N=9, 6.5%) and absence of residual disease (N=3, 2.2%). The diagnostic accuracy of imprint smears was highest (92%) followed by biopsy sections (89.9%) and aspiration smears (87%). Kappa analysis showed strong agreement (>0.8) and p-value was statistically significant (Conclusion: Imprint smear technique is a simple, rapid, inexpensive and reliable procedure. The routine use of imprint smear in the bone marrow examination will serve as an invaluable adjunct to bone marrow aspiration and biopsy.Journal of Pathology of Nepal (2015) Vol. 5, 739-746

Context: Hypothyroidism affects cognitive functions especially memory. However, most of the previous studies have generally evaluated older hypothyroid patients and sample size of these studies varied in terms of age range. Aims: To see whether hypothyroidism affects memory in young patients. Settings and Design: The sample consisted of 11 hypothyroid patients with an age of 18–49 and 8 healthy controls matched on age and education. Subjects and Methods: Verbal episodic memory was assessed using Hindi adaptation of Rey-Auditory Verbal Learning Test. Statistical Analysis Used: An independent t-test was used to see the difference between mean performance of the patient group and healthy control on memory measures. Results: Results indicated nonsignificant difference between verbal episodic memory of patient group and healthy controls. Conclusions: On the basis of these findings, it was concluded that hypothyroidism may not affect younger patients in terms of episodic verbal memory the same way as it does in the older patients.

paper implements a hand gesture recognition technique by using the SIFT based feature extraction. The matching point threshold has been calculated by using the neural network on the basis of the input gesture and the training. The paper implements the work by using the MATLAB and analyzes the results on the various sign of ASL. The system shows the accuracy of 93.3% i.e. improved by approx. &% as compared to the existing 85.9%. The system discussed in the paper is also robust as it shows the accurate results on the manipulated gestures. KeywordsHand Gesture, SIFT, Neural network, Threshold.

The trend of day for object oriented software is highly complex objects, interacting with each other very rapidly. As a result it is becoming more and more difficult to manage and measure the complexity of the systems being developed. Relation-based testability measure is a metric, to provide the highly desirable insight to the inherent complexity of any object oriented system. We apply relation-based testability measure (RTM) to a University Automation product to measure the complexity of the system at an earlier stage of the development. Based on the approach we have developed an algorithm to measure the overall relational complexity of any object oriented system. The algorithm is very generic, accommodating both the flavors of traditional procedural approach and the modern object oriented approach. Applied at an early development stage, it can be very helpful for design, development and testing teams to co-ordinate their efforts and produce a much better and easy way to handle software product.

Polymorphism in aldose reductase (ALR) gene at nucleotide C(-106)T (rs759853) in the promoter region is associated with susceptibility to development of diabetic peripheral neuropathy. The aim of this study was to detect the association of the C (-106)T polymorphism of ALR gene and its frequency among patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus with and without peripheral neuropathy.The study subjects were divided into three groups. Group I included 356 patients with diabetes having peripheral neuropathy. Group II included 294 patients with diabetes without peripheral neuropathy and group III included 181 healthy subjects. Genotyping of ALR C(-106)T SNPs was performed using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) and direct sequencing methods. The genetic risk among the groups was compared and tested by calculating odds ratio with 95% class interval.ALR 106TT genotype was significantly higher in group I compared to group II with an odds ratio of 2.12 (95% CI: 1.22-3.67; p0.01). Recessive model (CC+CT vs. TT), as well as T allele distribution also showed significant association to develop neuropathy with relative risk of 1.97 (95% CI: 1.16-3.35; p0.01) and 1.36 (95% CI: 1.07-1.72; p=0.01) respectively.In conclusion, the ALR C-106T polymorphism was associated with higher risk of peripheral neuropathy in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Rajkumar, R., Singh, S.K., Agarwal, S.K., Mahmood, S. and Shankar, U. 2010. Effect of selective COX- 2 inhibitor on conception rate, progesterone and PGFM profile in buffalo (Bubalus bubalis). J. Appl. Anim. Res, 38: 209–212. To determine the effect of selective COX-2 inhibitor (Meloxicam) on conception rate, progesterone and 13, 14-dihydro-15-keto-prostaglandin F2α(PGFM) profile, buffaloes in estrus were inseminated and divided into two equal groups. Meloxicam was injected @ 0.5 mg/kg body weight in tramuscularly on d 13, 14 and 15 post-insemination to treatment group and normal saline into control group. Conception rate was higher (20%) in the meloxicam treated buffaloes. Serum progesterone concentration did not differ (P>0.05) between the two groups. However, it was higher (P

Bezoars are concretions of undigested or partially digested foreign material in the gastrointestinal or genitourinary tract of humans or animals. Originally described from Persia, they have been known to mankind for centuries. Bezoars are an uncommon cause of benign mechanical gastric outlet obstruction. A variety of materials have been found to form bezoars, such as hair, undigested food, persimmons, milk products, medicines, etc. Development of bezoars is usually associated with predisposing risk factors. We describe a very unusual case of duodenal date seed bezoar causing partial gastric outlet obstruction in a person with no known risk factors. To the best of our knowledge, duodenal bezoars formed by date seeds have not been reported previously in the English literature.

Singh, S., Singh, V.P., Kumar, A.A., Joseph, S., Cheema, P.S., Srivastava, S.K. and Singh, N. 2007. Molecular characterization of ompA gene of Pasteurella multocida serotype B: 2. J. Appl. Anim. Res., 31: 97–100. The ompA gene of Pasteurella multocida serotype B: 2 (strain P52) was cloned in InsT/A vector for sequencing and gene sequence was compared with that of other strains (232, 95010872, T94289 and 95120769) of serogroup A. It revealed a 1077 nucleotide and it had additional 30 bp than that of serotype A: 3. About 11.5 to 14% divergence in ompA gene sequence was observed between serotype B: 2 and various strains of serogroup A of P. multocida. A variation of about 20% in the amino acid sequence of outer membrane protein A (OmpA) was also recorded between serogroups A and B.

This abstract was not presented at the symposium.

Contents Buffaloes are known for their productivity as compared to average yielding cows due to higher fat percentage, better feed conversion ability and disease resistance. On the other hand, the reproductive performances of buffaloes are often considered as poor owing to late sexual maturity, weak/silent oestrus, repeat breeder and prolonged intercalving interval. The study of cascade of events during oestrus and oestrous cycle can be useful for the improvement of reproductive efficiency of buffaloes. More precisely, the hormonal changes initiated at the molecular level within the animal determine the reproductive nature of the species. Nucleotide/protein sequence analysis serves as a vital tool in analysing the binding of the hormones for their effect or functions. In this study, we have reported cloning and characterization of the complete coding (cDNA) sequence of oxytocin receptor gene (OXTR) in buffaloes. Buffalo OXTR gene contains an uninterrupted ORF of 1176 nucleotides corresponding to an inferred polypeptide length of 391 amino acids (aa). The molecular weight of the deduced aa sequence was found to be 43 kDa with an isoelectric point of 9.253 and 16.328 charge at pH 7.0. The deduced protein sequence consists of 38 strongly basic (+) (K,R), 22 strongly acidic (−) (D,E), 186 hydrophobic (A, I, L, F, W, V) and 95 Polar (N, C, Q, S, T, Y) aa. Results indicated that aspartate (D) at aa position 85 and D, R and C at aa positions 136, 137 and 138, respectively, are conserved in buffaloes. The buffalo OXTR gene shared a per cent similarity ranging from 84.7 to 98.1 and 88.5 to 97.7 at nucleotide and deduced aa sequence levels, respectively, with that of other species. Phylogram constructed on the basis of either nucleotide or deduced aa sequences of buffalo OXTR gene showed that buffalo, cattle and sheep have diverged from human and swine and formed a separate clad. The buffalo sequence has shown maximum similarity and closeness with cattle followed by sheep both at nucleotide and at aa level.

We examine the implications of the constraints arising due to strangeness conservation on the strangeness production in various existing thermal hadron-gas models. The dependence of strangeness chemical potential {mu}{sub {ital S}} on the baryon chemical potential {mu}{sub {ital B}} and temperature {ital T} is investigated. The incorporation of finite-size, hard-core, repulsive interactions in the thermodynamically consistent description of hot and dense hadron gas alters the results obtained for pointlike particles. We compare results in two extreme alternative cases: (1) {ital K} and {ital K}{sup {asterisk}} mesons are treated as point particles and they can penetrate all volumes occupied by baryons and antibaryons and (2) the volume occupied by the baryons and antibaryons is not accessible to them. We find that the results indeed depend on the assumptions made. Moreover, the anomalous results obtained for the ratios {bar {Xi}}/{Xi} and {bar {Lambda}}/{Lambda} rule out the second possibility. {copyright} {ital 1996 The American Physical Society.}

Objective: Age and tooth loss are expected to have a complex relationship with oral health-related quality of life. So the purpose of this study was to explain the impact of age and tooth loss on oral health-related quality of life using the short form 14-item oral health impact profile (OHIP-14) among two population samples of Gujarat and Rajasthan. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional questionnaire-based survey was conducted among 1441 subjects collected from two major cities of Gujarat and Rajasthan. Both questionnaire approaches using OHIP-14 scale and clinical examination were conducted in accordance with WHO criteria using type III procedure on the same day. Chi square test, ANOVA and stepwise multiple regression analysis were applied using SPSS software version 15.0. Results: With the increase of age, OHIP mean score in both states increased, but that among Rajasthan state was higher, depicting poor oral health. Whereas, in the remaining 23–27 number of teeth both states showed higher OHIP mean, however again the score was much higher among Rajasthan subjects showing worse oral hygiene. Hence, overall all mean OHIP score for Gujarat was lower indicating good oral health; whereas, that among Rajasthan was higher indicating poor oral health-related quality of life. Conclusion: Both age and tooth loss are associated with each other, but they have an independent effect on the oral health-related quality of life. Thus, all studied populations with complete natural dentition showed good oral health-related quality of life.

Background: Involutional lower eyelid entropion is a common ophthalmic condition requiring surgical correction. Objective: To compare the efficacy of lid everting sutures in the management of involutional lower lid entropion using 4-0 silk versus 4-0 chromic catgut. Materials and methods: Fifty eyes with involutional lower eyelid entropion were enrolled into the study and divided randomly into two groups, A and B. Group A underwent lid everting suture with 4-0 chromic catgut and group B with 4-0 silk. The parameters assessed were pre- and post-operative lower lid excursion (LLE) and horizontal lid laxity (HLL). Statistical analysis: Data were plotted in the excel spread sheet and analyzed using SPSS 11.0 software program. The difference between the two groups was compared using Chi square test and unpaired t test. Results: While comparing the pre-operative and post-operative changes of HLL within the two groups separately, there was 63% reduction of HLL in group A (p=0.001) and 68% reduction (p=0.001) in group B. In group A, there was 48.2% improvement in LLE and in group B 52% postoperatively (p=0.001). The success rate in each group was 92%. The cost of surgery in group A was higher than that in group B (p=0.003). Conclusion: Lid everting suture by 4-0 silk is as effective as 4-0 chromic catgut. The cost of lid everting suture by 4-0 catgut is higher than that of 4-0 silk. The silk suture can be recommended for correction of lower lid involutional entropion in a country with low socioeconomic status. Key words: involutional entropion; lid laxity; lid excursion; lid everting suture DOI: 10.3126/nepjoph.v1i1.3672 Nep J Oph 2009;1(1):37-42

Lymphatic filariasis is common in tropical countries and is endemic in India. Filariasis presenting with pleural effusion is an unusual presentation. Malignancy in association of filarial pleural effusion is extremely rare. We report a case of a 60-year-old female who presented with chest pain, loss of weight and breathlessness for a few months. Pleural fluid examination revealed malignant cells, along with microfilaria of Wuchereria bancrofti.