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To study the acute central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC) management strategies practiced at a tertiary eye care center in eastern India. Methods: In a retrospective chart review study, the clinical outcomes of three different management approaches to treating acute CSC were analyzed. Individuals with follow-ups of fewer than 6 months were excluded. Logistic regression analysis was performed to identify the prognostic markers of CSC resolution. Results: In the 10-year study period (January 2013-July 2022), 206 eyes were included. Placebo treatment was the preferred practice (48.5%; n = 100 eyes). Watchful observation without placebo was the management strategy in 30.6% (n = 63) of the eyes, and 20.9% (n = 43) of eyes received focal lasers. Risk factor modification was attempted in all. There was no significant difference in the resolution rate (P = 0.819), time to resolution (P = 0.331), and disease recurrence (P = 0.067) among the groups. Univariate logistic regression analysis did not favor any of the treatment strategies predicting resolution and recurrence. Conclusion: Alternative treatment modes did not score over the natural history of acute CSC regarding disease resolution, vision gain, and disease recurrence. The study reaffirms observation as the standard of care for acute CSC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main driver for National Surveillance Programme for Aquatic Animal Diseases (NSPAAD) in India is the threat of diseases to the growth of aquaculture. Keeping this in consideration, the Department of Fisheries (DoF), Government of India (GoI) is implementing NSPAAD involving 31 collaborating centres in 19 states, and this programme is being coordinated by ICAR-NBFGR, Lucknow. The programme has been successful in developing a network of aquatic animal health laboratories; diagnostic capability for detection of OIE/NACA-listed and emerging pathogens; mechanism for first time confirmation of new diseases; sending alerts/advisories to stakeholders; and providing scientific advice to the farmers. NSPAAD has helped in strengthening passive disease surveillance, which is evident by detection of seven new pathogens. It has enabled DoF in better understanding of disease situation in the country, and meeting international disease reporting obligations. Currently, DoF is contemplating to further strengthen the disease surveillance programme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background:A Population-Based Cancer Registry (PBCR) was set up in Sikkim (a state in the North Eastern India) in 2003. We examined incidence rates by ethnic groups from 2003-2008.Methods:Age-adjusted incidence rates (AARs) per 100 000 person-years were calculated by direct method using the world standard population, and analysed by ethnic group (Bhutia, Rai and other).Result:There were a total of 1148 male and 1063 female cases of cancer between 2003 and 2008 on the Sikkim PBCR. The overall AARs were 89.4 and 99.4 per 100 000 person-years in males and females, respectively. Incidence rates were highest amongst the Bhutia group (AAR=172.4 and 147.4 per 100 000 person-years in males and females, respectively), and the largest difference in rates were observed for stomach cancers with AARs being 12.6 and 4.7 times higher in the Bhutia group compared with other ethnic groups in males and females, respectively.Conclusion:These observations call for further epidemiological investigations and the introduction of screening programmes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plastic, one of the most preferred materials in today's industrial world is posing serious threat to environment and consumer's health in many direct and indirect ways. Exposure to harmful chemicals during manufacturing, leaching in the stored food items while using plastic packages or chewing of plastic teethers and toys by children are linked with severe adverse health outcomes such as cancers, birth defects, impaired immunity, endocrine disruption, developmental and reproductive effects etc. Promotion of plastics substitutes and safe disposal of plastic waste requires urgent and definitive action to take care of this potential health hazard in future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lepcha is the oldest and the first tribe reported from Sikkim, India; majority of its population inhabiting in Dzongu valley, an officially demarcated reserve for Lepcha community, bordering Khangchendzonga Biosphere Reserve, in north district. Lepchas of Dzongu are known for their retention of rich cultural heritage. In view of the on-going cultural and economic changes brought in by the process of globalization, the immediate need was felt to document in details the underexplored ethnomedicinal practices of Lepchas of Dzongu valley. This paper reports 118 species, belonging to 71 families and 108 genera, under ethnomedicinal utility by the Lepchas for curing approximately 66 ailments, which could be grouped under 14 broad categories. Zingiberaceae appeared as the most used family (8 species and 5 genera). As per use pattern, maximum of 30.50% species are to cure stomach related disorders/ailments, followed by 19.49% for curing cut, wounds, inflammation, sprains and joint pains. Administration of medicine orally is recorded in 75% cases. Root and rhizome harvesting targeted 30 species. The changing scenario over time both at sociocultural front and passing traditional knowledge interests from older to younger generation and rich ethnomicinal wealth of the oldest tribe of Sikkim are discussed in the light of conservation strategies and techniques to adopt. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The under-developed economies spend more on public goods and services. The low income states in India spend relatively more on public goods and services as compared to middleincome and high-income states. These low-income Indian states, however, perform relatively poor in socio-economic indicators such as poverty, health facilities, education, etc. This raises a question that why low-income states in India are more deprived despite of high public expenditure. The question has been addressed by testing the Wagner's law for low-income states in India for the period 1980-81 to 2014-15. Wagner's law states that public expenditure increases with rise in state activity. The study considers development expenditure-social sector and economic services. Each head is further categorized into revenue and capital expenditure. Since the study uses time series data for each panel, IM-Pasaran test is used for testing stationarity, and ARDL Model is used for obtaining long-term estimates of Wagner's law. We find that on average low income states in India tend to spend more on social sector and economic services as the output increases. However, the analysis of individual low-income states is different. Results of Odisha and West Bengal validate Wagner's law, public expenditure on both social sector and economic services had increased with output. In Rajasthan, expenditure on social sector is revenue in nature and expenditure in economic services is dominated by capital outlay (elasticity less than one). Although rest of the low income states spends on social sector and economic services with growth in output, the expenditure is revenue in nature. The results indicate that majority of low income states spends more on maintenance of available social services and less on creation of infrastructure. The expenditure on creation of infrastructure is necessary for the development of industries and agriculture in under-developed economies, and thus, capital expenditure is crucial for overall wellbeing of society. The low-income states in India had spent only 37% (average) of total expenditure on capital outlay of economic services during the period from 1980-81 to 2014-15. Apart from having revenue expenditure on social services, low-income states should focus on the development of economic services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extreme weather events like tropical cyclone result in colossal catastrophe during landfall causing widespread inland flooding due to storm surge and also the post-landfall event result in extensive damage to infrastructural facilities and property hinterland. The state of Odisha located in east coast of India experienced a Very Severe Cyclonic Storm (VSCS) named Phailin during the post-monsoon season of October 2013. Timely warnings and alertness on storm surge coordinated with a massive evacuation effort by National Disaster Management Authorities (NDMA) were quite effective in minimizing the loss of human life. However, there was a trial of destruction due to extremely high winds and rainfall that followed during post-landfall causing extensive damage to property and major infrastructure facilities in the Odisha State. This study critically investigated the Phailin post-landfall phase focusing on the impact of high winds and rainfall on the power distribution network using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model. The study evaluated the spatial and temporal variability of wind speed and rainfall distribution from the WRF model configured for three different spatial domains and selecting the best available microphysics and land surface parameterization schemes. The proposed outer, intermediate, and inner domains had spatial resolutions of 27, 9, and 3 km respectively and that provided the best estimate for onshore wind speed, track forecast, and rainfall distribution highly relevant for the management of power distribution and transmission network. In context to weather model application for the Indian region, this effort is novel and probably for the first time that linked a suitable customized weather model output to evaluate its impact on observed tripping in transmission network of electric power grids. The dynamic model outputs from WRF were compared with data from synchrophasors used in electrical technology that monitored the transient and dynamic behavior of power systems in real-time operations. A close examination of the results signifies that the atmospheric model performed exceptionally well in capturing the tripping time of power lines, and the overall knowledge obtained from this study has a broader scope to develop a framework for efficient planning operations of the power network, resource allocation, and emergency preparedness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A message from the president of the Indian Society of Nuclear Medicine's (SNM) is presented in which he talks about nuclear medicine in India, USA and Europe. The author discusses the significance of nuclear medicine in the scientific world as of 2012, the achievements of SNM, India, in the field, and the contribution of the society to European Association of Nuclear Medicine's annual meeting in 2013.

The article presents an obituary for Doctor P. Tejeswar Rao, who was instrumental in forming the Orissa Orthopedic Association (OOA) in India in 1976.

Introduction: Increasing population of elderly and the emergence of epidemic of chronic or (non-communicable) diseases, which is likely to adversely affects their health-related quality of life (HRQOL), has implications on health systems in developing countries such as India. A study was conducted to know the common impairments and disabilities and their effect on HRQOL in elderly population. Materials and Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study on elderly, selected by cluster sampling from central Delhi, India, was conducted from April 2005 to February 2006. A pre-tested, semi-structured questionnaire, along with Short Form -36 (SF-36) survey was used for data collection. The data was analyzed using Chi square and student's t test on SPSS v12 statistical software. P value of less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: A total of 200 elderly were included in the study. 71.5% subjects had at least one disability/impairment. Around 40% subjects reported their health being poor and another 50% of worsening of their health in the last 1 year. HRQOL score for people with and without chronic morbidity/disability was 51.8 and 73.5, respectively (P<0.05), with overall mean score 56.7 (±17.2). The most commonly affected HRQOL domains were Role Physical, Physical Functioning, and General Health. The HRQOL and domain scores decreased with increasing age, and females had lower mean scores than males (P<0.05). Conclusion: The HRQOL of elderly in urban India is severely affected by impairments and disabilities. There is an immediate need for specific preventive and rehabilitative measures targeted on elderly to maintain their health related quality of life. This information may be utilized for designing any policy and/or program targeted for elderly in India and in other similar settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accurate estimation of evapotranspiration is generally constrained due to lack of required hydrometeorological datasets. This study addresses the performance analysis of reference evapotranspiration (ETo) estimated from NASA/POWER, National Center for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) global reanalysis data before and after dynamical downscaling through the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model. The state-of-the-art Hamon's and Penman-Monteith's methods were utilized for the ETo estimation in the Northern India. The performance indices such as bias, root mean square error (RMSE), and correlation (r) were calculated, which showed the values 0.242, 0.422, and 0.959 for NCEP data (without downscaling) and 0.230, 0.402, and 0.969 for the downscaled data respectively. The results indicated that after WRF downscaling, there was some marginal improvement found in the ETo as compared to the without downscaling datasets. However, a better performance was found in the case of NASA/POWER datasets with bias, RMSE, and correlation values of 0.154, 0.348, and 0.960 respectively. In overall, the results indicated that the NASA/POWER and WRF downscaled data can be used for ETo estimation, especially in the ungauged areas. However, NASA/POWER is recommended as the ETo calculations are less computationally expensive and easily available than performing WRF simulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study consolidated our understanding on the weeds of Bhadrak district, Odisha, India based on both bibliographic sources and field studies. A total of 277species of weed taxa belonging to 198 genera and 65 families are reported from the study area. About 95.7% of these weed taxa are distributed across six major superorders; the Lamids and Malvids constitute 43.3% with 60 species each, followed by Commenilids (56 species), Fabids (48 species), Companulids (23 species) and Monocots (18 species). Asteraceae, Poaceae, and Fabaceae are best represented. Forbs are the most represented (50.5%), followed by shrubs (15.2%), climber (11.2%), grasses (10.8%), sedges (6.5%) and legumes (5.8%). Annuals comprised about 57.5% and the remaining are perennials. As per Raunkiaer classification, the therophytes is the most dominant class with 135 plant species (48.7%).The use of weed for different purposes as indicated by local people is also discussed. This study provides a comprehensive and updated checklist of the weed speciesof Bhadrak district which will serve as a tool for conservation of the local biodiversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]