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Inherited hemoglobin disorders like alpha thalassemia and sickle gene are common in the Indian subcontinent. These disorders in the heterozygous state act as malaria resistance genes and influence the susceptibility to Plasmodium falciparum malaria. There is inadequate knowledge about the epidemiology of these malaria resistance genes in the tribal dominated malaria endemic region of the state of Odisha in eastern India. A cross sectional prevalence study was undertaken in 594 subjects in five tribal populations in this region, namely, Sahara (42.4%), Kutia Kandha (30.0%), Kuda (15.8%), Gond (9.8%), and Oraon (2.0%). Sickling test, Hb electrophoresis, HPLC, and molecular studies were undertaken to diagnose the prevalence of sickle allele, β-thalassemia allele, and deletional alpha thalassemia. Sickle and β thalassemia alleles were found in 13.1% and 3.4% of subjects, respectively. Sickle allele was found both in heterozygous (10.1%) and homozygous state (3.03%). The prevalence of alpha thalassemia was 50.84% with an allelic frequency of 0.37. Both α-3,7 and α-4,2 alpha thalassemia were detected with an allele frequency of 0.33 and 0.04, respectively. The high prevalence of alpha thalassemia and sickle gene in this population is probably due to selection pressure of endemic malaria in this part of India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fetal hemoglobin (Hb F) is the most studied modifier of sickle cell disease. Coinheritance of high Hb F determinants such as δβ-thalassemia (δβ-thal) and hereditary persistence of fetal hemoglobin (HPFH) can contribute to raised Hb F concentration in these patients. One hundred and seventy-six cases of sickle cell disease with high Hb F were screened for the presence of the Asian Indian deletion-inversion Gγ(Aγδβ)0-thal and HPFH-3 (Indian, 48.5 kb) disorders. Three cases from two unrelated families were found to have sickle cell disease and the (Aγδβ)0-thal genotype. Three other members had heterozygous Gγ(Aγδβ)0-thal. None had HPFH-3. Despite very high Hb F concentrations and linkage of the βS gene to Asian haplotypes, the compound heterozygotes had severe clinical presentation, possibly because of heterocellular distribution of Hb F. In conclusion, these high Hb F determinants are not common causes of high Hb F in Indian sickle cell disease patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hb D-Punjab [β121(GH4)Glu→Gln] is prevalent in the northern states of the Indian subcontinent. Due to inadequate data from Asian countries, the origin and spread of the Hb D-Punjab mutation are uncertain. In a study of sickle cell hemoglobinopathies, we detected the Hb D-Punjab mutation in 25 subjects from 11 unrelated Agharia families. Twelve cases were Hb S [β6(A3)Glu→Val]/Hb D-Punjab compound heterozygotes and 13 were Hb D trait carriers. In 76.0% of the cases, the βD gene was linked to haplotype I, whereas 24.0% had a novel haplotype. None of the haplotypes matched the βA haplotype of the local population. In view of the ancestral origin of the subjects and the high prevalence of the βD gene in the states of northern India, we suggest a North Indian origin for the βD mutation in our population. The finding of a novel haplotype in eastern India supports the hypothesis of a multicentric origin of this mutation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The greenness of a building is measured through green building assessment tools. These tools have limitations because they cannot be applied to all regions. The aim of this research was to develop a green building assessment tool that can rate the greenness of new buildings in India. For this, a study was conducted by adopting nine green building components with 34 attributes relevant to the measurement of greenness. For evaluating the green building index (GBI), a three-level hierarchical structure was constructed in which the GBI is at Level 1, and the nine components and 34 attributes are at Levels 2 and 3, respectively. In this study, an integrated approach consisting of an analytical hierarchy process (AHP) and fuzzy integrals was used. The 42 responses obtained from green building experts were used to find the weights of the components using the AHP. The relative importance of different attributes was computed using fuzzy measures and fuzzy integrals. Finally, the weighted-sum method (WSM) was employed to get the overall GBI. The results of the proposed approach are compared with Indian case studies. The findings of this article can be helpful to green building planners, designers, and developers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a vehicle-type-specific headway distribution analysis at toll plazas under mixed traffic conditions. The aim of the paper is to provide headway distribution models that may be used for traffic flow analysis and traffic management at tollbooths. Seven classes of vehicle and a total of 49 combinations of leader–follower vehicles were considered, out of which 11 combinations were considered for studying the headway distribution model based on the frequency of arrival of such vehicle combinations at tollbooths. The results showed that vehicle classes requiring a headway of 5–25 s followed a log-normal distribution whereas, for higher headway ranges of 15–40 s, the generalised extreme value showed the best fit. For the small car category, the Wakeby distribution showed a better result than conventional distributions. The findings of this study may be useful for developing toll plaza microscopic simulation models, which could be used for assessing and improving the performance and efficiency of tollbooths. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study that assesses the influence of fetal hemoglobin (HbF) on the frequency of painful crises, spleen size, and avascular necrosis (AVN). In measuring HbF concentration, the researchers use high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method. The study was performed at the Sickle Cell Clinic and Molecular Biology Laboratory, V.S.S. Medical College Hospital, Burla in Orissa, India.

A field experiment was conducted to estimate residue persistence of fluopyram and its metabolite benzamide in cucumber fruits and soil and their risk assessment in humans and soil environment. Fluopyram (Kafka, 400 SC) was applied as soil drench twice at the interval of 15 days at the rate of 250 (standard dose) and 500 (double dose) g a.i. ha -1 (active ingredient per hectare). Cucumber fruits were collected at 0 (1 h), 1, 3, 5, 7, 10, 15, 20, 30, 40 and 50 days after second application. Soil samples were collected on 15th day after second application. Drench application resulted in detection of residues on the third day in standard dose at the levels of 0.056 mg kg -1 in cucumber fruit. The residue level increased until 20 days reaching 0.092 mg kg -1 followed by decrease to 0.068 mg kg -1 on 30th day after application. In double dose, the residues started accumulating from 0 day with initial levels of 0.093 mg kg -1 and persisted until 30th day. The levels varied between 0.123 and 0.184 mg kg -1 until 15th day of application followed by decrease to 0.127 mg kg -1 by 30th day. The residues reached below determination level (< 0.05 mg kg -1 ) on 40th day in both the doses after second application. The residue of metabolite benzamide was below determination level (< 0.05 mg kg -1 ) at both the doses. Hazard quotient (HQ) for residues levels at 15th and 30th day was less than one (HQ < 1). Hence, a pre-harvest interval of 15 days is suggested. Present data can be used to establish maximum residue limit (MRL) in India. The residue of fluopyram in soil on 15th day and the data on soil adsorption coefficient of fluopyram from literature suggests moderate mobility of fluopyram in soil. However, residues of metabolite of benzamide were not detected in soil. Further studies on translocation of fluopyram in soil over the time can be conducted for better understanding of environmental risk. To our knowledge, this is the first report on residue levels of fluopyram in any crop when applied as soil drench.

Background: Although hydroxyurea is the only effective agent for the treatment of sickle cell disease, published experience with this drug is limited to treatment of homozygous sickle cell anemia and HbS/β thalassemia. The role of hydroxyurea in the treatment of patients with HbSD-Punjab, a rare hemoglobinopathy with phenotypic expression similar to that of sickle cell anemia is unknown., Procedure: Over a period of 10 years, we followed 42 patients with HbSD-Punjab, of which 20 presented with severe clinical manifestations (≥3 episodes of VOC and/or ≥2 units of blood transfusion in the previous 12 months). These 20 patients were enrolled for treatment with hydroxyurea at a dose of 10 mg/kg/day and followed prospectively for a period of 24 months., Results: The frequency of VOC decreased significantly and none of them required blood transfusion while receiving hydroxyurea. The HbF, total hemoglobin, MCV, MCH, and MCHC levels increased significantly, whereas HbS, WBC, platelet count, total serum bilirubin, and LDH levels decreased significantly in all the patients. No short-term drug toxicity was observed., Conclusion: This study describes the use of hydroxyurea therapy in patients with HbSD-Punjab. Low dose hydroxyurea (10 mg/kg/day) was found to be effective in reducing the clinical severity in patients with HbSD-Punjab without any short-term toxicity. In view of easy affordability amongst poor patients, widespread acceptability by patients and doctors, the need of infrequent monitoring and its potential effectiveness, low dose hydroxyurea is suitable for treatment of patients with HbSD-Punjab., (© 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

There are several questions pertaining to dosage, duration and potential long-term toxicity of hydroxyurea (HU) therapy. Use of HU is extremely limited in eastern India because of its high cost and apprehension of its toxicities. We undertook this study to assess the clinical, biochemical and hematological efficacy of minimal dose HU (10 mg/kg/day) in 118 sickle cell anemia patients (27 pediatric and 91 adults). The frequency of painful crises reduced significantly in 71.5 and 92.2% in pediatric and adult cases, respectively. Ninety-five percent of the patients became transfusion independent. The baseline Hb F, total hemoglobin (Hb), MCV, MCH and MCHC levels increased significantly, whereas the WBC, platelet count and total serum bilirubin values decreased significantly. This is the first study of minimal dose HU therapy in eastern India that showed impressive improvement in clinical and hematological parameters with minimal toxicity.