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The first photographic evidence of a leucistic Sloth Bear from Panna Tiger Reserve, Madhya Pradesh, was obtained during a camera trapping survey conducted during 2019-2021. Despite the wide distribution of Sloth Bears in the Indian sub-continent, leucism is extremely rare to find. This record evokes the need for scientific reporting of such encounters and further research on the causal factors of leucism with respect to the species' ecological and conservation implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fire is one of the most severe hazards to the world's forests, causing massive biodiversity loss and alterations in various ecosystems. Weather and climatic conditions, terrain properties, fire-inducing agents, and anthropogenic variables can trigger forest fires. Multiple studies have shown that in India, anthropogenic activity is the most common cause of forest fires, with the spread and extent determined mainly by the severity of the weather. We used the generalized linear mixed model to identify the drivers behind forest fire occurrences within Rajaji and Corbett tiger reserves in the northern Indian Terai Arc landscape. These two tiger reserves are spanning in a large area of the lower Shivalik Himalayas and share similar bio-geography, climates, and topography. We used 22 variables as drivers of forest fires for our analysis and found significant differences in the drivers of forest fires in Rajaji and Corbett, Tiger Reserves. Both the reserves' topographic and climatic conditions contribute to fire incidents rather than anthropogenic factors. Though anthropogenic pressure is responsible mainly for forest fires triggering globally, other natural conditions can still ignite forest fires under favorable climatic conditions and the availability of dry leaf litter. Identifying the drivers of fires in the targeted habitat or landscape is essential for controlling and managing large-scale fire incidents. Our results will help the concerned authorities frame the fire management protocol for larger landscapes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reintroducing megafauna to their historic range is an effective strategy to halt their extinctions and restore ecosystems. Wild water buffalo (Bubalus arnee) is an endangered megaherbivore that is lost from 95% of its range. About 90% of its global population (less than 4000) resides within India, in two isolated populations: northeast and central India. The central Indian population is on the verge of extinction and warrants urgent conservation interventions. We assess the potential and provide a strategy for reintroducing buffaloes in Kanha National Park, India. Habitat suitability using the global occurrence of buffalo revealed low‐lying grasslands with least human pressure found in Kanha (390 km2) to be suitable. Within this suitable range, we evaluated vegetation composition, forage biomass, and potential carrying capacity. Multidimensional ordination classified these suitable sites into moist and dry grassland clusters. Moist grasslands were found to better suit reintroduction due to lower grazing pressure, higher productivity, and availability of perennial water sources. Distinct matriarchal clades of swamp and river buffalo were observed. Within the river buffalo clade, Indian wild buffaloes formed a distinct cluster with close proximity between northeast and central Indian samples, suggesting northeast buffaloes could be sourced for a founding population in Kanha. Following IUCN guidelines, we discuss the reintroduction strategy that could sustain approximately 200 buffaloes in the area and subsequently expand to other suitable habitats in central India. If implemented as proposed, recovery of this lost ecosystem engineer will help to restore grasslands, and swamp habitats, as well as contribute to its global conservation efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective : Palatal fistulae are challenging complications following cleft palate repair. The addition of acellular dermal matrix (ADM) to cleft palate repair has been shown to reduce fistula formation in previous studies. The use of autologous dermal graft has all the structural advantages of ADM, has less rejection and immunogenic potential, and is cost effective. Design : A prospective study. Participants : Patients with Group II and III cleft palate (Nagpur Classification) without prior intervention for palatal repair in the Department of Plastic Surgery at PGIMER from January 2020 till June 2021. Intervention : The addition of autologous dermal graft for palatoplasty. Main outcome : Outcome of the study was fistula development or exposure of dermal graft. Results : Autologous dermal graft was harvested of average dimension of 8.73 cm2 (range 5.25-18 cm2) from groin region. Sixteen patients were included in the study. Among them, 2 patients (12.5%) developed postoperative fistula (Type III &V Pittsburgh Classification). Conclusion : Our study showed that the rates of postoperative fistula formation are comparable with prior literature using artificial dermal matrices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Health related quality of life (HRQOL) is a multidimensional concept that encompasses the patient's perceptions of his or her physical, emotional, social, and cognitive functions. Despite DTC patients' long survival, HRQOL has been shown to be lower than in the general population. There is a scarcity of data on HRQOL in thyroid cancer in the Indian population and especially goiter endemic area. As a result, the authors conducted a health-related quality of life survey in patients managed at their center in Northern India's Sub-Himalayan region using two widely accepted questionnaires. Adults with differentiated thyroid cancer who had surgery with or without radio-iodine ablation and had recovered for at least 6 months were assessed using health quality of life surveys, the QLQ-C30 and QLQ-THY34 of the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Group. The survey was completed by 57 adults with a mean age of 45.64 ± 15.64 years. The average time between the survey and treatment was 13.3 ± 10.8 months. After surgery, the QLQ-C30 found a significant reduction in insomnia, appetite loss, constipation, diarrhea, and financial difficulties, whereas radio-iodine ablation significantly improved global health status. The QLQ-THY34 found a significant increase in symptoms such as voice concerns, hair problems, dry mouth, shoulder functioning, tingling, and worrying after surgery, with a significant improvement in swallowing and job impact symptoms. The surgical extent had no impact. The quality of life for people with differentiated thyroid cancer in goiter-endemic areas is similar to that of other areas. However, the limited number of subjects in the study warrants further large sample size longitudinal study to understand the exact Health-related quality of life in thyroid cancer in endemic area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Advance prediction of crop yield is very critical in the context of ensuring food security as the region specific challenges in social and environmental conditions often infringe plan of policy makers. This study presents a generic methodology to configure and fine tune the state-of-the-art Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) based Deep Learning (DL) model through hyperparameter optimization for prediction of yield (annual crop production) in Wheat, Groundnut and Barely over India based on multiple independent input variables identified using multicollinearity test. The Monte Carlo cross-validation method is used to validate the optimized LSTM models. Results from the LSTM model tuning showed that among the 4 optimizers tested, Adam was found to perform better irrespective of the crop and Bi-LSTM outperformed sLSTM in terms of prediction accuracy. The percentage reduction in error with Bi-LSTM compared to sLSTM in predicting wheat and groundnut crop yield was 39% and 13% respectively while in case of barley crop, error reduction was marginal (0.34%). The performance of optimized Bi-LSTM model is compared with the performance of traditional machine learning (ML) models such as support vector regression (SVR) and SVR polynomial {2nd and 3rd order}, Auto Regressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) and ARIMAX (ARIMA with exogenous variables) and Vector Auto-regression (VAR). The Bi-LSTM model is found to be superior to ML models; the percentage reduction in mean absolute scaled error with the Bi-LSTM compared to the best performing ML model was 94%, 72%, and 71% in predicting wheat, groundnut and barley yield respectively. This study showed that by choosing proper explanatory (independent) variable and hyperparameter optimization, a simple (single layer) structure of deep neural network (LSTM) outperformed traditional ML models in terms of accuracy for crop yield prediction application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present global mango production faces various kinds of environmental and ecological fluctuations including biotic and abiotic stresses. Therefore in order to develop suitable management techniques, it is essential to have thorough understanding of the population dynamics and damage potential of the mango pests. Hence the present experiment was carried out to study the influence of particular seasonal months on the incidence of mango hoppers and thrips under field conditions. The highest degree of infestation by hoppers was detected in March (22.210 hoppers per shoot/panicle), followed by February (21.336) and January (18.863). The peak prevalence of the thrips were observed in the month of February (26 - 50% of fruit area damaged) followed by January and March (1 - 25% of fruit area damaged). The occurrence and seasonal prevalence data generated from the present study can be used to manage the population of hoppers and thrips on mango and this study have far-reaching implications in pest management strategy and the data so generated would help in the forecast of hoppers and thrips. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Dentistry is known as the most challenging and stressful profession. Dental education enhances students' ability to provide high-caliber work in the clinical field. To fulfill this criterion, students are required to develop professional conduct, competencies, and psychological and cognitive abilities in due course of time. The shift from preclinical to clinical is considered one of the most crucial stages for dental undergraduates. During this period, individuals often experience unique emotional and social challenges, leading to stress, anxiety, and depression. Aim: The aim of this study is to assess the perceived stress levels, psychosocial impacts, as well as depression and anxiety levels among dental undergraduates during their transition from preclinical (2nd year) to clinical (3rd year) practice. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional questionnaire-based study was conducted among second and third-year dental undergraduates from different dental colleges in South India from February 2022 to June 2022. Two questionnaires, the Dental Environmental Stress (DES) scale (25 items) and the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS) (21 items), were utilised to measure stress, depression, and anxiety levels. The questionnaire was designed using Google Forms and distributed via WhatsApp. The snowball sampling technique was used, and data from 489 self-selected participants were collected and sent for statistical analysis. Descriptive statistics (mean, 95% Confidence Interval [CI]) were used to identify major stressors and their perceived magnitude. The responses were recorded on a 4-point Likert scale. Results: This study included a total population of 489 participants, with 360 (73.6%) females and 129 (26.3%) males, respectively. According to the DES results, the educational environment and clinical domain were the most stressed domains, with mean values of 1.7859±0.47929 and 1.7639±0.43729, respectively. The top five stressors identified were lack of relaxation time, fear of failure, financial burden, assigned work, and examinations/grades. The DASS results revealed the highest prevalence of stress (15.22±5.92), followed by anxiety (13.39±6.01) and depression (12.60±8.66). Conclusion: The results of this study indicate that dental undergraduates experience higher levels of perceived stress, psychosocial effects, depression, and anxiety during the transition from preclinical (2nd year) to clinical (3rd year) practice. Structured student support systems, such as counselling programmes and effective communication skills, can help create an environment that reduces stress and enhances student well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study was conducted during November, 2021 at Department of FMPE, CAET, OUAT, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India to investigate the torque requirement and ascertain optimum peripheral cutting velocity of rotary cutting disc based on varying stem diameter and moisture content of green gram. The cutting operation was simulated to find the cutting torque in the instrumented soil bin, which comprises of test trolley, processing trolley and vertical rotor assembly with vertical shaft having serrated cutting disc. Sample plant stems of green gram were firmly fixed in the plant stem holder, and buried beneath the soil to simulate the natural standing of the crop as in the actual field condition. The cutting torque required to cut the stem of green gram at different crop moisture content (39.2, 41.4 and 42.9% (wb)), peripheral cutting velocity (20, 25, 30, and 35 ms-1) and plant stem diameter (2.95, 3.97 and 4.96 mm) was measured. It has been observed that peripheral cutting velocity of disc, stem diameter and moisture content of plant affected cutting torque at 1% level of significance. The cutting torque increased with decrease in moisture content and increase in diameter of plant stem of green gram. The cutting torque increased with an increase in peripheral cutting velocity up to the critical velocity of 30 ms-1, but the value decreased after critical peripheral velocity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An attempt has been made to screen the fish gut‐associated actinobacterial cultures for antifouling compounds. Fifteen morphologically distinct bacterial cultures were recovered from the biofouling samples scraped from the boat surfaces and other maritime structures in the Kovalam beach (Lat. 12.7870°N; Long. 80.2504°E) coastal areas in Tamil Nadu, India. All the bacterial isolates were identified at generic level from which two isolates namely KB6 and KB7 as Staphylococcus sp. were found the exhibit strong biofilm formation. Four actinobacterial strains viz., IM20, PYA9, F8, and SQA4 were evaluated for inhibitory properties against biofouling bacteria using the agar plug method. Strain IM20 which strongly inhibited the biofouling bacteria was chosen as prospective strain for further studies. When compared to submerged fermentation, IM20 produced a high amount of antifouling chemicals on the agar surface fermentation. Among the solvents tested, better extraction of antifouling compounds was seen in ethyl acetate extract. Antifouling compound production by the strain IM20 was found to be influenced by a number of variables such as glucose, fructose, glutamine, malt extract, pH 7 and 9, temperature 30 and 40°C and NaCl at 2.5% and 5% concentrations. Gas chromatography‐mass spectrometry (GC‐MS) analysis of the strain IM20 extract revealed the presence of pyrrolo (1,2‐a]pyrazine‐1,4‐dione, hexahydro) in significant amount. In the present study, the fish gut‐associated Streptomyces sp. IM20 was identified as an unusual and newly added source for the isolation of antifouling compounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spatial modelling has been an essential tool for predicting and mapping the suitable areas of a species' habitat. Ecological modelling was performed using 744 sampling locations to predict the potential habitat for the invasive plant Lantana camara in the lower Shivalik region of the Western Himalaya, India. The modelling engaged nine bioclimatic, four topographic, one land-cover, and two soil parameters that are known to be ecologically important for the species. Precipitation of the warmest quarter, mean temperature of the wettest quarter, precipitation of the driest quarter, and river flow accumulation contributed to the model. The predicted area for the invasion was classified into high, medium, and low potential areas. We identified nine potential hot spots based on species occurrence over a 2300 km2 area to determine where immediate intervention is necessary to prevent the spread of Lantana camara. The study's findings can assist policymakers and stakeholders in developing an effective and strategic weed management approach at the landscape level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current investigation was conducted to comprehend the girth increment and axial variation impact on the anatomical behavior of wood. To determine the intended uses, it is important to investigate the anatomical features of the wood. For this study, wood was removed from seeds origin Pterygota alata which were farm grown in Pollachi, Tamil Nadu, India. And from that 2×2×2 cm dimension samples were collected from four different girth classes (30-45, 45-90, 120-150, and 150-180 cm) and three axial positions (25%, 50% and 75% of the tree height). The samples were then subjected to microtomy, maceration, and optical measurements. The vessel, fibre, and ray anatomy were studied in this investigation. A log-linear model was used to examine the combined impact of girth increment, axial positions and their interaction. Fibre length, fibre diameter, fibre wall thickness, vessel length, ray height, ray width, and ray frequency were decreased towards the top, whereas fibre lumen width, vessel diameter, and vessel area were significantly increased towards the top. Growth of the girth had a positive influence on fibre length, fibre diameter, fibre lumen width, fibre wall thickness, vessel length, ray height, ray width and ray frequency. In contrast, vessel frequency decreased with the girth increment. Fibre and ray of the Pterygota alata were more than or near 1000 µm and vessels were diffuse porous among all the axial positions and girth classes. The anatomical characteristics of the Pterygota alata are similar to those of wood species used to make pulp and paper, so it could be a potential species to use in pulp production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: A substantial proportion of tuberculosis patients either take treatment from private care providers or first-time visit private hospitals to diagnose tuberculosis. Hence the role of private providers is too essential to ignore to realize the ambition of tuberculosis elimination in India. Aim and Objectives: To understand the perception of private practitioners of Sonepat district of Haryana state regarding. Setting and Design: A cross-sectional study was done among the private practitioners of the Sonepat district of Haryana Methods and Material: 78 randomly selected practitioners from the list provided by the district health authority were interviewed using a pretested semi-structured questionnaire. The ethics committee of the study institute approved the study. Statistical analysis used: Descriptive analysis in terms of proportion and percentages was conducted. Results: One-third of the study participants were in the age group of 30-40 years. Half of the practitioners were reportedly practicing medicine for less than 20 years. A significant proportion agreed that the government could not single-handedly eliminate tuberculosis without collaborating with private providers. Mostly agreed on the effectiveness of tuberculosis regimens under the program; however, over-relying on the sputum examination was perceived as a negative component of the program. Conclusions: Private providers understand their pivotal role in tuberculosis-related programs. However, their full participation has not been realized in the program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nalameryx savagei is one of the rare mammals found in India during the Oligocene. Five dental remains composed the originally found material, described in 1990. The first phylogenetic hypothesis proposed Nalameryx to be closely related to the basal ruminant Lophiomerycidae. The description of new specimens from the type bed K/7b from the Kargil Formation (late Oligocene, India), led to a reinterpretation of the phylogenetic position of Nalameryx and of the early evolutionary history of the Tragulidae. Based on our phylogenetic hypothesis, Nalameryx is nested within the living Tragulidae, making it one of the oldest known tragulid. Moreover, the enigmatic late Eocene Stenomeryx from Myanmar is not recovered as a ruminant in our analysis. Tooth isotopic data indicate that Nalameryx fed on plants that have grown under xeric conditions. This is in agreement with palaeoenvironmental information observed on plants from Turkish and Pakistani localities where Nalameryx has already been found. This region of the world had a seasonal climate with an arid period during the late Oligocene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: There is no distinct classification system to evaluate the bone defect in previously managed acetabular fractures. We propose a new classification system for bone defect evaluation in a previously managed acetabular fracture that will be helpful for total hip arthroplasty (THA). Materials and Methods: The preoperative pelvis radiographs of 99 THA patients with previous acetabular fractures with at least 2 years of follow-up were evaluated by 10 experienced surgeons (Paprosky and new classification systems). As per the new classification system, the five types of bone defects are circumferential, posterior wall, posterior column, both column defect, and anterior column. The interobserver and intraobserver reliability was calculated, and a consensus management plan based on the recommendation of the observers was formulated. Results: There was fair interobserver reliability for Paprosky classification (alpha coefficient 0.39) and substantial interobserver reliability for the new classification (alpha co-efficient 0.71). There was a substantial intraobserver agreement for the new classification (kappa value 0.80) and moderate intraobserver agreement for Paprosky classification (kappa value 0.55). Sixty-nine patients who were treated as per the management plan of the observers reported significant improvement in modified Harris hip score (improved from 25 to 85.88, p < 0.001). 89.7% of patients reported good to excellent outcomes. Overall best health as per EQ-5D VAS was obtained in THA following anterior column fracture (EQ-5D VAS 97.5), and relatively poor health was obtained after THA of posterior column nonunion (EQ-FD VAS 80). Conclusions: The new classification system for bone defect evaluation in previously treated acetabular fractures is valid and reliable. The proposed surgical plan for the management of bone defects in THA provided good to excellent outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Recently, the patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) have been considered as the most important assessment tool for surgical outcome evaluation in arthroplasty. However, no study from the Indian subcontinent has evaluated the PROM in the total hip (THA) and knee (TKA) arthroplasties. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study evaluated the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of 1244 North Indian patients following primary THA and TKA who had at least one-year follow-up. This study included 617 patients with 664 THA and 627 patients with 1152 TKA. The patients were asked to answer the EQ-5D-5L questionnaires and EQ-VAS in their own languages. The EQ-5D-5L values were used to derive level frequency scores (LFS) with validated Indian norms of EuroQoL. Results: Ninety percent of THA and 82% of TKA patients rated excellent HRQoL using EQ-VAS. The regression analysis revealed age, gender, etiology and brand of prosthesis had a significant impact on EQ-5D-5L following THA. However, gender and simultaneous bilateral surgery were found to be important predictors of outcome in TKA. The mean value of LFS for THA was 0.95 ± 0.12 and TKA was 0.88 + 0.24 (p < 0.001). However, There was no difference in LFS between THA and TKA when only elderly patients (> 60 years) were considered (p = 0.168). Conclusion: THA patients reported better HRQoL than TKA in the Indian subcontinent. One of the factors for a better outcome in hip arthroplasty was the relatively younger age of the patients. Patients above 60 years of age reported similar levels of statisfactior in both THA and TKA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heat waves are increasing in frequency and exhibit high spatial variability in their distribution over India. There are limited studies focused on thermal indices over India due to the nonavailability of high-resolution (HR) climate data. Here we develop dynamically downscaled HR (4 × 4 km) daily climate information for the months of April to June during 2001–2016 using a regional climate model called Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model, which are validated with station observations. The thermal comfort, heat stress, and its spatiotemporal variability and change over India are quantified in terms of indices like excessive heat factor (EHF), the heat index (HI), humidex, apparent temperature (AT), and wet bulb globe temperature (WBGT). The results show that there is an increasing trend in annual heat waves coverage (22,240 km2/year), annual frequency (0.07 days/year), and average intensity (0.04 °C/year) during 2001–2016. The spatial distribution of indices exhibits high spatial and temporal variability. The days with the severe threshold of indices are significantly increasing over north India at the rate of EHF (15.9%), HI (14.9%), humidex (15.9%), AT (13.4%), and WBGT (13.8%). The heat waves' most vulnerable hotspots are on the parts of Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and the coastal regions of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha. During heat waves, prolonged exposure under the sun will lead to adverse health impacts, and it is mostly observed over severe heat wave zone. These findings stress the need for developing suitable mitigation strategies for a sustainable ecosystem with minimum impact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Solar energy that contains bright heat and light from the sun is often controlled using modern technology such as photovoltaic, solar heating, artificial photosynthesis, solar architecture and solar thermal electricity. This study concerned with an experimental analysis of solar parabolic trough collector. The sunlight is reflected from the parabolic trough surface and focused on the evacuated absorber tube. The trough is usually aligned to the N-S axis and can be rotated normally according to the sun position from east to west. We have studied the potential of a solar thermal system for hot-water generation. The parabolic trough concentrator was made of galvanized sheet metal on which solar reflective films were pasted. The heat transfer fluid, viz. water runs through the absorber tube and absorbs concentrated heat energy. It has been designed with principal focus 0.1 m from the vertex so that the receiver heat loss is minimized. Data were collected on water inlet temperature, outlet temperature of the heat transfer fluid, solar radiation and water flow rate (days) during March to May 2019 at Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India. Also, the processing parameters were optimized because they are the key factors affecting the performance of the solar collector. Grey relational analysis was used to solve the optimization. Through confirmatory experiments, the input variables such as time, angle of tracking and solar radiation, as well as output variables such as inlet temperature, outlet temperature and efficiency were obtained, and the optimal conditions were verified. A suitable choice of input parameters such as tracking angle of 120° provides a high efficiency rate at 2 pm for March, April and May. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is an infectious and devastating disease that has created heightened levels of anxiety and fear among the general population. COVID-19 has also brought many changes in everyone's lives including closing of schools, colleges/universities and social isolation in an unexplained manner. In these unprecedented times lot of sway has been developed among teaching faculty, students and student's parents in the medical profession including dental schools. However, the impact on students is likely to be noteworthy. Aim: To assess the awareness, attitude, anxiety and perceived mental healthcare during the COVID-19 pandemic among dental faculty, students and their parents in South India. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional, observational questionnaire based study was carried out among 1000 dental faculty, students and student's parents in South India during August 2020 to December 2020. A questionnaire with 20 items regarding awareness, attitude, anxiety and perceived mental healthcare was designed on Google forms and sent through E-mails and WhatsApp. Snowball sampling technique was used and 1000 self-selected dental faculty, students & students' parents in South India were included in the study. Data was subjected to statistical analysis using Statistical package of social science (SPSS) software v.20.0 International Business Machines Corporation-United States of America (IBM-USA). Chi-square test was used to analyse the data. The p-value <0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: The findings showed all the respondents were aware with positive attitude and awareness on this pandemic in regard to its spread and precautions to be taken. However, parents (59.2%) were more preoccupied with eliminate thoughts and more were anxious when compared to faculty (32.1%) and students (32.4%), whereas faculty were more concerned about family's health and safety (49%) and financial status (54.6%) (p<0.001). All the respondents felt that getting engaged and sharing their worries would help them and mental health help requirement is greater in students (86.5%), student's parents (81.4%) followed by faculty (71.5%) (p<0.001). Conclusion: During this pandemic even though respondents were aware of the possible squeal of infection and preventive measures. The findings suggest a need to address the mental health worries of the people during these pandemics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Vesicovaginal Fistula (VVF) is the most common acquired fistula of the urinary tract in women. Robotic surgery is recently introduced for VVF repair and has benefits over conventional methods. Aim: To describe experience with robot-assisted laparoscopic repair of VVF in patients. Materials and Methods: This was a retrospective observational study conducted from February 2014 to February 2018, at Department of Urology, Apollo Main Hospital, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. The study included 24 patients who underwent robot-assisted laparoscopic VVF repair. After cystoscopy ureteric catheter was passed through the fistula and retrieved through vagina. Bilateral ureteric catheters were placed simultaneously with vaginal packing. Da Vinci Si robot was docked with patient in trendelenburg position. After trocar placement transperitoneally the fistula was approached. Through vertical or transverse cystotomy, fistula was identified. With the circumferential incision around the fistula, both the bladder and vagina was separated and the fistulous tract was excised. Bladder was closed vertically and vaginal opening was closed transversely interposing the Omentum. Statistical analyses were performed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20.0. Results: The mean age of participants was 40.33 years. Elective hysterectomy done for benign conditions (91.67%) was the major cause of VVF in patients followed by emergency hysterectomy (8.33%). All of the patients underwent adhesiolysis while two patients performed right ureteric re-implantation additionally. The median operative time was 127.50 minutes. The median duration of drain and hospital stay was three days each. Urethral Foley's catheter removal done at 2-3 weeks based on operating surgeon's preference and the mean duration of follow-up was 26 months. Conclusion: Robot-assisted laparoscopic VVF repair is convenient and an effective approach in the successful management of VVF in complex fistulas and recurrent cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The objectives of this prospective, cross-sectional study were to compare self-perception and communication-success ratings of adolescents with cochlear implant (AWCI) and their caregivers (C-AWCI) and to explore associations with age at CI, implant age, and chronological age.Method: Fourteen CI centers across India participated. The Think About it Quiz (TAIQ), Self Assessment of Communication-Adolescent (SAC-A), and Significant Other Assessment of Communication-Adolescent (SOAC-A) were translated into five languages. Data were collected from 173 AWCI aged 10;0-19;6 years and an associated caregiver for each participant.Results: On the TAIQ, self-ratings by AWCI were significantly lower than the ratings by C-AWCI. Peer acceptance correlated with athletic competence for both groups. For the SAC-A versus SOAC-A, there was no significant difference between AWCI and C-AWCI ratings. Except for a negative correlation between peer-acceptance and chronological age for caregiver ratings, no other associations were found between any other ratings and age at CI, implant age, and chronological age.Conclusions: Caregiver judgments of their adolescents with CI were not in equal agreement with self-ratings by the adolescents across various aspects of performance. Caregivers appeared to underestimate the self-perception issues faced by adolescents with CI but had excellent agreement with their adolescents' self-rating of communication success. The inclusion of activities to improve children's participation in sports could possibly improve peer acceptance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Today, E- marketing is one of the most emerging technologies in IT and E- commerce sector. E- Marketing is referred to as Internet Marketing, Online Marketing or Web-Marketing, means using the internet to market and sell goods and services. At its most basic level, Integrated Marketing Communication or IMC means integrating all the promotional tools, so that they work together in harmony. An influx of new marketplace trends in the late 20th century spurred organizations to shift from the standard advertising approach to the IMC approach. Promotion is one of the Ps in the marketing mix. Promotion has its own mix of communication tools. Integrated Marketing Communication is a marketing concept that ensures all forms of communication and messages are carefully linked together. Integrated Marketing Communication is the concept that makes all the marketing tools to work together as a unified force rather than work in isolation. It blends various promotional tools and communication/marketing/advertising services and techniques to maximize profit. In the present study we analyzed to find out the opportunities and challenges of online marketing and IMC in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Infectious spleen and kidney necrosis virus (ISKNV), a member of family iridoviridae, reported for the first time in a wide range of ornamental fish species in India. Significant mortalities during the year 2018–19 were reported from a number of retailers in the region with various clinical signs. The samples of moribund, dead and apparently healthy ornamental fishes were collected from retailers, located in three districts of Karnataka, India. Out of 140 fish samples, 16 samples (11.42%) representing 10 different fish species were found positive to ISKNV by OIE listed primers and same samples were reported to amplify the major capsid protein (MCP) gene of ISKNV. Further, sequence analysis of MCP gene showed that all strains detected in this study were closely related to other documented isolates from different countries with an identity ranging from 98.76% to 100%. Further, they clustered in the clade of ISKNV, during the phylogenetic analysis. The sequence similarity was high (99.94%) to ISKNV strains from Japan, Australia and Malaysia. This is the first report of an ISKNV infection in India. Moreover, out of 10 ISKNV‐positive fish species, three species were reported positive to ISKNV for the first time in the world. Further, the in vitro experiment showed the growth of virus in Asian sea bass cell line, which is a natural host of ISKNV. Therefore, considering the lethal nature of megalocytiviruses to infect a vast range of species, proper biosecurity measures need to be taken to control these emerging pathogens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the recent outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) a Pandemic and a global public health emergency. The eventual scope and consequences of this outbreak are uncertain at present as the condition is swiftly evolving. The purpose of this article is to cumulate existing published data and researches, identify the challenges with reference to India and develop a comprehensive preventive plan to prevent the spread of this deadly pandemic. The authors explored WHO situation dashboards, the web portal of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare of India and press reports of different countries, published literature on coronavirus transmission, textbooks, scientific and medical journals and several other sources to identify ongoing challenges in the fight against COVID-19 in India. After an exhaustive literature search, 15 ongoing challenges in the fight against novel COVID-19 especially with reference to India have been identified. After a thorough analysis of all these challenges along with the lessons from the International community, a preventive plan has been established to be devised by different agencies from our personal perspectives to overcome the challenges which may assist decision-makers in the prevention and control of COVID-19 in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Atmospheric temperature profiles retrieved from a geostationary INSAT-3D (Indian National Satellite System) sounder level-2 physical retrieval data are evaluated with respect to radiosonde observations, Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS), and National Centers for Environmental Prediction and Department of Energy (NCEP-DOE) reanalysis-2 data sets over India and adjoining area. This evolution was carried out in the terms of correlation coefficients, bias, and root-mean-square error (RMSE) at each pressure level from surface 1000 to 100 hPa during a one year period in 2016.The initial validation of INSAT-3D temperature profiles with AIRS and NCEP-DOE reanalysis-2 data were taken as reference and computed for the spatial distribution of correlation coefficient, bias, and RMSE at each pressure level over the Indian region. In addition to that, we also compared the INSAT-3D temperature retrievals with 12 selected IMD (India Meteorological Department) radiosonde observations at different geographical features over the Indian subcontinent during the one year period in 2016. In this analysis, for each station at all pressure levels, the correlation coefficients, biases and their corresponding root-mean-square errors (RMSEs) were carried out between INSAT-3D and radiosonde observations. The results of the inter-comparison reveal that temperature retrievals from the INSAT-3D are a good agreement with AIRS and NCEP-DOE reanalysis-2 over the land region and a slight degradation performance over the ocean- and coastal regions of Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal below 850 hPa. The degradation performance over the ocean- and coastal areas associated with maybe possibility of undetected clouds and uncertainty in surface emissivity and also it might be attributed to improper bias correction coefficients used for brightness temperature of clear-sky pixels before physical retrievals in INSAT-3D algorithm or inherent deficiency in the retrieval algorithm which mainly depends on initial guess field from NWP models. Furthermore, an evaluation of INSAT-3D with 12 IMD radiosonde observation results reveals that temperature retrievals for each station shows very good agreement at all pressure levels, except slight degradation in performance over the coastal regions (GOA, MDS) and island (AMN, PBL) stations possibly the same reason as that of AIRS/NCEP. Overall, the results show that INSAT-3D temperature retrievals over land are a good agreement with AIRS/NCEP and RSRW then over the ocean- and coastal regions which need to be analyzed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recombinant drug products successfully treat many life-threatening and chronic diseases. The high cost of these drugs makes them inaccessible to the patients particularly in developing countries. Patent expiration of innovator recombinant drug products has led to the development of biosimilars or similar biologics by several manufacturers. Unlike generics, these are not identical to their innovator products because of the differences in the manufacturing process; however, they are similar in quality characteristics, biological activity, safety, and efficacy. The regulatory procedures used for generic drugs cannot be applied for biosimilars as they are large complex structures produced from living cells and can produce potential risk of immune-based adverse reactions. Out of several safety issues related to biosimilars, two main safety concerns are variable potency and immunogenicity, for which a robust long-term pharmacovigilance system is needed. Various guidelines have been issued for the regulatory approval and pharmacovigilance of biosimilars by USFDA, EU, and pharma-emerging countries like China and India. The article includes the pharmacovigilance plan of biosimilars in these countries, discusses the challenges and opportunities in pharmacovigilance through spontaneous reporting systems, and suggests amendments in the existing suspected adverse event reporting form of the Pharmacovigilance Programme of India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Major heat waves are occurring over India during the hottest months of May and June. Since the temperature extremes have major impact on human health and agriculture, better understanding the dynamics behind its evolution and propagation will help us to develop effective mitigation strategies. Understanding the spatio-temporal distribution, evolution and dynamics associated with heat waves is lacking over this region, due to the lack of high-resolution weather information. Here, we developed a high-resolution (4 × 4 km) dynamically downscaled hourly climate data for April to June during period of 2001–2016. The downscaled daily surface temperature is in good agreement with station observations, which is also in agreement with the observed features of temperature distribution during this period. Based on the Indian meteorological department definition, intensity of the heat waves is identified and re-classified into minor and severe category. The spatio-temporal distribution of each heat wave shows variation in its spatial coverage and also in its intensity. The distributions of heat waves are mainly over central India, North-West India and states such as Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana during pre-monsoon season. Results show that the increase in meridional heat transport is higher than the zonal advection component, and intensification of heat waves is linked with heat accumulation over a particular region associated with weakening of heat transport. The further amplification associated with depletion of soil moisture will result in the reduction in evaporative cooling, and it will further amplify the surface air temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is an aperiodic oscillation of sea surface temperature (SST)-induced interannual rainfall variability in south India (SI) that has a direct impact on rain-fed agricultural production and the economy of the region. The study analyzed the influence of ENSO-related rainfall variability on crop yield of south Indian tea-growing regions (SITR) for the period of 1971–2015. The relationship between SST anomalies from June to August over the Niño-3 sector of the tropical Pacific Ocean and tea production anomalies of SI shows a positive correlation. However, SST has a negative relationship with rainfall in the regions of the southwest monsoon but not with the northeast monsoon region of the Nilgiris. The correlation between rainfall and crop yield in SI (r = 0.045) is positively weak and statistically insignificant (p > 0.05). Tea production is influenced more by the cold phase than the warm phase of ENSO, whereas rainfall is greatly influenced by the warm phase. Tea production across the regions indicated that none of the ENSO phase categories based on Niño-3 has significantly greater production than any of the other ENSO phases. Therefore, the predictability of tea production on the basis of ENSO phases is limited. Our findings highlight that the crop production of SITR appeared to be less responsive to the ENSO phases. This may be due to improvements in production technology that mitigated the problems associated with rainfall variability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objectives: Recent years have witnessed revolutionized increase in number of Autistic individuals. With world-wide prevalence rate ranging from 7-13 cases per 10,000. In India, the occurrence is approximately 1 in 500 people . Among various impairments seen in Autism, visual conceptual deficit is the one which leads to impaired complex information processing and task shifting activities; leading to difficulties in executive functions. The aim of the present study was to examine visual conceptual deficit in these individuals and subsequently give a therapy which aims at reducing this deficit. METHOD: 40 adults with Autism, both male and female satisfying the inclusion criteria was included for the study (age 30-50 years). Their visual conceptual deficit was measured using Comprehensive Trail Making Test. Thereafter, they were subjected to Pivotal Response Training for 8 weeks. After 8 weeks of the therapy the effectiveness of Pivotal Response Training was re-evaluated using Comprehensive Trail Making Test. RESULTS: The subjects showed an improvement in multitask performance post pivotal response training and also significant improvement in visual conceptualization i.e. visual tracking and visual set shifting tasks. Conclusion: The findings in the present study focus a new light on the efficacy of Pivotal Response Training in improvement of visual conceptual deficit in adults with Autism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In spite of the summer monsoon's importance in determining the life and economy of an agriculture-dependent country like India, committed efforts toward improving its prediction and simulation have been limited. Hence, a focused mission mode program Monsoon Mission (MM) was founded in 2012 to spur progress in this direction. This article explains the efforts made by the Earth System Science Organization (ESSO), Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES), Government of India, in implementing MM to develop a dynamical prediction framework to improve monsoon prediction. Climate Forecast System, version 2 (CFSv2), and the Met Office Unified Model (UM) were chosen as the base models. The efforts in this program have resulted in 1) unparalleled skill of 0.63 for seasonal prediction of the Indian monsoon (for the period 1981–2010) in a high-resolution (∼38 km) seasonal prediction system, relative to present-generation seasonal prediction models; 2) extended-range predictions by a CFS-based grand multimodel ensemble (MME) prediction system; and 3) a gain of 2-day lead time from very high-resolution (12.5 km) Global Forecast System (GFS)-based short-range predictions up to 10 days. These prediction skills are on par with other global leading weather and climate centers, and are better in some areas. Several developmental activities like coupled data assimilation, changes in convective parameterization, cloud microphysics schemes, and parameterization of land surface processes (including snow and sea ice) led to the improvements such as reducing the strong model biases in the Indian summer monsoon simulation and elsewhere in the tropics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In developing countries, the widespread use of organophosphorus compounds (OPCs) has been accompanied by increasing incidence of poisoning with these agents, both suicidal and accidental. This is attributed mainly to their easy availability, indiscriminate handling, storage and lack of knowledge about the serious consequences of poisoning. Of the various substance used for suicidal attempts in India, OPCs form a significant group. Since the clinical manifestation of OPC poisoning is diverse ranging from mild symptoms to fatal complications in the course of time, we need proper management of the situation. Materials and methods: Present study included 42 patients with Organophosphorus poisoning admitted in B.J. Medical College, and Civil Hospital Ahmedabad. This study was carried out from June 2018 to June 2019. Patients were managed as per standard protocols of O P poisoning. We also checked for various parameters on like cholinesterase level, complete blood counts, renal function test with electrolytes, liver function test. Results: In this study, majority of patients fell in 20-30 years of age group with male predominance. Most common clinical features were vomiting, miosis and giddiness. Majority of the patients belonged to mild grade. The average s.cholinesterase level was low as severity increases. More doses of PAM and atropine were required in severe poisoning. Most common complication was respiratory paralysis. Death was more in severe poisoning. Conclusion: OPC is one of the most common poisoning in India. In patients of OP poisoning presenting symptoms and s.ChE level directly correlated with severity. Therapeutic required dose of PAM and atropine are different in different grade of severity. Survival amongst patients is definitely better if atropine and PAM are being given with Mechanical ventilator support in cases of respiratory insufficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Ayurveda, the traditional Indian therapeutic system, involves herbs and spices as drug ingredients and a kind of food intake regulation. The health and curative aspects of plant products are often ascribed to their antimicrobial and antioxidant activities (AA). However, it seems somewhat possible to correlate the AA of herbal extracts or plant isolates with their phenolic contents (PC). Objective: Indian researchers have carried out some tests for the determination of AA and PC of plant products that are worth mentioning. Methods: Among the herbal analysis techniques, the important contributions of Indians and people of Indian origin in this field include the remarkable separation of phenolic compounds, including the use of reversed-phase columns, on-line HPLC, the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay to effectively screen and identify antioxidant compounds from herbal extracts, and other chromatographic, spectrographic, and spectroscopic techniques, in the analysis of complex biological matrices. Results: The aim of this paper is to present an overview of such arguments with reference to herbal drugs and food intake regulation for specific ailments. Conclusions: The lack of uniformity in the use of test protocols for antioxidant assays (particularly using the DPPH free radical) and differences in in vitro mechanisms of antiradical activity and in vivo metabolism of polyphenols have been the issues associated with these experiments that have been raised by researchers in the period from 2000 onward. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rising number of extreme rainfall events over the Himalayan foothill states of India during the recent decades has become a serious issue with the growing concern of aerosol influences. This study intends to provide some insight into aerosol and gas chemistry responses to changes in monsoon circulation and precipitation, and also assess the impact of aerosols on two recent infamous heavy rainfall events using coupled meteorology–chemistry–aerosol (WRF-Chem) model simulations. The sensitivity of aerosols and chemistry on rainfall distribution and the amount is evaluated using the simulations with and without chemistry. Results from this study show that the magnitude and spatial distribution of precipitation are significantly influenced by including aerosol and gas chemistry in the model simulations. Realistic meteorological conditions as well as rainfall amount and distribution are reproduced when aerosols and gasses are taken into account in the simulation. There is an overall enhancement of total cumulative rainfall as high as 20% due to aerosols and gas chemistry over the western Himalayan Indian states. This study shows that cloud-microphysical properties and the resulting precipitation distribution depend critically on the aerosol types and their concentrations under similar thermodynamic conditions. This study highlights the role of aerosol and gas chemistry and recognizes the importance of atmospheric chemistry in the model simulation for the analysis of Himalayan extreme precipitation events, and its further associations with the Himalayan hydrology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Riverine systems are influenced by historical and current land use practices linked to alterations in the riparian zone across multiple scales. This study aims to explore the trend of spatiotemporal land cover changes and configuration along a major headstream of the river Ganges in India. Geo-spatial tools were used to quantify the changes in the landscape across a time span of 22 years. Landscape configuration was quantified by applying class level metrics using the software FRAGSTATS. A loss of 18.3% and 5.5% in the dense forest class was perceived in the upland and the riverine areas respectively aided by conversion of large contiguous forests into smaller isolated patches. Markov analysis showed that the forests in the landscape still possess inherent resilience capacity as indicated by a probability of 47% conversion of open forest class to dense forest class in future based on current land-use practices. Land cover changes and forest fragmentation can have inevitable impacts on ecological functioning and species persistence. Monitoring these changes is fundamental in planning future strategies for riverine landscape management. The present study underpins the utility of remote sensing and GIS in building useful baseline data for inaccessible mountainous landscapes at both local and regional scales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fistula is considered to be any abnormal passage which connects two epithelial surfaces. Parks fistula classification demonstrates the biggest practical significance and divides fistulae into inter-sphincteric, trans-sphincteric, supra-sphincteric, and extra-sphincteric. Diagnostic method options are retrograde (RTG) fistulography, computed tomography (CT) fistulography, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of pelvic organs. The purpose of the study is to correlate clinical examination and operative findings with the findings of MRI and to draw efficacy of MRI as a preoperative diagnostic tool in the management of fistula in ano. This study was performed at the Surgery Department and MRI unit of the Radiology Department of JLNH and RC, Bhilai, from January 2014 to July 2015. Patients with perianal fistulae were included in our prospective study. All patients underwent high-spatial resolution MR imaging. MR imaging findings were correlated with the intraoperative surgical finding. MR imaging shows 7 fistulous patients with side branching and 16 with abscess cavity which was 100% intraoperatively correlated. Fifty-six patients out of 60 completely correlated with MRI for primary track which was clinically significant. MRI had 96% sensitivity and 100% specificity for primary tract and internal opening and 100% sensitivity and specificity for abscess and multiple tracks. MRI is useful in successful treatment of perianal fistulae by providing more accurate anatomical information about the amount of sphincter above the track and the position and level of the internal opening, thereby increasing the likelihood of successful surgical treatment. So, MRI is the very important preoperative investigation tool for fistula in ano. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thermal (heat) burns occur when some or all of the cells in the skin or other tissues are destroyed by: hot liquids (scalds) hot solids (contact burns) or flames (flame burns). In India, over 1,00,0000 people are moderately or severely burnt every year. The incidence and circumstances of death due to thermal injuries differ significantly amid the three genders including the third sex of transgender. Present study analyses profiles of different thermal injury deaths during the entire one year period of 2016 at North Maharashtra's only Govt. Medical college. Data obtained from medico-legal autopsy reports, inquests, panchanamas, hospital treatment records of the dead, etc. Out of the 136 thermal injury death victims observed in the year, female predominance clearly noted with 98 (72.05%) deaths, followed by 37 (27.20%) male and one (00.73%) transgender deaths. We observed most numbers of dead across various parameters, such as 109 (81.36%) victims been married, 83 (61.03%) cases had septicemia as cause of death, 86 (63.23%) deaths were accidental in manner, 116 (85.29%) cases sustained flame type of thermal injury among whom 76 (55.88%) incidences involved kerosene as an inflammable material, 69 (50.73%) victims survived for 3--7 days after sustaining thermal injuries; and in 73 (53.67%) cases, including the transgender, dying declarations were recorded. Deaths of the recently recognized third gender, transgender, is still under reported and scarcely studied till the date. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Amongst all traffic accidents, road traffic accidents claim largest toll of human life and tend to be the most serious problem world over. Worldwide, the number of people killed in road traffic accidents (RTA) each year is estimated at almost 1.2 million, while the number of injured could be as high as 50 million. The present study has been carried out to study the distribution, nature and types of injuries received during fatal RTAs, and to suggest possible preventive measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background & objectives: Variations in the N-acetyltransferase (NAT2) gene among different populations could affect the metabolism and disposition of isoniazid (INH). This study was performed to genotype NAT2 gene polymorphisms in tuberculosis (TB) patients from Chennai, India, and compare plasma INH concentrations among the different genotypes. Methods: Adult patients with TB treated in the Revised National TB Control Programme (RNTCP) in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, were genotyped for NAT2 gene polymorphism, and two-hour post-dosing INH concentrations were compared between the different genotypes. Plasma INH was determined by highperformance liquid chromatography. Genotyping of the NAT2 gene polymorphism was performed by real-time polymerase chain reaction method. Results: Among the 326 patients genotyped, there were 189 (58%), 114 (35%) and 23 (7%) slow, intermediate and fast acetylators, respectively. The median two-hour INH concentrations in slow, intermediate and fast acetylators were 10.2, 8.1 and 4.1 µg/ml, respectively. The differences in INH concentrations among the three genotypes were significant (P≺0.001). Interpretation & conclusions: Genotyping of TB patients from south India for NAT2 gene polymorphism revealed that 58 per cent of the study population comprised slow acetylators. Two-hour INH concentrations differed significantly among the three genotypes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

‘Mainstream feminism’ in India remained substantially elitist in its concerns carrying the legacy of ‘western feminism’. As such it failed to appreciate, accommodate and represent the specific concerns of Dalit women. Consequently Dalit women are forced to lead a separate movement. It is the premise of this paper that the nascent Dalit Feminism, which could not derive any theoretical and representational sustenance from the Indian Feminism, can draw from the African American womanist/feminist experiences as it shares a similar socio-historical environment. Further, it argues in favor of Dalit feminism as a more inclusive kind of feminism that challenges oppression of any form for women in India or elsewhere. As much of Dalit women’s writing is produced in Indian vernaculars a few short stories from Telugu Dalit writing, translated into English are analyzed to reflect different perspectives of Dalit women’s discourse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reintroduction of the tiger ( Panthera tigris) has become imperative to address the extinction crisis and, it also provides new knowledge of the species biology as to how these animals explore and utilize new environments. We studied six reintroduced tigers and three of their offsprings in Panna Tiger Reserve, central India, focusing on exploration strategy, movement characteristics and spatio-temporal home range patterns. It was found that the release site had no influence on home range selection by the reintroduced tigers, regardless of the release method (soft or hard release) and origin (wild caught or raised in captivity). Although there was a high rate of initial movement, these animals exhibited strong site fidelity and territoriality subsequently. Mean (±SD) annual home ranges of male and female tigers were 132.7 km ± 9.0 and 73.6 km ± 9.6, respectively, and did not differ significantly across seasons. The home range sizes of males were among the largest in India and was also marginally larger for females. Comparison with previous telemetry study on historic tiger population in the same site suggests that the reintroduced animals behaved almost exactly the same way as that of native populations, offering support for reintroduction strategies which look to restore not only the species population but also ecosystem functions. The exploratory strategy and subsequent home range establishment by the reintroduced tigers offer novel insights on species behaviour in a new environment, with implication for future conservation strategies that consider translocation-based recovery of tiger populations in the range countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The incidence of acetabular fractures in India has increased over the past years but so has the operating skills of pelvi-acetabular trauma surgeons. The outcomes of surgical management need to be assessed so as to be able to devise proper treatment plan and execute the same during and after surgery, which in turn requires assessment of quality of life indices as well as functional scores. While there are studies assessing Harris Hip scores (HHS) and world health organization quality of life BREF (WHOQOL BREF) in the western population there is no study which assesses the same in Indian population. We designed this study to evaluate and define reference values for use of WHOQOL BREF Hindi scores in QOL Assessment in patients with acetabular fractures and to assess the relationship between it and HHS. Materials and Methods: 118 patients with acetabular fractures who were treated surgically were included in this retrospective study. Assessment of reduction quality (Matta's radiological criteria), clinical outcome (HHS) and functional outcome (WHOQOL-BREF score) were done. The affect of age, gender, fracture displacement, hip dislocation, delay in surgery and associated injury on the clinical and functional outcome was evaluated. Results: The mean HHS was 90.65 (42-100) which showed an overall good to excellent outcome in 78.8% cases. WHOQOL-BREF Hindi score of domain-one was 63.06 ± 20.31 (13-94), of domain-two was 58.22 ± 19.57 (13-100), of domain-three was 70.49 ± 17.92 (13-100) and of domain-four was 64.48 ± 18.46 (13-100), which showed significant functional deficit in domain-one (P = 0.0001) and domain-two (P = 0.0001) but not in domain-three (P = 0.458) and domain-four (P = 0.722) when compared to score of general healthy population. The domain scores of general population norms were achieved in 59.3%, 61.9%, 69.5% and 66.1% cases in domain one, two, three and four respectively. Conclusions: Based on these results one can conclude that WHOQOL-Hindi questionnaire is good enough for assessment of QOL in addition to clinical measures in acetabular fracture patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the role of Asian monsoons on transport and spatial variability of atmospheric CO 2 over the Indian subcontinent, using transport modeling tools and available surface observations from two atmospheric CO 2 monitoring sites Sinhagad (SNG) and Cape Rama (CRI) in the western part of peninsular India. The regional source contributions to these sites arise from the horizontal flow in conduits within the planetary boundary layer. Greater CO 2 variability, greater than 15 ppm, is observed during winter, while it is reduced nearly by half during summer. The SNG air sampling site is more susceptible to narrow regional terrestrial fluxes transported from the Indo-Gangetic Plains in January, and to wider upwind marine source regions from the Arabian Sea in July. The Western Ghats mountains appear to play a role in the seasonal variability at SNG by trapping polluted air masses associated with weak monsoonal winds. A Lagrangian back-trajectory analysis further suggests that the horizontal extent of regional sensitivity increases from north to south over the Indian subcontinent in January (Boreal winter). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The curriculum of pharmacy institutions in India is regulated by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and the Pharmacy Council of India (PCI) at degree and diploma levels. However, it has been over two decades that the syllabi have been revised by these regulatory agencies. Considering the dynamic character of pharmacology, it is essential to prepare a syllabus that caters to the contemporary needs of the academic institutions and pharmaceutical industry, the community. Pharmacists are also witnessing a greater role in community pharmacy practice as well as in several healthcare sectors. Considering these facts, a panel discussion was held at IPSCON 2013, (the Annual Conference of Indian Pharmacological Society) at Bangalore. The discussion saw several recommendations for syllabi for institutions offering various pharmacy courses to meet the objectives of teaching, learning and research in Pharmacology. This article documents a summary of the discussion. For B. Pharm. course, a balance between industry-oriented pharmacology and clinical pharmacy has been recommended. Redundant animal experiments should be replaced with the simulation experiments or those which are feasible in the light of stringent regulations of the Committee for the Purpose of Control and Supervision of Experiments on Animals (CPCSEA). It is recommended that the M. Pharm curriculum should focus on preclinical research with the inclusion of molecular biology and experiments on gene expression, proteomics, pharmacogenomics, cell culture and tissue culture. In general, at all levels, exposure of students to hospitals and clinicians is needed. Pharm. D., syllabus too should lay lesser emphasis on experimental pharmacology. Present experiments in the D. Pharm. course have no relevance to the program objectives and hence, only experiments through demonstrations or simulated preparations or interactive videos maybe undertaken. Regulatory bodies as well as universities should design a comprehensive syllabus and plan an effective pedagogy to prepare graduates who are competent and capable of bringing positive changes in the community and healthcare in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fish diversity and assemblage structure in relation to habitat variables were studied in 15 sites in Panna landscape, central India. The sampling was performed between February-April 2009. Fifty species of fishes belonging to 32 genera, 15 families and four orders were recorded from the study area. Cyprinids were the dominant assemblage members in all study streams (abundance ranges from 56.6-94.5 %). The cyprinid Devario aequipinnatus and the snakehead Channa gachua had highest local dominance (80% each) in Panna landscape. High Shannon and Margalef's diversity was recorded in Madla region of Ken River. Similarity cluster analysis explained the study sites along Ken River (Gahrighat, Magradabri and Madla) had similar faunal assemblage. Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA) was performed to study the species association with a set of environmental variables. The CCA revealed that cyprinid abundance was associated with stream order, deeper habitat, flow and water temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Assessment of suitability of groundwater for domestic and agricultural purposes was carried out in Tondiar river basin, Tamil Nadu, India. The study area covers an area of 315 km and lies in a semiarid region. Groundwater is the major source for domestic and agricultural activity in this area. Groundwater samples were collected from 45 wells during pre-monsoon and post-monsoon period in the year 2006. The water samples were analysed for physical and chemical characteristics. Suitability of groundwater for irrigation was evaluated based on salinity hazard, sodium percent, sodium adsorption ratio, residual sodium carbonate, US salinity diagram, Wilcox's diagram, Kelly's ratio and permeability index. Ca-HCO, mixed Ca-Mg-Cl and Na-Cl were the dominant groundwater types. High hardness and electrical conductivity in this area makes the groundwater unsuitable for drinking and agricultural purposes. Concentration of trace elements (Mn, Cu, Zn, Pb and Ni) did not exceed the permissible limit for drinking and agricultural purposes. Majority of the groundwater samples were unsuitable for domestic and agricultural purposes except for 31% and 36%, which were suitable for drinking and irrigation purposes, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper touches upon the issues of federalism and governance with a perspective on the demand for smaller states in modern India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

International Journal of Paediatric Dentistry 2011; 21: 459-464 Background. The available evidence implicating the involvement of oxidative stress in the caries process suggests that local antioxidant status may be of importance in determining the susceptibility to the caries process. Aim. The aim of this study was to estimate the total antioxidant capacity (TAC) in unstimulated saliva of healthy children with and without severe early childhood caries (S-ECC) and to correlate the individual TAC level with dmft (d = decayed, m = missing, f = filled, t = teeth) score and age. Material and methods. The TAC of saliva was investigated in 100 healthy children in the age range of 3-5 years divided in two groups, control and study group based on the absence or presence of caries, respectively. The antioxidant capacity of saliva was estimated by an adaptation of ABTS [2, 2′-Azino-di-(3-ethylbenzthiazoline sulphonate)] assay. Results. The mean TAC level in the saliva of the children in study group was found to be significantly increased ( P < 0.001), and a significantly linear regression was seen between the TAC and dmft score ( P < 0.001) whereas it was insignificant between the TAC and age ( P = 0.078). Conclusion. The results indicated that TAC of saliva increased significantly in children with S-ECC and increasing prevalence of dental caries predisposes to the increase in TAC of saliva. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]