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The public health policy depends on the management, quality, and coverage aspects. However, the assessment analysis of spatial patterns and distribution of public health services is still a challenge. This paper attempts to analyze the availability and accessibility of public health facilities in the Muktsar district of Punjab at the village level. Spatial and attribute data for public health facilities have been used within the GIS platform to produce accurate measures of accessibility. The average nearest neighbor tool has been used for spatial patterns of services in the district. Near analysis tool has been used to calculate distances from demand points (populations) to providers (facilities). Apart from these, the ratios of public health facilities to population were calculated for the identification of underserved and over-served areas. The study advocates that the spatial pattern of public health facilities is significantly clustered (p value 0.000) with a Z-score of − 5.18. It has been found that urban areas of the Muktsar district were identified as having a higher density of health facilities, whereas villages located in the marginal parts have the lowest density of health facilities. When looking at the average distance from village centroids to health facilities, it varies considerably from village to village. Considerably less than 60 percent of the population living in 108 villages has access to public health facilities. Apart from these, 40 percent of the population living in 126 villages has the greatest increase in the distance while accessing these facilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a functional gastrointestinal disorder characterized by altered bowel habits and recurrent abdominal pain. The Rome III criteria are the main mainstay for its diagnosis. The reliability on any biochemical markers is reduced provided all warning signs have been excluded. The aim of our study was to assess the prevalence of IBS among medical students in our region (Western Punjab) and to investigate the lifestyle, sociodemographic and clinical factors associated with IBS. Materials and Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted among Indian medical students. Participants (first- to fifth year medical students from different courses) were invited to complete an anonymous questionnaire addressing social, demographic and clinical characteristics. 456 medical students were recruited in this study. Rome III criteria were used to identify patients with IBS. This questionnaire was used to gather baseline information like the family history of irritable bowel syndrome, socio-demographic data, history of chronic disease, previous diagnosis of IBS, daily sleep hours, smoking, food habits etc. Results: This study included 268 male medical students and 188 were female medical students. Approximately two third of the (69.2%) were in the age group 21 to 24 years and 26.3% had the age between 18 and 20 year and very few among age group of 24-27 years. IBS was diagnosed among 276 out of 456 participants based on Rome III Criteria. The profiles for symptoms were characterized by constipation predominant (IBS-C) (45.6%), diarrhea predominant (IBS-D) (44.7%), and others as mixed type (9.7%). The prevalence of IBS was reported as 72.3% among the female medical students studying at various medical colleges in Punjab and 53.7% among male students. Conclusion: In conclusion, 60.5% of medical students, in this study, met the Rome III criteria for IBS diagnosis. Risk factors for IBS among them included depression, anxiety, low fruits and vegetables intake, taking caffeine and any chronic medication's intake. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The experiment was laid out on the effect of nitrogen and zinc on growth and yield of maize (Zea mays L.) at Research Farm of the Department of Agriculture, Mata Gujri College, Fatehgarh Sahib, Punjab, India during kharif (July to October) season of 2017. The experiment was laid out in randomized block design three replication with eight treatments. The soil of the experimental field was Gangetic alluvial having clay loam texture with pH 7.5. It was moderately fertile, with available nitrogen (285.24 kg ha-1), available phosphorus (26.15 kg ha-1), available potassium (250.84 kg ha-1) and available zinc (1.42 mg kg-1). The maximum growth parameter viz. plant height (cm), LAI (%), dry matter accumulation (g) and the highest yield attributes and yield parameters viz., number of cob-1, length of cob (cm), test weight (g), number of grain cob-1, grain yield (q ha-1), stover yield (q ha-1), biological yield (q ha-1) and harvest index (%) was recorded at 30, 60, 90 DAS and at harvest stage with the application of nitrogen @150 kg ha-1++zinc @30 kg ha-1 which was at par with the treatments namely; nitrogen @150 kg ha-1++zinc @15 kg ha-1 and nitrogen @150 kg ha-1. All the treatments significantly influenced the growth and yield attributes as compared to control. The maximum net returns (₹ 89977 ha-1) and benefit:cost ratio (1.58) has been recorded with application of nitrogen @150 kg ha-1++zinc @30 kg ha-1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]