Search

Under small and marginal farm conditions, allocation of land exclusively for forages is not possible. Hence, integration of forages in existing crop geometry can ensure production of grain and fodder, simultaneously under rainfed conditions. A field experiment was conducted to study the effect of different nutrient management practices on rice and fodder intercropping systems under rainfed conditions during 2015–2017. The intercropping system comprised (i) sole rice (R), (ii) rice and cowpea (5:2) (CP) and (iii) rice and ricebean (5:2) (RB) whereas the different nutrient management practices comprised (i) application of farm yard manure (FYM) at 5 t ha–1 (farmers’ practice) (N1), (ii) application of inorganic fertilizer (recommended dose of fertilizer (RDF) of rice, 60:30:30 kg ha–1 of N:P2O5:K2O) (N2) and (iii) application of both FYM at 5 t ha–1 and 50% of RDF inorganic fertilizer (N3). The results of the experiment revealed that the growth attribute such as leaf area was influenced significantly when fodder crops were taken as intercrops because rice plant was getting more nitrogen from soil due to nitrogen fixation of leguminous fodder crops. Among the nutrient management practices, significant differences in leaf area were found beween N2 and N1, and between N3 and N1 treatments. However, regarding total number of effective tillers, significant differences were found neither between nutrient management practices nor between cropping systems. The rice equivalent yield (REY) based on price (REYP) was found to be significantly lower in CP (2 615 kg ha–1; –6.4%) and RB intercropping systems (2 571 kg ha–1; –8.0%) than in R monocropping system (2 794 kg ha–1). However, the REY based on energy (REYE) of CP (2 999 kg ha–1; +7.3%) and RB (2 960 kg ha–1; +5.9%) were found to be significantly higher than that of R (2 794 kg ha–1) irrespective of nutrient management practices. Between different nutrient management practices, the N3 treatment recorded the highest REYP and REYE which was at par with the N2 treatment and significantly higher than the N1 treatment irrespective of cropping systems. The combined application of both organic and inorganic sources of nutrients helped to supply nutrients throughout the growing season, which led to improved growth parameters and rice yield. The R monocropping system resulted in more income and rain water use efficiency (RWUE) closely followed by rice and fodder intercropping systems. However, the REYE and energy use efficiency (EUE) of rice and fodder intercropping systems were higher than those of R. Also, fodder helped to meet the requirement of cattle feeding in the off-season. Hence, the intercropping system is advocated in the study zone. Further study can be done on ecosystem services and carbon sequestration potential of the intercropping system, as well as the system’s coping ability in response to short drought through observing periodic soil moisture regime in root zone.

Plasma cell dyscrasia is the term used to describe the disorders characterized by neoplastic proliferations of plasma cells with production of immuno globulins. Of all the plasma cell dyscrasias, multiple myeloma is the commonest and clinically important. Multiple myeloma accounts for 1% of all malignancies and 10–20% of all hematologic malignancies. Mostly the patients present with bone pain, pathological fractures, renal insufficiency or infections. Here we present two cases of multiple myeloma with unusual presentations admitted in the otorhinolaryngology department of a tertiary care center. One 50-year old male presented with a mass in the left external auditory canal along with left facial palsy and the other a 45 yr old female, who presented with painful deglutition, multiple mucosal erosion in oral cavity, throat tightness and left side facial pain. Both cases are examined and evaluated and found to have multiple myeloma. They were referred to the Hematology department for further management.

This paper presents a free vibration analysis of un-damped woven roving laminated composite plate using Classical Laminate Plate Theory (CLPT), for different boundary conditions. The fiber glass/epoxy woven roving laminated composite plates have been prepared using hand layup method. Three different fiber orientations have been considered for the fiber glass/epoxy laminated composite plate, having 50% each percentage by volume of glass and epoxy. Effects of fiber orientation on different mechanical properties such as density, hardness, impact strength and impact strength have been studied. Finite element modeling of the composite plates has been performed using different boundary conditions such as CCCC, CFCF, and CFFF and the fundamental frequencies obtained from the computational modeling have been compared with the available literature.

In current scenario, research in smart material deformations introduces a new classical continuum mechanics-based deformation approach that have enough potential to make a bold move from the conventional deformation approaches to a newer one. In line with that, the present work is concerned with the finite deformation modeling of a dielectric cylindrical actuator (DCA) with compliant electrodes. Herein, a common usage of DCA is to realize simultaneous axial and radial displacement with an electric field application across the thickness of the cylinder. Accordingly, we first presented an unified classical continuum mechanics-based approach to model the finite deformation of an incompressible isotropic electro-elastic cylindrical actuator under an applied electric field. Next, we formulate the constitutive relationships following the second law of thermodynamics with an amended form of energy function. This amended energy function successfully resolved the difficulty in the physical interpretation of Maxwell stress tensor exists in the literature under large deformations. In addition, we also propose a new energy density function for a class of an incompressible isotropic electro-elastic material. Further, we obtain a finite electro-elastic deformation model for a dielectric cylindrical actuator (DCA). Finally, we validated the obtained electro-elastic deformation model with their corresponding experimental data existing in the literature.

Summary: Background: The increase of geriatric population, as well as their age-related problems, is of great concern for the society and for the governments all over the world and also in India. The main objectives were to overview and find the prevalence of Oto-rhino-laryngological problems in the geriatric population. Method: A prospective study of geriatric patients was undertaken in ENT & HNS Department, S.C.B Medical College & Hospital, Cuttack, India, from November 2014 to August 2016.Inclusion criteria –The patients of age 60 yrs & above who attended ENT outpatient department were studied. Among 3563 patients studied, 363 patients were admitted. The patients were segregated according to sex (male/female), ages (60–64 yr group, 65–69 yr group, 70 yr & above), disease ratio, and prevalence of diseases, associated co-morbidities, and socio-economic aspects. Results: Total patients studied were 3563. The otological problems were being prevalent in geriatrics among study population (51.77%) in which presbycusis was the highest with 17.71% of total and 34.21% of otological problems. The problems related to nose were 13.03%, among which epistaxis was 4.98% of total and 37.60% of nasal problems. The neck and throat problems were 35.20%. The problems were more in males (63.65%) than in females (36.35%). Conclusion: The hearing loss is the most prevalent diagnosis amongst all otologic problems and epistaxis amongst nasal symptoms. The emergence of head & neck cancers among the geriatric population is a great concern in a developing country like India. Keywords: Oto-rhino-laryngological problems, geriatric populations

The present study deals with the rheological behavior modeling of a dielectric elastomeric (DE) material class. The DE materials are commonly used to develop soft actuators and energy harvesters in soft robotics. DE is a class of electroactive polymers that produces large strains with an electrically induced load application. In this article, a micro mechanics-based thermodynamically consistent rheological model is derived to capture the electro–viscoelastic behavior of the DE material class. A multiplicative deformation gradient decomposition into elastic and viscous parts is incorporated to attain a transitional configuration. The decomposition is being used for setting up the constitutive evolution equations for an electro–viscoelastic deformation. The derived rheological model agrees well with existing experimental results. We succeed here to enable the effect of viscosity and electric field on the deformation simultaneously with a micro mechanics-based analytical finding with the least possible material parameters.

Ear, nose and throat practice presents the surgeons with an amazing variety of foreign bodies to deal with, some of them are truly unusual.They may be inert, hygrophilic or corrosive. Foreign body impaction in ear,nose and throat is among the medical-surgical emergencies of otorhinolaryngological practice. Some foreign bodies have been well documented among the objects that normally get impacted in ear,nose and throat.Here we present two unusual cases that happened to be managed in our institution. First case was of a patient who came with an unusual foreign body lodged in the nose and nasopharynx and the second case was of a migrating foreign body in throat. The main aim and objective of these case reports is to highlight on unusual foreign bodies and their management .These foreign bodies were never found to have been reported previously in our review of literature.

Background: The human upper and lower respiratory tract share a close relationship in respect to existence of diseases. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the outcome of endoscopic sinus surgery with the Lund- Mackay staging system and to find any objective changes between the pre and post-operative pulmonary function test values in patients with chronic rhinosinusitis undergoing endoscopic sinus surgery.Methods: A total of 50 patients of CRSwNP refractory to maximal medical treatment (for 1 month) planned for endoscopic sinus surgery were included in the study. Results were assessed on the basis of pre and post-operative endoscopic and CT scores and PFT (FEV1, FVC and FEV1/FVC) values. Results: Postoperatively, Lund Mackay endoscopic and CT scores improved from the preoperative values, which were statistically significant with p valuesrd month and post-operative 1st month versus postoperative 3rd month, the difference between the means were found to be statistically significant (p=0.000), except for FVC between postoperative 3rd month and 1st month.Conclusions: This study provides objective evidence that patients with CRSwNP may have non clinical lower airway disease detected by PFT and ESS is effective in improvement of both nasal and lower airway disease as evident from the improvements in PFT values.

A 59-year-old male presented with complaints of trismus and discharge of altered blood from nose for 1 year. Patient had a history of facial trauma one year back. Nasal endoscopy and CT scan revealed a foreign body lodged in posterior half of both nasal cavity, left maxillary sinus and left infratemporal fossa penetrating the walls of maxillary sinus and nasal septum. Foreign body was removed by infratemporal fossa approach. This case has a rare location of a forgotten foreign body with atypical presentation.

Background: Mucociliary clearance in nasal mucosa shows changes with temperature. In cold climate, it is expected to decrease, thus contributing to exacerbation of rhinosinusitis symptoms. If we raise the temperature of saline used for nasal irrigation to the normal body temperature, can it overcome this problem in cold climate? This study aims to examine whether irrigation using saline that is heated to 37°C has any superiority compared to irrigation using saline at 180C in rhino sinusitis treatment.Methods: Prospective double blind study done in a tertiary care centre from November 2017 to March 2018. 32 patients of chronic rhinosinusitis were divided into 2 groups. Group A received saline nasal irrigation using saline at 18oc and Group B received irrigation with saline at 37oc for 2 weeks. Saccharine transit time and sino nasal outcome test (SNOT-22) scores were calculated before and after treatment in both groups and the results compared. Results: Saccharine transit time improved from mean pretreatment value of 12.4±5.52 minutes to 9.1±6.3 minutes in Group A and from 12.82±6.3 to 8.5±6.45 in Group B (p=0.0212). Mean SNOT-22 score decreased from 58.8±5.6 to 41.4±4.8 in Group A and from 57.5±4.2 to 37.9±5.1 in Group B after treatment (pConclusions: Nasal irrigation using saline at 370C is more effective than saline at 18°C in increasing mucociliary clearance and improving symptoms in chronic rhinosinusitis patients.

Neck swelling is a common clinical presentation in ENT practice and it carries significant morbidity and even mortality if not managed properly. Thyroid swelling being the most common type we conducted a prospective study to assess the role of FNAC in diagnosing the nature of thyroid swelling and comparing its result with histopathology finding. It was observed that FNAC is a very reliable test having high sensitivity and specificity in thyroid swelling.

The existing small population of Mugger crocodile inhabit in south Odisha near Ganjam and Parlakamundai district Border. The main habitats could be classified in two, main natural and artificial habitats. The main natural habitats are the small and large ponds along the main Reservoir, Ghodahada. Most of these ponds have similar characteristics providing suitable habitats for the Mugger crocodiles. Generally, Mugger crocodiles avoid from running parts of the rivers, streams and prefer fairly deep and calm parts of the rivers with suitable vegetation and sandy banks. As the artificial water bodies also play essential support for the Mugger crocodile population. Small and large ponds nearby villages constructed for the rain water storage as well as the dams constructed along the river Ghodahada supposed to be important habitats for the Mugger crocodiles too. The movement of Mugger crocodiles between the habitats is usual recorded behavior in the area. In most habitats the Mugger crocodiles have close contact with local people. Some ponds in border area are supposed to be Mugger crocodile habitats too, and some reports from local people indicating movement between the local habitats. Constructed dams on the main rivers had important effects on the habitats too. 37 species of fish, 8 amphibian 28 reptilian and 46 bird species are the main food resources for the Mugger crocodiles in these habitats which also add the richness to biodiversity of area. Since 2008 Mugger crocodile conservation program was initiated by Berhampur forest department. Latest 2014 census recorded 46 basking Mugger crocodiles and 7 nests were found during the nest survey in small islands/mainland in habitat.

Facial neuroma is a condition of insidious onset. Prior to the introduction of modern imaging techniques (computerised tomography, magnetic resonance imaging) delays between presentation and diagnosis were common place. Atypical facial paralysis and hearing loss are the most common presenting features. This combination is very suggestive of a facial neuroma and is an indication to proceed to computed tomography. This investigation can reveal expansion of the Fallopian canal at any point through the temporal bone. A few facial neuromas occur in the cerebello-pontine angle alone or in the parotid. Resection and grafting are always worthwhile as facial neurones seem to persist in the tumour mass keeping muscle alive until the facial nerve graft becomes functional. The presentation, management and results of treatment of 15 such cases is presented.

To study the clinical and histopathological characteristics along with the management and treatment outcome of parapharyngeal space tumours, a retrospective review analysis was undertaken in the department of otolaryngology and head and neck surgery, SCB Medical College and Hospital, Cuttack among 16 patients treated surgically. Of which, majority were benign and most common being Schwannoma. Parapharyngeal tumours are rare head and neck neoplasms. Their accurate diagnosis and management is challenging and requires a team approach. When the diagnosis is ambiguous, a complete surgical excision and histopathological examination should be the mode of approach for these rare tumours.