Women Prisoners in Odisha: A Socio-cultural Study

The study was designed to understand the reasons behind the rising criminal behaviour among women and also to learn about their life during imprisonment. Female crime is a crucial factor that disrupts family life and stability of the society. The nature of crime committed by them has changed from softer crime to heinous crime. The socio-economic factors behind committing their crime, their perception towards society and jail administration are analyzed by using primary data which are collected by interviewing 35 women prisoners of three jails of Odisha. The data were collected by using structured interview. The findings showed that lower socio- economic condition of the prisoners have compelled them to commit crime. Lack of health care, infrastructure and employment opportunities are the major problems faced by the prisoners in jails. Their perception towards the society and jail administration has significantly deteriorated. Results are interpreted in terms of current theories and implications for future are pointed out

Functional and Genetic Characterization of Sulfatases in Salmonella Enterica Serovar Typhimurium

Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium is a gram-negative facultative intracellular food borne pathogen and accounts for $365 million in direct medical costs annually. The ability of S. Typhimurium to compete with the other microorganisms in the host gastrointestinal tract for nutrients and penetrate the epithelial mucosal layers is essential for its pathogenesis. The host mucosal glycans, the potential source of carbohydrates for gut microbiota, are heavily sulfated, making them resistant to digestion. The ability to produce sulfatases is important for utilizing the host-derived carbohydrates, intestinal adhesion, invasion of the host epithelium and systemic infection. The genomes of many enteric human pathogens contain annotated sulfatase genes, but very little is known about their regulation and physiological roles. The genome of S. Typhimurium contains six annotated sulfatase genes. As a first step in elucidating the regulatory mechanisms of sulfatase expression, this study has characterized two of them: an acid-inducible sulfatase, encoded by STM0084 (aslA), and a monoamine compound induced sulfatase encoded by STM3122. The acid-inducible aslA is regulated by the EnvZ-OmpR and PhoPQ two-component regulatory system and is likely secreted by the TAT secretion system. The aslA mutant was also found to be defective in intracellular survival. This study represents the first report of acid stress regulated sulfatases. The STM3122-encoded sulfatase was monoamine compound induced (MCI) and regulated by a transcriptional regulator, encoded by STM3124. The MCI sulfatase was found to be modified by the enzyme encoded by STM3123 and was localized in the periplasm. Interestingly the sulfatase was co-expressed with the monoamine regulon comprising a transporter and an oxidoreductase. It appears that the MCI sulfatase might be important for utilization of monoamine compounds as a carbon source. Infection experiments with zebrafish showed that the STM3122 mutant was defective in intracellular colonization. These results suggest that sulfatases are involved in pathogenesis, and sulfatase inhibitors might serve as potential therapeutic targets against Salmonella infections

Estimation of Greenhouse Gases Emissions from Biological Wastewater Treatment Plants at Windsor

Wastewater treatment processes and biosolids treatment operations are considered as sources of GHGs (greenhouse gases) production in all industrialized countries. Gases like CO2, N2O etc., which are GHGs, are produced during biological wastewater treatment process. Off-site power generation also contributes a significant amount of CO2. In this study, based on energy consumption, it was found that 0.02 kg CO2 was released per m3 of wastewater treated in the Biological Aerated Filter (BAF) system, whereas 0.03 kg CO2 was released per m3 of wastewater treated in the Activated Sludge System. The amount of on-site GHGs emissions from microbial processes varied with the incoming wastewater characteristics and temperature. The on-site results indicated that plug flow reactors emitted about 45 % higher CO2 than completely mixed reactors at the Little River Pollution Control Plant (LRPCP). The overall GHGs emissions results showed that off-site emissions were significantly higher than the on-site emissions

Bilateral Brenner tumor of ovary with associated unilateral mucinous cystadenoma: a case report

Brenner tumors are rare ovarian tumors, which are a subgroup of transitional cell tumors of ovary. Most of these tumors are benign presenting as incidental unilateral masses in postmenopausal age group. Only 5-7% cases are bilateral. These tumors are mostly small, solid and asymptomatic, seen commonly in association with mucinous cystadenomas of ovary. In such cases they may attain a massive size. Specific diagnosis of Brenner tumor is difficult using imaging studies and can be definitely diagnosed only on pathological examination. Surgical removal is usually curative for benign tumors. We present a rare case of bilateral Brenner tumor of ovary with associated unilateral mucinous cystadenoma in which bilateral Brenner tumor was a rare incidental finding on pathological examinati

Contact lens fitting in keratoconus – a prospective study on visual and functional outcomes

Background: Contact lenses continue to play an important role in the effective management of keratoconus. To report visual and functional outcomes of various types of contact lenses in keratoconus patients at a tertiary referral centre.Methods: Study design: Prospective Cohort Study. 100 eyes of 51 patients with keratoconus were fitted with contact lenses with follow up at one and six months and evaluated. Statistical analysis: Paired t test, Chi Square test.Results: Best contact lens corrected visual acuity was better than best spectacle corrected visual acuity (p= 0.000).78 % patients were fitted with RGP, 12% with Rose K, 6 % Soft, 2% Piggy Back and 2% with Kerasoft IC lenses. Soft lens were preferred in mild keratoconus, RGP for moderate and Rose K, Piggy Back and Kerasoft IC lenses for severe keratoconus. The mean daily wear among the lenses was 7.59 hours per day with Rose K lenses having maximum wearing time of 8.33 hours. Comfort and tolerance level was maximum in Rose K, Piggy Back, Kerasoft IC and RGP lens users whereas it was less in the soft lens group. No significant complications were noted with contact lens use.Conclusion: Contact lenses continue to play an important role in the effective management of keratoconus. With the advent of newer designs of contact lenses for keratoconus it is possible to customize the lenses to optimize patient’s requirement visually and functionally.

Summary of the Activities of the Working Group I on High Energy and Collider Physics

This is a summary of the projects undertaken by the Working Group I on High Energy Collider Physics at the Eighth Workshop on High Energy Physics Phenomenology (WHEPP8) held at the Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai, January 5-16, 2004. The topics covered are (i) Higgs searches (ii) supersymmetry searches (iii) extra dimensions and (iv) linear collider.Comment: summary of Working Group I at the Eighth Workshop on High Energy Physics Phenomenology (WHEPP8), I.I.T., Mumbai, January 5-16, 200

Production of tetanus toxin by using media substantially free from meat and blood

The present study was to redesign the conventional Mueller and Miller medium to produce tetanus toxin from Clostridium tetani. Meat based ingredients (such as Bovine Heart/ Brain/ Liver Infusion) were replaced with vegetable peptone & alternate casein hydrolysate and scaled up from 100mL to 1000mL. Modified Mueller and Miller Medium containing vegetable peptone (substitute of BHI) and alternate casein hydrolysate were used for production and scale -up of tetanus toxin. Detoxification of tetanus toxin was carried out by using formaldehyde to produce tetanus toxoid. Purification of tetanus toxoid was achieved by fractional precipitation. It was found that under optimum conditions, use of meat free media leads to production of tetanus toxin with equal limes flocculation (Lf) titer and high antigenic content at par with conventional meat based media without any post vaccination infections. The yield of toxin was improved during scale-up of the process. The present study provides a method for growth of Clostridium tetani that maximizes tetanus toxin production without any use of animal-derived components

Evaluation of anti-anxiety activity of Garcinia indica using Vogel water lick conflict test in rats

Background: Anxiety is usually described as a psychological, physiological and behavioural state induced in animals and humans by a threat to well-being or survival, either actual or potential. In modern medicine, benzodiazepines are still commonly used anti-anxiety agents in spite of their unfavourable adverse effect profile. Traditional herbs like Garcinia indica (Kokum) known to have possible therapeutic relevance in treatment of anxiety as a potential anxiolytic herb. So, this study was conducted to evaluate anti-anxiety effect of Garcinia indica in both, low and high doses, using Vogel’s conflict test which is of broad significance to clinical anxiety. Methods: Wistar albino rats of either sex (150-250 g) were divided into four groups with eight rats in each group. Different groups were given distilled water (0.5 ml p.o.), Diazepam (1 mg/kg p.o.), Garcinia indica (1.75 gm/kg p.o.) and Garcinia indica (3.5 gm/kg p.o.) respectively. Effect of test drugs on anxiety was evaluated using Vogel’s water lick conflict test. Parameters such as number of water licks, total number of shocks tolerated were assessed. Results expressed in mean and standard deviation were analysed using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) test followed by Tukey’s test. Results: Diazepam and high dose Garcinia indica (3.5 gm/kg) showed statistically significant increase in number of water licks and number of shocks tolerated but low dose Garcinia indica (1.75 gm/kg) did not show any significant increase in these parameters. Conclusions: This study shows that high dose Garcinia indica possess significant anti-anxiety effect comparable to that of diazepam

Search for chargino-neutralino production with mass splittings near the electroweak scale in three-lepton final states in √s=13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for supersymmetry through the pair production of electroweakinos with mass splittings near the electroweak scale and decaying via on-shell W and Z bosons is presented for a three-lepton final state. The analyzed proton-proton collision data taken at a center-of-mass energy of √s=13  TeV were collected between 2015 and 2018 by the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 139  fb−1. A search, emulating the recursive jigsaw reconstruction technique with easily reproducible laboratory-frame variables, is performed. The two excesses observed in the 2015–2016 data recursive jigsaw analysis in the low-mass three-lepton phase space are reproduced. Results with the full data set are in agreement with the Standard Model expectations. They are interpreted to set exclusion limits at the 95% confidence level on simplified models of chargino-neutralino pair production for masses up to 345 GeV