Biodiversity Conservation in India: A Review

India is one of the 34 Mega biodiversity hotspots of the world. It is home for threatened and endemic species that have immense ecological and commercial value. Due to increased human population and overexploitation of natural resources biodiversity is under threat worldwide. Threats to species are principally due to decline and fragmentation of their habitat. Biodiversity, as measured by the number of plant and vertebrate species, is greatest in the Western Ghats and North East in India.Biodiversity has several values such as economical, ecological, ethical, medicinal, aesthetical, social and many more. The present need of the hour is the sustainable use of biodiversity. Inventory only will identify the key issues of management of biodiversity which include a continuing process of searching and re-examining the early findings. Conservation of biodiversity is being done in the form of various legislations, the establishment of the protected area, Zoos and botanical gardens, gene Bank, seed bank etc. In this paper, the overview of Biodiversity and Its types, values, the status of biodiversity in India, causes of threats and various steps to be taken for the conservation of biodiversity have been discussed

Congenital absence of a part of the fallopian tube: a case report

Congenital malformations of female genital tract are frequently seen in Gynaecological clinics, incidence being upto 5-6% in cases of infertility. Most of these anomalies are related to uterus and vagina, abnormalities related to ovaries and fallopian tubes are of rare occurrence and the exact incidence of these anomalies are not known, only a few incidental case reports are available in literature. Here, we present a rare case report of absent mid- tubal segment of fallopian tube in a patient of infertility

Bioremediation of tannery effluent by using Pseudomonas fluorescens and Eichhornia crassipes and its effect on Wheat seed germination and plant growth

Tannery industries discharge a large quantity of toxic substances like chromium, sodium sulphide, sodium carbonate, ammonium sulphate and chlorides in their effluent, which manifold soil pollution and affect on seed germination and plant growth. In this study, two investigational systems are attempted: i) tannery effluent was treated by aerobic bacteria Pseudomonas fluorescens and aquatic macrophyte Eichhornia crassipes and ii) the impact of treated and untreated effluent and soil on seed germination and plant growth were studied. The physicochemical properties such as color, pH, COD, BOD, total solids, suspended solids, dissolved solids, and chromium concentration were found decreased in effluent that treated with bacterial strain for 72 h and Water hyacinth for 20 days. These treated effluent also significantly enhanced chlorophyll content, and biomass production over other of wheat plant. The results revealed that effluent treated by microbes and plant has no negative impact on the seed germination and plant growth. Thus, it can be effectively used for irrigation

Angiomatoid fibrous histiocytoma in an elderly male: An unusual presentation with review of literature

Angiomatoid fibrous histiocytoma (AFH) is a rare soft tissue tumor occurring mostly in children, adolescents, and young adults. Clinically and radiographically, it is difficult to differentiate AFH from hematoma, soft tissue hemangioma, and malignant fibrous histiocytoma. Here, we present the clinical, radiologic, and pathologic findings of a case of AFH due to its rarity in a 67-year-old man. The patient underwent wide surgical excision with a provisional diagnosis of sarcoma. On pathological examination, the lesion demonstrated solid-cystic nodules of histiocytes with blood-filled cysts, a dense hyaline fibrous pseudo capsule, and a very focal peripheral lymphoplasmacytic infiltrates. The tumor cells showed strong positivity for CD68, variable positivity for CD34, Desmin, EMA, negativity for CK and a low Ki67 index

Versioning of Web service interfaces

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, 2004.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 88-91).This thesis investigates the problem of "design for change" in the context of Web Service based information systems. It describes the current status of architecting Web Services, an implementation of the Service Oriented Architecture. It also discusses the availability and support for higher level specifications, such as security, that leverage the baseline standards like SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol), WSDL (Web Service Description Language), and UDDI (Universal Discovery, Description and Integration). This thesis examines versioning as an additional specification. It discusses the Web Service enabled programming environment by addressing the various causes of change. Two levels of versioning are identified to deal with this problem--Schema level and Interface level versioning. For Schema level versioning, the extensibility models and their versioning support are discussed. Other techniques of using distinct namespaces and custom versioning tags are presented by means of samples. The second level of versioning, the Interface Level Versioning, discusses implementation of versioning logic using the current standards of WSDL 1.1. In addition, the ongoing recommendations and efforts in this field are stated.by Anamika Agarwal.S.M

Cutaneous bronchogenic cyst over sternum: A rare case report

Bronchogenic cyst is a congenital developmental abnormality of the embryonic foregut and is found most commonly in the mediastinum with rare occurrence on the skin or subcutaneous tissues. We report a case of cutaneous bronchogenic cyst that occurred in the skin over the sternum in a 24-year-old male. On ultrasonography, a well-circumscribed, non-echogenic cystic mass was observed measuring 2 cm × 2 cm. Histologically, the cyst was lined by ciliated, pseudostratified, columnar epithelium with interspersed goblet cells, and there were bundles of smooth muscle fibers in the cyst wall. Cutaneous bronchogenic cysts are uncommon congenital malformations and should be included in the differential diagnosis of congenital cystic and nodular skin lesions on the upper chest, upper back, and neck

Toxoplasma and Plasmodium protein kinases: roles in invasion and host cell remodelling

Some apicomplexan parasites have evolved distinct protein kinase families to modulate host cell structure and function. Toxoplasma gondii rhoptry protein kinases and pseudokinases are involved in virulence and modulation of host cell signalling. The proteome of Plasmodium falciparum contains a family of putative kinases called FIKKs, some of which are exported to the host red blood cell and might play a role in erythrocyte remodelling. In this review we will discuss kinases known to be critical for host cell invasion, intracellular growth and egress, focusing on (i) calcium-dependent protein kinases and (ii) the secreted kinases that are unique to Toxoplasma (rhoptry protein kinases and pseudokinases) and Plasmodium (FIKKs)

Global burden of 369 diseases and injuries in 204 countries and territories, 1990–2019: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

Background: In an era of shifting global agendas and expanded emphasis on non-communicable diseases and injuries along with communicable diseases, sound evidence on trends by cause at the national level is essential. The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) provides a systematic scientific assessment of published, publicly available, and contributed data on incidence, prevalence, and mortality for a mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive list of diseases and injuries. Methods: GBD estimates incidence, prevalence, mortality, years of life lost (YLLs), years lived with disability (YLDs), and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) due to 369 diseases and injuries, for two sexes, and for 204 countries and territories. Input data were extracted from censuses, household surveys, civil registration and vital statistics, disease registries, health service use, air pollution monitors, satellite imaging, disease notifications, and other sources. Cause-specific death rates and cause fractions were calculated using the Cause of Death Ensemble model and spatiotemporal Gaussian process regression. Cause-specific deaths were adjusted to match the total all-cause deaths calculated as part of the GBD population, fertility, and mortality estimates. Deaths were multiplied by standard life expectancy at each age to calculate YLLs. A Bayesian meta-regression modelling tool, DisMod-MR 2.1, was used to ensure consistency between incidence, prevalence, remission, excess mortality, and cause-specific mortality for most causes. Prevalence estimates were multiplied by disability weights for mutually exclusive sequelae of diseases and injuries to calculate YLDs. We considered results in the context of the Socio-demographic Index (SDI), a composite indicator of income per capita, years of schooling, and fertility rate in females younger than 25 years. Uncertainty intervals (UIs) were generated for every metric using the 25th and 975th ordered 1000 draw values of the posterior distribution. Findings: Global health has steadily improved over the past 30 years as measured by age-standardised DALY rates. After taking into account population growth and ageing, the absolute number of DALYs has remained stable. Since 2010, the pace of decline in global age-standardised DALY rates has accelerated in age groups younger than 50 years compared with the 1990–2010 time period, with the greatest annualised rate of decline occurring in the 0–9-year age group. Six infectious diseases were among the top ten causes of DALYs in children younger than 10 years in 2019: lower respiratory infections (ranked second), diarrhoeal diseases (third), malaria (fifth), meningitis (sixth), whooping cough (ninth), and sexually transmitted infections (which, in this age group, is fully accounted for by congenital syphilis; ranked tenth). In adolescents aged 10–24 years, three injury causes were among the top causes of DALYs: road injuries (ranked first), self-harm (third), and interpersonal violence (fifth). Five of the causes that were in the top ten for ages 10–24 years were also in the top ten in the 25–49-year age group: road injuries (ranked first), HIV/AIDS (second), low back pain (fourth), headache disorders (fifth), and depressive disorders (sixth). In 2019, ischaemic heart disease and stroke were the top-ranked causes of DALYs in both the 50–74-year and 75-years-and-older age groups. Since 1990, there has been a marked shift towards a greater proportion of burden due to YLDs from non-communicable diseases and injuries. In 2019, there were 11 countries where non-communicable disease and injury YLDs constituted more than half of all disease burden. Decreases in age-standardised DALY rates have accelerated over the past decade in countries at the lower end of the SDI range, while improvements have started to stagnate or even reverse in countries with higher SDI. Interpretation: As disability becomes an increasingly large component of disease burden and a larger component of health expenditure, greater research and developm nt investment is needed to identify new, more effective intervention strategies. With a rapidly ageing global population, the demands on health services to deal with disabling outcomes, which increase with age, will require policy makers to anticipate these changes. The mix of universal and more geographically specific influences on health reinforces the need for regular reporting on population health in detail and by underlying cause to help decision makers to identify success stories of disease control to emulate, as well as opportunities to improve. Funding: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. © 2020 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open Access article under the CC BY 4.0 licens

Global age-sex-specific fertility, mortality, healthy life expectancy (HALE), and population estimates in 204 countries and territories, 1950-2019 : a comprehensive demographic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

Background: Accurate and up-to-date assessment of demographic metrics is crucial for understanding a wide range of social, economic, and public health issues that affect populations worldwide. The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2019 produced updated and comprehensive demographic assessments of the key indicators of fertility, mortality, migration, and population for 204 countries and territories and selected subnational locations from 1950 to 2019. Methods: 8078 country-years of vital registration and sample registration data, 938 surveys, 349 censuses, and 238 other sources were identified and used to estimate age-specific fertility. Spatiotemporal Gaussian process regression (ST-GPR) was used to generate age-specific fertility rates for 5-year age groups between ages 15 and 49 years. With extensions to age groups 10–14 and 50–54 years, the total fertility rate (TFR) was then aggregated using the estimated age-specific fertility between ages 10 and 54 years. 7417 sources were used for under-5 mortality estimation and 7355 for adult mortality. ST-GPR was used to synthesise data sources after correction for known biases. Adult mortality was measured as the probability of death between ages 15 and 60 years based on vital registration, sample registration, and sibling histories, and was also estimated using ST-GPR. HIV-free life tables were then estimated using estimates of under-5 and adult mortality rates using a relational model life table system created for GBD, which closely tracks observed age-specific mortality rates from complete vital registration when available. Independent estimates of HIV-specific mortality generated by an epidemiological analysis of HIV prevalence surveys and antenatal clinic serosurveillance and other sources were incorporated into the estimates in countries with large epidemics. Annual and single-year age estimates of net migration and population for each country and territory were generated using a Bayesian hierarchical cohort component model that analysed estimated age-specific fertility and mortality rates along with 1250 censuses and 747 population registry years. We classified location-years into seven categories on the basis of the natural rate of increase in population (calculated by subtracting the crude death rate from the crude birth rate) and the net migration rate. We computed healthy life expectancy (HALE) using years lived with disability (YLDs) per capita, life tables, and standard demographic methods. Uncertainty was propagated throughout the demographic estimation process, including fertility, mortality, and population, with 1000 draw-level estimates produced for each metric. Findings: The global TFR decreased from 2·72 (95% uncertainty interval [UI] 2·66–2·79) in 2000 to 2·31 (2·17–2·46) in 2019. Global annual livebirths increased from 134·5 million (131·5–137·8) in 2000 to a peak of 139·6 million (133·0–146·9) in 2016. Global livebirths then declined to 135·3 million (127·2–144·1) in 2019. Of the 204 countries and territories included in this study, in 2019, 102 had a TFR lower than 2·1, which is considered a good approximation of replacement-level fertility. All countries in sub-Saharan Africa had TFRs above replacement level in 2019 and accounted for 27·1% (95% UI 26·4–27·8) of global livebirths. Global life expectancy at birth increased from 67·2 years (95% UI 66·8–67·6) in 2000 to 73·5 years (72·8–74·3) in 2019. The total number of deaths increased from 50·7 million (49·5–51·9) in 2000 to 56·5 million (53·7–59·2) in 2019. Under-5 deaths declined from 9·6 million (9·1–10·3) in 2000 to 5·0 million (4·3–6·0) in 2019. Global population increased by 25·7%, from 6·2 billion (6·0–6·3) in 2000 to 7·7 billion (7·5–8·0) in 2019. In 2019, 34 countries had negative natural rates of increase; in 17 of these, the population declined because immigration was not sufficient to counteract the negative rate of decline. Globally, HALE increased from 58·6 years (56·1–60·8) in 2000 to 63·5 years (60·8–66·1) in 2019. HALE increased in 202 of 204 countries and territories between 2000 and 2019