Field Bund & Border as Alternative Land Use for Forage Production: A Case of Marginal Farmer in Bundelkhand Region of India

In India, if marginal farmers are approached for production of forage grasses in their agricultural lands, the response of the farmers would be straight forward „NO‟ to the forage crops on agricultural lands. The reason is that food grains (cereals & pulses), vegetables, oilseeds, fruits, etc. are grown on agricultural land and get the first preference for family members, while the forage grasses are least preferred, as crops residues are being fed to livestock. More than 60% of the farm produce come from the small farms only. The productivity of the marginal and small farmers is the solution for growing population food needs. Most of the marginal and small farmers cultivate the farm land with the support of their family members and local labour which the quality of the work is higher. They grow multiple crops and sow as soon as they harvest. The last four decades has witnessed a sharp decline in the average size of operational land holdings in India. The average size of operational land holdings has reduced by half from 2.28 ha in 1970-71 to 1.6 ha in 2010-11. Land holdings in the marginal category (less than 1 ha) constitute 67% of the operational holdings in India (2010-11). Marginal and small holdings together, constitute 85% in terms of number of operational holdings and 44% of the operated area in the country. Thus, over the period, the marginal category has emerged as a distinct and dominant class by itself with its average size dwindling to a mere 0.38 ha. (NABARD, 2014). This is the case study of an illiterate & marginal farmer, Shri Vijay Singh Kushwaha (37) S/o shri Dhan Singh resides in Kushwaha Dera at village Parasai (under Babina development block) in Jhansi district of Uttar Pradesh, Bundelkhand region of central India. He used to cultivate only monsoon crops, was the target of an extension programme initiated by ICAR-Central Agroforestry Research Institute, Jhansi in 2011 under the project “Enhancing groundwater recharge and water use efficiency in Semi-Arid Tropics region through watershed interventions, Parasai-Sindh watershed, Jhansi”. The watershed is being developed in consortia mode with ICAR-Central Agroforestry Research Institute, Jhansi, and International Crop Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Hyderabad. The watershed comprises three villages namely Parasai, Chhatpur and Bachhauni and located between 250 23‟56‟‟ to 250 27‟ 9.34‟‟ N latitude and 780 19‟ 45.71‟‟ to 780 22‟ 42.57‟‟E longitude. The watershed is about 35 km in the West of the district headquarter. Bundelkhand is prone to severe drought leading to huge migration towards cities in search of livelihoods and the scarcity of green fodder posed as one of the major hindrances for dairy and livestock production activity in the region

Comparison of cardiovascular risk factors between sri lankans living in kandy and oslo

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>South Asians living in western countries are known to have unfavourable cardiovascular risk profiles. Studies indicate migrants are worse off when compared to those living in country of origin. The purpose of this study was to compare selected cardiovascular risk factors between migrant Sri Lankans living in Oslo, Norway and Urban dwellers from Kandy, Sri Lanka.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Data on non fasting serum lipids, blood pressure, anthropometrics and socio demographics of Sri Lankan Tamils from two almost similar population based cross sectional studies in Oslo, Norway between 2000 and 2002 (1145 participants) and Kandy, Sri Lanka in 2005 (233 participants) were compared. Combined data were analyzed using linear regression analyses.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Men and women in Oslo had higher HDL cholesterol. Men and women from Kandy had higher Total/HDL cholesterol ratios. Mean waist circumference and body mass index was higher in Oslo. Smoking among men was low (19.2% Oslo, 13.1% Kandy, P = 0.16). None of the women smoked. Mean systolic and diastolic blood pressure was significantly higher in Kandy than in Oslo.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our comparison showed unexpected differences in risk factors between Sri Lankan migrants living in Oslo and those living in Kandy Sri Lanka. Sri Lankans in Oslo had favorable lipid profiles and blood pressure levels despite being more obese.</p

Study of Prescribing Pattern, Identification of Drug Related Problems and Therapeutic Intervention in Cardio Vascular Diseases (CVD) Patients

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a disorder of heart and blood vessels. CVD is one of the major causes of deaths in India, which contributed around 30 to 40%. The aim of the study was to study the prescribing pattern of drugs, identification of drug related problems and therapeutic intervention in CVD patients. A hospital based prospective and observational study was carried out for a period of nine months in a south Indian tertiary care hospital. Among 120 selected patients, 79 were male&nbsp; (65.83%) and 41 were female&nbsp; (34.16%), more number of patients (35) were between the age group of 55-64 (29.16%) of which 27 were males &amp; 8 were females, and very less number of patients (6) were between the age group 85-94 (5%) of which all the 6 were male. Hypertension is the most commonest and dominant disorder, which affected 47(39.16%) patients, in which 30 were male (25%) and 17 were female (14.16%). Most common risk factor is HTN followed with smoking and diabetes of 45 patients (37.5%). The most often prescribed pattern adopted in CVD is Dual therapy, it is most frequently used therapy 50 (41.66%) and quadruple therapy is less frequently 6(6.5%) used. The diuretics and calcium channel blocker combination were maximally prescribed class of drugs as a dual therapy. A total of 47 drug-drug interactions were found, among 12 were major, 15 were moderate and 20 were minor interactions. Clinical pharmacist has intervened with the help of other health care professionals in order to reduce the risk factor and minimise the drug-drug interactions. The study provides the benefits of presence of clinical pharmacist in a hospital setting, in order to prevent the medication related errors and provide the expertise pharmacotherapy opinion in CVD patients, which improves the patient compliance.&nbsp; Hence study justifies a need of active collaboration between clinical pharmacist, physician and other health care professionals for the better management of CVD patients. Keywords: Prescribing Pattern; Cardio Vascular Diseases; Drug Related Problems; Therapeutic Intervention

Appraisal of complementarity of subsurface drip fertigation and conservation agriculture for physiological performance and water economy of maize

The Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP) in north-west (NW) India are facing a severe decline in ground water due to prevalent rice-based cropping systems. To combat this issue, conservation agriculture (CA) with an alternative crop/s, such as maize, is being promoted. Recently, surface drip fertigation has also been evaluated as a viable option to address low-nutrient use efficiency and water scarcity problems for cereals. While the individual benefits of CA and sub-surface drip (SSD) irrigation on water economy are well-established, information regarding their combined effect in cereal-based systems is lacking. Therefore, we conducted a two-year field experiment in maize, under an ongoing CA-based maize-wheat system, to evaluate the complementarity of CA with SSD irrigation through two technological interventions–– CA+ (residue retained CA + SSD), PCA+ (partial CA without residue + SSD) – at different N rates (0, 120 and 150 kg N ha-1) in comparison to traditional furrow irrigated (FI) CA and conventional tillage (CT) at 120 kg N ha-1. Our results showed that CA+ had the highest grain yield (8.2 t ha-1), followed by PCA+ (8.1 t ha-1). The grain yield under CA+ at 150 kg N ha-1 was 27% and 30% higher than CA and CT, respectively. Even at the same N level (120 kg N ha-1), CA+ outperformed CA and CT by 16% and 18%, respectively. The physiological performance of maize also revealed that CA+ based plots with 120 kg N ha-1 had 12% and 3% higher photosynthesis rate at knee-high and silking, respectively compared to FI-CA and CT. Overall, compared to the FI-CA and CT, SSD-based CA+ and PCA+ saved 54% irrigation water and increased water productivity (WP) by more than twice. Similarly, a greater number of split N application through fertigation in PCA+ and CA+ increased agronomic nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) and recover efficiency by 8–19% and 14–25%, respectively. Net returns from PCA+ and CA+ at 150 kg N ha-1 were significantly higher by US$ 491 and 456, respectively than the FI-CA and CT treatments. Therefore, CA coupled with SSD provided tangible benefits in terms of yield, irrigation water saving, WP, NUE and profitability. Efforts should be directed towards increasing farmers’ awareness of the benefits of such promising technology for the cultivating food grains and commercial crops such as maize. Concurrently, government support and strict policies are required to enhance the system adaptability

Revising the WHO verbal autopsy instrument to facilitate routine cause-of-death monitoring.

OBJECTIVE: Verbal autopsy (VA) is a systematic approach for determining causes of death (CoD) in populations without routine medical certification. It has mainly been used in research contexts and involved relatively lengthy interviews. Our objective here is to describe the process used to shorten, simplify, and standardise the VA process to make it feasible for application on a larger scale such as in routine civil registration and vital statistics (CRVS) systems. METHODS: A literature review of existing VA instruments was undertaken. The World Health Organization (WHO) then facilitated an international consultation process to review experiences with existing VA instruments, including those from WHO, the Demographic Evaluation of Populations and their Health in Developing Countries (INDEPTH) Network, InterVA, and the Population Health Metrics Research Consortium (PHMRC). In an expert meeting, consideration was given to formulating a workable VA CoD list [with mapping to the International Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) CoD] and to the viability and utility of existing VA interview questions, with a view to undertaking systematic simplification. FINDINGS: A revised VA CoD list was compiled enabling mapping of all ICD-10 CoD onto 62 VA cause categories, chosen on the grounds of public health significance as well as potential for ascertainment from VA. A set of 221 indicators for inclusion in the revised VA instrument was developed on the basis of accumulated experience, with appropriate skip patterns for various population sub-groups. The duration of a VA interview was reduced by about 40% with this new approach. CONCLUSIONS: The revised VA instrument resulting from this consultation process is presented here as a means of making it available for widespread use and evaluation. It is envisaged that this will be used in conjunction with automated models for assigning CoD from VA data, rather than involving physicians

An Efficient Targeted Drug Delivery through Apotransferrin Loaded Nanoparticles

BACKGROUND: Cancerous state is a highly stimulated environment of metabolically active cells. The cells under these conditions over express selective receptors for assimilation of factors essential for growth and transformation. Such receptors would serve as potential targets for the specific ligand mediated transport of pharmaceutically active molecules. The present study demonstrates the specificity and efficacy of protein nanoparticle of apotransferrin for targeted delivery of doxorubicin. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Apotransferrin nanoparticles were developed by sol-oil chemistry. A comparative analysis of efficiency of drug delivery in conjugated and non-conjugated forms of doxorubicin to apotransferrin nanoparticle is presented. The spherical shaped apotransferrin nanoparticles (nano) have diameters of 25-50 etam, which increase to 60-80 etam upon direct loading of drug (direct-nano), and showed further increase in dimension (75-95 etam) in conjugated nanoparticles (conj-nano). The competitive experiments with the transferrin receptor specific antibody showed the entry of both conj-nano and direct-nano into the cells through transferrin receptor mediated endocytosis. Results of various studies conducted clearly establish the superiority of the direct-nano over conj-nano viz. (a) localization studies showed complete release of drug very early, even as early as 30 min after treatment, with the drug localizing in the target organelle (nucleus) (b) pharmacokinetic studies showed enhanced drug concentrations, in circulation with sustainable half-life (c) the studies also demonstrated efficient drug delivery, and an enhanced inhibition of proliferation in cancer cells. Tissue distribution analysis showed intravenous administration of direct nano lead to higher drug localization in liver, and blood as compared to relatively lesser localization in heart, kidney and spleen. Experiments using rat cancer model confirmed the efficacy of the formulation in regression of hepatocellular carcinoma with negligible toxicity to kidney and liver. CONCLUSIONS: The present study thus demonstrates that the direct-nano is highly efficacious in delivery of drug in a target specific manner with lower toxicity to heart, liver and kidney

Poor Reproducibility of Allergic Rhinitis SNP Associations

10.1371/journal.pone.0053975PLoS ONE81

Identification of Ideal Locations and Stable High Biomass Sorghum Genotypes in semiarid Tropics

The dearth of proper delineation for energy sorghum cultivation has led to a prerequisite for evaluation and identification of test environments for the newly developed lines. This becomes of vital importance as the biomass yield is highly influenced by genotype and environmental (G × E) interactions. Several agronomic traits were considered to assess the biomass yield and the combined analysis of variance for G (genotype), L (location) and interaction effect of G × L. The variations in the yield caused by the interaction of G × L are very essential to acquire knowledge on the specific adaptation of a genotype. Thus, the multi-location trials conducted across locations and years have helped to identify the stable environments with specific adaptation for biomass sorghum. The presence of close association between the test locations suggested that the same information about the genotypes could be obtained from fewer test environments, and hence the potential to reduce evaluation costs. The two genotypes—IS 13762 and ICSV 25333—have shown stable performance for biomass traits across all the locations, in comparison with CSH 22SS (check). The top ten entries with stable and better performance for fresh biomass yield, dry biomass yield, grain yield and theoretical ethanol yield were ICSV 25333, IS 13762, CSH 22SS, IS 25302, IS 25301, IS 27246, IS 16529, DHBM2, ICSSH 28 and IS 17349

Leprosy post-exposure prophylaxis with single-dose rifampicin

_Objective:_ Leprosy post-exposure prophylaxis with single-dose rifampicin (SDRPEP) has proven effective and feasible, and is recommended by WHO since 2018. This SDR-PEP toolkit was developed through the experience of the leprosy postexposure prophylaxis (LPEP) programme. It has been designed to facilitate and standardise the implementation of contact tracing and SDR-PEP administration in regions and countries that start the intervention. _Results:_ Four tools were developed, incorporating the current evidence for SDRPEP and the methods and learnings from the LPEP project in eight countries. (1) th

Discovery And Confirmation Of The Shortest Gamma-Ray Burst From A Collapsar

Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are among the brightest and most energetic events in the Universe. The duration and hardness distribution of GRBs has two clusters(1), now understood to reflect (at least) two different progenitors(2). Short-hard GRBs (SGRBs; T-90 \u3c 2 s) arise from compact binary mergers, and long-soft GRBs (LGRBs; T-90 \u3e 2 s) have been attributed to the collapse of peculiar massive stars (collapsars)(3). The discovery of SN 1998bw/GRB 980425 (ref. (4)) marked the first association of an LGRB with a collapsar, and AT 2017gfo (ref. (5))/GRB 170817A/GW170817 (ref. (6)) marked the first association of an SGRB with a binary neutron star merger, which also produced a gravitational wave. Here, we present the discovery of ZTF20abwysqy (AT2020scz), a fast-fading optical transient in the Fermi satellite and the Interplanetary Network localization regions of GRB 200826A; X-ray and radio emission further confirm that this is the afterglow. Follow-up imaging (at rest-frame 16.5 days) reveals excess emission above the afterglow that cannot be explained as an underlying kilonova, but which is consistent with being the supernova. Although the GRB duration is short (rest-frame T-90 of 0.65 s), our panchromatic follow-up data confirm a collapsar origin. GRB 200826A is the shortest LGRB found with an associated collapsar; it appears to sit on the brink between a successful and a failed collapsar. Our discovery is consistent with the hypothesis that most collapsars fail to produce ultra-relativistic jets