Hearing Loss in Chronic Otitis Media Mucosal Type, Does This Have a Relation with Patient Demographic Profile, a Study in the Third World Country

The study was conducted to establish a relationship between hearing loss withthe demographic profile in patients with chronic otitis media inactive mucosal disease. Patients with chronic otitis media (COM) inactive mucosal disease, of both sexes and different age groups were assessed and grouped based on unilateral or bilateral ear involvement; rural and urban, and based on the duration of discharge. Hearing loss (HL) was measured by calculating the air-bone gap via pure-tone audiometry. The study included 210 ears, a total of 161 patients. The age group of patients ranged from 15 to 55 years. Maximum proportion (53 %) in younger age groups (15-25 years) but no relation with HL was seen. Incidence was higher in females, with significantly greater HL. Greater HL in bilateral involvement. 51% right ear and 49% left ear involvement; 59 % from the rural area, 41 % from urban areas; no significant difference in HL. Duration of ear discharge varied from2 months to several years; maximum proportion (41%) for more than 10 years, with maximum HL (27.18 dB). Hence, it was concluded that high incidence of COM was in patients in the younger age range, in females, in rural areas, and in unilateral ear involvement. HL was significantly higher with bilateral involvement and in the female population. Greater HL was associated with longer discharging ears.Lattice Science Publication (LSP) © Copyright: All rights reserved

Geochemical evolution of dissolved trace elements in space and time in the Ramganga river, India

Understanding the spatiotemporal dynamics of river water chemistry from its source to sinks is critical for constraining the origin, transformation, and “hotspots” of contaminants in a river basin. To provide new spatiotemporal constraints on river chemistry, dissolved trace element concentrations were measured at 17 targeted locations across the Ramganga River catchment. River water samples were collected across three seasons: pre-monsoon, monsoon, and post-monsoon between 2019 and 2021. To remove the dependency of trace element concentrations on discharge, we used molar ratios, as discharge data on Indian transboundary rivers are not publicly available. The dataset reveals significant spatiotemporal variability in dissolved trace element concentrations of the Ramganga River. Samples collected upstream of Moradabad, a major industrial city in western Uttar Pradesh, are characterized by ~ 1.2–2.5 times higher average concentrations of most of the trace elements except Sc, V, Cr, Rb, and Pb, likely due to intense water–rock interactions in the headwaters. Such kind of enrichment in trace metal concentrations was also observed at sites downstream of large cities and industrial centers. However, such enrichment was not enough to bring a major change in the River Ganga chemistry, as the signals got diluted downstream of the Ramganga-Ganga confluence. The average river water composition of the Ramganga River was comparable to worldwide river water composition, albeit a few sites were characterized by very high concentrations of dissolved trace elements. Finally, we provide an outlook that calls for an assessment of stable non-traditional isotopes that are ideally suited to track the origin and transformation of elements such as Li, Mg, Ca, Ti, V, Cr, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, Sr, Ag, Cd, Sn, Pt, and Hg in Indian rivers

Nutrient and microbial water quality of the upper Ganga river, India: identification of pollution sources

The Ganga River is facing mounting environmental pressures due to rapidly increasing human population, urbanisation, industrialisation and agricultural intensification, resulting in worsening water quality, ecological status and impacts on human health. A combined inorganic chemical, algal and bacterial survey (using flow cytometry and 16S rRNA gene sequencing) along the upper and middle Ganga (from the Himalayan foothills to Kanpur) was conducted under pre-monsoon conditions. The upper Ganga had total phosphorus (TP) and total dissolved nitrogen concentrations of less than 100 μg l−1 and 1.0 mg l−1, but water quality declined at Kannauj (TP = 420 μg l−1) due to major nutrient pollution inputs from human-impacted tributaries (principally the Ramganga and Kali Rivers). The phosphorus and nitrogen loads in these two tributaries and the Yamuna were dominated by soluble reactive phosphorus and ammonium, with high bacterial loads and large numbers of taxa indicative of pathogen and faecal organisms, strongly suggesting sewage pollution sources. The high nutrient concentrations, low flows, warm water and high solar radiation resulted in major algal blooms in the Kali and Ramganga, which greatly impacted the Ganga. Microbial communities were dominated by members of the Phylum Proteobacteria, Bacteriodetes and Cyanobacteria, with communities showing a clear upstream to downstream transition in community composition. To improve the water quality of the middle Ganga, and decrease ecological and human health risks, future mitigation must reduce urban wastewater inputs in the urbanised tributaries of the Ramganga, Kali and Yamuna Rivers