Gluteal rhabdomyosarcoma in a newborn – A case report

Rhabdomyosarcoma is the most common soft tissue malignancy of childhood; however, can be seen very rarelyin the neonatal period also. It may arise anywhere in the body; head and neck, and genitourinary regions beingthe most frequent sites. Truncal and gluteal rhabdomyosarcoma is relatively rare occurrence. We report aneonate with embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma arising from the gluteal muscles at birth. Ultrasonography andMagnetic resonance imaging raised the possibility of hemangioma lymhangioma. Total excision was done andchemotherapy given. The child had a recurrence after 6 months where the nodule along with the scar wasexcised. A chemoport was introduced and the child underwent further 4 cycles of chemotherapy afterrecurrence. He is well on 2 years follow up without any disability

The development of cross-cultural recognition of vocal emotion during childhood and adolescence

Humans have an innate set of emotions recognised universally. However, emotion recognition also depends on socio-cultural rules. Although adults recognise vocal emotions universally, they identify emotions more accurately in their native language. We examined developmental trajectories of universal vocal emotion recognition in children. Eighty native English speakers completed a vocal emotion recognition task in their native language (English) and foreign languages (Spanish, Chinese, and Arabic) expressing anger, happiness, sadness, fear, and neutrality. Emotion recognition was compared across 8-to-10, 11-to-13-year-olds, and adults. Measures of behavioural and emotional problems were also taken. Results showed that although emotion recognition was above chance for all languages, native English speaking children were more accurate in recognising vocal emotions in their native language. There was a larger improvement in recognising vocal emotion from the native language during adolescence. Vocal anger recognition did not improve with age for the non-native languages. This is the first study to demonstrate universality of vocal emotion recognition in children whilst supporting an “in-group advantage” for more accurate recognition in the native language. Findings highlight the role of experience in emotion recognition, have implications for child development in modern multicultural societies and address important theoretical questions about the nature of emotions

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Not AvailableIn this paper, a PRAstudy was carried out in Khorwad watershed located on the bank of the river Mahi in Umreth taluka of Anand district in Gujarat state during December, 2011. The farmers’ perception towards adoption of bamboo in Mahi ravineswas studied with the help of PRAtechniques in detail. Mapping of social habitation and resources availability in Khorwad watershed was done. It was found out that few farmers of Khorward watershed were cultivating bamboo in ravine wastelands and boundaries of their farms, whereas they were cultivating crops and fruits trees on leveled lands on upper side of Mahi ravines. Seasonal analysis of bamboo cultivation activities in Mahi ravines is also dealt in the paper. The different activities of bamboo cultivation were carried out by the farmers and they were very much busy in the month of April to June. The transect walk was also carried out along with the local farmers to verify and observe the information provided by the villagers during PRA exercise. The preference of bamboo adoption inMahi ravines by the farmers was studied and it was found out that the 33.3 per cent of farmers of Khorwad village preferred bamboo plantation in ravine beds. A few farmers of other villages preferred bamboo plantation in ravine wastelands. The problems faced by farmers in bamboo adoption in Mahi ravines were found out with the help of matrix analysis technique. The farmers of Khorwad watershed perceived the wild animals attack and termite attack as major problems in theMahi ravines area in bamboo cultivation.Not Availabl

Laparoscopic appendicectomy is a favorable alternative for complicated appendicitis in children

Aim: To evaluate the role of laparoscopy in complicated appendicitis in children. Materials and Methods: A total of 119 children were operated for appendicitis between October 2005 and May 2008 at SRMC, Chennai. Forty-one patients underwent open appendicectomy (OA), and 71 patients underwent laparoscopic appendicectomy (LA). Twenty-six cases among the LA group and 16 among the OA group had complicated appendicitis. Twenty-six cases were completed laparoscopically, and 2 needed conversion to OA. Results: Out of 26 patients in the LA group, 23 made an uneventful recovery without any complications. One had minor port site infection, and 2 had prolonged loose stools. Out of 16 in the OA group, 7 had complications. Three had wound infection, 2 had loose stools, 1 had fecal fistula and another required subsequent surgeries. Operative duration in LA was 86.7 min (range: 75 to 120 min) and 90.3 min (range: 70 to 150 min) in OA. Oral feed resumption in LA was done at average of 2.7 days and in OA at 4.3 days. IV antibiotics were administered for an average of 3.6 days in LA and 4.8 days in OA, parenteral analgesic for 2.7 days in LA and 4.2 days in OA. The length of hospital stay was 5.4 days in LA and 7.3 days in OA. Conclusion: LA is a favorable alternative in children with complicated appendicitis in view of less postoperative pain, fewer postoperative complications and quicker return to normal activity

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Not AvailableIn this paper, a PRAstudy was carried out in Khorwad watershed located on the bank of the river Mahi in Umreth taluka of Anand district in Gujarat state during December, 2011. The farmers’ perception towards adoption of bamboo in Mahi ravineswas studied with the help of PRAtechniques in detail. Mapping of social habitation and resources availability in Khorwad watershed was done. It was found out that few farmers of Khorward watershed were cultivating bamboo in ravine wastelands and boundaries of their farms, whereas they were cultivating crops and fruits trees on leveled lands on upper side of Mahi ravines. Seasonal analysis of bamboo cultivation activities in Mahi ravines is also dealt in the paper. The different activities of bamboo cultivation were carried out by the farmers and they were very much busy in the month of April to June. The transect walk was also carried out along with the local farmers to verify and observe the information provided by the villagers during PRA exercise. The preference of bamboo adoption inMahi ravines by the farmers was studied and it was found out that the 33.3 per cent of farmers of Khorwad village preferred bamboo plantation in ravine beds. A few farmers of other villages preferred bamboo plantation in ravine wastelands. The problems faced by farmers in bamboo adoption in Mahi ravines were found out with the help of matrix analysis technique. The farmers of Khorwad watershed perceived the wild animals attack and termite attack as major problems in theMahi ravines area in bamboo cultivation.Not Availabl

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Not AvailableWatershed management is considered as a way for sustainable rural development and thus impact evaluation is a must. The common approach of postclassification comparison of pre- and post-implementation satellite imageries for watershed impact evaluation suffers from serious limitations, mainly ignoring the changes which are not due to watershed interventions. To minimize such biases, control area approach is proposed and relative change in watershed compared to control area is attributed to watershed management. The studied four clusters of watershed in Vidarbha region, Maharashtra show that the effect of the watershed could stand out irrespective of pre- and post-implementation conditions of satellite imageries.Not Availabl

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Not AvailablePurpose Soil erosion and loss threatens vast tracts of agricultural and non-agricultural land, worldwide. High soil erosion severely affects establishment of vegetation via effects on plant growth and productivity on already degraded lands. However, information on soil loss impact on tree plantation and their relationships is scarce in the ravine lands. Therefore, we assessed soil loss effects on tree growth and soil characteristics, and role of conservation measures in degraded ravine land. Methods The study consisted of comparing three systems, i.e., terracing, trenching, and sole slope to observe the effects on soil erosion and the resultant losses. In first system, a terraced land was designed from ravine top to bottom by dividing the slope into the four plots. In second system, ninety-seven trenches sized 2.0m× 0.5m× 0.5mwere designed on slope,while in third system, a continuous slope was maintained. Twenty-seven trees were planted at 8 m× 8 m spacing in each system. In all the systems, annual runoff, soil loss, tree growth, biomass and carbon stock, and soil properties were observed for the 7 years. Results Annual soil loss was recorded highest (5.1 t ha−1 year−1) in slope followed by trench (4.4 t ha−1 year−1) and terrace (3.8 t ha−1 year−1) systems, during the 7 years. In the slope system, increased soil loss resulted in the decreased tree height and collar diameter growth by 3–12% and 12–21%, respectively. Total biomass, carbon stock, and CO2 sequestration declined by 44–86% with the increased soil loss on the slope during the same period. Tree canopy area was also recorded lower in the slope, compared to terrace and trench measures. The soil loss relationship with tree characteristics revealed that growth, biomass, carbon stock, and canopy area consistently declined with the increased soil loss. In soil, proportional loss of organic carbon (11–21%), nitrogen (10–13%), phosphorus (25–32%), and potassium (4–13%) was also observed with increased soil erosion on the slope, compared to conservation measures. In contrast, soil loss reduction in the terrace and trench based measures improved the tree growth, biomass, carbon stock, and soil properties during the same period. Conclusion The soil loss negatively affected the tree growth, productivity and their restoration potential, while soil conservation measures showed strong potential to ameliorate the highly eroded ravine slopes. Therefore, tree plantations should be augmented with the appropriate soil and water conservation measures for achieving greater ecological and economic benefits in degraded ravine lands.Not Availabl

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Not AvailableIndian Institute of Soil and Water Conservation (IISWC) and its Research Centres have developed many model watershed projects successfully in India in the past and implemented many Soil and Water Conservation (SWC) technologies for sustainable watershed management. Though many evaluation studies were conducted on these projects in the past but assessment of the post-adoption status of the SWC technologies over a longer period has not been done yet. It was imperative to appraise the behaviour of the farmers with regard to the continuance or discontinuance of the technologies adopted, diffusion or infusion that took place and technological gaps that occurred in due course of time on post watershed programme. Therefore, it was realized that the post-adoption behaviour of beneficiary farmers who have adopted different soil and water conservation technologies for watershed management projects should be studied in detail. The research study was initiated in 2012 as Core project at Vasad as lead Centre along with IISWC headquarter Dehradun, and Centres Agra, Bellary, Chandigarh, Datia, Kota & Ooty, with the specific objectives of the study to measure the extent of post-adoption behaviour (continue-adoption, discontinuance, technological gap, diffusion and infusion) of farmers towards adopted SWC technologies of watershed management. In the present study various indices regarding continue adoption, dis-adoption (discontinuance), technological gap, diffusion, infusion regarding soil and water conservation technologies for watershed management were developed for measurement of post-adoption behaviour of farmers. It was revealed that little less than three-fourth (73.04 %) of SWC technologies were continued adopted and more than one-fourth (27.01%) were discontinued by farmers. Out of the total continue adopted SWC technologies by farmers, little less than one-fifth (18.96 %) of technologies were continued adopted with technological gap. More than one-fourth (27.82%) of SWC technologies were also diffused to other farmers’ fields in nearby villages and on an average 1.23 number of technologies were also infused into the farmers’ fields from outside by their own efforts in the watersheds developed by the IISWC and its Centres.Not Availabl