PREVALENCE OF ANAEMIA AMONG RURAL PRE-SCHOOL CHILDREN OF MAHARASHTRA, INDIA

Background: Anaemia continues to be a severe public health nutritional problem in India affecting all physiological groups, even after the National Nutritional Anaemia Prophylaxis Programme has been in operation for more than three decades. Objective: To assess the prevalence of anaemia among rural pre-school (1-5-years) children of Maharashtra. Methods: A community based cross-sectional study was carried by National Nutrition Monitoring Bureau (NNMB) covering a total of 404 (Boys-243; Girls-161) pre-school children. Information of socio-demographic particulars was obtained and the finger prick blood samples were collected for the estimation of haemoglobin levels by cyanmethmoglobin method. Results: The result shows that 59.2 % (CI: 54.4-64.0) of the rural pre-school children of Maharashtra were anaemic, and the prevalence was significantly (p<0.001) higher (76.5% with CI: 68.1-84.9) among 1-3-year children as compared to 53.6% in 4-5-year- children. Stepwise Logistic regression analysis also revealed that the risk of anaemia in 1-3-year-age group was three times higher (OR= 2.8; 95% CI: 1.6-4.7). Conclusion: Anaemia was severe public health nutritional problem (>40%) among rural pre-school children of Maharashtra. Therefore, appropriate intervention measures such as supplementary iron & folic acid, periodic deworming and health & nutrition education should be strengthened. The community needs to be encouraged to diversify their diets by consuming iron rich foods

Constraints and strategies of smallholder farmers for successful protected cultivation of capsicum: A critical appraisal

The study was framed to assess the challenges/constraints in protected cultivation of capsicum by small holder farmers in Karnataka state, India and provide strategies for sustained profitability. Ex-post-facto research design was followed for conducting study in three districts (Bangalore Rural, Bangalore Urban and Chickballapur) of Karnataka. From each district, 50 smallholders capsicum cultivation farmers under protected cultivation were selected through purposive random sampling, constituting 150 respondents. Garrett’s ranking technique was adopted to analyse the constraints faced by the farmers in the study area. The various constraints experienced by the farmers were broadly grouped in to production constraints, market constraints, financial constraints, technological constraints, institutional constraints, weather-based constraints, health and labour constraints. These finding demonstrated urgent need to intervene towards the constraints experienced by the smallholder capsicum grows under protected cultivation, which not only ensures to get stable income but also sustain their livelihoods

1mb{1\over m_b} and 1mt{1\over m_t} Expansion of the Weak Mixing Matrix

We perform a $1/m_b$ and $1/m_t$ expansion of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi- Maskawa mixing matrix. Data suggest that the dominant parts of the Yukawa couplings are factorizable into sets of numbers $\vert r>$, $\vert s>$, and $\vert s'>$, associated, respectively, with the left-handed doublets, the right-handed up singlets, and the right- handed down singlets. The first order expansion is consistent with Wolfenstein parameterization, which is an expansion in $sin \theta _c$ to third order. The mixing matrix elements in the present approach are partitioned into factors determined by the relative orientations of $\vert r>$, $\vert s>$, and $\vert s'>$ and the dynamics provided by the subdominant mass matrices. A short discussion is given of some experimental support and a generalized Fritzsch model is used to contrast our approach.Comment: A set of references has been added to ealier related wor

Majorana neutrino transition magnetic moments in left-right symmetric models

Transition magnetic moments of Majorana neutrinos are discussed in the frame of the most natural version of the LR model (with left- and right-handed triplets and a bidoublet in the Higgs sector). We show that their largest values could be at most $6\cdot 10^{-13} \mu_B$ from diagrams with $W_L$ in the loop. This could happen for specific models where (i) neutrino-charged lepton mixing is maximal and (ii) $\kappa_1 \simeq \kappa_2$ (VEVs for neutral Higgs fields in the bidoublet $\phi$ are equal). Contributions from diagrams with charged Higgses in the loop are smaller than those in the SM with right-handed neutrinos.Comment: 4 pages. Presented at the ICHEP Conference, Vancouver, 1998. To appear in Proceeding

Erythrocyte aldose reductase activity and sorbitol levels in diabetic retinopathy

PurposeActivation of polyol pathway due to increased aldose reductase (ALR2) activity has been implicated in the development of diabetic complications including diabetic retinopathy (DR), a leading cause of blindness. However, the relationship between hyperglycemia-induced activation of polyol pathway in retina and DR is still uncertain. We investigated the relationship between ALR2 levels and human DR by measuring ALR2 activity and its product, sorbitol, in erythrocytes.MethodsWe enrolled 362 type 2 diabetic subjects (T2D) with and without DR and 66 normal subjects in this clinical case-control study. Clinical evaluation of DR in T2D patients was done by fundus examination. ALR2 activity and sorbitol levels along with glucose and glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1C) levels in erythrocytes were determined.ResultsT2D patients with DR showed significantly higher specific activity of ALR2 as compared to T2D patients without DR. Elevated levels of sorbitol in T2D patients with DR, as compared to T2D patients without DR, corroborated the increased ALR2 activity in erythrocytes of DR patients. However, the increased ALR2 activity was not significantly associated with diabetes duration, age, and HbA1C in both the DR group and total T2D subjects.ConclusionsLevels of ALR2 activity as well as sorbitol in erythrocytes may have value as a quantitative trait to be included among other markers to establish a risk profile for development of DR

Influence of Pongamia, Mahua and Neem cakes on finger millet productivity and soil fertility

A field experiment conducted at Bio-fuel park, Agricultural Research Station, Madenur, Hassan in Kharif season of 2009 to asses the performance of finger millet (Eleusine coracana L.) under different organic manure treatment consisting of four treatments viz., recommended FYM and NPK through inorganic fertilizers as control, Pongamia, Mahua and Neem cake with 5 replications laid in randomized complete block design. The results revealed that application of recommended FYM along with neem cake equivalent to 100% recommended N performedbetter in respect of finger millet productivity and maintenance of soil fertility followed by recommended FYM with 100% NPK through fertilizers. Nutrient supplementation with different oilcakes proved superior in respect of soil sustainability

Method development and validation of a reversed phase HPLC method for determination of Anastrazole and Temozolomide in pharmaceutical dosage form

A new simple assay method has been developed and validated for the determination of Anastrazole and Temozolomide using reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography in their pharmaceutical dosage form. The chromatographic separation was performed on an Inertsil ODS (4.6 x 150mm, 5m) using mobile phase phosphate buffer pH 3.0 and methanol of 30:70% v/v at a flow rate of 0.8mL/min. Analytes were detected at 260nm. The method was found to be linear in the concentration range of 1-5μg/mL for both medicaments with the coefficient value (R2) of >0.999. The accuracy was measured via recovery studies and found to be acceptable and the percentage recoveries were found in the range of 98.81-100.720 and 99.290-100.700%. The proposed method was successfully validated and applied for the quantitative estimation of these drugs in both bulk and tablet dosage forms. © 2020 Author(s)

Interaction between a vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus and Streptomyces cinnamomeous and their effects on finger millet

Growth and P nutrition of Eleusine coracana on a sterile P-deficient soil was improved by inoculation with either Glomus fasciculatus or S. cinnamomeous. The micro-organisms interacted antagonistically when added simultaneously or with a 2-wk interval between them: S. reduced spore production and development of infection by G. while G. reduced the multiplication of S. Because of this antagonism dual inoculations stimulated plant growth less than single ones.ADDITIONAL ABSTRACT:The growth and phosphorus nutrition of Eleusine coracana on a sterile P-deficient soil was improved by inoculation with the vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus Glomus fasciculatus or with Streptomyces cinnamomeous. These microorganisms interacted antagonistically, so inoculation of E. coracana with both did not give as much growth stimulation as inoculation with either alon