Study on the factors affecting carcass traits of broiler rabbits in Eastern Himalayan region of India

[EN] Two hundred and ten adult rabbits of both sexes and belonging to four breeds: New Zealand White (NZW), Soviet Chinchilla (SC), Local (LC) and crossbred (CB) were used for this experiment. Rabbits were kept individually in cages under hutch housing conditions. Concentrate mash feed was fed at 100 g/head/d and green roughage ad libitum as per availability in different seasons. Rabbit slaughtering data were grouped in 4 categories: 3-5; 6-8; 9-11 and > above 11 m of age. All the data were classified by preslaughter weight, age at slaughter, breed and sex prior to statistical analysis. Slaughter weight, slaughter age, breed and sex had highly significant (P<0.01) effects on carcass weight of rabbits. The overall carcass weight was 854 g and SC was significantly (P<0.05) higher to NZW and CB. Also females' carcass weight was significantly higher than males (875 and 723 g, respectively). Dressed meat weight (including the edible organs) was significantly (P<0.01) affected by slaughter age, breed and sex. Dressing yield amounted on average 54.8% and sex, breed or slaughter age did not have a significant effect. Only preslaughter weight had a significant (P<0.05) effect on dressing %, with the highest value for the heaviest rabbits. Inedible offal weight amounted on average 679 g and all the 4 studied factors had a significant (P<0.01) effect on this part.Das, S.; Bardoloi, R. (2010). Study on the factors affecting carcass traits of broiler rabbits in Eastern Himalayan region of India. World Rabbit Science. 16(2). doi:10.4995/wrs.2008.63316

Cataract How Important Is Age of Intervention?

Purpose: To study effect of age of intervention on visual outcome following treatment of pediatric patients with cataract. Setting: Tertiary eye care centre in Dahod at the trijunction of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan states in central western India. Participants: 705 eyes of 1047 patients Methods: This is a prospective cohort study. We studied a consecutive series of pediatric patients with congenital, developing, or COMPLICATED cataracts who underwent surgery between January, 1999 and April, 2012 at our center. Patient demographics, cataract type, presenting symptoms, surgical intervention, postoperative visual acuity, and follow-up refractive changes were recorded. Primary Outcome measures: vision. Results: In total, 1305 eyes of 1047 children were included: unilateral cataracts were present in 786 (60.2%) eyes. There were 600 (46.7%) traumatic and 705 (53.3%) non-traumatic cases. Ages at surgery ranged from 1 to 215 months. Eyes were grouped by the age of surgical intervention performed: Group 1,</= 5 years including 177 (25.1%) eyes, and Group 2, >5 years, including 528 (74.9%) eyes either by anterior or pars plana route ± IOL placement. The mean follow-up time was 117 days. Ultimately, 128 (18.2%) Group 1 and 213 (30.2%) Group 2 patients achieved a visual acuity better than 20/80 (P < 0.001). Age at intervention was significantly related (all P < 0.001) to visual outcome. Conclusions: Age of intervention affects visual outcome significantly (p<0.001)

Developing Terra Nullius: colonialism, nationalism, and indigeneity in the Andaman Islands

This article explores in detail the legal structures and discursive framings informing the governance of one particular ‘backward’ region of India, the Andaman Islands. It traces the shifting patterns of occupation and development of the Islands in the colonial and post colonial periods, with a special focus on the changes wrought by independence in 1947 and the eventual history of planned development. It demonstrates how intersecting discourses of indigenous savagery/primitivism and the geographical emptiness was repeatedly mobilised in colonial era surveys and post-colonial policy documents. Post colonial visions of developing the Andaman Islands ushered in a settler-colonial governmentality, infused with genocidal fantasies of the ‘dying savage’. Laws professing to protect aboriginal Jarawas actually worked to unilaterally extend Indian sovereignty over the lands and bodies of a community clearly hostile to such incorporation. It questions the current exclusion of India from the global geographies of settler-colonialism and argues that the violent and continuing history of indigenous marginalisation in the Andaman Islands represents a de facto operation of a logic of terra nullius

Yoga-Based Cardiac Rehabilitation After Acute Myocardial Infarction: A Randomized Trial

Background: Given the shortage of cardiac rehabilitation (CR) programs in India and poor uptake worldwide, there is an urgent need to find alternative models of CR that are inexpensive and may offer choice to subgroups with poor uptake (e.g., women and elderly). Objectives: This study sought to evaluate the effects of yoga-based CR (Yoga-CaRe) on major cardiovascular events and self-rated health in a multicenter randomized controlled trial. Methods: The trial was conducted in 24 medical centers across India. This study recruited 3,959 patients with acute myocardial infarction with a median and minimum follow-up of 22 and 6 months. Patients were individually randomized to receive either a Yoga-CaRe program (n = 1,970) or enhanced standard care involving educational advice (n = 1,989). The co-primary outcomes were: 1) first occurrence of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) (composite of all-cause mortality, myocardial infarction, stroke, or emergency cardiovascular hospitalization); and 2) self-rated health on the European Quality of Life–5 Dimensions–5 Level visual analogue scale at 12 weeks. Results: MACE occurred in 131 (6.7%) patients in the Yoga-CaRe group and 146 (7.4%) patients in the enhanced standard care group (hazard ratio with Yoga-CaRe: 0.90; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.71 to 1.15; p = 0.41). Self-rated health was 77 in Yoga-CaRe and 75.7 in the enhanced standard care group (baseline-adjusted mean difference in favor of Yoga-CaRe: 1.5; 95% CI: 0.5 to 2.5; p = 0.002). The Yoga-CaRe group had greater return to pre-infarct activities, but there was no difference in tobacco cessation or medication adherence between the treatment groups (secondary outcomes). Conclusions: Yoga-CaRe improved self-rated health and return to pre-infarct activities after acute myocardial infarction, but the trial lacked statistical power to show a difference in MACE. Yoga-CaRe may be an option when conventional CR is unavailable or unacceptable to individuals. (A study on effectiveness of YOGA based cardiac rehabilitation programme in India and United Kingdom; CTRI/2012/02/002408)

Characteristics of tear meniscus using a spectral domain optical coherence tomography in medically controlled glaucoma

Purpose: To compare the tear meniscus height (TMH) and tear meniscus depth (TMD) between medically controlled glaucoma subjects and age-matched controls. Methods: This prospective, cross-sectional, observational study included 50 patients with medically controlled glaucoma and 50 age-matched controls. Glaucoma subjects using topical medications for the duration of more than 1 year were included. The age-matched controls were participants with no history of glaucoma, dry eye, or any other diseases affecting the ocular surface. All the participants underwent TMH and TMD scan using spectral domain-optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT), which was followed by ocular surface disease index (OSDI) questionnaire administration. Results: The mean ages of glaucoma subjects and age-matched controls were 40 ± 22 and 39 ± 21 years, respectively (P > 0.05). Of them, 40% (n = 22) were on single drug therapy or monotherapy and 60% (n = 28) were on multidrug therapy. TMH and TMD of glaucoma subjects and age-matched controls were 101.27 ± 31.86 versus 230.63 ± 49.82 μm and 70.60 ± 27.41 versus 167.37 ± 57.06 μm, respectively. Subjects on multidrug therapy showed a statistically significant reduction in TMH and TMD when compared to age-matched controls. Conclusion: Preservative containing topical glaucoma medications affects the ocular surface, including the tear film. The prolonged duration and multiple combination of this drug usage serve as potential factors for causing reduction in the tear meniscus levels leading to drug-induced dryness

Metabolic effects of obesity: A review

With the many recent advances in the biomedical world, vast changes are taking place in our growing knowledge of the physiological aspects of almost all the tissues and organs of the human body. One of the most prevalent topics of discussion is the question of obesity and its effect on the metabolic changes in the human body. The original classical role of adipose tissue as an energy storage organ has been greatly modified. We now know that it is an endocrine organ, producing adipokines like leptin, adiponectin, visfatin, resistin, apelin, etc, which modulate metabolic processes in the body. Since obesity is associated with an increase in the adipose tissue mass, these hormones may be expected to be produced in increased concentrations and may thus have a significant impact on the macronutrient metabolism. Further, these adipokines may interact with long term energy modulators like insulin. Even though the scientific community has started unravelling the mysteries of the close linkage between obesity, its hormones and their physiological effects, a lot still remains to be discovered. The present discussion makes an attempt to trace the basic modern day concepts of the role of obesity in various metabolic processes