Nutritional Status of School Age Children (5-14 years) in a Rural Health Block of North India (Kashmir) Using WHO Z-Score System

Objective: To assess the nutritional status of school going children in Rural Block Hajin. Methods: School children from various primary and middle level educational facilities from a rural health block were surveyed during the School Health Program. Height and weight was measured following standard procedures. MS Excel and Interactive statistics page were used for analysis of data. Results: Both mean weight and height were higher in females than males. The overall prevalence of under nutrition was 19.2%. The prevalence of underweight was lowest in 5 year female (0.0%) and highest in 6 year male (21.5%). For Stunting 7 year males recorded the lowest (0.0%) and 12 year males the highest (28.5%) prevalence. The highest and lowest prevalence of wasting was recorded in 6 year old females (2.56%) and 9 year old males (24.6%) respectively. Prevalence of thinness was lowest in 13 year old females (14.2%) and highest in 13 year old males (47.1%).Conclusion: The nutritional status of school age children in this health block are comparatively better even though a large number of children still fall below the cutoff for various nutritional indicators

Role of atmospheric stability over the Arabian Sea and the unprecedented failure of monsoon 2002

The anomalous behaviour of the monsoon 2002 has been studied. We have made an attempt to combine satellite and other data sources to characterize the thermal stratification over the Arabian Sea during different phases of monsoon 2002. Using NOAA-ATOVSderived atmospheric temperature and moisture profiles, we have calculated a daily stability index (SI) over the entire Indian region and surrounding oceans. The time series of SI clearly brings out the three major significant epochs of monsoon 2002. The relatively dry atmosphere west of 65° E, signifying lack of convection and an unstable atmosphere over the southeast Arabian Sea with west-to-east gradients in water vapour, SI and cloud liquid water content are noted. The unfavourable stratification during July over the entire Arabian Sea has been investigated in detail. The dominant modes of instability oscillations have been seen to be ~ 30 days both over the western and eastern Arabian Sea, while for the high-frequency modes preference was seen over the eastern part. Using the analysed fields of the National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasts, the relative contributions of advective and subsidence components in the maintenance of stratification have been investigated. The latter has been found to have played a more dominant role in the deficit monsoon 200

An investigation into the age and origin of Suranga in the foothills of the Western Ghats of India

This document is the Accepted Manuscript version. The final publication is available at Springer via: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12685-015-0125-yThis paper presents the evidence for determining the age and origin of suranga irrigation found mainly in southern Karnataka and northern Kerala in the foothills of the Western Ghats of south India. It draws on on-going research that has attempted to use an interdisciplinary approach to date the system using Indian Archives, British and Portuguese colonial archives, etymology, oral testimony archaeology, phenology and palaeo dating techniques. The results from this study put the origins of the system at around 1900–1940 CE. These results are compared with the current academic discourse that supports the view that the system originates from ancient Persia and qanat technology, because of the long established trade links with Persia and the Arabian Peninsula in the Malabar region. We argue that a new ‘origin discourse’ should be framed around these much more recent dates. The methodological constraints behind both theories are discussed throughout to enable the reader to appreciate the limitations of both arguments.Peer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio

Ratio of the Isolated Photon Cross Sections at \sqrt{s} = 630 and 1800 GeV

The inclusive cross section for production of isolated photons has been measured in \pbarp collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 630$ GeV with the \D0 detector at the Fermilab Tevatron Collider. The photons span a transverse energy ($E_T$) range from 7-49 GeV and have pseudorapidity $|\eta| < 2.5$. This measurement is combined with to previous \D0 result at $\sqrt{s} = 1800$ GeV to form a ratio of the cross sections. Comparison of next-to-leading order QCD with the measured cross section at 630 GeV and ratio of cross sections show satisfactory agreement in most of the $E_T$ range.Comment: 7 pages. Published in Phys. Rev. Lett. 87, 251805, (2001

Risk of malnutrition is associated with mental health symptoms in community living elderly men and women: The Tromsø Study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Little research has been done on the relationship between malnutrition and mental health in community living elderly individuals. In the present study, we aimed to assess the associations between mental health (particularly anxiety and depression) and both the risk of malnutrition and body mass index (BMI, kg/m²) in a large sample of elderly men and women from Tromsø, Norway.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In a cross-sectional survey, with 1558 men and 1553 women aged 65 to 87 years, the risk of malnutrition was assessed by the Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool ('MUST'), and mental health was measured by the Symptoms Check List 10 (SCL-10). BMI was categorised into six groups (< 20.0, 20.0-22.4, 22.5-24.9, 25.0-27.4, 27.5-29.9, ≥ 30.0 kg/m²).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The risk of malnutrition (combining medium and high risk) was found in 5.6% of the men and 8.6% of the women. Significant mental health symptoms were reported by 3.9% of the men and 9.1% of the women. In a model adjusted for age, marital status, smoking and education, significant mental health symptoms (SCL-10 score ≥ 1.85) were positively associated with the risk of malnutrition (odds ratio 3.9 [95% CI 1.7-8.6] in men and 2.5 [95%CI 1.3-4.9] in women), the association was positive also for subthreshold mental health symptoms. For individuals with BMI < 20.0 the adjusted odds ratio for significant mental health symptoms was 2.0 [95% CI 1.0-4.0].</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Impaired mental health was strongly associated with the risk of malnutrition in community living elderly men and women and this association was also significant for subthreshold mental health symptoms.</p

GLS-1, a Novel P Granule Component, Modulates a Network of Conserved RNA Regulators to Influence Germ Cell Fate Decisions

Post-transcriptional regulatory mechanisms are widely used to influence cell fate decisions in germ cells, early embryos, and neurons. Many conserved cytoplasmic RNA regulatory proteins associate with each other and assemble on target mRNAs, forming ribonucleoprotein (RNP) complexes, to control the mRNAs translational output. How these RNA regulatory networks are orchestrated during development to regulate cell fate decisions remains elusive. We addressed this problem by focusing on Caenorhabditis elegans germline development, an exemplar of post-transcriptional control mechanisms. Here, we report the discovery of GLS-1, a new factor required for many aspects of germline development, including the oocyte cell fate in hermaphrodites and germline survival. We find that GLS-1 is a cytoplasmic protein that localizes in germ cells dynamically to germplasm (P) granules. Furthermore, its functions depend on its ability to form a protein complex with the RNA-binding Bicaudal-C ortholog GLD-3, a translational activator and P granule component important for similar germ cell fate decisions. Based on genetic epistasis experiments and in vitro competition experiments, we suggest that GLS-1 releases FBF/Pumilio from GLD-3 repression. This facilitates the sperm-to-oocyte switch, as liberated FBF represses the translation of mRNAs encoding spermatogenesis-promoting factors. Our proposed molecular mechanism is based on the GLS-1 protein acting as a molecular mimic of FBF/Pumilio. Furthermore, we suggest that a maternal GLS-1/GLD-3 complex in early embryos promotes the expression of mRNAs encoding germline survival factors. Our work identifies GLS-1 as a fundamental regulator of germline development. GLS-1 directs germ cell fate decisions by modulating the availability and activity of a single translational network component, GLD-3. Hence, the elucidation of the mechanisms underlying GLS-1 functions provides a new example of how conserved machinery can be developmentally manipulated to influence cell fate decisions and tissue development

Performance of CMS muon reconstruction in pp collision events at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV

The performance of muon reconstruction, identification, and triggering in CMS has been studied using 40 inverse picobarns of data collected in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV at the LHC in 2010. A few benchmark sets of selection criteria covering a wide range of physics analysis needs have been examined. For all considered selections, the efficiency to reconstruct and identify a muon with a transverse momentum pT larger than a few GeV is above 95% over the whole region of pseudorapidity covered by the CMS muon system, abs(eta) < 2.4, while the probability to misidentify a hadron as a muon is well below 1%. The efficiency to trigger on single muons with pT above a few GeV is higher than 90% over the full eta range, and typically substantially better. The overall momentum scale is measured to a precision of 0.2% with muons from Z decays. The transverse momentum resolution varies from 1% to 6% depending on pseudorapidity for muons with pT below 100 GeV and, using cosmic rays, it is shown to be better than 10% in the central region up to pT = 1 TeV. Observed distributions of all quantities are well reproduced by the Monte Carlo simulation.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DO

Performance of CMS muon reconstruction in pp collision events at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV

The performance of muon reconstruction, identification, and triggering in CMS has been studied using 40 inverse picobarns of data collected in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV at the LHC in 2010. A few benchmark sets of selection criteria covering a wide range of physics analysis needs have been examined. For all considered selections, the efficiency to reconstruct and identify a muon with a transverse momentum pT larger than a few GeV is above 95% over the whole region of pseudorapidity covered by the CMS muon system, abs(eta) < 2.4, while the probability to misidentify a hadron as a muon is well below 1%. The efficiency to trigger on single muons with pT above a few GeV is higher than 90% over the full eta range, and typically substantially better. The overall momentum scale is measured to a precision of 0.2% with muons from Z decays. The transverse momentum resolution varies from 1% to 6% depending on pseudorapidity for muons with pT below 100 GeV and, using cosmic rays, it is shown to be better than 10% in the central region up to pT = 1 TeV. Observed distributions of all quantities are well reproduced by the Monte Carlo simulation.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DO

X-ray emission from the Sombrero galaxy: discrete sources

We present a study of discrete X-ray sources in and around the bulge-dominated, massive Sa galaxy, Sombrero (M104), based on new and archival Chandra observations with a total exposure of ~200 ks. With a detection limit of L_X = 1E37 erg/s and a field of view covering a galactocentric radius of ~30 kpc (11.5 arcminute), 383 sources are detected. Cross-correlation with Spitler et al.'s catalogue of Sombrero globular clusters (GCs) identified from HST/ACS observations reveals 41 X-rays sources in GCs, presumably low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs). We quantify the differential luminosity functions (LFs) for both the detected GC and field LMXBs, whose power-low indices (~1.1 for the GC-LF and ~1.6 for field-LF) are consistent with previous studies for elliptical galaxies. With precise sky positions of the GCs without a detected X-ray source, we further quantify, through a fluctuation analysis, the GC LF at fainter luminosities down to 1E35 erg/s. The derived index rules out a faint-end slope flatter than 1.1 at a 2 sigma significance, contrary to recent findings in several elliptical galaxies and the bulge of M31. On the other hand, the 2-6 keV unresolved emission places a tight constraint on the field LF, implying a flattened index of ~1.0 below 1E37 erg/s. We also detect 101 sources in the halo of Sombrero. The presence of these sources cannot be interpreted as galactic LMXBs whose spatial distribution empirically follows the starlight. Their number is also higher than the expected number of cosmic AGNs (52+/-11 [1 sigma]) whose surface density is constrained by deep X-ray surveys. We suggest that either the cosmic X-ray background is unusually high in the direction of Sombrero, or a distinct population of X-ray sources is present in the halo of Sombrero.Comment: 11 figures, 5 tables, ApJ in pres