Feed and Fodder–A Major Challenge in Cold Arid Region of Leh

Agriculture and animal husbandry in cold arid region are interwoven with the complex fabric of the society in sociocultural, religious and economical ways. Mixed crop-livestock farming systems have exerted a powerful influence on climate of Leh because of dissected topography with high peaks and deep valleys, having immense surface area and substantial area of which is clothed with a massive green mantle of plant cover during cropping season. Increased development in terms of increased agriculture, construction of roads, other miscellaneous constructions, and revenue oriented forestry has accentuated deforestation to meet the demand of fuel, fodders based industries. This has also exerted negative impact on pasture lands. However, the area under permanent pasture and grazing lands and net sown area have been surprisingly constant in the last decade. While the area under fallow other than current fallow has reduced by 50 per cent and the current fallow have increased almost two folds clearly indicated the need ever increasing demand for feed and fodder. The data/estimates of fodder production in the country vary widely. Fodder production and its utilization depend on the cropping pattern, climate, socio-economic conditions and type of livestock in a particular region. The cattle and other livestock are normally fed on the fodder available from cultivated areas, supplemented to a small extent by harvested grasses and top feeds. The three major sources of fodder supply are: crop residues, cultivated fodder and fodder from common property resources, forests, permanent pastures and grazing lands. The regional deficit is more important than the national deficit, especially for fodder, which is not economical to transport over long distances. The pattern of deficit varies block to block of the region. For instance, in general fodder availability in cold arid region is 40-50 per cent of the actual requirement, however, in few blocks, it is below 40%

A Multi-Center Assessment of Thyroid Function Test Precision in Chemiluminescence Immunoassay (CLIA) Systems

Background: Chemiluminiscence immunoassay (CLIA) is exclusively pragmatic technology for the analysis of biomarker for diagnosis of thyroid disorders. However, performance characteristics of different chemiluminescence immunoassay (CLIA) systems supplied by different manufacturers in diverse set up for thyroid function test (TFT) has not yet been studied well. Objective: Our aim is to evaluate laboratory results by assessment of the reproducibility and repeatability of TFTs in three different diagnostic set up to assure the quality of thyroid hormone assay using chemiluminescence immunoassay (CLIA) instruments: Advia Centaur CP (Siemens), Access 2 (Beckman Coulter) and Liaison (Diasorin). Materials and Methods: Among the adult male and female individuals visited for thyroid hormone assay, 51 normal individuals were selected for the study. Three aliquots of serum samples were distributed to assess the reproducibility of three different CLIA equipments operated in three diagnostic centers. Additional three aliquots of serum were analyzed weekly for TFT (fFT3, fFT4 and TSH) to check the repeatability of assay in ADVIA Centaur CP set up. Assay precision was determined by reproducibility and repeatability of test results. Results: Results of TFTs of serum samples obtained from three different interlaboratory assays using different CLIA systems have achieved good precision showing minimal variance (P>0.05) and acceptable reproducibility. Results are also precise with adequate repeatability showing minimal variance (P >0.05) obtained from the three different intra-laboratory assays in a single CLIA system using ADVIA Centaur CP by same team. Conclusion: Our study elucidates the thyroid hormone assay performance of CLIA systems in three centers, which has shown assay precision with good reproducibility and repeatability of thyroid hormone assay. Thus, the analysis of precision as an essential component of quality control is necessary to deliver precise diagnostic services

Development of cancer surveillance guidelines in ataxia telangiectasia: A Delphi-based consensus survey of international experts

Ataxia telangiectasia; Cancer predisposition; International surveyAtàxia telangiectàsia; Predisposició al càncer; Enquesta internacionalAtaxia telangiectasia; Predisposición al cáncer; Encuesta internacionalBackground/Objectives Ataxia telangiectasia (A-T) is a multiorgan disorder with increased vulnerability to cancer. Despite this increased cancer risk, there are no widely accepted guidelines for cancer surveillance in people affected by A-T. We aimed to understand the current international practice regarding cancer surveillance in A-T and agreed-upon approaches to develop cancer surveillance in A-T. Design/Methods We used a consensus development method, the e-Delphi technique, comprising three rounds. Round 1 consisted of a Delphi questionnaire and a survey that collected the details of respondents' professional background, experience, and current practice of cancer surveillance in A-T. Rounds 2 and 3 were designed based on previous rounds and modified according to the comments made by the panellists. The pre-specified consensus threshold was ≥75% agreement. Results Thirty-five expert panellists from 13 countries completed the study. The survey indicated that the current practice of cancer surveillance varies widely between experts and centres'. Consensus was reached that evidence-based guidelines are needed for cancer surveillance in people with A-T, with separate recommendations for adults and children. Statements relating to the tests that should be included, the age for starting and stopping cancer surveillance and the optimal surveillance interval were also agreed upon, although in some areas, the consensus was that further research is needed. Conclusion The international expert consensus statement confirms the need for evidence-based cancer surveillance guidelines in A-T, highlights key features that the guidelines should include, and identifies areas of uncertainty in the expert community. This elucidates current knowledge gaps and will inform the design of future clinical trials.This study is funded by a grant from Action for A-T (ref. 20NOT05). Renata Neves is supported by a Doctoral Fellowship awarded by the College of Radiographers (ref. DF021). This study is supported by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Applied Research Collaboration East Midlands (ARC EM). The views expressed are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the NIHR or the Department of Health and Social Care

Life-threatening hypersensitivity pneumonitis secondary to e-cigarettes

© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2019. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ. We report a case of hypersensitivity pneumonitis (HP) in a young person secondary to vaping. He presented with a putative diagnosis of asthma and required extracorporeal membrane oxygenation because of intractable respiratory failure. He developed a critical illness and steroid myopathy and required prolonged rehabilitation. Our patient fulfils diagnostic criteria for HP secondary to e-cigarettes with a positive exposure history, deterioration after skin prick testing, specific serum IgM antibodies against the implicated liquid raising the possibility that the relevant antigen was present in that liquid and radiological and histopathological features compatible with acute HP. There are two learning points. The first is always to consider a reaction to e-cigarettes in someone presenting with an atypical respiratory illness. The second is that we consider e-cigarettes as much safer than tobacco' at our peril

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गुजरात के सागर तट की समुद्री शैवाल विविधत

ARMAX-based transfer function model identification using wide-area measurement for adaptive and coordinated damping control

One of the main drawbacks of the existing oscillation damping controllers that are designed based on offline dynamic models is adaptivity to the power system operating condition. With the increasing availability of wide-area measurements and the rapid development of system identification techniques, it is possible to identify a measurement-based transfer function model online that can be used to tune the oscillation damping controller. Such a model could capture all dominant oscillation modes for adaptive and coordinated oscillation damping control. This paper describes a comprehensive approach to identify a low-order transfer function model of a power system using a multi-input multi-output (MIMO) autoregressive moving average exogenous (ARMAX) model. This methodology consists of five steps: 1) input selection; 2) output selection; 3) identification trigger; 4) model estimation; and 5) model validation. The proposed method is validated by using ambient data and ring-down data in the 16-machine 68-bus Northeast Power Coordinating Council system. The results demonstrate that the measurementbased model using MIMO ARMAX can capture all the dominant oscillation modes. Compared with the MIMO subspace state space model, the MIMO ARMAX model has equivalent accuracy but lower order and improved computational efficiency. The proposed model can be applied for adaptive and coordinated oscillation damping control

Increased expression of inducible co-stimulator on CD4+ T-cells in the peripheral blood and synovial fluid of patients with failed hip arthroplasties

OBJECTIVES: T-cells are considered to play an important role in the inflammatory response causing arthroplasty failure. The study objectives were to investigate the composition and distribution of CD4+ T-cell phenotypes in the peripheral blood (PB) and synovial fluid (SF) of patients undergoing revision surgery for failed metal-on-metal (MoM) and metal-on-polyethylene (MoP) hip arthroplasties, and in patients awaiting total hip arthroplasty. METHODS: In this prospective case-control study, PB and SF were obtained from 22 patients (23 hips) undergoing revision of MoM (n = 14) and MoP (n = 9) hip arthroplasties, with eight controls provided from primary hip osteoarthritis cases awaiting arthroplasty. Lymphocyte subtypes in samples were analysed using flow cytometry. RESULTS: The percentages of CD4+ T-cell subtypes in PB were not different between groups. The CD4+ T-cells in the SF of MoM hips showed a completely different distribution of phenotypes compared with that found in the PB in the same patients, including significantly decreased CD4+ T-central memory cells (p < 0.05) and increased T-effector memory cells (p < 0.0001) in the SF. Inducible co-stimulator (ICOS) was the only co-stimulatory molecule with different expression on CD4+ CD28+ cells between groups. In PB, ICOS expression was increased in MoM (p < 0.001) and MoP (p < 0.05) cases compared with the controls. In SF, ICOS expression was increased in MoM hips compared with MoP hips (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Increased expression of ICOS on CD4+ T-cells in PB and SF of patients with failed arthroplasties suggests that these cells are activated and involved in generating immune responses. Variations in ICOS expression between MoM and MoP hips may indicate different modes of arthroplasty failure. Cite this article: Professor P. A. Revell. Increased expression of inducible co-stimulator on CD4+ T-cells in the peripheral blood and synovial fluid of patients with failed hip arthroplasties. Bone Joint Res 2016;5:52–60. DOI: 10.1302/2046-3758.52.200057