KAP Study on Immunization of Children in a City of North India – A 30 Cluster Survey

Background: To determine the knowledge, attitude and practices about immunization among respondents of children aged 12-23 months.\ud Methods: A total of 510 respondents were interviewed in the urban slums of Lucknow district of India, using 30 cluster sampling technique from January 2005 to April 2005. A pre-tested structured questionnaire was used to elicit the information about the knowledge, attitude and practices of the respondents regarding immunization. \ud Results: Knowledge regarding the disease prevented, number of doses and correct age of administration of BCG was highest among all the categories of respondents. The paramedical worker was the main source of information to the respondents of completely (52.0%) and partially immunized (48.5%) children while community leaders for unimmunized children. Those availing private facilities were more completely immunized, as compared to the government facilities. 55.8% of those who took 20 minutes to reach the immunization site were completely immunized as compared to 64.1% of those who took more than 20 minutes.\ud Conclusion: Considering the incomplete knowledge, and inappropriate practices of the people, the policy makers and medical professionals require Herculean efforts to raise the knowledge and to break the old beliefs of the peopl

Rich freshwater rotifer fauna of small lentic ecosystems of south Andaman, Andaman Sea, India (Rotifera: Eurotatoria)

Small lentic ecosystems are hypothesized to be interesting habitats for metazoan diversity. This study is undertaken to document Rotifera of small freshwater bodies of south Andaman, India. A total of 11 2 species (S), belonging to 32 genera and 19 families, recorded i n our intensive February 2017 collections, indicate rich and diverse assemblage of the taxon. Total richness comprises ~ 27 % of the rotifer species known from India and thus affirms biodiversity interest and habitat diversit y of the sampled habitats. This report adds 42 species, seven genera and three families to the taxa reported till date from freshwaters of the Andaman and Nicorbar islands. Rotifera meta - analysis indicates distinct increase in richness of Lecanidae > Brachionidae > Trichocercidae and tw o - fold increase in Brachionus species. The biogeographically interesting elements comprise 8.0 % of S and several species indicate regional distribution importance. The rotifer fauna shows high richness of cosmopolitan species (~68% of S) and a number of t ropical and subtropical species (~22 % of S). The present study highlights distinct scope to augment Rotifera diversity of the Andaman and Nicorbar islands freshwaters vis - à - vis intensive sampling of varied habitats

Combining ability and heterosis analysis for fibre yield and quality parameters in roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa L.)

Roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa L.) is second important bast fibre crop after jute in India. With an aim to ex-ploit non-additive genetic variance present experiment was designed to identify good general combining parents and specific cross combination for fibre yield and fibre quality parameters (fibre fineness, fibre tenacity) in roselle. A total of 11 parents were crossed in complete diallel fashion which resulted 55 F1, 55 RF1 (reciprocal F1). Parents, F1s and RF1s were grown in randomized block design. Analysis of variance revealed significant differences (P< 0.01, P<0.05) among the parents and their hybrids. The parents AMV 1, AMV 5, GR 27 and AHS 160 were identified as good combiners since they recorded significant general combining ability (GCA) effects for fibre yield and quality parameters. Further, For fibre yield only three crosses (AMV 1 × AMV 4, AMV 1 × GR 27, HS 4288 × JRR 07) showed significant specific combining ability (SCA) effects from them hybrid AMV 1 × GR 27 (fibre yield=27.37g/ plant) exhibited positively significant best parent (Non bris 4, Mean fibre yield=21.16g/plant) heterosis (29.35%). Similarly, for fibre tenacity, hybrid GR 27 × JRR 07 (fibre tenacity=23.47g/tex) exhibited positively significant best parent (HS 4288; fibre tenacity=20.35g/tex) heterosis (15.30%)

Occurrence of Salmonella enterica, subspecies enterica serovar Berta (Salmonella Berta) in bovine calves, in Himachal Pradesh, India

Salmonellosis is an important zoonotic disease of economic significance. It infects both man and animals alike around the globe. Salmonella enterica, subspecies enterica serovar Berta (9,12: f, g, t:-) was isolated from three out of five blood samples of 3-6-month-old ailing calves. The isolates were sensitive to ciprofloxacin, enrofloxacin, ofloxacin and moderately sensitive to gentamicin, lomefloxacin, oxytetracyclines, tetracyclines, but refractory to ampicillin and penicillin. Treatment with enrofloxacin resulted in cent per cent recovery. The infection might have been picked up by calves from poultry birds reared in the same premises. Key words: enrofloxacin, Jersey cross-bred calves, Salmonella Bert

Temperature measurement of cold atoms using transient absorption of a resonant probe through an optical nanofibre

Optical nanofibres are ultrathin optical fibres with a waist diameter typically less than the wavelength of light being guided through them. Cold atoms can couple to the evanescent field of the nanofibre-guided modes and such systems are emerging as promising technologies for the development of atom-photon hybrid quantum devices. Atoms within the evanescent field region of an optical nanofibre can be probed by sending near or on-resonant light through the fibre; however, the probe light can detrimentally affect the properties of the atoms. In this paper, we report on the modification of the local temperature of laser-cooled 87Rb atoms in a magneto-optical trap centred around an optical nanofibre when near-resonant probe light propagates through it. A transient absorption technique has been used to measure the temperature of the affected atoms and temperature variations from 160 μk to 850 μk, for a probe power ranging from 0 to 50 nW, have been observed. This effect could have implications in relation to using optical nanofibres for probing and manipulating cold or ultracold atoms

Active Physical Practice Followed by Mental Practice Using BCI-Driven Hand Exoskeleton: A Pilot Trial for Clinical Effectiveness and Usability

Appropriately combining mental practice (MP) and physical practice (PP) in a post-stroke rehabilitation is critical for ensuring a substantially positive rehabilitation outcome. Here we present a rehabilitation protocol incorporating a separate active PP stage followed by MP stage, using a hand exoskeleton and brain-computer interface (BCI). The PP stage was mediated by a force sensor feedback based assist-as-needed control strategy, whereas the MP stage provided BCI based multimodal neurofeedback combining anthropomorphic visual feedback and proprioceptive feedback of the impaired hand extension attempt. A 6 week long clinical trial was conducted on 4 hemiparetic stroke patients (screened out of 16) with left hand disability. The primary outcome, motor functional recovery, was measured in terms of changes in Grip-Strength (GS) and Action Research Arm Test (ARAT) scores; whereas the secondary outcome, usability of the system, was measured in terms of changes in mood, fatigue and motivation on a visual-analog-scale (VAS). A positive rehabilitative outcome was found as the group mean changes from the baseline in the GS and ARAT were +6.38 kg and +5.66 accordingly. The VAS scale measurements also showed betterment in mood (-1.38), increased motivation (+2.10) and reduced fatigue (-0.98) as compared to the baseline. Thus the proposed neurorehabilitation protocol is found to be promising both in terms of clinical effectiveness and usability

Characterization of Fusobacterium isolates from the respiratory tract of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus)

A total of 23 clinical isolates of Fusobacterium spp. were recovered at necropsy over a 2-year period from the respiratory tract of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus). Isolates were identified as Fusobacterium varium (18/23), Fusobacterium necrophorum subsp. funduliforme (3/23), and Fusobacterium necrophorum subsp. necrophorum (2/23). Using polymerase chain reaction–based detection of virulence genes, all F. necrophorum isolates were positive for the promoter region of the leukotoxin operon and the hemagglutinin-related protein gene, while all F. varium isolates were negative. The presence of the leukotoxin gene in F. necrophorum isolates and the absence of this gene in F. varium isolates were confirmed by Southern hybridization using 2 separate probes. Toxicity to bovine polymorphonuclear leukocytes was observed with all F. necrophorum isolates, but was not observed in any F. varium isolates. Susceptibility to antimicrobials was markedly different for F. varium as compared to F. necrophorum. In summary, no evidence of leukotoxin production was detected in any of the 23 F. varium isolates used in the current study. The data suggests that F. varium, the most common species isolated, may be a significant pathogen in deer with a different virulence mechanism than F. necrophorum

Application of Geostatistical Techniques in Spatial Variability Mapping of Soil Fertility– A Review

Soil fertility is one of the key factors of agricultural crop production. Spatiotemporal database and digital mapping of soil fertility at different scale from field level tocountry level has tremendous utility in development of agricultural sector. Geo-statisticaltools in geographic information system (GIS) have potentiality to describe the spatial patternusing semiovariogram analysis and to carry out spatial interpolation of soil propertiesincluding macronutrients and micronutrients by kriging methods. Now–a-days, severalkriging techniques like ordinary kriging, universal kriging, co-kriging, multivariate kriging,indicator kriging etc. are used for spatial interpolation of soil fertility parameter, based onnature and interrelationship of soil attributes and other external information. Farm and districtlevel nutrient mapping are being effectively utilized for precision farming, increased inputuse efficiency, enhanced agricultural productivity, sustainability and environmental safety aswell as policy making for fertilizer allocation in different states