Double burden of malnutrition among urban Bengalee adolescent boys in Midnapore, West Bengal, India

Malnutrition is an important public health problem worldwide. Therefore a study was undertaken to assess the prevalence of adolescent thinness, overweight and obesity in Midnapore town, West Bengal, India. A total of 974 adolescent boys aged 10-18 years were selected following multistage cluster sampling method from three higher secondary schools. Data was collected using pretested questionnaire following standard technique. Presence of thinness was evaluated using the cut-off values of international survey as suggested by Cole et al (2007). While overweight and obesity was determine by using international cut-off values develop by Cole et al (2000) based on international surveys as recommended by IOTF. Overall the prevalence of thinness, overweight and obesity were 20.8%, 14.9% and 3.8%, respectively. This study developed age specific smooth BMI percentile values using LMS method. Moreover, the study also developed BMI cut-off values to define thinness, overweight and obesity. In conclusion, the present analyses indicated that the prevalence of adolescent undernutrition is still a major problem. In addition, there was also an emerging trend for overweight/obesity, thereby indicating a double burden of malnutrition as observed in other developing countries

Critical nutritional stress among adult tribal populations of West Bengal and Orissa, India.

This paper deals with cross-sectional studies carried out during the period 2004-2007. It is based on eight data sets of tribals of Paschim Medinipur and Bankura Districts of West Bengal and Keonjhar District of Orissa. The tribes include Bhumijs, Kora Mudis, Lodhas, Santals, Bathudis and Savars. Height and weight were measured following standard techniques. The body mass index (BMI) was computed following standard equation. Nutritional status (chronic energy deficiency, CED) was evaluated using internationally accepted cut-off values of BMI. We followed the World Health Organization's classification (1995) of the public health problem of low BMI, based on adult populations worldwide. Our results show that, in general, among the tribes studied:
i)Both sexes had very low levels of BMI
ii)There existed high rates of CED indicating a critical nutritional condition 
iii)Women experienced greater nutritional stress
iv)The nutritional situation is similar in both West Bengal as well as Orissa.
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A study on modes of rock failure under uniaxial compression

Rock failure is a serious problem in rock engineering. Rock failure modes are complex and difficult. A comprehensive study on rock failure modes at laboratory scale is very important. It helps to recognize the adequacy of the support designed on the basis of the nature of an engineering work. With due need, this paper analyzes the failure modes of rock under uniaxial compression test. The nature of the principal failure mode is changed from axial splitting and shearing along a single plane to multiple fracturing in the case of rock specimens as uniaxial compressive strength (UCS) increases. Descriptions of different failure modes under UCS were presented below. It was found rock specimens generally fail through the rock materials in one or more extensional planes of the fracture development in brittle crystalline rock materials. It appears that there are different types of failure and it is for the microscopic discontinuities in rock samples but not for the variations in sample preparation or test process or end boundary conditions. This study makes it possible to determine whether the rock samples failed in tension or failed in shear or in coupling of tension. It is hypothesized that the mode the sample fails affects the strength of rock samples

Maternal Height as an Independent Risk Factor for Neonatal Size Among Adolescent Bengalees in Kolkata, India

BACKGROUND: Low Birth Weight is a major public health problem in developing countries. The causes of LBW are multifactorial including complication during pregnancy, genetic, environmental, social-cultural, demographic and nutritional variables. Comparison of anthropometric risk factors for neonatal size of adolescent mothers are lacking from West Bengal. Therefore, this study was undertaken to identify maternal anthropometric characteristics, which most strongly influence neonate weight and length among Bengalee mothers. METHODS: A hospital based cross-sectional study was undertaken during 2004 in a Government general hospital in South Kolkata, India. A total of 76 adolescent (ag

TOWARDS A HOLISTIC AND INCLUSIVE PEDAGOGY FOR STUDENTS FROM DIVERSE LINGUISTIC BACKGROUNDS

In a multilingual classroom, students come from various cultural, linguistic, and racial backgrounds. They have different ideologies, opinions, and needs. In this regard, ‘one size fits all’ pedagogy is not only irrelevant but also absurd because the instructions and interactions in the classroom do not cater to the needs of all the students. Therefore, a carefully planned pedagogy that addresses the needs of the individual learners differently in the classroom is needed. In this scenario, implementing multilingual pedagogy in the classroom might be a better idea as it can address the needs of individual learners by making education inclusive and accessible to all. Multilingual pedagogy here is defined as a set of principles that are used to varying degrees in different approaches depending on the teaching context, learners, and curriculum (Neuner, 2004). This paper discusses various approaches, methods, and strategies within the framework of multilingual pedagogy that can be implemented in a classroom consisting of students from diverse linguistic backgrounds. To provide a clear picture of the theoretical ideas, the practical implementation of the ideas in some schools are also discussed. During the implementation, it is indicated that multilingual pedagogy holds the potential to enhance student learning

Detection of recognizing events in lower atmospheric temperature time series (1941-2010) of Midnapore Weather Observatory, West Bengal, India

In this study, trends of mean monthly surface temperature time series of each month were examined for Midnapore station, West Bengal, India for the period 1941-2010. The data-set has the observations of two variables: the mean monthly maximum and mean monthly minimum temperature. Major changes in the mean monthly temperature trends over the period considered, have been detected using the Sequential version of Mann-Kendall rank statistic. The plots of the values of sequential statistic and backward sequential statistic intersect each other at points each of which indicates a change in the trend of considered data-set. The analyses of the mean monthly temperature signify warming of the winter temperature. Statistically significant (p?0.05) abrupt changes has been detected in 1985, 1992 and 1995 in the temperature time series for February, October and November, respectively. Keywords: sequential Mann-Kendall test statistic, change point detection, climate change

Analisa Pembangunan Manusia Dan Pengaruhnya Terhadap Kesejahteraan Penduduk Di Kabupaten Mimika

Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah untuk mengetahui : a) bagaimana korelasi IPM dengan komponen-komponen pembentuk IPM, b) faktor apa yang paling besar membentuk IPM, dan c). seberapa besar pengaruh IPM terhadap Pendapatan Per Kapita, dan Kemiskinan.Data yang digunakan dalam penelitian adalah Indeks Pembangunan Manusia, Pendapatan Per Kapita dan Tingkat Kemiskinan Kabupaten Mimika kurun waktu tahun 2005 – 2013. Metode analisis yang digunakan dalam menjawab tujuan penelitian di atas adalah menggunakan analisis korelasi dan analisis regresi sederhana. Hasil analisis menunjukkan bahwa seluruh komponen pembentuk IPM mempunyai korelasi yang sangat kuat dan signifikan terhadap IPM, dengan rata-rata angka koefisien korelasi lebih dari 0,90 atau 90% ke atas.Diantara keempat komponen tersebut, Angka Harapan Hidup (AHH) dan Pengeluaran Per Kapita (PPP) keduanya mempunyai koefisien korelasi yang paling tinggi dan sama besar terhadap variabel IPM yakni 0,980 untuk AHH, dan 0,986 untuk PPP. Ini berarti kedua komponen tersebut dapat dikatakan sebagai pembentuk yang paling dominan terhadap IPM. Sehingga cepat lambatnya perkembangan IPM sangat tergantung kepada hasil pembangunan kesehatan dan pembangunan ekonomi daerah. Hasil analisis lainya menunjukkan bahwa kenaikan IPM Kabupaten Mimika sebesar 1 point akan menurunkan tingkat kemiskinan sebesar 3,8225 persen atau 4 persen, selain itu kenaikan IPM akan meningkatkan pendapatan per kapita masyarakat Kabupaten Mimika sebesar Rp. 717.414,40.Kata Kunci : Indeks Pembangunan Manusia, Pendapatan Per kapita, Tingkat Kemiskina

Analisis Sektor Unggulan Dalam Meningkatkan Pertumbuhan Ekonomi Kabupaten Keerom Tahun 2003 – 2013

Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui klasifikasi pertumbuhan sektor perekonomian serta mengetahui sektor basis dan non basis dalam perekonomian wilayah Kabupaten Keerom. Jenis data yang digunakan yaitu data sekunder berupa data PDRB Kabupaten Keerom yang diperoleh dari BPS. Metode analisis yang digunakan yaitu Analisis Tipologi Klassen dan Analisis LQ. Berdasarkan hasil penelitian dengan analisis Tipologi Klassen pada Kabupaten Keerom maka Sektor Pertanian; Sektor Industri Pengolahan; dan Sektor Bangunan termasuk dalam Kuadran I. Sektor Pertambangan dan Penggalian; dan Sektor Jasa-Jasa termasuk dalam Kuadran II. Sektor Listrik dan Air Bersih; dan Sektor Perdagangan, Hotel dan Restoran termasuk dalam Kuadran III. Sedangkan sektor-sektor dalam Kuadran IV yaitu Sektor Pengangkutan dan Komunikasi; dan Sektor Keuangan, Persewaan dan Jasa Perusahaan. Hasil analisis Location Quotient dalam perekonomian Kabupaten Keerom terdapat 4 sektor yang termasuk sektor basis yaitu Sektor Pertanian; Sektor Pertambangan dan Penggalian; Sektor Industri Pengolahan; dan Sektor Bangunan.Kata Kunci : PDRB, Sektor Unggulan, Tipologi Klassen, LQ