Effect of boron on growth, nutrition and fertility status of large cardamom in Sikkim Himalaya, India

Field experiment was conducted at Indian Cardamom Research Institute, Regional Research Station, Spices Board Kabi research farm North Sikkim to find out the effect of Boron nutrition on growth, nutrient content and soil fertility status of large cardamom. The experiment was laid out in RBD comprising seven treatments (T1 soil application of [email protected] kg ha-1 ,T2 soil application of [email protected] kg ha-1, T3 foliar application of [email protected]%, T4 foliar application of borax @0.5%, T5 foliar application of [email protected]%+ soil application of [email protected] kg ha-1, T6 foliar application of [email protected]%+ soil application of [email protected] kg ha-1 and T7 control). Results reveal that foliar application of [email protected]%+ soil application of [email protected] kg ha-1 recorded the maximum values of immature tillers per clump (2.98 and 3.95) and mature tillers per clump (2.99 and 3.11) during both September, 2013 and March, 2014 and vegetative buds per clump (2.90 ). With regards to nutrient content in leaf of large cardamom among the treatments, foliar application of [email protected]%+soil application of [email protected] kg ha-1 recorded highest nutrient acquisition However, its effect was statistically non significant on K, S, Ca, Zn, Cu, Mn and Fe content and significant on N(2.59%), P (0.18%), Mg (0.39%) and B (15.45 ppm) content in leaf

Cultivation of Ginger in Sikkim under an Organic System

Ginger is grown extensively throughout India due to its high value and ginger is used for wide range of purposes like in confectionery, traditional medicine for stomach ache, food additives and pickles. The major ginger-producing states include Kerala, Assam, Gujarat, Orissa, Sikkim, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram. It is one of the main cash crops in Himalayan state of Sikkim. In Northeast India, especially in Sikkim, ginger serves as a source of income for small and marginal farmers. It is cultivated in a varying degree of altitude, but the elevation of 1500 above msl is found to be more suitable. Ginger is a tropical plant, and warm, humid climate is the most ideal for ginger cultivation; it grows best in rich soil and shady places. Sikkim has its own indigenous cultivars of ginger, and the prominent varieties that are being cultivated in Sikkim are Bhaise, Gorubathane, Majhaule, Tange, Patle and Jorethang. November to January after 8–9 months of sowing is the optimum time for harvesting ginger; however, this follows the market demand dynamics in Sikkim. Under organic conditions, farmers normally get a yield of 90–100 q/ha depending on ginger cultivation practices. Progressive farmers by adopting improved method of ginger cultivation get on an average of Rs. 150,000 per hectare (benefit-cost ratio varied from 3.50 to 3.80)

Global, regional, and national comparative risk assessment of 79 behavioural, environmental and occupational, and metabolic risks or clusters of risks, 1990-2015: A systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015

Background: The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2015 provides an up-to-date synthesis of the evidence for risk factor exposure and the attributable burden of disease. By providing national and subnational assessments spanning the past 25 years, this study can inform debates on the importance of addressing risks in context. Methods: We used the comparative risk assessment framework developed for previous iterations of the Global Burden of Disease Study to estimate attributable deaths, disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs), and trends in exposure by age group, sex, year, and geography for 79 behavioural, environmental and occupational, and metabolic risks or clusters of risks from 1990 to 2015. This study included 388 risk-outcome pairs that met World Cancer Research Fund-defined criteria for convincing or probable evidence. We extracted relative risk and exposure estimates from randomised controlled trials, cohorts, pooled cohorts, household surveys, census data, satellite data, and other sources. We used statistical models to pool data, adjust for bias, and incorporate covariates. We developed a metric that allows comparisons of exposure across risk factors—the summary exposure value. Using the counterfactual scenario of theoretical minimum risk level, we estimated the portion of deaths and DALYs that could be attributed to a given risk. We decomposed trends in attributable burden into contributions from population growth, population age structure, risk exposure, and risk-deleted cause-specific DALY rates. We characterised risk exposure in relation to a Socio-demographic Index (SDI). Findings: Between 1990 and 2015, global exposure to unsafe sanitation, household air pollution, childhood underweight, childhood stunting, and smoking each decreased by more than 25%. Global exposure for several occupational risks, high body-mass index (BMI), and drug use increased by more than 25% over the same period. All risks jointly evaluated in 2015 accounted for 57·8% (95% CI 56·6–58·8) of global deaths and 41·2% (39·8–42·8) of DALYs. In 2015, the ten largest contributors to global DALYs among Level 3 risks were high systolic blood pressure (211·8 million [192·7 million to 231·1 million] global DALYs), smoking (148·6 million [134·2 million to 163·1 million]), high fasting plasma glucose (143·1 million [125·1 million to 163·5 million]), high BMI (120·1 million [83·8 million to 158·4 million]), childhood undernutrition (113·3 million [103·9 million to 123·4 million]), ambient particulate matter (103·1 million [90·8 million to 115·1 million]), high total cholesterol (88·7 million [74·6 million to 105·7 million]), household air pollution (85·6 million [66·7 million to 106·1 million]), alcohol use (85·0 million [77·2 million to 93·0 million]), and diets high in sodium (83·0 million [49·3 million to 127·5 million]). From 1990 to 2015, attributable DALYs declined for micronutrient deficiencies, childhood undernutrition, unsafe sanitation and water, and household air pollution; reductions in risk-deleted DALY rates rather than reductions in exposure drove these declines. Rising exposure contributed to notable increases in attributable DALYs from high BMI, high fasting plasma glucose, occupational carcinogens, and drug use. Environmental risks and childhood undernutrition declined steadily with SDI; low physical activity, high BMI, and high fasting plasma glucose increased with SDI. In 119 countries, metabolic risks, such as high BMI and fasting plasma glucose, contributed the most attributable DALYs in 2015. Regionally, smoking still ranked among the leading five risk factors for attributable DALYs in 109 countries; childhood underweight and unsafe sex remained primary drivers of early death and disability in much of sub-Saharan Africa. Interpretation: Declines in some key environmental risks have contributed to declines in critical infectious diseases. Some risks appear to be invariant to SDI. Increasing risks, including high BMI, high fasting plasma glucose, drug use, and some occupational exposures, contribute to rising burden from some conditions, but also provide opportunities for intervention. Some highly preventable risks, such as smoking, remain major causes of attributable DALYs, even as exposure is declining. Public policy makers need to pay attention to the risks that are increasingly major contributors to global burden. Funding: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Global, regional, and national age-sex-specific mortality and life expectancy, 1950–2017: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017

BACKGROUND: Assessments of age-specific mortality and life expectancy have been done by the UN Population Division, Department of Economics and Social Affairs (UNPOP), the United States Census Bureau, WHO, and as part of previous iterations of the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD). Previous iterations of the GBD used population estimates from UNPOP, which were not derived in a way that was internally consistent with the estimates of the numbers of deaths in the GBD. The present iteration of the GBD, GBD 2017, improves on previous assessments and provides timely estimates of the mortality experience of populations globally. METHODS: The GBD uses all available data to produce estimates of mortality rates between 1950 and 2017 for 23 age groups, both sexes, and 918 locations, including 195 countries and territories and subnational locations for 16 countries. Data used include vital registration systems, sample registration systems, household surveys (complete birth histories, summary birth histories, sibling histories), censuses (summary birth histories, household deaths), and Demographic Surveillance Sites. In total, this analysis used 8259 data sources. Estimates of the probability of death between birth and the age of 5 years and between ages 15 and 60 years are generated and then input into a model life table system to produce complete life tables for all locations and years. Fatal discontinuities and mortality due to HIV/AIDS are analysed separately and then incorporated into the estimation. We analyse the relationship between age-specific mortality and development status using the Socio-demographic Index, a composite measure based on fertility under the age of 25 years, education, and income. There are four main methodological improvements in GBD 2017 compared with GBD 2016: 622 additional data sources have been incorporated; new estimates of population, generated by the GBD study, are used; statistical methods used in different components of the analysis have been further standardised and improved; and the analysis has been extended backwards in time by two decades to start in 1950. FINDINGS: Globally, 18·7% (95% uncertainty interval 18·4–19·0) of deaths were registered in 1950 and that proportion has been steadily increasing since, with 58·8% (58·2–59·3) of all deaths being registered in 2015. At the global level, between 1950 and 2017, life expectancy increased from 48·1 years (46·5–49·6) to 70·5 years (70·1–70·8) for men and from 52·9 years (51·7–54·0) to 75·6 years (75·3–75·9) for women. Despite this overall progress, there remains substantial variation in life expectancy at birth in 2017, which ranges from 49·1 years (46·5–51·7) for men in the Central African Republic to 87·6 years (86·9–88·1) among women in Singapore. The greatest progress across age groups was for children younger than 5 years; under-5 mortality dropped from 216·0 deaths (196·3–238·1) per 1000 livebirths in 1950 to 38·9 deaths (35·6–42·83) per 1000 livebirths in 2017, with huge reductions across countries. Nevertheless, there were still 5·4 million (5·2–5·6) deaths among children younger than 5 years in the world in 2017. Progress has been less pronounced and more variable for adults, especially for adult males, who had stagnant or increasing mortality rates in several countries. The gap between male and female life expectancy between 1950 and 2017, while relatively stable at the global level, shows distinctive patterns across super-regions and has consistently been the largest in central Europe, eastern Europe, and central Asia, and smallest in south Asia. Performance was also variable across countries and time in observed mortality rates compared with those expected on the basis of development. INTERPRETATION: This analysis of age-sex-specific mortality shows that there are remarkably complex patterns in population mortality across countries. The findings of this study highlight global successes, such as the large decline in under-5 mortality, which reflects significant local, national, and global commitment and investment over several decades. However, they also bring attention to mortality patterns that are a cause for concern, particularly among adult men and, to a lesser extent, women, whose mortality rates have stagnated in many countries over the time period of this study, and in some cases are increasing

The extent and structure of pig rearing system in urban and peri-urban areas of Guwahati

Livestock is common in Indian cities and contribute to food security as well as livelihoods. Urban livestock keeping has been neglected, and in India, little is known about the topic. Therefore, urban and peri-urban pig farms of Guwahati, Assam, India, were surveyed in order to understand more about the pig rearing systems and risks of diseases. A total of 34 urban and 66 peri-urbanpig farms were selected randomly. All reared cross-bred pigs. Free-range pig rearing was common in both urban (58.8%) and peri-urban (45.45%) farms. Artificial insemination was used by around half of the pig farmers. Disinfection in pig farms was practiced in 26.5% of urban and 28.8% of peri-urban farms. More urban pig farms were observed to be moderately clean in (82.4%) compared to peri-urban (69.7%). However, more urban (67.7%) than peri-urban farms (57.6%) reported ahighrodent burden. Pig sheds were mostly basic, with bricked floors in 18.2% farms in peri-urban areas, and more than 80% had corrugated iron roofing sheets. In conclusion, free-roaming pigs in both urban and peri-urban areas of Guwahati can contribute to disease transmission, and the low standard of hygiene and buildings may further increase the risk of diseases

Sero-prevalence of West Nile virus in urban and peri-urban poultry farms of Guwahati, India

West Nile virus (WNV) is a zoonotic, emerging mosquito-borne virus which can cause severe disease in the form of encephalitis and acute flaccid paralysis in humans. In Assam, northeast India, arboviruses seem to be re-emerging, however, WNV has been little studied. The present investigation was carried out from April, 2018 to March, 2019 to study sero-positivity of WNV in chicken in urban and peri-urban areas of Guwahati, the capital city of Assam. Four urban and four peri-urban areas of Guwahati were selected. A total of 864 chicken serum samples (72 samples per month) were screened by ELISA and further confirmed by haemagglutination inhibition (HI), which revealed that 3.13% of the chickens had been exposed to WNV, with 0.69% sero-positivity in urban areas compared to 5.56% in peri-urban. Peak sero-prevalence of WNV were reported during the month of July and August with 8.33% each with lowest sero-prevalence being recorded in November (1.39%) and no sero-positive birds from December to April. These results indicate that WNV is one of the actively circulating flaviviruses in Assam, and human febrile and encephalitic cases should be screened for the disease

Technoscientific Normativity and the "Iron Cage" of Law

Bora A. Technoscientific Normativity and the "Iron Cage" of Law. SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY & HUMAN VALUES. 2010;35(1):3-28.Participation of a broad variety of actors in decision-making processes has become an important issue in science and technology policy. Many authors claim the involvement of stakeholders and of the general public to be a core condition for legitimate and sustainable decision making. In the last decades, a wide spectrum of procedures has been developed to realize biotechnological citizenship. These procedures, composed of multiactor arenas, are either located in close relation to the system of politics, or, as in the case of administrative decision making, more closely to the system of law. In the latter case, a problematic constellation arises. Here, law and science can build a techno-scientific normativity that systematically excludes political discourse. The law, although intending to provide for political freedom and citizenship rights, at the end appears to be an "iron cage" for political communication