Farmer led gross root level entrepreneurial initiatives for sustainable sugarcane production system in Tamil Nadu, India

The major objective of the study was to explore the rural entrepreneurial initiatives and its socio- economic impact among the sugarcane farmers across Tamil Nadu. Exploratory surveys, Focused Group Discussions (FDGs) and case study methods have been adopted. A total of seven successful entrepreneurial activities initiated by cane farmers, across different districts of Tamil Nadu were selected, purposively. The study revealed that entrepreneurial initiatives accomplished the needs of farmers and these either were developed by farmers themselves or with collaboration of sugar factories. Among seven entrepreneurial initiatives; ‘two wheeler sprayer’, ‘tractor mounted sprayer’, ‘trichogramma production’ and ‘Agricultural Service Provider (ASP)’ were initiated by the sugar factories under the Entrepreneurship Development Programme (EDP) in participatory mode. The other initiatives viz., organic jaggery powder and trash based vermi-compost production were initiated by farmers themselves. Budchip settling production was practiced by individual farmers as well as promoted by factories in participatory mode. It is also found that all seven entrepreneurial initiatives are profitable and sustainable. Further, the study found that the production cost for 1 cc trichogramma is Rs. 16 and selling cost is Rs. 23/cc, thus farmer getting a net profit of Rs. 7/cc of Trico card. In case of budchip settling production, total cost incurred for production of one settling is around 60-85 paisa. Selling cost of one-month old settling is Rs. 1.25. Thus, a farmer gains a net profit of 40 paisa per settling

Challenges of Urban Home Gardens: Perspectives on Vertical Living Walls as an Alternative in Colombo, Sri Lanka

Due to significant urbanization, Colombo is vulnerable to rising temperatures due to the lack of green spaces, development of construction and other explicit problems. The concept of home gardens could be a solution for a sustainable livelihood. A research survey has been conducted to study and identify the garden experiences among residents of 13 Colombo District Secretariats. The "Statistical Package for the Social Sciences" (SPSS) program 17.0 and Microsoft Excel are used to analyze the data and 100 responses were selected. 85% of participants occupy a garden space, however, results show a high percentage of unavailability of garden space and above-ground garden spaces around Colombo city. 70% of the participants are familiar with LWs but their perception is low due to the Cost, and maintenance. Nevertheless, 52% of the individuals agreed with the fact that LWs can be implemented in affordable ways which are easy to install, use or maintain.   © 2022 The Authors. Published by Department of Estate Management and Valuation, University of Sri Jayewardenepura   Keywords: Colombo DS; Living walls; perception; Urban Gardening; User Surve

Large adnexal mass: is laparoscopic surgery a safe option?

Background: Laparoscopic surgery is regarded as the gold standard for management of adnexal tumours due to many advantages. Currently, the exact size of the adnexal tumour contraindicating laparoscopic management has not been clearly defined. Some studies suggest laparotomy for the treatment of adnexal tumours larger than 8 to 10 cm. Risk of malignancy increases with large cysts. Issues with operation of huge adnexal masses are limited surgical field, difficulty in inserting trocars and removing the specimen without rupture. This study aims to evaluate the feasibility and surgical outcomes of laparoscopic surgery for large adnexal masses.Methods: A prospective observational study was conducted in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, JSS Medical College, Mysuru.Results: 35 patients with large adnexal masses, which were thought to be benign, were subjected to laparoscopic surgery. Mean diameter of masses as per the pre-operative ultrasound measurements was 12.2cm (range: 10.1-20.4cm). The mean operative time was 51.15minutes, estimated blood loss was 85.4ml, duration of postoperative hospital stay was 2.8 days. Serous cystadenoma was the most common histopathological finding. However, one case of borderline tumour was found.Conclusions: The potential risk of malignancy is the most important limiting factor for laparoscopic management of large ovarian cysts. Therefore, it is necessary to establish risk profiles of patients with adnexal masses in order to benefit from minimally invasive surgery wherever possible. The current study supports laparoscopic management of large ovarian cysts as a technically feasible method if proper case selection is made

LDH as a prognostic marker in hypertensive pregnancy

Background: Pregnancy induced hypertension (PIH) is a global problem with a 5-15% incidence rate in India and complicating 10-17% of all pregnancies. These are multisystem disorders and lead to a lot of cellular death. LDH is an intracellular enzyme and its level is increased in these women due to cellular death. So, serum LDH levels can be used to assess the extent of cellular death and thereby the severity of disease in this group of women. The objective of the study was to correlate the severity of the disease, maternal and perinatal outcome with Lactic Dehydrogenase (LDH) levels in serum in patients of preeclampsia and eclampsia.Methods: A prospective comparative study was conducted in the department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, JSS Medical Hospital, Mysore.Results: LDH levels were significantly elevated in women with preeclampsia and eclampsia (<0.001). Higher LDH levels had significant correlation with high blood pressure (P <0.10) as well as poor maternal and perinatal outcome.Conclusions: High serum LDH levels correlate well with the severity of the disease and poor outcomes in patients of preeclampsia and eclampsia

Growth of SiO2 microparticles by using modified Stober method: Effect of ammonia solution concentration and TEOS concentration

The unique structural features and suitability of the SiO2 microparticles in different application areas have mobilized a worldwide interest in the last few decades. In this report a classical method known as the Stober method has been used to synthesize silica microspheres. These microparticles have been synthesized by the reaction of tetraethyl orthosilicate (Si(OC2H5)(4), TEOS)(silica precursor)with water in an alcoholic medium (e.g. ethanol) in the presence of KCl electrolyte and ammonia as a catalyst. It has been observed that the size of the microparticles closely depends on the amount of the TEOS and ammonia. A decrease in the size of micro particles from 2.1 mu m to 1.7 mu m has been confirmed as the amount of TEOS increases from 3.5ml to 6.4ml respectively. In similar way a decrease in the diameter of the micro particles from 2.1 mu m to 1.7 mu m has been observed with increase in the ammonia content from 3ml to 9ml

(2R*,3R*,4aS*,6aR*,11aS*,11bS*)-Methyl 2-acet­oxy-11b-hydr­oxy-3,7-dimethyl-1,2,3,4,4a,5,6,6a,7,11,11a,11b-dodeca­hydro­phenanthro[3,2-b]furan-3-carboxyl­ate

In the title compound, C22H30O6, the conformation of the mol­ecule is dictated by an intra­molecular C—H⋯O contact. The crystal structure is stabilized via inter­molecular C—H⋯O, O—H⋯O and C—H⋯π contacts

Reducing the burden of orthodontic care for children with clefts: evaluating the effectiveness of pre-alveolar bone graft orthodontics in unilateral non-syndromic cleft patients (PABO study)— A study protocol for a multicentric randomised controlled trial

From Springer Nature via Jisc Publications RouterHistory: received 2021-05-12, registration 2021-08-02, accepted 2021-08-02, pub-electronic 2021-08-28, online 2021-08-28, collection 2021-12Publication status: PublishedFunder: Science and Engineering Board, Department of Science and Technology, Govt. of India; Grant(s): CRG/2019/005689Abstract: Background: An alveolar cleft commonly affects 75% of cleft lip and palate patients. While it is common practice to provide a course of orthodontic treatment before alveolar bone grafting, there are no previous high-quality studies reporting on the benefits of this type of treatment. Aim: The aim of the study is to evaluate the effectiveness of pre-alveolar bone graft orthodontics for unilateral non-syndromic cleft palate patients. Method: The PABO trial is a multicentric, parallel, two-arm, single-blinded randomised controlled trial. The inclusion criteria include unilateral cleft alveolus patients requiring bone graft and between the age group of 8 and 13 years with erupted upper central incisors. Participants will be recruited at three centres across India. Participants will be randomised to orthodontic treatment or no orthodontic treatment group. Both groups of participants will have alveolar bone graft surgery and will be followed up for 6 months after surgery. The primary outcome will be the success of the alveolar bone graft measured by anterior oblique radiograph and secondary outcomes include quality of life, cost analysis and quality of the dento-occlusal outcome. Data analysis will be carried out by an independent statistician at the end of the study. Discussion: This study is the first to evaluate the effect of orthodontics on alveolar bone graft success. The increased burden of care for these patients with multiple treatments required from multiple specialists from birth to adult life highlights the need for reducing unnecessary treatment provision. Trial Registration: Clinical Trials Registry – India, CTRI/2020/10/028756. Trial prospectively registered on 29 October 2020.

Compact to extended Lyman-α\alpha emitters in MAGPI: strong blue peak emission at z≳3z\gtrsim3

We report the discovery of three double-peaked Lyman-$\alpha$ emitters (LAEs) exhibiting strong blue peak emission at 2.9 $\lesssim z \lesssim$ 4.8, in the VLT/MUSE data obtained as part of the Middle Ages Galaxy Properties with Integral Field Spectroscopy (MAGPI) survey. These strong blue peak systems provide a unique window into the scattering of Lyman-$\alpha$ photons by neutral hydrogen (HI), suggesting gas inflows along the line-of-sight and low HI column density. Two of them at $z=2.9$ and $z=3.6$ are spatially extended halos with their core regions clearly exhibiting stronger blue peak emissions than the red peak. However, spatial variations in the peak ratio and peak separation are evident over $25\times 26$ kpc ($z=2.9$) and $19\times28$ kpc ($z=3.6$) regions in these extended halos. Notably, these systems do not fall in the regime of Lyman-$\alpha$ blobs or nebulae. To the best of our knowledge, such a Lyman-$\alpha$ halo with a dominant blue core has not been observed previously. In contrast, the LAE at $z\sim4.8$ is a compact system spanning a $9\times9$ kpc region and stands as the highest-redshift strong blue peak emitter ever detected. The peak separation of the bright cores in these three systems ranges from $\Delta_{\mathrm{peak}}\sim370$ to $660$ km/s. The observed overall trend of decreasing peak separation with increasing radius is supposed to be controlled by HI column density and gas covering fraction. Based on various estimations, in contrast to the compact LAE, our halos are found to be good candidates for LyC leakers. These findings shed light on the complex interplay between Lyman-$\alpha$ emission, gas kinematics, and ionising radiation properties, offering valuable insights into the evolution and nature of high-redshift galaxies.Comment: 2 Figures, 1 Table, accepted for A&A Letter