Two rare cases of management of proximal phalanx spina ventosa

Tubercular dactylitis or spina ventosa is the tubercular infection of phalanges, metacarpals and metatarsals termed after cystic swelling of short tubular bones by tubercular infection. Here we presented two rare cases of spina ventosa in a 10 years old female and a 16 years old male patients. In both cases there was swelling of digits with stiffness. The radiographs were suggestive of chronic osteolytic infection with cortical destruction and diffuse sclerosis. We managed them with adequate surgical debridement, splintage and anti-tubercular therapy with good functional recovery. Spina ventosa or tubercular dactylitis is a rare condition and is often missed on diagnosis due to vague non-specific presentation, unavailability of rapid diagnostic tests and can be confused with other mimicking diseases. Any swelling over small tubular bones of hand or feet should raise the suspicion of spina ventosa, especially in endemic countries for tuberculosis. In neglected chronic infections, surgical debridement, curettage and splintage followed by anti-tubercular therapy based on histo-pathological reports is the treatment of choice with high protein diet and vitamin D supplementation ensures good outcome.

Phytochemical investigations on the therapeutic properties of Ensete glaucum (Roxb.) Cheesman

68-73The traditional Khasi tribal community of North-East India cite the use of pseudostem sap from Ensete glaucum (Roxb.) Cheesman for therapeutic purpose, especially for diarrhoea. This preliminary study has been conducted to evaluate the curative properties of Ensete glaucum pseudostem sap by screening for the presence of amino acids, cardiac glycosides, flavonoids, polyphenols, alkaloids, reducing sugars, starch, saponins, tannins, terpenoids and oils and fats. Standard tests confirmed the presence of flavonoids, reducing sugars, terpenoids, saponins, cardiac glycosides and alkaloids, which together contribute to the curative property of the sap as discussed. Polyphenol content was found to be 10.59 mg GAE mL-1 and total antioxidant capacity estimated is 54.538 mg AAE mL-1, whereas, total flavonoids were measured at 2.52 mg QE mL-1 of fresh sap

Effect of covering materials on off-season cut flower production in chrysanthemum (Dendrathema grandiflora)

Studies on the effect of covering material on off-season cut flower production of chrysanthemum (Dendranthema grandiflora Tzvelev) were carried out at the experimental farm of the Department of Floriculture and Landscape Architecture, Dr Yashwant Singh Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni, Solan, Himachal Pradesh, during 2011 in naturally ventilated polyhouse. The experiment was carried out using three types of covering materials(viz. tarpaulin, high density polyethylene (HDPE) and black sateen cloth) and four cultivars each of standard (Purnima, Yellow Star, Tata Century and White Star) and spray (Ajay, Birbal, Nanako and White Bouquet) varieties. Findings revealed that HDPE was the best alternative covering material to tarpaulin as optimum plant height (83.33 cm), plant spread (40.54 cm), maximum number of cut stems (4.21), duration of flowering (33.54 days) and earliest flower bud formation (91.07 days) and flowering were obtained in plants under HDPE. Flowering was earlier under controlled photoperiod than natural photoperiod. Peak flowering was earliest (140.36 days) in plants under HDPE* cover as compared to plants under natural photoperiodic conditions which took maximum number of days (176.19), to come to peak flowering. The varieties were assigned to different response group under controlled photoperiodic conditions with HDPE. All the varieties tested were found suitable for off-season flower production

Effect of walking and summer stress on physiological, heamatological and antioxidant profiles in mithun bulls

The study was conducted to evaluate effect of walking stress on physiological, heamatological and antioxidant profiles in mithun bulls. Mithun bulls (12) of adult age of 4 to 6 yr (500–600 kg body weight) with body condition score 5–6 were selected and divided into group 1 (6): control (not exposed to walking and thermal stress) and group 2 (6): treatment (exposed to walking and thermal stress). The treatment group was allowed to walk 15 km to and fro from the farm without allowing grazing. The control animals were kept in the adjacent shed covered with asbestos sheets and surrounded by big trees. The time of walking was from 0900 h to 1400 h. The experiment was conducted during summer (May to July). Immediately after stress, the animals were restrained and physiological parameters such as rectal temperature (RT), respiration rate (RR), pulse rate (PR), heart rate (HR), skin temperature (ST) were measured. Meanwhile, blood samples were collected to study the heamatological such as red blood cells (RBC), haemoglobin (Hb), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), packed cell volume (PCV), mean corpuscular volume (MCV), mean corpuscular haemoglobin (MCH), mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration (MCHC) and antioxidant profiles such as reduced glutathione (GSH), glutathione reductase (GSHRx), superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), total antioxidant capacity (TAC) and lipid peroxide such as malondialdehyde (MDA). The result revealed that physiological, heamatological profiles and MDA were significantly higher and antioxidant profiles were significantly lowered in stressed animals than in unstressed animal group. It was concluded that the walking stress and hot summer stress has significantly affected the performance of mithun

Exploring the status of ethnic tribal value addition practices of Jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus Lam.) in Garo Hills of Meghalaya, India

Jackfruit gets wasted to the tune of $5.8 million every year from 0.4-0.5 million jackfruit trees in Garo Hills due to lack of suitable infrastructure, limited scientific know-how regarding processing and storage, and restricted market access. The study aims to explore the status of jackfruit cultivation and utilisation of locally available jackfruit and to document the value addition practices followed by ethnic tribal communities in the Garo Hills of Meghalaya, India, to augment the standardisation of the sustainable value addition practices for the region. The study was conducted in all five districts of Garo Hills. Two blocks from each district were selected through a simple random sampling method. Twenty respondents from each selected block were selected through the snowball sampling method, thereby making a total of 200 respondents. Identification and documentation of ethnic value addition practices of tribal communities were done through Focused Group Discussion with the relevant stakeholders. Data were analysed with descriptive statistics and Duncan Multiple Range Test. The average wastage percentage was more than half of the jackfruit production in Garo Hills, as very few respondents (30.5%) engaged in value addition practices and due to negligible marketing of raw jackfruit (3970 kg). Identification, documentation of ethnic value addition practices, and their utilisation study provide a clear indication of the need for standardisation of these value addition practices through laboratory research to befit the local demand and outside market as well.

Intra-host diversities of the receptor-binding domain of stork faeces-derived avian H5N1 viruses and its significance as predicted by molecular dynamic simulation

Virus evolution facilitates the emergence of viruses with unpredictable impacts on human health. This study investigated intra-host variations of the receptor-binding domain (RBD) of the haemagglutinin (HA) gene of the avian H5N1 viruses obtained from the 2004 and 2005 epidemics. The results showed that the mutation frequency of the RBD ranged from 0.3 to 0.6 %. The mutations generated one consensus and several minor populations. The consensus population of the 2004 epidemic was transmitted to the 2005 outbreak with increased frequency (39 and 45 %, respectively). Molecular dynamics simulation was applied to predict the significance of the variants. The results revealed that the consensus sequence (E218K/V248I) interacted unstably with sialic acid (SA) with an α2,6 linkage (SAα2,6Gal). Although the mutated K140R/E218K/V248I and Y191C/E218K/V248I sequences decreased the HA binding capacity to α2,3-linked SA, they were shown to bind α2,6-linked SA with increased affinity. Moreover, the substitutions at aa 140 and 191 were positive-selection sites. These data suggest that the K140R and Y191C mutations may represent a step towards human adaptation of the avian H5N1 virus

A leprosy clinical severity scale for erythema nodosum leprosum: An international, multicentre validation study of the ENLIST ENL Severity Scale.

OBJECTIVES: We wished to validate our recently devised 16-item ENLIST ENL Severity Scale, a clinical tool for measuring the severity of the serious leprosy associated complication of erythema nodosum leprosum (ENL). We also wished to assess the responsiveness of the ENLIST ENL Severity Scale in detecting clinical change in patients with ENL. METHODS: Participants, recruited from seven centres in six leprosy endemic countries, were assessed using the ENLIST ENL Severity Scale by two researchers, one of whom categorised the severity of ENL. At a subsequent visit a further assessment using the scale was made and both participant and physician rated the change in ENL using the subjective categories of "Much better", "somewhat better", "somewhat worse" and "much worse" compared with "No change" or "about the same". RESULTS: 447 participants were assessed with the ENLIST ENL Severity Scale. The Cronbach alpha of the scale and each item was calculated to determine the internal consistency of the scale. The ENLIST ENL Severity Scale had good internal consistency and this improved following removal of six items to give a Cronbach's alpha of 0.77. The cut off between mild ENL and more severe disease was 9 determined using ROC curves. The minimal important difference of the scale was determined to be 5 using both participant and physician ratings of change. CONCLUSIONS: The 10-item ENLIST ENL Severity Scale is the first valid, reliable and responsive measure of ENL severity and improves our ability to assess and compare patients and their treatments in this severe and difficult to manage complication of leprosy. The ENLIST ENL Severity Scale will assist physicians in the monitoring and treatment of patients with ENL. The ENLIST ENL Severity Scale is easy to apply and will be useful as an outcome measure in treatment studies and enable the standardisation of other clinical and laboratory ENL research

Multidimensional Signals and Analytic Flexibility: Estimating Degrees of Freedom in Human-Speech Analyses

Recent empirical studies have highlighted the large degree of analytic flexibility in data analysis that can lead to substantially different conclusions based on the same data set. Thus, researchers have expressed their concerns that these researcher degrees of freedom might facilitate bias and can lead to claims that do not stand the test of time. Even greater flexibility is to be expected in fields in which the primary data lend themselves to a variety of possible operationalizations. The multidimensional, temporally extended nature of speech constitutes an ideal testing ground for assessing the variability in analytic approaches, which derives not only from aspects of statistical modeling but also from decisions regarding the quantification of the measured behavior. In this study, we gave the same speech-production data set to 46 teams of researchers and asked them to answer the same research question, resulting in substantial variability in reported effect sizes and their interpretation. Using Bayesian meta-analytic tools, we further found little to no evidence that the observed variability can be explained by analysts’ prior beliefs, expertise, or the perceived quality of their analyses. In light of this idiosyncratic variability, we recommend that researchers more transparently share details of their analysis, strengthen the link between theoretical construct and quantitative system, and calibrate their (un)certainty in their conclusions

Multidimensional signals and analytic flexibility: Estimating degrees of freedom in human speech analyses

Recent empirical studies have highlighted the large degree of analytic flexibility in data analysis which can lead to substantially different conclusions based on the same data set. Thus, researchers have expressed their concerns that these researcher degrees of freedom might facilitate bias and can lead to claims that do not stand the test of time. Even greater flexibility is to be expected in fields in which the primary data lend themselves to a variety of possible operationalizations. The multidimensional, temporally extended nature of speech constitutes an ideal testing ground for assessing the variability in analytic approaches, which derives not only from aspects of statistical modeling, but also from decisions regarding the quantification of the measured behavior. In the present study, we gave the same speech production data set to 46 teams of researchers and asked them to answer the same research question, resulting insubstantial variability in reported effect sizes and their interpretation. Using Bayesian meta-analytic tools, we further find little to no evidence that the observed variability can be explained by analysts’ prior beliefs, expertise or the perceived quality of their analyses. In light of this idiosyncratic variability, we recommend that researchers more transparently share details of their analysis, strengthen the link between theoretical construct and quantitative system and calibrate their (un)certainty in their conclusions