Global Environmental Microelectromechanical Systems Sensors: Advanced Weather Observation System

The technological developments in microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) have resulted in conceptualisation of a next generation observation system called global environmental MEMS sensors (GEMS). GEMS consists of a large number of airborne probes that will remain suspended in the atmosphere for long durations and take in situ measurements of pressure, temperature, humidity, wind direction and velocity as these are carried by air currents. It is envisaged that GEMS network would provide a systematic understanding of the earths atmosphere and would improve weather forecast accuracy, well beyond the current capability. In addition to gathering meteorological data, probes could be used for environmental monitoring of particulate emissions, organic and inorganic pollutants, ozone, carbon dioxide, and chemical, biological, or nuclear contaminants. The GEMS concept requires integration of communication engineering and instrumentation with other evolving technologies. This review describes in detail the new observation system designed for environmental monitoring and its potential application in predicting cyclones and monsoon, and measurement of urban air pollution in India. The possible application of the GEMS system during military operations has also been brought out.Defence Science Journal, 2009, 59(6), pp.659-665, DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.14429/dsj.59.157

Case report of a rare case of meibomian gland carcinoma of the lower eyelid

The sebaceous gland carcinoma is a very rare, highly malignant tumour of the eyelid arising from sebaceous glands of the eyelid such as meibomian glands, glands of Zeis, and caruncle. The tumour is more commonly seen in elderly females and more commonly involve the upper eyelid. We present a rare case of meibomian gland carcinoma of the left lower eyelid in a 59-year-old female who came with a history of a slow growing painless swelling of the lower eyelid. Histopathological examination confirmed poorly differentiated meibomian gland carcinoma

Thyroid ophthalmopathy in an adolescent girl: a case report

A 14 year old girl presented with protrusion of both the eyes for duration of 3 months and pain, redness and watering of right eye for 20 days. On examination, she was thin built, poorly nourished and the thyroid gland was found to be enlarged. Both eyes were proptosed and there was incapability of complete closure of the eyelids on both sides. On right eye, conjunctiva was congested and there was a corneal lesion seen inferomedially with an epithelial defect. CT scan of the orbit revealed picture of thyroid ophthalmopathy. Thyroid profile revealed picture suggestive of hyperthyroidism and anti-thyroid peroxidase antibody was found to be very high. She was diagnosed as a case of thyroid ophthalmopathy both eyes with exposure keratitis right eye. She was treated with anti-thyroid medication along with conservative treatment for ocular symptoms and lateral tarsorrhaphy of right eye for exposure keratopathy. Pulse steroid therapy was started and subsequent follow up showed resolution of the signs

Corneal ulcer: an epidemiological, microbiological and clinical study of cases attending Assam medical college and hospital, Dibrugarh, India

Background: Corneal ulcer is one of the important ophthalmic conditions causing significant morbidity especially in the developing countries. This study was carried out to evaluate the common etiological agents, predisposing factors, age, gender and occupational distribution and to study the clinical features and management of all corneal ulcers.Methods: A total of 50 cases of corneal ulcers who attended the Ophthalmology outpatient department (OPD) of Assam medical college and hospital, Assam, India, over a 6 months period were included in the study. A detailed history was taken and examination done as per the proforma. Microscopy and culture were performed on all corneal specimens obtained.Results: Corneal ulcers were common in 3rd to 5th decades of life with Male to Female ratio of 1.3:1. Majority of patients were farmers or hired agricultural workers. Ocular trauma was the major predisposing factor in majority of cases (32%). Out of 50 cases, 31 (62%) were culture positive. 19 were bacterial isolates and 12 were fungal isolates. All patients were treated according to standard treatment protocol and majority (95.5%) patients responded well to treatment.Conclusions: This study has revealed that suppurative corneal ulcers are caused by both bacterial and fungal agents with bacterial preponderance in this geographical area. Early and accurate diagnosis and intensive treatment is the need of hour for saving the eye and preventing the catastrophe of lifelong blindness

A prospective study on the role of neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy on surgical outcome in resectable oesophageal carcinoma

Background: Initial results of the chemo-radiotherapy for oesophageal cancer followed by surgery study (CROSS) comparing neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (NACRT) plus surgery versus surgery alone in patients with squamous cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma of the oesophagus or oesophagogastric junction showed a significant increase in 5-year overall survival in favour of the NACRT plus surgery group after a median of 45 months' follow-up. In this study we will interpret the short-term results of NACRT on resectable, locally advanced oesophageal carcinoma.Methods: Patients with clinically resectable, locally advanced cancer of the oesophagus or oesophagogastric junction (clinical stage T1N1M0 or T2-3N0-1M0, according to the AJCC, 8th  edition) were assigned to receive weekly administration of four cycles of NACRT (intravenous carboplatin [AUC 2 mg/mL per min] and intravenous paclitaxel [50 mg/m 2 of body-surface area] for 23 days) with concurrent radiotherapy (41·4 Gy, given in 23 fractions of 1·8 Gy on 5 days per week) followed by McKeown’s oesophagectomy from 01 January, 2020 to 31 May, 2021.Results: It was observed in our study that 38.46% patients had achieved a CPR after the administration of NACRT as per the CROSS-trial protocol which is comparable to PCR achieved in CROSS trial (29%). All the patients underwent an R0 resection during surgery (100%) which is comparable to CROSS trial (92%).12Conclusions: In our study which had collected data over a period of 17 months we learnt that the administration of NACRT in locally advanced oesophageal cancer was effective in reducing the tumor burden and achieving a satisfactory CPR of 38.46%

A clinical study of patients attending disability clinic in a tertiary care hospital of Assam, India

Background: The aim of the study was to determine the various types of congenital or acquired disorders causing permanent disability and their association with age, sex and visual acuity in patients attending disability clinic of department of ophthalmology, Jorhat medical college and hospital, Assam, from January 2018 to December 2018.Methods: A hospital-based cross-sectional study. 200 patients were enrolled in the duration of January 2018 to December 2018 and were analyzed for anomalies, etiology, sex and age at presentation.Results: Out of 200 cases analysed, 116 males and 84 females (Male: Female = 1.38:1) observed. The most common age group at presentation was 11-20 years (28.5%). 23% of cases were congenital. The most frequent ocular anomaly noted was microphthalmos (19%) followed by uveal coloboma (15%) and phthisis bulbi (14%).Conclusions: In a developing country like India, a large proportion of the childhood and adult blindness is avoidable. Action is needed to prevent blindness from vitamin A deficiency, measles, external ocular infections and chemical injuries. Specialist paediatric and optical services are required to manage cataract and glaucoma. Further work is indicated to elucidate the causes of anophthalmos, microphthalmos and coloboma. It would be useful to document the changing patterns in the causes of ocular disability to allow early action against emerging avoidable causes

Economics of BN Hybrid Grass Production Bundelkhand Region of India: A Case Study

Napier grass is also called as Elephant Grass due to its tallness and vigorous vegetative growth. The plants tiller freely and a single clump may produce more than 60 tillers under favorable climatic and soil conditions. Unfortunately, the grass coarse-textured, the leaf blade sheaths as well as sharply serrated, leaf margins. Therefore, cross was made between Bajra which is more succulent, leafy, fine-textured, palatable, fast growing and drought resistant and Napier to combine these qualities with its high yielding potential. The outcome Hybrid Napier is a perennial grass which can be retained on field for 2-3 years. Hybrid napier grass are mostly grown under assured water supply but cultivating under varying agroclimatic condition is also possible. Low grass production in dry land area is mainly due to the limited availability of soil moisture and plant nutrients. Agrawal et al., (2001) reported NB hybrid is superior to guinea grass or setaria grass. However the economy of production plays an important role in introduction/ adoption of a crop in an area, village or farm. Many earlier studies have been conducted on economics of BN Hybrid production at research farm, or other government farms. But the information on economics of BN hybrid production at farmer’s field and its integration livestock feeding as well rooted slips are limited. Therefore, the present study was conducted with the object to study the economics of BN hybrid at farmer’s field in Bundelkhand

Rejuvenation of Wild Ber (\u3cem\u3eZizyphus\u3c/em\u3e Species) through Budding at Farmer’s Field

Ber is mainly cultivated for its fresh fruits, which are rich in vitamins C, A and B complex. Due to its nutritional qualities it is called poor man’s apple (Gajbhiya et al., 2003). A large number of wild ber shrubs (Zizyphus mauritiana, Z. rotundifolia and Z. nummularia) were seen growing on the neglected lands, uncultivated lands, roadsides and farm boundaries in Kadesara Kala Village in Lalitpur district of Uttar Pradesh (India). Production potential of this species is very low because of poor upkeep and inferior genetic makeup. But they have extensive root system which can withstand prolonged drought and has capability to regenerate even if the shoot system is damaged completely (Batahr, 1990). They are also responsibly resistant to common insect and pest. Therefore, these species offer an excellent production potential from the degraded lands of Bundelkhand region of India (Sharma and Tiwari, 1994; Tiwari and Sharma, 1993) after in-situ budding with improved cultivars. It also provides sufficient leaf biomass (pala) which can be utilized as fodder in lean period and also suitable for hay and silage for goat as it contains 11-13 percent crude protein (Tewatia and Khirwar, 2002). Pruned twigs/stems of ber also meet, to some extent, the fuel wood requirement in rural areas (Kumar et al., 2004)

Constraints for Grassland Development in Kadesara Kala Village, Lalitpur, Bundelkhand: A Case Study

India is maintaining a livestock population of over 500 million and has a grim situation of forage and feed deficit to the tune of 35.6% green fodder, 10.95% crop residues and 44% concentrate. In term of nutrients, the deficit is expected to the tune of 24.6 and 19.9% respectively by the year 2020. The gap is to be bridged up through development as well as extension of appropriate fodder production technologies suitable for different farming situation strategies. Fifty-eight % of the available fodder comes from grazing land and 42% from stall feeding with crop residues (30%) and leaf fodder (12%). Grasses constitute the majority (88%) of fodder available in Uttar Pradesh (GOUP, 1994). However, the role of grasslands cannot be under judged, as the large animal populations owned by small, marginal and landless farm family strive upon these. The livestock sector achieved an average growth rate of 4.8 per cent during the Eleventh Five Year Plan (Economic Survey, 2012-13) and it contributed 3.6 percent of national GDP during the Eleventh Plan. In the same tune, the contribution from this sector is expected to improve because increasing purchasing power is favoring the proportion of protein from animal source in the human diets. Further, The Indian livestock sector is becoming more competitive participant in the world market. All this largely depends, however, on improvement and sufficiency in the production of feeds and forages. Notwithstanding the above, the grasslands and pastureland in the country are continuously shrinking. The paper addresses important issues limiting the development of new grasslands in semiarid Bundelkhand region of Uttar Pradesh particularly the Lalitpur district

Nutrient Intake and Utilization in Jalauni Lambs Fed \u3cem\u3e Azolla \u3c/em\u3e Meal Supplemented Diet

Azolla is an important aquatic fungi due to the occurrence of both photosynthesis and nitrogen fixation in the leaves and also because of its profuse growth habbit, it appears as a potential source of protein, minerals and vitamins for livestock feeding. Keeping in view of the increasing cost and heavy deficit of concentrate ingredients in the country, an attempt was made to replace mustard cake protein @ 25% and 50% levels with Azolla (Microphylla) meal protein in the ration of sheep to investigate the effect of supplementation of azolla meal on nutrient intake and utilization in growing Jalauni lambs fed green chaffed MP Chari based rations