Impact of Guinea Grass, Congo Signal and \u3cem\u3eStylosanthes hamata\u3c/em\u3e on Soil Physico-Chemical Properties and Beneficial Micro Fauna in Mango and Sapota Plantations

Farming systems are considered to be most important upcoming enterprises to reduce soil erosion and land degradation besides provide timber, fruits, nutritious fodder for live stock population in the poor soil areas (Roy et.al., 2000). Horticulture based farming systems have been recommended as alternate land use systems for sustainable agriculture in semi arid ecosystem for efficient soil plant management and soil fertility management. Studies on micro flora and micro fauna under farming system are required to increase the farming system productivity. Higher species diversity of soil arthropods was observed in grassland system closely followed by the silvipasture systems when compared to areas having no vegetation in central India. Abundance, diversity and species richness decreased along the gradient, with the agricultural site presenting an impoverished community. Diversity descriptors were positively and significantly correlated with habitat diversity, measured on the basis of the proportion of the different soil-use types present at each land-use unit (Sousa et.al., 2004). The influence of three spatially hierarchical factors like local depth of the soil, ground cover type on the soil samples (bare ground, grass tufts, dead trees lying on the ground), dimensions of the grass tufts sampled (size and shape), significantly affected the morphospecies richness and/or density of the soil macrofauna. The type of ground cover had the strongest influence, affecting the total richness and density of the soil macro fauna and of almost all the groups represented. In the present study efforts were made to know the impact of guinea grass Panicum maximum, Congo signal grass Brachiaria ruziziensis and a legume Stylosanthes hamata on thephysico-chemical properties of mango and sapota based hortipasture systems

National list of essential medicines of India, National Essential List of Medicine 2011 – does it have any merit?

Essential medicines are intended to be available within the context of functioning health systems at all times in adequate amounts, in the appropriate dosage forms, with assured quality, and at a price the individual and the community can afford. The WHO Model List is a guide for the development of national and institutional essential medicine lists. The WHO Model List is updated and revised every 2 years by the WHO Expert Committee on selection and use of medicines. The 19th WHO Expert Committee on Selection and Use met in April 2013 to produce the following lists: 18th WHO Model List of Essential Medicines (2013) and 4th WHO Model List of Medicines for Children (2013). The concept of essential medicines is present in more than 150 countries which have their national list based on WHO Model List

Farmer to Farmer Spread of Fodder Crops--An Analysis on Mango Orchards in South India

India ranks first among world mango (Mangifera indica L.) producing countries, accounting for about 50% of world production. Karnataka in southern India is one of the important mango producing provinces of the country. The total area under mango crops in Karnataka is 160,000 ha of which 90,000 ha is in prime fruit yielding stage. In the year 2011-12 alone the area under mango crops has gone up by 10,000 ha (DoH, 2013). The usual planting distance followed by most farmers for mango is 10 m by 10 m. Intercropping, mainly with small millet is practiced until the mango trees attain a suitable height and develop canopy (at 5-6 years of age). The space between the mango tree rows which is not cultivated is estimated to be 67,500 ha (75%) and this provides ample scope for introduction of improved fodder crops in mango orchards through non-competitive land use. Formal methods of diffusion of fodder technologies in India are not only few but are also inefficient. In such cases diffusion can be enhanced through participation of farmers (Kormawa et al., 2004). However farmer to farmer dissemination of technologies is a neglected area of research (Grisley, 1994). A study on diffusing fodder technologies in interspaces of mango orchards of farmers in a participatory mode was conducted in Karnataka. One objective was to develop a method to improve the fodder availability using mango orchards by encouraging farmers to be partners for better feeding of livestock in the region

Influence of Helminthiasis on Allergic Asthma

INTRODUCTION: What represents a disease or infection in one scenario may well have a beneficial effect in quite another. There is growing interest at the international level on the possible interrelationship between helminthic infection and allergic asthma, although the exact nature of the relationship remains uncertain. Allergic asthma is one of the most common respiratory ailments in children as well as the adult population. Whereas most cases of asthma originate in childhood, the natural history of the disease is poorly understood. In the developing tropical countries helminthiasis is a major public health problem. The epidemiologic observation that atopic asthma is very common and helminthiasis uncommon in developed countries and that the converse is true in developing countries has lead to the speculation that the two phenomena may be inversely related. However, the relationship between helminthiasis and allergic asthma remains largely uncertain. It has been proven in various studies that despite equal living conditions, the intensity of parasite infection was greater among non-allergic individuals than allergic patients. Chronic and persistent helminthic load can suppress the allergic responses by causing an IL-4 dependant activation of 3 non-specific polyclonal IgE production and thereby saturation of mast cells29,2. The allergen specific IgE gets diluted in this polyclonal IgE rise. This causes a fall in the atopic responses to specific allergens. It is also worthwhile to mention that as the socio economic status decreases the helminthiasis rate increases and serum IgE level rises. In accordance with the above, parasite eradication can produce resurgence of allergic reactivity towards common environmental allergens in populations in whom this was suppressed by excessive polyclonal IgE2. AIM OF THE STUDY: 1. To study the influence of Helminthic Infection on the disease process of Allergic Asthma. 2. To find out the prevalence of Helminthiasis in Atopic Asthma patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A prospective study and analysis of patients aged 5 – 40 attending the allergy and asthma clinic at Govt. General Hospital, Govt. Royapettah Hospital & Institute of Child Health, Chennai. Study Population: The study was conducted over a six months period from June 2005 to Nov 2005. The study population largely belonged to the lower socioeconomic strata living in suburban Chennai. The patients, because of financial constraints had limited access to paid health services and were basically dependant on Govt. Health care setup. Fifty atopic asthma patients were chosen for the study and were followed up by outpatient department reviews. Study Design: Cohort study of 50 allergic asthma patients divided into 2 groups based on the presence or absence of the risk factor – helminthiasis. Inclusion Criteria: 1. Typical patients of atopic asthma as evidenced by Clinical history – age of onset, seasonal variation, known allergen, family history. Physical examination – wheeze, associated allergic rhinitis, Eczema. Investigation – skin test reactivity, spirometry. 2. Worm infestation as proven by: Investigation – Stool tests for eggs and one or both of the following criteria. Clinical history – Pruritis, Pica, Passing worms in stools. Supportive evidence – eosinophilia, serum IgE. Exclusion Criteria: 1. Comorbid conditions like pulmonary tuberculosis, cardiovascular illness and pregnant women were excluded. 2. Patients who were smokers were excluded as it might confound the results. 3. Occupations predisposing to lung diseases like cotton workers, cane factory & leather factory workers were excluded. OBSERVATION: In this prospective cohort study, the study population comprising of 50 patients of allergic asthma were distributed into two age-matched groups of 25 each, based on the presence or absence of worm infestation. The results of the observations were compared between the two groups at the end of the six month study period. Group I - Worm Infested Asthma patients - 25, Group II - [Control] Non-Worm infested Asthma patients - 25. CONCLUSION: Fifty patients of allergic asthma were divided into two study groups based on the presence or absence of worm infestation. They were followed up for a period of six months, clinical course and investigations compared. The prevalence of ascariasis in allergic asthma patients was 23.15%. There was no statistical significant difference in the age wise worm infestation rates. The prevalence ratio of helminthiasis among male and female asthmatic population was 2.6 : 1. The study also points out the significant difference in worm infestation rates between lower and higher income group (1.7:1). Helminthiasis was associated significantly with milder disease course than the control group (p=0.041399). The presence of worm infestation was significantly associated with improved performance of spirometry (p=0.04322). The skin test reactivity was significantly reduced in the worm group as compared to the non- worm group (p=0.0254). There was no significant difference in the IgE levels between the two groups

Formulation design and evaluation of metronidazole microspheres in a bioadhesive gel for local therapy of vaginal candidiasis

The purpose of this study was to design a novel vaginal delivery system composed of metronidazole microspheres dispersed within a bioadhesive gel. Microspheres were prepared by solvent evaporation method using Eudragit RS-100 and RL-100 polymers with different drug/polymer ratios. Microspheres were characterized by SEM, DSC, FT-IR and particle size analysis and evaluated for morphology, drug loading and in vitro drug release in simulated vaginal fluid. The % yield, actual drug loading and encapsulation were found to range between 79 ± 0.5 to 94 ± 0.6%, 19.6 ± 0.27 to 35.91 ± 0.66 %, 69.3 ± 0.78 to 81.2 ± 0.36 %, respectively. The FT-IR and DSC spectra revealed that there was no chemical interaction between drug and polymers used. SEM revealed that microspheres were spherical with nearly smooth surface morphology with a mean particle size ranging from 177 ± 0.4 to 456 ± 0.5 µm. The formulation F9 have shown better in vitro release 99 % at 10 h. To achieve bioadhesion to mucosal tissue, formulation F9 was incorporated in the bioadhesive gel made of carbopol 934P. Metronidazole microspheres gel (MTZMG) was characterized by in vitro drug release and antifungal activity. The drug release was controlled up to12 h. Inhibition effect on the C. albicans j1012 growth, suggested their effectiveness in the treatment of vaginal candidiasis. It may be concluded from present study that MTZ-MG can be used as a novel delivery system for local therapy of vaginal candidiasis.Colegio de Farmacéuticos de la Provincia de Buenos Aire

A study on patients treated with interlock nailing in the forearm fracture bones

Background: Fractures involving the bones of the forearm present unique problems not encountered with fractures of other long bones and may significantly affect the function of the upper limb. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the functional outcome of patients treated with interlock nailing in the fracture forearm bones.Methods: Thirty two patients included after their consent. With the patient supine on a radiolucent table, and under general or regional anesthesia the extremity was prepared and the surgery was performed using a standard procedure. If secure rigid fixation is achieved forearm POP splint is applied and kept in place for 2 weeks, thereafter a removable sugar-tong orthosis is worn until bridging callus is present, and the orthosis is removed frequently for exercise.Results: The average age of the patients was 38.90 years. The major mode of injury was RTA (59.09%) followed by assault (36.36%). 41% of patients were operated within week of injury, only three patients were operated after a week and one patient after 3 weeks. More than half of patients had closed fractures and rest was open fractures, of which Gustilo Anderson type II were in majority. In 3/5 of patients locking at nondriving end was not done cause of stable fixation. There was statistically significant difference in the surgical time (P <0.05) and duration of postoperative immobilization differed statistically significantly (P <0.001) between the group of patients in whom locking was done and not done. Conclusions: Advantages of Interlocking nail are high rate of bony consolidation along with minimized surgical approaches, cosmetically better suited and little risk of refracture after removal of the implant

Electron operator at the edge of the 1/3 fractional quantum Hall liquid

This study builds upon the work of Palacios and MacDonald (Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 76}, 118 (1996)), wherein they identify the bosonic excitations of Wen's approach for the edge of the 1/3 fractional quantum Hall state with certain operators introduced by Stone. Using a quantum Monte Carlo method, we extend to larger systems containing up to 40 electrons and obtain more accurate thermodynamic limits for various matrix elements for a short range interaction. The results are in agreement with those of Palacios and MacDonald for small systems, but offer further insight into the detailed approach to the thermodynamic limit. For the short range interaction, the results are consistent with the chiral Luttinger liquid predictions.We also study excitations using the Coulomb ground state for up to nine electrons to ascertain the effect of interactions on the results; in this case our tests of the chiral Luttinger liquid approach are inconclusive.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figure

Microscopic study of the 2/5 fractional quantum Hall edge

This paper reports on our study of the edge of the 2/5 fractional quantum Hall state, which is more complicated than the edge of the 1/3 state because of the presence of a continuum of quasi-degenerate edge sectors corresponding to different partitions of composite fermions in the lowest two {\Lambda} levels. The addition of an electron at the edge is a non-perturbative process and it is not a priori obvious in what manner the added electron distributes itself over these sectors. We show, from a microscopic calculation, that when an electron is added at the edge of the ground state in the [N_1, N_2] sector, where N_1 and N_2 are the numbers of composite fermions in the lowest two {\Lambda} levels, the resulting state lies in either [N_1 + 1, N_2] or [N_1, N_2 + 1] sector; adding an electron at the edge is thus equivalent to adding a composite fermion at the edge. The coupling to other sectors of the form [N_1 + 1 + k, N_2 - k], k integer, is negligible in the asymptotically low-energy limit. This study also allows a detailed and substantial comparison with the two-boson model of the 2/5 edge. We compute the spectral weights and find that while the individual spectral weights are complicated and non-universal, their sum is consistent with an effective two-boson description of the 2/5 edge.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figure