Residues of Pesticides and Herbicides in Soils from Agriculture Areas of Delhi Region, India

This paper presents the residue levels of organochlorine, organophosphate pesticides and herbicides in agricultural soils from Delhi region. Among OCPs, HCH, DDT endosulphan and dieldrin ranged between <0.01-104.14 ng g-1, <0.01-15.79 ng g-1, <0.01-7.57 ng g-1 and <0.01-2.38 ng g-1, respectively. The concentration of OPPs ranged from <0.01-20.95 ng g-1, ND-3.92 ng g-1, ND-31.73 ng g-1, ND-6.46 ng g-1 and ND-6.46 ng g-1 for phosphomidon, monocrotophos, chlorpyriphos, quinolphos and ethion, respectively. Pendimethalin (0.27 ng g-1) was the dominant herbicides followed by butachlor (0.19 ng g-1), and fluchloralin (0.05 ng g-1). Data showed the region was contaminated by technical DDT and technical HCH mixture. The study reveals that the level of some organochlorine pesticides in agricultural soils is a matter of concern for future food chain accumulation and human health so; regular investigation of pesticide residues is recommended on soil health and contamination levels. Keywords: pesticides, herbicides, agricultural soil, Delhi, Indi

Distribution of polychlorinated biphenyls in agricultural soils from NCR, Delhi, India

ABSTRACT Twenty eight polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) congeners including twelve dioxin-lik

The Ghost in the Projector: New Pakistani Cinema & its Hauntings

A collection of essays on Pakistani Cinema, edited by the organisers of the Harvard-Brown Pakistani film festival. Has there been a ‘revival’ of Pakistani cinema? Or can the very question be put to scrutiny? Can we think beyond a national cinema, and instead simply think with films to explore the fraught politics and aspirations of our times? Love, War & Other Longings brings together historians, anthropologists, artists, and film-makers to offer new lines of enquiry that probe the tensions between cinema’s past and present, absences and the archive, seduction and respectability, class and consumption, as well as genre and censorship. At times experimental in form, the essays seek to draw readers into conversations that engage political theory and postcolonial history, and become part of ongoing writing, thinking, and the making of films in Pakistan and the global south more broadly

Role of Voluminous Substituents in Controlling the Optical Properties of Disc/Planar-Like Small Organic Molecules: Toward Molecular Emission in Solid State

Inspired by the role of coadsorbents in dye-sensitized solar cells, a pathway to disfavor aggregation in disclike luminophores was studied to enhance solid-state emission. By restricting the intense π–π stacking using a multicyclic aliphatic ring system, we brought the lithocholic ring system as bulky side substitution into the fluorophore design. Compared to the small-size cyclohexyl substitution in <b>BC-CY6</b>, which exhibited a bathochromic shift in solid-state emission owing to the intermolecular interactions, lithocholic-substituted <b>BC-LTH</b> had reduced intense intermolecular interactions. This very bulky/voluminous side substitution (lithocholic unit) helped us extract intermolecular interaction-free molecular emission in solid state. The cyclohexyl substitution provided solid-state emission, and the broad and high Stokes shift provided an insight into stacking interactions. Face-to-face stacking-originated dimerlike species was observed in the crystal packing, which was studied by theoretical geometry optimization. The dimer species exhibited an intermolecular distance of 3.5 Å. The molecular sizes of the developed chromophores were estimated by geometry optimization, and it was concluded that the dimeric interactions in <b>BC-LTH</b> may not be formed owing to the voluminous nature of the side substitution present. Hence, we have been able to successfully establish through molecular level understanding the role of lithocholic functionality in tuning the optoelectronic properties of various emissive materials for different applications

Prevalencia del consumo de psicofármacos, consumo de drogas y diagnóstico de enfermedad mental en el Centro Penitenciario de Soria

En el siguiente estudio se ha analizado la población reclusa del CP de Soria en tratamiento con psicofármacos. Se trata de un estudio descriptivo correlacional observacional transversal retrospectivo el cual ha permitido conocer aspectos de los reclusos como son la nacionalidad, rango de edad, tipo y cantidad de psicofármaco, consumo histórico de drogas y diagnóstico de enfermedad mental. La prevalencia del consumo de psicofármacos es de casi la mitad de la población reclusa con el 45,96%. La nacionalidad mayoritaria en tratamiento de este tipo era la española con más del 91% de los reclusos. Un 28,37% recibía algún tipo de psicofármaco, encontrándose por detrás de los internos en tratamiento con dos -36,48%- y tres -29,72%- modalidades de fármaco. Un 63,5% tenía prescritos ansiolíticos, un 50% antidepresivos y un 47,29% antipsicóticos. En cuanto a la totalidad de prescripciones diarias un 32,96% comprendían los ansiolíticos, un 24,02% antidepresivos y un 20,67% antipsicóticos. Casi un 96% de los reclusos había consumido algún tipo de droga a lo largo de su vida. Entre ellas las más consumidas eran el tabaco -75,67%- cocaína -74,32%- y heroína -70,27%-. El consumo de más de una droga (policonsumo) también es elevado: un 64,78% consumía tanto cocaína como heroína, un 39,40% consumía cocaína, heroína y cannabis y un 18,30% consumía cocaína, heroína, cannabis y alcohol. A lo que a enfermedad mental se refiere un 55,40% de los reclusos en tratamiento con psicofármacos había tenido diagnóstico de enfermedad mental. Los diagnósticos según el DSM-IV más dados fueron los trastornos de ansiedad, los trastornos de la personalidad y los trastornos por abuso de sustancias. También se encontraron casos de esquizofrenia u otros trastornos psicóticos en número considerable. La prevalencia del consumo de psicofármacos en el CP de Soria es más alta en comparación con otros estudios realizados en el estado y Europa. La población mayoritaria con este tipo de tratamiento es de nacionalidad española y de edades comprendidas entre los 31-50 años. El psicofármaco más utilizado son los ansiolíticos. Un alto porcentaje de reclusos en tratamiento de este tipo ha consumido drogas alguna vez siendo el policonsumo algo habitual. No todos los reclusos en tratamiento tienen diagnóstico de enfermedad mental.Grado en Enfermerí

Outcomes of patients with unresected stage III and stage IV non-small cell lung cancer: A single institution experience

Introduction: To report on the demographic profile and survival outcomes of North Indian population affected with stage III and stage IV non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Materials and Methods: From November 2008 to January 2012, 138 consecutively diagnosed NSCLC patients were included in this study. The patient, tumor and treatment related factors were analyzed. Median overall survival (OS), Kaplan-Meier survival plots, t-test, Cox proportional hazards models were generated by multivariate analysis [MVA]) and analyzed on SPSS software (version 19.0; SPSS, Inc., Chicago, IL). Results: Median OS of stage III patients was 9.26 ± 1.85 months and 2-year survival rate of 13% while stage IV patients had median OS of 5 ± 1.5 months with a 2-year survival rate of 8%. Cox regression modeling for MVA demonstrated higher biologically equivalent dose (BED) ( P = 0.01) in stage III while in stage IV non-squamous histology ( P = 0.01), administration of chemotherapy ( P = 0.02), partial responders to chemotherapy ( P = 0.001), higher BED ( P = 0.02), and those with skeletal metastasis alone ( P = 0.17) showed a better OS. Conclusion: Our data showed that a higher BED is associated with favorable outcomes, indicating a role of dose escalated radiation therapy to the primary lesion in both stage III and essentially in stage IV NSCLC. Additionally, optimal use of chemotherapy relates to better survival. The developing, resource restrained nations need to follow an economically feasible multimodality approach

Comparative Genomic Analysis of Buffalo (<i>Bubalus bubalis</i>) NOD1 and NOD2 Receptors and Their Functional Role in <i>In-Vitro</i> Cellular Immune Response

<div><p>Nucleotide binding and oligomerization domain (NOD)-like receptors (NLRs) are innate immune receptors that recognize bacterial cell wall components and initiate host immune response. Structure and function of NLRs have been well studied in human and mice, but little information exists on genetic composition and role of these receptors in innate immune system of water buffalo—a species known for its exceptional disease resistance. Here, a comparative study on the functional domains of NOD1 and NOD2 was performed across different species. The NOD mediated <i>in-vitro</i> cellular responses were studied in buffalo peripheral blood mononuclear cells, resident macrophages, mammary epithelial, and fibroblast cells. Buffalo NOD1 (buNOD1) and buNOD2 showed conserved domain architectures as found in other mammals. The domains of buNOD1 and buNOD2 showed analogy in secondary and tertiary conformations. Constitutive expressions of NODs were ubiquitous in different tissues. Following treatment with NOD agonists, peripheral lymphocytes showed an IFN-γ response along-with production of pro-inflammatory cytokines. Alveolar macrophages and mammary epithelial cells showed NOD mediated <i>in-vitro</i> immune response through NF-κB dependent pathway. Fibroblasts showed pro-inflammatory cytokine response following agonist treatment. Our study demonstrates that both immune and non-immune cells could generate NOD-mediated responses to pathogens though the type and magnitude of response depend on the cell types. The structural basis of ligand recognition by buffalo NODs and knowledge of immune response by different cell types could be useful for development of non-infective innate immune modulators and next generation anti-inflammatory compounds.</p></div

Amino acid conservation of different domains of NOD1 and NOD2 among different species.

<p>Estimates of evolutionary divergence among sequences were conducted by calculating pair-wise distances using the JTT matrix-based model. The zone marked with green lines spans comparison of respective region of NOD1 and NOD2 in different species. The blue or violet lines span the zones forinter-species comparison of a region specific to either NOD1 or NOD2. (A) The map indicated NOD2 CARDs are well conserved among different species, NOD1 CARD is less conserved and there were little similarities amongst the different CARDs in the species under consideration. (B) NOD1 NACHT is well conserved among different species compared to NOD2 NACHT. There was distant correlation amongst the NACHT domains of NOD1 and NOD2 in species under consideration. (C) Distances among LRRs of NOD1 and NOD2 of different species. Each small triangle (example marked with black lines) or square represent nine species under study (for clarity of the figure, species names have not shown). (D-F) Cartoon representations showing conserved amino acids responsible for forming basic (blue) and acidic (red) patches on three cards. Residues D42, D48, E53, D54, and E56 have been implicated for CARD-CARD interaction of NOD1 and RICK. Ubiquitinylation sites E85 (pink) was conserved Y89 was substituted with histidine that was found to be was buried by side chains of L93, Y96 and L100. Residues R38 and R86 required for NOD2 CARD-I and RICK CARD interaction were also conserved in buffalo. Residues implicated for ubiquitinylation in NOD2 CARDs have been also shown with their electron density spheres.</p

Constitutive expression and localization pattern of buffalo NOD proteins.

<p>Constitutive protein expression of buffalo NOD1 and NOD2 in different tissues detected by Western blot using equal amount of proteins from the tissues.</p