Algal carbon sequestration in rice soil eco system

This Technical brief is a short summary of the results obtained from the field experiments conducted at Anbhil Dharmalingam Agricultural College and Research Institute, Trichy to study the algal succession in rice soil besides quantifying the biomass generation potential of different Cyanobacterial species, namely Nostoc, Anabaena, Westiellopsis and Plectonema, isolated from Cauvery basin as a part of the ClimaRice project during the summer season 2010. Higher Nostoc abundance coincided with lower of other two genera. Anabaena was the first cyanobacterial species to develop in field two weeks after transplantation of rice. Many rice-field soils not only contain a high density of cyanobacteria, but possess visually obvious growths of cyanobacteria at (or floating above) the surface, during most part of the growth stages. Cyanobacteria which multiplies easily in rice field ecosystem has great potential as biofertilizer, also it could be employed for sequestering atmospheric carbon in paddy soils

Pharmacokinetic interaction between alcohol and two of the commonly prescribed anti-hypertensive drugs-amlodipine and nebivolol

Background: Alcoholism is one of the leading causes of secondary hypertension. Many a times in clinical setting, many hypertensive patients also happen to be alcoholics, either social/moderate drinkers or suffer from alcohol dependence. For these patients, cessation of alcohol consumption is advocated and counselled as part of diet and lifestyle modifications. However, compliance rates have been found to be variable. Therefore, these patients consume alcohol and also take anti-hypertensive medications on a day-to-day basis. This study was initiated to explore influence of alcohol on the pharmacokinetics of anti-hypertensive drugs – Amlodipine and Nebivolol.Methods: 24 human volunteers were recruited for the study after obtaining informed consent. 12 volunteers each for Amlodipine, Nebivolol and alcohol’s effect on the drugs respectively were evaluated. Two standard drinks of alcohol were administered in respective period as per randomization. Clinical confinement and blood sampling was carried out as per ethics committee approved protocol in accordance with good clinical practice principles.Plasma samples were analyzed using validated LC-MS/MS bio-analytical method, for quantification of Nebivolol and Amlodipine in lines with good laboratory practice principles. Pharmacokinetic and statistical analysis of results was evaluated using WinNonlin Version 5.3.Results: The pharmacokinetic parameters were evaluated statistically and ANOVA results suggest that despite changes in individual parameters, the bioavailability was comparable, as both Cmax and AUC0-inf were well within the range of 80-125%.Conclusions: It is clearly observed that there are variations in all pharmacokinetic parameters when the drug is administered with alcohol. However, the same are well within acceptable limits and bioavailability of the drugs is comparable when administered with alcohol. Hence, two standard drinks of alcohol have limited effect on the pharmacokinetics of Amlodipine and Nebivolol. Further studies are required to evaluate influence of higher and frequent doses of alcohol on pharmacokinetics of Amlodipine and Nebivolol

The Impact of El Niño/Southern Oscillation on Hydrology and Rice Productivity in the Cauvery Basin, India: Application of the Soil and Water Assessment Tool

AbstractThis study was performed to further understanding of the variations in hydrology and rice crop productivity during different El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events in the Cauvery River Basin of Tamil Nadu, India using the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT). The entire Cauvery Basin was divided into 301 sub-basins and further subdivided into 3,601 Hydrological Response Units (HRU). Based on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) official website, information on El Niño (1972, 1982, 1987, 1991, 1997, 2002 and 2004) and La Niña (1970, 1971, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1988, 1998, 1999 and 2000) years were obtained. The SWAT model was continuously run from 1970 to 2008, and a composite for El Niño, La Niña and normal years was constructed to understand their influence on hydrology and rice crop productivity in the study area. From the analysis, it was clear that an El Niño episode is correlated with rainfall, hydrology and rice productivity in the Cauvery river basin. The validation of the SWAT model indicated the capability of SWAT to accurately predict stream flow and rice productivity. It was evident from the investigation that the quantum of rainfall was more during El Niño years with high inter-annual rainfall variability (809.3mm to 2,366mm) compared with La Niña and normal years. As a result, the soil water recharge, including percolation and soil water availability in the surface layers, was increased in the El Niño years. Simulated rice productivity over 39 years in the Cauvery Basin ranged between 1,137 and 7,865kgha−1 with a mean productivity of 3,955kgha−1. The coefficient of variation in rice productivity was higher during La Niña (21.4%) years compared with El Niño (14.7%) and normal years (14.6%). The mean rice productivity was increased in both El Niño and normal years, indicating the possibility of higher yields than those in La Niña years. An analysis of the hydrological data and rice productivity showed that the risk of failure was low during El Niño years compared with normal or La Niña years. This behavior could be utilized for forecasting rice crop productivity under different ENSO conditions and can provide information for policy makers when deciding on water allocation and import / export policies

Determinants of immunization status of children aged 1-5 years attending a tertiary health care facility: A cross-sectional study

Background: Childhood immunization is one of the key health interventions, which is useful in decreasing the under-five mortality. There has been a recent decline in immunization coverage rates in India as shown by the National Family Health Survey 4. Objective: This study was undertaken with the objective of determining the socio-economic and demographic risk factors associated with partial immunization of children aged 1-5 years attending a tertiary care center in South India. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was done at the outpatient department of Institute of Child Health and Hospital for Children, Chennai, from May 2015 to October 2015. Children aged 1-5 years attending the outpatient department were included by convenient sampling. A sample size of 1100 was calculated based on a pilot study. After obtaining parental informed consent, data were collected on immunization and socio-demographic factors, namely, gender, place of residence, parental education and occupation, family income, number of children, birth order, place of delivery, and awareness of the type of vaccines to be given. The WHO definitions were used to classify immunization status as full, partial, and delayed immunization. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to determine independent risk factors for partial immunization. Results: Totally, 1104 children were included in the study. 1056 (95.7% [95% confidence interval 94.5-96.9]) were fully immunized, whereas 41 (3.7% [2.59-4.81]) were partially immunized and 7 (0.6% [0.14-1.06]) had delayed immunization. None of the children were totally unimmunized. Univariate analysis identified rural residence, home delivery, having more than 2 children, birth order more than 2, lack of maternal and paternal education beyond primary school level, and lack of awareness on immunization as significant risk factors for partial immunization. After multivariate logistic regression, rural residence, having more than 2 children, and lack of awareness on immunization emerged as independent risk factors for partial immunization. Conclusion: Residing in rural areas, having more than 2 children, and lack of awareness on immunization are significant independent risk factors for a child not being fully immunized

Evaluation of blood donor deferrals in a government teaching hospital

Background: Blood transfusion is a life-saving intervention. Blood should be accepted from non-remunerated and healthy donors. Proper donor screening procedure minimizes the risk of transfusion transmitted Infections and also wastage of blood and blood products and thus screening of donors is a prerequisite for blood donation. Methods: This is a retrospective study conducted in blood bank center in the Department of Pathology in a Government teaching hospital, Shivamogga from January 2022 to June 2022. All the voluntary and replacement donors were evaluated by the standard questionnaire and medical examination including demographic profile, anthropometry, blood group, vital signs and hemoglobin estimated by cyanmethemoglobin method were collected from the donation requisition forms and online deferred list. The data were represented in the form of percentage, descriptive statistics and analysed. Results: Out of 3,449 blood donors, 252 were deferred. The deferral rate was 7.31%. Among the ineligible donors, males 245 (97.22%) outnumbered females 7 (2.8%). 242 donors (96.03%) were temporarily rejected among which high blood pressure constituted to 23.02% followed by alcohol consumption (11.11%) whereas 10 donors (3.96%) were deferred permanently. 9 donors (3.57%) had low haemoglobin level. Conclusions: Temporary deferrals are more than permanent deferrals thus temporarily deferred donors should be instructed to return for blood donation after their period of deferral days to retain the pool of blood donors

Climate Change Adaptation in Agriculture in India

Indian agriculture has made a significant progress in recent years, but of late it is facing many challenges due to the adverse effect of climate change. Moreover, the increasing population pressurizes the agricultural sector for enhanced food production. To face the challenges of food security and climate change, the country needs to reorient its land use and agriculture with the state-of-the-art technologies and policy initiatives. DST through its research initiatives, has partnered with three institutions viz., Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore; International Crop Research Institute on Semi-Arid Tropics, Hyderabad and Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi to develop potential techniques and technologies for adaptation in agriculture to increase resilience against climate change in sustaining crop production. The paper briefly presents outcome of these studies