First record of Chrysopelea taprobanica Smith, 1943 (Squamata: Colubridae) from India

Chrysopelea taprobanica Smith, 1943 was previously considered to be endemic to the dry and intermediate zones of Sri Lanka. However, an adult specimen of C. taprobanica was collected from Seshachalam Biosphere Reserve of Andhra Pradesh, India, being the first record of this snake species from India, significantly extending the known range of distribution of the species. The dry zones of peninsular India were connected with Sri Lanka as recently as ca. 17,000 years ago, which probably allowed movement of species between these two regions

COMPARATIVE TREND ANALYSIS IN COST OF PADDY CULTIVATION AND PROFITABILITY ACROSS THREE STATES OF INDIA

Agriculture has seen tremendous changes in the past century, with agricultural research investments paving the way for productivity gains leading to reduction in production costs and capacity to carter larger population. The contribution of agriculture to the GDP is on the decline and so does profitability. Farmer suicides were not a common phenomenon in India before 1990, but more than two lakh farmers committed suicides between 1990 and 2010. The underlying causes for failure in agriculture could be many including climate change, reduction in profitability and fragmentation of land. This article explores the trends in the cost of cultivation of paddy and its profitability in three Indian states of Kerala, Odisha and Tamil Nadu during the period 1999-2011. It is observed that the factors like hired machine and human labor, fertilizer, are all growing in varying proportions leading to an increase in the cost of cultivation. In the years showing profits, Profitability seemed to be averaging around ten percent and while in most of the years loss was reported. Over the years, the increase in cost of cultivation seems to be stable in contrast with the increase in value of paddy produced by farmers. The APM project has appropriately addressed issues of increasing cost of manures through introduction of vermicomposting. Other appropriate techniques and technologies have also been demonstrated for increased profitability. Efforts need to be taken to create an enabling environment to ensure a commensurate income to farmers for a dignified life

Antihyperlipidemic activity of Chloroxylon swietenia in triton WR1339 induced hyperlipidemia

Background: Medicinal herbs are beneficial and effective either in the management and prevention of several metabolic disorders, associated with hyperlipidemia, hypertension and insulin resistance which increases the cardio-metabolic risk and demands for the life time therapy. Current allopathic medicines are expensive and reported with several adverse effects and hence, finding of a suitable herbal medicine for hyperlipidemic disorders is very important.Methods: Thirty albino rats weighing 200-230g were randomly divided into 5 groups were rendered hyperlipidemia with a single dose of triton WR 1339. Normal control, positive control, standard, aqueous and ethanolic extract groups were treated with tween-80, tween-80, atorvastatin, aqueous and ethanolic extracts of Chloroxylon swietenia respectively for seven days. At the end of the study, blood was collected for estimation of the lipid profile.Results: Both the aqueous and ethanolic extract groups significantly reduced the TG and VLDL levels.Conclusions: The extracts exhibited remarkable activity on one or either parameter of the lipid profile. It could be due to the presence of alkaloids, steroids, flavonoids, coumarins and phenols in the extracts

ASSESSMENT OF FOOD AND NUTRIENT INTAKE OF COMMUNITIES ACROSS THREE AGRO-BIODIVERSITY HOTSPOTS IN INDIA

Balanced and adequate nutrition is important in improving the health of the community in general and of vulnerable groups in particular. Assessment of the nutritional status of a community is important for development of implementation strategies and suitable policies. Dietary assessment indicates whether intake of macro and micro nutrient are adequate. Anthropometric measurements and comparisons of nutrient intakes with reference values are easy and non-invasive, economical and sufficiently reliable methods for the determination of nutritional status. The present study uses micro-level data drawn from 24 hours recall diet survey to calculate the mean food and nutrient intake by communities in three agro-biodiversity hotspots. The 24 hours recall diet survey was carried out among households in three study locations during June to November 2013 among the project intervention and non-intervention groups. Information on age, sex, physiological status, physical activity of the household members who took meals during the previous 24 hours was collected for computing consumption unit. The result shows that cereals are the chief source of energy in the study locations contributing 70-80% of the daily energy intake. Mean intake of green leafy vegetable are negligible in the study locations. The intake of sugar and jaggery among the intervention group of Meenangadi is 48% higher than recommended dietary intake, while in the non-intervention group it is 28% higher; and 20% higher among the nonintervention group in the Kolli Hills. The intake of vitamin A is the lowest among other nutrients across the internvention and non-intervention groups in the study locations

Efficient Row-Column Designs for Microarrav Experiments

This article deals with the problem of obtaining efficient designs for 2-colour microarray experiments where same set of genes are spotted on each array In the literature, optimal ity aspects of designs for microarray experiments have been investigated under a restricted model involving array and variety effects. The dye effects have been ignored from the model. If dye effects are also included in the model, then the structure of the design becomes that of a row-column design where arrays represent columns, dyes represent rows and varieties represent treatments. Further, the array effects in microarray experiments may be taken as random {see e.g. Kerr and Churchill (2001a). Lee (2004)). For obtaining efficient row-column designs under fixed mixed effects model, exchange and interchange algorithms of Lxcleston and Jones (1980) and Rathore et al. (2006) have been modified. The algorithm has been translated into a computer program using Microsoft Visual C++. The algorithm is general in nature and can be used for generating efficient row-column designs for any 2 < k < v. where v is the number of treatments (varieties) and k is number of rows (dyes). Here, the algorithm has been exploited for computer aided search of efficient row-column designs for making all possible pairwise treatment comparisons for k = 2 (2-colour microarray experiments) in the parametric range 3 < v < 10, v< h < v(v- l)/2; II < v< 25. b = v and (v, b) = (11, 13), (12, 14), (13, 14) and (13, 15), where h is the number of arrays (columns). Ffficient row-column designs obtained under fixed effects model have been compared with the best available designs and best even designs. 45 designs have been obtained with higher efficiencies than the best available designs and even designs. The robustness aspect of efficient row-column designs obtained under a fixed effects model and best available designs were investigated under a mixed effects model. Strength of the algorithm for obtaining row-column designs for 3-colour microarray experiments has been demonstrated with the help of examples

Assessment of Food and Nutrient Intake of Communities across Three Agro-biodiversity Hotspots in India

Balanced and adequate nutrition is important in improving the health of the community in general and of vulnerable groups in particular. Assessment of the nutritional status of a community is important for development of implementation strategies and suitable policies. Dietary assessment indicates whether intake of macro and micro nutrient are adequate. Anthropometric measurements and comparisons of nutrient intakes with reference values are easy and non-invasive, economical and sufficiently reliable methods for the determination of nutritional status. The present study uses micro-level data drawn from 24 hours recall diet survey to calculate the mean food and nutrient intake by communities in three agro-biodiversity hotspots. The 24 hours recall diet survey was carried out among households in three study locations during June to November 2013 among the project intervention and non-intervention groups. Information on age, sex, physiological status,physical activity of the household members who took meals during the previous 24 hours was collected for computing consumption unit. The result shows that cereals are the chief source of energy in the study locations contributing 70-80% of the daily energy intake. Mean intake of green leafy vegetable are negligible in the study locations. The intake of sugar and jaggery among the intervention group of Meenangadi is 48% higher than recommended dietary intake, while in the non-intervention group it is 28% higher; and 20% higher among the non-intervention group in the Kolli Hills. The intake of vitamin A is the lowest among other nutrients across the internvention and non-intervention groups in the study locations

Assessment of Food and Nutrient Intake of Communities across Three Agro-biodiversity Hotspots in India

Balanced and adequate nutrition is important in improving the health of the community in general and of vulnerable groups in particular. Assessment of the nutritional status of a community is important for development of implementation strategies and suitable policies. Dietary assessment indicates whether intake of macro and micro nutrient are adequate. Anthropometric measurements and comparisons of nutrient intakes with reference values are easy and non-invasive, economical and sufficiently reliable methods for the determination of nutritional status. The present study uses micro-level data drawn from 24 hours recall diet survey to calculate the mean food and nutrient intake by communities in three agro-biodiversity hotspots. The 24 hours recall diet survey was carried out among households in three study locations during June to November 2013 among the project intervention and non-intervention groups. Information on age, sex, physiological status,physical activity of the household members who took meals during the previous 24 hours was collected for computing consumption unit. The result shows that cereals are the chief source of energy in the study locations contributing 70-80% of the daily energy intake. Mean intake of green leafy vegetable are negligible in the study locations. The intake of sugar and jaggery among the intervention group of Meenangadi is 48% higher than recommended dietary intake, while in the non-intervention group it is 28% higher; and 20% higher among the non-intervention group in the Kolli Hills. The intake of vitamin A is the lowest among other nutrients across the internvention and non-intervention groups in the study locations

Translating evidence into policy for cardiovascular disease control in India

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are leading causes of premature mortality in India. Evidence from developed countries shows that mortality from these can be substantially prevented using population-wide and individual-based strategies. Policy initiatives for control of CVD in India have been suggested but evidence of efficacy has emerged only recently. These initiatives can have immediate impact in reducing morbidity and mortality. Of the prevention strategies, primordial involve improvement in socioeconomic status and literacy, adequate healthcare financing and public health insurance, effective national CVD control programme, smoking control policies, legislative control of saturated fats, trans fats, salt and alcohol, and development of facilities for increasing physical activity through better urban planning and school-based and worksite interventions. Primary prevention entails change in medical educational curriculum and improved healthcare delivery for control of CVD risk factors-smoking, hypertension, dyslipidemia and diabetes. Secondary prevention involves creation of facilities and human resources for optimum acute CVD care and secondary prevention. There is need to integrate various policy makers, develop effective policies and modify healthcare systems for effective delivery of CVD preventive care

Coccoliths from sediments of the Gulf of Kutch

85-88Sediments samples (31) from the Gulf and adjacent continental shelf have been studied for the distribution of coccoliths. Ten modern and 42 reworked coccoliths of Upper Cretaceous and Lower Tertiary have been encountered. The Gulf shows predominance of reworked fossils indicating very slow deposition. Sediments of the adjacent shelf show that the northern part is almost devoid of modern flora except for traces of Gephyrocapsa oceanica and a few reworked fossils while sediments on the shelf off the mouth of Gulf reveal gradual increase and decrease of modern and reworked coccoliths respectively with increasing depth. Sediments of the 4th transect towards southern end of Gulf indicate increase in the modern flora both in diversity and abundance and decrease in reworked fossils seaward. It is inferred that the Gulf is the main source of reworked fossils in the slope and perhaps in the deeper regions

Nannoplankton from recent Sediments Off the Andaman Islands

293-295Sixteen sediment samples have been investigated for the distribution of nannoplankton. Of the total 38 species encountered, 14 are modern and remaining 24 are reworked fossils ranging in age from Eocene to Pliocene. Majority of the reworked fossils indicates that they are of Miocene age. Modern nannoplankton reveals their affinity to the tropical conditions. It is concluded that the source of reworked fossil may mainly be the outcrops of Miocene occuring on the Andaman Sea floor and in part from the turbidites resulting from deposition of the sediment transported by river Irrawaddy