Captive breeding, developmental biology and commercial production of Dravidia fasciata- An indigenous ornamental fish of the Western Ghats of India

Ornamental fishes of the Western Ghats of India have great demand in the export market. At present these fishes are collected from the wild and exported. Hence many times, the demand could not be met due to short supply. The only remedial measure for a sustainable supply is to produce the fish in captive conditions. Unfortunately, the breeding technology for the ornamental fishes of the Western Ghats of India has not been attempted seriously till date. The present paper is almost a pioneering attempt to develop captive breeding technology for 12 prioritized species of the indigenous ornamental fishes of the Western Ghats of India. Dravidia fasciata is one of them. It is popularly known as Melon barb. It is a beautiful barb, growing to a maximum size of 80 mm. In the present paper the methodology of captive breeding of this fish is provided with the economics of its production. Melon barbs were collected from the wild and brought to the hatchery of College of Fisheries in oxygen filled plastic bags and gradually acclimatized to the captive conditions. Its size at first maturity, sexual dimorphism, and developmental biology were studied and described with photographs. The total length (TL) at first maturity for males was 50 mm (50-55 mm) and 40 mm for females (40-45 mm). A sexually mature male developed beautiful pinkish red tinge all over the body. The black bands over the body also became deeper in colour during this time. The intensity of the colour reached its maximum during the courtship activities. Male also possessed nuptial tubercles on the operculum which could be identified only by keen observation. But a sexually mature female did not develop any colour change by the onset of sexual maturity. The results of the study clearly demonstrated that D. fasciata could be successfully produced in captivity through scientific management of brooders, eggs, larvae and hatchlings. The successful development of captive breeding technology is likely to pave way towards commercialization of the technology thus leading to the sustainable export of the species

Key operations in the wet-rendering of peanut for the isolation of protein, oil and starch

Separation of oil and suspended solids from peanut slurry are two important interdependent operations in wet rendering of peanuts. A 3-way centrifuge cannot be used efficiently for the separation of the different phases due to the large volume of fibrous suspended solids in peanut slurry. Removal of suspended solids from the slurry by filtration is too slow and incomplete, as the fine particles tend to block the screen. The alternative method of centrifugal sedimentation of the suspended solids causes emulsification of the oil and results in the inefficient separation of the oil. It is shown in the paper that efficiency of the separation of oil and carbohydrate fraction from peanut by wet rendering method depends on careful conditioning of the seed

A systematic review of the prevalence of parental concerns measured by the Parents' Evaluation of Developmental Status (PEDS) indicating developmental risk

© 2014 Woolfenden et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. Background: Parental concerns about their children's development can be used as an indicator of developmental risk. We undertook a systematic review of the prevalence of parents' concerns as an indicator of developmental risk, measured by the Parents' Evaluation of Developmental Status (PEDS) and associated risk factors. Methods: Electronic databases, bibliographies and websites were searched and experts contacted. Studies were screened for eligibility and study characteristics were extracted independently by two authors. A summary estimate for prevalence was derived. Meta-regression examined the impact of study characteristics and quality. Meta-analysis was used to derive pooled estimates of the impact of biological and psychosocial risk factors on the odds of parental concerns indicating high developmental risk. Results: Thirty seven studies were identified with a total of 210,242 subjects. Overall 13.8% (95% CI 10.9 -16.8%) of parents had concerns indicating their child was at high developmental risk and 19.8% (95% CI 16.7-22.9%) had concerns indicating their child was at moderate developmental risk. Male gender, low birth weight, poor/fair child health rating, poor maternal mental health, lower socioeconomic status (SES), minority ethnicity, not being read to, a lack of access to health care and not having health insurance were significantly associated with parental concerns indicating a high developmental risk. Conclusions: The prevalence of parental concerns measured with the PEDS indicating developmental risk is substantial. There is increased prevalence associated with biological and psychosocial adversity. Trial Registration: PROSPERO Registration: CRD42012003215

Case of left hip acute pediatric septic arthritis - polymicrobial etiology

Septic arthritis is a true orthopedic emergency, involving a severe bacterial, viral, or fungal joint infection that triggers inflammation and the degeneration of joint tissues. It typically affects joints such as the knee, hip, shoulder, or wrist. Early diagnosis and treatment are crucial to avoid long-term complications. Herein, we describe the case of an 8-year-old male patient who presented with complaints of spontaneous onset of hip pain and an abnormal gait. The patient was diagnosed with left hip septic arthritis and underwent a left hip arthrotomy under general anesthesia (GA). The patient was administered intravenous antibiotics for 21 days while being kept on non-weight-bearing mobilization. After 3 weeks, the patient's intravenous antibiotics were switched to oral antibiotics for the next 3 weeks. On the second follow-up visit, the patient showed significant improvement, with laboratory findings within normal limits

Proteinuria in early detection of human leptospirosis

Background: Leptospirosis is an infectious disease caused by spirochetes bacteria Leptospira spp. and is reported from all over the world. As the clinical signs and symptoms of Leptospirosis often are nonspecific and the disease is early mistaken for other major infectious febrile illness, laboratory test to confirm the clinical diagnosis thus is essential for optimal treatment and patient management.Methods: Serum and urine samples were collected from patients clinically suspected cases of Leptospirosis. Preparations of urine concentrate by precipitation and centrifugation.Results: It was interesting to note that immunoglobulins are present in the urine protein concentrate of patients with Leptospirosis on the day of admission in the hospital, with urine albumin reports either positive or negative. By ELISA test it was noted that antibodies present in urine and serum were of both IgM and IgG class against the Leptospiral antigens from three pathogenic serovars and one non-pathogenicserovars. In the immunospot test which was done and compared with standard ELISA test for serum antibodies using same antigen showed that antibodies present in urine protein concentrate, which was collected on the day of admission when patients come with suspecting symptoms of Leptospirosis.Conclusions: Proteinuria is the most frequent abnormality noted in all patients at some stage of illness. This is the first report on the presence of immunoglobulins in urine samples, which were found to be of IgM and IgG classes. These findings are of significant diagnostic potential as a simple immune-spot test can be done for detecting anti-leptospiral antibodies in urine samples of suspected cases. The present attempt was aimed at developing an immunospot test, a simple and rapid diagnostic test to detect Leptospirosis using urine samples of clinically suspected patients of the infection at the earliest. It was found to be in good correlation with standard ELISA method which is being used to detect serum antibodies in Leptospira infected patients using the same antigen

Parasitic nematodes and their management in major spices

Black pepper (Piper nigrum), cardamom (Elettaria cardamomum), ginger (Zingiber officinale), turmeric (Curcuma longa) and tree spices are the major spices cultivated in India. Several plant parasitic nematodes are reported on these spice crops and among them, root knot nematodes (Meloidogynespp.), burrowing nematodes (Radopholus similis and root lesion nematodes (Pratylenchus spp.) are the major nematode pests of economic importance. Plant parasitic nematodes are primary incitants of slow decline disease of black pepper. Root knot nematodes are a seious constraint to cardamom cultivation, especially in nurseries. In ginger and turmeric, all three of them cause significant damage. However, not much attention has been given to nematodes of tree spices. The major symptoms of nematode attack, the nature and extent of damage, their interaction with other soil borne microorganisms and various control measures are discussed. Considering the export oriented nature of these crops, emphasis has been given on integrated nematode management with minimum use of chemicals. &nbsp

Abnormal M1/M2 macrophage phenotype profiles in the small airway wall and lumen in smokers and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)

© 2017 The Author(s). We explore potential dysregulation of macrophage phenotypes in COPD pathogenesis through integrated study of human small airway tissue, bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) and an experimental murine model of COPD. We evaluated human airway tissue and BAL from healthy controls, normal lung function smokers (NLFS), and COPD subjects. Both small airways and BAL cells were immunohistochemically stained with anti-CD68 for total macrophages and with anti-CD163 for M2, and anti-iNOS for M1 macrophages. Multiplex ELISA measured BAL cytokines. Comparable cigarette smoke-induced experimental COPD mouse model was assessed for relevant mRNA profiles. We found an increase in pro-inflammatory M1s in the small airways of NLFS and COPD compared to controls with a reciprocal decrease in M2 macrophages, which remained unchanged among pathological groups. However, luminal macrophages showed a dominant M2 phenotype in both NLFS and COPD subjects. BAL cytokine skewed towards an M2 profile with increase in CCL22, IL-4, IL-13, and IL-10 in both NLFS and COPDs. The mouse-model of COPD showed similar increase in mRNA for M2 markers. Our finding suggests abnormal macrophage switching in both mucosal and luminal areas of COPD patients, that strongly associated with cytokine balance. There may be potential for beneficial therapeutic cytokine manipulation of macrophage phenotypes in COPD

Acute fatty liver of pregnancy: an update on mechanisms

Acute fatty liver of pregnancy (AFLP), characterized by hepatic microvesicular steatosis, is a sudden catastrophic illness occurring almost exclusively in the third trimester of pregnancy. Defective fatty acid oxidation in the fetus has been shown to be associated with this disease. Since the placenta has the same genetic makeup as the fetus and as AFLP patients generally recover following delivery, we hypothesized that the placenta might be involved in pathogenesis of this disease. In an animal model of hepatic microvesicular steatosis (using sodium valproate), we found that microvesicular steatosis results in mitochondrial structural alterations and oxidative stress in subcellular organelles of the liver. In placentas from patients with AFLP, we observed placental mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative stress in subcellular organelles. In addition, defective placental fatty acid oxidation results in accumulation of toxic mediators such as arachidonic acid. Escape of these mediators into the maternal circulation might affect the maternal liver resulting in microvesicular steatosis

Beliefs, barriers, and promotion practices of Indian nurses' regarding healthy eating for cancer survivors in a tertiary care hospital-A cross sectional survey

PURPOSE: To describe the beliefs, barriers and promotion practices of Indian nurses' regarding healthy eating (HE) behaviours amongst cancer survivors, and to gain insights into whether their educational qualifications might affect the promotion of HE.METHODS: Data was gathered using a validated questionnaire, 388 of the approached 400 nurses who worked at a tertiary care hospital in India gave informed consent to participate in the study. The Mann-Whitney U test and the Chi square analysis (for continuous and categorical variables respectively) were performed to carry out sub-group comparisons based on the qualification of the nurses i.e., Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSc) and General Nursing and Midwifery (GNM).RESULTS: The nurses believed that dieticians/nutritionists were primarily responsible for educating the cancer survivors regarding HE. HE was promoted by nurses' relatively equally across multiple treatment stages ("during" treatment 24.4%, "post" treatment 23.1%; and "pre" treatment 22.3%). Nurses' believed HE practices had numerous benefits, with improved health-related quality of life (HRQoL) (75.7%), and mental health (73.9%) being the most frequent responses. The most frequently cited barriers by the nurses in promoting HE were lack of time (22.2%), and lack of adequate support structure (19.9%). Sub-group comparisons generally revealed no significant difference between the BSc and GNM nurses in their perceptions regarding HE promotion to cancer survivors. Exceptions were how the GNM group had significantly greater beliefs regarding whether HE can "reduce risk of cancer occurrence" ( p = 0.004) and "whether or not I promote HE is entirely up to me" ( p = 0.002). CONCLUSION: The nurses in India believe in the promotion of HE practices among cancer survivors across various stages of cancer treatments. However, they do face a range of barriers in their attempt to promote HE. Overcoming these barriers might facilitate effective promotion of HE among cancer survivors and help improve survivorship outcomes.IMPLICATIONS FOR CANCER SURVIVORS: Indian nurses employed in the two tertiary care hospitals wish to promote HE among cancer survivors, but require further knowledge and support services for more effective promotion of HE.</p