Identification of Medicinal Plants in Homam: a religious practice

In India, Homam is an important religious practice. The consecrated fire is the central element of the ritual homa. It is offered in many hindu temples in early morning before dawn. Apart from the temples, many hindus offer this practice during their home ceremonies also. The most beneficial factor of these homas, is that smoke not only purifies the atmosphere but also helps us to get rid of many diseases. In this paper, the local and scientific name, plant parts used in the Homam were identified and presented. Different plant parts like leaf, aerial root, fruit, seed, bark, root, flower, wood, tuber, rhizome and pericarp of fruits have been used in the practice. Some highly useful medicinal plants listed are Justicia adhatoda, Withania somnifera, Phyllanthus emblica, Tinospora cordifolia, Andrographis paniculata, Strychnos nux-vomica, Pongamia pinnata, Ficus benghalensis, Chrysopogon zizanioides and Curcuma aromatica.

Studies on prevalence of anopheline species and community perception of malaria in Jaffna district, Sri Lanka

Background & objectives: Over two decades of civil unrest and the conflict situation have had detrimental effects on vector control activities and management of malaria in Jaffna district which is an endemic region for malaria in Sri Lanka. With the background that only a few small-scale studies on malaria and its vectors have been reported from this district, a study was designed to explore the current status of malaria in the Jaffna district in relation to vector and community aspects.Methods: Adults and larvae of anopheline mosquitoes were collected monthly from selected endemic localities. Species prevalence of the collected mosquitoes was studied while the collected adults of Anopheles subpictus, a potential vector in the district, was screened for sibling species composition based on morphological characteristics and exposed to common insecticides using WHO bioassay kits. Knowledge, attitude and practices (KAP) of the community were tested using a pre-tested structured questionnaire in high-risk and low-risk localities in the district.Results: The anopheline mosquito species distribution in the district was—An. culicifacies (0.5%), An. subpictus (46%), An. varuna (4%), An. nigerrimus (44%) and An. pallidus (5.5%). Among the collected larvae the percent prevalence of An. culicifacies was 13% and other species follows as: An. subpictus (71%), An. varuna (4%), An. nigerrimus (10%) and An. pallidus (2%). Sibling species B, C and D of An. subpictus were present in the district with the predominance of B in both coastal and inland areas, while all members showed both indoor and outdoor resting characteristics, they were highly resistant to DDT (4%) and highly susceptible to malathion (5%). KAP study in the district showed a reasonable level of knowledge, positive attitude and practices towards malaria.Conclusion: An. subpictus, the reported major vector of Jaffna and a well-established secondary vector of malaria in the country, continues to be the predominant anopheline species. The distribution of sibling species of An. subpictus complex in the Jaffna district, revealed for the first time, has implications for future studies on its bionomics and malaria transmission pattern in this area and the planning of control strategies for this region. The community perception of disease, which revealed a satisfactory knowledge indicates the potential for better community participation in future malaria control activities in this region. As potential vectors are still present, health authorities need to be vigilant to prevent any future epidemics of malaria

Monitoring of Noctiluca Bloom in Mandapam and Keelakarai Coastal Waters; Southeast Coast of India

Monitoring the Harmful Algal Blooms was carried out during July to December 2008 in Mandapam and Keelakarai coastal waters of Tamil Nadu, Southeast coast of India. In the month of October several fishes and shellfishes were died due to Noctiluca blooms along these two areas. The present investigation the following species of phyto and zooplankton were found to be common; phytoplankton such as Coscinodiscus sp., Skeletonema costatum, Bacillaria paradoxa, Thallassiothrix frauenfeldii, T. longisima, Leptocylindrus sp., and  zooplankton such as Paracalanus parvus, Acrocalanus gracilis, Pseudodiaptomus serricautatus, Rhincalanus cornutus, R. nasutus, Euterpina acutifrons, Nannocalanus minor, Eucalanus attenuates, E. crassus, Fish larvae, Fish eggs, Barnacle nauplii, Bivalve larvae, Gastropod larvae, Copepod nauplii  and Mysis larvae. The hydrobiological parameters also analysed during bloom and after blooms; the dissolved oxygen (2.6 – 4.9µM L-1) nutrients varied between nitrate (0.66 – 1.01µM L-1) nitrite (0.11 – 0.21µM L-1) phosphate (0.51 – 0.86µM L-1) and silicate (0.81 – 4.2µM L-1)

Cutaneous Larva Migrans among Devotees of the Nallur Temple in Jaffna, Sri Lanka

Background: Many cases of Cutaneous Larva Migrans (CLM) have been observed among devotees, during and immediately after the annual festival at the Nallur Hindu temple in Jaffna. Objective: To ascertain the risk factors associated with infestation and devotees ’ knowledge and practices regarding the condition. Methodology/Principal Findings: A cross-sectional study using an interviewer-administered questionnaire and observation was conducted in August 2010. Out of 200 selected devotees 194(97%) responded. Soil and dog faecal samples were collected from the temple premises and examined for the presence of nematode larva and egg respectively. Among 194 male respondents, 58.2%(95 % CI: 51.2%–65.0%) had lesions of CLM. One hundred and thirty (67%) respondents performed the ritual everyday; whereas 33 % did so on special days. One hundred and twelve (57.7%) participants performed the ritual before 5.00am and remaining 42.3 % performed after 5.00am. Among the participants, 77(36.7%) had the similar condition in previous years. One hundred and fifty seven (80.9%) were aware about this disease and 52(27%) devotees adopted some kind of precautionary measures. Bivariate analysis showed significant association between occurrence of CLM lesions and frequency of performing the ritual (p,0.001, OR-15.1; 95 % CI:7.2-32.0), the timing of ritual performance (p = 0.022, OR-1.96; 95 % CI:1.10–3.52), similar condition in previous year (p,0.001, OR-6.83; 95 % CI: 3.39–13.76) and previous awareness of th

Distribution and diversity of gelatinous zooplankton in Indian EEZ

Link between increases of gelatinous zooplankton and global warming is recent emerging research in world Ocean. Indian seas are less documented areas of the world regarding gelatinous zooplankton taxonomy and ecology. Considerable amount of work has been done to understand zooplankton populations in Indian waters have tended to focus mainly on copepods, the major zooplankton component. The other groups are being of secondary importance in terms of numerical abundance and hence not treated in detail as distributional pattern and their seasonal variation. To fulfill the gap, the present study was made on survey of gelatinous zooplankton in Indian EEZ during 2008-2012 to explore the distributional patterns and diversity of gelatinous zooplankton. The result showed that new occurrences of salps species of Pegea socia and hydromedusae of Haliscera bigelowi were identified for the first time from Arabian Sea. Totally, 115 species of gelatinous zooplankton were recorded in the Indian EEZ. Among them, 11 species of Scyphomedusae, 22 species of Hydromedusae, 17 species of Siphonophores, 5 species of Ctenophore, 9 species of Doliolids, 17 species of Salps, 15 species of Appendicularians and 19 species of Chaetognaths were recorded. The vertical distributional abundance was ranged from 7.37 to 1266.276 inds/100m3 and diversity was ranged from 3.176 to 3.91 bits/inds in the Arabian Sea. In the Bay of Bengal, abundance was ranged from 11.69 to 1174.11 inds/100m3 and diversity was ranged from 2.19 to 3.94 bits/inds. In the two water mass, maximum abundance and diversity was observed in 0-50m depth and minimum was in 500-1000m depth. Abundance of gelatinous zooplankton was gradually decreased upto 200m depth and sudden decreased below 200m to 1000m depth.

Resistance Status of the Malaria Vector Mosquitoes, Anopheles stephensi and Anopheles subpictus Towards Adulticides and Larvicides in Arid and Semi-Arid Areas of India

Susceptibility studies of malaria vectors Anopheles stephensi Liston (Diptera: Culicidae) and An. subpictus Grassi collected during 2004–2007 from various locations of Arid and Semi-Arid Zone of India were conducted by adulticide bioassay of DDT, malathion, deltamethrin and larvicide bioassay of fenthion, temephos, chlorpyriphos and malathion using diagnostic doses. Both species from all locations exhibited variable resistance to DDT and malathion from majority of location. Adults of both the species were susceptible to Deltamethrin. Larvae of both the Anopheline species showed some evidence of resistance to chlorpyriphos followed by fenthion whereas susceptible to temephos and malathion

The dominant Anopheles vectors of human malaria in the Asia-Pacific region: occurrence data, distribution maps and bionomic précis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The final article in a series of three publications examining the global distribution of 41 dominant vector species (DVS) of malaria is presented here. The first publication examined the DVS from the Americas, with the second covering those species present in Africa, Europe and the Middle East. Here we discuss the 19 DVS of the Asian-Pacific region. This region experiences a high diversity of vector species, many occurring sympatrically, which, combined with the occurrence of a high number of species complexes and suspected species complexes, and behavioural plasticity of many of these major vectors, adds a level of entomological complexity not comparable elsewhere globally. To try and untangle the intricacy of the vectors of this region and to increase the effectiveness of vector control interventions, an understanding of the contemporary distribution of each species, combined with a synthesis of the current knowledge of their behaviour and ecology is needed.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Expert opinion (EO) range maps, created with the most up-to-date expert knowledge of each DVS distribution, were combined with a contemporary database of occurrence data and a suite of open access, environmental and climatic variables. Using the Boosted Regression Tree (BRT) modelling method, distribution maps of each DVS were produced. The occurrence data were abstracted from the formal, published literature, plus other relevant sources, resulting in the collation of DVS occurrence at 10116 locations across 31 countries, of which 8853 were successfully geo-referenced and 7430 were resolved to spatial areas that could be included in the BRT model. A detailed summary of the information on the bionomics of each species and species complex is also presented.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This article concludes a project aimed to establish the contemporary global distribution of the DVS of malaria. The three articles produced are intended as a detailed reference for scientists continuing research into the aspects of taxonomy, biology and ecology relevant to species-specific vector control. This research is particularly relevant to help unravel the complicated taxonomic status, ecology and epidemiology of the vectors of the Asia-Pacific region. All the occurrence data, predictive maps and EO-shape files generated during the production of these publications will be made available in the public domain. We hope that this will encourage data sharing to improve future iterations of the distribution maps.</p