Infant- and Young Child-feeding Practices in Bankura District, West Bengal, India

A community-based, cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted during June-July 2008 to assess the infant- and young child-feeding (IYCF) practices in Bankura district, West Bengal, India. In total, 647 children aged less than two years selected through revised 40-cluster sampling using the indicators of the Integrated Management of Neonatal and Childhood Illness (IMNCI) and World Health Organization. The proportions of infants with early initiation of breastfeeding (13.6%) and exclusive breastfeeding under six months (57.1%) and infants who received complementary feeding at the age of 6–8 months (55.7%) were low. Appropriate feeding as per the IMNCI protocol was significantly less among infants aged 6–11 months (15.2%) and children aged 12–23 months (8.7%) compared to infants aged less than six months (57.1%), which could be attributable to low frequency and amount of complementary feeding. The main problems revealed from the study were late initiation of breastfeeding, low rates of exclusive breastfeeding, and inappropriate complementary feeding practices

Characterization of a bacterial collar and rhizome rot of banana (Musa paradisiaca) caused by strains of Erwinia chrysanthemi pv. paradisiaca

A serious collar and rhizome rot disease of banana was observed in the north region of Maharashtra state in post rainy season. The disease was caused by the bacterial strains of Erwinia chrysanthemi pv. paradisiaca identified and characterized by morphological, physiological, biochemical and pathogenicity tests. The infection occurred on new banana plantation of one month old in poorly drained soil. In post rainy season, banana plantations of 8 to 10 weeks were found severely infected. E. chrysanthemi pv. paradisiaca produced soft rot symptom onhealthy banana rhizomes within three weeks. Two strains were isolated from the collar and rhizome rotted diseased samples which were similar in morphological, physiological and biochemical characteristics, however they differed in the virulence aggressiveness to cause the disease in banana. Strain II caused soft rot symptoms within 19 days, however strain I produced it within 23 days of inoculation with suspension of 3×108 CFU ml-1. The result of this study revealed that strain II was more aggressive as compared to strain I of E. chrysanthemi pv. paradisiaca

Infant- and young child-feeding practices in Bankura district, West Bengal, India

A community-based, cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted during June-July 2008 to assess the infant- and young child-feeding (IYCF) practices in Bankura district, West Bengal, India. In total, 647 chil-dren aged less than two years selected through revised 40-cluster sampling using the indicators of the Integrated Management of Neonatal and Childhood Illness (IMNCI) and World Health Organization. The proportions of infants with early initiation of breastfeeding (13.6%) and exclusive breastfeeding under six months (57.1%) and infants who received complementary feeding at the age of 6-8 months (55.7%) were low. Appropriate feeding as per the IMNCI protocol was significantly less among infants aged 6-11 months (15.2%) and children aged 12-23 months (8.7%) compared to infants aged less than six months (57.1%), which could be attributable to low frequency and amount of complementary feeding. The main problems revealed from the study were late initiation of breastfeeding, low rates of exclusive breastfeeding, and inap-propriate complementary feeding practices

Moderate exercise and chronic stress produce counteractive effects on different areas of the brain by acting through various neurotransmitter receptor subtypes: A hypothesis

BACKGROUND: Regular, "moderate", physical exercise is an established non-pharmacological form of treatment for depressive disorders. Brain lateralization has a significant role in the progress of depression. External stimuli such as various stressors or exercise influence the higher functions of the brain (cognition and affect). These effects often do not follow a linear course. Therefore, nonlinear dynamics seem best suited for modeling many of the phenomena, and putative global pathways in the brain, attributable to such external influences. HYPOTHESIS: The general hypothesis presented here considers only the nonlinear aspects of the effects produced by "moderate" exercise and "chronic" stressors, but does not preclude the possibility of linear responses. In reality, both linear and nonlinear mechanisms may be involved in the final outcomes. The well-known neurotransmitters serotonin (5-HT), dopamine (D) and norepinephrine (NE) all have various receptor subtypes. The article hypothesizes that 'Stress' increases the activity/concentration of some particular subtypes of receptors (designated nt(s)) for each of the known (and unknown) neurotransmitters in the right anterior (RA) and left posterior (LP) regions (cortical and subcortical) of the brain, and has the converse effects on a different set of receptor subtypes (designated nt(h)). In contrast, 'Exercise' increases nt(h )activity/concentration and/or reduces nt(s )activity/concentration in the LA and RP areas of the brain. These effects may be initiated by the activation of Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) (among others) in exercise and its suppression in stress. CONCLUSION: On the basis of this hypothesis, a better understanding of brain neurodynamics might be achieved by considering the oscillations caused by single neurotransmitters acting on their different receptor subtypes, and the temporal pattern of recruitment of these subtypes. Further, appropriately designed and planned experiments will not only corroborate such theoretical models, but also shed more light on the underlying brain dynamics

Genetic management for increased tolerance to aluminium and iron toxicities in rice—A review

359-368Several tolerant donors were identified from rice germplasms and significant strides were made in their genetic improvement through conventional breeding during the last 40 years in Indian subcontinent. In majority of the cases the physiological mechanism governing tolerance towards Fe and Al toxicities were unzipped. It is also worth mentioning that progress in breeding largely depends upon the efficiency and effectiveness of the screening technique to identify the true tolerants, availability of the tolerant gene(s) in the germplasms and selection of desirable lines from the segregating population. With increase in Fe-toxicity level, plant height, number of ear bearing tillers, panicle length and grain yield were found decreased in rice; whereas, vegetative growth period got extended with increased spikelet sterility. Toxic concentrations of Al generally inhibit root growth, restrict water intake and nutrients uptake that lead to poor growth and low yield per se. In vitro screening for developing tolerant genotypes is relatively a straightforward and amply demonstrative method. Toxicity tolerance was also found transferable to a desirable plant type. Further, marker aided selection (MAS) would facilitate reliable selection for abiotic stress tolerant genotypes. Quantitative trait loci (QTL) for toxicity tolerance towards Fe and Al were identified and expected to help in developing tolerant, high yielding varieties through MAS. The present review deals with the possible regulatory mechanisms of Fe and Al tolerance and improvement of rice through identification of the tolerant lines with the help of efficient molecular markers en route biotechnological approaches

Growth, Nutrient Utilization and Carcass Characteristics in Broiler Chickens Fed Raw and Alkali Processed Solvent Extracted Karanj (Pongamia glabra) Cake as Partial Protein Supplement

An experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of dietary incorporation of raw and alkali [1.5% NaOH and 3% Ca (OH)2, w/w] treated solvent extracted karanj (Pongamia glabra) cake (SKC) on growth performance and carcass characteristics in broiler chickens during 0 to 6 weeks of age. A basal reference diet was formulated containing soybean meal (SBM) as the major protein source. Another six isonitrogenous and isocaloric test diets were formulated incorporating SKC, 1.5% NaOH treated SKC (NaOH-SKC) and 3% Ca (OH)2 treated SKC (Ca (OH)2-SKC) at 6.43 or 5.5% during starter phase and 12.86 or 11.0% during finisher phase replacing SBM nitrogen of reference diet at 12.5 and 25%, respectively. Each diet was offered ad. libitum to 4 replicates of 10 chicks each. The body weight gain and feed efficiency of broilers fed 6.43% NaOH-SKC incorporated diet was comparable with reference diet during 0 to 28d. However, weight gain and feed efficiency reduced in all karanj cakes incorporated diet during 29 to 42d. The overall weight gain during 0 to 42d was significantly higher in the reference diet. Significantly higher nutrient intake was observed in the reference group except 6.43% NaOH-SKC diet during both the balance trials and 6.43% Ca (OH)2-SKC during 2nd trial. The percent retention of DM, N, Ca, P and GE did not differ significantly. Higher liver weight was observed due to dietary incorporation of SKC and NaOH-SKC at 25%, and Ca (OH)2-SKC. The gizzard weight was significantly higher in SKC incorporated diet, at both the levels of replacement compared to reference diet. The breast yield lowered significantly when soybean meal nitrogen was replaced with processed or unprocessed karanj cake at 25% level. The findings suggested that 1.5% NaOH (w/w) treated SKC could be incorporated upto 6.43% level, replacing 12.5% of soybean nitrogen of reference diet in broiler chicken upto 4 weeks of age

Thermodynamics studies on tyrosine-hydantoin drug-cetyltrimethylammonium bromide mixed micellar system

In the present paper, we report the micellization, aggregation behavior and thermodynamics of a cationic surfactant viz. cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) in absence and presence of tyrosine-hydantoin (TH) drug. The solution behavior of the mixture of CTAB and TH drug has been determined using conductivity, surface tension, UV-visible and fluorescence spectroscopic methods. A strong interaction between the two amphiphiles is indicated from the above measurements. The critical micelle concentration (cmc) of CTAB is found to decrease with increase in the amount of TH in the mixture. The cmc values obtained by these methods are in good agreement with each other. The critical micelle concentration, aggregation number and standard free energy changes of aggregation of the surfactant (CTAB) in aqueous solution in absence and presence of TH are evaluated at different temperatures (294, 303 and 318 K). The aggregation number is obtained by the steady-state fluorescence spectroscopic method. Thermodynamic parameters (the standard Gibbs energy change of micellization, ΔG°m, the standard enthalpy change of micellization, ΔH°m, the standard entropy change of micellization, ΔS°m, the standard Gibbs (transfer) energy,(ΔG°m)m, and the excess free energy change of micellization, ΔGex) have been evaluated. The negative values of standard Gibbs energy change indicate spontaneous micellization and synergism. The interaction parameter, βm, activity coefficients (f1, f2) have been evaluated, and using these data we evaluated excess Gibbs energies, which indicate the spontaneity and the stability of the mixed micelles

Organization of amphiphiles. Part XI: Physico-chemical aspects of mixed micellization involving normal conventional surfactant and a non-ionic gemini surfactant

A systematic study on the behaviour of mixtures of p-phenylenediamine-tertiarybutyloxy-carbonyl-bis-glycamide (BAM) with ionic hexadecyl-trimethyl-ammonium bromide (CTAB), and sodium salt of dodecyl sulphate (SDS), and non-ionic surfactant (TritonX-100) in solution has been investigated through different physico-chemical measurements. The mixtures of BAM (0.0194 mM) with various amount of CTAB/SDS/TritonX-100 have been analyzed through absorbance, conductivity, surface tension and zeta potential measurements. The mixed system is found to be more surface active than the individual surfactants, the synergistic interaction being more prominent in system involving ionic surfactants compared to that of non-ionic surfactant. The mixed micellization behaviour is evidenced from the appearance/disappearance of the excimer of the fluorescent probe, maximum adsorption density at the interface, aggregation numbers of the surfactant mixtures and the surface charge of the conventional surfactants. A suitable interaction model, elucidating the organizational hierarchy of gemini-conventional surfactant at the micelle-water and air-water interface has been proposed

Surface tailored organobentonite enhances bacterial proliferation and phenanthrene biodegradation under cadmium co-contamination

Co-contamination of soil and water with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) and heavy metals makes biodegradation of the former extremely challenging. Modified clay-modulated microbial degradation provides a novel insight in addressing this issue. This study was conducted to evaluate the growth and phenanthrene degradation performance of Mycobacterium gilvum VF1 in the presence of a palmitic acid (PA)-grafted Arquad® 2HT-75-based organobentonite in cadmium (Cd)-phenanthrene co-contaminated water. The PA-grafted organobentonite (ABP) adsorbed a slightly greater quantity of Cd than bentonite at up to 30 mg L-1 metal concentration, but its highly negative surface charge imparted by carboxylic groups indicated the potential of being a significantly superior adsorbent of Cd at higher metal concentrations. In systems co-contained with Cd (5 and 10 mg L-1), the Arquad® 2HT-75-modified bentonite (AB) and PA-grafted organobentonite (ABP) resulted in a significantly higher (72-78%) degradation of phenanthrene than bentonite (62%) by the bacterium. The growth and proliferation of bacteria were supported by ABP which not only eliminated Cd toxicity through adsorption but also created a congenial microenvironment for bacterial survival. The macromolecules produced during ABP-bacteria interaction could form a stable clay-bacterial cluster by overcoming the electrostatic repulsion among individual components. Findings of this study provide new insights for designing clay modulated PAH bioremediation technologies in mixed-contaminated water and soil