Organizational initiatives for addressing climate change challenge -Winter School on Impact of Climate Change on Indian Marine Fisheries held at CMFRI, Cochin 18.1.2008 to 7.2.2008

Climate change, resulting from global warming, has been moving to the main stream administrative and political initiatives in the last two decades. To address humanity’s biggest test, several organisations, institutions, panels, networks, universities and non-governmental organisations have turned the spotlight on the man made problem of climate change

Conservation of mangrove forest covers in Kochi coast

Mangroves are salt-tolerant plants of tropical and subtropical intertidal regions of the world. The specific regions where these plants occur are called mangrove ecosystems. They are breeding, feeding and nursery grounds for many estuarine and marine organisms, including finfish and shell fish. India has only 2.66% of the world’s mangroves, covering an estimated area of 4,827 sq. k

DEVELOPEMENT AND VALIDATION OF ANALYTICAL METHOD FOR SIMULTANEOUS ESTIMATION OF CILNIDIPINE AND OLMESARTAN MEDOXOMIL IN BULK AND TABLET DOSAGE FORM BY RP-HPLC

An economical, precise, rapid and accurate RP HPLC method has been developed for the simultaneous estimation of Olmesartan Medoxomil and Cilnidipine in bulk and tablet dosage form. Separation was carried out on Jasco HPLC system equipped with HiQ sil C18 column (250 × 4.6 mm i.d.) and PDA detector using Methanol: 40 mM Potassium dihydrogen ortho phosphate buffer (90:10 v/v) as the mobile phase.Ortho-phosphoric acid was used to adjust pH to 3.0, and detection was carried out at 254 nm. Results were linear in the range of 5-30 μg/ml for Cilnidipine and 10-50 μg/ml for Olmesartan Medoxomil respectively. The method was successfully applied for the analysis of drugs in pharmaceutical formulation. Results of the analysis were validated statistically and by recovery studies

Puducherry mangroves under sewage pollution threat need conservation

Indian mangroves have a rich diversity of soil-dwelling organisms which include micro, meio and macro forms. Mangrove ecosystem provides an ideal nursery and breeding ground for most of the marine and brackish water fish and shellfish. India has only 2.66% of the world’s mangroves1, covering an estimated area of 4827 sq. km. The present study area lies within the margins of lat. 11°90′107″– 11°90′703″N and long. 79°80′547″– 79°81′851″E. Mangrove exists as fringing vegetation over 168 ha distributed along the sides of Ariankuppam estuary, which empties into the Bay of Bengal (Coromandal coast) at Veerampatinam on the southeastern coast of Indi

Real-World Treatment Patterns, Survival, and Costs for Ovarian Cancer in Canada: A Retrospective Cohort Study Using Provincial Administrative Data

Background: In 2020, approximately 3100 Canadian women were diagnosed with ovarian cancer (OC), with 1950 women dying of this disease. Prognosis for OC remains poor, with 70% to 75% of cases diagnosed at an advanced stage and an overall 5-year survival of 46%. Current standard of care in Canada involves a combination of cytoreductive surgery and platinum-based chemotherapy. Objective: There are few studies reporting current OC costs. This study sought to determine patient characteristics and costs to the health system for OC in Ontario, Canada. Methods: Women diagnosed with OC in Ontario between 2010 and 2017 were identified. The cohort was linked to provincial administrative databases to capture treatment patterns, survival, and costs. Overall total and mean cost per patient (unadjusted) were reported in 2017 Canadian dollars, using a macro-based costing methodology called GETCOST. It is programmed to determine the costs of short-term and long-term episodes of health-care resources utilized. Results: Of the 2539 OC patients included in the study, the mean age at diagnosis was 60.4±11.35 years. The majority were diagnosed with stage III disease (n=1247). The only treatment required for 74% of stage I patients and 54% of stage II patients was first-line (1L) platinum chemotherapy; in advanced stages (III/IV) 24% and 20%, respectively, did not receive further treatment after 1L therapy. The median overall survival (mOS) for the whole cohort was 5.13 years. Survival was highest in earlier stage disease (mOS not reached in stage I/II), and dropped significantly in advanced stage patients (stage III: mOS=4.09 years; stage IV: mOS=3.47 years). Overall mean costs in patients stage I were CAD $58 099 compared to CAD$124 202 in stage IV. Discussion: The majority of OC patients continue to be diagnosed with advanced disease, which is associated with poor survival and increased treatment costs. Increased awareness and screening could facilitate diagnosis of earlier stage disease and reduce high downstream costs for advanced disease. Conclusion: Advanced OC is associated with poor survival and increased costs, mainly driven by hospitalizations or cancer clinic visits. The introduction of new targeted therapies such as olaparib could impact health system costs, by offsetting higher downstream costs while also improving survival

El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) impact on tuna fisheries in Indian Ocean

El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is an important driver of interannual variations in climate and ecosystem productivity in tropical regions. However, detailed information about this important phenomenon of the Indian Ocean is scarce. Consequently, the objective of this study is to improve understanding of the impact of warm event El Nino and cool event La Nina on annual tuna landings from the Indian Ocean from 1980 to 2010. In this study, maximum tuna landings were recorded during a weak El Nino year (1456054 t in 2006) and during a weak La Nina year (1243562 t in 2000), although the lowest tuna catch was followed during the strong El Nino year (1204119 t in 2009) and during a strong La Nina year (706546 t in 1988). Validation of predicted tuna landings and SST were showing a significant positive correlation (p < 0.01) was observed all the major tuna species except Southern Bluefin Tuna. Whereas the other relationships such as sea level pressure, Wind actions; Zonal Wind (U), Meridonial Wind (V), and Scalar Wind (W) are less well-defined. In contrast with principal component analysis we find that Principal Components 1 explains 75.5% of the total variance and suggest that sea surface temperature plays a major role in determining tuna availability in the region especially during warm event El Nino years; landings in Indian Ocean tend to be optimum SST 25 to 26°C in ENSO event. Our results confirm the ENSO impact on climate, tuna abundance and production in the Indian Ocean. However, among the oceanic variables SST explained the highest deviance in generalized additive models and therefore considered the best habitat predictor in the Indian Ocean followed by sea level pressure and Winds (U, V, W)

T2D-Db: An integrated platform to study the molecular basis of Type 2 diabetes

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) is a non insulin dependent, complex trait disease that develops due to genetic predisposition and environmental factors. The advanced stage in type 2 diabetes mellitus leads to several micro and macro vascular complications like nephropathy, neuropathy, retinopathy, heart related problems etc. Studies performed on the genetics, biochemistry and molecular biology of this disease to understand the pathophysiology of type 2 diabetes mellitus has led to the generation of a surfeit of data on candidate genes and related aspects. The research is highly progressive towards defining the exact etiology of this disease.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>T2D-Db (Type 2 diabetes Database) is a comprehensive web resource, which provides integrated and curated information on almost all known molecular components involved in the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes mellitus in the three widely studied mammals namely human, mouse and rat. Information on candidate genes, SNPs (Single Nucleotide Polymorphism) in candidate genes or candidate regions, genome wide association studies (GWA), tissue specific gene expression patterns, EST (Expressed Sequence Tag) data, expression information from microarray data, pathways, protein-protein interactions and disease associated risk factors or complications have been structured in this on line resource.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Information available in T2D-Db provides an integrated platform for the better molecular level understanding of type 2 diabetes mellitus and its pathogenesis. Importantly, the resource facilitates graphical presentation of the gene/genome wide map of SNP markers and protein-protein interaction networks, besides providing the heat map diagram of the selected gene(s) in an organism across microarray expression experiments from either single or multiple studies. These features aid to the data interpretation in an integrative way. T2D-Db is to our knowledge the first publicly available resource that can cater to the needs of researchers working on different aspects of type 2 diabetes mellitus.</p

Understanding The Role Of Health Literacy In Self-Medication: Findings From A Cross-Sectional Study In West Godavari District Of Andhra Pradesh

Background: Self-medication is the practice of treating any ailment or symptom that a person diagnoses for themselves without first visiting a physician. Different communities display different behaviours; hence the purpose of this study is to statistically investigate the patterns and prevalence of self-medication usage. Although health literacy practices have been increasingly recommended in public health literature, there is a lack of studies that examine the relationships between health literacy and self-medication. Methodology: A quantitative, descriptive, cross-sectional, community-based research approach was used in a sample of 316 participants. Health literacy was measured by Single Item Literacy Screener. Data was analysed using SPSS 29.0 version. Results:  A total of 316 participants agreed to participate (63.9% were females). The results showed that more than half, 53.4% had adequate health literacy. The prevalence of self-medication was 74%, in these 52% had used medicines by previous prescription and 8% used alternative medicine. There was a significant relationship between the overall health literacy level and practice of self-medication. Conclusion: Improving the health literacy level of the public can reduce inappropriate self-medication Therefore, the design and implementation of training programs are necessary to increase the perception on the risk of self-medication. Appropriate reading skills are important for accessing health information, using health care services, and achieving desirable health outcomes

Assessment of socio-economic impact of mud bank fisheries along Punnapra, Kerala

Mud banks are unique formations which are characteristic to the south west coast of India and it commensurates with the fishing holidays or closed season in fisheries. The fishermen who are devoid of fishing activities during the monsoon ban period gets to huge amount of shoals finds this as an opportunity to gain the sole income. The fishing operations in the mudbank area are done at a lower depth, and hence the fishing costs tend to remain significantly low leading to huge profitability and increased returns. A cost benefit study related to mudbank fisheries was conducted in Punnapra of Alappuzha district, Kerala during 2014 and 2015 among non-motorized, motorized and mechanised sector. In spite of a slight increase in the fisheries landings during 2015 compared to 2014 it did not reflect in the income gained by the fishermen. The difference in income was mainly due to the changes in fish composition during these periods. Many fisheries operations face economic difficulties as a result of high fuel prices and low income