Vrikshayurveda - A Boon

Ancient India has given us a treasure of Vrikshayurveda which if utilised wisely can be a boon to our society. Looking at the pathetic malpractices of modern agriculture and haphazard use of chemical pesticides and fertilisers it is the need of time today to bring it back as part of good agriculture practises. Vrikshayurveda is a dedicated text written by Surpala signifying the importance of agriculture science. Vrikshayurveda means the science of Plant Life. Indian agriculture and horticulture stands at the crossroads today. Chemical fertilizers and pesticide are petroleum derivatives. But with the depletion of oil reserves all over this planet within next 20-25 years this system of agriculture cannot last. At that time we need to find out alternate cultivation methods and nothing can be better than Vrikshayurveda. Already there is a boom of organic farming nowadays. But organic farming and Vrikshayurveda are totally different aspects of agriculture. Simple experiments can always be done by easily available materials’ mentioned in Vrikshayurveda. Surpala also comes up with a number of impractical suggestions, fanciful ideas that do not please us at times therefore further study and research should go along simultaneously

An asymptomatic 11 year child with ruptured sinus of Valsalva

Ruptured sinus of Valsalva (RSOV) is a rare lesion in a paediatric age group. A right sinus of Valsalva aneurysm usually ruptures into the right ventricle, while aneurysms of non-coronary sinus do so into the right atrium. RSOV usually presents in the third decade of life with congestive heart failure and is more common among Asians with male predominance. It may present as acute cardiogenic shock and sudden death or may remain completely asymptomatic with incidental detection by a murmur. Surgery is indicated as early as possible, once the diagnosis is made as without surgery, most cases will eventually succumb to uncontrollable congestive heart failure. This article reports an 11 year old child with the diagnosis of ruptured sinus of Valsalva.peer-reviewe

Green twist to an old theme. An eco-friendly approach

Owing to present environmental awareness, attempts are being made toward the evolution of environmentally benign processes using solid-supported reagents and microwave-assisted reactions. A newly developed, nonmetallic oxidative reagent, "clayan", has been exploited for various reactions such as deprotection, oxidation, oxidative coupling, and nitration and bromination of activated and deactivated arenes. In another green chemistry endeavor, reactions such as reduction and cyclization have been successfully carried out in dry media under microwave irradiation. The nonsolvent reaction, experimental simplicity, and enhanced selectivity are the main attractive features of the approach

Bioelectricity Production and Comparative Evaluation of Electrode Materials in Microbial Fuel Cells Using Indigenous Anode-Reducing Bacterial Community From Wastewater of Rice-Based Industries

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are the electrochemical systems that harness the electricity production capacity of certain microbes from the reduction of biodegradable compounds. The present study aimed to develop mediator-less MFC without using expensive proton exchange membrane. In the present study, a triplicate of dual-chamber, mediator-less MFCs was operated with two local rice based industrial wastewater to explore the potential of this wastewater as a fuel option in these electrochemical systems. 30 combinations of 6 electrodes viz. Carbon (14 cm × 1.5 cm), Zn (14.9 cm × 4.9 cm), Cu (14.9 cm × 4.9 cm), Sn (14.1cm × 4.5cm), Fe (14cm × 4cm) and Al (14cm × 4.5 cm) were evaluated for each of the wastewater samples. Zn-C as anode-cathode combination produced a maximum voltage that was 1.084±0.016V and 1.086±0.028 and current of 1.777±0.115mA and 1.503±0.120 for KRM and SSR, respectively. In the present study, thick biofilm has been observed growing in MFC anode. Total 14 bacterial isolates growing in anode were obtained from two of the wastewater. The dual chambered, membrane-less and mediator-less MFCs were employed successfully to improve the economic feasibility of these electrochemical systems to generate bioelectricity and wastewater treatment simultaneously.Keywords: Membrane-less, Microbial Fuel Cells, Biofilm, Wastewater, Electrogenic.Article History: Received June 25th 2016; Received in revised form Dec 15th 2016; Accepted January 5th 2017; Available onlineHow to Cite This Article: Reena, M. and Jadhav, S. K. (2017) Bioelectricity production and Comparative Evaluation of Electrode Materials in Microbial Fuel Cells using Indigenous Anode-reducing Bacterial Community from Wastewater of Rice-based Industries. International Journal of Renewable Energy Develeopment, 6(1), 83-92.http://dx.doi.org/10.14710/ijred.6.1.83-9

Improvement in maternal child bonding and lactation establishment with antenatal counseling

Background: Breastfeeding (BF) is best food source for infants to improve child health, maternal health and mother-infant bonding. We aimed to assess the effect of antenatal education in increasing the frequency and duration of breast feeding and helpful in increasing the intimacy of mother and child and further improve the maternal and fetal outcomes. Methods: It is a prospective, randomized and interventional study held at tertiary care hospital for 18 months on 200 pregnant females. The counselled group (n=100) received one session of antenatal breastfeeding education, while the non-counselled group received routine antenatal obstetric care with no special intervention applied. Results: It was observed that the mean age and education of the mothers in the counselled as well as non-counselled group was statistically similar. The mean ANC visits, early initiation of BF, mean BSES and exclusive BF, were significantly higher in the counselled group as compared to non-counselled group. Complications are more in non-counselled group mothers. Conclusions: This study results demonstrate that a meaningful breastfeeding support and clinical health education can improve exclusive BF and BF self-efficacy with lowers the risk of complications

Study of blood indices and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) in differentiation of β-thalassemia trait and iron deficiency anaemia

Background: Iron deficiency anemia (IDA) and beta thalassaemia trait (BTT) are two of the most common causes of microcytic anemia.It is essential to differentiate between the two, so as to avoid unnecessary iron therapy which is contraindicated in beta thalassaemia .We retrospectively evaluated the reliability of various indices for differential diagnosis of microcytosis and -TT in the same patient groups .Methods: A total of 200 patients were evaluated. We calculated 6 discrimination indices in all patients with anemia or suspected beta thalassemia. None of the subjects had  combined  IDA and -TT. The patient groups were evaluated according to  the Mentzer, Shine and Lal, England and Fraser,Srivastava, Green and King, Ricerca.Results: According to percentage correctly diagnosed criteria, Ricerca  and Mentzer  index are considered as the two best discrimination indices in differentiation between β thalassemia trait  and iron deficiency anaemia .Youden’s index showed the following ranking with respect to the indices’ ability to distinguish between -TT and IDA, Ricerca index >  Mentzer index > Green and King index >  Srivastava index >  Shine and Lal index > England and Fraser index.Conclusions: Ricerca  and Mentzer  index are considered as the two best discrimination indices in differentiation between β thalassemia trait  and iron deficiency anaemia.Keywords: Iron deficiency anemia (IDA) and beta thalassaemia trait (-TT)