Neottiospora curcumæ sp. Nov.

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The present status and the projected programme of Zirconium development in India

THE nuclear power industry continues to be the major consumer of zirconium metal production in the world today. On the basis of neutron economy, corrosion resistance and mechanical strength, zirconium alloys have been the ideal choice for the fuel-cladding and other core components in watercooled nuclear power systems. In the United States alone, the current annual requirement of zircaloy tubing for nuclear fuel cladding has been placed at 250 tons, which will grow to 600 tons by 1970 and 900 tons by 1973. In India, for the 1200 MW(e) nuclear power programme envisaged for the IV Plan period, zircaloy tube requir-ements have been estimated at 50 tons per year and will increase to 75 tons and more during the V Plan period

Role and acceptability of traditional birth attendants (DAIs) in a rural community in South India

Dais are the traditional birth attendants, conducting deliveries at home in the majority of villages in India. A study was planned to find out the feasibility of utilising the services of the dais in case-finding in Tuberculosis (TB) and for drug delivery to diagnosed patients. As a preliminary step, a survey was done with a view to find out the role and acceptability of the dais by the community in 5% of households in randomly selected 24 of the 48 villages in Sriperumbudur taluk in Tamil Nadu, where a voluntary organisation. "PREPARE" was delivering primary health care through dais. A total of 466 individuals, either the head of the household or any other responsible person available, were interviewed to find out the role and acceptability of the dais by the community. The salient findings of this study are that 83% mentioned that the dais reside in their respective villages. hence the services of the dais were available at ail times and 82 % had stated that the services were useful to them. This background information is essential for health planners so that this task force could be effectively utilised in health programmmes, in the rural areas in India

The life-history of Puccinia blepharidis P. Henn.

The life-history of P. blepharidis was worked out. Pycnia, æcia and telia are produced. Uredia have been omitted in the life-cycle. The æciospores function as the repeating spores. Pycnia develop when infection is through basidiospores. It is felt that P. makenensis and P. boerhaaviœfoliœ recorded on the same host should be merged with P. blepharidis

Additions to fungi of Madras-XVI

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Knowledge of tuberculosis in a south Indian rural community initially and after health education

A study was undertaken in a south Indian rural community to assess the initial level of knowledge of tuberculosis (TB) and again after providing health education on TB, to evaluate the effectiveness of health education, after 2 years. A total of 466 respondents from 24 randomly selected villages in Sriperumpudur taluk, Tamilnadu were interviewed. The community was then educated about the important aspects of tuberculosis by means of pamphlets, film shows, exhibitions, role plays and group discussions. After 2 years, the respondents were revisited and interviewed using the same interview schedule. There was an overall increase of knowledge on various aspects of TB, ranging from 18% to 58%

Simple Direct Drug Susceptibility Tests on Sputum Samples for Early Detection of Resistance in Tubercle Bacilli

Background: Direct sensitivity test either by sputum concentrate (DS) or swab method (DSM) set up along with the primary culture would avoid the delay of four or more weeks required for the indirect test. A comparison of these two methods against the standard indirect sensitivity method under routine laboratory conditions is necessary to prove their merit. Method: Smear positive sputum samples were aliquoted and sensitivity tests were set up by both the direct methods as also an indirect test set up from the primary culture of the same sample. Results: The agreement with the indirect test results for isoniazid (INH) ranged from 97-98% for the DS method and 93- 97% for the DSM method. The corresponding figures were 96-98% by the DS and 94-99% by the DSM method for rifampicin (R). The agreement was less satisfactory for ethambutol (Emb). Conclusion: This study showed that direct sensitivity tests such as DS and DSM methods can detect most of the cultures resistant to INH and R (MDR) from the time growth appears on the primary culture , even as early as the second week of setting up the tests