Reactive oxygen species signaling influences feeding behaviour

Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) are not just by products of substrate oxidation but also chemicals that are involved in intracellular signaling when they are generated transiently and moderately. This review explores the intracellular signaling aspects of reactive oxygen species in influencing feeding behaviour. Substrates like glucose and lipids stimulate generation of reactive oxygen species mainly through mitochondria and to some extent through the NADPH oxidases. The level of ROS generated in hypothalamic neurons like NPY/AgRP and POMC neurons, under the influence of substrate level, directly influences  the activity of these neurons and subsequently affect the downstream neurons located in other parts of the hypothalamus like the ventromedial nucleus (VMN), the paraventricular nucleus (PVN) and the lateral hypothalamus. Activation of POMC neuronal population is driven by increase ROS level whereas activation of NPY/AgRP neurons occurs when ROS level is reduced. The activation of these neurons will determine the feeding behaviour which will either be satiety if POMC neurons are activated or increase food intake if NPY/AgRP neurons are activated

Prevalence of dental caries among adults and elderly in an urban resettlement colony of New Delhi

<b>Background:</b> Dental caries remains the most important dental health problem in developing countries. In India the prevalence of dental caries is reported to be about 50-60&#x0025;. Most of the Indian studies have been carried out in school children and very few in adults. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of dental caries in the adult population (aged 35-44 years) and in the elderly (60 years and above) in an urban resettlement colony in New Delhi. <b> Methodology:</b> A community-based cross-sectional study was carried out in Dakshinpuri, New Delhi, from January to February 2007. A local adaptation of the WHO questionnaire was used. Oral examination was done and dentition status was recorded by trained investigators and according to the standard procedures. <b> Results:</b> A total of 452 participants were enrolled in the study. The prevalence of dental caries in the 35-44 years age-group was 82.4&#x0025; and it was 91.9&#x0025; in those &#8805;60 years. The DMF index was 5.7 &#x00B1; 4.7 in the 35-44 years age-group and 13.8 &#x00B1; 9.6 in the &#8805;60 years age-group. Of the participants, 27.9&#x0025; were currently using tobacco. A statistically significant association was found between tobacco consumption and dental caries (<i> P</i> = 0.026). The awareness about good and bad dental practices was found to be low among the study participants. One-fifth of the individuals with dental problems relied on home remedies. <b> Conclusion:</b> The prevalence of dental caries among adults is high in this population. There is a need to generate awareness about oral health and the prevention of dental caries and to institute measures for the provision of dental care services at the primary level

OPERATIONAL REMOTE SENSING SERVICES IN NORTH EASTERN REGION OF INDIA FOR NATURAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT, EARLY WARNING FOR DISASTER RISK REDUCTION AND DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION AND SERVICES

North Eastern Region (NER) of India comprising of eight states considered to be most unique and one of the most challenging regions to govern due to its unique physiographic condition, rich biodiversity, disaster prone and diverse socio-economic characteristics. Operational Remote Sensing services increased manifolds in the region with the establishment of North Eastern Space Applications Centre (NESAC) in the year 2000. Since inception, NESAC has been providing remote sensing services in generating inventory, planning and developmental activities, and management of natural resources, disasters and dissemination of information and services through geo-web services for NER. The operational remote sensing services provided by NESAC can be broadly divided into three categories viz. natural resource planning and developmental services, disaster risk reduction and early warning services and information dissemination through geo-portal services. As a apart of natural resources planning and developmental services NESAC supports the state forest departments in preparing the forest working plans by providing geospatial inputs covering entire NER, identifying the suitable culturable wastelands for cultivation of silkworm food plants, mapping of natural resources such as land use/land cover, wastelands, land degradation etc. on temporal basis. In the area of disaster risk reduction, NESAC has initiated operational services for early warning and post disaster assessment inputs for flood early warning system (FLEWS) using satellite remote sensing, numerical weather prediction, hydrological modeling etc.; forest fire alert system with actionable attribute information; Japanese Encephalitis Early Warning System (JEWS) based on mosquito vector abundance, pig population and historical disease intensity and agriculture drought monitoring for the region. The large volumes of geo-spatial databases generated as part of operational services are made available to the administrators and local government bodies for better management, preparing prospective planning, and sustainable use of available resources. The knowledge dissemination is being done through online web portals wherever the internet access is available and as well as offline space based information kiosks, where the internet access is not available or having limited bandwidth availability. This paper presents a systematic and comprehensive study on the remote sensing services operational in NER of India for natural resources management, disaster risk reduction and dissemination of information and services, in addition to outlining future areas and direction of space applications for the region