Environmental and water, sanitation and hygiene conditions in schools: a community-based cross-sectional study from North India

Background: Schools environment is essential for children to achieve optimal health and development. Faulty construction leads to inadequate ventilation and moisture accumulation which increase the levels of morbidities. Schools should also serve as demonstration centres of good sanitation to the community hence healthful environment and functional toilets and WASH facilities are of utmost importance for school children.Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study includes randomly selected 50 schools of Sonepat district which were functional for more than 5 years. Schools were recruited by PPS. A schedule was used to assess the environment and WASH conditions. Percentage, proportion and Chi-square test were used as statistical methods. The p-value <0.05 was considered statistically significant.Results: 68.4% government schools and 51.6% private schools were located in a rural area. 68% schools were having multi-storied building, 72% schools were located at appropriate land. Ventilation was inadequate in 58% schools while all schools were having adequate lighting. Ergonomically sitting facilities were observed in one school only. Water treatment was done in 68% schools. Toilets were adequate in 58% schools but cleaning was done daily in 46% schools. Handwashing points were available in 96% schools but soap was observed in 10.4% schools only. Garbage disposal was observed to be sanitary in 52% schools while liquid waste disposal was sanitary in 44% schools.Conclusions: The study points towards deficiency of environment and WASH conditions in schools and recommends the school authorities to take corrective measures

Biologia reprodutiva de Ipomoea incarnata (Vahl) Choisy (Convolvulaceae).

Neste trabalho foram estudadas a fenologia, a biologia da polinização e a reprodução de Ipomoea incarnata, na Fazenda Catalunha, Santa Maria da Boa Vista-PE

Biologia floral e reprodutiva de Ipomoea bahiensis Wild. Ex. Roem. & Schult. (Convolvulaceae) no município de Santa Maria da Boa Vista-PE.

No presente trabalho foram estudados aspectos da fenologia, da biologia da polinização e da reprodução de Ipomoea bahiensis, em área de vegetação de caatinga, na Fazenda Catalunha, Santa Maria da Boa Vista-PE

Ecologia reprodutiva de Ipomoea brasiliana (Choisy) Meisn. (Convolvulaceae).

Neste trabalho foram estudadas a fenologia, a biologia da polinização e reprodução de Ipomoea brasiliana (Choisy) Meisn., em área de caatinga, na Fazenda Catalunha, Santa Maria da Boa Vista-PE

A Novel Approach for Extraction of Design Features Using DXF Files

Feature recognition is the key linking element between CAD and CAPP. Different CAD/geometricmodeling packages store the design related information in their own databases. Structures of thesedatabases are different from each other. Automatic Feature Recognition (AFR) is the process ofextracting such feature data for use in the other stages of product life cycle viz., process planning,CNC code generation and inspection etc. This paper presents different algorithms to extract thedesign data stored in the form of Data Exchange Format (DXF) files and to store such data in anorderly form. . A software program is developed in ‘C++’, for extraction of the features (entity)data from the DXF file. The flow chart of the program is given as an appendix. The paperdemonstrates the working of the algorithms using a set of examples

Contribution to Unresolved Infrared Fluctuations from Dwarf Galaxies at Redshifts of 2-3

In order to understand the origin of clustered anisotropies detected in Spitzer images between 3.6 and 8 microns, we stack the Spitzer IRAC/Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey (GOODS) images at pixel locations corresponding to faint, z_{AB}~27 mag, optical sources with no obvious IR counterparts. We obtain a strong detection of the sources with a stacked median flux at 3.6 microns of 130+/-5 nJy above the background. The wealth of multi-wavelength imaging data in GOODS enables a similar stacking analysis to be undertaken at various wavelengths between the ultraviolet and near-infrared bands. We obtain strong stacked detections of these optically faint sources over the entire wavelength range which places constraints on the average properties of these sources. We find that the flux spectrum of the median, stacked source is consistent with a L<0.03 L_{*,UV} galaxy with a 90% confidence interval for the redshift of 1.9-2.7. These sources produce a 3.6 micron absolute background intensity between 0.1 and 0.35 nW/m^2/sr and the clustered IR light could account for ~30-50% of fluctuation power in the IR background at 4 arcminute angular scales. Although the exact redshift distribution of these sources is unknown, these galaxies appear to contain 5-20% of the co-moving stellar mass density at z~2.5.Comment: 14 pages, 3 figures, ApJ in press (too long for letters), results unchanged, text clarifie

Suzuki Type Common Fixed Point Theorem For Four Maps Using α - admissible Functions In Partial Ordered Complex Valued Metric Spaces

In this paper, we obtain a Suzuki type unique common fixed point theorem for four self maps using α-admissible function in partial ordered complex valued metric spaces. Also we give an example to illustrate our main theorem

Use of natural plant extracts as a novel microbiological quality indicator in raw milk: An alternative for resazurin dye reduction method

In the present study, we propose a novel field-scale analytical tool for rapid screening of microbiological quality in raw milk using aqueous extracts of plant materials, i.e. flowers (e.g. Hibiscus rosa-sinensis L. and Clitoria ternatea), taproots (e.g. Beta vulgaris) and pricklypears (e.g. Opuntia dillenii). For each plant extract, the colour changes in raw milk were evaluated between 4.5 and 6.5 pH against the resazurin dye as a control. The plant anthocyanin content in each extract was analyzed by the differential pH method using a spectrophotometer. The Hibiscus rosa-sinensis flower extract was opted to further test since it had a pH-sensitive colour change (6.5; maroon to 6.2; light-pink) compared to other plant extracts, which did not indicate a noticeable colour variation with pH. Anthocyanin content of the Hibiscus extract was 0.59 g/mL. The novel method showed high linearity (R-2 = 0.95), 100% accuracy and greater repeatability with an intermediate level of precision. The limit of quantification and detection was 0.46 and 0.15 g/mL, respectively. In conclusion, we demonstrated the potential in using water extract of Hibiscus rosa-sinensis L. flowers as an alternative to the resazurin dye reduction method for rapid and accurate microbiological quality control for raw milk procurement in remote areas