Gender Based Within-Household Inequality in Childhood Immunization in India: Changes over Time and across Regions

Background and Objectives: Despite India’s substantial economic growth in the past two decades, girls in India are discriminated against in access to preventive healthcare including immunizations. Surprisingly, no study has assessed the contribution of gender based within-household discrimination to the overall inequality in immunization status of Indian children. This study therefore has two objectives: to estimate the gender based within-household inequality (GWHI) in immunization status of Indian children and to examine the inter-regional and inter-temporal variations in the GWHI. Data and Methods: The present study used households with a pair of male-female siblings (aged 1–5 years) from two rounds of National Family Health Survey (NFHS, 1992–93 and 2005–06). The overall inequality in the immunization status (after controlling for age and birth order) of children was decomposed into within-households and between-households components using Mean log deviation to obtain the GWHI component. The analysis was conducted at the all-India level as well as for six specified geographical regions and at two time points (1992–93 and 2005–06). Household fixed-effects models for immunization status of children were also estimated. Results and Conclusions: Findings from household fixed effects analysis indicated that the immunization scores of girls were significantly lower than that of boys. The inequality decompositions revealed that, at the all-India level, the absolute level of GWHI in immunization status decreased from 0.035 in 1992–93 to 0.023 in 2005–06. However, as a percentage o

Effects of biofertilizer containing N-fixer, P and K solubilizers and AM fungi on maize growth: A greenhouse trial.

An in vitro study was undertaken to evaluate the compatibility of indigenous plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) with commonly used inorganic and organic sources of fertilizers in tea plantations. The nitrogenous, phosphatic and potash fertilizers used for this study were urea, rock phosphate and muriate of potash, respectively. The organic sources of fertilizers neem cake, composted coir pith and vermicompost were also used. PGPRs such as nitrogen fixer; Azospirillum lipoferum, Phosphate Solubilizing Bacteria (PSB); Pseudomonas putida, Potassium Solubilizing Bacteria (KSB); Burkholderia cepacia and Pseudomonas putida were used for compatibility study. Results were indicated that PGPRs preferred the coir pith and they proved their higher colony establishment in the formulation except Azospirillum spp. that preferred vermicompost for their establishment. The optimum dose of neem cake powder

An undergraduate-level electrochemical investigation of gold nanoparticles-modified physically small carbon electrodes

Chandra, SS ORCiD: 0000-0002-4257-5860This paper reports an undergraduate experiment based on analytical chemistry, electrochemistry and materials science of carbon microelectrodes. The modification of the electroactive surface of the carbon microelectrode was done using gold nanoparticles electrodeposited from gold solution. To determine the changes on the surface, the electrode was subjected to simple optical microscopy. Next, the electrode was characterized using fast-scan cyclic voltammetry of two known electrochemical redox markers: hexaamineruthenium(III) chloride and potassium hexacyanoferrate (III), i.e. potassium ferricyanide. The redox behavior of both markers demonstrated the change in electrode surface. After modification, the ferricyanide reduction peaks were observed to increase significantly, as a consequence of accelerated electron transfer. Furthermore, changes in wave slope and half-wave potentials (E½) of the redox waves also confirmed an altered electrode surface that students can logically trace back to the modification. The electrode tip dimension was also determined using a modified form of the Cottrell equation, confirming the tip size to be 2.0 μm. The discussion of these results enables an understanding of electrochemistry, analytical chemistry and materials chemistry, and presents an excellent opportunity to apply these in an undergraduate setting

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Not AvailableEnvironmental protection has fascinated the attention of the varied section of people globally thereby creating global issue amongst researchers and scientists working in this area. Pesticides are toxic to aquatic biota which form important components of the food chain such as fishes. Fishes are important sources of protein in nation-state’s diet. So a detailed understanding of the pollutant effect on fishes would be rewarding for fish conservation and fishery development. Cypermethrin, a synthetic pyrethroid pesticide and potential toxic pollutant contaminating aquatic ecosystems, was investigated in the present study for acute toxicity. Indian major carp (Cirrhinus mrigala) were selected for the bioassay experiments. Experimental fish were subjected to different concentrations of cypermethrin ranging from 0.40 to 6.40μg/l for 96 hrs in test containers. The static renewal test method of acute toxicity test was used. Water temperature was regulated at 26.8 ± 3° C. In addition, behavioral changes such as loss of schooling behaviour, swimming near the water surface, hyper activity, erratic movements, seizures, loss of buoyancy, darting movements and hitting against the walls of test tanks at each cypermethrin concentration were observed for the individual fish. Data acquired from the cypermethrin acute toxicity tests were evaluated using the arithmetic method of Karber. The 96 hr LC50 value for Cirrhinus mrigala was estimated as 4.57μg/l. The possible variation in the LC 50 values can be attributed to toxicant sensitivity, its concentration and duration of exposure.Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR

An undergraduate-level electrochemical investigation of gold nanoparticles-modified physically small carbon electrodes

This paper reports an undergraduate experiment based on analytical chemistry, electrochemistry and materials science of carbon microelectrodes. The modification of the electroactive surface of the carbon microelectrode was done using gold nanoparticles electrodeposited from gold solution. To determine the changes on the surface, the electrode was subjected to simple optical microscopy. Next, the electrode was characterized using fast-scan cyclic voltammetry of two known electrochemical redox markers: hexaamineruthenium(III) chloride and potassium hexacyanoferrate (III), i.e. potassium ferricyanide. The redox behavior of both markers demonstrated the change in electrode surface. After modification, the ferricyanide reduction peaks were observed to increase significantly, as a consequence of accelerated electron transfer. Furthermore, changes in wave slope and half-wave potentials (E½) of the redox waves also confirmed an altered electrode surface that students can logically trace back to the modification. The electrode tip dimension was also determined using a modified form of the Cottrell equation, confirming the tip size to be 2.0 μm. The discussion of these results enables an understanding of electrochemistry, analytical chemistry and materials chemistry, and presents an excellent opportunity to apply these in an undergraduate setting

Experimental validation and docking studies of flavone derivatives on aldose reductase involved in diabetic retinopathy, neuropathy, and nephropathy

The enzyme aldoreductase which plays an important role in pathogenesis of diabetic retinopathy, neuropathy, and nephropathy was purified from bovine lens, and its inhibitory activity was studied with the synthesized flavone derivatives 1-(2-hydroxyphenyl)ethanone as the starting material. Experimental study revealed that 2-chloroflavone shows less inhibitory activity of 60-70% than other flavones used in the study. To validate experimental results computationally, docking studies of new flavone derivatives synthesized were performed with the enzyme aldose reductase, and the results indicate that 3-iodo, 4-methyl, 5-chloroflavone and 2-chloroflavone bind with higher and lesser affinities. Docking studies with site directed mutagenesis of Val47Ile, Tyr48His, Pro121Phe, Trp219Tyr, Cys298Ala, Leu300Pro, Ser302Arg, and Cys303Asp of the enzyme altered the inhibition activity of aldose reductase. The regression value (R (2)) of 0.81 between the docking scores of the known inhibitors and the experimental logIC(50) indicates the reliability of the docking studies. Biological activity and carcinogenic properties predict that 3-iodo, 4-methyl, 5-chloroflavone is the best flavone inhibitor against aldose reductase.status: publishe

Grassland species differentially regulate proline concentrations under future climate conditions: an integrated biochemical and modelling approach

Proline (Pro) is a versatile metabolite playing a role in the protection of plants against environmental stresses. To gain a deeper understanding of the regulation of Pro metabolism under predicted future climate conditions, including drought stress, elevated temperature and CO (2), we combined measurements in contrasting grassland species (two grasses and two legumes) at multiple organisational levels, that is, metabolite concentrations, enzyme activities and gene expression. Drought stress (D) activates Pro biosynthesis and represses its catabolism, and elevated temperature (DT) further elevated its content. Elevated CO (2) attenuated the DT effect on Pro accumulation. Computational pathway control analysis allowed a mechanistic understanding of the regulatory changes in Pro metabolism. This analysis indicates that the experimentally observed coregulation of multiple enzymes is more effective in modulating Pro concentrations than regulation of a single step. Pyrroline‐5‐carboxylate synthetase (P5CS) and pyrroline‐5‐carboxylate reductase (P5CR) play a central role in grasses (Lolium perenne, Poa pratensis), and arginase (ARG), ornithine aminotransferase (OAT) and P5CR play a central role in legumes (Medicago lupulina, Lotus corniculatus). Different strategies in the regulation of Pro concentrations under stress conditions were observed. In grasses the glutamate pathway is activated predominantly, and in the legumes the ornithine pathway, possibly related to differences in N‐nutritional status

APE1/Ref-1 regulates PTEN expression mediated by Egr-1

APE1/Ref-1, the mammalian ortholog of E. coli Xth, and a multifunctional protein possessing both DNA repair and transcriptional regulatory activities, has dual role in controlling cellular response to oxidative stress. It is rate-limiting in repair of oxidative DNA damage including strand breaks and also has co-transcriptional activity by modulating genes expression directly regulated by Egr-1 and p53 transcription factors. PTEN, a phosphoinositide phosphatase, acts as an 'off' switch in the PI-3 kinase/Akt signalling pathway and regulates cell growth and survival. It is shown here that transient alteration in the APE1 level in HeLa cells modulates PTEN expression and that acetylatable APE1 is required for the activation of the PTEN gene. Acetylation of APE1 enhances its binding to distinct trans-acting complexes involved in activation or repression. The acetylated protein is deacetylated in vivo by histone deacetylases. It was found that exposure of HeLa cells to H2O2 and to histone deacetylase inhibitors increases acetylation of APE1 and induction of PTEN. The absence of such induction in APE1 downregulated HeLa cells confirmed APE1's role in regulating inducible PTEN expression. That APE1-dependent PTEN expression is mediated by Egr-1 was supported by experiments with cells ectopically expressing Egr-1. Thus, the data open new perspectives in the comprehension of the many functions exerted by APE1 in controlling cell response to oxidative stress