Earthworm Population in Relation to Different Agro Climatic Regions of Wayanad District of Kerala

Among the numerous microorganisms in the soil, earthworms play an important role in the formation and maintenance of soil structure and fertility by altering the physical, chemical and biological properties. A study was conducted in Wayanad district during 2017 to 2018 to collect and identify the earthworm species present in three agro climatic regions of Wayanad. A total of 30 samples were collected from Wetland, upland and an evergreen forest. A total of 15 earth worm species were identified and among this two species were new to Wayanad, the Dravida thomasi and Amynthas corticis

In-Vitro Antagonistic Activity of Plant Extract on Fusarium Species

Plant protection is an important area which needs attention since most of the hazardous inputs added into the agricultural system are in the form of plant protection chemicals. Botanicals possess a variety of promising properties which make it a better biocontrol agent. The objectives of the present study were to isolate Fusarium sp. from soil and to check the effect of botanicals against this fungal pathogen in-vitro. The antagonistic activity of botanicals was studied by co-inoculation with the Fusarium sp. isolated from rhizosphere soil. In poison food technique, the botanicals in different concentration, showed decrease in the growth of the fungal pathogen. Maximum inhibition was observed in 10% Azadiracta sp. with 64% inhibition followed by 5% Azadiracta sp. with 57.8

Estimating epidemiological and economic burden and community derived disability weights for snake bite in Kerala: a study protocol

BACKGROUND: In India, lack of data and underreporting of cases and deaths due to snakebite makes it difficult to estimate its socio-economic burden. Previous studies measuring economic burden of snakebite in low-and-middle-income countries (LMICs) using different approaches have been conducted, but none in India. The proposed study aims to provide evidence on disability weights, epidemiological and economic burden due to snakebites in Kerala state, India. PROTOCOL: The study is a community based cross-sectional study recruiting victims of snakebite occurring over a 12 month period prior to start of the study , across Ernakulam district, Kerala state, India. For the community-derived disability weights,70 adult patients who were treated within a 3 month period prior to commencement of the study at Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences, Kochi or Little Flower Hospital, Angamaly would be interviewed. The study will measure annual incidence, mortality, treatment cost of snakebites along with community-derived disability weights for snakebites in Ernakulam district.. Standard methods for analysis and reporting of mortality, morbidity, Years of Lives Lost (YLL), Years lived with disability (YLD), disability weights, and costs of treatment will be calculated. The study will be started in April 2021 and is expected to be completed by July2021. DISCUSSION: This protocol is the first published for estimating epidemiological, economic burden and community derived disability weights for snakebites in India. Besides, the Global Burden of Disease has not attached a particular disability weight to snakebite and this would be an attempt to do so. The protocol has been developed using guidelines for cross-sectional studies, cost of illness studies and international guidelines for conducting community derived disability weights. The evidence generated by this study will contribute significantly to knowledge regarding the epidemiology, economic burden and community-derived disability weights for snakebites in India and other countries where incidence of snakebite is high

KONDISI DAN RESPON KEBIJAKAN EKONOMI MAKRO SELAMA KRISIS EKONOMI TAHUN 1997-98

Merosot tajamnya kondisi perekonomian nasional sejak terjadinya gejolak nilai tukar pertengahan 1997, diyakini sebagai dampak kombinasi antara besarnya aliran modal asing, lemahnya sektor keuangan,  serta lemahnya penilaian kegiatan usaha. Tulisan ini ditujukan untuk melihat pengaruh aliran modal keluar terhadap perekonomian nasional serta efektifitas respon kebijakan yang ditempuh. Dengan menggunakan model sederhana perekonomian terbuka, hasil pengujian membuktikan bahwa aliran modal keluar secara mendadak dan dalam jumlah yang sangat besar telah mengakibatkan kinerja perekonomian dengan cepat merosot serta dengan dampak yang cukup lama. Berbagai permasalahan yang timbul selama krisis seperti perekonomian yang terkontraksi, inflasi yang melambung dan nilai tukar yang melemah secara empiris dapat dibuktikan pada studi ini. Dari hasil studi ini juga terlihat bahwa respon kebijakan ekonomi yang ditempuh dengan titik berat pada stabilisasi jangka pendek terbukti cukup berhasil meskipun dengan pengorbanan semakin terkontraksinya perekonomian. Pengujian counterfactual memperkuat hasil ini yaitu bilamana kebijakan suku bunga tinggi segera diterapkan pada saal awal terjadinya krisis dan secara konsisten dipertahankan maka hasil yang terjadi adalah inflasi yang lebih rendah dan nilai tukar yang lebih kuat, meskipun di sisi lain kebijakan ini berdampak pada semakin merosotnya aktifitas perekonomian. Sedangkan apabila kebijakan fiscal dilakukan lebih ekspansif maka kontraksi perekonomian dapat lebih tertahan, kendati menciptakan trade off pada melemahnya nilai tukar dan melonjaknya inflasi.Dengan demikian, kombinasi kebijakan yang sebaiknya diterapkan dalam kaitannya dengan upaya mempercepat pemulihan perekonomian adalah kombinasi kontraksi di sisi moneter sejak terjadi tekanan aliran modal keluar dan ekspansif dari sisi fiskal yang dilakukan secara bertahap. Hal ini didukung dari hasil pengujian yang memperlihatkan bilamana kombinasi kebijakan tersebut diterapkan, laju inflasi yang dicapai relatif lebih rendah dengan nilai tukar yang lebih kuat. Namun demikian, kebijakan yang ditempuh tersebut dalam kaitannya dengan upaya stabilisasi nilai tukar tetaplah harus memperhatikan faktor-faktor yang mempengaruhi pergerakannya.Akhirnya implikasi lebih jauh dari tulisan ini adalah pentingnya upaya mengurangi ketergantungan pembiayaan pembangunan ekonomi yang bersumber dari dana asing, dengan belajar pada pengalaman yang dialami saat ini, maka dapat diyakini bahwa pembangunan yang lebih bersifat ‘indigenous process’ akan lebih tahan terhadap gangguan

THE GENERAL EQUILIBRIUM MODEL OF BANK INDONESIA (GEMBI)

Sampai saat ini Bank Indonesia telah memiliki model makro ekonometrik yang cukup paripurna seperti MODBI. Model makro seperti MODBI tersebut bersifat statik dan sangat berguna bagi kepentingan proyeksi makro jangka pendek. Namun, berdasarkan beberapa alasan fundamental model ekonometrik tersebut secara teoritis tidak dapat dipakai sebagai alat penunjuk arah gerak dinamis dari berbagai variable makro jangka menengah dan panjang. Untuk itu suatu model makro yang dinamis (dynamic macro model) yang digenerate dengan data artifisial (artificial generated data) yang bersifat random telah dikembangkan dan diberi nama General Equilibrium Model of Bank Indonesia (GEMBI)

Incidence of community-acquired lower respiratory tract infections and pneumonia among older adults in the United Kingdom: a population-based study.

Community-acquired lower respiratory tract infections (LRTI) and pneumonia (CAP) are common causes of morbidity and mortality among those aged ≥65 years; a growing population in many countries. Detailed incidence estimates for these infections among older adults in the United Kingdom (UK) are lacking. We used electronic general practice records from the Clinical Practice Research Data link, linked to Hospital Episode Statistics inpatient data, to estimate incidence of community-acquired LRTI and CAP among UK older adults between April 1997-March 2011, by age, sex, region and deprivation quintile. Levels of antibiotic prescribing were also assessed. LRTI incidence increased with fluctuations over time, was higher in men than women aged ≥70 and increased with age from 92.21 episodes/1000 person-years (65-69 years) to 187.91/1000 (85-89 years). CAP incidence increased more markedly with age, from 2.81 to 21.81 episodes/1000 person-years respectively, and was higher among men. For both infection groups, increases over time were attenuated after age-standardisation, indicating that these rises were largely due to population aging. Rates among those in the most deprived quintile were around 70% higher than the least deprived and were generally higher in the North of England. GP antibiotic prescribing rates were high for LRTI but lower for CAP (mostly due to immediate hospitalisation). This is the first study to provide long-term detailed incidence estimates of community-acquired LRTI and CAP in UK older individuals, taking person-time at risk into account. The summary incidence commonly presented for the ≥65 age group considerably underestimates LRTI/CAP rates, particularly among older individuals within this group. Our methodology and findings are likely to be highly relevant to health planners and researchers in other countries with aging populations

Comparing the immune response to a novel intranasal nanoparticle PLGA vaccine and a commercial BPI3V vaccine in dairy calves

peer-reviewedBackground There is a need to improve vaccination against respiratory pathogens in calves by stimulation of local immunity at the site of pathogen entry at an early stage in life. Ideally such a vaccine preparation would not be inhibited by the maternally derived antibodies. Additionally, localized immune response at the site of infection is also crucial to control infection at the site of entry of virus. The present study investigated the response to an intranasal bovine parainfluenza 3 virus (BPI3V) antigen preparation encapsulated in PLGA (poly dl-lactic-co-glycolide) nanoparticles in the presence of pre-existing anti-BPI3V antibodies in young calves and comparing it to a commercially available BPI3V respiratory vaccine. Results There was a significant (P < 0.05) increase in BPI3V-specific IgA in the nasal mucus of the BPI3V nanoparticle vaccine group alone. Following administration of the nanoparticle vaccine an early immune response was induced that continued to grow until the end of study and was not observed in the other treatment groups. Virus specific serum IgG response to both the nanoparticle vaccine and commercial live attenuated vaccine showed a significant (P < 0.05) rise over the period of study. However, the cell mediated immune response observed didn’t show any significant rise in any of the treatment groups. Conclusion Calves administered the intranasal nanoparticle vaccine induced significantly greater mucosal IgA responses, compared to the other treatment groups. This suggests an enhanced, sustained mucosal-based immunological response to the BPI3V nanoparticle vaccine in the face of pre-existing antibodies to BPI3V, which are encouraging and potentially useful characteristics of a candidate vaccine. However, ability of nanoparticle vaccine in eliciting cell mediated immune response needs further investigation. More sustained local mucosal immunity induced by nanoparticle vaccine has obvious potential if it translates into enhanced protective immunity in the face of virus outbreak

Varicella-Zoster viruses associated with post-herpetic neuralgia induce sodium current density increases in the ND7-23 Nav-1.8 neuroblastoma cell line

Post-herpetic neuralgia (PHN) is the most significant complication of herpes zoster caused by reactivation of latent Varicella-Zoster virus (VZV). We undertook a heterologous infection in vitro study to determine whether PHN-associated VZV isolates induce changes in sodium ion channel currents known to be associated with neuropathic pain. Twenty VZV isolates were studied blind from 11 PHN and 9 non-PHN subjects. Viruses were propagated in the MeWo cell line from which cell-free virus was harvested and applied to the ND7/23-Nav1.8 rat DRG x mouse neuroblastoma hybrid cell line which showed constitutive expression of the exogenous Nav 1.8, and endogenous expression of Nav 1.6 and Nav 1.7 genes all encoding sodium ion channels the dysregulation of which is associated with a range of neuropathic pain syndromes. After 72 hrs all three classes of VZV gene transcripts were detected in the absence of infectious virus. Single cell sodium ion channel recording was performed after 72 hr by voltage-clamping. PHN-associated VZV significantly increased sodium current amplitude in the cell line when compared with non-PHN VZV, wild-type (Dumas) or vaccine VZV strains ((POka, Merck and GSK). These sodium current increases were unaffected by acyclovir pre-treatment but were abolished by exposure to Tetrodotoxin (TTX) which blocks the TTX-sensitive fast Nav 1.6 and Nav 1.7 channels but not the TTX-resistant slow Nav 1.8 channel. PHN-associated VZV sodium current increases were therefore mediated in part by the Nav 1.6 and Nav 1.7 sodium ion channels. An additional observation was a modest increase in message levels of both Nav1.6 and Nav1.7 mRNA but not Nav 1.8 in PHN virally infected cells

Incorporating scale dependence in disease burden estimates:the case of human African trypanosomiasis in Uganda

The WHO has established the disability-adjusted life year (DALY) as a metric for measuring the burden of human disease and injury globally. However, most DALY estimates have been calculated as national totals. We mapped spatial variation in the burden of human African trypanosomiasis (HAT) in Uganda for the years 2000-2009. This represents the first geographically delimited estimation of HAT disease burden at the sub-country scale.Disability-adjusted life-year (DALY) totals for HAT were estimated based on modelled age and mortality distributions, mapped using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) software, and summarised by parish and district. While the national total burden of HAT is low relative to other conditions, high-impact districts in Uganda had DALY rates comparable to the national burden rates for major infectious diseases. The calculated average national DALY rate for 2000-2009 was 486.3 DALYs/100 000 persons/year, whereas three districts afflicted by rhodesiense HAT in southeastern Uganda had burden rates above 5000 DALYs/100 000 persons/year, comparable to national GBD 2004 average burden rates for malaria and HIV/AIDS.These results provide updated and improved estimates of HAT burden across Uganda, taking into account sensitivity to under-reporting. Our results highlight the critical importance of spatial scale in disease burden analyses. National aggregations of disease burden have resulted in an implied bias against highly focal diseases for which geographically targeted interventions may be feasible and cost-effective. This has significant implications for the use of DALY estimates to prioritize disease interventions and inform cost-benefit analyses

Translating three states of knowledge--discovery, invention, and innovation

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Knowledge Translation (KT) has historically focused on the proper use of knowledge in healthcare delivery. A knowledge base has been created through empirical research and resides in scholarly literature. Some knowledge is amenable to direct application by stakeholders who are engaged during or after the research process, as shown by the Knowledge to Action (KTA) model. Other knowledge requires multiple transformations before achieving utility for end users. For example, conceptual knowledge generated through science or engineering may become embodied as a technology-based invention through development methods. The invention may then be integrated within an innovative device or service through production methods. To what extent is KT relevant to these transformations? How might the KTA model accommodate these additional development and production activities while preserving the KT concepts?</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>Stakeholders adopt and use knowledge that has perceived utility, such as a solution to a problem. Achieving a technology-based solution involves three methods that generate knowledge in three states, analogous to the three classic states of matter. Research activity generates discoveries that are intangible and highly malleable like a gas; development activity transforms discoveries into inventions that are moderately tangible yet still malleable like a liquid; and production activity transforms inventions into innovations that are tangible and immutable like a solid. The paper demonstrates how the KTA model can accommodate all three types of activity and address all three states of knowledge. Linking the three activities in one model also illustrates the importance of engaging the relevant stakeholders prior to initiating any knowledge-related activities.</p> <p>Summary</p> <p>Science and engineering focused on technology-based devices or services change the state of knowledge through three successive activities. Achieving knowledge implementation requires methods that accommodate these three activities and knowledge states. Accomplishing beneficial societal impacts from technology-based knowledge involves the successful progression through all three activities, and the effective communication of each successive knowledge state to the relevant stakeholders. The KTA model appears suitable for structuring and linking these processes.</p