Study on biology of Thryssa dussumieri (Valenciennes, 1848) from the coast of Ratnagiri, Maharashtra, India

87-94The Dussumier’s thryssa, Thryssa dussumieri is one of the important component of by-catch of trawl and mini purse seine landings at Ratnagiri. The length-weight relationship indicated the isometric growth in T. dussumieri with generalized equation W = 0.0066 L 3.1077. The month-wise relative condition factor showed two peaks coinciding with peak spawning season. All morphometric lengths showed varying degree of correlation with total length. The qualitative and quantitative analysis of food revealed Thryssa dussumieri to be a carnivore, feeding mainly on mysids, copepods, diatoms and juvenile shrimps.The highest GSI value, for females, was observed during March, October, December and January. The male:female ratio was found to be 1:1.4. T. dussumieri has got a prolonged spawning season extending from September to April. The absolute fecundity ranged from 3367 to 14130 eggs with an average of 7420 eggs. Length at sexual maturity has been estimated to be 12.8 cm

A cluster theory for a Janus fluid

Recent Monte Carlo simulations on the Kern and Frenkel model of a Janus fluid have revealed that in the vapour phase there is the formation of preferred clusters made up of a well-defined number of particles: the micelles and the vesicles. A cluster theory is developed to approximate the exact clustering properties stemming from the simulations. It is shown that the theory is able to reproduce the micellisation phenomenon.Comment: 27 pages, 8 figures, 6 table

Mapping subnational HIV mortality in six Latin American countries with incomplete vital registration systems

BackgroundHuman immunodeficiency virus (HIV) remains a public health priority in Latin America. While the burden of HIV is historically concentrated in urban areas and high-risk groups, subnational estimates that cover multiple countries and years are missing. This paucity is partially due to incomplete vital registration (VR) systems and statistical challenges related to estimating mortality rates in areas with low numbers of HIV deaths. In this analysis, we address this gap and provide novel estimates of the HIV mortality rate and the number of HIV deaths by age group, sex, and municipality in Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, and Mexico.MethodsWe performed an ecological study using VR data ranging from 2000 to 2017, dependent on individual country data availability. We modeled HIV mortality using a Bayesian spatially explicit mixed-effects regression model that incorporates prior information on VR completeness. We calibrated our results to the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017.ResultsAll countries displayed over a 40-fold difference in HIV mortality between municipalities with the highest and lowest age-standardized HIV mortality rate in the last year of study for men, and over a 20-fold difference for women. Despite decreases in national HIV mortality in all countries-apart from Ecuador-across the period of study, we found broad variation in relative changes in HIV mortality at the municipality level and increasing relative inequality over time in all countries. In all six countries included in this analysis, 50% or more HIV deaths were concentrated in fewer than 10% of municipalities in the latest year of study. In addition, national age patterns reflected shifts in mortality to older age groups-the median age group among decedents ranged from 30 to 45years of age at the municipality level in Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico in 2017.ConclusionsOur subnational estimates of HIV mortality revealed significant spatial variation and diverging local trends in HIV mortality over time and by age. This analysis provides a framework for incorporating data and uncertainty from incomplete VR systems and can help guide more geographically precise public health intervention to support HIV-related care and reduce HIV-related deaths.Peer reviewe

Tracking development assistance for health and for COVID-19 : a review of development assistance, government, out-of-pocket, and other private spending on health for 204 countries and territories, 1990-2050

Background The rapid spread of COVID-19 renewed the focus on how health systems across the globe are financed, especially during public health emergencies. Development assistance is an important source of health financing in many low-income countries, yet little is known about how much of this funding was disbursed for COVID-19. We aimed to put development assistance for health for COVID-19 in the context of broader trends in global health financing, and to estimate total health spending from 1995 to 2050 and development assistance for COVID-19 in 2020. Methods We estimated domestic health spending and development assistance for health to generate total health-sector spending estimates for 204 countries and territories. We leveraged data from the WHO Global Health Expenditure Database to produce estimates of domestic health spending. To generate estimates for development assistance for health, we relied on project-level disbursement data from the major international development agencies' online databases and annual financial statements and reports for information on income sources. To adjust our estimates for 2020 to include disbursements related to COVID-19, we extracted project data on commitments and disbursements from a broader set of databases (because not all of the data sources used to estimate the historical series extend to 2020), including the UN Office of Humanitarian Assistance Financial Tracking Service and the International Aid Transparency Initiative. We reported all the historic and future spending estimates in inflation-adjusted 2020 US$, 2020 US$ per capita, purchasing-power parity-adjusted US$per capita, and as a proportion of gross domestic product. We used various models to generate future health spending to 2050. Findings In 2019, health spending globally reached$8. 8 trillion (95% uncertainty interval [UI] 8.7-8.8) or $1132 (1119-1143) per person. Spending on health varied within and across income groups and geographical regions. Of this total,$40.4 billion (0.5%, 95% UI 0.5-0.5) was development assistance for health provided to low-income and middle-income countries, which made up 24.6% (UI 24.0-25.1) of total spending in low-income countries. We estimate that $54.8 billion in development assistance for health was disbursed in 2020. Of this,$13.7 billion was targeted toward the COVID-19 health response. $12.3 billion was newly committed and$1.4 billion was repurposed from existing health projects. $3.1 billion (22.4$2.4 billion (17.9%) was for supply chain and logistics. Only $714.4 million (7.7$1519 (1448-1591) per person in 2050, although spending across countries is expected to remain varied. Interpretation Global health spending is expected to continue to grow, but remain unequally distributed between countries. We estimate that development organisations substantially increased the amount of development assistance for health provided in 2020. Continued efforts are needed to raise sufficient resources to mitigate the pandemic for the most vulnerable, and to help curtail the pandemic for all. Copyright (C) 2021 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.Peer reviewe

International nosocomial infection control consortium (INICC) report, data summary of 36 countries, for 2004-2009

The results of a surveillance study conducted by the International Nosocomial Infection Control Consortium (INICC) from January 2004 through December 2009 in 422 intensive care units (ICUs) of 36 countries in Latin America, Asia, Africa, and Europe are reported. During the 6-year study period, using Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN; formerly the National Nosocomial Infection Surveillance system [NNIS]) definitions for device-associated health care-associated infections, we gathered prospective data from 313,008 patients hospitalized in the consortium's ICUs for an aggregate of 2,194,897 ICU bed-days. Despite the fact that the use of devices in the developing countries' ICUs was remarkably similar to that reported in US ICUs in the CDC's NHSN, rates of device-associated nosocomial infection were significantly higher in the ICUs of the INICC hospitals; the pooled rate of central line-associated bloodstream infection in the INICC ICUs of 6.8 per 1,000 central line-days was more than 3-fold higher than the 2.0 per 1,000 central line-days reported in comparable US ICUs. The overall rate of ventilator-associated pneumonia also was far higher (15.8 vs 3.3 per 1,000 ventilator-days), as was the rate of catheter-associated urinary tract infection (6.3 vs. 3.3 per 1,000 catheter-days). Notably, the frequencies of resistance of Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates to imipenem (47.2% vs 23.0%), Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates to ceftazidime (76.3% vs 27.1%), Escherichia coli isolates to ceftazidime (66.7% vs 8.1%), Staphylococcus aureus isolates to methicillin (84.4% vs 56.8%), were also higher in the consortium's ICUs, and the crude unadjusted excess mortalities of device-related infections ranged from 7.3% (for catheter-associated urinary tract infection) to 15.2% (for ventilator-associated pneumonia). Copyright © 2012 by the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved

Mapping subnational HIV mortality in six Latin American countries with incomplete vital registration systems

Background: Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) remains a public health priority in Latin America. While the burden of HIV is historically concentrated in urban areas and high-risk groups, subnational estimates that cover multiple countries and years are missing. This paucity is partially due to incomplete vital registration (VR) systems and statistical challenges related to estimating mortality rates in areas with low numbers of HIV deaths. In this analysis, we address this gap and provide novel estimates of the HIV mortality rate and the number of HIV deaths by age group, sex, and municipality in Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, and Mexico. Methods: We performed an ecological study using VR data ranging from 2000 to 2017, dependent on individual country data availability. We modeled HIV mortality using a Bayesian spatially explicit mixed-effects regression model that incorporates prior information on VR completeness. We calibrated our results to the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017. Results: All countries displayed over a 40-fold difference in HIV mortality between municipalities with the highest and lowest age-standardized HIV mortality rate in the last year of study for men, and over a 20-fold difference for women. Despite decreases in national HIV mortality in all countries�apart from Ecuador�across the period of study, we found broad variation in relative changes in HIV mortality at the municipality level and increasing relative inequality over time in all countries. In all six countries included in this analysis, 50 or more HIV deaths were concentrated in fewer than 10 of municipalities in the latest year of study. In addition, national age patterns reflected shifts in mortality to older age groups�the median age group among decedents ranged from 30 to 45 years of age at the municipality level in Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico in 2017. Conclusions: Our subnational estimates of HIV mortality revealed significant spatial variation and diverging local trends in HIV mortality over time and by age. This analysis provides a framework for incorporating data and uncertainty from incomplete VR systems and can help guide more geographically precise public health intervention to support HIV-related care and reduce HIV-related deaths

Formulation Development and Evaluation of Oro-Dispersible Tablets Based On Solid Dispersion of Cimetidine

The most common problem about conventional dosage form is dysphagia (difficulty in swallowing). So, we design a new approach in a conventional dosage form which is oral dispersible tablet. Oral dispersible tablet is also called as mouth dissolving tablet, fast dissolving tablet, or oral disintegrating tablet. Oral dispersible tablet has advantage as it quickly disintegrates into saliva when it is put on the tongue. The faster the drug disintegrates or is dissolved, the faster the absorption and the quicker the therapeutic effect of drug will be attained. The objective of present study was to formulate directly compressible orodispersible tablets of cimetidine with improved solubility and bioavailability by using solid dispersion technique. Cimetidine is a histamine H2-receptor antagonist. It is widely prescribed in active duodenal ulcers, gastric ulcers, Zollinger-Ellison syndrome, gastroesophageal reflux disease and erosive esophagitis. Solid dispersion of cimetidine was prepared by anti-solvent addition method and physical mixture using novel polymer eudragit E 100. Saturation solubility of drug was determined in physical mixture and solid dispersion formulation. The prepared solid dispersion formulations were further characterized by drug contents, HPLC, and encapsulation efficiency. Orodispersible tablets of cimetidine were prepared by direct compression method and blend was evaluated for the pre-compression parameters such as bulk density, compressibility, angle of repose etc. The tablets were prepared by using selected solid dispersion formulation and excipients with sodium starch glycolate as a superdisintegrant and evaluated for hardness, friability, weight variation, content uniformity, wetting time, dispersion time and in-vitro drug release. Orodispersible tablet shows wetting time 27±1 seconds and in-vitro drug release 93.20±3.181%, which is better as compare to tablet containing pure drug (82.36±1.986) within 20min. Thus formulation of orodispersible tablet of cimetidine solid dispersion showed increased solubility and bioavailability with patient complies and convenience. Keywords: Cimetidine, Orodispersible tablets, Solid dispersion, Anti solvent addition method, Superdisintegran

Not Available

Not AvailableInvestigations on crab biodiversity are hampered by insufficient taxonomic knowledge in spite of its abundance in total marine catch. Hence, in the present research three important Portunid crab species namely, Charybdis feriatus, Portunus pelagicus and P. sanguinolentus along Ratnagiri coast were clearly differentiated on the basis of Cyt b based DNA barcoding having 14.57, 2.29 and 21.14 divergences respectively. The phylogenetic comparison among various species showed that C. feriatus and P. pelagicus were evolutionary close (0.003) as compared to the distances between P. pelagicus and P. sanguinolentus (0.391) and P. sanguinolentus and C. feriatus (0.386). All studied species were further close to decapods Callinectessapidus (0.36), Scylla serrata (0.39) and S. olivacea (0.37). The findings based on Cyt b based DNA barcoding set apart each species and from other decapod crustaceans, which have important implications for precise taxonomy, stock identification and geographic variation.Not Availabl

Public Perceptions of Reuse of Faecal Sludge Co-Compost in Bhubaneswar, India

Although faecal sludge (FS) co-compost contains vital nutrients, there are several barriers limiting adoption and reuse of FS co-compost in agriculture. This study in Bhubaneswar found that health risk and bad odour were the two topmost negative perceptions of FS co-compost reuse. The main factors influencing farmers’ negative perceptions of FS co-compost were bad odour and fear of infection, whereas socio-cultural/religious beliefs and bad odour were the key factors influencing the negative perceptions of urban households practising kitchen gardening (UHPKG). Fear of infection and bad odour were the key factors influencing fertiliser retailers’ negative perceptions, while inadequate information, unavailability, and lack of government policy on FS co-compost reuse were the key factors influencing Farmer Producer Organisations’ negative perceptions. The majority of farmers (95%) and UHPKG (72%) were unwilling to consume food crops grown with FS co-compost, mainly because of feelings of disgust, fear of infection, and religious and socio-cultural beliefs.BT/Environmental Biotechnolog