Hitherto unreported Agaricus species of Central India

Karwa A, Rai MK. 2010. Spesies Agaricus dari India Tengah yang belum dilaporkan sampai sekarang. Nusantara Bioscience 2: 141-145. Kawasan hutan Melghat di India Tengah disurvei untuk mengetahui keberadaan jamur yang berkhasiat obat dan kuliner selama tahun 2005-2008. Dari total 153 spesies jamur, sepuluh spesies Agaricus ditemukan di berbagai lokasi yang berbeda. Dari jumlah tersebut, tujuh spesies yaitu Agaricus bitorquis, A. subrufescens, A. augustus, A. placomyces, A. essettei, A. basioanolosus dan Agaricus sp. nov. (spesies baru) baru pertama kali dilaporkan keberadaannya di kawasan ini. Jamur komersial Agaricus bisporus tidak memiliki karakter perkembangbiakan yang baik karena secara alamiah bersifat bispora. Kerabat liar dari jamur ini dapat digunakan sebagai sumber manipulasi genetik pada strain yang ada dan juga untuk mengembangkan strain baru dengan karakter yang lebih baik. Kata kunci: Agaricus, India Tengah, komersial, dimakan, Melghat

Using the information value method in a geographic information system and remote sensing for malaria mapping: a case study from India

Background This paper explores the scope of malaria-susceptibility modelling to predict malaria occurrence in an area.Objective An attempt has been made in Varanasi district, India, to evaluate the status of malaria disease and to develop a model by which malaria-prone zones could be predicted using five classes of relative malaria susceptibility, i.e. very low, low, moderate, high and very high categories.The information value (Info Val) method was used to assess malaria occurrence and various time-were used as the independent variables. A geographical information system (GIS) is employed to investigate associations between such variables and distribution of different mosquitoes responsible for malaria transmission. Accurate prediction of risk depends on a number of variables, such as land use, NDVI, climatic factors, population, distance to health centres, ponds, streams and roads etc., all of which have an influence on malaria transmission or reporting. Climatic factors, particularly rainfall, temperature and relative humidity, are known to have a major influence on the biology of mosquitoes. To produce a malaria-susceptibility map using this method, weightings are calculated for various classes in each group. The groups are then superimposed to prepare a Malaria Susceptibility Index (MSI) map.Results We found that 3.87% of the malaria cases were found in areas with a low malaria-susceptibility level predicted from the model, whereas 39.86% and 26.29% of malaria cases were found in predicted high and very high susceptibility level areas, respectively.Conclusions Malaria susceptibility modelled using a GIS may have a role in predicting the risks of malaria and enable public health interventions to be better targeted

A wastewater bacterium 'Bacillus' sp. KUJM2 acts as an agent for remediation of potentially toxic elements and promoter of plant ('Lens culinaris') growth

This study investigated the role of an allochthonous Gram-positive wastewater bacterium (Bacillus sp. KUJM2) selected through rigorous screening, for the removal of potentially toxic elements (PTEs; As, Cd, Cu, Ni) and promotion of plant growth under PTE-stress conditions. The dried biomass of the bacterial strain removed PTEs (5 mg L−1) from water by 90.17–94.75 and 60.4–81.41%, whereas live cells removed 87.15–91.69 and 57.5–78.8%, respectively, under single-PTE and co-contaminated conditions. When subjected to a single PTE, the bacterial production of indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) reached the maxima with Cu (67.66%) and Ni (64.33%), but Cd showed an inhibitory effect beyond 5 mg L−1 level. The multiple-PTE treatment induced IAA production only up to 5 mg L−1 beyond which inhibition ensued. Enhanced germination rate, germination index and seed production of lentil plant (Lens culinaris) under the bacterial inoculation indicated the plant growth promotion potential of the microbial strain. Lentil plants, as a result of bacterial inoculation, responded with higher shoot length (7.1–27.61%), shoot dry weight (18.22–36.3%) and seed production (19.23–29.17%) under PTE-stress conditions. The PTE uptake in lentil shoots decreased by 67.02–79.85% and 65.94–78.08%, respectively, under single- and multiple-PTE contaminated conditions. Similarly, PTE uptake was reduced in seeds up to 72.82–86.62% and 68.68–85.94%, respectively. The bacteria-mediated inhibition of PTE translocation in lentil plant was confirmed from the translocation factor of the respective PTEs. Thus, the selected bacterium (Bacillus sp. KUJM2) offered considerable potential as a PTE remediating agent, plant growth promoter and regulator of PTE translocation curtailing environmental and human health risks

Utilization of health care services in Varanasi District, India – A geographical analysis

People are not just spread unevenly across the Earth’s surface; they also differ along many demographic and socioeconomic lines that affect their accessibility to health care services with far reaching policy and planning implications. The main objective of this paper is to estimate the utilization pattern of health care services in the Varanasi district of India. Primary data pertaining to the utilization of health care facilities were collected from 800 respondents of 16 selected villages of rural Varanasi and analyzed with the SPSS statistical software. Varanasi City proper was not considered for this purpose because the presence and functioning of many private and government hospitals here meant that people were able to avail themselves of a fairly good range of healthcare facilities in comparison to people residing in the rural areas. Results of the findings revealed a high level of awareness among the local public of both the existence of the health care centres (78% ) and the type of health services they provided (75% for vaccination; 70% mother-child health services; 62% family planning; and 52% general treatment). Despite such high levels of awareness only 25% of them were satisfied with all the health care services provided by the centres (PHC), 60% were only partially satisfied and the remaining 14% were not satisfied at all. These findings thus underline the geographical disparities between urban and rural Varanasi

Review: Biotechnological strategies for conservation of rare and endangered medicinal plants

Rai MK (2010) Review: Biotechnological strategies for conservation of rare and endangered medicinal plants. Biodiversitas 11: 157-166. The use of medicinal plants is as old as human civilization. The biotechnological tools play a crucial role in conservation of rare and endangered medicinal plants. The rapid depletion of plant genetic diversity has made essential to develop new in situ and ex situ conservation methods. Advances in biotechnology offer new methods for conservation of rare and endangered medicinal plants. The present review is focused on biotechnological tools like in vitro culture, micropropagation, mycorrhization, genetic transformation and development of DNA banks. These are imperative and important alternatives for the conservation of rare and endangered medicinal plants

Review: Colchicine, current advances and future prospects

Ade R, Rai MK. 2010. Colchicine, current advances and future prospects. Nusantara Bioscience 2: 90-96. Colchicine is a toxic natural compound and secondary metabolite commonly produced by plants like Colchicum autumnale and Gloriosa superba. It is originally used to treat rheumatic complaints, especially gout, and still finds its uses for these purposes today despite dosing issues concerning its toxicity. It is also prescribed for its cathartic and emetic effects. Initially oral colchicine has not been approved as a drug by U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). But now FDA approved colchicine as a drug for some disorders. Colchicine's present medicinal use is in the treatment of gout and familial mediterranean fever. It is also being investigated for its use as an anticancer drug. In neurons, axoplasmic transport is disrupted by colchicine. Due to all the pharmacological application of colchicine, there is urgent need to enhance the properties and increase the production of colchicine with the help of in vitro technologies. The present review is mainly focused on the chemistry of colchicine, its medicinal uses and toxicity

Geoinformatics in health facility analysis

xix, 231 p. : ill. col. ; 23 cm

Archives of Agronomy and Soil Science

Not AvailableSoil organic carbon (SOC) is a key component for sustaining crop pro- duction. A field experiment was conducted during 20042018 to assess the changes in soil carbon fractions under different fertilization practices in grass-legumes mixture. The result indicates that application of farm- yard manure (FYM) at 80 Mg ha1 has increased SOC concentration leading to carbon sequestration rate of 4.2 Mg ha1 year1. Further, it has increased the proportion of labile carbon in the total SOC and have accumulated 126, 60, 83 and 95% higher very labile, labile, less labile and non-labile C stock than that of control plot, respectively, in top 30 cm soil layer. Inorganic fertilization and FYM 20 Mg ha1 influenced SOC con- centration, SOC stock and C sequestration rate similarly. The highest carbon management index (264) was found in the treatment receiving FYM 80 Mg ha1 and it was positively correlated with SOC (r = 0.84 * * ). The sensitivity index of the SOC varied from 26 to 152% and the differences were greatest in FYM treatments. The result indicates that grass-legumes mixture build-up the SOC in long term and the addition of FYM further increases it