Farmer Interest Groups: Paving Its Path Towards Profitability

The current study entailed to ascertain the role that Farmers' Interest Groups played in knowledge transfer as well as in increasing agricultural production, productivity, and in turn leading to profitability for the farm sector in the Boudh district of Odisha. For the impact assessment, six FIGs from a range of villages in the Boudh district, including Baghiapada, Saleising, and Palijhar, were randomly selected. The results of this study depicted that member of Farmer Interest Groups adopted scientific agricultural practices and goatery technologies at a greater mean rate (80.63 MPS and 79.63 MPS, respectively) than non-members (59.12 MPS and 60.12 MPS). The aggregate differences in the adoption of crop and goatery farming technology between FIG members and non-members were calculated to be 21.5 and 19.5 MPS, respectively. It was also found that the crop and goatery production under FIG produced a higher yield than the agricultural practices now employed by farmers. The members became more active in meetings and the adoption of new and scientific farm and goatery technology after learning about the benefits of the FIGs. In addition to enhancing agriculture and animal production, this will also benefit the socioeconomic conditions of the farming community

Farmer Interest Groups: Paving Its Path Towards Profitability

The current study entailed to ascertain the role that Farmers' Interest Groups played in knowledge transfer as well as in increasing agricultural production, productivity, and in turn leading to profitability for the farm sector in the Boudh district of Odisha. For the impact assessment, six FIGs from a range of villages in the Boudh district, including Baghiapada, Saleising, and Palijhar, were randomly selected. The results of this study depicted that member of Farmer Interest Groups adopted scientific agricultural practices and goatery technologies at a greater mean rate (80.63 MPS and 79.63 MPS, respectively) than non-members (59.12 MPS and 60.12 MPS). The aggregate differences in the adoption of crop and goatery farming technology between FIG members and non-members were calculated to be 21.5 and 19.5 MPS, respectively. It was also found that the crop and goatery production under FIG produced a higher yield than the agricultural practices now employed by farmers.  The members became more active in meetings and the adoption of new and scientific farm and goatery technology after learning about the benefits of the FIGs. In addition to enhancing agriculture and animal production, this will also benefit the socioeconomic conditions of the farming community

The burden and correlates of multiple cardiometabolic risk factors in a semi-urban population of Nepal:a community-based cross-sectional study

This study assessed the burden and correlates of three cardiometabolic risk factors, (hypertension, diabetes, and overweight/obesity), and their possible clustering patterns in a semi-urban population of Nepal. Data were obtained from a community-based management of non-communicable disease in Nepal (COBIN) Wave II study, which included 2,310 adults aged 25-64 years in a semi-urban area of Pokhara Metropolitan City of Nepal, using the World Health Organization-STEPS questionnaire. Unadjusted and adjusted binary logistic regression models were used to study the correlates of the individual risk factors and their clustering. The prevalence of hypertension, diabetes, and overweight/obesity was 34.5%, 11.7%, and 52.9%, respectively. In total, 68.2% of the participants had at least one risk factor and many participants had two risks in combination: 6.8% for 'hypertension and diabetes', 7.4% for 'diabetes and overweight/obesity' and 21.4% for 'hypertension and overweight/obesity'. In total, 4.7% had all three risk factors. Janajati ethnicity (1.4-2.1 times), male gender (1.5 times) and family history of diabetes (1.4-3.4 times) were associated with presence of individual risk factors. Similarly, Janajati ethnicity (aOR: 4.31, 95% CI: 2.53-7.32), current smoking (aOR: 4.81, 95% CI: 2.27-10.21), and family history of diabetes (aOR: 4.60, 95% CI: 2.67-7.91) were associated with presence of all three risk factors. Our study found a high prevalence of all single and combined cardiometabolic risk factors in Nepal. It underlines the need to manage risk factors in aggregate and plan prevention activities targeting multiple risk factors

Global burden and strength of evidence for 88 risk factors in 204 countries and 811 subnational locations, 1990–2021: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021

Background: Understanding the health consequences associated with exposure to risk factors is necessary to inform public health policy and practice. To systematically quantify the contributions of risk factor exposures to specific health outcomes, the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2021 aims to provide comprehensive estimates of exposure levels, relative health risks, and attributable burden of disease for 88 risk factors in 204 countries and territories and 811 subnational locations, from 1990 to 2021. Methods: The GBD 2021 risk factor analysis used data from 54 561 total distinct sources to produce epidemiological estimates for 88 risk factors and their associated health outcomes for a total of 631 risk–outcome pairs. Pairs were included on the basis of data-driven determination of a risk–outcome association. Age-sex-location-year-specific estimates were generated at global, regional, and national levels. Our approach followed the comparative risk assessment framework predicated on a causal web of hierarchically organised, potentially combinative, modifiable risks. Relative risks (RRs) of a given outcome occurring as a function of risk factor exposure were estimated separately for each risk–outcome pair, and summary exposure values (SEVs), representing risk-weighted exposure prevalence, and theoretical minimum risk exposure levels (TMRELs) were estimated for each risk factor. These estimates were used to calculate the population attributable fraction (PAF; ie, the proportional change in health risk that would occur if exposure to a risk factor were reduced to the TMREL). The product of PAFs and disease burden associated with a given outcome, measured in disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs), yielded measures of attributable burden (ie, the proportion of total disease burden attributable to a particular risk factor or combination of risk factors). Adjustments for mediation were applied to account for relationships involving risk factors that act indirectly on outcomes via intermediate risks. Attributable burden estimates were stratified by Socio-demographic Index (SDI) quintile and presented as counts, age-standardised rates, and rankings. To complement estimates of RR and attributable burden, newly developed burden of proof risk function (BPRF) methods were applied to yield supplementary, conservative interpretations of risk–outcome associations based on the consistency of underlying evidence, accounting for unexplained heterogeneity between input data from different studies. Estimates reported represent the mean value across 500 draws from the estimate's distribution, with 95% uncertainty intervals (UIs) calculated as the 2·5th and 97·5th percentile values across the draws. Findings: Among the specific risk factors analysed for this study, particulate matter air pollution was the leading contributor to the global disease burden in 2021, contributing 8·0% (95% UI 6·7–9·4) of total DALYs, followed by high systolic blood pressure (SBP; 7·8% [6·4–9·2]), smoking (5·7% [4·7–6·8]), low birthweight and short gestation (5·6% [4·8–6·3]), and high fasting plasma glucose (FPG; 5·4% [4·8–6·0]). For younger demographics (ie, those aged 0–4 years and 5–14 years), risks such as low birthweight and short gestation and unsafe water, sanitation, and handwashing (WaSH) were among the leading risk factors, while for older age groups, metabolic risks such as high SBP, high body-mass index (BMI), high FPG, and high LDL cholesterol had a greater impact. From 2000 to 2021, there was an observable shift in global health challenges, marked by a decline in the number of all-age DALYs broadly attributable to behavioural risks (decrease of 20·7% [13·9–27·7]) and environmental and occupational risks (decrease of 22·0% [15·5–28·8]), coupled with a 49·4% (42·3–56·9) increase in DALYs attributable to metabolic risks, all reflecting ageing populations and changing lifestyles on a global scale. Age-standardised global DALY rates attributable to high BMI and high FPG rose considerably (15·7% [9·9–21·7] for high BMI and 7·9% [3·3–12·9] for high FPG) over this period, with exposure to these risks increasing annually at rates of 1·8% (1·6–1·9) for high BMI and 1·3% (1·1–1·5) for high FPG. By contrast, the global risk-attributable burden and exposure to many other risk factors declined, notably for risks such as child growth failure and unsafe water source, with age-standardised attributable DALYs decreasing by 71·5% (64·4–78·8) for child growth failure and 66·3% (60·2–72·0) for unsafe water source. We separated risk factors into three groups according to trajectory over time: those with a decreasing attributable burden, due largely to declining risk exposure (eg, diet high in trans-fat and household air pollution) but also to proportionally smaller child and youth populations (eg, child and maternal malnutrition); those for which the burden increased moderately in spite of declining risk exposure, due largely to population ageing (eg, smoking); and those for which the burden increased considerably due to both increasing risk exposure and population ageing (eg, ambient particulate matter air pollution, high BMI, high FPG, and high SBP). Interpretation: Substantial progress has been made in reducing the global disease burden attributable to a range of risk factors, particularly those related to maternal and child health, WaSH, and household air pollution. Maintaining efforts to minimise the impact of these risk factors, especially in low SDI locations, is necessary to sustain progress. Successes in moderating the smoking-related burden by reducing risk exposure highlight the need to advance policies that reduce exposure to other leading risk factors such as ambient particulate matter air pollution and high SBP. Troubling increases in high FPG, high BMI, and other risk factors related to obesity and metabolic syndrome indicate an urgent need to identify and implement interventions

Turning Hazardous Diesel Soot into High Performance Carbon/MnO2 Supercapacitive Energy Storage Material

Diesel exhaust is one of the main sources of atmospheric soot and fine particles. These particles are known to cause human cancer, heart and lung damage, and mental disfunctioning and are responsible for millions of deaths every year. While research and development to reduce diesel particulate emission is ongoing, there is no policy to dispose of or recycle the produced soot. An alternative would be to harness the diesel soot to produce carbon and its nanocomposites. This can be used for value-added products like materials used in energy storage electrodes in supercapacitor devices or Li-ion batteries. In the outlined article, a one-step treatment of diesel soot, collected from the exhaust tube of a diesel engine is demonstrated to synthesize core shell alpha-MnO2 center dot 0.3H(2)O/carbon nanocomposite. The obtained carbon nanocomposite exhibits concurrent high conductivity and meso/microporosity in conjunction with hydrophilicity leading to a high performance electrode by storing 425 F/g (@.5 mV/s) and 185.76 F/g (@0.8 A/g) in a supercapacitor cell with 97.5% capacitance retention over 5000 GCD cycles. Furthermore, the nanocomposite obtained from diesel soot demonstrated efficient supercapacitive performance by maintaining high energy density 25.5 Wh/kg at 555.2 W/kg (power density)

Edge enriched cobalt ferrite nanorods for symmetric/asymmetric supercapacitive charge storage

For maximum and efficient charge storage and delivery, porous nanorods with active sites can offer a unique set of advantages. Herein, hierarchically porous (0.2-200 nm) cobalt ferrite (CoFe2O4) nanorods are hydrothermally prepared by tuning oleic acid concentration (100-500 mu L with subsequent annealing (400 degrees C). These hierarchical pores (with edges and cavities) raise the specific surface area of CoFe2O4 nanorods to 154 m(2)g(-1). In addition, 80% of CoFe2O4 sites become accessible boosting the capacitance to a high value (460.5 Fg(-1) at 1.0 Ag-1), while retaining excellent cyclic stability (95.8% for 5000 cycles). Maximum pseudocapacitive contribution from these electrochemically active sites is ensured by rapid diffusion of electrolytic OH- ions (5.8 x 10(-8)cm(2)s(-1)). Moreover, on assembling these nanorods as a positive electrode in asymmetric configuration (graphene nanoribbons as negative electrode), the cell exhibits an outstanding energy density (33.5 Wh kg(-1) at 727.8 W kg(-1)), almost double of its symmetric (16.5 Wh kg(-1) at 288 W kg(-1)) counterpart

Nickel-shell assisted growth of nickel-cobalt hydroxide nanofibres and their symmetric/asymmetric supercapacitive characteristics

Using polyurethane foam as template, we introduce a facile method to synthesize cost-effective macroporous nickel-shell (NS) which plays vital role in the synthesis of alpha-Ni-Co(OH)(2). Nanofibrous morphology of alpha-Ni-Co(OH)(2) is obtained by the aid of polyethylene glycol (structure directing reagent) and no precipitating agent is used. Our results indicate that no metal (Ni/Co) hydroxides can be synthesized if NS is isolated from the reaction vessel which ensures the role of NS in formation of alpha-Ni-Co(OH)(2) nanofibres. Prepared alpha-Ni-Co(OH)(2)@NS electrode shows a typical enhanced interlayer spacing (similar to 8.0 angstrom) which results in significantly high specific capacitance (2962 F g(-1) at 5 mV s(-1)). Furthermore, the symmetric supercapacitor cell (alpha-Ni-Co(OH)(2)@NS parallel to alpha-Ni-Co(OH)(2)@NS) exhibits a maximum specific capacitance of 668 F g(-1) with coulombic efficiency similar to 98% over 3000 charge/discharge cycles at high current density (4 A g(-1)). The energy and power density obtained for alpha-Ni-Co(OH)(2)@NS parallel to alpha-NiCo(OH)(2)@NS cell are 18.2 Wh kg(-1) at 242 W kg(-1) and 1980 W kg(-1) at 5.5 Wh kg(-1) respectively. Moreover, in asymmetric supercapacitor using lacey reduced graphene oxide nanoribbon (LRGONR) as a negative electrode, a remarkable increase in energy (107 Wh kg(-1) at 1610 W kg(-1)) and power density (7 kW kg(-1) at 42 Wh kg(-1)) is observed

Study on Drug Resistant Pulmonary Tuberculosis using Line Probe Assay in a Tertiary Care Hospital from Eastern India

Introduction: Pulmonary Tuberculosis (PTB) is a major public health issue globally, all age groups in community are at high risk to become get infected. Multidrug Resistant (MDR) and extensively drug resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis is increasing day by day, which is an alarm for policy maker to improve the policy. Success of any Tuberculosis (TB) control programs depends on availability of accurate data regarding TB. Aim: To know the resistant profile of Mycobacterium tuberculosis causing PTB by using Line Probe Assay (LPA). Materials and Methods: It is a laboratory based observational study conducted in Department of Microbiology, IGIMS and TBDC, Bihar, India between January 2016 to December 2016. Sputum specimens were collected from all clinically suspected cases of TB. All specimens were subjected to smear microscopy, conventional culture and LPA. Standard operating protocols were followed for all the techniques. Results: Totally 1772 sputum samples were collected during study period, positive for smear microscopy, conventional culture and LPA were 54%, 66% and 72% respectively. All smear positive isolates were positive by LPA, whereas only 840 by conventional culture. Among the smear negative isolates 309 were positive by LPA and 336 by conventional culture method. In LPA negative isolates 73 cases were positive by conventional culture methods. Out of 1272 LPA positive isolates 249 patient were diagnosed as PTB due to resistant strains. Among resistant isolates 60.64% were identified as both rifampicin and isoniazid resistant, whereas 21.68% and 17.67% was rifampicin and isoniazid mono resistant respectively. Conclusion: We found that LPA can be a good diagnostic tool for early diagnosis of mono-resistant as well as MDR TB. To control the transmission of TB in community, control programs should be followed and early diagnosis of drug resistant TB must be ensured

Turning Hazardous Diesel Soot into High Performance Carbon/MnO₂ Supercapacitive Energy Storage Material

Diesel exhaust is one of the main sources of atmospheric soot and fine particles. These particles are known to cause human cancer, heart and lung damage, and mental disfunctioning and are responsible for millions of deaths every year. While research and development to reduce diesel particulate emission is ongoing, there is no policy to dispose of or recycle the produced soot. An alternative would be to harness the diesel soot to produce carbon and its nanocomposites. This can be used for value-added products like materials used in energy storage electrodes in supercapacitor devices or Li-ion batteries. In the outlined article, a one-step treatment of diesel soot, collected from the exhaust tube of a diesel engine is demonstrated to synthesize core–shell α-MnO₂·0.3H₂O/carbon nanocomposite. The obtained carbon nanocomposite exhibits concurrent high conductivity and meso/microporosity in conjunction with hydrophilicity leading to a high performance electrode by storing 425 F/g (@5 mV/s) and 185.76 F/g (@0.8 A/g) in a supercapacitor cell with 97.5% capacitance retention over 5000 GCD cycles. Furthermore, the nanocomposite obtained from diesel soot demonstrated efficient supercapacitive performance by maintaining high energy density 25.5 Wh/kg at 555.2 W/kg (power density)