NIAS Strategic Forecast 02 / India and the Middle East Crises: Trends, threats and projections

The current situation in West Asia should be a matter of very deep concern for India because the policies of the GCC countries and Iran have enormous potential for impacting positively or negatively on India’s future well-being and security. India’s relations with GCC countries are today India’s best external relationship globally. Over the last four decades the GCC countries have become India’s preeminent oil and gas supplier, leading trade partner, 8,000,000 Indians live and work there and send annual remittances of $40 billion back home. The largest numbers of Indian passport holders abroad are in Saudi Arabia, a little over three million, and in the UAE, a little under three million, more than Pakistanis in both countries despite these two countries having a long standing particularly special relationship with Pakistan. Significantly, the number of Indians living and working in GCC countries has continued to rise notwithstanding tightening of their policies to curtail the influx of expatriate manpower and despite the ongoing conflict in West Asia from February-March 2011 onwards. GCC countries are predominantly Muslim countries where internal security is now an even greater concern than earlier and therefore these facts represent an enormous vote of confidence in Indians and India. Furthermore, it is particularly noteworthy and gratifying that Saudi Arabia and the UAE have provided excellent and expanding anti-terrorism cooperation - the best that India has received from any country in the world - by repatriating people India wanted for terrorist activity within India despite intensive efforts by Pakistan to prevent such repatriations. It also merits mention that India is amongst very few countries in the world that simultaneously has excellent relations with Iran, Israel and Saudi Arabia. Despite India having a Muslim community of 180 million, the third largest in the world, it is the world’s least affected by dangerous radicalism emanating from West Asia. The GCC countries and Iran are the only part of West Asia where some kind of a bloody conflict is not raging; as long as there are no internal conflicts within GCC countries it is unlikely that there will be any major substantive adverse impact for India beyond India having had to bring home about 40000 nationals cumulatively from Libya, Yemen and Iraq; 39 Indians remain in captivity of the Islamic State in Iraq. Many in India’s strategic community advocate India exercising a ‘leadership role’ in West Asia, without suggesting any specific actions to be taken. Such an approach would almost certainly be completely counter-productive and potentially even disastrous. The indisputable reality is that anything that India says or does will not even marginally influence the actions of any individual player or outcomes on the ground in the context of the highly complicated politico-military situation in West Asia. India does not have the institutional capacity and lacks national political consensus for the huge strategic leap that would be needed for such a role. Policy should always be consciously tempered by a mature recognition of the limits of one’s capabilities and influence at any given point of time. India has not faced any criticism from any of the countries of the region for its current policies in the context of the ongoing conflicts in the region. Given the proliferation of violent, irresponsible and irrational non state actors, India’s becoming intrusively involved could provoke them to attack the very large Indian community in the region; India has to be very careful about potential blowbacks. Reticence or so called policy passivity in a particularly unpredictably changing and volatile environment in war zones does not reflect an absence of decision making, an abdication of ‘leadership’, or of being a ‘freeloader’. It is simply being sensibly prudent. India’s non-intrusive, non-interventionist, non-judgmental, non-prescriptive, not taking sides in regional disputes, low key, low profile pragmatic approach based on mutual benefit and advantage has yielded very satisfying results and there is absolutely no need whatsoever to change the broad contours of this policy. This is the best way to preserve India’s excellent relationships and protect its interests in the Gulf region in particular and West Asia in genera

CASE REPORT: Chorangiophagus Parasiticus: A Rare Case Report

Malformations are common in twin pregency compared to singleton pregnancy. One such rare anomaly is Chorangiophagus parasiticus also known as twin to twin transfusion which is an asymmetric abnormality of monozygotic twins, where asymmetric twin survive by parasitisizing normal twin. It’s a rare condition with an incidence of 1 in 35.000 deliveries. We report such a case with complete autopsy findings

The risk associated with iron deficiency anemia for simple febrile seizures in children: A case–control study

Background: Studies have postulated iron deficiency state to be a risk factor for febrile convulsions as it changes the threshold of neurons excitation which may lower the threshold for seizures in children. However, many other studies have reported a protective role for febrile convulsions by increasing the neuronal threshold. Objective: The objective of the study was to evaluate the association of iron deficiency anemia (IDA) as a risk factor for the occurrence of simple febrile seizures (FS) in children. Material and Methods: A case-control study was conducted in a tertiary teaching hospital from September 2015 to February 2017. A total of 240 cases with fever and simple FS were enrolled according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Another 100 cases of children without seizure but with short duration of fever were enrolled as controls. Blood samples were then taken for assessing the hematological indices of these patients. The results were statistically analyzed. Results: Incidence of IDA was found to be more in children with simple FS than controls but was not statistically significant (p=0.35). Furthermore, no association was found with other hematological indices with FS occurrence. Conclusion: We could not find any association of IDA as a risk factor for a simple FS

A study of potential drug-drug interactions among critically ill patients at a tertiary care hospital

Background: Drug interaction is said to occur when presence of one drug affects the activity of another drug when both are administered together. This action can be synergistic or antagonistic. The objective was to study the prevalence of potential drug-drug interactions (pDDI), their severity, clinical significance, and their association with patient characteristics in intensive care unit (ICU) at a tertiary care hospital.Methods: A prospective, observational study was conducted in ICU patients for a period of 3 months to assess the pDDI using Medscape drug checker software and Lexi-Comp, inc. version: 2.7.5. drug interact android mobile application.Results: A total of 183 subjects were included in the study with a prevalence of 76.50% pDDI occurring in patients, majority of which were suffering from cardiovascular conditions (26.23%). In those with hospital stay more than five days, 92% had pDDI. There were 229 potentially interacting drug pairs with corticosteroids, aspirin, beta blockers, and diuretics being commonly involved in pDDI. A total of 2336 interactions were observed with an occurrence rate of 12.76 DDI per patient. Severity was moderate in 64%, interaction mechanism was pharmacodynamic in 72.49% and risk rating category was C in 77.1% of the study population.Conclusions: The present study showed high concomitant administration of potentially interacting drugs. The prevalence confirmed the association of age and polypharmacy. Vigilant prescribing approach is needed to prevent hazardous outcomes of pDDI

Compliance Level of Textual Therapeutic Usage of Kshirakakoli Containing Formulations with a Serial Ethnomedicinal Survey and Modern System of Medicine

Fritillaria roylei (Kshirakakoli) is a primal plant used in ancient times. But nowadays, due to biotic and abiotic stress the plant has entered in the list of threatened medicinal plant. In ancient texts effective uses of formulations containing kshirakakoli are well mentioned but the information is not written in simple language due to which the therapeutic value of the plant is not well understood by scientific fraternity. So, there is a major need to perform ethno medicinal survey for the formulations containing kshirakakoli and compare their therapeutic uses as mentioned in text with the modern system of medicine. In this study, a field survey was performed in 4 states i.e., Uttar Pradesh, Uttrakhand, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh where the conversation regarding usage of this plant or formulation was done with 24 local medical practitioners, 18 shopkeepers and 4 traditional healers. The information thus obtained were recorded and then compared. Results showed that the usage of kshirakakoli containing formulations was highest in Himachal Pradesh and Uttrakhand. Only few clinical studies have been done on these formulations. The effectiveness of the formulations against remedies alluded by the trado-medical practitioners claimed was found accurate as per ayurvedic textual literature. Hence, the ethno medicinal survey provides a precise guidance to scientists for future research on these kshirakakoli containing formulations that are useful in plethora of disorders

Seizmičnost, b-vrijednost i razdioba dubina žarišta potresa u otočnom području Andaman-Nicobar

An analysis of seismic data of the Andaman-Nicobar Island region that lies between 4°-16°N and 90°-98°E has been made for the 1900 – 1982 period. A seismicity map has been prepared for the aforesaid period. The major features of the seismicity of the region are well seen from this map. It shows a well-defined pattern almost parallel to the structural trend of the basin. The b values as determined from the earthquake frequency-magnitude relationship of Gutenberg and Richter are found to be in good agreement with the result obtained in northeast India. The depth-distance cross-sections, measured eastwards from 92°E at the latitudes 7°N, 9°N, 11°N and 13°N, have been made to understand the foci distribution and the nature of seismic zones and their geometry beneath the Island arc system. These seismic cross-sections reveal some interesting results on the oblique subduction of the Indian plate beneath the Andaman sea plate and rifting of the central Andaman through

Development and Optimization of Polymeric Self-Emulsifying Nanocapsules for Localized Drug Delivery: Design of Experiment Approach

The purpose of the present study was to formulate polymeric self-emulsifying curcumin nanocapsules with high encapsulation efficiency, good emulsification ability, and optimal globule size for localized targeting in the colon. Formulations were prepared using modified quasiemulsion solvent diffusion method. Concentration of formulation variables, namely, 1 (oil), 2 (polymeric emulsifier), and 3 (adsorbent), was optimized by design of experiments using Box-Behnken design, for its impact on mean globule size ( 1 ) and encapsulation efficiency ( 2 ) of the formulation. Polymeric nanocapsules with an average diameter of 100-180 nm and an encapsulation efficiency of 64.85 ± 0.12% were obtained. In vitro studies revealed that formulations released the drug after 5 h lag time corresponding to the time to reach the colonic region. Pronounced localized action was inferred from the plasma concentration profile ( max 200 ng/mL) that depicts limited systemic absorption. Roentgenography study confirms the localized presence of carrier (0-2 h in upper GIT; 2-4 h in small intestine; and 4-24 h in the lower intestine). Optimized formulation showed significantly higher cytotoxicity (IC 50 value 20.32 M) in HT 29 colonic cancer cell line. The present study demonstrates systematic development of polymeric self-emulsifying nanocapsule formulation of curcumin for localized targeting in colon

Parameter optimization in milling of glass fiber reinforced plastic (GFRP) using DOE-Taguchi method

Introduction: Optimization of machining parameters is essential for improving expected outcome of any machining operation. Case Description: The aim of this work is to find out optimum values of machining parameters to achieve minimal surface roughness during milling operation of GFRP. Discussion and Evaluation: In this machining operation speed, depth of cut and feed rate are considered as parameters affecting surface roughness and Design of Experiment (DOE)-Taguchi method tool is used to plan experiments and analyse results. Conclusion: Analysis of experimental results presents optimum values of these three parameters to achieve minimal surface roughness with speed as a major contributing factor. Speed—200 rpm, depth of cut—1.2 mm and feed—40 mm/min are an optimal combination of machining parameter to produce minimal surface roughness during milling of GFRP

Rubisco-bis-phosphate oxygenase (RuBP)- A potential housekeeping gene for qPCR assays in tea

The present experiment is an effort to find a stable reference gene in Camellia sinensis and Camellia assamica under different biotic and abiotic stresses. This study evaluate the variation in gene expression across tea leaf tissues in nine experiments. The suitability of 18S rRNA, 26S rRNA, rubiscobis- phosphatase oxygenase (RuBP) and Camellia tubulin (CaT) as reference genes were validated by geNorm and BestKeeper programs. The finding reveals 18S rRNA and RuBP to be the most stably expressed housekeeping genes, the latter being the first report of its kind in tea. The finding paves the way for their application in accurate quantification of trait specific gene expression and other genomic studies in tea.Keywords: Camellia sinensis, Camellia assamica, qPCR, BestKeeper, geNorm, housekeeping gen