Monitoring of organochlorine pesticide residues from bovine milk in Patna (Bihar), INDIA

 The milk has high nutritional properties and is widely used as baby food in different forms. The present study was undertaken to evaluate pesticide contamination in bovine milk samples from Patna district of Bihar. Out of 24 samples analyzed during 2012, 18 samples (75 %) were found to be contaminated with HCH residues varying from ND-0.178 mg kg-1 (mean value 0.135 mg kg-1). Seven samples (29.2 %) had HCH exceeding MRL of 0.01 mg kg-1. DDT residues were detected in 20 samples (83.3 %) and ranged from ND-0.132 mg kg-1 (mean value 0.122 mg kg-1). Five samples (20.8 %) contained DDT residues above the prescribed MRL of 0.05 mg kg-1. Out of 24 samples of bovine milk analyzed during 2013, 16 samples (66.7 %) were found to be contaminated with HCH and 15 samples (62.5%) with DDT residues. The residues of HCH varied from ND-0.154 mg kg-1 (mean value 0.053 mg kg-1) and DDT from ND-0.120 mg kg-1 (mean value 0.122 mg kg-1). The residues of HCH and DDT were above MRL in four samples (16.7 %) and three samples (12.5 %) respectively. The management practices of animals and legal punishment on using banned pesticides are the alternatives to reduce pesticide contamination incidences in milk

Analysis of menstrual hygiene practices in Nepal: the role of WASH in Schools programme for girls education

In Nepal, 48% of women and girls are between the ages of 15-44. Though menstruation is a natural process, it remains a taboo and is stigmatized, and in worst case scenarios promotes negative cultural practices impacting the lives, health, and safety of women and girls. UNICEF conducted a research to explore the socio-cultural practices related to menstruation and management and consequences pertaining to girls’ education. The research indicated that despite availability of WASH facilities in schools, girls often struggled to manage their menstruation hygiene confidently and effectively. Many girls experienced shame, fear, confusion, teasing, lack of accurate information and advice. 15 to 22% of girls missed schools due to menstruation. The research found a significant impact of WASH Programme with 53% of girls in Bajura district using sanitary pads. The study recommends multidimensional interventions to address the issues identified. This paper presents aimed at sharing the results from this study

Everglades Ridge, Slough, and Tree Island Mosaics: Year 2 Annual Report

Status and history of the Ridge-Slough Mosaic The Florida Everglades is a large subtropical wetland with diverse hydrologic, edaphic, and vegetative characteristics. Historically, a significant portion of this system was a slow moving river originating from the Kissimmee River floodplain, flowing into the vast but shallow Lake Okeechobee, and draining south-southwest over extensive peatlands into Florida Bay (McVoy 2011). Human-induced alterations to the hydrologic regime, including reduction, stabilization, and impoundment of water flow through diversion and compartmentalization of water via canals and levees have degraded pre-drainage vegetation patterns and microtopographic structure (Davis and Ogden 1994, Ogden 2005, McVoy 2011). The Everglades peatland emerged 5,000 years ago with the stabilization of sea level at approximately current elevations (Loveless 1959, Gleason and Stone 1994). This, combined with subtropical rainfalls, allowed a vast mass of water to slowly flow over a limestone bedrock platform 160 km long and 50 km wide at a near uniform descent totaling about 6 m, ultimately reaching Florida Bay (Stephens 1956, Gleason and Stone 1994, McVoy 2011). Vegetation quickly colonized the area, and peat, in the absence of adequate respiration, accumulated on the limestone bedrock to a depth of 3-3.7 m (Gleason and Stone 1994, McVoy et al. 2011). The “River of Grass” referenced by Douglas (1947) alludes to the dually intertwined processes of the historic riverine nature of the Everglades and the vast sawgrass (Cladium jamaicense) communities that have dominated the landscape for about the last 1,000 years (Bernhardt and Willard 2009)

Dynamics of a gravity car race with application to the Pinewood Derby

This paper investigates the underlying physics of a gravity car race. This work seeks to provide a sound theoretical basis to elucidate the design considerations that maximize performance while simultaneously dispelling false assertions that may arise from incomplete analyses. The governing equations are derived and solved analytically to predict race times; trend analyses are then performed along with a sensitivity analysis to ascertain the most important factors that influence performance. The inferences from a conservative energy balance are then compared with the predictions from the full set of differential equations, which include the dissipative terms associated with air resistance and friction

Dilogarithm Identities in Conformal Field Theory and Group Homology

Recently, Rogers' dilogarithm identities have attracted much attention in the setting of conformal field theory as well as lattice model calculations. One of the connecting threads is an identity of Richmond-Szekeres that appeared in the computation of central charges in conformal field theory. We show that the Richmond-Szekeres identity and its extension by Kirillov-Reshetikhin can be interpreted as a lift of a generator of the third integral homology of a finite cyclic subgroup sitting inside the projective special linear group of all $2 \times 2$ real matrices viewed as a {\it discrete} group. This connection allows us to clarify a few of the assertions and conjectures stated in the work of Nahm-Recknagel-Terhoven concerning the role of algebraic $K$-theory and Thurston's program on hyperbolic 3-manifolds. Specifically, it is not related to hyperbolic 3-manifolds as suggested but is more appropriately related to the group manifold of the universal covering group of the projective special linear group of all $2 \times 2$ real matrices viewed as a topological group. This also resolves the weaker version of the conjecture as formulated by Kirillov. We end with the summary of a number of open conjectures on the mathematical side.Comment: 20 pages, 2 figures not include

The Monitoring and Assessment Plan (MAP) Greater Everglades Wetlands Module- Landscape Pattern- Ridge, Slough, and Tree Island Mosaics: Year 1 Annual Report

In the current managed Everglades system, the pre-drainage, patterned mosaic of sawgrass ridges, sloughs and tree islands has been substantially altered or reduced largely as a result of human alterations to historic ecological and hydrological processes that sustained landscape patterns. The pre-compartmentalization ridge and slough landscape was a mosaic of sloughs, elongated sawgrass ridges (50-200m wide), and tree islands. The ridges and sloughs and tree islands were elongated in the direction of the water flow, with roughly equal area of ridge and slough. Over the past decades, the ridge-slough topographic relief and spatial patterning have degraded in many areas of the Everglades. Nutrient enriched areas have become dominated by Typha with little topographic relief; areas of reduced flow have lost the elongated ridge-slough topography; and ponded areas with excessively long hydroperiods have experienced a decline in ridge prevalence and shape, and in the number of tree islands (Sklar et al. 2004, Ogden 2005)

Mitochondrial uncoupler DNP induces coexistence of dual-state hyper-energy metabolism leading to tumor growth advantage in human glioma xenografts

IntroductionCancer bioenergetics is an essential hallmark of neoplastic transformation. Warburg postulated that mitochondrial OXPHOS is impaired in cancer cells, leading to aerobic glycolysis as the primary metabolic pathway. However, mitochondrial function is altered but not entirely compromised in most malignancies, and that mitochondrial uncoupling is known to increase the carcinogenic potential and modifies treatment response by altering metabolic reprogramming. Our earlier study showed that transient DNP exposure increases glycolysis in human glioma cells (BMG-1). The current study investigated the persistent effect of DNP on the energy metabolism of BMG-1 cells and its influence on tumor progression in glioma xenografts.MethodsBMG-1 cells were treated with 2,4-dinitrophenol (DNP) in-vitro, to establish the OXPHOS-modified (OPM-BMG) cells. Further cellular metabolic characterization was carried out in both in-vitro cellular model and in-vivo tumor xenografts to dissect the role of metabolic adaptation in these cells and compared them with their parental phenotype. Results and DiscussionChronic exposure to DNP in BMG-1 cells resulted in dual-state hyper-energy metabolism with elevated glycolysis++ and OXPHOS++ compared to parental BMG-1 cells with low glycolysis+ and OXPHOS+. Tumor xenograft of OPM-BMG cells showed relatively increased tumor-forming potential and accelerated tumor growth in nude mice. Moreover, compared to BMG-1, OPM-BMG tumor-derived cells also showed enhanced migration and invasion potential. Although mitochondrial uncouplers are proposed as a valuable anti-cancer strategy; however, our findings reveal that prolonged exposure to uncouplers provides tumor growth advantage over the existing glioma phenotype that may lead to poor clinical outcomes

A cross-cultural comparison of the link between modernization, anthropomorphism and attitude to wildlife

Anthropogenic pressure has significantly increased in the last decades, often enhancing conflicts at the humanndash;wildlife interface. Therefore, understanding peoplesrsquo; value orientations, attitudes and behavioural intentions towards wildlife is a crucial endeavour to reduce the occurrence of conflicts between humans and wildlife. Previous research in the USA has shown a consistent link between modernization and increased anthropomorphism (i.e., the tendency to attribute human mental or physical characteristics to other entities), leading to positive changes in value orientations, attitudes, and behavioural intentions towards wildlife. In this paper, we aimed to address whether this link is also present in other cultures, by testing participants (N = 741) in five different countries (Brazil, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, and Spain). Our study shows that while the positive link between anthropomorphism, positive attitudes and behavioural intentions towards wildlife is universal, the link between modernization and anthropomorphism is culturally mediated. In some countries (Indonesia, Malaysia, Spain), modernization increased anthropomorphism, while in others modernization predicted no differences (Brazil) or even a decrease in anthropomorphism (Mexico), ultimately deteriorating individualsrsquo; attitude and behavioural intentions towards wildlife. These results call for caution when generalizing findings from western industrialized countries to inform conservation policies worldwide