Trends and Management of Air Pollution: Assessment of Major Cities in India

Air pollution has emerged as one of the leading risk factors contributing to national burden of disease in India. This study examined the trends of air pollution in India over the period from 1995-2008. The analysis revealed a wide variation in the time series of annual measurements of SOx, NOx, SPM and RSPM at various cities in India. The mean of Annual average concentration of  sulphur di oxide was found to be higher for Bangalore and Kolkata(19.5, 19.7µg/m3).The oxides of nitrogen were found to be higher for  Kolkata and Delhi(48.80µg/m3,40.86µg/m3 ).The levels of RSPM was found to be significantly higher for Ahmadabad ,Delhi and Kolkata(165,163,126µg/m3).Similarly the levels of SPM  was found to be higher for Delhi and Kolkata(385, 301µg/m3). The other important point in SO2 levels is decreasing at all cities, which is largely attributed to sulphur reduction in diesel. The variation in annual average concentrations during different years may be due to multiple factors including meteorology, neighbourhood activity pattern or levels during monitoring period etc. Keywords: national burden, RSPM, air quality standard, sulphur reduction.average concentration

An Exploratory Study on the Use of Social Media for Social Marketing

Social media refers to the online media that allows multi-directional conversations and real-time interactions such as social networking sites (SNS), blogs, discussions forums, content sharing, social bookmarks, wikis etc. Over the last decade, social media marketing has become a key focus area for both marketing practitioners and researchers. This paper focuses on the impact of social media in the domain of social marketing. For this study, we consider previous academic research in the area of social media and social marketing published in eminent research journals and management. After creating a summative background of social media and social marketing, we propose a model to understand the role of social media as a catalyst in the process of social change. Finally, we present two cases where social media played a significant role as a social catalyst

EFFECT OF MISHREYA ARKA (HYDRO DISTILLATE OF DILL) ON RAT ILEUM, AGAINST ACETYL CHOLINE INDUCED CONTRACTIONS

Isolated tissue bath study is a classical and best way to evaluate the effect of any medication on smooth muscles. It allows the tissue to function as a system, it is close to how drug would act in body as whole. Mishreya (Anethum sowa Kurz) or dill is an important herb used as home remedy for common abdominal problems and described in Ayurveda as well as in other systems of medicines also like Unani and modern medicine. Mishreya Arka or hydro-distillate of dill is indicated in indigestion, stomach ache, uterine pain etc. To evaluate the effect of Mishreya Arka on smooth muscles of intestine, the present study has been planned. Mishreya Arka was prepared by following the Ayurvedic formulary of India. Isolated rat ileum was set on organ bath assembly with maintained temperature (37°C), nutrition and oxygenated. Contraction was induced by Acetylcholine. Then response of Mishreya Arka was observed at the dose of 0.5ml, 1ml, 1.5ml and 2ml/ 40ml Tyrode solution. Relaxations or spasmolytic effect was noticed on all the doses of Mishreya Arka against the contraction induced by Acetylcholine. The effective concentration for 50% effect (EC50) of Mishreya Arka was 0.0315 ml/ml. It can be concluded that Mishreya Arka has spasmolytic effect on rat ileum

Drug utilization pattern and physician adherence to treatment guidelines in inpatients with urinary tract infection

Background: Mainstay of management in urinary tract infection (UTI) is antibiotics and it is seen in recent years that antibiotic resistance is increasing. However, very few treatment guidelines exist for UTI and often treating physicians may not adhere to these guidelines. Aims: Current study was undertaken to analyze antimicrobial prescription pattern and utilization, and check for physician adherence to treatment guidelines in UTI.Methods: This retrospective, record-based study was carried out in a tertiary care hospital in inpatients with UTI. Tabulated data was analyzed using WHO core drug prescribing indicators and Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical/ Defined Daily Dose (ATC/DDD) index. Adherence to treatment guidelines was assessed using Indian Standard Treatment Guidelines for Urology. Data documented in SPSS software was analyzed using χ2-test and multinomial logistic regression.Results: Among 364 patients included in study, equal incidence of UTI was seen in both sexes (male to female ratio 1.02:1). Prolonged hospital stay (>7 days) was associated with elderly age group (OR=3.09, CI95% 1.83-5.21), complicated UTI (OR=8.11, CI95% 4.62-14.24), ESBL-producing E. coli (OR=3.07, CI95% 1.58-5.94), non-adherence to treatment guidelines (OR=8.65, CI95% 4.19-17.84), and presence of comorbid conditions like diabetes mellitus (OR=4.89, CI95% 3.05-7.82), benign prostatic hypertrophy (OR=2.76, CI95% 1.36-5.59) and utero-vaginal prolapse (OR=8.33, CI95% 2.28-30.45). Average number of drugs prescribed per encounter was 1.59, while drugs prescribed by generic name and from essential drug list were 98.1% and 70.69% respectively. Majority of prescriptions (87.6%) adhered to standard treatment guidelines. Prescribed daily dose (PDD) and defined daily dose (DDD) were equal for most antibiotics prescribed.Conclusions: Majority of prescriptions were adhering to treatment guidelines but the need to prescribe using generic name and from essential drug list should be emphasised upon

COMPARATIVE STUDY OF ALCOHOLIC AND AQUEOUS EXTRACTS OF SYZYGIUM CUMINI ON CARBON TETRACHLORIDE-INDUCED HEPATOTOXICITY IN WISTAR RATS

ABSTRACTObjective: In this investigation, the comparative hepatoprotective effect of aqueous and ethanolic extracts of Syzygium cumini (AESC and EESC,respectively) was studied on carbon tetrachloride (CCl4)-induced hepatic injury in rats. These findings were also compared with the standardhepatoprotective drug silymarin.Methods: Hepatotoxicity was induced by a single dose of CCl4 to healthy Wistar rats. Standard drug (100 mg/kg) and test extracts (500 mg/kg forboth) were given orally for 10 days; the effects were observed using different biochemical and histological methods.Results: In most of the studied parameters test extracts exhibited significant hepatoprotection, these were comparative to standard. Histologicalanalysis also revealed the protective nature of both the extracts.Conclusion: These results suggest that the SC extracts can ameliorate CCl4 induced hepatic injury. However, its ethanolic extract was found to berelatively less effective than aqueous extract. Indicated, some hydrophilic active compound of SC might work here.Keywords: Hepatoprotective, Carbon tetrachloride, Silymarin, Syzygium cumini, Alkaline phosphatase, Total bilirubin

WebGIS based Decision Support System for Disseminating NOWCAST based Alerts: OpenGIS Approach

WebGIS is a kind of distributed information system which holds the potential to make geographic information available worldwide It is cost effective and provides an easy way of disseminating geospatial data This paper outlines the design and development of a WebGIS based Decision Support System DSS for disseminating Nowcasting of Extreme Orographic Rain events generated at regular intervals from NETRA model Dissemination of events include heavy rainfall alerts all over India and cloudburst alerts over Western Himalayan Region every half an hour In India natural calamities like flood and cloudburst results in lot of causalities If any early Heavy rain alerts dissemination system is developed then it will protect several lives and mitigate damage of property or infrastructure in affected areas The development of such WebGIS based decision support system originates from this concept Objective of this paper is to describe the near real time WebGIS based Decision support System developed for disseminating rainfall alerts to the general public and administrators about heavy rain all over India and cloud burst over Western Himalayan region using interactive maps Users can also get non spatial information like number of affected cities and their names district level population census 2011 forecast date and time Radius of influence etc This WebGIS based decision support system can help government agencies NGO s and general public in planning to save lives properties and can be used for decision making to reduce economic and material loss from the resulting floods This paper also illustrates use of open source technologies for developing such WebGIS -DSS at low cost The principal development component includes GeoServer Java PostgreSQL OpenLayers and GeoExt The framework of the system can be divided into two categories 1 Dissemination system which includes visualization of centroid and precise locations of Heavy Rain all over India and cl