A hospital-based study of severe anemia in adults in Eastern India

Background: Anemia remains a crucial health problem in developing countries. Cardiac compromise and fatal complications usually occur at Hb of <5g/dL. The aim of the study was to determine possible etiologic and clinical profile in adult patients with very severe anemia (Hb of <5g/dL).Methods: A prospective observational study was conducted in a teaching hospital of Odisha over a period of 12months. A total of 70 patients of both men and non-pregnant women admitted to the medicine wards were included after exclusion. Detailed history, clinical examination and investigation findings were recorded. Independent ‘t’ test, Wilcoxon rank sum test, Pearson chi-square test and Fisher exact test were used as applicable, to compare the variables.Results: The mean Hb (g/dL) was 3.73 ±0.85 and the mean age of the study group was 53.34±17.75years. No significant difference was observed in the severity of anemia between the female (mean Hb of 3.56±0.93) and male patients (mean Hb of 3.87±0.77) (p=0.130). The most frequent etiology found was absolute iron deficiency (44.3%, n=31) and mostly (41.9%) found in the age group of ≥65years (p<0.001). Congestive cardiac failure was found in 20% (n=14) of patients and majority of patients (64.2%, n=9) were males (p<0.001).Conclusions: Iron deficiency is the principal cause of very severe anemia in adults rather than malignancy or anemia of chronic disease and only about one fourth of patients develop heart failure even with very severe anemia

INFLUENCE OF FERTILIZER AND WEED MANAGEMENT ON YIELD AND NUTRIENT UPTAKE IN ONION (Allium cepa L.)

A field experiment was conducted to find out appropriate nutrient and weed management practices for yield maximization and nutrient uptake of onion during rabi 2018-19 at the experimental plot of Regional Research and Technology Transfer Station, Keonjhar of Odisha. The experiment was laid out in Split plot technique with fifteen treatments viz., Main plot belongs to Nutrient management (N) with treatments i.e. N1- Soil test based fertilizer recommendation (STBFR), N2 - 50% STBFR + FYM (Based on N requirement), N3-STBFR + Sulphur), while Subplots belongs to weed management (W) with treatments viz., W1- Pendimethalin (PE) @ 0.8 Lha-1, W2- Oxyflurofen (PE) @ 0.2 Lha-1, W3- Pendimethalin (PE) @ 0.8 Lha-1+ one hand weeding at 25 days after transplanting(DAT), W4-Oxyflurofen (PE) @ 0.2 Lha-1+ one hand weeding at 25 days after transplanting(DAT), W5- one hand weeding at 25 days after transplanting (DAT). The highest onion bulb yield of 16.72 t ha-1 was obtained under the treatment applied with Pendimethalin (PE) @ 0.8 Lha-1 along with one hand weeding at 25 DAT, followed by Oxyfluorfen 0.2Lha-1pre-emergence + 1 hand weeding at 25 DAT (15. 88 t ha-1). The treatment combination of N2W3 (96.83, 16.80, 57.73 kg ha-1) was recorded the highest N, P, and K uptake by crops respectively while N3W3 (51.39 kg ha-1) was recorded as the highest S uptake by a crop over the rest of the treatments

Traditional uses, phytochemistry, pharmacology and toxicology of garlic (Allium sativum), a storehouse of diverse phytochemicals: A review of research from the last decade focusing on health and nutritional implications

Allium sativum L. (Garlic) is a fragrant herb and tuber-derived spice that is one of the most sought-after botanicals, used as a culinary and ethnomedicine for a variety of diseases around the world. An array of pharmacological attributes such as antioxidant, hypoglycemic, anti-inflammatory, antihyperlipidemic, anticancer, antimicrobial, and hepatoprotective activities of this species have been established by previous studies. A. sativum houses many sulfur-containing phytochemical compounds such as allicin, diallyl disulfide (DADS), vinyldithiins, ajoenes (E-ajoene, Z-ajoene), diallyl trisulfide (DATS), micronutrient selenium (Se) etc. Organosulfur compounds are correlated with modulations in its antioxidant properties. The garlic compounds have also been recorded as promising immune-boosters or act as potent immunostimulants. A. sativum helps to treat cardiovascular ailments, neoplastic growth, rheumatism, diabetes, intestinal worms, flatulence, colic, dysentery, liver diseases, facial paralysis, tuberculosis, bronchitis, high blood pressure, and several other diseases. The present review aims to comprehensively enumerate the ethnobotanical and pharmacological aspects of A. sativum with notes on its phytochemistry, ethnopharmacology, toxicological aspects, and clinical studies from the retrieved literature from the last decade with notes on recent breakthroughs and bottlenecks. Future directions related to garlic research is also discussed.This work was supported by the UHK (Project No. VT2019- 2021), APOGEO (Cooperation Program INTERREG-MAC 2014–2020), with European Funds for Regional Development- FEDER, the “Agencia Canaria de Investigación, Innovación y Sociedad de la Información (ACIISI) Gobierno de Canarias” (Project No. ProID2020010134), and Caja Canarias (Project No. 2019SP43).Peer reviewe

Neurodevelopmental disorders in children aged 2-9 years: Population-based burden estimates across five regions in India.

BACKGROUND: Neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) compromise the development and attainment of full social and economic potential at individual, family, community, and country levels. Paucity of data on NDDs slows down policy and programmatic action in most developing countries despite perceived high burden. METHODS AND FINDINGS: We assessed 3,964 children (with almost equal number of boys and girls distributed in 2-<6 and 6-9 year age categories) identified from five geographically diverse populations in India using cluster sampling technique (probability proportionate to population size). These were from the North-Central, i.e., Palwal (N = 998; all rural, 16.4% non-Hindu, 25.3% from scheduled caste/tribe [SC-ST] [these are considered underserved communities who are eligible for affirmative action]); North, i.e., Kangra (N = 997; 91.6% rural, 3.7% non-Hindu, 25.3% SC-ST); East, i.e., Dhenkanal (N = 981; 89.8% rural, 1.2% non-Hindu, 38.0% SC-ST); South, i.e., Hyderabad (N = 495; all urban, 25.7% non-Hindu, 27.3% SC-ST) and West, i.e., North Goa (N = 493; 68.0% rural, 11.4% non-Hindu, 18.5% SC-ST). All children were assessed for vision impairment (VI), epilepsy (Epi), neuromotor impairments including cerebral palsy (NMI-CP), hearing impairment (HI), speech and language disorders, autism spectrum disorders (ASDs), and intellectual disability (ID). Furthermore, 6-9-year-old children were also assessed for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and learning disorders (LDs). We standardized sample characteristics as per Census of India 2011 to arrive at district level and all-sites-pooled estimates. Site-specific prevalence of any of seven NDDs in 2-<6 year olds ranged from 2.9% (95% CI 1.6-5.5) to 18.7% (95% CI 14.7-23.6), and for any of nine NDDs in the 6-9-year-old children, from 6.5% (95% CI 4.6-9.1) to 18.5% (95% CI 15.3-22.3). Two or more NDDs were present in 0.4% (95% CI 0.1-1.7) to 4.3% (95% CI 2.2-8.2) in the younger age category and 0.7% (95% CI 0.2-2.0) to 5.3% (95% CI 3.3-8.2) in the older age category. All-site-pooled estimates for NDDs were 9.2% (95% CI 7.5-11.2) and 13.6% (95% CI 11.3-16.2) in children of 2-<6 and 6-9 year age categories, respectively, without significant difference according to gender, rural/urban residence, or religion; almost one-fifth of these children had more than one NDD. The pooled estimates for prevalence increased by up to three percentage points when these were adjusted for national rates of stunting or low birth weight (LBW). HI, ID, speech and language disorders, Epi, and LDs were the common NDDs across sites. Upon risk modelling, noninstitutional delivery, history of perinatal asphyxia, neonatal illness, postnatal neurological/brain infections, stunting, LBW/prematurity, and older age category (6-9 year) were significantly associated with NDDs. The study sample was underrepresentative of stunting and LBW and had a 15.6% refusal. These factors could be contributing to underestimation of the true NDD burden in our population. CONCLUSIONS: The study identifies NDDs in children aged 2-9 years as a significant public health burden for India. HI was higher than and ASD prevalence comparable to the published global literature. Most risk factors of NDDs were modifiable and amenable to public health interventions

Facile Approach to Develop Anti-Corrosive Superhydrophobic Aluminium with High Mechanical, Chemical and Thermal Durability

Durable, superhydrophobic and self-cleaning aluminium surfaces with high corrosion resistance are desirable in many industrial applications. In this study, a facile approach is used to produce aluminium surfaces with superhydrophobicity with a low tilt angle by creating desired roughness structure by immersing in NaOH solution followed by lowering the surface energy by immersing in hexadecyltrimethoxysilane solution. The coated samples show water contact angle of 164 ± 7° and tilt angle of 5 ± 1°. Droplet dynamics of the coated surfaces was investigated. Surfaces exhibited self-cleaning properties. In addition, mechanical, chemical and thermal stability tests were performed. Electrochemical tests of coated surfaces demonstrated anti-corrosion properties with low corrosion current density and high corrosion potential

Robust and Durable Superhydrophobic Steel and Copper Meshes for Separation of Oil-Water Emulsions

Global growing challenges of water pollution due to oil spills bring a desperate need of efficient solution for oil-water separation. The development of superhydrophobic metallic mesh brings hope to resolving this serious problem. A strategy is proposed to fabricate superhydrophobic metallic meshes, those can separate oil-water mixtures and oil-water emulsions efficiently. After surface modification with perfluorodecyltriethoxysilane (PFDTS) and TiO2 nanoparticles, obtained steel and coper meshes exhibit excellent superhydrophobicity. Additionally, superhydrophobic metallic meshes are found to be stable in harsh environmental conditions such as corrosive chemical, high temperature and mechanical disturbances. Bouncing, pinning, and splashing of water droplets on coated mesh are observed at different impact conditions. Coated meshes show the excellent self-cleaning property. Prepared superhydrophobic meshes are found to be exceptionally efficient on oil-water emulsion separation. In addition, the coated meshes show high separation efficiency for a series of oil-water mixtures. Moreover, the coated meshes still maintain high separation efficiency after multiple separation cycles for the oil-water mixture. This work can be helpful for developing a facile, inexpensive and environmentally friendly superhydrophobic metallic mesh in worldwide application of oil—water separation

Fabrication of Superoleophobic Cotton Fabric for Multi-Purpose Applications

Superoleophobicity is of interest for practical applications such as liquid repellency, self-cleaning, stain resistance, anti-bacterial properties and oil-water separation. In this work, the superoleophobic coating on cotton fabric was applied by simple immersion in TiO2 nanoparticles, perfluorodecyl-triethoxysilane and tertraethylorthosilicate solution. Its anti-wetting properties, surface morphology and functionality were characterized. The coated cotton fabric shows superoleophobicity with oil (surface tension more than 27 mN m-1) contact angle of 152° and tilt angle of 6°. Furthermore, the superoleophobic cotton fabric was demonstrated to exhibit self-cleaning, stain resistance, mechanical durability, chemical stability, thermal stability, anti-bacterial properties and oil-water separation capabilities. This article is part of the theme issue \u27Bioinspired materials and surfaces for green science and technology (part 2)\u27