An Exploration of the Emergence of Coordinated Domestic Supply Chain for Exotic Vegetables in India: A Case Study of Baby corn

This study based upon primary data had been carried out to explore the domestic supply chain for baby corn as well as to examine the investment and sales pattern of baby corn of the market agents. The study indicated that the entry of corporate sector in the non-traditional agricultural sector has paved a way for a small segment of the market agents at each level along the commodity specific entire supply chain for an upward mobility. Production thereby of the sales of baby corn was relatively concentrated during the months of October and November. Its average monthly sales from the primary wholesalers were about 14% higher to the secondary wholesalers in Punjab when compared to West Bengal. Its average monthly sales to the organized sector compared to the traditional retail sector stood 7.51% higher in the primary wholesale market whereas 33.01% higher in the secondary wholesale market of Ludhiana city. However, traditional i.e. unorganized retail sector like the sales of seasonal fruits and vegetables also predominates in the sales of this exotic vegetable item. It seems that the sales of this exotic item from the organized retail sector might have been concentrated from particular stores/localities.JEL classification: Q11, Q1

Role of Mifepristone in treatment of uterine fibroid: an experience from tertiary care centre in South India

Background: Uterine fibroid are the most common benign tumour of the uterus and is seen in 20% of women in their reproductive age group. The aim of the study was to evaluate effect of Mifepristone on uterine fibroid with reference to reduction in size of fibroid and change in symptomatic profile.Methods: It is a hospital based interventional study conducted at KIMS Hubli hospital. 98 patients with symptomatic fibroid uterus were given 50mg of Mifepristone on alternate day for 3 months.Results: Mifepristone treatment significantly reduced mean PBAC score from baseline score of 212.61 to 20.39 at the end of 3rd month of therapy. Mean fibroid volume also reduced significantly from baseline value of 237.95cm3 to 30.45cm3 after 3 months of treatment. At the end of therapy hemoglobin was raised from 9.57g/dl at baseline to 10.42g/dl after 3 months of treatment. No major side effects were observed, and 7% patients had hysterectomy.Conclusions: Mifepristone is very useful option in perimenopausal women with symptomatic fibroid. It reduces fibroid size and its symptoms without any major side effects. However, future long term RCTs are needed to assess the safety and efficacy of Mifepristone

The Eccentric-distance Sum of Some Graphs

Let $G = (V,E)$ be a simple connected graph. Theeccentric-distance sum of $G$ is defined as\xi^{ds}(G) =\ds\sum_{\{u,v\}\subseteq V(G)} [e(u)+e(v)] d(u,v), where $e(u)$ %\dsis the eccentricity of the vertex $u$ in $G$ and $d(u,v)$ is thedistance between $u$ and $v$. In this paper, we establish formulaeto calculate the eccentric-distance sum for some graphs, namelywheel, star, broom, lollipop, double star, friendship, multi-stargraph and the join of $P_{n-2}$ and $P_2$

Soret and Dufour Effect on Unsteady Free Convective MHD Heat and Mass Transfer Flow with Variable Permeability, Heat Source and Thermal Diffusion

The present paper deals with the study of unsteady two dimensional free convection with heat and mass transfer flow of an incompressible, viscous and electrically conducting fluid past a continuously moving infinite vertical plate under the influence of transverse magnetic field with variable permeability, heat source  and thermal diffusion.  The permeability of the porous medium fluctuates in time about a constant mean.  The free stream velocity of the fluid vibrates about a mean constant value and the surface absorbs the fluid with constant velocity.  Introducing the usual similarity transformations, the unsteady equations of momentum, energy and concentration are made similar.  To obtain local similarity solutions of the problem, the equations are solved analytically after applying perturbation technique. The velocity field, temperature field, concentration field and skin friction co-efficient are shown graphically to observe the effects of various parameters entering in the problem.  Finally a thorough discussion of different results are presented.

Drug utilization study of atopic dermatitis in a tertiary care hospital

Background: Atopic dermatitis is a chronic relapsing hypersensitivity manifestation of the skin which has shown an increasing prevalence world over. It ranges from a mild atopic itch to an unrelenting chronic eczema. Its prevalence which is on the rise necessitates a rational approach to the diagnosis and treatment.Methods: A prospective study was conducted for a period of six months and 245 prescriptions were collected after obtaining requisite permission and a proper informed consent. The data was analysed by using WHO drug use indicators.Results: Of the 245 prescriptions analysed, there was a female predominance with a female to male ratio of 1.63:1. Age group presenting more with the symptoms of atopic dermatitis was 20 to 29 years. Antihistamines were the most commonly prescribed medication (221), Emollients were present in 193 prescriptions. Topical steroids were received by 150 patients of whom 51 were prescribed as an FDC. Tacrolimus was given to 17 patients.Conclusions: It is essential to rule out helminthic infestation, scabies and seborrhoea dermatitis to make a proper diagnosis of atopic dermatitis. More generic prescribing wherever possible might help to reduce the cost per patient

A principal components approach to parent-to-newborn body composition associations in South India

Background: size at birth is influenced by environmental factors, like maternal nutrition and parity, and by genes. Birth weight is a composite measure, encompassing bone, fat and lean mass. These may have different determinants. The main purpose of this paper was to use anthropometry and principal components analysis (PCA) to describe maternal and newborn body composition, and associations between them, in an Indian population. We also compared maternal and paternal measurements (body mass index (BMI) and height) as predictors of newborn body composition.Methods: weight, height, head and mid-arm circumferences, skinfold thicknesses and external pelvic diameters were measured at 30 ± 2 weeks gestation in 571 pregnant women attending the antenatal clinic of the Holdsworth Memorial Hospital, Mysore, India. Paternal height and weight were also measured. At birth, detailed neonatal anthropometry was performed. Unrotated and varimax rotated PCA was applied to the maternal and neonatal measurements.Results: rotated PCA reduced maternal measurements to 4 independent components (fat, pelvis, height and muscle) and neonatal measurements to 3 components (trunk+head, fat, and leg length). An SD increase in maternal fat was associated with a 0.16 SD increase (?) in neonatal fat (p < 0.001, adjusted for gestation, maternal parity, newborn sex and socio-economic status). Maternal pelvis, height and (for male babies) muscle predicted neonatal trunk+head (? = 0. 09 SD; p = 0.017, ? = 0.12 SD; p = 0.006 and ? = 0.27 SD; p < 0.001). In the mother-baby and father-baby comparison, maternal BMI predicted neonatal fat (? = 0.20 SD; p < 0.001) and neonatal trunk+head (? = 0.15 SD; p = 0.001). Both maternal (? = 0.12 SD; p = 0.002) and paternal height (? = 0.09 SD; p = 0.030) predicted neonatal trunk+head but the associations became weak and statistically non-significant in multivariate analysis. Only paternal height predicted neonatal leg length (? = 0.15 SD; p = 0.003).Conclusion: principal components analysis is a useful method to describe neonatal body composition and its determinants. Newborn adiposity is related to maternal nutritional status and parity, while newborn length is genetically determined. Further research is needed to understand mechanisms linking maternal pelvic size to fetal growth and the determinants and implications of the components (trunk v leg length) of fetal skeletal growt

Probing the massive star forming environment - a multiwavelength investigation of the filamentary IRDC G333.73+0.37

We present a multiwavelength study of the filamentary infrared dark cloud (IRDC) G333.73+0.37. The region contains two distinct mid-infrared sources S1 and S2 connected by dark lanes of gas and dust. Cold dust emission from the IRDC is detected at seven wavelength bands and we have identified 10 high density clumps in the region. The physical properties of the clumps such as temperature: 14.3-22.3 K and mass: 87-1530 M_sun are determined by fitting a modified blackbody to the spectral energy distribution of each clump between 160 micron and 1.2 mm. The total mass of the IRDC is estimated to be $~4700 M_sun. The molecular line emission towards S1 reveals signatures of protostellar activity. Low frequency radio emission at 1300 and 610 MHz is detected towards S1 (shell-like) and S2 (compact morphology), confirming the presence of newly formed massive stars in the IRDC. Photometric analysis of near and mid-infrared point sources unveil the young stellar object population associated with the cloud. Fragmentation analysis indicates that the filament is supercritical. We observe a velocity gradient along the filament, that is likely to be associated with accretion flows within the filament rather than rotation. Based on various age estimates obtained for objects in different evolutionary stages, we attempt to set a limit to the current age of this cloud.Comment: 26 pages, 20 figures, accepted by Ap