Buying Practices and Prevalence of Adulteration in Selected Food items in a Rural Area of Wardha District: A Cross - Sectional Study

Introduction: Food adulteration in India includes both willful adulteration and substandard food which do not confirm to prescribe food standard. There is striking paucity of reliable data with regard to extent of adulteration and documentation of food borne illnesses reflecting lack of attention and focus on this problem. Objectives: To find the prevalence of food adulteration, buying practices of selected food items and their awareness towards food adulteration act. Also assess relationship between per-capita incomes, education of respondents, and food borne illnesses with magnitude of adulteration in each house-hold. Methods: With the best estimate of 50%, sample size comes to 89. By stratifying the village according to social strata and randomly selecting the households with PPS. Questionnaire was administered to fulfill our objectives and food items were tested. Data analyzed by numeral with percentage, Pearson moment correlation, F test and chi square test. Results: In 68.5% Households, wife (home-maker) buys the grocery. Majority of them never read the food labels. All the selected food items were adulterated ranging from 76 % to 11%. Mean percentage of purity was highest in literates (47.5 ± 22.48) than illiterates and just literates. Food borne illness was prevalent in households with low purity of food. Association was found between per capita income and percentage of purity (0.765)

Ethnomedicinal Observations Among the Bheel and Bhilal Tribe of Jhabua District, Madhya Pradesh, India

The paper highlights uses of 15 ethnomedicinal plants traditionally utilized by the Bheel and Bhilala tribes of Jhabua district. The plant species are used as herbal medicines for treatment of various ailments and healthcare

A cross sectional study to estimate prevalence of obesity and its risk factors in adolescent school children in Western Maharashtra, India

Background: There is an increase in prevalence of childhood obesity and its chronic health effects especially in developing countries like India in last 2-3 decades. This study is small effort to know prevalence and risk factors causing obesity. Aim of the study was to estimate prevalence of obesity and its risk factors in school students of age group 11 to 16 years.Methods: About 207 adolescent school children from selected school were enrolled in the study. Research tool comprised of questions about demographic characteristics, daily physical activity, frequency of having junk food intake etc. Height and weight were measured on calibrated scales. For statistical analysis MS Excel and SPSS 16 were used.Results: Among participants 58.9% were boys. 66.7% students were in the 13 to 14 years of age group. As per body mass index, 46.9% children were underweight and 8.7% were obese. 77.3% participants were eating junk food more than once in a week.Conclusions: Health education on dietary habits and physical activity is needed for adolescent children to prevent development of obesity and complications related to it

Charged particles in a rotating magnetic field

We study the valence electron of an alkaline atom or a general charged particle with arbitrary spin and with magnetic moment moving in a rotating magnetic field. By using a time-dependent unitary transformation, the Schr\"odinger equation with the time-dependent Hamiltonian can be reduced to a Schr\"odinger-like equation with a time-independent effective Hamiltonian. Eigenstates of the effective Hamiltonian correspond to cyclic solutions of the original Schr\"odinger equation. The nonadiabatic geometric phase of a cyclic solution can be expressed in terms of the expectation value of the component of the total angular momentum along the rotating axis, regardless of whether the solution is explicitly available. For the alkaline atomic electron and a strong magnetic field, the eigenvalue problem of the effective Hamiltonian is completely solved, and the geometric phase turns out to be a linear combination of two solid angles. For a weak magnetic field, the same problem is solved partly. For a general charged particle, the problem is solved approximately in a slowly rotating magnetic field, and the geometric phases are also calculated.Comment: REVTeX, 13 pages, no figure. There are two minor errors in the published version due to incorrect editing by the publisher. The "spin-1" in Sec. I and the "spin 1" in Sec. II below Eq. (2c) should both be changed to "spin" or "spin angular momentum". The preferred E-mail for correspondence is [email protected] or [email protected]

Heavy metal induced histopathological alterations in liver of Channa gachua (Ham)

Discharge of heavy metals into aquatic environment from various sources even below permissible levels, creates health hazards in aquatic organisms. The persistence and ubiquitous nature of these pollutant compounds coupled with their tendency to accumulate in organisms ultimately produce toxic reaction in aquatic biota especially, fish. This study aims to investigate histopathological impact of lethal (1.0625 ppm, 1.4202ppm) and sublethal (0.1062ppm, 0.0531ppm and 0.1420ppm, 0.0710ppm) concentrations of mercury chloride and copper chloride in liver of fresh water teleost, Channa gachua (Ham) .The histopathology studies revealed vacuolation in cytoplasm, degeneration of nuclei, vacuolation in stroma, cloudy swellings, pycnotic nuclei, necrosis, rupture of blood sinusoids, disarray of hepatic cords, loss of shape of hepatocytes. Severity of damage was found to be dose dependent and time of exposure

Novel Circuit for the Rapid Measurement of Dielectric Constant with Ultra Precision over a Wide Range of Frequencies

A simplified instrument is designed for dielectric constant measurement of liquids and gases over a wide range of frequencies by using 6j5 as variable oscillator and 6E5 electron-ray tube for mechanical resonance indication with the quartz crystal of various frequencies. Measurements with the proposed new circuit are simple, rapid and accurate

Menstrual hygiene practices in young girls of urban India

Background: Menstrual hygiene is an important aspect in the life of young girls.The present study aims at assessing the knowledge regarding menstruation and hygienic practices and perceptions during menstruation.Methods: It was a cross sectional study, conducted among 100 young girls of 20-22 years age to assess the awareness of menstrual hygiene. Data was collected by pre-tested questionnaire. Statistics was calculated in percentages.Results: Out of 100 girls, 71 (71%) knew about menstruation before menarche while 29 (29%) did not have any knowledge. 71 (71%) girls knew the cause of menstruation as physiological, 18 (18%) girls didn’t know the cause, 11 (11%) girls still believe it as curse of God. 68 (68%) girls knew the source of bleeding during menstruation as uterus, 20 (20%) girls thought it as vagina while 12 (12%) thought it as urethra. 64% girls use sanitary pads during menstruation, 19% girls used old cloth while 17% girls used new cloth during menstruation as adsorbent material. 9% girls dispose pads or used cloth in dustbin, 19% girls flush them in toilet while 12% girls throw them roadside. 96% girls avoid going to temple, 68% girls restrict their daily activities, 56% girls avoid going to functions, 50% girls avoid going to kitchen, 50% girls avoid going to kitchen while 45% girls avoid touching things at home.Conclusions: It is very important that young girls should be educated about the importance of maintaining hygiene during menstruation to prevent the risk of reproductive tract infections