Musculo Skeletal Disorders in Dentistry

In dental practice knowledge of patients and operator’s position is important for the health and comfort of both patient and operator. The causes of musculoskeletal disorders in dentistry are multi factorial, ranging from non-ergonomic loupes and improper selection of delivery systems, to generic exercise that worsens muscle imbalances. Therefore proper operator positioning techniques help in preventing the progression toward chronic pain or potential injury for the operator

Sodium Percarbonate Fuel Cells Based on Porous Paper Supports

A self-pumping T-shaped paper based fuel cell was fabricated using sodium percarbonate as a fuel and potassium permanganate as an oxidant. The cell is portable, economic, lightweight and compact, consumes less fuel, and can be easily regenerated. Whatman filter papers served as porous supports for fluids. Different electrolytes (for fuel and oxidant) and different gel electrolytes were attempted. Among acidic media, mixed media and basic media, the mixed media combination outperforms both acidic and basic media combinations. A T-shaped mixed media paper based fuel cell at 3 M sodium percarbonate (SPC) as fuel concentration produces OCV of 1.22 V. It generates a maximum current density of 3.21 mA/cm2 and a maximum power density of 1.2 mW/cm2at optimum fuel (3 M SPC) concentration without any catalyst. Au NPs were used as catalyst, and the maximum current and maximum power densities increased to 5.357 mA/cm2 and 2.15 mW/cm2 respectively

Strengthening fruit and vegetable supply-chain policies and programmes in India

India currently has one of the highest numbers of malnourished children in the world – 8% stunted, 43% underweight, and 20% overweight and obese. This distressing public health scenario is further exacerbated by a high prevalence of multiple micronutrient deficiencies among these children – such as iron deficiency anaemia and Vitamin A deficiency. Evidence shows linkages between early life malnourishment (either underweight or overweight-obesity) and predisposition to developing chronic diseases in adult life. Consuming 400g/day of fresh fruits and vegetables can help prevent micronutrient deficiencies while promoting overall growth and development. However, national averages indicate that children do not consume even 40% of the daily recommended amounts. Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI) undertook a study titled ‘Leveraging fruit and vegetable supply policies to tackle the dual burden of malnutrition in India’ supported by the Leveraging Agriculture for Nutrition in South Asia (LANSA) consortium at the M S Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF). The study, discussed in this Brief aimed to analyse the policy environment related with fruit and vegetable (FV) supply in India to identify opportunities for policy to increase access to, and thus intakes of FV, especially among children.Department for International Development (DFID)UKAI

How Can Health, Agriculture and Economic Policy Actors Work Together to Enhance the External Food Environment for Fruit and Vegetables? A Qualitative Policy Analysis in India

The benefits of fruit and vegetables are well established, particularly their role in preventing general micronutrient-deficiencies and chronic diseases. However, global food systems are not delivering diverse and high quality diets: healthy food is unavailable and too expensive for many. Creating food environments that foster consumer access to fruit and vegetables will require coordinated policy action across sectors, mostly outside of the health sector. The aim of this paper is to identify opportunities to strengthen food system policy for nutrition, through an analysis of the policies relevant to the external food environment for fruit and vegetables in India. We conducted interviews based on policy theory with 55 stakeholders from national and state level, from within government, research, private sector and non-government agencies, and from health, agriculture and economic sectors. Specific strategies identified in this study to improve consumers’ external food environment for fruit and vegetables in India were: development of strategic Public-Private Partnerships to increase access to diverse expertise across the supply chain; linking health and economic/agricultural policy agendas; and strengthening surveillance of policy impacts on consumer access to fruit and vegetables. We also found that public health actors can play an important role in advocating for ‘consumer oriented’ fruit and vegetable supply policy. This study demonstrates the usefulness of ‘policy learning’-oriented qualitative policy analysis in identifying ‘points of entry’ for food policy change, and extends understanding of political dynamics in engendering agricultural policy change for nutrition. Improving access to affordable fruit and vegetables is a global priority, and given common global food supply challenges, the findings from this study are also likely to be relevant for other low and middle income countries

Baseline information of reproduction parameters of an amphidromous croaker Johnius coitor (Hamilton, 1822) from Ganga river basin, India with special reference to potential influence of climatic variability

Reproductive biology of female amphidromous croaker Johnius coitor (Hamilton, 1822) was studied for the first time from various freshwater stretches of Ganga river basin, India in relation to climatic variability. The species showed high spatial variation in reproductive phenology and capable of breeding during pre-monsoon, monsoon, post-monsoon and winter. Water temperature is the most crucial environmental parameter influencing gonadal maturation and breeding. Generalized additive model (GAM) models revealed water temperature near 23–25 °C as optimum and threshold GSI above 3 units necessary for breeding. Pre-spawning fitness (Kspawn50) and size at 50% maturity (LM50) benchmarked through Kaplan-Meier survival fit estimates were in the range 1.27–1.37 units and 19–24.5 cm respectively. First maturity of females was encountered at 11.4 cm within the size range 7.2–28.5 cm. Egg parameters in mature-ripe females ranged between 0.29–0.80 mm (diameter), 0.05–0.19 mg (weight) and 5687–121 849 eggs (absolute fecundity). Mapping of climate preferendum through LOESS smoothing technique hinted water temperatures 32 °C to be detrimental for attainment of pre-spawning fitness while no dependence on rainfall was observed. Based on the climato-hydrological influence on breeding and regional trends of changing climate along river Ganga, we infer minimal climate driven changes in breeding phenology of this amphidromous fish species. Results of this study may serve as baseline information for future studies assessing climate driven changes and evolutionary adaptations in croakers from river Ganga