Dynamics and Sustainability of Livestock Sector in Jammu & Kashmir

Agricultural and Food Policy,

Prevalence of hypertension among school children in Kashmir, India

Background: Over the last two decades, there has been increased awareness that hypertension in children may be a part of the spectrum of essential hypertension mainly linked to obesity epidemic. An increasing number of children and adolescents are being diagnosed with hypertension. Objectives of this study was to determine the prevalence of hypertension among apparently healthy school children residing in the valley of Kashmir.Methods: It was a community based cross sectional study was done over a period of one year in School going children aged 11 to 16 years from both urban and rural areas of Kashmir valley.Results: Thus, prevalence of hypertension was 5.1% and prevalence of prehypertension was 9.3%. Out of total 1600 children 1464 (91.5%) had a normal BMI, 72 (4.5%) were overweight and 64 (4%) were obese. In the prehypertensive group 114 (77%) had normal BMI, 18 (12.16%) were overweight and 16 (10.8%) were obese. In the hypertensive group 30 (36.6%) had normal BMI, 26 (31.7%) were overweight and 26 (31.7%) were obese.Conclusions: Our study reveals that hypertension is not uncommon in Kashmiri children. With globalization bringing more lifestyle modifications, children are exposed to multiple risk factors including obesity and family history of hypertension. We need to make people aware of these facts so that blood pressure measurement could be a part of routine health care check-up in children to detect it early and do necessary interventions

NHR-49/PAARα and HLH-30/TFEB cooperate for C. elegans host defense via a flavin-containing monooxygenase

During bacterial infection, the host is confronted with multiple overlapping signals that are integrated at the organismal level to produce defensive host responses. How multiple signals are sensed by the host and how they elicit the transcription of specific host defense genes is much less understood at the whole-animal level than at the cellular level. The model organism Caenorhabditis elegans is known to mount transcriptional defense responses against intestinal bacterial infections that elicit overlapping starvation and infection responses, but the specific regulation of such responses is not well understood. By directly comparing C. elegans that were either starved or infected with Gram-positive bacterium Staphylococcus aureus revealed a large infection-specific transcriptional signature. This signature was almost completely abrogated by deletion of transcription factor hlh-30/TFEB, except for six genes including a flavin-containing monooxygenase (FMO) gene, fmo-2/FMO5. We found that the mechanism of fmo-2/FMO5 induction required the nuclear hormone receptor, NHR-49/PPARa, which induced fmo-2/FMO5 and host defense cell non-autonomously. Moreover, deletion of fmo-2/FMO5 severely compromised infection survival, thus identifying the first FMO important for innate immunity in animals. These findings for the first time reveal an infection-specific host response to S. aureus, identify HLH-30/TFEB as its main regulator, reveal that NHR-49/PPARa contributes to host defense, and demonstrate that FMOs are important innate immunity effectors in animals

Cardiovascular profile of vasculitis patients at tertiary care center

Background: The vasculitides are a heterogenous group of conditions characterized by blood vessel inflammation and necrosis. Vasculitides are relatively uncommon conditions whose etiology is still poorly understood. Objective of the research was to study the cardiovascular profile of vasculitis patients at a tertiary care centre.Methods: The present hospital based observational study was conducted in the department of internal medicine, Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS), Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India. The study had two parts: retrospective and prospective. In the retrospective part, all patients of vasculitis who were admitted or evaluated in outpatient department (OPD) from March 2012 to September 2018, were enrolled for the analysis. In the prospective part, all patients of vasculitis admitted or evaluated in OPD from October 2018 to May 2020 were enrolled for study.Results: Out of total 77 patients studied, 39 (50.6%) were prospective cases and 38 (49.4%) cases were of retrospective nature. Normal echocardiographic and electrocardiography (ECG) findings were seen in majority of all three groups. Computed tomography (CT) angio shows involvement of right subclavian artery in 9 (40.9%) patients, 8 (36.4%) patients had involvement of left subclavian artery, 6 (27.3%) patients had involvement of arch of aorta, CT angio was suggestive of involvement left common carotid artery 5 patients, 2 patients each had involvement of celiac artery, bilateral iliac, ascending aorta, normal CT angio findings. Arterial Doppler was suggestive of involvement of right common carotid artery (CCA) and left CCA in 4 (30.8%) patients each, right superior cerebellar artery (SCA) involvement in 3 (23.1%) patients, left SCA involvement in 4 (30.8%) patients, left right brachiocephalic artery (RBA), right RA and B/L UA involvement was observed in 1 (7.7%) patient each.Conclusions: The association between cardiovascular disease and a vasculitis is well documented. our study discusses the association between cv disease and vasculitis

Organic farming: Present status, scope and prospects in northern India

Organic agriculture has emerged as an important priority area globally in view of the growing consciousness for safe and healthy food, long term sustainability and environmental concerns despite being contentious in history. Green revolution although paved way for developing countries in self-sufficiency of food but sustaining production against the limited natural resource base demands has shifted steadily from “resource degrading” chemical agriculture to “resource protective” organic agriculture. The essential concept remains the same, i.e., to go back to the arms of nature and take up organic farming to restore the loss. Organic farming emphasizes on rotating crops, managing pests, diversifying crops and livestock and improving the soil. The rainfed areas particularly north-eastern regions where least or no utilization of chemical inputs due to poor resources provides considerable opportunity for promotion of organic farming thereby reflecting its vast but unexplored scope. However, significant barriers like yield reduction, soil fertility enhancement, integration of livestock, marketing and policy etc., arise at both macroscopic and microscopic levels; making practically impossible the complete adoption of ‘pure organic farming’; rather some specific area can be diverted to organic farming and thus a blend of organic and other innovative farming systems is needed. Adoption of Integrated Green Revolution Farming can be possible to a large extent, where the basic trends of green revolution are retained with greater efficiency and closer compatibility to the environment. This review paper attempts to present the recent global and regional scenario of organic farming particularly highlighting the scope, prospects and constraints in the northern areas

Colorectal Foreign Body: A Case Report

Background:Emergency surgeons seldom encounter cases of foreign body ingestion/insertion. Both children and adults may present with ingestion or insertion of foreign body inside body cavitiesCase presentation: Two foreign nationals were brought by customs officer to emergency department with alleged history of insertion of cocaine packets through anus.Any subjects that caused omission from patients were admitted and rectal examinations were carried out. Rectum was filled with cocaine capsules which were retrieved manually as far as we could reach.Conclusion: It is likely that the use of various objects for anal eroticism is increasing, resulting in an increased incidence of retained rectal foreign bodies.Copyright©2012 Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology. Allrights reserved.

Secondary Tuberculosis of Breast: Case Report

Tuberculosis of breast is a rare disease which is difficult to differentiate from carcinoma of breast. The involvement of breast can be primary or secondary to some focus in body. A case of secondary tuberculosis of right breast in a 21-year-old female from Kashmir, India, is being reported. Presentation was as a painless discharging sinus of right breast. A tubercular foci of rib was the affecting source of disease. No other evidence of tuberculosis was present in the body. Resection of involved rib segment, along with the discharging sinus, was performed. The patient had antitubercular therapy for 9 months, with no recurrence seen in followup

Primary calcified hydatid of spleen: a case report

Most splenic cysts are parasitic. Hydatid disease, a parasitic disease, isendemic in Kashmir. Splenic involvement alone in hydatid disease is very rare. It may remain asymptomatic or, by causing pressure due to increasing size on adjacent viscera, may become symptomatic. A non specific presentation always makes diagnosis difficult. A case of hydatid spleen in a young boy who presented with abdominal pain is reported. Radiology complemented with serology made the diagnosis. Hydatid disease should beconsidered as a differential diagnosis in every patient with a calcified cystic mass of the spleen in endemic areas.KEY WORDS: Calcified hydatid; Spleen; Splenic cyst; Case repor