Assessment on growth pattern of Khasi children in the state of Meghalaya, India

Background: This paper makes an attempt to describe the growth pattern and their sexual differences among the Khasi tribe in the state of Meghalaya in India. In the study we include 495 girls and 557 boys aged 3 to 18 years.Methods: In this Study the weight and height of these children were taken. Preece-Baines model 1 (PB1) has been used. This model was adopted for fitting the means of weight and some important linear measurements (Preece and Baines 1978), 1 using Levenberg-Marquardt method through SPSS (version 17.0) and origin software (version 8.0) for windows. All data were managed and analyzed using SPSS/PC software, version 15, in which the level of significance was set at 15%. The analysis will be carried out to present the basic descriptive statistics of anthropometric variables viz., height, weight, etc. according to sex and age groups.Results: The growth pattern of the Khasi children in the present study are described in terms of anthropometric measurement is observed that girls are heavier than boys at 3 and 4 years of age and boys are significantly heavier than girls from 5 to 6 years old. However girls are heavier than boys at the age of 12 years of age. It is further observed that boys are significantly heavier than girls and are statistically significant, except at the age of 15. It is found that both boys and girls are more or less similar in weight from 7 to 12 years of age.Conclusions: In terms of height boys are generally taller than girls across ages except at adolescence from 11 to 12 years where girls are taller than boys. The differences between the sexes are statistically significant after 14 years of age; the estimate values for adult height are 157.5 in males and 152 in females.

Sol-gel synthesis of glass-ceramics using rice husk ash and its gelcasting

Rice husk ash is taken as a silica precursor for the preparation of glass-ceramics. Sol-gel route is opted for synthesizing glass ceramic powder. After calcination, the powder is used for preparation of body through gelcasting process.Thus rice husk ash is used as a silica source for preparation of glass-ceramics and that glass-ceramics can be gelcasted to fabricate scaffold for bio-application

pH dependant competitive N-de-ethylation and degradation of Rhodamine B photocatalyzed by cationic surfactant stabilized ZnS nanoparticles

The purpose of the present study was to determine the role of solution pH on the photodegradation behaviour of Rhodamine B (RhB), an industrially important dye. The potential application of such a study lies in the optimization of the reaction parameters for the treatment of waste water containing such dyes. In this work, ZnS nanoparticles (NPs) have been synthesized using cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) as a stabilizing agent. The ZnS NPs were characterized by UV-visible spectroscopy, powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The photocatalytic activity of the semiconductor was evaluated by studying the degradation of RhB at various solution pH using 254 nm ultra violet (UV) light. At pH 4, the absorption peak of RhB was blue shifted by 57 nm within 30 min, suggesting  a 4-fold N-de-ethylation. However, at pH 11, the blue shift in the absorption band was only about 20 nm during 30 min of irradiation. Besides, the band was found to decrease with increase in irradiation time  indicating the degradation of the dye. The mechanistic investigations suggested that the hydroxyl radicals generated in the solution were responsible for both the de-ethylation and degradation of RhB in the presence of the ZnS NPs

Assessment on growth pattern of Khasi children in the state of Meghalaya, India

Background: This paper makes an attempt to describe the growth pattern and their sexual differences among the Khasi tribe in the state of Meghalaya in India. In the study we include 495 girls and 557 boys aged 3 to 18 years.Methods: In this Study the weight and height of these children were taken. Preece-Baines model 1 (PB1) has been used. This model was adopted for fitting the means of weight and some important linear measurements (Preece and Baines 1978), 1 using Levenberg-Marquardt method through SPSS (version 17.0) and origin software (version 8.0) for windows. All data were managed and analyzed using SPSS/PC software, version 15, in which the level of significance was set at 15%. The analysis will be carried out to present the basic descriptive statistics of anthropometric variables viz., height, weight, etc. according to sex and age groups.Results: The growth pattern of the Khasi children in the present study are described in terms of anthropometric measurement is observed that girls are heavier than boys at 3 and 4 years of age and boys are significantly heavier than girls from 5 to 6 years old. However girls are heavier than boys at the age of 12 years of age. It is further observed that boys are significantly heavier than girls and are statistically significant, except at the age of 15. It is found that both boys and girls are more or less similar in weight from 7 to 12 years of age.Conclusions: In terms of height boys are generally taller than girls across ages except at adolescence from 11 to 12 years where girls are taller than boys. The differences between the sexes are statistically significant after 14 years of age; the estimate values for adult height are 157.5 in males and 152 in females.

pH Dependant competitive N-de-ethylation and degradation of Rhodamine B photocatalyzed by cationic surfactant stabilized ZnS nanoparticles

554-560The role of solution pH on the photodegradation behaviour of Rhodamine B (RhB), an industrially important dye has been examined. ZnS nanoparticles (NPs) have been synthesized using cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) as a stabilizing agent and characterized by UV-visible spectroscopy, powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The photocatalytic activity of the semiconductor has been evaluated by studying the degradation of RhB at various solution pH using 254 nm ultra violet (UV) light. At pH 4, the absorption peak of RhB has been blue shifted by 57 nm within 30 min, suggesting a 4-fold N-de-ethylation. However, at pH 11, the blue shift in the absorption band has been only about 20 nm during 30 min of irradiation. Besides, the band has been found to diminish with increase in irradiation time indicating the degradation of the dye. The mechanistic investigations suggested that the hydroxyl radicals generated in the solution were responsible for both the de-ethylation and degradation of RhB in the presence of the ZnS NPs. The potential application of such a study lies in the optimization of the reaction parameters for the treatment of waste water containing such dyes

Detection of extended-spectrum β-lactamases (blaCTX-M-1 and blaTEM) in Escherichia coli, Salmonella spp., and Klebsiella pneumoniae isolated from poultry in North Eastern India

Aim: The present study was conducted to record the association of extended spectrum β-lactamases (ESBLs) producing enteric bacteria with diarrhea of poultry birds in Mizoram, India. Materials and Methods: Fecal samples were collected from poultry birds with the history of diarrhea from different parts of Mizoram. Samples were processed for isolation and identification of Escherichia coli, Salmonella, and Klebsiella pneumoniae. All the isolates were subjected to antibiotic sensitivity assays. Phenotypically, ESBLs production ability was determined by double discs synergy test (DDST) method. ESBLs producing isolates were subjected to polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for detection of ESBLs genes. Plasmids were cured by acridine orange. Transfer of resistance from donor to recipient strains was done by in vitro horizontal method. Results: A total of 134 enteric bacteria was isolated, of which 102 (76.12%), 21 (15.67%) and 11 (8.21%) were E. coli, Salmonella spp. and K. pneumoniae, respectively. By DDST 7 (5.22%) isolates (6 E. coli and 1 K. pneumoniae) were ESBLs producer. PCR analysis confirmed 5 (3.73%) (4 E. coli and 1 K. pneumoniae) isolates harboured blaCTX-M-1 gene and/or blaTEM gene. All the isolates were carrying plasmids ranging between 0.9 kb and ~30 kb. Of the 4 isolates positive for blaCTX-M-1 and/or blaTEM, 2 (1.84%) were confirmed for blaCTX-M-1 gene in their plasmid. No blaTEM gene was detected from plasmid. The resistance plasmid could not be transferred to the recipient by in vitro horizontal gene transfer method. Conclusion: ESBLs producing enteric bacteria are circulating in poultry in North Eastern Region of India. As poultry is one of the most common food animals in this region, these organisms may enter in human population through them