Risk Assessment of a Synthetic Pyrethroid, Bifenthrin on Pulses

This work was undertaken to determine the pre-harvest interval of bifenthrin and to minimize its residues in pulses and thereby ensure consumer safety and avoid non-compliance in terms of residues violations in export market. Furthermore the residue dynamics in the soil under pulses was explored to assess the environmental safety. The residues of bifenthrin dissipated following first order kinetics. The residues in harvest time grains were below the maximum residue limit (MRL) of 0.02 mg/kg applicable for European Union. In soil the degradation rate was fast with a half life of 2–3 days. This work is of high practical significance to the domestic and export pulse industry of India to ensure safety compliance in respect of bifenthrin residues, keeping in view the requirements of international trade

Integrated Assessment of Heavy Metal Contamination in Sediments from a Coastal Industrial Basin, NE China

The purpose of this study is to investigate the current status of metal pollution of the sediments from urban-stream, estuary and Jinzhou Bay of the coastal industrial city, NE China. Forty surface sediment samples from river, estuary and bay and one sediment core from Jinzhou bay were collected and analyzed for heavy metal concentrations of Cu, Zn, Pb, Cd, Ni and Mn. The data reveals that there was a remarkable change in the contents of heavy metals among the sampling sediments, and all the mean values of heavy metal concentration were higher than the national guideline values of marine sediment quality of China (GB 18668-2002). This is one of the most polluted of the world’s impacted coastal systems. Both the correlation analyses and geostatistical analyses showed that Cu, Zn, Pb and Cd have a very similar spatial pattern and come from the industrial activities, and the concentration of Mn mainly caused by natural factors. The estuary is the most polluted area with extremely high potential ecological risk; however the contamination decreased with distance seaward of the river estuary. This study clearly highlights the urgent need to make great efforts to control the industrial emission and the exceptionally severe heavy metal pollution in the coastal area, and the immediate measures should be carried out to minimize the rate of contamination, and extent of future pollution problems

Multiple stakeholder perspectives on cancer stigma in North India

Background: Cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide. A large proportion of cancer deaths are preventable through early detection but there are a range of social, emotional, cultural and financial dimensions that hinder the effectiveness of cancer prevention and treatment efforts. Cancer stigma is one such barrier and is increasingly recognized as an important factor influencing health awareness and promotion, and hence, disease prevention and control. The impact and extent of stigma on the cancer early detection and care continuum is poorly understood in India. Objectives: To evaluate cancer awareness and stigma from multiple stakeholder perspectives in North India, including men and women from the general population, health care professionals and educators, and cancer survivors. Materials and Methods: A qualitative study was conducted with in-depth interviews (IDIs) and focus group discussions (FGDs) among 39 individuals over a period of 3 months in 2014. Three groups of participants were chosen purposively - 1) men and women who attended cancer screening camps held by the Indian Cancer Society, Delhi; 2) health care providers and 3) cancer survivors. Results: Most participants were unaware of what cancers are in general, their causes and ways of prevention. Attitudes of families towards cancer patients were observed to be positive and caring. Nevertheless, stigma and its impact emerged as a cross cutting theme across all groups. Cost of treatment, lack of awareness and beliefs in alternate medicines were identified as some of the major barriers to seeking care. Conclusions: This study suggests a need for spreading awareness, knowledge about cancers and assessing associated impact among the people. Also Future research is recommended to help eradicate stigma from the society and reduce cancer-related stigma in the Indian context.Adyya Gupta, Preet K Dhillon, Jyotsna Govil, Dipika Bumb, Subhojit Dey, Suneeta Krishna

Fission and binary fragmentation reactions in Se-80+Pb-208 and Se-80+Th-232 systems

Fission and binary fragmentation of the excited nuclear systems of Z=116 and 124 were investigated using the reactions induced by Se-80 beams on Pb-208 and Th-232 targets at bombarding energies ranging from 470 to 630 MeV. The mass and kinetic energy of the binary reaction products were reconstructed by measuring their velocities by the time-of-flight method and the angles of emission using multiwire proportional chambers. Total neutron multiplicities were measured in coincidence with the fragments, using an array of neutron detectors. The fragment mass-energy correlation was studied for the two systems. The average total kinetic energy (TKE) of fragments for the Se-80+Pb-208 system agrees with earlier measurements and with Viola's systematics in the mass symmetric region for compound nucleus fission, whereas for the Se-80+Th-232 system, the TKE values are significantly lower. This is also consistent with higher values of total neutron multiplicities observed for the case of Se-80+Th-232 at comparable available energies. From an extrapolation of the measured total neutron multiplicities for the mass symmetric region to zero compound nucleus excitation energy, the average number of prompt neutrons expected to be emitted in the spontaneous fission of the superheavy Z=116 has been estimated to be nu(sf)(tot)=10 +/- 2, which is consistent with the value derived for the same compound nucleus populated in the Fe-56+Th-232 reaction in an earlier work. In the case of the Se-80+Th-232 system, similar analysis was carried out by taking the average TKE from Viola's systematics for estimating the available energy for particle emission corresponding to compound nucleus fission. In this way, by extrapolating the observed neutron multiplicities to zero compound nucleus excitation energy, a value of nu(sf)(tot)=15 +/- 2 was obtained for the spontaneous fission of the superheavy Z=124 nucleus. The increase in the average number of neutrons emitted in fission as a function of the atomic number of the nucleus in the superheavy mass region was confirmed by comparing the results of the present work with published data