Evaluation of physicochemical properties with the availability of plant nutrients in forests and crop farms in different Fijian provinces

Soils are the foundation of agriculture and forestry and it provides many functions such as the supply of water and nutrients and anchorage for plant growth and more. Forest farming and agriculture farming are 2 entities of the ecosystem and they may lead to changes in soil properties. To cope with the challenges in the soil management system, data on current chemical and physical soil properties are more necessary. Therefore, we present a comparative study on soil properties existing in soil and forest farms of Fiji Island. Soil samples from 24 different locations were collected from 8 sites based on the heterogeneity and land use of soils, keeping in view the variation in soil type and slope to determine physicochemical properties and nutrient status. The physical properties such as bulk density (1.05-1.20 Mg m-3), percent porosity (54.14-56.62), moisture % (16.78-18.53%) and soil permeability (11.79-12.35 cm hour-1 was comparatively higher in forest farms compared to the agricultural farms. The soil pH in forest farms and agriculture farms ranged from 5.42-6.10 and 5.30-5.61 respectively. A higher range of CEC was found in forest farms (17.7-19.2) may be due to the higher amount of soil organic matter in forest farms in comparison to agricultural farms. The results also showed that the nutrients such as N, P, K, Ca and Mg and micronutrients (Cu, Fe, Mn and Zn) values were low on the agricultural farms.  The study suggests the combined use of good agricultural practices, limited use of agrochemicals and minimal soil disturbance at agriculture farms to prevent further degradation, acidification and nutrient stocks.

Husband's Alcohol Use, Intimate Partner Violence, and Family Maltreatment of Low-Income Postpartum Women in Mumbai, India.

Husbands' alcohol use has been associated with family-level stress and intimate partner violence (IPV) against women in India. Joint family systems are common in India and IPV often co-occurs with non-violent family maltreatment of wives (e.g., nutritional deprivation, deprivation of sleep, blocking access to health care). Alcohol use increases for some parents following the birth of a child. This study examined 1,038 postpartum women's reports of their husbands' alcohol use and their own experiences of IPV (by husband) and non-violent maltreatment from husbands and/or in-laws. We analyzed cross-sectional, quantitative data collected in 2008, from women (ages 15-35) seeking immunizations for their infants <6 months at three large urban health centers in Mumbai, India. Crude and adjusted logistic regression models estimated associations between the independent variable (husbands' past month use of alcohol) and two dependent variables (postpartum IPV and maltreatment). Overall, 15% of husbands used alcohol, ranging from daily drinkers (10%) to those who drank one to two times per week (54%). Prevalence of postpartum IPV and family maltreatment was 18% and 42%, respectively. Prevalence of IPV among women married to alcohol users was 27%. Most abused women's husbands always (27%) or sometimes (37%) drank during violent episodes. Risk for IPV increased with a man's increasing frequency of consumption. Women who lived with a husband who drank alcohol, relative to non-drinkers, were more likely to report postpartum IPV, aOR = 2.0, 95% confidence interval (CI) = [1.3, 3.1]. Husbands' drinking was marginally associated with increased risk for family maltreatment, aOR = 1.4, 95% CI = [1.0, 2.1]. Our findings suggest that men's alcohol use is an important risk factor for postpartum IPV and maltreatment. Targeted services for Indian women contending with these issues are implicated. Postpartum care offers an ideal opportunity to screen for IPV, household maltreatment, and other health risks, such as husband's use of alcohol. There is need to scale up proven successful interventions for reducing men's alcohol use and design strategies that provide at-risk women protection from alcohol-related IPV

CHARM, a gender equity and family planning intervention for men and couples in rural India: protocol for the cluster randomized controlled trial evaluation.

BackgroundGlobally, 41% of all pregnancies are unintended, increasing risk for unsafe abortion, miscarriage and maternal and child morbidities and mortality. One in four pregnancies in India (3.3 million pregnancies, annually) are unintended; 2/3 of these occur in the context of no modern contraceptive use. In addition, no contraceptive use until desired number and sex composition of children is achieved remains a norm in India. Research shows that globally and in India, the youngest and most newly married wives are least likely to use contraception and most likely to report husband's exclusive family planning decision-making control, suggesting that male engagement and family planning support is important for this group. Thus, the Counseling Husbands to Achieve Reproductive Health and Marital Equity (CHARM) intervention was developed in recognition of the need for more male engagement family planning models that include gender equity counseling and focus on spacing contraception use in rural India.Methods/designFor this study, a multi-session intervention delivered to men but inclusive of their wives was developed and evaluated as a two-armed cluster randomized controlled design study conducted across 50 mapped clusters in rural Maharashtra, India. Eligible rural young husbands and their wives (N = 1081) participated in a three session gender-equity focused family planning program delivered to the men (Sessions 1 and 2) and their wives (Session 3) by village health providers in rural India. Survey assessments were conducted at baseline and 9&18 month follow-ups with eligible men and their wives, and pregnancy tests were obtained from wives at baseline and 18-month follow-up. Additional in-depth understanding of how intervention impact occurred was assessed via in-depth interviews at 18 month follow-up with VHPs and a subsample of couples (n = 50, 2 couples per intervention cluster). Process evaluation was conducted to collect feedback from husbands, wives, and VHPs on program quality and to ascertain whether program elements were implemented according to curriculum protocols. Fidelity to intervention protocol was assessed via review of clinical records.DiscussionAll study procedures were completed in February 2015. Findings from this work offer important contributions to the growing field of male engagement in family planning, globally.Trial registrationClinicalTrial.gov, NCT01593943

Assessment of capsicum nutrient levels affected by lime and phosphorus application in Fijian soil

The application of lime and phosphorus is a common practice for improving crop production in acidic soils of tropical countries and temperate regions. An experiment in factorial combination was laid out at the College of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry to investigate the effects of lime and phosphorus on the quality and nutrient content of Capsicum annum. Treatment includes 4 levels of lime (0, 250, 500 and 750 kg ha-1 represented as L0, L250, L500, L750) and 4 phosphorus levels (0, 20, 40 & 60 kg ha-1 and represented as P0, P20, P40 and P60 respectively). Total ash content, moisture content, protein and other nutrients were analysed. Total ash, moisture, protein and other plant nutrients increased significantly with an increase in lime dose up to 500 kg ha-1, while total ash, moisture content, protein and other nutrients increased significantly up to P40 (40 kg ha-1). Copper and magnesium showed no significant difference with the application of lime and phosphorus

Maternal morbidity associated with violence and maltreatment from husbands and in-laws: findings from Indian slum communities.

BackgroundIntimate partner violence (IPV) victimization is linked to a broad range of negative maternal health outcomes. However, it is unclear whether IPV is directly related to poor maternal outcomes or whether IPV is a marker for other forms of chronic, mundane maltreatment of women that stem from the culture of gender inequity that also gives rise to IPV. To determine the prevalence of non-violent forms of gender-based household maltreatment by husbands and in-laws (GBHM), and violence from in-laws (ILV) and husbands (IPV) against women during the peripregnancy period (during and in the year prior to pregnancy); to assess relative associations of GBHM, ILV and IPV with maternal health.MethodsCross-sectional data were collected from women <6 months postpartum (n = 1,039, ages 15-35 years) seeking child immunization in Mumbai, India. Associations of IPV, ILV and GBHM during the peripregnancy period with maternal health (prenatal care in first trimester, no weight gain, pain during intercourse, high blood pressure, vaginal bleeding, premature rupture of membranes, premature birth) were evaluated.ResultsOne in three women (34.0 %) reported IPV, 4.8 % reported ILV, and 48.5 % reported GBHM during the peripregnancy period. After adjusting for other forms of abuse, IPV related to pain during intercourse (AOR = 1.79); ILV related to not receiving first trimester antenatal care (AOR = 0.49), and GBHM remained associated with premature rupture of membranes (AOR = 2.28), pain during intercourse (AOR = 1.60), and vaginal bleeding (AOR = 1.80).ConclusionAfter adjusting for ILV and IPV, peripregnancy GBHM remained significantly associated with multiple forms of maternal morbidity, suggesting that GBHM is a prevalent and reliable indicator of maternal health risk

A case report on cerebrotendinous xanthomatosis

Cerebrotendinous xanthomatosis (CTX) is a rare hereditary neuro-metabolic disease in which deposition of cholesterol and cholestanol occurs in various tissues including CNS. It is characterized by juvenile cataract, tendon xanthomas and progressive neurological defects. It is one of a group of neurologic disorder collectively referred to as leukodystrophy, which predominantly affects the CNS white matter. We are presenting a patient with cerebrotendinous xanthomatosis, who is now 36 years old, and shows the natural course of disease in an untreated patient.  He presented with xanthomas on Achilles tendon, elbow and knees and showed cerebellar and pyramidal signs. He had recurrent seizures and was mentally subnormal.

Salivary microRNA miR-let-7a-5p and miR-3928 could be used as potential diagnostic bio-markers for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma

Backgrounds MicroRNAs (miRNA) are a class of non-protein-coding RNAs that have significant biological and pathological functions. The importance of miRNAs as potential cancer diagnostic biomarkers is gaining attention due to their influence in the regulation of cellular processes such as cell differentiation, proliferation and apoptosis. The aim of this study was to identify significant miRNAs from saliva as potential diagnostic biomarkers in the early diagnosis and prognosis of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). Materials and methods Five differentially expressed miRNAs (miR-7703, miR- let-7a-5p, miR- 345-5p, miR- 3928 and miR- 1470) were selected from Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) miRNA data generated from our previous study using saliva of 12 HNSCC patients and 12 healthy controls. Their differential expressed miRNAs were subsequently validated by RT-qPCR using saliva samples from healthy controls (n = 80) and HNSCC patients (n = 150). Total RNA was isolated from 150 saliva samples of HNSCC patients and was transcripted into cDNA by TaqMan MicroRNA Reverse Transcription Kit. Using quantitative RT-PCR analysis, salivary miRNAs were identified in HNSCC patients (n = 150) and healthy controlled cases (n = 80). T-tests were used to compare the differences among the various clinical variants. Results On average 160 ng/μl was isolated from 500 μl of saliva. Overall, a good correlation observed between the HNSCC and some of miRNAs expression levels. Salivary miR-let-7a-5p (P<0.0001) and miR-3928 (P< 0.01) were significantly down regulated in saliva of HNSCC patients relative to age and sex-matched healthy controls. A number of salivary miRNAs (miR-let-7a-5p and miR-3928) were correlated with lymph node metastasis (p = 0.003, p = 0.049) and tumour size (p = 0.01, p = 0.02), respectively. However, our preliminary analysis showed no significant differences in salivary miR-1470, miR-345-5p or miR-7703 expression between patients and healthy controls. Most notably, our analysis showed that salivary miR-let-7a-5p and miR-3928 expression levels have significant sensitivity and specificity to distinguish between patients with HNSCC and healthy controls. Conclusion This study concluded that salivary miR-let-7a-5p and miR-3928 has the potential to be novel non-invasive biomarkers for early detection and prognosis of HNSCC

Predictors of Risky Sex Behavior among Adolescents in a Traditional Indian Society: Implications for Program Intervention Strategies

Objective: The purpose of the study was to assess the risk behavior and its effect on involvement in sex among school-going adolescents as a part of assessing implementation of Adolescent Reproductive and Sexual Health Scheme (ARSH) in a state of India.Methods: The sample covered 3069 randomly selected adolescents (students) from 9th to 12th standard in various government, private and missionary-run schools from two districts, namely, Aizawl and Champhai in the state of Mizoram.Results: It was found that more than one-third of adolescents (37%) accepted taking alcohol and 72% of adolescents accepted seeing pornographic movies. Nearly 23% respondents were aware about premarital pregnancy among friends and 7.5% were aware about complication due to unsafe abortion among them. About 10% accepted involvement in premarital sex and majority of them (70%) had premarital sex between age group 15 and 19 years and 54% never used condom. Influence of peer group who were taking alcohol, tobacco and drug and exposure to erotic materials was found to be the major risk factors for indulgence in unsafe sex practices among adolescents.Conclusion: Better awareness and counseling against tobacco, alcohol and drug abuse, and pornographic literature among adolescents is needed through school health education.

Correlates of Social, Demographic and Behavioral Factors affecting Adolescent Sexuality in a Traditional Society in India: Perspectives and Challenges

Background: Adolescent risk behavior is a major concern.Objectives: The study assessed the effect of school background, personal, social and other deviant behavior on school going adolescent sexual behavior. Material and Methods: The sample covered 3069 randomly selected adolescents (students) from 9th to 12th standard in various governments, private and missionary run schools from two districts namely; Aizawl being state capital and Champhai being distant under developed district.Summary: School background, leisure and entertainment practices, influence of taking alcohol, tobacco, drug, peer influence were found to be the major risk factor for indulgence in unsafe sex practices among adolescents. About 10% accepted involvement in premarital sex and majority of them (70%) of them had premarital sex between age group 15-19 years. The schools lacked in organizing awareness program and counseling activities on consequences of adolescent sex. The ARSH Program needs to synergize with school health program for desired results. Conclusions: Adolescent sexual risk behavior is a part of overall deviant behavior and can be managed in holistic manner