Indirect Spectrophometric Determination of Fly-Fighter Insecticide in Agricultural & Environmental Samples.

Indirect spectrophotometric method is developed for the determination of widely used organophosphorus insecticide Fly-Fighter. The method is based on alkaline hydrolysis of Fly-Fighter to dichloroacetaldehyde followed by benzoic acid in alkaline medium. The absorption maxima of the reddish-brown dye formed is measured at 510 nm. Beer’s law is obeyed over the concentration range of 2.3 to 25 µg in a final volume of 25 ml (0.092-1.00 ppm). The molar absorptivity, Sandell’s sensitivity and correlation coefficient were found to be 1.8x104 l mole-1cm-1, 0.002 µg cm-2 and 09989 respectively. The lower limit of detection is about 0.001. The standard deviation and relative standard deviation were found to be ± 0.002 and 1.98% respectively. The method is simple sensitive and free from interferences of other pesticides and diverse ions. Other organophosphorous pesticides do not interfere with the proposed method. The method is simple, fast and has been satisfactorily applied to the determination of Fly-Fighter in agricultural & environmental samples. Key Words : Spectrophotometer, Fly-Fighter, Benzoic Acid Agricultural, Environmental Samples

A RANDOMISED CONTROL TRIAL ON CEREBRO VASCULAR ACCIDENT PATIENTS WITH REFERENCE TO AETIOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT: 24 WEEKS, SINGLE-CENTER, PROSPECTIVE OBSERVATIONAL PILOT STUDY

Objectives: Stroke is one of the leading causes of death and long-term disability in world. Stroke is an important cause of premature death and disability in low-income and middle-income countries like India, largely driven by demographic changes and enhanced by the increasing prevalence of key modifiable risk factors. The main aim of our study was to assess the clinical profile with special reference to the etiology of the condition, the management, and drug utilization review. Methods: This is a hospital-based prospective observational randomized control trial which was conducted for a period of 6 months at Government General Hospital, Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences, Kadapa. Seventy-five patients were recruited based on study criteria. The data were analyzed and summarized as frequency and percentage by GraphPad Prism software using Microsoft Excel. Results: In a total of 75 patients, it was found that 45 and 30 patients were female. Maximum number of patients (i.e. 36 patients) belonged to 51–60 years age group. We observed that 52 patients were suffering from ischemic stroke, 21 patients were suffering from transient ischemic stroke, and only 2 patients were suffering from ischemic stroke and transient ischemic stroke. Among 75 patients studied, hypertension (62%), diabetes mellitus (28%), smoking (33%), and alcohol (33%) were the risk factors. Conclusion: In this study, ischemic stroke was most prevalent. Hypertension, that is, increase of blood pressure considered as one of the important and major risk factors for stroke occurrence and recurrence. Proper management includes non-pharmacological (physiotherapy) along with pharmacological treatment that included cardiovascular system drugs such as hypolipidemics, cognition enhancers, anticoagulants, and antihypertensive therapy

Sparsity-based autoencoders for denoising cluttered radar signatures

Narrowband and broadband indoor radar images significantly deteriorate in the presence of target-dependent and target-independent static and dynamic clutter arising from walls. A stacked and sparse denoising autoencoder (StackedSDAE) is proposed for mitigating the wall clutter in indoor radar images. The algorithm relies on the availability of clean images and the corresponding noisy images during training and requires no additional information regarding the wall characteristics. The algorithm is evaluated on simulated Doppler-time spectrograms and high-range resolution profiles generated for diverse radar frequencies and wall characteristics in around-the-corner radar (ACR) scenarios. Additional experiments are performed on range-enhanced frontal images generated from measurements gathered from a wideband radio frequency imaging sensor. The results from the experiments show that the StackedSDAE successfully reconstructs images that closely resemble those that would be obtained in free space conditions. Furthermore, the incorporation of sparsity and depth in the hidden layer representations within the autoencoder makes the algorithm more robust to low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and label mismatch between clean and corrupt data during training than the conventional single-layer DAE. For example, the denoised ACR signatures show a structural similarity above 0.75 to clean free space images at SNR of −10 dB and label mismatch error of 50%

Tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV) alters the phytochemical constituents in tomato fruits.

An investigation was conducted in order to evaluate the responses of field grown tomato varieties (Marglove and Roma VF) to tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV). Fruit samples from the virus-infected and uninfected plants were collected at 20 (early stage), 40 (intermediate stage) and 60 days (ripening stage) after anthesis. Results showed higher virus RNA content in fruits of infected plants at early (42.48 to 38.24%) and intermediate stages (34.35 to 19.57%). There was a substantial decrease in DNA content (27.27 and 21.05%) at early and (23.08 and 43.75%) at intermediate stages of both Marglove and Roma VF, compared to the control, respectively. Similarly, indole acetic acid content was also decreased (27.08 and 24.29%) in fruits of virus-infected Marglove and Roma VF, respectively. The free ascorbic acid content was found lower (35.29 to 51.52%), while combined ascorbic acid was higher (13.91 to 33.33%) in both varieties. Neither the responses of individual organic acids nor their concentrations in fruits of infected and control plants were identical. Fumaric acid was not detected either in fruits of infected plants of Marglove or in healthy and infected Roma VF. Individual fruit weight and fruit numbers per plant were lower in the virus-infected plants. This study indicates that the yield of infected tomato plants could be reduced by the infection of TYLCV due to the changes in the concentrations of phytochemical constituents. This suggests that monitoring and management of TYLCV incidence is crucial for yield and quality optimization of field grown tomato

A review on the management of postharvest anthracnose in dragon fruits caused by Colletotrichum spp

none5Colletotrichum spp is one of the major cosmopolitan phytopathogens that cause postharvest anthracnose in dragon fruits. The pathogen attacks fruits on the field, during long-distance transport, and cold storage, leading to shorter shelf life. Traditionally, the plants are sprayed with synthetic fungicides, which is a strategic approach to control diseases in general and anthracnose in particular for dragon fruit production. Due to the demand for safe storage methods for consumers and the concerns about the use of synthetic fungicides, their use is restricted to control dragon fruits anthracnose after harvest. Despite "Umikai" (natural Calcium) is the commonly used preservative by some exporters of dragon fruits in Vietnam, recent reports indicated that Sodium nitroprusside (a Nitric oxide donor) markedly controlled anthracnose in dragon fruit at recommended levels. However, due to detrimental effect of these nitric oxide donors and other synthetic chemicals on human health, concerns are raised by the governments and other stakeholders to abolish, if not regulate the use of these synthetic chemicals in pre- and postharvest management of anthracnose. Consequently, several alternative methods have been developed to control postharvest decay, but with little success. This review summarizes the findings published within the last decade on current management practices on postharvest anthracnose in dragon fruit. We conclude that hot air/vapor heat treatment, water treatment, modified and controlled atmosphere packaging are commercially practiced and effective in reducing postharvest decay in dragon fruits while, X-ray irradiation is still under experimentation, Additionally, natural products (propolis and chitosan) shows promising effect without leaving residual harmful effect and could be adopted on a commercial scale to reduce postharvest losses after further commercial trials.Paa K. Bordoh; Asgar Ali; Matthew Dickinson; Yasmeen Siddiqui; Gianfranco RomanazziBordoh, Paa K.; Ali, Asgar; Dickinson, Matthew; Siddiqui, Yasmeen; Romanazzi, Gianfranc

Enhanced Metal Levels in Vegetables and Farm Soil irrigated with Industrial Waste Water

In water stressed Karachi city, waste water is often used for irrigating vegetables fields. Persistent use of waste water causes accumulation of heavy metals in agricultural soils and vegetables. Cd, Cr, Zn and Mn act as essential micronutrients but become toxic after crossing threshold values. To study the effect of waste water on heavy metal concentration in vegetables, soil and water an area irrigated separately with waste water and treated water were selected. Concentrations of Cd, Cr, Zn and Mn in beet, potato and radish were measured by atomic absorption spectrophotometer. The data obtained was tested at 95% (±2s) confidence level for six replicate measurements. The levels of Zn was found higher in both the treated water and vegetables beet, potato and radish irrigated with treated water but Mn was higher in industrial waste water and soil irrigated with industrial waste water and treated water. Soil irrigated with treated water contained (mg.L-1) 0.007 of Cd; 0.128 Cr; 2.672 Mn and 0.714 Zn. Soil irrigated with waste water seems to accumulate significant concentration of metals. It showed (mg.L-1) 5.85 of Cd; 84.5 Cr; 480.3 Mn and 305 Zn. Vegetables irrigated with industrial waste water have shown concurrent rise in metal levels. Mn was 0.860 mg.L-1 in radish, Cr 0.320 mg.L-1 in beet and Cd 0.330 mg.L-1 in potato

‘You can’t just be a Muslim in outer space’:young people making sense of religion at local places in the city

This paper demonstrates how young people make sense of religion through local places in the urban context while moving from youth to young adulthood. We draw on in-depth interviews–including a mental map-making exercise–with twenty-four young Muslims (18–30) from a wide range of cultural backgrounds living in Metro Vancouver (Canada). Their narratives reveal young people ‘live’ religion in various local places and how spatialities of lived religion change over time. We highlight how making sense of religion is reflected in the changing meaning of the mosque and relates to the increased salience of places shared with young Muslims in which our participants negotiate religion in the context of their everyday lives in the city. While many studies on Muslim identities have established the complexities and dynamics of negotiating religion at specific local places, we argue for a focus on relations between lived religion at various local places over time. These spatiotemporal complexities are able to capture how making sense of religion is spatially and fluidly manifested in the urban context of Metro Vancouver

A Review article of Streptococcus pyogenes infection: Rick factors, prevention and management strategies

Background:-Streptococcus pyogenes is an exclusively human pathogen. This bacterial species is responsible for a large variety of infections. Objective: This review identified published articles on the risk factors, prevention and control strategies for streptococcus diseases. Material and methods: A systematic search was carried out to identify papers published on the Web of Science, PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar electronic databases in an attempt to provide basic information about Streptococcus infections, potential risks for their spread, and treatment and prevention strategies. Results: The more common methods for Streptococcus pyogenes transmission are through respiratory droplets, skin lesions brought on by Streptococcus pyogenes contact with infected objects or devices. Another potential mode is foodborne transmission but more research is needed to determine this infection route. Native communities, and those of low socio-economic status worldwide were found particularly susceptible to Streptococcus diseases, as well as children, older adults and those with impaired immune system. Those groups are susceptible to Streptococcus pyogenes infections and their complications with higher infectious rates in educational institutions, hospitals, over-crowding and the continuous increase in social contact. The importance of improving living conditions and personal and hand hygiene is one of the techniques in the management and prevention of Streptococcus pyogenes infections. Infection control methods must be highlighted with greater precision. Conclusion: Prevention and control measures should target the improvement of living conditions, and personal and hand hygiene. Adherence to infection prevention and control practices should be emphasized in high-risk settings

Genome wide association study of uric acid in Indian population and interaction of identified variants with type 2 diabetes

Abnormal level of Serum Uric Acid (SUA) is an important marker and risk factor for complex diseases including Type 2 diabetes. Since genetic determinant of uric acid in Indians is totally unexplored, we tried to identify common variants associated with SUA in Indians using Genome Wide Association Study (GWAS). Association of five known variants in SLC2A9 and SLC22A11 genes with SUA level in 4,834 normoglycemics (1,109 in discovery and 3,725 in validation phase) was revealed with different effect size in Indians compared to other major ethnic population of the world. Combined analysis of 1,077 T2DM subjects (772 in discovery and 305 in validation phase) and normoglycemics revealed additional GWAS signal in ABCG2 gene. Differences in effect sizes of ABCG2 and SLC2A9 gene variants were observed between normoglycemics and T2DM patients. We identified two novel variants near long non-coding RNA genes AL356739.1 and AC064865.1 with nearly genome wide significance level. Meta-analysis and in silico replication in 11,745 individuals from AUSTWIN consortium improved association for rs12206002 in AL356739.1 gene to sub-genome wide association level. Our results extends association of SLC2A9, SLC22A11 and ABCG2 genes with SUA level in Indians and enrich the assemblages of evidence for SUA level and T2DM interrelationship