HAIR DYE- AN EMERGING SUICIDAL AGENT: OUR EXPERIENCE

Hair dye poisoning has been emerging as one of the important causes of intentional deliberate self harm. To study the epidemiology of patients who consumed Super Vasmol (a commonly used commercial hair dye), profile of patients referred to the ENT department, to find the effectiveness of supportive therapy and to compare between the tracheostomy and the non tracheostomy group, a retrospective study was conducted inpatients who consumed Super Vasmol admitted over a year (April 2009 – March 2010) in a teaching hospital in South India. Out of the 108 patients 38 (35.2%) were males and 70 (64.8%) were females. 42 (38.9%) were in 21-25 age group. Patients who developed cervico-facial oedema, throat pain, burning sensation in the throat, change of voice, no voice and dyspnoea with stridor were referred to the ENT Department. 74 (68.5%) patientsneeded an ENT opinion. Cervico-facial oedema was the main clinical manifestation in 74 patients. 33 of themunderwent tracheostomy. The mortality in 108 patients was 22.2% and after tracheostomy 21.2%. Purpose of thestudy is to create public awareness about the lethal effects of the hair dye, because it is a major health problem and to educate the public and the medical professional about the need for aggressive and early treatment.

Determinants of Rice Variety Diversity on Household Farms in the Terai Region of Nepal

Crop genetic resources are the building block of sustainable agricultural development as these can be used to develop crop varieties adaptable to heterogeneous environmental conditions. Nepal is considered the center of origin and diversity for Asian rice, which still has many landraces. However, there has been continuous loss of genetic diversity and concern over it has grown in recent years. The main objective of this paper is to identify the determinants of variety diversity on-farm in the rainfed ecosystem of Nepal by using two-limit Tobit procedure. The diversity on farm appeared to be quite high evaluated based on the number of named varieties grown by the farmers. Majority of the farmers cultivated both modern varieties and landraces simultaneously and the rice production is also getting commercialized gradually. The results showed that the motivating factors for variety diversification are the heterogeneous production environments, risk consideration and farmers' participation in the markets. However, the farmers' dependency on formal extension system for the seed of limited varieties led to reduction in diversity. Diverse crop genetic resources on-farm can generate both commercial and noncommercial benefits. As economies develop, markets play an important role in shaping farmers' choices and use of cultivars diversity. Therefore, the public investments are needed in developing the infrastructures to support the formation of niche markets and increasing the farmers' participation in crop breeding and improvement programs. Also, the formal extension system should be mobilized for the production and distribution of seeds of many varieties including the landraces.diversity, market, Nepal, rice, variety, Crop Production/Industries,