Assessment of well water quality in Tsunami affected regions of south-west coast of Kerala, India.

The quality of well waters, based on 23 parameters of water, at 12 stations of south-west coast of Kerala, India, was assessed during monsoon, 2009 and summer, 2010, to determine their suitability for drinking and other domestic purposes. The stations selected were grouped into four regions viz. least, slightly, moderately and severely affected ones based on the severity of 2004 Asian Tsunami at each station. The depths of wells showed variations depending on the seasons and on their distance from the seacoast. The average water temperatures during monsoon and summer seasons were 28.5oC and 30.2oC respectively. The pH of well waters were below 6.5 in least and slightly affected regions and above this value in moderately and severely affected regions. In all the four regions, the well water parameters of electrical conductivity, hardness, fluoride, free chlorine, copper, zinc, calcium and nickel were below, and phosphorus, lead, iron cadmium and manganese were above the standard permissible levels set for them in drinking water. The values of salinity, sodium and potassium in the well waters of moderately and severely affected regions, and the values of nitrate-nitrogen, nitrate and magnesium in the well waters of severely affected regions were above the permissible limits set for them in drinking water. Water quality index calculated on the basis of drinking water standards revealed that the well waters of least and slightly affected regions were moderately polluted in both monsoon and summer seasons and the same of moderately affected region were excessively polluted during monsoon and severely polluted during summer seasons, whereas the well waters of severely affected regions were severely polluted in both seasons. Suitable recommendations were made to improve the quality of well waters of least and slightly affected regions.

Leptin response in patients with tuberculous pleuritis.

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES: Tuberculous pleuritis is used as a model to understand the protective immune response in tuberculosis. It is predominated by Th1 response at the site of infection, where a possible role for the leptin, a known enhancer of Th1 response, could be speculated. Hence, we investigated leptin levels in pleural effusions in patients with both tuberculous (TP) and non-tuberculous (NTP) pleural effusion. METHODS: Leptin and cytokine levels were assessed in serum and pleural fluid of TP and NTP patients (N = 20 each) by ELISA. Multivariate regression analysis were performed to find the possible determinants of leptin taking leptin as the dependent and body mass index (BMI), gender, source of leptin [i.e., serum or pleural fluid (PF)], age and disease status as independent variables. RESULTS: PF leptin levels were significantly higher than serum leptin levels in both the groups however the PF leptin levels were significantly lower in TP subjects compared to NTP. The results showed that the leptin was found to be dependent on BMI but not on the other parameters. However, regression analysis based on the source of leptin showed males to be a better predictor of leptin. No correlation was observed between leptin and measured immune parameters. INTERPRETATION & CONCLUSION: Our findings demonstrated that the decreased leptin levels were associated with reduction in BMI but not with the disease status in tuberculous pleuritis.

Retinal nerve fiber layer measurements in indian eyes using the scanning laser polarimeter, GDx.

PURPOSE: To obtain retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) measurements in normal Indian subjects of different age groups; and to determine the differences between the right and the left eye of a subject and variations between male and female gender using the scanning laser polarimeter GDx. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Prospective cross-sectional study of 180 eyes of 94 subjects. The RNFL values were obtained with the nerve fiber analyser GDx using default quadrant positions supplied by the manufacturer. Fourteen parameters were studied. Of these 6 were average-based parameters (average thickness, superior maximum, inferior maximum, ellipse average, superior average, inferior average), 4 ratio-based parameters (symmetry, superior ratio, inferior ratio, superior/nasal), 4 "other" parameters (maximum modulation, number, ellipse modulation, superior integral). The main outcome measures were effect of age on RNFL values, comparison of males and females and the right and the left eye of a subject. RESULTS: There was a negative linear correlation with age. Three ratio-based parameters showed a statistically significant negative correlation with age. "Number" increased with age. Superior maximum, superior average, superior integral, symmetry and superior ratio were higher for the left eye. 'Number' was higher for the right eye. Superior ratio and maximum modulation were more in females than males, no difference was noted with other parameters. CONCLUSION: There was a gradual decrease of RNFL values with increasing age - the superior quadrant values were higher for the left eye than the right eye, suggesting asymmetry. No significant differences were detected between males and females.