Land cover changes and carbon dynamics in Central India's dry tropical forests: A 25-year assessment and nature-based eco-restoration approaches.

Anthropogenic land use and land cover changes are major drivers of environmental degradation and declining soil health across heterogeneous landscapes in Central India. To examines the land cover changes and spatio-temporal variations in forest carbon stock and soil organic carbon (SOC) over the past 25 years in central India. Geospatial techniques, coupled with ground measurements were employed to detect changes in land cover, carbon stocks in vegetation, and soil carbon in various vegetation types. The results indicate that forested areas have decreased, while agriculture and habitation have expanded between 1997 and 2022. Vegetation C stocks varied significantly (P < 0.05) from 39.42 to 139.95 Mg ha-1 and the SOC varied from 7.02 to 17.98 Mg ha-1 under different soil profiles across vegetation types, which decreased with soil depth, while the pH and bulk density increased. The maximum bulk density in the soil was found at a depth of 40-60 cm (lower profile) in Bamboo Brake, while the minimum was observed under Dense Mixed Forest at a depth of 0-20 cm (top profile). The topsoil profile contributed 33.6%-39%, the middle profile (20-40 cm) was 33.6%-34.4%, and the lower profile was 26.5%-30.8% of soil organic carbon. The study site has experienced rapid carbon losses due to changes in land cover, such as illegal expansion of agriculture, encroachments into forest fringes, and activities like selective logging and overgrazing, which have degraded dense forests. The ecological engineering of degraded ecosystems poses a great challenge and application of complex biological, mechanical and engineering measures is highly cumbersome, expensive, uneconomical and practically not feasible for upscaling. Nevertheless, proposed nature-based solutions mimic natural reparation and processes provide sustainable interventions for the reclamation of ruined landscapes besides improving ecological integrity and rendering many co-benefits to ecosystems and human societies.

Women's awareness of perinatal mental health conditions and the acceptability of being asked about mental health in two regions in India: a qualitative study.

BACKGROUND: Mental health conditions are common during pregnancy and the first year after childbirth. Early detection allows timely support and treatment to be offered, but identifying perinatal mental health conditions may be challenging due to stigma and under-recognition of symptoms. Asking about symptoms of mental health conditions during routine antenatal and postnatal appointments can help to identify women at risk. This study explores women's awareness of perinatal mental health conditions, their views on the acceptability of being asked about mental health and any preference for specific assessment tools in two regions in India. METHODS: Focus group discussions (FGDs) were conducted with pregnant, post-partum and non-perinatal women in Kangra, Himachal Pradesh (northern India) and Bengaluru, Karnataka (southern India). Settings included a hospital antenatal clinic and obstetric ward, Anganwadi Centres and Primary Health Centres. FGDs were facilitated, audio-recorded and transcribed. Narratives were coded for emerging themes and analysed using thematic analysis. RESULTS: Seven FGDs including 36 participants were conducted. Emerging themes were: manifestations of and contributors to mental health conditions; challenges in talking about mental health; and the acceptability of being asked about mental health. Difficult familial relationships, prioritising the needs of others and pressure to have a male infant were cited as key stressors. Being asked about mental health was generally reported to be acceptable, though some women felt uncomfortable with questions about suicidality. No preference for any specific assessment tool was reported. CONCLUSIONS: Women face many stressors during the perinatal period including difficult familial relationships and societal pressure to bear a male infant. Being asked about mental health was generally considered to be acceptable, but questions relating to suicidality may be challenging in a community setting, requiring sensitivity by the interviewer. Future studies should assess the acceptability of mental health assessments in 'real world' antenatal and postnatal clinics and explore ways of overcoming the associated challenges in resource-constrained settings.

Impact of caffeic acid on growth, development and biochemical physiology of insect pest, Spodoptera litura (Fabricius).

The tobacco cutworm, Spodoptera litura (Fabricius) is a serious cosmopolitan pest that attacks several economically important crops such as maize, sorghum, chickpea, pigeon pea, cotton, tobacco and sunflower. It has developed resistance to most pesticides resulting in its continual outbreak. The effect of caffeic acid on second instar larvae of S. litura was evaluated by carrying out bioassays, nutritional assays, immune assays and biochemical assays with phenolic acids. Bioassays carried out with second instar larvae of S. litura showed growth inhibiting effects of various concentrations (5 ppm, 25 ppm, 125 ppm, 625 ppm and 3125 ppm) of caffeic acid on S. litura in comparison to control. A significant increase in mortality as well as an increased development time was observed with increase in the concentration of caffeic acid. A decrease in nutritional indices, including relative growth rate (RGR), relative consumption rate (RCR), efficiency of conversion of ingested food (ECI), efficiency of conversion of digested food (ECD), and approximate digestibility (AD), indicated that dietary caffeic acid also negatively impacted the nutritional physiology of S. litura larvae. Caffeic acid has a significant impact on the immunological response of S. litura larvae. As the concentration of caffeic acid increased, the overall number of hemocytes decreased. Enzymatic assays revealed a significant increase in antioxidant enzymes when S. litura larvae were given an artificial diet containing LC50 concentration of phenolic acid for an interval of 24, 48, 72 and 96 h. The levels of oxidative stress markers (hydrogen peroxide, protein carbonyl and lipid peroxide) were also significantly enhanced in S. litura larvae after treatment with phenolic acid. According to our study, caffeic acid can be employed as a substitute for traditional insecticides to reduce the population of S. litura.

Prevalence and Predicting Factors of Alcohol Use Among School Going Adolescents in a Hilly State of Northern India.

Background: Alcohol use among adolescents is rising globally. This habit starts in adolescence and continues throughout their life. Alcohol addiction is associated with many other risky behaviors. Social environmental interventions will be an effective measure to control the problem of alcohol use. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to estimate the prevalence of alcohol use among adolescents and to investigate the associated risk and protective factors. Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out among school going adolescents in the hilly state Himachal. A pre-validated, self-administered questionnaire was used for data collection. Results: The prevalence of alcohol use in adolescent was 6.1% (10.7% in males and 0.4% in females). Binary logistic regression model revealed that parent's and peer's drinking behavior significantly predicts an adolescent's drinking behavior. Conclusion: Our research supports the need for an adolescent health program involving school, peers, and family. Life skill education should be given to the adolescents to inculcate the resilience so that they learn to say no to peers who try to pull them into such habits.

Management of a Complex Dentoalveolar Traumatic Injury with Multiple Avulsions.

BACKGROUND: Dentoalveolar trauma is a major cause of tooth loss in children. Avulsion, luxation, crown, and root fracture are the injuries to primary and permanent dentition. The incidence of trauma for maxillary anterior teeth ranges for 4%-91%. Many case reports have been published regarding the treatment of trauma to anterior teeth; however, case reports comprising multiple avulsions including canines and premolars are rare in literature. METHOD: After mouth rinsing was done with 2% betadine solution, the luxated teeth numbers 31 and 42 were repositioned into the tooth socket and were secured with the composite resin-wire splint. Tooth number 32 was extracted because it was disarticulated from the socket, and the socket was disrupted because of the alveolar fracture. The maxillary avulsed teeth could not be reimplanted because of the alveolar socket damage which was due to the alveolar bone fracture. RESULTS: The patient was reevaluated for the removable prosthesis in recall visits; the patient was well adapted to the appliance with no complaints regarding mastication and speech. The patient was advised to report periodically for further adjustments in the prosthesis and for radiographic evaluation. CONCLUSIONS: This case report includes proper history taking, diagnosis, and treatment of a complex dentoalveolar trauma along with short-term prosthetic rehabilitation for improvement of aesthetics, phonetics, and mastication of growing child.

Ubiquitination and receptor-mediated mitophagy converge to eliminate oxidation-damaged mitochondria during hypoxia.

The contribution of the Ubiquitin-Proteasome System (UPS) to mitophagy has been largely attributed to the E3 ubiquitin ligase Parkin. Here we show that in response to the oxidative stress associated with hypoxia or the hypoxia mimic CoCl2, the damaged and fragmented mitochondria are removed by Parkin-independent mitophagy. Mitochondria isolated from hypoxia or CoCl2-treated cells exhibited extensive ubiquitination, predominantly Lysine 48-linked and involves the degradation of key mitochondrial proteins such as the mitofusins MFN1/2, or the import channel component TOM20. Reflecting the critical role of mitochondrial protein degradation, proteasome inhibition blocked CoCl2-induced mitophagy. The five conserved ubiquitin-binding autophagy receptors (p62, NDP52, Optineurin, NBR1, TAX1BP1) were dispensable for the ensuing mitophagy, suggesting that the mitophagy step itself was independent of ubiquitination. Instead, the expression of two ubiquitin-independent mitophagy receptor proteins BNIP3 and NIX was induced by hypoxia or CoCl2-treatment followed by their recruitment to the oxidation-damaged mitochondria. By employing BNIP3/NIX double knockout and DRP1-null cell lines, we confirmed that mitochondrial clearance relies on DRP1-dependent mitochondrial fragmentation and BNIP3/NIX-mediated mitophagy. General antioxidants such as N-Acetyl Cysteine (NAC) or the mitochondria-specific Mitoquinone prevented HIF-1α stabilization, ameliorated hypoxia-related mitochondrial oxidative stress, and suppressed mitophagy. We conclude that the UPS and receptor-mediated autophagy converge to eliminate oxidation-damaged mitochondria.

Inhibition of proteasome reveals basal mitochondrial ubiquitination.

Strict quality control for mitochondrial proteins is necessary to ensure cell homeostasis. Two cellular pathways-Ubiquitin Proteasome System (UPS) and autophagy-contribute to mitochondrial homeostasis under stressful conditions. Here, we investigate changes to the mitochondria proteome and to the ubiquitin landscape at mitochondria in response to proteasome inhibition. Treatment of HeLa cells devoid of Parkin, the primary E3 ligase responsible for mitophagy, with proteasome inhibitor MG132 for a few hours caused mitochondrial oxidative stress and fragmentation, reduced energy output, and increased mitochondrial ubiquitination without inducing mitophagy. Overexpression of Parkin did not show any induction of mitophagy in response to MG132 treatment. Analysis of ubiquitin chains on isolated mitochondria revealed predominance of K48, K29 and K63-linked polyubiquitin. Interestingly, of all ubiquitinated mitochondrial proteins detected in response to MG132 treatment, a majority (≥90%) were intramitochondrial irrespective of Parkin expression. However, overall levels of these ubiquitinated mitochondrial proteins did not change significantly upon proteasome inhibition when evaluated by quantitative proteomics (LFQ and SILAC), suggesting that only a small portion are ubiquitinated under basal conditions. Another aspect of proteasome inhibition is significant enrichment of UPS, lysosomal and phagosomal components, and other heat shock proteins associated with isolated mitochondria. Taken together, our study highlights a critical role of UPS for ubiquitinating and removing imported proteins as part of a basal mitochondrial quality control system independent of Parkin. SIGNIFICANCE: As centers of cellular bioenergetics, numerous metabolic pathways and signaling cascades, the health of mitochondria is of utmost importance for ensuring cell survival. Due to their unique physiology, mitochondria are constantly subjected to damaging oxidative radicals (ROS) and protein import-related stress due to buildup of unfolded aggregate-prone proteins. Thus, for quality control purposes, mitochondria are constantly under surveillance by Autophagy and the Ubiquitin Proteasome System (UPS), both of which share ubiquitin as a common signal. The ubiquitin landscape of mitochondria has been studied in detail under stressful conditions, however, little is known about basal mitochondrial ubiquitination. Our study reveals that the extent of ubiquitination at mitochondria greatly increases upon proteasome inhibition, pointing to a large number of potential substrates for proteasomal degradation. Interestingly, most of the ubiquitination occurs on intramitochondrial proteins, components of the electron transport chain (ETC) and matrix-resident metabolic enzymes in particular. Moreover, numerous cytosolic UPS components, chaperones and autophagy-lysosomal proteins were recruited to mitochondria upon proteasome inhibition. Taken together, this suggests that the levels and functions of mitochondrial proteins are constantly regulated through ubiquitin-dependent proteasomal degradation even under basal conditions. Unclogging mitochondrial import channels may provide a mechanism to alleviate stress associated with mitochondrial protein import or to adapt cells according to their metabolic needs. Therefore, targeting the mitochondrial ubiquitination/deubiquitination machinery, such as improving the therapeutic potency of proteasome inhibitors, may provide an additional therapeutic arsenal against tumors.

An assessment of compliance with the provisions of Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act 2003: Is Shimla a smoke-free city?

Background: . Tobacco consumption in any form is a major contributor to non-communicable diseases, and it is the leading preventable cause of death worldwide. Secondhand smoke is also harmful. To halt the smoking epidemic and protect people from second-hand smoke, the Government of India enacted the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA) in 2003. Methods: . We ascertained compliance with the provisions of COTPA 2003 at 183 public places and 41 transport facilities of Shimla city from August 2017 to July 2018. Results: . Only 48% of public places had good compliance with the provisions of COTPA 2003. On average, a public place was found to be compliant with 7 of 10 key indicators of Section 4. Educational institutes and government offices had a higher rate of compliance compared to other places. Active smoking and signages signalling ban on smoking were observed in 17% and 95.6% of public places, respectively. Smoking aids (e.g. ashtrays) were observed at <10% of places. A designated smoking area was not seen at any public place. Conclusion: . Overall compliance of the Act was low with less than half the places having satisfactory compliance with Section 4. There is a need to raise awareness about the negative effects of smoking on health and environment and ensure strict adherence to the provisions of COTPA 2003.

Creation of a Smoke-free Environment for Children: An Assessment of Compliance to COTPA 2003 Legislation in an Urban Area.

OBJECTIVE: To ascertain the compliance to Cigarette and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA) 2003 which ensures the protection of children from the adverse health effects of second hand smoke. METHODS: This cross-sectional study assessed the compliance of 32 educational institutions and 157 points of sale of Shimla city. RESULTS: About 88% of the educational institutions and mere 7.6% points of sale were found having good compliance to the key indicators. No point of sale was found within the premises of educational institutions; however, 26% were found selling tobacco products within 100 metres radius of an educational institution. 7.6% points of sale were found selling a tobacco product to children. CONCLUSIONS: Despite having the status of a smoke-free city, lapses were observed in compliance to the Act. Strict adherence to the provisions of the Act would ultimately lead to a smoke-free environment for our children.

Structural Basis for the Inhibitory Effects of Ubistatins in the Ubiquitin-Proteasome Pathway.

The discovery of ubistatins, small molecules that impair proteasomal degradation of proteins by directly binding to polyubiquitin, makes ubiquitin itself a potential therapeutic target. Although ubistatins have the potential for drug development and clinical applications, the lack of structural details of ubiquitin-ubistatin interactions has impeded their development. Here, we characterized a panel of new ubistatin derivatives using functional and binding assays. The structures of ubiquitin complexes with ubistatin B and hemi-ubistatin revealed direct interactions with ubiquitin's hydrophobic surface patch and the basic/polar residues surrounding it. Ubistatin B binds ubiquitin and diubiquitin tighter than a high-affinity ubiquitin receptor and shows strong preference for K48 linkages over K11 and K63. Furthermore, ubistatin B shields ubiquitin conjugates from disassembly by a range of deubiquitinases and by the 26S proteasome. Finally, ubistatin B penetrates cancer cells and alters the cellular ubiquitin landscape. These findings highlight versatile properties of ubistatins and have implications for their future development and use in targeting ubiquitin-signaling pathways.

Use of modified bilateral electroconvulsive therapy during pregnancy: A case series.

There is limited literature on the use of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) during pregnancy. ECT is considered as a treatment of last resort during pregnancy. In this case series, we present the data of five patients who were administered ECT during pregnancy. The use of ECT required multidisciplinary approach involving psychiatrist, gynecologist, anesthetist and neonatologist. Two patients received ECT during the second trimester and three patients received ECT during the third trimester. In all the patients, ECT was administered by placing the patients in the left lateral position, glycopyrrolate was used for premedication, thiopentone was used for induction, and succinylcholine was used for muscle relaxation. Patients who were administered ECT close to the full-term were given injection betamethasone 12 mg intramuscularly on two consecutive days before starting of first ECT to promote fetal lung maturity. In all the five cases, no adverse maternal and fetal outcomes were encountered except for possible precipitation of labor in one case.

Bipolar affective disorder and its impact on various aspects of marital relationship.

Bipolar disorder (BD) is a severe mental disorder, which not only has negative consequences on the life of the patient, but also affects the immediate family members. As it often starts early in life, patients who get married often suffer from many negative consequences in their marital life due to the illness. This review focuses on studies which have evaluated marital rates, rate of marital failure, divorce, infertility, and procreation among patients with BD. In addition, this review evaluates the existing literature pertaining to marital adjustment, marital satisfaction, sexual dysfunction, and sexual satisfaction among patients with BD and their partners/spouses. Data suggest that very high proportion of patients with BD get married and marital rates are higher for patients with BD, when compared with those suffering from schizophrenia. In terms of divorce rates, studies suggest that patients with BD have higher rates of divorce. In terms of fertility rates, studies suggest that compared to those without the illness, the fertility rates among patients with BD are lower. In terms of marital adjustment, results are mixed with some studies suggesting poorer marital adjustment among patients and their spouses too. In terms of sexual dysfunction, studies suggest the presence of sexual dysfunction among one-third to half of the patients receiving lithium. To conclude, this review suggests that patients with BD experience multiple negative marital and sexual consequences.

Reduction in mitochondrial iron alleviates cardiac damage during injury.

Excess cellular iron increases reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and causes cellular damage. Mitochondria are the major site of iron metabolism and ROS production; however, few studies have investigated the role of mitochondrial iron in the development of cardiac disorders, such as ischemic heart disease or cardiomyopathy (CM). We observe increased mitochondrial iron in mice after ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) and in human hearts with ischemic CM, and hypothesize that decreasing mitochondrial iron protects against I/R damage and the development of CM. Reducing mitochondrial iron genetically through cardiac-specific overexpression of a mitochondrial iron export protein or pharmacologically using a mitochondria-permeable iron chelator protects mice against I/R injury. Furthermore, decreasing mitochondrial iron protects the murine hearts in a model of spontaneous CM with mitochondrial iron accumulation. Reduced mitochondrial ROS that is independent of alterations in the electron transport chain's ROS producing capacity contributes to the protective effects. Overall, our findings suggest that mitochondrial iron contributes to cardiac ischemic damage, and may be a novel therapeutic target against ischemic heart disease.

Norepinephrine-induced apoptotic and hypertrophic responses in H9c2 cardiac myoblasts are characterized by different repertoire of reactive oxygen species generation.

Despite recent advances, the role of ROS in mediating hypertrophic and apoptotic responses in cardiac myocytes elicited by norepinephrine (NE) is rather poorly understood. We demonstrate through our experiments that H9c2 cardiac myoblasts treated with 2 µM NE (hypertrophic dose) generate DCFH-DA positive ROS only for 2h; while those treated with 100 µM NE (apoptotic dose) sustains generation for 48 h, followed by apoptosis. Though the levels of DCFH fluorescence were comparable at early time points in the two treatment sets, its quenching by DPI, catalase and MnTmPyP suggested the existence of a different repertoire of ROS. Both doses of NE also induced moderate levels of H2O2 but with different kinetics. Sustained but intermittent generation of highly reactive species detectable by HPF was seen in both treatment sets but no peroxynitrite was generated in either conditions. Sustained generation of hydroxyl radicals with no appreciable differences were noticed in both treatment sets. Nevertheless, despite similar profile of ROS generation between the two conditions, extensive DNA damage as evident from the increase in 8-OH-dG content, formation of γ-H2AX and PARP cleavage was seen only in cells treated with the higher dose of NE. We therefore conclude that hypertrophic and apoptotic doses of NE generate distinct but comparable repertoire of ROS/RNS leading to two very distinct downstream responses.

Risk factors for cancer cervix among rural women of a hilly state: a case-control study.

In Himachal Pradesh, cancer cervix is a major public health problem since it ranks as the number one female cancer. A case-control study of 226 newly diagnosed, histopathologically confirmed cases of cancer cervix and equal number of matched controls was conducted at Regional Cancer Center, Himachal Pradesh during the period from July 2008 to October 2009 with the objective to study the common factors associated with cancer cervix. Univariate analysis identified 10 risk factors associated significantly with the disease. On multiple logistic regression, however, only seven risk factors were found to be associated significantly with the disease. These were: Age at birth of first child, spacing between two children, age at marriage, literacy, socioeconomic status, multiparity, and poor genital hygiene. Risk factors such as poor genital hygiene, age at birth of first child <19 years, early marriage, illiteracy, multiparity, and low socioeconomic status were highly prevalent in the study subjects and were found to be significantly associated with cancer cervix.

Prevalence and predictors of suicidal ideations among school going adolescents in a hilly state of India.

BACKGROUND: Adolescent suicide is an important public health issue. Suicidal ideations are often the precursor of suicide and can be targeted by appropriate and timely interventions. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To determine the prevalence of suicide ideation and to study its predictive factors among school going adolescents. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This cross-sectional study was carried out in selected senior secondary schools in Shimla district of Himachal Pradesh, India. A pre-validated, self-administered questionnaire was used for data collection. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were applied using Epi info software for windows (CDC Atlanta) software for windows. RESULTS: A total of 218 study subjects (30.9%; confidence interval = 27.6-34.5%) had suicide ideation. Discussing problems with parents (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] =0.5), having good relations with school teachers (AOR = 0.6) and helpful classmates (AOR = 0.6) lowered the odds of having suicidal ideations. On the contrary, adolescents having worrying issues in family (AOR = 2.5), verbally or physically abused (AOR = 2.8) and body image conscious (AOR = 1.8) had increased odds of suicidal ideations. CONCLUSIONS: Suicidal ideation is a common experience among adolescents residing in Shimla district of North India. The supportive environment at home and in school decrease its vulnerability.

Proteomic analysis of oil body membrane proteins accompanying the onset of desiccation phase during sunflower seed development.

A noteworthy metabolic signature accompanying oil body (OB) biogenesis during oilseed development is associated with the modulation of the oil body membranes proteins. Present work focuses on 2-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (2-D PAGE)-based analysis of the temporal changes in the OB membrane proteins analyzed by LC-MS/MS accompanying the onset of desiccation (20-30 d after anthesis; DAA) in the developing seeds of sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.). Protein spots unique to 20-30 DAA stages were picked up from 2-D gels for identification and the identified proteins were categorized into 7 functional classes. These include proteins involved in energy metabolism, reactive oxygen scavenging, proteolysis and protein turnover, signaling, oleosin and oil body biogenesis-associated proteins, desiccation and cytoskeleton. At 30 DAA stage, exclusive expressions of enzymes belonging to energy metabolism, desiccation and cytoskeleton were evident which indicated an increase in the metabolic and enzymatic activity in the cells at this stage of seed development (seed filling). Increased expression of cruciferina-like protein and dehydrin at 30 DAA stage marks the onset of desiccation. The data has been analyzed and discussed to highlight desiccation stage-associated metabolic events during oilseed development.

Combating Iron Deficiency Anemia among School Going Adolescent Girls in a Hilly State of North India: Effectiveness of Intermittent Versus Daily Administration of Iron Folic Acid Tablets.

BACKGROUND: National surveys in India have documented an increasing number of adolescent girls suffering from anemia. Efforts to build iron stores in adolescent girls will help them improve their prepregnancy hemoglobin level. To assess the effectiveness of school-based supervised weekly, bi-weekly, and daily regimen of iron folic tablets in the treatment of anemia among adolescent girls. METHODS: This randomized clinical trial included 331 anemic school going adolescent girls of Shimla district of North India. Study subjects were randomized to once weekly, bi-weekly, and daily iron folic acid regimen group. An intent-to-treat approach was used to analyze the change in hemoglobin level and serum ferritin levels at the end of the trial period. RESULTS: The rate of change of hemoglobin and serum ferritin levels from baseline to the end of the intervention was found to be similar in all the three groups (P = 0.64 and 0.98 for change in hemoglobin and serum ferritin). Bi-weekly treatment regimen results in comparatively more increase in hemoglobin levels (3.1 g/dl) as compared to once weekly (2.4 g/dl) and daily groups (2.3 g/dl) (ANOVA F statistics = 6.08, P = 0.003). Among the study subjects who reported side effects, more were from daily regimen group (55%) as compared to intermittent regimen group (25% in bi-weekly group; 18% in weekly group; P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: In Shimla hills of North India, school-based intermittent iron-folic acid therapy is a feasible and effective intervention for increasing hemoglobin and serum ferritin levels of anemic adolescent girls.

Prevalence of cigarette smoking and its predictors among school going adolescents of North India.

BACKGROUND: Cigarettes smoking is a common mode of consuming tobacco in India. This habit usually starts in adolescence and tracks across the life course. Interventions like building decision making skills and resisting negative influences are effective in reducing the initiation and level of tobacco use. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence of adolescent current cigarette smoking behavior and to investigate the individual and social factors, which influence them both to and not to smoke. METHODOLOGY: A cross-sectional study was carried out among school going adolescents in Shimla town of North India. After obtaining their written informed consent, a questionnaire was administered. RESULTS: The overall prevalence of current cigarette smoking was 11.8%. The binary logistic regression model revealed that parents' and peers' smoking behavior influence adolescent smoking behavior. Individual self-harm tendency also significantly predicted cigarette smoking behavior. Parental active participation in keeping a track of their children's free time activities predicted to protect adolescents from taking this habit. CONCLUSION: Our research lends support to the need for intervention on restricting adolescents from taking up this habit and becoming another tobacco industries' addicted customer. Parents who smoke should quit this habit, which will not only restore their own health, but also protect their children. All parents should be counseled to carefully observe their children's free time activities.

A probable crosstalk between Ca⁺², reactive oxygen species accumulation and scavenging mechanisms and modulation of protein kinase C activity during seed development in sunflower.

Seed development in sunflower involves a gradual dehydration and accumulation of oil bodies in the cells of developing cotyledons during transition from 30 to 40 DAA stage. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) content decreased with seed maturation. NO content and NO contributed by putative nitric oxide synthase, however, did not change markedly. Superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity exhibited a peak at 30 DAA stage, indicating its scavenging role at the mid-stage of seed development. H2O2 produced as a result of SOD action is subsequently scavenged primarily by elevation of GR activity. Significant temporal differences were evident in GR and POD activity during seed development. Protein kinase C (PKC) activity also showed modulation during early stages of embryo and seed development. Use of PKC-specific fluorescent probe, Fim-1, and PKC inhibitors (staurosporine and bisindoylmaleamide) provided evidence for increase in PKC activity at 40 DAA stage with an increase in protein concentration (50 to 200 µg). Endogenous calcium content also increased with seed maturation. Tissue homogenates from 40 DAA stage showed enhanced fluorescence due to Fim-1-PKC binding in presence of calcium ions and its lowering due to calcium chelating agent (BAPTA). Western blot analysis revealed an increase in the intensity of 2 bands representing PKC with the advancement of seed maturation and their further upregulation by calcium. Present findings, thus, provide new information on the biochemical regulation of seed development in sunflower, with evidence for a possible correlation between calcium, ROS, their scavenging enzymes and "conventional" PKC activity.