Eco-safe composite edible coating of hydrocolloids with papaya leaf extract improves postharvest quality and shelf life of papaya fruit under ambient storage.

Papaya postharvest management using low-temperature storage is discouraged as it is a tropical fruit. Extensive research is going on to preserve papaya quality at ambient storage using edible coatings and its composites. The present investigation examined the effects of an eco-safe composite edible coating consisting of hydrocolloid carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) (1%), guar gum (1.5%), xanthan gum (0.3%), and Gum Arabic (10%) combined with papaya leaf extract (PLE) (1:1 ratio by volume) applied as dip treatment on "Red Lady" papaya fruit at ambient storage condition. Among all the attempted treatments, "PLE incorporated with CMC (1%)" was found to be the best, as the treated fruit exhibited the highest levels of biochemicals, whereas the lowest levels of physiological and enzymatic activity, which positively affected the shelf life. The "CMC + PLE" treatment enhanced the fruit gloss score by 70.1%, phenolics by 6.1%, ascorbic acid by 22.3%, total carotenoid content by 7.4%, and fruit predilection score by 22.0% over the control fruit. However, it lowered (controlling) the physiological loss in weight by 51.0%, decay incidence by 66.6%, and polygalacturonase and pectin methylesterase activity by 24.92% and 35.29%, respectively, over control. Moreover, this treatment exhibited the highest fruit purchase predilection score and prolonged the storage life for >3 days on the physiological loss standard basis (≤10%). This study indicates that "CMC (1%) with PLE (1:1)" composite coating application on papaya under ambient conditions might be an effective, environmentally friendly, and health-friendly way to retain the quality and extend the storage life.

The unending burden of high out-of-pocket expenditure on institutional deliveries in India.

OBJECTIVE: This study aims to address the question that whether out-of-pocket expenditure (OOPE) on institutional deliveries remained high or reduced over time in India, in particular after the introduction of conditional cash transfer (CCT) incentive programmes such as Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY) in 2005. STUDY DESIGN: The study presents the trends in average OOPE on institutional deliveries in India, in an effort to evaluate the impact of the JSY programme on it. METHODS: For the purpose, the study used recently released 75th round of National Sample Survey data, 2017/18 about household social consumption (Health) and two of its previous rounds in 2004 and 2014. RESULTS: The results suggest that, except at rural public facilities, the average OOPE for institutional delivery has increased significantly in both rural and urban areas from 2004 to 2017/18, even after adjusting to inflation in the prices. In addition, the results have shown that overall 14 of 33 states for rural public facilities, 20 of 25 states in rural private facilities, 21 of 32 states in urban public facilities and 29 of 32 states in urban private facilities have experienced more than 50% raise in OOPE on institutional delivery during 2004-2017/18, despite JSY incentives. CONCLUSION: The findings suggest that the current level of JSY incentives will not be sufficient to avoid catastrophic spending on institutional deliveries for the households as the incentives in several states are much less than the state average OOPE per delivery. Thus, there is a need to consider a raise in the state or central contribution for CCT under the JSY programme to reduce the burden of OOPE on institutional deliveries through recently launched Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana.

Outbreak of scrub typhus in the North East Himalayan region-Sikkim: an emerging threat.

Scrub typhus is an acute febrile illness that is known to be endemic in the South East Asian countries and the Western Pacific region. We here report an outbreak in the tiny Himalayan state of Sikkim. Patients with pyrexia of unknown origin were evaluated. They were screened by Weil-Felix test and the rapid immunochromatographic method. Samples that were positive by either Weil-Felix agglutination test or by rapid immunochromatography were confirmed by IgM enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). A total 204 samples were screened. Sixty-three patients were confirmed positive among which 42 were male and 21 were female. Effective management and early administration of antibiotics will help prevent the complications and mortality associated with scrub typhus.

Measuring wealth-based health inequality among Indian children: the importance of equity vs efficiency.

The concentration index is the most commonly used measure of socio-economic-related health inequality. However, a critical constraint has been that it is just a measure of inequality. Equity is an important goal of health policy but the average level of health also matters. In this paper, we explore evidence of both these crucial dimensions-equity (inequality) and efficiency (average health)-in child health indicators by adopting the recently developed measure of the extended concentration index on the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-3) data from India. An increasing degree of inequality aversion is used to measure health inequalities as well as achievement in the following child health indicators: under-2 child mortality, full immunization coverage, and prevalence of underweight, wasting and stunting among children. State-wise adjusted under-2 child mortality scores reveal an increasing trend with increasing values of inequality aversion, implying that under-2 child deaths have been significantly concentrated among the poor households. The level of adjusted under-2 child mortality scores increases significantly with the increasing value of aversion even in states advanced in the health transition, such as Kerala and Goa. The higher values of adjusted scores for lower values of aversion for child immunization coverage are evidence that richer households benefited most from the rise in full immunization coverage. However, the lack of radical changes in the adjusted scores for underweight among children with increasing degrees of aversion implies that household economic status was not the only determinant of poor nutritional status in India.

Synthesis and magnetic characterizations of La(1-x)Sr(x)MnO3 nanoparticles for biomedical applications.

The La(1-x)Sr(x)MnO3 (LSMO) nanoparticles have been synthesized by citric gel process followed by ball milling method. These nanoparticles demonstrated high crystalline quality. Nanoparticle size was further decreased by ball milling technique as observed by the field-emission scanning electron microscopic studies. The ball milled and silica coated LSMO nanoparticles show magnetic transition at about 370 K with a superparamagnetic properties. The ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) spectra analysis of LSMO nanoparticles shows large FMR linewidth due to the surface strain of the nanoparticles. Both magnetization and FMR studies demonstrate that the LSMO nanoparticles are highly anisotropic. The toxicity of the nanoparticles was studied for safe biomedical applications. Measurement of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) and MTT assay results show that LSMO nanoparticles are relatively nontoxic and the toxicity is further reduced by SiO2 coating. These results are very important for applications in the field of biotechnology.

Why immunization coverage fails to catch up in India? A community-based analysis.

BACKGROUND: An effort has been made in this paper to examine the impact of community and household vis-à-vis individual-level variables on immunization coverage among Indian children. METHODS: National Family Health Survey-2 data set has been used for the analysis. Multilevel regression analyses have been used to explore the relative effects of community-, household- and individual-level factors on immunization coverage. Three community-level variables, i.e. availability of health facilities, availability of all-weather roads and information, education and communication (IEC) activities conducted during last year, are included in this analysis. RESULTS: Availability of health facility and information, education and communication activities plays a significant role in determining the level of immunization coverage among children. Even with community-level variables in the model, individual-level variables, i.e. parent's education, birth order of child and number of antenatal care visits, retain their predictive role for the potential immunization coverage. CONCLUSIONS: Universal immunization can be achieved by providing services at community level and information about the available services and their benefits to the community. There is a considerable, unexplained variation in the immunization coverage between different communities, even in the most complex model used in this study, which could explain the entire heterogeneity of immunization coverage among Indian states.

QT dispersion at rest and during adenosine stress myocardial perfusion imaging correlation with Myocardial Jeopardy Score.

BACKGROUND: The usefulness of QT dispersion (QTd) during adenosine myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) to predict severity of coronary artery disease (CAD) has not been studied. METHODS: Eighty-eight patients referred for diagnostic cardiac catheterization after abnormal MPI were included. Thirty-four patients with no stenosis (Duke Score = 0) were included in Group 1, and 54 patients with significant CAD (Duke Score > or = 2) formed Group 2. Resting and stress QTd and prolongation in QTd (delta QTd) were measured and evaluated as independent predictors for severity of CAD. RESULTS: Resting QTd was higher in Group 2 as compared with Group 1. During peak infusion of adenosine, QTd was significantly prolonged in Group 1 but remained unchanged, or fixed, in Group 2. In addition, in patients with significant CAD, resting QTd positively correlated with the Duke Score. On multiple regression analysis; independent predictors for significant CAD (odds ratio [OR], 95% confidence interval [CI], p-value) were resting QTd (4.9, 95% CI 1.1-21.6, < 0.05 for fourth Quartile compared with first Quartile) and delta QTd (4.0, 1.4-11.2, < 0.01 for first and second Quartiles compared with third and fourth Quartiles). CONCLUSION: In patients with abnormal stress MPI, prolonged resting QTd, and fixation of QTd during stress are independent predictors of significant CAD. In addition, resting QTd correlate with the Duke Jeopardy Score and therefore, may have independent prognostic value.

Removal of Cr(VI) from Aqueous Solution Using Activated Cow Dung Carbon.

Removal of hexavalent chromium from aqueous medium by using activated cow dung carbon was studied. Cow dung was carbonized and activated by treating with concentrated H(2)SO(4) followed by heating for 24 h at 120 degrees C. The extent of adsorption was studied as a function of pH, contact time, amount of adsorbent, concentration of adsorbate, and temperature. At lower pH (<3.5), the prepared sorbent was capable of removing approximately 90% Cr(VI) at 5 ppm concentration from aqueous synthetic solution. The dynamics of migration of the sorbate ions from the bulk onto the sorbent surface was studied and the results obtained under various experimental conditions were found to follow standard adsorption isotherms. The reaction kinetics was found to be of first order. Copyright 2000 Academic Press.

Adsorption of Hexavalent Chromium from Aqueous Solution by Using Activated Red Mud.

Adsorption by activated red mud (ARM) is investigated as a possible alternative to the conventional methods of Cr(VI) removal from aqueous synthetic solutions and industrial effluents. Adsorption characteristics suggest the heterogenous nature of the adsorbent surface sites with respect to the energy of adsorption. Various factors such as pH, contact time, Cr(VI) concentration, amount of adsorbent, and temperature are taken into account, and promising results are obtained. The applicability of the Langmuir as well as Freundlich adsorption isotherms for the present system is tested. The loading factor (i.e., milligrams of Cr(VI) adsorbed per gram of ARM) increased with initial Cr(VI) concentration, whereas a negative trend was observed with increasing temperature. The influence of the addition of anions on the adsorption of Cr(VI) depends on the relative affinity of the anions for the surface and the relative concentrations of the anions. Copyright 1999 Academic Press.

Adsorption of Phosphate from Aqueous Solution Using Activated Red Mud.

Adsorption of phosphate (PO3-4) from aqueous solution on activated red mud (ARM) was studied as a function of time, pH, temperature, concentration of adsorbent and adsorbate in acetic acid-sodium acetate buffer medium. The adsorption of phosphate follows Langmuir as well as Freundlich adsorption isotherms. The process efficiency was found to be 80-90% at room temperature. This can be extended to the treatment of industrial effluents containing phosphates like that from phosphatic fertilizer plants. Copyright 1998 Academic Press.

Characterization of mycobacterial species in clinically diagnosed cases of pulmonary tuberculosis and their HIV status.

A total of 75 clinically diagnosed and radiologically evident cases suggestive of pulmonary tuberculosis were selected for study. Sputum sample of each patient was screened for AFB by Ziehl Neelsen staining and culture. On examination 20 smears were found positive for AFB and 55 smears were negative by concentration method. A total of 23 samples were found to be culture positive and 52 were culture negative. Of these, 22 stains were identified as Mycobacterium tuberculosis, one was identified as M. Scrofulaceum. Of the 75 patients 3 were seropositive for HIV-I antibodies. Out of these 3, one was found to be smear and culture positive and was identified as M. scrofulaceum. Other two seropositive patients were smear and culture negative for AFB.

PIP: Individuals infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis have a higher likelihood of progressing to tuberculosis (TB) if they are co-infected with HIV. Likewise, TB may speed the development of HIV infection to AIDS in dually infected subjects. The timely diagnosis and treatment of TB are therefore important to both infected individuals and because M. tuberculosis is one HIV-associated pathogen which is moderately contagious through the respiratory route. 75 clinically diagnosed and radiologically evident cases at Government Medical College, Aurangabad Marathwada Region, between February 1993 and May 1994, suggestive of pulmonary tuberculosis were selected for study. A sputum sample from each patient was screened for AFB by Ziehl Neelsen staining and culture. 20 smears were found to be positive for AFB, while 55 smears were negative by the concentration method. 23 samples were culture positive and 52 were culture negative. Of those, 22 stains were identified as M. tuberculosis and 1 as M. scrofulaceum. Of the 3 patients identified as HIV-1 seropositive, 1 was smear and culture positive, and identified as M. scrofulaceum. The other 2 HIV-positive patients were smear and culture negative for AFB.