Assessment of reproductive health service utilization in urban slums: Evidence from Western Rajasthan

Objective:To assess the utilization of reproductive health services in urban slum of Jodhpur city,India.Methods:A community based cross-sectional study was conducted in an urban slums of Jodhpur city amongst 300 married women of reproductive age between March and June 2021.Semi-structured questionnaire was used to gather demographic data and information about utilization of antenatal care(ANC)services,delivery and post-partum services.Results:The majority of females were aged less than 25 years(n=195;65.0%),married after 18 years(n=240;80%),living in extended families(n=265;88.3%)and with monthly family income less than 10000 rupees(n=182;60.7%).Statistically significant associations were found between≥4 ANC visits and educational level of secondary and above(OR 2.47,95%CI 1.03–6.28;P=0.04),older age(OR 15.70,95%CI 14.87–16.54 for women aged 26-35 years,OR 16.14,95%CI 12.12–20.01 for women aged≥36 years;P<0.01),and backward and general castes(OR 15.91,95%CI 13.57–17.85 for backward caste and OR 8.11,95%CI 8.07–8.26 for general category of caste;P<0.01).Seven percent of females had undergone parturition.Older age was associated with higher risks of postpartum complications(OR 1.06,95%CI 1.01–1.57 for women aged 26-35 years,OR 3.56,95%CI 1.29–4.69 for women aged≥36 years;P<0.01).In addition,risks of postpartum complications were associated with backward and general castes(OR 1.69,95%CI 1.34–2.13 for backward classes and OR 5.01,95%CI 4.29–5.31 for general category castes;P<0.01),and more than 4 ANC visits(OR 0.20,95%CI 0.09–0.34;P<0.01).Conclusions:More frequent ANC visits are associated with a lower risk of postpartum complications.Furthermore,a high utilization of reproductive health services represents good implementation of reproductive and child health programme at the peripheral level resulting in a stark rise in maternal health indicators in the state of Rajasthan.

Dust acoustic shock waves in magnetized dusty plasma

We have presented a theoretical study of the dust acoustic(DA) shock structures in a magnetized,electron depleted dusty plasma in the presence of two temperature superthermal ions. By deriving a Korteweg–de Vries–Burgers equation and studying its shock solution, we aim to highlight the effects of magnetic field and obliqueness on various properties of the DA shock structures in the presence of kappa-distributed two temperature ion population. The present model is motivated by the observations of Geotail spacecraft in the Earth?s magnetotail and it is seen that the different physical parameters such as superthermality of the cold and hot ions, the cold to hot ion temperature ratio, the magnetic field strength, obliqueness and the dust kinematic viscosity greatly influence the dynamics of the shock structures so formed. The results suggest that the variation of superthermalities of the cold and hot ions have contrasting effects on both positive and negative polarity shock structures.Moreover, it is noted that the presence of the ambient magnetic field affects the dispersive properties of the medium and tends to make the shock structures less wide and more abrupt. The findings of present investigation may be useful in understanding the dynamics of shock waves in dusty plasma environments containing two temperature ions where the electrons are significantly depleted.

Nonplanar dust acoustic solitary and rogue waves in an ion beam plasma with superthermal electrons and ions

The propagation characteristics of dust acoustic solitary and rogue waves are investigated in an unmagnetized ion beam plasma with electrons and ions following kappa-type distribution in nonplanar geometry. The reductive perturbation method(RPM) is employed to derive the cylindrical/spherical Korteweg–de Vries(KdV) equation, which is further transformed into standard KdV equation by neglecting the geometrical effects. Using new stretching coordinates,nonlinear Schr?dinger equation(NLSE) has been derived from the standard KdV equation to study the different order rational solutions of dust acoustic rogue waves(DARWs). The impact of various physical parameters on the characteristics of dust acoustic solitary waves(DASWs) is elaborated specifically in nonplanar geometry. Further, the effects of ion beam and superthermality of electrons/ions on the characteristics of DARWs are studied. The results obtained in the present investigation may be useful in comprehending a variety of phenomena in Earth's magnetosphere polar cap region where the presence of positive ion beam has been detected and also in other regions of space/astrophysical environments where dust along with superthermal electrons and ions exists.

Donors for Resistance to Brown Planthopper Nilaparvata lugens(St?l) from Wild Rice Species

Out of 1 989 wild accessions sown in seed boxes for screening, only 1 003 wild accessions with good germination were screened against brown planthopper(BPH), Nilaparvata lugens(St?l) under greenhouse conditions. The collection comprised of accessions from 11 wild species and African cultivated rice. The germplasm was screened for BPH following standard seed box screening technique in the greenhouse. As many as 159 accessions were identified as resistant during the year 2012 based on one year screening. A selected set of BPH resistant accessions were screened again during 2013. Based on the two years screening, seven accessions of O. nivara(AA), one accession of O. officinalis(CC), seven accessions of O. australiensis(EE), five accessions of O. punctata(BB and BBCC) and nine accessions of O. latifolia(CCDD) were confirmed to be resistant to BPH. So far no BPH resistance genes have been identified and designated from O. nivara and O. punctata, hence these may act as new sources of resistance.

Development and Identification of Novel Rice Blast Resistant Sources and Their Characterization Using Molecular Markers

To develop and characterize introgression lines for leaf and neck blast resistance, 326 introgression lines were developed using various accessions of six different AA genome wild species in the genetic background of elite Indian varieties like PR114 and Pusa 44 and were screened for blast resistance. Stringent phenotyping coupled with genotyping using gene based markers led to the identification of four resistant introgression lines, which showed promising resistance and do not possess any of the tested genes. Furthermore, multi-location screening confirmed the field resistance of the four introgression lines to both leaf and neck blast. Molecular characterization of these introgression lines using genome-wide simple sequence repeat markers revealed the presence of small percentage of wild Oryza genome introgrssion. So these lines can be used for mapping and identification of novel leaf and neck blast resistance genes. Thus, these four introgression lines can be considered as new genetic resources for blast resistance.

Paederia foetida- a promising ethno-medicinal tribal plant of northeastern India

The northeastern region of India constitutes one of the biodiversity hotspots of the world.The ethnic groups inhabiting this region practice their distinctive traditional knowledge systems using biodiversity for food, shelter and healthcare.Among the less-studied plants,Paederia foetida has been used by various ethnic tribes as food and medicine.Many of its therapeutic properties relate to the gastrointestinal system and suggest its potential utility for gastrointestinal ailments.This is a review of the ethnobotanical uses, phytochemistry and therapeutic properties of P.foetida compiled from various reports.P.foetida is promising as a remedy for life-style related conditions, especially treatment of ulcers.Its utility highlights the need for proper evaluation of tribal plants as medicines and the species could be considered for development of new drugs.

Valve Repair Using Autologous Pericardium in Tricuspid Valve Endocarditis

Tricuspid valve endocarditis is a significant cause of valve-related morbidity and mortality. Prosthetic valve reconstruction can be costly and requires life-long anticoagulation. We present our experience with surgical management of an endocarditis damaged tricuspid valve leaflet in an intravenous drug user. We were able to excise the infected tissue and successfully repair the native valve using autologous pericardium, effectively eliminating the need for prostheses and associated complications. Our case report demonstrates that tricuspid valve reconstruction, using autologous pericar-dium, is a suitable option in patients with tricuspid endocarditis.

Purpura Fulminans in Infantile Streptococcal Septicemia

Purpura fulminans is a hemorrhagic condition associated predominantly with meningococcal and other gram negative septicemias. It occurs mainly in infants and younger children. Features include tissue necrosis, small vessel thrombosis, disseminated intravascular coagulation, multi-organ failure and death. Other causes include clotting factor deficiencies and idiopathic varieties. The condition is uncommon due to gram positive bacterial sepsis. We report one such case with gram positive bacterial infection.

Synthesis and spectroscopic investigations of trivalent europium- doped Z_(2)Si_(3)O_(8)(Z = Mg, Ca and Sr) nanophosphors for display applications

To explore the silicate lattice-based nanophosphors, a series of Eu3+-doped Z_(2)Si_(3)O_(8)(Z = Mg, Ca and Sr) materials were prepared by sol–gel procedure. The metal nitrates and silica powder were used as precursor components for the synthesis of these luminescent materials. Photoluminescence(PL) emission spectra, powder X-ray diffraction(PXRD), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy(EDS), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy(FTIR) and transmission electron microscopy(TEM)spectroscopic techniques were applied for the characterization of the fabricated materials. Three peaks were observed at 589, 613 and 650–652 nm corresponding to ^(5)D_(0)→^(7)F_(1-3) transition in PL emission spectra. Upon395 nm excitation and at 0.03 mol Eu3+, these nanophosphors displayed optimum photoluminescence with the most intense peak analogous to ^(5)D_(0)→^(7)F_(2)transition of dopant ion. The as-prepared phosphor materials were re-heated at1050 and 1150 ℃ to observe the consequences of higher temperatures on the emission intensity and crystal lattice.XRD analysis confirmed that all the synthesized materials were of crystalline nature, and the crystallinity was observed to be improved by increasing the temperature. In the FTIR spectrum, peaks at 483 and 610 cm^(-1) proved the existence of SiO_(4)group in Ca_(2)Si_(3)O_(8), and the peak centered at 417 cm^(-1) confirmed the presence of MgO6 octahedral in Mg_(2)Si_(3)O_(8) materials. TEM images were used to determine the particle size(13–35 nm) and to study the threedimensional structure of nanophosphor materials. The experimental studies indicate that these materials may be promising as red-emitting nanophosphors for white lightemitting diodes.