Maharashtra Research Articles

Correct Identity of some Folk Medicines of South Western Maharashtra

Sixty nine samples folk medicines produced from local market have been characterized botanically and pharmacognostically. Botanical characterization has been done by actual comparison of authentic samples with that of market samples. The present paper deals with enumeration of these species used in folk medicine and gives correct botanical identity of plant materials, their common names, local names, parts used and botanical diagnostic characters.

A Contribution to the Ethnobotany of Dhule and Thane Districts of Maharashtra State (India) - A Preliminary Report

Native medicinal uses of 11 plants common among Tadvi, Kokni & Gavit tribes inhabiting Dhule district and Katkari, Varli & Koli tribes of Thane district of Maharashtra State are reported. These plants have either not been reported by earlier workers or their uses mentioned here are unrecorded. Information is given on local name, locality, voucher number, native uses and mode of administration of doses.

Two Noteworthy Plants from Maharashtra State

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Some Useful and Medicinal Plants of Chandrapur District (Maharashtra State)

In the present communication 126 useful and medicinal plants are reported from the Chandrapur district (Maharashtra State).

Materials for the Flora of Chandrapur District, Maharashtra State

A general account of the vegetation of the Chandrapur district in Maharashtra State is presented in the paper. Location, topography, geology and climate are briefly discussed. An enumeration of plants is added to give an idea of the flora of the district.

Uredinales of Maharashtra State, India

This paper deals with 140 species of rust fungi, which are so far reported from the Maharashtra State and are distributed amongst 34 rust genera. The deposition number of an authentic state material is indicated, wherever available. The critical remarks by the author, wherever necessary are included, which might help in clarifying the taxonomic position of the particular rust. The nomenclature of some rusts which needed rectification is achieved in this work. The host index is also provided to facilitate ready reference.

An Enumeration of the Medicinal Plants of Khed Taluka (Maharashtra State)

The paper gives an account of the occurrence and distribution of some of the well-known and commonly used medicinal plants together with their local names occurring in Khed taluka. This is the first published information on the plants of Khed taluka. In all about 165 species distributed over 64 families have been dealt with. Regarding the medicinal uses, only such information that has been gathered locally either from villagers or the Vaids is given in the paper.

<i>Schouwia arabica</i> (Vahl) A. P. Dc-A Brassicacea (Crucifera) New in Maharashtra State

Schouwia arabica (Vahl) A. P. DC. native of Abyssinia, Arabia and Egypt, is now found to occur in Maharashtra State, obviously as an accidental introduction. Its nomenclature is discussed. The plant is described, with a plate of analytical drawings.

Observations on the Flora of Harishchandragarh, Sahyadri Range, Maharashtra

The paper presents an account of the vegetation of Harishchandragarh, Maharashtra State, an interesting area unexplored since Dalzell’s time (1861). Dicraea dichotoma (Gardn.) Tull, is collected for the first lime from Sahyadri ranges of Western ghats. A new verlety namely Abelmoschus manihot (L.) Medic, up. Utraphyllus (Roxb. ex Hornem.) Borss. var. megaspermus Hemadri is alio described. In all 330 species comprising 245 genera, representing 87 families of Angiosperms have been enumerated.

Studies on the Vegetation of Surgana-Harsul Ranges of the Sahyadries, Nasik District, Maharashtra

This paper gives a preliminary account of the flora of the deciduous forests of Surgana, Peint, Bahre and Harsul ranges of the Sahyadries, Western ghats, Maharashtra State. The general composition of the vegetation which varies considerably from the valleys to the high hill tops has been briefly indicated. 403 species belonging to 83 families of Angiosperms and 5 species of Pteridophytes are enumerated. Families like Asteraceae, Fabaceae, Rubiaceae and Poaceae are well represented.

Notes on the Flora of Pravarasangam Area, Maharashtra State

This paper deals with the general floristic account of Pravarasangam area, Maharashtra State. A brief description of the grassland in the moist river banks and the scrub jungle in the dry plains is given. 150 species belonging to 118 genera and 35 families are enumerated, out of which Gramineae, Papilionaceae, Compositae and Amaranthaceae are the dominant ones.

A New Agricultural Drought Index to Characterize Agricultural Drought Using Data Mining Techniques

Drought monitoring is a critical task as its occurrence and extent vary according to many factors like drought type, risk, agricultural losses, and impact. Monitoring drought is important because the footprint of this hazard is larger than that of other natural hazards. Many drought indices are developed to monitor complex drought conditions. The intensity and severity of drought in a particular region and at a particular time can be tracked by the drought indicator. In this research, a new agricultural drought index, Yield-Evapotranspiration Drought Index (YEDI) is developed using crop yield, potential, and reference crop evapotranspiration. Data mining and Neural Network techniques have been used to model the drought index. The agricultural and climatic data used is selected from the year 1983 to 2015 (33 years) from the period of June to October (Kharif period) for Maharashtra state in India. The drought index generates the positive values which are further divided into a range of high, medium, and low intensities of drought. SPI and SPEI indices are used for validation against YEDI. Results show that there is a correlation between YEDI and SPEI whereas a low correlation is between YEDI and SPI. YEDI proves to be useful for agricultural drought monitoring.

Towards food security: Exploring the spatio-temporal dynamics of soybean in India

India is the world’s largest edible oil importer, and soybean oil accounts for a major portion of those imports, with implications for the Indian economy. Despite being the 4th largest globally in terms of harvested soybean area and 5th largest in terms of production, India is still heavily dependent on imports to meet the vegetable oil requirement for its population. It is therefore imperative to understand the dynamics and trends in India’s soybean production to help the country achieve self-sufficiency in edible oils. This study provides the first spatially explicit analysis of soybean in India, using long-term spatial and temporal statistics at national and subnational levels, using spatial and temporal statistical analysis models to examine the historical trends and its future prospects. Our analysis details the overall soybean expansion across the country and the increase in production but we also note that the annual growth rate has declined in each consecutive decade even though the area continues to expand. The average national yield has been stagnant at around 1 T/Ha but for some of the low-producing districts, a higher yield of more than 3 T/ha is reported. For most major producing districts, soybean yields are below 1.5 T/Ha. The state of Madhya Pradesh which was the major soybean producer is now matched by the state of Maharashtra in terms of production, however, Madhya Pradesh still has the largest area under soybean. We analyzed soybean hotspot expansion in India and found that the mean center of the soybean area and production has shifted approximately 93 km towards the south and 24 km to the west as the crop is rapidly being adopted in the southern and western parts of India expanding the hotspot in these parts. District-level analysis showed that the total number of districts constituting hotspots of soybean cultivation in India has increased from 29 to 42 in three decades. Furthermore, analysis of soybean oil and meal consumption with respect to the national population, import, export, domestic production, GDP per capita, and price of soybean oil and meal suggests that soybean oil and meal are highly correlated with GDP per capita and population, indicating that consumption of soybean oil and meal is likely to increase as GDP per capita increases, and future demand is expected to rise with the anticipated growth in the Indian population. Increased soybean production can play a significant role in increasing national food security for India and reducing dependence on foreign oil imports and also help the economy with soy meal exports. Understanding the spatiotemporal variability in area and yield will help target interventions to increase production. Given the overall low yields with high variability in production, particularly in recent years primarily due to successive extreme rains and droughts in major producing districts and the overall need to increase production to meet the country’s demand, there is a pressing need for government policies and research aimed at narrowing the yield gap and developing soybean varieties that are more productive and resilient to climate change.

Bridging large language model disparities: Skill tagging of multilingual educational content

AbstractThe adoption of large language models (LLMs) in education holds much promise. However, like many technological innovations before them, adoption and access can often be inequitable from the outset, creating more divides than they bridge. In this paper, we explore the magnitude of the country and language divide in the leading open‐source and proprietary LLMs with respect to knowledge of K‐12 taxonomies in a variety of countries and their performance on tagging problem content with the appropriate skill from a taxonomy, an important task for aligning open educational resources and tutoring content with state curricula. We also experiment with approaches to narrowing the performance divide by enhancing LLM skill tagging performance across four countries (the USA, Ireland, South Korea and India–Maharashtra) for more equitable outcomes. We observe considerable performance disparities not only with non‐English languages but with English and non‐US taxonomies. Our findings demonstrate that fine‐tuning GPT‐3.5 with a few labelled examples can improve its proficiency in tagging problems with relevant skills or standards, even for countries and languages that are underrepresented during training. Furthermore, the fine‐tuning results show the potential viability of GPT as a multilingual skill classifier. Using both an open‐source model, Llama2‐13B, and a closed‐source model, GPT‐3.5, we also observe large disparities in tagging performance between the two and find that fine‐tuning and skill information in the prompt improve both, but the closed‐source model improves to a much greater extent. Our study contributes to the first empirical results on mitigating disparities across countries and languages with LLMs in an educational context. Practitioner notesWhat is already known about this topic Recent advances in generative AI have led to increased applications of LLMs in education, offering diverse opportunities. LLMs excel predominantly in English and exhibit a bias towards the US context. Automated content tagging has been studied using English‐language content and taxonomies. What this paper adds Investigates the country and language disparities in LLMs concerning knowledge of educational taxonomies and their performance in tagging content. Presents the first empirical findings on addressing disparities in LLM performance across countries and languages within an educational context. Improves GPT‐3.5's tagging accuracy through fine‐tuning, even for non‐US countries, starting from zero accuracy. Extends automated content tagging to non‐English languages using both open‐source and closed‐source LLMs. Implications for practice and/or policy Underscores the importance of considering the performance generalizability of LLMs to languages other than English. Highlights the potential viability of ChatGPT as a skill tagging classifier across countries.

A Retrospective Study to Assess the Mortality and Morbidity Rate of Snake Bite and Distribution of Pamphlets on Preventive & First Aid Measures of Snake Bite in Maharashtra State

A Retrospective Study to Assess the Mortality and Morbidity Rate of Snake Bite and Distribution of Pamphlets on Preventive & First Aid Measures of Snake Bite in Maharashtra State

Using spirometry for screening and diagnosis of chronic respiratory diseases in primary health care: findings from a community health project in rural India

Background Chronic respiratory diseases (CRDs) such as Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), Asthma and post-tuberculosis lung disease (PTLD) are a growing public health concern in India. Early diagnosis and management of CRDs require a good quality spirometry test, a technician to conduct spirometry and a chest physician to interpret the results. In India, these are not available at the primary care level. This study reports the feasibility of a large-scale CRD diagnosis and management program in primary care using a unique point-of-care spirometry solution, Briota PFT in a Box™. # Methods A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 15,602 adults in Dindori Taluka (subdivision), Nashik, Maharashtra state. This study was part of a holistic CRD diagnosis and management program SAVE™ (Spirometry Assisted Virtually Early). Make In India point of care solution Briota PFT in a Box™ was used. A House‐to‐house community-based assessment checklist (CBAC) survey, 4-parameter spirometry test, 15-parameter pre and post-bronchodilator spirometry test and a software-assisted medical examination by the medical officer at primary care were conducted. Software was used to generate CRD diagnosis and lung health score (LHS™). The diagnosis was verified by the chest physician. Confirmed diagnosed patients were provided treatment and offered a patient support program. Interviews were conducted with the patients, nurses, doctors and public health officials for understanding feasibility and documenting learning from program SAVE™. # Results Out of 15,602 adults surveyed, total 4,937 (31.6%) were identified as “CRD high risk”. 1231 participants based on medical examination, spirometry tests and software analysis were identified as CRD candidates by medical officers at primary care. 1154 participants out of 15,602 (7.4%) were confirmed diagnosed as CRD patients post independent evaluation by chest physicians. At the time of follow-up, 537 patients (75% of 712 patients enrolled in patient support program) reported improvement in symptoms and high satisfaction with the program. District health officer, Medical officers, nurses, Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) from the primary health care centers confirmed ease of use and feasibility of using Briota PFT in a Box™ in program SAVE™. Outcome and learning from program SAVE™ was documented and submitted to Ministry of Health and Family Welfare Government of India. # Conclusions CRD diagnosis and management in large scale settings in primary healthcare level using a point of care spirometry solution Briota PFT in a Box™ is highly feasible.

Rainfall analysis and deriving design storm for hydrological modelling of Koyna dam catchment area in Maharashtra state of India

Rainfall is a key hydro meteorological variable. Climate change is disrupting the hydrological cycle and altering the usual cycle of rainfall, which frequently results in long-lasting storms with significant rainfall. A first step in hydrologic design of project is to determine the design storm or rainfall events to be used. For deriving design storm, researchers concluded that instead of using generalized readily available curves or maps, it is better to estimate design storm based on site specific historical rainfall data. The objective of the study is to analyze the rainfall data in the koyna watershed area in order to evaluate the design storm, which will be further used as an input data for HEC-HMS event based hydrological modelling of flood peak attenuation of design storm flow at koyna dam during extreme rainfall event.In this study, 40 years (1982–2021) of rainfall data from 8 rain gauge stations in Koyna Dam Catchment area is used initially for performing trend analysis through statistical and graphical techniques and then for Isopluvial analysis. The Sen's slope test and the Mann-Kendall test are the statistical techniques employed, and Innovative Trend Analysis is the graphical technique used. IDF approach is used for deriving design storm, and using Gumbel's frequency distribution method Isohyetal maps, IDF tables and curves are prepared for 2,10,25,50,75 and 100 year return periods and 6,12,24,48 and 96 h durations. Results obtained from statistical and graphical trend analysis of annual rainfall series are consistent. No statistically significant trend in annual rainfall series is observed, however there is rising and falling trend was observed in annual as well as monthly rainfall series.From the results of design storm study, the design storm hyetograph of 10 years return period and 96 h duration is selected, which gives the rainfall intensity of 10.88 mm/h for the koyna catchment. There are various dams nearby koyna catchment, The Isohyet maps, IDF curves and table output available from this study can be more reliably used during planning and design of hydraulic structure for other areas near by koyna catchment.

A Comparative Study of Functional Outcomes in Unstable Pelvic Ring Fractures Treated With Internal Fixator (INFIX) With and Without Sacroiliac Joint Screw Fixation.

Introduction Despite constituting only 3-8% of orthopedic trauma cases, pelvic injuries are associated with high mortality rates, emphasizing the critical need for stable fixation rather than merely anatomical alignment. The use of an anterior, subcutaneous, internal pelvic fixator (INFIX), a novel technique, has shown promise in treating these injuries. Posterior pelvic ring injuries are challenging because they require a significant level of surgical training and technical expertise, and each treatment method has disadvantages. The aim of this study is to compare the clinical and biomechanical outcomes of INFIX with and without sacroiliac screw fixation for unstable pelvic fractures. Methods and methodology Retrospectively, we selected 20 patients with unstable pelvic ring injuries who had come to a high-volume tertiary care hospital and medical college in the state of Maharashtra, India. All the patients were operated on with INFIX; 10 with a sacroiliac joint screw and 10 without a sacroiliac joint screw. We followed up with the patients for six months and evaluated them according to the Majeed score. Results Functional outcomesdiffered little between INFIX patients operated on with and without a sacroiliac joint screw. However, morbidity, hospital stay, the need for ICU, radiation exposure, and technical ease of surgery were improved in INFIX patients without the sacroiliac screw procedure. We noted an average Majeed score of 78 in the INFIX-alone group and 77.2 in the group that received INFIX with a sacroiliac joint screw. Six months after the surgery, the patients showed signs of a stable bony union, had achieved a full range of motion, and reported no problems in their day-to-day work. Conclusion Although this was a short-term study, we conclude that INFIX without a sacroiliac joint screw showed a comparable functional outcome compared to INFIX with a sacroiliac joint screw. Patients with INFIX alone showed better results; they had reduced surgical time, reduced radiation exposure, and less evidence of neurological harm to the L5-S1 nerve root. The procedure was less complicated and easier for surgeons to learn. Its simplicity and speed were especially beneficial for obese patients.

Knowledge and Attitude of Homeopathy Doctors Attending the Modern Pharmacology Bridge Course toward Psychiatry – A Cross-sectional Study

Aim: The aim of the study is to assess the knowledge and attitude of homeopathy doctors attending modern pharmacology course toward psychiatry. This is the first ever course approved by the state government of Maharashtra in India for registered homeopathy practitioners. We have considered them as our study group because they work at a grassroots level and are the first level of contact between the individual and the health system. Methodology: One hundred subjects were included in the study. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to assess their knowledge and attitude toward psychiatry. Informed consent was obtained from all the participants. Results: Of the 48 participants included in the study, most belonged to ages 44–53 years, with 83.4% of males. All had completed a degree before 2000 AD with about 50% of the sample having completed a bachelor’s degree. Of these, 74.5% had more than 20 years of homeopathic practice. Based on the Attitudes Toward Psychiatry-30 questionnaire, majority of the sample had a negative attitude toward psychiatry. Conclusion: Most of the traditional homeopathy doctors carry a negative or neutral attitude toward the field of psychiatry and its therapeutic interventions.

An assessment of microplastic contamination in beach sediment of Maharashtra State, India, with special reference to anthropogenic activities.

The escalating issue of microplastic (MP) pollution poses a significant threat to the marine environment due to increasing plastic production and improper waste management. The current investigation was aimed at quantifying the MP concentration on 25 beaches on the Maharashtra coast, India. Beach sediments (1kg) were collected from each site, with five replicates to evaluate the extent of MPs. The samples were homogenized, and three 20 g replicas were prepared for subsequent analysis. Later, the samples were sieved, and MPs were extracted using previously published protocols. The abundance of MPs found as 1.56 ±0.79 MPs/g, ranges from 0.43 ±0.07 to 3±0.37 MPs/g. Fibers were found as the most abundant shape of MPs. Size-wise classification revealed dominance of <1mm and 1-2mm-sized MPs. Blue- and black-colored MPs were recorded dominantly. Polymer identification of MPs revealed polyurethane, polypropylene, polyvinyl chloride, acrylic or polymethyl methacrylate, and rubber. The findings revealed that MPs were found to be higher at highly impacted sites, followed by moderately impacted sites and low-impacted sites, possibly due to a different degree of anthropogenic pressure. The study recommended the urgent need for effective policy to prevent plastics accumulation in the coastal environment of Maharashtra State, India. PRACTITIONER POINTS: The study investigated the abundance and distribution of microplastics in the marine environment, specifically in sediments. The most common type of microplastic found was fibers, followed by fragments and films. Microplastics were found to pose a potential risk to the marine ecosystem, although further research is needed to fully understand their ecological impact. Future research should focus on expanding the sample size, assessing long-term effects, exploring sources and pathways, and considering size and shape of microplastics. The findings recommended urgent action to mitigate plastic pollution in Maharashtra coast.