Several Locations In India Research Articles

Where to Breathe in India ?

This study attempts to analyze state of air quality in India from both long term and short term perspectives. Annual mean value of particulate matter concentration (PM) at one hundred thirty two locations in India reported by World health Organization (WHO) was analyzed. These locations were grouped in seven clusters according to severity of concentration of PM10 and PM2.5. Heuristic clustering (HC) was employed as clustering algorithm with Euclidian distance measure. Locations having worst concentration of PM concentration were identified using cluster profile summary. In second part of study, Air quality index of forty-two locations reported by Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) was observed on monthly basis for a period of twelve months. The study resulted in three observations. First, no location under the study was able to satisfy WHO recommendation of annual mean value of PM. Second, majority of regions having worse air quality are located in northern part of India. Third, condition of air quality deteriorates in months between Novembers to February and May to June at several locations in India.

History of ZIKV Infections in India and Management of Disease Outbreaks.

Zika virus (ZIKV) is an emerging arbovirus infection endemic in multiple countries spread from Asia, Africa to the Americas and Europe. Previously known to cause rare and fairly benign human infections, ZIKV has become a major international public health emergency after being linked to unexpected neurological complications, that includes fetal brain damage/death and microcephaly in babies born to infected mothers and Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS) in adults. It appears that a single genetic mutation in the ZIKV genome, likely acquired during explosive ZIKV outbreak in French Polynesia (2013), made virus causing mild disease to target fetus brain. The Aedes mosquitoes are found to be the main carrier of ZIKV, passing the virus to humans. Originally isolated from patients in Africa in 1954 (African lineage), virus disseminated to Southeast Asia (Asian lineage), establishing new endemic foci, including one in India. Numerous cases of ZIKV infection have been reported in several locations in India and neighboring countries like Pakistan and Bangladesh since mid of the last century, suggesting that the virus reached this part of Asia soon after it was first discovered in Uganda in 1947. Although, the exact means by which ZIKV was introduced to India remains unknown, it appears that the ZIKV strain circulating in India possibly belongs to the “Asian lineage,” which has not yet been associated with microcephaly and other neurological disorders. However, there still exists a threat that the contemporary ZIKV virulent strain from South America, carrying a mutation can return to Asia, posing a potential crisis to newborns and adult patients. Currently there is no specific vaccine or antiviral medication to combat ZIKV infection, thus, vector control and continuous monitoring of potential ZIKV exposure is essential to prevent the devastating consequences similar to the ones experienced in Brazil. However, the major obstacle faced by Indian healthcare agencies is that most cases of ZIKV infection have been reported in rural areas that lack access to rapid diagnosis of infection. In this review, we attempt to present a comprehensive analysis of what is currently known about the ZIKV infection in India and the neighboring countries.

Selection of Bradyrhizobium or Ensifer symbionts by the native Indian caesalpinioid legume Chamaecrista pumila depends on soil pH and other edaphic and climatic factors.

Nodules of Chamaecrista pumila growing in several locations in India were sampled for anatomical studies and for characterization of their rhizobial microsymbionts. Regardless of their region of origin, the nodules were indeterminate with their bacteroids contained within symbiosomes which were surrounded by pectin. More than 150 strains were isolated from alkaline soils from the Thar Desert (Rajasthan), wet-acidic soils of Shillong (Meghalaya), and from trap experiments using soils from four other states with different agro-ecological regions. Molecular phylogenetic analysis based on five housekeeping (rrs, recA, glnII, dnaK andatpD) and two symbiotic (nodA and nifH) genes was performed for selected strains. Chamaecrista pumila was shown to be nodulated by niche-specific diverse strains of either Ensifer or Bradyrhizobium in alkaline (Thar Desert) to neutral (Tamil Nadu) soils and only Bradyrhizobium strains in acidic (Shillong) soils. Concatenated core gene phylogenies showed four novel Ensifer-MLSA types and nine Bradyrhizobium-MLSA types. Genetically diverse Ensifer strains harbored similar sym genes which were novel. In contrast, significant symbiotic diversity was observed in the Bradyrhizobium strains. The C. pumila strains cross-nodulated Vigna radiata and some wild papilionoid and mimosoid legumes. It is suggested that soil pH and moisture level played important roles in structuring the C. pumila microsymbiont community.

Symbiotic Efficiency of Slow and Fast-Growing Soybean Rhizobia of Central India

Soybean rhizobia are pre-dominantly slow growing but fast growing strains that evolved from natural populations have been reported globally including from several locations in India but have not been evaluated. The symbiotic effectivity of three slow and three fast-growing rhizobial strains isolated from Vertisols of Central India was evaluated on soybean var. 9752 in sterilized sand microcosms in a green-house. At 40 days growth, there was variation in nodulation parameters and growth of soybean with both types of rhizobia but overall, the slow growers were superior to fast growers with respect to nodule number (56%), nodule dry matter (25%), shoot dry matter (11%) and total nitrogen uptake (22%). The slow-growers (genetic homology to Bradyrhizobium japonicum) fixed ~ 25% more nitrogen than fast-growers with homology to Rhizobium (Agrobacterium) radiobacter. The results have very important implications for strain selection during biofertilizer production to maximize biological nitrogen fixation.

A note on unusual Si/Al ratios in PM10 and PM2.5 road dust at several locations in India

The Si/Al ratios in road dust (PM10 and/or PM2.5) at several locations in India were examined and found to range between 1.6 and 84.9. The potential factors for this wide range of unusual Si/Al ratios in road dust are not known at this time. In addition to re-assessing data quality, the observations suggest the need to carefully quantify anthropogenic inputs of these elements to road dust. The findings of this study also contradict popular assumptions about minimal enrichment of crustal elements by anthropogenic sources and highlight the need to re-visit dust mass estimation using Si and Al as a surrogate. Further, characterization of Si/Al ratio in road dust at locations in India and the influence of local geology/geochemistry on it are especially important, if this ratio is to be used either for dust estimation or as an input to ambient aerosol mass source apportionment models.

Aerosol-Precipitation Interactions over India: Review and Future Perspectives

Atmospheric aerosols can interact with clouds and influence the hydrological cycle by acting as cloud condensation nuclei. The current study reviews the results obtained on aerosol-precipitation interactions over India and the surrounding oceanic regions. An analysis of aerosol and cloud characteristics over the Arabian Sea, India, and the Bay of Bengal during summer monsoon in the last decade reveals large regional, intraseasonal, and interannual variations. Aerosol optical depth (AOD) and aerosol absorbing index (AAI) in 2002 (a drought year) are higher over India when compared to normal monsoon years. Cloud effective radius (CER) and cloud optical thickness exhibit a negative correlation with AOD over India, which agrees well with the indirect radiative effects of aerosols. Over Bay of Bengal CER is positively correlated with AOD suggesting an inverse aerosol indirect effect. In future, observatories to measure aerosol characteristics (amount, size, type, chemical composition, mixing, vertical and horizontal distributions), and cloud properties (number and size) over several locations in India, and intense observational campaigns involving aircraft and ships are crucial to unravel the quantitative impact that aerosols have on Indian monsoon. Satellite remote sensing of aerosol distribution, their chemical composition, microphysical properties of clouds, solar irradiance, and terrestrial longwave radiation is important.

The Surprising Diversity of Mycobacterium tuberculosis: Change You Can Believe In

Highly drug-resistant strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tuberculosis) have surfaced in the news recently. Totally drug-resistant strains, unresponsive to any current therapies, were recently identified at several locations in India [1]. Although these strains have garnered international attention, similarly pan-resistant strains have been identified in several parts of the world [2, 3]. Where they have not been found, one cannot be confident that they do not exist, as many countries do not have the laboratory capacity to diagnose resistance to second-line tuberculosis drugs. Globally, the rising rates of multidrug resistance (resistance to the 2 first-line antibiotics, isoniazid and rifampin) are alarming, suggestive of both the extent of the current problem and indicative of the future landscape of increasingly drug-resistant tuberculosis. In China, for example, nearly 6% of new tuberculosis cases are multidrug-resistant. The rates of multidrug resistance in new cases are >20% in many countries in Central Asia and Eastern Europe, where the incidence of multidrug resistance in previously treated patients soars to over 50% [4]. These sobering numbers emerge at a time of great promise in the tuberculosis field. A decade of investment in tuberculosis research is beginning to pay dividends. For the first time in nearly 40 years, several new antibiotics for tuberculosis are in late-stage clinical development [5]. The Global Alliance for TB Drug Development seeks to develop an

Brominated flame retardants and polychlorinated biphenyls in human breast milk from several locations in India: Potential contaminant sources in a municipal dumping site

This study investigated the status of contamination of organohalogen compounds (OCs) such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and brominated flame retardant (BFRs), including polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and hexabromocyclododecanes (HBCDs) in human milk samples from several locations in India. The levels of OCs were significantly higher in the milk of mothers living in and near municipal dumping site than other locations indicating that the open dumping sites for municipal wastes act as potential sources of these contaminants in India. The PCB concentrations observed in this study tended to decrease compared to those in the matched locations reported previously, probably due to the restriction of technical PCB usage in India. PBDE levels in human milk were two to three folds lower than those of PCBs in all the sampling locations investigated. Congener profiles of PCBs and PBDEs were different between samples from the dumping site mothers and general populations in other areas suggesting the presence of region-specific sources and pathways. HBCDs were detected in human milk from only two sites, with much lower concentrations and detection frequencies compared to PCBs and PBDEs. When hazard quotients (HQs) of PCBs and PBDEs were estimated for infant health risk, the HQs in some milk samples from the dumping site exceeded the threshold value (HQ > 1) of PCBs, indicating the potential risk for infants in the specific site.

Isotopic characteristics of Indian precipitation

Hydrogen (2H/1H) and oxygen (18O/16O) isotopic ratios were measured in precipitation (900 samples) collected from several locations in India during the period 2003–2006 (12 locations in 2003 and 18 locations in 2004–2006). The amount of rainfall along with air temperature and humidity were also measured. The meteoric water line developed for India using isotopic data of precipitation samples, namely, δ2H = 7.93(±0.06) × δ18O + 9.94(±0.51) (n = 272, r2 = 0.98), differs slightly from the global meteoric water line. Regional meteoric water lines were developed for several Indian regions (i.e., northern and southern regions of India, western Himalayas) and found to be different from each other (southern Indian meteoric water line, slope is 7.82, intercept or D excess is 10.23; northern Indian meteoric water line, slope is 8.15, intercept is 9.55) which is attributed to differences in their geographic and meteorological conditions and their associated atmospheric processes (i.e., ambient temperature, humidity, organ, and source of vapor masses). The local meteoric water lines developed for a number of locations show wide variations in the slope and intercept. These variations are due to different vapor sources such as the northeast (NE) monsoon that originates in the Bay of Bengal; the southwest monsoon (SW) that originates in the Arabian Sea; a mixture of NE and SW monsoons; retreat of NE and SW monsoons and western disturbances that originate in the Mediterranean Sea. The altitude effect in the isotopic composition of precipitation estimated for western Himalayan region also varies from month to month.

Bionetworking: between guidelines and practice in stem cell therapy enterprise in India

Many stem cell therapies, even though largely unproven, are widely viewed as a promising to global healthcare provision. India is a leading locale that makes this therapy available as a last resort to patients from around the world, risking their remaining health and financial resources in exchange for hope. Stem cell therapy service providing centres labelled as ‘rogue’ or ‘maverick’ by some, are vigorously promoting such therapies as ‘safe’ modes of treatment in the guise of ‘experimental’ therapy. This also happens in India after its promulgation of the Guidelines for Stem Cell Research and Therapy in 2007. This article is based on a multi-site ethnographic study that was carried out at several locations in India between September and December 2008. It raises two questions: why such unproven therapies are becoming common practice in locations where the regulatory apparatus is in place; and, how these service providers are successful in sustaining and proliferating the therapeutic practices. By employing the concept of bionetworking, we have tried to describe the gap between regulation and implementation. This article groups service providers into three categories; public sector, private sector and individual practitioner, based on their institutional embedding. It explores how service providers exploit gray areas in regulation for their entrepreneurial endings. The article highlights how local actors engaged in stem cell therapy draw on international norms of bioethics but adopt them according to various underlying rationalities, shaped by local patterns of governance, institutional development and policy-making.

INTEGRATING GENETICS AND NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT FOR TECHNOLOGY TARGETING AND GREATER IMPACT OF AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH IN THE SEMI-ARID TROPICS

SUMMARYGood management of natural resources is the key to good agriculture. This is true everywhere – and particularly in the semi-arid tropics, where over-exploitation of fragile or inherently vulnerable agro-ecosystems is leading to land and soil degradation, productivity decline, and increasing hunger and poverty. Modern crop varieties offer high yields, but the larger share of this potential yield can only be realized with good crop management. The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), working over a vast and diverse mandate area, has learned one key lesson: that technologies and interventions must be matched not only to the crop or livestock enterprise and the biophysical environment, but also with the market and investment environment, including input supply systems and policy. Various Natural Resource Management (NRM) technologies have been developed over the years, but widespread adoption has been limited for various reasons: technical, socio-economic and institutional. To change this, ICRISAT hypothesizes that ‘A research approach, founded on the need to integrate a broad consideration of technical, socio-economic and institutional issues into the generation of agricultural innovations will result in a higher level of adoption and more sustainable and diverse impacts in the rainfed systems of the semi-arid tropics.’ Traditionally, crop improvement and NRM were seen as distinct but complementary disciplines. ICRISAT is deliberately blurring these boundaries to create the new paradigm of IGNRM or Integrated Genetic and Natural Resource Management. Improved varieties and improved resource management are two sides of the same coin. Most farming problems require integrated solutions, with genetic, management-related and socio-economic components. In essence, plant breeders and NRM scientists must integrate their work with that of private and public sector change agents to develop flexible cropping systems that can respond to rapid changes in market opportunities and climatic conditions. The systems approach looks at various components of the rural economy – traditional food grains, new potential cash crops, livestock and fodder production, as well as socio-economic factors such as alternative sources of employment and income. Crucially the IGNRM approach is participatory, with farmers closely involved in technology development, testing and dissemination. ICRISAT has begun to use the IGNRM approach to catalyse technology uptake and substantially improve food security and incomes in smallholder farm communities at several locations in India, Mali, Niger, Vietnam, China, Thailand and Zimbabwe.

An overview of an indoor radon study carried out in dwellings in India and Bangladesh during the last decade using solid state nuclear track detectors

This paper reports on radon concentrations in dwellings from fifty different locations of India. The incorporated data were obtained using the passive solid state nuclear track detector technique. The estimated geometric mean value for India is 67.1 Bq m−3. Chuadanga in Bangladesh had the lowest observed indoor radon concentration of 27.3 Bq m−3 and Una in the northern part of India had the highest concentration of 281.5 Bq m−3. This paper discusses the national geometrical mean value in terms of the national geometric mean values of other countries and also in terms of the geological influence. The estimated indoor radon levels are compared with the indoor radon levels as recommended by the International Commission on Radiation Protection (ICRP). It was observed that there are several locations in India where dwellings have higher indoor radon levels than the ICRP recommended value and requires some sort of intervention from regulating authorities. The mean value for indoor radon level given in the report of UNSCEAR 2000 for India needs to be revised.

Preharvest seed infection byAspergillus flavus group fungi and subsequent aflatoxin contamination in groundnuts in relation to soil types

Preharvest seed infection byAspergillus flavus and aflatoxin contamination in selected groundnut genotypes (fourA. flavus-resistant and fourA. flavus-susceptible) were examined in different soil types at several locations in India in 1985–1990. Undamaged mature pods were sampled at harvest and seed examined forA. flavus infection and aflatoxin content in two or more trials at ICRISAT Center on light sandy soils and red sandy loam soils (Alfisols), and on Vertisols, at Anantapur on light sandy soils, and at Dharwad and Parbhani on Vertisols. Rainy season trials (1985–1989) were all rainfed. Post-rainy season trials were irrigated; late-season drought stress (90 days after sowing (DAS) until harvest at 125 DAS) was imposed in the 1987/88 and 1989/90 seasons.A. flavus infection and aflatoxin contamination levels were much lower in seed of all genotypes from Vertisols than in seed from Alfisols across locations and seasons. Vertisols also had significantly lower populations ofA. flavus than Alfisols. There were no marked differences between light sandy soils and red sandy loam soils (Alfisols) in respect of seed infection byA. flavus and aflatoxin contamination. Significant interactions between genotypes and soil types were evident, especially in theA. flavus-susceptible genotypes. Irrespective of soil types,A. flavus-resistant genotypes showed lower levels of seed infection byA. flavus and other fungi than didA. flavus-susceptible genotypes. The significance of the low preharvest aflatoxin risk in groundnuts grown on Vertisols is highlighted.

Mycoflora associated with stored wheat and its milling fractions in India

The fungi associated with stored wheat grains (38 samples) and their milling fractions (52 samples) were isolated from samples collected from several locations in India. Samples were screened by Dilution plate method and incubated at 10, 25, 37 and 55°C. Aspergilli were isolated from all the samples whereas Penicillia, other imperfect fungi and Mucorales were found in 83, 62 and 50% of the samples respectively. ThirtyAspergillus spp., 27Penicillium spp., 32 species of other imperfect fungi, 17 species of Mucorales and two species of Ascomycetes were isolated. Frequently occurring species from various groups wereAspergillus flavus, Aspergillus fumigatus, Aspergillus candidus, Aspergillus versicolor, Penicillium urticae, Penicillium islandicum, Penicillium cyclopium, Cladosporium herbarum, Curvularia lunata, Alternaria alternata, Mucor lausannensis, Absidia lichtheimi, Rhizopus arrhizus andSyncephalastrum racemosum.

Genetic resources of pearl millet at Icrisat

Genetic resources of pearl millet [Pennisetum americanum (L.) Leeke] consisting of 17,621 cultivated accessions from 42 countries and 68 accessions of 20 wild species are assembled at ICRISAT Center, Patancheru, India, through donations by scientists from various national and international organizations and by organizing expeditions in India and Africa. About 500 g seed of each accession is conserved in medium-term cold storage. Seed increase and rejuvenation is done by cluster bagging during the postrainy season. To facilitate utilization, the collections are evaluated as per the pearl millet descriptors. Selected germplasm lines were evaluated at several locations in India and Africa to compare the expression of morphological and agronomic characters under different environmental conditions. The evaluation data are documented in IDMRS (computer) system to facilitate information retrieval. Tremendous variation was observed for several characters including days to flowering (33-140 days), plant height (35-475 cm), tillers (1-210), spike length (5-165 cm), spike thickness (11-64.5 mm), grain color, shape, and size. Several sources of resistance to diseases and pests were identified after artificially screening the germplasm in collaboration with pathologists and entomologists. New characters identified are sweet-stalks, chlorophyll mutants, dwarfs, male-steriles, and glossy. So far, 19,759 and 19,875 samples have been sent to scientists in India and abroad, respectively, and several of these lines were utilized in different ways in millet improvement programs.