Weekly variation in physical activity of the Oraon agricultural labourers of Jalpaiguri district,West Bengal

The energy expenditure due to habitual physical activity is known to depend on several factors, but possible effects of most of the determinants are not clearly known. The present study deals with weekly variation in energy expenditure of the Oraon agricultural labourers of Jalpaiguri district, West Bengal, India. The results show that, among males, there are significant differences between days of the week. But females do not show any such trend. The possible explanation of the results are the sociocultural practices of the studied population.     

Anthropometric and physiological traits: age changes among the Oraon agricultural labourers of the Jalpaiguri District, northern West Bengal, India

Data on anthropometric and physiological parameters were collected as a part of an ongoing biomedical research project on 197 adult Oraon agricultural labourers of the Jalpaiguri District, West Bengal, India. The analysis of the present data focuses attention towards the nature and extent of changes in adulthood in respect of anthropometric and physiological traits. The results reveal that the height increases up to 35 years of age, then declines, weight decreases after 40 years of age, although males and females do not show similar results. Physiological parameters on the other hand reveal that the blood pressure increases with age and strength parameters i.e. grip strength and back strength declines after the age of 25 years or so. However, no generalization can be made out of this, because of the cross-sectional nature of the present study.     

Age at menopause of Tamang women tea-labourers of Jalpaiguri district,West Bengal,India

The Tamang women tea-labouren of Jalpaiguri district show no significant difference in age at menopause among their three «migration status» groups, viz., MO, M1 and M2+. The mean age at menopause is 47.3±4.26 and the median age is 47.68 years. A significant difference occurs between the observed mean age at menopause and 45 years, which is generally taken to be the menopausal age by convention. These Tamang women seem to be similar to other hill women in respect of age at menopause.     

Effect of pesticide exposure on the cholinesterase activity of the occupationally exposed tea garden workers of northern part of West Bengal,India

Context: Pesticide poisoning and related deaths are a global concern, but there is little information about its effect on the occupationally exposed tea garden workers of North Bengal.

Objective: This study investigates the level of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BuChE) in the blood of the tea garden workers at risk of exposure to a mixture of pesticides.

Materials and methods: The study sample consisted of pesticide exposed workers, non-exposed (control), smokers and alcoholics. AChE and BuChE activity was measured and tested for significance.

Results: Results showed that AChE activity was half in the pesticide exposed individuals than controls (p≤ 0.001). BuChE activity was also significantly decreased in the pesticide exposed individuals than controls (p≤ 0.001), while AChE and BuChE activity in smokers and alcoholics were not different from that of controls. However, significantly decreased AChE and BuChE activities were recorded in pesticide exposed workers compared to smokers and alcoholics.

Conclusions: The results indicated that the decrease in enzyme activities in tea garden workers was due to mixed pesticides (containing organophosphates) exposure. Age was not found to influence the enzyme activities. However, the gender had little effect on the enzyme activities but the effect was not so prominent.     

Floristic composition and biological spectrum of a sacred grove in West Midnapore district,West Bengal,India

Traditional cultural and religious beliefs and practices in the form of sacred groves play a crucial role in environmental conservation and biodiversity. The present study was conducted to explore plant resources, their biological spectrum, leaf size spectrum, sacred grove conservation status, locally known as Kankabati Sitabala Than (KST) in the district of West Midnapore, West Bengal in India. The study's floristic list revealed that the KST vegetation was diverse and composed of 277 species of 238 genera distributed over 77 families under 36 orders according to APG IV classification, of which 87 species were aliens. Poales (23.40%) and Poaceae (15.38%) were the dominant order and family in terms of species wealth. Biological spectrum shows the study area was classified as “thero-crypto-chamaephytic” type of phytoclimate. Leptophyll (26.60%) and ovate (18.91%) were found to be high in the leaf size spectrum and lamina. The vulnerable climber and tree species are Cayratia pedata and Pterocarpus indicus. The vegetation phenology, observed during different seasons revealed that most of the species were dominant in rainy seasons (99.68%), followed by winter (69.87%) and summer (29.81%). The study area being a sacred grove remains fairly undisturbed. For the long-term conservation of germplasm of the grove some recommendations have been suggested.     

The ergonomic evaluation of work-related musculoskeletal disorders among construction labourers working in unorganized sectors in West Bengal, India

The present study aimed at ergonomic evaluation of the prevalence of work-related musculoskeletal disorders among construction labourers working in unorganized sectors in West Bengal, India. A modified Nordic questionnaire was applied to one hundred forty male and ninety female construction labourers to acquire information about musculoskeletal symptoms like pain in different body parts. Work-rest schedules of the labourers in different work activities were studied. Working postures were analyzed by means of the Rapid Entire Body Assessment (REBA) tool. Body part discomfort (BPD) scale was used to assess the intensity of feeling of discomforts in the different body parts. It was revealed that the labourers performed repetitive, stressful work for a long period of time in a single work-rest cycle and the load lifted and carried by them were more than the NIOSH recommended weight limit. The analyses of working postures revealed that most of their working postures were unsafe and ranked under REBA action level 3 and 4. The results obtained by applying the Nordic questionnaire and BPD scale revealed that the prevalence of pain in various regions of the body, especially low-back pain, was alarmingly high in both male and female labourers. Training for safe lifting of materials, proper work-rest schedule, modifications of some working procedures and the use of ergonomically designed equipment may certainly reduce the work-related musculoskeletal disorders and improve the health status of construction labourers working in unorganized sectors.     

Anthropometry and body composition in soccer and volleyball players in West Bengal, India

50 sedentary males and 128 sports persons (volleyball=82, soccer=46) of 20-24 years were selected from West Bengal, India, to evaluate and compare their anthropometry and body composition. Skinfolds, girth measurements, body fat percentage (%fat), and endomorphy were significantly higher among sedentary individuals, but lean body mass (LBM) and mesomorphy were significantly (p<0.001) higher among the sports persons. Soccer and volleyball players were found to be ectomorphic mesomorph, whereas sedentary subjects were endomorphic mesomorph. The soccer and volleyball players had higher %fat with lower body height and body mass than their overseas counterparts. %fat exhibited a significant correlation with body mass index (BMI) and thus prediction equations for %fat from BMI were computed in each group. The present data will serve as a reference standard for the anthropometry and body composition of Indian soccer and volleyball players and the prediction norms for %fat will help to provide a first-hand impression of body composition in the studied population.     

Genetic differentiation among the three Hindu low caste groups of Malda district,West Bengal,India

Three descendants of Koch, Indo-Mongolid populations, have been studied for their 12 genetic markers of blood group, red cell enzyme and serum protein. Distribution of their phenotype and allele frequencies shows some variants apart from their common alleles. Analysis on genetic material reveals very low differentiation coefficient (G_ST) value for the total population, and in the distance measure the Poliya and the Tiyor stand close to each other compared to other populations. Data on ethnohistory of the peoples have been discussed in the light of the results obtained from genetic analysis.     

High prevalence of haemoglobin E in three populations of the Malda district, West Bengal, India.

High frequencies of haemoglobin (Hb) E were reported earlier from Assam in northeast India. In the present study one of the three populations of the Malda district of West Bengal, called the Deshi, was found to show one of the highest incidences of the Hb E gene (0.61) recorded so far. A founder effect and/or local inbreeding may possibly explain this observation.     

Relationship between anthropometric measures and body composition among Muslim females of West Bengal, India

The human body composition is assessed to determine percent body fat (PBF), fat mass (FM), and lean body mass or fat free mass (FFM). The topological distribution of body fat has been the subject of many studies in the world and India. To the best of our knowledge the present paper is the first report on the body composition in terms of PBF and FM, and their relationship with anthropometric measures in Muslim females in India. The present study examines anthropometric measurements and their relationship with the body composition among Muslim females of West Bengal, India. A cross-sectional study of 100 female, Muslim students of Howrah and Kolkata was undertaken to compare the relationships of biceps and triceps skinfold, waist, hip and upper arm circumference, waist hip ratio and conicity index with their body composition variables (PBF and FM). All anthropometric measures displayed significant (p < 0.05) correlation with body composition measures. The triceps skinfold, however, demonstrated a significant correlation with PBF (r = 0.90) and FM (r = 0.93). The greatest amount of variation of PBF (81.3 %) and FM (89.2 %) was explained by the triceps skinfold. In addition, a considerable amount of variation of PBF (72.8 %) and FM (86.0 %) was explained by the mid upper arm circumference. In conclusion, the present study displays a tendency of regional adiposity in the upper arm, triceps skinfold and mid upper arm circumference are much more strongly associated with body fat.     

Anthropometric and body composition characteristics during pregnancy: A study from West Bengal,India

The present cross-sectional study was aimed at investigating changes in anthropometric, body composition and blood pressure characteristics during pregnancy. A total of 406 healthy, pregnant women aged between 16 and 33 years participated in the study. Pregnant women were recruited from the outpatient department of the two-referral hospital in Bolpur subdivision of Birbhum district, West Bengal, India. Anthropometric measures such as height, weight, three circumferences and skinfold thickness at four sites (biceps, triceps, subscapular and suprailaic) were obtained using standard techniques. Percentages of body fat (%BF), intra abdominal visceral fat (IVF), basal metabolic rate (BMR) and body mass index (BMI) were measured using an Omron body fat analyser. Two forenoon blood pressure measurements were also taken and averaged for analysis. Subjects were categorized into three trimester groups: Group I, n = 30; Group II, n = 163; and Group III, n = 213. ANOVA with Scheffe's post-hoc test revealed that Group I had significantly lower mean than both Group II and Group III for systolic blood pressure and IVF, whereas Group I had significantly lower mean than Group III for BMI, BMR, %BF, diastolic blood pressure and skinfolds. The mean change in maternal weight from the first to the third trimester was merely 3 kg. Mean waist circumference varied from the first to the third trimester but not from the first to the second trimester. Furthermore, significantly increased systolic and diastolic blood pressure was observed across the trimesters. However, longitudinal studies involving interaction of body fat topography and pregnancy-induced hormones are required to further our understanding of gestation mechanism.     

The Effect of Inbreeding on Mortality and Morbidity among Telugu-speaking Populations of Kharagpur, West Bengal, India

Increased mortality and morbidity including congenital malformations among the offspring of consanguineous marriages have been widely reported in human populations from different parts of the world. However, there are few studies on the effect of the intensity of inbreeding and different degrees of inbreeding on mortality and morbidity. The present study is an attempt to examine the effects of inbreeding on mortality and morbidity including congenital disorders in different levels of inbreeding among Telugu-speaking populations of Kharagpur, West Bengal, India, based on data collected through extensive pedigrees. The study reveals that the frequency of spontaneous abortions and stillbirths is higher in the offspring of consanguineous marriages than in that of non-consanguineous marriages. A similar effect is also observed in the infant mortality rate, which is known to have a genetic component, but is not seen in the mortality rate of children and juveniles. The rate of morbidity is consistently higher in the offspring of consanguineous marriages with a sex bias in favour of inbred females. The increased morbidity rates in inbred individuals tend to be inversely correlated with the increase in average autosomal inbreeding coefficient. This appears to strengthen Sanghvi’s hypothesis of a decline in the frequency of deleterious genes with intensification of inbreeding through generations. The present study also confirms an increase in genetic disorders with an increase in inbreeding in almost all populations.     

Effect of plant characteristics of jute varieties on incidence of pests in West Bengal,India

This study was conducted with a view to understand the effect of plant characteristics on the incidence of pests on most popular jute varieties, viz. JRO-524, JRO-632, JRO-878, JRO-7835 of olitorius jute and JRC-212, JRC-321, JRC-4444, JRC-7447 of capsularis jute. Correlation studies of plant characteristics with pest incidence in jute (Corchorus spp.) revealed that the basal girth of plant exhibited a positive significant relationship with the incidence of Apion corchori Marshall but not with other pests such as jute semilooper (Anomis sabulifera Guen.), Bihar hairy caterpillar (Spilarctia obliqua Wlk.), grey weevil (Myllocerus discolor Bohemus) and yellow mite (Polyphagotarsonemus latus Banks). However, plant height showed positive correlation with the incidence of all the major pests of jute. Leaf characteristics (number of leaves/plant, leaf area, leaf thickness, moisture and chlorophyll content of leaves of all the varieties recorded at three different growth stages, i.e. at 50, 80 and 110 days after sowing), number of leaves/plant had positive and significant relationship with the incidence of all the pests except stem weevil. However, leaf area and moisture content of leaves showed significant positive relationship with the incidence of yellow mite. Leaf moisture also showed a positive role on the infestation of grey weevil. Leaf thickness and chlorophyll content of leaves and stem, fibre thickness and moisture content of stem did show any significant effect on pest's incidence. Upon comparing the plant characteristics between the two jute species, olitorius varieties had greater fibre thickness than that of capsularis varieties but fibre thickness had no significant impact on incidence of pests.     

Impact of social class on body fatness among rural pre-school Bengalee Hindu children of Arambagh, West Bengal, India

Body composition is a useful marker for assessing the adiposity of an individual. The amount of body fat (BF) differs with age, sex, environmental conditions and genotype, and is a good indicator of the health and nutritional status of a community. As the subcutaneous fat serves as a reservoir for energy during nutritional deprivation, lower BF in comparison with other studies indicates a lower energy intake by those children, who are affected by their lower socio-economic status. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the impact of socio-economic class, after allowing for sex and age, on body fatness among rural pre-school children of Bengalee Hindu ethnicity of Arambagh, West Bengal, India. The present study was undertaken at 20 Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) scheme centers in Bali Gram Panchayat, Arambagh, Hooghly District of West Bengal, India. A total of 1012 boys and girls (aged 2-6 years) living in these areas were studied. The children were classified into two groups based on their social class: Schedule Castes (SC) and Non-Schedule Castes (NSC). In general, SC comprise socio-economically and educationally deprived individuals. Three-way analysis of variance was used to assess the effect of ethnicity on mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) and sum of skinfolds (SS), allowing for age and sex. There was an increasing age trend in both these variables in both sexes in the two groups. All three factors had a significant effect on MUAC, whereas only age and social class had a significant impact on SS. In the case of MUAC, only one second order interaction (sex-age) was significant. In conclusion, we found that after controlling for age and sex, children belonging to the SC group had lower body fatness. These results implied that they were under more nutritional stress. There was also some evidence that at the early ages, girls belonging to the SC group probably received inadequate nutrition and as a result had lower body fat.     

Threats to Fish and Fisheries of Kangsabati Reservoir,West Bengal,India

Fishes belonging to the Orders Beloniformes, Cypriniformes, Perciformes, Siluriformes and Synbranchiformes are usually found in the Kangsabati reservoir of West Bengal, India. In recent years among the trapped fishes fishermen failed to get certain fish species which were available to them in the last decade. This prompted us to conduct a survey of ichthyofauna of the said reservoir in respect to the water parameters, keeping in view the anthropogenic activity-induced pollution scenario. It is revealed that the fishes belonging to the species Xenentodon cancila, Nemacheilus savona, Sillaginopsis panijus, Pangasius sutchi, Colisa sota, Mystus cavasius, Mystus seenghala and Mastacembelus armatus are completely absent in the survey area. It is most likely that the eutrophication-induced causes especially, variations in composition and density of plankton as well as the undesirable changes in physical and chemical properties of the water have forced these fishes to migrate elsewhere.     

Isolation and Characterization of Arsenic-Resistant Bacteria from Contaminated Water-Bodies in West Bengal,India

Bengal Basin is known for severe arsenic contamination. In the present study, we have isolated six bacteria from the arsenic contaminated surface water of Bengal Basin. 16S rDNA sequence analysis identified them as Microbacterium oleivorans, Acinetobacter soli, Acinetobacter venetianus, Acinetobacter junii, Acinetobacter baumannii, Acinetobacter calcoaceticus. All the isolates possess arsenic accumulation potential and high molecular weight plasmid (>10 kb). PCR amplification indicated the presence of arsenic-resistance genes (arsB and aoxB) either in the genome or plasmid or in both in the isolated bacteria (except in Acinetobacter venetianus). Exposure to arsenic affected bacterial growth and induced alteration in cytoplasmic membrane integrity.     

Inbreeding effects on the growth in stature among Telaga boys and girls of Kharagpur, West Bengal, India

The present study is an attempt to understand the genetical effects of inbreeding on the process of growth. The inbred and non-inbred subjects were selected on the basis of extensive pedigrees of five generations in the Telaga, an endogamous population of Kharagpur, India. Preference was given to cousins belonging to the same kindreds while selecting control sample so that environmental variation was minimized. Altogether 633 boys and 614 girls of different inbreeding levels aged five to twenty years were measured for stature. Analysis has been done in different levels of inbreeding in each age and sex on mean annual increments and variances of increments. The results revealed that comparison of annual increment for each age between boys and girls with different degrees of inbreeding and application of the one-tailed t-test of significance does not provide any evidence of inbreeding effect on mean increment for stature studied in either sex. This might indicate the absence of marked dominant/recessive effects of genes determining annual increments in body size rather than the absence of genetical control of increments due to growth. Moreover, it is noteworthy that the variance of annual increment due to growth (which is estimated indirectly) consistently increases with increase of inbreeding level with only a few exceptions. The exceptions occur more often in girls than in boys, which can be explained by greater environmental stress and selection pressure and variation in X-linked inbreeding among girls. This would be worthwhile to verify in longitudinal growth data in future. Increased variances of annual increment with inbreeding, in the absence of change of mean increment on inbreeding, would indicate the influence of additive autosomal genes for the process of physical growth in children in either sex. A close scrutiny of the annual increments for the measurements in all the four levels of inbreeding in either sex fails to bring out any consistent trend of change in the age of adolescent spurt with inbreeding. This might suggest an underlying homozygosity of several genes with inbreeding in the population.     

Regional adiposity, body composition and central body fat distribution of 10-16 years old Bengalee boys of Nimta, North 24 Parganas, West Bengal, India

A cross-sectional study of 502 Bengalee boys aged 10-16 years of Nimta, North 24 Parganas, West Bengal, India, was undertaken to study regional adiposity, body composition and central body fat distribution. The subjects were classified into seven age groups: 10-10.9 years (n = 74), 11-11.9 (n = 53), 12-12.9 (n = 87), 13-13.9 (n = 116), 14-14.9 (n = 58), 15-15.9 (n = 57), 16-16.9 (n = 57). In general, there was a significant linear increasing trend from 10 to 16 years for all the anthropometric variables. There was a net increase of 30.5 cm and 22.8 kg in mean height and weight, respectively, between 10 and 16 years of age. Mean BMI increased by 3.7 kg/m2 during the same period. Among circumferences, the largest increase was in hip followed by chest while the smallest increase was in mid upper arm, between 10 and 16 years of age. Subscapular skinfold showed the largest increase followed by abdomen and suprailiac skinfolds, while the increase was least in forearm skinfold. Significant linear increasing trend was observed for all the body composition measures. The largest increase in percent of body fat (PBF) was observed between ages 10 and 11 years while mean fat mass (FM), fat free mass (FFM) and fat mass index (FMI) increased the most between 14 to 15 years. However, an overall decreasing trend was observed, in mean waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) from 10 to 16 years. Boys aged 10 years had the highest mean WHR while those aged 15 years had the lowest mean WHR. There was an increase in mean WHR among 16 years old boys.