Malcofaunal Diversity of Chilika Lake,Odisha, India

Investigation during the period of 3 years from 2007 to 2010 on the malacofauna of Chilika lake revealed the occurrence of 126 molluscan taxa belonging to 56 families, 18 orders of three classes in the bottom sediment. Of these 61 species belonged to Bivalvia, 64 species belonged to Gastropoda and one species belonged to Polyplacophora. Maximum Bivalvia and Gastropoda taxa were found in the outer channel region of the lake. The dominating species were Crassostrea cuttackensis, Saccostrea cucullata, Brachidontes undulatus, Meretrix meretrix among bivalves and Cerethideopsilla cingulata, Bullia vittata, Nassarious stolatus, Indothias lacera, Natica tigrina, Turritella attenuata were from the gastropods. Occurrence of a large number of marine taxa is most probably associated with the opening of new lagoon during 1st August 2008.     

Genomic and Functional Diversity of Bacteria Isolated from Hot Springs in Odisha,India

This study focused on culture-dependent survey of important bacterial community diversity of hot springs of Odisha. India. Molecular and cultural techniques were employed for assessing and exploiting the genetic and functional variability among the isolates obtained from three alkaline and mesophilic hot springs. A total of 48 isolates belonging to family Bacillaceae, Paenibacillaceae, Planococcaceae, Pseudomonadaceae and Enterobacteriaceae were identified. Majority of the bacterial isolates were affiliated with the genus Bacillus. Morphologically all the isolated bacteria were either Gram-positive spore-forming rods, or Gram-negative rods. The optimum temperature for growth of the isolates varied between 37°C to 50°C. The functional diversity revealed that many of the predominant and scarce isolates produced a variety of extracellular enzymes such as amylase, cellulase, lipase, phosphatase and protease, and genus Bacillus dominated for extracellular enzymatic activity. We employed two molecular markers to characterize the isolates. The hsp60 universal target sequence was found to be more discriminatory than 16s rRNA gene sequences. The cultivable bacterial community structure that colonized in the investigated thermal springs did not reveal much overlapping. Our results indicate that bacteria in the geothermal environment are metabolically active and cultivable populations may have great potential in biotechnology.     

Sanitation,Stress, and Life Stage: A Systematic Data Collection Study among Women in Odisha,India

Emerging evidence demonstrates how inadequate access to water and sanitation is linked to psychosocial stress, especially among women, forcing them to navigate social and physical barriers during their daily sanitation routines. We examine sanitation-related psychosocial stress (SRPS) across women’s reproductive lives in three distinct geographic sites (urban slums, rural villages, and rural tribal villages) in Odisha, India. We explored daily sanitation practices of adolescent, newly married, pregnant, and established adult women (n = 60) and identified stressors encountered during sanitation. Responding to structured data collection methods, women ranked seven sanitation activities (defecation, urination, menstruation, bathing, post-defecation cleaning, carrying water, and changing clothes) based on stress (high to low) and level of freedom (associated with greatest freedom to having the most restrictions). Women then identified common stressors they encountered when practicing sanitation and sorted stressors in constrained piles based on frequency and severity of each issue. The constellation of factors influencing SRPS varies by life stage and location. Overall, sanitation behaviors that were most restricted (i.e., menstruation) were the most stressful. Women in different sites encountered different stressors, and the level of perceived severity varied based on site and life stage. Understanding the influence of place and life stage on SRPS provides a nuanced understanding of sanitation, and may help identify areas for intervention.     

Menstrual Hygiene Practices,WASH Access and the Risk of Urogenital Infection in Women from Odisha,India

Menstrual hygiene management (MHM) practices vary worldwide and depend on the individual’s socioeconomic status, personal preferences, local traditions and beliefs, and access to water and sanitation resources. MHM practices can be particularly unhygienic and inconvenient for girls and women in poorer settings. Little is known about whether unhygienic MHM practices increase a woman’s exposure to urogenital infections, such as bacterial vaginosis (BV) and urinary tract infection (UTI). This study aimed to determine the association of MHM practices with urogenital infections, controlling for environmental drivers. A hospital-based case-control study was conducted on 486 women at Odisha, India. Cases and controls were recruited using a syndromic approach. Vaginal swabs were collected from all the participants and tested for BV status using Amsel’s criteria. Urine samples were cultured to assess UTI status. Socioeconomic status, clinical symptoms and reproductive history, and MHM and water and sanitation practices were obtained by standardised questionnaire. A total of 486 women were recruited to the study, 228 symptomatic cases and 258 asymptomatic controls. Women who used reusable absorbent pads were more likely to have symptoms of urogenital infection (AdjOR=2.3, 95%CI1.5-3.4) or to be diagnosed with at least one urogenital infection (BV or UTI) (AdjOR=2.8, 95%CI1.7-4.5), than women using disposable pads. Increased wealth and space for personal hygiene in the household were protective for BV (AdjOR=0.5, 95%CI0.3-0.9 and AdjOR=0.6, 95%CI0.3-0.9 respectively). Lower education of the participants was the only factor associated with UTI after adjusting for all the confounders (AdjOR=3.1, 95%CI1.2-7.9). Interventions that ensure women have access to private facilities with water for MHM and that educate women about safer, low-cost MHM materials could reduce urogenital disease among women. Further studies of the effects of specific practices for managing hygienically reusable pads and studies to explore other pathogenic reproductive tract infections are needed.     

Amblyceps crassioris,a new sisoroid catfish from Odisha,India (Siluriformes: Amblycipitidae)

Amblyceps crassioris, a new species of amblycipitid catfish, is described from the Mahanadi River basin in Odisha, India. The new species can be distinguished from its congeners in having a combination of the following characters: a deeply forked caudal fin, centrally projecting hooks on proximal lepidotrichia of median caudal-fin rays absent, jaws equal in length, lateral line absent, body depth at anus 15.1%–19.5% standard length (SL), caudal peduncle depth 13.0%–18.3% SL, adipose-fin base length 21.1%–27.1% SL, eye diameter 7.35%–14.1% head length and 38 total vertebrae.     

Complement Receptor 1 Variants Confer Protection from Severe Malaria in Odisha,India

Background

In Plasmodium falciparum infection, complement receptor-1 (CR1) on erythrocyte’s surface and ABO blood group play important roles in formation of rosettes which are presumed to be contributory in the pathogenesis of severe malaria. Although several studies have attempted to determine the association of CR1 polymorphisms with severe malaria, observations remain inconsistent. Therefore, a case control study and meta-analysis was performed to address this issue.

Methods

Common CR1 polymorphisms (intron 27 and exon 22) and blood group were typed in 353 cases of severe malaria (SM) [97 cerebral malaria (CM), 129 multi-organ dysfunction (MOD), 127 non-cerebral severe malaria (NCSM)], 141 un-complicated malaria and 100 healthy controls from an endemic region of Odisha, India. Relevant publications for meta-analysis were searched from the database.

Results

The homozygous polymorphisms of CR1 intron 27 and exon 22 (TT and GG) and alleles (T and G) that are associated with low expression of CR1 on red blood cells, conferred significant protection against CM, MOD and malaria deaths. Combined analysis showed significant association of blood group B/intron 27-AA/exon 22-AA with susceptibility to SM (CM and MOD). Meta-analysis revealed that the CR1 exon 22 low expression polymorphism is significantly associated with protection against severe malaria.

Conclusions

The results of the present study demonstrate that common CR1 variants significantly protect against severe malaria in an endemic area.     

Urban health and pharmaceutical consumption in Delhi, India

This paper interrogates the routine and unproblematic use of terms such as 'self-medication' in biomedical and anthropological discourse. A typical depiction of the social factors that explain the practice of 'self-medication' in India is to put together the supply side factors (such as protection offered by the government for the production of generic drugs, especially in the small scale sector, and expansion of the number of drug store outlets), with the increasing demand for allopathic drugs. The paper provides an ethnographic account of the intricate connections between households and biomedical practitioners in urban neighbourhoods in Delhi. It breaks away from the conventional opposition drawn between the practices of physicians and the beliefs of their patients, and suggests that what constitutes the medical environments of these neighbourhoods is the product of medical practices, household economies and concepts of disease. Thus pharmaceutical use is determined as much by practices of dispensation and by how practitioners understand what constitutes therapy as by household understanding of the normal and the pathological. This paper uses both quantitative data and narrative interviews to provide an in-depth understanding of the circulation of pharmaceuticals within the life worlds of the urban poor.     

Estimating Mammalian Abundance Using Camera Traps in the Tropical Forest of Similipal Tiger Reserve,Odisha, India

Knowledge on the occurrence and distribution of species is crucial for designing and evaluating conservation strategies within a geographical region. Similipal Tiger Reserve though confined to a small area needs information on the diversity and abundance of mammalian fauna to ensure conservation of tiger. Thus, we aimed to assess the diversity and abundance of medium to large sized mammals in Similipal Tiger Reserve by using remotely triggered camera traps. A total of 6413 camera trap days at 187 trap stations were deployed from November 2012 to July 2013 to estimate the status of mammal. We obtained 3763 independent photographs and detected 24 species of mammals. The relative abundance index of each mammalian species was calculated. Leopard (Panthera pardus) was the most abundant carnivore while barking deer (Muntiacus muntjac) was the most abundant prey. Anthropogenic activities like hunting, livestock grazing and free ranging domestic dogs were found to be the detrimental factors for the existing mammalian species. These activities should be addressed through conservation and development perception with an interdisciplinary approach, incorporating social and ecological components cautiously.     

Evaluating the Burden of Lymphedema Due to Lymphatic Filariasis in 2005 in Khurda District,Odisha State,India

BackgroundOver 1.1 billion people worldwide are at risk for lymphatic filariasis (LF), and the global burden of LF-associated lymphedema is estimated at 16 million affected people, yet country-specific estimates are poor.SignificanceThese data highlight the magnitude of lymphedema in LF-endemic areas and emphasize the need to develop robust estimates of numbers of individuals with lymphedema in order to identify the extent of lymphedema management services needed in these regions.     

Circadian rhythm in behavioral activities and diurnal abundance of stray street dogs in the city of Sambalpur,Odisha, India

ABSTRACT

This is the first research article that documents circadian variability in behavioral variables, namely resting (Rt) and standing (St) in stray street dogs of Sambalpur city, India. We also estimated the abundance as a function of time of the day and gender in a population of stray dog inhabiting streets of the city. In addition, we determined the association between the behavioral variables and the environmental variables, such as light intensity, sound intensity, temperature and humidity. We determined the abundance of street dogs at 10 hotspots using the photographic capture-recapture technique and Lincoln index equation. In another study, we determined dogs’ density along the three randomly selected routes that connect the beginning (Dhanupali) and end (P.C. Bridge) of the city precincts. We recorded the resting and standing activities of the stray street dogs using still and video cameras at four times of the day continuously over a longitudinal timescale of 72 hours. This study was conducted at four randomly selected dog hotspots. Subjecting the log-transformed time series data to the Cosinor rhythmometry we obtained three different rhythm parameters, such as mesor (M), amplitude (A) and acrophase (Ø) of the rhythm in resting and standing behavior of stray street dogs. We found out both spatial and temporal variability in the behavior of street dogs. The sightings of dogs were always more during the evening and nighttime irrespective of the investigated routes and hotspots. Further, we also observed that the abundance of male dogs was always significantly more as compared with the bitches. A lack of association between two attributes the time of the day and gender apropos the number of sightings of the street dogs was validated by the Fisher’s exact test. Using Pearson’s correlation analysis technique we found a negative relationship between light intensity and resting activity. In addition, we also found a negative association between standing activity and ambient environmental temperature. These findings were complimentary to the observed circadian variability in the resting and standing behavior of the stray street dogs. In conclusion, despite a few limitations, this study documents a statistically significant circadian rhythm in activities of stray street dogs. It also highlights spatial variability in the abundance of dogs on the streets and hotspot localities of the urban Sambalpur. We do have a hunch. It is likely that similar phenomenamight be of common occurrence in many urban areas of the world. These data might also help in addressing street dog menace – one of the major problems the people and administrative authorities of most of the Indian cities and elsewhere worldwide are experiencing since quite long.     

Assisted existence: an ethnography of being in Ecuador

In Ecuador, reproductive assistance, whether from God, extended family, or medical technologies, is emphasized and desirable in a precarious and unequal world with a minimal social safety net and chronic economic insecurity. Assistance is the very grounds of being. In better‐resourced realities like parts of the United States, assisted reproductive technologies can trouble the biological and social autonomy of individual heterosexual couples. Juxtaposing assisted reproduction in these divergent sites demonstrates that resources can make autonomy easier to establish and assistance between people and things difficult to perceive. Through an insistence on the material specificity of assisted reproduction itself, this ethnographic contrast contributes to anthropological approaches to ontological questions of being. In particular, ethnographic observation of the material realities of reproductive treatments in Ecuador demonstrates that medical care is one means to instantiate race. Private assisted reproduction makes whiter babies and patients in the face of a crumbling public health care infrastructure whose patients are by definition poor and Indian. The framework of assistance might serve then as a means to ethnographically trace the constitution of racial being in better‐resourced nations, as well as allow for a more comprehensive recognition of the interdependence of existence.     

An Estimation of Private Household Costs to Receive Free Oral Cholera Vaccine in Odisha,India

BackgroundService provider costs for vaccine delivery have been well documented; however, vaccine recipients’ costs have drawn less attention. This research explores the private household out-of-pocket and opportunity costs incurred to receive free oral cholera vaccine during a mass vaccination campaign in rural Odisha, India.MethodsFollowing a government-driven oral cholera mass vaccination campaign targeting population over one year of age, a questionnaire-based cross-sectional survey was conducted to estimate private household costs among vaccine recipients. The questionnaire captured travel costs as well as time and wage loss for self and accompanying persons. The productivity loss was estimated using three methods: self-reported, government defined minimum daily wages and gross domestic product per capita in Odisha.FindingsOn average, families were located 282.7 (SD = 254.5) meters from the nearest vaccination booths. Most family members either walked or bicycled to the vaccination sites and spent on average 26.5 minutes on travel and 15.7 minutes on waiting. Depending upon the methodology, the estimated productivity loss due to potential foregone income ranged from $0.15 to $0.29 per dose of cholera vaccine received. The private household cost of receiving oral cholera vaccine constituted 24.6% to 38.0% of overall vaccine delivery costs.InterpretationThe private household costs resulting from productivity loss for receiving a free oral cholera vaccine is a substantial proportion of overall vaccine delivery cost and may influence vaccine uptake. Policy makers and program managers need to recognize the importance of private costs and consider how to balance programmatic delivery costs with private household costs to receive vaccines.     

Biodiversity and insecticide susceptibility status of major Anopheline fauna in three malariogenically stratified districts of Odisha,India

Understanding the species composition and biodiversity of anopheles mosquito population is a vital part of any malaria control intervention. Similarly, an effective malaria control strategy relies primarily on insecticides. The Anopheline diversity, composition, distribution as well as insectide susceptibility/resistance status were surveyed in three districts of Odisha viz. Kalahandi (southern hyper –endemic district), Bargarh (western meso-endemic district) and Cuttack (sub-coastal hypo-endemic district) which significantly differ from each other according to the malariogenic stratification. Anopheline fauna showed a higher species richness and diversification in Kalahandi followed by Cuttack and Bargarh. An. culicifacies, the most abundant primary vector in Odisha, showed resistant to DDT as well as malathion in all three districts with a higher knockdown time in Kalahandi. Except Bargarh and Cuttack, the vector species also showed resistance to deltamethrin in Kalahandi district. The species found susceptible to deltamethrin in Cuttack while in Bargarh, its response was under ‘verification required’. In contrast, the secondary vector, An. annularis showed resistance to DDT in all three districts and to malathion in only Kalahandi district. In Cuttack and Bargarh district, their response against the insecticide malathion was under verification required. The deltamethrin susceptible populations were detected in Cuttack and Bargarh district where as in Kalahandi they came under verification required category. The current study constitutes an essential step for understanding the dynamics of malaria transmission in relation to vector diversification and their resistant status to various insecticides that can provide guide to intervention policies and programmes in the fight against malaria.     

First report of powdery mildew caused by Podosphaera xanthii on Luffa acutangula in Odisha State,India

Abstract

Ridge gourd (Luffa acutangula) is an herbaceous perennial twining vine cultivated globally as vegetable and medicinal plant. During October to January in 2014 and 2015, 40% powdery mildew disease incidence was observed in different areas of Odisha state, India. The pathogenicity experiments confirmed the powdery mildew disease symptoms on artificially inoculated L. acutangula seedlings. Causal organism was identified as Podosphaera xanthii on the basis of morphological and molecular studies. This is the first report of powdery mildew disease on L. acutangula caused by P. xanthii.     

Sequence analysis of coding DNA fragments of pfcrt and pfmdr-1 genes in Plasmodium falciparum isolates from Odisha, India

The global emergence and spread of malaria parasites resistant to antimalarial drugs is the major problem in malaria control. The genetic basis of the parasite's resistance to the antimalarial drug chloroquine (CQ) is well-documented, allowing for the analysis of field isolates of malaria parasites to address evolutionary questions concerning the origin and spread of CQ-resistance. Here, we present DNA sequence analyses of both the second exon of the Plasmodium falciparum CQ-resistance transporter (pfcrt) gene and the 5' end of the P. falciparum multidrug-resistance 1 (pfmdr-1) gene in 40 P. falciparum field isolates collected from eight different localities of Odisha, India. First, we genotyped the samples for the pfcrt K76T and pfmdr-1 N86Y mutations in these two genes, which are the mutations primarily implicated in CQ-resistance. We further analyzed amino acid changes in codons 72-76 of the pfcrt haplotypes. Interestingly, both the K76T and N86Y mutations were found to co-exist in 32 out of the total 40 isolates, which were of either the CVIET or SVMNT haplotype, while the remaining eight isolates were of the CVMNK haplotype. In total, eight nonsynonymous single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were observed, six in the pfcrt gene and two in the pfmdr-1 gene. One poorly studied SNP in the pfcrt gene (A97T) was found at a high frequency in many P. falciparum samples. Using population genetics to analyze these two gene fragments, we revealed comparatively higher nucleotide diversity in the pfcrt gene than in the pfmdr-1 gene. Furthermore, linkage disequilibrium was found to be tight between closely spaced SNPs of the pfcrt gene. Finally, both the pfcrt and the pfmdr-1 genes were found to evolve under the standard neutral model of molecular evolution.