Diversity of Odonata (Insecta) from Dholbaha Dam (Distt. Hoshiarpur) in Punjab Shivalik,India

Study on the species diversity of the order Odonata was carried out during 2002 ∼ 2004 at Dholbaha dam, which has a moist deciduous forest surrounding it in district Hoshiarpur, Punjab, India. A total of 30 species belonging to 7 families of order Odonata were recorded during the study period. The family Libellulidae, represented by 18 species was the most dominant followed by Coenagrionidae (6 species), Aeshnidae (2 species) and Calopterygidae, Chlorocyphidae, Euphaeidae and Gomphidae each having 1 species. In terms of total number of individuals, family Libellulidae constituted maximum with 64.36% followed by Coenagrionidae (28.50%), Chlorocyphidae (1.83%), Gomphidae (1.62%), Euphaeidae (1.56%), Calopterygidae (1.38%) and Aeshnidae (0.75%). Pantala flavescens (Fabricius), a migratory species was the most dominant in number of individuals constituting 17.12% of the total. The least dominant species included Anax immaculifrons Rambur (0.38%) and Anax parthenope parthenope (Selys) (0.36%). Shannon-Wiener index of species diversity of Odonata was 2.988 and 3.029 during 2002–2003 and 2003–2004, respectively. Seven new species have also been reported from the Dholbaha dam during this study period thus increasing the total species number of odonates so far recorded from this area from 29 to 36.     

Level of Trace Elements (Copper,Zinc, Magnesium and Selenium) and Toxic Elements (Lead and Mercury) in the Hair and Nail of Children with Autism

Autism is a multi-factorial pathology observed in children with altered levels of essential and elevated levels of toxic elements. There are also studies reporting a decrease in nutritional trace elements in the hair and nail of autistic children with healthy controls; moreover, bioelements have been shown to play an important role in the central nervous system. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to assess the levels of trace elements like copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), magnesium (Mg), and selenium (Se) and toxic elements like mercury (Hg), and lead (Pb) in the hair and nail samples of autistic children and to evaluate whether the level of these elements could be correlated with the severity of autism. The subjects of the study were 45 autistic children with different grades of severity (low (LFA), medium (MFA), and high (HFA) functioning autism) according to Childhood Autism Rating Scale, n = 15 children in each group and 50 healthy children (age and sex matched). The boys and girls ratio involved in this study was 4:1, and they were 4-12 years of age. The study observed a valid indication of Cu body burden in the autistic children. The children with different grades of autism showed high significance (p < 0.001) in the level of copper in their hair and nail samples when compared to healthy controls. The level of Cu in the autistic children could be correlated with their degree of severity (more the Cu burden severe is autism). The study showed a significant elevation (p < 0.001) in the levels of toxic metals Pb and Hg in both hair and nail samples of autistic children when compared to healthy control group. The elevation was much pronounced in LFA group subjects when compared among autistic groups MFA and HFA. The levels of trace elements Mg and Se were significantly decreased (p < 0.001) in autistic children when compared to control. The trace element Zn showed significant variation in both hair and nails of LFA group children when compared to control group and other study groups. The significant elevation in the concentration of Cu, Pb, and Hg and significant decrease in the concentration of Mg and Se observed in the hair and nail samples of autistic subjects could be well correlated with their degrees of severity.     

Hemicycliphora ekrami n.sp. (Criconematina Siddiqi, 1980: Hemicycliophoroidea) from Punjab,India

Summary A new species of Hemicycliphora de Man, 1921 from around the roots of wheat (Triticum aestivum) is described and illustrated from Ludhiana, Punjab, India. Hemicycliophora ekrami n.sp. is close to H. labiata Colbran, 1960, H. mangiferum Misra & Edward, 1971 and H. dhirendri Husain & Khan, 1967 from which it differs in having smooth body annules not interrupted by lateral fields.     

The distribution of the group specific component (Gc) in four endogamous groups of Punjab, North India

The paper reports the distribution of group specific component (Gc) types among four endogamous groups of Punjab: Jat Sikh, Khatri, Ramgarhia, and Ramdasia. A total of 418 individuals were tested for this polymorphism. The frequency of Gc1 alleles ranges between 0.7056 and 0.7636. These frequencies are compared with those obtained in other Indian populations.     

Age changes in skeletal diameters of two communities of Punjab (India) from 20 to 80 years

The study was conducted on a cross-sectional sample of 502 Jat-Sikh and 510 Bania females ranging in age from 20 to 80 years. The results indicate that shoulder breadth increases up to age group 30-39. After that a decrease sets in, but the bicristal diameter continues to increase up to the sixth decade. The diameters of the extremities have also shown continuous increase up to the fifth or sixth decade in both the communities. On an average, the Jat-Sikh women possess significantly broader shoulders, hips and diameters of the extremities, except for knee diameter, which is slightly bigger in Bania females. This phenomenon has been attributed to genetic factors as well as to the physically active mode of life of Jat-Sikhs as compared to Banias.     

Permanent tooth emergence in Gujjars of Punjab, India.

Patterns of permanent tooth emergence in Gujjars were studied in a cross-sectional sample of 483 children ranging in age from 6 to 13 years. Females were markedly advanced in permanent tooth emergence times over males, but no such sex differences were observed in sequence of emergence. Differences between median emergence times of right and left side antimers were significant for only 4 of 28 instances (14.29%), namely central incisors, mandibular first molars in males and lateral maxillary incisors in females. In general mandibular teeth except premolars tended to emerge earlier than their maxillary counterparts. The quiescent period between first and second tooth emergence stages was longer in males than in females. Mandibular depth and morphological facial length were very significantly correlated (p < 0.01) with the number of permanent teeth present in the oral cavity.     

A study of cephalo-facial measurements from age 20 to 80 in Jat-Sikh and Bania females of Punjab (India)

The sample consists of 502 Jat-Sikh and 510 Bania females ranging in age from 20 to 80 years. Most of the measurements of head and face have shown a trend of increase up to fifth or sixth decade followed by a decrease, with intermittent fluctuations. Nose length and nose breadth have shown a trend of continuous increase up to the last age group. But this increase or decrease observed for these measurements during successive age-groups is significant only in few age-groups. On an average, the Jat-Sikh females possess significantly bigger heads, however some measurements like bigonial breadth, morphological upper facial length and nose breadth are significantly larger in Banias. The head is generally dolichocephal, with broad upper face and medium jugo-mandibular index in both the communities. The maximum frequency of Jat-Sikh females possess leptorhinae noses, whereas in Banias there is a transition from leptorhinae to mesorhinae noses.     

Erratum to: Pesticide-Degrading and Phosphate-Solubilizing Bacilli Isolated from Agricultural Soil of Punjab (India) Enhance Plant Growth

Microbiology - An Erratum to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1134/S0026261722300130     

The Toxic Action of Molybdenum in Relation to Soils and Crops

The harmful effect of molybdenum on animals is well established, but there is comparatively little knowledge of the conditions in which molybdenum is poisonous to plants. Obvious differences in response to molybdenum poisoning in different soils have been previously noted, but no adequate explanation has been put forward.
Tomatoes grown in ordinary loam showed little outward sign of poisoning with heavy doses of sodium molybdate, but some depression of crop occasionally occurred, especially when the dose was divided into early and late treatments. The response varied with season and variety. On certain light and fen soils the plants were killed at an early stage with the heavier dressing of molybdate, and seriously injured with the lighter dose, the leaves showing the golden colour characteristic of molybdenum poisoning in various plants.
The reaction of different crops varied considerably in the same soil with similar treatments. On old cucumber soil tomatoes showed no sign of toxicity even with the heavy dressing, flax was progressively damaged with increasing doses, while Solanum nodiflorum was most seriously affected even with the lighter dressing of molybdate. It was impossible to predict the reaction between soil, poison and crop without actual experiment.
The growth of flax was greatly impeded on a manganese-deficient fen soil, and the molybdenum toxicity was masked in consequence. When the deficiency was corrected the poisonous effect of molybdenum on this soil was very marked, even with the lower dressing.
The composting of loam with peat usually, but not invariably, resulted in a reduction of the toxicity of molybdenum. The different results obtained with several crops on a variety of soils still yield no definite clue to the factors which determine the relative toxicity of molybdenum to plant growth and such points as soil acidity, response to climatic conditions and nutritive deficiencies are among those which need further investigation.     

Biological Affinities Between Migrant and Parental Populations in Punjab, India

In the present study, we have examined biological affinities between parental population, migrants from Pakistan after 1947 and non-Punjabi migrants from other states of India in Punjab. About 500 adult individuals of both sexes from 300 families among three groups were measured for 16 anthropometric and physiometric variables. Analysis of both univariate and multivariate suggests an overall significant migration effect in almost all variables especially anthropometric measurements between both sexes. The higher discrimination has been found in migrants from other states of India with reference to anthropometric traits as compared to other two populations. This is because of more genetic heterogeneity as would be expected from many states and many ethnicities of migrants. It was also found that the other two populations are more or less qualitatively similar, which reflects common ethnohistorical or geographic affiliations. However, overall, women showed a greater migration effect than men.     

Cytogenetic analysis in couples with recurrent miscarriages: a retrospective study from Punjab,north India

Human reproduction is considered as the most inefficient event as ～15–20% of human pregnancies end in miscarriage and in the product of miscarriages, chromosomal anomalies are a common occurrence. The aim of the present retrospective study was to assess the frequency of chromosomal aberrations in couples with recurrent miscarriages in the region of Punjab and to compare with worldwide frequencies. In this study, a total of 440 cases were referred between the period 1995–2015. After lymphocyte culturing, giemsa–trypsin banding was done for each case to assess the chromosomal anomalies. The frequency of chromosomal aberrations among couples was found to be 3.41% in our study. Among these aberrations, balanced reciprocal translocations formed the largest group with 60% anomalies. We would conclude that clinicians should understand the importance of chromosomal analysis in these couples and refer them for karyotyping after two miscarriages to rule out the possible genetic cause of recurrent miscarriages.     

Edible Astraeus (Basidiomycota) from Thailand

Two edible species of Astraeus are widely collected for consumption and offered for sale in markets throughout Thailand. A. hygrometricus (Pers.) Morg. and A. thailandicus Petcharat are described herein, of which A. thailandicus Petcharat is further designated as a new species.     

Exploratory Spatio-Temporal Data Analysis (ESTDA) of Dengue and its association with climatic,environmental, and sociodemographic factors in Punjab,India

Routine health data is rich in information but underutilised for research in Low and Middle-Income countries. The present study was carried out to understand spatiotemporal patterns of dengue and its association with risk factors using routine data from health and allied sectors. ESTDA included estimation of dengue incidence rates, time series features and correlation coefficients up to the sub-district level. Scatter plots and correlation coefficients were used to identify relationships between covariates. Dengue incidence in 2015–19 was 47.76, 33.64, 52.03, 49.71, and 33.36 per 100,000, respectively, with a mean (SD) age of 34.33 (16.78) years and the majority being males (63.94%). Dengue had significant cross-correlation, non-linear relationships, and spatio-temporal associations with climatic, environmental, and socio-demographic risk factors. Significant autocorrelation of dengue occurrence was present at a lag of one month with seasonal patterns. The reproducible open-source algorithms add value to existing Routine Health Information Systems, and the findings will enable the development of Spatio-temporal models in future research. The research was done using R version 4.1.0.     

Contents and Health Risk Assessment of Elements in Three Edible Ectomycorrhizal Fungi (Boletaceae) from Polymetallic Soils in Yunnan Province,SW China

Biological Trace Element Research - Ectomycorrhizal fungi (EcMF) can mobilize mineral elements directly from insoluble mineral sources and accumulate various metallic elements and metalloids from...     

Genetic studies among Ramgarhias and Ramdasias of Punjab, North India

This study reports results of investigations on ABO, Rh, haptoglobin and transferrin types in the two hitherto uninvestigated endogamous groups of Punjab, North India. Frequencies for the A, B, and O genes were found to be 0.1711, 0.2566, and 0.5723 in Ramdasias, and 0.1737, 0.2960, and 0.5303 in Ramgarhias. In all 13 Rhesus-negative individuals were encountered. The Hp2 allele shows a high frequency of 0.8060 for Ramdasias, and 0.7860 for Ramgarhias.     

Risk Assessment for Natural Uranium in Subsurface Water of Punjab State,India

Traces of uranium were measured by laser fluorimeter in 235 subsurface water samples collected from four districts of Punjab state in India. The concentration of U in water samples ranged between <2–644 μg/L with a mean value of 73.1 μg/L. The radiological risk was observed to be in the range of 5.55 × 10^?6–1.78 × 10^?3 with a mean value of 2.03 × 10^?4, which is around 22% more than the maximum acceptable level (l.67 × 10^?4) as per guidelines of India's Atomic Energy Regulatory Board. The mean of chemical toxicity risk, expressed as life time average daily dose (LADD) was worked out to be 5.56 μg/kg/day with a range of 0.15–48 μg/kg/day by considering a bodyweight of 51.5 ± 8.5 kg, water ingestion rate of 4.05 L/d, and life expectancy of 63.7 yrs for an adult Indian reference man and compared with the reference dose (4.53 μg/kg/day). The average exposure level of U was comparatively high and the chemical toxicity was expected to be more. The mean of hazard quotient (LADD/ RfD) for all four districts was found to be greater than 1, indicating that groundwater may not be suitable for consumption from a chemical toxicity point of view.