Composition variation in essential oils of Artemisia nilagirica and Artemisia capillaris, growing in India

The present study was aimed to find out the chemical constituents of essential oils of Artemisia nilagirica (Clarke) Pamp. and Artemisia capillaris Thunb. of Asteraceae family, growing in Garhwal region of India. The essential oils were obtained by hydro-distillation and subjected to detailed GC-MS analysis in order to determine the variation in their volatile constituents. While comparing the common constituents in both of the species, the remarkable variation was observed and it was 6.03, 3.251, 2.093, 33.73, 7.573, 15.041 and 8.00% for trans-caryophyllene, DL-limonene, ?-pinene, ?-thujone, ?-myrcene, ?-ocimene and ?-thujone, respectively

Extent of awareness and prevalence of adulteration in selected food items in rural Dehradun

Background: Adulteration of food items is common phenomenon in India. It includes both willful adulteration to improve texture and quality of food items and supply of substandard food items. The usual outcomes is outbreak of food borne illness. Aims & Objectives: i) To estimate the prevalence of food adulteration in selected food items ii) the awareness of subjects regarding food adulteration act and iii) their buying practices. Material and Methods: Samplesize:150 households was sampled, based on prevalence of adulteration to be around 50%, with 95% confidence interval and absolute allowable error of 10%. Sample household were drawn from the selected villages randomly. Pre-designed and pretested questionnaires was administered to fulfill the objectives and food items were tested using NICE food adulteration kit. Data were analyzed by numeral with percentage, Pearson’s correlation test and F test. Results: In 59.3% households, housewives purchased the food items for the house. The prevalence of adulteration ranged from 17.3% to 66.2% in selected food items. Loose product was purchased by 54.3%. The food labels on packed items was not read by 86.3%. Mean percentage of purity was highest among literates (57.3 ±12.3) than illiterates and those having primary education. Statistically significant F ratio was seen for mean percentage of purity and respondent’s literacy status. Conclusion: Adulterant is rampant in poor strata of  society due to consumer’s illiteracy and lack of awareness towards food safety rules

Navigating Risks: Exploring Sexual and Reproductive Health and Contraceptive Awareness among Adolescent Girls in in District Dehradun

Background: Adolescence brings about significant changes in the life, making it crucial to develop lifelong healthy habits. However, societal norms often restrict open discussions on sexual and reproductive health (SRH). In India, access to accurate SRH information and healthcare remains limited for many adolescents. Aim & Objective: To study trend in risk taking behavior related to sexual & reproductive health of adolescent girls and to find out awareness about and use of contraception in the study population. Settings and Design: A cross-sectional study was conducted in two randomly selected intercolleges in district Dehradun. Methods and Material: A total of 400 unmarried school-going adolescent girls (classes 9th–12th) were surveyed with a focus on SRH. Statistical Analysis Used: Percentages and chi-square test. Results: The mean age of respondents was 15.62 (±1.557) years. Teachers were the primary source of SRH information, but only 26.2% respondents had attended sex education classes. While most had heard of HIV/AIDS, knowledge about other sexually transmitted infections was low. Awareness of condoms and oral contraceptive pills was higher than other methods and improved with age. Conclusion: The study highlights inadequate access to accurate SRH information and the need for comprehensive education programs to promote informed decision-making

WOMEN UNDER DURESS: A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY ON VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN DISTRICT DEHRADUN

Introduction: Violence against women is a significant public health problem, as well as a fundamental violation of women’s human rights. It is one of the most common forms of violence globally and includes physical, sexual, emotional and economic violence. Aims and Objectives: 1.To study the prevalence of Violence against Women (VAW) amongst ever-married women of reproductive age group in district Dehradun.2. To study their awareness regarding protection from such violence. Methodology: The community-based, cross-sectional study was conducted using multistage random sampling method, amongst 880 ever married women aged 15-49 years, in the rural & urban areas of district Dehradun. Results: Out of the surveyed sample of 880 women, receiving obscene phone calls was reported by 11.8 %; eve teasing by 9.4 %; being followed home by 5.7% and unsolicited advances by 3.9%. About 1.0% women reported being forced into unsolicited sexual activity by a person other than a spouse. Overall only 19.2% women had any knowledge about protection laws and agencies for victims of VAW. Conclusion: Nearly 37% women in our study reported suffering from any harassing activity ever in life, it was disheartening to see that only one-fifth had knowledge regarding protection laws. Primary prevention in this scenario becomes very important to disjoin VAW from cultural acceptance

An epidemiological evaluation of predictors of overweight and obesity in Garhwal region of Uttarakhand.

Background: Overweight and obesity are now considered to be a very serious public health problems, contributing to a number of preventable non communicable diseases and are among the most significant contributors to ill health.Material & method: A cross sectional study was carried out with a total sample size of 632. Multistage stratified random sampling and “Kish” method was applied for selection of study area and selection of study subjects (21-60 years). WHO STEPS for NCD Risk Factor Surveillance, was used to gather the necessary information. Percentage, Chi square, & logistic regression analysis was calculated and significant level was taken at p<0.05.Results: As per Asia Pacific classification 49.3% (majority) of subjects while as per WHO classification 33.3% of subjects were found to be overweight or obese (BMI > 23kg/m2). It was nearly 2 times higher in urban males. Central obesity was more commonly observed in urban subjects (male: 38.9%, female: 77.6%) as compared to rural subjects (males: 17.8%, females: 59.4%). High (at risk) WHR was recorded in 55.9% of total subjects. High (at risk) WHtR was recorded in 66.8% of total subjects while in 54.4% & 79.1% among rural & urban subjects respectively. All the predictors showed higher percentages in females and in urban area.Conclusion: The present study reveals that, there is high prevalence of overweight and obesity in the study population. Certainly, there has been a considerable shift in their dietary and lifestyle profile.  The dietary profile is changed to a mixture of rural and urban diets, with higher consumption of saturated fat and low intake of fibre.

Synergistic Enzyme Cocktail to Enhance Hydrolysis of Steam Exploded Wheat Straw at Pilot Scale

Multiple enzymes are required for efficient hydrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass and no wild type organism is capable of producing all enzymes in desired levels. In this study, steam explosion of wheat straw was carried out at pilot scale and a synthetic enzyme mixture (EnzMix) was developed by partially replacing the cellulase with critical dosages of commercially available accessory enzymes (β-glucosidase, xylanase and laccase) through central composite design. Highest degree of synergism (DS) was observed with β-glucosidase (1.68) followed by xylanase (1.36). Finally, benchmarking of EnzMix (Celluclast, β-glucosidase and xylanase in a protein ratio of 20.40: 38.43: 41.16, respectively) and other leading commercial enzymes was carried out. Interestingly, hydrolysis improved by 75% at 6 h and 30% at 24 h, respectively in comparison of control. By this approach, 25% reduction in enzyme dosage was observed for obtaining the same hydrolysis yield with opitimized enzyme cocktail. Thus, development of enzyme cocktail is an effective and sustainable approach for high hydrolysis efficiency

Agro-morphological characterization of lentil germplasm of Indian National Genebank and Development of a core set for efficient utilization in lentil improvement programs

Lentil (Lens culinaris Medik.) is one of the major cool-season pulse crops worldwide. Its increasing demand as a staple pulse has led to the unlocking of diverse germplasm collections conserved in the genebanks to develop its superior varieties. The Indian National Genebank, housed at the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR)-National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources, New Delhi, India, currently has 2,324 accessions comprising 1,796 indigenous and 528 exotic collections. This study was conducted to unveil the potential of lentil germplasm by assessing its agro-morphological characteristics and diversity, identifying trait-specific germplasm, and developing a core set. The complete germplasm set was characterized for two years, i.e., 2017-2018 and 2018-2019, and data were recorded on 26 agro-morphological traits. High phenotypic variability was observed for nine quantitative and 17 qualitative traits. A core set comprising 170 accessions (137 Indian and 33 exotic) was derived based on the characterization data as well as geographical origin using a heuristic method and PowerCore software. This core set was found to be sufficiently diverse and representative of the entire collection based on the comparison made using Shannon-Weaver diversity indices and χ2 test. These results were further validated by summary statistics. The core set displayed high genetic diversity as evident from a higher coefficient of variance in comparison to the entire set for individual traits and overall Shannon-Weaver diversity indices (entire: 1.054; core: 1.361). In addition, the total variation explained by the first three principal components was higher in the core set (70.69%) than in the entire collection (68.03%). Further, the conservation of pairwise correlation values among descriptors in the entire and core set reflected the maintenance of the structure of the whole set. Based on the results, this core set is believed to represent the entire collection, completely. Therefore, it constitutes a potential set of germplasm that can be used in the genetic enhancement of lentils