Evaluation of change in water quality with strong acid exchanger effluent conductivity.

Koradi Thermal Power Station requires 1-1.2 lakh m3 of water per day and pond No. 3 is the source of water supply of Koradi Thermal Power Station. This Pond No. 3 is being replenished by Pench Canal water, but water undergoes significant changes in quality after entering Pond No. 3 and hence this aspect may be crucial for raw water intake at Water Treatment Plant Stg-II of Koradi Thermal Power Station. Therefore, an attempt has been made to evaluate the change in water quality on the basis of Strong Acid Cation Exchanger Effluent Conductivity and its impact on demineralised water treatment plant.

Acute osteomyelitis in congenital hypofibrinogenemia.

A 10-month-old female child presented with intermittent high grade fever, pain and diffuse swelling in the left knee joint with history of ecchymosis in different areas of the body. There was radiological features of acute osteomyelitis, low fibrinogen level and bacteremia due to the presence of coagulase positive staphylococcus aureus. The child responded nicely to the treatment for acute osteomyelitis and congenital hypofibrinogenemia. So, in congenital hypofibrinogenemia, a joint swelling might be a resultant of an acute osteomyelitis, not mere hemarthrosis.

Study of KAP of the private medical practitioners about national disease control programmes.

This study was carried out among the Private Allopathic Medical Practitioners (PMPs) at Khardah Municipal area (West Bengal) to find out their perception & practice about management protocol of diseases like acute respiratory infections and diarrhoel diseases in children, malaria and tuberculosis. Data was collected by interviewing the PMPs with pre-designed open-ended questionnaire. It was supplemented by analysing sample prescriptions of the same diseases. The study revealed that PMPs knowledge and practice were not at par with national guidelines. The need for periodic sensitization of PMPs regarding national disease control programme was emphasized.

Computerised tomographic study of tuberculous meningitis in children.

Twenty-one patients with clinical and laboratory diagnosis of tuberculous meningitis were studied at the paediatric department and neuroradiology unit of Bangur Institute of Neurology, both attached to IPGME & R, Kolkata, during the period from 1st February, 1996 to 31 st July, 1996. The age group of the patients were between 1 and 8 years. It clearly appears that CT is an extremely powerful investigative modality for the diagnosis, management and follow-up assessment of development of any complications like hydrocephalus, cerebral infarction, etc. CT examination also can predict the prognosis of the patients.

Action of an algicide from a cyanobacterium, Oscillatoria laetevirens, on photosystem II.

Oscillatoria laetevirens produces an algicide, named oscillatorin (OS), which inhibits growth of higher plants. Effect of purified oscillatorin and some 'urea-triazine type' herbicides was studied on photosystem II activity and composition of pigment protein complex in spinach thylakoid membrane. For oscillatorin the I50 at 10 microg chlorophyll concentration, inhibitor constant (Ki), specific binding sites and Hill coefficient were calculated to be 1.45, 0.15, 2.3 and 0.2 microM respectively. Metribuzin and oscillatorin affected towards the donor side and brought about identical changes in polypeptide composition of PSII complex. Further, metribuzin and atrazine exerted antagonistic and synergistic responses on oscillatorin action. Some of these parameters were also studied on weed plants to assess upon the weedicidal potential of oscillatorin.

Phenyldiguanide activates cardiac receptors to produce responses by involving three different efferent pathways in anaesthetized rats.

The present study was undertaken to determine the afferent and efferent pathways involved in the phenyldiguanide (PDG)-induced reflex response in rats. Intravenous (iv) injection of PDG (10 microg/kg), produced hypotension, bradycardia and apnea over a period of time. Bilateral vagotomy abolished the PDG-induced reflex changes. Atropine (2 mg/kg; iv) blocked only the bradycardiac response produced by PDG, while prazosin (0.5 mg/kg; iv) blocked the hypotensive response, and bilateral vagotomy in these animals abolished the apneic response. In separate series of experiments, intrapericardial injection of lignocaine abolished the hypotensive and bradycardiac responses evoked by PDG in artificially ventilated rats. The results reveal that the PDG-induced reflex is mediated through vagal afferents originating from the heart and efferents involve three different pathways. The bradycardiac response was through the muscarinic receptors, the hypotension is mediated through alpha1 adrenoceptors and the apnea presumably through the spinal motoneurones supplying the respiratory muscles.

An epidemiological survey of carcinoma cervix in north Bengal zone.

Correlation between various epidemiological factors and carcinoma cervix patients in North Bengal zone has been studied for the first time. Significant correlation between elderly women (41-50 years age group), low socio-economic status (SES), first coitus before 17 years of age, low literacy rate and this illness has been established. Suggestion has been made for improvement of the picture. Oncology and radiotherapy department of North Bengal Medical College and Hospital should be utilised as the centre for National Cancer Registration Project in North Bengal zone.

A study of intersectoral co-ordination in disaster management in flood prone districts of West Bengal.

Disaster management is essentially a multi-sectoral and multidisciplinary endeavor. The status of disaster preparedness, coordination among different sectors and its impact on disaster management performance were studied and compared in two flood prone comparable districts viz. Midnapore and Murshidabad of West Bengal. The perception of state level officers about important job responsibilities of other departments in relation to disaster management and its intersectoral co-ordination was found mostly satisfactory; but this desired status did not prevail at district level. Lack of co-ordination among some sectors at district levels persisted in Murshidabad district, indicating comparatively better intersectoral co-ordination in Midnapore district. Thus, 'early response following flood' the most important indicator of adequacy of pre-disaster preparedness was found significantly better in Midnapore district. On the contrary, due to liberal use of Radio transmission set for flood warning, a significantly higher proportion of affected families in Murshidabad district received early flood warning compared to Midnapore. Organisational aspects of disaster management need to be improvised with role clarity of different departments in relation to other sectors involved in this endeavor.

Detoxification of a local Microcystis bloom by an algicidal antibiotic from Oscillatoria late-virens.

Mouse toxicity due to microcystin (hepatotoxin) was detected in water bloom of a local lake, comprising mainly Microcystis aeruginosa. Both toxicity and biomass content of the phytoplankton varied seasonally. Incubations with an algicidal metabolite from Oscillatoria late-virens and a herbicide 3-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-1, 1-dimethyl urea (DCMU) caused depigmentation and detoxification in bloom samples. Algicide-incubation also encouraged growth of protozoa and bacteria, pathogenic form included.