Pesticide usage pattern in tea ecosystem, their retrospects and alternative measures.

Tea is a perennial plantation crop grown under monoculture providing favorable conditions for a variety of pests. The concept of pest control has undergone a considerable change over the past few decades. In recent years there has been a greater dependence on the use of pesticides (7.35-16.75 kgha(-1)) with little importance laid on other safe control methods for the management of tea pests. Due to this practice, the tea pests showed a higher tolerance/ resistance status due to formation of greater amount of esterases, glutathione S-transferase and acetylcholinesterase. Thus, over reliance on pesticides end up with pesticide residue in made tea (DDT - 10.4-47.1%; endosulfan - 41.1-98.0%; dicofol- 0.0-82.4%; ethion - 0.0-36.2%; cypermethrin - 6.0- 45.1%). The growing concern about the pesticide residue in made tea, its toxicity hazards to consumers, the spiraling cost of pesticides and their application have necessitated a suitable planning which will ensure a safe, economic as well as effective pest management in tea. At present it is a global concern to minimize chemical residue in tea and European union and German law imposed stringent measures for the application of chemicals in tea and fixed MRL values at < or = 0. 1 mgkg(-1) for the most commonly used pesticides which will not be met out in the real practice and has been a major constraint to tea exporting countries like India. In order to regulate the situation of the Indian market at global level, central insecticide board and prevention of food adulteration regulation committee have reviewed the MRL position for tea and has recommended 10 insecticides, 5 acaricides, 9 herbicides and 5 fungicides for use in tea and issued the tea distribution and export control order 2005 which will help the country to limit the presence of undesirable substances in tea. This review attempts to provide the readers with a comprehensive account of pesticide use in North East in tea, surveillance report of the European community regarding the residue level in Assam and Darjeeling tea, recent amendments by international and national regulatory bodies, revised MRL values of pesticides in tea, an update about the current strategies for the management of tea pests with more focus on the use of biological control agents and a possible beneficial role or judicious use of chemical pesticides in complement with other alternative measures to achieve optimum effects in terms of limiting agricultural input, lowering production costs, reducing environmental contamination and the effect on non-target organisms, delaying the development of resistant pest biotypes and above all minimizing the pesticide residues in tea to increase the exports.

Multiple large pyogenic liver abscesses of the tropics: a new entity.

BACKGROUND: Pyogenic liver abscesses most commonly occur in males in -he sixth decade, are usually associated with biliary tract disease, malignancy and immunosuppression and the mortality rate is high. We describe another form of pyogenic abscess occurring in females which, if treated aggressively, carries a much better prognosis. METHODS: Between 1986 and 1993 we treated 8 patients with multiple pyogenic liver abscesses. Diagnosis was established by ultrasound and CT scan followed by needle aspiration to confirm pus. Amoebic aetiology was excluded by a serology, poor response to metronidazole and biopsy of the abscess wall. RESULTS: The mean age of our patients was 30 +/- 7 years and there were 2 males and 6 females. They presented with fever and abdominal pain for more than 2 months, tender hepatomegaly, a raised ESR and alkaline phosphatase. US and CT scans showed multiple large abscesses in the right lobe. Histology suggested chronic inflammation and with no definite organism isolated except for visceral larva migrans in one case. All patients underwent surgery--deroofing with drainage was done in four, segmental hepatic resection in three and right hepatectomy in one. One patient had a recurrence and underwent repeated resection. Only one patient died and 7 did well with no recurrence at a mean followup of 24 +/- 27 months. CONCLUSIONS: Large multiple cryptogenic pyogenic abscesses of the liver occurring mostly in young females, which respond well to aggressive excisional surgery may constitute a distinct clinical entity.

Carbohydrates, lipids and lipoproteins and islet changes in diabetes with superimposed myocardial infarction.

Short-term metabolic and concomitant morphologic effects of streptozotocin diabetes on isoproterenol-induced myocardial infarction was studied in Wistar rats, Of particular significance was the observation that myocardial infarction in concert with diabetes brought about a distinctive exacerbation of the severity and complexity of the histopathological lesions. Of all the biochemical parameters, serum glucose and free fatty acids registered maximum elevation and serum lactate and cardiac glycogen levels a maximum reduction. Among the lipoproteins, an inverse relationship was found between high density lipoproteins and low density and very low density lipoproteins; while high density lipoproteins, ratio of high density lipoprotein to low density lipoprotein and the percentage of high density lipoprotein were decreased, there was a significant increase in low density lipoprotein concentration and percentage values of low density and very low density lipoproteins. In diabetes, the Β cell of the endocrine pancreas depicted selective necrosis. Loss of insulin granules and wide-spread necrobiosis of cellular elements of the pancreatic islets were observed, respectively, in myocardial infarction and in diabetes plus myocardial infarction combinations. Pathological evidence of chemical-induced mild toxicity was present in the exocrine parenchyma. Mitotic features and the presence of centroacinar cells in the damaged Langerhans’ islets supposedly formed the basis of regeneration of the tissue in diabetes, with or without vascular complications.