Genesis of domestic sewage--case study of a residential university campus.

The study reports on the genesis of domestic sewage in a predominantly residential university campus area ofDhanbad, Jharkhand. The domestic sewage has been collected from three different locations of the campus area and their physicochemical characteristics have been studied. These studies reveal that the extent of mineral pick-up is different for different parameter. It has been found out in the present study that in the domestic sewage, the chloride pick-up is 71%, nitrate pick-up is 97%, total hardness pick-up is 20 %, iron pick-up is 98% and zinc pick-up is 98%. The rate constants have been found out by using standard methods and have been compared with those mentioned in the standard literatures and previous works.

Dental fluorosis in bovine of Nayagarh district of Orissa.

Chronic fluoride toxicity in the form of dental fluorosis was observed in cattle from nine (9) villages under two (2) blocks of Nayagarh district of Orissa. Out of 1117 cattle, 221 (18.09%) showed the signs of dental fluorosis. In all affected villages, the prevalence of dental fluorosis in calves (< 1 year age) was greater than adults. There was significant difference in prevalence in respect to age. The commonly observed signs of dental fluorosis were brown discoloration, mottling, attrition or uneven wearing of teeth with or without pitting. None of the affected animals showed characteristic signs of osteofluorosis. The mean serum and urine fluoride concentration of affected animals were significantly (P < 0.05) higher than those of control animals. Fluoride levels (mean) of ground water and surface water in two blocks were 1.30 +/- 0.16 ppm, 0. 66 +/- 0.08 ppm and 1.12 +/- 0.19 ppm, 0. 48 +/- 0.05 ppm respectively. The fluoride content of grass samples of affected and control (non-endemic) area was comparable. There was a highly positive correlation (r = + 0.664) between prevalence of dental fluorosis and fluoride content of ground water. It was concluded that fluoride intake through the water especially ground water contributed to the development of fluorosis in cattle.

Bone morphogenetic proteins--novel regulators of bone formation.

Bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs), hydrophobic, non-species specific glycoproteins, belong to the expanding transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) superfamily. BMP has pleiotropic function that range from extraskeletal and skeletal organogenesis to bone generation and regeneration. It induces de novo bone formation in post fetal life through the process of direct (intra membranous) and endochondral ossification and their response is dose dependent. Through recombinant gene technology, BMP is available at least in ten forms for basic research and clinical trials. Amino acid sequences and physical properties of BMP family members have been identified. BMP research extends to the fields of developmental biology, genetics and evolution.