Prevailing Marketing Practices and Consumer Preference for Pork in Bareilly City

Present study was conducted using purposive sampling technique to identify prevailing marketing practices and consumer preference for pork in Bareilly city. The study revealed that majority of retailers come under middle age group and belong to lower socio-economic strata. Facilities of chiller, deep freezer, disinfectant and packaging and labeling were not available at any retail shops. Majority of respondent sold 30-35kg pork/day with higher frequency of selling at morning within 4-5 hrs of slaughter. Problems faced by retailers were poor financial conditions and lack of marketing chain. Pork retailers required training and aids related to pork business from government. Majority of consumers at Bareilly city belongs to the lower socio-economic strata. Majority of individuals purchased pork at least 1-2 times per week, most of them purchased at morning time. Most of consumer preferred ham cut, purchased meat from road side stalls immediately after slaughter for preparing dishes from pork and preferred stewing. Finally, it can be concluded that pork was sold through unorganized sector, both consumers and retailers were not aware about quality and safety of pork and meager value chain exist for pork business at Bareilly city

Over-expression of gene encoding heat shock protein 70 from Mycobacterium tuberculosis and its evaluation as vaccine adjuvant.

Background: Heat shock proteins (Hsps) are evolutionary ancient and highly conserved molecular chaperons found in prokaryotes as well as eukaryotes. Hsp70 is a predominant member of Hsp family. Microbial Hsp70s (mHsp70s) have acquired special significance in immunity since they have been shown to be potent activators of the innate immune system and generate specific immune responses against tumours and infectious agents. Objectives: The present study was aimed to clone express and purify recombinant Hsp70 from the Mycobacterium tuberculosis and characterise it immunologically. The study also aimed at determining the potential of recombinant M. tuberculosis heat shock protein (rMTB-Hsp70) as adjuvant or antigen carrier. Materials and Methods: Cloning of M. tuberculosis heat shock protein (MTB-Hsp70) amplicon was carried out using the pGEMT-Easy vector although for expression, pProExHTb prokaryotic expression vector was used. Purification of recombinant Hsp70 was carried out by nickel-nitrilotriacetic acid (Ni-NTA) affinity chromatography. For immunological characterization and determining the adjuvant effect of MTB-Hsp70, BALB/c mice were used. The data obtained was statistically analysed. Results: Hsp70 gene was cloned, sequenced and the sequence data were submitted to National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI). Recombinant MTB-Hsp70 was successfully over-expressed using the prokaryotic expression system and purified to homogeneity. The protein was found to be immunodominant. Significant adjuvant effect was produced by the rMTB-Hsp70 when inoculated with recombinant outer membrane protein 31; however, effect was less than the conventionally used the Freund's adjuvant. Conclusion: Protocol standardised can be followed for bulk production of rHsp70 in a cost-effective manner. Significant adjuvant effect was produced by rMTB-Hsp70; however, the effect was than Freund's adjuvant. Further, studies need to be carried out to explore its applicability as carrier of antigen.

Massage and Touch Therapy in Neonates: The Current Evidence.

Infant massage was first introduced in China in 2nd century BC. Massaging the newborn has been a tradition in India and other Asian countries since time immemorial. Various oil-based preparations have been used depending on the regional availability. There has been a recent surge in this ancient art particularly as a therapy among parents and professionals in the Western world. Evidence exists supporting the benefits of touch and massage therapy. We reviewed the literature to look at the various techniques of providing massage, its benefits, possible mechanism of action and adverse effects. The review suggests that massage has several positive effects in terms of weight gain, better sleep-wake pattern, enhanced neuromotor development, better emotional bonding, reduced rates of nosocomial infection and thereby, reduced mortality in the hospitalized patients. Many studies have described the technique and frequency of this procedure. Massage was found to be more useful when some kind of lubricant oil was used. Harmful effects like physical injury and increased risk of infection were encountered when performed inappropriately. The review also discusses the different hypotheses put forward regarding the mechanism of action. As of now there are very few studies describing the long term impact of neonatal massage.

Skin Care for the Newborn.

Skin of the newborn differs from that of an adult in several ways. It is more susceptible to trauma and infection and requires special care. Certain principles of skin care have to be emphasized to the mother or caregiver such as gentle cleansing, adequate hydration and moisturization of the skin, preventing friction and maceration in body folds, and protection from irritants and bright sunlight. The initial bath in full term infants can be given once the baby’s temperature has stabilized and the infant is hemodynamically stable. All soaps, cleansers, and syndets should be used infrequently during the newborn period and it is better if their use is limited to groins, axillae and napkin areas. The use of emollients on newborns should be limited in warm weather.

Acute renal failure in a tertiary care center in Nepal.

From July 1998 to July 1999, 45 cases of acute renal failure were treated at Bir Hospital, Kathmandu. Out of which 24 were male and 21 were female. Age ranged from 11 months to 84 years with mean age being 35 years and 9 cases were below 10 years. Four cases with pre-renal azotaemia and twenty five cases of acute tubular necrosis (ATN) accounted for 64% of all cases. These were due to gastroenteritis 10, sepsis 6, post surgical 1, trauma 1 and obstretical complications 5. Multiple hornet stings were responsible for acute renal failure in 3 cases, acute urate nephropathy in 1 case and miscellaneous causes in 2 cases. Glomerulonephritis / vasculitis accounted for 17.7%, acute interstitial nephritis 4.4%, haemotytic uraemic syndrome (HUS) 6.6%, and post renal azotaemia in 6.6% of all cases. Mean serum creatinine was 8 mg/dl, mean blood urea 190 mg/dl. Eight cases were treated only conservatively, eighteen received haemodialysis, fourteen received peritoneal dialysis, three received both and two refused for dialysis. Average duration of hospital stay was 13.6 days. Out of the forty-five cases twenty-nine recovered normal renal function, ten expired, two recovered partially, two progressed to chronic renal failure and two left against medical advice. Overall mortality was 22.2%. Common causes of acute renal failure in our setting were gastroenteritis (22%) and sepsis (20%). HUS was exclusively seen in children following bacillary dysentery. Multiple hornet stings is an important cause of acute renal failure in our country.

Acute myocardial infarction due to blunt chest trauma.

We report a case of blunt chest injury following a road accident leading to damage of the left main and left anterior descending coronary arteries causing acute myocardial infarction in a young person.

Pharmacological screening of few new 2-(substituted acetyl) amino-5-alkyl-1,3,4-oxadiazoles.

Nine new 2-(substituted acetyl) amino-5-alkyl-1,3,4-oxadiazoles were synthesised and confirmed on the basis of IR and nitrogen analysis. These were screened for spasmolytic, anti-inflammatory and their effects on blood pressure after determining ALD50. Compounds GK-4 i.e. 2-(diethylaminoacetyl)- amino-5-methyl-1,3,4-oxadiazole and GK-8 i.e. 2-(din-propylamino acetyl)-amino-5-ethyl-1,3,4-oxadiazole were found to be spasmolytic. Compound GK-6 i.e. 2-(diethylaminoacetyl)-amino-5-n-propyl-1,3,4-oxadiazole was found to be a potent hypotensive agent with the effect lasting for more than two hours.

Mechanism of ribosomal subunit association: oligodeoxynucleotides as probes.

From the kethoxal treatment data [Herr, W.; Chapman, N.M.; Noller, H.F. (1979) J. Mol. Biol. 130, 433-439] some regions of ribosomal RNAs are thought to be responsible for the association of 30S and 50S ribosomes of E. coli to form 70S ribosomes. In order to test this possibility about a dozen oligodeoxynucleotides complementary to the suspected regions of rRNAs were synthesised. Their association with ribosomes and naked rRNAs was tested by the gel filtration technique. In order to check the effects on the ribosomal subunit association or rRNA association either intact 30S and 50S ribosomes or naked 16S and 23S rRNAs were preincubated with the individual oligodeoxynucleotide and its effect was checked by density gradient centrifugation followed by UV absorbance monitoring. Some oligodeoxynucleotides interfered with either subunit association or 16S RNA and 23S RNA association, some with both. These data clearly indicate that RNA-RNA interaction plays the major role in ribosomal subunit association.