Pulmonary Function of Young Muslim Males During the Month of Ramadan.

During the month of Ramadan intermittent fasting (RIF), both dietary and sleep patterns are adversely affected to cope with the rituals of Ramadan. Literature suggests that sleep deprivation and alteration of dietary pattern and nutritional impairment affect the pulmonary structure and function. Pulmonary function during RIF was not explored earlier. The present study aimed to investigate the effects of RIF on pulmonary function tests (PFTs) in healthy young Muslim males. Fifty sedentary nonsmoking healthy young Muslim male individuals of 20 to 25 years of age without any history of pulmonary or other major diseases were recruited by simple random sampling from different parts of Kolkata, India. Participants completed the American Thoracic Society questionnaire to record their personal demographic data, health status, and consent to participate in the study. Expirograph and peak flow meter were used to record the pulmonary function parameters (PFTs). PFTs were within the normal range and did not show any significant variation during the RIF. Body height and body mass depicted significant correlation ( p < .05, p < .001) with PFTs. Tidal volume, vital capacity, and peak expiratory flow rate had significant correlation ( p < .05, p < .01, p < .001) with age. Simple and multiple regression equations were computed to predict PFTs in the studies population. RIF did not affect the normal range of PFTs in young Muslim males of Kolkata, India. Standard errors of estimate of the computed regression equations were substantially small enough to recommend these equations as norms to predict the PFTs in the studied population.

Phytoplankton nutrient dynamics and flow cytometry based population study of a eutrophic wetland habitat in eastern India, a Ramsar site.

Phytoplankton diversity, their abundance based on flow cytometric (FCM) analysis and seasonal nutrient dynamics were investigated from a waste water fed wetland of Eastern India (88° 24.641'E and 22° 33.115'N). The primary objective of the study was to correlate the seasonal fluctuations in phytoplankton abundance to the environmental variables. Total chlorophyll content and FCM based cell counts were used to characterize and quantify the phytoplankton population. Multivariate statistical methods were employed in predicting the possible relationships between biotic and abiotic variables. Distinct seasonal variations characterized by high abundance during the pre-summer period compared to other seasons were detected. The results indicated that environmental factors like water temperature and nutrients, such as various forms of nitrogen and phosphate, influenced the seasonal phytoplankton accumulation. Cluster analysis and non-metric multidimensional scaling helped analyze the seasonal distribution of phytoplankton based on their composition. The dominant genera among the entire phytoplankton community were Scenedesmus spp. of Chlorophyta, followed by Merismopedia spp. of Cyanoprokaryota. Around 3.7 × 105 phytoplankton mL-1 were recorded during the study period. Due to the very high count of individual species in the community, FCM based counting was applied for determination of Species Diversity Index. The entire population was divided into 13 subpopulations based on the cell sorting method and the seasonal abundance in each sub-population was illustrated.