Soil Chemical Analysis

Statistical Methods For Agricultural Workers

Prior to the work of Cable and Hopp (J. Parasit. 40(6): 674.680, 1954) Neoechinorhynchus emydis (L e i d y, 1851) was the only recognized species of Acanthocephala in North American turtles. To date, a total of five species have been described. Of these, two species (Neoechinorbynchus pseudemydis Cable and Hopp, 1954, and N. emyditoides Fisher, 1960) were recovered from six of 12 Louisiana turtles (Pseudemys scripta elegans (Wied)) examined by Fisher (J. Parasit. 46(2): 257-266, 1960). He (1960) also found N. chrysemydis Cable and Hopp, 1954 in Pseudemys scripta subsp. The data pt .sented are results of studies conducted between the spring of 1965 and the summer of 1966. Seventynine turtles (48 female and 31 males) encompassing seven species (47 Pseudemys scripta elegans (Wied), three P. floridana hoyi (Holbrook), eight Chelydra serpentina serpentina (L.), eight Kinosternon subrubrum hippocrepis Gray, seven Terrapene carolina carolina (L.), five T. c. triunguis (Agassiz) and one Trionyx muticus (LeSueur) collected from Baton Rouge and vicinity were examined. This investigation revealed the presence of three species of Acanthocephala (Neoechinorhynchus pseudemydis, N. emyditoides, and N. chrysemydis) in Louisiana turtles and confirms Fisher’s (1960) work. Of the seven species of turtles examined, only P. s. e!egans (25 16 females and 9 males) and P. floridana hoyi (2 females) were positive with infection. Three of the 25 P. s. e!egans had mixed infection comprising three species of Neoechinorhynchus while seven had two species respectively. P. f!oridana hoyi represents a host record for N. chrysemydis;

/pdf/myiasis-in-man-and-animals-in-the-old-world-2flislkl8i.pdf

Myiasis in man and animals in the old world

The Bay of Bengal, the northeastern limb of the tropical Indian Ocean is a region strongly coupled with summer and winter monsoons and tropical cyclones. The Bay is also a region of strong vertical stratification near the surface due to large inputs of freshwater through rainfall and river run-off. In situ subsurface ocean measurements are quite sparse both in space and time in this region. The National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT), Chennai deployed instrumented moored buoys in the Bay since 1997 to provide continuous time-series measurements of surface meteorological and oceanographic parameters at selected locations. In the recent years several studies have shown the important role of variability of heat storage in the near-surface layers on the intraseasonal and interannual evolution of monsoons and cyclones. Hence a strong need was felt to augment some of these buoys with subsurface temperature, salinity and current sensors to continuously record the temporal evolution of their vertical structures. Under a new initiative, NIOT has deployed six moored buoys attached with sensors to collect subsurface oceanographic parameters on real-time basis in the Bay. These are coded as the OMNI (Ocean Moored buoy Network for Northern Indian Ocean) buoy system. The time-series of vertical profiles of temperature and salinity in 500 m water column from the surface and currents in the topmost 100 m water column are monitored at discrete depths in the Bay. The OMNI buoy programme addresses a long-standing need to understand the observed variability of upper ocean thermohaline and current structures on several timescales that has important bearing on the evolution of seasonal monsoons and cyclones. This article presents an account on the evolution, status and usefulness of the OMNI buoy programme.

OMNI buoy network in the Bay of Bengal

The objective of this paper is to propose a new semi-empirical radar backscattering model for bare soil surfaces based on the Dubois model. A wide dataset of backscattering coefficients extracted from synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images and in situ soil surface parameter measurements (moisture content and roughness) is used. The retrieval of soil parameters from SAR images remains challenging because the available backscattering models have limited performances. Existing models, physical, semi-empirical, or empirical, do not allow for a reliable estimate of soil surface geophysical parameters for all surface conditions. The proposed model, developed in HH, HV, and VV polarizations, uses a formulation of radar signals based on physical principles that are validated in numerous studies. Never before has a backscattering model been built and validated on such an important dataset as the one proposed in this study. It contains a wide range of incidence angles (18-57) and radar wavelengths (L, C, X), well distributed, geographically, for regions with different climate conditions (humid, semi-arid, and arid sites), and involving many SAR sensors. The results show that the new model shows a very good performance for different radar wavelengths (L, C, X), incidence angles, and polarizations (RMSE of about 2 dB). This model is easy to invert and could provide a way to improve the retrieval of soil parameters.

https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/8557758/file/8557759.pdf

A new empirical model for radar scattering from bare soil surfaces

Aim: To assess the impact of socio-demographic and clinical variables on the oral hygiene and periodontal status in a sample of mentally disabled subjects. Materials and Methods: Study sample comprised of 171 mentally disabled subjects attending a special school in Udaipur, India. Oral hygiene status was assessed by Simplified Oral Hygiene Index (OHI-S) and periodontal status by Community Periodontal Index. Results: Stepwise linear regression analysis revealed that the best predictors in the descending order for oral hygiene index were disabled sibling, medical diagnosis, IQ level, education of mother and father. Having Down syndrome, less educated parents, poor economic status and a disabled sibling were the most important predictors for poor periodontal status. Conclusions: The present study highlighted that the oral hygiene and periodontal status of the present study population is poor and was influenced by medical diagnosis, IQ level, disabled sibling, parent's level of education and economic status.

Determinants for oral hygiene and periodontal status among mentally disabled children and adolescents.

Myiasis is the infestation of live human and vertebrate animal with dipterous larvae which feed on the host’s dead or living tissue. A case of oral myiasis in the maxillary anterior region in a 42-year-old female with neurologic deficit caused by the larvae (maggots) of Musca Nebulo (Family Diptera) is reported. The treatment consisted of manual removal of the larvae by topical application of turpentine oil, oral therapy with ivermectin and surgical debridement of the oral wound.

/pdf/primary-oral-myiasis-a-case-report-2568x4ngq4.pdf

Primary oral myiasis: a case report.

This paper discusses a new methodology to estimate soil moisture in agriculture region using SAR data with the use of HH and HV polarization. In this study the semi empirical model derived by Dubois et al. (IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing, 33(4), 915–926, 1995) was modified to work using σ HH instead of two like polarization equations σHH, σVV so that soil moisture can be obtained for the larger area frequently. The field derived roughness correlated with the cross polarization ratio (HV/HH) to replace the one unknown parameter ‘s’ in the Dubois model and hence the dielectric constant was derived by inverting the Dubois model equation (HH). The Topp et al. (Water Resources Research, 16(3), 574–582, 1980) model was used to retrieve soil moisture using the dielectric constant. The mid incidence angle was used to overcome the incident angle effect and it worked successfully to the larger extent. The result is realistic overall, especially where surface has less variation in the roughness and vegetation since the penetration capability of C-band is limited when plant grows hence model valid in the initial period of cultivation. The derived model is having good scope for soil moisture monitoring with the present availability of Indian RISAT data.

Modified Dubois Model for Estimating Soil Moisture with Dual Polarized SAR Data

Purpose : To investigate compliance with recommended infection control procedures among junior and senior dental students from a private dental school in India. Methods : The study sample comprised 142 (76 males and 66 females) junior and senior dental students from a private dental institution located in Udaipur city, India. A self applied, closed ended questionnaire (response as ‘yes’ or ‘no’) was used to collect data. The questionnaire consisted of 15 items related to medical history taking, vaccination status, barrier techniques, and infection control practices.
 Results : Only one tenth of the subjects (9.9%) reported adherence to all infection control procedures. Barely one tenth of the population surveyed used plastic wrappings for sterilized instruments, and approximately three fourths of the subjects were vaccinated against Hepatitis B. Changing of face masks and handpieces between patients was reported by 21.7% and 24.6% of senior students, respectively, in contrast to 1.4% and 8.3% of the junior students.
 Conclusion : The undergraduate students at this private dental institution in India exhibited poor infection control practices. These findings show the need to change organizational and administrative procedures to enable dental students to follow a strict infection control protocol.

Infection control practices among undergraduate students from a private dental school in India

An experiment was conducted to study the impact of bio-inoculants on seed germination and plant growth of guava at CCSHAU Regional Research Station, Bawal, during the period 2007 to 2008. The bioinoculants tested were Azotobacter chroococcum, phosphate solubulising bacteria (PSB), plant growth promoting bacteria (PGPR) and mycorrhiza. Their impact on seed germination, plant height and other plant growth parameters was studied in presence of farmyard manure (FYM) as well as vermicompost. During the 2007 period, maximum percent seed germination (34.2) was observed in the treatment having FYM + PGPR or FYM + A. chroococcum at 40 days (DAS); followed by PGPR (29.2) and vesicular arbuscular mycorrhizae (VAM) (25.8) treatments. While during the 2008 period, highest seed germination (51.1%) was observed in the treatment having FYM + PGPR or FYM + A. chroococcum at 40 DAS; followed by the treatments having FYM + PGPR + PSB + A. chroococcum or vermicompost + PSB + A. chroococcum (48.9%). Number of leaves per plant observed at 150 DAS were maximum in the treatment having FYM + VAM (18.8). Plant height at 150 DAS was maximum in FYM treatment having all the three bio-inoculants (31.5 cm). However, these values were quite comparable to each other in FYM as well as in vermicompost filled plastic bags.

https://wwmw.academicjournals.org/article/article1382004500_Pathak et al.pdf

J. R. Sharma

Papers

Determinants for oral hygiene and periodontal status among mentally disabled children and adolescents.

Primary oral myiasis: a case report.

Modified Dubois Model for Estimating Soil Moisture with Dual Polarized SAR Data

Infection control practices among undergraduate students from a private dental school in India

Impact of bio-inoculants on seed germination and plant growth of guava (Psidium guajava).