PBDEs in the atmosphere over the Asian marginal seas, and the Indian and Atlantic oceans

Air samples were collected from Jan 16 to Mar 14, 2008 onboard the Oceanic II- The Scholar Ship which navigated an east–west transect from Shanghai to Cape Verde, and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) were analyzed in these samples. PBDE concentrations in the atmosphere over the open seas were influenced by proximity to source areas and land, and air mass origins. The concentrations of Σ21PBDEs over the East and South China Seas, the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea, the Indian Ocean, and the Atlantic Ocean were 10.8 ± 6.13, 3.22 ± 1.57, 5.12 ± 3.56, and 2.87 ± 1.81 pg m−3, respectively. BDE-47 and -99 were the dominant congeners in all the samples, suggesting that the widely used commercial penta-BDE products were the original sources. Over some parts of Atlantic and Indian Ocean, daytime concentrations of BDE-47 and BDE-99 were higher than the concentrations at night. The strong atmospheric variability does not always coincide with a diurnal cycle, but the variability in air concentrations in such remote areas of the ocean remains strong. No significant trends were found for each of PBDE congener with latitude.

The Gandhi Story: An Official Indian Comic Book History of the Mahatma

In 1966, the Publications Division of the Government of India’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting released a 47-page hardbound comic book entitled The Gandhi Story. Written and illustrated by S.D. Sawant and S.D. Badalkar, it opens with a foreword by independent India’s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, and presents a state sanctioned narrative of Gandhi’s life and role in the Indian struggle for independence. This articles examines how the creators of The Gandhi Story drew upon both textual and visual sources as reference material during its creation, and investigates the relationship between "official" and "unofficial" nationalisms of twentieth-century Indian history.

Locating American Indian Sciences : a report on the development, use, and analysis of a survey of perceptions

All students in the United States of America are required to take science. But what if there is not a science, but in fact a number of sciences? Could every culture, perhaps every different grouping of people, create its own science? This report describes a preliminary survey, the goal of which is to improve the teaching of science at American Indian Opportunities and Industrialization Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota by beginning to understand the differences between Western and American Indian sciences.

Fish contaminants through the tribal perspective : an ethnography of the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community's tribal fish harvest

It has been well documented that many tribal populations and minority groups across the nation have been identified as being at high risk of the adverse health effects created by consuming fish that have been contaminated with mercury, PCBs, DDT, dioxins, and other chemicals. Although fish consumption advisories are intended to inform fish consumers of risks associated with specific species and water bodies, advisories have been the subject of both environmental injustices and treaty rights’ injustices. This means that understanding fish contaminants, through community perspectives is essential to good environmental policy. This study examined the fish contaminant knowledge, impacts on fishing and fish consumption, and the factors that contribute to harvesting decisions and behaviors in one tribal nation in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community. Using ethnographic methods, participant observation and semi-structured interviewing, fieldnotes were kept and all interviews were fully transcribed for data analysis. Among seventeen fishermen and women, contaminants are poorly understood, have had a limited impact on subsistence fishing but have had a substantial impact on commercial fishing activity. But ultimately, all decisions and behaviors are based on their own criteria and within a larger context of knowledge and understanding: the historical and cultural context. The historical context revealed that advisories are viewed as another attack on tribal fishing. The cultural context revealed that it is the fundamental guidance and essential framework associated with all harvesting beliefs, values, and traditional lifeways. These results have implications for advisories. ‘Fish’ and ‘contaminants’ appear differently based on the perceptions and priorities of those who encounter them.

Profile and Prevalence of Aspirin Resistance in Indian Patients with Coronary Artery Disease

Background: Aspirin resistance is considered to be an enigma and the data available on aspirin resistance is scarce. This study was initiated to prospectively evaluate the prevalence of aspirin resistance in patients with stable coronary artery disease by using an established method of optical platelet aggregation. Methods and Results: We studied 50 patients who were on 150 mg of aspirin for the previous 7 days. Fasting blood samples were assessed using optical platelet aggregation (Chronolog Corp, USA). The mean platelet aggregation with 10 μm of adenosine diphosphate in our patient group was 49.42 ± 23.29% and with 0.5 mg/ ml of arachidonic acid it was 13.58 ± 21.40%. Aspirin resistance was defined as a mean aggregation of ≥70% with 10 μm of adenosine diphosphate and a mean aggregation of ≥ 20% with 0.5 mg/ml of arachidonic acid. Aspirin semi responders were defined as those meeting only one of the criteria. Based on these criteria, 2.08% patients were found to be aspirin-resistant, 39.58% were aspirin semi responders and 58.33% were aspirin responders. Females tended to be more aspirin semi responsive (p = 0.08). All other parameters tested, namely, age, smoking, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, obesity, lipids, hemoglobin, platelet count, ejection fraction and drug intake did not show any statistically significant difference among the groups. Thus, in our group 41.66% patients showed inadequate response to aspirin. Conclusions: This study shows that aspirin resistance and aspirin semi responsiveness do occur in the Indian patients and there are no reliable clinical predictors for this condition. The diagnosis therefore relies primarily on laboratory tests.

Screening of Indian Plants for Biological Activity : Part I

Two hundred and eighty-five botanically identifide plant materials have been extracted with 50 percent ethanol and the extracts put through a wide biological screen of 61 tests. These include tests for antibacterial, antifungal, anthelminthic, antiprotozoal, anticancer, antifertillity, hypoglycaemic and a wide range of pharmacological activities.

Screening of Indian Plants for Biological Activity: Part II

Three hundred botanically identified plant materials have been extracted with 50% ethanol and the extracts put through a wide biological screen. These include tests for antibacterial, anticancer, antifertility, antifungal, anthelminthic, antiprotozoal, antiviral and pharmacological activities. Biological activities have been confirmed in fractions of fifty-six of these extracts.

Screening of Indian Plants for Biological Activity: Part III

Ethanol extracts (50%) of 295 botanically Identified plant materials have been tested for a wide variety of biological activities including anticancer, chemotherapeutic and pharmaceutical activities. Biological activities been confirmed in fractions of 34 of these extracts.

Screening of Indian Plants for Biological Activity: Part IV

Ethanol extracts (50%) of 295 botanically Identified plant materials have been tested for a wide variety of biological activities including anticancer, chemotherapeutic and pharmaceutical activities. Biological activities been confirmed in fractions of 22 of these extracts.