India is facing an "epidemic" of diet-related non-communicable diseases (DR-NCDs), along with widely prevalent undernutrition resulting in substantial socioeconomic burden. The aim of this paper is to review secular trends in food groups and nutrient intake, and implications for DR-NCDs in India so as to understand optimal choices for healthy diets for the prevention of DR-NCDs. The literature search was carried out in PubMed (National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, MD, USA) and Google Scholar search engines up to April 2011. A manual search for all other references, national and medical databases was also carried out. Nutrition transition over the past 30 years (1973-2004), has resulted in a 7% decrease in energy derived from carbohydrates and a 6% increase in energy derived from fats. A decreasing intake of coarse cereals, pulses, fruits and vegetables, an increasing intake of meat products and salt, coupled with declining levels of physical activity due to rapid urbanization have resulted in escalating levels of obesity, atherogenic dyslipidemia, subclinical inflammation, metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and coronary heart disease in Indians. Studies also suggest that adverse perinatal events due to maternal nutritional deprivation may cause low-birth weight infants, which, coupled with early childhood "catch-up growth", leads to obesity in early childhood, thus predisposing to NCDs later in life. In view of rapidly increasingly imbalanced diets, a multisectoral preventive approach is needed to provide balanced diets to pregnant women, children and adults, and to maintain a normal body weight from childhood onwards, to prevent the escalation of DR-NCDs in India.

Background: Edible plants that are neither cultivated nor domesticated but can be found in their natural habitat are known as wild edible plants (WEPs). In times of food scarcity, WEPs give a valuable natural nutritional supply as food, diet, and nutrients.Methods: An ethnobotanical field study was conducted in eleven villages of Purmandal using focused group discussions, and interviews through semi-structured questionnaires. Information was gathered from a total of 153 informants (115 females and 38 males). Informants were briefed about the objectives of the study and Prior Informed Consent (PIC) was obtained as per Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). The various uses of WEPs were quantified as use-reports, and Cultural Importance Value (CI) and Factor informant consensus (Fic) were calculated.Results: Altogether 58 plants belonging to 51 genera and 34 families were used as WEPs. Cucurbitaceae and Rutaceae (5 species each) were the most represented families, and leaves and fruits were the most frequently used plant parts. The contribution of herbs, shrubs, and climbers were 36.2%, 37.9%, and 15.5%, respectively. The maximum CI was recorded for Mangifera indica L., Phyllanthus emblica L., and Bauhinia variegata (L). Benth. The values of Fic varied between 0.95 (medicinal usage) and 0.99 (chutney preparation). Conclusion: Locals of Purmandal have good knowledge of WEPs. Traditional products made from WEPs like Mangifera indica, Phyllanthus emblica and Bauhinia variegata can be commercialized to improve the economic status of the locals. Furthermore, the nutritive values of important species may be studied.

BackgroundA population-based case control study was performed to determine the associations of Pro12Ala polymorphism in peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ (PPARG) and Gly308Ala polymorphism in tumor necrosis factor-α (TNFA) genes in obese subjects.Patients and methodsOf 1,400 eligible subjects, ≧20 years, we recruited only 1,127. For extreme phenotype case-control design, we evaluated 201 subjects with body mass index (BMI) ≧30 kg/m2 (Group 1) and 143 with BMI <20 kg/m2 (Group 2). Clinical, anthropometric, biochemical, and nutritional details and polymorphisms were estimated.ResultsIn Group 1, the dietary intake of calories and fats was higher, physical activity was lower, and prevalence of truncal obesity, hypertension, high total cholesterol, low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and diabetes was greater than in Group 2. There were no homozygous polymorphisms of either gene. Heterozygous Pro12Ala polymorphism in PPARG was found in 15 (7.5%) subjects in Group 1 and 3 (2.1%) subjects in Group 2 (P = 0.028), and heterozygous Gly308Ala polymorphism in TNFA was found in 19 (9.5%) in Group 1 and 7 (4.9%) in Group 2 (P = 0.115). Presence of heterozygous polymorphism in PPARG and TNFA-predicted obesity with univariate odds ratio ([OR], 95% confidence intervals) of 2.25 (1.32–3.84, P = 0.003) and 1.48 (1.10–1.99, P = 0.009) and with multivariate OR 1.74 (1.03–2.93, P = 0.038) and 1.46 (1.05–2.03, P = 0.024), respectively. The addition of dietary and physical activity variables did not result in significant change.ConclusionObese Asian Indians have greater prevalence of heterozygous polymorphisms of Pro12Ala in PPARG and Gly308Ala in TNFA genes.

Persistent genital arousal disorder (PGAD) is described as the spontaneous, intrusive, and unwanted genital arousal in the absence of sexual interest and desire. Whether, its etiology is central or peripheral neurovascular in nature, it is still unclear. However, patient presents with symptoms of persistent engorgement of genital erectile and vascular tissue. The majority of women report PGAD as distressing. The symptoms usually occur in females in the age group 25-58 years especially in perimenopausal phase. The case is reported of PGAD in 19-year old female who was treated successfully with Pramipexole and Leuprolide.

This paper describes the application of ISFET technology in analyzing the soil sample and correlating it with the convectional soil testing method. These devices can offer sensitive, selective, reliable, and often cheap measurements for an ever increasing diversity of sensing requirements. These sensors are procured from Microsens, Switzerland and the circuitry of ISFETs was made with the help of Elico Pvt Ltd. The experiment setup was done in ICAR-IISS, Bhopal. The soil sample were of the order Vertisol, Inceptisol and Alfisol and its analysis for soil pH, nitrate and available potassium was performed through ISFET. Also covering the conditioning and calibration procedures for ISFET. Furthermore limitation of ISFET of ISFET regarding linearity range, drift and sensitivity have been discussed. The reported sensitivity for obtained was 56.8mV/decade, 34mV/decade and 60mV/ decade for pH, Nitrate and potassium respectively. The correlation results with convectional method was significant in case of pH with R 2 = 0.95. On the other hand nitrate and potassium showed R 2 = 0.59 and 0.63 respectively in which further improvement is needed.