Bihar, India has been in the grip of kala-azar for many years. Its rampant and severe spread has made life miserable in most parts of the state. Such conditions require a comprehensive understanding of this affliction. The numbers coming out of the districts prone to the disease in the north and south Ganges have provided us with several startling revelations, as there are striking uniformities on both sides, including similar vegetation, water storage facilities, house construction and little change in risk factors. The northern areas have been regularly sprayed with DDT since 1977, but eradication of the disease appears to be a distant dream. In 2007 alone, there were as many as 37,738 cases in that region. In contrast, the southern districts of Patna and Nalanda have never had the disease in its epidemic form and endemic disease has been present in only some pockets of the two districts. In those cases, two rounds of spraying with DDT had very positive results, with successful control and no new established foci. In addition, an eleven-year longitudinal study of the man hour density and house index for the vector Phlebotomus argentipes demonstrated that they were quite high in Patna and Nalanda and quite low in north Bihar. Given these facts, an attempt has been made to unravel the role of P. argentipes saliva (salivary gland) in the epidemiology of kala-azar. It was determined that patchy DDT spraying should be avoided for effective control of kala-azar.

O tolueno é um composto orgânico muito tóxico utilizado para a preparação de muitos outros compostos. A fotoxidação do tolueno em fase líquida foi realizada utilizando-se amostras policristalinas do TiO2 dopado com óxidos de metais de transição, contendo diferentes fases de dióxido de titânio conhecidas como anatase, rutilo e a mistura de anatase e rutilo. O objetivo principal desse estudo foi investigar a conversão de tolueno a ácido benzóico e como cada fase modificada do TiO2 afeta a velocidade da reação. As diferentes fases foram caracterizadas com base em difração de Raios X. Outros métodos, tais como, análises químicas, medidas de área de superfícies e cálculo do tamanho do cristal também foram utilizados para a caracterização das amostras. A fase da anatase dopada com metais de transição gerou maior rendimento do que a do rutilo dopado. A mistura de anatase e rutilo não apresentou efeito significativo.

Toluene is a very noxious organic compound used for the preparation of many compounds. Liquid phase photo-oxidation of toluene was carried out using poly crystalline samples of transition metal oxide doped TiO2 containing different phases of titania, namely anatase, rutile and mixture of anatase and rutile. The main objective was to find out the conversion of toluene to benzoic acid and how the phase modification of doped TiO2 affects the reaction rate. The different phases of TiO2 were determined using powder X-ray diffraction. Other methods such as chemical analysis, Surface area measurements and Crystallite size calculation were also used for the characterization of the samples. Anatase doped with transition metal oxides gives higher yield than doped rutile. Mixture of anatase and rutile has no significant effect.

Se desarrolo un protocolo exitoso para la propagación en masa de Lawsonia inermis Linn., una planta medicinal importante. Se indujeron múltiples tallos en meristamos apicales y auxiliares derivados de explantes maduros de L. inermis en medio de Murashige y Skoog (1962) suplementado con 0.25 mg/l 6-benzylaminopurina (BA), 0.25 mg/l quinetina (Kn), 0.5 mg/l ácido ascórbico y 3 % (w/v) sucrosa. La tasa de multiplicación fue más alta cuando los cultivos fueron incubados bajo luz continua que bajo el fotoperíodo de 14hr. El enraizamiento se logró al tranferir los microtallos al medio basal, semi-sólido MS suplementado con 0.25 mg/l de ácido indol-3-butiríco (IBA) luego de 10 días de cultivo. Las plántulas micropropagadas fueron aclimatizadas y cultivadas con éxito en el suelo

A successful protocol was developed for mass propagation of Lawsonia inermis Linn., an important medicinal plant. Multiple shoots were induced in apical and axillary meristems derived from mature explants of L. inermis on Murashige and Skoog (1962) medium supplemented with 0.25 mg/l 6-benzylaminopurine (BA), 0.25 mg/l Kinetin (Kn), 0.5 mg/l ascorbic acid and 3% (w/v) sucrose. The rate of multiplication was higher when the cultures were incubated under continuous light rather than the 14h photoperiod. Rooting was readily achieved upon transferring the microshoots onto MS basal semi-solid medium supplemented with 0.25 mg/l indole-3-butyric acid (IBA) after ten days of culture. Micropropagated plantlets were acclimatized and successfully grown in soil

La inducción de enraizamiento en microtallos de Zingiber officinale cvs. Suprava, Turia local, Suruchi y V3S18 fue lograda en medio de Murashige y Skoog basal de dureza media suplementado con 0.5-1.0 mg/l ya sea con ácido 3-indol acético (lAA) o ácido 3-indol butírico (IBA) y 2 % (w/v) de sucrosa dentro de 7-9 días de cultivo. El enraizamiento fue inhibido cuando los microtallos fueron cultivados bajo concentraciones más altas de auxinas. Los microtallos cultivados en un medio suplementado con NAA indujeron un gran número de pelos de raíz con callos frágiles dentro de 6-7 días. La actividad de la peroxidasa fue determinada durante la inducción de enraizamiento (de 0 a 10 días, de cada 2 días) de microtallos derivados in vitro. La actividad fue mínima en inductiva (primaria) y máxima en la fase inicial Estos resultados pueden ser útiles para monitorear, el comportamiento de enraizamiento en microtallos derivados de diferentes subcultivos y la actividad de la peroxidasa como un marcador de inicio de enraizamiento

The induction of rooting in microshoots of Zingiber officinale cvs. Suprava, Turia local, Suruchi and V3S18 was achieved on half-strength basal Murashige and Skoog's medium supplernented with 0.5-1.0 mg/l either indole-3-acetic acid (lAA) or indole-3-butyric acid (IBA) and 2 % (w/v) sucrose within 7-9 days of culture. Rooting was inhibited when the microshoots were cultured under higher concentration of auxins. The microshoots cultured on medium supplemented with NAA induced large number of thin root hairs with friable calluses within 6-7 days. Peroxidase activity was deterrnined during root induction (0-day to the 10th day at every 2 day interval) from microshoots derived in vitro. The activity was minimum in the inductive phase (primary) and at the maximum level during the root initiative phase. These finding may be useful in monitoring the rooting behaviour in microshoots derived from different subculture and peroxidase activity as a marker for root initiation