A study was conducted covering a total of one hundred chicken farmers in tribal dominated Boko Block of Kamrup district in Assam to assess different productive and reproductive traits of Desi, Vanaraja and Srinidhi birds under field condition. Information was obtained on mean body weight at various ages, age at first egg, annual egg production, fertility and hatchability and mortality rate. Body weight, egg production and egg weight were significantly (P0.05) higher in Vanaraja and Srinidhi birds compared to Desi chicken. The age at first egg was significantly (P0.05) higher in Desi chicken while compared with Vanaraja and Srinidhi under traditional system of management. However no significant (P0.05) difference was found between Vanaraja and Srinidhi in their body weight and egg production at various ages. Higher mortality percent in Vanaraja (12.23±1.62) and Srinidhi (11.34±1.23) were recorded during 0 to 5 week. No significant (P0.05) differences were found among all three groups of birds in fertility and hatchability.

The present study was conducted to evaluate the effect of a Commercial Herbal Growth Promoter (CHGP) with a combination of selective nine numbers of herbs on the performance of broiler chicken. A total of 120 day-old commercial broiler chicks having similar body weight from a single hatch were procured and chicks were randomly distributed into four groups viz, T 0 (standard basal diet as control), T 1 (basal diet + 1.0 % CHGP powder), T 2 (basal diet + 2.0 % CHGP powder) and T 3 (basal diet + 3.0 % CHGP powder) comprising 30 chicks in each groups. All the birds were managed under uniform managemental condition. The final body weight was significantly (P£0.01) highest in T 2 (2059.83 g) followed by T 3 (1956.67 g), T 0 (1845.33 g) and T 1 (1825.17 g). In respect of overall Feed Conversion Ratios (FCR), T 2 group showed significantly (P£0.05) best FCR value of 1.69 followed by T 3 (1.77), T 0 (1.85) and T 1 (1.87). The study revealed that there was increased body weight, improved FCR, higher BPEI, cent per cent livability and increased gross profit per broiler in birds offered 2% CHGP powder as herbal growth promoter.

Aims Limited data on the uptake of guideline-directed medical therapies (GDMTs) and the mortality of acute decompensated HF (ADHF) patients are available from India. The National Heart Failure Registry (NHFR) aimed to assess clinical presentation, practice patterns, and the mortality of ADHF patients in India. Methods and resultsThe NHFR is a facility-based, multi-centre clinical registry of consecutive ADHF patients with prospective follow-up. Fifty three tertiary care hospitals in 21 states in India participated in the NHFR. All consecutive ADHF patients who satisfied the European Society of Cardiology criteria were enrolled in the registry. All-cause mortality at 90 days was the main outcome measure. In total, 10 851 consecutive patients were recruited (mean age: 59.9 years, 31% women). Ischaemic heart disease was the predominant aetiology for HF (72%), followed by dilated cardiomyopathy (18%). Isolated right HF was noted in 62 (0.6%) participants. In eligible HF patients, 47.5% received GDMT. The 90 day mortality was 14.2% (14.9% and 13.9% in women and men, respectively) with a re-admission rate of 8.4%. An inverse relationship between educational class based on years of education and 90 day mortality (high mortality in the lowest educational class) was observed in the study population. Patients with HF with reduced ejection fraction and HF with mildly reduced ejection fraction who did not receive GDMT experienced higher mortality (log-rank P < 0.001) than those who received GDMT. Baseline educational class, body mass index, New York Heart Association functional class, ejection fraction, dependent oedema, serum creatinine, QRS > 120 ms, atrial fibrillation, mitral regurgitation, haemoglobin levels, serum sodium, and GDMT independently predicted 90 day mortality. Conclusion One of seven ADHF patients in the NHFR died during the first 90 days of follow-up. One of two patients received GDMT. Adherence to GDMT improved survival in HF patients with reduced and mildly reduced ejection fractions. Our findings call for innovative quality improvement initiatives to improve the uptake of GDMT among HF patients in India.

Different regions of the brains of babies born with low birth weights for the gestational age (small‐for‐date infants) were analysed for various chemical constituents. The brains of small‐for‐date babies were reduced in size. On a percentage basis, cerebellum and medulla oblongata were more affected than cerebrum. Cellularity, estimated by DNA content, was affected only in the cerebrum. However, the cell size and the concentrations of various constituents (proteins, lipids, different classes of lipids) studied in different regions of the brains of small‐for‐date infants remained unaffected compared to those found in the normal brains.

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