We review the foraging behaviour of predaceous ladybirds in the light of current knowledge. Ladybirds should forage optimally to maximise their resources; however, they are limited -among other things -by their poor visual acuity. Ladybird foraging behaviour includes location of the habitat of its prey, location of prey and prey-selection. Chemical cues are important in locating the habitats of their prey. This is further driven by volatiles or semiochemicals emitted by injured plants, particularly in response to attack by herbivores. Various chemicals induce positive electroantennographic responses in ladybirds that guide them to prey sites. Honeydew secreted by aphids along with alarm pheromones or kairomones act as secondary chemical cues that narrow the search from extensive to intensive and help in prey location. Visual cues further aid prey-location and enable foraging adults to locate areas with patchy or abundant prey. Thereafter, ladybirds select their prey, which starts with random attacks that result in prey selection in terms of size and palatability. Prey selection seems to be host plant driven, i.e. aphids sequester host plant chemicals, which are imbibed by ladybirds. This is evident from the fact that nutritious prey cultured on toxic host plants are usually less preferred or rejected. Foraging ladybirds, especially larvae, can perceive ladybird footprints or odours that deter them from foraging. The above information could be useful in biocontrol programmes in which foraging ladybirds are manipulated by using chemicals as attractants or rearing aphids on nutritious host plants.

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Type II diabetic mellitus (DM) is a chronic metabolic disease that impairs normal insulin production and glucose transport to the liver and muscles. In the India, about 1-5% population suffer from diabetes or related complication. So there is need to cure this disease. DM chronic auditory complications may include spiral ganglia atrophy, degeneration of the vestibulocochlear nerve myelin sheath, reduction of the number of spiral lamina nerve fibres, and thickening of the capillary walls of the stria vascularis and small arteries. This study aims to know the incidence of common parameters, blood sugar levels, levels of lipids and the hearing thresholds of individuals. It is a Noise-Induced Hearing Loss research study featuring hearing impairment in transport workers diagnosed as type II diabetic. All individuals were interviewed by various questioners related to listening ability of subjects and underwent a physical examination, blood investigations and audiometry. Hearing impairment was more prevalent among adults with diabetes. Sensory neuron hearing loss is predominant in both study groups. Mixed Bilateral Hearing Loss showed significant value in (>.001) by audiometry. The percentage of hearing loss in diabetes (ranges 5.3-28.1%) and in non-diabetics (ranges 3.4-24.1%) and risk factors in diabetes (ranges 22.8-35.1%) over nondiabetics (ranges 17.2-20.1%) which is eye opener. The correlation between type II diabetes and hearing impairment was independent of known risk factors for hearing impairment, such as noise exposure, build-up wax, ototoxic medication, smoking, tobacco chewing etc.

An electrochemical sensing electrode based on titania (anatase) and silica nanospheres (TiO2@SiO2 NSs) loaded on pencil graphite electrode (TiO2@SiO2NSs/PGE) was fabricated and scrutinized for L-ascorbic acid detection. PGE surface was...

Menopause is defined as the complete cessation of the menstrual cycle in women for twelve consecutive months. Although menopause is an important aspect of the female reproductive health cycle, it is often ignored. Women may experience different menopausal and postmenopausal symptoms ranging from mild to severe. In the present study, a cross-sectional survey of 200 women in their postmenopausal years was conducted across Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR). A pretested questionnaire was given to a random population of postmenopausal women to record various postmenopausal symptoms and the coping strategies adopted by them. The mean age of menopause of the sample population was 47.48 years, and body mass index seemed to affect the age of onset of menopause. The majority of women experienced postmenopausal symptoms, with 95.28% experiencing more than one symptom, ranging from fatigue and sleep disturbances to severe symptoms such as anxiety attacks, palpitations and joint pains. Many women used different coping strategies, such as changes in lifestyle and social interaction with other women experiencing menopause. Very few women used hormone replacement therapy as a coping mechanism and most of them were ignorant about the same. Interestingly, both education and working status were observed to affect the adoption of coping strategies by women in Delhi–NCR. The results of the study emphasize the need of addressing the problems of the postmenopausal population and incorporating the same in the national healthcare programme.

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