The intestinal gut health is one of the primary determinants of broiler growth and performance. Among the various enteric diseases, necrotic enteritis (NE) is an enterotoxemic disease caused by Clostridium perfringens, which can result in severe economic losses in poultry farming. Antibiotics like bacitracin methylene disalicylate (BMD) and avilamycin (AVL) are commonly used antibiotic growth promoters (AGP) in poultry feed to control necrotic enteritis in birds. Bacillus subtilis PB6 was reported to prevent necrotic enteritis and improve performance in birds. This paper investigated the influence of Bacillus subtilis PB6 in improving the performance of broiler birds in comparison with BMD and avilamycin. A 35 day trial was conducted with 240 day-old commercial broiler chicks (VenCobb 400), which were divided into four treatment groups, where each treatment group was composed of 6 replicates each containing 10 birds, for a total of 60 birds per treatment. The treatment groups included a negative control (no AGP), Bacillus subtilis PB6, BMD, and avilamycin. The parameters analyzed included body weight, feed conversion ratio (FCR), mortality, villus histomorphometry, and European efficiency factor (EEF). Bacillus subtilis PB6 significantly (P < 0.05) improved body weight and FCR (8 points) compared to the control. The group supplemented with B. subtilis PB6 or BMD had higher (P < 0.05) body weight compared to all other treatment groups. The supplementation of B. subtilis PB6 significantly improved the villus height (P < 0.05) compared to control and other AGP groups. The EEF was found to be the highest in the B. subtilis PB6 supplemented group at 35th day as compared to other treatment groups. The combined data from this study indicate that supplementation of B. subtilis PB6 improves overall performance of broilers compared to BMD and avilamycin, and can be used as potential AGP replacement in poultry farming.

Background:Intentional self-harm is common, through out the world; however, there is scanty data from India.Aims:To study the sociodemographic and clinical profile of subjects with “intentional self-harm” referred to consultation-liaison psychiatric services for evaluation in a tertiary care hospital.Design:Retrospective chart review.Materials and Methods:For this study, the consultation-liaison register of Department of Psychiatry was screened to obtain data of all patients who were referred to psychiatry referral services and were diagnosed as “intentional self-harm” while they were admitted in Nehru Hospital, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh during the period of 2000-2005. The case notes of these patients were reviewed for obtaining the sociodemographic profile and clinical profile for the current study.Results:Majority of the subjects were married (61%), educated beyond matriculation (75%), were employed or retired (53.6%), belonged to Hindu (87%), nuclear family (64.5%) of middle socioeconomic status (85%) and came from urban background (53%). Most common reasons/precipitating events prior to intentional self-harm were interpersonal problems with family members (39.2%), followed by interpersonal problems with spouse (16.9%). The most common method of intentional self-harm used was consumption of insecticides (44.6%), followed by use of corrosives (17.5%). Half of the sample (48.2%) did not fulfill criteria for any axis-1 or axis-2 psychiatric diagnosis at the time of assessment and most common psychiatric diagnosis was depression (30.7 %).Conclusions:Nearly half of the subjects who present to a tertiary care hospital with intentional self-harm do not have diagnosable psychiatric illness.

Histoplasmosis is a geographically restricted form of fungal infection. Adrenal involvement is seen in disseminated disease but sometimes it may be the only site of demonstrable disease. Early diagnosis and treatment may save the patient from catastrophic adrenal insufficiency. We present two patients showing bilateral adrenomegaly on ultrasonography and contrast-enhanced CT, and was diagnosed to have histoplasmosis on fine-needle aspiration cytology.

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Results from studies involving exposure to road traffic noise and risk of hypertension are diverse and have seldom reached statistical significance. This study was designed with the aim of investigating whether there is any association between road traffic noise and prevalence of hypertension in an urban adult population. Similar studies have never been reported from India. A cross-sectional study was performed on 909 adults (533 female and 376 male) aged 18-80 years residing in close proximity to roadways in Asansol City. Time-weighted equivalent noise level (L den ) was estimated using a standard modeling platform. Odds for hypertension in relation to traffic noise exposure were estimated by univariate and multifactorial logistic regression. The adjusted odds ratio (OR) for self-reported hypertension was 1.99 (95 % confidence interval (CI) 1.66-2.39) per 5 dB(A) increase of L den (range 55.1-77.9). A genderrelated risk difference was observed among the male (OR 1.81 (1.42-2.31)) and female (OR 2.18 (1.66-2.88)) respondents. For increase in 9 years of age, the odds of hypertension risk increased by 60 % (OR 1.66 (1.43-1.91) among those exposed above L den 60 dB(A). Vulnerable subgroups were female aged 35-54 years and male aged 45-54 years. The study suggests that a threshold exposure to road traffic noise at L den 965 dB(A) for men and L den 960 dB(A) in women may be associated with the occurrence of hypertension.