A new species of Heser Tuneva, 2005 (Gnaphosidae) is described from the south of India. A key is provided to the species of Heser and the importance of Gnaphosidae for the study of world spider biodiversity is briefly discussed.

Hampered by shortages of resources, specialized services and skilled health workers, India and other countries in south-east Asia are scrambling to respond to type 2 diabetes epidemics. Sophie Cousins reports.

This paper summarises the findings of four recent papers by the authors on different aspects of unemployment in South Africa. Based on statistical analysis using household datasets, the papers are concerned with the impact of local unemployment on local wages; the appropriate definition and measure of unemployment in the particular circumstances of the South African labour market; the nature of...

an authority on gastric disorders, writes 1 Natives of India are almost free from this condition'. But subsequent reports from all over India prove that the above statement is not based on correct information. Hingston (1927) collecting statistics from a few discrete centres in India, such as Madras, Calcutta, Rangoon and Patna, concludes that people from all these areas do suffer from peptic u...

Locally, Gomutra Silajit is known under the name “RAKTAMANDALAM”. Literally, it means ‘Blood Patch’ or ‘Blood coloured Matter’. In fact, the Ayurvedic texts refer to its colour as that of ‘Japakusuma’ – the China Rose, botanically known as Hibiscus rosasinensis Linn. (Telegu: Mandara). For this reason the local name referring to its colour as ‘Rakta’ (Blood) is apt. The above treatise also indi...

Introduction The estimated global population around 2001 was above 6 billion, out of which India accounts for more than 1 billion, second only to China. The world population is currently growing at 1.4 percent per annum as compared to India’s 1.9 percent and China’s 1 percent. According to available forecasts, India will overtake China in terms of population within the next 30 years. India's ro...

AIM To identify the causes of childhood cataract in south India with emphasis on factors that might be potentially preventable. METHODS A total of 514 consecutive children with cataract attending an eye hospital outpatient clinic were examined and their parents interviewed by a trained interviewer using a standardised questionnaire in the local language. Serology was performed on children und...

that Dr George had left. It was rumoured that he had given the "wrong medicine" and that he was going to a community further out into the desert, where his prestige was still strong. When we saw him leaving the initiations he was happily waving from the back of a crowded truck on his way to Jigalong, a four day drive away, and we wondered if he would ever come back. Our return confirmed my earl...

Background: Oral fluids and food are traditionally introduced slowly after total abdominal hysterectomy (TAH). This descriptive study examined the effect and tolerance of early oral intake following this surgery. Methods: A retrospective chart review was conducted on 164 patients who had been on a clinical pathway following TAH. Comparisons in initiation of fluids and foods, and gastrointestina...

North-east India, being a corridor to South-east Asia, is believed to play an important role in transmitting drug resistant Plasmodium falciparum malaria to India and South Asia. North-east India was the first place in India to record the emergence of drug resistance to chloroquine as well as sulphadoxine/pyrimethamine. Presently chloroquine resistance is widespread all over the North-east Indi...