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The authors studied the psychological variables of 25 men who participated in the winter-over team of an Indian expedition to Antarctica for possible associations with seasonality and isolation. It was found that increased cigarette smoking was associated with the stress of the beginning of isolation (March), sleep difficulty was associated with midwinter (June), rapport was at a minimum at the point of maximum isolation in temporal terms (September), and decreased satisfaction with work and life situations was associated with continued isolation (December, January). The study suggested that variables postulated to affect performance undergo changes during the course of wintering over in Antarctica.

AbstractAimTo assess the oral hygiene status, knowledge, attitude and practices (KAP) in visually impaired children before and after imparting 3 different modes of oral health education.Methodology and resultsThe present study was a nonrandomized interventional study conducted among visually impaired school children. Ninety visually impaired children aged 12–15 years were selected by lottery method and divided into 3 groups (30 children each). Group 1: ATP (audio, tactile, performance technique), Group 2: Braille, and Group 3: ATP + Braille. Twenty‐item verbal questionnaire was developed to record their knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) regarding oral hygiene before and after imparting oral health education. The oral hygiene status was recorded and compared using plaque and gingival index after 21‐day, 1‐, 6‐, and 9‐month interval. ANOVA, Tukey's post hoc, repeated measures ANOVA, and McNemar test were used. Group 3 showed highest percentage of reduction in plaque (55%) and gingival (52%) scores when compared with Group 1 and Group 2.ConclusionThe combination of ATP (audio, tactile, and performance technique) and Braille is an effective way to improve oral hygiene status in visually impaired children. The KAP among these children also improved significantly after imparting oral health education.

Multidisciplinary nature of environmental studies -- Sustainable ecosystems -- Natural resources -- Biodiversity -- Population and its impact -- Pollution, sources, and effects -- Social issues and public participation to minimize impacts of development -- Climate change and its impacts -- Environmental legislation and enforcement -- Education for environmental awareness -- Projects and activities -- Indian and international case studies.

Mangrove forests are found on sheltered coastlines in tropical, subtropical, and some warm temperate regions. These forests support unique biodiversity and provide a range of benefits to coastal communities, but as a result of large-scale conversion for aquaculture, agriculture, and urbanization, mangroves are considered increasingly threatened ecosystems. Scientific advances have led to accurate and comprehensive global datasets on mangrove extent, structure, and condition, and these can support evaluation of ecosystem services and stimulate greater conservation and rehabilitation efforts. To increase the utility and uptake of these products, in this Perspective we provide an overview of these recent and forthcoming global datasets and explore the challenges of translating these new analyses into policy action and on the ground conservation. We describe a new platform for visualizing and disseminating these datasets to the global science community, non-governmental organizations, government officials, and rehabilitation practitioners and highlight future directions and collaborations to increase the uptake and impact of largescale mangrove research.