This commentary is a response to three articles on integrated care systems in this journal. It explores some aspects of the latest transformation of England's National Health Service (NHS) and raises some questions on the extent to which the proposed NHS Long Term Plan can deliver on the current challenges.

Until 2003 the long case was the clinical component of the two summative examinations for the Membership of the Royal College of Psychiatrists (MRCPsych). This changed to an Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) format, initially for the Part I examination, and more recently to the Clinical Assessment of Skills and Competencies (CASC) at the end of 3 years of basic training. Although there are distinct advantages to the objective, competency-based assessment, questions remain on its validity. The expectation that formative workplace-based assessments would fill in the void left by the loss of the long case has not materialised. The options for retaining the advantages of the long case within the CASC framework while minimising the shortcomings of the CASC are suggested as a way forward.

Participatory rural appraisal was undertaken in 70 villages in India and Nepal, covering 1185 farmers to generate baseline information on the current plant protection practices. The study revealed that 93% of the farmers in India and 90% in Nepal had adopted chemical control for the management of various insect pests in different crops; however, less than 20% of the farmers expressed confidence on their efficacy. In India, 52% of farmers get their plant protection advice from pesticide dealers, while in Nepal, the majority of the farmers (69%) make their plant protection decisions through agricultural officers. A majority of the farmers (73% in India and 86% in Nepal) initiate the plant protection based on the first appearance of the pest, irrespective of their population, crop stage and their damage relationships. About 50% of the farmers in India and 20% in Nepal were not using any protective clothing while spraying. Health problems associated with the application of plant protection chemicals were reported by farmers. The cost of plant protection on various crops ranged from 7 to 40% of the total crop production cost. Though integrated pest management (IPM) has been advocated for the past two decades, only 32% in India and 20% in Nepal were aware of IPM practices. IPM implementation in selected villages brought a 20–65% reduction in pesticide use in different crops. The vegetable samples analysed for pesticide residues revealed the presence of residues.

In ‘Wake-up call for British psychiatry’ Craddock et al explained how recent attempts to improve psychosocial care for people with mental illness focus on non-specific psychosocial support. This has been at the expense of proper diagnostic assessment and prescription of treatment by psychiatrists aimed at treatment of specific disorders and recovery. They describe a creeping devaluation of psychiatry which is caricatured as narrow, biological, reductionist, oppressive, discriminatory and stigmatising. Some trusts have implemented ‘New Ways of Working for Psychiatrists’ in a way that undermines the central importance of psychiatrists in mental healthcare. Consequently, patients may be treated in secondary care without ever being seen by a psychiatrist. We consider a number of different changes that have interacted in unforeseen ways, with unintended adverse consequences for psychiatric services in England. We aim to continue the debate here.

The meiosis in the F1 hybrid Oryza saliva × O. australiensis was studied. Contrary to the observations of Gopalakrishnan (1959), true allosyndetic bivalents were not found at metaphase I. The most frequent associations were non-chiasmatic, end-to-end pseudobivalents. Autosyndetic bivalents were recorded mostly in the complement belonging to O. sativa, which are distinguishable by their smallness and lighter staining. The meiotic cycle exhibits timing imbalance with earlier condensation, and possibly migration, of the univalents belonging to O. australiensis. The data on meiotic pairing in the F1 hybrid and the comparative morphology of O. sativa, O. officinalis and O. australiensis inicate that the last species is the most primitive member, having originated from the pre-Sativa and pre-Officinalis complex.

The Clinical Assessment of Skills and Competencies (CASC) is the latest change to the MRCPsych examination. the CASC is a complex version of an Observed Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) format, with paired stations, and is now the only clinical component in the MRCPsych examination. We describe how to organise a relatively inexpensive and workforce-light 1-day course and mock CASC examination by adapting a previously described method for running an OSCE workshop. We also evaluate the acceptability to trainees of a mock CASC examination and course, and describe their views on this new clinical examination format.

The spotted pod borer Maruca vitrata (Geyer) is known for its economic importance throughout its geographical distribution because of its destructive nature to reproductive parts of several grain legume crops including pigeonpea. In view of the importance of the pest, the present study was carried out on the association of different morpho-chemical traits with resistance/susceptibility to M. vitrata at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, Patancheru, India. Trichome length and density, sugars, proteins and phenols were found to be associated with resistance to M. vitrata in short-duration pigeonpea genotypes. Pod damage by M. vitrata on different short-duration pigeonpea genotypes in the field ranged from 5.8 to 68%. Laboratory studies showed less consumption of food and reduced larval and pupal weights of M. vitrata when reared on the resistant genotypes ICPL 98003 and ICPL 98008 indicating antibiosis effects of the genotypes. Trichome density on upper and lower surfaces of the leaf (390 and 452/9 mm2), and length (3.5 mm) and trichome density (442/9 mm2) and length (5.9 mm) on pods were found positively correlated with the resistant genotype ICPL 98003. High sugar content in flowers (22%) and pods (10.6%) was responsible for the susceptibility of ICPL 88034, while high phenol concentration in flowers (6.5%) and pods (9.3%) in ICPL 98003 was responsible for resistance. Protein content in pods was significantly higher (25.5%) in susceptible ICPL 88034 when compared with resistant ICPL 98003 (16.5%). Based on these results, ICPL 98003 and ICPL 98008 were categorized as highly resistant and ICPL 98012 as moderately resistant. This paper discusses the physico-chemical traits associated with resistance to M. vitrata in short-duration pigeonpea genotypes.

Neem products are often perceived as harmless to natural enemies, pollinators and other non-target organisms. For this reason, several integrated pest management (IPM) programmes have adopted neem as one of the prime components. This study revealed toxic effects of neem on soil-inhabiting and aerial natural enemies in chickpea to an extent of 41 and 29% population reduction, respectively, compared with 63 and 51% when using a conventional insecticide (endosulfan). Neem also affected the parasitization of Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner) larvae by Campoletis chlorideae Uchida up to 20%. The natural enemy population started building up from the vegetative phase and reached their peak during the reproductive phase, and there was a gradual decline from pod formation to pre-harvest phases of the crop. Adapting the currently used IPM system in chickpea using neem during the vegetative phase, followed by an application of Helicoverpa nuclear polyhedrosis virus (HNPV) at flowering and need-based application(s) of chitin inhibitors like novaluron or flufenoxuron instead of endosulfan during pod formation would strongly augment natural enemy populations. This paper discusses the relative toxicity of neem and other IPM components on soil-inhabiting and aerial natural enemies in the chickpea ecosystem.

HgSe nanotubes have been prepared by spray deposition of solvothermally synthesized HgSe: Iodine nanoparticles on glass substrates at low temperature (200°C). Spray deposition was done without voltage and with an externally applied voltage (700V) to the nozzle and it is found from TEM studies that the average length of the nanotubes increases in case of the films deposited with applied voltage compared to that of without voltage. But there is no change in the average diameter (~ 35 nm). The nanotubes are found to have cubic crystal structure. Iodine is found to act as a catalyst and helps in the growth of nanotubes. The growth mechanism of the nanotubes is analogous to the well known solution-liquid-solid/vapor-liquid-solid (SLS/VLS) mechanism. The EDAX analysis of the tip of the nanotube reveals the presence of Hg, Se and Iodine in the ratio of 73:2:24 for the spot size of <1μm.

HgTe nanotubes have been prepared by spray deposition of solvothermally synthesized iodine doped HgTe nanoparticles on glass substrates at low temperature (200°C). Spray deposition was done without voltage and with an externally applied voltage (700 V) to the nozzle and it is found from TEM studies that the length of the nanotubes increases from ∼4µm in case of without voltage to ∼ 6µm in case of the applied voltage, with an average diameter of ∼ 45nm. The nanotubes are found to have cubic lattice structure having Hg:Te in stoichimetric ratio (52:48).

Simulated or standardised patients have been used in medical education and other medical settings for some 30 years (Box 1). Their use encompasses undergraduate and postgraduate learning, the monitoring of doctors' performance and standardisation of clinical examinations. Simulation has been used for instruction in industry and the military for much longer (Jason et al, 1971) but the first known effective use of simulated patients was by Barrows & Abrahamson (1964), who used them to appraise students' performance in clinical neurology examinations.

Published information was used to compile a summary of natural enemies (parasitoids, predators and diseases) reported attacking Spodoptera litura (F) under field conditions. Species (71) of insect parasitoids in seven families of Hymenoptera and two families of Diptera were listed as parasitoids of different stages of S. litura. Predatory insects (36) belonging to 14 families and 12 species of spiders from six families have been reported to feed on this species. Four protozoan, four fungal, seven bacterial, four each of viral and nematode species were also reported to be the pathogens of this species. Published information suggested that periodic releases of large number of egg parasites could help in suppressing populations of this pest. There is a considerable scope for increased attention to the role of natural enemies as component of integrated pest management programmes of S. litura.

The Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Programme under development at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) calls for a proper monitoring system. Experiments conducted in groundnut fields at ICRISAT Center near Hyderabad, in peninsular India, to establish the optimum height for pheromone traps to monitor Spodoptera lituta (F), indicated that the male flight pattern changes considerably during the cropping period. During the seedling stage (sowing to 6 weeks), most moths were caught at 0.5 and 1.0 m. In the initial growth phase (7–11 weeks), the traps at 4.0 m caught most moths. During the optimum growth phase (12th week to harvest) of the crop the traps at 1.0 m height trapped most moths. After harvest, the traps at 4.0 m again recorded the highest catch. These data are interpreted in terms of the migration pattern of S. litura moths during the crop season. We suggest monitoring this species, using 1 m height traps.

Males were found to be more active around 0300 hr, with a small peak after sunset (2000 hr). Irrespective of season, the peak flight activity of this species was around 0300 hr in groundnut fields.