Scrub Typhus- An Underestimated Infectious Disease Attributable to Community Acquired Acute Kidney Injury.

Acute Kidney Injury (AKI) associated with Scrub typhus is an emerging health problem which is more common in the tropics including India. This study intended to find out the occurrence of Scrub typhus among the Community Acquired Acute Kidney Injury patients in a tertiary care hospital in Assam, North East India. AKI patients with acute febrile illness admitted to Gauhati Medical College and Hospital, Guwahati, Assam were included in the study and demographic characteristics along with clinical features were recorded. The detection of Scrub typhus was done by IgM Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) test (Optical Density > 0.5) and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis. Routine haematological and biochemical tests were performed. Molecular characterization of Orientia tsutsugamushi was done followed by phylogenetic analysis. The Graph Pad Prism software 9 was used for statistical analysis. Out of 221 AKI patients admitted to hospital, 45 patients (20.4%) were confirmed to be Scrub typhus positive and among them, 4 cases were co-infected with leptospirosis. Majority of Scrub typhus positive AKI patients were in Stage I (82.2%) under KDIGO guideline. "Karp" was the predominant circulating serotype. The study showed cases of Scrub typhus associated Acute Kidney Injury was high and mortality was 11.1%. Hence, in this region, further studies need to be done with large number of population and more emphasis need to be given on differential diagnosis. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12088-023-01137-x.

Increase in birthweight coverage of neonatal deaths is needed to monitor low birthweight prevalence in India: lessons from the National Family Health Survey.

BACKGROUND: Low birthweight (LBW), defined as birthweight < 2500gms, is the largest contributor to the malnutrition disability-adjusted-live-years in India. We report on the inadequacy of birthweight data, which is a significant barrier in the understanding of LBW epidemiology, to address malnutrition in India. METHODS: Data from the recent round of the National Family Survey (NFHS-5) were utilised. Birthweight of livebirths in the last 5 years was documented in grams either from the health card or based on mother's recall. We computed the coverage of birthweight measurement availability and the extent of heaping (values of 2500, 3000 and 3500gms) by the place of delivery and by the survival of newborn during the neonatal period. Heaping of > 55% was considered as poor-quality birthweight data. LBW prevalence per 100 livebirths was estimated and extrapolated for under-reporting of birthweight. Findings are reported for India and its 30 states. RESULTS: Birthweight measurement coverage irrespective of the place of delivery was (89·8%; 95% CI 89·7-90) for India, and varied by 2 times among the states with the highest coverage in Tamil Nadu (99·3%) and the lowest in Nagaland (49·7%). Home deliveries had the least coverage of birthweight measurement (49.6%; 95% CI 49.0-50.1) as compared with public health facility (96.3%; 95% CI 96.2-96.3) and private health facility (96%; 95% CI 95.8-96.1) deliveries. This coverage was 66·5% (95% CI 65·2-67·7) among neonatal deaths as compared with 90.4 (95% CI 90.3-90.6) for livebirths who survived the neonatal period for India. The proportion of health card as the data source increased for livebirths born in year 2015 to year 2020 but then dropped for livebirths born in year 2021 (p < 0.001). The proportion of heaping was 52·0% (95% CI 51·7-52·2) in the recorded birthweight for India, and heaping > 55% was seen in 10 states irrespective of the type data source; and 3 states in addition had heaping > 55% in mother's recall. LBW prevalence was estimated at 17·4% (95% CI 17·3-17·6) for India, and ranged from 4.5% in Nagaland and Mizoram to 22.5% in Punjab for livebirths for whom birthweight was available. We estimated LBW at 77.8% for whom birthweight was not available, and the adjusted LBW prevalence for all livebirths was estimated at 23.5% (95% CI 23.3-23.8) for India. CONCLUSIONS: Without measuring birthweight for every newborn irrespective of the survival and place of delivery, India may not able to address reduction in low birthweight and neonatal mortality effectively to meet global or national targets.

Drug repurposing - A search for novel therapy for the treatment of diabetic neuropathy.

Diabetic neuropathy is a chronic complication to metabolic disorder, diabetes mellitus. Till date, diagnosis and treatment of diabetic neuropathy remain elusive with challenges associated with the efficacy and safety of the current therapeutics. Considering, the hurdles associated with discovery of de novo drugs, repurposing of old drugs for new therapeutic modalities sounds promising. This review, focuses on a molecular pathways involved in the progression of diabetic neuropathy, and the current pharmacological and non-pharmacological therapies implemented. Furthermore, a holistic and mechanism centric drug repurposing approach is pursued for identification of existing drugs as novel therapy in the treatment of diabetic neuropathy. The global status of ongoing clinical research on diabetic neuropathy is also highlighted. In conclusion, the barriers associated with drug repurposing is identified to stimulate the curiosity of the researchers to overcome them and rapidly translate the drugs to the patients suffering from diabetic neuropathy.

Sputtered SrxNbO3 as a UV-Transparent Conducting Film.

Expanding the application space of transparent electrodes toward the ultraviolet range has been found challenging when utilizing the conventional approach to degenerately dope semiconductors with band gaps larger than ZnO or In2O3. Here, it is shown that the correlated metal SrxNbO3 with x < 1 is ideally suited as a UV-transparent electrode material, enabling UV light-emitting diodes for a wide range of applications from water disinfection to polymer curing. It is demonstrated that SrxNbO3 thin films can be grown by radio frequency (RF) sputtering and that they remain in the perovskite phase despite a sizeable Sr deficiency. The electrical and optical properties are characterized and compared to those of commonly used indium tin oxide (ITO) and Sn-doped Ga2O3 transparent conductor standards. SrxNbO3 films were found to have sheet resistances as low as 30 Ω sq-1 with optical transmission at a wavelength of 280 nm up to 86%, marking a two-order-of-magnitude increase over the performance of traditional UV-transparent conductors. The compatibility of SrxNbO3 with a physical vapor deposition technique that is widely employed in the transparent conductor coating industry along with the robustness of the highly electrically conducting and optically transparent perovskite phase makes it an ideal transparent electrode for applications in the UV spectrum.

Spin-lattice Coupling and the Emergence of the Trimerized Phase in the S=1 Kagome Antiferromagnet Na_{2}Ti_{3}Cl_{8}.

Spin-1 antiferromagnets are abundant in nature, but few theories exist to understand their properties and behavior when geometric frustration is present. Here we study the S=1 kagome compound Na_{2}Ti_{3}Cl_{8} using a combination of density functional theory, exact diagonalization, and density matrix renormalization group approaches to achieve a first principles supported explanation of its exotic magnetic phases. We find that the effective magnetic Hamiltonian includes essential non-Heisenberg terms that do not stem from spin-orbit coupling, and both trimerized and spin-nematic magnetic phases are relevant. The experimentally observed structural transition to a breathing kagome phase is driven by spin-lattice coupling, which favors the trimerized magnetic phase against the quadrupolar one. We thus show that lattice effects can be necessary to understand the magnetism in frustrated magnetic compounds and surmise that Na_{2}Ti_{3}Cl_{8} is a compound that cannot be understood from only electronic or only lattice Hamiltonians, very much like VO_{2}.

Accurate first-principles structures and energies of diversely bonded systems from an efficient density functional.

One atom or molecule binds to another through various types of bond, the strengths of which range from several meV to several eV. Although some computational methods can provide accurate descriptions of all bond types, those methods are not efficient enough for many studies (for example, large systems, ab initio molecular dynamics and high-throughput searches for functional materials). Here, we show that the recently developed non-empirical strongly constrained and appropriately normed (SCAN) meta-generalized gradient approximation (meta-GGA) within the density functional theory framework predicts accurate geometries and energies of diversely bonded molecules and materials (including covalent, metallic, ionic, hydrogen and van der Waals bonds). This represents a significant improvement at comparable efficiency over its predecessors, the GGAs that currently dominate materials computation. Often, SCAN matches or improves on the accuracy of a computationally expensive hybrid functional, at almost-GGA cost. SCAN is therefore expected to have a broad impact on chemistry and materials science.

Evidence of a pseudogap driven by competing orders of multi-band origin in the ferromagnetic superconductor Sr0.5Ce0.5FBiS2.

From temperature and magnetic field dependent point-contact spectroscopy on the ferromagnetic superconductor Sr0.5Ce0.5FBiS2 (bulk superconducting [Formula: see text] K) we observe (a) a pseudogap in the normal state that sustains to a remarkably high temperature of 40 K and (b) two-fold enhancement of T c upto 5 K in the point-contact geometry. In addition, Andreev reflection spectroscopy reveals a superconducting gap of 6 meV for certain point-contacts suggesting that the mean field T c of this system could be approximately 40 K, the onset temperature of pseudo-gap. Our results suggest that quantum fluctuations originating from other competing orders in Sr0.5Ce0.5FBiS2 forbid a global phase coherence at high temperatures thereby suppressing T c. Apart from the known ordering to a ferromagnetic state, our first-principles calculations reveal nesting of a multi-band Fermi surface and a significant electron-phonon coupling that could result in charge density wave-like instabilities.

Assessment of Periodontal Status of Konda Reddy Tribe in Bhadrachalam, Khammam District, India.

BACKGROUND: Though great strides have been taken globally in the fight against oral diseases, problems persist especially among poor, disadvantaged and socially marginalised communities like tribes. Konda Reddies are one of the most primitive tribes of Bhadrachalam who because of their isolation, inaccessibility to dental resources and lack of dental knowledge follow traditional methods of oral hygiene practices, which are found to be inadequate to maintain oral health. AIM AND OBJECTIVES: To assess the periodontal status of Konda reddy tribes residing in Bhadrachalam of Khammam district, India. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Based on availability and accessibility the tribes were gathered using convenient sampling method. The total study population consisted of 500 subjects. Using a preformed Performa the oral hygiene practices and periodontal status was recorded using CPI index. RESULTS: The total study population was 500, comprising of 225 males and 275 females in the age group ranging from 20- >70 years. The mean number of sextants with healthy condition were 0.04±0.19; calculus 4.69±1.21; pockets 4-5 mm 0.91±0.91 and pockets >6mm 0.02±0.15. CONCLUSION: Poor oral hygiene and periodontal status was seen among the tribes. Under these circumstances, the implementation of a basic oral health care programme for these tribes is a high priority.

A clinical evaluation of a bioresorbable membrane and porous hydroxyapatite in the treatment of human molar class II furcations.

BACKGROUND: The ultimate goal of periodontal therapy is predictable regeneration of a functional attachment apparatus destroyed as a result of periodontitis. Reconstructive procedures have been used with varying success during the past decades to accomplish this goal. AIM: To evaluate whether the use of porous hydroxyapatite alone or a bioresorbable membrane alone would enhance the clinical results in the treatment of class II furcation defects in human lower molars. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Fifteen patients with chronic periodontitis, aged between 39 and 49 years, with a pair of similar bilateral class II furcation defects (classification of Hamp et al.) in mandibular first molars were selected. A split-mouth design was incorporated and the selected 30 furcation defects were assigned to one of the two treatment groups, i.e., Group I treated with a bioresorbable membrane from bovine-derived collagen guided tissue regeneration membrane and Group II treated using porous hydroxyapatite bone graft material on the contralateral sides. Evaluation of clinical parameters, probing depths and attachment levels, and radiographs was done preoperatively and 6 months postoperatively. RESULTS: Both the groups showed statistically significant mean reduction in probing depths and gain in clinical attachment levels and linear bone fill. Comparison between Group I and Group II showed insignificant difference. CONCLUSION: Within the limits of this study, both the treatment modalities are beneficial for the treatment of human mandibular class II furcation defects.

Antihyperglycemic, antihyperlipidemic and antioxidative potential of Prosopis cineraria bark.

Alloxan administration in male Swiss albino mice, induced diabetes by increasing blood glucose concentration and reducing hepatic glycogen content as compared to normal control group. Besides, serum lipid profile parameters such as total-cholesterol, triglyceride, low-density lipoprotein and very low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol were also elevated, whereas, the level of high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol was reduced significantly (P<0.05) in diabetic mice. Treatment of diabetic animals with crude ethanolic extract of bark of Prosopis cineraria (P. cineraria) for 45 days, significantly lowered blood glucose level, elevated hepatic glycogen content and maintained body weight and lipid-profile parameters towards near normal range. Declined activity of antioxidant enzymes and concentration of non-enzymatic antioxidants were also normalized by drug treatment, thereby reducing the oxidative damage in the tissues of diabetic animals and hence indicating the anti-diabetic and antioxidant efficacy of the extract.