Copper-MOF and tannic acid-empowered composite cryogel as a skin substitute for accelerated deep wound healing.

The effective management of deep skin wounds remains a significant healthcare challenge that often deteriorates with bacterial infection, oxidative stress, tissue necrosis, and excessive production of wound exudate. Current medical approaches, including traditional wound dressing materials, cannot effectively address these issues. There is a great need to engineer advanced and multifunctional wound dressings to address this multifaceted problem effectively. Herein, a rationally designed composite cryogel composed of a Copper Metal-Organic Framework (Cu-MOF), tannic acid (TA), polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), and zein protein has been developed by freeze-thaw technique. Cryogels display a remarkable swelling capacity attributed to their interconnected microporous morphology. Moreover, dynamic mechanical behaviour with the characteristics of potent antimicrobial, antioxidant, and biodegradation makes it a desirable wound dressing material. It was further confirmed that the material is highly biocompatible and can release TA and copper ions in a controlled manner. In-vivo skin irritation in a rat model demonstrated that composite cryogel did not provoke any irritation/inflammation when applied to the skin of a healthy recipient. In a deep wound model, the composite cryogel significantly accelerates the wound healing rate. These findings highlight the multifunctional nature of composite cryogels and their promising potential for clinical applications as advanced wound dressings.

Efficacy of cartridge-based nucleic acid amplification test (CBNAAT) in comparison with line probe assay and liquid culture in the evaluation of tubercular lymph node abscess.

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) remains the number one cause of adult deaths by a curable infectious disease. Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacilli (MTB) is the most common causative organism isolated from mycobacterial lymphadenitis. Accurate and speedy diagnosis is required, especially in paucibacillary extrapulmonary TB. In this study, we compared the efficacy of CBNAAT with line probe assay and liquid culture in the evaluation of tubercular lymph node abscesses. Materials and Methods: This is a hospital-based observational cross-sectional study conducted at Gandhi Medical College and Hospital, Secunderabad, TS, in patients who presented with lymph node abscesses over a period of 18 months after obtaining clearance from the ethics committee and obtaining informed consent. Each sample was evaluated and analyzed in association with the clinical findings, AFB staining, CBNAAT, LPA, and AFB culture, and the results were compared. Results: Fifty patients with TB lymph node abscess diagnosed through FNAC were included in the present study. AFB smear was positive in 29 samples, CBNAAT was positive in 43 samples, LPA was positive in 44 samples, and liquid culture was positive in 39 samples. CBNAAT could detect TB in 16 smear-negative cases, 10 liquid culture-negative cases, and one LPA-negative case. In our study, CBNAAT was more effective in diagnosing TB lymph node abscess than AFB smear. No significant results were obtained when comparing CBNAAT with LPA and liquid culture. Conclusion: This study demonstrates excellent diagnostic accuracy of the Xpert MTB/RIF test in patients with tuberculous lymphadenitis, with a sensitivity of 86%, specificity of 83.33%, negative predictive value of 95.56%, and positive predictive value of 58.82%. Thus, it can be a rule in testing for lymph node TB. These efforts will contribute to the attainment of the TB elimination goal.

Corrigendum to "Second round statewide sentinel-based population survey for estimation of the burden of active infection and anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies in the general population of Karnataka, India, during January-February 2021" [IJID Regions Vol 1(2021) pages 107-116].

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1016/j.ijregi.2021.10.008.].

Development of nanofunctionalized oxovanadium(IV) complex and its anticancer, antidiabetic, DNA cleavage and cell imaging studies.

VO(IV) complex is little toxic and highly effective than vanadium salts. A vanadyl metal complex from 8-formyl-7-hydroxy-4-methyl coumarin derivative has been synthesized and functionalized with copper nanoparticles. The Spectrochemical studies such as UV, FTIR, 1NMR and ESR spectra were recorded to characterize the ligand(CUAP), Vanadyl complex[VO(CUAP)SO4] and nano Cu-VO(IV)complex efficiently. The structural studies of vanadyl complex confirmed that the ligand coordinate with metal through nitrogen atom of azomethine, carbonyl oxygen and phenolic oxygen. ESR spectrum of vanadyl complex revealed the covalent nature. XRD pattern of nano Cu-VO(IV) complex indicated the crystalline nature and the average particle size was 20.91 nm. SEM image of nano Cu-VO(IV) complex showed that the nano particles accumulated to form spherical shaped particles. The particle size obtained from Transmission Electron Microscopy of nano functionalized metal complex is âˆ¼ 20 nm. It is closely matched to the particle size calculated from XRD results. Fluorescence of vanadyl complex and nano Cu-VO(IV) complex exhibit the emission from 270 to 900 nm range with significant fluorescence at âˆ¼ 750 nm. The DNA cleavage of all the compounds was evaluated using Agarose gel electrophoresis technique and showed greater cleavage of vanadyl complex. The anticancer activity of compounds was carried out against two cancer cell lines viz Human Breast Cancer Cell line (MCF-7) and Human Leukemia Cancer Cell Line(K-562). Oxovanadium complex exhibited good anticancer activities than ligand and nano-functionalized complex. The antidiabetic activities of vanadyl and nano functionalized complexes were studied against α-Amylase and ß-Glucosidase inhibition assay. In this study vanadyl complex showed higher inhibition activity on α-Amylase compared with standard Acarbose. The bioimaging of nano-functionalized metal complex showed high fluorescent properties. The molecular docking study of ligand and vanadyl complex showed greater docking results with CDK2 receptor.

Diagnostic Accuracy of Ultrasonography-Guided Fine Needle Aspiration Cytology in Abdominopelvic Masses: A Prospective Study.

Introduction Accurate diagnosis of deep-seated abdominopelvic masses is crucial to distinguish malignant from non-malignant lesions for proper treatment and prognosis. Ultrasonography-guided fine needle aspiration cytology (USG-FNAC) is a cost-effective and straightforward procedure that offers rapid diagnosis, facilitating early initiation of treatment. This study aimed to determine the diagnostic accuracy of USG-FNAC in comparison to the biopsy diagnosis of various abdominopelvic masses in a resource-limited setting. Materials and methods This prospective study enrolled 208 patients with clinically and ultrasonographically confirmed abdominopelvic masses over two years. Of these, 64 cases were excluded from the study because of the non-availability of biopsy specimens. The remaining 144 cases comprised 88 males and 56 females, with a male-to-female ratio of 1.57:1. Patients' ages ranged from 1.5 to 65 years, with most male patients aged 51 to 60 years and female patients aged 41 to 50 years. USG-FNAC was performed on these patients using a 22G spinal needle and a 10cc disposable syringe, and no complications were reported during the procedure. The cytological findings were compared to histopathological results when available. Dry smears were stained with May-Grunwald-Giemsa stain, while fixed smears were stained with Papanicolaou stain for cytological investigation. Results A total of 144 cases had both cytological and histological specimens available for comparison. The overall diagnostic accuracy of USG-FNAC was 90.97%, with 91.8% sensitivity for malignant lesions, 83.33% for benign lesions, and 85.7% for inflammatory lesions. Conclusions USG-FNAC provides high diagnostic accuracy for abdominopelvic masses, making it a valuable diagnostic tool in resource-limited settings. The technique allows for rapid diagnosis, triaging specimens for ancillary immunohistochemical and molecular studies, and in many cases, obviates the need for more expensive and time-consuming procedures like laparotomy and open biopsy.

Nano zinc Oxide-Ruthenium (III) complex of novel coumarin derivative: Synthesis, Characterization, DNA Cleavage, anticancer and bioimaging activities.

The uniqueness of nanofunctionalized metal complexes would play a prominent role in medicinal chemistry, especially in cancer chemotherapy. Among the metal based chemotherapeutic drugs, ruthenium complexes exhibit different oxidation states, lower toxicity and remarkable antitumor activities than other anticancer drugs. In this investigation bioactive ruthenium(III) complex has been synthesized from novel coumarin derivative and it is functionalized with nanostructured zinc oxide (ZnO) under well defined condition. An octahedral geometry is proposed for the ruthenium complex based on analytical and spectrochemical characterization techniques (UV, FT-IR and NMR). The g|| and g⊥ values obtained from the ESR spectrum indicated high symmetry and octahedral field around ruthenium ion. The XRD patterns of all synthesized compounds explicit average particle sizes are nanometer range. The morphology and particle size of Nano ZnO-Ru(III) complex is also confirmed by using SEM and TEM analysis. The nanofunctionalized material exhibited enhanced fluorescence emissions at 674 nm and 681 nm. The evaluation of DNA cleavage study indicated compounds were effectively cleaved supercoiled pUC18 DNA by gel electrophoresis method. The examinations of in-vitro anticancer activities of compounds were studied against human breast (MCF-7) and leukemia (K-562) cancer cell lines. The ruthenium complex showed greater effect against MCF-7 with < 10 IC50 value. Nowadays, the cell imaging property of nanofunctionalized materials receive more attention. The fluorescence microscopic images of Nano ZnO-Ru(III) complex displayed higher luminescence at 100 µg/ mL against L6 rat skeletal muscle cell line.

Histopathological Study of Mucormycosis in Post COVID-19 Patients and Factors Affecting it in a Tertiary Care Hospital.

Introduction. COVID-19 is an infection caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome corona virus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) which may be associated with a wide range of bacterial and fungal co-infections. Mucormycosis is an opportunistic fungal infection occurring in post COVID-19 patients. Objectives. To study the role of histopathology in mucormycosis and the predisposing factors associated in development of mucormycosis in post COVID-19 patients. Materials and methods. A prospective observational study was conducted in our hospital in the pathology department over a period of 3 months on 200 patients with mucormycosis who were infected with SARS-CoV-2 virus. Results. Out of the 200 patients with mucormycosis studied in post COVID-19 patients, age ranged from 21-80 years, of which 132 were men and 68 were women. Sites involved by mucormycosis were sinuses, orbit, cranium, and cutaneous. Ethmoid sinus was most involved, followed by maxillary sinus. Diabetes was present in 162 patients and hypertension in 92 patients. On histopathological examination, fungal load was severe in 49 patients, angioinvasion was present in 48 patients, perineural invasion was present in 32 patients, and necrosis was present in 121 patients. The number of patients discharged after surgery was 169, whereas 31 died. Conclusion. Histopathological features of mucormycosis like angioinvasion, perineural invasion, severe fungal load, and large areas of necrosis were directly proportional to the mortality rate. Thus, histopathologists can help in assessing prognosis at the time of tissue diagnosis, so that clinicians can optimize treatment accordingly. Diabetes and history of corticosteroid intake for treatment of COVID-19 were the two commonest predisposing factors for development of mucormycosis.

Validation of a simple-to-use, affordable, portable, wavefront aberrometry-based auto refractometer in the adult population: A prospective study.

BACKGROUND: Refraction is one of the key components of a comprehensive eye examination. Auto refractometers that are reliable and affordable can be beneficial, especially in a low-resource community setting. The study aimed to validate the accuracy of a novel wave-front aberrometry-based auto refractometer, Instaref R20 against the open-field system and subjective refraction in an adult population. METHODS: All the participants underwent a comprehensive eye examination including objective refraction, subjective acceptance, anterior and posterior segment evaluation. Refraction was performed without cycloplegia using WAM5500 open-field auto refractometer (OFAR) and Instaref R20, the study device. Agreement between both methods was evaluated using Bland-Altman analysis. The repeatability of the device based on three measurements in a subgroup of 40 adults was assessed. RESULTS: The refractive error was measured in 132 participants (mean age,30.53 ± 9.36 years, 58.3% female). The paired mean difference of the refraction values of the study device against OFAR was - 0.13D for M, - 0.0002D (J0) and - 0.13D (J45) and against subjective refraction (SR) was - 0.09D (M), 0.06 (J0) and 0.03D (J45). The device agreed within +/- 0.50D of OFAR in 78% of eyes for M, 79% for J0 and 78% for J45. The device agreed within +/- 0.5D of SR values for M (84%), J0 (86%) and J45 (89%). CONCLUSION: This study found a good agreement between the measurements obtained with the portable autorefractor against open-field refractometer and SR values. It has a potential application in population-based community vision screening programs for refractive error correction without the need for highly trained personnel.

Chemical Profiling and In Vitro Antiurolithiatic Activity of Pleurolobus gangeticus (L.) J. St.- Hil. ex H. Ohashi & K. Ohashi Along with Its Antioxidant and Antibacterial Properties.

Pleurolobus gangeticus (L.) J. St.- Hil. ex H. Ohashi & K. Ohashi (Fabaceae) is an important medicinal plant used to treat various ailments. In this study, we report the antiurolithiatic, antioxidant, and antibacterial potential of chloroform fraction (CF) from P. gangeticus roots. For the chemical profiling, HPTLC, FT-IR, and GC-MS techniques of the CF were carried out, and phytochemical investigation was revealed that stigmasterol (45.06%) is one of the major components present in the fraction. The nucleation and aggregation assays were used to evaluate the in vitro antiurolithiatic activity at various concentration (2-10 mg/mL) of the CF. The results showed that the chloroform fraction had dose-dependent effects on Calcium Oxalate (CaOx) crystal formation. In both the assays, the maximum concentration of 10 mg/mL has shown better results. This concentration resulted significant increase in CaOx crystal nucleation along with the reduction of crystal size and the inhibition of crystal aggregation. Further, the CF showed stronger antioxidant (DPPH, NO, SOD, TRC) potential with an IC50 values of 415.9327, 391.729, 275.971, and 419.14 µg/mL, respectively. The antibacterial evaluation displayed effective results in the Agar well diffusion assay against selective urinary tract infection (UTI) pathogens (Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumonia, and Staphylococcus aureus). A maximum zone of inhibition (ZOI) 12.33 ± 1.05 mm for K pneumonia and minimum ZOI of 8.46 ± 0.27 mm for S. aureus were obtained. Further, the ADME-PK property of the stigmasterol was investigated, and it was found to pass the Lipinski and Ghose rules, supporting the drug-likeliness. This is the first record of the antiurolithiatic potential of P. gangeticus along with antioxidant and antibacterial activities. These findings give an insight into the effective drug development and treatment for kidney stones in future.

Pharmaco-chemical profiling of Desmodium gangeticum (L.) DC. with special reference to soil chemistry.

BACKGROUND: Desmodium gangeticum (L.) DC. (Fabaceae) (DG) is a perennial non-climbing herb or shrub and folklore medicine, widely shows a large number of medicinal properties, as well as contains divergent bioactive compounds. Many of the herbal formulations contain this medicinal plant, which is considered as master of medicinal plant in Ayurveda. This study is an attempt to establish this plant material based on its pharmaco-chemical profiles with special reference to soil chemistry. The pharmaco-chemical features such as organoleptic, DNA sequence, physicochemical, proximate, phytochemical, UV, and FTIR profiling were carried out using standard techniques. Moreover, the ADME-PK properties of the selected molecules were established. RESULTS: The pharmaco-chemical features like organoleptic, DNA sequence, physicochemical, proximate, phytochemical, UV, and FTIR profiling, ADME-PK properties, and soil chemistry of D. gangeticum revealed its unique and diagnostic peculiarities. DNA barcoding showed that the sequence was 99.77% similar to D. gangeticum (KP094638) having 100% query coverage. The soil analysis revealed the presence of moderately high content of NPK and sufficient amount of all essential macro- and micronutrients (S, Fe, Mn, Cu, Zn, and B). The phytochemical profiling showed that the ethanolic extract of the aerial part contained glycoside, amino acid, phenols, alkaloids, flavonoids, and coumarins, while the ethanolic root extract of the plant revealed the presence of glycoside, amino acid, phenols, alkaloids, flavonoids, coumarins, and triterpenoids. FTIR results indicated that the plant extracts are mainly rich in phenolic derivatives. ADME-PK properties of pterocarpan such as gangetin (1a), gangetinin (1b), desmocarpin (1c), and desmodin (1d) were found to pass the Lipinski, Ghose, Veber, and Egan rules, supporting the drug-likeliness. CONCLUSION: This is the first record of pharmaco-chemical profiling of D. gangeticum along with soil chemistry, and this information helps in the proper identification and future studies on this species.

Effectiveness of Kanna photoscreener in detecting amblyopia risk factors.

Purpose: Amblyopia is a significant public health problem. Photoscreeners have been shown to have significant potential for screening; however, most are limited by cost and display low accuracy. The purpose of this study was validate a novel artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning-based facial photoscreener "Kanna," and to determine its effectiveness in detecting amblyopia risk factors. Methods: A prospective study that included 654 patients aged below 18 years was conducted in our outpatient clinic. Using an android smartphone, three images of each the participants' face were captured by trained optometrists in dark and ambient light conditions and uploaded onto Kanna. Deep learning was used to create an amblyopia risk score based on our previous study. The algorithm generates a risk dashboard consisting of six values: five normalized risk scores for ptosis, strabismus, hyperopia, myopia and media opacities; and one binary value denoting if a child is "at-risk" or "not at-risk." The presence of amblyopia risk factors (ARF) as determined on the ophthalmic examination was compared with the Kanna photoscreener. Results: Correlated patient data for 654 participants were analyzed. The mean age of the study population was 7.87 years. The algorithm had an F-score, 85.9%; accuracy, 90.8%; sensitivity, 83.6%; specificity, 94.5%; positive predictive value, 88.4%; and negative predictive value, 91.9% in identifying amblyopia risk factors. The P value for the amblyopia risk calculation was 8.5 × 10-142 implying strong statistical significance. Conclusion: The Kanna photo-based screener that uses deep learning to analyze photographs is an effective alternative for screening children for amblyopia risk factors.

Appraisal of vulnerable zones of non-cancer-causing health risks associated with exposure of nitrate and fluoride in groundwater from a rural part of India.

The present investigation carried out from a rural part of Nalgonda district, Telangana, India was to know the general groundwater quality and also to measure the vulnerable zones of non-cancer-causing health risks with respect to infants, children, and adults due to the consumption of nitrate and fluoride contaminated groundwater. Groundwater samples were collected from the study area and analyzed for the major physicochemical parameters. Nitrate and fluoride contents ranged from 2 to 700 mg/L and 0.3 to 4.7 mg/L, in which 59.09% and 31.82% of the groundwater samples exceed the safe drinking water limits of 45 mg/L and 1.5 mg/L, which spread over an area of 77.59% and 25.41%, respectively. Domestic wastes, septic tank spillages, animal wastes, and nitrate composts are the prime sources of nitrate, while the fluoride-bearing minerals and phosphate fertilizers are the main sources of fluoride in the aquifer regime. Individual non-cancer-causing health index obviously suggested the nitrate as the higher health risk than fluoride. The total non-cancer-causing health index was observed to be more than the acceptable limit of 1.0 in 95.5% of the total groundwater samples concerning infants, children, and adults. The vulnerable intensity of this index appeared to be higher in infants than in children and adults due to the differences in their body weights. The spatial coverage area of very health risk is more in infants (37.45%) than that of children (36.78%) and adults (30.34%). Thus, the present study suggested suitable measures for the improvement of groundwater quality and consequently the health conditions of the locals.

Sorghum mitigates climate variability and change on crop yield and quality.

MAIN CONCLUSION: Global food insecurity concerns due to climate change, emphasizes the need to focus on the sensitivity of sorghum to climate change and potential crop improvement strategies available, which is discussed in the current review to promote climate-smart agriculture. Climate change effects immensely disturb the global agricultural systems by reducing crop production. Changes in extreme weather and climate events such as high-temperature episodes and extreme rainfalls events, droughts, flooding adversely affect the production of staple food crops, posing threat to ecosystem resilience. The resulting crop losses lead to food insecurity and poverty and question the sustainable livelihoods of small farmer communities, particularly in developing countries. In view of this, it is essential to focus and adapt climate-resilient food crops which need lower inputs and produce sustainable yields through various biotic and abiotic stress-tolerant traits. Sorghum, "the camel of cereals", is one such climate-resilient food crop that is less sensitive to climate change vulnerabilities and also an important staple food in many parts of Asia and Africa. It is a rainfed crop and provides many essential nutrients. Understanding sorghum's sensitivity to climate change provides scope for improvement of the crop both in terms of quantity and quality and alleviates food and feed security in future climate change scenarios. Thus, the current review focused on understanding the sensitivity of sorghum crop to various stress events due to climate change and throws light on different crop improvement strategies available to pave the way for climate-smart agriculture.

Enhanced Production of ß-Caryophyllene by Farnesyl Diphosphate Precursor-Treated Callus and Hairy Root Cultures of Artemisia vulgaris L.

Artemisia vulgaris L. produces a wide range of valuable secondary metabolites. The aim of the present study is to determine the effects of various concentrations of farnesyl diphosphate (FDP) on ß-caryophyllene content in both callus and hairy root (HR) cultures regeneration from leaf explants of A. vulgaris L. Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with various concentrations of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4D; 4-13 µM), α-naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA; 5-16 µM), and FDP (1 and 3 µM) was used for callus induction and HR regeneration from leaf explants of A. vulgaris L. In this study, precursor-treated (2,4D 13.5 µM + FDP 3 µM) callus displayed the highest biomass fresh weight (FW)/dry weight (DW): 46/25 g, followed by NAA 10.7 µM + FDP 3 µM with FW/DW: 50/28 g. Two different Agrobacterium rhizogenes strains (A4 and R1000) were evaluated for HR induction. The biomass of HRs induced using half-strength MS + B5 vitamins with 3 µM FDP was FW/DW: 40/20 g and FW/DW: 41/19 g, respectively. To determine ß-caryophyllene accumulation, we have isolated the essential oil from FDP-treated calli and HRs and quantified ß-caryophyllene using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The highest production of ß-caryophyllene was noticed in HR cultures induced using A4 and R1000 strains on half-strength MS medium containing 3 µM FDP, which produced 2.92 and 2.80 mg/ml ß-caryophyllene, respectively. The optimized protocol can be used commercially by scaling up the production of a ß-caryophyllene compound in a short span of time.

Geochemical characteristics and quality of groundwater evaluation for drinking, irrigation, and industrial purposes from a part of hard rock aquifer of South India.

The present study is a part of hard rock aquifer of Telangana, South India, where the groundwater is withdrawn heavily for drinking, irrigation, and small-scale industrial purposes. Geochemical characteristics explain the chemical processes, which control the groundwater chemistry and consequently the groundwater quality, while the chemical quality of groundwater is adversely affected by anthropogenic activities, which damage the water environment. The focus of the present study was, thus, to know the origin of geochemical characteristics and also to evaluate the quality of groundwater for various purposes for taking the suitable remedial measures to provide safe water to the local community. Geochemical relations (GR) and hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) were used to assess the geochemical characteristics. Entropy weighted groundwater quality index (EWGQI), United States Soil Salinity Laboratory Staff (USSLS)'s diagram, and groundwater quality criteria for water supply pipes (GQCW) were used to evaluate the groundwater quality for drinking, irrigation, and industrial purposes, respectively. The study found that the water-rock interactions associated with ion exchange and evaporation were the prime geochemical factors controlling the geochemical characteristics and the anthropogenic activities as the secondary factor. These observations were further supported by HCA. According to the EWGQI, 34.97% of the spatial area was found to have the poor and very poor groundwater quality zones for drinking purpose, because of the dominance of TDS, Na+, Cl-, [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text], and F- contents in the groundwater system. Based on the USSLS's diagram, 79.55% of the present study area was observed to be poor and very poor water quality type for irrigation utilization due to salinity hazard. The GQCW demonstrated that the 7.91% and 8.82% of the areas were not suitable for industrial purpose due to influence of incrustation based on [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text], respectively, and 1.85%, 12.32%, and 1.25 of the areas are unfit due to influence of corrosion based on pH, TDS, and Cl-, respectively. Therefore, boiling, activated carbon filter, rainwater harvesting, suitable coatings on metal surfaces of water supply pipes, etc. are the important suggested effective strategic measures to provide safe water for drinking, irrigation, and industrial purposes.

Second round statewide sentinel-based population survey for estimation of the burden of active infection and anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies in the general population of Karnataka, India, during January-February 2021.

Objective: Demonstrate the feasibility of using the existing sentinel surveillance infrastructure to conduct the second round of the serial cross-sectional sentinel-based population survey. Assess active infection, seroprevalence, and their evolution in the general population across Karnataka. Identify local variations for locally appropriate actions. Additionally, assess the clinical sensitivity of the testing kit used on account of variability of antibody levels in the population. Methods: The cross-sectional study of 41,228 participants across 290 healthcare facilities in all 30 districts of Karnataka was done among three groups of participants (low, moderate, and high-risk). The geographical spread was sufficient to capture local variations. Consenting participants were subjected to real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) testing, and antibody (IgG) testing. Clinical sensitivity was assessed by conducting a longitudinal study among participants identified as COVID-19 positive in the first survey round. Results: Overall weighted adjusted seroprevalence of IgG was 15.6% (95% CI: 14.9-16.3), crude IgG prevalence was 15.0% and crude active infection was 0.5%. Statewide infection fatality rate (IFR) was estimated as 0.11%, and COVID-19 burden estimated between 26.1 to 37.7% (at 90% confidence). Further, Cases-to-infections ratio (CIR) varied 3-35 across units and IFR varied 0.04-0.50% across units. Clinical sensitivity of the IgG ELISA test kit was estimated as ≥38.9%. Conclusion: We demonstrated the feasibility and simplicity of sentinel-based population survey in measuring variations in subnational and local data, useful for locally appropriate actions in different locations. The sentinel-based population survey thus helped identify districts that needed better testing, reporting, and clinical management. The state was far from attaining natural immunity during the survey and hence must step up vaccination coverage and enforce public health measures to prevent the spread of COVD-19.

Impact of Ethyl Methane Sulphonate Mutagenesis in Artemisia vulgaris L. under NaCl Stress.

The present investigation aimed to obtain salt-tolerant Artemisia vulgaris L. to develop a constant form through in vitro mutagenesis with ethyl methane sulphonate (EMS) as the chemical mutagen. NaCl tolerance was evaluated by the ability of the callus to maintain its growth under different concentrations, ranges from (0 mM to 500 mM). However, NaCl salinity concentration at (500 mM) did not show any development of callus, slight shrinking, and brown discoloration taking place over a week. Thus, all the biochemical and antioxidant assays were limited to (0-400 mM) NaCl. On the other hand, selected calluses were treated with 0.5% EMS for 30, 60, and 90 min and further subcultured on basal media fortified with different concentrations of 0-400 mM NaCl separately. Thus, the callus was treated for 60 min and was found to induce the mutation on the callus. The maximum salt-tolerant callus from 400 mM NaCl was regenerated in MS medium fortified with suitable hormones. Biochemical parameters such as chlorophyll, carotenoids, starch, amino acids, and phenol contents decreased under NaCl stress, whereas sugar and proline increased. Peroxidase (POD) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activities peaked at 200 mM NaCl, whereas catalase (CAT) was maximum at 100 mM NaCl. Enhanced tolerance of 0.5% the EMS-treated callus, attributed to the increased biochemical and antioxidant activity over the control and NaCl stress. As a result, the mutants were more tolerant of salinity than the control plants.

Seasonal and Spatial Variation of Groundwater Quality Vulnerable Zones of Yellareddygudem Watershed, Nalgonda District, Telangana State, India.

Evaluation of seasonal and spatial variations in vulnerable zones for poor groundwater quality is essential for the protection of human health and to maintain the crop yields. With this objective, groundwater samples were collected seasonally (i.e., pre- and post-monsoon) from the Yellareddygudem watershed of Telangana, India. These samples were analysed for major chemical parameters (pH, TDS, Ca2+, Mg2+, Na+, K+, [Formula: see text], Cl-, [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text], and F-). Geographical information system (GIS) tools were used to delineate the seasonal and spatial variations for vulnerable zones related to the drinking groundwater quality index (DGQI) and irrigation groundwater quality index (IGQI). Geochemical facies and relations, Piper diagrams, and principal component analysis indicated that the weathering, dissolution, leaching, ion exchange, and evaporation were the primary processes controlling the groundwater quality seasonally. Human influences were the secondary factors. The TDS, Na+, K+, Cl-, [Formula: see text], and F- parameters were observed to be within the drinking water quality standard limits in most post-monsoon groundwater samples. However, the DGQI showed an increase in the number of samples with unsuitable quality for drinking in the post-monsoon period compared with the pre-monsoon period. The IGQI demonstrated that the number of samples with unsuitable quality for irrigation increased in the post-monsoon period compared to the pre-monsoon period. The differences in the vulnerable zones between the pre- and post-monsoon periods were due to variations in groundwater recharge, following the topography. Thus, the present study will help decision makers to plan groundwater treatment measures within vulnerable zones.

Application of deep learning and image processing analysis of photographs for amblyopia screening.

Purpose: Photo screeners and autorefractors have been used to screen children for amblyopia risk factors (ARF) but are limited by cost and efficacy. We looked for a deep learning and image processing analysis-based system to screen for ARF. Methods: An android smartphone was used to capture images using a specially coded application that modified the camera setting. An algorithm was developed to process images taken in different light conditions in an automated manner to predict the presence of ARF. Deep learning and image processing models were used to segment images of the face. Light settings and distances were tested to obtain the necessary features. Deep learning was thereafter used to formulate normalized risks using sigmoidal models for each ARF creating a risk dashboard. The model was tested on 54 young adults and results statistically analyzed. Results: A combination of low-light and ambient-light images was needed for screening for exclusive ARF. The algorithm had an F-Score of 73.2% with an accuracy of 79.6%, a sensitivity of 88.2%, and a specificity of 75.6% in detecting the ARF. Conclusion: Deep-learning and image-processing analysis of photographs acquired from a smartphone are useful in screening for ARF in children and young adults for a referral to doctors for further diagnosis and treatment.