Fate of multi-residue insecticides and their metabolites in the process of vinification: Analytical method validation, dissipation kinetics, processing factor, and risk assessment.

In viticulture, the use of synthetic chemical formulations introduces insecticide residues into harvested grapes and further into processed grape products, posing a safety concern to consumers. This study investigated the fate of ten insecticide residues and their metabolites from vine to wine. A rapid validated multi-residue approach using QuEChERS extraction and LC-MS/MS configuration was employed for targeted analysis in grape, pomace, and wine. The targeted insecticides showed satisfactory mean recoveries (76.03-111.95%) and precision (RSD = 0.75-7.90%) across the three matrices, with a matrix effect ranging from -16.88 to 35.18%, particularly higher in pomace. Preliminary grape washing effectively removed 15.52-61.31% of insecticide residues based on water solubility and systemic nature. Residue dissipation during fermentation ranged from 73.19% to 87.15% with a half-life spanning from 1 to 5.5 days. The mitigation rate was observed at 12.85-26.81% for wine and 17.76-51.55% for pomace, with the highest transfer rate for buprofezin (51.55%) to pomace and fipronil (25.72%) to wine. Calculated processing factors (PF) for final wine ranged from 0.16 to 0.44, correlating strongly with the octanol-water partition ratio of targeted insecticides. The reported PF, calculated hazard quotient (HQ) (0.003-5.800%), and chronic hazard index (cHI) (2.041-10.387%) indicate reduced residue concentrations in wine and no potential chronic risk to consumers, ensuring a lower dietary risk to wine consumers.

Residue behavior and consumer risk assessment of spirotetramat and chlorpyrifos on cabbage heads and cropped soil.

A field experiment following good agricultural practices was laid out to study the dissipation of spirotetramat (90 g a.i. ha-1 and 180 g a.i. ha-1) and chlorpyrifos (400 g a.i. ha-1 and 800 g a.i. ha-1) on cabbage heads and soil. Samples were processed using quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, and safe (QuEChERS) method for residue estimation of spirotetramat and chlorpyrifos, which were further detected using HPLC-PDA and GC-FPD respectively. The residues of spirotetramat on cabbage heads reached below detection limit (BDL) (< 0.05 mg kg-1) on 7th and 10th day and for chlorpyrifos, BDL (< 0.01 mg kg-1) was achieved on 10th and 15th day for X and 2X dose, respectively. On 20th day after second spray, residues in soil were found to be BDL for both the pesticides. Half-life of spirotetramat and chlorpyrifos was found to be 3 and 2 days, respectively while a safe pre-harvest interval (PHI) of 9 days for spirotetramat and 10 days for chlorpyrifos is suggested on cabbage. The dietary risk assessment studies for various age groups of Indian population, ascertained safety of treated cabbage heads for consumption, as current study revealed that hazard quotient (HQ) < 1 and theoretical maximum dietary intake (TMDI) < maximum permissible intake (MPI) for both the pesticides at respective PHI.

Fermented formulation of Silybum marianum seeds: Optimization, heavy metal analysis, and hepatoprotective assessment.

BACKGROUND: Fermented formulations are extensively used in Ayurveda due to several benefits like improved palatability, bioavailability, pharmacological potential, and shelf life. These formulations can also quench the heavy metals from the plant material and thus reduce the toxicity. Seeds of Silybum marianum (L.) Gaertn. are widely used for the management of many liver diseases. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: In the present study, we developed a novel fermented formulation of S. marianum seeds and evaluated parameters like safety (heavy metal analysis) and effectiveness (hepatoprotective). As the developed formulation's validation is crucial, the critical process variables (time, pH, and sugar concentration) are optimized for alcohol and silybin content using the Box-Behnken design (BBD). RESULTS: The response surface methodology coupled with BBD predicted the optimized conditions (fermentation time (28 days), pH 5.6, and sugar concentration (22.04%)) for the development of a fermented formulation of the selected herb. Moreover, the alcohol content (6.5 ± 0.9%) and silybin concentration (26.1 ± 2.1%) were confirmed in optimized formulation by GC-MS and HPTLC analysis. The optimized formulation was also analyzed for heavy metals (Pb, As, Hg, and Cd); their concentration is significantly less than the decoction of herbs. Further, the comparative evaluation of the developed formulation with the marketed formulation also confirmed that the fermented formulation's silybin concentration and percentage release were significantly enhanced. In addition, the developed fermented formulation's percentage recovery of HepG2 cell lines after treatment with CCl4 was significantly improved compared with the marketed formulation. CONCLUSION: It can be summarized that the developed fermented formulation improves safety and effectiveness compared to other market formulations. Finally, it can be concluded that the developed fermented formulation could be further explored as a better alternative for developing Silybum marianum preparation.

Residue estimation and dietary risk assessment of fenvalerate, novaluron, and profenofos in bell pepper grown under protected and open field conditions.

Residue studies were conducted in bell pepper crops (green and yellow bell pepper) to ensure the safe use of fenvalerate, profenofos, and novaluron (under open field and protected conditions) in randomized block design (RBD) following three applications at a 10-day interval over two consecutive years, 2021 and 2022. A robust analytical method was developed using quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, and safe (QuEChERS) extraction and gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS) for the determination of pesticide residues in bell pepper samples. The half-lives for fenvalerate were 2.47-2.87 and 2.50-3.03 days on bell pepper under open field conditions, whereas the corresponding values for bell pepper under protected conditions were 3.84-4.58 and 4.17-4.71 days, during 2021 and 2022, respectively. Profenofos displayed half-lives of 2.03-2.65 and 2.15-2.77 days in open field conditions and 3.05-3.89 and 3.16-3.78 days in protected conditions during 2021 and 2022, respectively. Similarly, novaluron had half-lives of 2.87-3.49 and 3.24-3.75 days under protected conditions in 2021 and 2022, respectively. The maximum residue limits (MRLs) were calculated to be 0.6 mg/kg for fenvalerate, while for profenofos it was 0.7 mg/kg on bell pepper under open field conditions at double doses, at the proposed pre-harvest interval (PHI) of 3 days. Likewise, for bell peppers grown under protected conditions, MRLs at the PHI of 3 days were determined to be 0.8 mg/kg for fenvalerate, 0.3 mg/kg for novaluron, and 1.5 mg/kg for profenofos. A dietary risk assessment study indicated that the percentage of acute hazard index (% aHI) was significantly lower than 100, and hazard quotient (HQ) values were below 1, signifying no acute or chronic risk to consumers. These findings underscore the safety of consuming bell peppers treated with fenvalerate, profenofos, and novaluron under the protected and open field conditions.

MMS hotspots: a cross-sectional comparison of U.S. counties with and without Mohs micrographic surgery.

Healthcare access greatly impacts skin cancer diagnosis and mortality rates. Recognition of current disparities in Mohs micrographic surgery (MMS) access can assist future policy and clinical decisions to correct them. For the years 2014-2018, the CPT codes for MMS (17,311 and 17,313) were counted on a per county level across the United States per the Medicare Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Medicare Prescriber Database. Any county with 0 MMS CPT codes recorded were classified as "without MMS cases." MMS "hotspots" were identified as counties that possessed a high average number of MMS cases compared to the national average, while also being surrounded by counties that possessed a low average number of MMS cases compared to the national average. Three thousand eighty-four counties in the United States were analyzed; 785 (25%) counties were designated as "with MMS cases" and 2301 (75%) "without MMS cases." There were no significant differences in age, ethnicity distribution, or cost per enrollee between the two designations. 74% of counties with MMS cases were considered urban, while only 25% of those without cases were urban (p < 0.01). The median household income was markedly higher in counties with MMS cases ($71,428 vs. $58,913, p < 0.01). With respect to education, more individuals in counties with MMS cases possessed their General Education Development (GED) (89% vs. 86%, p < 0.01) or a college degree (30% vs. 19%, p < 0.01). Forty-nine counties were considered MMS "hotspots." The density of MMS procedures varies greatly based on geography, maintaining the urban-rural disparity matched by the distribution of MMS surgeons. Additionally, there remains a wide income and educational gap between counties with and without MMS. Identifying MMS hotspots may facilitate further investigation into potential surgical access disparities.

Residue behaviour and health risk assessment of chlorpyrifos and mancozeb in apple fruits and soil.

Mancozeb residue estimation was done using second derivative ultraviolet spectroscopy by Shimadzu ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometer, and chlorpyrifos was estimated by QuEChERS technique using GC-FPD. The persistence for chlorpyrifos was carried out at two locations, and for mancozeb, persistence studies were carried out at four locations. Initial deposits of mancozeb on apple fruits ranged from 1.33 to 1.63 mg/kg at the recommended dose and from 2.55 to 3.26 mg/kg at double the recommended dose at all four locations. Chlorpyrifos residues in apple fruits had an initial deposit of 0.94-0.99 mg/kg at recommended dose and 1.75-1.92 mg/kg at double the recommended dose. Mancozeb residues in apple fruit were below the detection limit (BDL) after 20 days at recommended dose and after 25 days at double the recommended dose at two locations, while mancozeb residue at the other two locations and the residues of chlorpyrifos at all locations reached BDL after 15 and 20 days at recommended and double the recommended doses, respectively. Half-life of mancozeb varied from 3.07 to 4.02 days at recommended dose and from 3.30 to 4.32 days at double the recommended dose, whereas chlorpyrifos residues dissipated to half their initial concentration on 2.33-2.35 days at recommended dose and 2.89-2.90 days at double the recommended dose. The soil samples showed no presence of residues of chlorpyrifos and mancozeb at harvest. The risk assessment revealed that hazard quotient for the intake of mancozeb was in the range of 0.06-0.13% and 0.20-0.44% for rural and urban population, while for the intake of chlorpyrifos, hazard quotient was in the range of 0.10-0.12% for rural population and 0.33-0.38% for urban population, and theoretical maximum dietary intake (9.67 × 10-5 mg/person and 3.18 × 10-4 mg/person for rural population and urban population in case of mancozeb and 3.22 × 10-5 mg/person and 1.06 × 10-4 mg/person for rural population and urban population in case of chlorpyrifos) was also found to be less than maximum permissible intake (1.38 mg/kg for mancozeb and 0.60 mg/kg for chlorpyrifos). The results of risk assessment thereby indicated that apple consumption does not pose a risk to human health.

H2-rich syngas production from gasification involving kinetic modeling: RSM-utility optimization and techno-economic analysis.

In this research article, H2 rich syngas production is optimized using response surface methodology (RSM) and a utility concept involving chemical kinetic modeling considering eucalyptus wood sawdust (CH1.63O1.02) as gasification feedstock. By adding water gas shift reaction, the modified kinetic model is validated with lab scale experimental data (2.56 ≤ root mean square error ≤ 3.67). Four operating parameters (i.e., particle size "d p", temperature "T", steam to biomass ratio "SBR", and equivalence ratio "ER") of air-steam gasifier at three levels are used to frame the test cases. Single objective functions like H2 maximization and CO2 minimization are considered whereas for multi-objective function a utility parameter (80% H2 : 20% CO2) is considered. The regression coefficients (R H2 2 = 0.89, R CO2 2 = 0.98 and R U 2 = 0.90) obtained during the analysis of variance (ANOVA) confirm a close fitting of the quadratic model with the chemical kinetic model. ANOVA results indicate ER as the most influential parameter followed by T, SBR, and d p. RSM optimization gives H2|max = 51.75 vol%, CO2|min = 14.65 vol% and utility gives H2|opt. = 51.69 vol% (0.11%↓), CO2|opt. = 14.70 vol% (0.34%↑). The techno-economic analysis for a 200 m3 per day syngas production plant (at industrial scale) assured a payback period of 4.8 (∼5) years with a minimum profit margin of 142% when syngas selling price is set as 43 INR (0.52 USD) per kg.

Synthesis of α-Carbonyl-α'-amide Sulfoxonium Ylides from Isocyanates with Complete Atom Economy.

An efficient catalyst- and additive-free facile synthesis of α-carbonyl-α'-amide sulfoxonium ylides from isocyanates and ß-ketosulfoxonium ylides with complete atom economy has been described. The ß-ketosulfoxonium ylides and isocyanates adorned with various functional groups were well-tolerated and afforded moderate to high yields of the α-carbonyl-α'-amide sulfoxonium ylide derivatives. Finally, using large-scale reactions and converting the synthesized ylides into other valuable compounds, we demonstrated the practicality of this synthetic method.

Ambulatory hypertension diagnosed by 24-h mean ambulatory versus day and night ambulatory blood pressure thresholds in children: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: The agreement between the commonly used ambulatory blood pressure (ABP) thresholds to diagnose ambulatory hypertension in children (patient's 24-h mean ABP classified by 24-h 95th ABP percentile threshold, American Heart Association [AHA] threshold, or patient's day and night mean ABP classified by day-night 95th ABP percentile thresholds) is not known. We evaluated the agreement among 24-h ABP threshold, AHA threshold, and day-night ABP thresholds to diagnose ambulatory hypertension, white coat hypertension (WCH) and masked hypertension (MH). METHODS: In a cross-sectional study design, we analyzed ABP recordings from 450 participants with suspected hypertension from a tertiary care outpatient hypertension clinic. The American Academy of Pediatrics thresholds were used to diagnose office hypertension. RESULTS: The 24-h ABP threshold and day-night ABP thresholds classified 19% ABP (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.15-0.23) differently into ambulatory normotension/hypertension (kappa [κ], 0.58; 95% CI, 0.51-0.66). Ambulatory hypertension diagnosed by 24-h ABP threshold in 27% participants (95% CI, 0.22-0.32) was significantly lower than that by day-night ABP thresholds in 44% participants (95% CI, 0.37-0.50; P < 0.001). The AHA threshold had a stronger agreement with 24-h ABP threshold than with day-night ABP thresholds for classifying ABP into ambulatory normotension/hypertension (k 0.94, 95% CI 0.91-0.98 vs. k 0.59, 95% CI 0.52-0.66). The diagnosis of ambulatory hypertension by the AHA threshold (26%; 95% CI, 0.21-0.31) was closer to that by 24-h ABP threshold (27%, P = 0.73) than by day-night ABP thresholds (44%, P < 0.001). Similar agreement pattern persisted among these ABP thresholds for diagnosing WCH and MH. CONCLUSIONS: The 24-h ABP threshold classifies a lower proportion of ABP as ambulatory hypertension than day-night ABP thresholds. The AHA threshold exhibits a stronger agreement with 24-h ABP than with day-night ABP thresholds for diagnosing ambulatory hypertension, WCH and MH. Our findings are relevant for a consistent interpretation of hypertension by these ABP thresholds in clinical practice.

A kNGR Peptide-Tethered Lipid-Polymer Hybrid Nanocarrier-Based Synergistic Approach for Effective Tumor Therapy: Development, Characterization, Ex-Vivo, and In-Vivo Assessment.

The present study aims to design, develop and characterize kNGR (Asn-Gly-Arg) peptide-conjugated lipid-polymer-based nanoparticles for the target-specific delivery of anticancer bioactive(s), i.e., Paclitaxel (PTX). The kNGR-PEG-DSPE conjugate was synthesized and characterized by using spectral analysis. The dual-targeted PLGA-lecithin-PEG core-shell nanoparticles (PLNs-kNGR-NPs) were synthesized using a modified nanoprecipitation process, and their physiological properties were determined. The results support that, compared to other NPs, PLNs-kNGR-NPs are highly cytotoxic, owing to higher apoptosis and intracellular uptake. The significance of rational nanoparticle design for synergistic treatment is shown by the higher tumor volume inhibition percentage rate (59.7%), compared to other designed formulations in Balb/c mice in the HT-1080 tumor-induced model. The overall results indicate that the PLNs-kNGR-NPs-based hybrid lipid-polymer nanoparticles present the highest therapeutic efficacy against solid tumor overexpressing the CD13 receptors.

Water quality assessment using synchrotron-based TXRF.

The pollutants released from pharmaceutical, steel, paper, and battery industries into water cause stress on the natural ecosystems, may mix with soil and water, enter into human food chain, and hence cause irreparable damage to the biotic system. Hence, the appropriate monitoring of water along with determination of heavy metals is very important for human beings. In present paper, total reflection X-ray fluorescence (TXRF) spectrometry technique is employed to determine the level of different contaminants in the water samples gathered from the various sites of an identified industrial area. Experimentation is carried out at Raja Ramanna Centre for Advanced Technology (RRCAT), Indore-India by using TXRF, which is one the advance techniques of element determination up to ppb levels. The elemental concentration of Cl, K, Ca, Fe, Cu, Zn, Ga, Br, Sr, As, Pb, and Ni is quantified and compared with the limits established by the WHO (World Health Organization) and BIS (Bureau of Indian Standard) guidelines regarding drinking water use. The levels of the Pb, Fe, As, Ni, Cr, Co, and Mn exceeded the values suggested by WHO and BIS at some locations/sites. To better understand the situation, water quality parameters such as Water Quality Index (WQI), Heavy metal Pollution Index (HPI), Contamination Index (CI), Metal Enrichment Index (MEI), and Heavy Metal Evaluation Index (HEI) have also been assessed for all the sites close to industrial hub. Among all sites except at A3 and A6, WQI is found to be much greater than WHO and BIS established limit. Level of arsenic in the water at A1 location was found 73 ppb. However, lead metal in water was found to be very high at all the six studied locations, and at A1 location, it is found extremely high 2613 ppb. Therefore, water at A1 and A2 sites is found to be unfit for drinking. PRACTITIONER POINTS: Total reflection X-ray fluorescence (TXRF) spectrometry technique is employed to determine the level of different contaminants in the water samples The elemental concentration of Cl, K, Ca, Fe, Cu, Zn, Ga, Br, Sr, As, Pb, and Ni is quantified and compared with the limits prescribed by the WHO Water Quality Index (WQI), Heavy metal Pollution Index (HPI), Contamination Index (CI), Metal Enrichment Index (MEI), and Heavy Metal Enrichment Index (MEI) have also been assessed for all the sites Water at some sites is found unfit for drinking purpose. Based on the observations, some remedial measures are suggested to reduce the level of water contaminants up to desired levels.

Covid-MANet: Multi-task attention network for explainable diagnosis and severity assessment of COVID-19 from CXR images.

The devastating outbreak of Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) cases in early 2020 led the world to face health crises. Subsequently, the exponential reproduction rate of COVID-19 disease can only be reduced by early diagnosis of COVID-19 infection cases correctly. The initial research findings reported that radiological examinations using CT and CXR modality have successfully reduced false negatives by RT-PCR test. This research study aims to develop an explainable diagnosis system for the detection and infection region quantification of COVID-19 disease. The existing research studies successfully explored deep learning approaches with higher performance measures but lacked generalization and interpretability for COVID-19 diagnosis. In this study, we address these issues by the Covid-MANet network, an automated end-to-end multi-task attention network that works for 5 classes in three stages for COVID-19 infection screening. The first stage of the Covid-MANet network localizes attention of the model to the relevant lungs region for disease recognition. The second stage of the Covid-MANet network differentiates COVID-19 cases from bacterial pneumonia, viral pneumonia, normal and tuberculosis cases, respectively. To improve the interpretation and explainability, three experiments have been conducted in exploration of the most coherent and appropriate classification approach. Moreover, the multi-scale attention model MA-DenseNet201 proposed for the classification of COVID-19 cases. The final stage of the Covid-MANet network quantifies the proportion of infection and severity of COVID-19 in the lungs. The COVID-19 cases are graded into more specific severity levels such as mild, moderate, severe, and critical as per the score assigned by the RALE scoring system. The MA-DenseNet201 classification model outperforms eight state-of-the-art CNN models, in terms of sensitivity and interpretation with lung localization network. The COVID-19 infection segmentation by UNet with DenseNet121 encoder achieves dice score of 86.15% outperforming UNet, UNet++, AttentionUNet, R2UNet, with VGG16, ResNet50 and DenseNet201 encoder. The proposed network not only classifies images based on the predicted label but also highlights the infection by segmentation/localization of model-focused regions to support explainable decisions. MA-DenseNet201 model with a segmentation-based cropping approach achieves maximum interpretation of 96% with COVID-19 sensitivity of 97.75%. Finally, based on class-varied sensitivity analysis Covid-MANet ensemble network of MA-DenseNet201, ResNet50 and MobileNet achieve 95.05% accuracy and 98.75% COVID-19 sensitivity. The proposed model is externally validated on an unseen dataset, yields 98.17% COVID-19 sensitivity.

Dissipation pattern and dietary risk assessment of some commonly used insecticides on tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.).

Pesticide residue in food commodities is a serious concern in relation to consumer safety and also the most significant barrier in the trade of food commodities. The dissipation pattern of four insecticides, namely novaluron, λ-cyhalothrin, imidacloprid, and fenazaquin, was evaluated on tomato fruits and cropped soil. The residues were extracted using the QuEChERS analytical method and quantized using a gas chromatograph with electron capture detector, gas chromatograph mass spectrometer, and high-performance liquid chromatography with photo diode array detector. The analytical method was validated using parameters like recovery, linearity, accuracy, matrix effect, and specificity, with limit of detection and limit of quantitation established to be 0.01 and 0.05 mg/kg, respectively, for all the pesticides. The average initial deposits (samples collected after 2 h of application) at the recommended dose of novaluron, λ-cyhalothrin, imidacloprid, and fenazaquin were 0.593, 0.293, 0.227, and 0.431 mg/kg on tomato fruits, respectively, and were below the limit of quantification in soil. The pre-harvest interval of 17, 8, 1, and 13 days was suggested for novaluron, λ-cyhalothrin, imidacloprid, and fenazaquin on tomato, respectively. Risk assessment studies revealed that all pesticides under study are safe and do not pose any threat to humans as theoretical maximum dietary intake is less than the maximum permissible intake and acceptable daily intake.

Global Practices and Policies of Organ Transplantation and Organ Trafficking.

OBJECTIVES: Organ trafficking has emerged worldwide as an important medical and ethical concern. In this study, we reviewed the literature presented on this matter to evaluate the global practices, ethical standards, and legal aspects of organ transplantation. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We adopted a qualitative study design to perform this study, which included conduct of a literature review. The main focus was organ transplantation. RESULTS: Our review suggested a dire need to adopt ethical principles and implement equitable distribution of organs around the globe as per the respective need. CONCLUSIONS: Further studies are needed to evaluate the role and status of organ recipients to create a much more organized environment for safe and effective implantation of evidence-based principles of clinical transplantation globally.

Diagnosis of hypertension: Ambulatory pediatric American Heart Association/European Society of Hypertension versus blood pressure load thresholds.

The agreement between the traditionally-used ambulatory blood pressure (ABP)-load thresholds in children and recently-recommended pediatric American Heart Association (AHA)/European Society of Hypertension (ESH) ABP thresholds for diagnosing ambulatory hypertension (AH), white coat hypertension (WCH), and masked hypertension (MH) has not been evaluated. In this cross-sectional study on 450 outpatient participants, the authors evaluated the agreement between previously used ABP-load 25%, 30%, 40%, 50% thresholds and the AHA/ESH thresholds for diagnosing AH, WCH, and MH. The American Academy of Pediatrics thresholds were used to diagnose office hypertension. The AHA threshold diagnosed ambulatory normotension/hypertension closest to ABP load 50% in 88% (95% CI 0.79, 0.96) participants (k 0.67, 95% CI 0.59, 0.75) and the ESH threshold diagnosed ambulatory normotension/hypertension closest to ABP load 40% in 86% (95% CI 0.77, 0.94) participants (k 0.66, 95% CI 0.59, 0.74). In contrast, the AHA/ESH thresholds had a relatively weaker agreement with ABP load 25%/30%. Therefore, the diagnosis of AH was closest between the AHA threshold and ABP load 50% (difference 3%, 95% CI -2.6%, 8.6%, p = .29) and between the ESH threshold and ABP load 40% (difference 4%, 95% CI -2.1%, 10.1%, p = .19) than between the AHA/ESH and ABP load 25%/30% thresholds. A similar agreement pattern persisted between the AHA/ESH and various ABP load thresholds for diagnosing WCH and MH. The AHA and ESH thresholds diagnosed AH, WCH, and MH closest to ABP load 40%/50% than ABP load 25%/30%. Future outcome-based studies are needed to guide the optimal use of these ABP thresholds in clinical practice.

Assessment of precision of astigmatism measurements taken by a sweptsource optical coherence tomography biometer - IOLMaster 700.

Purpose: : To assess the repeatability of ocular measurements, particularly astigmatism, taken using the latest version of an swept-source optical coherence tomography (SS-OCT) device, IOLMaster 700. Methods: This prospective observational study done in a private eye care centre. Study included 213 eyes of 152 patients diagnosed with cataract. Axial length (AL), Anterior corneal astigmatism (ΔK), Total corneal astigmatism (ΔTK), Aqueous depth (AD), Lens thickness (LT), Iris barycentre distance (IBD) and White to white distance (WTW) were analysed; three measurements were taken for each patient in the same sitting by the same examiner in an undilated state using the SS-OCT device. Repeatability was analysed using intraclass coefficient (ICC) and coefficient of variation (CV) measures, and astigmatism values were transformed into vector components (J0/J45) and categorised based on magnitude. Results: Astigmatism vector components (J0/J45) showed poor repeatability (ICC < 0.5 and CV > 0), while iris coordinates (IBD) and astigmatism magnitude had good correlation (ICC > 0.9) but more variations between the readings which was least for magnitude ≥ 1.5D; however, rest of the parameters demonstrated excellent repeatability (ICC > 0.9 with P value < 0.05). Conclusion: IOLMaster 700 demonstrated good reliability for the parameters measured, although, for astigmatism and iris barycentre distance, more number of readings and cross reference with other devices may be required to get clinically accurate results.

Dissipation kinetics and dietary risk assessment of spiromesifen on major summer vegetables using good agricultural practices.

Dissipation kinetics and dietary risk assessment of spiromesifen is worked out on four summer vegetables, viz. okra, chilli, capsicum and brinjal (eggplant or aubergine) during March-April 2015 at the experimental farm of the Department of Entomology, Dr. Yashwant Singh Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry Nauni, Solan using good agricultutral practices. Two foliar applications of spiromesifen @ 144.0 g.a.i./ha each were given at 10 days interval with a knapsack sprayer with the first application at the fruit initiation stage. Sample were collected up to 15 days after pesticide application and processed using a modified QuEChERS method, which was validated by doing recovery studies having recovery range and RSD within established guidelines of SANCO. Estimation of spiromesifen residues was conducted on GC-MS. The initial deposits after spraying of spiromesifen on okra, capsicum, chilli and brinjal fruit after 2 h of treatment were 1.327, 0.727, 0.800 and 0.738 mg/kg, respectively. The residues persisted up to 7 days and further dissipated and declined below the limit of quantification of <0.025 mg/kg at 10 days after treatment in all of the crops under investigation. Dissipation of spiromesifen followed first-order kinetics. The spiromesifen residues dissipated to half in 1.6, 1.8, 1.9 and 1.7 days with the suggested safe waiting period of 8.9, 5.2, 6.0 and 7.0 in the respective crops. The hazard quotient was <1 and theoretical maximum dietary intake was less than the maximum permissible intake, which was less than the maximum residue limit in all of the vegetable crops under investigation.

Diagnosis of Pediatric Hypertension: European Society of Hypertension-Recommended 24-Hour vs. 24-Hour-Day-Night Ambulatory Blood Pressure Thresholds.

BACKGROUND: The impact of diagnosing pediatric hypertension based on all three-24-hour, day and night ambulatory blood pressure (ABP) thresholds (combined ABP threshold) vs. conventionally used 24-hour ABP threshold is not known. METHODS: In this cross-sectional, retrospective study from a tertiary care outpatient clinic, we evaluated the diagnosis of hypertension based on the 24-hour European Society of Hypertension (ESH) and combined ESH ABP thresholds in untreated children with essential hypertension. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and Fourth Report thresholds were used to classify office blood pressure (OBP). RESULTS: In 159 children, aged 5-18 years, the 24-hour ESH and combined ESH thresholds classified 82% (95th confidence interval (CI) 0.68, 0.97) ABP similarly with the area under the curve (AUC) of 0.86 (95th CI 0.80, 0.91). However, the AUC of the 2 ABP thresholds was significantly higher in the participants with office hypertension than office normotension, with OBP classified by the AAP (AUC 0.93, 95th CI 0.84, 0.98 vs. 0.80, 95th CI 0.71, 0.88) or Fourth Report (AUC 0.93, 95th CI 0.83, 0.98 vs. 0.81, 95th CI 0.73, 0.88) threshold. With OBP classified by the either OBP threshold, the combined ESH threshold diagnosed significantly more masked hypertension (MH) (difference 15%, 95th CI 4.9, 24.7; P = 0.00); however, the diagnosis of white coat hypertension (WCH) by the 2 ABP thresholds did not differ significantly (difference 4%, 95th CI 1.8, 10; P = 0.16). CONCLUSIONS: In children with essential hypertension, the 24-hour and combined ESH thresholds have a stronger agreement for diagnosing WCH than MH.