Effect of Covid-19 lockdown/ compulsory work from home (WFH) situation on musculoskeletal disorders in India.

OBJECTIVE: To estimate self-reported musculoskeletal disorders among Indian population in work from home COVID-19 lockdown and its association on various socio-demographic and occupational factors among them. METHODS: The present cross-sectional study was conducted on working Indian professionals, through an online self-reported survey during the COVID-19 work from the home situation. Details about the perceived musculoskeletal discomforts, weight gain or loss, physical activity profile, number of working hours, total sedentary time, and satisfaction perceived with working from home were recorded from the participant responses and thereafter analyzed. RESULTS: A total of 281 responses were analyzed. 47.6% of respondents reported musculoskeletal disorders before lockdown, whereas 53.6% reported them during the lockdown period. 10% of respondents reported declination in physical activity. Finding of the chi-square for association and Spearman's rho correlation analysis suggested that gender, pre-existing musculoskeletal discomforts, current sedentary time, and long working hours are significantly associated with musculoskeletal discomforts during work from home COVID-19 lockdown. CONCLUSION: This study concluded the increment in the self-reported musculoskeletal disorders among working Indian professionals during work from home COVID-19 lockdown. The study also found the significant association between MSD and gender, working hours, sedentary time and pre-existing musculoskeletal discomforts.

Knowledge, attitude and practice of physical activity promotion among physiotherapists in India during COVID 19.

INTRODUCTION: Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic and the nationwide lockdown has increased sedentary time and physical inactivity. Physiotherapists are one of the essential health professionals who are actively involved in promoting physical activities. The study objectives included assessing knowledge of physical activity guidelines, physiotherapist attitude towards involvement in physical activities and practice of routine physical activity assessment, and its promotion among physiotherapists in India during COVID-19. METHOD: In this cross-sectional survey study, the study tool was prepared using Google Forms. It consisted of sixteen questions on knowledge, attitude, and practice of physical activities among physiotherapists. Study participants were physiotherapists with a minimum of a bachelor's degree qualification and practicing in India. RESULTS: One hundred and eighty responses were received from sixteen states of India. The average age of respondents was 28 years, and the average work experience of five years. This study found that only 19% of physiotherapists could give the correct answer in all three domains of WHO PA guidelines. 70% of physiotherapists found with an appropriate attitude as they met the 150 min of moderate PA per week. 68% reported that they promote physical activities in routine practice. CONCLUSION: This study suggested the majority of physiotherapists perform physical activity assessment and promotion in routine practice in India. Most of them have an appropriate attitude towards physical activity, but very few physiotherapists have adequate knowledge of WHO physical activity guidelines. Physiotherapists should actively promote physical activities in routine practice to reduce the impairment due to physical inactivity especially during the Corona virus disease pandemic in India. Efforts should be made to increase the physical activity awareness in terms of knowledge of WHO physical activity guidelines, different assessment, and promotion strategies.

Germline BRCA1 and BRCA2 deleterious mutations and variants of unknown clinical significance associated with breast/ovarian cancer: a report from North India.

BACKGROUND: The spectrum of BRCA mutations that predispose to development of breast/ovarian cancer in Indian population remains unexplored. We report incidence and various types of pathogenic, likely pathogenic and variants of unknown significance (VUS) mutations in BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes observed at a tertiary cancer center in North India. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 206 unrelated breast and/or ovarian cancer patients, who met the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) guidelines for genetic testing, were screened for germline BRCA1/BRCA 2 mutations on high-throughput sequencing platform; large genomic rearrangements were assessed by multiple ligation probe assay. Mutations were mined in mutational databases, PubMed, and discerned into classes. Furthermore, the clinicopathological correlation of BRCA mutation status with prognostic markers in breast cancer and tumor histology in ovarian cancer was performed. RESULTS: In total, 45/206 and 17/206 cases showed positivity for BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations, respectively, whereas 1/206 was positive for a mutation in both the genes. Altogether, 33 distinct BRCA1 mutations were observed, among which 27 were deleterious (12 frameshifts, 8 nonsense, 1 missense, 3 splice-site variants, 2 big deletions and 1 large duplication) and 6 were VUS. Five novel BRCA1 mutations (c.541G>T, c.1681delT, c.2295delG, c.4915C>T and exon 23 deletion) were identified. Seven mutations (c.2214_2215insT, c.2295delG, c.3607C>T,c.4158_4162delCTCTC, c.4571C>A, splicesite_3 (C>T) and exon 21-23 duplication) occurred more than once, whereas 16 distinct BRCA2 mutations were noted - 9 were lethal (6 frameshifts, 2 nonsense and 1 big deletion) and 7 VUS. One unique pathogenic BRCA2 mutation (c.932_933insT) was recognized. Two mutations (c.9976A>T and c.10089A>G) recurred twice. No significant difference in hormone receptor status was observed among BRCA1 carriers, BRCA2 carriers and noncarriers. CONCLUSION: We have documented various pathogenic and VUS mutations in BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes observed in the cohort. Six novel mutations were identified. The knowledge shared would assist genetic testing in enabling more focused site-specific screening for mutations in biological relatives.

Soil-applied imidacloprid translocates to ornamental flowers and reduces survival of adult Coleomegilla maculata, Harmonia axyridis, and Hippodamia convergens lady beetles, and larval Danaus plexippus and Vanessa cardui butterflies.

Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is a decision making process used to manage pests that relies on many tactics, including cultural and biological control, which are practices that conserve beneficial insects and mites, and when needed, the use of conventional insecticides. However, systemic, soil-applied neonicotinoid insecticides are translocated to pollen and nectar of flowers, often for months, and may reduce survival of flower-feeding beneficial insects. Imidacloprid seed-treated crops (0.05 mg AI (active ingredient) /canola seed and 1.2 mg AI/corn seed) translocate less than 10 ppb to pollen and nectar. However, higher rates of soil-applied imidacloprid are used in nurseries and urban landscapes, such as 300 mg AI/10 L (3 gallon) pot and 69 g AI applied to the soil under a 61 (24 in) cm diam. tree. Translocation of imidacloprid from soil (300 mg AI) to flowers of Asclepias curassavica resulted in 6,030 ppb in 1X and 10,400 ppb in 2X treatments, which are similar to imidacloprid residues found in another plant species we studied. A second imidacloprid soil application 7 months later resulted in 21,000 ppb in 1X and 45,000 ppb in 2X treatments. Consequently, greenhouse/nursery use of imidacloprid applied to flowering plants can result in 793 to 1,368 times higher concentration compared to an imidacloprid seed treatment (7.6 ppb pollen in seed- treated canola), where most research has focused. These higher imidacloprid levels caused significant mortality in both 1X and 2X treatments in 3 lady beetle species, Coleomegilla maculata, Harmonia axyridis, and Hippodamia convergens, but not a fourth species, Coccinella septempunctata. Adult survival were not reduced for monarch, Danaus plexippus and painted lady, Vanessa cardui, butterflies, but larval survival was significantly reduced. The use of the neonicotinoid imidacloprid at greenhouse/nursery rates reduced survival of beneficial insects feeding on pollen and nectar and is incompatible with the principles of IPM.

Hexafluoroisopropanol-induced helix-sheet transition of stem bromelain: correlation to function.

Stem bromelain is a proteolytic phytoprotein with a variety of therapeutic effects. Understanding its structural properties could provide insight into the mechanisms underlying its clinical utility. Stem bromelain was evaluated for its conformational and folding properties at the pH conditions it encounters when administered orally. It exists as a partially folded intermediate at pH 2.0. The conformational changes to this intermediate state were evaluated using fluorinated alcohols known to induce changes similar to those seen in vivo. Studies using circular dichroism, fluorescence emission spectroscopy, binding of the hydrophobic dye 1-anilino-8-naphthalene sulfonic acid and mass spectrometry indicate that treatment with 10-30% hexafluoroisopropanol induces the partially folded intermediate to adopt much of the native protein's secondary structure, but only a rudimentary tertiary structure, characteristic of the molten globule state. Addition of slightly higher concentrations of hexafluoroisopropanol caused transformation from an alpha-helix to a beta-sheet and induced formation of a compact nonnative structure. This nonnative form was more inhibitory of cell survival than either the native or the partially folded intermediate forms, as measured by enhanced suppression of proliferative cues (e.g., extracellular-signal-regulated kinase) and initiation of apoptotic events. The nonnative form also showed better antitumorigenic properties, as evaluated using an induced two-stage mouse skin papilloma model. In contrast, the nonnative state showed only a fraction of the proteolytic activity of the native form. This study demonstrates that hexafluoroisopropanol can induce a conformational change in stem bromelain to a form with potentially useful therapeutic properties different from those of the native protein.