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The African turquoise killifish is an exciting new vertebrate model for aging studies. A significant challenge for any model organism is the control over its diet in space and time. To address this challenge, we created an automated and networked fish feeding system. Our automated feeder is designed to be open-source, easily transferable, and built from widely available components. Compared to manual feeding, our automated system is highly precise and flexible. As a proof of concept for the feeding flexibility of these automated feeders, we define a favorable regimen for growth and fertility for the African killifish and a dietary restriction regimen where both feeding time and quantity are reduced. We show that this dietary restriction regimen extends lifespan in males (but not in females) and impacts the transcriptomes of killifish livers in a sex-specific manner. Moreover, combining our automated feeding system with a video camera, we establish a quantitative associative learning assay to provide an integrative measure of cognitive performance for the killifish. The ability to precisely control food delivery in the killifish opens new areas to assess lifespan and cognitive behavior dynamics and to screen for dietary interventions and drugs in a scalable manner previously impossible with traditional vertebrate model organisms.
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Fundulidae , Longevity , Animals , Female , Male , Humans , Aging , Diet , African PeopleABSTRACT
BackgroundCOVID-19 emerged as a global pandemic in 2020, rapidly spreading to most parts of the world. The proportion of infected individuals in a population can be reliably estimated via sero-surveillance, making it a valuable tool for planning control measures. We conducted a serosurvey study to investigate SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence in the urban population of Hyderabad at the end of the first wave of infections. MethodsThe cross-sectional survey conducted in January 2021 included males and females aged 10 years and above, selected by multi-stage random sampling. 9363 samples were collected from 30 wards distributed over 6 zones of Hyderabad and tested for antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid antigen. ResultsOverall seropositivity was 54.2%, ranging from 50-60% in most wards. Highest exposure appeared to be among 30-39y and 50-59y olds, with women showing greater seropositivity. Seropositivity increased with family size, with only marginal differences among people with varying levels of education. Seroprevalence was significantly lower among smokers. Only 11% of the survey subjects reported any COVID-19 symptoms, while 17% had appeared for Covid testing. ConclusionOver half the citys population was infected within a year of onset of the pandemic. However, [~]46% people were still susceptible, contributing to subsequent waves of infection. Highlights National level serosurveys under-estimate localised prevalence in dense urban areas SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence in Hyderabad city was 54.2% after the first wave A large proportion of the population remains at risk over a year into the pandemic
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From an isolated epidemic, COVID-19 has now emerged as a global pandemic. The availability of genomes in the public domain following the epidemic provides a unique opportunity to understand the evolution and spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus across the globe. The availability of whole genomes from multiple states in India prompted us to analyse the phylogenetic clusters of genomes in India. We performed whole-genome sequencing for 64 genomes making a total of 361 genomes from India, followed by phylogenetic clustering, substitution analysis, and dating of the different phylogenetic clusters of viral genomes. We describe a distinct phylogenetic cluster (Clade I / A3i) of SARS-CoV-2 genomes from India, which encompasses 41% of all genomes sequenced and deposited in the public domain from multiple states in India. Globally 3.5% of genomes, which till date could not be mapped to any distinct known cluster fall in this newly defined clade. The cluster is characterized by a core set of shared genetic variants - C6312A (T2016K), C13730T (A88V/A97V), C23929T, and C28311T (P13L). Further, the cluster is also characterized by a nucleotide substitution rate of 1.4 x 10-3 variants per site per year, lower than the prevalent A2a cluster, and predominantly driven by variants in the E and N genes and relative sparing of the S gene. Epidemiological assessments suggest that the common ancestor emerged in the month of February 2020 and possibly resulted in an outbreak followed by countrywide spread, as evidenced by the low divergence of the genomes from across the country. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first comprehensive study characterizing the distinct and predominant cluster of SARS-CoV-2 in India.
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INTRODUCTION: Tobacco use usually starts in the adolescent age group and continues in adulthood. This study's aim was to identify knowledge regarding the adverse effects of tobacco and areca-nut use among high school children of Ahmedabad, India. METHODS: An anonymous self-administered close-ended questionnaire was designed for the study. Principals of 9 schools, 3 municipal and 6 government-aided, were approached and written informed consent was obtained. A total of 3055 students studying in grades 7-12 were included. Data were analyzed using Microsoft Excel and SPSS 16.0. Chi-squared test was applied to investigate any differences between the responses of consumers and non-consumers, while Cramer's V was applied to analyze the strength of association between the awareness of ill-effects and tobacco product consumption. RESULTS: Of the 3055 children, 3% felt that tobacco use was definitely not harmful to health while 84% felt that it was. In all, 65% of respondents were aware that tobacco use caused cancer, 7% answered that it caused breathing problems, 5% said it caused heart problems, 0.3% answered that it caused paralysis, 4.3% felt it caused no health problems, whereas 18% thought that it caused multiple issues. With regards to the role of media, 78% had seen many anti-smoking warnings in the media, 15% had seen a few, 5% had seen none. There was a statistically significant difference between the tobacco users and and non-users with regards to exposure to media (p<0.001), discussions in class (p<0.001) and general awareness (p<0.001), but a weak association between awareness and tobacco consumption was identified (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Awareness about the harmful effects of tobacco is high among school children of Ahmedabad, though use may still be prevalent.
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Salacia oblonga (S. oblonga), a perennial herb, has been used for thousands of years in ayurvedic medicine and is closely associated with prevention, treatment, and cure of various human ailments such as obesity and diabetes. A vast and wide range of chemical compounds such as polyphenols, friedelane-type triterpenes, norfriedelane-type triterpenes, eudesmane-type sesquiterpenes including various glycosides had been isolated from this plant. This review is aimed to survey the literature covering the phytochemistry and pharmacology of S. oblonga and to review the scientific data including active components and their multi-targeted mechanisms of action against various metabolic syndromes. We also included clinical trials related to this plant in this review. The overview would assist researchers to gather scientific information related to S. oblonga in future.
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Background. Massage therapy (MT) and kangaroo mother care (KMC) are both effective in increasing the weight and reducing length of hospital stay in low birth weight preterm infants but they have not been compared. Aim. Comparison of effectiveness of MT and KMC on body weight and length of hospital stay in low birth weight preterm (LBWPT) infants. Method. 30 LBWPT infants using convenience sampling from Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, V.S. hospital, were randomly divided into 2 equal groups. Group 1 received MT and Group 2 received KMC for 15 minutes, thrice daily for 5 days. Medically stable babies with gestational age < 37 weeks and birth weight < 2500 g were included. Those on ventilators and with congenital, orthopedic, or genetic abnormality were excluded. Outcome measures, body weight and length of hospital stay, were taken before intervention day 1 and after intervention day 5. Level of significance was 5%. Result. Data was analyzed using SPSS16. Both MT and KMC were found to be effective in improving body weight (P = 0.001, P = 0.001). Both were found to be equally effective for improving body weight (P = 0.328) and reducing length of hospital stay (P = 0.868). Conclusion. MT and KMC were found to be equally effective in improving body weight and reducing length of hospital stay. Limitation. Long term follow-up was not taken.
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The purpose of the present study was to enhance the solubility of gatifloxacin by developing self-assembling pluronic micelles of gatifloxacin for ocular delivery, to overcome the problem of poor bioavailability and therefore lesser therapeutic response exhibited by conventional ophthalmic solutions of the drug. Gatifloxacin was loaded in micelles by solid dispersion method using Pluronic F127 and evaluated for particle size, drug loading, loading efficiency, in vitro transcorneal permeation study, in vitro drug release, solubility studies, microbiological studies, ex vivo mucoadhesive strength, and ocular safety studies. The drug loading and drug loading efficiency studies revealed that gatifloxacin/Pluronic F127 ratio of 0.25/2.52 g offered good drug loading (9.96 %), high loading efficiency (90 %), and acceptable particle size of 176 nm (polydispersity index 0.345). Hen's egg test chorioallantoic membrane (HET-CAM) assay with 0 score in 8 h and ocular safety test with score of 2 indicate the nonirritant property of the developed pluronic micelles. In vitro transcorneal permeation studies through excised goat cornea indicated increase in ocular availability with no corneal damage. In vitro drug release data of optimized formulation provided sustained release over a period of 8 h. Optimized formulation was found to possess acceptable transcorneal permeation and antimicrobial efficacy when compared to marketed eye drops. The solubility studies of gatifloxacin from these lyophilized pluronic micelles revealed 18.67-fold increase in comparison to gatifloxacin suspension in water. The pluronic micelles could enhance ocular bioavailability of gatifloxacin, prolong its residence time in the eyes, and may lead to reduced instillation frequency, thereby resulting in better patient compliance.