ODQN-Net: Optimized Deep Q Neural Networks for Disease Prediction Through Tongue Image Analysis Using Remora Optimization Algorithm.

Tongue analysis plays the major role in disease type prediction and classification according to Indian ayurvedic medicine. Traditionally, there is a manual inspection of tongue image by the expert ayurvedic doctor to identify or predict the disease. However, this is time-consuming and even imprecise. Due to the advancements in recent machine learning models, several researchers addressed the disease prediction from tongue image analysis. However, they have failed to provide enough accuracy. In addition, multiclass disease classification with enhanced accuracy is still a challenging task. Therefore, this article focuses on the development of optimized deep q-neural network (DQNN) for disease identification and classification from tongue images, hereafter referred as ODQN-Net. Initially, the multiscale retinex approach is introduced for enhancing the quality of tongue images, which also acts as a noise removal technique. In addition, a local ternary pattern is used to extract the disease-specific and disease-dependent features based on color analysis. Then, the best features are extracted from the available features set using the natural inspired Remora optimization algorithm with reduced computational time. Finally, the DQNN model is used to classify the type of diseases from these pretrained features. The obtained simulation performance on tongue imaging data set proved that the proposed ODQN-Net resulted in superior performance compared with state-of-the-art approaches with 99.17% of accuracy and 99.75% and 99.84% of F1-score and Mathew's correlation coefficient, respectively.

Biochemical aspects of effects of mesenchymal stem cell treatment in chronic wounds progressive healing.

Chronic wounds are a persistent burden for medical professionals. Despite developments and advancements in treatment, these wounds do not heal completely. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are the epicenter of regenerative medicine that have shown promising results in chronic wound regeneration. Autologous peripheral blood-derived MSCs (PB-MSCs) are comparatively new in wound healing treatment, bone-marrow-derived MSCs (BM-MSCs), and adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs) are commonly being practiced. In the present study, PB-MSCs treatment was given to chronic wound patients. Various biochemical parameters like random blood glucose, serum urea, serum creatinine, bilirubin (total and direct), Aspartate Aminotransferase (AST), Alanine Aminotransferase (ALT), total protein, albumin levels, and association of other factors/conditions such as age, sex, addiction of drug/alcohol were also evaluated/compared with complete and without complete healing. The wound area of the ulcer was found to be significantly reduced and the wound was healthier after the treatment. These biochemical parameters could be certainly utilized as biomarkers to anticipate the risk of chronic wounds. These findings may contribute to the development of better wound care treatment strategies and drug discovery in the field of regenerative medicine.

N-doped direction-dependent electronic and mechanical properties of single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) from a first-principles density functional theory (DFT) and MD-simulation.

In this paper, the electronic and mechanical properties of Nitrogen (N) doped (6,1) single walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) is analysed based on the first principles density functional theory (DFT) and Molecular dynamic (MD) calculation. A systematic N-doping on SWCNT was performed along zigzag (zz) and armchair (ac) direction, where the armchair doping is parallel to tube axis while zigzag is along the cross-section perpendicular to tube axis. The zz and ac doping resulted in variations in the electronic properties of the even and odd number of N-dopant atoms. To evaluate the mechanical properties, ab - initio MD-simulations was carried out. We found a dependence of the tensile response of the tube on the dopant concentration and doping pattern. Single N-doped system show enhanced tensile stress by 55% as compared to the pristine SWCNT with marginal changes in the young's modulus for all N-doped systems.

Aerosol Loading and Radiation Budget Perturbations in Densely Populated and Highly Polluted Indo-Gangetic Plain by COVID-19: Influences on Cloud Properties and Air Temperature.

Aerosols emitted in densely populated and industrialized Indo-Gangetic Plain, one of the most polluted regions in the world, modulate regional climate, monsoon, and Himalayan glacier retreat. Thus, this region is important for understanding aerosol perturbations and their resulting impacts on atmospheric changes during COVID-19 lockdown period, a natural experimental condition created by the pandemic. By analyzing 5 years (2016-2020) data of aerosols and performing a radiative transfer calculation, we found that columnar and near-surface aerosol loadings decreased, leading to reductions in radiative cooling at the surface and top of the atmosphere and atmospheric warming during lockdown period. Further, satellite data analyses showed increases in cloud optical thickness and cloud-particle effective radius and decrease in lower tropospheric air temperature during lockdown period. These results indicate critical influences of COVID-19 lockdown on regional climate and water cycle over Indo-Gangetic Plain, emphasizing need for further studies from modeling perspectives.

VEGF Promoter Region 18-bp Insertion-Deletion Polymorphism in Sickle Cell Disease Patients with Microalbuminuria: A Pilot Study.

PURPOSE: Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is a potent inducer of micro vascular permeability thus leading to nephropathy. Insertion/deletion (I/D) polymorphism of 18 bp at - 2549 position in VEGF gene causes increased transcription leading to increased production of VEGF. Thus, we aimed to associate I/D polymorphism of the 18 bp fragment at - 2549 position of the promoter region of VEGF gene with sickle cell nephropathy (SCN). METHODS: This observational analytical case control study included 30 subjects each of SCN, sickle cell disease (SCD) without nephropathy and the control group. The subjects were assessed for various hematological and biochemical parameters. Further, 18 bp I/D polymorphism of VEGF gene in all three study groups was assessed by polymerase chain reaction followed by electrophoresis and compared. RESULT: Though increased frequency of both DD genotype and D allele was found in SCN compared to SCD and control, only frequency of D allele was found to be significantly higher (p = 0.04). D allele posed marginal risk of microalbuminuria in SCD subjects compared to controls (OR = 2.11) as well as to SCD without MA subjects (OR = 1.84). CONCLUSION: D allele in I/D polymorphism in the promoter region of VEGF gene may be associated with marginal increase in risk of susceptibility to sickle cell nephropathy.

Intimate partner violence: Wounds are deeper.

Intimate partner violence claims millions of victims worldwide leading to infringement of fundamental human rights, serious physical and mental heath consequences and leading behind in its wake broken relationships and affected children. Despite its prevalence, its is not a well understood phenomenon. Through this article, we briefly review the literature on this subject; emphasizing on epidemiology and typologies of IPV, perpetuating factors and outcomes, the relevant legislations in India and the screening and intervention steps.

A study of relationship between perceived stress, coping pattern, burnout, and general psychopathology among the postgraduate medical students.

INTRODUCTION: Medical postgraduate student experience considerable stress during their training, which may cause agony to the individual or affect care rendered to the patient. Significant burnout and psychopathology has not been uncommon. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A study was done to assess the relation between perceived stress, coping pattern, burnout, and general psychopathology among the postgraduate medical students. RESULTS: Perceived stress was associated with higher scores on general psychopathology and burnout. Postgraduate students who displayed positive coping strategies had lesser perceived stress. Females had higher scores on perceived stress and psychopathology. CONCLUSION: Stress is one of the major growing mental problems among highly educated health professional, and it should not be ignored as it can cause many other health issues.

Ocular manifestations of sickle cell disease and genetic susceptibility for refractive errors.

PURPOSE: Sickle cell disease (SCD) is the most common and serious form of an inherited blood disorder that lead to higher risk of early mortality. SCD patients are at high risk for developing multiorgan acute and chronic complications linked with significant morbidity and mortality. Some of the ophthalmological complications of SCD include retinal changes, refractive errors, vitreous hemorrhage, and abnormalities of the cornea. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The present study includes 96 SCD patients. A dilated comprehensive eye examination was performed to know the status of retinopathy. Refractive errors were measured in all patients. In patients with >10 years of age, cycloplegia was not performed before autorefractometry. A subset of fifty patients' genotyping was done for NOS3 27-base pair (bp) variable number of tandem repeat (VNTR) and IL4 intron-3 VNTR polymorphisms using polymerase chain reaction-electrophoresis. Chi-square test was performed to test the association between the polymorphisms and refractive errors. RESULTS: The results of the present study revealed that 63.5% of patients have myopia followed by 19.8% hyperopia. NOS3 27-bp VNTR genotypes significantly deviated from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (P < 0.0001). Although IL4 70-bp VNTR increased the risk of developing refractive errors, it is not statistically significant. However, NOS3 27-bp VNTR significantly reduced the risk of development of myopia. CONCLUSION: In summary, our study documents the prevalence of refractive errors along with some retinal changes in Indian SCD patients. Further, this study demonstrates that the NOS3 VNTR contributes to the susceptibility to development of myopia in SCD cases.

Identification and characterization of ErbB4 kinase inhibitors for effective breast cancer therapy.

The overexpression of ErbB4 is associated with aggressive disease biology and reduced the survival of breast cancer patients. We have used ErbB4 receptor as a novel drug target to spearhead the rational drug design. The present study is divided into two parts. In the first part, we have exploited the hidden information inside ErbB4 kinase receptor both at sequence and structural level. PSI-BLAST algorithm is used to search similar sequences against ErbB4 kinase sequence. Top 15 sequences with high identity were selected for finding conserved and variable regions among sequences using multiple sequence alignment. In the second part, available 3 D structure of ErbB4 kinase is curated using loop modeling, and anomalies in the modeled structure is improved by energy minimization. The resultant structure is validated by analyzing dihedral angles by Ramachandran plot analysis. Furthermore, the potential binding sites were detected by using DoGSite and CASTp server. The similarity-search criterion is used for the preparation of our in-house database of drugs from DrugBank database. In total, 409 drugs yet to be tested against ErbB4 kinase is used for screening purpose. Virtual screening results in identification of 11 compounds with better binding affinity than lapatinib and canertinib. Study of protein-ligand interactions reveals information about amino acid residues; Lys726, Thr771, Met774, Cys778, Arg822, Thr835, Asp836 and Phe837 at the binding pocket. The physicochemical properties and bioactivity score calculation of selected compounds suggest them as biological active. This study presents a rich array that assist in expediting new drug discovery for breast cancer.

New insights into the factors affecting synonymous codon usage in human infecting Plasmodium species.

Codon usage bias is due to the non-random usage of synonymous codons for coding amino acids. The synonymous sites are under weak selection, and codon usage bias is maintained by the equilibrium in mutational bias, genetic drift and selection pressure. The differential codon usage choices are also relevant to human infecting Plasmodium species. Recently, P. knowlesi switches its natural host, long-tailed macaques, and starts infecting humans. This review focuses on the comparative analysis of codon usage choices among human infecting P. falciparum and P. vivax along with P. knowlesi species taking their coding sequence data. The variation in GC content, amino acid frequencies, effective number of codons and other factors plays a crucial role in determining synonymous codon choices. Within species codon choices are more similar for P. vivax and P. knowlesi in comparison with P. falciparum species. This study suggests that synonymous codon choice modulates the gene expression level, mRNA stability, ribosome speed, protein folding, translation efficiency and its accuracy in Plasmodium species, and provides a valuable information regarding the codon usage pattern to facilitate gene cloning as well as expression and transfection studies for malaria causing species.

Safe limit of arsenic in soil in relation to dietary exposure of arsenicosis patients from Malda district, West Bengal- A case study.

Safe limit of arsenic in soil in relation to dietary exposure of arsenicosis patients was established in Malda district of West Bengal. Out of 182 participants examined, 80 (43.9%) participants showed clinical features of arsenicosis, characterized by arsenical skin lesion (pigmentation and keratosis), while 102 participants did not have any such lesion (control). Experimental results of the twenty eight soils (own field) of the participants showed the mean Olsen extractable and total arsenic concentration of 0.206 and 6.70mgkg-1, respectively. Arsenic concentration in rice grain ranged from 2.00 to 1260µgkg-1 with the mean value of 146µgkg-1. The hazard quotient (HQ) for intake of As by human through consumption of rice varied from 0.03 to 3.52. HQ exceeds 1.0 for drinking water and rice grain grown in the study area in many cases. As high as 77.6% variation in As content in rice grain could be explained by the solubility-free ion activity model. Toxic limit of extractable As in soil for rice in relation to soil properties and human health hazard, associated with consumption of rice grain by human, was established. For example, the permissible limit of Olsen extractable As in soil would be 0.43mgkg-1 for rice cultivation, if soil pH and organic carbon content were 7.5% and 0.50%, respectively. However, the critical limit of Olsen extractable As in soil would be 0.54mgkg-1, if soil pH and organic carbon were 8.5% and 0.75%, respectively. The conceptual framework of fixing the toxic limit of arsenic in soils with respect to soil properties and human health under modeling-framework was established.

Prevalence and patterns of tobacco use and nicotine dependence among males industrial workers.

BACKGROUND: Tobacco use is an important preventable health risk factor in India. AIM: This study was carried out to estimate the prevalence of current tobacco use, factors and extent of dependence associated with its use among male workers of an industrial organization. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 759 participants randomly selected from the population of employees were administered questionnaire in Hindi containing demographic profile, patterns of smoking, and use of smokeless tobacco and alcohol. RESULTS: Forty-one percent of the surveyed males (n = 750) used tobacco either by smoking or smokeless method or both (9.7% used both, 23.4% smoked, and 27.3% used smokeless tobacco). The maximum percentage was among the 26-30 years' age group, and the married persons (45.4%, OR = 2.17, P < 0.05). Tobacco use was associated with lower educational qualifications, history of tobacco use in family members, and drinking alcohol. Seventy-two percent of the nicotine users reported being influenced by their peers in initiating the habit, 59.4% of the users reported being advised to stop tobacco use by a health professional, and 52.9% had attempted quitting the habit more than once. Twenty percent of our sample were dependent on nicotine and the highest prevalence was seen in those using both smoking and the smokeless tobacco. CONCLUSIONS: The Prevalence of Tobacco Use and Nicotine Dependence among male industrial employees is significant and necessitates Tobacco awareness and cessation programs regarding Tobacco use.

Clinico-psycho-social profile of patients brought under consultation-liaison psychiatry care in a large tertiary care referral hospital.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to access the clinico-psycho-social profile of patients brought under consultation-liaison (CL) psychiatry care in a large tertiary care referral hospital. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study included all patients who were referred for CL psychiatry from among the inpatients in the hospital and the emergency department (during off working hours of the hospital) over a period of 1 year. Data were obtained and analyzed in terms of where was the referral placed, by whom, the reason for placing the referral, the primary medical/surgical diagnosis of the patient, the presenting complaints, any past psychiatric history, the psychiatric diagnosis (as per the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Edition), the investigations advised and their reports, the treatment advised (psychotherapeutic and psychopharmacological), the sociodemographic profile of the patients, and the follow-up details. RESULTS: A total of 157 patients were referred to the CL unit over the study period. Out of these, 125 patients were referred among the inpatients and 32 from the emergency department of the hospital. Majority of the patients were in the age group of 25-50 years and were male. The majority of the referrals were made by general physician; most of the referrals were placed from emergency department. The most common reason for referral was for altered sensorium and behavioral abnormalities. The most common diagnosis was delirium followed by depressive episode and alcohol dependence syndrome. CONCLUSION: There was higher representation of delirium and alcohol-related cases in our study compared to older studies.

Top-down assessment of the Asian carbon budget since the mid 1990s.

Increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) is the principal driver of anthropogenic climate change. Asia is an important region for the global carbon budget, with 4 of the world's 10 largest national emitters of CO2. Using an ensemble of seven atmospheric inverse systems, we estimated land biosphere fluxes (natural, land-use change and fires) based on atmospheric observations of CO2 concentration. The Asian land biosphere was a net sink of -0.46 (-0.70-0.24) PgC per year (median and range) for 1996-2012 and was mostly located in East Asia, while in South and Southeast Asia the land biosphere was close to carbon neutral. In East Asia, the annual CO2 sink increased between 1996-2001 and 2008-2012 by 0.56 (0.30-0.81) PgC, accounting for ∼35% of the increase in the global land biosphere sink. Uncertainty in the fossil fuel emissions contributes significantly (32%) to the uncertainty in land biosphere sink change.

Vitamin D receptor expression levels determine the severity and complexity of disease progression among leprosy reaction patients.

We studied the roles of vitamin D and its receptor, VDR, in the progression of leprosy. The majority of individuals with leprosy from Kolkata, India, with a type 1 or type 2 reaction have low levels of vitamin D3 in serum samples. Interestingly, individuals with a type 2 reaction associated with neuritis/erythema nodosum leprosum had very low VDR mRNA expression levels, ranging from 5% to 10%, compared to that of healthy control subjects; these patients also had a high bacilli index, ranging from 3+ to 5+. This is the first report to indicate that VDR expression levels may determine the complexity and severity of the progression of leprosy.

The Chhattisgarh state screening programme for the sickle cell gene: a cost-effective approach to a public health problem.

In India, the Chhattisgarh State screening programme for sickle haemoglobin focuses on children aged 3-15 years and has screened over 1,050,440 subjects over the last 6 years. Commencing in the District around the capital Raipur, this programme has now completed screening in 7 of the 27 Districts of Chhattisgarh State. Screening is initially performed by solubility tests on fingerprick samples in the field and those with positive tests have venipunctures for haemoglobin electrophoresis. The frequency of the sickle cell trait was 9.64 % and of the SS phenotype 0.29 % with only two Districts in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, most Districts showing an excess of the SS 'phenotype' most readily explained by symptomatic selection. The estimated costs were US$0.28 (solubility tests alone) and US$0.60 (haemoglobin electrophoresis). Of the social groupings commonly used in India, the OBC's (other backward classes) had the highest frequencies of the sickle cell gene mutations, followed by the Scheduled Tribes and the Scheduled Castes. The objectives of the programme were the detection of sickle cell disease for prospective clinical management and of the sickle cell trait for purposes of genetic counselling. The former objective is being met for diagnosis although the success of referral to clinic services requires audit. The objective of genetic counselling is compromised by the failure of the screening test to detect other genes of potential clinical significance such as HbD Punjab and the beta thalassaemia trait. Despite these exceptions, the detection of HbS appears relatively robust and could be another condition factored into the traditions of partner selection amongst the underprivileged communities of this state. Overall, the Chhattisgarh programme seeks to address the daunting challenges of large populations carrying the sickle cell gene and maybe a useful model for elsewhere.