Efficacy of montelukast in the management of COVID-19: double blind randomized placebo controlled trial

Background: Objective of the study was to determine the efficacy of montelukast in reducing the severity of COVID-19 symptoms using a double blinded randomized controlled trial.Methods: Parallel, double-blinded randomized controlled trial (RCT) with placebo as comparison to montelukast. All patients above the age of 14 years both males and females, admitted with a diagnosis of mild or moderate COVID-19 (on the basis of a positive reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) report) at our facility during the study period from 01 September 2020-31 January 2021) and excluding those having adverse reaction to montelukast or those not willing to participate, and pregnant and lactating females. Patients in the intervention arm were given tablet montelukast 10 mg OD HS from the day of admission for 10 days. The patients in the placebo group were given an identical appearing placebo at bedtime for 10 days from the day of admission. The rest of the treatment was given as per the standard operating procedure (SOP) of the institute with minor adjustments as per the treating team’s judgement. Primary outcome was progression of the disease to severe grade and secondary outcomes were discharge on or before day 10 from admission, admission to ICU, need for mechanical ventilation and in-hospital mortality.Results: A total of 94 patients were enrolled for the study. 90 patients, 45 in each arm were included in the final analysis. The baseline characteristics of the two arms including age, sex, comorbidities, severity at admission and treatment given apart from montelukast or placebo, were comparable with respect to these variables. This study did not find any improvement in primary outcome of progression to severe disease and secondary outcomes of intensive care unit (ICU) admission, mortality or need of mechanical ventilation, discharge on or by day 10 with the use of montelukast as compared to placebo in mild to moderate cases of COVID-19.Conclusions: There was no difference in primary or secondary outcomes with the use of Montelukast compared to placebo

Synthesis of Silver Nanoparticles using Facile Wet Chemical Route

Stable aqueous monodispersed silver nanoparticles were synthesised by reducing silver nitrate using various sugars such as glucose, fructose, lactose, and sucrose at 55-60 oC. A mixture of two stabilising agents, polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) of molecular weight (MW 40, 000) and gelatin plays a decisive part in controlling size and shape of superfine silver nanoparticles. Using PVP, better control of particle size was obtained, whereas a mixture of PVP, and gelatin resulted in sea urchin kind of structure. Effects of several processing parameters such as pH, quantities of alkaline solution, reaction time, concentration of stabilising agent, and the metal/dispersant ratio were investigated. The suspensions were stable for at least one week. Silver nanoparticles can be easily collected by centrifugation on mixing with sufficient amount of acetone. Structural characterisation of synthesised silver nanoparticles was carried out by X-ray diffraction (XRD), which shows that the as-synthesised silver nanoparticles are face-centered cubic crystalline. Chemical characterisations of as-synthesized silver nanoparticles were done using inductively-coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) and LECO gas analysers. The optical properties of silver nanoparticles were monitored using UV-Vis spectrophotometer. Role of stabilising agent in protecting the silver nanoparticles was studied using fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Particle size and distribution were characterised using smallangle X-ray scattering (SAXS), zeta particle size analyser (PSA), scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. The average particle size of the as-synthesised silver nanoparticles was 35 nm.Defence Science Journal, 2009, 59(4), pp.447-455, DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.14429/dsj.59.154

Genetic polymorphism in bubaline mLYS (Exon-IV) and its effect on serum lysozyme activity and somatic cell count

Animals (280) consisting of 4 different buffalo breeds (Murrah, Mehsana, Surti and Bhadawari) spread over 6 different farms across the country were used for this study. A 230 bp fragment spanning from intron-III to exon-IV was screened for SSCP which revealed frequent occurrence of AB genotype and A allele. Although, different values of lysozyme activity and somatic cell count were observed in Murrah buffalo across the genotypes and seasons, no statistically significant association was observed. Nucleotide analysis revealed A allele differed from B and C allele by 2 and 3 nucleotide substitutions, respectively, out of which one was present in intronic region in both cases. The polymorphism identification and characterization may provide a baseline tool for future studies to further delineate the role of this gene as a putative candidate gene for selection against mastitis

Effect of Mucin13 gene polymorphism on diarrhoeagenic <i>E. coli</i> adhesion pattern and its expression analysis in native Indian pigs

We identified genetic polymorphism in Mucin13 gene affecting E. coli adhesion patterns using (local isolate) diarrhoeagenic E. coli in Indian desi pigs. Five SNPs and one indel previously reported to be associated with enterotoxigenic E. coli (ETEC) F4ab/ac adhesion pattern were examined by designing PCR-RFLP protocol. The genotypic frequencies of only one SNP (g.22304A&thinsp; &gt; &thinsp;G) differed significantly (at P ≤ 0.05) in adhesive, non-adhesive and weakly adhesive population. The AA (306&thinsp;sbp, 231&thinsp;bp), AG (306, 231, 108, 198&thinsp;bp) and GG (231, 198&thinsp;bp, 108&thinsp;b) genotypes of g.22304A&thinsp; &gt; &thinsp;G locus were observed with frequencies 50.0&thinsp;%, 21.25&thinsp;% and 28.75&thinsp;%, respectively and AG genotype was significantly (P ≤ 0.05) associated with a non-adhesive pattern. The polymorphism information content of SNPs ranged from 17.67 (g.22124T&thinsp; &gt; &thinsp;C) to 37.36&thinsp;% (g.21471C&thinsp; &gt; &thinsp;T) loci. Three loci (g.21471C&thinsp; &gt; &thinsp;T, g.22124T&thinsp; &gt; &thinsp;C and g.22304A&thinsp; &gt; &thinsp;G) were significantly departed from Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium. The linkage disequilibrium analysis revealed locus g.22124T&thinsp; &gt; &thinsp;C and g.22304A&thinsp; &gt; &thinsp;G were significantly (P ≤ 0.05) associated with each other. Expression profiling of target gene in jejuna of animals having AA, AG and GG genotypes revealed differences in various genotypes with the highest in the AA, moderate in the GG and low levels in the AG genotype, although they were statistically non-significant (at P ≤ 0.05). The absence of significant effect of genotypes on MUC13 mRNA expression indicates no direct functional role, although the structural role can not be ignored as the putative receptor gene is located within targeted genomic region. Further, reports of same SNP association with an ETEC F4ab/ac adhesion pattern indicate the target gene's role in diarrhoea even caused by other strains of E. coli which is not ETEC.</p

The STAR Photon Multiplicity Detector

Details concerning the design, fabrication and performance of STAR Photon Multiplicity Detector (PMD) are presented. The PMD will cover the forward region, within the pseudorapidity range 2.3--3.5, behind the forward time projection chamber. It will measure the spatial distribution of photons in order to study collective flow, fluctuation and chiral symmetry restoration.Comment: 15 pages, including 11 figures; to appear in a special NIM volume dedicated to the accelerator and detectors at RHI

Morphological and meristic features of Vulnerable Tenualosa toli (Valenciennes, 1847) from Narmada estuary, Gujarat, India

A clupeid group (Hilsa) in the Indian sub-continent is represented by three species viz., Tenualosa toli, T. ilisha and Hilsa kelee, which has great economic significance for the fishers. Tenualosa toil is observed to have narrow distribution in the Indian sub-continent, along with vulnerability status. The present study describes the morphological and meristic features of T. toli collected from the Narmada estuary, Gujarat, India. A single specimen was collected from the bag net catches (10 mm cod-end mesh size) - from Bhadbhut fishing site in December 2019. The size of specimen with a total length of 298 mm, standard length of 224 mm, and weight of 214 g. The morphometric and meristic characters were assessed and compared with other published literature. The present investigation of T. toli suggested that immediate measures should be adopted to rejuvenate the species in the aquatic habitats

N- and C-Terminal Domains of the Calcium Binding Protein EhCaBP1 of the Parasite Entamoeba histolytica Display Distinct Functions

Entamoeba histolytica, a protozoan parasite, is the causative agent of amoebiasis, and calcium signaling is thought to be involved in amoebic pathogenesis. EhCaBP1, a Ca2+ binding protein of E. histolytica, is essential for parasite growth. High resolution crystal structure of EhCaBP1 suggested an unusual arrangement of the EF-hand domains in the N-terminal part of the structure, while C-terminal part of the protein was not traced. The structure revealed a trimer with amino terminal domains of the three molecules interacting in a head-to-tail manner forming an assembled domain at the interface with EF1 and EF2 motifs of different molecules coming close to each other. In order to understand the specific roles of the two domains of EhCaBP1, the molecule was divided into two halves, and each half was separately expressed. The domains were characterized with respect to their structure, as well as specific functional features, such as ability to activate kinase and bind actin. The domains were also expressed in E. histolytica cells along with green fluorescent protein. The results suggest that the N-terminal domain retains some of the properties, such as localization in phagocytic cups and activation of kinase. Crystal structure of EhCaBP1 with Phenylalanine revealed that the assembled domains, which are similar to Calmodulin N-terminal domain, bind to Phenylalanine revealing the binding mode to the target proteins. The C-terminal domain did not show any of the activities tested. However, over-expression in amebic cells led to a dominant negative phenotype. The results suggest that the two domains of EhCaBP1 are functionally and structurally different from each other. Both the domains are required for structural stability and full range of functional diversity

Report of the Task Force on Enhancing technology use in agriculture insurance

Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) is a flagship scheme of the Government of India to provide insurance coverage and financial support to farmers in the event of failure of any of the notified crops, unsown area and damage to harvest produce as a result of natural calamities, pests and diseases to stabilise the income of farmers, and to encourage them to adopt modern agricultural practices. The scheme is a considerable improvement over all previous insurance schemes in India and is heavily subsidised by the state and central governments. The scheme aims to cover 50 percent of the farming households within next 3 years. During its implementation in the last one season, several challenges relating to enrolment, yield estimation, loss assessment, and claim settlement were reported by farmers, insurance companies as well as the state governments. It was also noted that several technological opportunities existed for possibly leveraging support to the Indian crop insurance program for enhanced efficiency and effectiveness. NITI Aayog of the Government of India, therefore, constituted a Task Force to deliberate on this subject and identify such potential opportunities. This report summarises the recommendations of the Task Force. The Task Force constituted to address the issue of technology support to crop insurance comprised the following 5 sub-groups: (1) Remote Sensing & Drones; (2) Decision Support Systems, Crop Modelling & Integrated Approaches; (3) IT/ICT in Insurance; (4) Crop Cutting Experiments (CCEs); and (5) Technologies for Livestock and Aquaculture Insurance. Each sub-group had several discussions with experts in the respective areas, and submitted draft reports. More than 100 experts related to professional research agencies, insurance industry, banks, and the government contributed to these discussions. Technological options available in the country and abroad were considered by all groups. The Task Force together with the sub-groups then deliberated on key issues and formulated its recommendations as presented in this report. During the discussions it was realised that there were many administrative and institutional issues that needed to be addressed in PMFBY. However, the focus of the Task Force was on its main mandate, technology use in crop insurance. We hope these recommendations would help the Indian crop insurance sector take full advantage of the technological options suggested so as to increase its efficacy and effectiveness leading to reduced agrarian distress in the country

Measurements of Charmless Hadronic b->s Penguin Decays in the pi+pi-K+pi- Final State and First Observation of B0 -> rho0K+pi-

We report measurements of charmless hadronic B^0 decays into the pi+pi-K+pi+ final state. The analysis uses a sample of 657x10^6 BBbar pairs collected with the Belle detector at the KEKB asymmetric-energy e+e- collider at the Y(4S) resonance. The decay B^0 -> rho0 Kpi is observed for the first time; the significance is 5.0sigma and the corresponding partial branching fraction for M_Kpi in (0.75,1.20) GeV/c^2 is [2.8 +- 0.5(stat) +-0.5(syst)] x 10^{-6}. We also obtain the first evidence for B^0 -> f0Kpi with 3.5sigma significance and for B^0 -> pi+pi-K*0 with 4.5sigma significance. For the two-body decays B^0 -> rho0K*0 and B^0 -> f0K*0, the significances are 2.7sigma and 2.5sigma, respectively, and the upper limits on the branching fractions are 3.4x10^{-6} and 2.2x10^{-6} at 90% confidence level.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures. accepted by PRD(RC

Evidence for direct CP violation in the decay B->D(*)K, D->KsPi+Pi- and measurement of the CKM phase phi3

We present a new measurement of the unitarity triangle angle phi3 using a Dalitz plot analysis of the KsPi+Pi- decay of the neutral D meson produced in B->D(*)K decays. The method exploits the interference between D0 and D0bar to extract the angle phi3, strong phase delta and the ratio r of suppressed and allowed amplitudes. We apply this method to a 605 fb-1 data sample collected by the Belle experiment. The analysis uses three decays: B->DK, and B->D*K with D*->DPi0 and D*->Dgamma, as well as the corresponding charge-conjugate modes. From a combined maximum likelihood fit to the three modes, we obtain phi3 = 78.4^+10.8_-11.6 +- 3.6 (syst) +- 8.9 (model) degrees. CP conservation in this process is ruled out at the confidence level (1-CL)=5x10^-4, or 3.5 standard deviations.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures, 4 tables. Replaced by version published in Phys. Rev.