Did Covid-19 lockdown positively affect the urban environment and UN- Sustainable Development Goals?

Nigam, R., Tripathi, G., Priya, T., Luis, A. J., Vaz, E., Kumar, S., Shakya, A., Damásio, B., Kotha, M., & Yu, B. (Ed.) (2022). Did Covid-19 lockdown positively affect the urban environment and UN- Sustainable Development Goals? PLoS ONE, 17(9), 1-21. [e0274621]. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0274621This work quantifies the impact of pre-, during- and post-lockdown periods of 2020 and 2019 imposed due to COVID-19, with regards to a set of satellite-based environmental parameters (greenness using Normalized Difference Vegetation and water indices, land surface temperature, night-time light, and energy consumption) in five alpha cities (Kuala Lumpur, Mexico, greater Mumbai, Sao Paulo, Toronto). We have inferenced our results with an extensive questionnaire-based survey of expert opinions about the environment-related UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Results showed considerable variation due to the lockdown on environment-related SDGs. The growth in the urban environmental variables during lockdown phase 2020 relative to a similar period in 2019 varied from 13.92% for Toronto to 13.76% for greater Mumbai to 21.55% for Kuala Lumpur; it dropped to −10.56% for Mexico and −1.23% for Sao Paulo city. The total lockdown was more effective in revitalizing the urban environment than partial lockdown. Our results also indicated that Greater Mumbai and Toronto, which were under a total lockdown, had observed positive influence on cumulative urban environment. While in other cities (Mexico City, Sao Paulo) where partial lockdown was implemented, cumulative lockdown effects were found to be in deficit for a similar period in 2019, mainly due to partial restrictions on transportation and shopping activities. The only exception was Kuala Lumpur which observed surplus growth while having partial lockdown because the restrictions were only partial during the festival of Ramadan. Cumulatively, COVID-19 lockdown has contributed significantly towards actions to reduce degradation of natural habitat (fulfilling SDG-15, target 15.5), increment in available water content in Sao Paulo urban area(SDG-6, target 6.6), reduction in NTL resulting in reducied per capita energy consumption (SDG–13, target 13.3).publishersversionpublishe

Synthesis of 1,3,4-oxadiazole and imidazo[1,2-a]pyridine based molecular hybrids and their in vitro antituberculosis and cytotoxicity studies

1005-1018A library of novel 1,3,4-oxadiazole substituted imidazo[1,2-a]pyridine based molecular hybrids have been synthesized and evaluated against Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv. Out of 59 compounds synthesized, ten compounds show activity in the range of 3.125-12.5 μM. Compound 8p is found to be most active with MIC99 value of 3.125-6.25 μM. Further, these ten compounds have also been tested for their toxicity against THP-1 cell line and are found to be non-toxic with TC50 value in the range of (10 - >50 μM) concentration

Association of vitamin-D with hypothyroidism in adult female patients in north Indian population

Background: Thyroid disorder is found to be most commonly occurring endocrine disorder in females. Thyroid hormones have an imperative position in metabolic methods in human body, and several physiological and pathological stimuli are known to influence thyroid metabolism. The increased incidence of hypovitaminosis D was diagnosed in population with hypothyroidism. Objective: To check the relation of Vitamin D in adult female patients diagnosed with hypothyroidism. Method: We recruited 60 patients and divided these patients into two groups, Group-1- Hypothyroidism patients (n=30) and Group-2- Control patients (n=30). Thyroid-Stimulating Hormone (TSH), total Triiodothyronine (T3), total Thyroxine (T4), and Vitamin D levels were estimated by automated method in Abbott ARCHITECT ci8200 machine. Results: In the present study we found patients with hypothyroidism 73.3% (n=22) has low level of Vitamin D while 26.6% (n=8) of population have normal level of Vitamin D. We could not find significant association between Vitamin D and hypothyroidism (p>0.05). Conclusion: Our study concluded that hypothyroidism has no significant role in lowering the levels of Vitamin D but we also emphasize the fact that Vitamin D should be done as routine investigation in healthy as well as hypothyroidism patients as its value was also less in control subjects

Inorganic polyphosphate accumulation suppresses the dormancy response and virulence in Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Stringent response pathways involving inorganic polyphosphate (PolyP) play an essential role in bacterial stress adaptation and virulence. The intracellular levels of PolyP are modulated by the activities of polyphosphate kinase-1 (PPK1), polyphosphate kinase-2 (PPK2), and exopolyphosphatases (PPXs). The genome of Mycobacterium tuberculosis encodes two functional PPXs, and simultaneous deletion of ppx1 and ppx2 results in a defect in biofilm formation. We demonstrate here that these PPXs cumulatively contribute to the ability of M. tuberculosis to survive in nutrient-limiting, low-oxygen growth conditions and also in macrophages. Characterization of single (Delta ppx2) and double knockout (dkppx) strains of M. tuberculosis indicated that PPX-mediated PolyP degradation is essential for establishing bacterial infection in guinea pigs. RNA-Seq-based transcriptional profiling revealed that relative to the parental strain, the expression levels of DosR regulon-regulated dormancy genes were significantly reduced in the dkppx mutant strain. In concordance, we also provide evidence that PolyP inhibits the autophosphorylation activities associated with DosT and DosS sensor kinases. The results in this study uncover that enzymes involved in PolyP homeostasis play a critical role in M. tuberculosis physiology and virulence and are attractive targets for developing more effective therapeutic interventions

Summary of variations in urban environmental parameters and the effect of lockdown.

Summary of variations in urban environmental parameters and the effect of lockdown.</p

Spatio-temporal changes in a) NDVI, b) NDWI, c) LST and d) NTL based on the thematic maps of the Toronto city.

Spatio-temporal changes in a) NDVI, b) NDWI, c) LST and d) NTL based on the thematic maps of the Toronto city.</p

Spatio-temporal changes in a) NDVI, b) NDWI, c) LST and d) NTL based on the thematic maps of the Mexico city.

Spatio-temporal changes in a) NDVI, b) NDWI, c) LST and d) NTL based on the thematic maps of the Mexico city.</p

Spatio-temporal changes in a) NDVI, b) NDWI, c) LST and d) NTL based on the thematic maps of the Sao Paulo city.

Spatio-temporal changes in a) NDVI, b) NDWI, c) LST and d) NTL based on the thematic maps of the Sao Paulo city.</p

Spatio-temporal changes in a) NDVI, b) NDWI, c) LST and d) NTL based on the thematic maps of the Mumbai city.

Spatio-temporal changes in a) NDVI, b) NDWI, c) LST and d) NTL based on the thematic maps of the Mumbai city.</p