Microplastics in our oceans and marine health

If the 20th century was the revolution era of plastic industry for manufacturing too many plastic based products starting from bucket to car, then the 21st century is the time to face its consequences. Improper management, lack of information about its negative effect and irresponsible use as well as dumping of plastic products turns this planet into “plastic planet”. Besides emerging as solid waste, these plastic materials also appeared as a great threat for human and animal health. It not only polluted the roads, forests, mountains but also polluted our oceans. Ignorant human populations always throw the plastic waste into water bodies and most probably the “out of sight out of mind” thought leads them to do so. This is why the problem of microplastics in the marine ecosystem is an issue of great concern nowadays.Here we discuss the different sources of microplastics in the oceans and their harmful impacts on the marine organisms. The microscopic size of these plastic fragments gets them easily available for ingestion by an array of marine habitants, causing adverse effects on their health. The potential of microplastics to absorb various harmful hydrophobic pollutants from the surrounding environment indirectly transfers these contaminants in the food chain. Thus to tackle this serious issue of microplastic pollution in the marine ecosystem, various policies and rules must be formulated. To avoid future threat, it is important to stop producing it further and replace the plastic with alternative eco‑friendly materials

Is Diabetes Pre-coded in the Brain? Role of Hypothalamus, Addiction Network and Social Cognition

The hypothalamus, the master regulator of circadian rhythm, in association with peripheral clocks, play crucial roles in glucose metabolism. Impairment in cerebral sensing, uptake and processing of glucose has been suggested in various animal and human diabetic models. Diabetes Mellitus has been largely superseded by the discovery of insulin and insulin resistance. Expanding horizons of knowledge of the roles of the hypothalamus in glucose metabolism and the overlapping neural pathways of sugar addictionwith other classically described substance and behavioral addictions networks have again thrown some light on the cerebral theory of DM pathogenesis

Unveiling the Nexus of Cognitive Impairment in Diabetes: Exploring the Enigmatic “Diabetic Melancholy”

Patients living with diabetes suffer from a spectrum of cognitive and mood disorders. To encompass the diverse neuropsychological aspects of diabetes, the authors herein propose the new construct of “diabetic melancholy”, which stands for memory impairments, executive dysfunctions, language impairments, psychomotor retardation, low mood, and apathy. Authors have also described the underlying neural basis of cognitive dysfunction in diabetes

Unravelling the Complexities of Diabetic Behavior: A Multifaceted Exploration of Psychological, Behavioral, and Societal Factors

Diabetes management is a complex process influenced by various behavioral factors, which are crucial for developing effectiveinterventions that promote optimal disease management and improve patient outcomes. This article explores the diversebehavioral manifestations associated with diabetes, shedding light on the psychological, physiological, and societal factorsthat underpin this complex interplay. Utilizing the mnemonics "DIABETES" and "DISTORTION", we interpret the behavioraldimensions of diabetes, emphasizing the need for holistic approaches addressing both physical and mental health. Ourexploration reveals that diabetic behavior is shaped by a range of factors, including depression, impulsivity, anxiety, bingeeating, emotional dysregulation, externalizing problems, somatic symptoms, sleep problems, substance abuse, denial, insulinstigma, suppression, taboo, oppositional behavior, resistance to therapy, template thinking, imitative behavior, oppression,and negativism. These factors interact and influence one another, resulting in a complex web of behavioral challenges thathinder effective diabetes management. By unravelling the underlying psychopathology and cognitive distortions that shapediabetic behavior, we can develop more personalized, holistic, and culturally sensitive approaches to diabetes care. Thearticle highlights the need for integrated interventions that address the psychological, social, and cultural determinants ofhealth, promote patient empowerment, and foster a proactive approach to diabetes management. Ultimately, this multifacetedexploration of diabetic behavior can inform the development of innovative strategies that improve health outcomes, enhancequality of life, and reduce the burden of diabetes on individuals and society

Unravelling the Complexities of Diabetic Behavior: A Multifaceted Exploration of Psychological, Behavioral, and Societal Factors

Diabetes management is a complex process influenced by various behavioral factors, which are crucial for developing effectiveinterventions that promote optimal disease management and improve patient outcomes. This article explores the diversebehavioral manifestations associated with diabetes, shedding light on the psychological, physiological, and societal factorsthat underpin this complex interplay. Utilizing the mnemonics "DIABETES" and "DISTORTION", we interpret the behavioraldimensions of diabetes, emphasizing the need for holistic approaches addressing both physical and mental health. Ourexploration reveals that diabetic behavior is shaped by a range of factors, including depression, impulsivity, anxiety, bingeeating, emotional dysregulation, externalizing problems, somatic symptoms, sleep problems, substance abuse, denial, insulinstigma, suppression, taboo, oppositional behavior, resistance to therapy, template thinking, imitative behavior, oppression,and negativism. These factors interact and influence one another, resulting in a complex web of behavioral challenges thathinder effective diabetes management. By unravelling the underlying psychopathology and cognitive distortions that shapediabetic behavior, we can develop more personalized, holistic, and culturally sensitive approaches to diabetes care. Thearticle highlights the need for integrated interventions that address the psychological, social, and cultural determinants ofhealth, promote patient empowerment, and foster a proactive approach to diabetes management. Ultimately, this multifacetedexploration of diabetic behavior can inform the development of innovative strategies that improve health outcomes, enhancequality of life, and reduce the burden of diabetes on individuals and society

Acute onset movement disorders in diabetes mellitus: A clinical series of 59 patients

Background and purpose: No previous study has assessed the frequency and clinical– radiological characteristics of patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) and acute onset non-choreic and nonballistic movements. We conducted a prospective study to investigate the spectrum of acute onset movement disorders in DM.Methods: We recruited all the patients with acute onset movement disorders and hyper-glycemia who attended the wards of three hospitals in West Bengal, India from August 2014 to July 2021.Results: Among the 59 patients (mean age = 55.4± 14.3 years, 52.5% men) who were included, 41 (69.5%) had choreic or ballistic movements, and 18 (30.5%) had nonchoreic and nonballistic movements. Ballism was the most common movement disorder (n= 18, 30.5%), followed by pure chorea (n= 15, 25.4%), choreoathetosis (n= 8, 13.6%), tremor (n= 5, 8.5%), hemifacial spasm (n= 3, 5.1%), parkinsonism (n= 3, 5.1%), myoclonus (n= 3, 5.1%), dystonia (n= 2, 3.4%), and restless leg syndrome (n= 2, 3.4%). The mean duration of DM was 9.8 ± 11.4 years (89.8% of the patients had type 2 DM). Nonketotic hypergly-cemia was frequently (76.3%) detected. The majority (55.9%) had no magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) changes; the remaining showed striatal hyperintensity. Eight patients with MRI changes exhibited discordance with sidedness of movements. Most of the patients (76.3%) recovered completely.Conclusions: This is the largest clinical series depicting the clinical–radiological spectrum of acute onset movement disorders in DM. Of note was that almost one third of patients had nonchoreic and nonballistic movements. Our findings highlight the importance of a capillary blood glucose measurement in patients with acute or subacute onset movement disorders, irrespective of their past glycemic status

Removal of the endocrine disrupter butyl benzyl phthalate from the environment

Butyl benzyl phthalate (BBP), an aryl alkyl ester of 1,2-benzene dicarboxylic acid, is extensively used in vinyl tiles and as a plasticizer in PVC in many commonly used products. BBP, which readily leaches from these products, is one of the most important environmental contaminants, and the increased awareness of its adverse effects on human health has led to a dramatic increase in research aimed at removing BBP from the environment via bioremediation. This review highlights recent progress in the degradation of BBP by pure and mixed bacterial cultures, fungi, and in sludge, sediment, and wastewater. Sonochemical degradation, a unique abiotic remediation technique, and photocatalytic degradation are also discussed. The degradation pathways for BBP are described, and future research directions are considered

Algorithms in 4-manifold topology

We show that there exists an algorithm that takes as input two closed, simply connected, topological 4-manifolds and decides whether or not these 4-manifolds are homeomorphic. In particular, we explain in detail how closed, simply connected, topological 4-manifolds can be naturally represented by a Kirby diagram consisting only of 2-handles. This representation is used as input for our algorithm. Along the way, we develop an algorithm to compute the Kirby-Siebenmann invariant of a closed, simply connected, topological 4-manifold from any of its Kirby diagrams and describe an algorithm that decides whether or not two intersection forms are isometric. In a slightly different direction, we discuss the decidability of the stable classification of smooth manifolds with more general fundamental groups. Here we show that there exists an algorithm that takes as input two closed, oriented, smooth 4-manifolds with fundamental groups isomorphic to a finite group with cyclic Sylow 2-subgroup, an infinite cyclic group, or a group of geometric dimension at most 3 (in the latter case we additionally assume that the universal covers of both 4-manifolds are not spin), and decides whether or not these two 4-manifolds are orientation-preserving stably diffeomorphic