Determining Heavy Metal Contamination of Road Dust in Delhi, India

Air pollution has been considered one of the major environmental challenges because of its effect on ecosystems and human health. The concentration levels and sources of heavy metals contamination were studied in road dust samples collected from various locations including four different activity areas: industrial, highways, residential and mixed use in Delhi, India. Total content of Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn were analyzed by ICP-AES. The results showed high concentration levels of Ni, Cr and Pb in industrial areas. Pearson’ correlations coupled with Principal component analysis revealed that Cd, Cr, Ni and Pb are associated with industrial sources whereas Zn and Cu are mainly contributed by vehicular traffic. Road dust contamination was assessed by various methods: degree of contamination, potential ecological index and pollution index. Contamination factor analysis showed that road dust samples are significantly contaminated by Zn and Pb. Potential ecological indexes indicated high contamination of Cd while moderate contamination of Pb in road dust, but low contamination of Cr, Cu, Ni and Zn. Pollution index of most of the metals were higher than 1 indicating deterioration of road dust quality of Delhi city due to anthropogenic emissions. Degree of contamination, potential ecological index and integrated pollution index reveal that the road dust from the industrial area, mixed use area and highway are highly contaminated by the heavy metals. The road dust from the residential area is also contaminated considerably. Evaluations by various methods indicated that all assessment methods are important for environmental quality evaluation

Comparative evaluation of conventional and ultrasound assisted tube cystotomy for obstructive urolithiasis in cattle

The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of conventional and ultrasound assisted tube cystotomy techniques for obstructive urolithiasis in 12 cattle by allowing two groups. Group-I, animals were subjected to conventional tube cystotomy, whereas in group- II, ultrasound assisted tube cystotomy was performed using Foley’s catheter under deep sedation with xylazine hydrochloride and local infiltration anaesthesia. Clinically, all animals showed urethral pulsation, dribbling of urine, futile attempts, bellowing, congested mucous membrane, sunken eyes, dry muzzle and teeth grinding. Non-significant changes were observed in haematological and biochemical values, however neutrophilia and alkaline pH of urine was prominent. Ultrasound assisted tube cystotomy technique consumed less time (40.00±1.29 min) with small incision and minimal bleeding as compared to conventional tube cystotomy

Forced Solid-State Interactions for the Selective “Turn-On” Fluorescence Sensing of Aluminum Ions in Water Using a Sensory Polymer Substrate

Selective and sensitive solid sensory substrates for detecting Al(III) in pure water are reported. The material is a flexible polymer film that can be handled and exhibits gel behavior and membrane performance. The film features a chemically anchored salicylaldehyde benzoylhydrazone derivative as an aluminum ion fluorescence sensor. A novel procedure for measuring Al(III) at the ppb level using a single solution drop in 20 min was developed. In this procedure, a drop was allowed to enter the hydrophilic material for 15 min before a 5 min drying period. The process forced the Al(III) to interact with the sensory motifs within the membrane before measuring the fluorescence of the system. The limit of detection of Al(III) was 22 ppm. Furthermore, a water-soluble sensory polymer containing the same sensory motifs was developed with a limit of detection of Al(III) of 1.5 ppb, which was significantly lower than the Environmental Protection Agency recommendations for drinking water.Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad-Feder (MAT2011-22544) and by the Consejería de Educación - Junta de Castilla y León (BU232U13)

Elimination of human rabies in Goa, India through an integrated One Health approach

Dog-mediated rabies kills tens of thousands of people each year in India, representing one third of the estimated global rabies burden. Whilst the World Health Organization (WHO), World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) have set a target for global dog-mediated human rabies elimination by 2030, examples of large-scale dog vaccination programs demonstrating elimination remain limited in Africa and Asia. We describe the development of a data-driven rabies elimination program from 2013 to 2019 in Goa State, India, culminating in human rabies elimination and a 92% reduction in monthly canine rabies cases. Smartphone technology enabled systematic spatial direction of remote teams to vaccinate over 95,000 dogs at 70% vaccination coverage, and rabies education teams to reach 150,000 children annually. An estimated 2249 disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) were averted over the program period at 526 USD per DALY, making the intervention ‘very cost-effective’ by WHO definitions. This One Health program demonstrates that human rabies elimination is achievable at the state level in India

Diversity among clients of female sex workers in India: comparing risk profiles and intervention impact by site of solicitation. implications for the vulnerability of less visible female sex workers.

BACKGROUND: It seems generally accepted that targeted interventions in India have been successful in raising condom use between female sex workers (FSWs) and their clients. Data from clients of FSWs have been under-utilised to analyse the risk environments and vulnerability of both partners. METHODS: The 2009 Integrated Biological and Behavioural Assessment survey sampled clients of FSWs at hotspots in Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu (n=5040). The risk profile of clients in terms of sexual networking and condom use are compared across usual pick-up place. We used propensity score matching (PSM) to estimate the average treatment effect on treated (ATT) of intervention messages on clients' consistent condom use with FSW. RESULTS: Clients of the more hidden sex workers who solicit from home or via phone or agents had more extensive sexual networks, reporting casual female partners as well as anal intercourse with male partners and FSW. Clients of brothel-based sex workers, who were the least educated, reported the fewest number/categories of partners, least anal sex, and lowest condom use (41%). Consistent condom use varied widely by state: 65% in Andhra Pradesh, 36% in Maharashtra and 29% in Tamil Nadu. Exposure to intervention messages on sexually transmitted infections was lowest among men frequenting brothels (58%), and highest among men soliciting less visible sex workers (70%). Exposure had significant impact on consistent condom use, including among clients of home-based sex workers (ATT 21%; p=0.001) and among men soliciting other more hidden FSW (ATT 17%; p=0.001). In Tamil Nadu no impact could be demonstrated. CONCLUSION: Commercial sex happens between two partners and both need to be, and can be, reached by intervention messages. Commercial sex is still largely unprotected and as the sex industry gets more diffuse a greater focus on reaching clients of sex workers seems important given their extensive sexual networks

Phage Display against Corneal Epithelial Cells Produced Bioactive Peptides That Inhibit Aspergillus Adhesion to the Corneas

Dissection of host-pathogen interactions is important for both understanding the pathogenesis of infectious diseases and developing therapeutics for the infectious diseases like various infectious keratitis. To enhance the knowledge about pathogenesis infectious keratitis, a random 12-mer peptide phage display library was screened against cultured human corneal epithelial cells (HCEC). Fourteen sequences were obtained and BLASTp analysis showed that most of their homologue counterparts in GenBank were for defined or putative proteins in various pathogens. Based on known or predicted functions of the homologue proteins, ten synthetic peptides (Pc-A to Pc-J) were measured for their affinity to bind cells and their potential efficacy to interfere with pathogen adhesion to the cells. Besides binding to HCEC, most of them also bound to human corneal stromal cells and umbilical endothelial cells to different extents. When added to HCEC culture, the peptides induced expression of MyD88 and IL-17 in HCEC, and the stimulated cell culture medium showed fungicidal potency to various extents. While peptides Pc-C and Pc-E inhibited Aspergillus fumigatus (A.f) adhesion to HCEC in a dose-dependent manner, the similar inhibition ability of peptides Pc-A and Pc-B required presence of their homologue ligand Alb1p on A.f. When utilized in an eyeball organ culture model and an in vivo A.f keratitis model established in mouse, Pc-C and Pc-E inhibited fungal adhesion to corneas, hence decreased corneal disruption caused by inflammatory infiltration. Affinity pull-down of HCEC membrane proteins with peptide Pc-C revealed several molecules as potential receptors for this peptide. In conclusion, besides proving that phage display-selected peptides could be utilized to interfere with adhesion of pathogens to host cells, hence could be exploited for managing infectious diseases including infectious keratitis, we also proposed that the phage display technique and the resultant peptides could be used to explore host-pathogen interactions at molecular levels

Effect of sitagliptin on cardiovascular outcomes in type 2 diabetes

BACKGROUND: Data are lacking on the long-term effect on cardiovascular events of adding sitagliptin, a dipeptidyl peptidase 4 inhibitor, to usual care in patients with type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. METHODS: In this randomized, double-blind study, we assigned 14,671 patients to add either sitagliptin or placebo to their existing therapy. Open-label use of antihyperglycemic therapy was encouraged as required, aimed at reaching individually appropriate glycemic targets in all patients. To determine whether sitagliptin was noninferior to placebo, we used a relative risk of 1.3 as the marginal upper boundary. The primary cardiovascular outcome was a composite of cardiovascular death, nonfatal myocardial infarction, nonfatal stroke, or hospitalization for unstable angina. RESULTS: During a median follow-up of 3.0 years, there was a small difference in glycated hemoglobin levels (least-squares mean difference for sitagliptin vs. placebo, -0.29 percentage points; 95% confidence interval [CI], -0.32 to -0.27). Overall, the primary outcome occurred in 839 patients in the sitagliptin group (11.4%; 4.06 per 100 person-years) and 851 patients in the placebo group (11.6%; 4.17 per 100 person-years). Sitagliptin was noninferior to placebo for the primary composite cardiovascular outcome (hazard ratio, 0.98; 95% CI, 0.88 to 1.09; P<0.001). Rates of hospitalization for heart failure did not differ between the two groups (hazard ratio, 1.00; 95% CI, 0.83 to 1.20; P = 0.98). There were no significant between-group differences in rates of acute pancreatitis (P = 0.07) or pancreatic cancer (P = 0.32). CONCLUSIONS: Among patients with type 2 diabetes and established cardiovascular disease, adding sitagliptin to usual care did not appear to increase the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events, hospitalization for heart failure, or other adverse events

Analytical solutions for wall slip effects on magnetohydrodynamic oscillatory rotating plate and channel flows in porous media using a fractional burgers viscoelastic model

A theoretical analysis of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) incompressible flows of Burger's fluid through a porous medium in a rotating frame of reference is presented. The constitutive model of a Burger's fluid is used based on a fractional calculus formulation. Hydrodynamic slip at the wall (plate) is incorporated and a fractional generalized Darcy model deployed to simulate porous medium drag force effects. Three different cases are considered- namely, flow induced by a general periodic oscillation at a rigid plate, periodic flow in a parallel plate channel and finally Poiseuille flow. In all cases the plate (s) boundary (ies) are electrically-non-conducting and small magnetic Reynolds is assumed, negating magnetic induction effects. The well-posed boundary value problems associated with each case are solved via Fourier transforms. Comparisons are made between the results derived with and without slip conditions. 4 special cases are retrieved from the general fractional Burgers model, viz Newtonian fluid, general Maxwell viscoelastic fluid, generalized Oldroyd-B fluid and the conventional Burger’s viscoelastic model. Extensive interpretation of graphical plots is included. We study explicitly the influence on wall slip on primary and secondary velocity evolution. The model is relevant to MHD rotating energy generators employing rheological working fluids

Governance and Conservation Effectiveness in Protected Areas and Indigenous and Locally Managed Areas

Increased conservation action to protect more habitat and species is fueling a vigorous debate about the relative effectiveness of different sorts of protected areas. Here we review the literature that compares the effectiveness of protected areas managed by states and areas managed by Indigenous peoples and/or local communities. We argue that these can be hard comparisons to make. Robust comparative case studies are rare, and the epistemic communities producing them are fractured by language, discipline, and geography. Furthermore the distinction between these different forms of protection on the ground can be blurred. We also have to be careful about the value of this sort of comparison as the consequences of different forms of conservation for people and nonhuman nature are messy and diverse. Measures of effectiveness, moreover, focus on specific dimensions of conservation performance, which can omit other important dimensions. With these caveats, we report on findings observed by multiple study groups focusing on different regions and issues whose reports have been compiled into this article. There is a tendency in the data for community-based or co-managed governance arrangements to produce beneficial outcomes for people and nature. These arrangements are often accompanied by struggles between rural groups and powerful states. Findings are highly context specific and global generalizations have limited value

Catalyzing Transformations to Sustainability in the World's Mountains

Mountain social‐ecological systems (MtSES) are vital to humanity, providing ecosystem services to over half the planet's human population. Despite their importance, there has been no global assessment of threats to MtSES, even as they face unprecedented challenges to their sustainability. With survey data from 57 MtSES sites worldwide, we test a conceptual model of the types and scales of stressors and ecosystem services in MtSES and explore their distinct configurations according to their primary economic orientation and land use. We find that MtSES worldwide are experiencing both gradual and abrupt climatic, economic, and governance changes, with policies made by outsiders as the most ubiquitous challenge. Mountains that support primarily subsistence‐oriented livelihoods, especially agropastoral systems, deliver abundant services but are also most at risk. Moreover, transitions from subsistence‐ to market‐oriented economies are often accompanied by increased physical connectedness, reduced diversity of cross‐scale ecosystem services, lowered importance of local knowledge, and shifting vulnerabilities to threats. Addressing the complex challenges facing MtSES and catalyzing transformations to MtSES sustainability will require cross‐scale partnerships among researchers, stakeholders, and decision makers to jointly identify desired futures and adaptation pathways, assess trade‐offs in prioritizing ecosystem services, and share best practices for sustainability. These transdisciplinary approaches will allow local stakeholders, researchers, and practitioners to jointly address MtSES knowledge gaps while simultaneously focusing on critical issues of poverty and food security