Rapid Colorimetric and Fluorometric Discrimination of Maleic Acid vs. Fumaric Acid and Detection of Maleic Acid in Food Additives

An anthracene thiazole based Schiff base L was synthesized and employed for fluorescence switch-on detection of maleic acid in aqueous DMSO. The non-fluorescent L (10-5 M) showed an instantaneous and selective fluorescence enhancement at 506 nm upon interaction with maleic acid (10-5 M). Other potential carboxylic acids (10-5 M), such as malic acid, citric acid, acetic acid, cinnamic acid, tartaric acid, succinic acid, fumaric acid, oxalic acid and malonic acid failed to alter the chromo-fluorogenic properties of L. Probe L can be employed to detect maleic acid down to 2.74 × 10-6 M. The probe L showed good linearity from 2.97 to 6.87 µM. Analytical utility of L was examined by detecting maleic acid in various food additives and drosophila larvae.

Protein interactions, molecular docking, antimicrobial and antifungal studies of terpyridine ligands

Resistance to antibiotics/antibacterials/antifungals in pathogenic microbes has been developing over the past few decades and has recently become a commonplace public-health peril. Thus, alternative nontoxic potent antibiotic agents are covertly needed to control antibiotic-resistant outbreaks. In an effort to combat the challenges posed by the co-occurrence of multidrug resistance, two terpyridine ligands 4'-(4-N,N'-dimethylaminophenyl)-2,2':6',2″-terpyridine (L1) and 4'-(4-tolyl)-2,2':6',2″-terpyridine (L2) have been designed, prepared and confirmed their structure by spectral studies. Thereafter, antimicrobial assay was performed against gram positive and negative bacterial strains along with fungal strains. Both compounds L1 and L2 exhibited remarkable inhibitory activities against bacteria, Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus at MIC values 6.25 and 3.125 µg/ml, respectively. In addition, in silico molecular docking studies were ascertained with bacterial DNA gyrase and fungal demethylase. Furthermore, both L1 and L2 could bind Bovine Serum Albumin (BSA) protein and binding interaction has been studied with the help of UV-Visible and fluorescence spectroscopy. While fluorescence of BSA unperturbed in the presence of L2, an addition of L1 to the solution of BSA resulted significant quenching. The binding constant calculations at different temperature confirmed that the fluorescence quenching between BSA and L1 is predominantly static in nature. The toxicity of L1 and L2 was checked using Drosophila melanogaster. The toxicity analysis suggest both the dyes are non-cytotoxic in nature.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.

Pyrene-based fluorescent chemosensor for rapid detection of water and its applications

This manuscript introduces a pyrene-based Schiff base L by reacting pyrenecarboxaldehyde with 2-aminothiazole in equimolar ratio. The ligand L was characterized by various spectral data and single crystal. The water sensing ability of L was examined in different organic solvents. The weakly emissive L in DMSO showed a fluorescence enhancement upon the addition of water. The water-induced fluorescence enhancement of L was occurred due to the combined effect of aggregation-induced emission (AIE) phenomenon and suppression of photo-induced electron transfer (PET) process. Using L, the water in DMSO can be detected down to 0.50 wt% with a quantification limit of 1.52 wt%. The analytical novelty of the developed sensor L was validated by detecting moisture in a variety of raw food products.

Mapping Concurrent Wasting and Stunting Among Children Under Five in India: A Multilevel Analysis

Objectives: The study aims to examine the coexisting forms, patterns, and predictors of concurrent wasting and stunting (WaSt) among children under five in India. Methods: We used data from the National Family Health Survey to understand the trend and association of WaSt among children under five-year-old in India. Univariate analysis and cross-tabulations were performed for WaSt cases. The association was determined using multilevel binary logistic regression and multilevel regression, and the results were provided as adjusted odds ratios (aOR) with 95% confidence intervals at the significance level of p < 0.05. Results: The prevalence of WaSt has decreased from 8.7% in 2005-06 to 5.2 percent in 2019-2020. The proportion of WaSt children grew rapidly from 6 to 18 months, peaked at 19 months (8%), then dropped after 24 months. The prevalence of concurrent wasting and stunting is higher among boys compared to girls. Compared to children of different birth orders, those in the higher birth order are 1.2 times more likely to be WaSt cases (aOR = 1.20, 95% CI = 1.09, 1.33). The education of the mother is strongly correlated with WaSt instances, and children of more educated mothers have a 47% lower chance of being WaSt cases (aOR = 0.63, 95% CI = 0.57, 0.71). Children from wealthy families are 52% less likely to be WaSt cases (aOR = 0.48, 95% CI = 0.43, 0.55). Conclusion: This study emphasizes the importance of concurrent wasting and stunting and its relationship with socioeconomic factors among children under five in India.

Early life factors associated with the experiences of pain in later life: evidence from a population based study in India

BACKGROUND

The influence of early life factors is becoming increasingly apparent as studies investigate how experiences, resources, and constraints in childhood affect health and well-being later in life. The present study contributes to this literature by examining the association between several early life factors and self-reported pain among older adults in India.

METHODS

Data come from the 2017-18 wave 1 of the Longitudinal Ageing Study of India (LASI). The sample size includes 28,050 older adults aged 60 and above (13,509 men and 14,541 women). Pain is a self-reported, dichotomous measure where participants responded to whether they were often troubled with pain and whether this experience interfered with their ability to carry out daily household chores. Early life factors, which are retrospective accounts of experiences, included the respondent's position in birth order, their health status, school absenteeism, being bedridden, family socioeconomic status (SES), and their parent's experience with chronic disease. Logistic regression analysis is employed to examine the unadjusted and adjusted average marginal effects (AME) of selected domains of early life factors associated with the probability of experiencing pain.

RESULTS

22.8% of men and 32.3% of women reported pain that interfered with daily activities. Pain was higher among men (AME: 0.01, confidence interval (CI): 0.01-0.03) and women (AME: 0.02, CI: 0.01-0.04) with third or fourth birth order compared to counterparts with first birth order. Both men (AME: -0.02, CI: -0.04-0.01) and women (AME: -0.07, CI: -0.09 - -0.04) having a fair childhood health status reported a lower probability of pain. The probability of pain was higher among both men (AME: 0.03, CI: 0.01-0.07) and women (AME: 0.07, CI: 0.03-0.13) who were bedridden due to sickness in their childhood. Similarly, the pain likelihood was higher among men who missed school for more than a month due to health problems (AME: 0.04, CI: -0.01-0.09). Men and women with poor financial condition in their childhood reported (AME: 0.04, CI: 0.01-0.07) a higher probability of experiencing pain relative to their peers who reported a more financially advantaged early life.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings of the present study add to the empirical literature on the association between early life factors and later life health and well-being. They also are pertinent to health care providers and practitioners working in pain management, as this knowledge better positions them to identify older adults most susceptible to pain. Moreover, findings of our study underscore that the interventions to ensure health and well-being in later life must start far earlier in the life course.

Migration status, physical limitations and associated self-rated health: a study of older Indian adults

BACKGROUND

Migrant status with mobility impairment becomes a double burden for health and wellbeing of older adults. This study examined the independent relationships and multitude effects between migrant status, functional and mobility impairments and poor self-rated health (SRH) among older Indian adults.

METHODS

This study utilised nationally representative Longitudinal Ageing Study in India wave-1 (LASI) data, including a sample of 30,736 individuals aged 60 years and above. The main explanatory variables were migrant status, difficulty in activities of daily living (ADL), difficulty in instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) and mobility impairments; and the outcome variable was poor-SRH. Multivariable logistic regression and stratified analyses were used to fulfil the study objectives.

RESULTS

Overall, about 23% of older adults reported poor-SRH. Reporting poor-SRH was more prevalent (28.03%) among recent migrants (less than ten years). The prevalence of reporting poor-SRH was significantly higher among older adults who had mobility impairment (28.65%), difficulty in ADL or IADL (40.82% & 32.57%). Migrant older adults (regardless of duration) who had mobility impairment had significantly greater odds of reporting poor-SRH compared with non-migrant older adults who did not have mobility impairment. Similarly, older respondents who had problems in ADL and IADL with migration status had higher odds of reporting poor-SRH than their non-migrant counterparts with no such problems.

CONCLUSIONS

The study revealed the vulnerability of migrant older adults with functional and mobility disability, as well as those with limited socioeconomic resources and suffering from multimorbidity on rating their perceived health. The findings can be utilised to target outreach programmes and provision of services for migrating older individuals with mobility impairments and enhance their perceived health and ensure active ageing.

Socio-economic inequalities in non-use of modern contraceptives among young and non-young married women in India

BACKGROUND

It is documented that married women do not utilize contraceptive methods, because of the fear of adverse effects, no or seldom sexual interaction; perception that they should not use contraception during breastfeeding, postpartum amenorrhea, or dissatisfaction with a specific method of contraception. The current study aimed to examine the socio-economic inequalities associated with the non-use of modern contraceptive methods among young (15-24 years) and non-young (25-49 years) married women and the contributing factors in those inequalities.

METHODS

The present study utilized the cross-sectional data from the fourth round of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-4) with a sample of 499,627 women who were currently married. The modern methods of family planning include sterilization, injectables, intrauterine devices (IUDs/PPIUDs), contraceptive pills, implants, the standard days method, condoms, diaphragm, foam/jelly, the lactational amenorrhea method, and emergency contraception. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to estimate the odds of non-use of modern contraceptive methods according to different age groups after controlling for various confounding factors. Additionally, concentration curve and Wagstaff decomposition method were used in the study.

RESULTS

The prevalence of non-use of modern contraceptive use was higher among women from young category (79.0%) than non-young category (45.8%). The difference in prevalence was significant (33.2%; p < 0.001). Women from non-young age group had 39% significantly lower odds of non-use of modern contraceptive use than women from young age group (15-24 years) [AOR: 0.23; CI: 0.23, 0.23]. The value of concentration quintile was -0.022 for young and -0.058 for non-young age groups which also confirms that the non-use of modern contraceptives was more concentrated among women from poor socio-economic group and the inequality is higher among non-young women compared to young women. About 87.8 and 55.5% of the socio-economic inequality was explained by wealth quintile for modern contraceptive use in young and non-young women. A higher percent contribution of educational status (56.8%) in socio-economic inequality in non-use of modern contraceptive use was observed in non-young women compared to only -6.4% in young women. Further, the exposure to mass media was a major contributor to socio-economic inequality in young (35.8%) and non-young (43.2%) women.

CONCLUSION

Adverse socioeconomic and cultural factors like low levels of education, no exposure to mass media, lack of or limited knowledge about family planning, poor household wealth status, religion, and ethnicity remain impediments to the use of modern contraceptives. Thus, the current findings provide evidence to promote and enhance the use of modern contraceptives by reducing socioeconomic inequality.

Gendered Pattern and Predictors of Tobacco use in India: Evidence from the Second Round of Global adult Tobacco Survey

Background

India has completed the second round of the Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) to monitor adult tobacco use and progress in tobacco control efforts. This study assesses the gendered pattern of tobacco use and its predictors in the second rounds of GATS.

Material and Methods

Publicly available GATS-2 (2016-2017) data was analyzed which contains self-reported tobacco use information of ≥15 years Indians (n = 74,037). The independent predictors of "smoking only," "smokeless only," and "dual use" among current male and female tobacco users were assessed using the multinomial regression model.

Results

The burden of "smoking only," "smokeless only," and "dual-use" of tobacco were 8.9% (8.74-9.15), 16.69% (16.42-16.96), and 3.89% (3.75-4.03), respectively, in the second round with wide regional variation as well as male dominance in use. Region, age, education, caste, and religion were significantly and consistently associated with different types of tobacco use in both genders. Other contextual predictors of tobacco use were residence, marital status, occupation, awareness, and wealth index (WI).

Conclusions

Tobacco use predictors and their gendered patterns are contextual. Monitoring the predictors for tobacco use, which may change over time, should be given priority in the national tobacco control program.

Gender difference in prevalence of hypertension among Indians across various age-groups: a report from multiple nationally representative samples

Background

Prevalence of hypertension increases with age, but there is a general perception in India that women are less affected at every stage of life, although empiric evidence hardly exists regarding gender difference in hypertension in Indians of different ages. Therefore, we aimed to examine the gender difference in hypertension among Indians across various age-groups; and the contribution of variation in body mass index (BMI) to this difference.

Methods

Data were analysed after combining National Family Health Survey 4 (n = 294,584 aged 35–49 years) and Study of Ageing and Health wave 2 (n = 7118 aged 50 + years) datasets (NFHS-SAGE). Longitudinal Ageing Study of India (LASI) dataset (n = 65,900 aged > 45years) was analysed to replicate the results. Hypertension was defined if systolic and diastolic blood pressure was > 89 and/or > 139 respectively and/or if there was a history of anti-hypertensive medication. Descriptive summaries were tabulated and plotted to examine the gender difference in hypertension in various age-groups (35–39,40–44, 45–49, 50–54, 55–59, 60–64, 65–69, ≥ 70). Odds Ratios (ORs) from logistic regression models estimated the age gradient of hypertension and their male-female difference, adjusted for Body Mass Index (BMI).

Results

Males had a higher prevalence of hypertension up to 50 years; after that, females had higher rates. The estimates of age gradient, expressed as ORs, were 1.02 (1.02, 1.02) in males versus 1.05(1.05, 1.06) in females (p < 0.001) in NFHS-SAGE and 1.01(1.01, 1.02) in males versus 1.04(1.03, 1.04)in females (p < 0.001) in LASI;these differences marginally changed after adjustment with BMI.

Conclusion

This is perhaps the first study to comprehensively demonstrate that cardio-metabolic risk in Indian females surpasses males after 50 years of age, “busting the myth” that Indian females are always at much lower risk than males; and this evidence should inform the Indian healthcare system to prioritise older women for screening and treatment of hypertension.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12889-022-13949-5.

Diet Quality and Measures of Sarcopenia in Developing Economies: A Systematic Review

Sarcopenia refers to common age-related changes characterised by loss of muscle mass, strength, and physical performance that results in physical disability, poorer health status, and higher mortality in older adults. Diet quality is indicated as a potentially modifiable risk factor for sarcopenia. However, the association between diet quality and sarcopenia in developing economies appears to be conflicting. Hence, we conducted a systematic review of the literature from developing economies examining the relationship between diet quality and at least one of the three components of sarcopenia, including muscle mass, muscle strength, and physical performance, and the overall risk of sarcopenia. No restrictions on age and study design were employed. We identified 15 studies that met review inclusion criteria. There was heterogeneity among the studies in the diet quality metric used and sarcopenia-related outcomes evaluated. Longitudinal evidence and studies relating diet quality to a holistic definition of sarcopenia were lacking. Although limited and predominantly cross-sectional, the evidence consistently showed that diet quality defined by diversity and nutrient adequacy was positively associated with sarcopenia components, such as muscle mass, muscle strength, and physical performance.

Out-of-pocket expenditure and its predictors for illness of under-five children: A cross-sectional study in urban slums of Eastern India

Introduction

Out-of-pocket (OOP) expenditure influences the access to the healthcare of the marginalized and vulnerable population including under-five children (U5C). The aim of the study is to estimate the OOP expenditure and its predictors in Bhubaneswar, a region of eastern India.

Methods

A cross-sectional study was conducted using a semi-structured interview schedule in 20 urban slums of Bhubaneswar. The survey was carried out by using the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) health consumption schedule 25.0 in which mothers of U5C with illness (n = 530) were interviewed. For data analysis, the nonparametric Wilcoxon rank-sum test and Kruskal-Wallis test were used as tests of significance.

Results

The study revealed that the mean OOP expenditure for outpatient department (OPD) care was ₹375.9 (₹219.48). The mean approximated expenditure was ₹1669.8 (₹1131.9) for inpatient department (IPD) care. In OPD care, doctors' fee and medicine cost constituted 65.01% and 50.46% of OOP expenditure, respectively. In IPD care, medicine cost and doctors' fee contributed to 36.62% and 30.54% of OOP expenditure, respectively. The major significant predictors that contributed to increased OOP were gender and delay in approaching the source of treatment in OPD, whereas in IPD no such predictors were observed.

Conclusions

This study prominently sheds light on the issue of accessibility and affordability of health services without a comprehensive health insurance scheme for U5C illness among the vulnerable urban slum dwellers to achieve universal health coverage.

Do the Caregivers Of Under-Fives Have Proper Health Care Seeking Behaviour for Their Children? A Study from Urban Slums of a City in Eastern India

Introduction: The morbidity and mortality among under-five children are many times higher in slums than more privileged urban neighbourhoods. This could be correlated with the caregivers’ behaviour too. Therefore, we intended to assess the health care seeking behaviour for their children among caregivers of under-five children in urban slums of Bhubaneswar city. Methods: It was a cross-sectional study conducted during Jan 2019 to April 2019 in Bhubaneswar, India. Data regarding health care seeking behaviour of 530 caregivers of under-five (U5) children residing in urban slums of Bhubaneswar, whose children suffered from any illness in last one month, were collected. Results: The most common childhood illnesses for which healthcare were sought were diarrhoeal diseases (30.4%) followed by respiratory infections (29.1%). A concept analysis of the predisposing factors was built up as “socio cultural context”, “economic context”, “education context”, and “individual preference” to know the health care seeking pattern. The health care seeking behaviour among the caregivers of under-five children was significantly associated with sex of child, size of the household, social group of caregiver, mother with mass media knowledge, age, education and occupation of mother, mother having BPL card, if suffering from chronic disease, decision making person for seeking health care, time lapse in approaching the health care facility and income loss due to U5 children illnesses. Conclusions: The challenge is to know about signs and symptoms of ill-health and to recognise when to seek health care services. Measures can be taken to promote awareness for seeking timely appropriate care. There is a need to develop locally adapted behaviour change communication interventions for childhood Illnesses.

Vaccination against Hepatitis B: A Scoping Review

Objective:

Elimination of viral hepatitis by 2030 as one of the international Sustainable Development Goals puts the hepatitis B vaccination on the forefront. However, barriers to vaccination reported in various studies are of concern. This study explores the global barriers for effective uptake of Hepatitis-B vaccination.

Methods:

A scoping review of studies reporting hepatitis B vaccination barriers was done using PMC data base and Google scholar search engine. About 803 journal articles and reports on hepatitis B barriers were retrieved but only 36 most relevant items during last 10 years were identified, pile sorted, grouped and analyze.

Results:

Overall 74 barriers have been identified for effective uptake of hepatitis-B vaccines. Most studies focused on non-zero dose of hepatitis B vaccine, One-third of the barriers are related to system issues, one-fourth of the barriers were related to caregiver education or awareness, fear of side effect, migration etc., one-fifth barriers were related to service provider issues like poor out-reach, home visits, poor communication and/relation with the caregivers, failure to identify unimmunized children etc., and other barriers were social-cultural issues. The review reveals limited availability and accessibility to health-facility based immunization, lack of awareness among caregivers, poor communication by the healthcare workers and negative relationships with the beneficiaries, cost of vaccine in private sector, inconvenience time and place of vaccination etc. as the major barriers for hepatitis B vaccination. Barriers varied from country to country.

Conclusion:

Myriad barriers for reduced hepatitis-B vaccine uptake need to be addressed contextually as countries are at different stages of hepatitis-B vaccination implementation.

Role of Ni substitution on structural, magnetic and electronic properties of epitaxial CoCr2O4 spinel thin films

Cubic spinel CoCr2O4 has recently attained attention due to its multiferroic properties. However, the Co site substitution effect on the structural and magnetic properties has rarely been studied in thin film form. In this work, the structural and magnetic properties of Co1-x Ni x Cr2O4 (x= 0, 0.5) epitaxial thin films deposited on MgAl2O4 (100) and MgO (100) substrates to manipulate the nature of strain in the films using pulsed laser deposition (PLD) technique are presented. The epitaxial nature of the films was manifested through x-ray diffraction (XRD), reciprocal space mapping (RSM) and Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (RBS) measurements. Raman measurements revealed a disappearance of characteristic A 1 g and F 2 g modes of the CoCr2O4 with increase in the Ni content. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) studies show a modification of the surface morphology upon Ni substitution. Magnetic measurements disclose that the ferrimagnetic Curie temperature (T C) of the CoCr2O4 in thin film grown on MgAl2O4 (100) and MgO (100) substrates were found to be 100.6 ± 0.5 K and 93.8 ± 0.2 K, respectively. With Ni substitution the T C values were found to be enhanced to 104.5 ± 0.4 K for MgAl2O4 (100) and 108.5 ± 0.6 K for MgO (100) substrates. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) suggests Cr3+ oxidation states in the films, while Co ions are present in a mixed Co2+/Co3+ oxidation state. The substitution of Ni at Co site significantly modifies the line shape of the core level as well as the valence band. Ni ions are also found to be in a mixed 2+/3+ oxidation state. O 1s core level display asymmetry related to possible defects like oxygen vacancies in the films.

Anomalous luminescent properties in ZnO and SrAl2O4composites

We showed a phase transformation from high temperature hexagonal phase to most stable monoclinic phase of SrAl₂O₄by incorporating 20% of ZnO in ZnO and SrAl₂O₄composite (Singhet al.2014Dalton Transactions). The composite with monoclinic phase further showed the intense near band edge emission and defect band emission corresponding to ZnO without any signature of SrAl₂O₄in PL spectra. An energy band diagram responsible for defect band emission is proposed for the composites.

TiO2 nanowires grown from nanoparticles: structure and charge density study

We report the synthesis of TiO2 nanowires with high aspect ratio using a two step hydrothermal process using TiO2 nanoparticles and 10 M NaOH solvent at a reaction temperature of 180 degrees C. These nanowires are characterized by field emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM), transmission electron microscope (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), micro-Raman and X-ray photo emission spectroscopy (XPS). Phase of the nanowires are found to be anatase, confirmed from both XRD and Raman spectroscopic measurements. High resolution electron microscopy (HREM) further supports the anatase structure and selected area electron diffraction (SAED) pattern indicate the single crystalline nature of the nanowires. Addition to these techniques, XPS and EDS refutes the presence of any impurity elements like Na as reported in the literatures. The electronic structures of the nanoparticles and nanowires are studied with maximum entropy method (MEM) using the XRD tools. Nanowires are found to be more ionic than the nanoparticles evidenced from the MEM simulations.

A comparative study of status of RNTCP in tribal and non-tribal districts of Odisha

To compare the RNTCP outreach in the tribal districts with that of non-tribal districts. The annual status reports on RNTCP was analysed to evaluate the performance in tribal districts and non-tribal districts. The case detection parameters were far better in the tribal districts than in the non-tribal districts. Treatment success was almost equal in the tribal districts to that of non-tribal districts.

A noise-assisted reprogrammable nanomechanical logic gate

We present a nanomechanical device, operating as a reprogrammable logic gate, and performing fundamental logic functions such as AND/OR and NAND/NOR. The logic function can be programmed (e.g., from AND to OR) dynamically, by adjusting the resonator's operating parameters. The device can access one of two stable steady states, according to a specific logic function; this operation is mediated by the noise floor which can be directly adjusted, or dynamically "tuned" via an adjustment of the underlying nonlinearity of the resonator, i.e., it is not necessary to have direct control over the noise floor. The demonstration of this reprogrammable nanomechanical logic gate affords a path to the practical realization of a new generation of mechanical computers.

Role of waterborne copper on survival, growth and feed intake of Indian major carp, Cirrhinus mrigala Hamilton

The effect of copper on survival, growth and feed intake of Indian major carp, Cirrhinus mrigala (Hamilton) fry (0.92 +/- 0.28 g) was studied for 60 days. Survival rates of the fish exposed to control (0.02), 0.10, 0.15 and 0.23 mg L(-1) copper were 100%, 83 +/- 3%, 58 +/- 6%, and 50 +/- 4%, respectively. Average daily growth was significantly (p < 0.05) lower at 0.15 and 0.23 mg L(-1) of copper. There was almost no growth at 0.23 mg L(-1) of copper. Feed intake rates reduced significantly (p < 0.05) at all the copper treatments. The copper accumulation in the fish increased with increasing concentrations of the metal.