Dynamics of environmental variables during the incidence of algal bloom in the coastal waters of Gujarat along the northeastern Arabian Sea.

The dynamics of physico-chemical, nutrient, and chlorophyll-a variables were studied in the bloom and non-bloom locations along the off-Gujarat coastal waters to understand the variability in biogeochemistry using multivariate analytical tests. The dissolved oxygen was significantly lower in the bloom stations (3.89 ± 0.44 mgL-1) than in the non-bloom stations (5.50 ± 0.70 mg L-1), due to the biological degradation of organic matter in addition to anaerobic microbial respiration. Nutrients (PO4 and NO3) and Chl-a concentrations were recorded higher in the bloom locations at 0.83 ± 0.21 µmol L-1, 4.47 ± 0.69 µmol L-1, 4.14 ± 1.49 mg m-3, respectively. PO4 and NO3 have shown a significantly higher positive correlation of r = 0.73 and r = 0.69 with Chl-a for bloom data than the non-bloom data. The percentage variance contributed by PC1 and PC2 for both bloom and non-bloom locations were estimated at 52.33%. The variable PO4 explains the highest 24.19% variability in PC1, followed by Chl-a (19.89%). The PO4 triggers the bloom formation and also correlates to the higher concentrations of Chl-a in the bloom locations. The bloom concentration ranges from 9553 to 12,235 trichomes L-1. The bloom intensity has shown a significant positive correlation with Chl-a (r = 0.77), NO3 (r = 0.56), and PO4 (r = 0.30), but a negative correlation was noticed with DO (r = - 0.63) and pH (r = - 0.49). The study also initiates a way forward research investigation on ocean-color technologies to identify and monitor blooms and climate change-driven factors for bloom formation. The occurrence of bloom and its influence on fishery resources and other marine biotas will open many research windows in marine fisheries, oceanography, remote sensing, marine biology, and trophodynamics.

Systematic review and meta-analysis of global prevalence of neurotoxic and hemotoxic snakebite envenomation

Background: The World Health Organization estimates that there are approximately 5.4 million snakebites and 1.8–2.7 million cases of envenomation, with 81 410–137 880 deaths each year worldwide. Aims: To estimate the prevalence of neurotoxic and haemotoxic snakebite envenomation through a comprehensive systematic review and meta-analysis. Methods: We searched Medline/PubMed, Scopus and Cochrane Library up to January 2021 using keywords such as snakebite and snake envenomation. Bibliographic and random searches were also performed. Prospective or retrospective observational studies and randomized controlled trials were included for the review. Results: We included 271 of 9711 studies published between 1963 and 2020. The pooled prevalence of snakebite from 188 studies with a total of 207 235 participants showed the highest prevalence in North America (69.20%; 95% confidence interval, CI: 57.06–81.34%) and lowest in Africa (28.10%; 95% CI: 22.22–33.98%). There was a pooled prevalence of 24.94% (95% CI: 22.84–27.03%) for haemotoxicity, with a highest prevalence of coagulopathy (43.76%; 95% CI: 33.15–54.37%). The overall prevalence of neurotoxicity was 38.20% (95% CI: 31.88–44.53%), with a highest prevalence of ptosis (53.57%; 95% CI: 38.51–68.62%). Conclusion: There was a higher prevalence of snakebites in North America. The most prevalent haemotoxicity and neurotoxicity were coagulopathy and ptosis, respectively. The overall quality of evidence was good with a non-significant publication bias.

Coronavirus-related online web search desire amidst the rising novel coronavirus incidence in Ethiopia: Google Trends-based infodemiology

BackgroundDuring disease outbreaks, social communication and behaviors are very important to contain the outbreak. Under such circumstances, individual activities on online platforms will increase tremendously. This will result in the circulation useful or misleading/misinformation (infodemic monikers) in the community. Thus, exploring the online trending information is highly crucial in the process of containing disease outbreak. Therefore, this study aimed to explore users concerns towards coronavirus-related online web search activities and to investigate the extent of misleading terms adopted for identifying the virus in the early stage of COVID-19 spread in Ethiopia. MethodsGoogle Trends was employed in exploring the tendency towards coronavirus-related web search activities in Ethiopia from March 13 to May 8, 2020. Keywords of the different names of COVID-19 and health-related issues were used to investigate the trends of public interest in searching from Google over time. Relative search volume (RSV) and Average peak comparison (APC) were used to compare the trends of online search interests. Pearson correlation coefficient was calculated to check for the presence of correlation. ResultDuring the study period, "corona," "virus," "coronavirus," "corona virus", "China coronavirus," and "COVID-19", were the top names users adopted to identify the virus. In almost all search activities, the users employed infodemic monikers to identify the virus (99%). "Updates" related issues (APC=60, 95% CI, 55 - 66) were the most commonly trending health-related searches on Google followed by mortality (APC=27, 95% CI, 24 - 30) and symptoms (APC=55, 95% CI, 50 - 60) related issues. The regional comparison showed the highest cumulative peak for the Oromia region on querying health-related information from Google. ConclusionThis study revealed an initial increase in the public interest of COVID-19 related Google search, but this interest was declined over time. Tremendous circulation of infodemic monikers for the identification of the virus was also noticed in the country. The authors recommend concerned stakeholders to work immensely to keep the public alert on coronavirus-related issues and to promote the official names of the virus to decrease the circulation of misleading and misinformation amid the outbreak.

DNA Replication Licensing Proteins for Early Detection of Lung Cancer

Background: To identify and characterize malignant and premalignant cells in sputum and matched tissue samples with reference to expression of minichromosome maintenance proteins (MCM2, MCM5) and cell division cycle protein 6 (CDC 6) and to assess their potential as biomarkers of premalignant and malignant lesions of the lung and associations with clinicopathological features. Methods: Expression of MCM2, MCM5 and 6 proteins in sputum samples and corresponding tissues was assessed by immunocytochemistry, and correlated with histological findings. Results: For characterization of malignant, metaplastic or dysplastic cells, CDC6 protein had the highest sensitivity of 87.7%. All the three markers together had a sensitivity of 94.4%. Furthermore these proteins could be employed to assess the proliferative potential of precancerous or atypical cells, as overexpression increasing with the stage of disease and degree of metastasis. Conclusion: The assessed markers can be utilized in routine cytopathology laboratories to supplement conventional morphological evaluation so that the sensitivity of sputum cytology can be enhanced. Potential applications in predicting the clinical behavior of lung lesions and predicting prognosis and survival deserve further attention.

Fucoidan coated ciprofloxacin loaded chitosan nanoparticles for the treatment of intracellular and biofilm infections of Salmonella.

Salmonella infections and their gallstone associated biofilm infections are difficult to treat due to poor penetration of antibiotics into the intracellular compartments of macrophages and within biofilms. Here we developed ciprofloxacin loaded chitosan nanoparticles (cCNPs) and fucoidan (Fu) coated cCNPs (Fu-cCNPs). Characterizations of these nanoparticles were carried out using Dynamic Light Scattering , Transmission electron microscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The prepared cCNPs and Fu-cCNPs have the size range of 124±7nm and 320±18nm, respectively. Both nanoparticles were found to be non-hemolytic and cytocompatible. In vitro sustained release of ciprofloxacin was observed from both cCNPs and Fu-cCNPs over a period of 2 weeks. The antimicrobial activity of cCNPs and Fu-cCNPs was tested under in vitro and in vivo conditions. The intracellular anti-Salmonella activity of Fu-cCNPs was 2 fold higher than cCNPs and 6 fold higher than ciprofloxacin alone. Fluorescence microscopic images confirmed enhanced delivery of Fu-cCNPs than the cCNPs within the intracellular compartment of macrophages. Both cCNPs and Fu-cCNPs are found to be equally effective in dispersing Salmonella Paratyphi A gallstone biofilms. The in vivo antibacterial activities of Fu-cCNPs were superior to cCNPs which we have validated using Salmonella Paratyphi A infected Drosophila melanogaster fly model. Our overall results showed that (1) Fu-cCNPs are more effective in eradicating Salmonella infections than cCNPs; (2) both cCNPs and Fu-cCNPs were equally effective in dispersing Salmonella gallstone biofilms.