Doppler weather radars as a game changer in desert locust swarm tracking.

Desert locusts, notorious for their ruinous impact on agriculture, threaten over 20% of Earth's landmass, prompting billions in losses and global food scarcity concerns. With billions of these locusts invading agrarian lands, this is no longer a thing of the past. Recent invasions, such as those in India, where losses reached US$ 3 billion in 2019-20 alone, underscore the urgency of action.

The theragnostic advances of exosomes in managing leukaemia.

Leukaemia, a group of haematological malignancies, presents ongoing diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment challenges. A major obstacle in treating this disease is the development of drug resistance. Overcoming drug resistance poses a significant barrier to effective leukaemia treatment.

ExtendinG SUb-DAily River Discharge data over INdia (GUARDIAN).

River discharge information is crucial for various applications, but the measurement process often remains impeded by factors that hinder near real-time (NRT) data availability in India. However, leveraging telemetry-based water surface elevation (WSE) data across the country provides an opportunity to convert it into river discharge. This conversion is made possible by utilizing rating curves (RCs) derived from historical collocated measurements of WSE and discharge.

AI-KODA score application for cleanliness assessment in video capsule endoscopy frames.

Background: Currently, there is no automated method for assessing cleanliness in video capsule endoscopy (VCE). Our objectives were to automate the process of evaluating and collecting medical scores of VCE frames according to the existing KOrea-CanaDA (KODA) scoring system by developing an easy-to-use mobile application called artificial intelligence-KODA (AI-KODA) score, as well as to determine the inter-rater and intra-rater reliability of the KODA score among three readers for prospective AI applications, and check the efficacy of the application.

Method: From the 28 patient capsule videos considered, 1539 sequential frames were selected at five-minute intervals, and 634 random frames were selected at random intervals during small bowel transit.

Integration of dynaMic water extents towards imProved lake wAter suRface Temperature (IMPART).

Lake water surface temperature (LWST) is a critical component in understanding the response of freshwater ecosystems to climate change. Traditional estimation of LWST estimation considers water surface bodies to be static. Our work proposes a novel open-source web application, IMPART, designed for estimating dynamic LWST using Landsat reflectance and MODIS temperature datasets from 2004 to 2022.

A multi-label dataset and its evaluation for automated scoring system for cleanliness assessment in video capsule endoscopy.

An automated scoring system for cleanliness assessment during video capsule endoscopy (VCE) is presently lacking. The present study focused on developing an approach to automatically assess the cleanliness in VCE frames as per the latest scoring i.e.

Rabies death in an adolescent tribal girl diagnosed postmortem, in Kerala - the precious life, preventable loss and equity concerns.

Background: Rabies is a neglected tropical disease endemic in 150 countries, including India where it is present in all states and union territories except Andaman and Nicobar Islands Lakshadweep. Kerala reports high incidence of animal bites. This article discusses the preventable death of a 17-year-old tribal girl due to rabies in Kerala and the equity concerns it raises.

Expression profiling of stemness markers in testicular germline stem cells from neonatal and adult Swiss albino mice during their transdifferentiation in vitro.

Background: Spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) were considered to be stem cells with limited potencies due to their existence in adult organisms. However, the production of spermatogonial stem cell colonies with broader differentiation capabilities in primary germ cell cultures from mice of select genetic backgrounds (C57BL6/Tg14, ddY, FVB and 129/Ola) indicated that SSCs from these strains were pluripotent.

Methods: We established primary cultures of SSCs from neonatal and adult Swiss 3T3 Albino mice.

Effect of mango butter on the physicochemical properties of beeswax-Moringa seed oil-based oleogels for topical application.

Objective: The purpose of this research was to determine any connections between the characteristics of oleogels made of beeswax and the impact of mango butter.

Methods: Oleogel was prepared through inverted tube methods, and optimized through oil binding capacity. Other evaluations like bright field and polarized microscopy, Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, crystallization kinetics, mechanical study, and X-ray diffractometry (XRD).

The burden of dengue and force of infection among children in Kerala, India; seroprevalence estimates from Government of Kerala-WHO Dengue study.

Background: Dengue shows high geographic heterogeneity within and across endemic countries. In the context of increasing burden and predicted outbreaks due to climate change, understanding the heterogeneity will enable us to develop region specific targeted interventions, including vaccination. World Health Organisation (WHO) suggests standard methodologies to study the burden and heterogeneity at national and subnational levels.

A multicentric case study of fibroblastic and myofibroblastic oral spindle cell lesions.

Context: Spindle cell lesions comprise a vast plethora of benign and malignant lesions with similar clinical and radiographic features. Their overlapping histopathologic features ensure a diagnostic dilemma.

Aim: The current multicentric study aims to delineate fibroblastic and myofibroblastic oral spindle cell lesions based on cytomorphology and comprehensive immunohistochemical analysis.

Relevance of multicolor imaging, its component channels, and fundus autofluorescence in describing macular telangiectasia type-2 (MacTel) lesion characteristics.

Purpose: The aim of the study was to describe imaging characteristics and detection rates of phenotypic features in macular telangiectasia type-2 (MacTel) on multicolor (MC), blue reflectance (BR), green reflectance (GR), infrared reflectance (IR), and fundus autofluorescence (FAF) and to evaluate sensitivity, specificity, and predictive values across modalities.

Methods: In this monocentric observational study, 282 eyes of 148 patients with MacTel underwent color fundus photograph, MC, BR, GR, IR, FAF, spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT), OCT-angiography (OCT-A), and fundus fluorescein angiography (FFA). Grading was done by two graders qualitatively and quantitatively for the presence of the following prespecified MacTel findings [crystals, right-angle vessels (RAVs), plaques, subretinal neovascularization (SRNV), and MacTel area].

Evaluating the performance of electrocoagulation system in the removal of polystyrene microplastics from water.

Emerging pollutants, particularly microplastics, present a significant threat to both the environment and human health. Traditional treatment methods lack targeted strategies for their removal. This study thoroughly investigated the efficacy of electrocoagulation as a method for efficiently extracting microplastics from water.

Variability of Inverted Repeats in All Available Genomes of Bacteria.

Noncanonical secondary structures in nucleic acids have been studied intensively in recent years. Important biological roles of cruciform structures formed by inverted repeats (IRs) have been demonstrated in diverse organisms, including humans. Using Palindrome analyser, we analyzed IRs in all accessible bacterial genome sequences to determine their frequencies, lengths, and localizations.

In silico analysis of sporulene biosynthesis pathway genes in the members of the class Bacilli.

Sporulene, a pentacyclic triterpenoid, was discovered in Bacillus subtilis and is associated with bacterial endospores. However, the study was not further extended, leaving a trail of questions. One such question is what diversity of sporulenes exists among spore-forming members? Considering the sporulene biosynthesis pathway as a fundamental tool to survey the distribution of this molecule, a genome mining study was conducted.

Obesity Burden and Physical Activity Pattern Among Doctors in South India.

Context: A career as a doctor makes him prone to develop health issues like obesity and obesity-related noncommunicable diseases.

Aims: This study aims to find the burden and determinants of obesity among Modern Medicine doctors in Kerala.

Settings And Design: We conducted a cross-sectional study among 240 doctors working in South Kerala from 2018 to 2019.

Octyl Gallate and Gallic Acid Isolated from Terminalia bellirica Circumvent Breast Cancer Progression by Enhancing the Intrinsic Apoptotic Signaling Pathway and Elevating the Levels of Anti-oxidant Enzymes.

Exploration of new strategies and identification of less expensive novel chemoprevention agents against breast cancer progression have become the need of the hour. Thus, the present study aimed at evaluating the anti-cancer efficacies of octyl gallate (OG) and gallic acid (GA) isolated from Terminalia bellirica (T. bellirica) in breast cancer cell lines and DMBA-induced Sprague-Dawley animal model.

Prevalence of Tuberculosis Infection among Adults of Thiruvananthapuram District of Kerala as Measured by Interferon Gamma Release Assay - A Cross-Sectional Study.

Background: To achieve the goals of the end tuberculosis (TB) strategy, strategies for management of TB infection (TBI) have to be expanded. The first step to devise policies is to understand the distribution and determinants of TBI in the community. The objectives of the study were to estimate the prevalence of TBI using Interferon Gamma Release Assay (IGRA) and its determinants among the adult population of Thiruvananthapuram district, Kerala.

Estimation of groundwater storage loss for the Indian Ganga Basin using multiple lines of evidence.

We used remote sensing data, field observations and numerical groundwater modelling to investigate long-term groundwater storage losses in the regional aquifer of the Ganga Basin in India. This comprised trend analysis for groundwater level observations from 2851 monitoring bores, groundwater storage anomaly estimation using GRACE and Global Land Data Assimilation System (GLDAS) data sets and numerical modelling of long-term groundwater storage changes underpinned by over 50,000 groundwater level observations and uncertainty analysis. Three analyses based on different methods consistently informed that groundwater storage in the aquifer is declining at a significant rate.

Optimization of Pesticides Spray on Crops in Agriculture using Machine Learning.

Pesticides are chemicals used to eradicate pests. Not only are they used for plant protection and livestock in agriculture, but they are also used in public areas to kill mosquitoes, cockroaches, and other pests. Approximately 95% of the pesticides produced are only used in agriculture for crop protection.

An oral pathologist's tryst with COVID 19: A chronicle of understanding, experience and despair.

Ever since the COVID 19 pandemic struck our nation and started to cripple our health care infrastructure around the world, a considerable number of research was directed toward the development of the COVID Vaccine. However, when it finally came into our medical infrastructure, people were skeptical about taking the vaccine because of the considerable confusion on its efficacy and adverse effects. An attempt has been made through this communication to narrate my personal experience; My journey from First Infection to Vaccination finally culminating with COVID Reinfection, lessons learnt!!

Oral amyloidosis: A case report and diagnostic algorithm.

Background: Amyloidosis is a distressing and infrequent condition caused by accumulation of abnormally folded proteins as aggregates in the extracellular tissue spaces of the body, leading to destruction of organ structure and function. Presentation of Oral Amyloidosis is generally a rare phenomenon, tongue being the most common site to manifest the disease process. Accurate recognition of the amyloid protein and its sub typing is absolutely critical for clinical management and to assess prognosis such as to avoid misdiagnosis and unwanted, potentially harmful treatment.