Freshwater cat fish Clarias batrachus was exposed to Butachlor, Imidacloprid and Sodium fluoride with lethal and sub-lethal concentration for 72 hrs and 21 days durations. Protein changes in liver and muscles were analyzed after exposure period. Imidacloprid and sodium fluoride caused remarkable protein loss lethal concentration but at sub-lethal level their toxicity was moderate. But Butachlor caused remarkable protein loss at lethal as well as sublethal conentartion.

Background:To study the effect of metformin on thyroid function test (TFT) in patients of subclinical hypothyroidism (SCH). Methods:A total of 30 patients of SCH with TSH between 5 -10 mIU/L were given 2,000 mg/day of metformin for12 weeks. Patients were divided into two groups based on presence or absence of thyroid peroxidase antibody (TPO). Baseline anthropometric characteristics, fT3, fT4, TSH, serum insulin, HOMA-IR and quality of life were assessed at baseline and at 12 weeks.Results: A total of 23 patients (76.7%) who were TPO antibody negative (group 1) showed statistically significant decrease in TSH concentration at 12 weeks with no significant change in fT3 and fT4 in contrast to 7 patients (23.3%) who were TPO antibody positive (group 2). Patients in group 1 were significantly more obese, had higher serum insulin and HOMA-IR as compared to group 2. Body weight, waist circumference, BMI and percentage body fat decreases significantly in both the groups at 12 weeks as compared to baseline but on intergroup comparison this decrease was not significant statistically (P = 0.46). The HOMA-IR of group 1 was significantly higher than that of group 2 at baseline (P ≤ 0.02). Serum insulin and HOMA-IR decreased significantly in both the groups but again on intergroup comparison, no significant difference was observed. A positive correlation between serum TSH and serum insulin level and HOMA-IR level (r = 0.608, P ≤ 0.01 and r = 0.592, P ≤ 0.01 respectively) was observed in group 1. Conclusion:Metformin suppresses serum TSH levels without af-fecting fT3 and fT4 levels in SCH without any evidence of autoimmune thyroiditis.

No abstract

From the last few decades, biodegradable composites have become best alternatives over the petro based polymer because these degrade in the simple compound in the natural environments. Among the available biodegradable polymers, polylactic acid (PLA) is more popular due to its biocompatibility and mechanical properties, that can be used in the biomedical application, such as sutures, bone and ligament fixation screws etc. In this study, synthesis of PLA was performed by ring opening polymerization and Calcium phosphate/Polylactic acid (PLA) bio-composites were prepared by melt mixing technique. Tensile properties of these composites are investigated to assess its feasibility in biomedical and food packaging application.

Given a large number of SARS-CoV-2 infected individuals, clinical detection has proved challenging. The wastewater-based epidemiological paradigm would cover the clinically escaped asymptomatic individuals owing to the faecal shedding of the virus. We hypothesised using wastewater as a valuable resource for analysing SARS-CoV-2 mutations circulating in the wastewater of Pune region (Maharashtra; India), one of the most affected during the covid-19 pandemic. We conducted a case study in open wastewater drains from December 2020-March 2021 to assess the presence of SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid and further detect mutations using ARTIC protocol of MinION sequencing. The analysis revealed 108 mutations across six samples categorised into 40 types of mutations. We report the occurrence of mutations associated with B.1.617 lineage in March-2021 samples, simultaneously also reported as a Variant of Concern (VoC) responsible for the rapid increase in infections. The study also revealed four mutations; S:N801, S:C480R, NSP14:C279F and NSP3:L550del not currently reported from wastewater or clinical data in India but reported in the world. Further, a novel mutation NSP13:G206F mapping to NSP13 region was observed from wastewater. Notably, S:P1140del mutation was observed in December 2020 samples while it was reported in February 2021 from clinical data, indicating the instrumentality of wastewater data in early detection. This is the first study in India to conclude that wastewater-based epidemiology to identify mutations associated with SARS-CoV-2 virus from wastewater as an early warning indicator system.