Localized cutaneous leishmaniasis (LCL) in India is due mostly to Leishmania tropica. It is mainly endemic in the deserts of Rajasthan. Recently, Himachal Pradesh has been identified as a new endemic focus for the disease. In the last few years, the number of new cases has been increasing almost to epidemic proportions. This report presents the preliminary findings of clinico-epidemiologic and investigative results of 161 new localized cases of LCL seen between May 2001 and December 2003. The study populaton was composed of 80 males and 81 females between 10 months and 75 years of age. All were indigenous to the sub-alpine valley along the Satluj River in the mountainous region of the Kinnaur District (altitude = 700-2,900 meters). Most patients were seen from April to September and had 1-8 lesions (duration = 1-6 months) that involved mainly the face. Tissue smears were positive for amastigotes in 37% and histopathology showed non-caseating epitheloid cell granuloma in 77% of the cases. Analysis by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) of the ribosomal gene region of 10 biopsy specimens showed amplicons indistinguishable from L. donovani in eight cases and L. tropica in two cases. Leishmania was cultured on modified Nicole-Novy-McNeal (NNN) medium containing RPMI 1640 medium and heat-inactivated fetal bovine serum from 13 of 38 biopsy samples. Three of these isolated strains were identified as L. donovani while a fourth was L. tropica by PCR-RFLP of the ribosomal internal transcribed spacer region. One strain had a gp63 sequence identical to that of east African strains. Another strain had a unique gp63 sequence that has not been found in L. donovani complex strains. Sand flies trapped in the cattle sheds of a few patients were identified as Phlebotomus longiductus (Parrot 1928). Treatment with intralesional sodium stibogluconate was effective in all patients without any major side effects. One patient developed lupoid leishmaniasis that responded to higher dose of sodium stibogluconate. Though rarely reported as a cause of LCL, L. donovani seems to be the predominant pathogen in this new focus of cutaneous leishmaniasis. Phlebotomus longiductus is a possible vector, albeit based on circumstantial evidence.

Abstract. Progeny of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes infected intrathoracically with dengue-3 virus was reared to subsequent generations. In each generation, blood-fed females were confined individually and the eggs obtained from the transovarially infected females were pooled. The seventh generation obtained from the infected parental mosquitoes showed that virus could persist in mosquitoes in successive generations through transovarial passage. The rate of vertical transmission initially increased in the few generations (F 1 -F 2 ), but in subsequent generations it was found to be steady. Parental mosquitoes inoculated with virus showed higher mortality than the diluent-inoculated controls. There was an increase in the larval duration of transovarially infected batches at the seventh generation when compared with uninfected control mosquitoes. The fecundity and fertility of the transovarially infected batches of mosquitoes was also affected when compared with the controls. This is the first report demonstrating persistence of dengue virus in the successive generations of mosquitoes infected through vertical transmission. These observations, which have great epidemiologic importance, suggest that vector mosquitoes may play an important role in the maintenance of virus in nature, and that mosquitoes may act as reservoirs of these viruses.

The Metaverse has been the centre of attraction for educationists for quite some time. This field got renewed interest with the announcement of social media giant Facebook as it rebranding and positioning it as Meta. While several studies conducted literature reviews to summarize the findings related to the Metaverse in general, no study to the best of our knowledge focused on systematically summarizing the finding related to the Metaverse in education. To cover this gap, this study conducts a systematic literature review of the Metaverse in education. It then applies both content and bibliometric analysis to reveal the research trends, focus, and limitations of this research topic. The obtained findings reveal the research gap in lifelogging applications in educational Metaverse. The findings also show that the design of Metaverse in education has evolved over generations, where generation Z is more targeted with artificial intelligence technologies compared to generation X or Y. In terms of learning scenarios, there have been very few studies focusing on mobile learning, hybrid learning, and micro learning. Additionally, no study focused on using the Metaverse in education for students with disabilities. The findings of this study provide a roadmap of future research directions to be taken into consideration and investigated to enhance the adoption of the Metaverse in education worldwide, as well as to enhance the learning and teaching experiences in the Metaverse.

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Air pollution has been a matter of great concern globally because of the associated health risks to individuals. The situation is getting worse in developing countries with more urbanization, industrialization and more importantly the rapidly growing population posing a threat to human life in the form of pulmonary, cardiovascular, carcinogenic or asthmatic diseases by accumulating toxic pollutants, harmful gases, metals, hydrocarbons etc.ObjectiveThe present study was undertaken to assess the magnitude of ambient air pollutants and their human health risks like respiratory ailments, infectious diseases, cardiovascular diseases and cancer using a Retrospective Approach of Bart Ostra.MethodologyThe parameters PM2.5, PM10, NOx, SO2, NH3 and O3 were monitored at all selected study sites monitored through a high volume sampler (APM 451 Envirotech, Envirotech Instruments Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, India). Retrospective Approach was used for assessment of risk factors and disease burden of respiratory and cardiopulmonary health problems.ResultsEnvironmental burden of disease showed that the problem of health related to air pollution is a main concern particularly in the growing cities of India. High to critical level of air pollution including PM10, PM2.5, NOx, SO2, NH3 and O3 was observed in all seasons at traffic intersections and commercial sites. The respiratory infections (25% incidence in population exposed to indoor smoke problems) and a prevalence of asthma/COPD (4.4%) in households exposed to high vehicular pollution along with signs of coronary artery/heart disease and/or hypertension and cancers (37.9-52.2%), were reported requiring preventive measures.ConclusionThe study reflects a great concern for the mankind with the need of having streamline ways to limit air pollution and emphasize upon efficiently determining the risk of illness upon exposure to air pollution.