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PEG-200, a biodegradable, non-toxic, economical, easily available, robust and recyclable solvent mediated one-pot three-component reaction for synthesis of diverse array of functionalised N-amino-3-cyano-2-pyridone by the reaction of aldehydes, cyanoacetohydrazide and malononitrile or ethyl cyanoacetate has been demonstrated. This protocol is a cascade type reaction that includes the series of Knoevenagel condensation, Michael addition, intramolecular cyclisation, imine-enamine tautomerization and oxidative aromatization. Utilization of biodegradable greener solvent without any supplementary catalyst, shorter reaction time than previously reported protocols, easily accessible synthons, mild reaction condition and easy purification of desired products are the foremost advantages of these protocols.

Background: Occupational skin illnesses are the second most common occupational health hazard following musculoskeletal disorders. Tannery workers have frequent and prolonged exposure to skin irritants and allergens and may have a higher risk of developing occupational dermatitis. Aims and Objectives: The aim of this study is to examine the extent of skin problems and their determinants among male tannery workers. Materials and Methods: The data for the present research was drawn from a cross-sectional household study of tannery and nontannery workers in the Jajmau area of Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh. A total of 284 tannery and 289 nontannery workers were interviewed using purposive sampling technique. Descriptive statistics and multivariate techniques have been used. Results: Tannery workers experienced itching hands or fingers with fissures (21%), scaling of hands or fingers with fissures (18%), red and swollen hands or fingers (11%), and vesicles on the hands or between the fingers (11%). The workers who had moderate/high dermal exposure to chemicals were 35(P < 0.001), and they were 31 (P < 0.001) times more likely to experience vesicles on scaling hands or fingers with fissures, and itching hands or fingers with fissures. The tannery workers engaged in wet finishing work were significantly 3.9 (P < 0.1) times more likely to experienced scaling on hands or fingers with fissures. Conclusion: The study acclaims the mechanization of tannery activities at workplaces, so that risk of skin complaints can be minimized among tannery workers. As the risk of skin complaints is very high with the dermal exposure to chemicals, personal protective equipment must be provided and their use should be included in the curriculum of the ternary workers.

Background: In India, it was reported previously about varying prevalence of asthma and chronic bronchitis among leather tannery workers with moderate to high exposures at the workplace to be significantly associated with asthma. This study intended to estimate the prevalence of asthma, tuberculosis, and chronic bronchitis among leather tannery workers and to identify the risk factors associated with it. Data and Methods: The data used in this study were collected through a cross-sectional household survey of 284 male tannery workers in the Jajmau area of Kanpur city in the state of Uttar Pradesh, during January–June 2015. A binary logistic regression analysis was performed to identify the factors associated with respiratory symptoms. Results: The prevalence Asthma and Chronic Bronchitis among Tannery workers was 12.3% and 11.6% which is higher as compared to non-tannery workers. The findings revealed that the prevalence of symptoms suggestive of asthma, tuberculosis, and chronic bronchitis among the tannery workers was higher compared to non-tannery workers. The study revealed that long time tannery working harms health, as tannery workers are more likely to be suffering from asthma and chronic bronchitis who worked above 11 years in the tannery (p

India is greatly afflicted by sinusitis, which is a condition that involves inflaming sinuses (the air cavities in the nasal passage) in your nose, according to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). The study’s objective was to evaluate the prevalence and risk factors of sinus and nasal allergies among tannery workers of Kanpur city. The study has used primary datasets obtained from a cross-sectional household study of tannery workers from the Jajmau area of Kanpur in northern India, which was conducted during January–June 2015 as part of a doctoral program. The study covered 286 tannery workers from the study area. Bivariate and logistic regression analysis was used to study the association between outcome variables (self-reported prevalence of sinus and nasal allergies) and predictor variables (socioeconomic and work-related characteristics). Results portray that a higher proportion of the tannery workers belong to economically and socially backward classes. Overall, 13.4 and 12.3% of sinus and nasal allergy prevalence have been reported by tannery workers, whereas tannery workers from the oldest age group were those who mainly suffered. A study found that the severity of nasal and sinus allergies increases with the increasing age and work duration in the tannery. Workers with low exposure to airborne dust were significantly more likely to develop sinus problems (OR = 4.16; p < 0.05) than those without exposure. Those tannery workers suffering from nasal allergy were more prone to develop sinus problems than those who were not suffering from nasal allergy. The risk factors responsible for these health hazards can be eliminated by improving the overall working conditions and ensuring necessary protective regulations for the tannery workers.

ObjectiveTo assess the impact of Spirulina Chikki supplementation on the nutritional status of children (6 months−6 years).DesignA cross-sectional study design was adopted to assess the changes in nutritional status among the children (after 12 months of intervention period). The bassline and endline assessment were carried out from September 2020 to August 2021, respectively.SettingTotal 106 villages (108 Anganwadi Centers in nine circles) from Tumkur District were covered.MethodsChildren aged 6 months−6 years were the study subjects. Anthropometric measurements viz., height, weight, and mid-arm circumference were collected from total 971 and 838 children during baseline and endline assessments correspondingly. The information on children's health and nutrition status was gathered from the mothers of sampled children. WHO's Anthro and AnthroPlus software were utilized to estimate the anthropometric measurements (Stunting, wasting, and underweight) of study participants.ResultsThe study found apparent disparities in the prevalence of stunting, wasting and underweight among the male and female children. There was a significant decline viz., 4% (28.6%-baseline to 24.5%-end line) in the prevalence of severe wasting. Also, severe stunting dropped by 6% at end line (30%-end-line to 24%-baseline). Improvement in nutritional status was evident among both female male children in all three indicators stunting, wasting, and underweight. Mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) measurement shows substantial improvements from baseline to end line: SAM (5.3–0.6%), MAM (23–9%), and normal (72–91%). The study discloses significant improvements in the nutritional status among those children who consumed spirulina chikkis/granules for a longer duration viz., 9–10 months as compared to those who consumed for lesser duration.ConclusionsFindings reveal improvement in nutritional status among the beneficiaries who consumed spirulina chikki/granules as per the recommended quantity (amount) during the intervention period. Post intervention, spirulina chikki supplementation for nutritional intervention is implied to address large scale malnutrition among young children.

IntroductionThough there are several interventions evaluated over the past 25 years, significant knowledge gaps continue to exist regarding the effective prevention of sexual violence. This study explored the socio-economic and context-specific distinctive characteristics of husbands and wives on sexual autonomy and unwanted sexual experiences of currently married women in India.MethodologyWe have utilized the recent round of National Family Health Survey (NFHS-4, 2015-16) data for this exploration. The NFHS-4 survey had adopted a stratified two-stage sample design to reach out to the survey households. A total of 63,696 couples are included in the analysis comprising of women of 15-49 years age and men of 15-54 years age. Multivariate techniques have been applied to understand the adjusted effects of socio-economic and demographic variables on control over their sexuality and sexual violence.ResultsUneducated women married to uneducated men experienced more sexual violence and had less control over their sexuality than the other categories. The adjusted multivariate logistic model shows that educated husbands were significantly more likely to exercise control over their educated wives' sexuality (AOR = 0.88; CI:0.78-0.99). Women having older husbands were significantly less likely to be having no-control over own sexuality (AOR = 0.89; CI:0.83-0.95) and experienced sexual violence (AOR = 0.81; CI:0.70-0.95). Women having comparatively more-educated husbands were significantly less likely to experience sexual violence (AOR = 0.62; CI:0.47-0.81). Muslim women were significantly more likely to have no control overown sexuality. SC/ST women were significantly more likely to experience sexual violence (28%).ConclusionsThis study highlights the factors associated with control over one's sexuality and preponderance to sexual violence: age, education, spouse working status, wealth status, husband's alcohol consumption, women autonomy, decision-making, and freedom for mobility. This study suggests that empowering women with education, creating awareness regarding reproductive health, and addressing their socio-economic needs to help them achieve autonomy and derive decision-making power.

Abstract Background Tuberculosis (TB) has been a major health problem globally since ages, and even today, it is a major cause of morbidity in millions of people each year. In 2015 alone, TB accounted for about 1.4 million deaths globally, with India carrying the biggest burden of the disease. The physical environment of the household, an individual living in, has a significant influence on the incidence of TB. Thus, an understanding of the socio-economic, demographic and environmental factors that individuals are exposed to is of importance. The objective of present study is to examine the association of household environment with the prevalence of Tuberculosis in India. Methods The study utilizes data from the fourth round of National Family Health Survey (NFHS-4), 2015-16, which was collected from self-reported information pertaining to Tuberculosis in the household questionnaire. The specific question was, “Does any usual resident of your household suffer from tuberculosis?” the response to which helped in the detection of Tuberculosis. Binary Logistic regression was performed from which appropriate inferences are drawn on the association of household environment with Tuberculosis. Results Prevalence of TB was found to be the highest among elderly people (0.9%), no education (0.4%) and people belonging to the poorest wealth quintile (0.53%). Family members who were regularly (daily) exposed to smoke (second-hand smoke) inside the house were more prone to getting tuberculosis (OR = 1.49; CI = 1.39-1.61) as compared with households where people do not smoke inside the house. Further, households having a finished wall (OR = 0.7; CI = 0.6-0.8) are less likely to get TB than the households with mud walls. Households that shared their toilets with other households are more likely to get hold of Tuberculosis (OR = 1.2; CI = 1.1-1.4). Conclusions Results strongly suggest that a contaminated household environment increases the risk of tuberculosis in India. There are multiple risk factors that are strongly associated with Tuberculosis: smoke inside house, type of cooking fuel, separate kitchen, floor, roofing and wall material, number of persons sleeping in a room, sharing toilet and potable water with other households; and individual characteristics such as age, sex, educational attainment, marital status, place of residence and wealth index.

Abstract Background The occupation of waste-picking characterised as 3Ds – dangerous, drudgery and demanding. In this context, the study aimed to assess occupational morbidities among the waste-pickers and attempts to identify potential individual level risk factors enhancing health risks. Additionally, economic burden of morbidities has been assessed. Methods The burden of the morbidities was assessed and compared with a comparison group through a cross-sectional survey. Waste-pickers (n = 200) and a comparison group (n = 103) working for at least a year were randomly selected from the communities living on the edge of the Deonar dumping site. The difference in the prevalence of morbidities was tested using the chi-square test. The effect of waste picking resulting the development of morbidities was assessed using the propensity score matching (PSM) method. A multivariate logistic regression model was employed to identify the individual risk factors. T-test has been employed in order to analyse the difference in health care expenditure between waste pickers and non-waste pickers. Results The prevalence of morbidities was significantly higher among the waste-pickers, particularly for injuries (75%), respiratory illness (28%), eye infection (29%), and stomach problems (32%), compared to the comparison group (17%, 15%, 18%, and 19% respectively). The results of the PSM method highlighted that waste-picking raised the risk of morbidity for injuries (62%) and respiratory illness (13%). Results of logistic regression suggest that low level of hygiene practices [household cleanliness (OR = 3.23, p

BACKGROUND:The main processes in the pathogenesis of cerebral malaria caused by Plasmodium falciparum involved sequestration of parasitized red blood cells and immunopathological responses. Among immune factors, IgG autoantibodies to brain antigens are increased in P. falciparum infected patients and correlate with disease severity in African children. Nevertheless, their role in the pathophysiology of cerebral malaria (CM) is not fully defined. We extended our analysis to an Indian population with genetic backgrounds and endemic and environmental status different from Africa to determine if these autoantibodies could be either a biomarker or a risk factor of developing CM. METHODS/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS:We investigated the significance of these self-reactive antibodies in clinically well-defined groups of P. falciparum infected patients manifesting mild malaria (MM), severe non-cerebral malaria (SM), or cerebral malaria (CM) and in control subjects from Gondia, a malaria epidemic site in central India using quantitative immunoprinting and multivariate statistical analyses. A two-fold complete-linkage hierarchical clustering allows classifying the different patient groups and to distinguish the CM from the others on the basis of their profile of IgG reactivity to brain proteins defined by PANAMA Blot. We identified beta tubulin III (TBB3) as a novel discriminant brain antigen in the prevalence of CM. In addition, circulating IgG from CM patients highly react with recombinant TBB3. Overall, correspondence analyses based on singular value decomposition show a strong correlation between IgG anti-TBB3 and elevated concentration of cluster-II cytokine (IFNgamma, IL1beta, TNFalpha, TGFbeta) previously demonstrated to be a predictor of CM in the same population. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE:Collectively, these findings validate the relationship between antibody response to brain induced by P. falciparum infection and plasma cytokine patterns with clinical outcome of malaria. They also provide significant insight into the immune mechanisms associated to CM by the identification of TBB3 as a new disease-specific marker and potential therapeutic target.

Tobacco users are exposed to a higher risk of noncommunicable diseases, leading to premature mortality and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs). The future prediction indicates that tobacco-related mortality and morbidity rates will substantially increase in coming years. The study is aimed at assessing the prevalence of tobacco consumption and cessation attempts for different tobacco products among adult men in India. The study utilized information from India's latest National Family Health Survey-5 (NFHS-5) data which was conducted during 2019-21, including 988,713 adult men aged 15 years and above and 93,144 men aged 15-49. Results suggest that 38 percent of men consume tobacco, including 29% in urban and 43% in rural areas. Among the men aged 35-49 years, the odds were significantly higher for consuming any form of tobacco (AOR: 7.36, CI: 6.72-8.05), smoking cigarettes (AOR: 2.56, CI: 2.23-2.94), and smoking bidi (AOR: 7.12, CI: 4.75-8.82) as compared to those aged 15-19. The application of multilevel model indicates that tobacco usages are not evenly distributed. In addition, there is maximum clustering of tobacco usages found around household level factors. Further, 30% of men aged 35-49 years attempted to stop consuming tobacco. Though 27% of men tried to quit tobacco in the last 12 months and 69% of men are exposed to secondhand smoke, 51% of men who received advice for quitting tobacco and visited the hospital in the last 12 months belong to the lowest wealth quintile. These findings prioritize promoting awareness about adverse effects of tobacco use, especially in rural areas, and capacitate them to adopt cessation efforts so that those who want to quit may be successful in their efforts. In addition, the health system's response to the tobacco epidemic in the country should be strengthened by training of service providers to promote cessation efforts through appropriate counselling of all the patients visiting them in the context of tobacco use in any form as key drivers of the increasing burden of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) in the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Age misreporting is a common phenomenon in Demographic and Health Surveys, and there are numerous reasons for this. The trend and pattern of disparity in age heaping vary between countries. The present study assesses age heaping in the selected South Asian countries of Afghanistan, India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Pakistan using data from the most recent round of the Demographic and Health Survey. The respondent sample sizes were 203,703 for Afghanistan, 2,869,043 for India, 49,064 for Nepal, 81,618 for Bangladesh and 100,868 for Pakistan. Age heaping was assessed by respondent's age, education level, sex and level of education. Whipple's index was calculated to assess systematic heaping on certain ages as a result of digit preference. Bangladesh, Afghanistan and India showed stronger preference for ages ending with the digits '0' and '5' compared with Pakistan and Nepal among uneducated respondents. On the other hand, strong avoidance of ages ending in the digits '1', '4' and '9' was observed in Bangladesh, Afghanistan and India. However, urban–rural place of residence was not found to be associated with digit preference in the study countries. Among males, age misreporting with the final digits '0' and '5' was highest in Bangladesh, followed by Afghanistan and India, and Nepal showed the least displacement. Strong digit preference and avoidance, and upper age displacement, were witnessed in the surveys conducted in Bangladesh, Afghanistan and India on the parameters of sex and education level. Innovative methods of data collection with the measurement and minimization of errors using statistical techniques should be used to ensure accuracy of age data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Though there are several interventions evaluated over the past 25 years, significant knowledge gaps continue to exist regarding the effective prevention of sexual violence. This study explored the socio-economic and context-specific distinctive characteristics of husbands and wives on sexual autonomy and unwanted sexual experiences of currently married women in India. Methodology: We have utilized the recent round of National Family Health Survey (NFHS-4, 2015–16) data for this exploration. The NFHS-4 survey had adopted a stratified two-stage sample design to reach out to the survey households. A total of 63,696 couples are included in the analysis comprising of women of 15–49 years age and men of 15–54 years age. Multivariate techniques have been applied to understand the adjusted effects of socio-economic and demographic variables on control over their sexuality and sexual violence. Results: Uneducated women married to uneducated men experienced more sexual violence and had less control over their sexuality than the other categories. The adjusted multivariate logistic model shows that educated husbands were significantly more likely to exercise control over their educated wives' sexuality (AOR = 0.88; CI:0.78–0.99). Women having older husbands were significantly less likely to be having no-control over own sexuality (AOR = 0.89; CI:0.83–0.95) and experienced sexual violence (AOR = 0.81; CI:0.70–0.95). Women having comparatively more-educated husbands were significantly less likely to experience sexual violence (AOR = 0.62; CI:0.47–0.81). Muslim women were significantly more likely to have no control overown sexuality. SC/ST women were significantly more likely to experience sexual violence (28%). Conclusions: This study highlights the factors associated with control over one's sexuality and preponderance to sexual violence: age, education, spouse working status, wealth status, husband's alcohol consumption, women autonomy, decision-making, and freedom for mobility. This study suggests that empowering women with education, creating awareness regarding reproductive health, and addressing their socio-economic needs to help them achieve autonomy and derive decision-making power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Occupational fatalities remain a complex issue despite many scientific research and development efforts made to resolve the problems, especially in the developing world. Due to that, occupational accidents continue to contribute a significant proportion of the total burden of disease. In the case of India, it is difficult to get the data on occupation injuries and fatalities across the different occupational groups. Objectives: The objective of the study is to estimate the prevalence and risk factors of occupational injury among the tannery workers of Kanpur, India. Methods: A cross-sectional study design was adopted; a total of 284 tannery workers were interviewed during January-June 2015 from Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, using a threestage sampling design to fulfil the study objective. Multivariable analyses were employed to see the effect of explanatory variables on the injury. Results: Over one-tenth of the tannery workers (11%) experienced work-related injuries in the past 12 months. Eighty percent of the injured workers had received medical care and 13 out of 30 wounded workers become physically disabled. Tannery workers involved in loading and unloading of raw hides--manually and by trolleys--were 2.0 (p<0.1) times and 2.1 (p<0.1) times more likely to experience a workrelated injury. Conclusion: To conclude, the increased risk factors of occupational injuries are loading and unloading raw hides--manually and by trolleys--were the significant risk factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ethyl lactate, a bio‐based completely degradable green solvent has been explored as an efficient reaction medium for the synthesis of symmetric as well as unsymmetric azobenzenes using various amines. As an environment friendly solvent, ethyl lactate has been found to have an interesting effect in this methodology for the formation of azobenzenes without the use of any transitional metal catalysts at room temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Glycerol, a green, bio‐degradable, benign solvent has been recognized to act as a highly efficient medium for the catalyst free synthesis of a vast range of highly functionalized thioamide by modified Willgerodt‐Kindler Reaction and 4H‐thiopyran via one‐pot multi‐component synthesis from easily accessible precursors. These protocols avoid hardnosed reaction conditions and proceed without any metal catalyst or toxic acid or solvent. In addition, these protocols have numerous advantages such as shorter reaction time, high yield and excellent functional group tolerance. Further the solvent can be recovered and reused at the end of the reaction which makes this methodology inexpensive, greener and environmentally safe protocol. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study focuses on the impact of mass media in creating awareness and enhancing efficacy of tobacco control interventions by disseminating knowledge to the public about the harmful effects of tobacco. It examines variations in awareness of tobacco's health hazards and anti-tobacco campaigns among 69,296 adults aged 15 and above based on gender and tobacco use (smoked or smokeless) and the role of the media in cessation attempts by tobacco users using data from the Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS). The GATS is a household survey which was conducted in India during 2009-10. The study found that a higher proportion of adults was exposed to anti-smoking information across different media compared with anti-smokeless tobacco information. Tobacco users are also less likely to be aware of the health hazards of tobacco compared with non-users. Noticing anti-tobacco messages and knowing the health hazards of smokeless tobacco use are significantly associated with cessation attempts among tobacco users in India. Males are more likely to notice anti-smoking and anti-smokeless tobacco information through any media compared with females. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The occupation of waste-picking characterised as 3Ds - dangerous, drudgery and demanding. In this context, the study aimed to assess occupational morbidities among the waste-pickers and attempts to identify potential individual level risk factors enhancing health risks. Additionally, economic burden of morbidities has been assessed. Methods: The burden of the morbidities was assessed and compared with a comparison group through a cross-sectional survey. Waste-pickers (n = 200) and a comparison group (n = 103) working for at least a year were randomly selected from the communities living on the edge of the Deonar dumping site. The difference in the prevalence of morbidities was tested using the chi-square test. The effect of waste picking resulting the development of morbidities was assessed using the propensity score matching (PSM) method. A multivariate logistic regression model was employed to identify the individual risk factors. T-test has been employed in order to analyse the difference in health care expenditure between waste pickers and non-waste pickers. Results: The prevalence of morbidities was significantly higher among the waste-pickers, particularly for injuries (75%), respiratory illness (28%), eye infection (29%), and stomach problems (32%), compared to the comparison group (17%, 15%, 18%, and 19% respectively). The results of the PSM method highlighted that waste-picking raised the risk of morbidity for injuries (62%) and respiratory illness (13%). Results of logistic regression suggest that low level of hygiene practices [household cleanliness (OR = 3.23, p < 0.00), non-use of soap before meals (OR = 2.65, p < 0.05)] and use of recyclable items as a cooking fuel (OR = 2.12, p < 0.03) enhanced health risks among the waste pickers when adjusted for the age, duration of work, duration of stay in community and substance use. Additionally, the high prevalence of morbidities among waste pickers resulted into higher healthcare expenditure. Findings of the study suggest that not only healthcare expenditure but persistence of illness and work days lost due to injury/illness is significantly higher among waste pickers compared to non-waste pickers. Conclusions: The study concluded that waste-picking raised the risk of morbidities as also expenditure on healthcare. Results from the study recommend several measures to lessen the morbidities and thereby incurred healthcare expenditure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The purpose of this study was to test the reliability, validity and factor structure of GHQ-12 questionnaire on male tannery workers of India. We have tested three different factor models of the GHQ-12. Methods: This paper used primary data obtained from a cross-sectional household study of tannery workers from Jajmau area of the city of Kanpur in northern India, which was conducted during January-June, 2015, as part of a doctoral program. The study covered 286 tannery workers from the study area. An interview schedule containing GHQ-12 was used for tannery workers who had completed at least 1 year at their present occupation preceding the survey. To test reliability, Cronbach's alpha test was used. The convergent test was used for validity. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to compare three factor structures for the GHQ-12. Results: A total of 286 samples were analyzed in this study. The mean age of the tannery workers in this study was 38 years (SD = 1.42). We found the alpha coefficient to be 0.93 for the complete sample. The value of alpha represents the acceptable internal consistency for all the groups. Each item of scale showed almost the same internal consistency of 0.93 for the male tannery workers. The correlation between factor 1 (Anxiety and Depression) and factor 2 (Social Dysfunction) was 0.92. The correlation between factor 1 (Anxiety and Depression) and factor 3 (Loss of confidence) was the highest 0.98. Comparative fit index (CFI) estimate best-fitted for model-III that gave the CFI value 0.97. The SRMR indicator gave the lowest value 0.031 for the model-III. Conclusions: The findings suggest that the Hindi version of GHQ-12 is a reliable and valid tool for measuring psychological distress in male tannery workers of Kanpur city, India. Study found that the model proposed by the Graetz was the best fitted model for the data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A green and suitable protocol for the conversion of aldoximes into nitriles is described. The transformation is carried out under solvent-free conditions using FeCl3-silica medium. The protocol offers a green, single-step facile procedure with the use of less toxic metal salt to isolate nitriles in good to excellent yields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) has been a major health problem globally since ages, and even today, it is a major cause of morbidity in millions of people each year. In 2015 alone, TB accounted for about 1.4 million deaths globally, with India carrying the biggest burden of the disease. The physical environment of the household, an individual living in, has a significant influence on the incidence of TB. Thus, an understanding of the socio-economic, demographic and environmental factors that individuals are exposed to is of importance. The objective of present study is to examine the association of household environment with the prevalence of Tuberculosis in India.Methods: The study utilizes data from the fourth round of National Family Health Survey (NFHS-4), 2015-16, which was collected from self-reported information pertaining to Tuberculosis in the household questionnaire. The specific question was, "Does any usual resident of your household suffer from tuberculosis?" the response to which helped in the detection of Tuberculosis. Binary Logistic regression was performed from which appropriate inferences are drawn on the association of household environment with Tuberculosis.Results: Prevalence of TB was found to be the highest among elderly people (0.9%), no education (0.4%) and people belonging to the poorest wealth quintile (0.53%). Family members who were regularly (daily) exposed to smoke (second-hand smoke) inside the house were more prone to getting tuberculosis (OR = 1.49; CI = 1.39-1.61) as compared with households where people do not smoke inside the house. Further, households having a finished wall (OR = 0.7; CI = 0.6-0.8) are less likely to get TB than the households with mud walls. Households that shared their toilets with other households are more likely to get hold of Tuberculosis (OR = 1.2; CI = 1.1-1.4).Conclusions: Results strongly suggest that a contaminated household environment increases the risk of tuberculosis in India. There are multiple risk factors that are strongly associated with Tuberculosis: smoke inside house, type of cooking fuel, separate kitchen, floor, roofing and wall material, number of persons sleeping in a room, sharing toilet and potable water with other households; and individual characteristics such as age, sex, educational attainment, marital status, place of residence and wealth index. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A solvent-free and environmentally benign protocol for the single-step formation of nitriles (II) from aldoximes (I) using FeCl3-silica medium is given. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An abstract of the article "Auto-antibodies targeting brain antigens in Plasmodium falciparum infected patients as biomarkers of Cerebral Malaria" that was presented at a conference titled "From Parasite to Prevention: Advances in the understanding of malaria" held in Edinburgh, Great Britain on October 20-22, 2010, is presented.

Background: The main processes in the pathogenesis of cerebral malaria caused by Plasmodium falciparum involved sequestration of parasitized red blood cells and immunopathological responses. Among immune factors, IgG autoantibodies to brain antigens are increased in P. falciparum infected patients and correlate with disease severity in African children. Nevertheless, their role in the pathophysiology of cerebral malaria (CM) is not fully defined. We extended our analysis to an Indian population with genetic backgrounds and endemic and environmental status different from Africa to determine if these autoantibodies could be either a biomarker or a risk factor of developing CM. Methods/Principal Findings: We investigated the significance of these self-reactive antibodies in clinically well-defined groups of P. falciparum infected patients manifesting mild malaria (MM), severe non-cerebral malaria (SM), or cerebral malaria (CM) and in control subjects from Gondia, a malaria epidemic site in central India using quantitative immunoprinting and multivariate statistical analyses. A two-fold complete-linkage hierarchical clustering allows classifying the different patient groups and to distinguish the CM from the others on the basis of their profile of IgG reactivity to brain proteins defined by PANAMA Blot. We identified beta tubulin III (TBB3) as a novel discriminant brain antigen in the prevalence of CM. In addition, circulating IgG from CM patients highly react with recombinant TBB3. Overall, correspondence analyses based on singular value decomposition show a strong correlation between IgG anti-TBB3 and elevated concentration of cluster-II cytokine (IFNγ, IL1β, TNFα, TGFβ) previously demonstrated to be a predictor of CM in the same population. Conclusions/Significance: Collectively, these findings validate the relationship between antibody response to brain induced by P. falciparum infection and plasma cytokine patterns with clinical outcome of malaria. They also provide significant insight into the immune mechanisms associated to CM by the identification of TBB3 as a new disease-specific marker and potential therapeutic target. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]