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Changes in river bank location have wide consequences on floodplain communities and the sustainability of floodplain ecosystems. Although river dynamics are monitored globally and locally, understanding the impact of riverine dynamics on land use change remains a challenge. Bangladesh, part of the Bengal Delta, is mostly made up of alluvial deposits and is crisscrossed by so many rivers. Jamuna is one of the prominent rivers in this region. This study presents a consistent evaluation of the dynamics of the Jamuna river and ensuing changes in land use over 48 years (1972–2020) depending on satellite observations and geospatial analysis. Changes in the presence of water were used to estimate the advance/retreat of the banks and loss/gain of land along 257 perpendicular transects along the common pattern of the centerlines of the river. We found that the overall loss of agricultural land was about 535.01 km2, sevenfold of the gained agricultural land. Other land use losses were bare lands 136.73 km2, waterbodies 80.37 km2, settlement 67.28 km2 and vegetation 132.79 km2 against 48.47 km2, 3.52 km2, 23.76 km2 and 6.14 km2 land use gains respectively. Agricultural land loss impacts the livelihood of the floodplain dwellers and settlement loss causes internal migration. This pattern of land use change driven by the river dynamics has created newer environmental challenges and additionally, climate change may intricate the situation in the future. The findings of this study throw insight into the fact and may aid in sustainable river training measures and floodplain management.

Diabetes mellitus (Type 2) is a major world health problem spreading speedily throughout the world. It is a chronic illness that necessitates long-term therapy and care. Therefore, the therapy to treat and manage the disease should not only be safe and effective but should also be affordable. In countries like India, the cost of the therapy must be economical so that it can be easily afforded by common people. This review article mainly focuses on the novel drug dapagliflozin, a SGLT-2 inhibitor, and discusses its various aspects. It acts independently of the insulin pathway by inhibiting the reuptake of glucose in the renal tubules, allowing glycosuria to take place. This helps decrease blood glucose levels. Dapagliflozin is effective as both, monotherapy and combination therapy depending on the severity of the case as indicated by multiple studies. Since, only one daily dose is sufficient, this may be a more reasonable option for many low-income group patients. Many new medications are in development but dapagliflozin could be the major turning factor in managing T2DM along with metformin, sulfonylurea, insulin, pioglitazone, and DPP-4 inhibitors as mono or combination therapy.

Principal component analysis (PCA) can reduce the subjectivity of Water quality index (WQI) models by reducing parametric dimension and has gained immense attention in exploring water quality among researchers. Therefore, this study focuses on developing a novel WQI model for 4 Dhaka-based rivers namely Buriganga, Turag, Balu, and Shitalakhya following PCA as a method for selecting and weighting water quality parameters. The dataset includes 12 water quality parameters from 19 sites of these rivers sourced from the Department of Environment (DoE), Bangladesh. Correlation analysis followed by PCA, was conducted to decrease the parameter count from 12 to 7. The Measure of Sampling Adequacy (MSA) was found to be 0.853 in the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) test and Bartlett’s test of sphericity was significant at an alpha level of 0.05 indicating the dataset was suitable for factor analysis. Sub-indexing was introduced with the quality rating curves provided by the National Sanitation Foundation (NSF)-WQI model and modified rating curves for specific parameters with statistical dispersion. The calculated WQI values for 209 samples ranged from 36 (Bad) to 82 (Good) on a scale of 100. More than 70 % of the samples were in the medium or bad, and the rest were in the good category. The trend in WQI across the rivers indicated higher values during the wet season, attributed to the dilation from local rainfall. By incorporating a well-distributed dataset spanning several years, this statistical approach effectively minimizes the subjectivity and bias in developing WQI models for rivers in Dhaka, contributing to more robust future model development. Moreover, this study introduces a modern approach for assessing the river water quality of Dhaka city that can be incorporated into the river pollution control strategies.

A proper assessment of the water allocation system and water–food production relationships is essential to identify water use reduction potentials and enhance crop water productivity in dry areas. However, limited data on crop-specific water uses and water losses in the system, especially in developing and transition countries, prevent consistent diagnosis of issues in water systems. A modeling framework based on maximum entropy approach was implemented here to simultaneously assess water system structure and ‘water use-crop production’ relationships. The framework allowed for the analysis of long-term changes in conveyance efficiency, crop-specific water application, and irrigation water productivity between 1980 and 2021 in the Khorezm region in the lower reaches of the Amu Darya Basin in Central Asia. The results showed that conveyance losses were more than 30% in the system, and approximately 40% of the water allocated to the region went to rice and cotton production, indicating the possibility of water use reduction in these three areas. Conveyance efficiency and cotton water productivity improved in drier years in the region, owing to the wide implementation of temporary and low-cost drought management measures. The expected increase in the frequency and magnitude of droughts may require long-term investment-demanding strategies for drought management to enhance the sustainable livelihoods in the region.

Seasonal variation observations were conducted in the coastal waters of St. Martin's Island in the Bay of Bengal to examine the influence of physical processes and the distribution pattern of nutrients in the ocean water. Pollution evaluation indices, health index and statistical techniques were incorporated to assess the heavy metal contamination. Two seasons, cool dry winter and pre-monsoon hot, were considered for sampling from 12 stations around the island. The Cool dry winter season has higher nutrient concentrations than the Pre-monsoon Hot season. The concentration of nutrients appeared as follows: Silicate > Nitrate > Ammonia > Phosphate > Nitrite. PCA and Pearson's Correlation showed that fresh water from nearby rivers, deep water upwelling, and, in some situations, modest anthropogenic sources are crucial. Hence, low DO and phosphate levels during the pre-monsoon hot season indicate there is a planktonic process like photosynthesis prevailing. The island's north-western and south-eastern regions have higher nutrient concentrations, which may be seasonal and due to wind action. Pb, Cu, As, Cr, Cd, and Zn were also considered to comprehend the island's geo-chemical perspectives and ecological and human health risks. The Pre-monsoon Heavy Metal Pollution Index (HPI) and Heavy Metal Evaluation Index (HEI) demonstrated that some places are much higher than the threshold limit, even though no significantly higher value was detected in the cool winter season. The Nemerow Index, the Total Ecological Risk Index (TERI), indicated that heavy metal contamination was severe to moderate and low to moderate. Finally, Pearson's correlation showed the association between physical and chemical characteristics, similar to PCA and Pearson's correlation for nutrients and heavy metals. Thus, this research may help shed light on the state of the seas around St. Martin's Island. This study may also provide explicit insights for the authority to take the necessary measures to preserve marine ecology and the associated terrestrial ecosystem.

Objective: Resveratrol is a polyphenolic compound that possesses strong antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. This study evaluated the effects of resveratrol on oxidative stress, fibrosis and multiple genes regulation in the kidneys of high fat (HF) diet-fed rats. Methods: Wistar rats were fed with HF diet for eight weeks. These rats were also treated with resveratrol for eight weeks. Finally, kidney tissue samples were isolated from all sacrificed rats. The histological changes, creatinine and uric acid levels, oxidative stress parameters such as malondialdehyde (MDA), nitric oxide, and advanced oxidation protein product (AOPP) levels were analyzed. The antioxidant enzymes such as catalase, superoxide dismutase (SOD) activities and reduced glutathione (GSH) levels; gene expression of inflammatory and fibrosis-related genes namely, inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), transforming growth factor beta1 (TGF-β1), and collagen-1 were assessed. Moreover, gene expression of oxidative stress-related genes such as nuclear factor erythroid 2–related factor 2 (Nrf-2), SOD, catalase, and glutathione reductase, were also assessed. Results: HF diet-fed rats showed increased creatinine and uric acid levels in plasma which were lowered by resveratrol treatment. The study findings also revealed that resveratrol counterbalanced the oxidative stress and prevented the expression of the inflammatory genes; restored the catalase and SOD activities followed by the up-regulation of antioxidant genes expression in the kidneys of HF diet-fed rats. HF diet caused the Nrf-2 down-regulation followed by the decreased expression of HO-1 and HO-2 genes, which was restored by resveratrol treatment. Moreover, the histological assessment showed lipotoxicity and increased fibrosis in the kidneys of HF diet-fed rats. Resveratrol prevented the kidney fibrosis probably by limiting oxidative stress, inflammation, and down-regulating TGF-β1 mediated signaling pathway. Conclusion: In conclusion, resveratrol treatment showed beneficial effects in preventing oxidative stress and fibrosis in the kidneys of HF diet-fed rats probably by modulating the gene expression of oxidative stress and inflammation related factors and enzymes.

Aim: To evaluate pharmacokinetics, efficacy and safety of fixed-dose combination (FDC) of oral capecitabine + cyclophosphamide in metastatic breast cancer (MBC) patients progressing after anthracycline and/or taxane chemotherapy. Methods: In this prospective, adaptive, phase-2/3, open-label study (CTRI/2014/12/005234), patients were randomized (1:1:1) to three FDC doses (doses/day: D1, capecitabine + cyclophosphamide 1400 mg + 60 mg; D2, 1800 mg + 80 mg; D3, 2200 mg + 100 mg) for 14 days, in 21-day cycles. In Part-I, multiple-dose pharmacokinetics and optimal dose(s) were evaluated with futility analysis. Group(s) with

Diabetes is a chronic disease, which is the seventh leading cause of death worldwide. The increased risk to the health of diabetic patients, with comorbidities in harsh situations like COVID-19 pandemics, necessitates real-time monitoring of blood glucose. Monitoring of blood glucose is invasive, hence, sweat glucose monitoring can be an alternative approach to address the invasive issue in blood glucose monitoring. This work reports a facile, low-cost, high-performance copper (Cu) native oxide (CuNOx)-based nonenzymatic electrochemical sensor for sweat glucose sensing. We utilized a very thin Cu native oxide of ~10 nm on Cu thin film for the sensing because of the excellent catalytic oxidation behavior of cuprous oxide (Cu2O) to glucose. The anodic sweep of cyclic voltammetry of glucose showed that the hydroxyl ions from sodium hydroxide convert the electrode surface into different oxides [Cu(I), Cu(II) Cu(III)], which electro-oxidize glucose to gluconolactone, then eventually to gluconic acid resulting in oxidation current. The CuNOx sensors exhibited a sensitivity of 603.42 μA mM−1 cm−2, a linear range beyond the desired limit of 7.00 mM with excellent linearity, and a low limit of detection of 94.21 μM. Excellent repeatability and stability (stable >1 year) with relative standard deviation (RSD) of 2.67%, and 2.70%, respectively were achieved for 1 mM glucose. The selectivity with common interferants of glucose in human sweat and blood showed an RSD of 3.56%. We believe the electrocatalytic efficacy of the CuNOx sensors for glucose sensing can open a new prospect in the fabrication of wearable sweat glucose sensors.

Mn3O4 nanoparticles (NPs) were synthesized from the reduction of KMnO4 with glycerol at 80 °C in aqueous media via a gel formation route. In order to investigate the thermal stability and phase transformation, Mn3O4 NPs were subjected to heat treatment from 200 °C to 700 °C. The formation of different MnOx species observed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements showed temperature dependent phase transformation occurring during the heat treatment process. XRD patterns showed that Mn3O4 NPs were formed at a temperature of 80 °C and two new phases Mn5O8 and Mn2O3 were appeared at 350 °C and 700 °C respectively. The three different oxides having their distinct surface morphologies viz., spherical, rod and cube shape respectively, were observed. Detailed morphological and structural investigations using Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM), XRD, Thermo Gravimetric Analysis (TGA) and Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) revealed the temperature dependent phases, crystal structures, lattice constants, particle sizes and surface morphologies of the MnOx species.

Global climatic changes are contaminating ground and surface water sources around the world, resulting in increased salinity. Knowing the animals' typical physiological capability for salinity tolerance without compromising their health is a necessity. The research was undertaken to determine the impacts of drinking water salinity on hemato-biochemical parameters of Black Bengal goats. A total of 40 Black Bengal goats (20 male and 20 female), age ranging from 1 to 5 years, were randomly selected and divided into 2 groups. The animals of group 1 received higher saline water (12 ppt) and those in group 2 received lower saline water (1 ppt) as regular drinking water. Blood parameters of all selected goats were measured. Serum creatinine, uric acid, urea, potassium, sodium, and chloride were significantly higher (P

Concentrations of five heavy metals (Pb, Cd, Cr, As and Hg) in eight highly consumed cultured fish species (Labeo rohita, Clarias gariepinus, Hypophthalmichthys molitrix, Cyprinus capio, Puntius sarana, Oreochromis mossambicus, Pangasius pangasius and Anabas testudineus) collected from four wholesale markets of Dhaka city, Bangladesh (Karwan Bazar, Mohammadpur Town Hall, Newmarket and Mirpur-1) were measured using atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS) in order to evaluate the potential human health risks from the consumption of fish. The estimated daily intake (EDI) of all the studied heavy metals calculated on the basis of mean fish consumption of 49.5Â g personâ1 dâ1 by Bangladeshi households indicated that no risk to peopleâs health with respect to the EDI of investigated heavy metals through the consumption of the fish samples. From the human health point of view, the estimation of non-carcinogenic risk indicated that intake of individual heavy metal through the consumption of fish was safe for human health, whereas, consumption of combined heavy metals suggested potential health risk to highly exposed consumers. However, the estimation of carcinogenic risk of arsenic due to the consumption of fish indicated that consumers remain at risk of cancer. Keywords: Heavy metals, Fish, Estimated daily intake, Carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic risk, Human health risks

Trained immunity (TI) is a proinflammatory program induced in monocyte/macrophages upon sensing of specific pathogens and is characterized by immunometabolic and epigenetic changes that enhance cytokine production. Maladaptive activation of TI (ie, in the absence of infection) may result in detrimental inflammation and development of disease; however, the exact role and extent of inappropriate activation of TI in the pathogenesis of human diseases is undetermined. In this study, we uncovered the oncogene-induced, maladaptive induction of TI in the pathogenesis of a human inflammatory myeloid neoplasm (Erdheim-Chester disease, [ECD]), characterized by the BRAFV600E oncogenic mutation in monocyte/macrophages and excess cytokine production. Mechanistically, myeloid cells expressing BRAFV600E exhibit all molecular features of TI: activation of the AKT/mammalian target of rapamycin signaling axis; increased glycolysis, glutaminolysis, and cholesterol synthesis; epigenetic changes on promoters of genes encoding cytokines; and enhanced cytokine production leading to hyperinflammatory responses. In patients with ECD, effective therapeutic strategies combat this maladaptive TI phenotype; in addition, pharmacologic inhibition of immunometabolic changes underlying TI (ie, glycolysis) effectively dampens cytokine production by myeloid cells. This study revealed the deleterious potential of inappropriate activation of TI in the pathogenesis of human inflammatory myeloid neoplasms and the opportunity for inhibition of TI in conditions characterized by maladaptive myeloid-driven inflammation., (© 2021 by The American Society of Hematology.)

Background: Cardiac sarcoidosis (CS) is a challenging diagnosis. Patients may progress to end-stage congestive heart failure and require cardiac transplantation without ever having been diagnosed. Characteristics and outcomes of patients with granulomas in the explanted hearts are unknown., Methods: All French heart transplantation centers were contacted to participate in the study. Each center searched through local databases for the cases of non-caseating granuloma in the explanted hearts between 2000 and 2017. Data before and after transplantation were recorded from medical charts. Survival of CS and all- cause heart transplantation patients were compared., Results: Fifteen patients (10 men, 5 women) received a diagnosis of CS based on pathologic data of the explanted heart and were recruited for the study. All patients were diagnosed as non-ischemic dilated or hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and presented congestive heart failure. Eight patients (53%) had ventricular rhythm disturbances, and 3 (20%) a complete heart block. Ten out of 13 patients (77%) had extracardiac radiological signs compatible with sarcoidosis on chest computed tomography (CT) scans. One patient died 3 months after transplantation from infectious complications. The 14 remaining patients were still alive at the end of the study (median follow-up of 28.8 months). One patient had a second heart transplantation 5 years later because of chronic allograft vasculopathy. One patient presented a relapse of CS confirmed by myocardial biopsies 9 years after transplantation, requiring an escalation of immunosuppressive therapy., Conclusion: CS may be undiagnosed before heart transplantation. In 77% of cases, sarcoidosis could have been detected before transplantation with non-invasive imaging techniques., (Copyright © 2019. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Background: Destombes-Rosai-Dorfman disease (RDD) is a rare multisystemic histiocytosis. Pulmonary involvement during RDD has been poorly described. The goal of this study was to examine the clinical presentations, radiological features, and outcomes of 15 patients with RDD and lung involvement., Methods: The cases of RDD with lung involvement were extracted from the French National Histiocytosis registry. Efficacy of the MEK inhibitor cobimetinib in treating lung disease was evaluated with an 18 fluorodeoxyglucose PET scanner and chest CT scans., Results: Fifteen patients (six women; median age, 40 years at RDD diagnosis) were included. All patients had evidence of systemic disease with extrapulmonary localizations of the disease (lymphadenopathy [n = 12], skin [n = 9], bones [n = 6], retroperitoneal involvement [n = 3], sinuses [n = 3], parotid gland [n = 2], submandibular gland [n = 1], and breast [n = 1]). Presenting symptoms were dominated by dyspnea and dry cough in seven patients. Restrictive physiology was observed in two of five patients. BAL showed lymphocytosis in one of five cases. Eight patients received corticosteroids, all but one with variable immunosuppressive or immunomodulatory therapies. Two patients received cobimetinib for severe lung disease, with dramatic pulmonary metabolic and tumoral responses. Two patients died during follow-up: one of hemoptysis, and the other of an unrelated cerebral tumor., Conclusions: Pulmonary involvement in RDD is rare, proteiform, and sometimes severe. The MEK inhibitor cobimetinib can lead to dramatic responses., (Copyright © 2019 American College of Chest Physicians. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: Sarcoidosis is a systemic granulomatous disorder of unknown cause. Apparition or flare of previously diagnosed sarcoidosis following hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) has rarely been reported., Observation: We report a 62-year-old woman who presented a radiological flare of sarcoidosis post-autologous stem cell transplantation for a POEMS syndrome. Imaging findings and lymph node histology, which revealed non-caseating granuloma, were consistent with the sarcoidosis diagnosis. The patient was asymptomatic and was kept free of treatment., Conclusion: Sarcoidosis must be considered ahead of compatible clinicoradiological presentation occurring after HSCT. Sarcoidosis can mimic metastatic cancer or lymphatic relapse. Tissue biopsies and exclusion of differential diagnosis of granuloma diseases are warranted to confirm sarcoidosis diagnosis., (Copyright © 2017 Société Nationale Française de Médecine Interne (SNFMI). Published by Elsevier SAS. All rights reserved.)

Erdheim-Chester disease is a rare and orphan disease. Despite having been overlooked previously, numerous new cases have been diagnosed more recently. The number of Erdheim-Chester disease cases reported has increased substantially: more than 300 new cases have been published in the past 10 years. This situation is mainly a result of the generally better awareness among pathologists, radiologists, and clinicians of various aspects of this rare disease. The field has been particularly active in the last few years, with evidence of the efficacy of interferon-α, the description of a systemic pro-inflammatory cytokine signature, and most recently, reports of the dramatic efficacy of BRAF inhibition in severe, BRAF(V600E) mutation-associated cases of Erdheim-Chester disease. Also, BRAF mutations have been found in more than half of the patients with Erdheim-Chester disease who were tested. Detailed elucidation of the pathogenesis of the disease is likely to lead to the development of better targeted and more effective therapies., (Copyright © 2014 Société nationale française de médecine interne (SNFMI). Published by Elsevier SAS. All rights reserved.)

Histiocytoses are rare disorders of unknown origin with highly heterogeneous prognosis. BRAFV600E gain-of-function mutations have been observed in 57% of cases of Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH) and 54% of cases of Erdheim-Chester disease (ECD), but not in other types of histiocytoses. Targeted therapy with an inhibitor of mutated BRAF (vemurafenib) improves survival of patients with melanoma. Here, we report vemurafenib treatment of 3 patients with multisystemic and refractory ECD carrying the BRAFV600E mutation; 2 also had skin or lymph node LCH involvement. The patients were assessed clinically, biologically (CRP values), histologically (skin biopsy), and morphologically (positron emission tomography [PET], computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging). For all patients, vemurafenib treatment led to substantial and rapid clinical and biologic improvement, and the tumor response was confirmed by PET, computed tomography, and/or magnetic resonance imaging 1 month after treatment initiation. For the first patient treated, the PET response increased between months 1 and 4 of treatment. The treatment remained effective after 4 months of follow-up although persistent disease activity was still observed. Treatment with vemurafenib, a newly approved BRAF inhibitor, should be considered for patients with severe and refractory BRAFV600E histiocytoses, particularly when the disease is life-threatening.

We describe a primitive hyperparathyroid in a old woman due to a parathyroid adenoma localized by Technetium 99m, Thallium 201 scintigraphy within the thyroid gland. During surgery, this adenoma was found inside a thyroid adenoma. It is the second case reported on the literature in a such localization. We underline the interest of the scintigraphy Technetium 99m, Thallium 201, for the detection of ectopic parathyroid adenoma.