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Malaria morbidity has various presentations and the focus now shifts to uncommon signs and symptoms of malaria infection such as cognitive impairment to address the morbidity when the mortality declines. About 50% of children admitted to hospitals due to malaria experience neurological complications due to factors like low blood sugar, inflammation, elevated pressure, decreased oxygen levels, and excitotoxicity. Malaria during pregnancy negatively also impacts children’s cognitive, behavioral, and executive function leading to neurodevelopmental delay due to increased susceptibility which can significantly affect maternal and child health, leading to higher rates of underestimated factors like anxiety, depression, and PTSD. Despite having the world’s second-largest tribal population, India’s indigenous and tribal communities and their mental health are less explored and less understood. Western psychological tools and neurocognitive assessment tools are not universally applicable, thus necessitating the development of tailored tools to investigate psychological or neurocognitive impairment. This paper has illuminated the hidden mental health consequences of malaria infection, emphasizing the prevalence, nature, and implications of psychological distress among affected individuals. The findings underscore the importance of recognizing and addressing these psychological consequences in the holistic management and prevention of malaria and its mental health consequences.

Introduction India’s contribution to the malaria burden was highest in South-East Asia Region in 2021, accounting for 79% of the estimated malaria cases and 83% of malaria-related deaths. Intensified Malaria Control Programme supported by Global Funds to Fight against AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria has deployed crucial interventions to reduce the overall burden of malaria in India. Evaluation of utilisation of malaria elimination interventions by the community and assessment of the healthcare system is underway in eleven high malaria endemic states in India. Health system preparedness for malaria elimination, logistics, and supply chain management of diagnostic kits and anti-malarial drugs in addition to the knowledge, attitude and practice of the healthcare workers is also being assessed.Methods and analysis The study is being undertaken in 11 malaria endemic states with a variable annual parasite incidence of malaria. In total, 47 districts (administrative unit of malaria control operations) covering 37 976 households are to be interviewed and assessed. We present here the protocol following which the study is being undertaken at the behest and approval of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in India.Ethics and dissemination No patients were involved in the study. Study findings will be shared with Institutional ethics board of National Institute for Malaria Research New Delhi (NIMR) in a timely, comprehensive, accurate, unbiased, unambiguous and transparent manner and to the National Vector-borne Disease (Malaria) Control Programme officers and the Community public who participated. Important findings will be communicated through community outreach meetings which are existing in the Health system. Results will be informed to study participants via local fieldwork supervised by District Malaria Officers. Also findings will be published in reputed journals based on Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) publication policy.The ICMR-NIMR ethics committee approved the study via letter No. NIMR/ECM/2023/Feb/14 dated 24 April 2023 for version 5. All standard ethical practices will be followed.

In view of the increased number of detected dengue cases in Bengaluru, a request for situation analysis was received from local health authorities in the selected area. The study included epidemiological and entomological assessments to understand the same. The immature forms collected were allowed to emerge, pooled, and processed for vector incrimination. In the surveyed population (347), 20 (5.8%) reported fever cases and 12 (3.5%) were confirmed as dengue cases among the 102 families. Stegomyia indices were high. Vector incrimination studies revealed pools positive for the presence of dengue virus in flower pots, fridge trays, plastic barrels, and rubber tires habitats. This study highlights the increased risk of dengue fever incidence in communities wherepoor intra and peri-domestic sanitation practices are prevailing and recommendsregular entomological surveillance of denguevirus in its vector population..

Ravinder Kodela,1 Niharika Nath,2 Mitali Chattopadhyay,1 Diandra E Nesbitt,1 Carlos A Velázquez-Martínez,3 Khosrow Kashfi11Department of Physiology, Pharmacology and Neuroscience, Sophie Davis School of Biomedical Education, City University of New York Medical School, 2Department of Life Sciences, New York Institute of Technology, New York, NY, USA; 3Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada Abstract: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the second leading cause of death due to cancer and the third most common cancer in men and women in the USA. Nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) is known to be activated in CRC and is strongly implicated in its development and progression. Therefore, activated NF-κB constitutes a bona fide target for drug development in this type of malignancy. Many epidemiological and interventional studies have established nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) as a viable chemopreventive strategy against CRC. Our previous studies have shown that several novel hydrogen sulfide-releasing NSAIDs are promising anticancer agents and are safer derivatives of NSAIDs. In this study, we examined the growth inhibitory effect of a novel H2S-releasing naproxen (HS-NAP), which has a repertoire as a cardiovascular-safe NSAID, for its effects on cell proliferation, cell cycle phase transitions, and apoptosis using HT-29 human colon cancer cells. We also investigated its effect as a chemopreventive agent in a xenograft mouse model. HS-NAP suppressed the growth of HT-29 cells by induction of G0/G1 arrest and apoptosis and downregulated NF-κB. Tumor xenografts in mice were significantly reduced in volume. The decrease in tumor mass was associated with a reduction of cell proliferation, induction of apoptosis, and decreases in NF-κB levels in vivo. Therefore, HS-NAP demonstrates strong anticancer potential in CRC. Keywords: nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, cell cycle, apoptosis, xenograft, NF-κB, thioredoxin reductase, chemoprevention

Niharika Nath,1,2 Xiaoping Liu,3 Lloydine Jacobs,1 Khosrow Kashfi1,3 1Department of Physiology, Pharmacology, and Neuroscience, Sophie Davis School of Biomedical Education, City University of New York Medical School, New York, NY, USA; 2Department of Life Sciences, New York Institute of Technology, New York, NY, USA; 3Division of Cancer Prevention, Department of Medicine, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, USA Background: The Wnt/ß-catenin/T cell factor (TCF) signaling pathway is important in the development of nonmelanoma skin cancers (NMSCs). Nitric-oxide-releasing nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NO-NSAIDs) are chemopreventive agents consisting of a traditional NSAID attached to an NO-releasing moiety through a chemical spacer. Previously we showed that an aromatic spacer enhanced the potency of a particular NO-NSAID compared to an aliphatic spacer. Methods: We synthesized an NO-releasing NSAID with an aromatic spacer (flurbiprofen benzyl nitrate, NBS-242), and using the human skin cancer cell line A-431, we evaluated its effects on cell kinetics, Wnt/ß-catenin, cyclin D1, and caspase-3. Results: NBS-242 inhibited the growth of A-431 cancer cells, being ~15-fold more potent than flurbiprofen and up to 5-fold more potent than NO-flurbiprofen with an aliphatic spacer, the half maximal inhibitory concentrations (IC50) for growth inhibition being 60 ± 4 µM, 320 ± 20 µM, and 880 ± 65 µM for NBS-242, NO-flurbiprofen, and flurbiprofen, respectively. This effect was associated with inhibition of proliferation, accumulation of cells in the G0/G1 phase of the cell cycle, and an increase in apoptotic cell population. NBS-242 cleaved ß-catenin both in the cytoplasm and the nucleus of A-431 cells. NBS-242 activated caspase-3 whose activation was reflected in the cleavage of procaspase-3. To test the functional consequence of ß-catenin cleavage, we determined the expression of cyclin D1, a Wnt-response gene. NBS-242 reduced cyclin D1 levels in a concentration dependent manner. Conclusion: These findings establish a strong inhibitory effect of NBS-242 in A-431 human epidermoid carcinoma cells. NBS-242 modulates parameters that are important in determining cellular mass. Keywords: flurbiprofen, nitric oxide, ß-catenin, chemoprevention, skin cancer

Apart from the widely used polymeric fibers, Quartz fiber is the one that possesses various characteristics. Quartz polymeric fiber in combination with Cyanate Ester resin produces a high-performance composite that has excellent properties and is used primarily in military applications. The present investigation aims at developing a model to predict the output characteristics of hole in the drilling of Quartz composite laminate. Output parameters considered are thrust force, torque, exit delamination factor, hole diameter, cylindricity, and surface roughness. Vacuum Assisted Resin Transfer Molding (VARTM) process was adopted for laminate manufacturing. Full factorial design of experiments was considered for the selected input parameters and experiments were carried out. Further modeling was developed to predict the output parameters employing Back Propagation Neural Network (BPNN) method and it was found that the optimal network architecture was 3-45-15-10-6 with Mean Squared Error (MSE) of 0.0105. Experimental results were analyzed and the inuence of input parameters in this drilling process was studied. The testing data were consistent with the output parameters predicted from the model and the obtained maximum error was 7.58%. Further, the model developed was validated with a new batch of experiments and the values obtained were satisfactory with maximum error of 7.17%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study systematically demonstrates the ancient iron-making process in one of the earliest ironsmelting sites in India, and Naikund, Vidarbha region, dating as far back as 900 BC. During the process, the maximum temperature attained in the Naikund furnace was estimated to be ~1150-1250°C in the reaction zones where solid-state reduction of iron followed by separation of the low-melting slag phase and metallic iron were predominant. The low melting point of the slag phase is possibly due to the addition of sand or silica and limestone in the furnace during the iron-making process. Furthermore, mass balance studies performed using the Rist diagram superimposed with the Fe-C-O stability diagram revealed that the minimum charcoal rate was about 1900 kg/tonnes of iron produced. It can be anticipated that the porous, semi-solid metallic iron is hammered to produce various objects used for hunting and agriculture. The thermochemical analysis of one of the earliest iron-smelting sites in India provides evidence of the ancient iron-making processes in the country. This study further opens up multitudes of possibilities to analyse ancient metallurgical structures in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]