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Abstract The well understood structure of $$U_{pmns}$$ U pmns matrix mandates a Cabibbo mixing matrix in the first two generations of the charged lepton sector if we assume Tri-bimaximal mixing in the neutrino sector. This ansatz, called Tri-bimaximal-Cabibbo mixing, is ruled out immediately by the experiments searching for charged lepton flavour violating currents. In this article, we aim to show that the resurrection of the theoretically well motivated Tri-bimaximal mixing scenario comes naturally within Minimal Flavour Violation hypothesis in the lepton sector. We analyse the flavour violating currents $$\mu \rightarrow e e e$$ μ → e e e , $$\mu Ti \rightarrow e Ti$$ μ T i → e T i , $$\mu \rightarrow e \gamma $$ μ → e γ , $$\pi ^0\rightarrow e^+ \mu ^{-}$$ π 0 → e + μ - and $$K_L \rightarrow \mu ^+ e^-$$ K L → μ + e - in this scenario and show that the New Physics that generates mixing among the charged lepton could lie within the reach of hadron colliders. In the minimal field content scenario, though the most stringent constrain on New Physics is $$\gtrsim {\mathcal {O}}(10$$ ≳ O ( 10 TeV) for maximal coupling, considering more natural couplings relaxes it to $$\gtrsim {\mathcal {O}}(4$$ ≳ O ( 4 TeV). On the other hand, New Physics with the extended field content is even more strongly constrained to $$\gtrsim {\mathcal {O}}(75$$ ≳ O ( 75 TeV) for maximal coupling, while it gets relaxed to $$\gtrsim {\mathcal {O}}(31$$ ≳ O ( 31 TeV) for natural scenario.

Introduction: Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy (DPN) causes damage to the peripheral nerves. Vibration Perception Threshold (VPT) helps to test the loss of protective sensation of the nerves. Aim: To find the association between VPT values and clinical symptoms of DPN. Materials and Methods: The descriptive study assessed association between the VPT values and clinical symptoms of 220 diabetic patients selected by purposive sampling. The VPT was measured by a sensitometer. A metal probe was placed under the toes of the patient and the voltage was increased gradually from zero and the transition from no vibration to the point of vibration is marked as VPT. Average of three measurements were taken to calculate the VPT value of the given patient. The VPT values were graded as ‘normal’ (25 as ‘severe’ neuropathy. Data were collected using S-LANSS pain score and questionnaire on clinical symptoms of DPN. Frequency and percentage were used to analyse the sample characteristics and Fishers exact to find the association between VPT values and the clinical symptoms. Pearson’s correlation was computed between the VPT value and number of neuropathic symptoms. Results: Almost all 219 (99.5%) the patients were symptomatic and a moderate positive correlation (r=+0.59) was found between VPT values and clinical symptoms of DPN. Sensory symptoms were observed in 96.5% of patients. Clinical symptoms of diabetic peripheral neuropathy such as unsteadiness, slipping of foot from chappal, tingling, callus, dry skin, cut/ulcer, hyper pigmentation, black discolouration, oedema, pin and needle sensation (plantar), muscle cramps, night symptoms, osteomyelitis were significantly associated with VPT value. There was a positive correlation between VPT values and the number of symptoms of DPN (r=0.590). Conclusion: Diabetic patients are at risk for DPN and proper foot care is mandatory to prevent foot complications and probable amputation. So, VPT score can be considered an indicator of DPN and be used to identify high-risk patients.

Abstract Background The knowledge about the species of a habitat (both resident and transient/dominant and rare) is a vital step to plan the conservation measures. Being generalist predators, spiders help controlling the population of their prey and maintain ecosystem stability. This makes spiders excellent bio-indicators for assessing the impact of anthropogenic disturbance factors on natural ecosystems (De, Siliwal, Uniyal and Hussain in Trop. Ecol. 63: 1–7, 2021). The aim of this study was to assess the dominance structure and constancy of spiders in three different habitats (Sand dunes, Riparian and Rocky) of the Thar desert. Study was conducted from March 2017 to February 2019 covering all seasons. Results The eudominant species in sand dunes and rocky desert belonged to the family Thomisidae. These species were Tmarus sp. 1 and Tmarus kotigeharus Tikader, 1963, respectively. There were two eudominants in Riparian habitat (Oecobius putus O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1876 and Menemerus bivittatus (Dufour, 1831)). Through the analysis of constancy of all the species in the Thar desert, it was revealed that three species were constant in all the three habitats. The number of accessory and accidental species was far higher than constant species in all the habitats. Conclusions The number of accessory and accidental spider species in all habitats was far higher than constants due to the unstability of spider population. Therefore, this study highlights the necessity for conservation of these habitats of the Thar desert.

Abstract Background Chronic Kidney Disease of unknown cause (CKDu) a disease of exclusion, and remains unexplained in various parts of the world, including India. Previous studies have reported mixed findings about the role of heavy metals or agrochemicals in CKDu. These studies compared CKDu with healthy controls but lacked subjects with CKD as controls. The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis whether heavy metals, i.e. Arsenic (As), Cadmium (Cd), Lead (Pb), and Chromium (Cr) are associated with CKDu, in central India. Methods The study was conducted in a case-control manner at a tertiary care hospital. CKDu cases (n = 60) were compared with CKD (n = 62) and healthy subjects (n = 54). Blood and urine levels of As, Cd, Pb, and Cr were measured by Inductively Coupled Plasma- Optical Emission Spectrometry. Pesticide use, painkillers, smoking, and alcohol addiction were also evaluated. The median blood and urine metal levels were compared among the groups by the Kruskal-Wallis rank sum test. Results CKDu had significantly higher pesticide and surface water usage as a source of drinking water. Blood As levels (median, IQR) were significantly higher in CKDu 91.97 (1.3–132.7) µg/L compared to CKD 4.5 (0.0–58.8) µg/L and healthy subjects 39.01 (4.8–67.4) µg/L (p .05). Urinary Cd, Pb and Cr were undetectable in healthy subjects and were significantly higher in CKDu and CKD compared to healthy subjects (P =

ABSTRACT The recent COVID-19 pandemic has underscored the danger of airborne viral pathogens. The lack of model systems to study airborne pathogens limits the understanding of airborne pathogen distribution as well as potential surveillance and mitigation strategies. In this work, we develop a novel model system to study airborne pathogens using virus-like particles (VLPs). Specifically, we demonstrate the ability to aerosolize VLP and detect and quantify aerosolized VLP RNA by reverse transcription-loop-mediated isothermal amplification in real-time fluorescent and colorimetric assays. Importantly, the VLP model presents many advantages for the study of airborne viral pathogens: (i) similarity in size and surface components; (ii) ease of generation and noninfectious nature enabling the study of biosafety level 3 and biosafety level 4 viruses; (iii) facile characterization of aerosolization parameters; (iv) ability to adapt the system to other viral envelope proteins, including those of newly discovered pathogens and mutant variants; and (v) the ability to introduce viral sequences to develop nucleic acid amplification assays.IMPORTANCEThe study and detection of airborne pathogens are hampered by the lack of appropriate model systems. In this work, we demonstrate that noninfectious virus-like particles (VLPs) represent attractive models to study airborne viral pathogens. Specifically, VLPs are readily prepared, are similar in size and composition to infectious viruses, and are amenable to highly sensitive nucleic acid amplification techniques.