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Abstract Background Exposure of humans and animals to heavy metals is increasing day-by-day; thus, lead even today remains of significant public health concern. According to CDC, blood lead reference value (BLRV) ranges from 3.5 µg/dl to 5 μg/dl in adults. Recently, almost 2.6% decline in male fertility per year has been reported but the cause is not well established. Lead (Pb2+) affects the size of testis, semen quality, and secretory functions of prostate. But the molecular mechanism(s) of lead toxicity in sperm cells is not clear. Thus, present study was undertaken to evaluate the adverse effects of lead acetate at environmentally relevant exposure levels (0.5, 5, 10 and 20 ppm) on functional and molecular dynamics of spermatozoa of bucks following in vitro exposure for 15 min and 3 h. Results Lead significantly decreased motility, viable count, and motion kinematic patterns of spermatozoa like curvilinear velocity, straight-line velocity, average path velocity, beat cross frequency and maximum amplitude of head lateral displacement even at 5 ppm concentration. Pb2+ modulated intracellular cAMP and Ca2+ levels in sperm cells through L-type calcium channels and induced spontaneous or premature acrosome reaction (AR) by increasing tyrosine phosphorylation of sperm proteins and downregulated mitochondrial transmembrane potential. Lead significantly increased DNA damage and apoptosis as well. Electron microscopy studies revealed Pb2+ -induced deleterious effects on plasma membrane of head and acrosome including collapsed cristae in mitochondria. Conclusions Pb2+ not only mimics Ca2+ but also affects cellular targets involved in generation of cAMP, mitochondrial transmembrane potential, and ionic exchange. Lead seems to interact with Ca2+ channels because of charge similarity and probably enters the sperm cell through these channels and results in hyperpolarization. Our findings also indicate lead-induced TP and intracellular Ca2+ release in spermatozoa which in turn may be responsible for premature acrosome exocytosis which is essential feature of capacitation for fertilization. Thus, lead seems to reduce the fertilizing capacity of spermatozoa even at 0.5 ppm concentrations. Graphical Abstract

Land use refers to how the surface of a designated area is utilized, encompassing both developed and vacant lands. The intricate interplay between population growth and the availability of natural resources gives rise to diverse challenges that are exhibited in the recharge of groundwater. This research was conducted in the Koraiyar Watershed, Coimbatore District, Tamil Nadu, India. The change in the land use land cover (LULC) was detected by digitizing the linear imaging self scanning sensor (LISS) III and LISS IV satellite images for the years 2000 and 2011 using the maximum likelihood classification algorithm. LANDSAT-8 OLI data were processed for the year 2020. The study area has subsequently undergone an assessment of groundwater levels to determine the impact between groundwater and land use land cover. The result of the study indicates a continuous decrease in the wet crop area, which is the effect of the gradual depletion of groundwater resources. Along with this, the narrowing of the water bodies and increased areas of dry crops, industrial areas, and quarries are also responsible for lowering groundwater table depletion and contamination. Settlements increased from 39 to 49 km2 from 2000 to 2011 and then gradually increased by 50 km2 in 2020 to meet the demand of the population. From 2000 to 2019, the groundwater level has been declining with respect to the LULC pattern. The increase in concrete platforms in the study can affect the infiltration. Thus, the study can aid in developing water management strategies and decisions for governmental and non-governmental policymakers.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are ubiquitous in space and govern the interstellar chemistry. The two isomers of cyanonaphthalene (1-CNN and 2-CNN) were the first PAHs to be recently identified in the Taurus Molecular Cloud (TMC-1). Their large abundance is attributed to high photostability with nearly no photofragmentation at photon energies above the ionization potential. Here, we show that at ambient light and at densities akin to dense molecular clouds and the upper atmosphere of planets and moons, 1-CNN could undergo extensive fragmentation through a new mechanism leading to daughter cations. On UV photoexcitation, at a photon energy way below the ionization threshold, 1-CNN monomers form photoexcited dimer units. Intermolecular Coulombic decay between the two photoexcited units of the dimer leads to ionization, and the subsequent molecular rearrangements form new daughter cations. These daughter cations could react further, contributing to rich bottom-up astrochemistry, and could play a pivotal role in developmental astrobiology. Photofragmentation in atmospheric and astrophysical environments is hitherto known to be unimolecular, while the present results point a pathway involving bimolecular photofragmentation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increasing population and urbanization have created a massive gap in the demand-supply model of food grains. The world is facing an acute problem with global warming and EI Nino effects, which have affected the equilibrium of the food chain. It is a need of the hour to introduce new reforms in farming to reap increased yields and reduce dependency on natural resources. Hydroponics cultivation is a boon to the agricultural sector, it enhances the cultivation of plants in an organic way by enabling Internet of Things (IoT) technology and combines technology and conventional nutritional mechanisms to enable the co-plant's growth without the strain of nutrient deficiency. This research suggests a system that integrates hardware and software into the traditional hydroponics system that the users can use to have their plantation setup in an urban environment within a small and confined space at home. This system will benefit hobbyist gardeners and small-scale urban farmers seeking an efficient, compact, and smart solution for hydroponic plant cultivation.

Abstract Introduction Leptospirosis has recently come to international attention as a globally important re-emerging infectious disease. Our case is unusual given the season, location and setting in which leptospirosis occurred. According to the New York City Board of Health, there were only two other cases of leptospirosis in New York City in the year that our patient was diagnosed. Case presentation A 49-year-old healthy Chinese man presented to our hospital with sepsis and multiorgan failure. The patient did not respond to antibiotics and his multiorgan failure worsened. His workup did not show any significant findings except for a positive nasopharyngeal swab result for influenza A. Later the patient developed hemoptysis with evidence of bilateral infiltrates on radiography. His status mildly improved after he was started on steroids. Eventually, a microagglutination test confirmed the presence of antibodies against Leptospira icterohaemorrhagiae. The patient subsequently recovered after a course of intravenous antibiotics. Conclusion The case of fulminant leptospirosis presented here should serve to alert health care providers and the general public to the clinical importance of this severe, sometimes fatal, disease. Leptospirosis should be considered early in the diagnosis of any patient with acute, non-specific febrile illness with multiorgan system involvement or high fever in a returning traveler. In addition, not only should it be considered in tropical and rural areas between late summer to early fall, but also in any location or time if the risk factors are present.

Herein, we have developed a metal‐free, atom‐economical, intrinsically sustainable approach for synthesizing unprotected 4,5‐diamino pyrazoles from readily available 1,2‐diaza‐1,3‐dienes. This approach utilizes inexpensive hydrazine hydrate as the aminating source. Further, we have explored the reactivity of 4,5‐diamino pyrazole to synthesize fused pyrazolo[3,4‐d]‐1,2,3‐triazole heterocyclic compounds. We have also successfully demonstrated the synthetic utility of this methodology in synthesizing two drug analogs: analgesic difenamizole and anti‐psychotic CDPPB. The role of the phenyl ring of 3‐substituted‐1,2‐diaza‐1,3‐diene was explained with the help of control experimental and density functional theory (DFT) computation studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Comparative role of different Ayurveda therapies in the treatment of female infertility. Methods: It was an open-label, comparative, randomized trial. Thirty female patients were equally divided into two groups as Group A, treated with Virechana karma (Purgation therapy) followed by yoga basti (Ayurveda enema therapy) regimen and Group B treated with Yoga basti followed by Uttarabasti (Ayurveda intrauterine therapy) regimen. In Group A, Virechana was done with Tilvakaghrita followed by Erandmooladi yoga basti and in Group B Erandmooladi yoga basti was administered followed by Uttarabasti with Bala taila. The variables used for assessments were conception, grading in menstruation parameters, spinnbarkeit (SB) test, fern test, follicular study, and endometrial thickness. For intragroup comparison, “Wilcoxon matched-paird signed-ranks test” and “paired t-test” were used. For intergroup comparison, “Mann–Whitney test” and “unpaired-t-test” were used. All the statistical tests were interpreted as significant at 5% level (P < 0.05). Results: The median age of these participants was 28 years (range, 20–36). In Group A, there were statistically significant improvements in the follicular study, SB test, menstrual parameters, and dyspareunia after the trial. In Group B, there were statistically significant improvements in endometrial thickness, Fern test, SB test, amount of menstruation, duration of menstruation, and dysmenorrhea. On comparison, there was a statistically insignificant difference between these two groups in the outcome. Conclusion: Ayurveda purgation-enema therapies and Ayurveda enema-intrauterine therapies are equally effective in the management of female infertility.