Zinc supplementation is a critical adjunct therapy for managing acute childhood diarrhoea, particularly in low-income countries (LICs) and lower middle-income countries (LMICs). However, adherence to the recommended zinc regimen remains a major challenge, limiting its effectiveness in real-world settings. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to estimate the pooled adherence rates to zinc supplementation for diarrhoea in children under 5 and identify key determinants of adherence. A comprehensive search of PubMed, Embase, Scopus, Google Scholar, ProQuest, and CINAHL was conducted between 2000 and 2024. A total of 10 observational studies were included, with pooled adherence of 63.45% (95% CI: 51.62–75.28) for 10 days regimen and 34.58% (95% CI: 7.08–62.09) for 14 days regimen, along with high heterogeneity. Sensitivity analysis confirmed robustness of these estimates. Key factors associated with adherence included caregiver education, provider counselling, medication acceptability, and economic constraints related to caregiver buying capacity. Doi plot asymmetry suggested possible publication bias for 10 and 14 days regimen. Overall, adherence to zinc therapy remains sub-optimal, particularly for 14 days regimen compared to 10 days regimen. Targeted interventions addressing behavioural, provider, and formulation related barriers are urgently needed to optimize zinc adherence and improve diarrhoea outcomes globally.

While increasing seafood consumption may help address micronutrient deficiencies and metabolic disorders, evidence supporting this recommendation in the Indian context remains limited and inconclusive. Using the nationally representative cross-sectional 2019–2021 National Family Health Survey dataset, we investigated the association of fish consumption frequency with anaemia and metabolic disorders (overweight/obesity, hypertension and hyperglycaemia) among adult men (aged 15–54 years) and women (aged 15–49 years) in India. A control function (CF) method was employed to examine the association in individuals who consumed fish daily and those who reported consuming fish daily/weekly. The analysis was restricted to non-vegetarians (who reported ever consuming egg, fish or meat). Overall, 86·9 % of men and 74·7 % of women were non-vegetarians. CF analysis revealed that both daily and daily/weekly fish consumption were associated with a reduced risk of anaemia among both men and women. Daily fish consumers exhibited increased likelihood of overweight/obesity (men: β: 0·405, 95 % CI: 0·074, 0·735, P: 0·017; women: β: 0·248, 95 % CI 0·125, 0·370, P < 0·001). Conversely, daily/weekly fish intake was associated with a reduced risk of overweight/obesity in men (β: −0·041, 95 % CI: −0·069, −0·013; P: 0·004). Daily/weekly fish consumption was associated with a reduced risk of hypertension and increased odds of hyperglycaemia among men. Fish consumption demonstrated a potentially protective relationship against hypertension in women, regardless of how often they consumed fish, while also being associated with a higher prevalence of hyperglycaemia. Indian adults can improve their health by eating more fish, which can help fight anaemia and may also reduce overweight/obesity and high blood pressure.

Active colloidal particles create flow around them due to non-equilibrium processes on their surfaces. In this paper, we infer the activity of such colloidal particles from the flow field created by them via deep learning. We first explain our method for one active particle, inferring the $2s$ mode (or the stresslet) and the $3t$ mode (or the source dipole) from the flow field data, along with the position and orientation of the particle. We then apply the method to a system of many active particles. We find excellent agreements between the predictions and the true values of activity. Our method presents a principled way to predict arbitrary activity from the flow field created by active particles.

Neurological manifestations can precede the sicca symptoms in Sjögren’s syndrome. These patients may develop systemic features of Sjögren’s syndrome in the future. In such patients, early diagnosis and management can avoid morbidity. In this case series, we describe three patients who presented with lumbar and brachial plexopathy due to Sjögren’s syndrome. These patients tested positive for Ro and La autoantibodies and had a positive Schirmer test. All patients were initiated on immunomodulation therapy, with notable clinical improvement.

India’s nutrition transition has led to an increased burden of overweight/obesity (body mass index of ≥23 kg/m2), driven by lifestyle factors like poor diet, inactivity, and substance use, prompting public health interventions. However, these interventions lack supporting evidence, especially in rural areas, hindering effective strategies for this population. To address this evidence gap, this study used cohort data (baseline: 2018–19, follow-up: 2022–23) from the Birbhum Population Project (West Bengal, India) to analyse lifestyle risk factors and their association with incidence and remission of overweight/obesity among adults aged ≥18 years (sample: 8,974). Modified Poisson regression model was employed to attain the study objective. From 2017–2018 to 2022–2023, the prevalence of overweight/obesity increased from 15.2% (95% CI: 14.1%–16.4%) to 21.0% (95% CI: 19.7%–22.3%) among men and from 24.1% (95% CI: 22.9%–25.2%) to 33.8% (95% CI: 32.5%–35.1%) among women. Overall, 23.0% (95% CI: 21.8%–24.3%) of adults experienced incidence of overweight/obesity, while 13.9% (95% CI: 12.4%–15.6%) experienced remission. Use of motor vehicles among unemployed participants was associated with incident overweight/obesity (relative risk or RR: 1.058; 95% CI: 1.023–1.095; P: 0.001). Vigorous activity at home (including gardening, yard work, and household chores) was linked to higher odds of recovering from overweight/obesity (RR: 1.065; 95% CI: 1.008–1.125; P: 0.025). Frequent tobacco use (often/daily vs. none) was inversely associated with remission of overweight-obesity (RR: 0.689; 95% CI: 0.484–0.980; P: 0.038), as was each 1 ml in alcohol consumption (RR: 0.995; 95% CI: 0.991–0.999; P: 0.022). Discouraging habitual motor vehicle use may help prevent overweight/obesity, while promoting home-based activities may aid remission, particularly for women who are at higher risk for overweight/obesity.

Background: The 2022 WHO global survey on infection prevention and control (IPC) exposes significant gaps in IPC in the WHO Southeast Asia region. A better understanding of IPC vulnerabilities will inform improvement initiatives. We describe an evaluation of IPC practices known to prevent and contain carbapenem-resistant organisms (CROs) at hospitals participating in the United States Centers for Disease Control Global Action in Healthcare Network –Antimicrobial Resistance in India. Prior hospital evaluations suggest resistance to carbapenems among gram-negative isolates is up to 45%. Methods: We conducted a mixed methods evaluation including cross-sectional surveys, semi-structured interviews, and site observations at five hospitals (one government, two private tertiary care, and two private teaching) located in three cities. The number of hospital beds ranged from 362 to 2,011. Hospital and IPC program characteristics, and CRO prevention and containment activities were examined virtually. Site observations focused on hand hygiene, environmental cleaning, personal protective equipment (PPE), CRO containment practices and use of water for patient care. Results: All sites had IPC programs with established policies and qualified IPC staff. The IPC nurse-to-bed ratio ranged from 1:73 to 1:432 (mean, 1:209). Due to the integral role of microbiology staff in IPC at these hospitals, the two departments had strong communication channels associated with CRO identification. Screening for CRO colonization, if done, targeted patients from outside hospitals. Three of the five hospitals routinely implemented contact precautions for patients with identified CROs, displayed isolation signage at the bedside, and provided adequate PPE at point-of-use; however, all sites reported barriers to effective isolation and/or cohorting patients with CROs. Timely communication of CROs to clinical staff varied and no sites effectively relayed CRO status upon patient discharge to another facility. IPC teams identified gaps in environmental cleaning procedures and practices related to medical devices and equipment. All sites used alternatives to tap water for clinical care and sink etiquette was evident. Each IPC team performed audits of patient isolation and hand hygiene practices. Despite the considerable proportion of IPC resources dedicated to daily education and feedback in clinical areas, the IPC teams reported that improvement was often difficult to achieve. Conclusion: Given the high burden of CROs and limited IPC resources, detailed knowledge of IPC opportunities for improvement will help hospitals target novel interventions for CRO prevention and containment. Further investigation of colonization rates and effective performance improvement methods in these settings is needed.

Disclosure: Patricia Simner: Research Contracts: BD Diagnostics, OpGen Inc., Qiagen Sciences Inc, T2 Diagnostics, Accelerate Diagnostics; Research Collaborators:Ares Genetics, CosmosID, IDbyDNA, Illumina; Consulting: OpGen Inc., BD Diagnostics, Shionogi Inc., GeneCapture, Qiagen Sciences Inc, Entasis, Day Zero Diagnostics, Next Gen Diagnostics

The present study generates information related to the molecular divergence between turcicum leaf blight (TLB)-resistant and -susceptible lines. During molecular diversity studies, a total of 212 alleles were detected at 75 marker loci and ranged from two to five with an average of 2.83 alleles per locus. A direct correlation for the number of alleles and polymorphism information content (PIC) values was ascertained. For instance, marker phi123 produced high number of alleles (5) with PIC values of 0.77. Using the DARwin 6.0 programme, the UPGMA dendrogram grouped 40 maize inbreds into two distinct clusters, cluster-I (36 inbreds) and cluster-II (4 inbreds). Cluster-I contained two subclusters; the first subcluster contained 28 inbreds and the second subcluster contained eight inbreds whereas cluster-II contained four inbreds. This major cluster-II was further classified into two subclusters which contained two inbreds each. Most of the inbred lines except V-25 from cluster-II were highly resistant to TLB disease. These inbred lines can be used in crossing programmes to develop TLB-resistant hybrids by using divergent parents. In this study, allelic diversity and PIC values indicated a good efficiency of markers for studying the polymorphism level available in studied inbred lines. High level of diversity among the inbreds detected with simple sequence repeat markers indicated their suitability for the further breeding programme.

Twelve lacustrine sediment samples from a relict lake in the Kalla Glacier valley were co-dated using AMS radiocarbon (14C) and infrared stimulated luminescence (IRSL) dating methods. In general, the radiocarbon ages of bulk organic matter were older by a minimum of 1500 years compared to (age depth) modeled luminescence ages after fading corrections. This is observed for the first time in the lake sediments of High Himalayan Crystalline zone. A combination of lipid n-alkane data, Raman spectra and geochemical proxies suggested that this was due to ancient organic carbon (OCancient) that is a mixture of pre-aged (OCpre-aged) and petrogenic (OCpetro) organic carbon within older glacial moraine debris that served as sediment source to the lake. Raman spectra suggest the presence of moderate to highly graphitized OCpetro in all the profile samples. The OCpetro contributed 0.064 ± 0.032% to the sediment and the lake stored 2.5 ± 0.7 Gg OCpetro at variable rates during the last 16 kyr, with the mean burial flux 160 kg OCpetro yr−1. This study implies (1) employing another independent dating method in addition to radiocarbon method using bulk sediment organic matter, if the carbon content is low, to observe any discrepancy, and (2) a need to investigate on the fate of OCpetro as many such small lakes become relict in this region.

A total of 108 diverse sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) accessions were characterized for quantitative and qualitative fodder-related traits and zonate leaf spot (ZLS) (Gloeocercospora sorghi) disease during two successive wet seasons of 2019 and 2020 in augmented randomized block design. The Shannon's diversity index and analysis of variance showed the existence of significant variability among qualitative and quantitative traits. K-mean clustering showed strong relationship between green fodder yield (GFY) and other yield-contributing traits. The dendrogram constructed based on morphological traits classified accessions into four diverse groups and most of genotype fall under cluster II. The principal component analysis bi-plot analysis showed a total variation of 68.96%, where GFY, stem weight per plant, panicle length and dry matter yield (DMY) contributed significantly. From the experimental results, three sorghum genotypes viz., IG-03-424, IG-01-436 and IG-03-438 were identified as promising for higher GFY (808.66 g/plant) and DMY (238.0 g/plant), respectively. Further, based on disease reactions under natural condition, five genotypes viz., EC-512397, EC512393, EC512394, EC512399 and IG-02-437 were identified as potential donor for resistance to ZLS disease. These selected lines could be used as promising sources for high biomass and disease resistance in forage sorghum breeding programme.

For forthcoming wireless applications, a small and highly decoupled complementary split ring resonators (CSRR)–loaded co-planar waveguide (CPW)–fed antenna for dual-band applications is investigated. The low-profile antenna consists of a CSRR-loaded rectangular radiating element with a truncated bottom, giving a wideband performance over the frequency ranges of 5.28–5.52 GHz and 6–7.2 GHz. The antenna has been printed on a widely used FR4 substrate measuring 7.5 × 10.5 × 1.6 mm3 in volume. This research’s suggested antenna is turned into a 4 × 4 multi input multi output (MIMO) construction using a 25 × 25 mm2 printed circuit board. Individual antennas were isolated by nearly 20 dB without using a decoupling device. The antenna has been built, and the measured and simulated results correspond well. Computing envelope correlation coefficient (ECC), channel capacity (CC), and channel capacity loss (CCL) further validates the antenna’s performance (−). The antenna has an overall gain of around 2.54 dBi and a radiation efficiency of approximately 89% throughout the relevant spectral range, which is much better for wireless applications. The suggested antenna’s omnidirectional emission pattern makes it a potential contender for future wireless and cellular applications.