Fluoride (F) contamination in groundwater affects millions of people across the world. Although several sorbents have been identified for low-cost F removal, the choice of the optimal sorbent is dictated by the specific chemistry of contaminated groundwater. In this contribution, eight prevalent sorbents—activated alumina (AA), calcite, hydroxyapatite-coated calcite (HCC), natural chitosan, chalk, Mg–Al–CO3 layered double hydroxide (LDH), calcined Mg–Al–CO3 LDH (cLDH), and hydrous ferric oxide (HFO)—were categorized on their relative F removal mechanisms, extents, and kinetics from a typical synthetic groundwater, representative of contaminated aquifers of North India. Initially, batch experiments containing sorbents at 4 g·L−1 were conducted at a high F concentration (2.9 mM). The dominant F removal processes were identified by aqueous- and solid-phase characterization of reaction by-products. While chalk and calcite removed F by secondary precipitation of fluorite, HCC removed F by fluorapatite precipitation, and other sorbents removed F by sorption. Depending on the immobilization mechanism identified, the F uptake kinetics on each sorbent was modeled with either pseudo-second order or generalized rate equations. Among sorptive F uptake, cLDH exhibited the highest (10−2.15 mg·g−1·h−1) and HFO showed the lowest (10−4.15 mg·g−1·h−1) rates. Fluoride removal by precipitation was the fastest with chalk at 10−1.3 (h−1) (0.16). Subsequent experiments with AA and HCC at lower initial F concentration (0.42 mM) suggested increased uptake by ∼30x and ∼7x, respectively, relative to uptake in 2.9 mM initial F systems. For AA, apart from the widely-accepted mechanism of adsorption, an unidentified F-containing surface precipitate was formed. HCC was identified as the most promising sorbent with no sludge generation.

Abstract This paper draws attention to the Ayushman Bharat Health Account (ABHA), which constitutes a pivotal element of the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) implemented in India. The ABHA database functions as a centralised repository of health-related information, offering a platform for IEC initiatives aimed at increasing awareness, encouraging healthy behaviours, and disseminating public health messaging. The integration of Information, Education, and Communication (IEC) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies has the potential to augment patient education and engagement, streamline disease prevention initiatives, and enhance health literacy. Centralized health data can help in promoting telehealth by providing health care providers with access to patient medical records, enabling them to provide remote consultations and treatments. Exploring the function of Ayushman Bharat Health Account (ABHA) in telehealth for sustainable development necessitates an interdisciplinary view of healthcare delivery in India. Telehealth, which is the use of technology to provide remote healthcare services, can increase the reach and efficacy of ABHA. The adoption and success of ABHA and telehealth in India are influenced by numerous social, economic, technological, and policy-related factors, which can be identified through an interdisciplinary research approach. Such research can inform the development of a sustainable healthcare system that capitalizes on the strengths of ABHA and telehealth to enhance the population's health and well-being in India. This paper proposes the implementation of ABHA, IEC, AI, and telehealth in India, which have the potential to transform healthcare delivery by augmenting patient care, strengthening disease prevention efforts, and encouraging healthy lifestyles. This approach can potentially save lives and reduce healthcare costs in the long run. However, the implementation of such a system may raise concerns over privacy and data security, especially in a country with a large population and limited resources for enforcing regulations and protecting sensitive information.

Introduction: Metabolic syndrome is believed to increase the risk of cardiovascular disease and postmenopausal women are more prone to develop cardiometabolic risk, most probably due to change in body fat distribution due to deciency of estrogen. Evidence regarding the clinical signicance of neck circumference in cardio-metabolic syndrome is limited. Also there is inconsistency in the results of studies regarding the relationship between neck circumference and lipid prole. Therefore, present study was conducted with an objective to examine association between neck circumference and lipid prole to nd the independent contribution of neck circumference to cardiometabolic risk. Materials and Methods: This was a hospital based cross-sectional, observational study. A total of 129 postmenopausal women, age > 45 years were selected consecutively after applying the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Anthropometric and biochemical parameters taken in our study were height, weight, BMI, neck circumference, waist circumference, fasting blood glucose, lipid prole. Neck circumference >=34cm was considered as abnormal. Metabolic syndrome was dened based on (AHA/NHLBI+IDF) 2009 criteria. Me Result: an neck circumference was found to be 32.52 ± 2.67cm. 40% of total subjects had neck circumference >=34cms. NC was found to be signicantly associated with components of metabolic syndrome (p<0.001). NC was also found to be signicantly associated with cardiometabolic risk factors like low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL), triglycerides (TG), total cholesterol (TC) (all p- value < 0.001). NC showed signicant but negative correlation with high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL) (p<0.001). NC showed signicant correlation with lipid prol Conclusion: e (TC, TG, LDL, HDL). NC can serve as clinical marker to easily identify individuals, with a higher risk of developing cardiometabolic disorders, such as in postmenopausal women.

Introduction: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a common endocrine disorder in women of reproductive age. Association of vitamin D {25(OH)D3} status with metabolic and hormonal dysfunction in PCOS has been investigated by some studies but the relationship between them still remains inconclusive. Therefore, this cross-sectional study aims to analyze the relationship between vitamin D level and HOMA IR (an indicator of insulin resistance) in women with PCOS. Aim And Objective: Aim: To investigate the association between vitamin D levels and PCOS in our population. To check whether serum vitamin D level has any impact Objective: on fasting blood sugar, fasting insulin and HOMA IR in a PCOS patient attending a tertiary care hospital in Kolkata. Materials And Methods: Our study was a Descriptive cross sectional study. The study included 146 PCOS patients in the age group 15-45 years attending the Gynaecology OPD of a tertiary care hospital (Calcutta National Medical College and Hospital) in Kolkata. 25(OH)D3 levels were measured by ELISA. Other biochemical parameters taken were fasting blood sugar (FBS), fasting serum insulin and HOMA-IR. The association between Vitamin D level and the above mentioned parameters was studied. Result:In our study vitamin D levels was negatively correlated with fasting blood sugar (FBS) levels (r=-0.879, p<0.001), fasting insulin levels (r=0.865, p<0.001) and and HOMA IR (r=-0.897, p<0.001). Conclusion: Our study showed that the serum 25(OH)D3 concentration was correlated with certain biochemical and endocrinal parameters like FBS, fasting insulin and HOMA IR, which are also considered as metabolic risk factors. So our study hints that vitamin D may have a decisive role in PCOS and has a potential to emerge as an associated biochemical parameter of PCOS. Multi-centre randomized controlled trials with large sample sizes are needed to explore the metabolic role of vitamin D supplementation in women with PCOS

Fluoride toxicity, principally by polluted groundwater, is regarded as a momentous global public health risk, as there is no particular and proven treatment for chronic fluoride toxicity i.e., fluorosis which leads to several serious health complications. Scientific literature reveals several medicinal plants and natural products alleviate experimentally induced fluoride toxicity. The present review attempts to collate those experimental studies on medicinal plants and plant derived natural products with fluoride toxicity ameliorative effects. Literature scrutiny was performed by using online bibliographic databases and the studies for the last 15 years were considered. Minerals and semi-synthetic or synthetic analogs of natural products were excluded. Literature study revealed that 25 medicinal plants and 17 natural products exhibited significant protection from fluoride toxicity in experimental animal models i.e., preclinical studies. Two clinical studies on medicinal plants were also found in literature showing beneficial yet poorly correlated outcome. Relevant research in this field could lead to development of a potentially useful agent in therapeutic management of fluoride toxicity in humans.

Heavy metal toxicity imposes a potential worldwide threat to environment and humans. Mercury toxicity is regarded as a serious global community health risk, as there is no particular and proven treatment for chronic mercury toxicity. Probiotics include the live apathogenic microorganisms, which are administered orally to revamp the gut microbial equilibrium thus bestowing benefit to the host. Scientific literature demonstrates different probiotic microorganisms can obviate mercurey toxicity. The present article puts together the experiments on probiotics with mercury toxicity alleviation effects in pursuit of the mechanistic hypotheses. Literature scrutiny was performed by using online bibliographic databases. Literature survey revealed that, eight types of probiotic microorganisms demonstrated significant protection from mercury toxicity in experimental pre-clinical studies. Clinical investigation with noteworthy outcome was not reported yet. Results of these studies indicate that probiotic microorganisms may hold the promise in amelioration and therapeutics of mercury toxicity. Probiotic supplementation may serve as a dietary therapeutic approach against mercurials along with extant therapies.