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IntroductionEarly childhood development is key to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and can be negatively influenced by many different adversities including violence in the home, neglect, abuse and parental ill-health. We set out to quantify the extent to which multiple adversities are associated with impaired early childhood growth & development.MethodsThis was a substudy of the SPRING cluster randomised controlled trial covering the whole population of 120 villages of rural India. We assessed all children born from 18 June 2015 for adversities in the first year of life and summed these to make a total cumulative adversity score, and four subscale scores. We assessed the association of each of these with weight-for-age z-score, length-for-age z-score, and the motor, cognitive and language developmental scales of the Bayley Scales of Infant Development III assessed at 18 months.ResultsWe enrolled 1726 children soon after birth and assessed 1273 of these at both 12 and 18 months of age. There were consistent and strongly negative relationships between all measures of childhood adversity and all five child growth & development outcome measures at 18 months of age. For the Bayley motor scale, each additional adversity was associated with a 1.1 point decrease (95%CI -1.3, -0.9); for the cognitive scales this was 0.8 points (95%CI -1.0, -0.6); and for language this was 1.4 points (95%CI -1.9, -1.1). Similarly for growth, each additional adversity was associated with a -0.09 change in weight-for-age z-score (-0.11, -0.06) and -0.12 change in height-for-age z-score (-0.14, -0.09).DiscussionOur results are the first from a large population-based study in a low/middle-income country to show that each increase in adversity in multiple domains increases risk to child growth and development at a very early age. There is an urgent need to act to improve these outcomes for young children in LMICs and these findings suggest that Early Childhood programmes should prioritise early childhood adversity because of its impact on developmental inequities from the very start.

The key role of protein based nanostructures has recently revolutionized the nanomedicine era. Protein nanoparticles have turned out to be the major grounds for the transformation of different properties of many conventional materials by virtue of their size and greater surface area which instigates them to be more reactive to some other molecules. Protein nanoparticles have better biocompatibilities and biodegradability and also have the possibilities for surface modifications. These nanostructures can be synthesized by using protein like albumin, gelatin, whey protein, gliadin, legumin, elastin, zein, soy protein, and milk protein. The techniques for their fabrication include emulsification, desolvation, complex coacervation, and electrospray. The characterization parameters of protein nanoparticles comprise particle size, particle morphology, surface charge, drug loading, determination of drug entrapment, and particle structure and in vitro drug release. A plethora of protein nanoparticles applications via different routes of administration are explored and reported by eminent researchers which are highlighted in the present review along with the patents granted for protein nanoparticles as drug delivery carriers.

Nanotechnology manifests the progression in the arena of research and development, by increasing the efficacy of the product through delivery of innovative solutions. To overcome certain drawbacks associated with the traditional products, application of nanotechnology is escalating in the area of cosmeceuticals. Cosmeceuticals are regarded as the fastest growing segment of the personal care industry and the use has risen drastically over the years. Nanocosmeceuticals used for skin, hair, nail, and lip care, for conditions like wrinkles, photoaging, hyperpigmentation, dandruff, and hair damage, have come into widespread use. Novel nanocarriers like liposomes, niosomes, nanoemulsions, microemulsion, solid lipid nanoparticles, nanostructured lipid carrier, and nanospheres have replaced the usage of conventional delivery system. These novel nanocarriers have advantages of enhanced skin penetration, controlled and sustained drug release, higher stability, site specific targeting, and high entrapment efficiency. However, nanotoxicological researches have indicated concern regarding the impact of increased use of nanoparticles in cosmeceuticals as there are possibilities of nanoparticles to penetrate through skin and cause health hazards. This review on nanotechnology used in cosmeceuticals highlights the various novel carriers used for the delivery of cosmeceuticals, their positive and negative aspects, marketed formulations, toxicity, and regulations of nanocosmeceuticals.

The aim of the present study was to analyze temporal trends in general obesity and regionalobesity from 1978 to 2010 according to various obesity markers. Data was obtained from fourcross-sectional studies of diverse ethnic and geographic milieus conducted independently. Datawas analyzed to derive mean and standard deviation of the subjects in two age group 18-19years and 20-45 years for various obesity markers like body mass index (BMI), grand meanthickness (GMT), waist-hip ratio (WHR) and waist height ratio (WHtR). Student t-test wasused to reveal the significance of the change in various parameters over time. From 1978 to2010, BMI increased significantly among the North Indian females and, indeed, at an alarmingmagnitude in both age groups in the latest population. This trend was similar for almost allobesity markers regardless of age. The drop across these trend lines over time can be attributedto subtle differences in socioeconomic status, ethnic disparities, rural-urban differences orvariations in geographic regions. Identifying women, who are at greater risk for weight gain,may help target and design interventions to prevent weight gain in women, the procreatorwhich may also be associated with health complications of their children.&nbsp

Objectives: To evaluate the association between age and nutritional & functional statusamong elderly adult males from different populations of India, and to understand their healthproblems. Method: This study is a cross sectional survey conducted among the adult malesof 10 different populations (n=1403) inhabiting different geographical areas of India havingtheir own way of life within social and cultural settings, purely being ruled by their own localconditions and ethos and each group is a distinctly homogenous entity. The nutritional status(weight, height, waist, hip, and mid-upper arm circumferences), cardiovascular health (SBP,DBP, PR) and muscular strength (AGS-average grip strength), was assessed. To compute theextent of change with age, each variable was expressed in the form of a unique and novel percentage termed as “ageing index,” in the text, computed as (X 20 - X n)/ X20, where n denotesmeans at ages 50, 60, 70, and 80 years. Results: Nearly, all populations indicated a decliningtrend in stature, body weight, body mass index and average grip strength with advancing agewhereas, the cardiovascular features showed an increasing trend with ageing. Conclusions:Various populations take different channels to ageing process. They vary in onset and intensity of ageing. Populations with high physical activity level have huge lacunae between the intake of nutrition and energy output as age advances; hence a systematic approach for takingcare of nutritional needs of the older people would minimize this gap leading to healthier ageing not merely delayed.