Browsing by Author "Singh K.K."

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    Atypical leishmaniasis: A global perspective with emphasis on the Indian subcontinent
    (Public Library of Science, 2018) Thakur L.; Singh K.K.; Shanker V.; Negi A.; Jain, Aklank; Matlashewski G.; Jain, Manju
    Background: Among the neglected tropical diseases, leishmaniasis continues to be prevalent in many tropical and subtropical countries despite international, national, and local efforts towards its control and elimination over the last decade. This warrants a critical evaluation of such factors as under-reporting, asymptomatic infections, post kala azar dermal leishmaniasis (PKDL) cases, and drug resistance. In this review, we highlight lesser-understood atypical presentations of the disease involving atypical parasite strains against a background of classical leishmaniasis with a focus on the Indian subcontinent. Methods and findings: A literature review based on endemic areas, the nature of disease manifestation, and underlying causative parasite was performed with data collected from WHO reports for each country. Searches on PubMed included the term 'leishmaniasis' and ' eishmaniasis epidemiology' alone and in combination with each of the endemic countries, Leishmania species, cutaneous, visceral, endemic, non-endemic, typical, classical, atypical, and unusual with no date limit and published in English up to September 2017. Our findings portray a scenario with a wider distribution of the disease in new endemic foci, with new discoveries of parasite-driven atypical disease manifestations in different regions of the world. Unlike the classical picture, some Leishmania species are associated with more than one disease presentation, e.g., the L. donovani complex, generally associated with the visceral form, is now also associated with a cutaneous disease presentation, while L. tropica species complex, known to cause cutaneous disease, can cause viscerotropic disease. This phenomenon points towards the discovery of novel parasite variants as etiologic agents of atypical disease manifestations and represents an excellent opportunity to identify and study genes that control disease virulence and tropism. Conclusions: The increased recognition of atypical leishmaniasis as an outcome of parasite variants has major implications for leishmaniasis control and elimination. Identifying molecular correlates of parasite isolates from distinct regions associated with different disease phenotypes is required to understand the current epidemiology of leishmaniasis in regions with atypical disease.-2018 Thakur et al. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
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    Urban green space availability in Bathinda City, India
    (Springer International Publishing, 2018) Singh K.K.
    This paper aims to investigate and map the spatial distribution of urban green spaces (UGSs) in Bathinda City, India. Since urban green spaces affect the quality of life and provide various ecological, socio-cultural and economic benefits to a city, the spatial distribution of UGSs and per capita availability deserve greater consideration in urban planning and research. The UGSs are extracted from freely available Sentinel 2 image with spatial resolutions of 10 m (blue, green, red, and near infrared bands). The result indicates that the planned urban setups have higher area under UGSs as compared to the rest of the city. Analysis and intra-city comparison (ward wise) of distribution of green spaces and per capita availability indicate that there is an inequitable distribution of UGSs in Bathinda City. The study also attempts to accentuate the scope of green initiatives in the various wards of the city to ensure the well-being of people.