@iSM2407@theliverdoc If you are not worried about spending crores of public money wasted on cow urine, while other important research is not being funded, there is indeed something wrong with your thinking. We have to stop this madness immediately
Good morning. This is urgent, for public information.
The second paper on cow research funded using India's public money under the SUTRA-PIC (Scientific Utilization through Research Augmentation - Prime Products from Indigenous Cows program) has undergone exhaustive post-publication peer review.
The paper was published in Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology last year. The authors are from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) BHU-Varanasi and Birla Institute of Technology (BITS)-Pilani.
This is the paper: https://t.co/InN4H9safh
This study was done in Uttar Pradesh and the total amount of public money given was INR 31,04,162. The authors studied cow urine of different breeds and found "special" components in the cow urine that they claim will have major use applications in healthcare, technology and engineering.
They are wrong. The paper is a third-rate publication with poorly performed and grossly misinterpreted and falsified results of basic analytical chemistry. An official email for Expression of Concern and investigation into scientific integrity has been mailed to: @SpringerNature Ethics Team and Journal Editors-in-Chief (personal email) - Matthew P. DeLisa PhD
at Cornell University, Ye Ni PhD at Jiangnan University and Benedict Okeke PhD at Auburn University.
Here is the lay summary of the paper's forensic analysis:
Lab contamination has been (un)intentionally ignored by authors. The researchers mistook common lab contaminants, like plastic chemicals and solvents, for natural cow urine compounds. They failed to run basic control tests to catch these obvious errors.
Impossible chemicals claimed to be found in cow urine by authors. The paper claims to have found impossible synthetic chemicals in the urine, such as a banned pesticide, human prescription drugs, and toxic metals. This shows the authors blindly trusted computer software without checking if the results even made biological sense.
Fake health claims made by the authors. The authors boast about the amazing health benefits of over twenty different chemicals, claiming they fight cancer and bacteria. However, none of these specific chemicals were actually found anywhere in their own data or in the urine of various cows they tested.
Contradictory results are all over the place. The written text of the paper directly contradicts its own data tables. The researchers claim to have found certain groups of chemicals, like steroids, that are completely missing from their actual results.
Terrible referencing throughout the paper. The study's citations are completely mismatched, scrambled, and duplicated. They even cite unrelated plant studies and reviews on toxic chemicals to support their claims about the "benefits" of cow urine.
Zero statistics and flawed setup degrade the conclusions. The study lacks basic statistical analysis, sometimes testing as few as one cow per breed. They also failed to separate the cow's breed from its age, diet, or location, making their "breed-specific" conclusions totally invalid.
Misleading graphs are plastered all over. The graphs that are supposed to show specific, individual chemicals actually show messy mixtures of dozens of different compounds. These graphs look suspiciously identical to each other, raising serious concerns about image manipulation.
Thanks to the Government for destroying the scientific fabric and the rational temperament of its science instituitions. We wont forget.
For the kind attention of the public please!
All through the night, I performed a post publication peer review of this IIT Roorke paper that claimed that it identified chemical components in cow urine that could highly efectively kill Chikungunya virus in lab conditions.
https://t.co/dFJ6x2eIqQ
There are serious concerns in the paper that mandate post publication Editorial Review from the Journal and Publication Integrity Office, and need for validation of findings... that could mandate a retraction as per COPE Guidelines. A document with all concerns explained has been emailed to:
🟡Professor (Dr) Thomas F. Hofmann
Editor-in-Chief
ACS Agricultural Science & Technology
🟡Copy to: Publication Integrity Office
ACS Publications, American Chemical Society
🟡Copy to: Professor (Dr) Laura McConnell
Deputy Editor, ACS Agricultural Science & Technology
🟡Copy to:William King, The Managing Editor American Chemical Society
A lay summary of major concerns are provided below:
🔴Possible areas of data fabrication, manipulation, and internal contradictions in the study claiming antiviral activity of cow urine distillate (CUD).
🔴Identical efficacy values reported for different experimental conditions, suggesting possible data duplication or carryover.
🔴Methodological flaws, including testing at cytotoxic concentrations, invalidating antiviral claims.
🔴Manipulation of synergy thresholds, using non-standard cut-offs to falsely claim synergism.
🔴Inconsistent and contradictory GC–MS datasets, with discrepancies in metabolite identification and absent compounds.
🔴Identification of synthetic pharmaceuticals, such as medroxyprogesterone, as natural metabolites, indicating contamination or misreporting.
🔴Implausible detection of prostaglandin A1, which is unstable and unlikely to survive high-temperature distillation.
🔴Lack of direct evidence linking identified metabolites to antiviral effects, with concentrations in CUD unverified.
🔴Cytotoxicity confounding viral inhibition results, with host cell death possibly causing false positives.
🔴Weak in silico and biochemical data, with docking scores and enzyme inhibition results unreliable.
🔴Structural inaccuracies in molecular docking, such as improbable hydrogen bonds.
🔴Statistical and analytical misrepresentations, including inappropriate synergy thresholds and wide variability without proper significance testing.
🔴Undeclared conflicts of interest, as funding sources and author affiliations favor traditional and cow-derived products.
🔴Numerous inconsistencies across figures and tables, including contradictory retention times and unlabelled peaks, undermining data credibility.
Requesting for action from the Journal
@ACSPublications@AmerChemSociety@ACSReactions
➡️Initiate an editorial review under ACS and COPE guidelines.
➡️Obtain raw data: plaque counts, cell viability, GC–MS spectra, and metabolite quantification.Verify compound identifications and concentrations with independent analysis.
➡️Reassess the validity of the claimed antiviral mechanism based on verified data.
➡️Reevaluate synergy analyses using standard criteria.
➡️Consider issuing an Expression of Concern pending investigation.
➡️If unresolved, proceed with retraction to protect scientific integrity and public health.
@TRex1701@theliverdoc That is actually strange. As the homeopathy pharma company itself claimed in its defence, the medicine doesn't really have anything other than sugar and water since it's extremely diluted 🤷♂️
@thetimes The business ecosystem right now is really screaming 'vibes over productivity.' Which companies thrive tells you everything you need to know about where we’re heading. This is so disappointing, the UK has lost its plot😔
@ShalinAggresive@News9Tweets@theliverdoc This study is very misleading. It talks about extractability. But it doesn't say whether it can be absorbed by the human body. Milk may be absorbing the compounds. But our body can't absorb more than 1% , statistically insignificant.
@ThePhoenix_TB@cn_ebere Private pension always make sense. No money is lost. And UK pound still has good value compared to most of currencies and it's always better to have pension in GBP compared to many currencies (except USD of course)
@cn_ebere@Aduragbemi2 For example if you have 100K, you can get 25K lump-sum without taxes. And use rest to paid monthly. I would probably skip the lump-sum altogether and receive the monthly payments only
@cn_ebere@Aduragbemi2 No one is taking the rest . You can get it, just that not everything at once. It's called pension for a reason. You can get annuity to receive monthly payments
@cn_ebere What you contributed(plus employer contribution)is your own money, you can get it wherever you are . But only when you reach pension age. No money is lost
@krishlogy@theliverdoc@pendown@dittyannajose It was a stupid question. Food is not medicine. Just make sure your meal has carb +protein+ fibre. Make sure to include veggies, leaves and fruits. That's it. If someone doesn't understand that even after formal education, that's stupid.
@krishlogy@theliverdoc@pendown@dittyannajose People can eat anything for food, just don't say or think it's medicine and cure or help with some disease. They should have some sense of what is food and what is medicine.
@theliverdoc I think someone responsible and trustworthy has to do this study every five years to ensure the quality stays the same. Actually it's the Government's job. But do we trust them to do it ?
@moneyness03@Symbianian@Ondippulee Delivering in India brings added expenses, logistical headaches, time away from family, and likely missing the birth itself. Travel costs alone mean at least 3 round trips. There’s also the risk of disrupting the PR/ILR timeline. Not an easy choice.
@AdeForest21@moving_charlie I don't see how the seller would like it. The people most likely to comment are those who viewed the listing and decided not to buy, so the feedback would naturally tend to be less favourable to the seller.