Genetically modified crop regulations: scope and opportunity using the CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing approach.

Global demand for food is increasing day by day due to an increase in population and shrinkage of the arable land area. To meet this increasing demand, there is a need to develop high-yielding varieties that are nutritionally enriched and tolerant against environmental stresses. Various techniques are developed for improving crop quality such as mutagenesis, intergeneric crosses, and translocation breeding. Later, with the development of genetic engineering, genetically modified crops came up with the transgene insertion approach which helps to withstand adverse conditions. The process or product-focused approaches are used for regulating genetically modified crops with their risk analysis on the environment and public health. However, recent advances in gene-editing technologies have led to a new era of plant breeding by developing techniques including site-directed nucleases, zinc finger nucleases, and the clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/CRISPR associated protein 9 (Cas9) that involve precise gene editing without the transfer of foreign genes. But these techniques always remain in debate for their regulation status and public acceptance. The European countries and New Zealand, consider the gene-edited plants under the category of genetically modified organism (GMO) regulation while the USA frees the gene-edited plants from such type of regulations. Considering them under the category of GMO makes a long and complicated approval process to use them, which would decrease their immediate commercial value. There is a need to develop strong regulatory approaches for emerging technologies that expedite crop research and attract people to adopt these new varieties without hesitation.

Hydochar and biochar: Production, physicochemical properties and techno-economic analysis.

Utilization of natural, abundant, and renewable resources for the production of carbon materials with simple and energy-efficient processes is an upsurge interest. The production processes and resultant biochar can address widespread concerns such as climate change, energy crisis, and environmental pollution. The properties of produced chars (biochar/hydrochar) depend on the production methods, feedstock, and operating parameters, which significantly affect their use for various applications. In this review, production, physiochemical properties, and techno-economic analysis of chars are summarized. This review provides the fundamentals and reaction mechanism of char production methodologies. Physicochemical properties based on chemical composition, functional groups, structure, porosity, and shapes have been compared. The effects of operating parameters on the physicochemical properties of chars are discussed. In addition, this review offers insights on new directions for char production and research in the future, based on the updated and detailed investigation of energy balance with economy of char production methodologies.

Toxic metal(loid)s contamination and potential human health risk assessment in the vicinity of century-old copper smelter, Karabash, Russia.

Active smelters release high concentration of multiple toxic metal(loid)s into the environment, degrading the soil cover and posing high risks to human health. The present study investigates Cu along with other metal(loids) such as As, Cd, Hg, Co, Mn, Pb and Zn in the soil collected from the vicinity of Cu smelter, Karabash, Russia, and potential health risks to local children and adults were assessed. The average concentrations of Cu, Zn, Pb, As, Cd, and Hg in the exposed soil were 2698, 1050, 702, 392, 9 and 2 mg kg-1, respectively, which was significantly (p < 0.05) much higher than reference soil: Cu(107), As(18), Cd(0.3), Hg(0.2), Pb(54) and Zn(125) mg kg-1. The enrichment factor (EF) for Cu, Hg, Pb and Zn showed significant enrichment, whereas very high enrichment was recorded for As (20.0) and Cd (27.6) suggesting the soil was severely affected by smelting activities. The pollution load index was tenfold higher than the acceptable level of one, whereas potential ecological risk factor showed very high potential risks of Cd and Hg, along with a considerable ecological risk of As and Cu. Very high ecological risk index of 1810 indicates severe degradation of environmental ecosystem. The results of EF, Pearson correlation and principle component analysis were complementary and suggest the anthropogenic source of contamination for Cu, As, Pb, Hg and Cd. The present result suggests As > Pb > Cu in the exposed soil were the major contributors for the health risks and account for 81%, 12% and 5%, and 77%, 12% and 8% of hazard quotient for children and adults, respectively. Noticeably, the health risks to local children dwelling in the vicinity of Cu smelter were 12 and 20 times higher than to adult and the acceptable level of one, respectively. Therefore, in order to reduce the health risk due to metal(loid)s, mitigation measures are needed to remediate the pollution of the exposed soil.

Simultaneous and high sensitive detection of Salmonella typhi and Salmonella paratyphi a in human clinical blood samples using an affordable and portable device.

Enteric fever is one of the leading causes of infection and subsequent fatality (greater than 1.8 million) (WHO 2018), especially in the developing countries due to contaminated water and food inter twinned with unhygienic practices. Clinical gold standard technique of culture-based method followed by biochemical tests demand 72+ hours for diagnosis while newly developed techniques (like PCR, RT-PCR, DNA microarray etc.) suffer from high limit of detection or involve high-cost infrastructure or both. In this work, a quick and highly specific method, SMOL was established for simultaneous detection of Salmonella paratyphi A and Salmonella typhi in clinical blood samples. SMOL consists of (i) pre-concentration of S. typhi and S. paratyphi A cells using magnetic nanoparticles followed by (ii) cell lysis and DNA extraction (iii) amplification of select nucleic acids by LAMP technique and (iv) detection of amplified nucleic acids using an affordable portable device (costs less than $70). To identify the viability of target cells at lower concentrations, the samples were processed at two different time periods of t = 0 and t = 4 h. Primers specific for the SPA2539 gene in S. paratyphi A and STY2879 gene in S. typhi were used for LAMP. Within 6 h SMOL was able to detect positive and negative samples from 55 human clinical blood culture samples and detect the viability of the cells. The results were concordant with culture and biochemical tests as well as by qPCR. Statistical power analysis yielded 100%. SMOL results were concordant with culture and biochemical tests as well as by qPCR. The sensitive and affordable system SMOL will be effective for poor resource settings.

End-threaded intramedullary positive profile screw ended self-tapping pin (Admit pin) - A cost-effective novel implant for fixing canine long bone fractures.

AIM: The current study was undertaken to evaluate the clinical efficacy of end-threaded intramedullary pinning for management of various long bone fractures in canines. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study was conducted in two phases, managing 25 client-owned dogs presented with different fractures. The technique of application of end-threaded intramedullary pinning in long bone fractures was initially standardized in 6 clinical patients presented with long bone fractures. In this phase, end-threaded pins of different profiles, i.e., positive and negative, were used as the internal fixation technique. On the basis of results obtained from standardization phase, 19 client-owned dogs clinically presented with different fractures were implanted with end-threaded intramedullary positive profile screw ended self-tapping pin in the clinical application phase. RESULTS: The patients, allocated randomly in two groups, when evaluated postoperatively revealed slight pin migration in Group-I (negative profile), which resulted in disruption of callus site causing delayed union in one case and large callus formation in other two cases whereas no pin migration was observed in Group-II (positive profile). Other observations in Group-I was reduced muscle girth and delayed healing time as compared to Group-II. In clinical application, phase 21st and 42nd day post-operative radiographic follow-up revealed no pin migration in any of the cases, and there was no bone shortening or fragment collapse in end-threaded intramedullary positive profile screw ended self-tapping pin. CONCLUSION: The end-threaded intramedullary positive profile screw ended self-tapping pin used for fixation of long bone fractures in canines can resist pin migration, pin breakage, and all loads acting on the bone, i.e., compression, tension, bending, rotation, and shearing to an extent with no post-operative complications.

Assessment of Dental Caries Spectrum among 11 to 14-Year-Old School Going Children in India.

INTRODUCTION: The quantification of dental caries is usually done by DMFT index but efforts are being made to find an alternative. Caries Assessment Spectrum and Treatment (CAST) is a recent, innovative caries assessment tool which can be used in epidemiological surveys. AIM: To assess dental caries using CAST index among 11-14-year-old school children in Rohtak city, Haryana, India. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study was carried out among 11-14-year-old children in schools of Rohtak City using multi stage cluster sampling technique. Rohtak city was divided in to nine clusters. In the 2nd stage, one school was randomly selected from each cluster with lottery method. Finally from each selected school, every odd roll number child between age group 11-14 years, were enrolled to reach a sample of 586. Caries was recorded using the CAST index. Each child was clinically examined by a trained examiner using CAST index. Descriptive and inferential statistics were done and Chi-square test was used to find association between caries prevalence and gender. Mann-Whitney U test was used to find any difference of mean DMFT between different age groups. RESULTS: A total of 586 children were examined. Prevalence of dental caries was 28.6%. Highest caries was observed in lower right first molar and lower left first molar (13.8% and 11.6%) respectively. Pulpal involvement in lower molars was found more than the upper molars. CONCLUSION: CAST index presents a simple hierarchical structure of caries spectrum and is a promising index for epidemiological studies with complex quantifiability.

Assessment of the Horizontal and Vertical Position of Mental Foramen in Indian Population in Terms of Age and Sex in Dentate Subjects by Pano-ramic Radiographs: A Retrospective Study with Review of Literature.

OBJECTIVE: To familiarize new criteria to access vertical position of mental foramen in panoramic radiographs. Furthermore, to determine and compare the position and symmetry of mental foramen in horizontal as well as in vertical plane in Indian population and to compare the results with those reported for other populations in the literature. Further gender differences in mental foramen position were also accessed to comment on the reliability of panoramic radiographs for sex determination. Methods and Material : Six hundred digital panoramic radiographs were selected and studied regarding the location and symmetry of mental foramen. They were also compared with the other studies in the literature. The method employed is similar to that described by Al Jasser and Nwoku for horizontal position and Fishal et al. for vertical position of mental foramen. Certain modifications were carried out in Fishal's criteria for vertical position assessment. Results : The commonest position of the mental foramen in horizontal plane was in line with the longitudinal axis of the second premolar (61.0%) while in vertical plane it was found to be located inferior to the apex of second premolar (72.2%). Conclusion : Mental foramen exists in different locations and possesses many variations. Hence, Individual, gender, age, race and assessing technique largely influence these variations. It suggests that the clinicians should carefully identify these anatomical landmarks, by analyzing all influencing factors, prior to their diagnostic or the other dental, surgical and implant operation.

Assessment of dental prosthetic status and needs among prisoners of haryana, India.

This cross-sectional study was planned to evaluate the prosthetic status and treatment needs using WHO (1997) format among prisoners of Haryana state, India. 1,393 subjects with age range of 35.26 ± 12.29 years were examined. Of the study subjects, 11 (0.8 %) were completely while 606 (43.5 %) were partially edentulous. Of these 617 subjects, 305 (49.4 %) were edentulous only in posterior region. Dental caries accounted for loss of teeth in 325 (52.7 %) subjects. 44 (7.1 %) subjects were wearing some prosthesis. Regarding dental arch wise prosthetic need, 335 (54.3 %) subjects needed prosthesis in maxillary arch while 482 (78.1 %) needed prosthesis in mandibular arch. With advancing age there was an increase in the number of complete dental prosthesis required. There was no statistically significant difference between length of imprisonment and prosthetic need, except for need of a combination of prosthesis. Only one-fourth of the prisons had a dentist. The prisoners were taken to a hospital outside the prison in case of health needs. Prosthetic needs of prisoners were high. The lack of dental infrastructure in prisons makes the provision for multi-visit conservative dental treatments very difficult leading to higher tooth mortality. People who migrate back and forth across the prisons and communities represent a public health opportunity that should be addressed.

Performance analysis of efforts towards promotion of corneal donation at a tertiary care trauma center in India.

PURPOSE: To identify the number of potential donors from trauma-related deaths and examine the extent of loss of opportunity at different levels for eye donation. METHODS: A retrospective review of the death records from the mortuary of Jai Prakash Narayan Apex Trauma Centre and National Eye Bank at All India Institute of Medical Sciences was conducted for the period between January 2008 and August 2009. All cases with trauma-related deaths were included in the study. Cases with known contraindications to eye donation were excluded from the study. The main outcome measure was "lost opportunity cases" where the families of eligible donors were not approached. The secondary outcome measure was successful procurement rate. RESULTS: The total number of trauma-related deaths noted during the study period was 1584. One hundred cases were excluded from the study because the records were either incomplete or not readily available. A total of 1066 cases were identified as medically suitable potential eye donors. The death-autopsy interval was 12 hours or less in 425 cases and >12 hours in 641 cases. Among eligible donors, there were 831 (78%) lost opportunity cases. Among 235 families approached, only 20 (8.5%) agreed to eye donation. Overall, successful eye donation was possible in only 20 (1.9%) of the eligible trauma-related deaths. CONCLUSIONS: Trauma-related deaths form a major pool for potential tissue donors. Only about one fifth of the medically eligible cases could be approached for counseling. A potentially large donor pool of trauma-related deaths is compromised by the lost opportunity cases and the low donation rate. Efforts are needed to augment existing administrative and manpower resources to increase the corneal procurement rate in the Indian population.

Singh's verbal autopsy questionnaire for the assessment of causes of death, social autopsy, tobacco autopsy and dietary autopsy, based on medical records and interview.

INTRODUCTION: The exact causes of death in India are not known because autopsy studies are difficult to conduct due to religious considerations. There are rapid changes in diet and lifestyle amongst social classes causing changes in the pattern of risk factors and mortality. In the present study, we attempt to develop a verbal autopsy questionnaire based on medical records and interview of a family member, for the assessment of causes of death, social class, tobacco consumption and dietary intakes among urban decedents in north India. METHODS: For the period 1999-2001, we studied the randomly selected records of death of 2222 (1385 men and 837 women) decedents, aged 25-64 years, out of 3034 death records overall from the records at the Municipal Corporation, Moradabad. Families of these decedents were contacted individually to find out the causes of death, by scientist- administered, informed-consented, verbal autopsy questionnaire, completed with the help of the spouse and local treating doctor practicing in the appropriate health care region. Clinical data and causes of death were assessed by a questionnaire based on available hospital records and a modified WHO verbal autopsy questionnaire. Dietary intakes of the dead individuals were estimated by finding out the food intake of the spouse from 3-day dietary diaries and by asking probing questions about differences in food intake by the decedents. Tobacco consumption of the victim was studied by a questionnaire administered to family members. Social classes were assessed by a questionnaire based on attributes of per capita income, occupation, education, housing and ownership of consumer luxury items in the household. The diagnoses of overweight and obesity were based on the new WHO and International College of Nutrition criteria. RESULTS: Cardiac diseases (23.4%, n = 520) including coronary artery disease (10%), valvular heart disease (7.2%, n = 160), diabetic heart disease (2.2%, n = 49), sudden cardiac death and inflammatory cardiac disease, each (2.0%, n = 44) were the most common causes of deaths as reported using the modified verbal autopsy questionnaire. Brain diseases including stroke (7.8%, n = 175) and inflammatory brain disease were reported amongst 1.9% (n = 42) victims.Thus, NCDs (37.0%, n = 651); circulatory diseases (31.2%, n = 695) including stroke and cardiac diseases, and malignant neoplasms (5.8%, n = 131) emerged as the most common causes of death. Injury and accidents (14.0%, n = 313) including fire, falls and poisonings were also common. Miscellaneous causes of death were observed amongst 8.5% (n = 189) of victims. Pregnancy and perinatal causes (0.72%, n = 15) were not commonly recorded in our study. Renal diseases (11.2%, n = 250), pulmonary diseases (22.3%, n = 495) and liver diseases (4.8%, n =107) were also commonly recorded causes of death. It is clear that causes of death related to various body systems can be more accurately assessed by the modified verbal autopsy questionnaire. Circulatory diseases as the cause of mortality were significantly more common among higher social classes (1-3) than in lower social classes (4 and 5) who died more often, due to infections. Death due to coronary disease, stroke, hypertension, diabetes and obesity were significantly more common among higher social classes 1-3 and among victims with higher body mass index (BMI) compared to social class 4 and 5 who had lower BMI. CONCLUSIONS: This study indicates that causes of death, social class, tobacco and dietary intakes, can be accurately assessed by a modified verbal autopsy questionnaire based on medical records and by interview of family members. Circulatory diseases, injury-accidents and maligant diseases have become the major causes of death in India, apart from infections.

Assessment of controls layout of Indian tractors.

Tractors in low-income countries are used both for farm and non-farm activities. Most of the tractors being manufactured in India are products of collaboration with other countries. The design of tractors manufactured in India has not changed much in the past five decades especially from an ergonomics point of view, because of economic considerations. This paper describes a tractor control layout assessment with respect to the Indian population and compares the location of controls with workspace envelopes and the IS12343 standard for commonly used tractors on Indian farms. Controls like steering, foot clutch, foot brake, foot accelerator are located in areas defined by IS12343 standard in some tractors but these are not placed in the workspace envelopes of the Indian population. This results in a mismatch between the workspace envelope and location of controls as defined by the standard. The controls need a complete change in their layout to be in the workspace envelopes, as this cannot be achieved by providing seat movement in the horizontal and vertical directions in the present tractor design.