Volunteers as a resource for asset mapping and maintaining a living resource directory: lessons from an academic-community partnership.

AIMS: Health and social services are fundamental to public and population health, and disruptions can have devastating effects on individuals of all ages. During the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, the availability of health and social services rapidly changed. Existing resources experienced changes in operation and mode of service delivery, while new resources emerged to address escalating needs. Both the general public and service providers lacked access to accurate information on availability and access, and existing service directories became obsolete or unreliable. To address this gap, a committee of university students expanded its volunteer base, partnered with a local non-profit organization, and invested in maintaining a centralized, up-to-date resource directory for the region. METHODS/RESULTS: Student volunteers sourced and consolidated existing county-level directories to curate more than 370 resources across 12 healthcare and social care domains in a Google Sheets platform. This directory was publicly accessible, available in English and Spanish, adjustable to community feedback and needs, disseminated through the local health system intranet, synthesized into paper handouts for food pantries, and utilized to curate a directory aimed toward older adult needs. Students worked in a tiered leadership model and mobilized quickly to respond to immediate community needs. CONCLUSION: This academic-community partnership engaging student volunteers can be a low-cost, high-value resource to support public health systems meet the information needs of their community, particularly during periods of crisis or rapid changes in service availability.

Energy and carbon budgeting of traditional land use change with groundnut based cropping system for environmental quality, resilient soil health and farmers income in eastern Indian Himalayas.

Energy intensive traditional cereals based monoculture often lead to high greenhouse gas emissions and degradation of land and environmental quality. Present study aimed at evaluating the energy and carbon budget of diversified groundnut (Arachis hypogea L) based cropping system with over existing traditional practice towards the development of a sustainable production technology through restoration of soil and environmental quality and enhancement of farming resiliency by stabilizing farmers' income. The trials comprised of three introduced groundnut based systems viz. groundnut- pea (Pisum sativum), groundnut-lentil (Lens esculenta) and groundnut-toria (Brasssica campestris var. Toria) replacing three existing systems viz. maize (Zea mays L) - fallow, maize - toria, and rice (Oryza sativa L)-fallow systems. Four years study revealed that adoption of groundnut based systems reduced non-renewable energy input use (fertilizers, chemical, machinery and fossil fuels) by 25.5%, consequently that reduced the cost of production. Repeated analysis of variance measurement also affirmed that groundnut based systems (groundnut-pea>groundnut-lentil> groundnut-toria) increased the energy use efficiency, energy productivity, carbon use efficiency, net returns and decreased the specific energy and energy intensiveness. Groundnut based systems increased the mean system productivity and water productivity in terms of groundnut equivalent yield by 3.7 and 3.1 folds over existing practice. The savings of fossil fuel reduced greenhouse gas emissions owing to reduced use of farm machinery and synthetic fertilizers. Groundnut based systems significantly (p < 0.05) enhanced the soil carbon concentration (8.7-18.1%) and enzymatic activities (27.1-51.8%) over existing practice. Consequently, estimated soil quality index values were 35.9-77.3% higher under groundnut based systems than existing practice. Thus, the study indicated the resilient nature of groundnut based systems as an environmentally safe and sustainable production technology for enhancing resource use efficiency, reduce carbon emission, energy intensiveness and cost of production in the Eastern Himalaya region of India and similar ecosystems.

Patents on Endophytic Fungi.

BACKGROUND: Endophytic fungi are taxonomically and ecologically heterogeneous group of organisms, mainly belonging to the Ascomycotina and Deuteromycotina. Endophytes usually produce the enzymes necessary for the colonization of plant tissues. Endophytes are able to utilize components of plant cells without disturbing host metabolism, which is confirmed by isozyme analysis and studies on substrate utilization. The patents related to enzymes and metabolites produced by endophytic fungi are associated with their ecological significance. Application of metabolites and growth promoting factors produced from endophytic fungi, in the pharmaceutical and agricultural industries, is now well established. The patents on secretion of extracellular enzymes in vitro by endophytic fungi needed for cell wall degradation, support the hypothesis that fungal endophytes represent a group of organisms specialized to live within plant tissue. OBJECTIVE: This review presents the patents granted on different aspects of endophytic fungi for the last 11 years. This expresses the scenario and impact of these patents regarding significance in human society. CONCLUSION: In the last few years, research and inventions regarding the different aspects of endophytic fungi beneficial for host plant as well as for human beings have been carried out, which is supported by the increasing number of patents granted on endophytic fungi.

Assessment of Bt trait purity in different generations of transgenic cottons.

Adequate expression of Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) toxins and purity of seeds of Bt-transgenic cottons are important for controlling bollworms, and thereby increasing the cotton productivity. Therefore, we examined the variability in expression of Bt toxin proteins in the seeds and in leaves of different cotton (Gossypium hirsutum (L.) hybrids (JKCH 226, JKCH 1947, JKCH Durga, JKCH Ishwar, JKCH Varun KDCHH 441 and KDCHH 621) expressing Bt toxins in F1 and F2 generations, using bioassays against the cotton bollworm, Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner), and the lateral flow strip (LFS) test. Toxicity of Bt toxin proteins in the seeds of Bt-transgenic cottons to H. armigera correlated with their toxicity in the leaves in one- toxin Bt cotton hybrids. The Bt-F1 and Bt-F2 seeds of JKCH 1947 were more toxic to H. armigera than those of JKCH Varun seeds. The seeds and leaves of F1s showed greater toxicity than the F2 seeds or leaves of one-toxin (cry1Ac) Bt cotton hybrids. However, no significant differences were observed for the two-toxin (cry1Ac and cry2Ab) hybrid, KDCHH 621. Toxicity of leaves to H. armigera increased with crop age, until 112 days after seedling emergence. The Bt trait purity in F1 seeds of four two-toxin Bt cotton hybrids ranged from 86.7 to 100%. The present study emphasizes the necessity of 95% Bt trait purity in seeds of transgenic cotton for sustainable crop production.

Health services and the treatment of immigrants: data on service use, interpreting services and immigrant staff members in services across Europe.

BACKGROUND: The number of immigrants using health services has increased across Europe. For assessing and improving the quality of care provided for immigrants, information is required on how many immigrants use services, what interpreting services are provided and whether staff members are from immigrant groups. METHODS: Structured interviews were conducted with 15 health services (9 primary care, 3 emergency departments, 3 mental health) located in areas with high immigrant populations in each of 16 European countries (n=240). Responses were collected on the availability of data on service use by immigrant patients, the provision of interpreting services and immigrant staff members. RESULTS: Data on service use by immigrants were recorded by only 15% of services. More than 40% of services did not provide any form of interpreting service and 54% of the services reported having no immigrant staff. Mental health services were more likely to use direct interpreting services, and both mental health and emergency services were more likely to have immigrant staff members. DISCUSSION: For assessing and improving the quality of care provided for immigrants, there is a need to improve the availability of data on service use by immigrants in health services throughout Europe and to provide more consistent access to interpreting services.

Preoperative vascular assessment of the lower limb for harvest of a fibular flap: the views of vascular surgeons in the United Kingdom.

Adequate preoperative vascular assessment of the lower limb is essential before harvesting fibular free flaps to prevent ischaemic complications or failure of the flap. The best method of assessment remains controversial. Clinical examination, conventional angiography, colour flow Doppler, and magnetic resonance angiography have all been advocated. We asked 206 UK vascular surgeons for their opinions on preoperative assessment and potential issues of negligence and 85 (42%) completed the questionnaire. All respondents thought that further imaging should be done in addition to clinical examination, most of whom (n = 70) favoured colour flow Doppler (82%). In addition 75 (88%) considered that the surgeon would be judged to be negligent if clinical examination was the only preoperative assessment. In the light of these findings, we suggest that an objective assessment of the vasculature of the leg should be obtained before a fibular flap is harvested.

Subacute care: which patients benefit?

The decision about appropriate referral of patients to a subacute care unit is the key to both continuity of care and the financial viability of a hospital's subacute care unit. Patient selection, subacute care admission criteria, patient education, and financial concerns are discussed.

Tradescantia micronucleus bioassay.

Four coded chemicals, azidoglycerol (AG), N-methyl-N-nitrosourea (MNU), sodium azide (NaN3), and maleic hydrazide (MH), were tested with the Tradescantia micronucleus (Trad-MCN) bioassay by five independent laboratories from five different countries. The purpose of this international collaborative study was to evaluate four plant bioassays, of which the Trad-MCN assay was one, for their sensitivity, efficiency and reliability. The study was carried out under the sponsorship of the International Programme on Chemical Safety. All laboratories adhered to a standard Trad-MCN protocol which suggested that three replicate tests be conducted with each chemical. The results reported by all laboratories, although not equal, showed good agreement among the laboratories. In fact, all five laboratories obtained positive results with MH and MNU, while four of the five laboratories achieved positive results with NaN3. AG was tested in only three laboratories. Two reported negative results, while one reported positive results but only at a single high dose. The data from this study suggest that under normal conditions, the Trad-MCN bioassay is an efficient and reliable short-term bioassay for clastogens. It is suitable for the rapid screening of chemicals, and also is specially qualified for in situ monitoring of ambient pollutants.

Environmental monitoring for genotoxicity with plant systems. Results and recommendations.

In the first phase of a collaborative study by the International Programme on Chemical Safety (IPCS), four coded chemicals, i.e. azidoglycerol (AG, 3-azido-1,2-propanediol), methyl nitrosourea (MNU), sodium azide (NaN3) and maleic hydrazide (MH), and ethyl methanesulfonate (EMS) as a positive control were tested in four plant bioassays, namely the Arabidopsis embryo and chlorophyll mutation assay, the Tradescantia stamen hair assay (Trad-SH assay), the Tradescantia micronucleus assay (Trad-MCN), and the Vicia faba root tip assay. Seventeen laboratories from diverse regions of the world participated with four to six laboratories each using one plant assay. For the Arabidopsis assay, laboratories were in agreement with MNU and AG giving positive responses and NaN3 giving a negative response. With the exception of one laboratory which reported MH as weakly mutagenic, no mutagenic response was reported for MH by the other laboratories. For the Vicia faba assay, all laboratories reported a positive response for MNU, AG, and MH, whereas two of the six laboratories reported a negative response for NaN3. For the Trad-SH assay, MH was reported as giving a positive response and a positive response was also observed for MNU with the exception of one laboratory. NaN3, which exhibited a relatively high degree of toxicity, elicited a positive response in three of the five laboratories. AG was found positive in only one of the two laboratories which tested this chemical. For the Trad-MCN assay, MNU and MH were reported as positive by all laboratories, while four out of five laboratories reported NaN3 to be positive. Only one of three laboratories reported AG to be positive. The major sources of variability were identified and considered to be in the same range as found in similar studies on other test systems. Recommendations were made for minor changes in methodology and for initiating the second phase of this study.

In situ assessment of genotoxic hazards of environmental pollution.

The potential impact of the environmental pollutants on human health can be evaluated by the laboratory analysis of the environmental samples or by the measurement of the biological effects on indigenous populations and/or specific test organisms placed in the environment to be monitored. A canary in a cage, used by 19th century miners as a biological indicator for rising levels of toxic gases, is a classical example of in situ hazard identification. The induced toxic effects are often the result of synergistic and antagonistic interactions among various physical and chemical factors that are difficult to reproduce in the laboratory. Therefore, conceivably the biological effects measured on or near the impacted site have greater relevancy for hazard assessment to man than from the data derived from the environmental samples analyzed in the lab. The organisms most commonly employed for the assessment of mutagenicity under real-world conditions are: (1) flowering plants, (2) wild and captive mammals, and (3) aquatic vertebrates. Plant species such as Tradescantia paludosa, Zea mays, and Osmunda regalis have been used for monitoring ambient air quality around several major industrial cities in the U.S.A., nuclear power plants, and industrial waste sites, and also for the assessment of potential health effects of municipal sewage sludges. Domestic animals such as dogs can be used as sentinels to provide information on the effects of contaminants in the environment and have been used to a limited extent to evaluate the environmental influences on the occurrence of breast cancer and osteosarcoma. Cytogenetic analysis from feral and wild animals has been employed for assessing the health hazards and prioritizing the clean-up efforts at hazardous waste sites. Aquatic animals have been used more often than terrestrial animals or plants to identify and characterize the genotoxic effects of environmental pollution. Since 1970, a number of studies has been reported on the mutagenic and neoplastic effects on aquatic animals from coastal areas and continental rivers, lakes, and ponds. The limitations of in situ environmental assessment are lack of control over the physical environmental components, inherent variability and interactions of test organisms, lack of control of exposure doses, and difficulty of finding concurrent experimental controls. Nevertheless, flowering plants, terrestrial, and aquatic animals may serve as useful sentinels and biomarkers of environmental pollution.