Stillbirths in India: Current Status, Challenges, and the Way Forward.

Stillbirth is a major public health challenge and a multifaceted issue that leads to significant financial, physical, mental, financial, and psychosocial implications. India has made substantial progress in stillbirth reduction. Yet, many challenges continue and the absolute number of stillbirths remain high. This paper presents the national and state level burden of stillbirths and discusses about the magnitude, risk factors, causes and inequities in stillbirths. A few additional approaches for reduction of preventable stillbirths have been suggested. The authors argue that the institutional mechanisms need to be developed to ensure all stillbirths are registered in a timely manner. There is a need for standard definition for classification of stillbirths and document the cause, to roll-out suitable interventions. There is a need for state specific interventions to address different causes, as Indian states have variable stillbirth rates. The stillbirth audits should be institutionalised as a continuous quality improvement exercise to bring local accountability and reduce stillbirth rate. The healthcare system and providers must be trained to offer bereavement support to the affected mothers and families. These approaches should be implemented through primary healthcare system as well.

Disentangling potential genotypes for macro and micro nutrients and polymorphic markers in Chickpea.

The present investigation was conducted to assess the nutritional diverseness and identify novel genetic resources to be utilized in chickpea breeding for macro and micro nutrients. The plants were grown in randomized block design. Nutritional and phytochemical properties of nine chickpea genotypes were estimated. The EST sequences from NCBI database were downloaded in FASTA format, clustered into contigs using CAP3, mined for novel SSRs using TROLL analysis and primer pairs were designed using Primer 3 software. Jaccard's similarity coefficients were used to compare the nutritional and molecular indexes followed by dendrograms construction employing UPGMA approach. The genotypes PUSA-1103, K-850, PUSA-1108, PUSA-1053 and the EST-SSR markers including the 5 newly designed namely ICCeM0012, ICCeM0049, ICCeM0067, ICCeM0070, ICCeM0078, SVP55, SVP95, SVP96, SVP146, and SVP217 were found as potential donor/marker resources for the macro-micro nutrients. The genotypes differed (p < 0.05) for nutritional properties. Amongst newly designed primers, 6 were found polymorphic with median PIC (0.46). The alleles per primer ranged 1 to 8. Cluster analysis based on nutritional and molecular diversities partially matched to each other in principle. The identified novel genetic resources may be used to widen the germplasm base, prepare maintainable catalogue and identify systematic blueprints for future chickpea breeding strategies targeting macro-micro nutrients.

Evaluation of Nutritional Characteristics Reveals Similar Prevalence of Malnutrition in Patients with Ulcerative Colitis and Crohn's Disease.

BACKGROUND: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is associated with an increased risk of malnutrition and sarcopenia. AIMS: To evaluate the nutritional status of patients with IBD and determine the threshold values of different parameters of nutritional assessment to identify malnutrition. METHODS: This was a single-centre cross-sectional analysis of adult patients with IBD [ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn's disease (CD)] who underwent anthropometry [body mass index (BMI), mid upper arm circumference (MUAC) and triceps-fold thickness (TSF)], body composition analysis and assessment for sarcopenia [hand-grip strength and skeletal muscle index (SMI) at L3 vertebral level)]. Age- and gender-matched healthy adults served as controls. Malnutrition was defined according to the European Society of Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism (ESPEN) criteria. RESULTS: A total of 406 patients [336 (82.76%) UC and 70 (17.24%) CD; mean age 40.56 ± 13.67 years; 215 (52.95%) males] with IBD and 100 healthy controls (mean age 38.69 ± 10.90 years; 56 (56%) males) were enrolled. The mean BMI, MUAC, TSF thickness, fat and lean mass, hand-grip strength, and SMI at L3 vertebral level were lower in patients with IBD compared to controls. The prevalence of malnutrition was similar in UC and CD [24.40% (n = 82) and 28.57% (n = 20), respectively (p = 0.46)]. Thresholds for fat mass in females (15.8 kg) and visceral fat index in males (0.26) were both sensitive and specific to detect malnutrition. The cutoff values of MUAC and TSF thickness to identify malnutrition were 23.25 cm and 25.25 cm, and 16.50 mm and 8.50 mm, in females and males, respectively. CONCLUSION: Malnutrition and sarcopenia were common in patients with IBD, with the prevalence being similar in patients with both UC and CD.

HIV and COVID-19: A Tale of Two Pandemics.

In the last 5 decades, we have witnessed two major pandemics, AIDS caused by the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and the CoronaVirus Disease-19 (COVID-19) caused by the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome-Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2). The emergence of COVID-19 has raised many concerns for researchers, doctors, patients, and other institutions associated with HIV. A lot of debate has persisted on clinical outcomes, the use of antiretrovirals, and vaccines on HIV patients infected with COVID-19. This note attempts to present different aspects of HIV and SARS-CoV-2 across themes like SARS-CoV-2 coinfections in people living with HIV, the psychological impact, treatments, vaccination, etc. We highlight how learnings from the COVID-19 pandemic can help us in tackling the HIV pandemic.

Chickpea Biofortification for Cytokinin Dehydrogenase via Genome Editing to Enhance Abiotic-Biotic Stress Tolerance and Food Security.

Globally more than two billion people suffer from micronutrient malnutrition (also known as "hidden hunger"). Further, the pregnant women and children in developing nations are mainly affected by micronutrient deficiencies. One of the most important factors is food insecurity which can be mitigated by improving the nutritional values through biofortification using selective breeding and genetic enhancement techniques. Chickpea is the second most important legume with numerous economic and nutraceutical properties. Therefore, chickpea production needs to be increased from the current level. However, various kind of biotic and abiotic stresses hamper global chickpea production. The emerging popular targets for biofortification in agronomic crops include targeting cytokinin dehydrogenase (CKX). The CKXs play essential roles in both physiological and developmental processes and directly impact several agronomic parameters i.e., growth, development, and yield. Manipulation of CKX genes using genome editing tools in several crop plants reveal that CKXs are involved in regulation yield, shoot and root growth, and minerals nutrition. Therefore, CKXs have become popular targets for yield improvement, their overexpression and mutants can be directly correlated with the increased yield and tolerance to various stresses. Here, we provide detailed information on the different roles of CKX genes in chickpea. In the end, we discuss the utilization of genome editing tool clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats/CRISPR associated protein 9 (CRISPR/Cas9) to engineer CKX genes that can facilitate trait improvement. Overall, recent advancements in CKX and their role in plant growth, stresses and nutrient accumulation are highlighted, which could be used for chickpea improvement.

Cucurbit[6]uril-Supported Fe3O4 Magnetic Nanoparticles Catalyzed Green and Sustainable Synthesis of 2-Substituted Benzimidazoles via Acceptorless Dehydrogenative Coupling.

A new composite, cucurbit[6]uril (CB[6])-supported magnetic nanoparticles, Fe3O4-CB[6], was synthesized via a co-precipitation method in air and fully characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, powder X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, field-emission scanning electron microscopy, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry, and vibrating sample magnetometry techniques. It has been found to be a highly efficient, economic, and sustainable heterogeneous catalyst and has been employed for the first time for the synthesis of a series of biologically important 2-substituted benzimidazoles from various benzyl alcohols and 1,2-diaminobenzenes under solvent-free conditions via acceptorless dehydrogenative coupling to afford the corresponding products in good to excellent yields (68-94%). The magnetic nature of the nanocomposite facilitates the facile recovery of the catalyst from the reaction mixture by an external magnet. The catalyst can be reused up to five times with negligible loss in its catalytic activity. All the isolated products were characterized by 1H and 13C{1H} NMR spectroscopy.

Integrative structural modelling and visualisation of a cellular organelle.

Models of insulin secretory vesicles from pancreatic beta cells have been created using the cellPACK suite of tools to research, curate, construct and visualise the current state of knowledge. The model integrates experimental information from proteomics, structural biology, cryoelectron microscopy and X-ray tomography, and is used to generate models of mature and immature vesicles. A new method was developed to generate a confidence score that reconciles inconsistencies between three available proteomes using expert annotations of cellular localisation. The models are used to simulate soft X-ray tomograms, allowing quantification of features that are observed in experimental tomograms, and in turn, allowing interpretation of X-ray tomograms at the molecular level.

Swarna Prashana - faith in the embrace of research.

Childhood needs diverse nutritional requirements. Poor appetite, lifestyle changes, and poor digestion affects child immunity and make them prone to diseases. Kaumarabhritya, a branch of Ayurveda which deals in child and adolescent health care, has a unique concept of Swarna Prashana (SP) to promote generalized immunity and intellect. SP is commonly recommended to children between 0 and 12 years of age and given as a general health promoter to improve intellect, digestion, strength, immunity, longevity, and complexion. Multiple benefits of SP are mentioned in different Samhitas which needs to be explored on scientific background. Authors have highlighted content variabilities, plausible mechanisms, research tasks and potentials, lacunae, and future prospects about SP. This manuscript is a spotlight on current social, clinical, marketing, and scientific information of Swarna Prashana. SP can be a cost-effective, safe, infrastructure compatible, and prevention-centric approach to improve children's overall health status and has the potential to serve as a positive health care program for children.

Lamellar Peptide-Cadmium-Doped Zinc Oxide Nanohybrids That Emit White Light.

A variety of hybrid nanostructures have been developed that emit white light. Two different white-light-emitting systems are reported. These are cadmium-doped zinc oxide nanosheets and complex lamellar nanostructures that consist of alternating inorganic cadmium-doped zinc oxide domains with the self-assembled aromatic-capped peptide BPI-FF-OH (BPI: benzo[ghi]perylene monoimide, F: d-phenylalanine). An electrochemical method is employed to synthesize cadmium-doped zinc oxide nanosheets and lamellar organic/cadmium-doped zinc oxide nanoflakes on a gallium-doped ZnO/p-Si (111) substrate. External structural features and internal structural ordering of wurtzite cadmium-doped zinc oxide and lamellar organic/cadmium-doped zinc oxide nanohybrids are characterized by small-angle X-ray scattering, XRD, field-emission SEM, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, secondary-ion mass spectrometry, ellipsometry, and photoluminescence spectroscopy. Cadmium-doped zinc oxide nanosheets and lamellar organic/cadmium-doped zinc oxide hybrids emit white light with a broad emission covering the visible spectrum from λ=415 to 700 nm. Characteristic white-light emissions of both materials were well characterized by photoluminescence studies. The white-light luminescence is attributed to cadmium doping in the zinc oxide crystal and the presence of the dipeptide-functionalized BPI fluorophore in the lamellar nanohybrid.

Blue electroluminescence from Sb-ZnO/Cd-ZnO/Ga-ZnO heterojunction diode fabricated by dual ion beam sputtering.

p-type Sb-doped ZnO/i-CdZnO/n-type Ga-doped ZnO was grown by dual ion beam sputtering deposition system. Current-voltage characteristics of the heterojunction showed a diode-like rectifying behavior with a turn-on voltage of ~5 V. The diode yielded blue electroluminescence emissions at around 446 nm in forward biased condition at room temperature. The emission intensity increased with the increase of the injection current. A red shifting of the emission peak position was observed with the increment of ambient temperature, indicating a change of band gap of the CdZnO active layer with temperature in low-temperature measurement.