Air pollution in households is a prime contributor to health issues in developing countries, as in the case of India. According to the latest National Family Health Survey Report 2022, more than half of India’s rural population and 41 per cent overall still depend on solid or unclean fuel combustions, which may reflect in future health hazards. Thus, it is crucial to understand the issue empirically. To that end, the study traces the transitional pattern of unclean cooking fuel users towards clean fuel over the last 30 years using responses from all five National Family Health Survey rounds. Further, the study uses an adjusted probit model to analyse the determinants that lead to the choice of cooking fuel in a household and a logistic model to examine the association between the choice made and the respiratory health of children under five. The empirical results show that the number of households using unclean fuel has declined over the years, with a slightly higher decline in the last five years. Moreover, it also shows that poverty status and place of residence significantly influence cooking fuel choice. Additionally, children residing in households that use clean fuels are less likely to suffer respiratory infections. In conclusion, the present study provides strong evidence to ameliorate the existing policies in a way that exhorts clean energy use. The authors propose pro-poor, pro-rural policies to expedite the clean energy transition, benefitting the most vulnerable households.

Availability of resistance sources among cultivated varieties helps in easy utilization as donor owing to no deleterious linkage drag. In the present investigation, 121 rice varieties were screened for their resistance against a virulent isolate of Fusarium fujikuroi (Ff-10) and genotyped using reported microsatellite markers. Among 121 varieties, only eight varieties, namely Luna Sankhi, Improved Tapaswini, Sarasa, Sadabahar, CR-311, Kshira, Wifa-10 and Binadhan-8, were found to be highly resistant (HR), seven varieties were resistant (R), 31 were moderately resistant (MR), 10 were moderately susceptible (MS), 11 were susceptible (S) and the rest 54 were highly susceptible (HS). The allele diversity of molecular markers classified the population into three clusters. The highly resistant varieties were grouped in major clusters II and III, whereas the remaining genotypes were distributed in all three clusters. Analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) resulted in 95% of the maximum diversity within the test population and 5% diversity between populations. Population structure analysis grouped the genotypes into two sub-populations based on relatedness, where most of the resistant genotypes were grouped into one sub-population and other genotypes were distributed among sub-populations. Re-examination of reported markers' trait associations with bakanae resistance in the experimental population identified marker RM-3698 as associated with resistance accounting 8.4% explained phenotypic variation. This study shows that simple sequence repeat markers can be used to assess allelic diversity and population structure of bakanae resistance in rice varieties. The highly resistant genotypes, along with resistance markers, could be used as donors in marker-assisted bakanae improvement breeding programmes.

The herbicides that inhibit 4-hydroxyphenylpyruvate dioxygenase (HPPD) are primarily used for weed control in corn, barley, oat, rice, sorghum, sugarcane, and wheat production fields in the United States. The objectives of this review were to summarize 1) the history of HPPD-inhibitor herbicides and their use in the United States; 2) HPPD-inhibitor resistant weeds, their mechanism of resistance, and management; 3) interaction of HPPD-inhibitor herbicides with other herbicides; and 4) the future of HPPD-inhibitor-resistant crops. As of 2022, three broadleaf weeds (Palmer amaranth, waterhemp, and wild radish) have evolved resistance to the HPPD inhibitor. The predominance of metabolic resistance to HPPD inhibitor was found in aforementioned three weed species. Management of HPPD-inhibitor-resistant weeds can be accomplished using alternate herbicides such as glyphosate, glufosinate, 2,4-D, or dicamba; however, metabolic resistance poses a serious challenge, because the weeds may be cross-resistant to other herbicide sites of action, leading to limited herbicide options. An HPPD-inhibitor herbicide is commonly applied with a photosystem II (PS II) inhibitor to increase efficacy and weed control spectrum. The synergism with an HPPD inhibitor arises from depletion of plastoquinones, which allows increased binding of a PS II inhibitor to the D1 protein. New HPPD inhibitors from the azole carboxamides class are in development and expected to be available in the near future. HPPD-inhibitor-resistant crops have been developed through overexpression of a resistant bacterial HPPD enzyme in plants and the overexpression of transgenes for HPPD and a microbial gene that enhances the production of the HPPD substrate. Isoxaflutole-resistant soybean is commercially available, and it is expected that soybean resistant to other HPPD inhibitor herbicides such as mesotrione, stacked with resistance to other herbicides, will be available in the near future.

The Diwani hills are located SE of Balaram–Abu Road in the Banaskantha district of north Gujarat. The crystalline rocks of the Diwani hill area are a diverse assemblage of Precambrian metamorphic and igneous rocks. These rocks are petrologically more complex and date back to the Aravallis or earlier. The mineralogical assemblages such as grt–sp–opx–qz of these rocks indicate their origin in anhydrous or dry conditions, implying metamorphism under pyroxene granulite facies. These granulitic rocks were subjected to Delhi orogenic deformation and were later intruded by the Erinpura granite. Textural and microstructural relationships, mineral chemistry, P–T–X pseudosection modelling and the oxidation state of pelitic granulites from the Diwani hill area of north Gujarat are all part of the current approach. The winTWQ program and pseudosection modelling in the NCKFMASHTO model system utilizing Perple_X software were used to restrict the P–T evolution of these pelitic granulites. The unification of these estimates shows that the pelitic granulites reached their pressure and temperature maxima at 8.6 kbar and 770 °C, respectively. The oxygen fugacity (log fO2) versus temperature computations at 6.2 kbar revealed log fO2–T values of −13.0 and 765 °C, respectively. The electron microprobe dating of monazite grains separated from the granulites of the Diwani hills yields ages ranging from 769 Ma to 855 Ma. The electron microprobe dating presented here from the Diwani hills provides evidence for a Neoproterozoic (Tonian) metamorphic event in the Aravalli–Delhi Mobile Belt.

Introduction: Older (age >=65 years) trauma patients suffer increased morbidity and mortality. This is due to under-triage of older trauma victims, resulting in lack of transfer to a trauma centre or failure to activate the trauma team. There are currently no Canadian guidelines for the management of older trauma patients. The objective of this study was to identify modifiers to the prehospital and emergency department (ED) phases of major trauma care for older adults based on expert consensus. Methods: We conducted a modified Delphi study to assess senior-friendly major trauma care modifiers based on national expert consensus. The panel consisted of 24 trauma care providers across Canada, including medical directors, paramedics, emergency physicians, emergency nurses, trauma surgeons and trauma administrators. Following a literature review, we developed an online Delphi survey consisting of 16 trauma care modifiers. Three online survey rounds were distributed and panelists were asked to score items on a 9-point Likert scale. The following predetermined thresholds were used: appropriate (median score 7–9, without disagreement); inappropriate (median score 1–3; without disagreement), and uncertain (any median score with disagreement). The disagreement index (DI) is a method for measuring consensus within groups. Agreement was defined a priori as a DI score <1. Results: There was a 100% response rate for all survey rounds. Three new trauma care modifiers were suggested by panelists. Of 19 trauma care modifiers, the expert panel achieved consensus agreement for 17 items. The prehospital modifier with the strongest agreement to transfer to a trauma centre was a respiratory rate <10 or >20 breaths/minute or needing ventilatory support (DI = 0.24). The ED modifier with the strongest level of agreement was obtaining a 12-lead electrocardiogram following the primary and secondary survey for all older adults (DI = 0.01). Two trauma care modifiers failed to reach consensus agreement: transporting older patients with ground level falls to a trauma centre and activating the trauma team based solely on an age >=65 years. Conclusion: Using a modified Delphi process, an expert panel agreed upon 17 trauma care modifiers for older adults in the prehospital and ED phases of care. These modifiers may improve the delivery of senior-friendly trauma care and should be considered when developing local and national trauma guidelines.

Nipah virus (NiV) outbreak occurred in Kozhikode district, Kerala, India in 2018 with a case fatality rate of 91% (21/23). In 2019, a single case with full recovery occurred in Ernakulam district. We described the response and control measures by the Indian Council of Medical Research and Kerala State Government for the 2019 NiV outbreak. The establishment of Point of Care assays and monoclonal antibodies administration facility for early diagnosis, response and treatment, intensified contact tracing activities, bio-risk management and hospital infection control training of healthcare workers contributed to effective control and containment of NiV outbreak in Ernakulam.

The eastern Arabian Sea is influenced by both the advection of upwelled water from the western Arabian Sea and winter convective mixing. Therefore, sediments collected from the eastern Arabian Sea can help to understand the long-term seasonal hydrographic changes. We used the planktonic foraminifera census and stable isotopic ratio (δ18O) from sediments drilled during the International Ocean Discovery Program Expedition 355 to reconstruct surface hydrographic changes in the eastern Arabian Sea during the last 350 kyr. The increased abundance of Globigerina bulloides suggests enhanced advection of upwelled water during the latter half of MIS7 and the beginning of MIS6, as a result of a strengthened summer monsoon. A large drop in upwelling and/or advection of upwelled water from the western Arabian Sea is inferred during the subsequent interval of MIS6, based on the rare presence of G. bulloides. The comparable relative abundance of Neogloboquadrina dutertrei, G. bulloides and Globigerinoides ruber suggests that during the early part of MIS5, hydrographic conditions were similar to today. The upwelling decreased and winter convection increased with the progress of the glacial interval. A good coherence between planktonic foraminiferal assemblage-based monsoon stacks from both the eastern and western Arabian Sea suggests a coeval response of the entire northern Arabian Sea to the glacial–interglacial changes. The glacial–interglacial difference in δ18Osw-ivc was at a maximum with 4–5 psu change in salinity during Termination 2 and 3, and a minimum during Termination 4. The significantly reduced regional contribution to the glacial–interglacial change in δ18Osw-ivc during Termination 4 suggests a lesser change in the monsoon.

A cross-sectional study on six dairy farms was conducted to ascertain the occurrence of carbapenem-resistant Escherichia coli in calves. Two-hundred and seventy-nine isolates of E. coli were recovered from 90 faecal samples from apparently healthy (45) and diarrhoeal (45) calves. The isolates were screened for phenotypic susceptibility to carbapenems and production of metallo β-lactamase, as well as five carbapenemase resistance genes by PCR, and overexpression of efflux pumps. Eighty-one isolates (29.03%) were resistant to at least one of three carbapenem antibiotics [meropenem (23.30%), imipenem (2.15%) and ertapenem (1.43%)], and one isolate was positive for the blaVIM gene which was located on an Incl1 plasmid of a novel sequence type (ST 297) by multilocus sequence typing. The majority (83.95%) of isolates had an active efflux pump. Calves housed on concrete floors were approximately seven times more likely to acquire meropenem-resistant isolates than those housed on earthen floors (95% CI 1.27–41.54). In India, carbapenem drugs are not used in food animal treatment, hence carbapenem-resistant strains in calves possibly originate from the natural environment or human contact and is of public health importance. To our knowledge, this is the first report of blaVIM carbapenemases gene in calves from India.

Polyphenol oxidase (PPO) in red clover (RC) has been shown to reduce both lipolysis and proteolysis in silo and implicated (in vitro) in the rumen. However, all in vivo comparisons have compared RC with other forages, typically with lower levels of PPO, which brings in other confounding factors as to the cause for the greater protection of dietary nitrogen (N) and C18 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) on RC silage. This study compared two RC silages which when ensiled had contrasting PPO activities (RC+ and RC−) against a control of perennial ryegrass silage (PRG) to ascertain the effect of PPO activity on dietary N digestibility and PUFA biohydrogenation. Two studies were performed the first to investigate rumen and duodenal flow with six Hereford×Friesian steers, prepared with rumen and duodenal cannulae, and the second investigating whole tract N balance using six Holstein-Friesian non-lactating dairy cows. All diets were offered at a restricted level based on animal live weight with each experiment consisting of two 3×3 Latin squares using big bale silages ensiled in 2010 and 2011, respectively. For the first experiment digesta flow at the duodenum was estimated using a dual-phase marker system with ytterbium acetate and chromium ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid as particulate and liquid phase markers, respectively. Total N intake was higher on the RC silages in both experiments and higher on RC− than RC+. Rumen ammonia-N reflected intake with ammonia-N per unit of N intake lower on RC+ than RC−. Microbial N duodenal flow was comparable across all silage diets with non-microbial N higher on RC than the PRG with no difference between RC+ and RC−, even when reported on a N intake basis. C18 PUFA biohydrogenation was lower on RC silage diets than PRG but with no difference between RC+ and RC−. The N balance trial showed a greater retention of N on RC+ over RC−; however, this response is likely related to the difference in N intake over any PPO driven protection. The lack of difference between RC silages, despite contrasting levels of PPO, may reflect a similar level of protein-bound-phenol complexing determined in each RC silage. Previously this complexing has been associated with PPOs protection mechanism; however, this study has shown that protection is not related to total PPO activity.

Intrinsically conductive polymers have received increased attention in the biomedical field due to their mechanical flexibility, electronic and ionic conductivity. On the other hand, bio-derived polymers such as silk proteins (fibroin and sericin) are an important set of materials to realize mechanically deformable, biocompatible and biodegradable systems. Here, we show a ‘green’ approach to fabricate micropatterned, flexible biosensors using photoreactive silk proteins in conjunction with conductive polymers. A functional ink comprised of poly(3,4-ethylene dioxythiophene: poly(styrene sulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) with silk sericin as a carrier enables the formation of high resolution conducting micropatterns on a silk fibroin substrate via photolithography. The flexible and conformable organic device formed can be used to sense biomolecules with high sensitivity and selectivity. The micropatterned functional silk composites are made using an all water-based fabrication approach, and shown to be cell friendly and degradable. Such systems can find applications in implantable optical devices, bio-sensors, and bio-optoelectronic devices.

Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD), a regulatory enzyme of the pentose phosphate pathway from Brugia malayi, was cloned, expressed and biochemically characterized. The Km values for glucose-6-phosphate and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADP) were 0·25 and 0·014 mm respectively. The rBmG6PD exhibited an optimum pH of 8·5 and temperature, 40 °C. Adenosine 5′ [γ-thio] triphosphate (ATP-γ-S), adenosine 5′ [β,γ-imido] triphosphate (ATP-β,γ-NH), adenosine 5′ [β-thio] diphosphate (ADP-β-S), Na+, K+, Li+ and Cu++ ions were found to be strong inhibitors of rBmG6PD. The rBmG6PD, a tetramer with subunit molecular weight of 75 kDa contains 0·02 mol of SH group per mol of monomer. Blocking the SH group with SH-inhibitors, led to activation of rBmG6PD activity by N-ethylmaleimide. CD analysis indicated that rBmG6PD is composed of 37% α-helices and 26% β-sheets. The unfolding equilibrium of rBmG6PD with GdmCl/urea showed the triphasic unfolding pattern along with the highly stable intermediate obtained by GdmCl.

Field experiments were made during the rainy seasons of 1979 and 1980 at Hissar, India, to study the effect of time of weed removal on the yield of groundnut. Removing weeds from 2 to 8 weeks after sowing led to significantly larger yields than that of plots which were not weeded. Maximum pod yield in both years was obtained when weeds were removed 4 weeks after crop sowing.

Field experiments were done during the rainy seasons of 1980 and 1981 at Hissar, India; they studied the effects of time of weed removal on the yield of mung beans. Removing weeds at 10, 20 or 30 days after sowing led to significantly larger yields than that of the weedy check. Maximum seed yields in booth years were obtained when weeds were removed 20 days after sowing

In the hilly areas of eastern Gujarat, western Madhya Pradesh and southern Rajasthan, in western India, farmers are very resource-poor and cultivate small and fragmented land holdings. Maize is their main rainy season (kharif) cereal and it is grown as a rainfed crop in low-fertility fields, often on sloping land that is vulnerable to soil erosion. Its productivity is very low, averaging below 1 t ha−1. New farm technologies to increase this productivity have to be low cost to be attractive to farmers who have limited access to purchased inputs and few means to purchase them. From observations of local farming practices, intercropping of maize with legumes was identified as an attractive option because the only additional input needed is seed of the legume crop. Participatory research was conducted on intercropping of maize with improved varieties of horsegram (Macrotyloma uniflorum). Many farmers who tried this intercropping adopted it in subsequent years, while others preferred to grow the new horsegram varieties as a sole crop. Farmers reported that less weeding was required in the intercrop as the horsegram smothered weeds. All farmers used the dry stover from the horsegram as a fodder for their animals. Farmers used the whole seed as dal, which provided additional protein in their diet. Farmers also sold the grain, but it fetched a low price in the poorly developed market for horsegram. Previously intercropping had been tried with local landraces, but the acceptance of intercropping was higher with new varieties such as AK-42 that yielded over 60% more grain. Participatory trials in which only one entry was compared with the local variety did not show a difference between AK-21 and AK-42 as in all cases both were preferred over the local variety. When they were directly compared with each other, farmers' perceptions showed a significant preference for AK-42. Variety IVH-2 was found to be better than AK-42: it matured 15 days earlier, better matching the maturity of the maize, had superior grain quality and yielded about the same. The greater uptake of improved horsegram varieties for sole and intercropping is likely to be limited by the lack of seed supply.