Estimating global injuries morbidity and mortality: methods and data used in the Global Burden of Disease 2017 study

BACKGROUND: While there is a long history of measuring death and disability from injuries, modern research methods must account for the wide spectrum of disability that can occur in an injury, and must provide estimates with sufficient demographic, geographical and temporal detail to be useful for policy makers. The Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 2017 study used methods to provide highly detailed estimates of global injury burden that meet these criteria. METHODS: In this study, we report and discuss the methods used in GBD 2017 for injury morbidity and mortality burden estimation. In summary, these methods included estimating cause-specific mortality for every cause of injury, and then estimating incidence for every cause of injury. Non-fatal disability for each cause is then calculated based on the probabilities of suffering from different types of bodily injury experienced. RESULTS: GBD 2017 produced morbidity and mortality estimates for 38 causes of injury. Estimates were produced in terms of incidence, prevalence, years lived with disability, cause-specific mortality, years of life lost and disability-adjusted life-years for a 28-year period for 22 age groups, 195 countries and both sexes. CONCLUSIONS: GBD 2017 demonstrated a complex and sophisticated series of analytical steps using the largest known database of morbidity and mortality data on injuries. GBD 2017 results should be used to help inform injury prevention policy making and resource allocation. We also identify important avenues for improving injury burden estimation in the future

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Not AvailableThe enforcement and implementation of Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Act, 2001 has influenced the seed industry in a big way in India. The Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Authority has so far received 3984 applications for registration of plant varieties out of which 487 have been granted Certificates of Registration (CoR). It is interesting to note that farmers’ varieties formed 29 percent of all the applications received. Crop-wise analysis of issue of CoR revealed that cereals, (such as maize, bread wheat, rice, pearl millet and sorghum) and cotton along with few pulses formed more than 90 percent of the varieties granted CoR. Public sector contributed for 83 percent of the total CoR issued in all categories of varieties. But in case of new varieties the private sector dominated with a share of almost 90 percent. Two private seed companies namely, Monsanto India Limited and MAHYCO together contributed 16 new varieties out of total 34 new varieties granted CoR. Maize and cotton together contributed for 66 percent of new varieties granted CoR. The widening gap between the public and private sector seed companies in the development of innovations (new varieties, hybrids and proprietary technologies) and getting plant variety protection is alarming. The public sector seed industry has to be revitalised to address the present day challenges of competitiveness in R&D, market access, and efficient technology transfer systems. India is the first country in the world to grant registration for farmers’ varieties and this has implications for the developing countries to follow this unique modelNot Availabl

Mechanism of Resistance to Camptothecin, a Cytotoxic Plant Secondary Metabolite, by Lymantria sp. Larvae

Camptothecin (CPT), a monoterpene indole alkaloid, is a potent inhibitor of eukaryotic topoisomerase I (Top 1). Because of this property, several derivatives of CPT are widely used as chemotherapeutic agents. The compound is produced by several plant species, including Nothapodytes nimmoniana (Family: Icacinaceae) presumably as a deterrent to insect pests. Here, we report, a lepidopteran larva, Lymantria sp. of Lymantriidae family which feeds voraciously on the leaves of N. nimmoniana, without any adverse consequences. Larval body weight and molting period were unaffected despite captive feeding of the larva with CPT enriched leaves. Mass spectrometric analysis indicated that nearly 46% of the ingested CPT was excreted while the rest was sequestered predominantly in the exuviae and setae (~35%). Although most of the CPTwas in the parental form as found in the plant, traces of inactive, sulfated forms of CPT were recovered from the larva. Compared to that in plant, there were no critical mutations at the CPT binding domain of the insect’s Top 1. The gut pH of the larva was alkaline (pH 10.0). The alkaline gut environment converts CPT from its active, lactone form to inactive, carboxylate form. It is likely that such conversion might help the larva to reduce the overall burden of CPT in its gut. We discuss the results in the context of the mechanisms of resistance adapted by insects to plant toxins

Weather prediction using traditional knowledge in cold arid high altitude region of Ladakh in India

The Union territory of Ladakh in India is a cold arid high altitude region. The subsistence nature of agriculture being practiced (by majority of farmers) in the region is solely dependent on melted glacier water. The present study was undertaken in Leh district of Ladakh to identify, prioritize and understand the traditional knowledge (TK) used by the farming community for prediction of weather. The primary data were collected from 320 households from 20 villages in Leh district from 2015 to 2020. The primary data were aided and validated by Focused Group Discussions with key informants and stakeholders working in the region such as scientists from research institutions and officials from agriculture and line departments. Farmers used combination of indicators including behavioral changes of birds and animals, change in atmospheric events and inferences drawn from Lotho (almanac) to predict weather. Migration pattern of birds was the most ancient, common and widely prevalent TK used for prediction of onset and extent of snowfall and winter season by farmers. Building of nest by birds on poplar tree (Poplus sp.) at different heights and directions was used to predict temperatures in the forthcoming summer season. The duration of hibernation of Himalayan marmots (Marmota himalayana) was an indication of duration of snowfall and winter temperatures. Timing and extent of precipitation (rainfall and snowfall) was used to predict the distribution of snowfall and winter temperatures. Lotho was extensively used for planning agricultural operations till a decade ago. The farming community used different TK in totality to enhance the accuracy of weather prediction. It was found that improved connectivity of the region with the mainland, introduction of modern communication technologies and decreasing dependence on agriculture as a primary livelihood option (because of the emergence of non-farm based opportunities such as services and tourism) have made the use of TK less prevalent among young generation farmers. However, the majority of the farmers expressed the need for blending TK and modern science for addressing location-specific problems

Isolation of endophytic bacteria producing the anti-cancer alkaloid camptothecine from Miquelia dentata Bedd. (Icacinaceae)

Camptothecine (CPT), a quinoline alkaloid, is a potent inhibitor of eukaryotic topoisomerase I. Because of this activity, several semi-synthetic derivatives of CPT are in clinical use against ovarian and small lung cancers. Together with its derivatives, CPT is the third largest anti-cancer drug in the world market. CPT is produced by several plant species belonging to the Asterid clade. In the recent past, several studies have reported the production of CPT by endophytic fungal associates of some of these plant species. In this paper, we report the production of CPT by endophytic bacteria isolated from Miquelia dentata Bedd. (Icacinaceae). Besides CPT, the bacteria also produced 9-methoxy CPT (9-MeO-CPT), in culture, independent of the host tissue. The chemical nature of CPT and 9-MeO-CPT was determined by LC–MS and ESI-MS/MS analysis, and was shown to be similar to that produced by the host tissue. One of the bacterial isolates examined, showed indications of attenuation of CPT production through sub-culture. This is the first report of production of CPT by endophytic bacteria. The identity of the bacteria was ascertained by Gram staining and 16s rRNA sequencing. We discuss the possible mechanisms that might be involved in the synthesis of CPT by endophytic bacteria

Self-poisoning of Mycobacterium tuberculosis by targeting GlgE in an alpha-glucan pathway

New chemotherapeutics are urgently required to control the tuberculosis pandemic. We describe a new pathway from trehalose to α-glucan in Mycobacterium tuberculosis comprising four enzymatic steps mediated by TreS, Pep2, GlgE (which has been identified as a maltosyltransferase that uses maltose 1-phosphate) and GlgB. Using traditional and chemical reverse genetics, we show that GlgE inactivation causes rapid death of M. tuberculosis in vitro and in mice through a self-poisoning accumulation of maltose 1-phosphate. Poisoning elicits pleiotropic phosphosugar-induced stress responses promoted by a self-amplifying feedback loop where trehalose-forming enzymes are upregulated. Moreover, the pathway from trehalose to α-glucan exhibited a synthetic lethal interaction with the glucosyltransferase Rv3032, which is involved in biosynthesis of polymethylated α-glucans, because key enzymes in each pathway could not be simultaneously inactivated. The unique combination of maltose 1-phosphate toxicity and gene essentiality within a synthetic lethal pathway validates GlgE as a distinct potential drug target that exploits new synergistic mechanisms to induce death in M. tuberculosis