Association of hypoadiponectemia with smokeless/dipping tobacco use in young men

Background: Low levels of adiponectin, an adipocytokine with anti-diabetic, antiatherogenic and cardioprotective properties, is associated with increased risk of coronary disease in young men. Previous studies have demonstrated that smokeless tobacco is linked with a reduction of plasma adiponectin levels. However, the influence of smokeless tobacco (dipping tobacco) on plasma adiponectin levels still remains unknown. This study was conducted to assess the plasma adiponectin levels in young men who were using dipping tobacco. Methods: This was a community based study, which consisted of 186 young lean healthy males aged 20 to 35 years. Among these, 96 men were dipping tobacco users (BMI = 23.07 ± 2.68) and 90 were non-dipping tobacco users (BMI = 23.67 ± 1.46). Serum adiponectin levels were assessed by Enzyme Linked ImmunoSorbent Assay (ELISA). Results: A statistically significant difference in the mean adiponectin level between tobacco dipper and non-dipper groups was observed (p = 0.0001). A significant difference between the two groups was also observed in baseline parameters including triglyceride and random blood sugar levels (p < 0.05). However, no significant difference was observed between the two groups in other clinical parameters. Conclusions: Findings of this study suggest that dipping tobacco use was significantly associated with low level of adiponetin in community dwelling young males. This emphasizes the importance of developing community intervention to reduce the use of dipping tobacco, which will reduce the tobacco associated disease burden in the community and will improve public health

Scenario of Present and Future of Solid Waste Generation in India: A Case Study of Delhi Mega City

Solid waste generation is the by-product of the Urbanization, rapid industrialization, population growth and migration from the country side. It is commonly considered as an Urban Issue. It is highly related with Economic growth, degree of industrialization and consumption pattern and lavish lifestyle of urbanites.   On one hand more generation of Solid Waste indicate the economic development but on the other it increases environmental stresses. Solid Waste generation and management is a burning issue all over the world and the planners and policy formulators are finding it extremely difficult to handle this problem mainly because of haphazard and unchecked urbanization. Solid Waste contributes 3% of total Green House Gases Emission Globally, which are culprit for Global Warming and Climate Change. Huge amount of Solid Waste generation and their improper management worsen the air quality in the cities which ultimately affect the human health severely.The problem of Municipal Solid waste management is much more acute environmental problems in mega cities like Delhi where land available for landfill sites is scarce. Agricultural land of Delhi has been grabbed by the unauthorized private colonizers and builders by changing the land use overnight. Delhi is the adobe of 14 million people out of which approximately half of the population (52%) population lives in slums and 1400 unauthorized colonies. In 2012, 900 colonies have been authorized or regularized providing bare minimum civic amenities.  In the present study, an attempt has been made to provide a comprehensive review of the present infrastructure available, the future requirements to manage Municipal Solid waste and the Organizations and agencies involved in it. The main aim of this paper is to quantify the present generation of Solid Waste and project the generation in future by projecting population growth in Delhi Mega City. This study will be proved to be an eye opener for the city planners, managers, stakeholders and different Organizations and agencies which are actively engaged in the Management of this “Urban Menace”. Keywords: Solid Waste, Urbanization, Population, Green House Gases (GHGs

Evaluation of Growth of Motor Vehicles Fleet and Ambience Air Quality in India

Increasing Vehicular population and deteriorating quality of air is the by-product of rapid growth of population in India. Undoubtedly on one hand transport sector plays a significant role in the overall development of a nation's economy, but on the other this sector accounts for a substantial and growing proportion of air pollution also. The urban expansion, industrialization, lack of services, energy and transport demands are leading to a vicious cycle of pollution. According to the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the main sources of emission are energy (26%), transport (18%), industry (19%) and buildings (10%) are the main sources of emissions. The road traffic accounts for about 80% of the passenger traffic and 60% of the goods. For vehicular motors emits various pollutants, such as carbon monoxide, nitric-oxide, carbon dioxide and several organic compounds which are responsible for the deterioration of the environment. In developing countries like India especially, increasing demand for private vehicles is outpacing the supply of transport infrastructure – including both road networks and public transit networks. The result is growing congestion and air pollution. The transport sector in India consumes about 16.9% fossil fuel based energy sources. The aim of this paper is to focus on the state wise emissions of variety of pollutants and asses the quality of air, using region specific mass emission factors for each type of vehicles. Keywords- Transport, Quality of air, Industrialization, Development, Greenhouse gas (GHG

Transport and Ambience Air Quality in Metro Cities of India

Increasing Vehicular population and deteriorating quality of air is the by-product of rapid growth of population and haphazard urbanization in India. The urban population in India has increased significantly from 62 million in 1951 to 285 million in 2001 and is estimated to grow to 540 million by the year 2021. In terms of percentage of total population, the urban population has gone up from 17% in 1951 to 29% in 2001 and is expected to increase up to around 37% by the year 2021. About 55 million vehicles were playing on Indian roads in 2001. The annual growth rate of motor vehicle population in India has been about 10% during the decade (1991-2001), It is seen that two wheelers are growing faster than cars. The basic problem is not the number of vehicles in the country but their concentration in a few selected cities, particularly in metropolitan cities. It is alarming to note that 32 percent of all vehicles are plying in metropolitan cities alone; these cities constitute about 11 percent of country’s total urban population. During the year 2000, more than 6.3 million vehicles were plying in mega cities, which constitute more than 13 percent of all motor vehicles in the country. Mumbai is carrying the highest vehicles compared with other mega cities. Cities like Bangalore, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Nagpur, Pune show a vehicle growth higher than the mega cities like Delhi, Kolkata etc., presently.  Undoubtedly on one hand transport sector plays a significant role in the overall development of a nation's economy, but on the other this sector accounts for a substantial and growing proportion of air pollution also. The urban expansion, industrialization, lack of services, energy and transport demands are leading to a vicious cycle of pollution. The main aim of this paper is to analyze air pollution caused by increasing number of vehicles and its effect on the environment at present and in future by projecting the number of vehicles and emission load. It also deals with the planning measures that should be adopted in India to solve the problem of increasing vehicular pollution. Keywords: Transportation, Environment, Pollutants, Emission, Developmen

Scenario of Present and Future of Solid Waste Generation in Metro Cities of India

Rapid industrialization, urbanization, population growth and migration from the country side are resulted in Solid Waste generation, which is commonly considered as an Urban Issue.  It is highly related with Economic growth, degree of industrialization and consumption pattern and lavish lifestyle of city dwellers. Solid Waste generation and management is a burning issue all over the world and the planners and policy formulators are finding it extremely difficult to handle this problem mainly because of slapdash and unchecked urbanization. Solid Waste contributes 3% of total Green House Gases Emission Globally, which are culprit for Global Warming and Climate Change. Huge amount of Solid Waste generation and their improper management worsen the air quality in the urban areas which results in health problems. When the urbanization expands, the amount of municipal solid waste increases rapidly even faster than the rate of urbanization, one of the most important by-products of an urban lifestyle, is growing even faster than the rate of urbanization. Ten years ago there were 2.9 billion urban residents who generated about 0.64 kg of Municipal solid wastes per person per day (0.68 billion tons per year). Hence, today these amounts have increased to about 3 billion residents generating 1.2 kg per person per day (1.3 billion tons per year). By 2025 this will likely increase to 4.3 billion urban residents generating about 1.42 kg/capita/day of municipal solid waste (2.2 billion tons per year). The main aim of this paper is to quantify the present generation of Solid Waste and project the generation in future by projecting population growth in Metro Cities and find out the causative factors for the same. In the present study, an attempt has been made to provide a comprehensive review of the present infrastructure available, the future requirements to manage Municipal solid wastes and the Organizations and agencies involved in it. The main aim of this paper is to quantify the present generation of Solid Waste and project the generation in future by projecting population growth in Metro Cities and find out the causative factors for the same. Keywords: Solid Waste, Urbanization, Population, Green House Gases (GHGs

Reference intervals for thyroid stimulating hormone and free thyroxine derived from neonates undergoing routine screening for congenital hypothyroidism at a university teaching hospital in Nairobi, Kenya: a cross sectional study

Background: In order to accurately interpret neonatal thyroid function tests (TFTs), it is necessary to have population specific reference intervals (RIs) as there is significant variation across different populations possibly due to genetic, environmental or analytical issues. Despite the importance of RIs, globally there are very few publications on RIs for neonatal TFTs primarily due to ethical and technical issues surrounding recruitment of neonates for a prospective study. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report from Africa on neonatal RIs for TFTs. Methods: We used hospital based data largely derived from neonates attending the wellness clinic at the Aga Khan University Hospital Nairobi (AKUHN) where screening for congenital hypothyroidism is routinely done. Specifically we derived age and gender stratified RIs for free thyroxine (fT4) and thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) which had been analyzed on a Roche e601 analyzer from 2011 to 2013. Determination of reference intervals was done using a non-parametric method. Results: A total of 1639 and 1329 non duplicate TSH and fT4 values respectively were used to derive RIs. There was a decline in TSH and fT4 levels with increase in age. Compared to the Roche RIs, the derived RIs for TSH in neonates aged 0–6 days and those aged 7–30 days had lower upper limits and narrower RIs. The fT4 lower limits for neonates less than 7 days and those aged 7–30 days were higher than those proposed by Roche. There was a significant difference in TSH RIs between male and female neonates aged less than 15 days. No gender differences were seen for all other age stratifications for both TSH and fT4. Appropriate age and gender specific RIs were subsequently determined. Conclusion: The AKUHN derived RIs for fT4 and TSH revealed similar age related trends to what has been published. However, the differences seen in upper and lower limits across different age stratifications when compared to the Roche RIs highlight the need for population specific RIs for TFTs especially when setting up a screening programme for congenital hypothyroidism. We subsequently recommend the adoption of the derived RIs by the AKUHN laboratory and hope that the RIs obtained can serve as a reference for the African population

Towards A Unified Utilitarian Ethics Framework for Healthcare Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence (AI) aims to elevate healthcare to a pinnacle by aiding clinical decision support. Overcoming the challenges related to the design of ethical AI will enable clinicians, physicians, healthcare professionals, and other stakeholders to use and trust AI in healthcare settings. This study attempts to identify the major ethical principles influencing the utility performance of AI at different technological levels such as data access, algorithms, and systems through a thematic analysis. We observed that justice, privacy, bias, lack of regulations, risks, and interpretability are the most important principles to consider for ethical AI. This data-driven study has analyzed secondary survey data from the Pew Research Center (2020) of 36 AI experts to categorize the top ethical principles of AI design. To resolve the ethical issues identified by the meta-analysis and domain experts, we propose a new utilitarian ethics-based theoretical framework for designing ethical AI for the healthcare domain

Use of molecular modeling and site-directed mutagenesis to define the structural basis for the immune response to carbohydrate xenoantigens

BACKGROUND: Natural antibodies directed at carbohydrates reject porcine xenografts. They are initially expressed in germline configuration and are encoded by a small number of structurally-related germline progenitors. The transplantation of genetically-modified pig organs prevents hyperacute rejection, but delayed graft rejection still occurs, partly due to humoral responses. IgV(H )genes encoding induced xenoantibodies are predominantly, not exclusively, derived from germline progenitors in the V(H)3 family. We have previously identified the immunoglobulin heavy chain genes encoding V(H)3 xenoantibodies in patients and primates. In this manuscript, we complete the structural analysis of induced xenoantibodies by identifying the IgV(H )genes encoding the small proportion of V(H)4 xenoantibodies and the germline progenitors encoding xenoantibody light chains. This information has been used to define the xenoantibody/carbohydrate binding site using computer-simulated modeling. RESULTS: The VH4-59 gene encodes antibodies in the V(H)4 family that are induced in human patients mounting active xenoantibody responses. The light chain of xenoantibodies is encoded by DPK5 and HSIGKV134. The structural information obtained by sequencing analysis was used to create computer-simulated models. Key contact sites for xenoantibody/carbohydrate interaction for V(H)3 family xenoantibodies include amino acids in sites 31, 33, 50, 57, 58 and the CDR3 region of the IgV(H )gene. Site-directed mutagenesis indicates that mutations in predicted contact sites alter binding to carbohydrate xenoantigens. Computer-simulated modeling suggests that the CDR3 region directly influences binding. CONCLUSION: Xenoantibodies induced during early and delayed xenograft responses are predominantly encoded by genes in the V(H)3 family, with a small proportion encoded by V(H)4 germline progenitors. This restricted group can be identified by the unique canonical structure of the light chain, heavy chain and CDR3. Computer-simulated models depict this structure with accuracy, as confirmed by site-directed mutagenesis. Computer-simulated drug design using computer-simulated models may now be applied to develop new drugs that may enhance the survival of xenografted organs

Genotyping-by-Sequencing Derived High-Density Linkage Map and its Application to QTL Mapping of Flag Leaf Traits in Bread Wheat

Winter wheat parents ‘Harry’ (drought tolerant) and ‘Wesley’ (drought susceptible) were used to develop a recombinant inbred population with future goals of identifying genomic regions associated with drought tolerance. To precisely map genomic regions, high-density linkage maps are a prerequisite. In this study genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS) was used to construct the high-density linkage map. The map contained 3,641 markers distributed on 21 chromosomes and spanned 1,959 cM with an average distance of 1.8 cM between markers. The constructed linkage map revealed strong collinearity in marker order across 21 chromosomes with POPSEQ-v2.0, which was based on a high-density linkage map. The reliability of the linkage map for QTL mapping was demonstrated by co-localizing the genes to previously mapped genomic regions for two highly heritable traits, chaff color, and leaf cuticular wax. Applicability of linkage map for QTL mapping of three quantitative traits, flag leaf length, width, and area, identified 21 QTLs in four environments, and QTL expression varied across the environments. Two major stable QTLs, one each for flag leaf length (Qfll.hww-7A) and flag leaf width (Qflw.hww-5A) were identified. The map constructed will facilitate QTL and fine mapping of quantitative traits, map-based cloning, comparative mapping, and in marker-assisted wheat breeding endeavors