Revisiting Prostate Cancer in India: A Genomic View

In the recent past, there has been a rise in Prostate Cancer (PCa) in Asia, particularly India.  Although systematic reviews on PCa have dealt on the genetics, genomics and the environmental influence in causal of PCa, no predictive analytics in comparing the PCa from Caucasian, American to Asian population was attempted. In this review article, we have attempted to elaborate this aspect of PCa and deliberated on challenges related to next generation sequencing methods of PCa’s manifestation when compared to the west

Evaluation of a New Lipase from Staphylococcus sp. for Detergent Additive Capability

Lipases are the enzymes of choice for laundry detergent industries owing to their triglyceride removing ability from the soiled fabric which eventually reduces the usage of phosphate-based chemical cleansers in the detergent formulation. In the present study, a partially purified bacterial lipase from Staphylococcus arlettae JPBW-1 isolated from the rock salt mine has been assessed for its triglyceride removing ability by developing a presoak solution so as to use lipase as an additive in laundry detergent formulations. The effects of selected surfactants, commercial detergents, and oxidizing agents on lipase stability were studied in a preliminary evaluation for its further usage in the industrial environment. Partially purified lipase has shown good stability in presence of surfactants, commercial detergents, and oxidizing agents. Washing efficiency has been found to be enhanced while using lipase with 0.5% nonionic detergent than the anioinic detergent. The wash performance using 0.5% wheel with 40 U lipase at 40°C in 45 min results in maximum oil removal (62%) from the soiled cotton fabric. Hence, the present study opens the new era in enzyme-based detergent sector for formulation of chemical-free detergent using alkaline bacterial lipase

Compliance assessment of cigarette and other tobacco products act in public places of Alwar district of Rajasthan

Background: The Government of India has taken various initiatives for tobacco control by enacting comprehensive tobacco control legislation (Cigarette and Other Tobacco Products Act [COTPA], 2003). Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess the level of compliance of Sections 4, 5, 6-a, and 6-b, and 7, 8, and 9 of COTPA with respect to public places, educational institutes, point of sale (PoS), and warning on packaging (COTPA) in public places of Alwar District of Rajasthan. Methods: A cross-sectional observational study was conducted in 2014 in Alwar city and four blocks of the district. The study was done around 365 public places for observing the compliance of Section 4 of COTPA, 357 educational institutions for observing the compliance of Section 6-b of COTPA, and 357 tobacco retailers for observing the compliance of Sections 5 and 6-a of COTPA. Results: The criteria for the evaluation (the core indicators) and decision criteria for a district to qualify for the "Smoke free" status include six parameters. From the total of 365 places visited, 90% places displayed the "No-smoking" signage and out of total 328 places, 99% were as per the COTPA specification. Alwar city, Ramgarh, Thanagaji, and Alwar rural block followed the compliance of Section 4. The PoS visited Alwar district displayed 93% (332) signage and all the displayed signage followed the COTPA compliance. In Alwar city, Thanagaji, Ramgarh, and Alwar rural block, the compliance of Section 6-a was above 90%. The compliance of Section 6-b was above 90% in Alwar city, Ramgarh, Thanagaji, and Alwar rural block. Ninety-three percent (332) of the PoS did not display tobacco advertisement in Alwar district, which is a positive sign of COTPA compliance. Conclusion: This finding suggest a high level of compliance of Section 4, Section 5, Section 6-a, and Section 6-b of COTPA at Alwar district

Isolation and characterization of selected secondary metabolites from dry leaves of <i>Quercus</i> <i>semicarpifolia.</i>

223-226Nonacosane, friedelin 1, β- sitosterol 2 and oleanolic acid 3 from petroleum ether; 5-acetoxy-3,3',4',5'-tetramethoxyflavone 4 from acetone and quercetin 5 from methanolic extract of the dry leaves of Quercus semicarpifolia have been isolated

Isolation of 3β-hydroxyolean-12-ene,friedelin and 7-methoxy-4' -5-dihydroxyisoflavone from dry and fresh leaves of <i>Shorea robusta</i>

1097-1099Terpenoids β-amyrin, friedelin and β-sitosterol from pet. Ether extract of dry leaves, whereas the colouring matter α- and β-carotene, lutein, phenophytin-a as well as 7-methoxy-4'-5-dihydroxyisoflavone have been isolated from the acetone extract of the fresh leaves of Shorea robusta.</i

Health education: A vital tool in changing environmental hygiene knowledge, attitudes and practices among food handlers in a tertiary care hospital of Delhi

Background: Environmental hygiene in food establishments is an important determinant of health. Health education package using combination of strategies is essential in preventing cross-contamination. Objective: To determine change in environmental hygiene knowledge, attitudes and practices among food handlers following implementation of health education intervention. Methods: A before and after interventional study was conducted on 111 food handlers of food establishments in a tertiary care hospital of Delhi in 2021–22. Tool based on WHO &amp; FSSAI guidelines was prepared with a scoring system to rate environmental hygiene knowledge (0–12), attitudes (0–10) and practices (0–12) including cleaning of surfaces, pest control, waste disposal &amp; segregation, packaging of food along with utensil washing steps (0–10). Health education was given and scores on same tool were reassessed after 8 weeks of intervention. Nail bed swabs were taken as an indicator of bacteriological contamination. Results: The differences of mean scores of knowledge, attitudes and practices before &amp; after intervention were statistically significant differences of 9.95 ± 0.95, 8.02 ± 0.68 and 7.91 ± 1.16 respectively (p < 0.05) while utensil washing practices before and after intervention were 2.78 ± 0.59 &amp; 6.77 ± 0.74 with statistically significant difference of 3.99 ± 0.85. Before intervention, pathogenic organisms were isolated in nail bed swabs of 91 % of study participants while after intervention it was 12.6 %. Common species isolated were Klebsiella spp. (55.5 %), E. coli (15.9 %), Staphylococcus spp. (10.9 %) and Acinetobacter spp. (9.9). Conclusion: Improvement in environmental hygiene KAP emphasizes need of ensuring implementation of existing guidelines. Thus, health education using planned combination of channels and strategies can achieve desired change

Modeling Embedded Optimization Strategy for the Formulation of Bacterial Lipase-Based Biodetergent

Lipase-based detergent formulations are a viable substitute for chemical detergents that pose health and environmental hazards to customers and society. In this study, the efficacy of <i>Staphylococcus arlettae</i> JPBW-1 lipase as an additive in laundry detergent was assessed for oil removal through modeling and optimization using a response-surface-methodology-integrated genetic algorithm. A three-level five-factorial central composite design was used to evaluate the interactive effects on oil removal percentage from cotton fabric of process conditions, namely, detergent concentration, lipase concentration, buffer pH, washing temperature, and washing time. The input space of the validated response surface methodology (RSM) model (<i>R</i>² value of 97.7%) was utilized for genetic algorithm (GA) optimization. An optimum value of 79.6% oil removal was achieved with the GA-predicted process variables of 0.69% detergent, 47.37 U of lipase, buffer pH of 7.2, and washing temperature of 37.18 °C in 26.11 min, which was 27% more than the oil removal without lipase. Hence, lipase from <i>S. arlettae</i> JPBW-1 can be effectively used as an additive in laundry detergent for oil removal from soiled fabric and introduces a new lipase into the biobased detergent industry