State-wise pattern of gender bias in child health in India

Health being one of the most basic capabilities, the removal of gender bias in child health can go a long way in achieving gender parity in many other dimensions of human development. The present study examines the state-wise pattern of gender bias in child health in India. It uses 21 selected indicators of health outcome (e.g., post-neonatal death, child death and prevalence of malnutrition) and health-seeking behaviour (e.g., full immunisation, oral rehydration therapy, fever/ cough treatment and breast-feeding). Three rounds of unit level National Family Health Survey data are analysed using Borda Rule and Principal Component Analysis techniques. Children under age three years are the unit of the analysis. The study found that any consistently robust state-wise pattern of gender bias against girl children in child health is not present among all the 29 Indian states over the three rounds of NFHSs. Among the major 19 states, there is high gender bias in three Empowered Action Group of states (namely, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Bihar) and in Andhra Pradesh, Punjab, and Gujarat as well. However, there is a consistent state-wise pattern in girl children’s health achievement. With Rawlsian theory of justice, to reduce gender bias in child health we need to focus on the states with low health achievement by girls.Gender Bias; Child Health; National Family Health Survey; India

State-wise pattern of gender bias in child health in India

Health being one of the most basic capabilities, the removal of gender bias in child health can go a long way in achieving gender parity in many other dimensions of human development. The present study examines the state-wise pattern of gender bias in child health in India. It uses 21 selected indicators of health outcome (e.g., post-neonatal death, child death and prevalence of malnutrition) and health-seeking behaviour (e.g., full immunisation, oral rehydration therapy, fever/ cough treatment and breast-feeding). Three rounds of unit level National Family Health Survey data are analysed using Borda Rule and Principal Component Analysis techniques. Children under age three years are the unit of the analysis. The study found that any consistently robust state-wise pattern of gender bias against girl children in child health is not present among all the 29 Indian states over the three rounds of NFHSs. Among the major 19 states, there is high gender bias in three Empowered Action Group of states (namely, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Bihar) and in Andhra Pradesh, Punjab, and Gujarat as well. However, there is a consistent state-wise pattern in girl children’s health achievement. With Rawlsian theory of justice, to reduce gender bias in child health we need to focus on the states with low health achievement by girls

Recent Developments in Hydrodecyanation and Decyanative Functionalization Reactions

Nitrile is one of the ubiquitous functional groups in natural products and polymer industry. It is often used as a versatile building block in synthetic chemistry. Classically, nitrile group is used for alpha functionalization, ortho−C−H activation and as a precursor for amine or carbonyl functionalities. With the development of various transition metal catalyzed methods, in the last two decades, nitrile group has emerged as a source of carbon synthons through C−CN bond activation despite of its high bond energy. In this review we have summarized all recent developments involving the carbon synthons arising from the cleavage of C−CN bonds. Depending on the fate of the carbon center after cleavage, all the reactions are classified in two major categories for the ease of discussion: 1) decyanation (removal of the nitrile group) and 2) decyanative functionalization (replacement of the nitrile group). Finally, current limitations in C−CN bond activation strategies and future prospects are discussed. © 2021 Wiley-VCH Gmb

In-vivo protein nitration and de-nitration facilitate Vibrio cholerae cell survival under anaerobic condition: Consequences of Nitrite induced protein nitration

Protein tyrosine nitration (PTN), a highly selective post translational modification, occurs in both prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells under nitrosative stress1. It is reported that the activities of many proteins are altered due to PTN2. PTN is found to be associated with many pathophysiological conditions like neurodegenerative and cardiac diseases etc.3. However, its physiological function is not yet clear. Like all other gut pathogens Vibrio cholerae also faces nitrosative stress in the gut environment which makes its proteome more vulnerable to PTN. Here, we report for the first time in-vivo PTN in V. cholerae. We show that in-vivo protein nitration is nitrite dependent and nitration-denitration phenomenon actually facilitates V. cholerae cell survival in anaerobic or hypoxic condition. In our study, we found that the extent of in-vivo nitration is negatively correlated with the intracellular nitrite content and maximum nitration occurs during log phase of V. cholerae. Most interestingly, a significant denitration was associated with increase in intracellular nitrate content during anaerobic incubation of aerobically grown late log phase cultures. In-vivo nitration could provide an avenue for toxic nitrite storage and nitrosative stress tolerance mechanism in many gut pathogens, whereas denitration could supply nitrate for cell survival in anaerobic nitrate deficient environment. Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest