Museums and Heritage Sites — The Missing Link in Smart City Planning: A Case Study of Pune City, India

The process of urbanisation has dramatically increased in India in recent years. The Government of India launched Smart City Mission in 2015 which was intended to transform 100 cities into smart cities. The focus of our research is one such city in India on its path to smartification. Pune’s smart city mission focuses on techno-infrastructural development to increase mobility and digital connectivity. Social-cultural and historical indicators are not considered an integral part of this development. Given this, does the smart city mission of Pune privilege the techno-infrastructural development of a city over its social and cultural development?  In this paper, we identify museums and heritage sites in Pune as signifiers of a city's culture and analyse metro development plans through GIS to understand whether the museums' current geography mentioned above and heritage sites require alignment with Pune’s planned smart city mission. The research shows that the quest to ‘upgrade’ and ‘modernise’ is not adequately aligned with the role of key historic-cultural institutions such as museums and heritage sites. The case of Pune city shows that, without careful and inclusive development plan, a full roll-out of the smart city project will exclude a large number of historical and cultural spaces such as museums and heritage sites from emerging as an integral part of smart cities across the country and render them peripheral to modern urban life. &nbsp

Impact of Russia-Ukraine War on Sustainable Development Goals: A Study through Indian Financial Market Perspective

This study measures impact of geopolitical crisis concerning Russia Ukraine War with reference to Sustainable development Goal 8. The researchers have analyzed the variables such as Indian stock market performance, MCX crude oil and Indian GDP Indices to calculate the linear interdependencies among crude oil, Indian stock market performance and Gross Domestic Product using monthly data from January 2016 to May 2022 using a Vector Autoregressive (VAR) model. Time series stationarity is checked using Augmented Dickey-Fuller test. The time series used for the analysis are MCX iCOMDEX crude oil Index, Nifty 50 Index, and GDP Index. Correlation is measured using the Granger Causality Test and VAR model.  The outcome demonstrates that the lagged values of the Nifty and crude oil prices indexes are very effectively used to explain the GDP Index. Granger’s Causation Matrix shows that past value of NIFTY Index causes change in GDP Index similarly past value of Nifty Index causes change in MCX Crude oil Index, whereas MCX crude oil does not cause much change in GDP Index. Further research could be done using a detailed time series for a longer period to find any impact of crude oil prices on GDP

Measuring routine childhood vaccination coverage in 204 countries and territories, 1980-2019 : a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2020, Release 1

Background Measuring routine childhood vaccination is crucial to inform global vaccine policies and programme implementation, and to track progress towards targets set by the Global Vaccine Action Plan (GVAP) and Immunization Agenda 2030. Robust estimates of routine vaccine coverage are needed to identify past successes and persistent vulnerabilities. Drawing from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2020, Release 1, we did a systematic analysis of global, regional, and national vaccine coverage trends using a statistical framework, by vaccine and over time. Methods For this analysis we collated 55 326 country-specific, cohort-specific, year-specific, vaccine-specific, and dosespecific observations of routine childhood vaccination coverage between 1980 and 2019. Using spatiotemporal Gaussian process regression, we produced location-specific and year-specific estimates of 11 routine childhood vaccine coverage indicators for 204 countries and territories from 1980 to 2019, adjusting for biases in countryreported data and reflecting reported stockouts and supply disruptions. We analysed global and regional trends in coverage and numbers of zero-dose children (defined as those who never received a diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis [DTP] vaccine dose), progress towards GVAP targets, and the relationship between vaccine coverage and sociodemographic development. Findings By 2019, global coverage of third-dose DTP (DTP3; 81.6% [95% uncertainty interval 80.4-82 .7]) more than doubled from levels estimated in 1980 (39.9% [37.5-42.1]), as did global coverage of the first-dose measles-containing vaccine (MCV1; from 38.5% [35.4-41.3] in 1980 to 83.6% [82.3-84.8] in 2019). Third- dose polio vaccine (Pol3) coverage also increased, from 42.6% (41.4-44.1) in 1980 to 79.8% (78.4-81.1) in 2019, and global coverage of newer vaccines increased rapidly between 2000 and 2019. The global number of zero-dose children fell by nearly 75% between 1980 and 2019, from 56.8 million (52.6-60. 9) to 14.5 million (13.4-15.9). However, over the past decade, global vaccine coverage broadly plateaued; 94 countries and territories recorded decreasing DTP3 coverage since 2010. Only 11 countries and territories were estimated to have reached the national GVAP target of at least 90% coverage for all assessed vaccines in 2019. Interpretation After achieving large gains in childhood vaccine coverage worldwide, in much of the world this progress was stalled or reversed from 2010 to 2019. These findings underscore the importance of revisiting routine immunisation strategies and programmatic approaches, recentring service delivery around equity and underserved populations. Strengthening vaccine data and monitoring systems is crucial to these pursuits, now and through to 2030, to ensure that all children have access to, and can benefit from, lifesaving vaccines. Copyright (C) 2021 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.Peer reviewe

Genome sequence of a recently emerged, highly transmissible, multi-antibiotic- and antiseptic-resistant variant of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, sequence type 239 (TW)

The Sanger Institute is core funded by the Wellcome Trust. Funding for the sequencing of the TW20 genome was provided by Guy’s and St. Thomas’ Charity. J.D.E. receives funding from the Department of Health via the NIHR comprehensive Biomedical Research Centre award to Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust in partnership with King’s College London.The 3.1-Mb genome of an outbreak methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strain (TW20) contains evidence of recently acquired DNA, including two large regions ( 635 kb and 127 kb). The strain is resistant to a wide range of antibiotics, antiseptics, and heavy metals due to resistance genes encoded on mobile genetic elements and also mutations in housekeeping genes.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Examining factors influencing investment in Digital Gold and Gold ETF using the PCA technique

Digital Gold and Gold Exchange Traded Fund have emerged as an electronic option for investment in gold in India. The purpose of this study is to determine influential factors forming the perception and level of awareness of individuals toward investing in Digital Gold and Gold Exchange Traded Fund, and also analyze the relationship among these influential factors. Data for this quantitative analysis were obtained from a self-administered 5-point Likert questionnaire of 158 respondents who are individual investors investing in either Digital Gold or Gold Exchange Traded Fund to achieve the objectives of the study. Principal Component Analysis has been adapted as a dimension reduction technique to identify the factors impacting the decision of investing in Gold Exchange Traded Fund and Digital Gold. The factors that induce investors to invest in Digital Gold and Gold Exchange Traded Fund as identified in this study are conduciveness, security, and ease of accessibility. The factors that compel investors not to invest in Digital Gold and Gold ETFs are lack of contentment, operational challenges, lack of awareness, brokerage expenses, and infeasibility. The results disclosed that variables such as lack of satisfaction and lack of knowledge have higher factor loadings of 0.997, which indicates that investors are required to be more educated about the Digital Gold and Gold Exchange Traded Fund. Securities and Exchange Board of India, Reserve Bank of India and other regulatory authorities in India may consider regulation of Digital Gold so that it can be accepted as a trustworthy source of investment

Study of Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice in Participants with Regular Intake of Lathyrus, But No Spastic Paraparesis

Background and Purpose: Neurolathyrism is now a disease of the past and also the causative agent, Lathyrus sativus (Khesari Pulse or keerai in Local Hindi and Bhojpuri language) has now been proven to be harmless and has become part of the usual diet. Materials and Methods: The population at risk was screened and studied for demography, economic status, knowledge about Khesari pulse, awareness about so-called harmful effects of Khesari pulse intake in humans, and the effects of ban of Khesari pulse on the population which is using Lathyrus (Khesari) as a major source of pulse since the past 4 years through a questionnaire of three pages. Results: Nearly 97% of total screened population totally fed on Khesari pulse as their major source of food and we did not found a single case of primary walking difficulty. We did find three cases of poststroke paralysis, a case of post-GBS lower limb weakness, and a case of recurrent myelitis as a part of questionnaire-based study and then followed by personally examining the patients to confirm the diagnosis. Conclusion: Khesari pulse if consumed in smaller quantities as a part of a normal mixed diet, its nutritional values can be optimally utilized

Diagnosis, management and post-mortem findings of a human case of rabies imported into the United Kingdom from India: a case report.

BACKGROUND: Human rabies infection continues to be a significant public health burden globally, and is occasionally imported to high income settings where the Milwaukee Protocol for intensive care management has recently been employed, with limited success in improving survival. Access to molecular diagnostics, pre- and post-mortem, and documentation of pathophysiological responses while using the Milwaukee protocol, can add useful insights for the future of rabies management. CASE PRESENTATION: A 58-year-old British Asian woman was referred to a regional general hospital in the UK with hydrophobia, anxiety and confusion nine weeks after receiving a dog bite in North West India. Nuchal skin biopsy, saliva, and a skin biopsy from the site of the dog bite wound, taken on the day of admission, all demonstrated the presence of rabies virus RNA. Within 48 hours sequence analysis of viral RNA confirmed the diagnosis and demonstrated that the virus was a strain closely related to canine rabies viruses circulating in South Asia. Her condition deteriorated rapidly with increased agitation and autonomic dysfunction. She was heavily sedated and intubated on the day after admission, treated according to a modified Milwaukee protocol, and remained stable until she developed heart block and profound acidosis and died on the eighth day. Analysis of autopsy samples showed a complete absence of rabies neutralizing antibody in cerebrospinal fluid and serum, and corresponding high levels of virus antigen and nucleic acid in brain and cerebrospinal fluid. Quantitative PCR showed virus was also distributed widely in peripheral tissues despite mild or undetectable histopathological changes. Vagus nerve branches in the heart showed neuritis, a probable Negri body but no demonstrable rabies antigen. CONCLUSION: Rapid molecular diagnosis and strain typing is helpful in the management of human rabies infection. Post-mortem findings such as vagal neuritis highlight clinically important effects on the cardiovascular system which are typical for the clinical course of rabies in humans. Management guided by the Milwaukee protocol is feasible within well-resourced intensive care units, but its role in improving outcome for canine-derived rabies remains theoretical