Data-Informed Platform for Health. Structured district decision-making using local data. Prototype Phase, West Bengal, India

This report presents findings and recommendations from an evaluation of the Data Informed Platform for Health (DIPH), a structured decision-support strategy to promote the use of local data for health decision-making. The DIPH was developed and pilot-tested in India by the IDEAS project of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) from December 2015 to March 2017

Association between architectural parameters and burden of tuberculosis in three resettlement colonies of M-East Ward, Mumbai, India

Architecture and site planning play an important role in ensuring houses receive good light and ventilation and in turn have a healthy and livable environment. To investigate the strength of association between structural factors of slum resettlement colonies buildings and the burden of tuberculosis (TB), a questionnaire-based semi-quantitative survey of 4080 households was carried out in three resettlement colonies (Lallubhai Compound, Natwar Parekh Compound and PMG colony) with questions on architectural patterns, socioeconomic details as well as occurrence of TB in any member of the household. Computational modelling for Sky View Factor, Daylight Autonomy and Natural Ventilation in the houses of all three colonies was also performed. The results show that lower floors do not have access to sufficient light and ventilation in the living area. All colonies had poor Sky View Factors, Daylight Autonomy and ventilation. Occurrence of TB was strongly associated with lower floor of the house, closed or only partially openable windows, lack of exhaust fans as well as the built environment of the houses. The study also traced back the poor conditions of light and ventilation to the relaxations in development control regulations (DCR 1991 and modifications) given to rehabilitation and slum redevelopment buildings. The study recommends better planning and architecture measures to be taken by the city government to bring improvements in housing and avert a public health crisi

Investigating the Control by Quantum Confinement and Surface Ligand Coating of Photocatalytic Efficiency in Chalcopyrite Copper Indium Diselenide Nanocrystals

In the past few years, there has been immense interest in the preparation of sustainable photocatalysts composed of semiconductor nanocrystals (NCs) as one of their components. We report here, for the first time, the effects of structural parameters of copper indium diselenide (CuInSe2) NCs on visible light-driven photocatalytic degradation of pollutants under homogeneous conditions. Ligand exchange reactions were performed replacing insulating, oleylamine capping with poly(ethylene glycol) thiols to prepare PEG-thiolate-capped, 1.8–5.3 nm diameter CuInSe2 NCs to enhance their solubility in water. This unique solubility property caused inner-sphere electron transfer reactions (O2 to O2•−) to occur at the NC surface, allowing for sustainable photocatalytic reactions. Electrochemical characterization of our dissolved CuInSe2 NCs showed that the thermodynamic driving force (−ΔG) for oxygen reduction, which increased with decreased NC size, was the dominant contributor to the overall process when compared to ..

Characterization, mechanism of action and optimization of activity of a novel peptide-peptoid hybrid against bacterial pathogens involved in canine skin infections

Integumentary infections like pyoderma represent the main reason for antimicrobial prescription in dogs. Staphylococcus pseudintermedius and Pseudomonas aeruginosa are frequently identified in these infections, and both bacteria are challenging to combat due to resistance. To avoid use of important human antibiotics for treatment of animal infections there is a pressing need for novel narrow-spectrum antimicrobial agents in veterinary medicine. Herein, we characterize the in vitro activity of the novel peptide-peptoid hybrid B1 against canine isolates of S. pseudintermedius and P. aeruginosa. B1 showed potent minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) against canine S. pseudintermedius and P. aeruginosa isolates as well rapid killing kinetics. B1 was found to disrupt the membrane integrity and affect cell-wall synthesis in methicillin-resistant S. pseudintermedius (MRSP). We generated 28 analogues of B1, showing comparable haemolysis and MICs against MRSP and P. aeruginosa. The most active analogues (23, 26) and B1 were tested against a collection of clinical isolates from canine, of which only B1 showed potent activity. Our best compound 26, displayed activity against P. aeruginosa and S. pseudintermedius, but not the closely related S. aureus. This work shows that design of target-specific veterinary antimicrobial agents is possible, even species within a genus, and deserves further exploration

Influence of Physical Raking and Biological Process in the Mud-water Exchange Dynamics of P in Fish Culture Ponds

Experiment was conducted in the laboratory using radioactive 32P for ascertaining the dynamics and quantifying the exchangeable amount of P between sediment and water phase under the influence of physical raking and biological processes. Collected sediment (100 g) was dispensed in a glass beaker and treated with radioactive 32P after reaction with CaCO3. Each beaker filled with 250 ml tap water. Four different treatments: physical raking once (RO), repeated raking (RR), bacteria (Bacillus, 167 X 102 ml-1) inoculum (BI) and bacteria inoculum (Bacillus, 167 X 102 ml-1) plus repeated raking (BI + RR) were used in the study. Water samples were collected and tested for specific activity of radioactive 32P, concentration of orthophosphate and count of heterotrophic bacterial (HB) population. The 32P value of BI+RR treatment was 20, 25, 37 and 56% higher than BI, RR, RO and control, respectively. Therefore, it can be concluded that synergistic effect of bacteria inoculum plus repeated raking (BI + RR) released maximum amount of phosphorus than the rest three treatments. Critical appraisal of data clearly revealed four states of dynamic of 32P between sediment and overlaying water: initial rapid increase of 32P level in water - rapid desorption period (RDP) from day 0 to 12, slow increase of 32P level of water - slow desorption period (SDP) from day >12 to 55, the 32P moves to sediment resulting in decrease 32P level in water - absorption period (AP) from day >55 to 90 and steady period (SP) from day >90 to 124, when 32P concentration of water and sediment supposed to be equal indicating no movement of 32P occurred between the water and sediment phas

Toxic metal enrichment and boating intensity: sediment records of antifoulant copper in shallow lakes of eastern England

Tributyltin (TBT), an aqueous biocide derived from antifouling paint pollution, is known to have impacted coastal marine ecosystems, and has been reported in the sediment of the Norfolk and Suffolk Broads, a network of rivers and shallow lakes in eastern England. In the marine environment, the 1987 TBT ban has resulted in expanded use of alternative biocides, raising the question of whether these products too have impacted the Broads ecosystem and freshwaters in general. Here we examine the lake sediment record in the Norfolk and Suffolk Broads for contamination by copper (Cu) (as an active biocide agent) and zinc (Zn) (as a component of booster biocides), to assess their occurrence and potential for causing environmental harm in freshwater ecosystems. We find that, after the introduction of leisure boating, there is a statistically significant difference in Cu enrichment between heavily and lightly boated sites, while no such difference exists prior to this time. At the heavily boated sites the onset of Cu enrichment coincides with a period of rapid increase in leisure boating. Such enrichment is maintained to the present day, with some evidence of continued increase. We conclude that Cu-based antifouling has measurably contaminated lakes exposed to boating, at concentrations high enough to cause ecological harm. Similar findings can be expected at other boated freshwater ecosystems elsewhere in the world

Structure–Activity Study, Characterization, and Mechanism of Action of an Antimicrobial Peptoid D2 and Its d- and l-Peptide Analogues

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus pseudintermedius (MRSP) constitutes an emerging health problem for companion animals in veterinary medicine. Therefore, discovery of novel antimicrobial agents for treatment of Staphylococcus-associated canine infections is urgently needed to reduce use of human antibiotics in veterinary medicine. In the present work, we characterized the antimicrobial activity of the peptoid D2 against S. pseudintermedius and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which is another common integumentary pathogen in dogs. Furthermore, we performed a structure–activity relationship study of D2, which included 19 peptide/peptoid analogs. Our best compound D2D, an all d-peptide analogue, showed potent minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) against canine S. pseudintermedius (2–4 µg/mL) and P. aeruginosa (4 µg/mL) isolates as well as other selected dog pathogens (2–16 µg/mL). Time–kill assays demonstrated that D2D was able to inhibit MRSP in 30 min at 1× MIC, significantly faster than D2. Our results suggest that at high concentrations D2D is rapidly lysing the bacterial membrane while D2 is inhibiting macromolecular synthesis. We probed the mechanism of action at sub-MIC concentrations of D2, D2D, the l-peptide analog and its retro analog by a macromolecular biosynthesis assay and fluorescence spectroscopy. Our data suggest that at sub-MIC concentrations D2D is membrane inactive and primarily works by cell wall inhibition, while the other compounds mainly act on the bacterial membrane

Diversifying selection in the wheat stem rust fungus acts predominantly on pathogen-associated gene families and reveals candidate effectors

Plant pathogens cause severe losses to crop plants and threaten global food production. One striking example is the wheat stem rust fungus, Puccinia graminis f. sp. tritici, which can rapidly evolve new virulent pathotypes in response to resistant host lines. Like several other filamentous fungal and oomycete plant pathogens, its genome features expanded gene families that have been implicated in host-pathogen interactions, possibly encoding effector proteins that interact directly with target host defense proteins. Previous efforts to understand virulence largely relied on the prediction of secreted, small and cysteine-rich proteins as candidate effectors and thus delivered an overwhelming number of candidates. Here, we implement an alternative analysis strategy that uses the signal of adaptive evolution as a line of evidence for effector function, combined with comparative information and expression data. We demonstrate that in planta up-regulated genes that are rapidly evolving are found almost exclusively in pathogen-associated gene families, affirming the impact of host-pathogen co-evolution on genome structure and the adaptive diversification of specialized gene families. In particular, we predict 42 effector candidates that are conserved only across pathogens, induced during infection and rapidly evolving. One of our top candidates has recently been shown to induce genotype-specific hypersensitive cell death in wheat. This shows that comparative genomics incorporating the evolutionary signal of adaptation is powerful for predicting effector candidates for laboratory verification. Our system can be applied to a wide range of pathogens and will give insight into host-pathogen dynamics, ultimately leading to progress in strategies for disease control.Jana Sperschneider was supported by the CSIRO Transformational Biology Capability platform. Donald M. Gardiner was partially supported by the Australian Grains Research and Development Corporation. Narayana M. Upadhyaya and Peter N. Dodds thank the Two Blades Foundation for financial support