Aflatoxins are a family of toxins produced by certain fungi that are found on agricultural crops such as maize (corn), peanuts, cottonseed, and tree nuts. The main fungi that produce aflatoxins are Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus, which are abundant in warm and humid regions of the world. Aflatoxin-producing fungi can contaminate crops in the field, at harvest, and during storage.

People can be exposed to aflatoxins by eating contaminated plant products (such as peanuts) or by consuming meat or dairy products from animals that ate contaminated feed. Farmers and other agricultural workers may be exposed by inhaling dust generated during the handling and processing of contaminated crops and feeds.

Exposure to aflatoxins is associated with an increased risk of liver cancer.

Mobile Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (MELISA)

• Researchers have created a mobile version of the “Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA)”, a technique used to detect the presence of an antibody or antigen
• The device measures progesterone levels, a key hormone that impacts female fertility and is indicative of some cancers
• MELISA consists of a water bath heater that incubates samples at a target temperature and analyses them via images taken by cellphone.
• It uses colour analysis to determine the RGB (red, green, blue) colour components of each sample

Hunter Syndrome is a genetic disorder caused by a deficient or absent enzyme iduronate-2-sulfatase (I2S). It primarily affects males.

• In this the cells lack a gene that makes the enzyme that breaks down certain carbohydrates. These build up in cells and cause havoc throughout the body.
• Patients may have frequent colds and ear infections, distorted facial features, hearing loss, heart problems, breathing trouble, skin and eye problems, bone and joint flaws, bowel issues and brain and thinking problems.
• It is passed down from one generation to the next in a specific way.
• Nearly every cell in the human body has 46 chromosomes, with 23 derived from each parent. The I2S gene is located on the X chromosome. Females have two X chromosomes, one inherited from each parent, whereas males have one X chromosome that they inherit from their mother and one Y chromosome that they inherit from their father.
• If a male has an abnormal copy of the I2S gene, he will develop Hunter syndrome. A male can obtain an abnormal copy of the I2S gene in one of two ways.
• His mother is often a carrier; i.e., she has one abnormal and one normal I2S gene, and she passes along the abnormal gene to him.
• Alternatively, during egg and sperm formation, a mutation can develop in the I2S gene on his X chromosome. In this second case, the mother is not a carrier and the risk of a spontaneous mutation occurring again in the future sibling is low but not zero.
• Scientists for the first time have tried editing a gene inside the body in a bold attempt to permanently change a person’s DNA to try to cure the disease.
• Females can carry one abnormal copy of the I2S gene and are usually not affected.

Doping

Types of Blood Doping

• blood transfusions
• injections of erythropoietin (EPO)
• injections of synthetic oxygen carrier

Blood doping is the practice of boosting the number of red blood cells (RBC) in the bloodstream in order to enhance athletic performance.

• Autologous blood doping is the transfusion of one’s own blood, which has been stored (refrigerated or frozen) until needed.
• Homologous blood doping is the transfusion of blood that has been taken from another person with the same blood type.

Erythropoietin (EPO)

EPO is a hormone produced by the kidney. It regulates the body’s production of red blood cells. EPO can be used to treat patients with anemia related to chronic or end-stage kidney disease.

Synthetic oxygen carriers: These are chemicals that have the ability to carry oxygen. Two examples are:

• HBOCs (hemoglobin-based oxygen carriers)
• PFCs (perfluorocarbons)

Gene Doping

Gene doping is defined by the World Anti-Doping Agency as “the non-therapeutic use of cells, genes, genetic elements, or of the modulation of gene expression, having the capacity to improve athletic performance.

Iodine-125

• BARC-made ‘BARC I-125 Ocu-Prosta seed’ is an ideal choice to treat retinoblastoma and uveal tract melanoma, two forms of rare eye cancers.
• Iodine-125 is a radioisotope of iodine which has uses in biological assays, nuclear medicine imaging and in radiation therapy as brachytherapy to treat a number of conditions, including prostate cancer, uveal melanomas, and brain tumors. It is the second longest-lived radioisotope of iodine, after iodine-129.

Antacids and Histamines

• Antacids are the chemical substances mainly made of metal hydroxides or metal hydrogencarbonates which helps in neutralizing the harmful effects of excess of stomach acid. Examples are Cimetidine and Renitidine.
• It is one of the widely used materials in the world.
• Histamines are the chemical substance which when used binds up with the receptors of our stomach and prevents the release of extra acid in our stomach. But they cause allergies and hyperacidity.
• Anti-histamines are used to treat hyperacidity.

Anti-oxidants and Preservatives

• An antioxidant is a molecule that inhibits the oxidation of other molecules. Oxidation is a chemical reaction that can produce free radicals, leading to chain reactions that may damage cells. Antioxidants such as thiols or ascorbic acid (vitamin C) terminate these chain reactions.
• A preservative is a substance or a chemical that is added to products such as food, beverages, pharmaceutical drugs, paints, biological samples, cosmetics, wood, and many other products to prevent decomposition by microbial growth or by undesirable chemical changes.
• Preservatives used in carbonated drinks, jams, juices, pickles etc.- Sodium Benzoate, Benzoic Acid and Benzoate.
• Preservatives used in cheese, wines and baked goods etc.- Sorbic Acid, Sodium Sorbate and Sorbates.

Vitamin Deficiency Disease

• Deficiency of protein causes stunted growth, swelling of face, discolouration of hair, skin diseases and diarrhoea.
• If food is deficient in both carbohydrates and proteins, the growth may stop completely; a person becomes very lean, thin and so weak that he/she may not even be able to move.

Note- Fat-soluble vitamins are vitamins A, D, E and K. Water-soluble vitamins include vitamins C and B.

ALS, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. A-myo-trophic comes from the Greek language. “A” means no. “Myo” refers to muscle, and “Trophic” means nourishment – “No muscle nourishment.” When a muscle has no nourishment, it “atrophies” or wastes away. “Lateral” identifies the areas in a person’s spinal cord where portions of the nerve cells that signal and control the muscles are located. As this area degenerates, it leads to scarring or hardening (“sclerosis”) in the region.

Motor neurons reach from the brain to the spinal cord and from the spinal cord to the muscles throughout the body. The progressive degeneration of the motor neurons in ALS eventually leads to their demise. When the motor neurons die, the ability of the brain to initiate and control muscle movement is lost. With voluntary muscle action progressively affected, people may lose the ability to speak, eat, move and breathe. The motor nerves that are affected when you have ALS are the motor neurons that provide voluntary movements and muscle control. Examples of voluntary movements are making the effort to reach for a smart phone or step off a curb. These actions are controlled by the muscles in the arms and legs.

• Influenza-Flu by influenza virus
• Common Cold- Rhinovirus
• Hepatitis A- Liver
• Norovirus-Gastro-intestinal illness
• Rotavirus- Diarrhea
• Human Papillomma Virus (HPV)- AIDS
• Hepatitis B- Inflammation in the liver

WEST NILE VIRUS

• West Nile Virus (WNV) can cause neurological disease and death in people. WNV is commonly found in Africa, Europe, the Middle East, North America and West Asia.
• WNV is maintained in nature in a cycle involving transmission between birds and mosquitoes. Humans, horses and other mammals can be infected.
• West Nile Virus (WNV) is a member of the flavivirus genus and belongs to the Japanese encephalitis antigenic complex of the family Flaviviridae. Birds are the natural hosts of West Nile virus.

LEISHMANIASIS

• Historically known as “Aleppo boil,” this parasitic infection has recently, as the name suggests, become a problem among Syrian refugees.
• Producing disfiguring skin ulcerations, and occasionally spreading to internal organs with fatal consequences, the increase of cases turning up in Europe among migrants has made it the subject of considerable media interest.
• Leishmaniasis is spread by the bite of the sandfly, however, which means it has a northern limit to its range.

Moscow declaration emphasis need for fixing multisectoral responsibility towards ending TB by 2035, the global target. It recognises need for multisectoral accountability framework to end TB, which is both political and technical.

This framework is critical to creating enabling operational environment for multisectoral action, fast-tracking priority interventions, monitoring overall progress, and accelerating advocacy at all levels within different sectors, all of which is necessary to achieve committed milestones and targets to end TB epidemic.

GENERIC DRUG

Health professionals and consumers can be assured that FDA approved generic drugs have met the same rigid standards as the innovator drug. To gain FDA approval, a generic drug must:

• contain the same active ingredients as the innovator drug(inactive ingredients mayvary)
• be identical in strength, dosage form, and route of administration
• have the same use indications
• be bioequivalent
• meet the same batch requirements for identity, strength, purity, and quality be manufactured under the same strict standards of FDA’s good manufacturing practice regulations required for innovator products

Although generic drug active ingredients are chemically identical to their branded

counterparts, they are typically sold at a cheaper price than the brand-name drug. Generics

are less expensive because the drug manufacturer does not have to duplicate the original

clinical trials for effectiveness and safety, which lowers the cost to bring the drug to market.

Generics are not less expensive because they are lower in quality.

Pyrogen test is carried out to check impurity or substance that can cause adverse side-effects. For the test, drug is injected into rabbit and animal is closely observed for feverish symptoms. The abnormal toxicity test is carried out to check potential hazardous biological contamination in vaccine formulations. This batch test is done before product is approved for marketing. In this, mice or guinea pigs are injected with vaccine. The scientists observe if there is death of any animal.

Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission (IPC) has in its 2018 edition of Indian Pharmacopoeia approved modern, animal-free tests for drug manufacturers. It will spare animals from suffering due to drug experiments.

Union Ministry of Health & Family Welfare has notified four medical devices including blood pressure monitors, nebulisers, digital thermometers and glucometers as drugs under Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940. The decision will enable the government to ensure their quality and performance. Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) will regulate import, manufacture and sale of these devices from January 2020.

Zika virus Disease is mosquito-borne virus transmitted by Aedes aegypti mosquitoes which also transmit three other vector-borne diseases Chikungunya, dengue and yellow fever. The virus belongs to family Flaviviridae and Genus Flavivirus. It was first identified in 1947 in Zika Forest, Uganda from where it derives its name. Now it is emerging disease currently being reported by 86 count countries worldwide.

Symptoms: They are similar to other viral infections such as dengue, and include fever, skin rashes, conjunctivitis, muscle and joint pain, malaise, and headache.

Threats: Pregnant women infected with Zika virus may give birth to babies with severe brain damage or serious birth defects i.e. neurological disorders and foetal deformation known as Microcephaly in which infants are born with abnormally smaller heads.

There is no specific treatment or vaccine currently available to treat Zika. The best form of prevention is protection against mosquito bites and clearing stagnant water where mosquitoes breed.

Parkinson’s disease is a progressive nervous system disorder that affects movement. Symptoms start gradually, sometimes starting with a barely noticeable tremor in just one hand. Tremors are common, but the disorder also commonly causes stiffness or slowing of movement.

In the early stages of Parkinson’s disease, your face may show little or no expression. Your arms may not swing when you walk. Your speech may become soft or slurred. Parkinson’s disease symptoms worsen as your condition progresses over time.

Although Parkinson’s disease can’t be cured, medications might significantly improve your symptoms. Occasionally, your doctor may suggest surgery to regulate certain regions of your brain and improve your symptoms.

Statement 2 is incorrect for Parkinson’s but correct for Alzheimer’s disease.

Molecular mechanism of prostate cancer subtype unraveled by a multi-institutional team at IIT Kanpur.

Cancer is caused by accumulated damage to genes. Such changes may be due to chance or to exposure to a cancer causing substance. The substances that cause cancer are called carcinogens. A carcinogen may be a chemical substance, such as certain molecules in tobacco smoke. The cause of cancer may be environmental agents, viral or genetic factors.

The  SPINK1-positive  prostate cancer subtype  derives its name from the  excess amount of SPINK1 oncogene (cancer causing)found in the cancer cells. Excess  production of SPINK1 gene responsible for tumour and metastasis is not restricted  to prostate cancer alone but also seen in colorectal, lung, pancreatic, breast and ovarian cancers.

Hantavirus is a virus that is found in the urine, saliva, or droppings of infected deer mice and some other wild rodents (cotton rats, rice rats in the southeastern Unites States and the white-footed mouse and the red-backed vole). It causes a rare but serious lung disease called Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS). The virus does not remain active for long once outside of its host — less than 1 week outdoors and a few hours when exposed to direct sunlight.

People can contract the Hantavirus infection through inhalation of respirable droplets of saliva or urine, or through the dust of feces from infected wild rodents, especially the deer mouse. Transmission can also occur when contaminated material gets into broken skin, or possibly, ingested in contaminated food or water.

The disease caused by Hantavirus is called Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome. Symptoms appear within 1 to 5 weeks after exposure. The average is 2 to 4 weeks. This disease is extremely serious since about 40% of the people who get the disease die. The disease begins as a flu-like illness. In the early stage, a worker may experience fever, chills, muscle aches, headaches, nausea, vomiting, and shortness of breath, rapid heartbeat and gastrointestinal problems. However, the disease progresses rapidly and infected people experience an abnormal fall in blood pressure and their lungs will fill with fluid. Severe respiratory failure, resulting in death, can occur within a few days of the early stage symptoms.

Ground water extraction in India is primarily for irrigation in agricultural activities, accounting for nearly 228 BCM (Billion Cubic Meter), which amounts to 90% of the annual ground water extraction. The remaining 10% of extraction (25 BCM) is for drinking & domestic as well as industrial uses. Industrial use is estimated to account for only about 5% of the annual ground water extraction in the country.

As per these revised guidelines, Water Conservation Fee (WCF) would be levied for use of ground water depending on the category of area, type of industry and quantum of ground water withdrawal. There was no provision for exemption from WCF to Government infrastructure, water supply agencies and mining projects.

The ‘Institutional Trading Platform’ created by SEBI to list start-ups was renamed as ‘Innovators Growth Platform’.

The regulator has said the IGP can be designated as the main board platform. Further, start-ups listing on IGP should get an option to trade under regular category on the main board after completion of one year of listing. At present, ITP companies are allowed to migrate to the main board only after three years of listing. Also, the ITP is part of the SME platform and not the main board.

Source: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/stocks/news/sebi-to-relax-listing-norms-for-start-ups-rename-it-innovators-growth-platform/articleshow/67009665.cms

Mandana paintings are wall and floor paintings of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, India. Mandana are drawn to protect home and hearth, welcome gods into the house and as a mark of celebrations on festive occasions. Village women in the Sawai Madhopur area of Rajasthan possess skill for developing designs of perfect symmetry and accuracy. The ground is prepared with cow dung mixed with rati, a local clay, and red ochre. Lime or chalk powder is used for making the motif. Tools employed are a piece of cotton, a tuft of hair, or a rudimentary brush made out of a date stick. The design may show Ganesha, peacocks, women at work, tigers, floral motifs, etc. Such paintings are also called Mandala in most of the parts of Nepal.

Munroe Thuruthu

• It is an island in Kollam district, Kerala, which is sinking
• The island’s decline began with the construction of the Thenmala dam.
• Located 70 km away and constructed in the 1960s under the Kallada Irrigation Project, the dam blocked the flow of fresh water as a result of sediments from the Kallada river — the main determinant of the land’s fertility. Today the whole area has turned saline.

Central Ground Water Authority (CGWA), constituted under the Environment (Protection) Act of 1986 has the mandate of regulating ground water development and management in the country.

CGWA has been regulating ground water development for its sustainable management in the country through measures such as issue of advisories, public notices, and grant of No- Objection Certificates (NOC) for ground water withdrawal.

Source: https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/editorial/the-taiwan-card/article25674348.ece

To improve transparency, RBI has said in the recent policy announcement that all the retail loans including home, auto, personal loans and small and medium term enterprises be linked to external benchmarks effective 1st April 2019.

The proposed external benchmarks are repo rate, 91 days treasury bill yield produced by the Financial Benchmarks India Private Ltd (FBIL), 182 days treasury bill yield produced by FBIL or any other benchmark market interest rate produced by the FBIL.

In order to ensure transparency, standardisation, and ease of understanding of loan products by borrowers, a bank must adopt a uniform external benchmark within a loan category; in other words, the adoption of multiple benchmarks by the same bank is not allowed within a loan category. Also banks are supposed to decide a spread on the benchmark and keep it constant for the life of the loan.

This move will indeed improve transparency for the consumers, however it may add a volatility component as the yields of market indices vary on a daily basis. These yields are impacted by many domestic and global factors – foreign investors’ investments in Indian market, liquidity in the economy and global interest rate changes and so on.

Source: https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/money-and-banking/external-benchmarks-for-retail-loans-will-lead-to-higher-earnings-volatility/article25673557.ece

Rudra Sagar Wetland is in Tripura.

There are 27 Indian Wetlands as Wetland of International Importance under Ramsar Sites.

India has designated Sundarban Wetland as a Wetland of International Importance, its 27th.

The Kerch Strait is a strait connecting the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, separating the Kerch Peninsula of Crimea in the west from the Taman Peninsula of Russia’s Krasnodar Krai in the east.

Source: https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/ukraine-resumes-grain-shipments-from-azov-sea/article25665700.ece

Children, HIV and AIDS: The world today and in 2030

The situation is particularly dire for adolescent girls and adolescents who are members of key populations. Worldwide, an adolescent girl (15-19) was infected every three minutes in 2017.

Adolescent girls account for two out of every three new HIV infections in the 15-19 age group.

Adolescents generally, and adolescent girls and adolescent members of key populations in particular, tend to be the groups at most risk of contracting HIV. They are also least likely to have access to treatment. “Key populations” refers to men who have sex with men, injecting drug users, sexually exploited youth workers, and adolescents who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or intersex.  

In 2017, the estimated number of children under 5 years old newly diagnosed with HIV was 43% lower than the comparable estimate in 2010, a decline greater than the 35% recorded globally.

India has highest number of children and adolescents living with HIV in South Asia: UNICEF report.

Source: https://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/health/india-has-highest-number-of-children-and-adolescents-living-with-hiv-in-south-asia-unicef-report/article25631057.ece