Earth observation and geospatial data can predict the relative distribution of village level poverty in the Sundarban Biosphere Reserve, India.

There is increasing interest in leveraging Earth Observation (EO) and geospatial data to predict and map aspects of socioeconomic conditions to support survey and census activities. This is particularly relevant for the frequent monitoring required to assess progress towards the UNs' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Sundarban Biosphere Reserve (SBR) is a region of international ecological importance, containing the Indian portion of the world's largest mangrove forest. The region is densely populated and home to over 4.4 million people, many living in chronic poverty with a strong dependence on nature-based rural livelihoods. Such livelihoods are vulnerable to frequent natural hazards including cyclone landfall and storm surges. In this study we examine associations between environmental variables derived from EO and geospatial data with a village level multidimensional poverty metric using random forest machine learning, to provide evidence in support of policy formulation in the field of poverty reduction. We find that environmental variables can predict up to 78% of the relative distribution of the poorest villages within the SBR. Exposure to cyclone hazard was the most important variable for prediction of poverty. The poorest villages were associated with relatively small areas of rural settlement (<∼30%), large areas of agricultural land (>∼50%) and moderate to high cyclone hazard. The poorest villages were also associated with less productive agricultural land than the wealthiest. Analysis suggests villages with access to more diverse livelihood options, and a smaller dependence on agriculture may be more resilient to cyclone hazard. This study contributes to the understanding of poverty-environment dynamics within Low-and middle-income countries and the associations found can inform policy linked to socio-environmental scenarios within the SBR and potentially support monitoring of work towards SDG1 (No Poverty) across the region.

Sunlight-Mediated Thiol-Ene/Yne Click Reaction: Synthesis and DNA Transfection Efficiency of New Cationic Lipids.

The design of green synthetic reaction conditions is very challenging, especially for biomaterials, but worthwhile if the compounds can be easily synthesized in the aqueous medium. Herein, we report the development of sunlight-mediated thiol-ene/yne click reaction in the presence of a catalytic amount of tert-butyl hydroperoxide (TBHP) in an aqueous medium. The optimized reaction conditions were successfully applied to synthesize a series of small molecules and lipids in a single step in the aqueous medium. The synthetic cationic lipid/co-lipid formed positively charged stable nanosized liposomes that effectually bind with the genetic materials. The in vitro DNA transfection and cellular uptake assays showed that the synthesized cationic lipids have comparable efficiency to commercially available Lipofectamine 2000. This mild synthetic strategy can also be used for smart design of novel or improvement of prevailing lipid-based nonviral gene delivery systems. Such chemical transformations in the aqueous medium are more environment-friendly than other reported thiol-ene/yne click reactions performed in an organic solvent medium.

Chloride Ion Transport by PITENINs across the Phospholipid Bilayers of Vesicles and Cells.

Small-molecule-based Cl- ion carriers are gaining revived attention because of their recently discovered role toward anticancer activity. Herein, we showed that the anticancer agents, PITENINs, have an efficient transmembrane Cl- ion transport activity. Theoretical calculations, 1H NMR titration, and spectrophotometric analysis suggest that the PITENINs strongly bind with a Cl- ion. In addition to the lipophilicity, the presence of both acylthiourea and phenolic OH moieties of the compounds plays a crucial role in the transport of Cl- ions. Among the tested compounds, PIT-1 and DM-PIT-1 showed higher Cl- ion selectivity and transport efficiency. Mechanistic studies demonstrated that the potent compounds follow the H+/Cl- transport pathway. Cellular activity studies showed that the disruption of Cl- ion homeostasis by PIT-1 and DM-PIT-1 preferentially promotes apoptotic cell death.