Addressing comprehensive primary healthcare in Gujarat through mHealth intervention: Early implementation experience with TeCHO+ programme.

BACKGROUND: The Health and Family Welfare Department of Gujarat implemented a mHealth Programme called TeCHO+ (Technology for Community Health Operations) in 2018. TeCHO+ is aimed at making progress across all dimensions of the comprehensive primary healthcare services. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study is to record the document rollout and early implementation experience of TeCHO+ programme in Gujarat. METHODS: The present participatory process documentation exercise was undertaken in Gujarat. The various steps for process documentation were decided after participation in multiple task force meetings and state/district- and taluka-level action seminars and reviewing the TeCHO+ programme data and progress reports. The perceptions of the health officials and field staff were gathered using key informant interviews from five districts of Gujarat: Bharuch, Narmada, Gandhinagar, Mahisagar, and The Dangs. In addition, stakeholders involved with TeCHO+ Programme were interviewed to understand the process of rollout, implementation challenges, and success. RESULTS: In the initial phase, the TeCHO+ application focussed only on updating the Family Health Survey to improve the quality of data captured in the system. FHWs log-in the mobile application daily to access their daily work plan for which SMS alerts were are also generated. Most FHWs were in their 50s and were first-time smartphone users. Although, they were enthusiastic and open to the new technology, initially they faced certain difficulties in operating the application. The programme had a strong troubleshooting mechanism in terms of the use of WhatsApp group, helpline numbers, and voice calls in addition to supportive supervision. DISCUSSION: TeCHO+ showed the potential to enhance the quality of the collected data and also service coverage. However, poor technology literacy of old FHWs, the launch of multiple programme memes at the same time, and target-driven task assignments pose major challenges.

Perchlorate contamination of groundwater from fireworks manufacturing area in South India.

Perchlorate contamination was investigated in groundwater and surface water from Sivakasi and Madurai in the Tamil Nadu State of South India. Sensitive determination of perchlorate (LOQ = 0.005 µg/L) was achieved by large-volume (500 µL) injection ion chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry. Concentrations of perchlorate were <0.005-7,690 µg/L in groundwater (n = 60), <0.005-30.2 µg/L in surface water (n = 11), and 0.063-0.393 µg/L in tap water (n = 3). Levels in groundwater were significantly higher in the fireworks factory area than in the other locations, indicating that the fireworks and safety match industries are principal sources of perchlorate pollution. This is the first study that reports the contamination status of perchlorate in this area and reveals firework manufacture to be the pollution source. Since perchlorate levels in 17 out of 57 groundwater samples from Sivakasi, and none from Madurai, exceeded the drinking water guideline level proposed by USEPA (15 µg/L), further investigation on human health is warranted.

Biological properties of carbon nanotubes.

Carbon nanotubes are novel materials with unique physical and chemical properties, and have been considered for use in numerous technological applications. More recently, attention has turned to the unique biological and medical properties of these materials. In this review, the processing, chemical properties, physical properties, nucleic acid interaction, cell interaction, and toxicologic properties of nanotubes are described. Finally, future directions in this area are discussed.

The Gene Ontology (GO) database and informatics resource.

The Gene Ontology (GO) project (http://www. geneontology.org/) provides structured, controlled vocabularies and classifications that cover several domains of molecular and cellular biology and are freely available for community use in the annotation of genes, gene products and sequences. Many model organism databases and genome annotation groups use the GO and contribute their annotation sets to the GO resource. The GO database integrates the vocabularies and contributed annotations and provides full access to this information in several formats. Members of the GO Consortium continually work collectively, involving outside experts as needed, to expand and update the GO vocabularies. The GO Web resource also provides access to extensive documentation about the GO project and links to applications that use GO data for functional analyses.

Tunable optical properties of colloidal quantum dots in electrolytic environments.

The absorption spectra of colloidal cadmium sulfide quantum dots in electrolytic solutions are found to manifest a shift in the absorption threshold as the concentration of the electrolyte is varied. These results are consistent with a shift in the absorption threshold that would be caused by electrolytic screening of the field caused by the intrinsic spontaneous polarisation of these würtzite structured quantum dots. These electrolyte-dependent absorption properties provide a potential means of gaining insights on the variable extracellular and intracellular electrolytic concentrations that are present in biological systems.

The endopolyphosphatase gene: essential in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Endopolyphosphatases (Ppn1) from yeast and animal cells hydrolyze inorganic polyphosphate (poly P) chains of many hundreds of phosphate residues into shorter lengths. The limit digest consists predominantly of chains of 60 (P(60)) and 3 (P(3)) P(i) residues. Ppn1 of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, a homodimer of 35-kDa subunits (about 352-aa) is of vacuolar origin and requires the protease activation of a 75-kDa (674-aa) precursor polypeptide. The Ppn1 gene (PPN1) now has been cloned, sequenced, overexpressed, and deleted. That PPN1 encodes Ppn1 was verified by a 25-fold increase in Ppn1 when overexpressed under a GAL promoter and also by several peptide sequences that match exactly with sequences in a yeast genome ORF, the mutation of which abolishes Ppn1 activity. Null mutants in Ppn1 accumulate long-chain poly P and are defective in growth in minimal media. A double mutant of PPN1 and PPX1 (the gene encoding a potent exopolyphosphatase) loses viability rapidly in stationary phase. Whether this loss is a result of the excess of long-chain poly P or to the lack of shorter chains (i.e., poly P(60) and P(3)) is unknown. Overexpression of the processed form of Ppn1 should provide a unique and powerful reagent to analyze poly P when the chain termini are unavailable to the actions of polyPase and poly P kinase.

Production of ligninolytic enzymes and synthetic lignin mineralization by the bird's nest fungus Cyathus stercoreus.

Production of ligninolytic enzymes and degradation of 14C-ring labeled synthetic lignin by the white-rot fungus Cyathus stercoreus ATCC 36910 were determined under a variety of conditions. The highest mineralization rate for 14C dehydrogenative polymerizates (DHP; 38% 14CO2 after 30 days) occurred with 1 mM ammonium tartrate as nitrogen source and 1% glucose as additional carbon source, but levels of extracellular laccase and manganese peroxidase (MnP) were low. In contrast, 10 mM ammonium tartrate with 1% glucose gave low mineralization rates (10% 14CO2 after 30 days) but higher levels of laccase and manganese peroxidase. Lignin peroxidase was not produced by C. stercoreus under any of the studied conditions. Mn(II) at 11 ppm gave a higher rate of 14C DHP mineralization than 0.3 or 40 ppm, but the highest manganese peroxidase level was obtained with Mn(II) at 40 ppm. Cultivation in aerated static flasks gave rise to higher levels of both laccase and manganese peroxidase compared to the levels in shake cultures. 3,4-Dimethoxycinnamic acid at 500 microM concentration was the most effective inducer of laccase of those tested. The purified laccase was a monomeric glycoprotein having an apparent molecular mass of 70 kDa, as determined by calibrated gel filtration chromatography. The pH optimum and isoelectric point of the purified laccase were 4.8 and 3.5, respectively. The N-terminal amino acid sequence of C. stercoreus laccase showed close homology to the N-terminal sequences determined from other basidiomycete laccases. Information on C. stercoreus, whose habitat and physiological requirements for lignin degradation differ from many other white-rot fungi, expands the possibilities for industrial application of biological systems for lignin degradation and removal in biopulping and biobleaching processes.

Alterations in structure, chemistry, and biodegradability of grass lignocellulose treated with the white rot fungi Ceriporiopsis subvermispora and Cyathus stercoreus.

The white rot fungi Ceriporiopsis subvermispora FP-90031-sp and Cyathus stercoreus ATCC 36910 were evaluated for their ability to delignify Bermuda grass (Cynodon dactylon) stems and improve biodegradability. Compositional and structural alterations in plant cell walls effected by the fungi were determined by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, gas chromatography of alkali-treated residues, microspectrophotometry, and electron microscopy. Contaminating bacteria and fungi, which grew from unsterilized Bermuda grass stems, did not alter the improvement in grass biodegradability by either of the fungi from that of gas-sterilized stems. The biodegradation of stems by ruminal microorganisms, after treatment for 6 weeks with C. subvermispora or C. stercoreus, was improved by 29 to 32% and by 63 to 77%, respectively; dry weight losses caused by pretreatment with the fungi were about 20% over that in untreated, control stems. Both fungi preferentially removed aromatics to carbohydrates, and C. subvermispora removed proportionately more guaiacyl units than did C. stercoreus. Substantial amounts of ester-linked p-coumaric and ferulic acids were removed by both fungi, and about 23 and 41% of total aromatics (determined after 4 M NaOH direct treatment) were removed from the plant biomass after incubation with C. subvermispora and C. stercoreus, respectively. UV absorption microspectrophotometry indicated that ester-linked phenolic acids were totally removed from the parenchyma cell walls, and these cells were readily and completely degraded by both fungi. However, aromatic constituents were only partially removed from the more recalcitrant sclerenchyma cell walls, resulting in variation in electron density and random digestion pits after incubation with fiber-degrading bacteria.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Biodegradation of lignocellulose in Bermuda grass by white rot fungi analyzed by solid-state 13C nuclear magnetic resonance.

Following the solid-state fermentation of Bermuda grass by two lignin-degrading white rot fungi, compositional changes have been observed in situ by utilization of cross-polarization and magic angle spinning 13C nuclear magnetic resonance difference spectra and interrupted decoupling spectra. Intensity differences in the 13C resonances assigned to specific components of the cell wall were used to observe these changes. Bermuda grass treated with Phanerochaete chrysosporium K-3 exhibited losses primarily in the polysaccharide components, with a smaller proportion of phenolic components also being degraded. In contrast, Ceriporiopsis subvermispora FP 90031-sp removed a proportionate amount of phenolic components compared with polysaccharide components. The results also indicated that C. subvermispora preferentially removes guaiacyl phenolic components relative to syringyl phenolic components, while P. chrysosporium was nonspecific in its attack on phenolic components.

Microbial delignification with white rot fungi improves forage digestibility.

Three wild-type white rot fungi and two cellulase-less mutants developed from Phanerochaete chrysosporium K-3 (formerly Sporotrichum pulverulentum) were tested for their ability to delignify grass cell walls and improve biodegradation by rumen microorganisms. Fungal-treated and control stems of Bermuda grass were analyzed for their content of ester- and ether-linked aromatics by using alkali extraction and gas chromatography, for in vitro dry weight digestion and production of volatile fatty acids in in vitro fermentations with mixed ruminal microorganisms, for loss of lignin and other aromatics from specific cell wall types by using microspectrophotometry, and for structural changes before and after in vitro degradation by rumen microorganisms by using transmission electron microscopy. P. chrysosporium K-3 and Ceriporiopsis subvermispora FP 90031-sp produced the greatest losses in lignin and improved the biodegradation of Bermuda grass over that of untreated control substrate. However, C. subvermispora removed the most lignin and significantly improved biodegradation over all other treatments. Phellinus pini RAB-83-19 and cellulase-less mutants 3113 and 85118 developed from P. chrysosporium K-3 did not improve the biodegradation of Bermuda grass lignocellulose. Results indicated that C. subvermispora extensively removed ester-linked p-coumaric and ferulic acids and also removed the greatest amount of non-ester-linked aromatics from plant cell walls. Microscopic observations further indicated that C. subvermispora removed esters from parenchyma cell walls as well as esters and lignin from the more recalcitrant cell walls (i.e., sclerenchyma and vascular tissues). C. subvermispora improved in vitro digestion and volatile fatty acid production by ruminal microorganisms by about 80%, while dry matter loss due to fungi was about 20% greater than loss in untreated control stems. The chemical and structural studies used identified sites of specific fungal attack and suggested mechanisms whereby improvement occurred.