Jasneet Grewal

Background: Valorizing waste residues is crucial to reaching sustainable development goals and shifting from a linear fossil-based economy to a circular economy. Fungal cell factories, due to their versatility and robustness, are instrumental in driving the bio-transformation of waste residues. The present work isolated a potent strain, i.e., Aspergillus fumigatus (ZS_AF), from an ancient Złoty Stok gold mine, which showcased distinctive capabilities for efficient hydrolytic enzyme production from lignocellulosic wastes. Results: The present study optimized hydrolytic enzyme production (cellulases, xylanases, and β-glucosidases) from pine sawdust (PSD) via solid-state fermentation using Aspergillus fumigatus (ZS_AF). The optimization, using response surface methodology (RSM), produced a twofold increase with maximal yields of 119.41 IU/gds for CMCase, 1232.23 IU/gds for xylanase, 63.19 IU/gds for β-glucosidase, and 31.08 IU/gds for FPase. The secretome profiling validated the pivotal role of carbohydrate-active enzymes (CAZymes) and auxiliary enzymes in biomass valorization. A total of 77% of carbohydrate-active enzymes (CAZymes) were constituted by glycoside hydrolases (66%), carbohydrate esterases (9%), auxiliary activities (3%), and polysaccharide lyases (3%). The saccharification of pretreated wheat straw and PSD generated high reducing sugar yields of 675.36 mg/g and 410.15 mg/g, respectively. Conclusion: These findings highlight the significance of an efficient, synergistic, and cost-effective arsenal of fungal enzymes for lignocellulosic waste valorization and their potential to contribute to waste-to-wealth creation through solid-waste management. The utilization of Aspergillus fumigatus (ZS_AF) from an unconventional origin and optimization strategies embodies an innovative approach that holds the potential to propel current waste valorization methods forward, directing the paradigm toward improved efficiency and sustainability.

Background and objective More than half of the population suffering from inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) use the internet as a primary source of information on their condition. X (formerly Twitter) has been increasingly used to disseminate healthcare-related information. In this study, we aimed to identify top influencers on the topic of IBD on X and correlate the relevance of their social media engagements with their professional expertise or academic productivity. Methods X (formerly Twitter) influence scores for the search topic IBD were obtained using Cronycle API, a proprietary software employing multiple algorithms to rank influencers. Data regarding gender, profession, location, and research productivity represented as h-index was collected. Results We collected information on the top 100 IBD influencers on X. The majority of influencers were gastroenterologists, followed by IBD advocates. Of note, 62% of the IBD influencers were from the US followed by the UK and Canada. A positive correlation was observed between the X topic score and the h-index of the influencer (r=+0.488, p<0.001) Conclusions The strong correlation observed between the X topic score and h-index suggests that social media is a viable platform for gaining information regarding IBD. Further research aimed at counteracting misleading information by providing facts and data in a succinct manner about IBD on social media is required to improve disease awareness.

Context: Getting residency training abroad is a critical motivator in the emigration of Indian medical students. Brain drain is an emerging issue, especially for developing countries as it causes a shortage of trained staff in the donor country. Aim: We aimed to survey Indian medical students to know about their intentions to get trained abroad and to understand the factors influencing their decision. Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional observational study, we surveyed Indian undergraduate medical students of all professional years, including internship. A validated questionnaire collected data on students’ demographics and educational characteristics, intention to study overseas or stay back in India, and factors influencing their decision. Results: Out of a total of 1199 responses (51.1% males, 48.9% females), 45.0% partakers had planned to pursue their residency abroad, while 33.8% wanted to stay in India and 21.2% were undecided. Better lifestyle and higher pay grades overseas were viewed as the most significant barriers to staying back in India and a key influencer in decision-making among the maximum number of students (412; 76.3%). On the other hand, a whopping 58.2% of participants opined that they wanted to stay back in India for taking care of their parents. Conclusions: Source countries with better healthcare facilities and better incomes tend to attract medical students. Awareness among medical educators regarding constantly changing curricula, a shift to a competency-based education system, better pay grades, limited working hours, and interventions to mitigate workplace violence could help prevent brain drain among Indian medical students and graduates.

Introduction: Apart from the general usage of media as an effective tool for communication, network building, or branding, its relevance in the medical sector is becoming increasingly pertinent. Diabetic foot is a highly prevalent and serious complication of diabetes, which contributes massively to morbidity, fatality, or amputations worldwide every minute. However, awareness and understanding of proper foot care practices disseminated through massive outreach platforms like Twitter can significantly improve its management and decrease the social, economic, and medical burden due to amputations. Aim: To identify Twitter influencers discussing diabetic foot. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted from March 2022 to July 2022 to characterise the top 38 diabetic foot influencers on Twitter. The influencers were identified using proprietary software, Cronycle (London, UK), which uses a proprietary algorithm to calculate an influencer score based on engagement metrics such as retweets, likes, and views. This score determines the “influence” of a Twitter account within a specific topic of discussion. By leveraging its proprietary algorithm, Cronycle, powered by Right Relevance (a subsidiary), provides a platform to assess the influence of an influencer on a particular topic. It offers a normalised subject score ranging from 10 to 100. The search term “Diabetic foot” was queried within the Cronycle platform, leading to the generation of a dataset that was subsequently analysed using Microsoft Excel. Results: The analysis identified 38 influencers, consisting of 19 (50%) medical practitioners, 39% diabetic advocates, and 11% researchers. The research productivity could be reflected in the h-index for 17 influencers, which ranged from 1 to 84. Geographically, the majority of the influencers were from the US and UK. Conclusion: The study identified the credibility of influencers with mass influence on Twitter for diabetic foot. More inclusive participation from healthcare providers of all nationalities, especially from developing countries, can be of paramount importance in raising awareness of diabetic foot among the medical and general population. It can serve as a source of education and potentially lead to a reduction in diabetic foot complications.

BACKGROUND: Social media applications provide room for public interaction and forming communities, thus helping disseminate health-related information. Since 2010, World Hepatitis Day has been observed on July 28 with endorsement from the World Health Organization. This study aimed to ascertain the global digital impact of World Hepatitis Day on Twitter (an online microblogging social network) and on the web (web searches and news) to formulate evidence-based recommendations for promoting future policy development. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We analyzed publicly available data from Twitter, a popular microblogging social network on the internet (data accessed from India). Three social media assessment tools (Sprout social, SocioViz and Symplur) and Google Trends were used to obtain data about the tweets and global impressions worldwide about World Hepatitis Day. A time frame from July 27^th, 2022 to July 29^th, 2022 was taken into account for all the tweets in various time zones around the world. RESULTS: “#WorldHepatitisDay” and “#Hepatitis” received 519.16 million and 412.37 million impressions in the defined timeframe, respectively. A total of 39,069 tweets were posted about World Hepatitis Day, an increase of 24.1% compared to the previous year. On social network analysis, 93 of the top 100 influencers collaborated among themselves, which helped in the wider dissemination of awareness. CONCLUSIONS: World Hepatitis Day 2022 was an impactful healthcare awareness event on Twitter for the global audience and sets forth an example of the effective utilization of resources. Future policies shall inculcate constructive feedback from our findings and must be inclusive of all the underrepresented communities.

Due to the increasing emphasis on the circular economy, research in recent years has focused on the feasibility of using biomass as an alternative energy source. Plant biomass is a potential substitute for countering the dependence on depleting fossil-derived energy sources and chemicals. However, in particular, lignocellulosic waste materials are complex and recalcitrant structures that require effective pretreatment and enzymatic saccharification to release the desired saccharides, which can be further fermented into a plethora of value-added products. In this context, pigment production from waste hydrolysates is a viable ecological approach to producing safe and natural colorings, which are otherwise produced via chemical synthesis and raise health concerns. The present study aims to evaluate two such abundant lignocellulosic wastes, i.e., wheat straw and pinewood sawdust as low-cost feedstocks for carotenoid production with Paracoccus strains. An alkali pretreatment approach, followed by enzymatic saccharification using an indigenous lab-isolated fungal hydrolase, was found to be effective for the release of fermentable sugars from both substrates. The fermentation of the pretreated sawdust hydrolysate by Paracoccus aminophilus CRT1 and Paracoccus kondratievae CRT2 resulted in the highest carotenoid production, 631.33 and 758.82 μg/g dry mass, respectively. Thus, the preliminary but informative research findings of the present work exhibit the potential for sustainable and economically feasible pigment production from lignocellulosic feedstocks after optimal process development on the pilot scale.

Graphical An illustration exhibiting perusal of natural pigment production as a safe alternative to synthetic ones.