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This paper argues for 'systems thinking' as a conceptual framework to address antimicrobial resistance, especially focusing on the context of low and lower middle-income countries (LLMICs), which are plagued with health inequities that magnify the AMR threat. Systems thinking provides two avenues to enhance these mitigation efforts: i) it helps go beyond a purely biomedical approach to incorporate considerations of the social and informational; ii) particularly relevant as is it helps to understand the role of health inequities in shaping AMR related prevention and care processes.

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A living lab is an emerging concept, particularly in Europe, as a vehicle to develop digital innovations through a process of co-produced design and development, which takes place, physically and socially, in real-life use contexts. However, there is limited research relating to guiding our understanding of the process by which such labs are established, and digital innovations are co-created and scaled to other settings requiring similar solutions. Furthermore, beyond Europe, the concept of a living lab has not found widespread application in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), particularly in their public health contexts. Public health systems offer the unique scaling challenge of "all or nothing", implying that data are required from the whole population rather than isolated pilot settings. The living lab approach promises the rich potential to strengthen public systems but comes with twin interconnected challenges. First, for building appropriate digital solutions to address local public health challenges, and second, in scaling them to other public health facilities. This article investigates these twin challenges through ongoing empirical work in India and identifies three key domains of analysis, which are as follows: the first concerns the process of establishing an enabling structure of a "living lab within a lab"; the second concerns leveraging the capabilities offered by free and open-source digital technologies; and the third concerns the driving impetus to scaling through agile and co-constructed technical support.

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The mammalian cell genome is continuously exposed to endogenous and exogenous insults that modify its DNA. These modifications can be single-base lesions, bulky DNA adducts, base dimers, base alkylation, cytosine deamination, nitrosation, or other types of base alteration which interfere with DNA replication. Mammalian cells have evolved with a robust defense mechanism to repair these base modifications (damages) to preserve genomic stability. Base excision repair (BER) is the major defense mechanism for cells to remove these oxidative or alkylated single-base modifications. The base excision repair process involves replacement of a single-nucleotide residue by two sub-pathways, the single-nucleotide (SN) and the multi-nucleotide or long-patch (LP) base excision repair pathways. These reactions have been reproduced in vitro using cell free extracts or purified recombinant proteins involved in the base excision repair pathway. In the present chapter, we describe the detailed methodology to reconstitute base excision repair assay systems. These reconstitutive BER assay systems use artificially synthesized and modified DNA. These reconstitutive assay system will be a true representation of biologically occurring damages and their repair.

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To find prevalence of noise induced hearing loss (NIHL) among auto drivers in central Bangalore using a structured questionnaire and audiometric evaluation. To establish a relation between age and duration of work to the presence of noise induced hearing loss among the autorickshaw drivers. To assess the validity of the questionnaire as a screening tool.A cross sectional study conducted in VV Puram, Bangalore from April-August 2019. 100 autorickshaw drivers were subjected to Pure tone audiometry (PTA) evaluation and were asked to answer a self-structured questionnaire comprising of 9 questions. Each question was scored from 0 to 3, making 27 the maximum score a person could obtain. Based on the score they were categorised as mild (6-10), moderate (10-20) and severe (> 20) hearing loss. Any dip found in the bone conduction in the audiometry at higher frequencies was labelled as presence of NIHL. Age and duration of working hours were noted in order to establish the relation of the two with the presence of noise induced hearing loss.The prevalence of NIHL among the study samples was found to be 40% based on the questionnaire and audiometry test combined. The questionnaire showed a sensitivity of 80% reflecting that it is an efficient tool for screening NIHL among the auto drivers. Prevelance of NIHL was found to be higher among older and study groups with longer working hours. Though majority of the auto drivers did not complain of a hearing loss, a structured questionnaire combined with a pure tone audiometric evaluation helped in identification of early changes of NIHL.

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We present a perfusion culture system with miniature bioreactors and peristaltic pumps. The bioreactors are designed for perfusion, live-cell imaging studies, easy incorporation of microfabricated scaffolds, and convenience of operation in standard cell culture techniques. By combining with miniature peristaltic pumps-one for each bioreactor to avoid cross-contamination and to maintain desired flow rate in each-we have made a culture system that facilitates perfusion culture inside standard incubators. This scalable system can support multiple parallel perfusion experiments. The major components are fabricated by three-dimensional printing using VeroWhite, which we show to be amenable to ex vivo cell culture. Furthermore, the components of the system can be reused, thus making it economical. We validate the system and illustrate its versatility by culturing primary rat hepatocytes, live imaging the growth of mouse fibroblasts (NIH 3T3) on microfabricated ring-scaffolds inserted into the bioreactor, performing perfusion culture of breast cancer cells (MCF7), and high-magnification imaging of hepatocarcinoma cells (HuH7).

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Virgin coconut oil (VCO) extracted by wet processing is popular among the scientific field and society nowadays. The present study was carried out to examine the comparative effect of VCO with copra oil (CO), olive oil (OO) and sunflower oil (SFO) on endogenous antioxidant status and paraoxonase 1 activity in ameliorating the oxidative stress in rats. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were fed different oils at 8% level for 45 days along with the synthetic diet. Results revealed that dietary VCO improved the antioxidant status compared to other three oil fed groups (P < 0.05), which is evident from the increased activities of catalase, superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase and glutathione reductase in tissues. Concentration of reduced glutathione was also found to be increased significantly in liver (532.97 mM per 100 g liver), heart (15.77 mM per 100 g heart) and kidney (1.58 mM per 100 g kidney) of VCO fed rats compared to those fed with CO, OO and SFO (P < 0.05). In addition, the activity of paraoxonase 1 was significantly increased in VCO fed rats compared to other oil fed groups (P < 0.05). Furthermore, VCO administration prevented the oxidative stress, which is indicated by the decreased formation of lipid peroxidation and protein oxidation products like malondialdehyde, hydroperoxides, conjugated dienes and protein carbonyls in serum and tissues compared to other oil fed rats (P < 0.05). Wet processing of VCO retains higher amounts of biologically active unsaponifiable components like polyphenols (84 mg per 100 g oil) and tocopherols (33.12 µg per 100 g oil) etc. compared to other oils (P < 0.05). From these observations, it is concluded that VCO has a beneficial role in improving antioxidant status and hence preventing lipid and protein oxidation.

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Effect of virgin coconut oil (VCO) on lipid levels and regulation of lipid metabolism compared with copra oil (CO), olive oil (OO), and sunflower oil (SFO) has been reported. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were fed different oils at 8% level for 45 days along with synthetic diet. Results showed that VCO feeding significantly lowered (P < 0.05) levels of total cholesterol, LDL+ VLDL cholesterol, Apo B and triglycerides in serum and tissues compared to rats fed CO, OO and SFO, while HDL-cholesterol and Apo A1 were significantly (P < 0.05) higher in serum of rats fed VCO than other groups. Hepatic lipogenesis was also down regulated in VCO fed rats, which was evident from the decreased activities of enzymes viz., HMG CoA reductase, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase, isocitrate dehydrogenase and malic enzyme. In addition, VCO significantly (P < 0.05) increased the activities of lipoprotein lipase, lecithin cholesterol acyl transferase and enhanced formation of bile acids. Results demonstrated hypolipidemic effect of VCO by regulating the synthesis and degradation of lipids.

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