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Gender Bias and Digital Financial Services in South Asia: Obstacles and Opportunities on the Road to Equal Accessexamines access to financial services to women in general in South Asia and specifically their access to digital financial services.

Diabetes mellitus (DM) has become one of the major healthcare challenges worldwide in the recent times and inflammation being one of its key pathogenic process/mechanism affect several body parts including the peripheral and central nervous system. High-mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) is one of the major non-histone proteins that plays a key role in triggering the inflammatory response. Upon its release into the extracellular milieu, HMGB1 acts as an “alarmin” for the immune system to initiate tissue repair as a component of the host defense system. Furthermore, HMGB1 along with its downstream receptors like Toll-like receptors (TLRs) and receptors for advanced glycation end products (RAGE) serve as the suitable target for DM. The forthcoming research in the field of diabetes would potentially focus on the development of alternative approaches to target the centre of inflammation that is primarily mediated by HMGB1 to improve diabetic-related complications. This review covers the therapeutic actions of HMGB1 protein, which acts by activating the RAGE and TLR molecules to constitute a functional tripod system, in turn activating NF-κB pathway that contributes to the production of mediators for pro-inflammatory cytokines associated with DM. The interaction between TLR2 and TLR4 with ligands present in the host and the activation of RAGE stimulates various immune and metabolic responses that contribute to diabetes. This review emphasizes to elucidate the role of HMGB1 in the initiation and progression of DM and control over the inflammatory tripod as a promising therapeutic approach in the management of DM.Graphic abstract

In this study, we examine disparities in financial development at the regional level in India. The major research questions of the study are: how do we measure the level of financial development at the sub-national level? How unequal is financial development across the states? Does it vary by ownership of financial institutions? To explore these research questions, our study develops a composite banking development index at the sub-national level for three different bank groups – public, private and foreign for 25 Indian states covering 1996–2015. Our findings suggest that despite reforms, banking development is significantly higher in the leading high income and more developed regions compared to lagging ones. Furthermore, we find that all bank groups including public banks are concentrated more in the developed regions. Overall, over the years the position of top three and bottom three states in the aggregate banking index have remained unchanged reflecting lop-sidedness of regional development. We also note improvement in the ranking of some north-eastern states during the period 2009–15.

Nuclear receptors are a unique family of transcription factors that play cardinal roles in physiology and plethora of human diseases. The adopted orphan nuclear receptor Nr1d1 is a constitutive transcriptional repressor known to modulate several biological processes. In this study, we found that Nr1d1 plays a decisive role in T helper (Th)-cell polarization and transcriptionally impedes the formation of Th2 cells by directly binding to the promoter region of GATA binding protein 3 (GATA3) gene. Nr1d1 interacts with its cellular companion, the nuclear receptor corepressor and histone deacetylase 3 to form a stable repression complex on the GATA3 promoter. The presence of Nr1d1 also imparts protection against associated inflammatory responses in murine model of asthma and its ligand SR9011 eased disease severity by suppressing Th2 responses. Moreover, Chip-seq profiling uncovered Nr1d1 interactions with other gene subsets that impedes Th2-linked pathways and regulates metabolism, immunity and brain functions, therefore, providing empirical evidence regarding the genetic link between asthma and other comorbid conditions. Thus, Nr1d1 emerges as a molecular switch that could be targeted to subdue asthma.

Outcome prediction for surgical patients with sepsis may be conducive to early aggressive interventions. In several studies, changes in the level of numerous biomarkers like red cell distribution width (RDW), platelet count (PC), mean platelet volume (MPV), and platelet distribution width (PDW) have been demonstrated to be associated with mortality in critically ill patients. We aimed at investigating the prognostic significance of dynamic changes in RDW, PC, MPV, and PDW in surgical patients with sepsis. We prospectively enrolled 110 surgical patients of sepsis in our study admitted to the surgical ward and ICU. We measured RDW, PC, MPV, and PDW on days 1, day 4, and day 8. Receiver operating characteristics (ROC) were generated for prognostic validation of these parameters and mortality in surgical patients with sepsis.  Results: We found that higher RDW and PDW on day 1 among non-survivors as compared to survivors on day 1 were significantly associated with mortality. ROC curves showed that RDW and PDW on day 1 could be used to predict mortality in surgical patients with sepsis and it was dynamic changes in PC on day 4 and day 8 along with a change in MPV on day 8, which was significantly associated with mortality. The major findings of our study were baseline value of RDW and PDW on day 1 and continuous decrease in PC and increase in MPV over one week were significantly associated with mortality. So, it is better to monitor dynamic changes in PC and MPV in combination with baseline RDW and PDW. So, these parameters can be promising markers to assess prognosis in surgical patients with sepsis.

Background In 2016, the Government of India introduced the oral rotavirus vaccine (ROTAVAC, Bharat Biotech, India) in 4 states of India as part of the Universal Immunization Programme, and expanded to 5 more states in 2017. We report four years of data on rotavirus gastroenteritis in hospitalized children < 5 years of age prior to vaccine introduction. Methods Children from 7 sites in southern and northern India hospitalized for diarrhoea were recruited between July 2012 and June 2016. Stool samples were screened for rotavirus using enzyme immunoassay (EIA). The EIA positive samples were genotyped by reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction. Results Of the 5834 samples from the 7 sites, 2069 (35.5%) were positive for rotavirus by EIA. Genotyping was performed for 2010 (97.1%) samples. G1P[8](56.3%), G2P[4](9.1%), G9P[4](7.6%), G9P[8](4.2%), and G12P[6](3.7%) were the common genotypes in southern India and G1P[8](36%), G9P[4](11.4%), G2P[4](11.2%), G12P[6](8.4%), and G3P[8](5.9%) in northern India. Conclusions The study highlights the high prevalence of rotavirus gastroenteritis in India and the diversity of rotavirus genotypes across different geographical regions. Pre- vaccine surveillance data is necessary to evaluate the potential change in admission rates for gastroenteritis and circulating rotavirus genotypes after vaccine introduction, thus assessing impact.

Context: The concept of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in cancer origin, progression, and metastasis is of recent origin and not fully understood. So far, many cell culture studies have been done to investigate the role of EMT in epithelial ovarian cancer, but only a few human studies have been conducted. Aims: The aim of the study is to study the expression of E-cadherin and vimentin in serous and mucinous tumors of the ovary and to compare their expression in benign and malignant serous and mucinous ovarian tumors. Methods: This study was a prospective study done on 60 patients with a histological diagnosis of serous and mucinous ovarian malignancy. The study was conducted in the Department of Pathology and Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Vardhman Mahavir Medical College and Safdarjung Hospital, New Delhi. The expression of epithelial marker E-cadherin and mesenchymal marker vimentin was studied in each of the tumors. Statistical Analysis: Unpaired t-test/Mann-Whitney test, Chi-Square test/Fisher's exact test, and Kolmogorov-Smirnov test were used. Results: Of the total 60 cases included in the study, 30 benign and 30 malignant cases of serous and mucinous tumors were taken. Of the 30 benign cases, 22 cases (73.3%) were that of serous cystadenomas, whereas 8 (26.67%) cases were of mucinous cystadenomas. Among the malignant cases, 21 cases (70%) were serous surface epithelial ovarian carcinoma, whereas 9 (30%) were mucinous surface epithelial ovarian carcinoma. Subsequently, the malignant cases were graded according to their glandular differentiation. Immunohistochemistry was performed in each of the 60 cases. Conclusion: In the malignant cases with increasing grade of the tumor, a reduced expression of E-cadherin and an increased expression of vimentin were seen in the epithelial cells.

The Australian government as part of its aid programme allocates large funds to improve financial inclusion in developing countries. However, this does not take into account low educational levels in these countries. The existing literature on financial inclusion also treats the issue as mainly supply-centric and does not take cognisance of the fact that poor human development and high illiteracy levels in developing economies may prevent a large section of the population from benefitting from financial inclusion efforts, because of low awareness and comprehension of the financial services available. This study uses a detailed three-stage methodological approach to examine the relationship between financial development and human capital in 21 countries of developing Asia. The results show that a significant negative relationship exists between financial development proxied by M2/gdp and pupil:teacher ratios and a strong positive relationship exists between physical access to banks and expected years of schooling. Further, our financial development and educational development indices also show no clear pattern in the selected countries' financial and educational development.

Hair loss (alopecia) has a multitude of causes, and the problem is still poorly defined. For curing alopecia, therapies are available in both natural and synthetic forms; however, natural remedies are gaining popularity due to the multiple effects of complex phytoconstituents on the scalp with fewer side effects. Evidence-based hair growth promotion by some plants has been reported for both traditional and advanced treatment approaches. Nanoarchitectonics may have the ability to evolve in the field of hair- and scalp-altering products and treatments, giving new qualities to hair that can be an effective protective layer or a technique to recover lost hair. This review will provide insights into several plant and herbal formulations that have been reported for the prevention of hair loss and stimulation of new hair growth. This review also focuses on the molecular mechanisms of hair growth/loss, several isolated phytoconstituents with hair growth-promoting properties, patents, in vivo evaluation of hair growth-promoting activity, and recent nanoarchitectonic technologies that have been explored for hair growth.

Background and Aims: Breast cancer is the most common female cancer in the world. Although early detection and systematic adjuvant therapy has improved survival, distant metastasis remains the leading cause of breast related mortality. The relationship between tumor and the hemostatic system is increasingly recognized as an important regulator of breast cancer progression. Tumors have the ability to induce platelet aggregation which is referred as tumor cell induced platelet aggregation (TCIPA). This study highlights that increased platelet aggregation plays an important role in metastasis of breast cancer. The aim here is to study the role of platelet aggregation in metastatic breast cancer patients using: * ADP * Thrombin. Methods: 30 cases (n = 30) of metastatic breast cancer and 30 controls (n = 30) of non-metastatic breast cancer which were clinically diagnosed and histopathologically confirmed were included in this study. Platelet aggregation studies in vitro using ADP and Thrombin were performed using an optical aggregometer in both cases and controls. Other parameters like platelet count, histological grade and surrogate molecular classification was also correlated with platelet aggregation. Results: In this study, increased aggregation was seen with ADP and thrombin in the metastatic cases and none showed increased aggregation in the non-metastatic breast cancer patients. Also, high platelet count and higher histological grade correlated with increased aggregation. However, no correlation was seen between platelet aggregation and the surrogate molecular classification. Conclusion: It was concluded from this study that platelet aggregation has an important part to play in the tumor metastasis of breast cancer patients.