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In recent times, microalgae have emerged as powerful hosts for biotechnological applications, ranging from the production of lipids and specialized metabolites (SMs) of pharmaceutical interest to biofuels, nutraceutical supplements, and more. SM synthesis through bioengineered pathways relies on the availability of aromatic amino acids (AAAs) as an essential precursor. AAAs, phenylalanine, tyrosine, and tryptophan are also the building blocks of proteins, maintaining the structural and functional integrity of cells. Hence, they are crucial intermediates linking the primary and specialized metabolism. The biosynthesis pathway of AAAs in microbes and plants has been studied for decades, but not much is known about microalgae. The allosteric control present in this pathway has been targeted for metabolic engineering in microbes. This review focuses on the biosynthesis of AAAs in eukaryotic microalgae and engineering techniques for enhanced production. All the putative genes involved in AAA pathways in the model microalgae Chlamydomonas reinhardtii and Phaeodactylum tricornutum are listed in this review.

Low back pain (LBP) is the commonest cause of disability throughout the world. This study aimed to determine the prevalence and factors associated with LBP among the construction workers in Nepal. A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted among the construction workers working in Banepa and Panauti municipalities of Kavre district, from September 2019 to February 2020. Data was collected purposively by face-to-face interview from 402 eligible participants from the both municipalities using semi-structured questionnaire. Mobile-based data collection was done using KoboCollect. Data were exported to and analysed using R-programming software (R-3.6.2). Univariate and multivariate logistic regressions were performed. All tests were two tailed and performed at 95% confidence interval (CI). One-year prevalence of LBP among construction workers were 52.0% (95%CI: 47.0-57.0). The higher odds of LBP was reported among females [adjusted odds ratio (aOR) = 2.42; 95%CI: 1.12-5.23], those living below poverty-line (aOR = 2.35; 95%CI: 1.32-4.19), participants with more than five years of work experience (aOR = 1.66; 95%CI: 1.01-2.73) and those with intermediate sleep quality (aOR = 2.06; CI: 1.03-4.11). About 80.0% of construction workers with LBP never seek healthcare services due to: a) time constraints (90.9%), b) financial constraints (18.1%) and c) fear of losing wages on seeking healthcare services (40.9%). The majority of the participants (94.8% among those without LBP and 72.3% among those with LBP) did nothing to prevent or manage LBP. The prevalence of LBP in the past one year was high among construction workers where majority of workers never did anything to prevent or manage LBP. Therefore, the public health professionals should set up the health promotion, education, and interventions aimed at increasing awareness on preventive techniques and predisposing factors of LBP.

Common mental health conditions (CMHCs) such as depression and anxiety often co-occur with noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) like hypertension and diabetes, compounding disability and mortality particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), with under-resourced health systems. This comorbidity is driven by shared behavioral risk factors including stress, isolation, tobacco use, inactivity, poor diet, and nonadherence to treatment. The World Health Organization recommends evidence-based stress reduction (EBSR), behavioral activation (BA), and motivational interviewing (MI) to address these modifiable risks, but the implementation of such multi-component behavioral interventions in community-based settings remains limited. There is a critical gap in implementation research on how best to deliver these combined interventions through community health workers (CHWs) within public health systems. This study addresses that gap by evaluating the effectiveness, implementation, and scalability of the BEhavioral Community-based COmbined Intervention for MEntal health and noncommunicable diseases (BECOME). The trial assesses clinical outcomes, implementation outcomes using the Reach-Effectiveness-Adoption-Implementation-Maintenance (RE-AIM) framework at patient, provider, and health system levels and conducts a comprehensive costing analysis to inform future scale-up. This is a stepped-wedge cluster randomized controlled trial involving 20 geographic clusters across two provinces of Nepal and 700 participants aged 40 years and above with at least one CMHC and one NCD. CHWs will be trained to deliver BECOME, comprising EBSR, BA, and MI, while the control period will include enhanced usual care. Primary outcomes include changes in CMHC severity and secondary outcomes include NCD outcomes, behavioral factors, and implementation processes. Focus group discussions and in-depth interviews with CHWs, patients, healthcare providers, and health system leaders will explore intervention acceptability and mechanisms of change. Structured costing analysis will estimate the intervention costs. Participant recruitment began in July 2024 and is currently ongoing. We anticipate completing data collection for the primary outcome measures by January 2027, with the aim of disseminating preliminary findings within the same year. Findings from this study will provide evidence on the effectiveness and feasibility of a CHW-delivered, integrated behavioral intervention, BECOME, for CMHCs and NCDs in LMICs, informing potential scale-up. ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT06449521, Registered on 25 April 2024, https://register. gov/prs/beta/studies/S000DZJN00000112/recordSummary.