Biofortification of Crops Using Biotechnology to Alleviate Malnutrition

Malnutrition ◽  
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathleen Hefferon

Malnutrition affects millions of people around the world, and the vast majority are found in developing countries. Malnutrition increases childhood mortality, amplifies poor outcomes during pregnancy, and is responsible for a variety of health disorders ranging from anemia to blindness. Biofortification of crops using biotechnological approaches such as genetic modification and genome editing holds promise as a powerful tool to combat malnutrition. This chapter describes progress that has been made in the development of biofortified staple crops to address malnutrition.

The exposure of farmers to agricultural hazards and risks has been increased in their work-places with the recent developments in agricultural sectors in most of the developing countries. This higher expose may be due to the enhanced need in meeting the food as well as monetary demand of farming house-holds. The agricultural-productivity has also been reduced in developing countries because of the exposure of farmers to work-related stresses affecting their well-being. Thus, an attempt was made in this study for exploring the mental-health disorders among the farmers and the farming-community in the state of Odisha in India for undertaking possible intervention strategies by the government and competent authorities.


2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 120-129 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vladimir N Timchenko ◽  
Tatyana A Kaplina ◽  
Olga A Leonicheva ◽  
Oksana V Bulina ◽  
Jean-Claude Hakizimana ◽  
...  

Measles is still an major public health problem in many countries. According to the World Health Organization, up to 3 million measles cases were recorded annually. Measles was one of the main causes of death among young children in the pre-vaccine period. More than 10 million children died of measles every year throughout the world. In 2014, on a global scale, there were 114 900 deaths from measles almost 314 deaths per day or 13 deaths per hour. The main cause of death from measles are complications from the respiratory tract (pneumonia), the central nervous system (meningitis, encephalitis, meningoencephalitis, encephalomyelitis), gastrointestinal tract (diarrhea). Between 2000 and 2014, mass measles vaccination reduced global measles mortality rate by 79%, and about 17.1 million children's lives were saved. However, measles still remains endemic and, one of the leading causes of childhood mortality in developing countries as a result of lack of immunization policies. Up to 98% of measles mortality are registered in developing countries, such India, Bangladesh, Nigeria, RDC, etc. If in the pre-vaccine period, measles affected predominantly children aged less than five years, the global immunization era led to a change in the measles-age-category pattern. The increase measles occurency in adults is due to the loss of protective antibodies, that last generally for 10 to 15 years after vaccination in only 36% of the vaccinees. Complications due to measles in adolescents and adults are most likely than in children. However, immunocompetent individuals may have repeated measles infections. The possibility of transplacental transmission of the disease: measles in pregnant women leads to a higher risk of premature birth, spontaneous abortion, congenital malformations, and with a woman at the end of pregnancy intrauterine infection and the birth of a child with signs of measles. In the absence of specific anti-measles antibodies in the mother, the child may become ill in theantenatal period. Differential diagnosis of measles is carried out with infections that occur with exanthema syndrome (parvovirus B19, sudden exanthema, etc.). Etiotropic therapy is carried out with preparations of recombinant interferon (viferon, etc.). Doses of drugs and the duration of treatment are determined by the severity of the disease. Pathogenetic and symptomatic therapy is strongly recommended.


2010 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 56-69
Author(s):  
Stephen Mutula

The debate about whether the digital divide between Africa and the developed world is narrowing or widening has intensified over the last five years. Some believe that access to technology is positively correlated to economic development and wealth creation, however, since the dawn of the last century, the gap between the rich and the poor within and between developed and developing countries has continued to grow. The protagonists in this debate do not seem to appreciate the notion that the digital divide is not about a single technology, and is driven by a complex set of factors that exist beyond wires. This paper attempts to deconstruct the concept of the digital divide beyond access to PCs, telephones, Internet, cable TV, etc… The authors argue that the phenomenon as currently conceived is misleading and flawed, and so are the indices for its measurement. Suggestions that a new model for mapping the phenomenon is made in order to bridge the divide between developed and developing countries. In deconstructing the digital divide, the authors use the Declaration of Principles of the World Summit on Information Society and the indices used to measure e-readiness, information society, digital opportunity, and e-government.


2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 32
Author(s):  
Sana Ajmal ◽  
Anum Anwar ◽  
Annum Khan

Gender inequality is a highly discussed and topical issue throughout the world at present. Women in developing countries are particularly vulnerable to gender discrimination, especially women living with chronic illness. This commentary piece discusses the discriminaton issues faced by women with type 1 diabetes in the developing world as they try to conform to the gender roles expected of them whilst managing their diabetes, and changes that could be made in the future.


2015 ◽  
pp. 30-53
Author(s):  
V. Popov

This paper examines the trajectory of growth in the Global South. Before the 1500s all countries were roughly at the same level of development, but from the 1500s Western countries started to grow faster than the rest of the world and PPP GDP per capita by 1950 in the US, the richest Western nation, was nearly 5 times higher than the world average and 2 times higher than in Western Europe. Since 1950 this ratio stabilized - not only Western Europe and Japan improved their relative standing in per capita income versus the US, but also East Asia, South Asia and some developing countries in other regions started to bridge the gap with the West. After nearly half of the millennium of growing economic divergence, the world seems to have entered the era of convergence. The factors behind these trends are analyzed; implications for the future and possible scenarios are considered.


2017 ◽  
pp. 148-159
Author(s):  
V. Papava

This paper analyzes the problem of technological backwardness of economy. In many mostly developing countries their economies use obsolete technologies. This can create the illusion that this or that business is prosperous. At the level of international competition, however, it is obvious that these types of firms do not have any chance for success. Retroeconomics as a theory of technological backwardness and its detrimental effect upon a country’s economy is considered in the paper. The role of the government is very important for overcoming the effects of retroeconomy. The phenomenon of retroeconomy is already quite deep-rooted throughout the world and it is essential to consolidate the attention of economists and politicians on this threat.


Author(s):  
Kunal Parikh ◽  
Tanvi Makadia ◽  
Harshil Patel

Dengue is unquestionably one of the biggest health concerns in India and for many other developing countries. Unfortunately, many people have lost their lives because of it. Every year, approximately 390 million dengue infections occur around the world among which 500,000 people are seriously infected and 25,000 people have died annually. Many factors could cause dengue such as temperature, humidity, precipitation, inadequate public health, and many others. In this paper, we are proposing a method to perform predictive analytics on dengue’s dataset using KNN: a machine-learning algorithm. This analysis would help in the prediction of future cases and we could save the lives of many.


2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 227-245
Author(s):  
Cahit Kahraman ◽  
İlhan Güneş ◽  
Nanae Kahraman

1989 göçü öncesi, dünyada eşzamanlı olarak gittikçe gelişen ve zenginleşen mutfak kültürü, Bulgaristan Türklerini de etkilemiştir. Pazardaki çeşitlilik arttıkça, yemek alışkanlıkları da değişime uğramıştır. Büyük göçten sadece 30-40 sene evvel kısıtlı imkânlar ile sınırlı sayıda yemek çeşidi üretilirken, alım gücünün artmasıyla yemek kültüründe de hızlı gelişmeler olmuştur. Artan ürün çeşitliliği yemeklere de yansımış, farklı lezzetler mutfaklara girmiştir. Göçmen yemekleri denilince hamur işleri, börek ve pideler akla gelir. Ayrıca, göçmenlerin çok zengin turşu, komposto ve konserve kültürüne sahip oldukları da bilinir. Bu çalışma, 1989 öncesi Bulgaristan’ın farklı bölgelerinde yaşayan Türklerin yemek alışkanlıklarına ışık tutmakla birlikte, göç sonrasında göçmen mutfak kültüründe bir değişiklik oluşup oluşmadığını konu almaktadır. Bu amaçla, 1989 yılında Türkiye’ye göç etmiş 50 kişiye 8 sorudan oluşan anket düzenlenmiştir. Bu verilerden yola çıkarak oluşan bulgular derlenmiş ve yeni tespitler yapılmıştır. Ayrıca, Türkiye’nin farklı bölgelerine yerleşen göçmenler, kendi göçmen pazarlarını kurmuşlardır. Bulgaristan’dan getirilen ürünlerin bu pazarlarda satılması böyle bir arz talebin hala devam ettiğine işaret etmektedir.ABSTRACT IN ENGLISHThe Diversity in Cuisine Culture of the Immigrants from Bulgaria After 1989 MigrationThe Cuisine culture that has been developing and getting rich day by day contemporaneously in the world before 1989 migration has also had an impact on Bulgarian Turks. By the increase in diversity in the market, eating habits have changed. While producing a limited number of food types with limited opportunities just some 30 or 40 years before the ‘Big Migration’, there has been a rapid progress in food culture by the help of the increase in purchase power. Enhancing product range has been reflected in food, and different tastes have entered the cuisines. When we say immigrant, the first things that come to our mind are pastry, flan and pitta bread. Moreover, it is also known that immigrants have a very rich cuisine culture of pickle, stewed fruit, and canned food. This study aims both to disclose the eating habits of Turks living in different regions of Bulgaria before 1989 and to determine whether there has been a difference in immigrant cuisine culture before and after the migration. For this purpose, a questionnaire consisting of 8 questions has been administered to 50 people who migrated to Turkey in 1989. The results gathered from these data have been compiled and new determinations have been made. In addition, immigrants that settled in different regions of Turkey have set their own immigrant markets. The fact that the products brought from Bulgaria are being sold in these markets shows that this kind of supply and demand still continues.


2017 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-65
Author(s):  
Tapiwa V. Warikandwa ◽  
Patrick C. Osode

The incorporation of a trade-labour (standards) linkage into the multilateral trade regime of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) has been persistently opposed by developing countries, including those in Africa, on the grounds that it has the potential to weaken their competitive advantage. For that reason, low levels of compliance with core labour standards have been viewed as acceptable by African countries. However, with the impact of WTO agreements growing increasingly broader and deeper for the weaker and vulnerable economies of developing countries, the jurisprudence developed by the WTO Panels and Appellate Body regarding a trade-environment/public health linkage has the potential to address the concerns of developing countries regarding the potential negative effects of a trade-labour linkage. This article argues that the pertinent WTO Panel and Appellate Body decisions could advance the prospects of establishing a linkage of global trade participation to labour standards without any harm befalling developing countries.


2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 1003-1008
Author(s):  
Hiroyuki Matsuoka ◽  

In the world auto market, top three companies are VW(Volkswagen), Runault-Nissan-Mistubishi, and Toyota. About some selected countries and areas, China, England, Italy, Australia, Germany, Turkey, Russia, Sweden, USA, Brazil, UAE, Japan, Vietnam and Thailand are more competitive. However, the situation is different. Seeing monopolistic market countries and areas, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, Korea, Malaysia, France, India, and Pakistan, in particular, the influence of Japan to Taiwan, India, and Pakistan is very big. But in Korea and France, their own companies’ brands occupy the market. In Japan domestic market, the overall situation is competitive. Almost all vehicles made in Japan are Japanese brand. From now on, we have to note the development of electric vehicle (EV) and other new technologies such as automatic driving and connected car. That is because they will give a great impact on the auto industry and market of Japan. Now Japan’s auto industry is going to be consolidated into three groups, Honda, Toyota group, and Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi group for seeking the scale merit of economy. Therefore, I will pay attention to the worldwide development of EV and other new technologies and the reorganization of auto companies groups.


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