Search

Abstract Food losses in international supply chains (ISCs) have garnered attention in global policy discussions due to their profound implications for global food security, livelihoods, and sustainable development. This study utilizes insights from knowledge informant interviews related to India’s two most exported food products to China and Vietnam. It comprehensively overviews the entire journey of these exportable and imported food products, from the export packing stage to final tradable point(s) of delivery while examining the nature, causes, and stages of food losses in ISCs. The study findings highlight that reducing food losses in marine and meat products requires various strategies, such as incentivizing reefer container manufacturing, facilitating capacity building and targeted training programs, and fostering public–private partnerships for trade infrastructure development, establishment of cold supply chains, and harmonization of rules, regulations, and standards through mutual recognition arrangements. Additionally, greater collaboration and synergy among stakeholders in ISCs are deemed crucial. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diagnosis of Hereditary spherocytosis (HS) often requires time-consuming and/or expensive tests. Cryohemolysis test (CHT) is a simple and easy to perform test with high predictive value for HS diagnosis. In this prospective study, we evaluated the diagnostic utility of CHT for the diagnosis of HS. We included 60 suspected HS patients, 18 patients with Autoimmune hemolytic anemia (AIHA) and 120 healthy controls. Among the 60 suspected cases, there were 36 HS cases and 24 with other hemolytic anemias. The mean CHT (%) ± SD for controls, AIHA, other hemolytic anemias, and HS was 6.63 ± 2.79, 6.79 ± 4.36, 6.61 ± 2.76 and 26.7 ± 8.9, respectively. The CHT % was significantly higher in HS group when compared to controls (p = < 0.0001), AIHA (p = < 0.0001) and other hemolytic anemia groups (p = < 0.0001). At a CHT cut off of > 18.3%, the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value for diagnosis of HS in our study were 97.1%, 94.4%, 97.2% and 90.3%, respectively. CHT is a simple and sensitive test for the diagnosis of HS but remains underutilized. The addition of CHT in the diagnostic workup of HS will be very useful, especially in a resource limited setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Revision in Harmonized System (HS) and its impact of rules of origin (RoO) are matters of immense importance in international trade policy discourse due to its far reaching economic and trade implications. In this article, we analyse the impact of HS amendments on RoO, based on the change in tariff classification (CTC) by examining India's trade agreements with South Korea and Japan. Findings of the article show that the revision in HS impacts 42% of subheadings with CTC rules in case of India-South Korea Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) and 28% in case of India-Japan CEPA, thereby potentially affecting up to 48% and 16% share of their total trade, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High cost of saccharifying enzymes is one of the major constraints for commercialization of bioethanol production from lignocellulosic biomass. Production of cellulolytic enzymes using lignocellulosic biomass such as agro-residues and weeds is an economically viable option in bioenergy industry. In this study, a noxious weed, Parthenium sp. was investigated as a substrate for production of cellulolytic enzymes CMCase, FPase, ß-glucosidase and xylanase. Two isolates namely Trichoderma harzianum and T. longibrachiatum were cultivated on Parthenium sp. under submerged (1% w/v) and solid-state fermentation (20% w/v) for production of cellulolytic enzymes. Under SSF, maximum production of CMCase (63.32 IU/g), FPase (9.87 IU/g) and cellobiase (16.36 IU/g) were achieved from T. harzianum while xylanase (393.34 IU/g) was achieved from T. longibrachiatum. Structural and crystallinity changes of biomass were examined through Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and X-Ray Diffraction analysis (XRD), respectively. Decrease in crystallinity index (CrI) of fungal treated biomass revealed the effective degradation of cellulosic components in biomass. The results showed that the menace of Parthenium sp. in agriculture can be managed by using it as substrate for production of cellulolytic enzymes which in turn reduces the cost of bioethanol production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]