BackgroundSnakebite represents a significant health issue worldwide, affecting several million people each year with as many as 95,000 deaths. India is considered to be the country most affected, but much remains unknown about snakebite incidence in this country, its socio-economic impact and how snakebite management could be improved.Methods/Principal FindingsWe conducted a study within rural villages in Tamil Nadu, India, which combines a household survey (28,494 people) of snakebite incidence with a more detailed survey of victims in order to understand the health and socio-economic effects of the bite, the treatments obtained and their views about future improvements. Our survey suggests that snakebite incidence is higher than previously reported. 3.9% of those surveyed had suffered from snakebite and the number of deaths corresponds to 0.45% of the population. The socio-economic impact of this is very considerable in terms of the treatment costs and the long-term effects on the health and ability of survivors to work. To reduce this, the victims recommended improvements to the accessibility and affordability of antivenom treatment.ConclusionsSnakebite has a considerable and disproportionate impact on rural populations, particularly in South Asia. This study provides an incentive for researchers and the public to work together to reduce the incidence and improve the outcomes for snake bite victims and their families.

Aims:  The aim of the present study was to investigate the anti‐Streptococcus mutans activity and the in vitro effects of subminimal inhibitory concentrations of guaijaverin isolated from Psidium guajava Linn. on cariogenic properties of Strep. mutans. Methods and Results:  Bioautography‐directed chromatographic fractionation, yield biologically active compound, quercetin‐3‐O‐α‐l‐arabinopyranoside (guaijaverin), from crude methanol extract of P. guajava. Growth‐inhibitory activity of the compound against Strep. mutans of both clinical and type strain cultures was evaluated. The anti‐Strep. mutans activity of the guaijaverin was found to be bacteriostatic, both heat and acid stable and alkali labile with the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 4 mg ml−1 for MTCC 1943 and 2 mg ml−1 for CLSM 001. The sub‐MIC concentrations (0·0078–2 mg ml−1) of the guaijaverin were evaluated for its cariogenic properties such as acid production, cell‐surface hydrophobicity, sucrose‐dependent adherence to glass surface and sucrose‐induced aggregation of Strep. mutans. Conclusions:  The active flavonoid compound, quercetin‐3‐O‐α‐l‐arabinopyranoside (guaijaverin) demonstrated high potential antiplaque agent by inhibiting the growth of the Strep. mutans. Significance and Impact of the Study:  This study demonstrated the new growth‐inhibitory compound guaijaverin against Strep. mutans and led to the acceptance of traditional medicine and natural products as an alternative form of health care.

Sugarcane represents an important renewable source among biofuel crops with high capability to assimilate carbon among the C4 plants. Limited availability of freshwater renders this crop uneconomical, warranting the necessity for the development of varieties with higher water use efficiency and tolerant to water deficiency stress. Sugarcane variety cv. Co740 was subjected to varied levels of water deficiency stress to isolate transcripts differentially expressed to the imposed stress. The leaf relative water content was used as a measure to estimate the stress response. PCR-based cDNA suppression subtractive hybridization technique was applied to construct forward subtracted library for differentially expressed genes under stress. Dot blot-selected 158 clones showing elevated response were sequenced, of which 62% resembled similarity with known functional genes, 12% with hypo-