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Handwashing with soap at critical moments is one of the most important factors in controlling the spread of germs and preventing the spread of infection. The objective of this study was to determine the effectiveness of a low-cost, school-based intervention that simulated germs and their spread on hand hygiene knowledge, attitude and practice of primary school children. Five hundred and sixty-two students from 28 rural schools were enrolled in this pre-posttest study. Endline data was collected 4 weeks after conducting the intervention at baseline. The mean scores for knowledge, attitude and practice improved significantly after the intervention (p <.05). Significant positive gains were also observed in children's understanding of germs, the associated illness threat and washing hands with soap as a prevention mechanism. The present study suggests that entertainment-education-based interventions have the potential to improve hygiene behavior among children while being low-cost. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Key message: BjuWRR1, a CNL-type R gene, was identified from an east European gene pool line of Brassica juncea and validated for conferring resistance to white rust by genetic transformation. White rust caused by the oomycete pathogen Albugo candida is a significant disease of crucifer crops including Brassica juncea (mustard), a major oilseed crop of the Indian subcontinent. Earlier, a resistance-conferring locus named AcB1-A5.1 was mapped in an east European gene pool line of B. juncea—Donskaja-IV. This line was tested along with some other lines of B. juncea (AABB), B. rapa (AA) and B. nigra (BB) for resistance to six isolates of A. candida collected from different mustard growing regions of India. Donskaja-IV was found to be completely resistant to all the tested isolates. Sequencing of a BAC spanning the locus AcB1-A5.1 showed the presence of a single CC-NB-LRR protein encoding R gene. The genomic sequence of the putative R gene with its native promoter and terminator was used for the genetic transformation of a susceptible Indian gene pool line Varuna and was found to confer complete resistance to all the isolates. This is the first white rust resistance-conferring gene described from Brassica species and has been named BjuWRR1. Allelic variants of the gene in B. juncea germplasm and orthologues in the Brassicaceae genomes were studied to understand the evolutionary dynamics of the BjuWRR1 gene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adult cases of visceral leishmaniasis (VL), predominantly males, have been reported in the past decade from natives of high altitude areas of North Indian state of Uttarakhand. We report 14 pediatric cases of VL, who were diagnosed and treated successfully over the past 7 years. All these children were born and brought up in this area and had never visited any of the endemic areas. High prevalence of pallor, splenohepatomegaly, thrombocytopenia and poor association with HIV are cardinal features of VL in this region. Although newer drugs have become available, the protozoan continues to be sensitive to sodium stibogluconate. We conclude that the transmission cycle of VL has been established in this region and VL should be considered in the differential diagnosis of any child presenting with fever and hepatosplenomegaly. However, molecular and epidemiological studies are needed to identify the ancestry, vector and animal reservoir if any in this region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To evaluate the validity and reliability of Hindi version of Montreal cognitive assessment (H-MoCA) as a screening tool to detect mild cognitive impairment among older adults of India. The study was conducted in three phases, namely content validation of H-MoCA reliability estimation, internal consistency and test- retest reliability. Qualitative and quantitative validation through expert review resulted in modification of H-MoCA which was tested on purposive sample of 30 subjects, and analysis was done for internal consistency reliability, then the scale was re-administered to the same group to establish test-retest reliability. Internal consistency was reported in terms of Cronbach's alpha (α) and test-retest reliability in terms of intra class correlation coefficient (ICC). Qualitative review and Content validation ratio (Lawshe) validate the content of H-MoCA with CVR of 0.99. The scale has good internal consistency, Cronbach's alpha (α) = 0.64 and high test-retest reliability, intra class correlation coefficient (ICC) = 0.87. Thus the Hindi translated version of MoCA is a valid and reliable tool for detecting mild cognitive impairment., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The potential allergenicity of Bar, Barnase, and Barstar recombinant proteins expressed in genetically engineered mustard for pollination control in plant breeding was evaluated for regulatory review. To evaluate the potential allergenicity of the Bar, Barnase and Barstar proteins amino acid sequence comparisons were made to those of known and putative allergens, and search for published evidence to the sources of the genes using the AllergenOnline.org database. Initial comparisons in 2012 were performed with version 12 by methods recommended by the Codex Alimentarius Commission and the Indian Council of Medical Research, Government of India. Searches were repeated with version 15 in 2015. A literature search was performed using PubMed to identify reports of allergy associated with the sources of the three transgenes. Potential open reading frames at the DNA insertion site were evaluated for matches to allergens. No significant sequence identity matches were identified with Bar, Barnase or Barstar proteins or potential fusion peptides at the genomic-insert junctions compared to known allergens. No references were identified that associated the sources of the genes with allergy. Based on these results we conclude that the Bar, Barnase and Barstar proteins are unlikely to present any significant risk of food allergy to consumers., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Genetic analysis of 12 yield-associated traits was undertaken by dissection of quantitative trait loci (QTL) through meta-analysis and epistatic interaction studies in Brassica juncea. A consensus (integrated) map in B. juncea was constructed using two maps. These were VH map, developed earlier in the laboratory by using a DH population from the cross between Varuna and Heera (Pradhan et al. in Theor Appl Genet 106:607-614, 2003; Ramchiary et al. in Theor Appl Genet. 115:807-817, 2007; Panjabi et al. in BMC Genomics 9:113, 2008), and the TD map, developed in the present study using a DH population of 100 lines from the cross between TM-4 and Donskaja-IV. The TD map was constructed with 911 markers consisting of 585 AFLP, 8 SSR and 318 IP markers covering a total genome length of 1,629.9 cM. The consensus map constructed by using the common markers between the two maps contained a total of 2,662 markers and covered a total genome length of 1,927.1 cM. Firstly, QTL analysis of 12 yield-associated traits was undertaken for the TD population based on three-environment phenotypic data. Secondly, the three-environment phenotypic data for the same 12 quantitative traits generated by Ramchiary et al. (2007) were re-analyzed for the QTL detection in the VH map. Comparative analysis identified both common and population-specific QTL. The study revealed the presence of QTL clusters on LG A7, A8 and A10 in both TD and VH maps. Meta-analyses resolved 187 QTL distributed over nine linkage groups of TD and VH maps into 20 meta-QTL. Maximum resolution was recorded for the LG A10 wherein all the 54 QTL were mapped to a single meta-QTL within a confidence interval of 3.0 cM. Digenic epistatic interactions of QTL in both TD and VH maps revealed substantial additive × additive interactions showing a higher frequency of Type 1 and Type 2 interactions than Type 3 interactions. Some of the loci interacted with more than one locus indicating the presence of higher order epistatic interactions. These findings provided some detailed insight into the genetic architecture of the yield-associated traits in B. juncea.