Search

Introduction: Burkholderia cepacia complex (Bcc) clonal complex (CC) 31, the predominant lineage causing devastating outbreaks globally, has been a growing concern of infections in non-cystic fibrosis (NCF) patients in India. B. cenocepacia is very challenging to treat owing to its virulence determinants and antibiotic resistance. Improving the management of these infections requires a better knowledge of their resistance patterns and mechanisms. Methods: Whole-genome sequences of 35 CC31 isolates obtained from patient samples, were analyzed against available 210 CC31 genomes in the NCBI database to glean details of resistance, virulence, mobile elements, and phylogenetic markers to study genomic diversity and evolution of CC31 lineage in India. Results: Genomic analysis revealed that 35 isolates belonging to CC31 were categorized into 11 sequence types (ST), of which five STs were reported exclusively from India. Phylogenetic analysis classified 245 CC31 isolates into eight distinct clades (I-VIII) and unveiled that NCF isolates are evolving independently from the global cystic fibrosis (CF) isolates forming a distinct clade. The detection rate of seven classes of antibiotic-related genes in 35 isolates was 35 (100%) for tetracyclines, aminoglycosides, and fluoroquinolones; 26 (74.2%) for sulphonamides and phenicols; 7 (20%) for beta-lactamases; and 1 (2.8%) for trimethoprim resistance genes. Additionally, 3 (8.5%) NCF isolates were resistant to disinfecting agents and antiseptics. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing revealed that majority of NCF isolates were resistant to chloramphenicol (77%) and levofloxacin (34%). NCF isolates have a comparable number of virulence genes to CF isolates. A well-studied pathogenicity island of B. cenocepacia, GI11 is present in ST628 and ST709 isolates from the Indian Bcc population. In contrast, genomic island GI15 (highly similar to the island found in B. pseudomallei strain EY1) is exclusively reported in ST839 and ST824 isolates from two different locations in India. Horizontal acquisition of lytic phage ST79 of pathogenic B. pseudomallei is demonstrated in ST628 isolates Bcc1463, Bcc29163, and BccR4654 amongst CC31 lineage. Discussion: The study reveals a high diversity of CC31 lineages among B. cenocepacia isolates from India. The extensive information from this study will facilitate the development of rapid diagnostic and novel therapeutic approaches to manage B. cenocepacia infections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on phylo-taxonogenomics criteria, we present amended descriptions for 20 pathovars to Xanthomonas citri. Incidentally, 18 were first reported from India. Seven out of twenty are classified as X. axonopodis, 12 out of 20 as X. campestris, and one as X. cissicola. In this study, we have generated genome sequence data of four pathovars, and the genomes of the remaining 16 were used from the published data. Comprehensive genome-based phylogenomic and taxonogenomic analyses reveal that all these pathovars belong to X. citri and need to reconcile their taxonomic status. This proposal will aid in systematic studies of a major species and its constitutent members that infect economically important plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report first complete genomic investigation of extensive drug resistance (XDR) in a nosocomial Stenotrophomonas maltophilia complex strain that is resistant to mainstream drugs (trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole and levofloxacin). Comprehensive genomic investigation revealed its exclusive fourteen dynamic regions and highly enriched resistome comprising of two sulfonamide resistance genes on two diverse super-integrons of chromosomal origin. In addition, both these integrons harbour array of antibiotic resistance and commonly used disinfectant's resistance genes linked to ISCR elements. Isolation of a novel XDR strain from Indian tertiary care unit belonging to novel ST with diverse array of resistance genes on ISCR linked super-integrons indicates extent and nature of selection pressure in hospitals. Since, repetitive elements have major role in their spread and due to limitations of draft genomes, there is an urgent need to employ complete genome-based investigation for tracking the emergence of XDR at global level and designing strategies of antimicrobial stewardship and disinfection. Hospital settings in India have one of the highest usages of antimicrobials and a heavy patient load. We hereby report a novel clinical isolate of S. maltophilia complex with two super-integrons that harbour array of antimicrobial resistance genes along with biocide and heavy metal resistance genes. Further, the presence of ISCR type of transposable elements on both the integrons indicates their propensity to transfer resistome while their chromosomal origin suggests possibilities for further genomic/phenotypic complexities according to selection pressure. Such complex mobile cassettes in a novel strain is a potential threat to global health care. Hence, to understand the evolution of opportunistic nosocomial pathogen, there is an urgent need to employ cost-effective long read technologies to keep vigilance on novel and XDR pathogens in populous countries. There is also need for surveillance of the usage of disinfectants and other antimicrobials for environmental hygiene and linked/rapid co-evolution of XDR in nosocomial pathogens. Repositories: Complete genome sequence of Stenotrophomonas maltophilia SM866: CP031058. • Hospital settings in India have heavy patient load and antimicrobial usage. • We hereby report a novel clinical isolate of Smc with two super-integrons harboring array of antimicrobial resistance genes alongwith biocide and heavy metal resistance genes. • Presence of ISCR on both integrons indicates their propensity to transfer while their chromosomal origin suggests possibilities for further genomic/phenotypic complexities according to selection pressure. • Such complex mobile cassettes in a novel strain is a potential threat to global health care. Hence, there is an urgent need to employ cost-effective long read technologies to keep vigilance on novel and XDR pathogens in populous countries. • There is also need for surveillance of the usage of disinfectants and other antimicrobials for environmental hygiene and linked/rapid co-evolution of XDR in nosocomial pathogens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Taking financial risks makes most people nervous. Certain types of people enjoy taking risks, while others prefer stability and are averse to any type of risk. Risk tolerance is an important component in investing, which means the degree of variability in investment returns that an investor is willing to withstand. Risk appetite is the risk taking capacity of investors, which signifies how much risk an investor can afford to take and how much risk he can stand to take. Besides, to identify the risk tolerance level is a very complex and difficult task because an individual's risk taking capacity is a multidimensional issue, so it is very hard to measure it. In simple words, every individual varies in his readiness to take risk. But for giving proper and accurate financial advice, it is necessary to identify the risk tolerance levels of that person appropriately. Nowadays, investment administrators and managers, financial consultants and researchers are taking improved interest in identifying the risk tolerance of investors because it is indispensable to achieve the most propitious investment portfolio and it can be attained by exploring the level of risk tolerance. In view of this, it is imperative to investigate the risk tolerance attitude of women investors to understand their investment behavior. The present study aims to identify the risk taking ability of women investors in response to the investment dimensions considered by them while making investment decisions. A random sample of 400 women investors were selected from Haryana, India. To analyze the data, Chi-Square test was applied to investigate the association between risk tolerance level and investment dimensions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Financial awareness is vital to both investors and the growth of economy due to an increasing need for investment in the financial market, complex environment, growing frauds, malpractices, and insider trading. In view of this, efforts should be made to protect the interest of the investors. The investors should also be given first-hand market information. To predict the behavior of the investors, their awareness level is the most important component, which can bring a profound change in their investment habits. The present study aims to identify the awareness level of women investors of various investment avenues, with regard to demographic factors. A random sample of 400 women investors were selected from Haryana, India. To analyze the data, ANOVA was applied to investigate the difference between demographic factors and awareness level. The present research will assist not only the women investors but also the different financial institutions, investment consultants, stock brokerage houses, and other participants in the stock market, in exploring the factors that influence the perception of women about the stock market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper aims to examine the phenomenon of risk-taking ability in response to the demographic factors of women investors in Indian stock market and analyzes the impact of demographics of women on their risk-tolerance level. Women' risk-taking ability is very vital aspect to recognize their most favorable investment portfolio. A well-structured questionnaire was administered personally to 400 Indian women investors. The results stated that women investors in Haryana, India, have low-risk appetite. They cannot afford to take high risk. So, women prefer risk-free investment and avoid losing their money. Women's demographic distinctiveness plays a crucial role in identifying their risk-tolerance levels. In this regard, age, marital status, education, income, experience and occupation were found to have a major impact in determining the risk appetite of women. It is hoped that the findings will assist financial advisors, investment managers and financial consultant to understand and discover the solution to those demographic factors, which cause variations in risk-tolerance level. This study corroborates the importance of financial literacy to make women more aware and technically sound with dimensions of investment. Further, it will help in making ideal investment portfolio by accommodating the need of investors effectively. This study will contribute to the understanding investment behavior of investors. This empirical research represents how demographic variables influence risktaking ability of women and provides precious understanding that how women investors of Haryana make their financial decision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A number of wild crops remain unexplored in this world and among them some have excellent medicinal and nutritional properties. India is a harbor of biodiversity in general and phytodiversity in particular. The plant diversity is distributed from the Western Ghats to Eastern Ghats, along with the North-Eastern region and from the Greater Himalayas to the plain of Ganga. Among these distributed floral regions of the country, the Eastern Ghats are important due to their rich floral diversity. The forests of Odisha form a major part of Eastern Ghats in general and the Similipal Biosphere Reserve (SBR) in particular. The SBR is inhabited by many local communities. The food and medicinal habits of these communities are not fully explored even today. They are dependent on the forests of SBR for their food and medicine. Among their collections from forests, root and tuberous plants play a significant role. The local communities of SBR use about 89 types of tuberous plants for various purposes. Dioscorea is one such tuber, having maximum use among the local of SBR. However, less documentation and no specific reports are available on the food and medicinal values of the species available in this part of the World. Dioscorea species, popularly known as Yam worldwide and as Ban Aalu in Odisha, India, is a prime staplemedicinal-food substitute for themajority of rural and local people of the state of India. Of the 13 Dioscorea species available in SBR, 10 species are known to be bitter in taste and unpalatable when taken raw. Since less documentation is available on the Dioscorea species of SBR and their traditional uses, the present study was focused on the ethnobotany, nutritional and pharmacological values of these species along its nutraceutical importance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Identification of critical watersheds prone to soil erosion has been performed by using a hydrological model in data scarce Damodar River catchment, located in Jharkhand state of India. Model is calibrated and validated for two watersheds, i.e., (1) Nagwan, 94.43 km²; and (2) Banikdih, 80.06 km², nested within the catchment. The achieved R values of predicted monthly runoff and sediment yield varies, respectively, 0.65-0.89 and 0.78-0.84, for both the watersheds during calibration and validation period. Calibration and validation results revealed that model is predicting monthly runoff and sediment yield satisfactory for the two watersheds of the Damodar River catchment. The validated model parameters were then up-scaled to the whole catchment and model was run from 1993-2001 to identify the critical watersheds. Model was successfully used for prioritization of 406 watersheds delineated using the computer software model within the catchment. In delineation process, the boundaries of 175 watersheds matched exactly with the watersheds delineated manually by Damodar Valley Corporation. Out of these 175 watersheds, erosion classes of 157 exactly matched with the manually described erosion class. For remaining 18 watersheds, priority of 10 watersheds was either one class higher or lower, whereas eight watersheds showed complete mismatch. Overall results showed that the hydrological model used in this paper may be helpful in prioritization of management strategies to manage the resources where availability of data is a big concern. Such approach for managing resources is particularly needed in developing countries for better utilization of limited resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study reflects the major medicinal flora of Nandan Kanan Sanctuary, a small protected area along the Kanjia Lake, in the district of Cuttack, Odisha, India. The survey reveals that there were 61 plant species belonging to 40 different families highlighted the floral wealth of the sanctuary.The dominant floristic components were Aerva lanata, Biophytum sensitivum, Christella dentate, Heliotropium indicum, Hyptis suaveolens, Terminalia arjuna, Terminalia bellirica, Pongamia pinnata, Cassia fistula, Polygonum barbatum, Lygodium flexuosum, Mimosa pudica, Leonotis nepetifolia etc. The details of these plants in terms of local name, family, plant part(s) used, chemicals present and their use in health care such as malnutrition, communicable diseases, metabolic disorder and other miscellaneous effects has been listed. The implications of this study in terms of sustainable use by the local community, conservation, and education have been discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bhubaneswar popularly known as the Temple City is one of the oldest continuously inhabited regions of the world, and one the most important Lord Shiva, Lord Bhubaneswari, Lord Mahavir and Lord Buddha pilgrimage sites of the country. Despite its importance, very little information is available on the city's herbaceous flora in general, and the medicinal species found within its limit in particular. As traditional medicine plays an important role in Indian society and in Oriya culture, the present study attempts to investigate the availability and their traditional uses. The paper presents information on the traditional uses of seventy-two plant species collected from the campus of Regional Institute of Education (NCERT), Bhubaneswar, Odisha, and highlights the uses of these plants by the local inhabitants for healthcare and the students of the institute for the study of Ethnobotany , Medicinal importance and conservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Nation-wide genomic analysis could detect seven different phases of SARS-CoV-2 pandemic in India. • Variant of concern and variant of interest were dominated only post-first wave in India. • More than 0.5 million mutational events could be detected across 20,086 high quality genomes. • Four major mutational events i.e., spike (D614G), NSP 12b (P314L), NSP3 F106F and 5′ UTR 241 occurring in more than 19,000 genomes. COVID-19 has posed unforeseen circumstances and throttled major economies worldwide. India has witnessed two waves affecting around 31 million people representing 16% of the cases globally. To date, the epidemic waves have not been comprehensively investigated to understand pandemic progress in India. Here, we aim for pan Indian cross-sectional evolutionary analysis since inception of SARS-CoV-2. High quality genomes, along with their collection date till 26th July 2021, were downloaded. Whole genome-based phylogeny was obtained. Further, the mutational analysis was performed using SARS-CoV-2 first reported from Wuhan (NC_045512.2) as reference. Based on reported cases and mutation rates, we could divide the Indian epidemic into seven phases. The average mutation rate for the pre-first wave was <11, which elevated to 17 in the first wave and doubled in the second wave (∼34). In accordance with mutation rate, VOCs and VOIs started appearing in the first wave (1.5%), which dominated the second (∼96%) and post-second wave (100%). Nation-wide mutational analysis depicted >0.5 million mutation events with four major mutations in >19,300 genomes, including two mutations in coding (spike (D614G), and NSP 12b (P314L) of rdrp), one silent mutation (NSP3 F106F) and one extragenic mutation (5′ UTR 241). Whole genome-based phylogeny could demarcate post-first wave isolates from previous ones by point of diversification leading to incidences of VOCs and VOIs in India. Such analysis is crucial in the timely management of pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The study centers on creating thermally efficient and sustainable building blocks. • It incorporates a blend of steel slag and fly ash as supplementary cementitious materials. • Crumb rubber is employed as an insulating filler material. • Performance parameters are assessed across multiple criteria to determine the best mix. In today's world, where sustainable building practices are crucial, addressing energy consumption in buildings is vital. Insulation materials are a key to energy efficiency, but their effectiveness depends on properties like thermal conductivity, strength, and sustainability parameters. This research repurposes waste materials to create sustainable building materials. India's tire disposal problem poses environmental risks. To effectively manage those issues, this study targeted towards optimum utilization of wastes; steel slag, fly ash, and crumb rubber to make building blocks. This research focuses on developing blocks from Steel Slag (SS), Fly Ash (FA), Crusher Dust (CD), Lime, and Crumb rubber (CR). Extensive evaluations, including physico-mechanical, thermal assessments, and sustainability analyses, were conducted on these innovative blocks, while optimum selection is done based on heat transfer, Multi-Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM) and Energy analysis using eQuest. The study employs numerical conjugate heat transfer analysis via OpenFOAM software, revealing Grade A crumb rubber averages 11.03 MPa compressive strength, whereas Grade B averages 12.31 MPa compressive strength, and a strength of 22.8 MPa was achieved at crumb rubber incorporation level of 10 %. However, construction material selection entails multifaceted considerations based on physical, mechanical, thermal and sustainability parameters. Consequently, MCDM approach was adopted to identify the optimal alternative. MCDM techniques, including TOPSIS, EDAS, and WPM, consistently endorse Mix M − 6, featuring 10 % crumb rubber as an aggregate replacement, as the paramount choice. These findings underscore the commercial potential of steel slag-lime blocks infused with crumb rubber, offering superior insulation and sustainability performance compared to conventional blocks. This research not only tackles a pressing environmental concern tied to waste materials like crumb rubber and steel slag but also plays a pivotal role in advancing the development of eco-friendly building materials poised to make a significant impact on the construction industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emergence of carbapenem-resistant A. baumannii (CRAB) is a global, ongoing healthcare concern. CRAB is among the topmost priority pathogens, with various studies focusing on its global population structure and resistant allelic profiles. However, carbapenem-susceptible A. baumannii (CSAB) isolates are often overlooked due to their sensitivity to beta-lactams, which can provide important insights into origin of CRAB lineages and isolates. In the present study, we report genomic investigation of CRAB and CSAB coexisting in Indian hospital setting. MLST based population structure and phylogenomics suggest they mainly follow distinct evolutionary routes forming two phylogroups. PG-I exclusively for a successful clone (ST2) of CRAB and PG-II comprises diversified CSAB isolates except PG3373, which is CRAB. Additionally, there are few CRAB isolates not belonging to PG-I and sharing clonal relationship with CSAB isolates indicating role of genome plasticity towards extensive drug resistance in the nosocomial environment. Further, genealogical analysis depicts prominent role of recombination in emergence and evolution of a major CRAB lineage. Further, CRAB isolates are enriched in resistomes as compared to CSAB isolates, which were encoded on the genomic island. Such comparative genomic insights will aid in our understanding and localized management of rapidly evolving pandrug resistant nosocomial pathogens. • Genomic insights into carbapenem resistance and sensitive isolates from a major tertiary care centre in northern India. • The role of recombination in the evolution of CRAB isolates with enriched resistome linked with genomic islands. • Genomically diverse CSAB indicates ongoing strong selection towards XDR in hospital settings with heavy patient density. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the use of Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers for hybrid seed purity testing in tomato. It states that tomato is the second most important vegetable in terms of total production. It notes that 50% of farms in India under tomato cultivation is covered under hybrids. It mentions the benefits of RAPD markers to vegetable crops, including tomato in terms of cost-effectiveness. It cites non-reproducibility as one of the major drawbacks in using RAPD markers.

The data in genotype-phenotype correlation in Indian von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) patients is limited. We have retrospectively studied 31 genetically proven VHL patients with pheochromocytoma/paraganglioma (PCC/PGL) from families and have reviewed the World literature on PCC/PGL in patients with large VHL deletions. Three patients had large deletions and 28 patients had other mutations [missense mutations in 25, 3 bp deletion in 2 and single bp duplication in one]. Unilateral PCC were significantly more common in patients with large VHL deletions whereas multiple PCC (bilateral PCC or PCC + sympathetic PGL) were significantly more common in those with other mutations. World literature review confirmed the rarity of PCC/PGL in patients with large deletions and we report the first definitive case of PCC associated with complete VHL deletion. Pancreatic neuroendocrine tumours were more common, often metastatic and the most common cause of death in our cohort. Our study had eight parent off-spring pairs from five families. The off-springs were significantly younger at presentation and had significantly higher number of PCC/PGL. In conclusion, PCC/PGL are rare in patients with large VHL deletions and if occur are most likely to be solitary. Patients with bilateral PCC or multifocal PCC/PGL are least likely to have large VHL deletions. Our study also provides additional evidence for existence of the phenomenon of anticipation in VHL syndrome.