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ObjectivesThe objective of this study is to analyze the association between TLR2 deletion (−196 to −174) and TLR1 743 A > G gene polymorphism with drug resistant tuberculosis (PTB, MDR-TB, and XDR-TB) in a population from Agra, Uttar Pradesh.MethodsThe present case–control study included 101 pulmonary TB patients, 104 multidrug-resistant TB patients, 48 extremely drug-resistant TB patients, and 130 healthy and unrelated controls residing in the same locality. The genotyping method for TLR2 deletion (−196 to −174) was carried out by allele-specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and TLR1 743 A > G gene polymorphism was performed by hybridization probe chemistry in Roche Real-Time PCR. Genotype and allele frequencies were analyzed by the chi-square test. Cytokine levels were measured by ELISA and compared using Mann–Whitney and Kruskal–Wallis tests.ResultsThe frequency of heterozygous (Ins/del) genotypes for TLR2 (−196 to −174) polymorphism was predominant in XDR-TB patients (0.57), whereas heterozygous A/G genotype for TLR1 743 A > G single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) was predominant in healthy controls (0.57) for TLR1 743 A > G gene polymorphism. The heterozygous genotype of TLR2 deletion polymorphism was found to be significantly higher in XDR-TB (p = 0.0001). TLR1 743 A > G SNP, AG genotypes were found to be significantly associated with healthy controls than PTB (p = 0.047). The level of serum cytokines (IL-6, TNF-α, and IFN-γ) was also found to be significantly different among TB patients and healthy controls.ConclusionThe findings suggested that in the present population, the heterozygous (Ins/Del) genotype and deletion allele of TLR2 deletion (−196 to −174) polymorphism are associated with the risk for the development of drug-resistant TB. Furthermore, for TLR1 743 A > G gene polymorphism, A/G genotype, and G allele are found associated with healthy controls, suggesting the protective role against TB.

An experiment was conducted to study the effect of dietary boron supplementation on performance and mineral metabolism in broilers fed a diet with optimal or sub-optimal levels of calcium. A total of 216 one-day old broiler chicks (Vencob) of mixed sex (mean BW 43.79±0.83 g) were distributed in completely randomized design into six treatments each with three replicates of 12 birds (6 of each sex). The six dietary treatment groups comprised of B0C0 (basal diet with normal calcium (10 g Ca/kg)), B0C1 (Basal diet of 20% calcium deficiency (8 g Ca/kg)), B0C2 (Basal diet of 40% calcium deficiency (6 g Ca/kg)), B1C0 (Basal diet with normal calcium + 25 mg/kg boron), B1C1 (Basal diet of 20% calcium deficiency + 25 mg/kg boron) and B1C2 (Basal diet of 40% calcium deficiency + 25 mg/kg boron). The performance indices like body weight (BW), weekly body weight gain, feed intake (FI) and feed conversion ratio (FCR) were recorded till 42 d of age. A metabolism trial was conducted at the end to determine the balance of minerals. Lower than the recommended level of calcium alone or with supplemental boron significantly increased the BW, feed intake, and FCR in commercial broilers at six weeks of age. Low dietary calcium significantly increased the retention of calcium, phosphorous, magnesium, iron and manganese. Dietary boron supplementation significantly increased the excreta concentration of iron and manganese. However, the absolute and relative retention of manganese and iron were unaffected when boron was supplemented into a low calcium diet; indicating the negative effect of boron on manganese, and iron metabolism can be compensated by low dietary Ca concentration.

Mango on an average account approximately 75 per cent of total production quantity. India is the largest mango producer, accounting for about half of the world-wide mango production. Forecasting of area, production and price fluctuations are the key to provide support in decision making and proper planning for sustainable growth of farmers and other people who are dependent on horticulture. The prices of mango are affected by cultivated area and yield of mango but in other ways pre or post-harvest management also affects it. The problems regarding the price fluctuations arise due to seasonality in arrival and its perishable nature. Therefore, the present study was carried out with time series intervention modelling in forecasting area, productivity and prices of mangoes. In the current investigation, simple exponential smoothing (SES) implemented to develop the forecasting models for area and productivity of mango. Under the SES, the error measurements at different values of alpha (a) for forecasting of area and productivity were observed that the value 0.8 and 0.9 of alpha (a) showed minimum Mean Absolute Percentage Error (MAPE) error i.e. 3.11 per cent, and 12.73 per cent, respectively. The study also developed time series ARIMA models for forecasting the prices of the mango (Keshar and Alphonso) for Valsad markets of Gujarat. It was showed that ARIMA (6, 1, 2) and ARIMA (1, 1, 2) were found good models for forecasting the prices of the Keshar and Alphonso, respectively in Valsad district of Gujarat