Tracing the genetic footprints: India's role as a gateway for pig migration and domestication across continents.

This study explored the maternal genetic diversity in the pig genetic resources of India by analyzing a mitochondrial D-loop fragment and comparing it with the corresponding sequences of previously published studies involving domestic pigs and wild boars. Sequencing of 103 samples representing different domestic pig populations revealed existence of 32 maternal haplotypes. The indices of haplotype and nucleotide diversity in Indian domestic pigs were 0.9421 and 0.015, respectively. Median-Joining network revealed that Indian pigs belong to Clade A and show conformity to 6 haplogroups reported worldwide (D1a, D1a1, D1a2, D1e, D1h and D3a). Among these, D1e and D1a2 were shared with Asian wild boars too. Interestingly, haplotype sharing was evident between Indian pigs and samples from other countries representing Africa, Asia, Europe and Oceania. This study substantiates India's contribution as a possible pig domestication center and highlights the importance of the Indian subcontinent in dispersal of the species to other continents. Additionally, genetic evidence suggested the influence of trading routes and historical interactions in shaping pig genetic exchange. Overall, this investigation provides valuable insights into the genetic diversity, historical migration, and domestication of Indian domestic pigs, contributing to the broader understanding of global pig genetic resources and their evolutionary history.

Association of CXCR1 gene polymorphism with clinical mastitis, reproductive disorders and performance traits in Hardhenu (Bos taurus × Bos indicus) cattle.

The present study investigated the presence of CXCR1 gene polymorphisms and their association with clinical mastitis, reproductive disorders and performance traits in Hardhenu cattle. Genotyping of the targeted SNP rs211042414 (C>T) at the g.106216468 loci of the CXCR1 gene was performed through PCR amplification and Bsa1 restriction enzyme digestion. The genotypic frequencies revealed three genotypes: CC, CT and TT, with the C allele being the most prevalent. Significant associations were found between the targeted SNP and clinical mastitis occurrence using chi-square and logistic regression analyses. The CC genotype showed higher susceptibility to clinical mastitis with a higher odds ratio of 3.47 compared to TT (1.00) and CT (2.90) genotypes (p < .05). Furthermore, least squares analysis revealed significant associations between genotypes and performance traits such as total milk yield, 305-day milk yield and peak yield (p < .05). The CC genotype exhibited higher milk yields than CT and TT genotypes, indicating a positive association between the C allele and increased milk production. These findings have practical implications for the genetic improvement of Hardhenu cattle. Incorporating the identified CXCR1 gene polymorphisms into existing selection criteria can help enhance disease resistance and milk production traits. However, further validation with a larger sample size is necessary to strengthen the observed associations and ensure their practical applicability.

Antimicrobial potential and in vitro cytotoxicity study of polyvinyl pyrollidone-stabilised silver nanoparticles synthesised from Lysinibacillus boronitolerans.

The main emphasis herein is on the eco-friendly synthesis and assessment of the antimicrobial potential of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) and a cytotoxicity study. Silver nanoparticles were synthesised by an extracellular method using bacterial supernatant. Biosynthesised silver nanoparticles were characterised by UV-vis spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering, and zeta potential analysis. The synthesised silver nanoparticles exhibited a characteristic peak at 420 nm. TEM analysis depicted the spherical shape and approximately 20 nm size of nanoparticles. Silver nanoparticles carry a charge of -33.75 mV, which confirms their stability. Biogenic polyvinyl pyrrolidone-coated AgNPs exhibited significant antimicrobial effects against all opportunistic pathogens (Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, and fungi). Silver nanoparticles equally affect the growth of both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, with a maximum inhibition zone observed at 22 mm and a minimum at 13 mm against Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Fusarium graminearum, respectively. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of AgNPs against P. aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus was recorded at between 15 and 20 µg/ml. Synthesised nanoparticles exhibited a significant synergistic effect in combination with conventional antibiotics. Cytotoxicity estimates using C2C12 skeletal muscle cell line via 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) test and lactate dehydrogenase assay were directly related to the concentration of AgNPs and length of exposure. On the basis of the MTT test, the IC50 of AgNPs for the C2C12 cell line was approximately 5.45 µg/ml concentration after 4 h exposure.

Validation of the Launay-Slade Hallucination Scale among Indian Healthy Adults.

Psychotic Like Experiences (PLEs) have been reported in several cultures. The 16 item Launay-Slade Hallucination Scale-Extended (LSHS-E) measures hallucination like experiences (HLEs) in the general population. This study investigated the psychometric properties and the factor structure of LSHS-E Hindi among healthy adults of Delhi. LSHS-E was translated from English to Hindi and then back to English. It was administered as a paper pencil questionnaire to 182 adults from the general population. Reliability of LSHS-E Hindi was measured using Cronbach's alpha and factor structure was established using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). It was tested against the Community Assessment of Psychic Experiences (CAPE-42) for convergent and divergent validity. Latent Class Analysis (LCA) was performed to identify subgroups with different endorsement of HLEs. Among 182, 18 participants reporting mental and neurological disorders were excluded. LSHS-E Hindi had good reliability (0.85; 95% CI: 0.82 to 0.88). CFA of Hindi LSHS-E revealed the a priori four-factor solution to be best, namely: 'intrusive thoughts', 'vivid daydreams', 'multisensory HLEs', 'auditory and visual HLEs'. LSHS-E Hindi showed stronger correlation with positive domain of CAPE than with negative and depression domains. LCA revealed three classes: low, intermediate and high endorsement of HLEs. Participants with highest endorsement of HLEs were less educated and had highest endorsement on all CAPE dimensions. LSHS-E Hindi has good psychometric properties and can be used to study HLEs in Indians. The four-factor structure model depicts the multidimensionality of HLEs, with 'intrusive thoughts' being the most commonly reported HLE in the sample. LCA supports the continuum hypothesis of HLEs.

Why parents consent to their children's participation in genetic research: A study of parental decision making.

Parents need to be asked to provide informed consent on behalf of their child for participation in genetic research. Decision making for such parents is difficult because ethical challenges in paediatric genetic research studies are different from similar adult studies. This paper focuses on interviews conducted with parents who were asked to consent to their children's participation (or not) in a genetic research study of intellectual disability and/or autism.

"ADR PvPI" Android mobile app: Report adverse drug reaction at any time anywhere in India.

BACKGROUND: To improve the public health and promote instant adverse drug reaction (ADR) reporting, a need to develop an ADR Pharmacovigilance Programme of India (PvPI) mobile app was identified by the National Coordination CentrePvPI (NCCPvPI) to serve the Pan India ADR reporting. The objective of this study was to develop an indigenous Googlebased Android mobile application known as "ADR PvPI" and to analyze the ADRrelated data reported through this mobile application on pilot basis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The ADR PvPI mobile application was indigenously developed by NCCPvPI officials within 6 months. The study of spontaneous ADR reporting was carried out between September 2017 and September 2018. This article provides an overview of the salient features of ADR PvPI mobile application, guides on how to fillin ADRs, reporting trends of ADR, types of ADR as per System Organ Class and pharmacological classes of drugs. RESULTS: Till date, >5500 users have downloaded the app with an average rating of 4.26. In that tenure, 262 reports have been received through ADR PvPI mobile app. During the year 2017, 3.55% of reports were received through ADR PvPI mobile app and the percentage of reports received by 2018 was 96.45%. CONCLUSION: The frequency of ADR reporting has significantly increased over the past 1 year and should be promoted further through awareness and training programs.

Antimicrobial activity of PVP coated silver nanoparticles synthesized by Lysinibacillus varians.

Emergence of resistant microbes to conventional antibiotics and increased emphasis on health-care costs has raised the concern for the development of new effective antimicrobial reagents. Silver nanoparticles being an excellent broad-spectrum antibacterial agent could be considered as a suitable alternative for existing antibiotic. This study demonstrates the extra-cellular synthesis of stable silver nanoparticles using supernatant of Lysinibacillus varians. The synthesized silver nanoparticles were characterized by using UV-visible spectrum analysis, X-ray diffraction, Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and FT-IR analysis. The synthesized silver nanoparticles showed a peak around 420 nm. TEM analysis revealed that the size of silver nanoparticles was in the range of 10-20 nm. Silver nanoparticles carry a charge of -39.86 mV, which confirmed the stability of silver nanoparticles. The biologically synthesized silver nanoparticles showed antimicrobial activity against Gram-positive, Gram-negative bacteria and fungi. Therefore, the current study reveals an efficient and eco-friendly synthesis of silver nanoparticles by L. varians with potent antimicrobial activity.

Isolation and characterization of chlorpyrifos degrading soil bacteria of environmental and agronomic significance.

Chlorpyrifos is being used globally as an agriculture based pesticide. Microbial degrada tion of chlorpyrifos pesticide is of particular interest because of high mammalian toxicity. Six bacterial cultures were isolated from chlorpyrifos contaminated soil by using enrich- ment technique. All the isolates showed good growth in basal salt medium containing chlorpyrifos and suggested their ability to utilize chlorpyrifos as sole carbon and energy source. All the six bacterial cultures were examined for various plant growth promoting properties, out of six only one bacteirial culture Pseudomonas aeruginosa DKC2 was found to be positive for various plant growth promoting activities (phosphate solubiliza- tion, protease activity, IAA production and antagonistic properties against plant patho- genic fungi). The resting cell study confirmed that the bacterial strain DKC2 degrade chlorpyrifos by 71 % within 2 days. Isolated bacterial culture can be used successfully for the removal of chlorpyrifos from contaminated soil along with plant growth promotion, but further research is required before commercial utilization of this isolate in removing chlorpyrifos from contaminated soil.

Production of indole acetic acid by Pseudomonas sp.: effect of coinoculation with Mesorhizobium sp. Cicer on nodulation and plant growth of chickpea (Cicer arietinum).

Pseudomonas isolates obtained from the rhizosphere of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) and green gram (Vigna radiata) were found to produce significant amount of indole acetic acid (IAA) when grown in a LB medium broth supplemented with L-tryptophan. Seed bacterization of chickpea cultivar C235 with different Pseudomonas isolates showed stunting effect on the development of root and shoot at 5 and 10 days of seedling growth except the strains MPS79 and MPS90 that showed stimulation of root growth, and strains MPS104 and MRS13 that showed shoot growth stimulation at 10 days. Exogenous treatment of seeds with IAA at 0.5 and 1.0 µM concentration caused similar stunting effects on root and shoot growth compared to untreated control both at 5 and 10 days of observation, whereas higher concentration of IAA (10.0 µM) inhibited the growth of seedlings. Coinoculation of chickpea with IAA-producing Pseudomonas strains increased nodule number and nodule biomass by Mesorhizobium sp. Cicer strain Ca181. The plant dry weights of coinoculated treatments showed 1.10 to 1.28 times increase in comparison to Mesorhizobium-inoculated plants alone and 3.62 to 4.50 times over uninoculated controls at 100 days of plant growth. The results indicated the potential usefulness of allelopathic rhizosphere bacteria and growth-mediating IAA in enhancement of nodulation and stimulation of plant growth in chickpea.