Bats are known to be reservoirs of several medically important viruses including lyssaviruses. However, no systematic surveillance for bat rabies has been carried out in India, a canine rabies endemic country with a high burden of human rabies. Surveillance for rabies virus (RABV) infection in bats was therefore carried out in Nagaland, a north-eastern state in India at sites with intense human–bat interfaces during traditional bat harvests. Brain tissues and sera from bats were tested for evidence of infection due to RABV. Brain tissues were subjected to the fluorescent antibody test for detection of viral antigen and real-time reverse transcriptase PCR for presence of viral RNA. Bat sera were tested for the presence of rabies neutralizing antibodies by the rapid fluorescent focus inhibition test. None of the bat brains tested (n = 164) were positive for viral antigen or viral RNA. However, rabies neutralizing antibodies were detected in 4/78 (5·1%) bat sera tested, suggesting prior exposure to RABV or related lyssaviruses. The serological evidence of lyssaviral infection in Indian bats may have important implications in disease transmission and rabies control measures, and warrant extensive bat surveillance to better define the prevalence of lyssaviral infection in bats.

Medulloblastoma (MB) is the most common malignant pediatric brain tumour, and is categorized into four molecular subgroups, with Group 3 MB having the worst prognosis due to the highest rate of metastatic dissemination and relapse. In this work, we describe the epigenetic regulator Bmi1 as a novel therapeutic target for treatment of recurrent Group 3 MB. Through comparative profiling of primary and recurrent MB, we show that Bmi1 defines a treatment-refractory cell population that is uniquely targetable by a novel class of small molecule inhibitors. We have optimized an in vivo mouse-adapted therapy model that has the advantage of generating recurrent, human, treatment-refractory MBs. Our preliminary studies showed that although chemoradiotherapy administered to mice engrafted with human MB showed reduction in tumour size, Bmi1 expression was enriched in the post-treatment residual tumour. Furthermore, we found that knockdown of Bmi1 in human recurrent MB cells decreases proliferation and self-renewing capacities of MB cells in vitro as well as both tumour size and extent of spinal leptomeningeal metastases in vivo. Oral administration of a potent Bmi1 inhibitor, PTC 028, resulted in a marked reduction in tumour burden and an increased survival in treatment cohort. Bmi1 inhibitors showed high specificity for MB cells and spared normal human neural stem cells, when treated with doses relevant for MB cells. As Group 3 medulloblastoma is often metastatic and uniformly fatal at recurrence, with no current or planned trials of targeted therapy, an efficacious agent such as Bmi1 inhibitor could be rapidly transitioned to clinical trials.

As indicated by the sporadic Japanese encephalitis (JE) cases reported from the districts of Uttar Pradesh (UP), India, the disease is endemic in the state despite the fact that a JE vaccination programme has been ongoing in the state since 2006. Hence, the present study was undertaken to study the annual trend of JE in UP during January 2011 to December 2013. CSF and/or serum samples collected from acute encephalitis syndrome (AES) cases were referred to the virology laboratory at King George's Medical University, Lucknow and were tested for anti-JEV IgM antibodies by JEV MAC-ELISA kit. The study reveals that 26·9%, 9·9% and 14·8% of AES cases were positive for anti-JEV IgM in the years 2011, 2012 and 2013, respectively. Of the total JE confirmed cases, 30% were adults. Males were more commonly affected than females. A distinct peak of JE was seen in the monsoon and post-monsoon season, although sporadic cases were also reported in other months. JE vaccination by district in UP is discussed. This study reports that the proportion of JE positives in AES cases is decreasing in UP although the number of AES cases has not decreased. The study also discusses the probable causes of this decrease, including JE vaccination and natural periodicity due to herd immunity.

One hundred and thirty six lactating women were studied, 42 controls and 94 taking oral contraceptives. Combination pills of oestrogen and progestogen (Primovlar and Minovlar) and a low dose progestogen pill (Norgestrel) were used. The selection of a particular formulation was based on the endocrine profile of an individual; this reduced drop-outs due to side effects.

The change in the quantity of milk was assessed by test-feeding followed by manual expression. Milk was also analysed quantitatively. Significant reduction in the milk yield was found with the Primovlar and Minovlar groups but no change was observed with Norgestrel. No change in the quality of milk was found for any of the three groups.

The present cross-sectional study was conducted to determine the vitamin D status of pregnant Indian women and their breast-fed infants. Subjects were recruited from the Department of Obstetrics, Armed Forces Clinic and Army Hospital (Research and Referral), Delhi. A total of 541 apparently healthy women with uncomplicated, single, intra-uterine gestation reporting in any trimester were consecutively recruited. Of these 541 women, 299 (first trimester, ninety-seven; second trimester, 125; third trimester, seventy-seven) were recruited in summer (April–October) and 242 (first trimester, fifty-nine, second trimester, ninety-three; third trimester, ninety) were recruited in winter (November–March) to study seasonal variations in vitamin D status. Clinical, dietary, biochemical and hormonal evaluations for the Ca–vitamin D–parathormone axis were performed. A subset of 342 mother–infant pairs was re-evaluated 6 weeks postpartum. Mean serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) of pregnant women was 23·2 (sd 12·2) nmol/l. Hypovitaminosis D (25(OH)D < 50 nmol/l) was observed in 96·3 % of the subjects. Serum 25(OH)D levels were significantly lower in winter in the second and third trimesters, while serum intact parathormone (iPTH) and alkaline phosphatase levels were significantly higher in winter in all three trimesters. A significant negative correlation was found between serum 25(OH)D and iPTH in mothers (r − 0·367, P = 0·0001) and infants (r − 0·56, P = 0·0001). A strong positive correlation was observed between 25(OH)D levels of mother–infant pairs (r 0·779, P = 0·0001). A high prevalence of hypovitaminosis D was observed in pregnancy, lactation and infancy with no significant inter-trimester differences in serum 25(OH)D levels.

Counter current Immunoelectrophoresis was used to detect porcine cysticcrcosis and water soluble extracts of scolex and of scolex with cyst wall were used as antigens. Serum samples from 40 pigs infected with Cysticercus cellulosae, five infected with C. tenuicollis and five with hydatid cysts, and 15 healthy pigs were tested. A sharp and thick concave precipitin band was observed at the point of interaction of antigen and antibody within 90min in 39 sera from infected pigs (97–5%). The precipitin reaction was better in barbitone buffer of pH 8–6 with the well distance at 6 mm. No false or cross reaction were found and the test was rapid and sensitive.

More than 200 wild type isolates of chickpea (C. arietinum) rhizobia were screened for their drug resistance. Only 15 were found to be resistant to one or more antibiotics at a concentration of 5 μg/ml (units/ml). When tested for multiple drug resistance, some were found to be resistant to more than one antibiotic. In competition studies, rhizobia resistant to streptomycin were found to be more competitive than antibioticsensitive strains, while those resistant to penicillin could not compete even with antibiotic-sensitive strains.

An experiment was carried out to study the effect of early weaning on body weight and growth rate of Awassi lambs raised at Abu-Ghurib Experiment Station, Baghdad, Iraq. Sex, type of birth and weaning age significantly influenced the body weight and growth rate of lambs at all the ages studied. Dam's age and weight at lambing, however, did not affect the growth rate of the lambs. The average body weights of lambs at 4 and 6 months of age were 23·8±0·28 and 32·3 ± 0·36 kg. The average daily gain in weight up to 120 and 180 days of age was 162·3 ±2·57 and 153·7 ±1·94 g/day respectively. Males were heavier than females and singles were heavier than twins at all the ages. Lambs weaned at 60 days of age were heavier and had a faster growth rate than those weaned at 90 or 120 days of age. Males born to 2-year-old dams grew fastest while the females born to them had the lowest body weights and growth rate.

Remotely sensed estimates of biochemical parameters of agricultural crops are central to the precision management of agricultural crops (precision farming). Past research using in situ and airborne spectral reflectance measurements of various vegetation species has proved the usefulness of hyperspectral data for the estimation of various biochemical parameters of vegetation. In order to exploit the vast spectral and radiometric resources offered by space-borne hyperspectral remote sensing for the improved estimation of plant biochemical parameters, the relationships observed between spectral reflectance and various biochemical parameters at in situ and airborne levels needed to be evaluated in order to establish the existence of a reliable and stable relationship between spectral reflectance and plant biochemical parameters at the pixel scale. The potential of the EO-1 Hyperion hyperspectral sensor was investigated for the estimation of total chlorophyll and nitrogen concentrations of cotton crops in India by developing regression models between hyperspectral reflectance and laboratory measurements of leaf total chlorophyll and nitrogen concentrations. A comprehensive and rigorous analysis was carried out to identify the spectral bands and spectral indices for accurate retrieval of leaf total chlorophyll and nitrogen concentrations of cotton crop. The performance of these critical spectral reflectance indices was validated using independent samples. A new vegetation index, named the plant biochemical index (PBI), is proposed for improved estimation of the plant biochemicals from space-borne hyperspectral data; it is simply the ratio of reflectance at 810 and 560 nm. Further, the applicability of PBI to a different crop and at a different geographical location was also assessed. The present results suggest the use of space-borne hyperspectral data for accurate retrieval of leaf total chlorophyll and nitrogen concentrations and the proposed PBI has the potential to retrieve leaf total chlorophyll and nitrogen concentrations of various crops and at different geographical locations.

We present the first results from our next-generation microlensing survey, the SuperMACHO project. We are using the CTIO 4m Blanco telescope and the MOSAIC imager to carry out a search for microlensing toward the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). We plan to ascertain the nature of the population responsible for the excess microlensing rate seen by the MACHO project. Our observing strategy is optimized to measure the differential microlensing rate across the face of the LMC. We find this derivative to be relatively insensitive to the details of the LMC's internal structure but a strong discriminant between Galactic halo and LMC self lensing. In December 2003 we completed our third year of survey operations. 2003 also marked the first year of real-time microlensing alerts and photometric and spectroscopic followup. We have extracted several dozen microlensing candidates, and we present some preliminary light curves and related information. Similar to the MACHO project, we find SNe behind the LMC to be a significant contaminant - this background has not been completely removed from our current single-color candidate sample. Our follow-up strategy is optimized to discriminate between SNe and true microlensing.To search for other articles by the author(s) go to: http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abstract_service.html

Serum leucine aminopeptidase (LAP) activity was assayed in patients with head and neck cancer. The levels were found to be significantly higher than the controls. However, the rise in serum LAP was nearly the same in all the patients studied, irrespective of the character or histopathology of the lesion but varied with respect to the site involved, i.e. from about 40 per cent in cancer of the hypopharynx to more than 100 per cent in cancer of the nasopharynx. Serum LAP activity was found to increase with the extent of the lymph node spread. After treatment the levels were found to be reduced.

Plasma-assisted chemical vapor deposition (PACVD) is used extensively to coat planar (2-dimensional) substrates. In principle, the technique can be used to deposit coatings on 3-dinensional objects. However, extending PACVD to coat 3-dimensional objects uniformly requires careful control of the plasma, substrate temperature, and reactant concentrations over a large volume. A novel low-temperature radio frequency PACVD reactor design was developed to deposit coatings uniformly and reproducibly on 3-dimensional metallic substrates. The design features a temperature-controlled reaction chamber fitted with one or more rf-driven electrodes to generate uniform, large-volume plasma. The reactor was used to develop a series of silicon carbide coatings, which were deposited at or below 500°C. The coatings contain SiC and varying amounts of free silicon and/or amorphous carbon (diamond-like carbon), depending on reagent gas composition and reactor operating parameters. The coatings significantly reduced wear on stainless steel samples in ball-on-disk and abrasive wear tests and provided oxidation protection to molybdenum and titanium alloy.