Reasons for Failure of Prevention of Mother-To-Child HIV Transmission in a Rural South African District Hospital

Further reduction of mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) of HIV requires improved understanding of the reasons for MTCT. We reviewed maternal and infant case notes for HIV positive infants diagnosed by polymerase chain reaction at Bethesda Hospital. Nineteen cases were analysed. Median gestation at first antenatal consultation (ANC) was 22.5 (interquartile range [IQR] 19.25–24). Eleven (57.9%) mothers were HIV positive at first ANC, whilst eight tested negative and later positive (2 antepartum, 6 postpartum). Median maternal CD4 was 408 cells/μL (IQR 318–531). Six (31.6%) received no antenatal antiretroviral therapy (ART) because they were diagnosed as HIV positive postpartum; 9 (47.3%) received antenatal ART and 3 (15.8%) were never initiated on ART. At 6 weeks postpartum, 5 infants (26.3%) were not on prophylactic nevirapine (NVP) because their mothers had not yet been diagnosed. Maternal seroconversion in pregnancy and breastfeeding, and possibly false-negative HIV tests, were important reasons for prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) failure

Grain yield and its components study and their association with normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) under terminal water deficit and well-irrigated conditions in wheat (Triticum durum Desf. and Triticum aestivum L.)

Six genotype of Triticum aestivum L. in 1991 and one genotype of Triticum durum Desf. and three of T. aestivum L. in 1992 were studied under different water regimes: full irrigation (R1), mild water stress (R3) and severe water stress (R2) at Magneraud (France). Traits evaluated were grain yield and its components, stress susceptibility index (SSI) and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI). The analysis of variance revealed significant differences between regimes and among the cultivars for all traits except between regimes for thousand grains weight in 1991. The regime × variety interaction was significant for grain yield, thousand grains weight and NDVI in 1992 and for grain yield in 1991. For all traits, durum wheat (T. durum Desf.) has higher reduction in the two water stress than the common wheat (T. aestivum L.). Correlations studies revealed that grain yield, grains number/m², thousand grains weight and NDVI were associated with each other except for correlations between thousand grains weight on one hand and grain yield (1992) and grains number/m² (1991) on the other hand. 51.55, 27.88, 4.12% (1991) and 75, 43 and 20.2% (1992) of grain yield, grains/m² and thousand grains weight variability, respectively were explained by means NDVI variability. The grain yield and grains number/m² could be predicted using a single regression with NDVI.Keywords: Grain yield, grain yield components, NDVI, durum wheat and bread wheat

Evaluation of fungicides for the management of pearl millet [ Pennisetum glaucum (L.)] blast caused by Magnaporthe grisea

Blast disease caused by Magnaporthe grisea has emerged as a serious threat to pearl millet cultivation in India. Most of the hybrids being grown in India are susceptible to blast as not much efforts have been made to breed for blast resistance in pearl millet. In the absence of host plant resistance, the disease can be effectively managed with chemical fungicides. Therefore, nine fungicides, chlorothalonil, tricyclazole, hexaconazole, kasugamycin, benomyl, carbendazim, tebuconazole + trifloxystrobin, propiconazole and metalaxyl + mancozeb were tested for their efficacy to manage blast disease on a blast susceptible pearl millet line ICMB 95444. Different combinations of seed treatment and foliar sprays were tested: seed treatment alone, seed treatment + one spray, seed treatment + two sprays, seed treatment + three sprays. None of the fungicides was found effective when used as seed treatment. Results of this study clearly demonstrated that the disease can be effectively managed with three sprays of tebuconazole + trifloxystrobin (Nativo) or propiconazole (Tilt)

Introduction of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination into national immunisation schedules in Europe: Results of the VENICE 2007 survey

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New Sources of Resistance to Multiple Pathotypes of Sclerospora graminicola in the Pearl Millet Mini Core Germplasm Collection

Downy mildew (DM), caused by Sclerospora graminicola (Sacc.) Schröt., is a highly destructive and widespread disease in most pearl millet [Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.] growing areas of Asia and Africa. Breeding for DM resistance continues to be an integral part of genetic improvement of pearl millet at ICRISAT, Patancheru, India. For the identification of new and diverse sources of DM resistance, a pearl millet mini core collection comprising 238 accessions was screened against eight pathotypes (Sg 384, Sg 409, Sg 445, Sg 457, Sg 510, Sg 519, Sg 526, and Sg 542) of S. graminicola collected from different geographical locations in India. Significant differences for DM reaction were observed among pathotypes, mini core accessions, and their interactions. Of the 238 accessions, 68 accessions were resistant (≤10% DM incidence) to pathotype Sg 510 followed by 40 accessions resistant to Sg 457. Resistance to pathotypes Sg 519, Sg 526, Sg 384, Sg 445, and Sg 542 was observed in 15, 27, 29, 30, and 34 mini core accessions, respectively. Resistance to two or more pathotypes was observed in 62 accessions. Several of these accessions also exhibited desirable agronomic traits. The multiple-pathotype-resistant germplasm accessions having desirable agronomic characteristics and collected from different agro-ecologies would be useful in breeding programs to develop pearl millet hybrids resistant to difficult-to-manage highly-virulent pathotypes of S. graminicola

Prevalence and pathogenic diversity in pearl millet downy mildew pathogen populations in Maharashtra, India

Pearl millet fields were surveyed in Maharashtra, India during the rainy seasons of 2009 and 2010 to monitor onfarm downy mildew (DM) incidence and assess the pathogenic diversity among native populations of Sclerospora graminicola. Of the 131 fields surveyed in seven districts in Maharashtra, DM was observed in 72 fields in the range of 1–90%. DM was quite severe in Ahmednagar, Jalgaon, Aurangabad and Jalna districts with mean disease incidence of 56, 40, 35 and 32, respectively. Severe DM was observed on Pioneer 86M32, B 2301, GK 419, Tulsi, 535, 452 and several hybrids of unknown identity; whereas hybrids MRB 204, Nirmal 40, Sathya, Super 515, Super Boss, Tulja, XL 51, Great 555, Nuzvid 2301, Paras 51 and Sandeep were free from DM. Twenty six S. graminicola isolates collected during 2009–10 from Maharashtra were evaluated for pathogenic diversity on seven pearl millet host differential lines along with three isolates of S. graminicola collected earlier from the same region. Mean disease incidence on host differentials varied from 5 to 80%. S. graminicola isolates Sg 542, Sg 543, Sg 544, Sg 545, Sg 547, Sg 549, Sg 550, Sg 552, Sg 553, Sg 554 and Sg 555 showed > 50% mean DM incidence across host differentials. Highly virulent isolate Sg 542 collected from Deogaon, Aurangabad has been selected for the greenhouse screening of pearl millet lines being developed for Maharashtr

Evaluation of designated hybrid seed parents of pearl millet for blast resistance

One hundred sixty designated B-lines (maintainers of male sterile lines) of pearl millet were screened for blast resistance under greenhouse conditions along with a resistant (ICMR 06444) and a susceptible (ICMB 95444) check against five pathotype-isolates (Pg 45, Pg 53, Pg 56, Pg 118 and Pg 119) of Magnaporthe grisea. Twenty three lines exhibited seedling stage resistance to 3-5 pathotypes. Of the 23 lines, nine (81B, ICMB 88004, ICMB 92444, ICMB 97222-P1, ICMB 02111, ICMB 06444, ICMB 07111, ICMB 09333 and ICMB 09999) were found resistant to all the five pathotypes. The identified blast resistant lines are agronomically superior breeding lines being hybrid parents designated at ICRISAT. Thus, these lines could be either used in the crossing programs to develop blast resistant hybrid parents or as one of the parents for the development of blast resistant hybrids to diversify the genetic base of blast resistance in future pearl millet hybrids

Genetic determinants of co-accessible chromatin regions in activated T cells across humans.

Over 90% of genetic variants associated with complex human traits map to non-coding regions, but little is understood about how they modulate gene regulation in health and disease. One possible mechanism is that genetic variants affect the activity of one or more cis-regulatory elements leading to gene expression variation in specific cell types. To identify such cases, we analyzed ATAC-seq and RNA-seq profiles from stimulated primary CD4+ T cells in up to 105 healthy donors. We found that regions of accessible chromatin (ATAC-peaks) are co-accessible at kilobase and megabase resolution, consistent with the three-dimensional chromatin organization measured by in situ Hi-C in T cells. Fifteen percent of genetic variants located within ATAC-peaks affected the accessibility of the corresponding peak (local-ATAC-QTLs). Local-ATAC-QTLs have the largest effects on co-accessible peaks, are associated with gene expression and are enriched for autoimmune disease variants. Our results provide insights into how natural genetic variants modulate cis-regulatory elements, in isolation or in concert, to influence gene expression