Randomized Clinical Trial of High-Dose Rifampicin With or Without Levofloxacin Versus Standard of Care for Pediatric Tuberculous Meningitis: The TBM-KIDS Trial

Background. Pediatric tuberculous meningitis (TBM) commonly causes death or disability. In adults, high-dose rifampicin may reduce mortality. The role of fluoroquinolones remains unclear. There have been no antimicrobial treatment trials for pediatric TBM. Methods. TBM-KIDS was a phase 2 open-label randomized trial among children with TBM in India and Malawi. Participants received isoniazid and pyrazinamide plus: (i) high-dose rifampicin (30 mg/kg) and ethambutol (R30HZE, arm 1); (ii) high-dose rifampicin and levofloxacin (R30HZL, arm 2); or (iii) standard-dose rifampicin and ethambutol (R15HZE, arm 3) for 8 weeks, followed by 10 months of standard treatment. Functional and neurocognitive outcomes were measured longitudinally using Modified Rankin Scale (MRS) and Mullen Scales of Early Learning (MSEL). Results. Of 2487 children prescreened, 79 were screened and 37 enrolled. Median age was 72 months; 49%, 43%, and 8% had stage I, II, and III disease, respectively. Grade 3 or higher adverse events occurred in 58%, 55%, and 36% of children in arms 1, 2, and 3, with 1 death (arm 1) and 6 early treatment discontinuations (4 in arm 1, 1 each in arms 2 and 3). By week 8, all children recovered to MRS score of 0 or 1. Average MSEL scores were significantly better in arm 1 than arm 3 in fine motor, receptive language, and expressive language domains (P < .01). Conclusions. In a pediatric TBM trial, functional outcomes were excellent overall. The trend toward higher frequency of adverse events but better neurocognitive outcomes in children receiving high-dose rifampicin requires confirmation in a larger trial. Clinical Trials Registration. NCT02958709

Mechanism of Resistance in Sesame genotypes to Antigastra catalaunalis Dup

Twenty one species of sesame genotypes were evaluated to determine the mechanism of resistance to Antigastra catalaunalis, only four genotypes viz, ES 22, UMA, SI 250 and KMR 14 were less preferred for oviposition. The lowest number of eggs was laid on UMA (12.33 ± 2.33). The egg laying of A. catalaunalis was positively correlated (r = 0.749) with the trichome density in the leaf. The growth index of A. catalaunalis was low in the resistant genotypes ES 22, SI 250 and UMA and high in susceptible genotypes TMV 3, TMV 4, TMV 5, TMV 6 and TC 25 indicated antibiosis mechanism. The total phenols in the leaves, flowers and pods were negatively correlated with damage of A. catalaunalis

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Not AvailableSugarcane bacilliform virus (SCBV) causing leaf fleck was reported three decades ago in sugarcane and for many years its symptoms have not been clearly described. Initially, the symptoms of fleck, mottling and mild mosaic were suspected to be caused by virus infections in Saccharum spp clones and no clear information was available on virus infections and disease symptoms in hybrid varieties. As reported earlier, PCR assays targeting a 221bp amplicon is not reliable for virus diagnosis from the SCBV-suspected clones of sugarcane. Hence a comprehensive study was made on leaf fleck symptomatology in Saccharum spp clones in germplasm and Saccharum spp hybrid varieties under cultivation and new PCR assays for precise diagnosis of the virus were developed. Surveys to determine the incidence, diversity and distribution of SCBV were conducted in different geographical locations at Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. It was observed that the leaf fleck symptoms varied among the Saccharum spp clones and hybrid varieties. When compared to Saccharum spp clones, hybrid varieties exhibited a severe expression of the disease. Symptoms initiated as sparse or intense flecks in the lamina progressed to chlorotic stripes or distinct chlorotic streaks, intense yellow streaks/ blotches, reddening of the streaks and pre-mature drying of leaves. The average disease incidence was observed between 12 and 42 % in Kerala and higher in other states. The newly designed virus specific primers were found to be highly specific and detected the virus in symptomatic and asymptomatic plants. The studies revealed extensive spread of the virus across Saccharum spp genotypes and hybrid varieties.Not Availabl

Population Dynamics of Lemon Butterfly (Papilio demoleus) in Bael [Aegle marmelos] as Influenced by Abiotic Factors in Arid

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Not AvailablePests of Ber and their managementNot Availabl

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Not AvailableIt was observed that population and infestation of P. demoleus appeared from August to February. The highest egg, larval population and plant infestation were observed 12.75, 6.15/ 10 branches and 65.0 %, respectively. The relationship between lemon butterfly egg, larval population and maximum temperature was (-0.53 & -0.55) negatively correlated whereas the maximum relative humidity was (0.44 & 0.53) positively correlated. Then, the egg and larval population gradually increased and reached to its peak, when the temperature decreased and humidity increased. The rainfall was also negatively correlated (-0.51) with egg population of lemon butter fly in arid region.Not Availabl

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Not AvailableYellow leaf (YL) caused by Sugarcane yellow leaf virus (SCYLV) has become a serious constraint for sugarcane growth in different countries. Worldwide seven genotypes have been reported, with five based on complete and two based on partial genome characterization. We have previously reported the occurrence of three different SCYLV genotypes in India based on their partial genome sequences. A further four SCYLV isolates from sugarcane from Coimbatore in India were characterized after complete genome sequencing (~ 5875 nt). These isolates (SCYLV-IND) exhibited amino acid (aa) sequence differences of 29.2-31.8, 28.1-34.4 and 30.7-33.4% with REU, HAW-PER and BRA in partial ORF0 sequences, respectively. Similarly IND isolates have 21.4-23.7, 22.5-25.0 and 21.4-23.9% aa sequence differences with REU, HAW-PER and BRA, respectively in partial ORF1. However, the difference was found to be least in ORF5. The genotype reported from China, CHN1 shared a very close relationship with IND isolates with minimum differences of 4.3-5.3%, 4.8-5.8% and 2.5-3.0% in ORF0, 1 and 5 in aa sequences, respectively and 4.4-5.3% in complete nucleotide sequences. Phylogenetic analyses showed a separate lineage for IND isolates. Evidence of recombination was found in ORF1 to ORF5 with the maximum number of sites occurring in ORF2. The high incidence of SCYLV recombination suggests that recombination plays an important role in SCYLV evolution.Not Availabl

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Not AvailableDetailed studies were carried out to characterize full genome of the virus and to establish genomic variation existing in Indian SCYLV population using six different sets of forward and reverse primers. We have characterized four SCYLV isolates infecting sugarcane cvs Co 86032, CoC 85061, CoV 92102 and B 38192 from India after complete genome sequencing. ORF 0 were compared between nt 200-770 (571 nt), ORF 1 between nt 200-1776 (1557 nt) and ORF 5 between nt 3579-4189 (610 nt) and their deduced amino acid sequences were also aligned. The new full length SCYLV nucleotide sequences (~ 5875 nt) were aligned along with those of five other available genotypes and all the sequences were trimmed to on equal length of 5616 nt on the basis of multiple sequence alignment to reduce errors with unequal length of sequences in identity matrix. Sequence analysis revealed that these isolates (SCYLV-IND) exhibited amino acid (aa) sequence differences of 29.2-31.8, 28.1-34.4 and 30.7-33.4% with REU, HAW-PER and BRA in partial ORF0 sequences, respectively. Similarly IND isolates have 21.4-23.7, 22.5-25.0 and 21.4-23.9% aa sequence differences with REU, HAW-PER and BRA, respectively in partial ORF 1. However, the difference was found to be least in ORF5 and it varied 3.0-6.0% and 3.0-6.9% with REU and HAW-PER/BRA sequences. A phylogram with other genotypes based on complete genomes showed that IND isolates shared 86.3- 86.6% with REU, 86.1-86.7% with BRA and 84.9-86.2% with the recently combined genotype of HAW-PER. The genotype reported from China, CHN1 shared a very close relationship with IND isolates with minimum differences of 4.3-5.3%, 4.8-5.8% and 2.5-3.0% in ORF0, 1 and 5 in aa sequences, respectively and 4.4-5.3% in complete nucleotide sequences.Not Availabl

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Not AvailableA sensitive assay based on the polymerase chain reaction detected mixed infection of four viruses, viz. Sugarcane mosaic virus (SCMV), Sugarcane streak mosaic virus (SCSMV), Sugarcane yellow leaf virus (SCYLV) and Sugarcane bacilliform virus (SCBV) on sugarcane crops of India. Thirteen sugarcane varieties exhibiting mosaic, chlorotic streaks, mid-rib yellowing and without symptoms (from the vicinity of symptomatic fields) that originated from Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Bihar and Haryana states of India were evaluated for virus association through PCR and RT-PCR assays with specific designed primers for SCMV (SCMV-F3 and SCMVR3), SCSMV (SCSMV-ST2 and SCSMV-P1), SCYLV (SCYLV-615F and SCYLV-615R) and SCBV (SCBV-F and SCBV-R).The expected 0.9 kb SCMV fragment was amplified by RT-PCR with the SCMV-F3 and SCMV-R3 primers from sugarcane varieties of Kerala and Uttar Pradesh. The expected 0.5 kb SCSMV fragment was amplified by RT-PCR with the SCSMV-ST2 and SCSMV-P1 from sugarcane varieties of Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. However, a 610 bp SCYLV fragment (by RT-PCR with the SCYLV-615F and SCYLV-615R primers) and 580 bp SCBV fragment (by SCBV-F and SCBV-R) was respectively amplified from all the 13 symptomatic and non-symptomatic sugarcane varieties in the study. Interestingly, mixed infection of all the four viruses SCMV, SCSMV, SCBV and SCYLV was detected in two sugarcane varieties of Uttar Pradesh and Kerala and mixed infection of three viruses (SCSMV+SCYLV+SCBV) was detected in the four states (Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu). However, mixed infection of SCYLV and SCBV was reported in all the seven surveyed states.Not Availabl