Assessment of the status of empowerment of fisherwomen in Coastal Karnataka

Assessment of the status of empowerment of fisherwomen in Coastal Karnatak

Frequent capsule switching in 'ultra-virulent' meningococci - Are we ready for a serogroup B ST-11 complex outbreak?

The meningococcal ST-11 complex (cc11) causes large invasive disease outbreaks with high case fatality rates, such as serogroup C (MenC) epidemics in industrialised nations in the 1990s and the serogroup W epidemic currently expanding globally. Glycoconjugate vaccines are available for serogroups A, C, W and Y. Broad coverage protein-based vaccines have recently been licensed against serogroup B meningococci (MenB), however, these do not afford universal MenB protection. Capsular switching from MenC to MenB among cc11 organisms is concerning because a large MenB cc11 (B:cc11) outbreak has the potential to cause significant morbidity and mortality. This study aimed to assess the potential for licensed and developmental non-capsular meningococcal vaccines to protect against B:cc11. The population structure and vaccine antigen distribution was determined for a panel of >800 geo-temporally diverse, predominantly MenC cc11 and B:cc11 genomes. The two licensed vaccines potentially protect against many but not all B:cc11 meningococci. Furthermore, strain coverage by these vaccines is often due to a single vaccine antigen and both vaccines are highly susceptible to vaccine escape owing to the apparent dispensability of key proteins used as vaccine antigens. cc11 strains with MenB and MenC capsules warrant special consideration when formulating future non-capsular meningococcal vaccines

Meningococcal carriage in periods of high and low invasive meningococcal disease incidence in the UK: comparison of UKMenCar1-4 cross-sectional survey results.

BACKGROUND: The incidence of invasive meningococcal disease in the UK decreased by approximately four times from 1999 to 2014, with reductions in serogroup C and serogroup B disease. Lower serogroup C invasive meningococcal disease incidence was attributable to implementation of the meningococcal serogroup C conjugate vaccine in 1999, through direct and indirect protection, but no vaccine was implemented against serogroup B disease. UK Meningococcal Carriage surveys 1-3 (UKMenCar1-3), conducted in 1999, 2000, and 2001, were essential for understanding the impact of vaccination. To investigate the decline in invasive meningococcal disease incidence, we did a large oropharyngeal carriage survey in 2014-15, immediately before the changes to meningococcal vaccines in the UK national immunisation schedule. METHODS: UKMenCar4 was a cross-sectional survey in adolescents aged 15-19 years who were enrolled from schools and colleges geographically local to one of 11 UK sampling centres between Sept 1, 2014, and March 30, 2015. Participants provided an oropharyngeal swab sample and completed a questionnaire on risk factors for carriage, including social behaviours. Samples were cultured for putative Neisseria spp, which were characterised with serogrouping and whole-genome sequencing. Data from this study were compared with the results from the UKMenCar1-3 surveys (1999-2001). FINDINGS: From the 19 641 participants (11 332 female, 8242 male, 67 not stated) in UKMenCar4 with culturable swabs and completed risk-factor questionnaires, 1420 meningococci were isolated, with a carriage prevalence of 7·23% (95% CI 6·88-7·60). Carriage prevalence was substantially lower in UKMenCar4 than in the previous surveys: carriage prevalence was 16·6% (95% CI 15·89-17·22; 2306/13 901) in UKMenCar1 (1999), 17·6% (17·05-18·22; 2873/16 295) in UKMenCar2 (2000), and 18·7% (18·12-19·27; 3283/17 569) in UKMenCar3 (2001). Carriage prevalence was lower for all serogroups in UKMenCar4 than in UKMenCar1-3, except for serogroup Y, which was unchanged. The prevalence of carriage-promoting social behaviours decreased from 1999 to 2014-15, with individuals reporting regular cigarette smoking decreasing from 2932 (21·5%) of 13 650 to 2202 (11·2%) of 19 641, kissing in the past week from 6127 (44·8%) of 13 679 to 7320 (37·3%) of 19 641, and attendance at pubs and nightclubs in the past week from 8436 (62·1%) of 13 594 to 7662 (39·0%) of 19 641 (all p<0·0001). INTERPRETATION: We show that meningococcal carriage prevalence in adolescents sampled nationally during a low incidence period (2014-15) was less than half of that in an equivalent population during a high incidence period (1999-2001). Disease and carriage caused by serogroup C was well controlled by ongoing vaccination. The prevalence of behaviours associated with carriage declined, suggesting that public health policies aimed at influencing behaviour might have further reduced disease. FUNDING: Wellcome Trust, UK Department of Health, and National Institute for Health Research

Bycatch in Indian trawl fisheries and some suggestions for trawl bycatch mitigation

Globally, trawl is the major fishing gear used in marine fisheries and in India, it contributes to more than onethird of the marine fish production. Trawl fishing has been critically evaluated from a sustainability perspective, especially analysing its bycatch composition. Most of the bycatch from trawlers contains valuable edible species with high market demand. However, a portion of the bycatch which does not have such demand in the edible fish market, known as low-value bycatch (LVB), continues to be a matter of concern from an ecological and economic perspective. During 2017–19, 30–60% of trawl landing in India was constituted by LVB, which was mainly used for fishmeal preparation. To enhance the value and utility of LVB, this study explores the possibility of converting waste from LVB into edible resources using pufferfish and triggerfish. It also highlights the positive impact of efforts by different Government agencies for bycatch mitigation like the implementation of minimum legal size in reducing the juvenile component in bycatch, with a social survey-based account of fisher’s perceptions and suggestions on successful bycatch mitigation

Mapping of potential sea-cage farming sites through spatial modelling: Preliminary operative suggestions to aid sustainable mariculture expansion in India

Sea cage farming in marine open waters is considered as the most viable technique in Indian mariculture to enhance production. Owing to the support of the government in research and development, and policy initiatives, marine cage farming is progressing steadily in the country. Technological guidance from research institutions and financing under the ambitious “Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY)” and blue growth mission objectives have inspired stakeholders and fisheries administrators in maritime states to explore open sea cage culture. Site selection is a key parameter affecting the success of cage culture systems and, technically analysed geo-referenced demarcation of spatial information is necessary for minimising the risks. Thus, in the light of rising demand for spatial allocation of coastal areas, the present study identifies and aggregates locations within 3 km of the coastline, that have the potential for sea cage farming operations in the country. The site suitability was examined based on optimal standards required for the prospective candidate species selected for mariculture in India. The locations were vectorised in a GIS platform, and the potential areas available for sea cage installations were demarcated. An optimised site suitability schema was developed for the spatial demarcation of potential site selection.The preliminary results identified 134 sites covering a total area of 46,823.2 ha suitable for marine cage culture along Indian territorial waters. Among the coastal states, the top three states holding the maximum area suitable for sea cage farming are Andhra Pradesh (11,792 ha), Gujarat (11,572.2 ha) and Tamil Nadu (7,673 ha). It is envisaged that spatial suitability demarcation even on this pilot scale will accelerate the expansion of sea cage farming in the country

Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density

Optical density (OD) is widely used to estimate the density of cells in liquid culture, but cannot be compared between instruments without a standardized calibration protocol and is challenging to relate to actual cell count. We address this with an interlaboratory study comparing three simple, low-cost, and highly accessible OD calibration protocols across 244 laboratories, applied to eight strains of constitutive GFP-expressing E. coli. Based on our results, we recommend calibrating OD to estimated cell count using serial dilution of silica microspheres, which produces highly precise calibration (95.5% of residuals &lt;1.2-fold), is easily assessed for quality control, also assesses instrument effective linear range, and can be combined with fluorescence calibration to obtain units of Molecules of Equivalent Fluorescein (MEFL) per cell, allowing direct comparison and data fusion with flow cytometry measurements: in our study, fluorescence per cell measurements showed only a 1.07-fold mean difference between plate reader and flow cytometry data

Gamma-ray flare of PKS 1222+216 in 2010: effect of jet dynamics at the recollimation zone

The γ-ray flare of PKS 1222+216, observed in 2010 June, is interpreted as an outcome of jet dynamics at recollimation zone. We obtained the γ-ray light curves in three different energy bands, namely 100–300 MeV, 300 MeV–1 GeV and 1–3 GeV from observations by the Fermi-LAT (Large Area Telescope). We also use the Swift-XRT (X-Ray Telescope) flux from 0.3–10 keV obtained from archival data. We supplement these with the 0.07–0.4 TeV observations with MAGIC (Major Atmospheric Gamma-ray Imaging Cherenkov) telescope, available in the literature. The detection of source at very high energy (E &#62; 100 GeV) with a differential photon spectral index of 2.7 ± 0.3 and the rapid variability associated with it suggests that the emission arises from a compact region located beyond the broad line emitting region. The plausible γ-ray emission mechanism can then be inverse Compton scattering of IR photons from obscuring torus. Further, the decay time of LAT flare cannot be explained by considering simple radiative loss mechanisms. Hence, to interpret the LAT light curves, we develop a model where the broad-band emission originates from a compact region, arising plausibly from the compression of jet matter at the recollimation zone. The flare is then expressed as an outcome of jet deceleration probably associated with this focusing effect. Based on this model, the rise of the LAT flare is attributed to the opening of emission cone followed by the decay resulting from jet deceleration. The parameters of the model are further constrained by reproducing the broad-band spectral energy distribution of the source obtained during the flare episode. Our study suggests that the particle energy density exceeds magnetic energy density by a large factor which in turn may cause rapid expansion of the emission region. However, near equipartition can be achieved towards the end of LAT flare during which the compact emission region would have expanded to the size of jet cross-section

Tunneling Magnetoresistance with Sign Inversion in Junctions Based on Iron Oxide Nanocrystal Superlattices

Magnetic tunnel junctions sandwiching a superlattice thin film of iron oxide nanocrystals (NCs) have been investigated. The transport was found to be controlled by Coulomb blockade and single-electron tunneling, already at room temperature. A good correlation was identified to hold between the tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR), the expected magnetic properties of the NC arrays, the charging energies evaluated from current−voltage curves, and the temperature dependence of the junction resistance. Notably, for the first time, a switching from negative to positive TMR was observed across the Verwey transition, with a strong enhancement of TMR at low temperatures