Isolation and evolutionary analysis of Australasian topotype of bluetongue virus serotype 4 from India

Bluetongue (BT) is a Culicoides-borne disease caused by several serotypes of bluetongue virus (BTV). Similar to other insect-borne viral diseases, distribution of BT is limited to distribution of Culicoides species competent to transmit BTV. In the tropics, vector activity is almost year long, and hence, the disease is endemic, with the circulation of several serotypes of BTV, whereas in temperate areas, seasonal incursions of a limited number of serotypes of BTV from neighbouring tropical areas are observed. Although BTV is endemic in all the three major tropical regions (parts of Africa, America and Asia) of the world, the distribution of serotypes is not alike. Apart from serological diversity, geography-based diversity of BTV genome has been observed, and this is the basis for proposal of topotypes. However, evolution of these topotypes is not well understood. In this study, we report the isolation and characterization of several BTV-4 isolates from India. These isolates are distinct from BTV-4 isolates from other geographical regions. Analysis of available BTV seg-2 sequences indicated that the Australasian BTV-4 diverged from African viruses around 3,500 years ago, whereas the American viruses diverged relatively recently (1,684 CE). Unlike Australasia and America, BTV-4 strains of the Mediterranean area evolved through several independent incursions. We speculate that independent evolution of BTV in different geographical areas over long periods of time might have led to the diversity observed in the current virus population

Track D Social Science, Human Rights and Political Science

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/138414/1/jia218442.pd

Impact of projected climate on wheat yield in India and its adaptation strategies

Wheat is highly sensitive to climate change especially temperature changes experienced in the later phase of crop season. Hence, it is of immense importance to know how and to what extent climate change will affect wheat yields and to assess the adaptive strategies for mitigating possible negative consequences on wheat production. Wheat yield responses to three future climatic periods (2025, 2050 and 2075) were studied by driving DSSAT-Wheat (v4.5) model with daily weather from three CMIP-5 climate models’ (GFDL-ESM2M, MIROC5, and NorESM1-M) as the basic input at four sites (Ludhiana, Raipur, Akola and New Delhi) representing three major wheat growing zones of the country. Projected changes in growing season (November-March) day and night temperatures at four sites differed substantially both in direction and magnitude. Day temperatures are projected to rise conspicuously at Ludhiana, representing northwest parts of the country, and moderately over central parts of India (Akola and Raipur). Positive rainfall anomalies at Ludhiana (+76%) and negative anomalies at Raipur (-15%) are projected in future climates. With these anticipated changes, wheat is likely to experience warmer days (+1.1 °C) at Ludhiana and nights at Raipur (+2.8 °C) and more seasonal moisture availability at Ludhiana in future climates. Negative impacts of climatic change in these sites are found to be minimized by adapting one or a combination of management practices, which are site specific.

Patterns of proton therapy use in pediatric cancer management in 2016: An international survey

Purpose: To facilitate the initiation of observational studies on late effects of proton therapy in pediatric patients, we report on current patterns of proton therapy use worldwide in patients aged less than 22 years. Materials & methods: Fifty-four proton centers treating pediatric patients in 2016 in 11 countries were invited to respond to a survey about the number of patients treated during that year by age group, intent of treatment, delivery technique and tumor types. Results: Among the 40 participating centers (participation rate: 74%), a total of 1,860 patients were treated in 2016 (North America: 1205, Europe: 432, Asia: 223). The numbers of patients per center ranged from 1 to 206 (median: 29). Twenty-four percent of the patients were <5 years of age, and 50% <10 years. More than 30 pediatric tumor types were identified, mainly treated with curative intent: 48% were CNS, 25% extra-cranial sarcomas, 7% neuroblastoma, and 5% hematopoietic tumors. About half of the patients were treated with pencil beam scanning. Treatment patterns were broadly similar across the three continents. Conclusion: To our knowledge, this survey provides the first worldwide assessment of proton therapy use for pediatric cancer management. Since previous estimates in the United States and Europe, CNS tumors remain the cancer types most commonly treated with protons in 2016. However, the proportion of extra-cranial tumors is growing worldwide. The typically low numbers of patients treated in each center indicate the need for international research collaborations to assess long-term outcomes of proton therapy in pediatric patients