Competition Clauses in Bilateral Trade Treaties - Analysing the Issues in the Context of India’s Future Negotiating Strategy

There is a recent trend towards trade agreements that include trade related competition provisions. However there are large differences across these trade agreements in terms of how the competition provisions are addressed. In this context, this research report tries to analyze the competition provisions in few selected FTAs and draw lessons for India, which is also following the path of entering into trade agreements. The analysis suggests that cooperation in implementing competition laws is immensely helpful. However, at this moment, India can follow the EU style of agreements with competition provisions such as cooperation, exchange of non-confidential information, technical assistance and consultation.trade, India, Competition Clauses

\u3cem\u3eIn Vitro\u3c/em\u3e Plant Regeneration \u3cem\u3evia\u3c/em\u3e Callus Induction in a Rare Sexual Plant of Buffelgrass (\u3cem\u3eCenchrus ciliaris\u3c/em\u3e L.)

Buffelgrass (Cenchrus ciliaris L.) is one of the most important perennial forage grasses of the world. It is a polyploid forage grass suited to pastures, range-lands, tropics and sub-tropics of Australia, South Africa, and India. It reproduces predominantly through apomixis which provides a means of clonal propagation through seeds. In many of the plants apomixis shows dominance over sexuality, hence occurrence of obligate sexual plant in natural population is rare and over the time apomictic individuals outnumber sexuals. Being protogynous in nature, cross pollination from neighbouring apomictic plants leads to the production of either facultative or obligate apomictic genotypes. Apomictic mode of reproduction in buffelgrass makes its genetic improvement through conventional breeding difficult, time consuming and restricted to selection of elite lines from natural variants. Lack of sexual reproduction in C. ciliaris has severely limited the possibilities of genetic improvement of this species by hybridization (Yadav et al., 2012). Sexual plant in C. ciliaris has occasionally been identified. A sexual plant of buffelgrass was identified earlier in the germplasm collection of C. ciliaris (Kumar et al., 2010) which is perennial in nature and shows characteristic features different from normal apomictic buffelgrass. Under natural conditions the plant shows very poor growth and survival, but under intensive care, the plant survives well and flowers 3-4 times in a year. The plant is very useful for genetic improvement of this species through hybridization and identification of gene(s) for apomixis. Since the sexual plant is self-incompatible and reproduces sexually, it can be maintained by vegetative propagation or multiplied by tissue culture. Mature seeds have been one of the preferred explants for tissue culture because of its ready availability through-out the year (Kumar and Bhat, 2012), the sexual plant does not produce seeds on self-pollination. Hence, we used different parts of the plant to standardize tissue culture protocol. Here we report, high frequency plant regeneration via callus induction from immature inflorescence of the sexual plant which would be very useful in maintenance, multiplication and genetic manipulation of the plant with a gene of interest

EVALUATION OF DIAGNOSTIC PERFORMANCE OF USG GUIDED FNAC OF THYROID SWELLINGS: A PROSPECTIVE STUDY

  Background: USG-guided FNAC is a good preoperative screening technique when compared to FNAC and USG done separately for the diagnosis of a thyroid lesion. However, there is little evidence in the literature that emphasizes the importance of USG-guided FNAC as the first step in the investigation of thyroid lesions. Aim: Our study aims to see the sensitivity and specificity, adequacy, and diagnostic accuracy of USG-guided FNAC taking histopathology as a gold standard. Methods: This Hospital-based prospective observational study was carried out on patients who attended the OPD and/or IPD and underwent surgery in the Department of Otorhinolaryngology. Results: The sensitivity, specificity, and diagnostic accuracy of ultrasound-guided FNAC for thyroid lesions were 58.82%, 98.18%, and 88.89% respectively taking Bethesda categories 1 to 3 as benign and categories 4 to 6 as malignant. The positive likelihood ratio and negative likelihood ratio are 32.32 and 0.42 respectively. Positive predictive value and negative predictive value were 90.91% and 88.52%. The diagnostic accuracy of USG-guided FNAC for thyroid lesions in the present study is 88.89% and adequacy is 93.05%. Conclusion: Further study of a larger number of cases is desirable. US-FNAC is an expensive procedure as compared to palpable FNAC. Recommendation: We recommend the application of USG guide FNAC as the first step in the investigation of thyroid lesions along with a detailed interdepartmental correlation to make the diagnosis before surgery

Fungal carriage on healthcare workers’ hands, clothing, stethoscopes and electronic devices during routine patient care: a study from a tertiary care center

Background – Invasive fungal infections are a constant threat to immunocompromised and critically ill patients. Healthcare workers caring for such patients act as conduits of transmission through their contaminated hands and belongings. Although bacterial contamination of healthcare workers is known, our knowledge about fungal carriage is sparse. Aim– To study the prevalence and type of fungal carriage on healthcare workers hands, aprons/hospital scrubs, electronic devices and stethoscopes. Methods– Healthcare workers working in Medicine ward and ICU during November and December 2019 were sampled. Hand washes were collected in Brain Heart Infusion (BHI) broth with gentamycin. Direct impression smears on blood agar were taken from aprons/hospital scrubs. Electronic devices and stethoscopes were sampled using moist cotton swabs. Subculture and plating was done on Sabarouds Dextrose Agar (SDA). Yeasts were identified using Matrix Assisted Laser Desorption Ionisation Time of Flight (MALDI TOF) and moulds were identified using microscopy. Findings – Out of 60 health care workers, 20 (33.3%) had fungal carriage. Aprons/hospital scrubs and hands were contaminated in 17 (28.3%) and 3 (5%) respectively. Aprons/hospital scrubs mainly constituted moulds belonging to species of Aspergillus. Hands were contaminated with Candida tropicalis, Candida parapsilosis and Candida auris. Electronic devices and stethoscopes had no fungal contamination. Sex (p=0.77), designation (p=0.32) and unit of surveillance (p=0.06) were not significantly associated with fungal isolation from health care workers. Conclusion – Active fungal surveillance provides prevalent carriage rates and serve as a feedback to improve our disinfection and hand hygiene practices. It also aids in identification of potential source of hospital outbreaks

Phytochemical Investigation and Evaluation of Antibacterial Activity of Zizyphus Xylopyrus (Retz) Willd Leaf Extract

An experiment was carried out to evaluate the antibacterial activity of the Zizyphus xylopyrus ethanolic fractions, which was related to the phytoconstituents present. The plant's root powder was extracted using an ethanol extraction procedure that involved several consecutive steps. Following this, the extracted product displayed a distinct scent feature. Tannic acid, phenol, and flavonoids were found, indicating the existence of the required phytochemicals. The flavonoids were isolated using spectroscopic characterisation using the ethanolic extract. After then, this extract was used for additional pharmacological testing because in the study, only ethanolic extracts and saponins were used. Based on each sample's results from a variety of qualitative tests, this analysis was carried out. The discovery of new illnesses, especially those brought on by Enterococcus and Staphylococcus species, has sparked increased interest in the study of therapeutic plants in recent decades. These microorganisms have become resistant to widely used antibiotics and are the cause of a considerable proportion of hospital-acquired illnesses. For example, S. aureus, which was once sensitive to a number of antibiotics, is now showing signs of resistance to several medication

Assessment of the dual role of Lyonia ovalifolia (Wall.) Drude in inhibiting AGEs and enhancing GLUT4 translocation through LC-ESI-QTOF-MS/MS determination and in silico studies

Introduction: Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a metabolic disorder that results in glucose accumulation in the blood, accompanied by the production of advanced glycation end products (AGEs) through glycation of cellular proteins. These AGEs interfere with insulin signaling and prevent GLUT4 membrane translocation, thereby promoting the accumulation of more glucose in the blood and causing post-diabetic complications.Methods: In this study, we examine the anti-diabetic potential of Lyonia ovalifolia (Wall.) Drude, a well-known ethnomedicinal plant of the Indian Himalayas. Considering its various medicinal properties, we analyzed its ethanolic extract and various solvent fractions for in vitro antiglycation activity and antidiabetic potential, i.e., stimulation of GLUT4 translocation.Result and Discussions: The results showed that the extract and fractions exhibited increased antiglycation activity and an increased level of GLUT4 translocation. Analysis of a further 12 bioactive compounds of ethanolic extract, identified through LC-ESI-QTOF-MS/MS, revealed the presence of three new compounds: leucothol B, rhodoterpenoids A, and leucothol A. Moreover, we performed molecular docking of identified compounds against key proteins of diabetes mellitus: the sirtuin family of NAD (+)-dependent protein deacetylases 6 (SIRT6), aldose reductase (AR), and tyrosine kinase (TK). The results showed that flavonoid luteolin showed the best binding affinity ((−12.3 kcal/mol), followed by eriodictyol, astilbin, and syringaresinol. An ADMET study showed that luteolin, eriodictyol, astilbin, and syringaresinol may be promising drug candidates belonging to the flavonoid class of compounds, with no harmful effects and complying with all the drug-likeness guidelines. Furthermore, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations on a 50 ns timescale revealed that AR protein was most stable with luteolin throughout the simulation period. Therefore, this study reveals for the first time that L. ovalifolia plays an important role in insulin homeostasis, as shown in in vitro and in silico studies

Dual RNA-Seq Profiling Unveils Mycoparasitic Activities of Trichoderma atroviride against Haploid Armillaria ostoyae in Antagonistic Interaction Assays

Armillaria species can survive for decades in the soil on dead woody debris, develop rapidly under favorable conditions, and harmfully infect newly planted forests. Our previous study found Trichoderma atroviride to be highly effective in controlling Armillaria growth; therefore, our current work explored the molecular mechanisms that might play a key role in Trichoderma-Armillaria interactions

Genomes of fungi and relatives reveal delayed loss of ancestral gene families and evolution of key fungal traits

Fungi are ecologically important heterotrophs that have radiated into most niches on Earth and fulfil key ecological services. Despite intense interest in their origins, major genomic trends of their evolutionary route from a unicellular opisthokont ancestor to derived multicellular fungi remain poorly known. Here we provide a highly resolved genome-wide catalogue of gene family changes across fungal evolution inferred from the genomes of 123 fungi and relatives. We show that a dominant trend in early fungal evolution has been the gradual shedding of protist genes and the punctuated emergence of innovation by two main gene duplication events. We find that the gene content of non-Dikarya fungi resembles that of unicellular opisthokonts in many respects, owing to the conservation of protist genes in their genomes. The most rapidly duplicating gene groups included extracellular proteins and transcription factors, as well as ones linked to the coordination of nutrient uptake with growth, highlighting the transition to a sessile osmotrophic feeding strategy and subsequent lifestyle evolution as important elements of early fungal history. These results suggest that the genomes of pre-fungal ancestors evolved into the typical filamentous fungal genome by a combination of gradual gene loss, turnover and several large duplication events rather than by abrupt changes. Consequently, the taxonomically defined Fungi represents a genomically non-uniform assemblage of species. Fungi exhibit remarkable morphological and ecological diversity. An analysis of the genomes of 123 fungi and relatives shows gradual loss of protist genes, major gene turnover and duplication leading to the evolution of modern traits of filamentous fungi