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Not AvailableOut of twenty seven Gram positive and spore forming Bacilli, four Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) were obtained from root nodules of six legumes. Three bipyramidal and one spherical crystal producing B. thuringiensis were isolated from root nodules of ricebean, lentil, gahat (Horsegram) and soybean plant. Double Intrinsic Antibiotic Resistance (IAR) markers were developed to detect/monitor the presence of B. thuringiensis in the natural environment. B. thuringiensis isolates were examined for their ability to enhance plant growth and ascending migration (from roots to aerial plant part) in four legumes in plant growth chamber at 28 C. Seed bacterization with B. thuringiensis isolates positively influenced the percent germination and enhanced the plant growth of ricebean, soybean, gahat, and lentil seedlings. All B. thuringiensis isolates were recovered from rhizosphere, root endophytic region, stem lower, upper part and leaf after 45 days after sowing (DAS). Isolate VRB1 was able to colonized rhizosphere and endophytic regions (root, stem and leaf) of gahat, soybean and ricebean after 45DAS. Similarly, isolate VL4C and VLS72.1 were able to colonize rhizosphere and endophytic regions (root, stem and leaf) of lentil and soybean. While, isolate VLG15 was able to colonized rhizosphere and endophytic regions (root, stem and leaf) of lentil, soybean and gahat. Therefore, this study suggests that this approach may be utilized for the development of insect resistant crop strategy in sustainable agriculture.ICA

Recent public health concerns of the high-altitude tribal population of Lahaul and Spiti, Himachal Pradesh

Objective: India has a tribal population of 8.6%. Health concerns of the high-altitude tribal population in India play a vital role in overall socio-economic development and health transformation of the country. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the current health problems among the tribal population of Lahaul and Spiti district of Himachal Pradesh. Material and Methods: The study area encompasses one regional hospital (RH) in Keylong (the district headquarters), three community health centers (CHCs), and 16 primary health care centers (PHCs). In addition, the district has 37 sub-centers (SCs) and 21 Ayurveda dispensaries to serve the district. The data for this study were gathered over a 4-year period from records of daily out-patient department registration from the various health centers (RH, CHCs, and PHCs) from 2017 to 2020. Results: In terms of communicable diseases, the population in the concerned region was more likely to have acute respiratory infection, enteric fever, tuberculosis, and typhoid. Hypertension, asthma, bronchitis, and diabetes mellitus type II were determined to be the most common non-communicable diseases. Conclusion: Acute respiratory disease, hypertension, diarrhea, accidental injuries, and eye problems were shown to be prevalent in the study area. The population's position in relation to these five diseases indicates the community's sensitivity to a variety of common conditions. There is a need to review the needs and priorities of the concerned population and create goals and targets to meet those needs using validated public health measures

Activation of phosphoinositide 3-kinase/Akt/mechanistic target of rapamycin pathway and response to everolimus in endocrine receptor-positive metastatic breast cancer – A retrospective pilot analysis and viewpoint

Introduction: Biomarkers predictive of response to mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) inhibitor, everolimus, in endocrine receptor (ER)-positive metastatic breast cancer (MBC) are a work in progress. We evaluated the feasibility of directly measuring mTOR activity and phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) expression and correlating their expression with response and survival. Materials and Methods: MBC patients who received everolimus with endocrine therapy (ET) after progression on an aromatase inhibitor and had adequate tissue preservation for estimation of mTOR activity and PTEN expression were selected for analysis from a prospectively maintained database. Progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were estimated by Kaplan–Meier method, and correlation between mTOR activity and PTEN expression with survival was done by log-rank test. Results: Thirteen ER-positive MBC patients were available for analysis. PTEN expression was lost in 11/13 (84.6%) patients and retained in 2/13 patients (15.4%). mTOR activity was absent in four patients (30.7%), weak in six patients (46.1%), and moderate in 3 patients (23.2%). Median PFS for the entire population was 2.5 months while median OS was not reached. Patients with an absent mTOR activity showed a longer PFS (5 vs. 1.5 vs. 2 months) than those with weak and moderate activity, respectively (P = 0.043). There was no correlation between loss of PTEN expression and PFS. Conclusions: Measurement of direct mTOR activity in patients with MBC receiving everolimus/ET combination appears feasible. Absent mTOR activity may predict for longer PFS with everolimus-ET combination and requires further study