Utilization of Mobile Based ICT Tools by the Dairy Farmers of Satara and Pune Districts of Maharashtra

This cross-sectional study was conducted to explore the extent of use of mobile based ICT tools by dairy farmers and constraints faced by them while its use. Respondents were randomly selected from two districts of western Maharashtra namely Satara and Pune and study was undertaken during June – November, 2020. A total of 120 respondents (60 each from Satara and Pune districts) were randomly selected and interviewed with the help of structured schedule. Analysis of data was done and frequency and percentage were calculated accordingly. Almost all the variables studied like age group (68.32%), family size (39.17%), land holding (48.33%), herd size (45.00%), experience (69.17%), social participation (75.84%), extension contacts (70.00%) and knowledge level (72.50%) could be grouped under medium level. Dairy farmers were mostly aware about voice calls (90.83%), whatsapp (82.50%) and financial apps for e-transaction (65%). However, they were totally unaware about use of Twitter, Skype, Instagram, Bluetooth and GIS applications. Similarly, most of the respondents never used video calls (73.34%), SMS facility (70.84%), and mobile for taking photographs (64.16%) related to dairy farming. Whats app found to be used on daily basis, and mobile based ICT tools were used primarily for social purposes with less involvement for its use in order to improve dairy farming activities. Major constraints faced by dairy farmers were unavailability of relevant information in local language, lack of reliable, useful and location specific contents, lack of repairing services and centers in the village. Based on the observations, it is concluded that actual utilization of mobile based ITC tools by dairy farmers is poor in terms of its use for the purpose of dairy related activities. There is need to popularized use of mobile based ICT tools and impart competence and skills in its use among the dairy farmers

Transgenic Mice Expressing Functional TCRs Specific to Cardiac Myhc-α 334–352 on Both CD4 and CD8 T Cells Are Resistant to the Development of Myocarditis on C57BL/6 Genetic Background

Myocarditis is a predominant cause of congestive heart failure and sudden death in children and young adolescents that can lead to dilated cardiomyopathy. Lymphocytic myocarditis mediated by T cells can result from the recognition of cardiac antigens that may involve CD4 or CD8 T cells or both. In this report, we describe the generation of T cell receptor (TCR) transgenic mice on a C57BL/6 genetic background specific to cardiac myosin heavy chain (Myhc)-α 334–352 and make the following observations: First, we verified that Myhc-α 334–352 was immunogenic in wild-type C57BL/6 mice and induced antigen-specific CD4 T cell responses despite being a poor binder of IAb; however, the immunized animals developed only mild myocarditis. Second, TCRs specific to Myhc-α 334–352 in transgenic mice were expressed in both CD4 and CD8 T cells, suggesting that the expression of epitope-specific TCR is common to both cell types. Third, although T cells from naïve transgenic mice did not respond to Myhc-α 334–352, both CD4 and CD8 T cells from animals immunized with Myhc-α 334–352 responded to the peptide, indicating that antigen priming is necessary to break tolerance. Fourth, although the transgenic T cells could produce significant amounts of interferon- and interleukin-17, the immunized animals developed only mild disease, indicating that other soluble factors might be necessary for developing severe myocarditis. Alternatively, the C57BL/6 genetic background might be a major contributing factor for resistance to the development of myocarditis. Taken together, our model permits the determination of the roles of both CD4 and CD8 T cells to understand the disease-resistance mechanisms of myocarditis in a single transgenic system antigen-specifically

​POU1F1 Gene Polymorphism and its Associations with Body Weight of Osmanabadi Goat

Background: Osmanabadi is the premium meat type goat breed of Maharashtra, known for its adaptability and reproductive efficiency. Identification of superior germplasm and incorporating them into breeding programme is the need of hour for augmenting productivity of Osmanabadi as well as other indigenous goat breeds. Hence, the present research was aimed to study Pituitary Specific Transcription Factor I (POU1F1) gene polymorphism and its associations with body weight of Osmanabadi goat. Methods: Genomic DNA was extracted from 217 blood samples of randomly selected Osmanabadi goats. The 450 bp fragment of POU1F1 gene encompassing exon-6 and its flanking region (3’UTR) was PCR amplified. The PCR amplicon was subjected to RFLP using AluI and PstI restriction enzymes to identify polymorphism at nucleotide position 174 (T greater than C) in exon 6 and at nucleotide position 110 (T greater than C) in the 3’UTR of POU1F1 gene, respectively. The association of the observed allelic variants / genotypes with body weight of the animals was performed using One-way ANOVA. Result: The AluI PCR-RFLP of 450 bp amplicon of POU1F1 gene in Osmanabadi goats revealed polymorphism with three different genotypes viz., ‘CC’, ‘TT’ and ‘TC’. The observed frequencies for TT, TC and CC genotypes were 0.604, 0.355 and 0.041 respectively. The frequencies of T and C alleles were found to be 0.781 and 0.219, respectively. However, PstI PCR-RFLP revealed monomorphic 3’UTR of POU1F1 gene with single TT genotype. We observed significant differences (P less than 0.01) between various genotypes at AluI exon-6 locus of POU1F1 gene and body weights at birth, 3 and 6 months of Osmanabadi goat. Highest body weight was recorded for TT genotype followed by TC and CC genotypes in all three age groups. Our findings indicate that the AluI PCR-RFLP locus of the exon-6 of POU1F1 gene can be used as a potent molecular marker for selection of superior stock of Osmanabadi goats. </jats:p

Utilization of Mobile Based ICT Tools by the Dairy Farmers of Satara and Pune Districts of Maharashtra

This cross-sectional study was conducted to explore the extent of use of mobile based ICT tools by dairy farmers and constraints faced by them while its use. Respondents were randomly selected from two districts of western Maharashtra namely Satara and Pune and study was undertaken during June – November, 2020. A total of 120 respondents (60 each from Satara and Pune districts) were randomly selected and interviewed with the help of structured schedule. Analysis of data was done and frequency and percentage were calculated accordingly. Almost all the variables studied like age group (68.32%), family size (39.17%), land holding (48.33%), herd size (45.00%), experience (69.17%), social participation (75.84%), extension contacts (70.00%) and knowledge level (72.50%) could be grouped under medium level. Dairy farmers were mostly aware about voice calls (90.83%), whatsapp (82.50%) and financial apps for e-transaction (65%). However, they were totally unaware about use of Twitter, Skype, Instagram, Bluetooth and GIS applications. Similarly, most of the respondents never used video calls (73.34%), SMS facility (70.84%), and mobile for taking photographs (64.16%) related to dairy farming. Whats app found to be used on daily basis, and mobile based ICT tools were used primarily for social purposes with less involvement for its use in order to improve dairy farming activities. Major constraints faced by dairy farmers were unavailability of relevant information in local language, lack of reliable, useful and location specific contents, lack of repairing services and centers in the village. Based on the observations, it is concluded that actual utilization of mobile based ITC tools by dairy farmers is poor in terms of its use for the purpose of dairy related activities. There is need to popularized use of mobile based ICT tools and impart competence and skills in its use among the dairy farmers.</jats:p

Evolutionary analysis of rabies virus using the partial Nucleoprotein and Glycoprotein gene in Mumbai region of India

Nearly 1.7 million cases of dog bites are reported every year in India and many cases of animal rabies are left unattended and undiagnosed. Therefore, a mere diagnosis of rabies is not sufficient to understand the epidemiology and the spread of the rabies virus (RV) in animals. There is a paucity of information about the evolutionary dynamics of RV in dogs and its biodiversity patterns in India. In total, 50 dog-brain samples suspected of rabies were screened by the nucleoprotein- (N) and glycoprotein- (G) gene PCR. The N and G genes were subsequently sequenced to understand the molecular evolution in these genes. The phylogenetic analysis of the N gene revealed that six isolates in the Mumbai region belonged to a single Arctic lineage. Time-scaled phylogeny by Bayesian coalescent analysis of the partial N gene revealed that the time to the most recent common ancestor (TMRCA) for the sequences belonged to the cluster from 2006.68 with a highest posterior density of 95 % betweeen 2005–2008, which is assigned to Indian lineage I. Migration pattern revealed a strong Bayes factor between Mumbai to Delhi, Panji to Hyderabad, Delhi to Chennai, and Chennai to Chandigarh. Phylogenetic analysis of the G gene revealed that the RVs circulating in the Mumbai region are divided into three lineages. Time-scaled phylogeny by the Bayesian coalescent analysis method estimated that the TMRCA for sequences under study was from 1993 and Indian clusters was from 1962. In conclusion, the phylogenetic analysis of the N gene revealed that six isolates belonged to single Arctic lineages along with other Indian isolates and they were clustered into a single lineage but divided into three clades based on the G-gene sequences. The present study highlights and enhances the current molecular epidemiology and evolution of RV and revealed strong location bias and geographical clustering within Indian isolates on the basis of N and G genes.</jats:p

Transgenic Mice Expressing Functional TCRs Specific to Cardiac Myhc-&alpha; 334&ndash;352 on Both CD4 and CD8 T Cells Are Resistant to the Development of Myocarditis on C57BL/6 Genetic Background

Myocarditis is a predominant cause of congestive heart failure and sudden death in children and young adolescents that can lead to dilated cardiomyopathy. Lymphocytic myocarditis mediated by T cells can result from the recognition of cardiac antigens that may involve CD4 or CD8 T cells or both. In this report, we describe the generation of T cell receptor (TCR) transgenic mice on a C57BL/6 genetic background specific to cardiac myosin heavy chain (Myhc)-&alpha; 334&ndash;352 and make the following observations: First, we verified that Myhc-&alpha; 334&ndash;352 was immunogenic in wild-type C57BL/6 mice and induced antigen-specific CD4 T cell responses despite being a poor binder of IAb; however, the immunized animals developed only mild myocarditis. Second, TCRs specific to Myhc-&alpha; 334&ndash;352 in transgenic mice were expressed in both CD4 and CD8 T cells, suggesting that the expression of epitope-specific TCR is common to both cell types. Third, although T cells from na&iuml;ve transgenic mice did not respond to Myhc-&alpha; 334&ndash;352, both CD4 and CD8 T cells from animals immunized with Myhc-&alpha; 334&ndash;352 responded to the peptide, indicating that antigen priming is necessary to break tolerance. Fourth, although the transgenic T cells could produce significant amounts of interferon-&gamma; and interleukin-17, the immunized animals developed only mild disease, indicating that other soluble factors might be necessary for developing severe myocarditis. Alternatively, the C57BL/6 genetic background might be a major contributing factor for resistance to the development of myocarditis. Taken together, our model permits the determination of the roles of both CD4 and CD8 T cells to understand the disease-resistance mechanisms of myocarditis in a single transgenic system antigen-specifically