Pakistan Scientific and Technological Information Centre

Canine distemper (CD), caused by the CDV variant strain with HI542N/Y549H, has become an epidemic in fur-bearing animals in China since 2012. To well understand the genomic and replicated characteristics of the CDV variants, we determined the viral growth kinetics and completed the genome sequences of two CDV strains, namely SDZC(17)M2 and LNDL(17)M4, isolated from CDV-infected minks from Shandong and Liaoning province in China, in 2017. SDZC(17)M2 showed higher viral titers and extensive syncytia in BHK-minkSLAM (BMS) cells than LNDL(17)M4. Although both two strains belong to the Asia-1 genotype and clustered an independent clade in the phylogenetic tree, SDZC(17)M2, harboring I542N/Y549H substitutions in the H protein, shared high identity (99.3–99.6% nt) with the other variant strains, whereas LNDL(17)M4, with the only Y549H substitution, shared a lower identity (97.7%–97.9% nt) with the other variant strains. Furthermore, a novel R223K substitution was identified in the conserved cleavage site (RRQRR → RRQKR) of the F protein in the SDZC(17)M2 strain. However, it which did not significantly affect the cell to cell fusion activity when combined with the CDV H/minkSLAM in BHK-21 cells. The key variations in the genome contributed to the virulence and the evolutionary trend need to be determined in the future.

Sustainable production of food crops relies on germplasm improvement and genetic diversity that helps to identify appropriate parents, which is very important step in breeding of genotypes having high yield potential for future use. This study was conducted to investigate the extent of genetic diversity using multivariate technique on the basis of qualitative and quantitative traits. An experiment was comprised of 74 exotic genotypes and started at National Agriculture Research Center Islamabad, Pakistan during autumn 2017-2018 and 2018-2019. Data was recorded on qualitative and quantitative traits by following standard procedures and Biplot analysis was used to calculate the significance among the studied quantitative traits to exhibit the strength of relationship between traits. Results showed significant diversity in qualitative traits and quantitative traits. Red, yellowish, brown, light yellow, light brown color tubers were produced. Alike, genotypes produced yellow, cream and white flesh color tubers. Genotypes had oval, round, oblong, elliptic and reform with medium, small and large size tubers. Alike, brown, light brown, dark red and yellow eyes color was noted. In case of quantitative traits, genotypes had high variance regarding plant height, leaf area and number of tubers per lane. Genotypes had very high genetic variance for weight of tuber per plant and weight of tuber per lane while low variance was recorded for germination, number of stem per plant and number of eyes per tuber. Significant positive correlation was observed between number of tubers per plant (TPP) with number of eyes on tubers (r = 0.241) and number of tubers per lane (TPL) (r = 0.349). But negative correlation was noted between number of tubers per plant (TPP) with plant height (r = -246), leaf area (-0.529) and germination (r = -0.283). Plant height was found significantly positive correlated with leaf area (r= 0.456), germination percentage (r = 0.255) and weight of tubers per plant (r = 0.307). Leaf area (LA) showed positive significant correlation with number of tubers per plant (r = 0.466) and weight of tubers per plant (r = 0.263)., yield and harvest index (r = 0.798, 0.755, 0.255). Weight of tubers per lane (WTL) showed positive correlation with weight of tubers per plant (r = 0.387). Regarding the interrelation between the traits and genotypes, the first two principal component axes (PC1, 24.83% and PC2, 23.46%) accounted for about 48.29% of the total variability reflecting the complexity of the variation between the plotted traits of genotypes.

Objective: The private healthcare providers (PHCP) are believed to improve access to healthcare services in Public-Private Mix (PPM) projects, as they are considered first point of contact for healthcare. The purpose of this study was to know the satisfaction level of TB patients. Design: A questionnaire-based, cross-sectional study was carried out during November and December 2017 for 572 under-treatment patients registered with PHCPs in the PPM project. Lot quality assurance sampling technique was used to randomly select 19 districts from sample frame of 75 districts. In each selected district, data collector retrieved TB register of 8 months (Jan – Aug 2017) and systematically selected patients by fixed periodic interval. SPSS (version 24.0) was used to analyze the data. Results: Study included 53% (n=301) of males and 47% (n=271) of females, with mean age of 38 years (SD, ±18). Almost half of the participants were illiterate (51%, n=289) and 64% (n=365) were non-earning members of the family. In practice, most of the participants visit private providers (71%, n=407), including private hospital/clinic (44%) and traditional practitioners (27%; n=153). 55% of participants visited the current doctor because of clinic’s proximity to residence. 82% of the participants (n=469) were satisfied with the TB care services and 85% (n=488) said that they would recommend this clinic to others. Conclusion: PHCPs are preferred providers for individuals, which is consistent with findings of other studies. Though they are satisfied with TB care and services, interventions should be introduced to reduce the financial burden on the patient. Partnering PHCP is a way forward to ensure universal health coverage, health system strengthening and better health outcomes of the population.