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Introduction: The burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) is a major challenge for countries, regardless of their level of development. Social branding is an emerging approach to health promotion for NCD prevention. In this paper, the process of social branding is documented as a case study to help researchers develop similar kinds of interventions in the settings in which they work. Methods: The process of developing a social brand is documented through conversations with the project team, observations in the field, interaction with community local members, and information gathered through photographs, videos and newspaper clippings. Results: The social brand focused upon in this study was named the Aarogyachi Vaari (Health Pilgrimage) inspired by the Pandrapur Wari, a religious pilgrimage undertaken in the state of Maharashtra, India. Various stakeholders from self-help groups, panchayat raj institutions and schools from the local village collaborated successfully to implement the health event in a manner similar to the way in which diverse religious groups come together for the Pandrapur Wari religious pilgrimage. The Aarogyachi Vaari took the form of a strategically planned health event consisting of various health promotion stalls, many developed by local villagers themselves. The organisation of the event was aided by resource mobilisation within the local community. Discussion: Social branding can be an effective tool for health promotion in community settings. Studying people's cultural preferences and what makes them feel connected and excited can lay the foundations for the creation of a social brand that reflects their choices and helps them take up healthy behaviours on their own. It is possible to mobilise a community for health through social branding that is culturally relevant and connected to the interests and priorities of local people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Northern Corn Leaf Blight (NCLB) caused by Setosphaeria turcica, is one of the most important diseases of maize world-wide, and one of the major reasons behind yield losses in maize crop in Asia. In the present investigation, a high-resolution genome wide association study (GWAS) was conducted for NCLB resistance in three association mapping panels, predominantly consisting of tropical lines adapted to different agro-ecologies. These panels were phenotyped for disease severity across three locations with high disease prevalence in India. High density SNPs from Genotyping-by-sequencing were used in GWAS, after controlling for population structure and kinship matrices, based on single locus mixed linear model (MLM). Twenty-two SNPs were identified, that revealed a significant association with NCLB in the three mapping panels. Haplotype regression analysis revealed association of 17 significant haplotypes at FDR ≤ 0.05, with two common haplotypes across three maize panels. Several of the significantly associated SNPs/haplotypes were found to be co-located in chromosomal bins previously reported for major genes like Ht2, Ht3 and Htn1 and QTL for NCLB resistance and multiple foliar disease resistance. Phenotypic variance explained by these significant SNPs/haplotypes ranged from low to moderate, suggesting a breeding strategy of combining multiple resistance alleles towards resistance for NCLB.

Multi-location experiments on maize were conducted from 2016 to 2019 at ten locations distributed across two agro-climatic zones (ACZ) i.e., ACZ-3 and ACZ-8 of Karnataka, India. Individual analysis of variance for each location-year combination showed significant differences among the hybrids; similarly, combined analysis showed a higher proportion of GE interaction variance than due to genotype. Mega-environments were identified using biplot approaches such as AMMI, GGE, and WAASB methodologies for the years 2016 to 2019. The BLUP method revealed a high correlation between grain yield and stability indices ranging from 0.67 to 1.0. Considering all three methods together, the three location pairs Arabhavi-Belavatagi, Bailhongal-Belavatagi, and Hagari-Sirguppa had three occurrences in the same mega-environment with a value of 0.67, and these location combinations consistently produced winning genotypes. Among the common winning genotypes identified, it was G7 during 2016 and 2017 and G10 during 2018 and 2019, based on WAASBY. The likelihood of Arabhavi-Nippani, Hagari-Mudhol, and Dharwad-Hagari occurring in the same mega-environment is minimal because they did not share the same winning genotype, with the exception of a small number of events. Despite being in the same agro-climatic zone, Arabhavi, Hagari, and Mudhol rarely had a winning genotype in common. An agro-climatic zone is grouped based on climatic and soil conditions which doesn't consider GE interaction of cultivars thus, releasing the cultivars for commercial cultivation considering mega environments pattern would enhance the yield for the given target region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present study, the influence of pH on the growth of six species of cyanobacteria has been carried out. Among physical factors pH is a very important factor which influences their occurrence and diversity. By this study it was also found that Microcystis aeruginosa (bloom forming cyanobacteria) which showed growth at highly alkaline pH (9.0 to 10.0). Phormidium chlorinum (isolated from sewage water) was able to grow at acidic pH (5.0 to 6.5). But overall study showed that neutral to slightly alkaline pH (7.0 to 8.5) is the optimum range for good growth of most of the cultured species. It was also revealed that species Geitlerinema calcuttense of dairy effluents showed good growth at acidic to alkaline pH. Scytonema bohnerii isolated from a sulfur spring prefer to grow at slightly acidic pH (6.5). The overall study showed cyanobacteria generally prefer neutral to alkaline pH for their optimum growth. It was found that, cyanobacteria under acidic to neutral pH (5.5 to 7.0) can synthesize higher carotenoids rather than under alkaline pH. The study indicated that, they can produce higher phycobillin pigments in terms of phycocyanin, allophycocyanin and phycoerythrin at slightly alkaline pH (8.0 to 8.5). The study also revealed that cyanobacteria produce higher phycoerythrin pigment at slight alkaline pH between 7.5 and 8.0 except the species, Microcystis aeruginosa where it showed higher phycoerythrin content at pH 9.0. The overall study revealed that as the pH value increased, there was an increase in the phycobilin pigments in the cyanobacteria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]