GESTATION LENGTH OF KARI SHEEP

Previously, the concept of a gestation period of sheep shorter than 121 days was unheard of in the field of sheep biology. Our findings during a farmers’ survey in the Lotkho area of Chitral, Pakistan, revealed that the sheep native to the region, locally called “Kari”, gestates for a period of only three months. This duration is 25-40% short of the usual gestation length and is shorter than ever recorded for the species. The mean and mode gestation length (GL) was 110 and 92 days respectively and was concentrated in three distinct clusters: day 87-95, 120-123 and 151-153, accounting for 52% of all observations. GL was influenced by location, season of conception and lambing and the interaction of location with season; had an estimated repeatability of zero. The mean lambing interval was 224.7 ±5.24 days, ranging between 109 and 467 days. During a trial conducted in a controlled environment, only three out of the 27 copulated ewes conceived, and gestated in 113, 125 and 145 days respectively. Gestation length during the trial supported field findings. The results suggest that GL in Kari sheep is unusual as many ewes gestated in three months, with variations of up to 5 months. Genotype by environment interaction is a possibility. However, reasons for the findings are still not clear and further controlled studies should be carried out to establish and further explore the factor(s) responsible for this unusual and unique manifestation of the Kari with regards to its gestation length

URBAN INDIA AND CLIMATE CHANGE: MITIGATION STRATEGIES TOWARDS INCLUSIVE GROWTH

Climate change has been emerged as a major challenge for the sustainable human settlement. The recent studies have established scientific evidences for climate change. This paper presents impacts of climate change in the urban India, which has about 30 percent of population and expected to grow over 800 million by next 50 years. Citizens are already facing adverse impact of climate change, which is evenly spread throughout the country and mostly to vulnerable citizens. India’s expenditure on adaptation measures was exceeded 2.6 percent of the GDP in 2006-07 shows the magnitude of monetary loss by climate change. Due to complexity of issues, systematic strategies are needed for adaptation and mitigation. In the light of ‘National Action Plan on Climate Change’ two urban sectors viz. urban transportation and municipal solid waste management are assessed and suggestions have been made for mitigation strategies. This study is broadly based on published researches and documents. Findings reveal that yet the climate change is not taken seriously by policy makers, hence blue print for mitigation haven’t placed. Findings suggest systematic mitigation measures for sustainable development which will lead to inclusive growth too. The need for collaborative planning among various stakeholders is emphasized.Climate change, urban India, mitigation, urban transportation, municipal waste management.

The archaeal ATPase PINA interacts with the helicase Hjm via its carboxyl terminal KH domain remodeling and processing replication fork and Holliday junction.

PINA is a novel ATPase and DNA helicase highly conserved in Archaea, the third domain of life. The PINA from Sulfolobus islandicus (SisPINA) forms a hexameric ring in crystal and solution. The protein is able to promote Holliday junction (HJ) migration and physically and functionally interacts with Hjc, the HJ specific endonuclease. Here, we show that SisPINA has direct physical interaction with Hjm (Hel308a), a helicase presumably targeting replication forks. In vitro biochemical analysis revealed that Hjm, Hjc, and SisPINA are able to coordinate HJ migration and cleavage in a concerted way. Deletion of the carboxyl 13 amino acid residues impaired the interaction between SisPINA and Hjm. Crystal structure analysis showed that the carboxyl 70 amino acid residues fold into a type II KH domain which, in other proteins, functions in binding RNA or ssDNA. The KH domain not only mediates the interactions of PINA with Hjm and Hjc but also regulates the hexameric assembly of PINA. Our results collectively suggest that SisPINA, Hjm and Hjc work together to function in replication fork regression, HJ formation and HJ cleavage

Ocular pharmacoscintigraphic and aqueous humoral drug availability of ganciclovir-loaded mucoadhesive nanoparticles in rabbits

The present report describes the improved ocular retention and aqueous humoral drug availability of ganciclovir (GCV) when administered via topical instillation of different kind of nanoparticles onto the rabbit eye. GCV was loaded into PLGA nanoparticles, chitosan-coated nanoparticles and chitosan-coated niosomal nanoparticles. All three formulations contained nanoparticles equally round in shape with a mean particle size in the range of 180–200 nm. The ocular corneal retention property was evaluated by gamma scintigraphy, revealing that the clearance was slowest in the case of the chitosan-containing formulations. GCV in chitosan-coated PLGA nanoparticles and chitosan-coated niosomal nanoparticles showed approx. 6-fold higher aqueous humor drug availability as compared to a GCV solution and nearly 2.5-fold higher as compared to the chitosan-lacking GCV-PLGA nanoparticles. The results indicate that the use of a mucoadhesive chitosan coating can improve the ocular residence time and aqueous humoral availability of GCV when administered topically in nanoparticle

Sustainable Neighbourhood Development in Emerging Economies: A Review

This study reviews the literature on sustainable development focusing at the neighbourhood level, including relevant assessment frameworks and indicators, with emphasis on the emerging economies. The review briefly comments on the influence of built-environment characteristics on sustainable outcomes. In comparison to advanced economies, neighbourhoods of emerging economies are understudied. Existing studies focus at the city level with an emphasis on environmental sustainability. Given different development trajectories, results from the advanced economies cannot be applied without appropriate calibration. There is, therefore, a need for further study to provide evidence-based interventions for sustainable urban neighbourhood development in consideration of multiple dimensions

Sustainable Neighbourhood Development in Emerging Economies: A Review

This study reviews the literature on sustainable development focusing at the neighbourhood level, including relevant assessment frameworks and indicators, with emphasis on the emerging economies. The review briefly comments on the influence of built-environment characteristics on sustainable outcomes. In comparison to advanced economies, neighbourhoods of emerging economies are understudied. Existing studies focus at the city level with an emphasis on environmental sustainability. Given different development trajectories, results from the advanced economies cannot be applied without appropriate calibration. There is, therefore, a need for further study to provide evidence-based interventions for sustainable urban neighbourhood development in consideration of multiple dimensions

Innføring av ny retningslinje for behandling av akillesseneruptur ved ortopedisk avdeling, Oslo Universitetssykehus Aker.

Bakgrunn: Akillesseneruptur har en insidens på ca 17 per 100.000 innbyggere i Norge. Akillesseneruptur kan enten behandles kirurgisk med sutur av senen eller konservativt med gips. Ved Oslo Universitetssykehus Aker (OUA) behandles paienter med akutt akillesseneruptur konservativt, mens kirurgi er førstevalg ved byens øvrige sykehus. Vi ønsket med denne oppgaven å studere kunnskapsgrunnlaget for hvilken av behandlingsformene som er best. Ettersom praksis er ulik ved OUA og de øvrige sykehusene, ønsket vi med dette å avdekke et kvalitetsforbedringspotensiale der praksis strider mot tilgjengelig evidensbasert litteratur. Kunnskapsgrunnlag: Vi har brukt en eksplisitt søkestrategi etter PICO-modellen. Vi valgte å søke etter informasjon i Medline, Cochrane, PubMed og uptodate.com. Det ble lagt mest vekt på systematiske oversikter og metaanalyser. Litteraturen konkluderer med at kirurgisk intervensjon etter akutt akillesseneruptur er fordelaktig i forhold til konservativ behandling hva angår reruptur. Kirurgisk intervensjon gir imidlertid en signifikant økt risiko for infeksjoner. Tiltak: På bakgrunn av det evidensbaserte kunnskapsgrunnlaget har vi konkludert med at operativ behandling er bedre enn konservativ behandling med hensyn til reruptur. Derfor har vi valgt å innføre operativ behandling av akillesseneruptur. Kontraindikasjoner mot operativ behandling er eksempelvis høy biologisk alder, inaktiv livsførsel, betydelig svekket allmennhelse, systemsykdom og inoperabel hud lokalt. En mulighet er å gjøre en RCT mellom OUA og de andre sykehusene, der en sammenlikner pasientene etter at de har gjennomgått den ene eller den andre behandlingsformen. Konklusjon: På bakgrunn av evidensbasert kunnskap mener vi at nye retningslinjer for behandling av akillesseneruptur bør innføres ved OUA. Dette gjelder i særlig grad for unge og aktive pasienter. Med innføring av operativ behandling av aktuelle pasienter ved OUA forventer vi en redusert andel rerupturer. Denne gevinsten synes å kunne oppveie en samtidig økning av andre komplikasjoner ifølge internasjonal litteratur på området. Pasientens eget ønske bør tas med i vurderingen

Comparison of different ERT Planning, Acquisition, and Inversion strategies for different targets and environments

openThis thesis looks at how ERT (Electrical Resistivity Tomography) can be used in different geological and environmental contexts and provides a comprehensive and definitive exploration of its adaptability. Here will be compared and proposed different planning, acquisition, and inversion strategies for specific targets and looks at the unique challenges and opportunities presented by different geological site such as river paleochannels, lagoons, landslides, and rock glaciers environments. Each of these sites requires a different approach to implementation of ERT (Electrical Resistivity Tomography) because each environment has different geological formation and different behavior to the current passing through it such as in lagoons, it's really important to make sure you've got the right electrode configuration in place because of the high salinity, changing water conditions and complex geology. On the other hand, river paleochannels, which are the remaining traces of old river courses, can demonstrate a lot about hydrological processes and potential groundwater resources. The thesis looks at the difficulties of imaging these buried channels, which are often made up of lots of different shapes and materials. It looks at how we can use ERT to map out the edges of paleochannel and to have a good result after processing the collected data. This will help us manage water resources more sustainably and protect the environment. In case of landslides, it's really important to understand the subsurface geometry and potential failure planes. This will help to assess the risks better and come up with better ways to deal with them. The research looks at the challenges of using ERT in these tricky terrain types. It suggests doing detailed, high-resolution surveys along potential failure zones. It is needed to collect data regularly and use robust three-dimensional models to capture the details of what's going on underground. In the stark landscapes of permafrost regions, the challenge is to map the extent of frozen ground and to understand how it's changing as it thaws. This detailed comparison shows how well different ERT strategies work in a range of different geological and environmental situations. This thesis looks at how different electrode configurations, including Wenner arrays, Schlumberger, and Dipole-Dipole, can be used to identify differences in resistivity of different targets and their impact on the data quality and as well as how different inversion techniques can be used to account for the significant resistivity differences in these target environments. It will contribute to make ERT surveys more precise and applicable by improving how they are planned, acquired and inverted which will help move the wider field of geophysical investigations forward and make it easier to make informed choices about managing resources, protecting the environment and reducing risks