Attitudes and barriers of medical students towards conducting research in a medical college

Background: It is well known that evidence-based medicine is the rule for clinical practice. This can be enhanced by conducting good research. Medical students being the future doctors should contribute significantly. But the research among the medical students is very poor with respect to presentations and publications. In view of this data the study was done to know their perception, attitude and barriers for conducting research.Methods: This was a cross sectional observational study involving three different batches of medical students by giving a semi-structured questionnaire.Results: The response among the participants to involve in research was only 30%. Among them the overall attitude and barrier score were 3.69±0.29 and 3.63±0.42 respectively with statistical significance shown between genders and not between batches. The biggest barrier was lack of previous research experience (91.67%). The most common motivational factor was self-interest (90.7%).Conclusions: If given sufficient training and facilities provided, we should be able to get more research among the medical students

A NOVEL MATLAB MODEL OF ANN BASED CONTROLLERS TO IMPROVE THE DYNAMIC PERFORMANCE OF A SHUNT ACTIVE POWER FILTER

This paper attempts to enhance the dynamic performance of a shunt-type active power filter. The predictive and adaptive properties of artificial neural networks (ANNs) are used for fast estimation of the compensating current. The dynamics of the dc-link voltage is utilized in a predictive controller to generate the first estimate followed by convergence of the algorithm by an adaptive ANN (adaline) based network. Weights in adaline are tuned to minimize the total harmonic distortion of the source current. Extensive simulations and experimentations confirm the validity of the proposed scheme for all kinds of load (balanced and unbalanced) for a three-phase three-wire system

Preparation and Characterization of NiO Thin Films by DC Reactive Magnetron Sputtering

Nickel oxide (NiO) thin films were successfully deposited on Corning 7059 glass substrates at different oxygen partial pressures in the range of 1 × 10 – 4 to 9 × 10 – 4 mbar using dc reactive magnetron sputtering technique. Structural properties of NiO films showed polycrystalline nature with cubic structure along (220) orientation. The optical transmittance and band gap values of the films increased with increasing the oxygen partial pressure from 1 × 10 – 4 to 5 × 10 – 4 mbar and decreased on further increasing the oxygen partial pressure. Using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), fine grains were observed at oxygen partial pressure of 5 × 10 – 4 mbar. The film resistivity decreases from 90.48 to 13.24 Ω cm with increase in oxygen partial pressure to 5 × 10 – 4 mbar and then increased on further increasing the oxygen partial pressure. When you are citing the document, use the following link http://essuir.sumdu.edu.ua/handle/123456789/3025

Synteny analysis in Rosids with a walnut physical map reveals slow genome evolution in long-lived woody perennials.

BackgroundMutations often accompany DNA replication. Since there may be fewer cell cycles per year in the germlines of long-lived than short-lived angiosperms, the genomes of long-lived angiosperms may be diverging more slowly than those of short-lived angiosperms. Here we test this hypothesis.ResultsWe first constructed a genetic map for walnut, a woody perennial. All linkage groups were short, and recombination rates were greatly reduced in the centromeric regions. We then used the genetic map to construct a walnut bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) clone-based physical map, which contained 15,203 exonic BAC-end sequences, and quantified with it synteny between the walnut genome and genomes of three long-lived woody perennials, Vitis vinifera, Populus trichocarpa, and Malus domestica, and three short-lived herbs, Cucumis sativus, Medicago truncatula, and Fragaria vesca. Each measure of synteny we used showed that the genomes of woody perennials were less diverged from the walnut genome than those of herbs. We also estimated the nucleotide substitution rate at silent codon positions in the walnut lineage. It was one-fifth and one-sixth of published nucleotide substitution rates in the Medicago and Arabidopsis lineages, respectively. We uncovered a whole-genome duplication in the walnut lineage, dated it to the neighborhood of the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary, and allocated the 16 walnut chromosomes into eight homoeologous pairs. We pointed out that during polyploidy-dysploidy cycles, the dominant tendency is to reduce the chromosome number.ConclusionSlow rates of nucleotide substitution are accompanied by slow rates of synteny erosion during genome divergence in woody perennials

Peanut improvement: production of fertile hybrids and backcross progeny between Arachis hypogaea and A. kretschmeri

There are only a few reports of successful crosses between cultivated peanut (Arachis hypogaea L., section Arachis) and wild species from sections other than section Arachis. Many of the wild Arachis species harbor important traits necessary for the improvement of peanut. For example, Arachis kretschmeri Krapov., W.C. Gregory & C.E. Simpson (section Procumbentes) can grow under water-logged conditions and has been identified as one of the few wild species of Arachis with resistance to late leaf spot (LLS) and peanut rosette disease. Peanut rosette, caused by a combination of viruses, is an economically important disease only in Africa, while LLS, caused by Cercosporidium personatum, is an important fungal disease in Asia and the Americas as well as Africa. Interspecific hybrids between A. hypogaea and A. kretschmeri were produced by applying growth regulators to pollinated pistils and hybrid plants were obtained by germinating embryos in vitro. A total of seven hybrids were produced and confirmed by Simple Sequence Repeat (SSR) analysis. All hybrids were fertile, although initially slow growing. F1 hybrids were backcrossed to A. hypogaea and all plants in the F1BC1 generation were single-seeded with a prominent beak, characteristic of A. kretschmeri, but many of the F1BC2 pods were double-seeded resembling A. hypogaea. F1BC2 plants were moderately resistant to LLS. When a large number of seeds are obtained, the progeny will be screened for resistance to both LLS and rosette disease. Thus crosses with species outside the section Arachis may not only confer disease resistance but will also broaden the genetic base of cultivated peanut

Lung functions in children with Type 1 diabetes mellitus: A cross sectional study

Background: Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a metabolic disorder precipitating micro and macro vascular complicationsand peripheral vascular diseases. Normal lung mechanism and gas exchange are influenced by integrity of pulmonaryconnective tissues and microvasculature. Abnormality in either of these two structural components of lung leads tovariations in lung functions. Objective: This study was conducted to document lung function patterns by spirometryin patients with Type 1 DM. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in Bangalore, India.Patients in the age group of 1-18 years diagnosed with Type 1 DM between December 2009, and January 2011 wereincluded. Data regarding respiratory symptoms, age, height and weight of each patient with Type 1 DM was collected.The children were trained to use spirometers. Multiple readings of forced expiratory volume in one second and forcedvital capacity were obtained until consistent, and the best reading was recorded and analyzed for any association.Results: A total of 51 children with Type 1 DM were studied, of whom 24 children were males, with a mean age of14.06 ± 3.25 years, the minimum age being 5 years and a maximum being 18 years. 25 children (49%) with Type 1DM were found to have pulmonary dysfunction, of which 19 children (76%) had restrictive lung pattern, and sixchildren (24%) had obstructive pattern. Conclusion: Spirometry evaluation showed that restrictive lung pattern wasvery common in children with Type 1 DM, and there is scope for further study

Development of new sources of tetraploid Arachis to broaden the genetic base of cultivated groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.)

Groundnut, an important crop of many countries of the world, is susceptible to a range of diseases and pests. High levels of resistances are not available in the cultivated gene pool as the crop is said to have a narrow genetic base. Narrow genetic base is attributed to the evolution of the crop which took place by the combination of A and B genome species, and later doubling their chromosome number, giving rise to tetraploid cultivated groundnut. Direct utilization of cross-compatible wild relatives, which are diploids, to broaden the genetic base and introduction of useful traits, is not a straight-forward process due to ploidy differences between the cultivated species and wild relatives. Hence amphiploids and autotetraploids were created by not only combining the putative genomes, but many other A and B genome species, thus producing a highly variable population of tetraploid groundnuts also called new sources of Arachis hypogaea. This study describes the development and characterization of newly generated tetraploid groundnuts and the level of molecular diversity as assessed by DArT marker