Character association and path coefficient analysis for grain yield of parents and hybrids in rice (Oryza sativa L.)

An experiment was conducted to study the inter-relationships, direct and indirect effects of various yield attributing characters towards grain yield per plant, at Rice Research Centre, Rajendranagar. Grain yield per plant had significant positive correlation with productivity per day (0.97), panicle weight (0.71), number of filled grains per panicle (0.57), panicle length (0.46), number of productive tillers per plant (0.34), days to 50 per cent flowering (0.23) and plant height (0.16).Path analysis revealed that productivity/ day (0.91) was the major contributor for grain yield followed by, days to 50 per cent flowering (0.19), grain length (0.05), number of productive tillers per plant (0.04), panicle weight (0.04) and number of filled grains per panicle (0.04). It can be concluded from the study that, the above characters can be used as the selection criteria in any rice yield improvement breeding programmes

Robustness of Fusion-based Multimodal Classifiers to Cross-Modal Content Dilutions

As multimodal learning finds applications in a wide variety of high-stakes societal tasks, investigating their robustness becomes important. Existing work has focused on understanding the robustness of vision-and-language models to imperceptible variations on benchmark tasks. In this work, we investigate the robustness of multimodal classifiers to cross-modal dilutions - a plausible variation. We develop a model that, given a multimodal (image + text) input, generates additional dilution text that (a) maintains relevance and topical coherence with the image and existing text, and (b) when added to the original text, leads to misclassification of the multimodal input. Via experiments on Crisis Humanitarianism and Sentiment Detection tasks, we find that the performance of task-specific fusion-based multimodal classifiers drops by 23.3% and 22.5%, respectively, in the presence of dilutions generated by our model. Metric-based comparisons with several baselines and human evaluations indicate that our dilutions show higher relevance and topical coherence, while simultaneously being more effective at demonstrating the brittleness of the multimodal classifiers. Our work aims to highlight and encourage further research on the robustness of deep multimodal models to realistic variations, especially in human-facing societal applications. The code and other resources are available at https://claws-lab.github.io/multimodal-robustness/.Comment: Accepted at the 2022 Conference on Empirical Methods in Natural Language Processing (EMNLP); Full Paper (Oral

Heterosis studies in rice for the identification of better hybrids for Telangana, India

In the present study, 23 elite rice genotypes were test crossed with IR 58025A and based on which, 12 restorer lines viz., Rajendra, MTU 1010, IR 64, KNM 118, NLR 33358, Satya, Varalu, RNR 15048, RNR 15038, Tel- lahamsa, RNR(RK) 28 and RNR(RK) 53 were identified during Kharif- Rabi 2013-14. Then, three CMS lines viz., IR 58025A, IR 68902A and IR 72081A were crossed with these identified 12 restorer lines to produce 36 hybrids in line × tester mating design and were evaluated along with standard hybrid check, PA 6129 at Rice Research Centre, Rajendranagar, during Kharif 2014 to find out the best heterotic combinations in terms of grain yield and yield component characters. The degree of heterosis varied from trait to trait. Out of 36 hybrids studied, the significant standard heterosis for grain yield is observed in 3 hybrids, over best check PA 6129, viz., IR 58025A × MTU 1010 (18.25), IR 68902A × RNR 15038 (14.59) and IR 72081A × RNR 15038 (9.57). The best experimental hybrid IR58025A × MTU 1010 recorded average heterosis (78.26) and heterobeltiosis (64.37). These three experimental hybrids can be further evaluated over locations for large scale commercialization in Telangana

Prevalence of Depression and Depressive Symptoms Among Resident Physicians: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

IMPORTANCE: Physicians in training are at high risk for depression. However, the estimated prevalence of this disorder varies substantially between studies. OBJECTIVE: To provide a summary estimate of depression or depressive symptom prevalence among resident physicians. DATA SOURCES AND STUDY SELECTION: Systematic search of EMBASE, ERIC, MEDLINE, and PsycINFO for studies with information on the prevalence of depression or depressive symptoms among resident physicians published between January 1963 and September 2015. Studies were eligible for inclusion if they were published in the peer-reviewed literature and used a validated method to assess for depression or depressive symptoms. DATA EXTRACTION AND SYNTHESIS: Information on study characteristics and depression or depressive symptom prevalence was extracted independently by 2 trained investigators. Estimates were pooled using random-effects meta-analysis. Differences by study-level characteristics were estimated using meta-regression. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Point or period prevalence of depression or depressive symptoms as assessed by structured interview or validated questionnaire. RESULTS: Data were extracted from 31 cross-sectional studies (9447 individuals) and 23 longitudinal studies (8113 individuals). Three studies used clinical interviews and 51 used self-report instruments. The overall pooled prevalence of depression or depressive symptoms was 28.8% (4969/17,560 individuals, 95% CI, 25.3%-32.5%), with high between-study heterogeneity (Q = 1247, τ2 = 0.39, I2 = 95.8%, P < .001). Prevalence estimates ranged from 20.9% for the 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire with a cutoff of 10 or more (741/3577 individuals, 95% CI, 17.5%-24.7%, Q = 14.4, τ2 = 0.04, I2 = 79.2%) to 43.2% for the 2-item PRIME-MD (1349/2891 individuals, 95% CI, 37.6%-49.0%, Q = 45.6, τ2 = 0.09, I2 = 84.6%). There was an increased prevalence with increasing calendar year (slope = 0.5% increase per year, adjusted for assessment modality; 95% CI, 0.03%-0.9%, P = .04). In a secondary analysis of 7 longitudinal studies, the median absolute increase in depressive symptoms with the onset of residency training was 15.8% (range, 0.3%-26.3%; relative risk, 4.5). No statistically significant differences were observed between cross-sectional vs longitudinal studies, studies of only interns vs only upper-level residents, or studies of nonsurgical vs both nonsurgical and surgical residents. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: In this systematic review, the summary estimate of the prevalence of depression or depressive symptoms among resident physicians was 28.8%, ranging from 20.9% to 43.2% depending on the instrument used, and increased with calendar year. Further research is needed to identify effective strategies for preventing and treating depression among physicians in training

Whole Genome Sequence Analysis of Salmonella Typhi Isolated in Thailand before and after the Introduction of a National Immunization Program.

Vaccines against Salmonella Typhi, the causative agent of typhoid fever, are commonly used by travellers, however, there are few examples of national immunization programs in endemic areas. There is therefore a paucity of data on the impact of typhoid immunization programs on localised populations of S. Typhi. Here we have used whole genome sequencing (WGS) to characterise 44 historical bacterial isolates collected before and after a national typhoid immunization program that was implemented in Thailand in 1977 in response to a large outbreak; the program was highly effective in reducing typhoid case numbers. Thai isolates were highly diverse, including 10 distinct phylogenetic lineages or genotypes. Novel prophage and plasmids were also detected, including examples that were previously only reported in Shigella sonnei and Escherichia coli. The majority of S. Typhi genotypes observed prior to the immunization program were not observed following it. Post-vaccine era isolates were more closely related to S. Typhi isolated from neighbouring countries than to earlier Thai isolates, providing no evidence for the local persistence of endemic S. Typhi following the national immunization program. Rather, later cases of typhoid appeared to be caused by the occasional importation of common genotypes from neighbouring Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. These data show the value of WGS in understanding the impacts of vaccination on pathogen populations and provide support for the proposal that large-scale typhoid immunization programs in endemic areas could result in lasting local disease elimination, although larger prospective studies are needed to test this directly

Returning Individual Research Results from Digital Phenotyping in Psychiatry

Psychiatry is rapidly adopting digital phenotyping and artificial intelligence/machine learning tools to study mental illness based on tracking participants’ locations, online activity, phone and text message usage, heart rate, sleep, physical activity, and more. Existing ethical frameworks for return of individual research results (IRRs) are inadequate to guide researchers for when, if, and how to return this unprecedented number of potentially sensitive results about each participant’s real-world behavior. To address this gap, we convened an interdisciplinary expert working group, supported by a National Institute of Mental Health grant. Building on established guidelines and the emerging norm of returning results in participant-centered research, we present a novel framework specific to the ethical, legal, and social implications of returning IRRs in digital phenotyping research. Our framework offers researchers, clinicians, and Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) urgently needed guidance, and the principles developed here in the context of psychiatry will be readily adaptable to other therapeutic areas

Cognitive Control as a 5-HT1A-Based Domain That Is Disrupted in Major Depressive Disorder

Heterogeneity within Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) has hampered identification of biological markers (e.g., intermediate phenotypes, IPs) that might increase risk for the disorder or reflect closer links to the genes underlying the disease process. The newer characterizations of dimensions of MDD within Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) domains may align well with the goal of defining IPs. We compare a sample of 25 individuals with MDD compared to 29 age and education matched controls in multimodal assessment. The multimodal RDoC assessment included the primary IP biomarker, positron emission tomography (PET) with a selective radiotracer for 5-HT1A [(11C)WAY-100635], as well as event-related functional MRI with a Go/No-go task targeting the Cognitive Control network, neuropsychological assessment of affective perception, negative memory bias and Cognitive Control domains. There was also an exploratory genetic analysis with the serotonin transporter (5-HTTLPR) and monamine oxidase A (MAO-A) genes. In regression analyses, lower 5-HT1A binding potential (BP) in the MDD group was related to diminished engagement of the Cognitive Control network, slowed resolution of interfering cognitive stimuli, one element of Cognitive Control. In contrast, higher/normative levels of 5-HT1A BP in MDD (only) was related to a substantial memory bias toward negative information, but intact resolution of interfering cognitive stimuli and greater engagement of Cognitive Control circuitry. The serotonin transporter risk allele was associated with lower 1a BP and the corresponding imaging and cognitive IPs in MDD. Lowered 5HT 1a BP was present in half of the MDD group relative to the control group. Lowered 5HT 1a BP may represent a subtype including decreased engagement of Cognitive Control network and impaired resolution of interfering cognitive stimuli. Future investigations might link lowered 1a BP to neurobiological pathways and markers, as well as probing subtype-specific treatment targets