An Assessment of Accessibility and Connectivity of Some Important Places in Kolhapur City of Maharashtra: A Road Network Analysis

There are various methods to find out the accessibility and connectivity of road networks. The method that used to determine the accessibility and connectivity is quantitative or qualitative; sometime it includes both quantitative and qualitative aspects of transportation network. The degree to which any place is served by transportation network (on which it stands) defines the accessibility of that place. And the connectivity is the ratio between total number of arcs and total number of nodes in transportation network. The connectivity is directly proportional to the total number of arcs and inversely proportional to the total number of nodes. If the degree of connectivity within a transportation network is higher; then it means that transportation system will be more efficient. Therefore, the present paper attempts to access the accessibility and connectivity of road networks in Kolhapur city. The accessibility of study area is determined by the shortest path matrix. The connectivity is determined by the beta (?) index given by K.J. Kansky. After analyzing the accessibility and connectivity of study area, easily accessible and shortest paths are also suggested in order to reach the important centers very easily

MORPHOLOGICAL, PATHOGENIC AND MOLECULAR CHARACTERIZATION OF Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. ciceri ISOLATES FROM MAHARASHTRA, INDIA

Vascular wilt caused by Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. ciceri (FOC) is considered as one of the major factors of low productivity in chickpea. The present study was conducted to determine the morphological, pathogenic and random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) variability of twenty isolates of FOC collected from the Maharashtra State of India, along with four reference isolates corresponding to four known FOC races. Pathogenicity of each isolate was confirmed using the wilt susceptible chick-pea genotype JG-62. The mycelia of all the isolates were septate, hyaline and profusely branched. All the FOC isolates produced micro- and macro-conidia in pure culture within seven days after inoculation. Based on the abilities of the isolates to cause dis-ease on an international set of chickpea differentials and genetic variability estimated by the RAPD technique, these 24 isolates were grouped into two pathotypes, i.e. pathotype I and pathotype II

Consumer use of mobile banking (M-Banking) in Saudi Arabia: Towards an integrated model

YesMobile banking is one of the most promising technologies that has emerged in recent years and could prove to have considerable value to both banks and customers. Thus, this study recognises the need to test the main factors that could predict the use of mobile banking as well as how using such a system could contribute to both customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. The conceptual model of this study combines two models (i.e. UTAUT2 and the D&M IS Success Model). A questionnaire survey was conducted to collect the required data from convenience sampling of Saudi bank customers. The main factors – performance expectancy, price value, facilitating conditions, hedonic motivation, habit, system quality and service quality – were found to have a significant impact on actual use behaviour. This study was cross-sectional, therefore future studies should implement longitudinal studies in order to re-collect the findings. Further, this study adopted convenience sampling of Saudi M-Banking users. This may adversely impact the issue of generalisability to the whole population. The gap in the M-Banking literature in Saudi Arabia would be bridged by proposing a comprehensive conceptual model that scrupulously clarifies the use of M-Banking from the perspective of Saudi users. Furthermore, this study would consider the adoption of numeric data in order to inferentially analyse them using SEM. This in turn would assist in generalising the findings to the whole Saudi population

Effects of acceleration on the collision of particles in the rotating black hole spacetime

We study the collision of two geodesic particles in the accelerating and rotating black hole spacetime and probe the effects of the acceleration of black hole on the center-of-mass energy of the colliding particles and on the high-velocity collision belts. We find that the dependence of the center-of-mass energy on the acceleration in the near event-horizon collision is different from that in the near acceleration-horizon case. Moreover, the presence of the acceleration changes the shape and position of the high-velocity collision belts. Our results show that the acceleration of black holes brings richer physics for the collision of particles.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures, The corrected version accepted for publication in EPJ

Chromosome-specific potential intron polymorphism markers for large-scale genotyping applications in pomegranate

Despite the availability of whole genome assemblies, the identification and utilization of gene-based marker systems has been limited in pomegranate. In the present study, we performed a genome-wide survey of intron length (IL) markers in the 36,524 annotated genes of the Tunisia genome. We identified and designed a total of 8,812 potential intron polymorphism (PIP) markers specific to 3,445 (13.40%) gene models that span 8 Tunisia chromosomes. The ePCR validation of all these PIP markers on the Tunisia genome revealed single-locus amplification for 1,233 (14%) markers corresponding to 958 (27.80%) genes. The markers yielding single amplicons were then mapped onto Tunisia chromosomes to develop a saturated linkage map. The functional categorization of 958 genes revealed them to be a part of the nucleus and the cytoplasm having protein binding and catalytic activity, and these genes are mainly involved in the metabolic process, including photosynthesis. Further, through ePCR, 1,233 PIP markers were assayed on multiple genomes, which resulted in the identification of 886 polymorphic markers with an average PIC value of 0.62. In silico comparative mapping based on physically mapped PIP markers indicates a higher synteny of Tunisia with the Dabenzi and Taishanhong genomes (>98%) in comparison with the AG2017 genome (95%). We then performed experimental validation of a subset of 100 PIP primers on eight pomegranate genotypes and identified 76 polymorphic markers, with 15 having PIC values ≥0.50. We demonstrated the potential utility of the developed markers by analyzing the genetic diversity of 31 pomegranate genotypes using 24 PIP markers. This study reports for the first time large-scale development of gene-based and chromosome-specific PIP markers, which would serve as a rich marker resource for genetic variation studies, functional gene discovery, and genomics-assisted breeding of pomegranate

Inflation with a stringy minimal length, reworked

In this paper we revisit the formulation of scalar field theories on de Sitter backgrounds subject to the generalized uncertainty principle (GUP). The GUP arises in several contexts in string theory, but is most readily thought of as resulting from using strings as effective probes of geometry, which suggests an uncertainty relation incorporating the string scale $l_s$. After reviewing the string theoretic case for the GUP, which implies a minimum length scale $l_s$, we follow in the footsteps of Kempf and concern ourselves with how one might write down field theories which respect the GUP. We uncover a new representation of the GUP, which unlike previous studies, readily permits exact analytical solutions for the mode functions of a scalar field on de Sitter backgrounds. We find that scalar fields cannot be quantized on inflationary backgrounds with a Hubble radius $H^{-1}$ smaller than the string scale, implying a sensibly stringy (as opposed to Planckian) cutoff on the scale of inflation resulting from the GUP. We also compute $(H l_s)^2$ corrections to the two point correlation function analytically and comment on the future prospects of observing such corrections in the fortunate circumstance our universe is described by a very weakly coupled string theory.Comment: To appear in JHEP. Sub-section discussing how our approach avoids certain ordering ambiguities adde

T and S dualities and The cosmological evolution of the dilaton and the scale factors

Cosmologically stabilizing radion along with the dilaton is one of the major concerns of low energy string theory. One can hope that T and S dualities can provide a plausible answer. In this work we study the impact of S and T duality invariances on dilaton gravity. We have shown various instances where physically interesting models arise as a result of imposing the mentioned invariances. In particular S duality has a very privileged effect in that the dilaton equations partially decouple from the evolution of the scale factors. This makes it easy to understand the general rules for the stabilization of the dilaton. We also show that certain T duality invariant actions become S duality invariance compatible. That is they mimic S duality when extra dimensions stabilize.Comment: Corrected a misleading interpretation of the S duality transformation and a wrong comment on d=10. I thank A.Kaya for pointing this out to me in time. So the new version is dealing with d=10 only. Added references and corrected some typos. Minor re-editing. Omitted a section for elaboration in a further study. Corrected further typo

An integrated model for m-banking adoption in Saudi Arabia

YesPurpose The purpose of this paper is to identify and examine the most important factors that could predict the Saudi customer’s continued intention towards adoption of mobile banking. Design/methodology/approach The proposed conceptual model was based on the technology acceptance model (TAM) and task-technology fit (TTF) model. This is also expanded by considering two additional factors: perceived privacy and perceived security. By using a self-administered questionnaire, the data were collected from a convenience sample of Saudi banking customers from different parts of Saudi Arabia. Findings The main results based on structural equation modelling analyses supported the impact of perceived privacy, perceived security, perceived usefulness and TTF on the customers’ continued intention to use mobile banking. Research limitations/implications The moderation influence of the demographic factors (i.e. age, gender, income level, educational level) was not tested. The data were also collected using a self-report questionnaire; however, it would be more accurate to utilise more statistics from the bank database about the users of m-banking. Originality/value This study represents a worthy attempt to test such novel technology (m-banking) in the KSA where there is a scarcity of literature. A considerable theoretical contribution was also made by integrating the TTF model with the TAM in addition to consider privacy and security in one single model. Moreover, considering both perceived privacy and security in the current model creates an accurate picture about the adoption of m-banking especially as there are a limited number of m-banking studies that have considered privacy and security alongside the TTF model and TAM in the same model

FANCD2 re-expression is associated with glioma grade and chemical inhibition of the Fanconi Anaemia pathway sensitises gliomas to chemotherapeutic agents.

Brain tumours kill more children and adults under 40 than any other cancer. Around half of primary brain tumours are glioblastoma multiforme (GBMs) where treatment remains a significant challenge. GBM survival rates have improved little over the last 40 years, thus highlighting an unmet need for the identification/development of novel therapeutic targets and agents to improve GBM treatment. Using archived and fresh glioma tissue, we show that in contrast to normal brain or benign schwannomas GBMs exhibit re-expression of FANCD2, a key protein of the Fanconi Anaemia (FA) DNA repair pathway, and possess an active FA pathway. Importantly, FANCD2 expression levels are strongly associated with tumour grade, revealing a potential exploitable therapeutic window to allow inhibition of the FA pathway in tumour cells, whilst sparing normal brain tissue. Using several small molecule inhibitors of the FA pathway in combination with isogenic FA-proficient/deficient glioma cell lines as well as primary GBM cultures, we demonstrate that inhibition of the FA pathway sensitises gliomas to the chemotherapeutic agents Temozolomide and Carmustine. Our findings therefore provide a strong rationale for the development of novel and potent inhibitors of the FA pathway to improve the treatment of GBMs, which may ultimately impact on patient outcome

Features of heavy physics in the CMB power spectrum

The computation of the primordial power spectrum in multi-field inflation models requires us to correctly account for all relevant interactions between adiabatic and non-adiabatic modes around and after horizon crossing. One specific complication arises from derivative interactions induced by the curvilinear trajectory of the inflaton in a multi-dimensional field space. In this work we compute the power spectrum in general multi-field models and show that certain inflaton trajectories may lead to observationally significant imprints of `heavy' physics in the primordial power spectrum if the inflaton trajectory turns, that is, traverses a bend, sufficiently fast (without interrupting slow roll), even in cases where the normal modes have masses approaching the cutoff of our theory. We emphasise that turning is defined with respect to the geodesics of the sigma model metric, irrespective of whether this is canonical or non-trivial. The imprints generically take the form of damped superimposed oscillations on the power spectrum. In the particular case of two-field models, if one of the fields is sufficiently massive compared to the scale of inflation, we are able to compute an effective low energy theory for the adiabatic mode encapsulating certain relevant operators of the full multi-field dynamics. As expected, a particular characteristic of this effective theory is a modified speed of sound for the adiabatic mode which is a functional of the background inflaton trajectory and the turns traversed during inflation. Hence in addition, we expect non-Gaussian signatures directly related to the features imprinted in the power spectrum.Comment: 41 pages, 6 figures, references updated, minor modifications. Version to appear in JCAP. v4: Equations (4.28) and (4.30) and Figures 5 and 6 correcte