Root Extraction in Finite Abelian Groups

We formulate the Root Extraction problem in finite Abelian $p$-groups and then extend it to generic finite Abelian groups. We provide algorithms to solve them. We also give the bounds on the number of group operations required for these algorithms. We observe that once a basis is computed and the discrete logarithm relative to the basis is solved, root extraction takes relatively fewer "bookkeeping" steps. Thus, we conclude that root extraction in finite Abelian groups is no harder than solving discrete logarithms and computing basis

Chickpea: Crop Improvement under Changing Environment Conditions

Chickpea, Cicer arietinum, is the second most important food legume in Asia after dry beans. Chickpea is an important source of protein, minerals, fiber, and vitamins in the diets of millions of people in Asia and Africa. Chickpea is also rich in essential amino acid lysine and deficient in sulfur-containing amino acids, methionine, and cysteine. Chickpea is mainly used for human consumption and only a small proportion is used as feed. It meets 80% of its N requirement from symbiotic nitrogen fixation and leaves substantial amount of residual nitrogen for the subsequent crops. It is a hardy crop well adapted to stress environments and a boon to the resource-poor marginal farmers in the tropics and subtropics. Average yields of chickpea are nearly 780 kg/ha, although farmers can harvest more than 2.5 tons/ha. The crop potential is nearly 5 tons/ha. Abiotic (drought, heat, and cold stress) and biotic (pod borers – Helicoverpa armigera and Spodoptera exigua, aphids – Aphis craccivora, leaf miner – Liriomyza cicerina, and bruchid – Callosobruchus chinensis) and diseases (Fusarium wilt, Ascochyta blight, Botrytis gray mold, and root rots) are the major stresses that constrain chickpea production in farmers fields. The major challenge is to reduce the losses due to biotic and abiotic constraints, and close the yield gap through crop improvement and crop management in future. A combination of productivity enhancement through varietal improvement, including biotechnological interventions, and integrated crop management is needed to realize the yield potential of this crop for improving food and nutritional security. Considerable progress has been made in developing high-yielding chickpea varieties to increase the productivity of this crop, while conventional breeding has been successfully used to breed disease-resistant varieties, little progress has been made in developing pod borer and drought-tolerant varieties, as the levels of resistance available in the cultivated germplasm are quite low. Wild relatives of chickpea have high levels of resistance to pod borer. Marker-assisted selection and genetic engineering of chickpea are being exploited to increase the levels of resistance/tolerance to these constraints and in future

Sharp-1 regulates TGF-β signaling and skeletal muscle regeneration

10.1242/jcs.136648Journal of Cell Science1273599-608JNCS

Defected Ground Structure toward Cross Polarization Reduction of Microstrip Patch Antenna with Improved Impedance Matching

A new approach based on the incorporation of Z-shaped defected ground structure (DGS) in microstrip antenna (MSA) for improving impedance matching and cross polarization (XP) performances is proposed in this paper. Through detail analysis of the surface current densities, and input impedance, the proposed DGS is integrated into a rectangular MSA (RMSA) to realize flat relative XP reduction of 22 dB in the H-plane around broadside angular range of ±60 degrees. Further, an equivalent circuit model (ECM) for the proposed antenna is introduced by considering the mutual coupling in between the DGS and patch and the model is verified using circuit-system-EM co-simulation software, Advanced Design System (ADS). A prototype has been fabricated and tested for the validation of simulated results and it shows good agreement with each other. The antenna operates over 2.32-2.58 GHz with good far-field radiation characteristics and a peak gain of 2.8 dBi at the resonating frequency 2.4 GHz. Hence, the proposed design can be useful for the IEEE 802.11b applications

Insights into solvation effects, spectroscopic, Hirshfeld surface Analysis, reactivity analysis and anti-Covid-19 ability of doxylamine succinate: Experimental, DFT, MD and docking simulations

In the present work, the experimental and theoretical reports on electronic and vibrational features of doxylamine succinate (DXS) are presented. The vibrational spectra were documented and wavenumbers were obtained theoretically assigned by means of potential energy distribution. In DXS, N-H…O and C-H…O intermolecular hydrogen bonding contacts are associated with O…H/H…O interactions. Solvation free energy (SFE) for DXS in water, methanol and DMSO, are −10.67, −10.95 and −10.61 eV/mol respectively. Interpretation of electrostatic potential, electron localization function (ELF), localized orbital locator (LOL) as well as atoms-in-molecules (AIM) analysis is also performed. Presence of non-covalent interactions is evident from the non-covalent interaction (NCI) isosurface. Molecular docking and simulations were used to determine the binding energy of DXS in order to investigate its potential activity against the SARS-CoV-2 protease

Case Report Common Iliac Artery Thrombosis following Pelvic Surgery Resulting in Kidney Allograft Failure Successfully Treated by Percutaneous Transluminal Angioplasty with Balloon-Expandable Covered Stent

We report the case of a 66-year-old woman who developed acute kidney allograft failure due to thrombotic occlusion of the common iliac artery after hysterectomy requiring emergent allograft rescue. She underwent percutaneous transluminal angioplasty with endovascular balloon expandable covered stent graft placement in the right common iliac artery. Although there are a handful of case reports of acute limb ischemia secondary to acute common iliac artery thrombosis, this is the first case reported in the literature resulting in successful kidney allograft rescue following pelvic surgery. Background Arterial thrombosis causing late acute kidney allograft failure is extremely rare. Pelvic or abdominal surgeries may place kidney allografts implanted in the pelvis at risk for injury Case Presentation A 66-year-old woman with end-stage renal disease in the setting of type-2 diabetes mellitus, hypertension, kidney stones, and renal artery stenosis had received an unrelated living-donor kidney transplant 7 years earlier. She also had a history of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, coronary artery disease, heart failure with preserved left ventricular ejection fraction, and atrial fibrillation (on rivaroxaban, an orally active direct factor Xa inhibitor) for which she had undergone atrioventricular nodal ablation and insertion of a permanent pacemaker. She presented with excessive uterine bleeding. The workup demonstrated a pelvic mass and fluidfilled uterus. She underwent an elective hysteroscopy with dilation and curettage, which revealed pyometra. The intraoperative course was complicated by bleeding and uterine perforation requiring total abdominal hysterectomy and bilateral salpingooophorectomy. She lost 300 mL of blood and received intraoperatively 3.2 liters of crystalloids. There was no documented intraoperative hypotension. Pulses were equally palpable in both lower extremities before and after surgery. The patient developed anuria in the immediate postoperative period, and furosemide (40 mg) was administered intravenously with no response. The patient was reintubated for acute respiratory failure, and her anuria persisted. Investigations The urology service was initially consulted, and the patient underwent a cystoscopy with retrograde ureterogram, which revealed normal iodinated contrast filling and caliber o

Computer-Aided Imaging Analysis of Probe-Based Confocal Laser Endomicroscopy With Molecular Labeling and Gene Expression Identifies Markers of Response to Biological Therapy in IBD Patients: The Endo-Omics Study

Abstract Background We aimed to predict response to biologics in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) using computerized image analysis of probe confocal laser endomicroscopy (pCLE) in vivo and assess the binding of fluorescent-labeled biologics ex vivo. Additionally, we investigated genes predictive of anti-tumor necrosis factor (TNF) response. Methods Twenty-nine patients (15 with Crohn’s disease [CD], 14 with ulcerative colitis [UC]) underwent colonoscopy with pCLE before and 12 to 14 weeks after starting anti-TNF or anti-integrin α4β7 therapy. Biopsies were taken for fluorescein isothiocyanate–labeled infliximab and vedolizumab staining and gene expression analysis. Computer-aided quantitative image analysis of pCLE was performed. Differentially expressed genes predictive of response were determined and validated in a public cohort. Results In vivo, vessel tortuosity, crypt morphology, and fluorescein leakage predicted response in UC (area under the receiver-operating characteristic curve [AUROC], 0.93; accuracy 85%, positive predictive value [PPV] 89%; negative predictive value [NPV] 75%) and CD (AUROC, 0.79; accuracy 80%; PPV 75%; NPV 83%) patients. Ex vivo, increased binding of labeled biologic at baseline predicted response in UC (UC) (AUROC, 83%; accuracy 77%; PPV 89%; NPV 50%) but not in Crohn’s disease (AUROC 58%). A total of 325 differentially expressed genes distinguished responders from nonresponders, 86 of which fell within the most enriched pathways. A panel including ACTN1, CXCL6, LAMA4, EMILIN1, CRIP2, CXCL13, and MAPKAPK2 showed good prediction of anti-TNF response (AUROC >0.7). Conclusions Higher mucosal binding of the drug target is associated with response to therapy in UC. In vivo, mucosal and microvascular changes detected by pCLE are associated with response to biologics in inflammatory bowel disease. Anti-TNF–responsive UC patients have a less inflamed and fibrotic state pretreatment. Chemotactic pathways involving CXCL6 or CXCL13 may be novel targets for therapy in nonresponders

Hepatic steatosis risk is partly driven by increased de novo lipogenesis following carbohydrate consumption

Background: Diet is a major contributor to metabolic disease risk, but there is controversy as to whether increased incidences of diseases such as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease arise from consumption of saturated fats or free sugars. Here, we investigate whether a sub-set of triacylglycerols (TAGs) were associated with hepatic steatosis and whether they arise from de novo lipogenesis (DNL) from the consumption of carbohydrates. Results: We conduct direct infusion mass spectrometry of lipids in plasma to study the association between specific TAGs and hepatic steatosis assessed by ultrasound and fatty liver index in volunteers from the UK-based Fenland Study and evaluate clustering of TAGs in the National Survey of Health and Development UK cohort. We find that TAGs containing saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids with 16-18 carbons are specifically associated with hepatic steatosis. These TAGs are additionally associated with higher consumption of carbohydrate and saturated fat, hepatic steatosis, and variations in the gene for protein phosphatase 1, regulatory subunit 3b (PPP1R3B), which in part regulates glycogen synthesis. DNL is measured in hyperphagic ob/ob mice, mice on a western diet (high in fat and free sugar) and in healthy humans using stable isotope techniques following high carbohydrate meals, demonstrating the rate of DNL correlates with increased synthesis of this cluster of TAGs. Furthermore, these TAGs are increased in plasma from patients with biopsy-confirmed steatosis. Conclusion: A subset of TAGs is associated with hepatic steatosis, even when correcting for common confounding factors. We suggest that hepatic steatosis risk in western populations is in part driven by increased DNL following carbohydrate rich meals in addition to the consumption of saturated fat