The Influence of Social Media on Collective Action in the Context of Digital Activism: An Affordance Approach

This study examines how social media influence collective action in the context of digital activism. This is achieved by using the concept of media affordance as a theoretical lens and applying it to the collective purposes of network building and synthesis, as suggested by mobilization theory. Employing latent class logit regression, we tested the proposed hypotheses based on data from 384 digital activism events in 100 countries, classifying success in digital activism as either partial or complete success. The results show that when the purpose of digital activism is network building, media with greater affordances for promoting environmental shaping were positively related to the success of digital activism. Conversely, when the purpose of digital activism is synthesis, media with greater affordances for promoting contagion were positively related to the success of digital activism

Identification, characterization and utilization of unigene derived microsatellite markers in tea (Camellia sinensis L.)

Background: Despite great advances in genomic technology observed in several crop species, the availability of molecular tools such as microsatellite markers has been limited in tea (Camellia sinensis L.). The development of microsatellite markers will have a major impact on genetic analysis, gene mapping and marker assisted breeding. Unigene derived microsatellite (UGMS) markers identified from publicly available sequence database have the advantage of assaying variation in the expressed component of the genome with unique identity and position. Therefore, they can serve as efficient and cost effective alternative markers in such species. Results: Considering the multiple advantages of UGMS markers, 1,223 unigenes were predicted from 2,181 expressed sequence tags (ESTs) of tea (Camellia sinensis L.). A total of 109 (8.9%) unigenes containing 120 SSRs were identified. SSR abundance was one in every 3.55 kb of EST sequences. The microsatellites mainly comprised of di (50.8%), tri (30.8%), tetra (6.6%), penta (7.5%) and few hexa (4.1%) nucleotide repeats. Among the dinucleotide repeats, (GA)n.(TC)n were most abundant (83.6%). Ninety six primer pairs could be designed form 83.5% of SSR containing unigenes. Of these, 61 (63.5%) primer pairs were experimentally validated and used to investigate the genetic diversity among the 34 accessions of different Camellia spp. Fifty one primer pairs (83.6%) were successfully cross transferred to the related species at various levels. Functional annotation of the unigenes containing SSRs was done through gene ontology (GO) characterization. Thirty six (60%) of them revealed significant sequence similarity with the known/putative proteins of Arabidopsis thaliana. Polymorphism information content (PIC) ranged from 0.018 to 0.972 with a mean value of 0.497. The average heterozygosity expected (HE) and observed (Ho) obtained was 0.654 and 0.413 respectively, thereby suggesting highly heterogeneous nature of tea. Further, test for IAM and SMM models for the UGMS loci showed excess heterozygosity and did not show any bottleneck operating in the tea population. Conclusion: UGMS markers identified and characterized in this study provided insight about the abundance and distribution of SSR in the expressed genome of C. sinensis. The identification and validation of 61 new UGMS markers will not only help in intra and inter specific genetic diversity assessment but also be enriching limited microsatellite markers resource in tea. Further, the use of these markers would reduce the cost and facilitate the gene mapping and marker-aided selection in tea. Since, 36 of these UGMS markers correspond to the Arabidopsis protein sequence data with known functions will offer the opportunity to investigate the consequences of SSR polymorphism on gene function

Delivery of Bull Dog Calf from a Hydroallantoic Murrah Buffalo

An 8 years old Murrah buffalo in its 5th party was presented with the history of 9 month of gestation and sudden bilateral abdominal distension since last 25 days. Animal was 7 anorectic with pale mucus membrane and had staggering gait. Per vaginum examination revealed closed cervix with intact cervical seal. By transrectal palpation only the fluid in the uterus could be palpable. Based on history and clinical examination findings, it was diagnosed as hydroallantois. Parturition was induced using cloprostenol and dexamethasone. Beside this an intracervical injection of closprostenol was also given on 6 o’clock and 12 o’clock position (250 µg each) of external os to hasten the cervical dilation. A dead bulldog calf was removed with manual traction after 26 hours of initial treatment. It was concluded that the cloprostenol and dexamethasone are effective for the induction of parturition in animals suffering from hydroallantois provided fluid from the allantoic sac is removed slowly.

Evaluation of Human Leukocyte Antigen-B27 Expression in Patients with Spondylopathy/Spondylitis by Flowcytometry

Introduction: The role of immune mediated injury in pathogenesis of Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS) is well established. HLA B27, a Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) class I molecule is one of the major genetic risk factors associated with the disease. Various techniques are used for testing HLA-B27 which includes Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) based tests, Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) and flowcytometry. Flowcytometry has gained popularity due to ease of procedure, shortened turnaround time and cost-effectiveness. Aim: The aim of the present study was to assess the sensitivity and specificity of flowcytometry for HLA-B27 detection, taking PCR assay as the gold standard along with its association with demographic, clinicopathological and radiological parameters. Materials and Methods: This was a prospective study conducted in Department at Pathology of Shri Guru Ram Rai Institute of Medical and Health Sciences, Dehradun, India, for a period of 18 months from January 2020 to June 2021. The study included 51 patients for which HLA-B27 typing was done cases by flowcytometry and Sequence Specific Allele (SSA) PCR/Real time PCR on peripheral blood samples. The association of HLA-B27 with clinical features {Inflammatory Back Pain (IBP), arthritis, psoriasis, uveitis, dactylitis, Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), cervicitis, urethritis, diarrhoea) along with MRI findings (sacroiliitis)}, laboratory findings {C-reactive protein and Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate (ESR)} was evaluated. The performance analysis parameters of flowcytometry were evaluated both by excluding and including the cases in grey zone taking PCR as gold standard. Statistical testing was conducted with SPSS 20.0. Chi-square test or Fisher’s-exact test were used and a p-value of less than 0.05 was taken as significant. Results: A significant association of HLA-B27 was seen only with IBP (p-value= 0.001) and sacroiliitis (p-value= 0.03). Of the 22 (43.1%) patients positive for HLA-B27 by PCR, 18(81.8%) patients were positive while the remaining 4(18.1%) were in grey zone by flowcytometry. Of the 29(56.9%) patients testing negative by PCR, 27(93.1%) patients were negative, one (3.4%) was in grey zone and one (3.4%- false positive) tested positive for HLA-B27 by flowcytometry. Sensitivity and specificity of flowcytometry for detection of HLA-B27 was found to be 100% and 96.4% respectively when grey zone cases were excluded. Conclusion: The study brings to light that flowcytometry is a fairly specific and sensitive method for HLA-B27 detection with a high Negative Predictive Value (NPV) (100%) and Positive Predictive Value (PPV) (94.7%). In the COVID-19 era, it reiterates the importance of flowcytometry for HLA-B27 especially when PCR is overburdened

Synthesis of Metal Nanoparticals: A Biological Prospective for Analysis

Abstract. Nanotechnology is the design, characterization, production and application of structures, devices and systems by controlling shape and size at the nanoscale. It involves the production, manipulation and use of materials ranging in size from less than a micron to that of individual atoms from not only chemical approaches but also biological approaches. A wide range of nanophysics and nanostructures particles are being fabricated globally with the aim of developing clean, nontoxic and eco-friendly technologies. Use of ambient biological resources pathway such as microorganism and plant extract in this area of science is rapidly gaining importance owing to its growing success and simplicity. Currently, simple prokaryotes to complex eukaryotic organism's plants are used for the fabrication of MNPs and reaction solution was measured using UV-visible spectrophotometer showed a sharp plasmon peak at ~ 435 nm for silver, at ~ 330nm for lead, at ~ 410nm for cadmium and at ~ 523 for gold confirming the presence of metal nanoparticles. For deep analysis we are using different tools of characterization such as scanning probe microscopy (SPM), TEM, SEM and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Further studies are required on precise and specific analysis of nanoparticles' production, including the nature and activity of diverse sizes of particles to optimize their production. This article presents a review of the ambient biological systems that may support and revolutionize the art of fabrication of metal nanoparticles from living material and the development of an updated knowledge base

Transition Metal Oxides and Their Composites for Photocatalytic Dye Degradation

Transition metal oxides (TMO) and their carbon composites have become a glittering upcoming material science candidate. Their interesting properties, such as their meticulous morphology, plentiful availability, flexible surface chemistry along with outstanding mechanical, thermal, and optical properties make them ideal for efficient photocatalytic dye degradation. An extensive range of TMO, and their carbon composites are reviewed highlighting the progression and opportunities for the photocatalytic degradation of dyes. Here, we concisely describe the numerous techniques to extend the optical absorption of these TMOs involving dye sensitization, metal doping, etc. Besides this, an overview of all aspects of dye degradation along with the prevailing challenges for future utilization and development of such nanocomposites towards highly efficient dye degradation system are also reported