Exogenous melatonin enhances salt stress tolerance in tomato seedlings

Melatonin (N-acetyl-5-methoxytryptamine) is an essential molecule which regulates plant growth and development and alleviates the damaging effects of abiotic stresses. To evaluate the important functions of melatonin in response to salinity stress, the effects of exogenous melatonin on the antioxidant system and growth of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) under 150 mM NaCl stress were investigated. The application of 100 μM melatonin compensated the growth inhibition caused by salt-stress. Melatonin treated seedlings had an increased fresh and dry masses of shoots and roots. The application of 1 - 200 µM melatonin notably enhanced the relative chlorophyll content (SPAD index), root characteristics, and gas exchange in tomato seedlings subjected to salt stress compared to seedlings treated with salt stress alone. Moreover, melatonin pretreatment minimized accumulation of reactive oxygen species and improved activities of antioxidative enzymes including catalase, superoxide dismutase, glutathione reductase, and ascorbate peroxidase.We would like to thank Wang Zhiwei from the College of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, Hainan University, Haikou for his kind guidance and laboratory equipment. This program was financially supported by the Innovative Team Program of Hainan Natural Science Foundation (2018CXTD334) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41871041)

A randomised study of evaluation of antiulcerogenic activity of quercetin in rats

Background: Peptic ulcer is very common disease. Peptic ulcer results probably due to an imbalance between aggressive factors (acid, pepsin, H. pylori) and defensive factors (gastric mucus, prostaglandins and bicarbonate secretion). Whatever may be the cause of peptic ulcer, it is the gastric acid that prevents ulcer healing and maintain the ulcer. Therefore, most of the drugs available for treatment of peptic ulcer either neutralize the secreted acid or decrease the acid secretion.Methods: The study was conducted on albino rats (Wistar) of 200-250g and maintained under standard conditions (room temperature 24-27oC and humidity 60-65%) with 12h light and dark cycle. The food in the form of dry pellets (Amrut Lab., hyd) and water were available ad libitum. The animal experiments were approved by the ethics committee of the institute.Results: In pyloric ligation model, the rats pre-treated with quercetin showed highly significant protection (p <0.001) when compared to control group and significant protection when compared to ranitidine pre-treated group (p <0.05). In indomethacin model, both quercetin and ranitidine pre-treated groups showed significant protection when compared to control group (p <0.01).Conclusions: In conclusion, it appears that quercetin possess anti-ulcerogenic principles like flavanoids, phenolic compound and caratinoid. These phytoconstituents provides protection against gastric mucosal damage induced by pylorus ligation, aspirin and ethanol, through inhibition of gastric acid, pepsin, histamine and free radical and stimulation of mucus secretion

Eco-biology of Mastacembelus pancalus (Ham.) and their distribution in different water bodies

The eco-biological of the spiny eel, Mastacembelus pailcalus in the river Padma, adjacent flood plains and ponds were influenced by various physico-chemical factors such as water temperature, water transparency, pH, dissolved oxygen, free carbon dioxide and alkalinity. Flood plain areas are the best habitat for the M. pancalus with maximum abundance

Observations on the herbivore diversity in a managed tea plantation and population dynamics of major insect pest in tea with regional weather

Globally, the pattern of incidence of insect pest complex has been changing in all agroecosystem due to climate change and variability. It is essential to know the incidence pattern of insect pest complex in tea for adopting successful management practice. An investigation was carried out to know the present incidence pest scenario of tea at Assam during March 2019 to Feb 2020. The results show the presence of four mite species belonging to single order and 4 families, and a total of 33 insect species belonging to 7 orders and 27 families. Among them red spider mite, tea mosquito bug, whitefly, leafhopper complex and thrips were recorded as important sucking pests. Leaf roller, tea tortrix, and flush worm were recorded as significant chewing pests. Observation shows that the tea whitefly, leaf hopper, thrips, leaf roller and flush worm has become a serious threat to the tea cultivation. The population dynamics of red spider mite and tea mosquito bug recorded a maximum incidence of 30.27 mites/ leaf and 27.17 infested flush/ bush respectively, during the month of November. Both insects were negatively regulated by maximum temperature and rainfall however relative humidity positively influenced population dynamics, as revealed by the correlation coefficient. This study paves way for the development of a new plant protection module to manage the emerging insect pests in tea plantation

Learning disentangled representations of point clouds via alpha complexes for 3D shape classification

1 online resource (viii, 50 pages) : illustrations (some colour), charts (some colour), graphs (some colour)Includes abstract.Includes bibliographical references (pages 45-50).Three-dimensional computer vision tasks have gained much attention in recent times, both in academic and industrial research. One of the key tasks of 3D computer vision is object classification. Various approaches based on the representations (e.g., point clouds, voxels, multi-view images and graphs) of the objects have been put forward for object classification. Recently, few works have used graph neural network for point cloud classification and have achieved promising results. In this thesis, we explore the use of a dual-stream graph neural network combining the alpha complexes constructed on the feature and non-feature regions of the point cloud object. The disentangled representation of the point cloud into feature and non-feature regions is achieved through a gradient structure analysis procedure and a Corner and Edge detection technique. Our experiments on ModelNet40 benchmark dataset indicate that the proposed graph-based method achieves higher or comparable accuracy to other state-of-the-art methods

Modified u-shaped resonator as decoupling structure in mimo antenna

This paper presents an isolation enhancement of two closely packed multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antenna system using a modified U-shaped resonator. The modified U-shaped resonator is placed between two closely packed radiating elements resonating at 5.4 GHz with an edge to edge separation distance of 5.82 mm (lambda(degrees)/10). Through careful adjustment of parametric modelling, the isolation level of -23 dB among the densely packed elements is achieved. The coupling behaviour of the MIMO elements is analysed by accurately designing the equivalent circuit model in each step. The antenna performance is realized in the presence and absence of decoupling structure, and the results shows negligible effects on the antenna performance apart from mutual coupling. The simple assembly of the proposed modified U-shaped isolating structure makes it useful for several linked applications. The proposed decoupling structure is compact in nature, suppress the undesirable coupling generated by surface wave and nearby fields, and is easy to fabricate

Misconceptional views about epilepsy exist across social class system of society

Epilepsy affects over 1% of population worldwide. Studies have shown that although our understanding about epilepsy has come a long way, misconceptions about its etiology and treatment exist in rural slums. However, no study has been conducted to see whether such misconceptions exist in middle and upper socio-economic class. This study aims to explore the existence of misconceptions and social stigma in the middle and upper socio-economic class. Materials and Methods: We conducted a survey-based study about epilepsy on 227 participants, belonging to middle and upper socio-economic class. Results: The symptoms of generalized tonic-clonic seizures were correctly described by participants. However, magic, superstition and ‘jin’ were considered as the etiology by some. Incorrect treatment options, like shoe sniffing and ‘taweez’ etc., were also mentioned. Social stigmas regarding sharing information about epilepsy and marrying epileptics also existed. Discussion: Our study shows that although the general understanding about epilepsy was correct in majority of participants belonging to the middle upper socio-economic class, it was restricted to generalized tonic clonic seizures. Key misconceptions regarding the etiology and treatment of epilepsy and social stigma associated with it did exist. These findings emphasize the need to educate all segments of the society about epileps