Effect of Swallow Therapy on Swallowing Ability among Patients with Cerebrovascular Accident at Sri Ramakrishna Hospital, Coimbatore

An interventional study was conducted to evaluate the effect of swallow therapy on swallowing ability among patients with cerebrovascular accident at Sri Ramakrishna Hospital, Coimbatore. Quasiexperimental one group pretest post test design is adopted for the study. Purposive samples of 4 were selected. Ongoing assessment of swallowing ability was done using the Mann Assessment of Swallowing Ability (MASA, 2004). The data were analyzed with descriptive and Swallow Therapy 8 inferential statistical methods. The result shows that there is a significant difference in the swallowing ability before and after the swallow therapy. The study concluded that there is an effect of swallow therapy in increasing the swallowing ability among patients with cerebrovascular accident

First Record of African Angel Shark, Squatina africana (Chondricthyes: Squatinidae) in Indian Waters, Confirmed by DNA Barcoding

A single specimen of African angel shark, Squatina africana (Regan, 1908) was caught off Lakshadweep (11°5′47″ N; 72°2′21″ E), India in September 2016. The present study is a new report of the above species from Indian waters. In addition to classical methodologies, DNA barcoding was also adopted for species identification. The 650 bp-long region of mitochondrial Cytochrome Oxidase subunit I was sequenced to obtain the DNA barcode for the species under study. The sequence divergence value within species and between species was calculated using MEGA V.7.0, where Kimura 2 parameter (k2p) model was chosen as a distance model. The average k2p distance separating individuals within species was 1.76% and inter specific divergence was 8–10%. A neighbour joining network was constructed to provide a graphical representation of divergence between the species. Using the maximum identity with Gen Bank database, K2P divergence distance, NJ-network and traditional morphological approach, we could identify the given specimen as a mature male African angel shark

Impact of MgII interstellar medium absorption on near-ultraviolet exoplanet transit measurements

Ultraviolet (UV) transmission spectroscopy probes atmospheric escape, which has a significant impact on planetary atmospheric evolution. If unaccounted for, interstellar medium absorption (ISM) at the position of specific UV lines might bias transit depth measurements, and thus potentially affect the (non-)detection of features in transmission spectra. Ultimately, this is connected to the so called ``resolution-linked bias'' (RLB) effect. We present a parametric study quantifying the impact of unresolved or unconsidered ISM absorption in transit depth measurements at the position of the MgII h&k resonance lines (i.e. 2802.705 {\AA} and 2795.528 {\AA} respectively) in the near-ultraviolet spectral range. We consider main-sequence stars of different spectral types and vary the shape and amount of chromospheric emission, ISM absorption, and planetary absorption, as well as their relative velocities. We also evaluate the role played by integration bin and spectral resolution. We present an open-source tool enabling one to quantify the impact of unresolved or unconsidered MgII ISM absorption in transit depth measurements. We further apply this tool to a few already or soon to be observed systems. On average, we find that ignoring ISM absorption leads to biases in the MgII transit depth measurements comparable to the uncertainties obtained from the observations published to date. However, considering the bias induced by ISM absorption might become necessary when analysing observations obtained with the next generation space telescopes with UV coverage (e.g. LUVOIR, HABEX), which will provide transmission spectra with significantly smaller uncertainties compared to what obtained with current facilities (e.g. HST).Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRA

Expression analysis of rubber biosynthetic pathway genes in Hevea brasiliensis

Hevea brasiliensisis, the primary commercial source of natural rubber (cis-1, 4-polyisoprene), is a fundamental raw material used for manufacturing a wide range of industrial and domestic rubber products in automobile, medical and defense industries. In Hevea, biosynthesis of rubber takes place through mevalonate pathway. Clonal variations in the productivity of rubber may be the result of variations in the activities of the enzymes involved in rubber biosynthesis in different Hevea clones. In this study, expression of 14 genes corresponding to enzymes/regulatory proteins involved in rubber biosynthesis was analyzed in high and low latex yielding clones of Hevea brasiliensis. The level of expression of HbSUT3, a sucrose transporter and enzymes related to the synthesis of rubber such as hydroxymethyl glutaryl-CoA synthase (hmgs), HMG-CoA reductase (hmgr) and mevalonate diphosphate decarboxylase (MVD) were found to be significantly higher in high rubber yielding clones compared to the low rubber yielding clones. The higher expression of these genes might result in an increased supply of IPP, the isoprenoid monomer, required for rubber biosynthesis. Expression of genes in the downstream rubber biosynthetic pathway such as FPPS, RuT and REF2 were also found to be significantly higher in high rubber yielding clones than low yielders. The results suggest that high rubber yield is associated with high expression of these genes and these genes can be used as markers for high yield potential in Hevea

Sequence analysis of VP1, VP2 and VP3 genes of Infectious Bursal Disease Virus from a field outbreak in Kerala, India

Infectious bursal disease (IBD), caused by infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV), is one among the top five infectious diseases of poultry that discernibly affects commercial poultry industry. The mutating viral genome of IBDV accounts for disease outbreaks in fields even after following stringent biosecurity measures and vaccination protocols. The present study is focussed on the characterisation of an IBDV field virus, IBD/CVAS/6, from a vaccinated flock in Kerala, based on the sequence analysis of VP1, VP2 and VP3 genes. Bursa of Fabricius samples collected from a 26 days-old chicken flock from a suspected outbreak in the Thiruvananthapuram district of Kerala formed the subject of the study. Reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) targeting VP2 gene confirmed the presence of virus in the sample. The sequence analysis revealed that the deduced amino acid sequence of VP1 gene of IBD/CVAS/6 was 100 per cent homologous with an attenuated very virulent vaccine strain of Israel, mb and the VP2 gene was 100 per cent homologous with mb and Ventri IBDV plus vaccine strain of India. The analysis of VP3 gene also revealed the similarity with vaccine strains except for a single variation S745N in its deduced amino acid sequence. The phylogenetic analysis of IBD/CVAS/6 revealed it’s close relation with mb, Ventri IBDV plus and a very virulent strain of Israel, ks. The characteristic virulent marker amino acid motifs ‘SWSASGS’ and ‘TDN’ were present in the VP2 and VP1 genes, respectively. Hence, the study revealed that the obtained virus has emerged from an attenuated very virulent vaccine strain and hence the present study is a report of involvement of the intermediate plus vaccine strain in field outbreaks in Kerala. The role of S745N in virulence cannot be accounted from the present study, however the involvement of IBD/CVAS/6 in the outbreak might be related to S745N variation or variations in other genes of the virus or due to the inefficiency of the vaccine or vaccination protocol followed, which can be defined only after further studies. The present report is the first characterisation study in Kerala focussing on the analysis of VP1, VP2 and VP3 genes of IBDV

Investigation on behaviour of reinforced geopolymer concrete slab under repeated low velocity impact loading

ABSTRACT: Geopolymers are a novel class of materials that are formed by the polymerisation of silicon, aluminum, and oxygen species to form an amorphous 3-D framework structure. Concrete made out of these binder system possess several advantages compared to conventional ordinary Portland cement concretes (OPCCs). Substantial research work has been reported on the impact behaviour of reinforced concrete structural elements whereas similar studies have not been reported on GPCs. This paper describes the experimental and numerical investigation on the behaviour of reinforced GPC slabs under repeated impact loading. The aim is to study the impact behavior of reinforced GPC slabs with and without steel fibers and compare with that of OPCC slabs. The overall dimensions of the GPC slab are 1m x 1m, with 60mm thickness. Finite element modeling of slab was also carried out using ANSYS software. The Solid 65 element and link 8 elements were used to model the concrete slab and Reinforcement respectively. Displacement boundary conditions are applied at the supports. The measured impact load time history is used to excite the structure. Transient dynamic analysis was carried out. The response was obtained in terms of deflection time histories. The peak acceleration of analytical studies showed a pattern similar to that obtained from experimental results. The failure crack pattern of plain and steel fibre reinforced slabs predicted by Finite Element analyses are compared with experimental results. The studies emphasize that by proper design, GPCC can be used in lieu of OPCC for structural components subjected to low velocity impact