BLOCKING IN PARTIAL DIALLEL CROSSES

Generally the parents are included in the experimental material for combining ability analysis for comparing the performance of crosses with parents and also for calculating heterosis. But unfortunately the parents are ignored for combining ability analysis because of non-availability of analysis procedure. Method of analysis of partial diallel crosses in incomplete blocks for the method -2 of Griffing (1956) has been given

Ignorance based inference of optimality in thermodynamic processes

We derive ignorance based prior distribution to quantify incomplete information and show its use to estimate the optimal work characteristics of a heat engine.Comment: Latex, 10 pages, 3 figure

Informative priors and the analogy between quantum and classical heat engines

When incomplete information about the control parameters is quantified as a prior distribution, a subtle connection emerges between quantum heat engines and their classical analogs. We study the quantum model where the uncertain parameters are the intrinsic energy scales and compare with the classical models where the intermediate temperature is the uncertain parameter. The prior distribution quantifying the incomplete information has the form $\pi(x)\propto 1/x$ in both the quantum and the classical models. The expected efficiency calculated in near-equilibrium limit approaches the value of one third of Carnot efficiency.Comment: Revtex 6 pages, Submitted for Proceedings of Frontiers of Quantum and Mesoscopic Thermodynamics (FQMT-2011) Conferenc

A Frequency Reconfigurable Compact Planar Inverted-F Antenna for Portable Devices

In this paper, a low-profile, compact size, inexpensive, and easily integrable frequency reconfigurable antenna system is proposed. The proposed antenna consists of an inverted-F shape antenna, capacitors, and switching PIN diodes. The designed antenna element is fabricated on easy available and less expensive FR-4 substrate (epsilon(r) = 4.4, tan delta = 0.02). The switching diodes are incorporated within the radiating structure of the antenna design, and by changing the different states of PIN diodes, frequency reconfigurable response is achieved. While adjusting the different states of the diodes, the antenna resonates between 0.841 GHz and 2.12 GHz and covers six different frequency bands. The proposed system has compact size of 44x14x3.2 mm(3). The gain of the antenna is between 1.89 and 2.12 dBi. The measurement results shows the good agreement with simulated results for different key performance parameters. Additionally, the proposed antenna shows omni-directional far-field characteristics for various different frequencies

Computation of electroconductive gyrotactic bioconvection from a nonlinear inclined stretching sheet under non-uniform magnetic field : simulation of smart bio-nano-polymer coatings for solar energy

Incompressible, steady-state, boundary layer magneto-bioconvection of a nanofluid (containing motile gyrotactic micro-organisms) over a nonlinear inclined stretching sheet subjected to non-uniform magnetic field is studied theoretically and numerically. This regime is encountered in novel bio-nano-material electroconductive polymeric processing systems currently being considered for third generation organic solar coatings, anti-fouling marine coatings etc. Buongiorno’s two-component nanofluid model is deployed with the OberbeckBoussinesq approximation. Ohmic dissipation (Joule heating) is included. The governing nonlinear partial differential equations are reduced to a system of ordinary differential equations and appropriate similarity transformations. The normalized system of equations with associated boundary conditions features a number of important dimensionless parameters including magnetohydrodynamic body force parameter (M), sheet inclination (δ), Brownian motion nanoscale parameter (Nb), thermophoresis nanoscale parameter (Nt), Richardson number (Ri=GrRe2 , where Gr is thermal Grashof number and Re is Reynolds number), buoyancy ratio parameter (Nr), Eckert (viscous dissipation) number (Ec), bioconvection Rayleigh number (Rb), Lewis number (Le), bioconvection Lewis number (Lb), Péclet number (Pe), nonlinear stretching parameter (n) are solved with a variational Finite Element Method (FEM). Validation is conducted with earlier published studies of Khan and Pop (2010) for the case of non-magnetic stretching sheet nanofluid flow without bioconvection. Further validation of the general magnetic bioconvection nanofluid model is achieved with a generalized differential quadrature (GDQ) numerical technique developed by Bég and Kuharat (2017). The response of non-dimensional velocity, temperature, nanoparticle concentration, motile microorganism density function, local skin friction coefficient, Nusselt number, Sherwood number, wall motile density gradient function to variation in physically pertinent values of selected control parameters (representative of real solar bio-nano-magnetic materials manufacturing systems) are studied in detail. Interesting features of the flow dynamics are elaborated and new future pathways for extension of the study identified in bio-magneto-nano polymers (BMNPs) for solar coatings

Whole-Exome Sequencing Reveals High Mutational Concordance between Primary and Matched Recurrent Triple-Negative Breast Cancers

PURPOSE Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a molecularly complex and heterogeneous breast cancer subtype with distinct biological features and clinical behavior. Although TNBC is associated with an increased risk of metastasis and recurrence, the molecular mechanisms underlying TNBC metastasis remain unclear. We performed whole-exome sequencing (WES) analysis of primary TNBC and paired recurrent tumors to investigate the genetic profile of TNBC. METHODS Genomic DNA extracted from 35 formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue samples from 26 TNBC patients was subjected to WES. Of these, 15 were primary tumors that did not have recurrence, and 11 were primary tumors that had recurrence (nine paired primary and recurrent tumors). Tumors were analyzed for single-nucleotide variants and insertions/deletions. RESULTS The tumor mutational burden (TMB) was 7.6 variants/megabase in primary tumors that recurred (n = 9); 8.2 variants/megabase in corresponding recurrent tumors (n = 9); and 7.3 variants/megabase in primary tumors that did not recur (n = 15). MUC3A was the most frequently mutated gene in all groups. Mutations in MAP3K1 and MUC16 were more common in our dataset. No alterations in PI3KCA were detected in our dataset. CONCLUSIONS We found similar mutational profiles between primary and paired recurrent tumors, suggesting that genomic features may be retained during local recurrence

Antitumor Activity of Noscapine in Combination with Doxorubicin in Triple Negative Breast Cancer

The aim of this study was to investigate the anticancer activity and mechanism of action of Noscapine alone and in combination with Doxorubicin against triple negative breast cancer (TNBC).TNBC cells were pretreated with Noscapine or Doxorubicin or combination and combination index values were calculated using isobolographic method. Apoptosis was assessed by TUNEL staining. Female athymic Nu/nu mice were xenografted with MDA-MB-231 cells and the efficacy of Noscapine, Doxorubicin and combination was determined. Protein expression, immunohistochemical staining were evaluated in harvested tumor tissues. values of 36.16±3.76 and 42.7±4.3 µM respectively. The CI values (<0.59) were suggestive of strong synergistic interaction between Noscapine and Doxorubicin and combination treatment showed significant increase in apoptotic cells. Noscapine showed dose dependent reduction in the tumor volumes at a dose of 150–550 mg/kg/day compared to controls. Noscapine (300 mg/kg), Doxorubicin (1.5 mg/kg) and combination treatment reduced tumor volume by 39.4±5.8, 34.2±5.7 and 82.9±4.5 percent respectively and showed decreased expression of NF-KB pathway proteins, VEGF, cell survival, and increased expression of apoptotic and growth inhibitory proteins compared to single-agent treatment and control groups.Noscapine potentiated the anticancer activity of Doxorubicin in a synergistic manner against TNBC tumors via inactivation of NF-KB and anti-angiogenic pathways while stimulating apoptosis. These findings suggest potential benefit for use of oral Noscapine and Doxorubicin combination therapy for treatment of more aggressive TNBC