Frequency of natural out-crossing in partially cleistogamous pigeonpea lines in diverse environments

Natural out-crossing is the major cause of loss of varietal purity in pegeonpea [Cajanus cajan (L.) Millsp.]. The frequency of natural out-crossing of partially cleistogamous mutant lines, characterized by a modified keel and filamentous anthers, was studied at two locations in Sri Lanka and three locations in India. Indeterminate growth habit and normal floral morphology were used as dominant markers and the frequency of anural out-crossing was estimated as percentage of the observed hybrid plants. Natural out-crossing in the mutant lines in Sri Lanka ranged from 0.14 to 1.33% in comparison to 6.34 to 19.64% in the controls. In the Indian environments, natural outcrossing ranged from 0.16 to 2.67%. The mutant was higly stable over diverse environments, and may be of considerable economic importance in pigeonpea improvement and seed-production programs

Demonstration of antigenic polymorphism in Plasmodium vivax malaria with a panel of 30 monoclonal antibodies.

A panel of 30 monoclonal antibodies was established against asexual erythrocytic stages of Plasmodium vivax and used to investigate the antigenic composition of the parasite. At least 38 different antigenic polypeptides of P. vivax were characterized by the Western blot technique. The possible location of these antigens, as well as their stage and species specificity, was determined on the basis of the staining patterns produced by these antibodies on air-dried parasites in the indirect immunofluorescence test. Immunofluorescence performed with 30 different monoclonal antibodies on 50 different isolates of P. vivax obtained from patients showed that a high level of antigenic polymorphism prevailed in P. vivax. Only six monoclonal antibodies reacted with epitopes that were represented in more than 80% of parasite isolates, and therefore, appeared to be relatively conserved among different isolates. The other 24 monoclonal antibodies reacted with only 20 to 70% of parasite isolates

Some Properties of Lightning Ground Flashes Observed in and around Sri Lanka, and their Seasonal Variations

Two lightning locating systems were utilised in obtaining the cloud-to-ground flash characteristics in Sri Lanka and in the surrounding area of the Indian Ocean. Over 5,000 flashes were recorded during the year 1999 covering 39 thunder days. The lightning data are presented in terms of polarity, multiplicity, and first return stroke peak current. The percentage of positive flashes observed in this study is fairly lower than that of temporal regions but when compared with similar studies in tropical regions there is no clear difference. Out of the 3 % of the positive flashes reported, 95 % were single stroke. On the contrary only 56 % of the reported negative flashes were single stroke. The highest percentage of single stroke negative flashes was 74 % in June and lowest was 38 % in February. The monthly variation of the percentage of positive flashes ranged from 17 % in June to 1 % in September. The highest monthly average multiplicity of negative flashes of 2.6 was recorded in February and for all other months it was below 2. The monthly averages of the negative first stroke peak currents ranged from about 39kA in August to about 56kA in September. The data obtained in the study also clearly indicates the bias in DF data for longer distances. 1

Institute of Physics- Sri Lanka Activity of cloud-to-ground lightning observed in Sri Lanka and in surrounding area of the Indian Ocean

Activity of cloud-to-ground lightning flashes observed during the monsoon thunderstorms over Sri Lanka with a lightning locating system consisting of two direction finders (DF) is presented. The Northeast monsoon produced over 884 cloud-to-ground flashes with a peak lightning rate of 96 flashes per hour whereas Southwest monsoon produced 3,294 flashes with a peak rate of 104 flashes per hour. A relative flash density maximum of 198 flashes per 28×28 km 2 was observed over Ratnapura area (6.68N, 80.40E). The percentage of positive flashes and average peak lightning current values for negative flashes are found to be 6.4% and 36 kA respectively for the Northeast monsoon period and 1.7 % and 40 kA respectively for the Southwest monsoon period for the flashes that struck within 10-250 km range. No significant difference in average peak lightning current values were observed for the negative and positive flashes in both monsoons. 1

Xenopus tropicalis genome re-scaffolding and re-annotation reach the resolution required for in vivo ChIA-PET analysis

10.1371/journal.pone.0137526PLoS ONE109e013752

Fusion transcripts and transcribed retrotransposed loci discovered through comprehensive transcriptome analysis using Paired-End diTags (PETs)

10.1101/gr.6018607Genome Research176828-838GERE

The Real-World Cost-Effectiveness of Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery Versus Stenting in High-Risk Patients: Propensity Score-Matched Analysis of a Single-Centre Experience

Background: There are limited economic evaluations comparing coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) and percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for multi-vessel coronary artery disease (MVCAD) in contemporary, routine clinical practice. Objective: The aim was to perform a cost-effectiveness analysis comparing CABG and PCI in patients with MVCAD, from the perspective of the Australian public hospital payer, using observational data sources. Methods: Clinical data from the Melbourne Interventional Group (MIG) and the Australian and New Zealand Society of Cardiac and Thoracic Surgeons (ANZSCTS) registries were analysed for 1022 CABG (treatment) and 978 PCI (comparator) procedures performed between June 2009 and December 2013. Clinical records were linked to same-hospital admissions and national death index (NDI) data. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs) per major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular event (MACCE) avoided were evaluated. The propensity score bin bootstrap (PSBB) approach was used to validate base-case results. Results: At mean follow-up of 2.7 years, CABG compared with PCI was associated with increased costs and greater all-cause mortality, but a significantly lower rate of MACCE. An ICER of $55,255 (Australian dollars)/MACCE avoided was observed for the overall cohort. The ICER varied across comparisons against bare metal stents (ICER$25,815/MACCE avoided), all drug-eluting stents (DES) ($56,861), second-generation DES ($42,925), and third-generation of DES ($88,535). Moderate-to-low ICERs were apparent for high-risk subgroups, including those with chronic kidney disease ($62,299), diabetes ($42,819), history of myocardial infarction ($30,431), left main coronary artery disease ($38,864), and heart failure ($36,966). Conclusions: At early follow-up, high-risk subgroups had lower ICERs than the overall cohort when CABG was compared with PCI. A personalised, multidisciplinary approach to treatment of patients may enhance cost containment, as well as improving clinical outcomes following revascularisation strategies

Direct Numerical Simulations of Temporally Decelerating Turbulent Pipe Flows

Direct numerical simulations of temporally decelerating turbulent pipe flows are performed to examine the effects of temporal deceleration on the turbulence characteristics. The temporal decelerations are applied with three different values of the decelerating parameter f = |d U (b) /dt| based on the bulk mean velocity (U (b) ) to introduce weak, mild and strong decelerations, and the flow rates for all cases are linearly decreased with time. In order to highlight the variation of the turbulent statistics for an unsteady flow, five independent simulations of steady flows are conducted along with the Reynolds number. An inspection of the mean velocity profiles shows that the log law in the overlap region is established with a slight downward shift for the weakly decelerating flow, whereas this is not the case for the strong decelerating flow. A comparison of the Reynolds stress profiles between the unsteady and steady flows displays that the turbulence is highly intensified with an increase of f due to the enhanced vortical structures and that the radial propagation of the turbulence is delayed. An analysis of the turbulent production term of the Reynolds stress budget equation shows that frozen of the strong second-quadrant Reynolds shear stress event plays an important role in delaying the response of the turbulent energy with a decrease of the Reynolds number, leading to an increase in the Reynolds stress. In addition, spectral decomposition of the streamwise Reynolds normal stress into small- and large-scale components reveals that the enhanced turbulence throughout the entire flow for unsteady flows is a direct consequence of the delay of strong large-scale structures, although small-scale structures throughout the wall layer adjust rapidly to temporal deceleration