Oscillating states of driven Langevin systems in large viscous regime

We employ an appropriate perturbative scheme in the large viscous regime to study oscillating states in driven Langevin systems. We explicitly determine oscillating state distribution of under-damped Brownian particle subjected to thermal, viscous and potential drives to linear order in anharmonic perturbation. We also evaluate various non-equilibrium observables relevant to characterize the oscillating states. We find that the effects of viscous drive on oscillating states are measurable even in the leading order and show that the thermodynamic properties of the system in these states are immensely distinct from those in equilibrium.Comment: 14 pages, 2 figure

Uplift of Himalaya and it’s implications on the evolution of Indian monsoon

Abstract HKT-ISTP 2013 A

Confusing Sterile Neutrinos with Deviation from Tribimaximal Mixing at Neutrino Telescopes

We expound the impact of extra sterile species on the ultra high energy neutrino fluxes in neutrino telescopes. We use three types of well-known flux ratios and compare the values of these flux ratios in presence of sterile neutrinos, with those predicted by deviation from the tribimaximal mixing scheme. We show that in the upcoming neutrino telescopes, its easy to confuse between the signature of sterile neutrinos with that of the deviation from tribimaximal mixing. We also show that if the measured flux ratios acquire a value well outside the range predicted by the standard scenario with three active neutrinos only, it might be possible to tell the presence of extra sterile neutrinos by observing ultra high energy neutrinos in future neutrino telescopes.Comment: 22 pages, version to appear in Phys. Rev.

Morphological, cultural and pathogenic variability in Alternaria brassicae, the causing agent of black spot of rapeseed and mustard

The study on pathogenic diversity of twenty isolates of Alternaria brassicae collected from different locations of Uttarakhand and Central Uttar Pradesh infecting Brassica species (Brassica rapa, Brassica juncea and Eruca sativa) revealed that there was a distinct difference among isolates in terms of mycelial growth, spore length, width, spore beak length and width. The average spore length varied from 21.23?m to 38.13?m with minimum of isolate AUA-19, AUA-43 i.e 21.23?m and maximum of AUA-47 i.e. 38.13?m . The isolates tested on Brassica juncea var.Varuna in green house conditions revealed that all the twenty isolates behaved differently. Among all the isolates, Brassica juncea isolates i.e. AUA-25, AUA-39, AUA-41, AUA-47, AUA-19, AUA-24, AUA-22, AUA-21, AUA-31, AUA-43 and AUA-45 from Uttarakhand, and AUP-29 from Central Uttar Pradesh can be grouped into highly pathogenic with range of Alternaria spot size i.e. 5.03-8.30mm in diameter, while isolate of Eruca sativa i.e. AUA-38 was found least pathogenic with 1.63mm in dia. and eight isolates AUA-18, AUA-20, AUA-23, AUP-28, AUA-32, AUA-33 and AUA-36 were found moderately pathogenic. This study will be useful in developing integrated management strategies of Alternaria leaf spot and breeding programs of oilseed crops (Brassica sp.)

Dietary supplementation with Bifidobacterium longum subsp. infantis (B. infantis) in healthy breastfed infants: study protocol for a randomised controlled trial.

BackgroundThe development of probiotics as therapies to cure or prevent disease lags far behind that of other investigational medications. Rigorously designed phase I clinical trials are nearly non-existent in the field of probiotic research, which is a contributing factor to this disparity. As a consequence, how to appropriately dose probiotics to study their efficacy is unknown. Herein we propose a novel phase I ascending dose trial of Bifidobacterium longum subsp. infantis (B. infantis) to identify the dose required to produce predominant gut colonisation in healthy breastfed infants at 6 weeks of age.Methods/designThis is a parallel-group, placebo-controlled, randomised, double-blind ascending dose phase I clinical trial of dietary supplementation with B. infantis in healthy breastfed infants. The objective is to determine the pharmacologically effective dose (ED) of B. infantis required to produce predominant (>50 %) gut colonisation in breastfed infants at 6 weeks of age. Successively enrolled infant groups will be randomised to receive two doses of either B. infantis or placebo on days 7 and 14 of life. Stool samples will be used to characterise the gut microbiota at increasing doses of B. infantis.DiscussionProbiotic supplementation has shown promising results for the treatment of a variety of ailments, but evidence-based dosing regimes are currently lacking. The ultimate goal of this trial is to establish a recommended starting dose of B. infantis for further efficacy-testing phase II trials designed to evaluate B. infantis for the prevention of atopic dermatitis and food allergies in at-risk children.Trial registrationClinicaltrials.gov # NCT02286999 , date of trial registration 23 October 2014

Human CD4+ Memory T Cells Can Become CD4+IL-9+ T Cells

Background: IL-9 is a growth factor for T- and mast-cells that is secreted by human Th2 cells. We recently reported that IL-4+TGF-β directs mouse CD4+CD25−CD62L+ T cells to commit to inflammatory IL-9 producing CD4+ T cells. Methodology/Principal Findings: Here we show that human inducible regulatory T cells (iTregs) also express IL-9. IL-4+TGF-β induced higher levels of IL-9 expression in plate bound-anti-CD3 mAb (pbCD3)/soluble-anti-CD28 mAb (sCD28) activated human resting memory CD4+CD25−CD45RO+ T cells as compared to naïve CD4+CD25−CD45RA+ T cells. In addition, as compared to pbCD3/sCD28 plus TGF-β stimulation, IL-4+TGF-β stimulated memory CD4+CD25−CD45RO+ T cells expressed reduced FOXP3 protein. As analyzed by pre-amplification boosted single-cell real-time PCR, human CD4+IL-9+ T cells expressed GATA3 and RORC, but not IL-10, IL-13, IFNγ or IL-17A/F. Attempts to optimize IL-9 production by pbCD3/sCD28 and IL-4+TGF-β stimulated resting memory CD4+ T cells demonstrated that the addition of IL-1β, IL-12, and IL-21 further enhance IL-9 production. Conclusions/Significance: Taken together these data show both the differences and similarities between mouse and human CD4+IL9+ T cells and reaffirm the powerful influence of inflammatory cytokines to shape the response of activated CD4+ T cells to antigen