Assessment of GPS radiosonde descent data

Radiosondes are widely used to obtain basic meteorological parameters such as pressure (<i>P</i>), temperature (<i>T</i>), relative humidity (RH) and horizontal winds during the balloon ascent up to the altitude of balloon burst, usually ~ 32–35 km. Data from the radiosondes released from Gadanki (13.5° N, 79.2° E), a tropical station in India, have been collected during the ascent and during the descent as well without attaching any parachute or its equivalent since the year 2008. In the present study an attempt has been made to characterize the radiosonde descent data with the main objective of exploring its usefulness and reliability for scientific purposes. We compared the data obtained during ascent and descent phases of the same sounding. The mean differences in <i>T</i>, RH and horizontal winds between ascent and descent data are found to be small and are sometimes even within the uncertainty of the measurements and/or expected diurnal variation itself. The very good consistency observed between the ascent and the descent data shows that one more profile of the meteorological parameters can be constructed within 3 h of time of balloon launch practically at no additional cost. Further checks are done by utilizing the 3-hourly radiosonde observations collected during the Tropical Tropopause Dynamics campaigns conducted at Gadanki. In the process of checking the consistency between the radiosonde ascent and descent data, several new findings are arrived at and are reported in this study. In general, it has taken more than half an hour for the balloon to reach the ground from the burst altitude. It is also observed that the fall velocity is close to 10 m s⁻¹ near the surface. Finally, it is suggested to record the observations also when the balloon is descending as this information is useful for scientific purposes

Improved silencing properties using small internally segmented interfering RNAs

RNA interference is mediated by small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) that upon incorporation into the RNA-induced silencing complex (RISC) can target complementary mRNA for degradation. Standard siRNA design usually feature a 19–27 base pair contiguous double-stranded region that is believed to be important for RISC incorporation. Here, we describe a novel siRNA design composed of an intact antisense strand complemented with two shorter 10–12 nt sense strands. This three-stranded construct, termed small internally segmented interfering RNA (sisiRNA), is highly functional demonstrating that an intact sense strand is not a prerequisite for RNA interference. Moreover, when using the sisiRNA design only the antisense strand is functional in activated RISC thereby completely eliminating unintended mRNA targeting by the sense strand. Interestingly, the sisiRNA design supports the function of chemically modified antisense strands, which are non-functional within the context of standard siRNA designs. This suggests that the sisiRNA design has a clear potential of improving the pharmacokinetic properties of siRNA in vivo

Locked nucleoside analogues expand the potential of DNAzymes to cleave structured RNA targets

BACKGROUND: DNAzymes cleave at predetermined sequences within RNA. A prerequisite for cleavage is that the DNAzyme can gain access to its target, and thus the DNAzyme must be capable of unfolding higher-order structures that are present in the RNA substrate. However, in many cases the RNA target sequence is hidden in a region that is too tightly structured to be accessed under physiological conditions by DNAzymes. RESULTS: We investigated how incorporation of LNA (locked nucleic acid) monomers into DNAzymes improves their ability to gain access and cleave at highly-structured RNA targets. The binding arms of DNAzymes were varied in length and were substituted with up to three LNA and α-L-LNA monomers (forming LNAzymes). For one DNAzyme, the overall cleavage reaction proceeded fifty times faster after incorporation of two α-L-LNA monomers per binding arm (k(obs )increased from 0.014 min(-1 )to 0.78 min(-1)). CONCLUSION: The data demonstrate how hydrolytic performance can be enhanced by design of LNAzymes, and indicate that there are optimal lengths for the binding arms and for the number of modified LNA monomers

REAL-TIME SENSOR DATA ANALYTICS AND VISUALIZATION IN CLOUD-BASED SYSTEMS FOR FOREST ENVIRONMENT MONITORING

Forest environment monitoring is essential for natural resource management. The development of sensors using across forests enables for the collection massive volumes of data due to technological improvements in the sensor network. Raspberry Pi, a flexible and inexpensive single-board computer, is at the main of the system, connecting and interfacing with the many sensors spread throughout the system. Sensors such as this can collect crucial information about the forest's environment, such as the weather, humidity, and temperature. Data from various sensors can be acquired and processed in real-time due to Raspberry Pi's role as a data collection device. The system uses cloud-based services to overcome the limitations of on-premises data processing and storage. A fusion technique on the cloud platform combines and analyzes data from various sensors after receiving transmissions from Raspberry Pi. The cloud service provides a location for live monitoring and other visualization which greatly help data in real-time. These visuals can be accessed remotely, allowing users to access the forest from any location. Improved comprehension and control of forest environments are possible because of the combination of various technologies for collecting, analyzing, and evaluating sensor data

Intercalator conjugates of pyrimidine locked nucleic acid-modified triplex-forming oligonucleotides: improving DNA binding properties and reaching cellular activities

Triplex-forming oligonucleotides (TFOs) are powerful tools to interfere sequence-specifically with DNA-associated biological functions. (A/T,G)-containing TFOs are more commonly used in cells than (T,C)-containing TFOs, especially C-rich sequences; indeed the low intracellular stability of the non-covalent pyrimidine triplexes make the latter less active. In this work we studied the possibility to enhance DNA binding of (T,C)-containing TFOs, aiming to reach cellular activities; to this end, we used locked nucleic acid-modified TFOs (TFO/LNAs) in association with 5′-conjugation of an intercalating agent, an acridine derivative. In vitro a stable triplex was formed with the TFO-acridine conjugate: by SPR measurements at 37°C and neutral pH, the dissociation equilibrium constant was found in the nanomolar range and the triplex half-life ∼10 h (50-fold longer compared with the unconjugated TFO/LNA). Moreover to further understand DNA binding of (T,C)-containing TFO/LNAs, hybridization studies were performed at different pH values: triplex stabilization associated with pH decrease was mainly due to a slower dissociation process. Finally, biological activity of pyrimidine TFO/LNAs was evaluated in a cellular context: it occurred at concentrations ∼0.1 μM for acridine-conjugated TFO/LNA (or ∼2 μM for the unconjugated TFO/LNA) whereas the corresponding phosphodiester TFO was inactive, and it was demonstrated to be triplex-mediated

Expression Analysis of Novel microRNAs in Rice During High Temperature Stress

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs which play an important role in regulating the genes involved in plant growth and development. Several studies showed that miRNAs are involved in plants response to different kinds of abiotic stresses also. In our previous study, temperature responsive miRNAs were predicted in O.sativa. 27 miRNAs were predicted to be novel in rice using homology search. In continuation to our previous study, expression of 14 novel miRNAs was done in shoot and root of 13 days old seedlings of five different rice cultivars using real time PCR. Expression these miRNAs was analyzed in control and high temperature stress environment. Out of 14 predicted novel miRNAs, two novel miRNAs- miR157a and miR165a showed expression in all five rice cultivars. Interestingly, miR165a showed a differential expression pattern among heat tolerant (N22, IR64 and Rasi) and susceptible (Vandana and Sampada) cultivars suggesting that it might have specific role in high temperature tolerance

Deep sequencing of small RNAs reveals ribosomal origin of microRNAs in Oryza sativa and their regulatory role in high temperature

MicroRNAs are small noncoding regulatory RNAs which control gene expression by mRNA degradation or translational repression. They are significant molecular players regulating important biological processes such as developmental timing and stress response. We report here the discovery of miRNAs derived from ribosomal DNA using the small RNA datasets of 16 deep sequencing libraries of rice. Twelve putative miRNAs were identified based on highly stringent criteria of novel miRNA prediction. Surprisingly, 10 putative miRNAs (mi_7403, mi_8435, mi_12675, mi_4266, mi_4758, mi_4218, mi_8200, mi_4644, mi_14291, mi_16235) originated from rDNA of rice chromosome 9. Expression analysis of putative miRNAs and their target genes in heat tolerant and susceptible rice cultivars in control and high temperature treated seedlings revealed differential regulation of rDNA derived miRNAs. This is the first report of rDNA derived miRNAs in rice which indicates their role in gene regulation during high temperature stress in plants. Further studies in this area will open new research challenges and opportunities to broaden our knowledge on gene regulation mechanisms

Identification of promising lines for yield from IR64/Akihikari Recombinant Inbred Lines under low nitrogen

Not AvailableFor identification of lines with promising yield under low nitrogen (N), a total of 117 Recombinant Inbred Lines (RILs) derived from IR64, an improved and released variety in Akihikari as recurrent parent, were evaluated for two seasons dry (Rabi) 2014 and wet (Kharif) 2015 under field with low and recommended N. The difference between the mean yields of the low and recommended N in both seasons was not significant indicating the differential genotypic response under low and recommended N and the difference between the means of season was about 30%, indicating the role of the season in determining the yield under differential N. Out of 50 promising lines identified for low and recommended N, six promising lines were identified with yields ranging from 11.2 ± 0.65 to 18.3 ± 1.06 (Dry 2014) and 7.1 ± 0.41 to 15.4 ± 0.89 (Wet 2015) under low N suggesting the possibility of evaluation of the mapping populations as a promising strategy for the identification of breeding lines with promising yield under low N.Not Availabl

A large-scale chemical modification screen identifies design rules to generate siRNAs with high activity, high stability and low toxicity

The use of chemically synthesized short interfering RNAs (siRNAs) is currently the method of choice to manipulate gene expression in mammalian cell culture, yet improvements of siRNA design is expectably required for successful application in vivo. Several studies have aimed at improving siRNA performance through the introduction of chemical modifications but a direct comparison of these results is difficult. We have directly compared the effect of 21 types of chemical modifications on siRNA activity and toxicity in a total of 2160 siRNA duplexes. We demonstrate that siRNA activity is primarily enhanced by favouring the incorporation of the intended antisense strand during RNA-induced silencing complex (RISC) loading by modulation of siRNA thermodynamic asymmetry and engineering of siRNA 3′-overhangs. Collectively, our results provide unique insights into the tolerance for chemical modifications and provide a simple guide to successful chemical modification of siRNAs with improved activity, stability and low toxicity