Antioxidative Metabolism in the Seedlings of Pigeonpea in Response to Lead and Cadmium Stress

Effects of Pb and Cd stress on antioxidative systems were studied in pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan (L.) Millspaugh) cultivars T21 and LRG30. The seeds were grown under different concentrations of Pb and Cd for 8-days and activities of enzymes including superoxide dismutase, peroxidase, catalase, glutathione reductase, malate dehydrogenase were assayed. In addition, quantitative estimations of ascorbic acid and glutathione were also carried out in control and Pb and Cd treatments of pigeonpea seedlings. The activities of antioxidative enzymes showed a marked increase in response to heavy metal stress. However the ascorbic acid and glutathione content were decreased by increasing heavy metal concentrations. This study revealed that varietal differences play an important role in the plant response to heavy metals.Key words: Antioxidants, cadmium, heavy metal stress, lead, pigeonpea.B. Sujatha and B. Priyadarshini. Antioxidative Metabolism in the Seedlings of Pigeonpea in Response to Lead and Cadmium Stress J Phytol 3/5 (2011) 41-50

Software Test Automation with Robot Framework

Testing is a crucial activity in Software Development Process. It is to examine & modify source code. Effective Testing produces high quality software. To improve the quality and the efficiency of software testing, software automation test has been used widely during the software testing. This paper discusses the advantages of testing tools in software test automation, with the Robot framework

Vital Signs Monitoring in Human Body

Vital signs monitoring system embeds the data acquisition of vital signs such as ECG, respiration rate, temperature and glucose level in the blood of the patient. In this work, a system is designed for acquiring and monitoring several vital body parameters. These signals are transmitted to the user through Wi-Fi. The device receives the body temperature reading from standard thermometer and the glucose level in the blood from standard Glucometer via Bluetooth. The ECG, Respiration rate, Temperature readings and Glucose level readings are processed using ARM microprocessor and transmitted to the receiver such as Personal computer/Mobile/Tab through Wi-Fi module. It is a wearable battery equipped device which allows the user to operate effortlessly. It also includes the Beeper/Audio codec to signal or alert the user when abnormal ECG or respiration rate is sensed. All these can also be visualized through LCD display. DOI: 10.17762/ijritcc2321-8169.15057

Automated Testing of Infotainment System

Infotainment system is one of the most complex Electronic Control Unit (ECU) which is integrated with number of ECU?s in the car. Infotainment system is getting more features in recent years because of which the testing of these systems has become very complex. Testing of these systems with very high accuracy is a difficult task. This paper presents a method of testing the various features of Infotainment System with very high Accuracy and less Human Effort

Diagnosing genital tuberculosis in female infertility by clinical, histopathological, culture and polymerase chain reaction techniques: an evaluative study

Background: In developing countries, the genital tract tuberculosis is one of the common causes of tubal damage leading to infertility. Objective of present study was to evaluate the efficacy of Histopathological examination (HPE), culture and Polymerase Chain Reaction Technique in diagnosing genital tuberculosis.Methods: It was a prospective evaluative study. 173 women were subjected to investigations for tuberculosis. AFB smear, culture and HPE examination and PCR testing were carried out on 173 endometrial samples, 81 POD fluid and 52 urine samples. Based on the clinical profile and laparoscopic findings a diagnostic criterion was derived to suspect GTB and the specific diagnostic tests were evaluated against this diagnostic criterion.Results: Based on the diagnostic criteria, tuberculosis was suspected in 61 of the 153 cases.   AFB smear was positive in 4.6%, culture was positive in 3.5%, HPE positive in 4.0% and PCR was positive in 28.1% of cases. On evaluating against the diagnostic criteria, the sensitivity of PCR, HPE, culture and AFB smear were; 44.3%, 8.2%, 6.6% and   6.7% respectively.  PCR was positive in 18 of the 92 cases in whom GTB was not suspected. The PCR results were negative in 34 of the 61 clinically suspected cases.Conclusions: This study has shown that HPE, AFB smear and culture have low pick up rates. PCR is found to be useful in confirming diagnosis in clinically suspected cases. False negative PCR was an important limitation in this study

HHT Based Analysis of Non Stationary Signals and Metal Structures

Hilbert-Huang Transform (HHT) is an innovative data-processing technique for analyzing non stationary and nonlinear signals. The analysis of these signals is to transform the time-domain data to frequency versus time data instead of the amplitude versus frequency.This paper investigates techniques to apply HHT for locating the instantaneous frequency in a signal. This signal processing technique helps in identifying several frequency components which are the indicators of the problems present in the system under test. This can be applied for analyzing aircrafts’ body structure, biomedical signals and seismic signals. Monitoring of civil structures such as bridges and buildings is critical for long-term operational cost and safety of aging structures. Applying HHT to these signals obtained from the various sensors placed in the vicinity of event or entity, it is possible to identify the problems

Efficacy of drugs in controlling microalbuminuria of diabetic nephropathy

Background: Beneficial effect in reducing microalbuminuria of diabetic nephropathy with angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor and angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARB) is proven. This study has directly compared the renoprotective effects of ARB and ACE inhibitors in persons with type-2 diabetes.Methods: In this prospective, double-blind, controlled trial, 100 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus were chosen and randomly assigned to either receive ACE inhibitor (ramipril 5 mg, 50 patients) or ARB (losartan 50 mg, 50 patients). The endpoint was a reduction in 24 hrs urine microalbuminuria after a period of 3 months treatment. Results: At the end of 3 months treatment, the mean reduction of 24 hrs urine microalbuminuria in the ramipril group was 25 mg as compared to 38 mg in the losartan group; (t value=1.11, p=0.27). There was no statistical difference in the mean reduction when compared between the two groups. Significant reduction of blood pressure especially systolic blood pressure was noted in the losartan group as compared to those who received ramipril.Conclusion: Losartan was not inferior to ramipril in providing renoprotection in subjects with type 2 diabetes and early nephropathy. Losartan showed a significant reduction in systolic blood pressure, though not much reduction was seen with ramipril. Despite this, both drugs have shown a reduction in microalbuminuria, which supports the fact that reduction in microalbuminuria is independent of the antihypertensive action of ramipril or losartan

Optimization and Performance Evaluation of Single Axis Arduino Solar Tracker

The use of clean energy (Solar, Wind etc) in other words, renewable energy is becoming more important for lowering global warming as the world becomes hotter as a result of global warming . The aim of this paper is to consume the maximum solar energy through solar panel. A Solar Tracker is a device onto which solar panels are built-in which tracks the motion of the sun ensuring that maximum amount of sunlight strikes the panels all over the day. Power output from a solar cell will be high when it is facing the sun. The components used for its construction are servo motor, Arduino Mega (microcontroller) and LDR. Light Dependent Resistors (LDRs) are used for sunlight detection. The active sensors continuously monitor the sunlight and alternate the panel towards the direction of the sun. Four light dependent resistors (LDR) have been used to trace the synchronization of sunlight by detecting brightness level of sunlight. For rotation, two standard servo motors are been used. The effectiveness of output power will increase when compared with the traditional model(Fixed solar panel)

Augmented annotation and orthologue analysis for Oryctolagus cuniculus: Better Bunny

Abstract Background The rabbit is an important model organism used in a wide range of biomedical research. However, the rabbit genome is still sparsely annotated, thus prohibiting extensive functional analysis of gene sets derived from whole-genome experiments. We developed a web-based application that provides augmented annotation and orthologue analysis for rabbit genes. Importantly, the application allows comprehensive functional analysis through the use of orthologous relationships. Results Using data extracted from several public bioinformatics repositories we created Better Bunny, a database and query tool that extensively augments the available functional annotation for rabbit genes. Using the complete set of target genes from a commercial rabbit gene expression microarray as our benchmark, we are able to obtain functional information for 88 % of the genes on the microarray. Previously, functional information was available for fewer than 10 % of the rabbit genes. Conclusions We have developed a freely available, web-accessible bioinformatics tool that enables investigators to quickly and easily perform extensive functional analysis of rabbit genes (http://cptweb.cpt.wayne.edu). The software application fills a critical void for a wide range of biomedical research that relies on the rabbit model and requires characterization of biological function for large sets of genes

Maternal pregnancy associated plasma protein-A (PAPP-A) and uterine artery Doppler changes as predictors of pre-eclampsia: a prospective observational study from a teaching hospital in Mysore, Karnataka, India

Background: Hypertensive disorder affects 10-12% of pregnancies. Identifying women, who are at risk is conducive to prompt gestational management. PAPP-A is a protein complex produced by the developing trophoblasts. Low levels of PAPP-A at 10–14 weeks is a marker of impaired placentation and a smaller placental mass. Doppler imaging permits non-invasive evaluation of the uteroplacental circulation and is invaluable in the management of high-risk pregnancies. The uterine artery Doppler screening identifies patients at risk for developing preeclampsia. To study the association of PAPP-A and the uterine artery Doppler changes as predictor of pre-eclampsia in pregnant women at 11-14 weeks of gestation.Methods: This was a prospective study of 150 pregnant women presenting at 11-14 weeks of gestation for a prenatal check-up. After considering the inclusion and exclusion criteria, serum samples for PAPP-A were assayed. Ultrasound Doppler was used to obtain uterine artery flow velocity waveforms and mean pulsatility index and resistance index of uterine arteries were calculated. Cases were followed up till term and observed for development of pre-eclampsia.Results: 48.6% had low serum PAPP-A levels, in which 77% developed PE. The Mean PI and RI is 2.34±1.16 and 0.58±0.1 respectively. 30% women with abnormal PI values and 24% of women with abnormal RI values developed PE.Conclusions: The combination of maternal history with low serum PAPP-A levels and abnormal uterine artery Doppler at 11-14 weeks can be used as predictor of pre-eclampsia