Contextualising Teaching and Learning in Rural Primary Schools: Using Agricultural Experience - Volume 2

Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession,

Application of PRA technique for field problem identification

This paper deals with the application of participatory rural appraisal technique for identification of agricultural field problems of Maroorpatti village . The economic importance of problems was also worked out

Biophysics at the coffee shop: lessons learned working with George Oster

Over the past 50 years, the use of mathematical models, derived from physical reasoning, to describe molecular and cellular systems has evolved from an art of the few to a cornerstone of biological inquiry. George Oster stood out as a pioneer of this paradigm shift from descriptive to quantitative biology not only through his numerous research accomplishments, but also through the many students and postdocs he mentored over his long career. Those of us fortunate enough to have worked with George agree that his sharp intellect, physical intuition and passion for scientific inquiry not only inspired us as scientists but also greatly influenced the way we conduct research. We would like to share a few important lessons we learned from George in honor of his memory and with the hope that they may inspire future generations of scientists.Comment: 22 pages, 3 figures, accepted in Molecular Biology of the Cel

Initial Virologic Response and HIV Drug Resistance Among HIV-Infected Individuals Initiating First-line Antiretroviral Therapy at 2 Clinics in Chennai and Mumbai, India

Human immunodeficiency virus drug resistance (HIVDR) in cohorts of patients initiating antiretroviral therapy (ART) at clinics in Chennai and Mumbai, India, was assessed following World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines. Twelve months after ART initiation, 75% and 64.6% of participants at the Chennai and Mumbai clinics, respectively, achieved viral load suppression of <1000 copies/mL (HIVDR prevention). HIVDR at initiation of ART (P <.05) and 12-month CD4 cell counts <200 cells/μL (P <.05) were associated with HIVDR at 12 months. HIVDR prevention exceeded WHO guidelines (≥70%) at the Chennai clinic but was below the target in Mumbai due to high rates of loss to follow-up. Findings highlight the need for defaulter tracing and scale-up of routine viral load testing to identify patients failing first-line AR

A prospective study of effect of amniotic fluid index less than 5 at term on perinatal outcome

Background: To study the effect of oligohydramnios in pregnancy and its value in predicting adverse perinatal outcome.Methods: A prospective case control study of pregnancy outcome in 100 cases with ultrasound diagnosis of oligohydramnios at term compared with 100 controls with no oligohydramnios. The study was done over a period of 3 years at SSMC Tumkur, India.Results: Oligohydramnios at term is associated with poor perinatal outcome. Significant increase in abnormal foetal heart rate, meconium stained liquor, delivery by cesarean section, low Apgar intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR), increased admissions to  neonatal intensive-care unit (NICU) were seen in study group, however perinatal mortality was more in study group but not statistically significant (P=0.31)Conclusions: AFI <5 at term is an important fetal surveillance methods to identify poor perinatal outcome and thereby makes possible intervention so as to reduce perinatal morbidity and mortality

Role of Doppler indices of umbilical and middle cerebral artery in prediction of perinatal outcome in preeclampsia

Background: Hypertension which develops de novo in pregnancy appears to be unique to human and continue to be a major cause of reported perinatal mortality. The aim and objectives of the study was to evaluate the diagnostic value of Umbilical and Middle cerebral artery Doppler in predicting the perinatal outcome in preeclampsia.Methods: A prospective study at Sri Siddhartha Medical College and Hospital between October2013-September2015 on 80pregnant women with preeclampsia at &gt;30weeks gestation. Studies of fetal vessels were performed using a pulsed Doppler ultrasound. Resistance Index (RI), Pulsatility Index (PI) and systolic/diastolic ratio (S/D) were measured in umbilical artery (UA) and Middle cerebral artery (MCA) and perinatal outcomes were monitored and statistically analyzed.Results: Out of 80 cases studied, 25 cases showed adverse perinatal outcome, among which 6 cases with perinatal death, 13 cases had low APGAR at 5minutes. 6 cases had NICU admission.Conclusions: Color Doppler has an important role in antepartum fetal surveillance in preeclampsia which can detect fetal compromise at an early stage. In our study pulsatility index of umbilical artery and ratio of MCA/UA PI was more sensitive than other parameters with PPV 78%

T cell–derived inducible nitric oxide synthase switches off TH17 cell differentiation

RORγt is necessary for the generation of TH17 cells but the molecular mechanisms for the regulation of TH17 cells are still not fully understood. We show that activation of CD4+ T cells results in the expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS). iNOS-deficient mice displayed enhanced TH17 cell differentiation but without major effects on either TH1 or TH2 cell lineages, whereas endothelial NOS (eNOS) or neuronal NOS (nNOS) mutant mice showed comparable TH17 cell differentiation compared with wild-type control mice. The addition of N6-(1-iminoethyl)-l-lysine dihydrochloride (L-NIL), the iNOS inhibitor, significantly enhanced TH17 cell differentiation, and S-nitroso-N-acetylpenicillamine (SNAP), the NO donor, dose-dependently reduced the percentage of IL-17–producing CD4+ T cells. NO mediates nitration of tyrosine residues in RORγt, leading to the suppression of RORγt-induced IL-17 promoter activation, indicating that NO regulates IL-17 expression at the transcriptional level. Finally, studies of an experimental model of colitis showed that iNOS deficiency results in more severe inflammation with an enhanced TH17 phenotype. These results suggest that NO derived from iNOS in activated T cells plays a negative role in the regulation of TH17 cell differentiation and highlight the importance of intrinsic programs for the control of TH17 immune responses

Quantum-symmetric equivalence is a graded Morita invariant

We show that if two m m -homogeneous algebras have equivalent graded module categories, then they are quantum-symmetrically equivalent, that is, there is a monoidal equivalence between the categories of comodules for their associated universal quantum groups (in the sense of Manin) which sends one algebra to the other. As a consequence, any Zhang twist of an m m -homogeneous algebra is a 2-cocycle twist by some 2-cocycle from its Manin’s universal quantum group