Derivation of Design Wind and Wave Parameters Considering Climate Change

Source: ICHE Conference Archive - https://mdi-de.baw.de/icheArchiv

Chemotaxonomic studies on Tragia involucrata Linn.

In the present work a common plant in and around trichy, botanically equated as Tragia involucrata Linn belonging to the family Euphorbiaceae, has been studied from chemotaxonomic point of view. The study explained the identification and characterization of the compounds isolated from this plant. The chloroform extract of T. involucrata L was subjected to FT-IR and GC-MS to identify the compounds present in it. The compounds identified were Ar- Tumerone; 9, 10 Anthracenedione 1,8-dihydroxy-3-methyl; Friedelane-3-one. The therapeutic potentials of the active principles identified were already assessed. Ar-Tumerone was already reported from Curcuma longa L and the antibacterial and wound healing activity of this compound was well established. Chemistry of T. involucrata L reported in this present work can contribute significantly in providing chemical evidence in support of its inclusion in the family Euphorbiaceae and assigning the position to the genus Tragia.© 2009 International Formulae Group. All rights reserved.Keywords: Tragia involucrata, Chemotaxonomic studies, Ar-Tumerone

Studies on Heterosis and Combiing Ability for Yield and Quality Attributing Traits in Chilli (Capsicum Annum L.)

Seven lines and four testers were crossed in line x tester mating design to evolve twenty-eight hybrids. These hybrids were studied along with their eleven parents for estimation of relative heterosis, heterobeltiosis and standard heterosis for Fruififteen characters. Observations were recorded on fifteen economically important traits viz., days to 50 percent flowering, plant height at maturity, plant spread, fruit length, fruit width, fruit pedicel length, placenta length, number of fruits per plant, fruit weight, number of seeds per fruit, 1000 seed weight, fruit yield per plant, ascorbic acid content, capsaicin content and capsanthin content. The hybrids L4 x T3 (LCA 625 × G-4) is the best hybrids followed by L7 x T4 (Pant C-1 × LCA 678) and L7 x T2 (Pant C-1 × K1) recorded significant standard heterosis for fruit yield per plant. Selection of hybrids for heterosis breeding based on per se performance, sca effects and standard heterosis will be more effective. It may be concluded that based on all the three criteria, the following three hybrids L4 x T3 (LCA 625 × G-4) and L7 x T4 (Pant C-1 × LCA 678) and L7 x T2 (Pant C-1 × K1) were identified as the superior hybrids, among the twenty-eight hybrids evaluated

Educational Introspections of Medical Students Post Disability Competencies Training: A Qualitative Study

Background: Despite the substantial presence of persons with disabilities (PWD) in the population, they face many barriers in healthcare. Competency-Based Medical Education (CBME) is increasingly used to address these gaps. Aims and Objective: This study assesses the impact of disability competencies training on medical students' attitudes towards PWD. It aims to explore new perspectives, identify attitudinal shifts, evaluate training effectiveness, and promote solution-oriented learning. Materials and Methods: Five Focus Group Discussions (FGD) with 8 participants each, a series of themes related to the understanding of disability and empathy were explored. The participants, who had undergone training in disability competencies. The FGDs were facilitated by trained moderators and analysed employing thematic analysis and generating tree maps. Results: Key themes evolved from the students' new perspectives towards PWD, which included Inclusion and Responsibility, Empathy and Understanding, Managing patients with disabilities, Equity and rights, and Acceptance. Themes also emerged regarding the impact of training, revealing an Attitudinal Shift, Engagement and Interaction, Personal Impact, and Solution-Oriented Learning. Conclusion: Disability competency training significantly transforms medical students' attitudes, fostering a more inclusive, empathetic approach in healthcare. This shift is crucial for integrating disability competencies into medical education, especially in developing countrie

A Predictive Model for Mining Opinions of an Educational Database Using Neural Networks

Assessing the performance of an educational institute is a prime concern in an educational scenario. Educational Data Mining (EDM) considers several tasks originated from an educational context. One of the tasks identified is providing feedback for supporting instructors, administrators, teachers, course authors in decision making and thereby enable them to take appropriate remedial action. In this research, we have developed a prototype Neural Network Model which is trained to predict the performance of an educational institution. A Multilayer Perceptron Neural Network (MLP) model had been developed for this proposed research. The network is trained by back propagation algorithm. Data was obtained from a well-defined questionnaire consisting of 14 questions in the domains namely Academic Schedule, International Exposure, Jobs and Internship, Quality of the college, and Life at Campus. The results of these questions have been taken as inputs and performance of the institute has been considered as the output. To, validate the results generated by the network, statistical techniques have been used for the purpose. In this proposed research performance of an educational institution has been predicted. The results generated by the Neural Network and the statistical techniques have been compared in this research and it is observed that, both the methods have generated accurate results. The results have been considered based on the Normalized System Error (NSE) values of the network. A prototype Neural Network model has been developed to assess the performance of an educational institution

RNA-Seq Revealed Expression of Many Novel Genes Associated With Leishmania donovani Persistence and Clearance in the Host Macrophage

Host- as well as parasite-specific factors are equally crucial in allowing either the Leishmania parasites to dominate, or host macrophages to resist infection. To identify such factors, we infected murine peritoneal macrophages with either the virulent (vAG83) or the non-virulent (nvAG83) parasites of L. donovani. Then, through dual RNA-seq, we simultaneously elucidated the transcriptomic changes occurring both in the host and the parasites. Through Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analysis of the differentially expressed (DE) genes, we showed that the vAG83-infected macrophages exhibit biased anti-inflammatory responses compared to themacrophages infected with the nvAG83. Moreover, the vAG83-infected macrophages displayed suppression of many important cellular processes, including protein synthesis. Further, through protein-protein interaction study, we showed significant downregulation in the expression of many hubs and hub-bottleneck genes in macrophages infected with vAG83 as compared to nvAG83. Cell signaling study showed that these two parasites activated the MAPK and PI3K-AKT signaling pathways differentially in the host cells. Through gene ontology analyses of the parasite-specific genes, we discovered that the genes for virulent factors and parasite survival were significantly upregulated in the intracellular amastigotes of vAG83. In contrast, genes involved in the immune stimulations, and those involved in negative regulation of the cell cycle and transcriptional regulation, were upregulated in the nvAG83. Collectively, these results depicted a differential regulation in the host and the parasite-specific molecules during in vitro persistence and clearance of the parasites

Strategic Partnerships @ ICRISAT: Global Partnerships for Strategic Impact

This study formally examines the intricacies of public-private partnerships at ICRISAT in order to glean from experiences how best to effectively and efficiently develop strategic partnerships that work and to build a learning module on successful partnership management for ICRISAT staff and partners. Public-private partnerships are examined in the light of institutional behavior and lessons learned, which facilitate/impede the exchange of potential pro-poor knowledge and technology. The focus is on three key issues: (1) the rationale for forging partnerships; (2) the benefits accrued; and (3) lessons learned from ongoing partnerships to harness more successful strategic ties in the future. Collaborations between scientists of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) were examined, especially working linkages between and among researchers based in international, regional and national organizations spread across Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. Data and information were obtained through web- and email-based surveys across all the regional locations of ICRISAT. The resulting analysis characterizes public-private partnerships at ICRISAT and delves into factors that contribute to their success or failure. These findings are critical to developing a learning module on the best practices in undertaking strategic partnerships at ICRISAT

Dryland Agriculture: Dynamics, Challenges and Priorities. Research Bulletin no. 20

The developments in the dryland region reflect the pervasiveness of poverty, which is demonstrated by the growing constraints of water, land degradation, continuing concerns about malnutrition, migration due to frequent droughts, lack of infrastructure, poor dissemination of improved technologies, and effects of government policies and further economic liberalization on the competitiveness of dryland crops. This research bulletin reviews past trends, summarizes the major constraints to income growth, food security, poverty alleviation, and environmental sustainability, and identifies future strategies and priorities. The discussion uses the semi-arid tropics as a focal point where poverty, food insecurity, child malnutrition and gender inequalities are widespread. A synthesis of evidences and lessons learned from ICRISAT Village Level Studies (VLS), conducted since 1975, is presented to provide empirical evidence on the vulnerability of the poor to various risks and shocks, as well as their capacity to access physical, financial and social resources and networks in the risky environments of the drylands. An analysis of available evidences provided a basis for identifying major policy issues that need to be addressed. Priority development interventions are identified to accelerate the pace of development of dryland agriculture: a) water as a catalyst for development; b) reorientation of public policies and better targeting of development interventions to dryland farmers, especially since they relate to key factors constraining agricultural productivity, and hence poverty reduction; c) diversification with a higher focus on crop-livestock development; d) innovative, cost effective and communitybased management of wastelands and common property resources; e) marketing, commercial orientation and competitiveness of dryland agriculture; and f) institutional innovations, building partnerships, linkages and capacity. The development of dryland agriculture requires synergy among technologies, marketing systems, input supplies, credit, policies and institutions. A broadbased sustainable growth and development in the drylands of Asia and sub-Saharan Africa is viewed as a key strategy for addressing rural poverty in the Asian and sub-Saharan region