Detection of Single Ion Spectra by Coulomb Crystal Heating

The coupled motion of ions in a radiofrequency trap has been used to connect the frequency- dependent laser-induced heating of a sympathetically cooled spectroscopy ion with changes in the fluorescence of a laser-cooled control ion. This technique, sympathetic heating spectroscopy, is demonstrated using two isotopes of calcium. In the experiment, a few scattered photons from the spectroscopy ion are transformed into a large deviation from the steady-state fluorescence of the control ion. This allows us to detect an optical transition where the number of scattered photons is below our fluorescence detection limit. Possible applications of the technique to molecular ion spectroscopy are briefly discussed.Comment: 7 Pages,10 Figure

Evidence-Based Guideline on Laparoscopy in Pregnancy: Commissioned by the British Society for Gynaecological Endoscopy (BSGE) Endorsed by the Royal College of Obstetricians & Gynaecologists (RCOG).

Laparoscopy is widely utilised to diagnose and treat acute and chronic, gynaecological and general surgical conditions. It has only been in recent years that laparoscopy has become an acceptable surgical alternative to open surgery in pregnancy. To date there is little clinical guidance pertaining to laparoscopic surgery in pregnancy. This is why the BSGE commissioned this guideline. MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL and the Cochrane library were searched up to February 2017 and evidence was collated and graded following the NICE-approved process. The conditions included in this guideline are laparoscopic management of acute appendicitis, acute gall bladder disease and symptomatic benign adnexal tumours in pregnancy. The intended audience for this guideline is obstetricians and gynaecologists in secondary and tertiary care, general surgeons and anaesthetists. However, only laparoscopists who have adequate laparoscopic skills and who perform complex laparoscopic surgery regularly should undertake laparoscopy in pregnant women, since much of the evidence stems from specialised centres

Genotyping-by-sequencing based genetic mapping reveals large number of epistatic interactions for stem rot resistance in groundnut

Key message Genetic mapping identified large number of epistatic interactions indicating the complex genetic architecture for stem rot disease resistance. Abstract Groundnut (Arachis hypogaea) is an important global crop commodity and serves as a major source of cooking oil, diverse confectionery preparations and livestock feed. Stem rot disease caused by Sclerotium rolfsii is the most devastating disease of groundnut and can cause up to 100% yield loss. Genomic-assisted breeding (GAB) has potential for accelerated development of stem rot resistance varieties in short period with more precision. In this context, linkage analysis and quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping for resistance to stem rot disease was performed in a bi-parental recombinant inbred line population developed from TG37A (susceptible) × NRCG-CS85 (resistant) comprising of 270 individuals. Genotyping-by-sequencing approach was deployed to generate single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotyping data leading to development of a genetic map with 585 SNP loci spanning map distance of 2430 cM. QTL analysis using multi-season phenotyping and genotyping data could not detect any major main-effect QTL but identified 44 major epistatic QTLs with phenotypic variation explained ranging from 14.32 to 67.95%. Large number interactions indicate the complexity of genetic architecture of resistance to stem rot disease. A QTL of physical map length 5.2 Mb identified on B04 comprising 170 different genes especially leucine reach repeats, zinc finger motifs and ethyleneresponsive factors, etc., was identified. The identified genomic regions and candidate genes will further validate and facilitate marker development to deploy GAB for developing stem rot disease resistance groundnut varieties

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Not AvailableAspergillus flavus is distributed throughout the world, but are more common in warm climate zones, thus the risk of infection is more in hot and dry weather conditions like that of Gujarat. We investigated defects in the aflatoxin gene cluster in 81 non-aflatoxigenic A. flavus isolates collected from different peanut growing fields of Gujarat state (India). PCR assays using aflatoxin-gene-specific primers grouped these isolates into 53 deletion patterns and three groups. It was revealed that 84% (group 2) and 11% (group 3) of the non-aflatoxigenic isolates had 1-7 and 19-27 gene-defects respectively. However 5% (group 1) of the non-aflatoxigenic isolates were found to have no gene-defects. No isolate was found defective for all the genes of aflatoxin biosynthesis gene cluster and flanking region. Thus, deletions in the gene-cluster among non-aflatoxigenic A. flavus isolates are not unusual, and the deletion patterns were quite diverse. Screening of isolates using gene specific PCR was found quite effective for the identification of gene-defects in A. flavus. Four most defective, group 3 isolates were identified, which can be used as bio-control agents in the form of ?cocktails? for the Indian peanut growing areas.ICA

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Not AvailableChanges in biochemical, microbiological and sensory attributes of dried sardine (Sardinella longiceps) during storage in air pack (AP), vacuum pack (VP) and active pack were investigated. For this purpose, total volatile basic nitrogen, trimethylamine nitrogen, TBA values, free fatty acids value and peroxide value, sensory attributes and microbiological analyses were carried monthly during storage. Dried fish packed with oxygen scavenger was found to be the best in terms of biochemical, microbiological, sensory score and long shelf life compared to others. Instrumental analysis by colour reader, textural analysis also complimented the findings based on microbiological, biochemical and sensory analyses. Therefore, oxygen-absorbing packaging may be used to pack dried sardine. Sardine as long as 180 days without indicating sign of spoilage observation in quality.Not Availabl