Joothan: The Eventful Journey of a Dalit Man from Dust to a Man of Substance

A Dalit is a victim of the inexorable caste-system. He has no self respect and is treated like an animal by the members of the upper-caste. A careful observation of a Dalit’s life reveals that a Dalit woman is someone who gets doubly marginalised. On one hand, she is victimised by a frustrated Dalit man while on the other she gets subdued by the caste-centric society. The curse of untouchability has led to the physical repression of the Dalits. With the passage of time, many dalits have raised their voices to change the system. Dalit autobiography is one such medium of protest. It has enriched literature by expressing things related to the varna system. Omprakash Valmiki’s Joothan is an earnest attempt through which he has registered his protest against a compassionless society manipulated by casteism. The current paper makes an attempt to study Joothan (2007), a Dalit autobiography that shows a man’s suffering and struggle to establish his identity as a member of the society. The paper explores the ways in which the writer has presented his eventful life through various incidents that had shaped his personality. The book is life itself as in every page, the author has given us a thorough description of Dalit life and the challenges associated with it

Trilinear Neutral Gauge Boson Couplings

We study the CP even trilinear neutral gauge boson vertices at one-loop in the context of the Standard Model and the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model, assuming two of the vector bosons are on-shell. We also study the changes in the form-factors when these two bosons are off-shell.Comment: 19 pages, latex, a detailed study of off-shell form-factors included. To appear in International Journal of Modern Physics,

Standardization of an in Vitro Regeneration Protocol in Gerbera (Gerbera jamesonii Bolus Ex. Hooker F.)

An experiment was undertaken to develop an improved in vitro regeneration protocol in gerbera. Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium was supplemented with various growth regulators at different concentrations for callus induction and organogenesis. Newly emerging leaves of Gerbera cv. Rosalin were used as explants. Experimental results showed that maximum rate (74.07%) of formation of callus with good growth was recorded on MS medium supplemented with 2.0mgL-1 2,4-D + BAP 0.5mgL-1. Best shoot regeneration (57.8 %) with maximum shoot number (12.0) was achieved on with BAP 2.0mgL-1 + NAA 0.5mgL-1 fortified MS medium. Maximum (66.7 %) and earliest (12.3 days) root formation in shoots was recorded on IBA 3.0mgL-1is 1/2MS media. Survival rate of regenerated plantlets was maximum (73.33 %) in the potting mixture containing garden soil, sand and vermicompost (1:1:1)

In vitro regeneration and conservation of an endangered medicinal plant sarpagandha (Rauvolfia serpentina L.)

An investigation on in vitro plant regeneration of endangered medicinal plant Rauvolfia serpentina L. was carried out. The newly emerging leaves were used as explants, which were transferred to half strength MS medium along with various combinations of growth regulators for callus regeneration. The half strength MS medium fortified with 5.0 mgl-1 2,4-D and 2.0 mgl-1 NAA was found most suitable for qualitative (light green colour) and quantitative callus production (86%). The shoot regeneration (81.67 %) and elongation (5.67 cm) was highest in full MS medium supplemented with 6.0 mgl-1 BAP and 2.0 mgl- 1 GA3 and consequently, the root initiation was highest (55%) in half strength MS medium containing 3.0 mgl-1 IBA. The regenerated plantlets were preserved for nine months in good condition through repeated subculturing on full strength MS media. The callus were kept in storage by repeated sub-culturing in in vitro condition on MS medium fortified with 0.2 mgl-1 2,4-D and the preservation could be extended for nine months in its best condition. It was evident that, the regeneration capacity of callus was reduced as the time of callus storage was increased

In-vitro cormel formation and changes of biochemical composition in calli during morphogenesis in gladiolus (Gladiolus × grandiflorus)

The present investigation was carried out for in-vitro cormel formation and to study the changes of biochemical composition during shoot and root differentiation from callus in gladiolus (Gladiolus × grandifforus L.). Cormel tip was used as explant for in-vitro regeneration on MS media supplemented with different plant growth regulators. Maximum callus formation was observed on MS medium supplemented with 4.0 mg/l 2,4-D with excellent callus growth. The inducted calli were subcultured on MS medium supplemented with 4.0 mg/l BAP and 0.5 mg/l NAA for best shooting followed by on ½ MS medium fortified with 3.0 mg/l IAA for best rooting. After two weeks of root initiation, the whole cluster of rooted plantlets was equally divided into two halves and the divided clusters were subcultured on cormel induction media. The different stages of morphogenesis, viz. non-differentiating callus, differentiating green callus, shoot differentiating callus and root differentiating callus were used for biochemical analysis. Maximum (55.0 %) and earliest (56.0 days) formation of cormels was observed on MS medium supplemented with 4.0 mg/l NAA elevated with 6% sucrose with good cormel size of up to 7.0 mm diameter. Decrease in metabolities like starch, reducing sugars and total phenols while, increase in total soluble proteins was found during shoot and root differentiation. Activities of enzymes, viz. polyphenol oxidase and peroxidase increased during shoot and root differentiation. From the present investigation, it was proved that metabolic and enzymatic activity during in-vitro morphogenesis help gladiolus for rapid organogenesis and multiplication through cormel formation

Role of inflammation as reflected by serum hsCRP and ferritin level in major depressive disorder

Background: The relationship between depression and inflammation has been strengthened by different studies for which Immune Cytokine Mechanism has been proposed to explain pathogenesis of depression.Methods: The role of inflammation in major depressive disorder (MDD) has been evaluated in this study among 101 patients suffering from MDD along with 106 age and sex matched control subjects. Two well known acute phase reactant proteins namely hsCRP and Ferritin were assayed in all study subjects by Enzyme Immuno Assay method.Results: Concentration of hsCRP in serum was found to be significantly increased in all patients suffering from MDD whereas Ferritin level was found to be significantly decreased in male MDD subjects only (male: 70.6 ng/ml±53.54 ng/ml in MDD vs 100.16 ng/ml±39.93 in controls; female: 38.43 ng/ml±11.2 in MDD vs 39.93 ng/ml±15.0 in controls). There was no significant alteration of the parameters among different grades of MDD. The possibility of these two parameters to be used as biomarkers has also been evaluated by ROC curve.Conclusions: The significant change in hsCRP & Ferritin which is not associated with grade wise alteration suggests that probably inflammation is the early event which causes depression. Therefore no gradual change is observed with increase in severity of the disease. hsCRP can be used as a biomarker of Inflammation in MDD cases

Muon anomalous magnetic moment confronts exotic fermions and gauge bosons

We investigate the status of models containing exotic fermions or extra Z-like neutral gauge bosons in the light of the recent data on anomalous magnetic moment of muon. We find that it is possible to extract interesting bounds on the parameters characterizing such models. The bounds are particularly strong if the new flavour-changing neutral currents are axial vectorlike.Comment: Additional figures included, minor modifications made in the tex

Summary of the Activities of the Working Group I on High Energy and Collider Physics

This is a summary of the projects undertaken by the Working Group I on High Energy Collider Physics at the Eighth Workshop on High Energy Physics Phenomenology (WHEPP8) held at the Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai, January 5-16, 2004. The topics covered are (i) Higgs searches (ii) supersymmetry searches (iii) extra dimensions and (iv) linear collider.Comment: summary of Working Group I at the Eighth Workshop on High Energy Physics Phenomenology (WHEPP8), I.I.T., Mumbai, January 5-16, 200

A Novel Enediynyl Peptide Inhibitor of Furin That Blocks Processing of proPDGF-A, B and proVEGF-C

BACKGROUND: Furin represents a crucial member of secretory mammalian subtilase, the Proprotein Convertase (PC) or Proprotein Convertase Subtilisin/Kexin (PCSK) superfamily. It has been linked to cancer, tumorgenesis, viral and bacterial pathogenesis. As a result it is considered a major target for intervention of these diseases. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Herein, we report, for the first time, the synthesis and biological evaluation of a newly designed potent furin inhibitor that contains a highly reactive beta-turn inducing and radical generating "enediynyl amino acid" (Eda) moiety. "Eda" was inserted between P1 and P1' residues of hfurin(98-112) peptide, derived from the primary cleavage site of furin's own prodomain. The resulting hexadecapeptide derivative inhibited furin in vitro with IC(50) approximately 40 nM when measured against the fluorogenic substrate Boc-RVRR-MCA. It also inhibited furin-mediated cleavage of a fluorogenic peptide derived from hSARS-CoV spike protein with IC(50) approximately 193 nM. Additionally it also blocked furin-processing of growth factors proPDGF-A, B and VEGF-C that are linked to tumor genesis and cancer. Circular dichroism study showed that this inhibitor displayed a predominantly beta-turn structure while western blots confirmed its ability to protect furin protein from self degradation. CONCLUSION/SIGNIFICANCE: These findings imply its potential as a therapeutic agent for intervention of cancer and other furin-associated diseases