Study on Mangrove Ecology and Impact in Kakinada Bay

The southern fringes of the Kakinada Bay are predominantly mud-flats interrupted by creeks/rivers which traverse, at the hayw ard end , through dense forests of mangrove as mentioned by Ramasarma and Ganapathi (1968) in their study on the Bay hydrography. The larger trees are located at a height of 03 m in relation to creek river low water level but in high tide and spring tides major parts are innundated. A part of the system forms a fringe along the eroding creek/river banks with roots in the water but on the bay-ward side the trees are succeeded by vascular plants, the shrubs and grasses on the mudflats due, probably, to show encroachment and reclamation for human habitation and paddyfields. especially in Matlapalem creek (Rajyalakshmi. 1975). However, the creeks are highly saline in non-monsoonal seasons, deep with a directional flow towards the Bay

Culture of Macrobrachium rosenbergii (De Man) in Andhra Pradesh - India

In Andhra Pradesh, India, large acreage of freshwater ponds seasonal, and perennial, have been brought under freshwater fish cultivation Large acreage traditionally under paddy cultivation also are being converted to fish farming using composite fish culture methods. Some of them can shift to freshwater prawn farming or partially incorporate, in separate monoculture of the species

An approach to environmental impact study in the Kakinada bay

The Kakinada Bay situated between 82"15' Z and SZ022' E Longitude and 16"Sl' N and 17'N latitude is a. small coastal feature on tho mid-east coast of India. The bay is approximetcly 132 sq, km in extent bounded on its western edge by the mainland.. On its east a 16 km long narrow sand bar is present taking origin and extending from thecartern tip of the Hope island separating the bay from the sea. On its north to north east, he bay opens to the Bay of Bengal by a wide mouth. On its southern and south western edge the hay is connected to the Goduvari cstuarinc complex through a number of inter-connecting creeks and a few narrow rivers which traverse through the mangrove

Structural Properties of Co2+ Ion Doped Calcium Cadmium Phosphate Hydrate Nanophosphor

Inorganic nanophosphor materials have captivated the worldwide attention into the field of solid-state lighting emission displays, plasma display panels, light-emitting diodes, IR quantum counters, scintillation, etc. Nanotechnology is the foremost superior in the development of phosphors with definite size and shape. Alkali and alkaline earth phosphates are promising candidates for the inorganic phosphor materials. Manufacturing of nano-inorganic materials gained much interest due to their advance lighting applications. In this work, novel Co2+ doped Calcium Cadmium Phosphate hydrate nanophosphor (CaCdPH: Co2+) was synthesized by a traditional solid-state reaction technique. The synthesized sample was characterized by Powder XRD, SEM equipped with EDX and FTIR techniques. The hexagonal phase of the prepared CaCdPH: Co2+sample was confirmed by X-ray diffraction results, and the average crystallite size was evaluated. FTIR demonstrated the formation of vibrational modes ascribed to phosphate molecules and other hydroxyl groups. The morphologies of the CaCdPH: Co2+ nanophosphor was investigated by scanning electron microscopy. © 2020 Author(s).One of the authors, T. Rajyalakshmi is thankful to JNTU Kakinada, DIC for financial assistance in the MHRD project. Authors express their special thanks to UGC-DRS, DST-FIST - New Delhi for providing financial assistance to the Dept. of Physics, Acharya Nagarjuna University. And also acknowledge the service render by scientific officers of Kerala University and Yogi Vemana University for their help providing XRD and SEM instruments for sample recordings

A Two-Gene Signature, SKI and SLAMF1, Predicts Time-to-Treatment in Previously Untreated Patients with Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia

We developed and validated a two-gene signature that predicts prognosis in previously-untreated chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) patients. Using a 65 sample training set, from a cohort of 131 patients, we identified the best clinical models to predict time-to-treatment (TTT) and overall survival (OS). To identify individual genes or combinations in the training set with expression related to prognosis, we cross-validated univariate and multivariate models to predict TTT. We identified four gene sets (5, 6, 12, or 13 genes) to construct multivariate prognostic models. By optimizing each gene set on the training set, we constructed 11 models to predict the time from diagnosis to treatment. Each model also predicted OS and added value to the best clinical models. To determine which contributed the most value when added to clinical variables, we applied the Akaike Information Criterion. Two genes were consistently retained in the models with clinical variables: SKI (v-SKI avian sarcoma viral oncogene homolog) and SLAMF1 (signaling lymphocytic activation molecule family member 1; CD150). We optimized a two-gene model and validated it on an independent test set of 66 samples. This two-gene model predicted prognosis better on the test set than any of the known predictors, including ZAP70 and serum β2-microglobulin

Agriculturally Important Microbial Germplasm Database

The main aim of this bulletin is to provide information of agriculturally important microorganisms available at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Patancheru, India for agricultural scientists, particularly those who are working in plant growth promotion, biological control, plant pathology and microbiology, extension workers, biopesticide/biofertilizer industry and students. The agriculturally important microbial germplasm database at ICRISAT currently contains a total of 59 plant growth-promoting (PGP) microbes including 12 bacteria, 46 actinomycetes and 1 fungus. These PGP microbes were isolated from 25 different herbal vermicomposts and rhizosphere soils from different organically cultivated fields of ICRISAT. The PGP microbes reported in this bulletin possess one or more PGP traits such as chitinase, lipase, protease, indoleacetic acid, siderophore, β-1,3-glucanase, cellulase and hydrocyanic acid. They were also able to grow in NaCl concentrations up to 10%, at pH values between 7 and 11, temperatures between 20 and 40°C and were compatible with some fungicides at field application level

Erratum: Actionable mutations in plasma cell-free DNA in patients with advanced cancers referred for experimental targeted therapies.

The Abstract is incorrect in PubMed. The corrected Abstract is provided here

Association of HLA Class I and Class II genes with bcr-abl transcripts in leukemia patients with t(9;22) (q34;q11)

BACKGROUND: Based on the site of breakpoint in t(9;22) (q34;q11), bcr-abl fusion in leukemia patients is associated with different types of transcript proteins. In this study we have seen the association of HLA genes with different types of bcr-abl transcripts. The association could predict the bcr-abl peptide presentation by particular HLA molecules. METHODS: The study included a total of 189 patients of mixed ethnicity with chronic myelogenous leukemia and acute lymphocytic leukemia who were being considered for bone marrow transplantation. Typing of bcr-abl transcripts was done by reverse transcriptase PCR method. HLA typing was performed by molecular methods. The bcr-abl and HLA association was studied by calculating the relative risks and chi-square test. RESULTS: Significant negative associations (p < 0.05) were observed with HLA-A*02 (b2a2, e1a2), -A*68 (b2a2, b3a2, e1a2), -B*14 (b2a2, b3a2, e1a2), -B*15 (b2a2, b3a2), -B*40 (b2a2), -DQB1*0303 (b2a2, b3a2), -DQB1*0603 (b2a2), -DRB1*0401 (e1a2), -DRB1*0701 (b3a2), and -DRB1*1101 (b2a2). CONCLUSIONS: The negative associations of a particular bcr-abl transcript with specific HLA alleles suggests that these alleles play a critical role in presenting peptides derived from the chimeric proteins and eliciting a successful T-cell cytotoxic response. Knowledge of differential associations between HLA phenotypes and bcr-abl fusion transcript types would help in developing better strategies for immunization with the bcr-abl peptides against t(9;22) (q34;q11)-positive leukemia

Beyond BRAFV600: Clinical Mutation Panel Testing by Next-Generation Sequencing in Advanced Melanoma

The management of melanoma has evolved owing to improved understanding of its molecular drivers. To augment the current understanding of the prevalence, patterns, and associations of mutations in this disease, the results of clinical testing of 699 advanced melanoma patients using a pan-cancer next-generation sequencing (NGS) panel of hotspot regions in 46 genes were reviewed. Mutations were identified in 43 of the 46 genes on the panel. The most common mutations were BRAFV600 (36%), NRAS (21%), TP53 (16%), BRAFNon-V600 (6%), and KIT (4%). Approximately one-third of melanomas had >1 mutation detected, and the number of mutations per tumor was associated with melanoma subtype. Concurrent TP53 mutations were the most frequent events in tumors with BRAFV600and NRAS mutations. Melanomas with BRAFNon-V600mutations frequently harbored concurrent NRAS mutations (18%), which were rare in tumors with BRAFV600 mutations (1.6%). The prevalence of BRAFV600 and KIT mutations were significantly associated with melanoma subtypes, and BRAFV600 and TP53 mutations were significantly associated with cutaneous primary tumor location. Multiple potential therapeutic targets were identified in metastatic unknown primary and cutaneous melanomas that lacked BRAFV600and NRAS mutations. These results enrich our understanding of the patterns and clinical associations of oncogenic mutations in melanoma