Fusarium Wilt: A Destructive Disease of Banana and Their Sustainable Management

Banana is one of the most important fruit crops. The major losses in banana mainly due to the fungal wilt disease which is caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense. The pathogen is mainly soil bone and saprotrophic in nature that’s why its management is very difficult. The yearly losses of banana by this disease in the world is ranging from 60 to 90% and in India 30–40%. Sustainable management of panama wilt is must to overcome these losses occur in banana. The management strategies for longer duration through crop rotation, organic amendment, application of micronutrient like silicon (Si), borax, host-pathogen interaction, hormonal induction of defence response, biological control, transgenic approach, disease resistance developed by somaclonal variation. These approaches are mainly emphasized for long term management of the panama wilt disease

Improved and convenient method of RNA isolation from polyphenols and polysaccharide rich plant tissues

842-845It has been difficult to extract a good quality total RNA from the plant parts (such as seeds) which contain high levels of phenolic compounds, carbohydrates and other compounds that bind and/or co-precipitate with RNA. A simple, rapid and efficient method for isolating total RNA from polyphenols and polysaccharide rich plant tissues has been developed. Seeds of leguminosae family were chosen for the study. The good quality and high yield of total RNA was achieved with A260/A280 ratio of 1.9. Seeds of three different crops (Cajanus cajan, Dolichos biflorus and Vigna mungo) at different developmental stages were evaluated for total RNA extraction using standardized protocol. Seeds at 21 days after flowering (DAF) gave the best results among others (7 DAF and dry seeds). Quality of isolated RNA from all the three crops was further checked by cDNA synthesis. The extracted RNA was found suitable for further molecular applications such as reverse transcription and cDNA library construction

Analysis of Variation in Blood Donor Deferral Section Statistics as per Drugs and Cosmetics (Second Amendment) Rules, 2020: An Institutional Experience

Introduction: The safety of donated blood is of utmost importance for the well-being of the recipient, which requires proper adherence to donor acceptance criteria. In March 2020, new amendments were introduced in the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, which included several new criteria. It is important to explore these changes and their impact on the donor pool to ensure adequate maintenance of whole blood/component inventory in our blood centre. Aim: To study the variation in deferral statistics of blood donors after the introduction of new donor criteria as per the Drugs and Cosmetics (Second Amendment) Rules, 2020. Materials and Methods: The present study was conducted from October 1, 2022, to June 30, 2023, in the Department of Immunohaematology and Blood Transfusion (Blood Centre) of a tertiary care hospital in Punjab, India. Retrospective data for three years was collected from blood donor records and deferral records, divided into two groups: group 1 (October 1, 2018, to March 31, 2020) for the old criteria, and group 2 (April 1, 2020, to September 30, 2021) for the new criteria. Reasons for deferral of donors were categorised into four stages: clinical history, medical examination, investigations (hemoglobin levels), and inadequate collection for both male and female donors. The collected data was entered into a Microsoft Excel sheet. Variables in different categories were represented as frequencies and percentages. Chi-square test was used for comparison between the data of the two groups. Results: In group I, 332 out of 6,588 donors (5.04%) were deferred, and in group II, 345 out of 6,143 donors (5.61%) were deferred. The deferral rate was comparatively higher in females in both groups, with 17.98% (41/228) in group I and 21.65% (21/97) in group II. The percentage of deferred donors was higher in the age group of 18-30 years in both groups, with 50.60% (168/332) in group I and 47.25% (163/345) in group II. The maximum number of donors were deferred at stage I (clinical history), with 270/332 (81.33%) in group I and 296/345 (85.8%) in group II, followed by stage III (investigations), with 34/332 (10.24%) in group I and 33/345 (9.56%) in group II. COVID-19 related history was the third most common cause of deferral in group II, accounting for 43 (12.46%) of the total deferred cases, which was not present in group I. Conclusion: The new guidelines, although comprehensive, only minimally increased the deferral rate and did not have a significant impact on the donor pool of our blood centre. Knowledge about the latest deferral guidelines and donor deferral rates is of utmost significance for the maintenance of inventory and to reduce the loss of a significant donor pool

Electrochemical behavior of plasma-fluorinated graphite for lithium ion batteries

Electrochemical properties of plasma-fluorinated graphite samples have been investigated in 1 mol dm−3 LiClO4 ethylene carbonate (EC)/diethyl carbonate (DEC) solution at 25 °C. Fluorine contents in plasma-fluorinated graphite samples were in the range of 0-0.3 at.% by elemental analysis and surface fluorine concentrations obtained by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) were in the range of 3-12 at.%. Raman spectroscopy revealed that surface disordering of graphite was induced by plasma fluorination. Plasma treatment increased the surface areas of graphite samples by 26-55% and the pore volumes for the mesopores with diameters of 1.5-2 and 2-3 nm. Plasma-fluorinated graphites showed capacities higher than those of original graphites and even higher than the theoretical capacity of graphite, 372 mAh g−1, without any change of the profile of charge-discharge potential curves. The increments in the capacities were approximately 5, 10 and 15% for graphites with average particle diameters, 7, 25 and 40 μm, respectively. Furthermore, the coulombic efficiencies in first cycle were nearly the same as those for original graphites or higher by several percents