Reactome: a knowledgebase of biological pathways

Reactome, located at http://www.reactome.org is a curated, peer-reviewed resource of human biological processes. Given the genetic makeup of an organism, the complete set of possible reactions constitutes its reactome. The basic unit of the Reactome database is a reaction; reactions are then grouped into causal chains to form pathways. The Reactome data model allows us to represent many diverse processes in the human system, including the pathways of intermediary metabolism, regulatory pathways, and signal transduction, and high-level processes, such as the cell cycle. Reactome provides a qualitative framework, on which quantitative data can be superimposed. Tools have been developed to facilitate custom data entry and annotation by expert biologists, and to allow visualization and exploration of the finished dataset as an interactive process map. Although our primary curational domain is pathways from Homo sapiens, we regularly create electronic projections of human pathways onto other organisms via putative orthologs, thus making Reactome relevant to model organism research communities. The database is publicly available under open source terms, which allows both its content and its software infrastructure to be freely used and redistributed

Customer emotions in service failure and recovery encounters

Emotions play a significant role in the workplace, and considerable attention has been given to the study of employee emotions. Customers also play a central function in organizations, but much less is known about customer emotions. This chapter reviews the growing literature on customer emotions in employee–customer interfaces with a focus on service failure and recovery encounters, where emotions are heightened. It highlights emerging themes and key findings, addresses the measurement, modeling, and management of customer emotions, and identifies future research streams. Attention is given to emotional contagion, relationships between affective and cognitive processes, customer anger, customer rage, and individual differences

Effect of hybridization on properties of hemp-carbon fibre-reinforced hybrid polymer composites using experimental and finite element analysis

Purpose: In the recent years, the industries show interest in natural and synthetic fibre-reinforced hybrid composites due to weight reduction and environmental reasons. The purpose of this experimental study is to investigate the properties of the hybrid composites fabricated by using carbon, untreated and alkaline-treated hemp fibres. Design/methodology/approach: The composites were tested for strengths under tensile, flexural, impact and shear loadings, and the water absorption characteristics were also observed. The finite element analysis (FEA) was carried out to analyse the elastic behaviour of the composites and predict the strength by using ANSYS 15.0. Findings: From the experimental results, it is observed that the hybrid composites can withstand the maximum tensile strength of 61.4 MPa, flexural strength of 122.4 MPa, impact strength of 4.2 J/mm 2 and shear strength of 25.5 MPa. From the FEA results, it is found that the maximum stress during tensile, flexural and impact loading is 47.5, 2.1 and 1.03 MPa, respectively. Originality/value: The results of the untreated and alkaline-treated hemp-carbon fibre composites were compared and found that the alkaline-treated composites perform better in terms of mechanical properties. Then, the ANSYS-predicted values were compared with the experimental results, and it was found that there is a high correlation occurs between the untreated and alkali-treated hemp-carbon fibre composites. The internal structure of the broken surfaces of the composite samples was analysed using a scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis. © 2019, Emerald Publishing Limited

A novel human <em>CRYGD</em> mutation in a juvenile autosomal dominant cataract.

PURPOSE: Identification of causal mutation in the crystallin, connexin, and paired box gene 6 (PAX6) genes associated with childhood cataract in patients from India. METHODS: In this study, forty eight members from seventeen families and 148 sporadic cases of childhood cataract were evaluated. Clinical and ophthalmologic examinations were performed on available affected and unaffected family members. Samples of genomic DNA were PCR amplified to screen for mutations in the candidate genes viz., alpha-A crystallin (CRYAA), beta- B2 crystallin (CRYBB2), gamma-A crystallin (CRYGA), gamma-B crystallin (CRYGB), gamma-C crystallin (CRYGC), gamma-D crystallin (CRYGD), gap junction alpha-3 (GJA3), gap junction alpha-8 (GJA8), and PAX6 based on polymerase chain reaction and single strand conformation polymorphism (PCR-SSCP) analysis. Samples showing any band mobility shift were subjected to bidirectional sequencing to confirm the variation. Co-segregation of the observed change with the disease phenotype was further tested by restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) for the appropriate restriction site. RESULTS: DNA sequencing analysis of CRYAA, CRYBB2, CRYGA-D, GJA3, GJA8, and PAX6 of the affected members of a family (C-35) showed a novel heterozygous missense mutation C&gt;A at position 229 in CRYGD in three affected members of family C-35 with anterior polar coronary cataract. This variation C229A substitution created a novel restriction site for AluI and resulted in a substitution of highly conserved arginine at position 77 by serine (R77S). AluI restriction site analysis confirmed the transversion mutation. Analysis of the available unaffected members of the family (C-35) and 100 unrelated control subjects (200 chromosomes) of the same ethnic background did not show R77S variation. Data generated using ProtScale and PyMOL programs revealed that the mutation altered the stability and solvent-accessibility of the CRYGD protein. CONCLUSIONS: We describe here a family having anterior polar coronary cataract that co-segregates with the novel allele R77S of CRYGD in all the affected members. The same was found to be absent in the ethnically matched controls (n=100) studied. Interestingly the residue Arg has been frequently implicated in four missense (R15C, R15S, R37S, and R59H) and in one truncation mutation (R140X) of CRYGD. In two of the reported mutations Arg residues have been replaced with Serine. This finding further expands the mutation spectrum of CRYGD in association with childhood cataract and demonstrates a possible mechanism of cataractogenesis. Screening of other familial (n=48) and sporadic (n=148) cases of childhood cataract, did not reveal any previously reported or novel mutation in the candidate genes screened

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Not AvailableOrganic agriculture’s economic benefits and widespread adoption are well documented, but its impact on soil C dynamics in rainfed regions of semiarid tropics is less understood. The use of organic amendments in organic farming not only supply nutrients but also have the potential to contribute to soil carbon sequestration. Carbon storage and various soil organic pools are affected differently by various crops and production systems. A study was conducted with three crops (sunflower, pigeonpea, and greengram) under three production systems (control, organic and integrated) to assess the effect on soil C stocks, carbon sequestration potential, and crop yield. After seven years of experiment, pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan L.) cultivation improved soil bulk density, porosity and water holding capacity compared to greengram [Vigna radiata (L) Wilczek] and sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.). Furthermore, plots under pigeonpea cultivation being on par with greengram had 15.6% higher total C (113.52 Mg C ha−1), 14% higher easily oxidizable organic C (17.5 Mg C ha−1) and C sequestration rate of 1.22 Mg C ha−1 yr−1 compared to sunflower. Among the three production systems, plots under organic management had significantly lower bulk density and higher water holding capacity and porosity at all of the profile depths compared to integrated production system and control. Similarly, organic production system being on par with integrated production system improved the easily oxidizable, oxidizable and weakly oxidizable organic C fractions at different soil depths compared to control. The C sequestration rate ranged from 0.21 to 0.85 Mg C ha−1 yr−1 in organic production systems compared to negligible rate (0.01–0.04 Mg ha−1 yr−1) in the plots under control. On average, integrated production system being on par with organic management recorded significantly higher pigeonpea equivalent seed yield (886 kg ha−1) compared to control (792 kg ha−1). These results suggest the potential of organic production system in improving soil properties, C sequestration, and crop yields in semiarid rainfed areasNot Availabl

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Not AvailableThe groundwater status of Vijayapura district is under semi-critical to over-exploited category and optimal application of irrigation water is needed for the sustainable water management in this region. In the present study, the rainfall, temperature, evapotranspiration variability and irrigation requirement of major crops was analyzed for three future scenarios, namely, 2020’s (2010 to 2039), 2050’s (2040 to 2069) and 2080’s (2070 to 2099) with respect to the baseline period (1976-2005). The ENSEMBLE data corresponding to four different emission scenarios was used. Rainfall and temperature are important factors governing the irrigation requirement and the rainfall is predicted to increase from 590 mm during baseline period to 611, 646 and 677 mm under RCP 4.5 (medium emission scenario) and 617, 674 and 742 mm under high emission scenario (RCP 8.5). The maximum temperature is predicted to increase by 0.8, 1.6, 2.00C under RCP 4.5 and 0.9, 2.0, 3.60C under RCP 8.5. The minimum Temperature is predicted to increase by 1.0, 1.8, 2.30C under RCP 4.5 and 1.1, 2.5, 4.20C under RCP 8.5 respectively. Correspondingly, the evapotranspiration values (ET0) are estimated to increase from 1851 to 1877, 1900 and 1916 mm under RCP 4.5 and 1876, 1912 and 1958 mm under RCP 8.5. The irrigation requirement of rabi sorghum is predicted to increase from 434 to 440, 447 and 449 mm under RCP 4.5 and 438, 445 and 453 mm under RCP 8.5. Similarly, the irrigation requirement of rabi maize is predicted to increase from 667 to 678, 688 and 694 mm under RCP 4.5 and 679, 694 and 712 mm under RCP 8.5, respectively. No considerable increase in the irrigation requirement for kharif crops was predicted in Vijayapura. In order to ensure long-term and sustainable groundwater utilization in the region, proper estimation of crop water requirement and its application are needed.ICAR-NICR

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Not AvailableRegular vaccinations with potent vaccine, in endemic countries and vaccination to live in non-endemic countries are the methods available to control foot-and-mouth disease. Selection of candidate vaccine strain is not only cumbersome but the candidate should grow well for high potency vaccine preparation. Alternative strategy is to generate an infectious cDNA of a cell culture-adapted virus and use the replicon for development of tailor-made vaccines. We produced a chimeric ‘O’ virus in the backbone of Asia 1 and studied its characteristics. The chimeric virus showed high infectivity titre (>1010) in BHK 21 cell lines, revealed small plaque morphology and there was no cross reactivity with antiserum against Asia 1. The virus multiplies rapidly and reaches peak at 12 h post infection. The vaccine prepared with this virus elicited high antibody titres.Not Availabl