Prospects of improving flooding tolerance in lowland rice varieties by conventional breeding and genetic engineering

Flooding is a recurrent phenomenon in several lowland rice-growing areas in India and elsewhere. Even though rice is a reasonably flooding-tolerant crop, the annual loss incurred by farmers due to floods is large. There are excellent traditional rice types with high level flooding tolerance. Combining high level flooding tolerance to high grain yield through conventional breeding has been successful to a limited extent so far but there are enormous opportunities for the same. There are also hopes that flooding tolerance can be genetically engineered in rice using a transgenic approach. We take a look on the prospects for improvement of rice to flooding stress through conventional breeding and through plant genetic engineering

Production of high temperature tolerant transgenic plants through manipulation of membrane lipids

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Myocardial Infarction: A Comprehensive Review

Myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, is a critical medical condition resulting from the blockage of one or more coronary arteries. MI has been classified differently over time, with the most recent classification proposed by the European Society of Cardiology and the American College of Cardiology. This new classification considers various types of MI based on clinical presentations and underlying mechanisms. MI is a significant public health issue globally, with a high prevalence and a substantial impact on healthcare resources and the economy. The pathophysiology of MI is multifactorial, with factors such as atherosclerosis, thrombosis, and inflammation playing crucial roles. Complications of MI can include heart failure, cardiogenic shock, and arrhythmias. Diagnosis of MI involves clinical evaluation, imaging studies, and biomarker testing. Treatment of MI includes reperfusion therapy, medical management, and cardiac rehabilitation. Reperfusion therapy, including thrombolytic therapy and primary percutaneous coronary intervention, is the cornerstone of treatment for ST-segment elevation MI. Medical management involves antiplatelet and anticoagulation therapy, as well as beta-blockers, while cardiac rehabilitation can help improve cardiovascular function and reduce the risk of further cardiac events. Prompt diagnosis and appropriate treatment are essential for improving outcomes and reducing morbidity and mortality associated with MI

Visual inspection with acetic acid for cervical cancer screening in a tertiary health care centre

Background: Cervical cancer is one of the most prevalent malignant neoplasms among women in developing countries. Invasive cervical cancer is preceded by a long premalignant phase known as cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN). The goal of cervical cancer screening is the detection and treatment of precancereous lesions before cancer develops. The objective of the study was to assess visual inspection with acetic acid (VIA) as a screening tool for use in a well-equipped health center , to evaluate VIA as an alternative or adjunct to the Papanicolaou (Pap) smear, and to determine if VIA can play a role in settings other than low resource ones.Methods: This was a prospective study of 1520 asymptomatic women, carried out in 2014-2015. The study was performed at a tertiary care center equipped with the latest-generation technology and highly trained oncologists. The women underwent a complete clinical evaluation, including a Pap smear and VIA. Participants with any positive test were referred for colposcopy and biopsy.Results: More women tested positive by VIA than on the Pap smear (6.9% vs. 4.2%; P =0.0001). There were 27 women with histologic cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 1 (CIN1); of these, 12 were detected by Pap and 15 by VIA (P = 0.4). A diagnosis of CIN 2 or 3 (CIN2–3) was confirmed in a total of 11 cases; Pap detected 4 of the cases and VIA 9 of the cases (P = 0.06). The positive predictive value for detection of CIN 2+ was 8.5% for VIA and 6.2% for Pap (P = 0.5). Most importantly, while only 2.8% of patients with a positive VIA were lost to follow-up before colposcopy that was true for 26.5% of the women with a positive Pap smear (P < 0.0001).Conclusions: VIA is useful for detection of precursor lesions of cervical cancer not only in low-resource settings but also in well-equipped health centers and cancer centers. In these non low-resource settings, VIA has a positive predictive value comparable to the conventional Pap smear, but it is more likely to achieve earlier diagnosis, follow-up, and treatment than cytology based screening

A study to assess knowledge and attitude of antenatal women about maternal nutrition attending a tertiary care centre

Background: Nutrition is the fundamental pillar of human life. All human beings need a balanced amount of nutrients for proper functioning of body system. Inadequate nutrition during pregnancy has a negative impact on the pregnant mother as well as short and long term consequences on the newborn. This study aims to assess knowledge and attitude of antenatal women about maternal nutrition in pregnancy and highlights the need of interventions aimed at promoting awareness about healthy diet during pregnancy in association with various socio demographic factors.Methods: This study was conducted on 850 antenatal women attending the antenatal clinic of UISEMH, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India from August 2015 to February 2016. A 25 point- 10 minute questionnaire was designed to collect information about awareness and myths associated with nutrition in pregnancy from antenatal women.Results: Only 22 % of the women had good knowledge about nutrition during pregnancy and 82% showed willingness to acquire more information about maternal nutrition. Source of information for most pregnant women were immediate family members (41%). Most women were lacking in their knowledge about common local sources of nutrition, adequate weight gain during pregnancy and effects of over and under nutrition.Conclusions: There is need to impart more knowledge to pregnant women about nutrition in pregnancy. More attention should be paid on nutritional guidance among pregnant women especially in young and less well educated women for healthy outcome of mother and babies. This study emphasizes the importance of dietary counselling by attending doctors as an integral part of antenatal care

Identification and characterization of miRNAome in root, stem, leaf and tuber developmental stages of potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) by high-throughput sequencing

BACKGROUND: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are ubiquitous components of endogenous plant transcriptome. miRNAs are small, single-stranded and ~21 nt long RNAs which regulate gene expression at the post-transcriptional level and are known to play essential roles in various aspects of plant development and growth. Previously, a number of miRNAs have been identified in potato through in silico analysis and deep sequencing approach. However, identification of miRNAs through deep sequencing approach was limited to a few tissue types and developmental stages. This study reports the identification and characterization of potato miRNAs in three different vegetative tissues and four stages of tuber development by high throughput sequencing. RESULTS: Small RNA libraries were constructed from leaf, stem, root and four early developmental stages of tuberization and subjected to deep sequencing, followed by bioinformatics analysis. A total of 89 conserved miRNAs (belonging to 33 families), 147 potato-specific miRNAs (with star sequence) and 112 candidate potato-specific miRNAs (without star sequence) were identified. The digital expression profiling based on TPM (Transcripts Per Million) and qRT-PCR analysis of conserved and potato-specific miRNAs revealed that some of the miRNAs showed tissue specific expression (leaf, stem and root) while a few demonstrated tuberization stage-specific expressions. Targets were predicted for identified conserved and potato-specific miRNAs, and predicted targets of four conserved miRNAs, miR160, miR164, miR172 and miR171, which are ARF16 (Auxin Response Factor 16), NAM (NO APICAL MERISTEM), RAP1 (Relative to APETALA2 1) and HAM (HAIRY MERISTEM) respectively, were experimentally validated using 5′ RLM-RACE (RNA ligase mediated rapid amplification of cDNA ends). Gene ontology (GO) analysis for potato-specific miRNAs was also performed to predict their potential biological functions. CONCLUSIONS: We report a comprehensive study of potato miRNAs at genome-wide level by high-throughput sequencing and demonstrate that these miRNAs have tissue and/or developmental stage-specific expression profile. Also, predicted targets of conserved miRNAs were experimentally confirmed for the first time in potato. Our findings indicate the existence of extensive and complex small RNA population in this crop and suggest their important role in pathways involved in diverse biological processes, including tuber development

Binary cloning vectors for efficient genetic transformation of rice plants

The availability of effective vector systems is a prerequisite for genetic manipulation of plants through recombinant DNA technology. We report here construction of a series of binary vectors that have cauliflower mosaic virus 35S promoter-driven genes encoding either resistance to hygromycin or phosphinothricin for selection of the transformants, and high strength constitutive promoters of either ubiquitin1 or actin1 genes for efficient expression of the transgenes. The efficacy of the constructs is tested in stably transformed Pusa Basmati 1 rice plants through β-glucuronidase reporter gene activity. Availability of vectors with variable promoters and selectable marker genes provides flexibility in stacking two genes. The vectors constructed in this study are suitable for both particle gun and Agrobacterium-based transformation protocols

Theoretical Investigation of Different Diversity Combining Techniques in Cognitive Radio, Journal of Telecommunications and Information Technology, 2018, nr 3

In this paper, the performance of an energy detector in cognitive radio, using different diversity combining techniques, is evaluated. Among many diversity combining techniques, maximal ratio combining (MRC) gives the best results but at the cost of the highest complexity. To design a simpler receiver, it is suggested to use less complex combining techniques, i.e. switched diversity, which provides one of the least complex solutions to combat fading. The paper analyzes two switched diversity schemes, switch examine combining (SEC), and switch examine combining with post examining selection (SECp). A closed form expression determining the probability of detection using MRC, SEC and SECp is derived for various numbers of branches. Detection performance with different diversity combining techniques is compared and the complexity trade-off is observed

Experimentation in biology of plant abiotic stress responses

During the course of growth under natural field conditions, crop plants are exposed to a number of different abiotic stresses (such as water stress, temperature stress, salt stress, flooding stress, chemical stress and oxidative stress). These stresses exert adverse effects on metabolism, growth and yield of the crops. The intensity of the abiotic stresses is on the rise, implying that various possible solutions for mitigating the damage caused by such stresses must be combined for future increase in crop production. At the level of plant genetics, there are indications that it may be possible to improve plants against such stress factors. However, the practical success in this regard depends on how well we understand the biochemistry. physiology and molecular biology of the plant abiotic stress responses. The cellular response of plants to abiotic stresses is of complex nature involving simultaneous interplay of several mechanisms. Although there is a great deal of progress in cataloguing the biochemical reactions that are associated with plant abiotic stress responses, precise understanding of the defense reactions leading to acquisition of stress tolerance remains a challenge. A number of different experimental systems including lower and higher plants as well as microbes have been analyzed for examining the plant abiotic stress responses. The molecular analysis of the stress response has been carried out at the level of stress proteins, stress genes, stress promoters, trans-acting factors that bind to stress promoters and signal transduction components involved in mediation of stress responses. The functional relevance of the stress - associated genes is being tested in different trans-systems including yeast as well as higher plant species. In this article, we discuss selective features of experimentation in biology of plant abiotic stress responses