Zircons in metacarbonate rocks from Sør Rondane Mountains, East Antarctica

第6回極域科学シンポジウム[OG] 地圏11月16日（月）　国立極地研究所３階セミナー

Cortical suspensory endobutton versus aperture interference screw fixation for arthroscopic anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction using hamstring graft: a prospective study

Background: Anterior cruciate ligament injury is a common injury which occurs in sports with an annual incidence of 68.6% per 100,000 population. Anatomic arthroscopic reconstruction remains the main stay treatment of ACL injury. Fixation of graft is classified as direct and indirect. To compare the stability of knee joint, complications in arthroscopic anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction by aperture interference screw fixation versus suspensory device fixation in femur. Methods: The randomized control study was conducted in department of orthopedics, The Oxford Medical College Hospital and RC from 2020-2021. 30 knees were operated, Ethical clearance taken and patient is followed up for six months. Results: The preoperative Tegner Lysholm knee score was poor in both groups. Post-op in interference screw group, 12 patients 80% had excellent functional outcome, 3 patients 20% had good outcome. In the Endbutton group, 11 patients (73%) had excellent outcome while 4 patients (27%) had good outcome. Conclusions: Suspensory device fixation gives equivalent results when compared to aperture screw fixation. complications of screw fixation were graft rupture cyst formation; complications of suspensory devices were loosening of graft and bungee cord effect. Hence, Both the techniques showed no statistical difference in post operative outcome

Study of sleep problems and their association with scholastic performance in school going children

Background: Sleep is an integral part of any healthy individual and sleep problems can affect the intellectual abilities including theperformance at school. Objectives: We studied the sleep problems among school going children in the age group of 6-16 years and theassociation of the sleep problems with scholastic performance in them. Materials and Methods: The study was a cross-sectional studycarried out in students attending a private school. The children were given a questionnaire based on the “BEARS” screening tool forsleep problems in children to be filled by children and parents. Accordingly, the age and academic grades of students were recorded.The prevalence of sleep problems and their relation to school grades were studied. Results: Out of 229 students, 25.33% (58) studentswere found to have sleep problems after applying the “BEARS” criteria. Of these 58 children, 31 scored A grade, 25 scored B grade, and2 scored C grade. 23% (31 out of 135) of A graders were found to have sleeping problems, 28% (25 out of 89) of B graders, and 40%(2 out of 5) of C graders had sleeping problems. Conclusion: Sleep problems were common in school going children. It was observedthat as scholastic grades decreased, the prevalence of sleeping problems increased. Sleep problems might be one of the contributors forpoor scholastic achievements in children

Fishery, biology and stock assessment of spotted seer, Scomberomorus guttatus (Bloch & Schneider) off Andhra Pradesh

The fishery, biology and stock of the spotted seerfish, Scomberomorus guttatus (Bloch & Schneider) along Andhra Pradesh was studied during 2012-2014. The annual average landing of spotted seer during the period along Andhra coast was 2,614 t. Major contributors were trawlnets-1,104 t (42.2%) and gillnets-950 t (36.3%). Catches were higher during August-December. Length-weight relationship varied significantly between males, females and indeterminates. Growth was isometric in males and allometric in females and indeterminates. Overall sex ratio was 1:1.87. Length at first maturity was 38.9 cm. Peak spawning was observed during November-April. Higher Gonadosomatic index coincided with periods of peak spawning. Mature ovaries contained both maturing (0.41 mm-0.70 mm) and matured (0.71 mm-0.90 mm) ova. von Bertalanffy growth equation was Lt = 71.98 [1-e -0.23 (t + 0.0722)]. Natural mortality, fishing mortality and total mortality were 0.54, 0.49 and 1.03. Exploitation ratio was 0.48. Annual total stocks, biomass and Maximum Sustainable Yield were 8,546 t, 5,335 t and 2,747 t. A minor increase in yield and yield/recruit is possible by increasing the present level of fishing by 20%

Genetic Diversity Analysis of Mutant Lines of Oat (\u3cem\u3eAvena sativa\u3c/em\u3e L.) Based on RAPD and ISSR Analysis

The genus Avena belongs to the grass family Poaceae and has ploidy levels of diploid, tetraploid and hexaploid with basic chromosome number of 7 (n=7). Oat (Avena sativa L.) is one of the most important forage and feed crops of the world. Oat is used as green fodder, straw, hay or silage. Oat grain makes a good balanced concentrate in the rations for poultry, cattle, sheep and other animals. Green fodder contains about 10 to 13% protein and 30 to 35% dry matter. Despite being high fed fodder crop, it is now gaining importance as food due to its unique and important quality characteristics, particularly the lipid and protein in grains (Ruwali et al., 2013). The existing genetic variability for the traits of agronomic importance, such as plant vegetative cycle, is considered restricted. The narrow of the genetic base in cultivated oat varieties can be a constraint on the efficacy of genotype selection in segregating generations (Carvalho and Federizzi, 1989). Genetic variability in existing oat cultivars is not high enough; it hampers the selection of superior genotypes for breeding. Modifications in the genetic structure of plants and an organisms occurs naturally, though at low frequency, but can be increased through physical or chemical mutagens. Advances in molecular biology have introduced an alternative for variety/genotype identification. The genetic characterization of germplasm helps in their effective conservation and reveals the extent of relationship among the accessions and the estimates of genetic diversity (Singh et al., 2012). The selection of RAPD and ISSR were based on their relative technical simplicity, level of polymorphism they detect, cost effective, easily applicable to any plant species and target those sequence which are abundant throughout the eukaryotic genome and are rapidly evolved. A series of studies have indicated that ISSR could be able to produce more reliable and reproducible bands because of the higher annealing temperature and longer sequence of ISSR primers considered superior than RAPD (Bornet et al., 2001). ISSR has proved to be useful to study of population genetic studies gene mapping germplasm identification and characterize gene bank accessions as well as to identify closely related cultivars (Cortesi et al., 2004). The present research had the following objectives: Assessment of diversity of mutant lines of oat (Avena sativa L.) based on RAPD and ISSR analysis

Genetic divergence evaluation of apple germplasm by D2 multivariate analysis

Genetic divergence was worked out in the new germplasm of apple (Malus × domestica Borkh.) including 42 genotypes. Mahalanobis's D2 statistics was applied for identifying the potential parents to be involved in the hybridization programme for trait specific improvement or selecting better segregants. On the basis of performance for various traits, genotypes were grouped into three clusters and maximum numbers of genotypes i.e. 28 were accommodated in cluster I , while 10 and 4 genotypes were arranged in cluster II and III respectively. The average intra cluster distance was maximum in cluster II (2.214) and minimum in cluster III (1.212). Inter cluster distance was maximum between cluster II and III (5.077) indicating that hybridization between genotypes from cluster II and III can be utilized for getting the superior recombinants in segregating generations. On the basis of cluster means for various characters , cluster II was found superior for shoot thickness (0.34cm), inter - nodal length (2.38cm), number of lenticels (62.10) and leaf blade length (8.79cm) whereas cluster III was found superior for leaf blade width (5.10cm), petiole length (2.64cm) and leaf blade ratio (3.62). Hence, hybridization between parents from cluster II and cluster III for these characters can produce better recombinants in segregating generations

Trophodynamics of Nemipterus japonicus (Bloch, 1791) in the trawl landings along the north-east coast of India

The trophodynamics of Nemipterus japonicus (Bloch, 1791) along the north-east coast of India was studied during 2012-2015 based on specimens collected from trawl landings at Digha, Paradeep (northern region), Visakhapatnam and Kakinada (southern region). Crustaceans were the preferred prey with index of relative importance (IRI) of 50% in the northern region and 42.4% in the southern region. Among crustaceans, Oratosquilla dominated in both the regions followed by crabs and several species of penaeids and nonpenaeids. Finfishes ranked next in importance (IRI% of 32.1 in northern region and 39.9 in southern region) and included Stolephorus spp., silverbellies, Coilia sp., other clupeids, Apogon spp., mackerel, sardines, eels, priacanthids, Bregmaceros sp. and sciaenids. Along northern region, in juveniles and preadults, the diet comprised chiefly of crustaceans (IRI% of 72.27 and 52.76), followed by finfishes (IRI% of 15.37 and 27.65). In the southern region, adult fishes exhibited higher preference for finfishes (IRI% of 47.5 to 62.8). Feeding intensity was low throughout the year with close to half (48.23% in northern region and 43.67% in southern region) of the fishes exhibiting empty or trace stomach conditions which increased with an increase in age and size of fish. High similarity of 75.54% in the northern and 84.19% in the southern region was recorded in the diet contents of smaller and moderate sized adults. Annual and seasonal mean similarity in the diet components between the regions was 69.9 and 53%. Prey contents in juveniles between both the regions exhibited a similarity of 59.5%, while preadults and adults recorded similarities of 62.7 and 68.2% respectively

Visual detection of Brucella in bovine biological samples using DNA-activated gold nanoparticles

Brucellosis is a bacterial disease, which, although affecting cattle primarily, has been associated with human infections, making its detection an important challenge. The existing gold standard diagnosis relies on the culture of bacteria which is a lengthy and costly process, taking up to 45 days. New technologies based on molecular diagnosis have been proposed, either through dip-stick, immunological assays, which have limited specificity, or using nucleic acid tests, which enable to identify the pathogen, but are impractical for use in the field, where most of the reservoir cases are located. Here we demonstrate a new test based on hybridization assays with metal nanoparticles, which, upon detection of a specific pathogen-derived DNA sequence, yield a visual colour change. We characterise the components used in the assay with a range of analytical techniques and show sensitivities down to 1000 cfu/ml for the detection of Brucella. Finally, we demonstrate that the assay works in a range of bovine samples including semen, milk and urine, opening up the potential for its use in the field, in low-resource settings

Development of bioconjugated nano-molecules against targeted microbial pathogens for enhanced bactericidal activity

The study reports development of bio-conjugated nano-molecules (BCM's) for enhanced antibacterial activity against targeted pathogens of global concern. The conjugation was achieved with biomolecular interaction of silver clusters with 3-Dichloro-5, 6-dicyano-1, 4-benzoquinone (DDQ) which was purified and characterized with TLC which displayed prominent band at R-f 0.5 and HPLC analysis displayed chromatographic peak eluting at (t(R)) 6-8 min. The LC-MS analysis displayed single major peak at t(R) = 4.610 corresponding to molecular ion peak at m/z = 227.19. The developed BCM molecule was determined with UV-Visible spectroscopy which displayed the absorbance peaks of conjugated molecules with shoulder peak observed and morphological characteristics were well defined with TEM analysis which showed cluster formation. The size ranged from 20 to 80 nm in size with majority of the BCM displaying spherical in size. The process of bio-conjugation was further studied with FTIR analysis which corresponded with different vibrational stretches owing to the presence of amide, carbonyl alkynes, nitriles and carboxylic acid groups. The presence of functional moieties was also studied using H-1 and C-13 NMR spectra. The crystalline characteristics was confirmed with XRD analysis which displayed Bragg's intensities along with additional peaks occurring at 2 theta angle corresponds to (111), (200), (220), (311) face centric cube of silver planes. The antibacterial activity of BCM's was profound against all the test pathogen which was validated and compared with standard antibiotics. Among the test pathogens, highest activity was conferred against Staphylococcus epidermidis (MTCC 435) with 29 mm. The minimal inhibition concentration of BCM's was in the range of 0.97-3.12 mu g/ml. The results of MIC were in accordance with well diffusion assay indicating the Gram + ve test pathogen Staphylococcus epidermidis to be the most sensitive. In addition, the broth dilution assay resulted in decrease in the optical density measured at 600 nm against the increase in the concentration of BCM's. The outcome of the present investigation revealed the role of bio-conjugation chemistry to increase fold activity against pathogens which can act as alternative tool to combat drug resistant menace across the globe