CLONING AND EXPRESSION OF UNIVERSAL STRESS PROTEIN 2 (USP2) GENE IN ESCHERICHIA COLI

Different types of abiotic stresses inhibit the normal growth of plants by changing their physical biochemical, morphological, and molecular traits. It links to the polygenic traits, which is controlled with the help of different genes, due to this polygenetic the manipulation of foreign genetic makeup is very difficult. Drought stress is the very major type of threat to reduce the yield of cash crops in Pakistan and as well as in all over the world. Gene manipulation is the solution to face this problem by producing genetically modified crop plants that have the ability to survive in drought conditions. Universal stress protein gene has been already identified in bacteria which showed its response under stressed conditions, by manipulation of universal stress protein gene. It was found from our study that the bacterial cells transformed with the USP2 gene isolated from cotton induced abiotic stress tolerance under heat, osmotic, and salt stress. It was suggested from our findings that the USP2 gene could be used to produce abiotic stress tolerance transgenic crop plants to enhance crop plant yield and quality

Isolation and biochemical characterizations of the bacteria (Acidovorax avenae subsp. avenae) associated with red stripe disease of sugarcane

Studies on Acidovorax avenae subsp. avenae, associated with red stripe disease of sugarcane was conducted in the Department of Plant Pathology, Pir Mehr Ali Shah Arid Agriculture University Rawalpindi during 2009 to 2010, in collaboration with Shakarganj Sugar Research Institute (SSRI), Jhang, Pakistan. Red stripe of sugarcane were recently observed on promising clones of sugarcane planted in autumn 2009 at Ashaba Research Farm of SSRI. Bacteria were isolated from diseased plants. These isolates yielded off white convex colonies on potato dextrose agar (PDA) media at 29°C with 1.7 to 1.9 mm diameter and were yellow on yeast extract dextrose chalk agar (YDC) media at 27°C with 1.8 to 2.0 mm diameter. The bacteria were rod shape measuring 0.5 to 0.6 × 1.4 to 1.6 μm on PDA and 0.6 to 0.7 × 1.5 to 1.7 μm on YDC. Bacterial culture was stored at different temperature levels for 150 days. Reisolation of bacterial culture which was stored at 4°C showed best result on YDC at 27°C after 150 days, whereas it showed positive result after 120 days on PDA at 29°C. Bacteria were gram negative, citrate utilization was positive, oxidase was negative, catalase was positive and urease was negative. Morphological appearance and biochemical characterizations identified the bacteria as A. avenae subsp. Avenae. In vitro screening for the efficacy of various antibiotics to inhibit the growth of A. avenae subsp. avenae on YDC media showed that ampicillin and vancomycin were most effective. Artificial inoculation on sugarcane against red stripe disease was observed. Observations were made upto six weeks for disease development. Out of 27 varieties, 16 were found resistant, four moderately resistant, five moderately susceptible and two susceptible.Key words: Sugarcane, yeast extract dextrose chalk agar (YDC), potato dextrose agar (PDA), Acidovorax avenae subsp. avenae, biochemical characterization, antibiotics

Cyber Stalking, Cyber Harassment and Adult Mental Health: A Systematic Review

As Internet use increases, there is a growing risk of online harms, including cyber stalking and cyber harassment. However, there has been limited research investigating the impact of such online harms upon adults’ well-being. This paper engages in a systematic literature review concerning the mental health impact of online stalking and harassment for adult victims to further understand their experiences and the effects these have on their lives. Our research utilised the PRISMA technique to review papers published in eight online databases. A total of 1,204 articles were extracted, and ultimately 43 articles analysed. Forty-two of the reviewed articles reported that victims of cyber stalking and/or harassment experienced a multitude of harmful and detrimental consequences for their mental health including depression, anxiety, suicidal ideation and panic attacks. Victims recounted the lack of support they received from the criminal justice system, and their subsequent distrust of technology post abuse. Only one study found no relationship between cyber abuse victimisation and the well-being dimensions they examined. Our research highlights the need to devise practical solutions to tackle and minimise this victimisation. Furthermore, it underlines the necessity for adult education concerning safer technology use, as well as for researchers to be transparent regarding the platforms that victims have been abused on so we can better infer where and how exactly individuals need support to interact safely online

Colorization and Automated Segmentation of Human T2 MR Brain Images for Characterization of Soft Tissues

Characterization of tissues like brain by using magnetic resonance (MR) images and colorization of the gray scale image has been reported in the literature, along with the advantages and drawbacks. Here, we present two independent methods; (i) a novel colorization method to underscore the variability in brain MR images, indicative of the underlying physical density of bio tissue, (ii) a segmentation method (both hard and soft segmentation) to characterize gray brain MR images. The segmented images are then transformed into color using the above-mentioned colorization method, yielding promising results for manual tracing. Our color transformation incorporates the voxel classification by matching the luminance of voxels of the source MR image and provided color image by measuring the distance between them. The segmentation method is based on single-phase clustering for 2D and 3D image segmentation with a new auto centroid selection method, which divides the image into three distinct regions (gray matter (GM), white matter (WM), and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) using prior anatomical knowledge). Results have been successfully validated on human T2-weighted (T2) brain MR images. The proposed method can be potentially applied to gray-scale images from other imaging modalities, in bringing out additional diagnostic tissue information contained in the colorized image processing approach as described

Pulmonary carcinosarcoma initially presenting as invasive aspergillosis: a case report of previously unreported combination

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Carcinosarcoma of the lung is a malignant tumor composed of a mixture of carcinoma and sarcoma elements. The carcinomatous component is most commonly squamous followed by adenocarcinoma. The sarcomatous component commonly comprises the bulk of the tumor and shows poorly differentiated spindle cell features. Foci of differentiated sarcomatous elements such as chondrosarcoma and osteosarcoma may be seen. Aspergillus pneumonia is the most common form of invasive aspergillosis and occurs mainly in patients with malignancy, immunocompromizing or debilitating diseases. Patients with Aspergillus pneumonia present with fever, cough, chest pain and occasionally hemoptysis. Tissue examination is the most reliable method for diagnosis, and mortality rate is high.</p> <p>We describe a case of primary carcinosarcoma of the lung concurrently occurring with invasive pulmonary aspergillosis in a 66-year old patient.</p