Genetic variability studies for yield and its contributing traits in okra [Abelmoschus esculentus (L.) Moench]

The experiment comprising 30 okra (Abelmoschus esculentus) genotypes were grown and analysed for yield and its attributing traits at the Department of Vegetable science, Kumarganj, Faizabad during Zaid (2011) period. All the characters studied showed a wide range of variation. The variability for yield among the accessionsevaluated was also remarkable. The magnitude phenotypic coefficient of variation was higher than genotypic coefficient of variation for all traits. Both phenotypic coefficient of variation (PCV) and genotypic coefficient of variation (GCV) were high for plant height (11.10 and 10.60, respectively). Fruit weight exhibited low value of GCV (2.31) and PCV (4.74) and likely to show less response under selection. High heritability (91.3) with high genetic advance (26.74) was recorded for plant height, whereas, ridges per fruit had high heritability (97.0) with moderate genetic advance (18.45). This study aimed to evaluate okra genotypes for variability with a view to providing information on the development of high yielding genotypes to meet the growing food demand of the populace

Anaphors in Sanskrit

Proceedings of the Second Workshop on Anaphora Resolution (WAR II). Editor: Christer Johansson. NEALT Proceedings Series, Vol. 2 (2008), 11-25. © 2008 The editors and contributors. Published by Northern European Association for Language Technology (NEALT) http://omilia.uio.no/nealt . Electronically published at Tartu University Library (Estonia) http://hdl.handle.net/10062/7129

Study of serum homocysteine level in cases of non-diabetic ischemic stroke

Background: Aim of the study was to measure serum homocysteine levels in non-diabetic ischemic stroke and to co-relate its significance with other risk factors of ischemic stroke. It was a case control study.Methods: The study was done in the Department of Medicine, VSS.I.M.S.A.R, Burla, Odisha. 42 patients of non-diabetic ischemic and 42 age and sex matched controls were included in the study. Adults above the age of 18 years who were non-diabetic presenting with first-ever ischemic stroke, confirmed by CT scan of brain were included. Diabetic patients, haemorrhagic stroke, suspected embolic stroke, patients on vitamin supplementations, chronic usage of phenytoin were excluded. Routine investigations, fasting serum lipid profile and serum homocysteine levels were done.Results: Mean serum homocysteine level in ischemic stroke patients were found to be much higher (25.83 micro mol/L) in comparison to control group (9.77 micro mol/L) which is statistically significant. Mean serum homocysteine levels were found to be higher in patients with age group of more than 60 years, male sex, sedentary lifestyle, vegetarian diet, hypertensive patients and patient with normal fasting lipid profile. Statistical analysis for significance of difference was done using Chi-Square test with Yate’s correction.Conclusions: A statistically significant correlation was found between all the studied risk factors among non-diabetic patients and serum homocysteine levels. Estimation of serum homocysteine is advisable in all cases of non-diabetic ischemic strokes to know the prognosis

Weight monitoring as an indicator of re-hospitalization in patients with heart failure

Background: Predicting the development of acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF) in chronic heart failure patients remains a challenge. Standard management of HF involves patient weight monitoring as it is generally accepted that body weight increase, reflecting fluid retention, may be of value in heralding imminent decompensation. Aim of the study was to evaluate body weight increment as an indicator of re-hospitalization in patients with heart failure.Methods: Fifty seven patients with principal diagnosis of heart failure, who got re-hospitalised due to decompensation as evidenced by deterioration of symptoms with increase in body weight, were analysed and compared with the parameters at last discharge with an attempt to look for the association between increase in weight and clinical deterioration.Results: Mean age of patients examined was 58.5 years. 54.4% of the patients were male. Mean weight of patients on re-hospitalization was 52.2 kg as compared to 48.8 kg at last discharge (p<0.05). 57.9% and 42.1% of patients presented in NYHA class IV & III respectively on re-hospitalization whereas all patients were discharged previously in NYHA class II status. Pearson chi-square test of association showed a significant deterioration of functional status (NYHA) in those having increase in weight ≥3kg as compared to <3 kg (p<0.05).Conclusions: A simple weight monitoring of heart failure patients can alert patients and their clinicians in early stages of decompensation preventing re-hospitalization

Modulation of APOL1-miR193a Axis Prevents Podocyte Dediffrentiation in High Glucose Milieu

The loss of podocyte (PD) molecular phenotype is an important feature of diabetic podocytopathy. We hypothesized that high glucose (HG) induces dedifferentiation in differentiated podocytes (DPDs) through alterations in the apolipoprotein (APO) L1-microRNA (miR) 193a axis. HG-induced DPD dedifferentiation manifested in the form of downregulation of Wilms’ tumor 1 (WT1) and upregulation of paired box 2 (PAX2) expression. WT1-silenced DPDs displayed enhanced expression of PAX2. Immunoprecipitation of DPD cellular lysates with anti-WT1 antibody revealed formation of WT1 repressor complexes containing Polycomb group proteins, enhancer of zeste homolog 2, menin, and DNA methyltransferase (DNMT1), whereas silencing of either WT1 or DNMT1 disrupted this complex with enhanced expression of PAX2. HG-induced DPD dedifferentiation was associated with a higher expression of miR193a, whereas inhibition of miR193a prevented DPD dedifferentiation in HG milieu. HG downregulated DPD expression of APOL1. miR193a-overexpressing DPDs displayed downregulation of APOL1 and enhanced expression of dedifferentiating markers; conversely, silencing of miR193a enhanced the expression of APOL1 and preserved DPD phenotype. Moreover, stably APOL1G0-overexpressing DPDs displayed the enhanced expression of WT1 but attenuated expression of miR193a; nonetheless, silencing of APOL1 reversed these effects. Since silencing of APOL1 enhanced miR193a expression as well as dedifferentiation in DPDs, it appears that downregulation of APOL1 contributed to dedifferentiation of DPDs through enhanced miR193a expression in HG milieu. Vitamin D receptor agonist downregulated miR193a, upregulated APOL1 expression, and prevented dedifferentiation of DPDs in HG milieu. These findings suggest that modulation of the APOL1-miR193a axis carries a potential to preserve DPD molecular phenotype in HG milieu.</jats:p

Reducing the environmental impact of surgery on a global scale: systematic review and co-prioritization with healthcare workers in 132 countries

Abstract Background Healthcare cannot achieve net-zero carbon without addressing operating theatres. The aim of this study was to prioritize feasible interventions to reduce the environmental impact of operating theatres. Methods This study adopted a four-phase Delphi consensus co-prioritization methodology. In phase 1, a systematic review of published interventions and global consultation of perioperative healthcare professionals were used to longlist interventions. In phase 2, iterative thematic analysis consolidated comparable interventions into a shortlist. In phase 3, the shortlist was co-prioritized based on patient and clinician views on acceptability, feasibility, and safety. In phase 4, ranked lists of interventions were presented by their relevance to high-income countries and low–middle-income countries. Results In phase 1, 43 interventions were identified, which had low uptake in practice according to 3042 professionals globally. In phase 2, a shortlist of 15 intervention domains was generated. In phase 3, interventions were deemed acceptable for more than 90 per cent of patients except for reducing general anaesthesia (84 per cent) and re-sterilization of ‘single-use’ consumables (86 per cent). In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for high-income countries were: introducing recycling; reducing use of anaesthetic gases; and appropriate clinical waste processing. In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for low–middle-income countries were: introducing reusable surgical devices; reducing use of consumables; and reducing the use of general anaesthesia. Conclusion This is a step toward environmentally sustainable operating environments with actionable interventions applicable to both high– and low–middle–income countries

CLINICAL AND ETIOLOGICAL SPECTRUM OF ACUTE FEBRILE ENCEPHALOPATHY IN ADULT PATIENTS: A PROPSPECTIVE STUDY FROM ODISHA, INDIA

Objectives: Acute febrile encephalopathy (AFE) is a medical emergency and might be an indicator of numerous systemic and central nervous system pathologies. In this backdrop, the present study was carried to evaluate the etiology and clinical features of encephalopathy succeeding short febrile illness in adults approaching to a tertiary care center. Methods: A prospective study was done up to 2 years in 110 patients beyond 14 years. The demographic variables were documented and along with routine examinations, cerebrospinal fluid analysis and radioimaging studies were performed. Results: The most common etiology of AFE was cerebral malaria (CM) that constitutes 39.1% (43 of 110) of total cases, followed by acute viral encephalitis (AVE), tuberculous meningitis (TBM), acute bacterial meningitis (ABM), sepsis associated encephalopathy (SAE), and enteric encephalopathy (EE) with 24 (21.8%), 20 (18.2%), 13 (11.8%), 5 (4.5%) and 2 (1.8%) cases, respectively. Death rate was 30.20% in CM, 23.07% in ABM, 20.83% in AVE, and 20% in TBM. Two cases of SAE and one case of EE also succumbed. Conclusion: CM found to be the furthermostcommunalsource of AFE followed by AVE, TBM, and ABM

CFD Analysis of Straightener Designs on Overall Performance of the Axial Flow Blood Pump

Ventricular assist devices (VADs) have emerged as an effective clinical tool for offering crucial aid to patients suffering with heart failure. To achieve optimal performance that matches a healthy ventricle, precise design and a thorough understanding of hydraulic and clinical factors are crucial. This research paper presents a comprehensive analysis using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software ANSYS Fluent at different range of rotational speed and flow rate to examine the performance of an axial blood pump with three different straightener designs: conical, cylindrical, and paraboloid. The primary objective is to assess the impact of these straightener designs on the overall performance of the axial blood pump. Initially, the base axial pump employed conical straightener designs, which were subsequently modified to paraboloid and cylindrical shapes to evaluate their performance. Consistently, the results demonstrated that the paraboloid design outperformed the other designs. Specifically, the axial blood pump equipped with a paraboloid straightener exhibited an increased pressure head and lower intensity of turbulent kinetic energy compared to the other two designs. Additionally, the wall shear stress in the impeller region was lower in the paraboloid design. By employing CFD tool, this study provides valuable insights into the performance of different straightener designs for axial blood pumps. The findings highlight the superiority of the paraboloid design in terms of pressure head and wall shear stress reduction. These results contribute to enhancing the effectiveness and efficiency of left ventricular assist devices (LVADs), ultimately benefiting patients with heart failure