Regeneration potential of seedling explants of chilli (Capsicum annuum)

A study was conducted with hypocotyl, cotyledon and shoot tip of chilli as explants for regeneration on MS medium supplemented with different concentrations and combinations of auxins and cytokinins. Regeneration potential was determined by two ways. One is regeneration of shoot via callus formation from hypocotyls and cotyledon explants; another was direct shoot regeneration from shoot tip explant. The highest callus was induced from hypocotyl in a combination of BAP (5.0 mgL-1) with NAA (0.1 mgL-1) and cotyledon in a combination of BAP (5.0 mgL-1) with IAA ((1.0 mgL-1). The callus induction as well as shoot initiation was higher in hypocotyls than cotyledon. Shoot tips regenerated into plantlets directly with sporadic small callus at the base. Shoot elongation was accelerated by using additional supplementation of GA3 and AgNO3. Regenerated shoots rooted best on the MS medium supplemented with 0.1 mg L-1 NAA + 0.05 mg L-1 IBA

Defects in synapse structure and function precede motor neuron degeneration in Drosophila models of FUS-related ALS.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is an adult-onset neurodegenerative disease that leads invariably to fatal paralysis associated with motor neuron degeneration and muscular atrophy. One gene associated with ALS encodes the DNA/RNA-binding protein Fused in Sarcoma (FUS). There now exist two Drosophila models of ALS. In one, human FUS with ALS-causing mutations is expressed in fly motor neurons; in the other, the gene cabeza (caz), the fly homolog of FUS, is ablated. These FUS-ALS flies exhibit larval locomotor defects indicative of neuromuscular dysfunction and early death. The locus and site of initiation of this neuromuscular dysfunction remain unclear. We show here that in FUS-ALS flies, motor neuron cell bodies fire action potentials that propagate along the axon and voltage-dependent inward and outward currents in the cell bodies are indistinguishable in wild-type and FUS-ALS motor neurons. In marked contrast, the amplitude of synaptic currents evoked in the postsynaptic muscle cell is decreased by \u3e80% in FUS-ALS larvae. Furthermore, the frequency but not unitary amplitude of spontaneous miniature synaptic currents is decreased dramatically in FUS-ALS flies, consistent with a change in quantal content but not quantal size. Although standard confocal microscopic analysis of the larval neuromuscular junction reveals no gross abnormalities, superresolution stimulated emission depletion (STED) microscopy demonstrates that the presynaptic active zone protein bruchpilot is aberrantly organized in FUS-ALS larvae. The results are consistent with the idea that defects in presynaptic terminal structure and function precede, and may contribute to, the later motor neuron degeneration that is characteristic of ALS

VARIETAL SCREENING AND MANAGEMENT OF LEAF BLIGHT OF WHEAT CAUSED BY BIPOLARlS SOROKINIANA

A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Agriculture, Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Dhaka in Partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE (MS) IN PLANT PATHOLOGYExperiments were conducted at Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI) Joydebpur, Gazipur during 2004-2005 crop season. In field screening of 14 germplasms under natural infection pressure of Bipolaris leaf blight 3 reached as resistant (Chirya-7, Shatabdi and BAW-966) and 1 reached as moderately resistant (BA W -1006) to the disease. All the five fungicides (Avistin-O.l %, Hayconazole- 0.05%, Nuben-0.2%, Sulphotox-0.2% and Tilt0.05%) tested against Bipolaris sorokiniana, showed better performance over control. Among them Tilt appeared most effective and resulted against the PDI value of 72% and increased 108% grain yield over control. While effective dose of four fungicides namely folicur (0.05 and 0.10%), Hexaconazole (0.05 and 0.1 %), Fujione (0.05 and 0.1%) and Akanazole (0.05 and 0.1 %) were evaluated against Bipolaris leaf blight it was found that F2 D2.Exhibited most effective one in reducing the disease and increasing higher yield and it showed statistically similar to FIDI (Folicur, 0.05%) FID2 (Folicur, 0.1%) and F2Dl <, (Hexaconazole (0.05%). In another study on determining avoidable loss of wheat due to Bipolaris leaf blight indicated avoidable loss of27.05 and 14.20% were due to the disease respectively, in Kanchon (Susceptible) and Shatabdi (Moderately resistant) varieties

Historicist and Presentist Interpretation of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night

Historicism and Presentism are two recent, mostly discussed phenomena in the ethos of Shakespearean studies. While historicists like Stephen Greenblatt argues that historicism pursues historical aspects to explain a text and keeps away presentday political, social and cultural affairs to avoid the misunderstanding of it, the presentists like Terence Hawkes advocates that Presentism offers an unending dialogue between present and past, which is deeply rooted to the present. In addition, Presentism is the re-evaluation of the historical facts upon which our early modern understanding depends. Therefore, Presentism could be an excellent idea to interpret the appropriacy of early modern literature, especially Shakespeare’s oeuvre. This paper, however, elucidates Twelfth Night, one of Shakespeare’s masterpieces, from both historicist and presentist points of view, which looks especially at the way Shakespeare views gender while applying these both approaches. This article also clarifies the reasons for selecting this text for explicating Shakespeare from these two approaches. Finally, this study advocates for combining these two approaches, which might offer a better way to understand Shakespeare’s works and to make him more relevant today

Attention to Human Dignity and Its Role in Increasing Spirituality

The main purpose of this paper is to investigate about the dignity of human and its role in increasing the spirituality in light of Islam. The founding shows that spirituality has been considered as a desirable thing throughout humans’ life and lots of effort have been made to strengthen it. There are several factors that raise and cultivate spirituality, but among these factors, human dignity has essential role and basis. In this research, while explaining the concept of spirituality, the importance of human dignity in creating a spiritual personality is emphasized, and how the influence of human dignity in increasing spirituality will also be investigated, and it is proven that the source of spirituality is paying attention to inherent and deprivations, neglect and lack of attention to the position and dignity of the royal soul of man

Proportion of chronic kidney disease in rheumatoid arthritis patients, in a tertiary level hospital

Background: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a significant but often overlooked complication in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients, influenced by systemic inflammation, medication-induced nephrotoxicity, and comorbidities such as hypertension and anemia. The purpose of this study was to determine the proportion of chronic kidney disease among rheumatoid arthritis patients in a tertiary-level hospital. The aim of the study was to determine the proportion of chronic kidney disease among rheumatoid arthritis patients in a tertiary level hospital. Methods: This cross-sectional study at the Department of Medicine, Sir Salimullah Medical College and Mitford Hospital, Dhaka (January to December 2015), included 50 RA patients (2010 ACR/EULAR criteria). Data analyzed using SPSS (t-tests, chi-square, logistic regression; p&lt;0.05). Ethical approval obtained. Primary outcomes: CKD proportion in RA and its associations. Results: In this study of 50 rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients, the mean age was 47.4±14.7 years, with a female predominance (60.0%). Chronic kidney disease (CKD) was present in 22.0% of patients. Most CKD cases were in stages 3a (36.4%) and 3b (45.5%). CKD patients had a significantly longer RA duration (5.35±3.24 years vs. 2.60±1.67 years, p=0.044) and higher prevalence of hypertension (45.0% vs. 12.8%, p=0.017) and anaemia (100% vs. 61.5%, p=0.014). The majority (90.9%) of CKD patients used a combination of NSAIDs and DMARDs. Conclusions: CKD was proportioned in 22% of RA patients, primarily in stages 3A and 3B, with longer RA duration as a key risk factor

Patch clamp studies on TRPV4-dependent hemichannel activation in lens epithelium

ATP release from the lens via hemichannels has been explained as a response to TRPV4 activation when the lens is subjected to osmotic swelling. To explore the apparent linkage between TRPV4 activation and connexin hemichannel opening we performed patch-clamp recordings on cultured mouse lens epithelial cells exposed to the TRPV4 agonist GSK1016790A (GSK) in the presence or absence of the TRPV4 antagonist HC067047 (HC). GSK was found to cause a fast, variable and generally large non-selective increase of whole cell membrane conductance evident as a larger membrane current (Im) over a wide voltage range. The response was prevented by HC. The GSK-induced Im increase was proportionally larger at negative voltages and coincided with fast depolarization and the simultaneous disappearance of an outward current, likely a K+ current. The presence of this outward current in control conditions appeared to be a reliable predictor of a cell’s response to GSK treatment. In some studies, recordings were obtained from single cells by combining cell-attached and whole-cell patch clamp configurations. This approach revealed events with a channel conductance 180–270 pS following GSK application through the patch pipette on the cell-attached side. The findings are consistent with TRPV4-dependent opening of Cx43 hemichannels

Functionally Active T1-T1 Interfaces Revealed by the Accessibility of Intracellular Thiolate Groups in Kv4 Channels

Gating of voltage-dependent K+ channels involves movements of membrane-spanning regions that control the opening of the pore. Much less is known, however, about the contributions of large intracellular channel domains to the conformational changes that underlie gating. Here, we investigated the functional role of intracellular regions in Kv4 channels by probing relevant cysteines with thiol-specific reagents. We find that reagent application to the intracellular side of inside-out patches results in time-dependent irreversible inhibition of Kv4.1 and Kv4.3 currents. In the absence or presence of Kv4-specific auxiliary subunits, mutational and electrophysiological analyses showed that none of the 14 intracellular cysteines is essential for channel gating. C110, C131, and C132 in the intersubunit interface of the tetramerization domain (T1) are targets responsible for the irreversible inhibition by a methanethiosulfonate derivative (MTSET). This result is surprising because structural studies of Kv4-T1 crystals predicted protection of the targeted thiolate groups by constitutive high-affinity Zn2+ coordination. Also, added Zn2+ or a potent Zn2+ chelator (TPEN) does not significantly modulate the accessibility of MTSET to C110, C131, or C132; and furthermore, when the three critical cysteines remained as possible targets, the MTSET modification rate of the activated state is ∼200-fold faster than that of the resting state. Biochemical experiments confirmed the chemical modification of the intact α-subunit and the purified tetrameric T1 domain by MTS reagents. These results conclusively demonstrate that the T1–T1 interface of Kv4 channels is functionally active and dynamic, and that critical reactive thiolate groups in this interface may not be protected by Zn2+ binding