Comparative Analysis of Equity and Debt Funds

In India mutual fund industry is growing at a rapid speed after liberalization of policy of the government. As the mutual funds industry is offering a wide array of schemes with different structures and objectives, the risk and returns vary. There is a wide scope to evaluate the performance of mutual funds in various dimensions like risk-return, risk adjusted return and return from alternative investments. Mutual Fund is one of the most preferred investment alternatives for the small investors as it offers an opportunity to invest in a diversified and professionally managed portfolio at a relatively low cost. In recent times, the emerging trend in the mutual fund industry is the aggressive expansion of the foreign owned mutual fund companies and the decline of the companies floated by nationalized banks and small private sector player

Effects of Magnetic field and Viscous Dissipation on Oberback Convection in a Chiral Fluid and Mass Transfer Flow through porous media

A chiral molecule is a type of molecule that lacks an internal plane of symmetry and thus has a non-superposable mirror image of a molecule. Chiral fluid is a fluid which has molecules and exhibits the chirality. The influence of viscous dissipation on convective flow, heat transfer, and mass transfer through viscous incompressible chiral fluid through a vertical porous layer immersed in porous medium in the presence of a uniform magnetic field is investigated. The coupled non-linear equations governing the motion are solved analytically using the regular perturbation method with Eckert number Ecas perturbation parameter. The effect of magnetochiral number M, porous parameter σ, Grashof number Gr, Eckert number E, and Schmidt number Sc on velocity, temperature distribution, mass flow rate, skin friction and rate of heat transfer are depicted graphically and some important conclusions are drawn

Two female-specific DSX proteins are encoded by the sex-specific transcripts of dsx, and are required for female sexual differentiation in two wild silkmoth species, Antheraea assama and Antheraea mylitta (Lepidoptera, Saturniidae)

doublesex (dsx) is the bottom most gene of the sex-determination cascade of Drosophila melanogaster. The pre-mRNA of dsx splices to produce male- and female-specific transcripts which code for the male- and female-specific proteins, respectively. dsx homologues have been characterized from different (many in Diptera, two in Hypmenoptera and only one in Lepidoptera) insect species. Sex-specific splice forms of dsx pre-mRNA in all these species code for one male- and one female-specific DSX proteins, which regulate the downstream target genes responsible for sex-specific characters. In the present study we have cloned and characterized the dsx homologues from two saturniid silkmoths, Antheraea assama and Antheraea mylitta. The divergence time between Saturniidae and Bombycidae to which the domesticated silkworm, Bombyx mori belongs is estimated to be around 160.9 MY. Interestingly, the dsx pre-mRNA of these wild silkmoths sex-specifically splices to generate multiple splice variants. On the basis of their open reading frame (ORF) and conceptual translation, two female-specific (DSXF1 and DSXF2) and one male-specific (DSXM) proteins could be inferred, in both the moths. Presence or absence of a 15 bp stretch within the ORF of the two groups of female-specific transcripts resulted in the production of two distinct female-specific DSX proteins. The sex-specific DSX proteins have common amino-terminal sequence but sex-specific carboxy termini. The two female-specific DSX proteins (DSXF1 and DSXF2) share common DNA binding domain (DM domain) and oligomerization domain (OD domain) and differ only at their extreme C-termini by 21aa. Functional analysis of dsx transcripts in A. assama by dsRNA mediated knock-down resulted in complete abolition of expression of vitellogenin and hexamerin genes, the direct targets of the DSX proteins, irregular differentiation of gonads, and drastic reduction in fecundity and hatchability. Together, these results suggest the involvement of both the female-specific DSX proteins in the process of female sexual differentiation. Further, conservation of the 4th exon sequence, especially the PESS sequence responsible for the sex-specific splicing of Bmdsx in the female-specific transcripts of Aadsx and Amydsx, indicated the existence of a common mechanism of sex-specific splicing of dsx homologues in silkmoths. To our knowledge this is the first report of existence of multiple splice forms of dsx pre-mRNA encoding two female-specific DSX proteins

Creative teaching and contentment

The most contented days of my life so far are the days I facilitated the learning process for primary school children in a remote village in the Anantapur district of Andra Pradesh. I am able to say these words after completing 6 years of service as government primary school teacher

Investigation of anti-arthritic potential of Acacia torta (roxb.) craib

Background: Acacia torta (Roxb.) Craib, traditionally used in respiratory, circulatory, digestive, musculo-skeletal, skin diseases etc., Numerous plants of this genus have been used in folk medicine to treat stomach pain, cough, diarrhoea, piles, sore-throat; as astringent, antipyretic, antimicrobial, antimalarial, antiviral, anti-oxidant and as anti-hypertensive. Hence, the present study was aimed to investigate the anti‐arthritic potential of Acacia Torta (Roxb.) Craib, since, systematic study of this plant has not been carried out.Methods: Ethanol and water were used to prepare stem extract by soxhlet extraction method. The extract is evaluated by using Freund’s complete adjuvant induced arthritis in albino wistar rats at the dose of 100mg/kg/p.o. and 400mg/kg/p.o. and indomethacin at 10mg/kg were used for the study.Results: The hydro alcoholic extract of the stem Acacia torta (Roxb.) Craib in crude form contains phytoconstituents like saponins, tannins, steroids, and triterpenes. The reference standard, Indomethacin at the dose of 10 mg/kg showed significant inhibition of paw edema by 71.61% (P <0.001), as compared to the vehicle control. Treatment with the hydro alcoholic extract of stem Acacia Torta at doses of 100 and 400 mg/kg caused significant inhibition of paw edema by 59.26% (P <0.001) and 69.14% (P <0.001) respectively, was observed on 21st day, as compared to the vehicle control.Conclusions: The data obtained from the present study indicated that several factors may contribute to the anti-inflammatory and anti-arthritic activity of hydro alcohol extract of the stem Acacia torta (Roxb.) Craib. adjuvant induced arthritis showed inhibition of prostaglandin synthesis might be the major mechanism by which the hydro alcoholic extract of the stem Acacia torta (Roxb.) Craib exerts anti-inflammatory and arthritic activity

Validation of SSR Markers Linked to the Bean Common Mosaic Virus (BCMV) Resistance in Cowpea (\u3cem\u3eVigna unguiculata\u3c/em\u3e L.) Genotypes

Cowpea, Vigna unguiculata (L.) is one of the important grain and fodder legume crops in the world, especially in tropics and subtropics. Which can adapted different climatic conditions such as high temperature and drought. It is not only important as a grain and fodder but also improve fertility of poor soils by fixing atmospheric nitrogen. An estimated cultivated area of cowpea is 12.5mha in worldwide (FAOSTAT, 2013). The grain and fodder productivity of cowpea are greatly affected by a number of biotic factors such as plant pathogens and insect pests. Among plant pathogens, viruses are considered to be a major constraint (Gioi et al., 2010). More than 40 viruses are reported from cowpea growing areas of the world. Among viruses, Bean common mosaic virus (BCMV) is very serious problem on cowpea in southern part of India especially cowpea growing areas of Karnataka. The BCMV is a member of potyvirus group and it can infect other legume crop family. Virus is seed borne and easily spread by aphids. Its chemical and cultural control neither economical nor ecofriendly. The host plant resistance has been proved the best strategy for its management. Hence it is necessary to identify stable resistance sources for BCMV disease in cowpea. Therefore large scale screening is needed to identify the durable resistance among diverse genotypes of cowpea. The basic requirements for any crop improvement programme are genetic variation for the trait of interest

Vibrational Analysis in Condition Monitoring and faults Diagnosis of Rotating Shaft - Over View

Rotating shaft is a vital element in power stations like Gas power stations, steam power station and Tidal power stations. These shaft failure or break down lead to the consequences, ranges from annoyance to the financial disaster or human damage. Hence predictive maintenance which includes early detection, identification and correction of machinery problems is paramount to anyone involved in the maintenance of industrial machinery to insure continued, safe and productive operation. Condition monitoring of machines is become necessary to run the machines efficiently. Vibrations are caused due to unbalance in the rotating components, dry friction between the two mating surfaces, misalignments, imperfect of coupling or bearings, and cracks in the shafts or blades. In predictive maintenance, vibration monitoring and analysis is essential. Health of any rotating shaft can be identified by its signature includes number of peaks. The peaks in the spectrum or signature give the information regarding the type of fault. In this paper gives a overview on vibrations analysis and faults diagnosis in various rotating machine parts and also this paper attempts to epitomize the recent research and developments in rotating element vibration analysis techniques

Brahmi herbal drink mitigates aluminium chloride induced cognitive impairments

Aluminium chloride (AlCl3) is neurotoxic and has been proposed to be one of the environmental factors responsible for neurodegenerative disease like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disorders. It also causes learning and memory deficit. Bacopa monniera is well known for its memory enhancing property in traditional Indian system of medicine. In the present investigation we aim to evaluate cognitive-enhancing and neuromodulatory property of brahmi herbal drink (BHD), a nutraceutical product from Bacopa monniera extract. BHD was evaluated for physicochemical, sensory attributes and stability studies. Overall acceptability of BHD was good according to hedonic scale/ratings. Stability of the drink is for 6 months without losing its activity. Further, cognitive enhancing and neuromodulatory propensity of BHD was evaluated against AlCl3 treatment in rats. Administration of AlCl3 (100 mg/kg) daily for 23 days significantly increased cognitive impairment as evaluated in elevated plus maze (EPM) and Morris water maze (MWM) tests. BHD supplementation improved cognitive ability by decreasing the transfer and escape latency of EPM and MWM tests respectively. Our results further elucidate that BHD supplementation decreased acetylcholine esterase activity and nitric oxide levels by down-regulating AChE and iNOS expression respectively. BHD supplementation showed it neuroprotective efficacy by up-regulating BDNF expression. AlCl3 induced lipid peroxidation and reactive oxygen species generation was significantly alleviated by BHD and restored antioxidant status levels. All these results demonstrated the cognitive-enhancing and neuromodulatory potential of BHD in counteracting the damage inflicted by AlCl3 on rat brain