Extent of heterosis in CMS based hybrids of Pigeonpea [Cajanus cajan (L.) Millsp.]

Endowed with several unique characteristics, pigeonpea [Cajanus cajan (L.) Millsp.] holds a prominent position in farm households of semi-arid and arid regions of the world. With the advent of hybrid pigeonpea technology, pigeonpea, once designated as orphan crop, has grown in importance as a commercial crop. Thus, development of more number of quality hybrid varieties has become imperative to meet the future demand. The present study was taken up to elicit the information on magnitude of the genetic variability, heritability, genetic advance as percent of mean, extent of fertility restoration and heterosis in newly developed CMS based pigeonpea hybrids. Twenty four pigeonpea hybrids along with four checks viz., Asha, Maruti, LRG 41 and BDN 711, were evaluated in kharif 2015 at ICRISAT, Patancheru. Analysis of variance showed significant differences among the hybrids for all the characters studied. High genetic variability coupled with high heritability and genetic advance as percent of mean were recorded for number of primary branches, number of secondary branches and pollen fertility percent. Fertility restoration studies showed that 15 out of 24 hybrids recorded high (>80 %) pollen fertility and exhibited better fertility restoration. High levels of heterosis i.e. over 50% in traits like number of pods per plant, pod weight per plant and grain yield per plant. were also recorded. ICPH 3762 and ICPH 4502, with high per se performance and high standard heterosis for grain yield per plant and for majority of yield attributes, were identified as promising hybrids

ARES. III. Unveiling the Two Faces of KELT-7 b with HST WFC3*

We present the analysis of the hot-Jupiter KELT-7 b using transmission and emission spectroscopy from the Hubble Space Telescope, both taken with the Wide Field Camera 3. Our study uncovers a rich transmission spectrum that is consistent with a cloud-free atmosphere and suggests the presence of H_{2}O and H^{−}. In contrast, the extracted emission spectrum does not contain strong absorption features and, although it is not consistent with a simple blackbody, it can be explained by a varying temperature–pressure profile, collision induced absorption, and H^{-}. KELT-7 b had also been studied with other space-based instruments and we explore the effects of introducing these additional data sets. Further observations with Hubble, or the next generation of space-based telescopes, are needed to allow for the optical opacity source in transmission to be confirmed and for molecular features to be disentangled in emission

The use of nanocrystal quantum dot as fluorophore reporters in molecular beacon-based assays

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45S rDNA external transcribed spacer organization reveals new phylogenetic relationships in Avena genus

Research ArticleThe genus Avena comprises four distinct genomes organized in diploid (AA or CC), tetraploid (AABB or AACC) and hexaploid species (AACCDD), constituting an interesting model for phylogenetic analysis. The aim of this work was to characterize 45S rDNA intergenic spacer (IGS) variability in distinct species representative of Avena genome diversity±A. strigosa (AA), A. ventricosa (CvCv), A. eriantha (CpCp), A. barbata (AABB), A. murphyi (AACC), A. sativa (AACCDD) and A. sterilis (AACCDD) through the assessment of the 5' external transcribed spacer (5'-ETS), a promising IGS region for phylogenetic studies poorly studied in Avena genus. In this work, IGS length polymorphisms were detected mainly due to distinct 5'-ETS sequence types resulting from major differences in the number and organization of repeated motifs. Although species with A genome revealed a 5'-ETS organization (A-organization) similar to the one previously described in A. sativa, a distinct organization was unraveled in C genome diploid species (C-organization). Interestingly, such new organization presents a higher similarity with other Poaceae species than A-genome sequences, supporting the hypothesis of C-genome being the ancestral Avena genome. Additionally, polyploid species with both genomes mainly retain the A-genome 5'-ETS organization, confirming the preferential elimination of C-genome sequences in Avena polyploid species. Moreover, 5'-ETS sequences phylogenetic analysis consistently clustered the species studied according to ploidy and genomic constitution supporting the use of ribosomal genes to highlight Avena species evolutive pathways.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Influence of socioeconomic factors on pregnancy outcome in women with structural heart disease

OBJECTIVE: Cardiac disease is the leading cause of indirect maternal mortality. The aim of this study was to analyse to what extent socioeconomic factors influence the outcome of pregnancy in women with heart disease.  METHODS: The Registry of Pregnancy and Cardiac disease is a global prospective registry. For this analysis, countries that enrolled ≥10 patients were included. A combined cardiac endpoint included maternal cardiac death, arrhythmia requiring treatment, heart failure, thromboembolic event, aortic dissection, endocarditis, acute coronary syndrome, hospitalisation for cardiac reason or intervention. Associations between patient characteristics, country characteristics (income inequality expressed as Gini coefficient, health expenditure, schooling, gross domestic product, birth rate and hospital beds) and cardiac endpoints were checked in a three-level model (patient-centre-country).  RESULTS: A total of 30 countries enrolled 2924 patients from 89 centres. At least one endpoint occurred in 645 women (22.1%). Maternal age, New York Heart Association classification and modified WHO risk classification were associated with the combined endpoint and explained 37% of variance in outcome. Gini coefficient and country-specific birth rate explained an additional 4%. There were large differences between the individual countries, but the need for multilevel modelling to account for these differences disappeared after adjustment for patient characteristics, Gini and country-specific birth rate.  CONCLUSION: While there are definite interregional differences in pregnancy outcome in women with cardiac disease, these differences seem to be mainly driven by individual patient characteristics. Adjustment for country characteristics refined the results to a limited extent, but maternal condition seems to be the main determinant of outcome

Enabling planetary science across light-years. Ariel Definition Study Report

Ariel, the Atmospheric Remote-sensing Infrared Exoplanet Large-survey, was adopted as the fourth medium-class mission in ESA's Cosmic Vision programme to be launched in 2029. During its 4-year mission, Ariel will study what exoplanets are made of, how they formed and how they evolve, by surveying a diverse sample of about 1000 extrasolar planets, simultaneously in visible and infrared wavelengths. It is the first mission dedicated to measuring the chemical composition and thermal structures of hundreds of transiting exoplanets, enabling planetary science far beyond the boundaries of the Solar System. The payload consists of an off-axis Cassegrain telescope (primary mirror 1100 mm x 730 mm ellipse) and two separate instruments (FGS and AIRS) covering simultaneously 0.5-7.8 micron spectral range. The satellite is best placed into an L2 orbit to maximise the thermal stability and the field of regard. The payload module is passively cooled via a series of V-Groove radiators; the detectors for the AIRS are the only items that require active cooling via an active Ne JT cooler. The Ariel payload is developed by a consortium of more than 50 institutes from 16 ESA countries, which include the UK, France, Italy, Belgium, Poland, Spain, Austria, Denmark, Ireland, Portugal, Czech Republic, Hungary, the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Estonia, and a NASA contribution