Physico-morphological and biochemical characteristics of jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus Lam.) genotypes

Thirty-eight jackfruit genotypes including check varieties ‘Muttom Varikka’ and ‘Sindhoor’ selected from homesteads of farmers across Kerala, were characterized for their dessert quality. Results revealed that the TSS and total sugar contents of AH-32, AH-18, AH-33 and AH-36 were 32, 25.5, 25.9 and 29.7 °Brix, whereas, the total sugars were 34.75, 25.92, 21.9 and 25%, respectively. Among the accessions, AH-2 recorded the highest total carotenoids (3131.88 μg 100g-1), which, was higher than check varieties ‘Muttom Varikka’ and ‘Sindhoor’. The genotypes viz., AH-18, AH-32, AH-33 and AH-36 can be considered ideal for dessert purpose and can also be used for development of value added products. However, the promising ones can be utilized in breeding programmes to improve quality and yield

Superconductivity in a new hexagonal high entropy alloy

High entropy alloys (HEAs) are the new class of materials with an attractive combination of tunable mechanical and physicochemical properties. They crystallize mainly in cubic structures, however, for practical applications, HEAs with hexagonal close-packed (hcp) structure are highly desirable in connection to their in general high hardness. Herein, we report the synthesis, structure and detailed superconducting properties of Re$_{0.56}$Nb$_{0.11}$Ti$_{0.11}$Zr$_{0.11}$Hf$_{0.11}$-the first hexagonal superconducting high entropy alloy (HEA) composed of five randomly distributed transition-metals. Combination of room temperature precession electron diffraction, precession electron diffraction tomography and powder X-ray diffraction is utilized to determine the room temperature crystal structure. Transport, magnetic and heat capacity measurements show that the material is a type-II superconductor with the bulk superconducting transition at $T_{c}$ = 4.4 K, lower critical field $H_{c1}$(0) = 2.3 mT and upper critical field $H_{c2}$(0) = 3.6 T. Low-temperature specific heat measurement indicates that Re$_{0.56}$Nb$_{0.11}$Ti$_{0.11}$Zr$_{0.11}$Hf$_{0.11}$ is a phonon-mediated superconductor in the weak electron-phonon coupling limit with a normalized specific heat jump $\frac{\Delta C_{el}}{\gamma_{n}T_{c}}$ = 1.32. Further, hexagonal to cubic structural transition is observed by lowering the valence electron counts and $T_{c}$ follows crystalline-like behaviour.Comment: 6 Pages, 9 Figures. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1804.1009

Clinical significance of accessory foramina in adult human mandible

Background: The mandible is the strongest and largest bone of facial skeleton. It consists of one horseshoe-shaped body and a pair of rami. On external surface of body in the midline there is a faint ridge i.e. symphysis menti indicating the line of fusion of two halves of mandible during development. The aim of this study is to describe the position and incidence of accessory foramina on the inner surface of the body and rami of both sides of mandible to provide simple important reliable surgical landmarks.Methods: The present study was conducted on 100 dried adult human mandibles. Bones which had deformities, asymmetries, external pathological changes and fractures were excluded from the present study.Results: In 97% cases at least one accessory foramen was observed on inner surface of mandible. The accessory lingual foramen was found to be constant finding with incidence of 81%. Frequency of infraspinous or sublingual foramen was 58%, of lateral foramen was 50% and that of accessory mandibular foramen was 39%.Conclusions: The anatomical knowledge about the common location and incidence of accessory foramina in mandible are important for surgeons and anaesthetists performing surgeries in the area around mandible. These accessory foramina transmit neurovascular bundles which provide accessory innervations to the roots of teeth.  Thus proper knowledge of accessory foramina are important in relation to achieving complete inferior alveolar nerve block and for avoiding injury to neurovascular bundle passing through them

Human BCAS3 Expression in Embryonic Stem Cells and Vascular Precursors Suggests a Role in Human Embryogenesis and Tumor Angiogenesis

Cancer is often associated with multiple and progressive genetic alterations in genes that are important for normal development. BCAS3 (Breast Cancer Amplified Sequence 3) is a gene of unknown function on human chromosome 17q23, a region associated with breakpoints of several neoplasms. The normal expression pattern of BCAS3 has not been studied, though it is implicated in breast cancer progression. Rudhira, a murine WD40 domain protein that is 98% identical to BCAS3 is expressed in embryonic stem (ES) cells, erythropoiesis and angiogenesis. This suggests that BCAS3 expression also may not be restricted to mammary tissue and may have important roles in other normal as well as malignant tissues. We show that BCAS3 is also expressed in human ES cells and during their differentiation into blood vascular precursors. We find that BCAS3 is aberrantly expressed in malignant human brain lesions. In glioblastoma, hemangiopericytoma and brain abscess we note high levels of BCAS3 expression in tumor cells and some blood vessels. BCAS3 may be associated with multiple cancerous and rapidly proliferating cells and hence the expression, function and regulation of this gene merits further investigation. We suggest that BCAS3 is mis-expressed in brain tumors and could serve as a human ES cell and tumor marker

Intelligent evacuation management systems: A review

Crowd and evacuation management have been active areas of research and study in the recent past. Various developments continue to take place in the process of efficient evacuation of crowds in mass gatherings. This article is intended to provide a review of intelligent evacuation management systems covering the aspects of crowd monitoring, crowd disaster prediction, evacuation modelling, and evacuation path guidelines. Soft computing approaches play a vital role in the design and deployment of intelligent evacuation applications pertaining to crowd control management. While the review deals with video and nonvideo based aspects of crowd monitoring and crowd disaster prediction, evacuation techniques are reviewed via the theme of soft computing, along with a brief review on the evacuation navigation path. We believe that this review will assist researchers in developing reliable automated evacuation systems that will help in ensuring the safety of the evacuees especially during emergency evacuation scenarios

A genome-scale integrated approach aids in genetic dissection of complex flowering time trait in chickpea

A combinatorial approach of candidate gene-based association analysis and genome-wide association study (GWAS) integrated with QTL mapping, differential gene expression profiling and molecular haplotyping was deployed in the present study for quantitative dissection of complex flowering time trait in chickpea. Candidate gene-based association mapping in a flowering time association panel (92 diverse desi and kabuli accessions) was performed by employing the genotyping information of 5724 SNPs discovered from 82 known flowering chickpea gene orthologs of Arabidopsis and legumes as well as 832 gene-encoding transcripts that are differentially expressed during flower development in chickpea. GWAS using both genome-wide GBS- and candidate gene-based genotyping data of 30,129 SNPs in a structured population of 92 sequenced accessions (with 200–250 kb LD decay) detected eight maximum effect genomic SNP loci (genes) associated (34 % combined PVE) with flowering time. Six flowering time-associated major genomic loci harbouring five robust QTLs mapped on a high-resolution intra-specific genetic linkage map were validated (11.6–27.3 % PVE at 5.4–11.7 LOD) further by traditional QTL mapping. The flower-specific expression, including differential up- and down-regulation (>three folds) of eight flowering time-associated genes (including six genes validated by QTL mapping) especially in early flowering than late flowering contrasting chickpea accessions/mapping individuals during flower development was evident. The gene haplotype-based LD mapping discovered diverse novel natural allelic variants and haplotypes in eight genes with high trait association potential (41 % combined PVE) for flowering time differentiation in cultivated and wild chickpea. Taken together, eight potential known/candidate flowering time-regulating genes [efl1 (early flowering 1), FLD (Flowering locus D), GI (GIGANTEA), Myb (Myeloblastosis), SFH3 (SEC14-like 3), bZIP (basic-leucine zipper), bHLH (basic helix-loop-helix) and SBP (SQUAMOSA promoter binding protein)], including novel markers, QTLs, alleles and haplotypes delineated by aforesaid genome-wide integrated approach have potential for marker-assisted genetic improvement and unravelling the domestication pattern of flowering time in chickpea

An Analytical Cross-Sectional Study on the Impact of Clinical Profile on the Outcome of Patients on Mechanical Ventilation at a Tertiary Care Centre

Introduction: Mechanical ventilation (MV) is an invasive life supporting device to mimic the respiratory physiological function at the time of impending respiratory failure. There is dramatic improvement in the survival of critically ill patients, but also associated with complications affecting the overall outcome. A part from the severity of underlying disease, MV and care related parameters also influence the outcome. Aim: To determine the outcome of mechanically ventilated patients in an ICU depending on their clinical profile. Materials and Method: Retrospective cross sectional study for duration of 6 months. Inclusion criteria: Patients >18years of age, male and female patients, All patients requiring MV support for >12hours, Patients with failing respiratory drive or who failed O2 therapy and NIV are eligible for the study. Exclusion criteria: Patients <18years of age, Patients who died within12 hours of intubation, Patients who were extubated <12 hours of intubation, Pregnant and lactating women, patients with Incomplete data. Conclusion: Increased mortality observed in patients with sepsis and more number of ventilator days and increased length of hospital stay

<smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="country-region"><smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="place"> Antigenic and biological diversity among sugarcane mosaic isolates from different geographical regions in India </smarttagtype></smarttagtype>

538-541 A recently characterized sugarcane mosaic virus isolate (SCM-UP) from eastern Uttar Pradesh, India was found antigenically similar to sugarcane mosaic virus isolates of West Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Haryana, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. The results were confirmed either by DAC-ELISA, EBIA, DIBA and ISEM together or by any of these serological tests. The SCM-UP isolate reacted with AP isolate of sugarcane streak mosaic virus (SCSMV-AP, antiserum), a member of Tritimovirus and a proposed genus in the family Potyviridae, which is recently reported from South India in ISEM test. Hence, it was concluded that sugarcane mosaic disease in India, observed on many varieties of sugarcane, is caused by pathotype of sugarcane mosaic virus which is antigenically similar to other virus isolates causing sugarcane mosaic disease all over India. These virus isolates showed more or less similar biological reactions on sorghum, sugarcane and Johnsongrass. </smarttagtype

Rudhira/BCAS3 is a cytoskeletal protein that controls Cdc42 activation and directional cell migration during angiogenesis

Cell migration is a common cellular process in angiogenesis and tumor metastasis. Rudhira/BCAS3 (Breast Cancer Amplified Sequence 3) is a conserved protein expressed in the embryonic vasculature and malignant tumors. Here, we show for the first time that Rudhira plays an active role in directional cell migration. Rudhira depletion in endothelial cells inhibits Matrigel-induced tube formation and retards healing of wounded cell monolayers. We demonstrate that during wound healing, Rudhira rapidly re-localizes and promotes Cdc42 activation and recruitment to the leading edge of migrating cells. Rudhira deficient cells show impaired downstream signaling of Cdc42 leading to dramatic changes in actin organization and classic cell polarity defects such as loss of microtubule organizing center (MTOC) and Golgi re-orientation. Biochemical assays and co-localization studies show that Rudhira interacts with microtubules as well as intermediate filaments. Thus, Rudhira could control directional cell migration and angiogenesis by facilitating crosstalk between cytoskeletal elements