Efficacy of essential oils against Varroa destructor infesting Apis mellifera Linn. colonies and their impact on brood development

Varroa destructor is a dangerous pest directly for beekeeping and indirectly for crops that require insect pollination. The present investigation has been carried out to study the efficacy and persistence of some essential oils and formic acid against Varroa mite in colonies of Apis mellifera Linn. at Pantnagar, Uttarakhand. The results revealed that highest mite mortality (77.54 %) with highest brood development (21.74 % increase) recorded in garlic oil followed by turmeric oil (75.84 %) with 15.39 per cent increases in brood development. The hives treated withT1(tulsi oil), T3 (turmeric oil), T4 (ajwin oil), T5 (cinnamon oil), T5 (clove oil) and T7 (formic acid) also showed good persistence with mite mortality ranging from 66.54 to 77.54 % and brood development -3.12 to 21.74 per cent increase after 3 weeks exposure of the treatments

Particulate Suspension Blood Flow through a Stenosed Catheterized Artery

The flow of blood through a narrow catheterized artery with an overlapping stenosis has been investigated. To account for the presence of red cells, blood has been represented by a macroscopic two-phase model (i.e., a suspension of erythrocytes in plasma). The expression for the flow characteristics-the flow rate, the impedance (resistance to flow), the wall shear stress in the stenotic region, the shear stresses at the stenosis two throats and at critical height of the stenosis, has been derived. It is found that the impedance increases with the catheter size, with the hematocrit and also with the stenosis size (height and length). A significant increase in the magnitude of the impedance and other flow characteristics occur even for a small increase in the catheter size. Variations in the magnitude of all the flow characteristics are observed to be similar in nature with respect to any parameter given

Interim use of Hyrax Screw Assembly for Single-Step Closure of Small Alveolar Cleft Prior to Anterior Maxillary Distraction Osteogenesis: A technical note

Anterior maxillary distraction osteogenesis (AMDO) is often used for correction of maxillary retrognathia in select cleft lip and palate cases. Restoration of alveolar arch continuity is desirable prior to initiation of AMDO in these cleft maxillary deformities. However, AMDO is technically difficult in a patient with coexisting alveolar cleft where there is a discontinuity of the defect that presents a challenge in terms of adequate vector control of movement of anterior segment and potential risk of tipping of teeth which already have compromised anchorage/bone support on the cleft side. Treatment process becomes further challenging when ongoing management is compounded by failed previous alveolar cleft grafting procedures along with the patient’s reluctance to undergo further grafting of alveolar clefts. Herein, we report a technical note demonstrating a novel application of the modification of the hyrax screw wherein an initially fully opened Hyrax screw was utilized as an interim assembly for accomplishing single-step closure of small alveolar cleft prior to commencement of anterior maxillary distraction osteogenesis. This technique may prove to be feasible for patients presenting with alveolar cleft defects of smaller widths of up to 5 mm and relatively well-aligned upper arches. Keywords: Alveolar Cleft; AMDO; Hyrax Screw; Single-Step Closure

Exploration of various flours as pollen substitutes for Apis mellifera L. during Dearth period at Tarai region of Uttarakhand, India

Studies on evaluation of various flours as pollen substitutes and availability of pollen resources for Apis mellifera honey bees were conducted at Govind Ballabh Pant University of Agriculture & Technology, Pantnagar, India during 2010. Four flours were taken viz. Soybean, Maize, Wheat and Gram as pollen substitutes for A. mellifera. All the flours were mixed with honey and water to make a total of 4 treatments (4 flours + honey + water). Treatment T1 (Soybean flour + honey + water) were found to be best in reference to visitation of bees with a mean number of 32.59 honey bee foragers /5min/day and weight loss in flours was 19.12 g due to foraging by bees followed by the treatment T3 (Maize flour + honey + water) and T2 (Wheat flour + honey + water) were found 29.30 and 23.05, respectively. Gram flour + honey + water (T4) combination were found to be least preferred pollen substitute for A. mellifera (19.76 honey bee foragers/5min/day) with a weight loss 6.66 g. The overall study has great significance for bee keepers. The use of pollen substitute is important for growth and development of the bee colonies not only in dearth periods but also at other times (during foraging, pollination process and to overcome pesticide exposures.). From the present findings it can be concluded that although bees have accepted and grew on all the diets

A Two-layered Non-Newtonian Arterial Blood Flow through an Overlapping Constriction

The problem of blood flow through an overlapping constriction in arteries is investigated in this work. To account for the non-Newtonian behavior and the peripheral layer, blood has been represented by a two-fluid model, consisting of a core region of suspension of all the erythrocytes assumed to be a Casson fluid and a peripheral layer of plasma (Newtonian fluid). The expression for the flow characteristics, namely, the impedance, the wall shear stress, the shear stress at the stenosis throats and at the critical height of the stenosis has been derived. Moreover, we present some results concerning the dependence of these quantities on the geometrical parameters

Effect of trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole vs. norfloxacin on fecal E. coli resistance pattern and efficacy in patients receiving prophylaxis for spontaneous bacterial peritonitis

Background: Spontaneous Bacterial Peritonitis (SBP) is an infection of ascitic fluid. It is highly mortal and recurrent condition, so prophylaxis with Norfloxacin (NOR) or Trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMX) seems to play an important role in the prevention of further episodes of SBP. Aims of the study were to assess the effect of TMP-SMX/NOR on the sensitivity pattern of fecal E. coli after long term prophylaxis in Spontaneous Bacterial Peritonitis (SBP) and to compare the efficacy of TMP-SMX and NOR in prophylaxis of SBP.Methods: An interventional, prospective, open label, single center study conducted in Maulana Azad medical college, New Delhi, India. 52 patients of SBP or with high risk of SBP were screened and finally 39 patients were recruited. Stool sensitivity testing of fecal E. coli was done and they were divided into TMP-SMX group(n=18) and NOR group(n=21) according to sensitivity. After 45±3 days (7 weeks) their stool sample was re-examined for change sensitivity pattern of E. coli. Efficacy variables like any episode of SBP, fever (FEV) resolution of ascites (ASC), bacteremia (BACT), extraperitoneal infection (EPI), liver transplantation (LT) or death (D) were noted throughout the period of 24 weeks.Results: Resistance developed in 60% vs. 48% in TMP-SMX vs. NOR group(p=0.46) after 45 days of prophylaxis. By the end of 24 weeks, Incidence of SBP (29%vs. 25%, p>0.99), episodes of FEV(P=0.60), EPI(p>0.99), ASC(p>0.99) and death (14% vs. 16%, p>0.99) were almost similar in both the groups (TMP-SMX vs. NOR) respectively.Conclusions: Both TMP-SMX and NOR showed same degree of resistance and found equi-efficacious when administered as long-term prophylactic therapy in SBP. TMP-SMX can be a suitable as well as cost effective alternative to NOR for the prophylaxis of SBP

Reconstruction of Escherichia coli transcriptional regulatory networks via regulon-based associations

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Network reconstruction methods that rely on covariance of expression of transcription regulators and their targets ignore the fact that transcription of regulators and their targets can be controlled differently and/or independently. Such oversight would result in many erroneous predictions. However, accurate prediction of gene regulatory interactions can be made possible through modeling and estimation of transcriptional activity of groups of co-regulated genes.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Incomplete regulatory connectivity and expression data are used here to construct a consensus network of transcriptional regulation in <it>Escherichia coli </it>(<it>E. coli</it>). The network is updated via a covariance model describing the activity of gene sets controlled by common regulators. The proposed model-selection algorithm was used to annotate the likeliest regulatory interactions in <it>E. coli </it>on the basis of two independent sets of expression data, each containing many microarray experiments under a variety of conditions. The key regulatory predictions have been verified by an experiment and literature survey. In addition, the estimated activity profiles of transcription factors were used to describe their responses to environmental and genetic perturbations as well as drug treatments.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Information about transcriptional activity of documented co-regulated genes (a core regulon) should be sufficient for discovering new target genes, whose transcriptional activities significantly co-vary with the activity of the core regulon members. Our ability to derive a highly significant consensus network by applying the regulon-based approach to two very different data sets demonstrated the efficiency of this strategy. We believe that this approach can be used to reconstruct gene regulatory networks of other organisms for which partial sets of known interactions are available.</p

Correlation of clinical, biochemical and radiological characteristics with histopathology of ovarian masses: hospital based descriptive study

Background: Ovarian cancer is an important cause of morbidity and mortality in the middle aged women. A systematic study of all ovarian tumours encountered in a large institute over a period of years is more likely to produce a significant amount of useful data regarding the clinical manifestations, the incidence of various types of ovarian tumours and the type of treatment offered. In this study we correlate various clinical presentations, ultrasound features, and various tumour marker levels with histopathology of ovarian masses.Methods: The study was conducted in the department of obstetrics and gynaecology in collaboration with department of radiology and pathology and lab medicine, Deen Dayal Upadhyay hospital from April 2015 to December 2016.Results: In the present study, 97 ovarian masses have been operated out of total 708 gynaecological surgeries in the obstetrics and gynaecology department of Deen Dayal Upadhyay hospital over the stipulated period. Prevalence of ovarian masses was 13.7%. Most of the ovarian masses were prevalent in the reproductive age group i.e. 21-40 years of age group in the present study though malignant masses were commonest in post-menopausal age group in the present study. 2 out 11 malignant ovarian masses were in the age group of 10-20 years which were dysgerminoma and immature teratoma respectively. Intra-operative findings like presence of mural nodule, haemorrhage and necrosis, ascites, papillary excrescences and omental caking were also found to have strong correlation with malignancy.Conclusions: A detailed preoperative workup and a simple tool loke RMI can differentiate between benign and malignant masses pre-operatively especially in post-menopausal women

Diversity of floral insect visitors of mango during blooming period at Pantnagar

A total of 20 insect species were observed visiting on mango flowers belonging to eight species of the order Diptera, seven species of Hymenoptera, three species of Lepidoptera, one species of Hemiptera and one species of Coleoptera. The Dipterans constituted major group of insects visiting on mango flowers. Among the dipterans, syrphids (Family: Syrphidae; subfamilies: Syrphinae and Eristalinae) were observed the most frequent visitors, constituted (44.67%) the major group of visitors. The syrphids species included Episyrphus balteatus DeGeer, Melanostoma orientale Weid, Syrphus corollae Fab. and Eristalis tenax L. Of these, E. balteatus exhibited marked higher incidence on mango and as compared to other syrphids. Besides syrphids, other dipterans, viz. Musca domestica belonging to the family Muscidae and subfamily Muscinae, were also observed as the occasional visitors (0.50 per cent) on mango flowers. The Hymenopterans were monitored as second major group of insects found visiting on mango flowers. Of these, the family Apidae and subfamily Apinae contributed 40.95% and represented by three main species of thegenus Apis, viz. A. dorsata Fab., A. mellifera L., and A. cerana indica Fab. Among the non apis bees of family Melliponae: Melliponinae (Tetragonula laeviceps) and Xylocopidae: Xylocopinae (Xylocopa aestuans L.) were observed to constituted 9.10 per cent and 2.07 per cent respectively. In addition to this some Hemipterans, Lepidopterans and Coleopterans were also found on mango inflorescence that contributed 0.17, 0.20 and 0.42 per cent, respectively

Efficacy of some insecticides against Thrips, Megalurothrips sjostedti Trybom cowpea crop ecosystem

The study was conducted to determine efficacy of insecticides against Thrips, Megalurothrips sjostedti Trybom on cowpea grown at field experiments were conducted at Breeder Seed Production Centre, Govind Ballabh Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar 2014.The most effective treatment for the control of thrips Megalurothrips sjostedti Trybom was seed treatment with fipronil @ 3 ml/kg + spray with fipronil @ 5 ml/lt with maximum reduction (70.06%) in the thrips population of cowpea while lowest effective treatment for the control of thrips Megalurothrips sjostedti Trybom was seed treatment with imidacloprid 17.8SL @ 10ml/kg + spray with monocrotophos 36SL @ 2ml/lt with minimum reduction (16.02%) in the thrips, Megalurothrips sjostedti Trybom population of cowpea crop