Production of Doubled Haploids in Onion: A Review

Onion suffers from high inbreeding depression and, as a result, inbreds that are developed lack genotypic and phenotypic uniformity. Gynogenesis has emerged as a potential strategy to address this drawback. Efforts have been made since the 1980s for identifying highly-responsive genotypes and for overall improvement of the protocol for bettering gynogenic frequency in onion. Besides improving media composition, identification of responsive explants and increasing the chromosome efficiency has remained a major area of focus over the years. This article purports to review progress made thus far in the induction of gynogenic haploids in onion, and challenges/opportunities associated with it

Assessment of depression and diabetes distress in type 2 diabetes mellitus patients in a tertiary care hospital of South India

Background: Depression is one of the many complications seen among diabetics. Depression leads to lack of self-care by the diabetic and endangers the therapeutic compliance, accounting for a derangement in metabolic control which in turn causes further diabetic complications and may even result in hospitalization. This leads to an increase in depressive symptoms and thus the vicious cycle continues.Methods: It is a Descriptive, cross sectional study conducted in the Medicine outpatient department. Depression was assessed by Hamilton depression rating scale. Diabetic distress was assessed by diabetic distress scale.Results: Out of the 250 study participants, 142 (56.8%) were found to be suffering from depression and 6 (2.4%) were found to have diabetes distress. The magnitude of depression was similar in both male and female. Depression was high among illiterates, unemployed (70%), single, separated individuals and patients with complications of diabetes. There was no significant association between religion and low economic status with depression. Treatment modalities, complications of diabetes, sociodemographic factors like age, sex, occupation, education, marital status, religion and socio-economic status had no significant correlation with diabetic distress. But there was a statistically significant association between diabetic distress and co-morbid conditions. 95.8% with depression had no distress and this association was found to be statistically significant (0.038).Conclusions: The magnitude of depression and distress is much high among diabetics. Early detection, counselling and treatment are required for all diabetics, especially those who have additional risk factors for the development of depression

Effect of Canopy Management Practices during forward Pruning on Berry Development and Photosynthesis in Tas-A-Ganesh Grapes

Effect of canopy manipulation during forward pruning on berry development and photosynthetic parameters was studied in Tas-A-Ganesh grape grafted onto Dogridge rootstock. Canopy manipulation including shoot thinning, leaf removal, shoot thinning with leaf removal, and shoot pinching, was done after forward pruning. Significant differences were observed in yield and quality. Shoot thinning to about 40 shoots per vine, with removal of three basal leaves, resulted in significantly higher yield, followed by that in shoot thinning alone. Lowest yield was recorded in the Control. Leaf removal drastically reduced bunch development affecting berry weight, diameter and length compared to other treatments. Among different canopy manipulation treatments, higher average bunch weight was recorded in shoot thinning plus leaf removal, whereas, lowest bunch weight was recorded with leaf removal alone. At harvest, the amount of total soluble solids in berries was low in leaf removal at pre-bloom stage, but increased in the treatment of shoot thinning with leaf removal, at the same stage. Different canopy manipulation treatments had significant impact on photosynthesis and transpiration rates. Overall results indicated that canopy manipulation practices such as shoot thinning, to retain 40 shoots per vine with or without leaf removal, followed by pinching, can be recommended to grape growers

Wyrtki Jets: Role of intraseasonal forcing

Direct current measurements observed from the acoustic Doppler current profilers in the equatorial Indian Ocean (EIO) and solutions from an ocean general circulation model are investigated to understand the dynamics of the Wyrtki jet. These jets are usually described as semiannual direct wind forced zonal currents along the central and eastern EIO. We show that both, spring and fall, Wyrtki jets show predominant semiannual spectral peaks, but significant intraseasonal energy is evident during spring in the central and eastern EIO. We find that for the semiannual band, there is a strong spectral coherence between the overlying winds and the currents in the central EIO, but no coherency is observed in the eastern part of the EIO. Moreover, for the intraseasonal band, strong coherency between the winds and currents is evident. During spring, intraseasonal currents induced by the Madden–Julian oscillation (MJO) superimpose constructively with semiannual currents and thus intensify the strength of the spring Wyrtki jet. Also, the atmospheric intraseasonal variability accounts for the interannual variabilities observed in spring Wyrtki jet

Consumer perspectives on acceptability of trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy in Tanzania and Kenya: A mixed methods study

Background There is a substantial mental health treatment gap globally. Increasingly, mental health treatments with evidence of effectiveness in western countries have been adapted and tested in culturally and contextually distinct countries. Findings from these studies have been promising, but to better understand treatment outcome results and consider broader scale up, treatment acceptability needs to be assessed and better understood. This mixed methods study aimed to examine child and guardian acceptability of trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy (TF-CBT) in two regions in Tanzania and Kenya and to better understand how TF-CBT was perceived as helpful for children and guardians. Methods Participants were 315 children (7–13), who experienced the death of one or both parents and 315 guardians, both of whom participated in TF-CBT as part of a randomized controlled trial conducted in Tanzania and Kenya. The study used mixed methods, with quantitative evaluation from guardian perspective (N=315) using the Treatment Acceptability Questionnaire (TAQ) and the Client Satisfaction Questionnaire-8 (CSQ-8). Acceptability was assessed qualitatively from both guardian and child perspectives. Qualitative evaluation involved analysis using stratified selection to identify 160 child and 160 guardian interviews, to allow exploration of potential differences in acceptability by country, setting (urban/rural), and youth age (younger/older). Results Guardians reported high acceptability on the TAQ and, using an interpretation guide from U.S.-based work, medium acceptability on the CSQ-8. Guardians and children noted high acceptability in the qualitative analysis, noting benefits that correspond to TF-CBT’s therapeutic goals. Analyses exploring differences in acceptability yielded few differences by setting or child age but suggested some potential differences by country. Conclusion Quantitative and qualitative data converged to suggest high acceptability of TF-CBT from guardian and child perspectives in Tanzania and Kenya. Findings add to accumulating evidence of high TF-CBT acceptability from Zambia and other countries (United States, Norway, Australia). Plain Language Summary: Evidence-based treatments have been shown to be effective in countries and regions that are contextually and culturally distinct from where they were developed. But, perspectives of consumers on these treatments have not been assessed regularly or thoroughly. We used open-ended questions and rating scales to assess guardian and youth perspectives on a group-based, cognitive behavioral treatment for children impacted by parental death, in regions within Tanzania and Kenya. Our findings indicate that both guardians and youth found the treatment to be very acceptable. Nearly all guardians talked about specific benefits for the child, followed by benefits for the family and themselves. Eighty percent of youth mentioned benefits for themselves and all youth said they would recommend the program to others. Benefits mentioned by guardians and youth corresponded to treatment goals (improved mood/feelings or behavior, less distress when thinking about the parent/s’ death). Both guardians and children named specific aspects of the treatment that they liked and found useful. Dislikes and challenges of the treatment were less frequently mentioned, but point to areas where acceptability could be further improved. Recommendations from participants also offer areas where acceptability could be improved, namely guardians’ recommendation that the treatment also address non-mental health needs and offer some follow-up or opportunity to participate in the program again. Our study provides an example of how to assess acceptability and identify places to further enhance acceptability