Role of MRI and ultrasonography in evaluation of multifidus muscle in chronic low back pain patients

Background: Low back pain (LBP) is a condition that will affect 60-80% of the population at some stage in their life. Epidemiological studies have shown that simple backache has point prevalence and a 1-month prevalence of 15-30% and 30-40% respectively. Studies that have been performed state that LBP is a self-limiting condition, but many people who have suffered from LBP will experience recurring episodes, which could lead to the development of chronic LBP. The objective of the study was to assess the role of MRI and USG in evaluating degenerative changes in multifidus muscle in chronic low back pain patients.Methods: A Cross-sectional Observational study was done in 30 patients. Adult patients of either sex who presented with low back pain for 6 weeks or more and Grade 1 and grade 2 degenerative intervertebral disc changes as seen on plain skiagrams of L-S spine, A-P and lateral views were subjected to MRI and Ultrasound.Results: Multifidus and paraspinal muscle atrophy and fatty degeneration should be considered in association with the clinical presentation and other abnormalities seen in MRI examination.Conclusions: Whether LBP duration, severity and associated functional disability affect the degree of paraspinal muscle degenerative changes remains unclear. Possible reasons underlying the discrepant findings include variations among the age and symptoms of duration of the studied populations and small sample size

Mobile Database System: Role of Mobility on the Query Processing

Abstract-The rapidly expanding technology of mobile communication will give mobile users capability of accessing information from anywhere and any time. The wireless technology has made it possible to achieve continuous connectivity in mobile environment. When the query is specified as continuous, the requesting mobile user can obtain continuously changing result. In order to provide accurate and timely outcome to requesting mobile user, the locations of moving object has to be closely monitored. The objective of paper is to discuss the problem related to the role of personal and terminal mobility and query processing in the mobile environment

Fuzzy based Channel Selection for Location Oriented Services in Multichannel VCPS Environments

Location-oriented services in Vehicular Cyber-Physical System (VCPS) have witnessed significant attention due to their potentiality to address traffic safety and efficiency related issues. The multichannel communication aids these services by tuning their overall performance in vehicular environments. Related literature on multichannel communication is focuses on interference as channel quality measure. However, uncertain mobility and density of vehicles significantly affect channel quality apart from interference. The static quantification of channel quality is not suitable due to the dynamic characteristics of the channel quality parameters. In this context, this paper proposes Fuzzy-based Channel Selection framework for location-oriented services in Multichannel VCPS environments (F-CSMV). A system model is presented for deriving channel access delay using Markov chain model. The channel quality is estimated using channel access delay (CAD) and signal-to-interference ratio (SIR). The fuzzy logic based channel selection framework is developed considering fuzzification and defuzzification of CAD and SIR. The comparative performance evaluation attests the benefit of the framework as compared to the state-of-the-art techniques in VCPS

Quantitative determination of the effects of He–Ne laser irradiation on seed thermodynamics, germination attributes and metabolites of Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L) in relation with the activities of germination enzymes

The present investigation was undertaken to assess the effects of different doses (100, 300, and 500 mJ) of low power He–Ne laser (632.8 nm) irradiation on seed germination and thermodynamics attributes and activities of potential germinating enzymes in relation with changes in seed metabolites. He–Ne laser seed irradiation increased the amylase (Amy), protease (Pro) and glucosidase (Gluco) activities, with a significant improvement in seed thermodynamics and seed germination attributes. A fast increase was found in free fatty acids (FFA), free amino acids (FAA), chlorophyll (Chl), carotenoids (Car), total soluble sugars (TSS) and reducing sugars (RS) in laser treated seeds in parallel with fast decline in seed oil contents and total soluble proteins (TSP). Significant positive correlations were recorded in laser-induced enhanced seed energy levels, germination, activities of germination enzymes with levels of FAA, FFA, Chl, TSS and RS, but a negative correlation with the levels of TSP and oil. In conclusion, the seed treatment with 100 and 300 mJ He–Ne laser was more effective to improve the seed germination potential associated with an improvement in seed energy levels due to increased activities of germination enzymes due to the speedy breakdown of seed reserves to simple metabolites as building blocks

Conservation and Diversity of Seed Associated Endophytes in Zea across Boundaries of Evolution, Ethnography and Ecology

Endophytes are non-pathogenic microbes living inside plants. We asked whether endophytic species were conserved in the agriculturally important plant genus Zea as it became domesticated from its wild ancestors (teosinte) to modern maize (corn) and moved from Mexico to Canada. Kernels from populations of four different teosintes and 10 different maize varieties were screened for endophytic bacteria by culturing, cloning and DNA fingerprinting using terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (TRFLP) of 16S rDNA. Principle component analysis of TRFLP data showed that seed endophyte community composition varied in relation to plant host phylogeny. However, there was a core microbiota of endophytes that was conserved in Zea seeds across boundaries of evolution, ethnography and ecology. The majority of seed endophytes in the wild ancestor persist today in domesticated maize, though ancient selection against the hard fruitcase surrounding seeds may have altered the abundance of endophytes. Four TRFLP signals including two predicted to represent Clostridium and Paenibacillus species were conserved across all Zea genotypes, while culturing showed that Enterobacter, Methylobacteria, Pantoea and Pseudomonas species were widespread, with γ-proteobacteria being the prevalent class. Twenty-six different genera were cultured, and these were evaluated for their ability to stimulate plant growth, grow on nitrogen-free media, solubilize phosphate, sequester iron, secrete RNAse, antagonize pathogens, catabolize the precursor of ethylene, produce auxin and acetoin/butanediol. Of these traits, phosphate solubilization and production of acetoin/butanediol were the most commonly observed. An isolate from the giant Mexican landrace Mixteco, with 100% identity to Burkholderia phytofirmans, significantly promoted shoot potato biomass. GFP tagging and maize stem injection confirmed that several seed endophytes could spread systemically through the plant. One seed isolate, Enterobacter asburiae, was able to exit the root and colonize the rhizosphere. Conservation and diversity in Zea-microbe relationships are discussed in the context of ecology, crop domestication, selection and migration

Not Available

Brochure of Model Training Course on Waste Management for Sustainable Agriculture in Low Rainfall Areas organized by CAZRI during November 28 - December 05, 2017.Brochure of Model Training Course on Waste Management for Sustainable Agriculture in Low Rainfall Areas organized by CAZRI during November 28 - December 05, 2017.Not Availabl

Phylogenetic diversity of alkaline protease-producing psychrotrophic bacteria from glacier and cold environments of Lahaul and Spiti, India

The diversity of proteolytic bacteria associated with a glacier and cold environment soils from three different locations in Lahaul and Spiti, India was investigated. Two hundred seventeen bacterial strains were isolated in pure culture. Subsequently these strains were screened for protease-production and one hundred nine showed protease production. From these protease producing psychrotrophic bacteria twenty showing high enzyme production at low temperature and alkaline pH were characterized and identified. The 16S rRNA phylogenetic analysis revealed that none of the strains showed 100% identity with the validly published species of various genera. Isolates belonged to three classes i.e. Actinobacteria, Gammaproteobacteria and Alphaproteobacteria, and were affiliated with the genera Acinetobacter, Arthrobacter, Mycoplana, Pseudomonas, Pseudoxanthomonas, Serratia and Stenotrophomonas. The optimal growth temperature ranged from 10 to 28 degrees C and interestingly, high levels of enzyme productions were measured at growth temperatures between 15 and 25 degrees C, for most of the isolates in plate assay. Most of the isolates were found to produce at least two other hydrolytic enzymes along with protease. The crude protease from one strain was active over broad range of temperature and pH with optima at 30 degrees C and 7.5, respectively. The protease activity was enhanced by Ca(2+), dithiothreitol and beta-mercaptoethanol. While Na(+), Hg(2+), Zn(2+), Mn(2+), phenylmethanesulfonyl fluoride and ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid did not showed much effect on protease activity. The results enrich our knowledge on the psychrotrophic bacterial diversity and biogeographic distribution of enzyme producing bacteria in western Himalaya

Not Available

Not AvailableFive plant pathogenic fungi were isolated from infected plants of groundnut, castor and cumin growing under arid environment. The isolates belonged to two fungal genera and were identified as Alternaria tenuissima (CZC-2), Alternaria alternata (CZCU-1), Fusarium equiseti (CZCU-2), Fusarium oxysporum (CZCU-4) and Fusarium solani (CZGN-9) based on ribosomal DNA sequencing. The effect of copper oxide nanoparticles on growth inhibition of these fungal pathogens was carried out in solid and liquid media. In the plate method A. tenuissima (CZC-2) showed the maximum diameter of colony growth in control plates in both the media, whereas the minimum diameter of colony growth was shown by Alternaria tenuissima CZC-2 and Fusarium solani CZGN-9 in the potato dextrose agar (PDA) and rose bengal agar (RBA) supplemented with 500 ppm of copper oxide nanoparticles (CNP), respectively. In the plate method the maximum inhibition of 68.8 % was reported against A. tenuissima CZC-2 in plates supplemented with 500 ppm of copper nanoparticles. Whereas in liquid medium there was complete growth inhibition of A. tenuissima CZC-2 and F. oxysporum CZCU-4 at 250 ppm concentration of copper oxide nanoparticles.Not Availabl