Replenishment Policy for Pareto Type Deteriorating Items With Quadratic Demand under Partial Backlogging And Delay in Payments

The present model develops a replenishment policy in which the demand rate is quadratic polynomial-time function. Deterioration rate is a Pareto type function. Shortages are partial backlogging and delay in payments are allowed. Holding cost is a linear function of time. The backlogging rate varies with the waiting duration for the next replenishment. The present paper determines the optimal policy for the individual by minimizing the total cost. The optimization procedure has been explained by a numerical example and a detailed sensitivity analysis of the optimal solution has been carried out to display the effect of various parameters

Treating long standing Primary Infertility with Ayurveda - A Case Study

Infertility is an increasing condition in society which has become a challenge to the gynaecologist. Based on the census reports of India 2001, 1991, 1981 researchers show that childlessness has increased by 50% since 1981. The increase may be due to many reasons, as sexually transmitted infections, coping with stress, the way of living, job pressure, postponing parenthood, galloping urbanization, obesity etc. Vandhya Stree is either due to Beeja Dosha or other causes where she can be treated and made to conceive. Vandhyatva is a condition which occurs as a complication of various diseases, different Yonivyapats, Jatharagnis, Artavadushtis, Beejadosha, Mithyaachara, Daiva are various contributory factors for Vandhya. Many treatments have been available with different success rates. They include fertility drugs, intrauterine insemination (IUI), in vitro sperm injection (ICSI), donor insemination (DI), egg (or embryo) donation and surrogacy. long standing infections of vagina or urinary system, UTI, TORCH infections contribute to non conception due to compromised immune system. Atimaithuna in Baalaavashtha is explained as one of the causes for Yonivyapats, treating the Yonivyapat and reducing infection enhances conception. This theory was followed in this case to achieve conception. Presenting such a case with long standing infertility and infection treated successfully with Ayurvedic medicine and achieved conception

Damage and yield loss estimate in maize varieties owing to stem borer (Chilo partellus Swinhoe) infestation and insecticidal control

Stem borer (Chilo partellus Swinhoe) is one of the most damaging and yield reducing pest in maize. Field experiments were organized to assess the extent of damage and yield loss due to the infestation of stem borer in maize following two factors randomized complete block design with three replications at National Maize Research Program, Rampur, Chitwan, Nepal, during two consecutive spring seasons of 2020 and 2021. Maize varieties; Rampur Hybrid (RH)-8, RH-10, RH-12 (CAH-1715), RH-14 (RML-86/RML-96), RH-16 (RML-95/RML-96), TX-369, Arun-2, ZM-401, ZM-627 and Rampur Composite were used as a test variety (First factor) whereas pest control conditions (spray and non-spray) was considered as the second factor in the experiments. The sprayed plots (protected plots) were kept completely free from stem borer infestation by using three application of standard dose of insecticide (spinosad 45% [email protected]/L) at 10 days interval and non spray (unprotected plots) were selected for natural infestation of stem borers. Standard agronomical practices such as time of planting, row spacing, seed rate, irrigation, weeding and fertilizer application and doses were adopted to raise the crop. Among tested varieties Arun-2 was found most susceptible to stem borer attack in both experimental years resulted in higher % dead hearts (6.04%), higher no of exit hole (4.72), higher % foliage damage at before tasseling stage (12.17%) and higher tunnel length (4.62cm). Quantitative yield loss increased with the increase of the borer's infestation. The yield loss was ranged from 25 to 45% in different maize varieties due to the attack of stem borer. Highest yield loss was quantified for the open pollinated varieties, ZM-401(44.61%) followed by Rampur Composite (41.39%) and Arun-2 (41.22%). Spraying of insecticide enabled the recently introduced maize hybrid RH-14 to produce more yield and to be less vulnerable to stem borer damage

Detection of inducible clindamycin resistance and susceptibilities to other antimicrobial agents in clinical isolates of Staphylococcus aureus

Background: The resistance to antimicrobial agents among staphylococci is an increasing problem. Clindamycin is commonly used for the treatment of skin and soft tissue infections produced by Staphylococcus aureus and its widespread use has led to its resistance by different mechanisms & hence it is important to detect this. In vitro, routine tests may fail to detect inducible clindamycin resistance due to erm genes resulting in treatment failure, thus necessitating the need to detect such resistance by a simple D-test on a routine basis. Objective: To find out the percentage of inducible clindamycin resistance in our hospital using D-test and their susceptibilities to other antimicrobial agents to guide therapy.Methods: One hundred and two S. aureus isolates from various clinical samples were evaluated and methicillin resistance was determined using cefoxitin (30 mcg) disc and inducible resistance to clindamycin was detected by D-test as per CLSI guidelines. Antibiotic susceptibility to other antimicrobial agents was done by Kirby Bauer’s disc diffusion method.Results: Nineteen (18%) isolates showed inducible clindamycin resistance, 12 (11%) showed constitutive resistance and 22 (21%) showed MS phenotype. All the three resistance patterns were higher in Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) as compared to Methicillin Sensitive Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA).Conclusion: Our study showed, that D-test should be used as a mandatory method in routine disc diffusion testing to detect inducible clindamycin resistance for optimum treatment of patients.

A clinico - microbiological study in patients undergoing mechanical ventilation in a tertiary care hospital

Background:Ventilator associated pneumonia (VAP) is an important and common complication of mechanically ventilated patients. It is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in Intensive Care Units (ICU) worldwide. Objective of the study was to isolate and identify the organisms causing VAP and to know their resistance pattern.Methods: A prospective study was carried out over a period of one year in the ICU of a tertiary care hospital. All patients on mechanical ventilation for more than 48 hours were included in the study. The pathogens were identified based on standard procedures including Gram’s stain, colony morphology on Blood agar, Mac Conkey agar and SDA and biochemical reactions.Results: The incidence of VAP in our study was 32% and was more common in males compared to females (65.62%) Gram negative organisms were most commonly isolated. Among them Klebsiella, Pseudomonas, Acinetobacter were the commonest organisms. Gram positive bacteria were Staphylococcus aureus, Coagulase negative staphylococci and Pneumococci. In 2% of cases Candida spp were isolated.Conclusions: Gram negative bacteria were the major pathogenic organisms of VAP in our ICU. Culture of endotracheal aspirates for early diagnosis and its antibiogram will guide for an approach to targeted treatment

Candida and Enterobacter co-infection in a case of periampullary carcinoma with obstructive jaundice

Pancreatic infection remains a significant clinical problem, with substantial morbidity and mortality. We report a case of periampullary carcinoma and culture of the pancreatic pus and bile showed growth of Candida albicans and Enterobacter species. Amphotericin B therapy is effective in clearing Candida infection, but affected patients have a high associated mortality

Common Garden Experiment Reveals Altered Nutritional Values and DNA Methylation Profiles in Micropropagated Three Elite Ghanaian Sweet Potato Genotypes

Micronutrient deficiency is the cause of multiple diseases in developing countries. Staple crop biofortification is an efficient means to combat such deficiencies in the diets of local consumers. Biofortified lines of sweet potato (Ipomoea batata L. Lam) with enhanced beta-carotene content have been developed in Ghana to alleviate Vitamin A Deficiency. These genotypes are propagated using meristem micropropagation to ensure the generation of virus-free propagules. In vitro culture exposes micropropagated plants to conditions that can lead to the accumulation of somaclonal variation with the potential to generate unwanted aberrant phenotypes. However, the effect of micropropagation induced somaclonal variation on the production of key nutrients by field-grown plants has not been previously studied. Here we assessed the extent of in vitro culture induced somaclonal variation, at a phenotypic, compositional and genetic/epigenetic level, by comparing field-maintained and micropropagated lines of three elite Ghanaian sweet potato genotypes grown in a common garden. Although micropropagated plants presented no observable morphological abnormalities compared to field maintained lines, they presented significantly lower levels of iron, total protein, zinc, and glucose. Methylation Sensitive Amplification Polymorphism analysis showed a high level of in vitro culture induced molecular variation in micropropagated plants. Epigenetic, rather than genetic variation, accounts for most of the observed molecular variability. Taken collectively, our results highlight the importance of ensuring the clonal fidelity of the micropropagated biofortified lines in order to reduce potential losses in the nutritional value prior to their commercial release

Determination of Median Lethal (LD50) and Growth Reduction (GR50) Dose of Gamma Irradiation for Induced Mutation in Wheat

Abstract The determination of the optimum dose of radiation through its impacts on the growth attributes of the crop is the prerequisite for successful induced mutation breeding. For evaluating the impact of different doses of gamma radiation on wheat (Triticum aestivum), two wheat varieties DBW 187 and K 1006 were irradiated at six different doses (200, 250, 300, 350, 400 and 450 Gy) using a Cobalt-60 source at Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, West Bengal, India. Seed germination, survivability and seedling length of the irradiated seeds were measured at 7 days after sowing in laboratory experiments, while plant height, panicle length, grains per panicle and 1000 seed weight was recorded for field studies. It was observed that seed germination, survivability and seedling length declined with the increase in gamma radiation dose. The germination percentage showed significant differences among treatments (100 to 75%), while the survival percentage exhibited significant differences from 200 to 300 Gy in both the varieties. The LD50 for DBW 187 and K 1006 were found to be 272.71 and 278.61 respectively, while the GR50 values were 316.22 and 346.73 for DBW 187 and K 1006 respectively under laboratory conditions. The GR50 for field observations were 341.19 Gy and 339.70 Gy for DBW 187 and K 1006 respectively. Hence, the gamma radiation dose between 250 Gy and 300 Gy was found optimum to obtain desirable results. The obtained dose could be used to generate highest mutation mediated changes with least lethal effects in the subsequent generations of wheat

HvALMT1 from barley is involved in the transport of organic anions

Members of the ALMT gene family contribute to the Al3+ resistance of several plant species by facilitating malate efflux from root cells. The first member of this family to be cloned and characterized, TaALMT1, is responsible for most of the natural variation of Al3+ resistance in wheat. The current study describes the isolation and characterization of HvALMT1, the barley gene with the greatest sequence similarity to TaALMT1. HvALMT1 is located on chromosome 2H which has not been associated with Al3+ resistance in barley. The relatively low levels of HvALMT1 expression detected in root and shoot tissues were independent of external aluminium or phosphorus supply. Transgenic barley plants transformed with the HvALMT1 promoter fused to the green fluorescent protein (GFP) indicated that expression of HvALMT1 was relatively high in stomatal guard cells and in root tissues containing expanding cells. GFP fused to the C-terminus of the full HvALMT1 protein localized to the plasma membrane and motile vesicles within the cytoplasm. HvALMT1 conferred both inward and outward currents when expressed in Xenopus laevis oocytes that were bathed in a range of anions including malate. Both malate uptake and efflux were confirmed in oocyte assays using [14C]malate as a radiotracer. It is suggested that HvALMT1 functions as an anion channel to facilitate organic anion transport in stomatal function and expanding cells

GABA signalling modulates plant growth by directly regulating the activity of plant-specific anion transporters

The non-protein amino acid, gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) rapidly accumulates in plant tissues in response to biotic and abiotic stress, and regulates plant growth. Until now it was not known whether GABA exerts its effects in plants through the regulation of carbon metabolism or via an unidentified signalling pathway. Here, we demonstrate that anion flux through plant aluminium-activated malate transporter (ALMT) proteins is activated by anions and negatively regulated by GABA. Site-directed mutagenesis of selected amino acids within ALMT proteins abolishes GABA efficacy but does not alter other transport properties. GABA modulation of ALMT activity results in altered root growth and altered root tolerance to alkaline pH, acid pH and aluminium ions. We propose that GABA exerts its multiple physiological effects in plants via ALMT, including the regulation of pollen tube and root growth, and that GABA can finally be considered a legitimate signalling molecule in both the plant and animal kingdoms.Australian Research Council; Waite Research Institute grants: (FT130100709, DP130104205, CE140100008); Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia grant: (PTDC/BEX-BCM/0376/2012); University of Maryland.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio