JBiopest 7(2):144-150(2014) Management of Meloidogyne incognita JBiopest 5(1): 1-6 © 453 Management of Meloidogyne incognita infecting carrot by using bioagents

ABSTRACT Root-knot nematode (Meloidogyne incognita) is a serious pest of vegetables and major limiting factor in the commercial production of carrot in many parts of the world, including India. To avoid excess use of chemicals, an attempt was made to manage M. incognita infecting carrot by using bioagents viz., Trichoderma harzianum (indigenous and commercial) and Pseudomonas fluorescens (commercial) under field conditions. Among biocontrol agents, the lowest nematode population in soil (222.66/200 g) was recorded in isolated T. harzianum @ 25g/m 2 (2 × 10 6 Cfu/g) treated plot than by commercial T. harzianum @ 20g/m 2 . Maximum reduction of galls/rhizome (11.00), galls/5 g of root (36.00) and egg masses (11.33) per 5 gram of root was recorded in isolated T. harzianum @ 25g/m 2 treatment compared to other treatments. Maximum shoot height (49.66 cm), shoot weight (26.00 g/rhizome) and rhizome yield (8.20 q/ha) were also recorded in isolated T. harzianum @ 25g/m 2 followed by isolated T. harzianum and commercial T. harzianum @ 20g/m 2

Anti pathogenic studies of new mixed ligand metal chelates

189-196Drug discovery aimed at the methodical extermination of life-threatening bacterial infection, especially considering the emergence of multi-drug resistance of pathogenic bacteria has remained a challenge for medicinal inorganic chemistry. In this article, the mixed ligand complexes of Cu (II), Co (II), and Ni (II) containing heterocyclic ligands were synthesized and characterized by IR, LC-MS, UV, and TG-DTA. Complexes are screened for Anti-microbial activity against human pathogenic bacteria

The success-index: an alternative approach to the h-index for evaluating an individual's research output

Among the most recent bibliometric indicators for normalizing the differences among fields of science in terms of citation behaviour, Kosmulski (J Informetr 5(3):481-485, 2011) proposed the NSP (number of successful paper) index. According to the authors, NSP deserves much attention for its great simplicity and immediate meaning— equivalent to those of the h-index—while it has the disadvantage of being prone to manipulation and not very efficient in terms of statistical significance. In the first part of the paper, we introduce the success-index, aimed at reducing the NSP-index's limitations, although requiring more computing effort. Next, we present a detailed analysis of the success-index from the point of view of its operational properties and a comparison with the h-index's ones. Particularly interesting is the examination of the success-index scale of measurement, which is much richer than the h-index's. This makes success-index much more versatile for different types of analysis—e.g., (cross-field) comparisons of the scientific output of (1) individual researchers, (2) researchers with different seniority, (3) research institutions of different size, (4) scientific journals, etc

Ion channel model reduction using manifold boundaries

Mathematical models of voltage-gated ion channels are used in basic research, industrial and clinical settings. These models range in complexity, but typically contain numerous variables representing the proportion of channels in a given state, and parameters describing the voltage-dependent rates of transition between states. An open problem is selecting the appropriate degree of complexity and structure for an ion channel model given data availability. Here, we simplify a model of the cardiac human Ether-à-go-go Related Gene (hERG) potassium ion channel, which carries cardiac IKr, using the manifold boundary approximation method (MBAM). The MBAM approximates high-dimensional model-output manifolds by reduced models describing their boundaries, resulting in models with fewer parameters (and often variables). We produced a series of models of reducing complexity starting from an established 5-state hERG model with 15 parameters. Models with up to 3 fewer states and 8 fewer parameters were shown to retain much of the predictive capability of the full model and were validated using experimental hERG1a data collected in HEK293 cells at 37°C. The method provides a way to simplify complex models of ion channels that improves parameter identifiability and will aid in future model development

Electrophysiological characterization of the hERG R56Q LQTS variant and targeted rescue by the activator RPR260243

Human Ether-à-go-go (hERG) channels contribute to cardiac repolarization, and inherited variants or drug block are associated with long QT syndrome type 2 (LQTS2) and arrhythmia. Therefore, hERG activator compounds present a therapeutic opportunity for targeted treatment of LQTS. However, a limiting concern is over-activation of hERG resurgent current during the action potential and abbreviated repolarization. Activators that slow deactivation gating (type I), such as RPR260243, may enhance repolarizing hERG current during the refractory period, thus ameliorating arrhythmogenicity with reduced early repolarization risk. Here, we show that, at physiological temperature, RPR260243 enhances hERG channel repolarizing currents conducted in the refractory period in response to premature depolarizations. This occurs with little effect on the resurgent hERG current during the action potential. The effects of RPR260243 were particularly evident in LQTS2-associated R56Q mutant channels, whereby RPR260243 restored WT-like repolarizing drive in the early refractory period and diastolic interval, combating attenuated protective currents. In silico kinetic modeling of channel gating predicted little effect of the R56Q mutation on hERG current conducted during the action potential and a reduced repolarizing protection against afterdepolarizations in the refractory period and diastolic interval, particularly at higher pacing rates. These simulations predicted partial rescue from the arrhythmic effects of R56Q by RPR260243 without risk of early repolarization. Our findings demonstrate that the pathogenicity of some hERG variants may result from reduced repolarizing protection during the refractory period and diastolic interval with limited effect on action potential duration, and that the hERG channel activator RPR260243 may provide targeted antiarrhythmic potential in these cases

Pulmonary hamartoma: Cytological study of a case and literature review

Pulmonary hamartomas are the most common but rare benign tumor-like lesions of the lung arising from the embryonic rest. They are more common in males and in aged. Majority are asymptomatic and seen as coin lesions with popcorn calcification in the chest radiograph. Fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) helps to diagnose and distinguish them from the cancerous lesions of the lung. The cytological material is characterized by fibromyxoid stroma, cartilage, bronchial cells, adipose tissue and bone. Bronchial cells with reactive atypia may be a source of false-positive result. Symptomatic cases need surgical intervention such as enucleation or segmental resection. We report a case of a 74-year-old male who had a lung mass that did not progress over 4-year on chest radiograph. The CT-guided FNAC smears showed benign bronchial epithelial cells, fibro-myxoid spindle cell stroma and fat spaces that aided the diagnosis of pulmonary hamartoma avoiding surgical intervention

The tribological behaviour of detonation sprayed TiMo(CN) based cermet coatings

The objective of the present study was to evaluate the tribological performance of 200 μm thick TiMo(CN)-28Co and TiMo(CN)-36NiCo coatings obtained using the detonation spray coating system. Towards the above purpose, the detonation spray coating conditions were optimized to obtain the best coating properties (low porosity, high wear resistance) by varying two of the important coating process variables, i.e., oxygen to fuel ratio and gas volume. In both the coatings it was observed that the best tribological performance and also the lowest porosity were obtained at intermediate OF ratios. However, the coatings with the highest hardness did not exhibit the best tribological performance. A comparison of the tribological performance of the optimized TiMo(CN) type coatings with that of optimized WC-Co coatings revealed that the abrasion resistance of TiMo(CN) type coatings is comparable to that of WC-Co coatings. However, the erosion and sliding wear resistance of TiMo(CN) type coatings were considerably lower than that of WC-Co coatings