Routing and Spectrum Allocation in Elastic Optical Networks: A Tutorial

We describe an iterative site-based method for estimating the impulse response of optical wireless channels. The method allows for the simultaneous evaluation of channels for many receiver or transmitter locations, thus providing significantly improved calculation times. A simple geometrical model of indoor environments is presented which includes interior features such as partitions, people, and furniture, thus permitting accurate evaluation of shadowing effects. We demonstrate that by considering multiple receiver or transmitter locations, we can improve calculation times by a factor of more than a thousand. The tool is applied to the problem of developing propagation models for randomly oriented transmit- ters and receivers inside rooms. Our study shows channel gain variations at a fixed transmitter/receiver separation of more than 20 dB. At large separations, receivers with LOS paths to the transmitters receive on average 7 dB more power than those with no LOS. We also show average RMS delay spreads increasing with distance and ranging from 4 ns to 7 ns for non-LOS channels and up to 3 ns for LOS channels. Finally, in furnished rooms we show that accurate estimation of channel parameters requires calculation of at least four-bounce impulse responses

The effect of planned teaching programme on knowledge regarding newborn care among Primi Mothers

In India, 61.3% of all infant death occur within the first month of life. OBJECTIVE: To assess the effectiveness of planned teaching programme on knowledge regarding newborn care among primi mothers. METHODS: Pre experimental design was adopted for this study. Fifty primi mothers were selected by using non-probability convenient sampling technique. Pre test knowledge assessed planned teaching is given for seven days. Knowledge questionnaire tool is used for level of knowledge regarding newborn care among primi mothers. RESULTS: The pretest mean score of knowledge was 8.92 with S.D 2.99 and the post test mean score of knowledge was 18.68 with S.D 1.25. The mean difference was 9.76 and the calculated paired ‘t’ value of t = 21.002 was found to be statistically significant at p<0.001 level. CONCLUSION: The findings showed that the planned teaching was effective in improving the knowledge regarding newborn care among primi mothers

Purification and kinetic mechanism of 5,10-metliyienetetrahydrofolate reductase from sheep liver

5,10-Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (EC 1.1.1.68) was purified from the cytosolic fraction of sheep liver by (NH4)2 SO4 fractionation, acid precipitation, DEAE-Sephacel chromatography and Blue Sepharose affinity chromatography. The homogeneity of the enzyme was established by sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, ultracentrifugation and Ouchterlony immunodiffusion test. The enzyme was a dimer of molecular weight 1,66,000 &#177; 5,000 with a subunit molecular weight of 87,000 &#177;5,000. The enzyme showed hyperbolic saturation pattern with 5-methyltetrahydrofolate. K 0.5 values for 5-methyltetrahydrofolate menadione and NADPH were determined to be 132 MM, 2.45 MM and 16 MM. The parallel set of lines in the Lineweaver-Burk plot, when either NADPH or menadione was varied at different fixed concentrations of the other substrate; non-competitive inhibition, when NADPH was varied at different fixed concentrations of NADP; competitive inhibition, when menadione was varied at different fixed concentrations of NADP and the absence of inhibition by NADP at saturating concentration of menadione, clearly established that the kinetic mechanism of the reaction catalyzed by this enzyme was ping-pong

Interaction of cibacron blue F3G-A and procion red HE-3B with sheep liver 5,10-methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase

Cibacron Blue F3G-A, a probe used to monitor nucleotide binding domains in enzymes, inhibited sheep liver 5,10-methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase competitively with respect to 5-methyltetrahydrofolate and NADPH. The Ki values obtained by kinetic methods and the Kd value for the binding of the dye to the enzyme estimated by protein fluorescence quenching were in the range 0.9-1.2 μM. Another triazine dye, Procion Red HE-3B interacted with the enzyme in an essentially similar manner to that observed with Cibacron Blue F3G-A. These results as well as the interaction of the dye with the enzyme monitored by difference spectroscopy and intrinsic protein fluorescence quenching methods indicated that the dye was probably interacting at the active site of the enzyme by binding at a hydrophobic region

Assessment of soil and water quality status of rose growing areas of Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, India

Rose is a commercial flower crop widely grown across India. It is highly sensitive to salinity and alkalinity. In the process of identification of salt and alkalinity resistant rootstocks of rose cultivars, a survey was conducted in the rose growing areas of Uttar Pradesh (UP) and Rajasthan. Total of 28 representative surface soil samples were collected from rose fields of these regions, processed and analyzed for the soil quality parameters. Similarly water samples (20 samples) from the bore wells of these fields were collected and analyzed. The results revealed that most of the soils of rose growing fields in UP were alkaline (pH &gt;8.0) with normal salt content (electrical conductivity, EC &lt; 0.5 dS m-1). Many of these soils also had higher bicarbonates (&gt; 3 meq 100 g-1). In case of Rajasthan, few samples had higher pH, EC, chloride (&gt;2 meq 100 g-1) and bicarbonate contents. Exchangeable sodium percentage (ESP) of UP and Rajasthan samples ranged from 5.21-20.7% and 2.94-24.9%, respectively. In case of water parameters in these areas, pH was slightly in alkaline range, EC of some of the samples were high (&gt;1 dSm-1). Sodium content was slightly higher than other cations. Soluble sodium percentage (SSP) of water samples was also slightly higher than normal range (0-50%). Few samples had slightly higher chloride above the threshold limit. From the results, it is concluded that soil and water quality of the rose growing areas of UP and Rajasthan is marginal and proper management/reclamation measures need to be carried out for sustaining the production system

Effect of pre harvest application of boron and zinc on post harvest quality and vaselife of carnation

The study was conducted to determine the effect of pre harvest spray of micronutrients like boron, zinc and its combination on post harvest quality and vase life of carnation. Post harvest quality of flowers like flower stalk length (65.61 cm) was maximum in the plant treated with zinc (0.3 per cent), and calyx splitting (3.12 per cent) was minimum in the plants treated with boron (0.1 per cent). Flower diameter (6.64 cm) was highest with boron (0.1 per cent) + zinc (0.3 per cent) treatment. Plants without micronutrient treatment produced poor quality flowers. Regarding vase life studies maximum water uptake and minimum transpiration loss from first day to sixteenth day was resulted in the flowers which are obtained from the plant treated with boron (0.1 per cent). The maximum fresh weight of the flower was noticed in combination of boron (0.1 per cent) + zinc (0.3 per cent) from first to sixteenth day. The foliar spray of boron (0.1 per cent) recorded maximum vase life (11.05 days). So the good quality of flowers can be improved by the foliar spray of zinc, calyx splitting can be controlled by boron foliar spray and vase life of the flower can be maintained by foliar spray of boron. It is confirmed that the foliar application of micronutrient is very much helpful for the improvement of post harvest quality and vase life of carnation

Genetic Variability, Correlation and Path Analysis in Ridge Gourd [Luffa acutangula (Roxb.) L.]

The present investigation was made to determine variability, heritability, genetic advance and correlation of fruit yield with 10 yield-contributing traits in ridge gourd. A wide variability was observed for days taken to first female flower appearance, fruit length, fruit number/plant, fruit weight and fruit yield/ha. Phenotypic coefficient of variation was higher than genotypic coefficient of variation for all the traits studied, indicating environmental influence on the expression of these traits. However, high heritability (broad-sense), along with high genetic advance, was recorded in node number at which first female-flower appeared, number of branches, fruit length, number of fruits/plant and fruit weight, indicating presence of additive gene effects. Fruit yield/ha was significantly and positively associated with peduncle length, fruit length, number of fruits/plant (at the phenotypic level), fruit weight and fruit yield/plant. Fruit weight had the highest direct effect (0.847) on fruit yield/ha, followed by fruit yield/plant (0.793), fruit number (0.344), peduncle length (0.237) and number of branches (0.216). Therefore, for yield improvement in ridge gourd, emphasis may be laid on indirect selection using fruit parameters like fruit weight, number of fruits/plant and fruit yield/plant. &nbsp

Genetic Divergence Study in Bitter gourd (Momordica charantia L.)

The genetic divergence of forty bitter gourd genotypes was studied for sixteen different parameters by adopting Mahalanobis D2 statistics using Tocher's method. The genotypes were grouped into six clusters irrespective of geographic divergence, indicating no parallelism between geographic and genetic diversity. A maximum of 32 genotypes entered in cluster I, followed by 4 genotypes in cluster II. The cluster III, IV, V and VI had single genotypes each. The maximum inter-cluster distance was obtained between cluster II and VI (1620.05) while minimum distance was between III and V (103.32). Cluster V followed by cluster VI showed superiority for yield and other desirable traits, which indicate the potentiality of these diverse genotype collection for providing basic material for future breeding programmes

Adaptive regulation of riboflavin transport in heart: effect of dietary riboflavin deficiency in cardiovascular pathogenesis

Deficiency or defective transport of riboflavin (RF) is known to cause neurological disorders, cataract, cardiovascular anomalies, and various cancers by altering the biochemical pathways. Mechanisms and regulation of RF uptake process is well characterized in the cells of intestine, liver, kidney, and brain origin, while very little is known in the heart. Hence, we aimed to understand the expression and regulation of RF transporters (rRFVT-1 and rRFVT-2) in cardiomyocytes during RF deficiency and also investigated the role of RF in ischemic cardiomyopathy and mitochondrial dysfunction in vivo. Riboflavin uptake assay revealed that RF transport in H9C2 is (1) significantly higher at pH 7.5, (2) independent of Na+ and (3) saturable with a Km of 3.746 µM. For in vivo studies, male Wistar rats (110–130 g) were provided riboflavin deficient food containing 0.3 ± 0.05 mg/kg riboflavin for 7 weeks, which resulted in over expression of both RFVTs in mRNA and protein level. RF deprivation resulted in the accumulation of cardiac biomarkers, histopathological abnormalities, and reduced mitochondrial membrane potential which evidenced the key role of RF in the development of cardiovascular pathogenesis. Besides, adaptive regulation of RF transporters upon RF deficiency signifies that RFVTs can be considered as an effective delivery system for drugs against cardiac diseases

Brown−Vialetto−Van Laere and Fazio−Londe syndromes: SLC52A3 mutations with puzzling phenotypes and inheritance

BACKGROUND: Brown-Vialetto-Van Laere Syndrome (BVVLS) and Fazio-Londe Disease (FLD) are rare neurological disorders presenting with pontobulbar palsy, muscle weakness, and respiratory insufficiency. Mutations in SLC52A2 (hRFVT-2) or SLC52A3 (hRFVT-3) genes can be responsible for these disorders with an autosomal recessive pattern of inheritance. The aim of this study is to screen for mutations in SLC52A2 and SLC52A3 among Indian families diagnosed with BVVLS and FLD. METHODS: SLC52A2 and SLC52A3 were screened in one FLD and three BVVLS patients by exon-specific amplification using PCR and sequencing. In silico predictions using bioinformatics tools and confocal imaging using HEK-293 cells were performed to determine the functional impact of identified mutations. RESULTS: Genetic analysis of a mother and son with BVVLS was identified with a novel homozygous mutation c.710C>T (p.Ala237Val) in SLC52A3. This variant was found to have autosomal pseudo-dominant pattern of inheritance, which was neither listed in the Exome variant server or in 1000 genomes database. In silico analysis and confocal imaging of the p.Ala237Val variant showed higher degree of disorderness in hRFVT3 that could affect riboflavin transport. Furthermore, a common homozygous mutation c.62A>G (p.Asn21Ser) was identified in other BVVLS and FLD patients. Despite having different clinical phenotypes, both BVVLS and FLD disorder can be attributed to this mutation. CONCLUSION: A rare and peculiar pattern of autosomal pseudo-dominant inheritance is observed for the first time in two genetically related BVVLS cases with Indian origin and a common mutation c.62A>G (p.Asn21Ser) in SLC52A3 can be responsible for both BVVLS and FLD with variable phenotypes