Implications of Tracey's theorem to asynchronous sequential circuit design

Tracey's Theorem has long been recognized as essential in generating state assignments for asynchronous sequential circuits. This paper shows that Tracey's Theorem also has a significant impact in generating the design equations. Moreover, this theorem is important to the fundamental understanding of asynchronous sequential operation. The results of this work simplify asynchronous logic design. Moreover, detection of safe circuits is made easier

Plant growth-promotion by Streptomyces spp. in sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L.)

Seven strains of Streptomyces spp.: BCA-546 (KF770898), BCA-659 (KF770889), BCA-667 (KF770888), BCA-689 (KF770899), BCA-698 (KF770900), CAI-133 (KF770895) and CAI-8 (KF770890), reported earlier to produce biocontrol and plant growth-promoting (PGP) substances were further evaluated for PGP traits in sorghum under greenhouse and field conditions. Under greenhouse conditions, plant height, leaf area and weight, root length and weight, shoot weight, panicle weight and seed weight were enhanced in plots inoculated with Streptomyces spp. than the un-inoculated control at 30, 60 days after sowing (DAS) and at final harvest. Similarly, treatment with Streptomyces spp. led to growth and yield enhancements under field conditions at 60 DAS and final harvest. Among the seven strains, BCA-698, BCA-689, BCA-546 and BCA-659 were found to be superior for PGP. Under field conditions, at both flowering and harvest stages, the soil organic C, available P and total N were also found to improve with Streptomyces spp. treatments. A scanning electron microscopic study showed extensive root colonization of sorghum. The gene expression profiles revealed up-regulation of β-1,3-glucanase, indole acetic acid (IAA) and siderophore genes. Based on the present findings, the seven selected Streptomyces strains could be employed to enhance plant growth and yield in sorghum

Characterization of antagonistic streptomyces as potential biocontrol agent against fungal pathogens of chickpea and sorghum

Twenty-seven actinomycetes isolated from vermicompost and rhizosphere soils were screened for their antagonistic potential against fungal pathogens of chickpea and sorghum. Eight isolates (BCA-657, BCA-671, BCA-679, BCA-687, BCA-690, CAI-67, CAI-70 and CAI-98) showed broad-spectrum antagonistic activity in dual-culture assay and metabolite inhibition assay. The isolates exhibited growth at pH 7−11, up to 10% saline (except BCA-687, CAI-67 and CAI-70) at 20−40 °C (BCA-679 and BCA-690 exhibited growth even at 50 °C) and produced siderophore, chitinase, cellulase, lipase, and protease with some exceptions, including hydrocyanic acid and indole acetic acid. At field application level, all the isolates tolerated the fungicide Bavistin. The sequences of 16S rDNA gene of the isolates matched with Streptomyces but with different species in the BLAST analysis. This study indicates that the selected actinomycetes have broad-spectrum biocontrol and plant growth promotion potentia

Biological Control and Plant Growth-Promotion Traits of Streptomyces Species Under Greenhouse and Field Conditions in Chickpea

Thirty-five isolates of actinomycetes were characterized for their antagonistic potential against phyto-pathogens of chickpea by dual-culture and metabolite production assays. The seven most promising isolates of Streptomyces were evaluated for their physiological and plant growth-promoting traits under in vitro and in vivo conditions. All the seven isolates exhibited good growth at temperatures between 20 and 40 °C, pH between 7 and 11 and saline concentrations up to 4%; all the isolates were highly tolerant to fungicide Bavistin, three isolates were moderately tolerant to Captan and all the isolates were susceptible to Thiram, Benlate and Ridomil. All the seven isolates of Streptomyces produced siderophore, chitinase (except isolate CAI-133), cellulase, lipase, protease (except isolates BCA-689 and CAI-133), hydrocyanic acid (except isolate CAI-133), indole acetic acid and β-1,3-glucanase. The greenhouse studies revealed that the isolates of Streptomyces enhanced the plant growth by promoting root length and weight, nodule numbers, shoot weight, pod numbers and pod weight over the un-inoculated control. Under field conditions, the Streptomyces treated plots increased the nodule numbers, root weight, stover yield and grain yield over the un-inoculated control plots. In the rhizosphere, the Streptomyces were also found to enhance the total nitrogen, available phosphorus and organic carbon compared to un-inoculated control. The colonizing capability of the Streptomyces on the roots of chickpea was confirmed by scanning electron microscopic analysis. All the isolates were identified as Streptomyces species by 16S rDNA analysis; five of the seven isolates clustered in one clade, whereas the other two belonged to two different clades in phylogenetic analysis

Exploiting plant growth-promoting Amycolatopsis sp. in chickpea and sorghum for improving growth and yield

In an attempt to identify plant growth-promoting (PGP) actinomycetes other than Streptomyces sp., from rhizosphere soils of chickpea and sorghum, a total of 37 actinomycetes were isolated and evaluated for their PGP traits. Of which, one isolate BCA-696 was found to produce PGP traits including indole acetic acid (IAA), siderophore, cellulase, lipase, protease, chitinase, hydrocyanic acid and -1,3- glucanase. BCA-696 was found to tolerate wide range of pH, temperature, NaCl concentrations and fungicides. BCA-696 was identified as Amycolatopsis sp. in 16S rDNA analysis. On chickpea, under greenhouse and field conditions, BCA- 596 enhanced the root length, root volume, shoot weight, root weight, nodule number, pod number, seed weight, stover yield and grain yield over the un-inoculated control. BCA- 696 also enhanced PGP traits on sorghum, under field conditions, including the leaf area, stem weight, root weight, plant weight, grain yield and stover yield over the uninoculated control. The rhizosphere soils of both chickpea and sorghum were also found to enhance total N, available P and % organic C in BCA-696 treated plots over un-inoculated control plots. BCA-696 was found to colonize both chickpea and sorghum roots in scanning electron microscope analysis. This is the first report on the role of Amycolatopsis sp. in PGP on chickpea and sorghum

Study on drug utilization pattern in conservative management of patients with pancreatitis in a tertiary care teaching hospital

Background: Drug utilization plays a key role in helping the healthcare system to understand, interpret and improve the prescribing, administration and use of medications. The objective of the study was to assess the drug utilization pattern of drugs prescribed in conservative management of pancreatitis patients in a tertiary care teaching hospital.Methods: This prospective observational study was conducted in department of surgery, Rajah Muthiah Medical College and Hospital, Annamalai University. The study period was six months from November 2019 to April 2020. A total of 115 patients were selected based on inclusion and exclusion criteria.Results: The study population containing of 90% (n=104) males and 10% (n=11) females were included in the study. Most of the patients between age group of 25-44 years (48%). The most common etiology was alcoholic 68% (n=78). 7% of population with comorbidities (5% hypertension, 2% diabetes mellitus). In analgesics, tramadol (28%) and in antibiotics cefotaxime 21% was most prescribed. Lactated ringer solution (36%) was prescribed most as intravenous hydration. 7% (n=8) and 3% (n=4) of patients receiving enteral nutrition and parenteral nutrition. The average number of drugs per prescription was 8.5. Out of 1205 drugs, 61% of drugs prescribed in generic form, 39% were prescribed in brand name. The study analyzed that 69% of drugs were prescribed from essential drugs list (EDL) 2019 and 84% drugs prescribed from national list of essential medicines (NLEM) 2015. Number of prescriptions with injection were 79.07%. The overall antibiotic encounter rate 15%. Prescribed daily dose/defined daily dose (PDD/DDD) ratio of folic acid was 5.Conclusions: Drug utilization study can help in evaluating the quality of care given to the pancreatitis patients and promote rational use of medicines

Insect antifeedant and growth regulating activities of neem seed oil- the role of major tetranortriterpenoids

An attempt was made to correlate insect antifeedant and growth regulatory activities of neem (Azadirachta indica) seed oil with the major tetranortriterpenoids. Selective elimination of triterpenoids by preparative high-performance liquid chromatography, incorporation of the eliminated compounds in defined concentrations and bioassaying the resultant fractions against Spodoptera litura indicated the necessity to quantify major triterpenoids for correlation of bioactivity of neem oil

Strong clustering of non-interacting, passive sliders driven by a Kardar-Parisi-Zhang surface

We study the clustering of passive, non-interacting particles moving under the influence of a fluctuating field and random noise, in one dimension. The fluctuating field in our case is provided by a surface governed by the Kardar-Parisi-Zhang (KPZ) equation and the sliding particles follow the local surface slope. As the KPZ equation can be mapped to the noisy Burgers equation, the problem translates to that of passive scalars in a Burgers fluid. We study the case of particles moving in the same direction as the surface, equivalent to advection in fluid language. Monte-Carlo simulations on a discrete lattice model reveal extreme clustering of the passive particles. The resulting Strong Clustering State is defined using the scaling properties of the two point density-density correlation function. Our simulations show that the state is robust against changing the ratio of update speeds of the surface and particles. In the equilibrium limit of a stationary surface and finite noise, one obtains the Sinai model for random walkers on a random landscape. In this limit, we obtain analytic results which allow closed form expressions to be found for the quantities of interest. Surprisingly, these results for the equilibrium problem show good agreement with the results in the non-equilibrium regime.Comment: 14 pages, 9 figure

Dynamics of a passive sliding particle on a randomly fluctuating surface

We study the motion of a particle sliding under the action of an external field on a stochastically fluctuating one-dimensional Edwards-Wilkinson surface. Numerical simulations using the single-step model shows that the mean-square displacement of the sliding particle shows distinct dynamic scaling behavior, depending on whether the surface fluctuates faster or slower than the motion of the particle. When the surface fluctuations occur on a time scale much smaller than the particle motion, we find that the characteristic length scale shows anomalous diffusion with $\xi(t)\sim t^{2\phi}$, where $\phi\approx 0.67$ from numerical data. On the other hand, when the particle moves faster than the surface, its dynamics is controlled by the surface fluctuations and $\xi(t)\sim t^{{1/2}}$. A self-consistent approximation predicts that the anomalous diffusion exponent is $\phi={2/3}$, in good agreement with simulation results. We also discuss the possibility of a slow cross-over towards asymptotic diffusive behavior. The probability distribution of the displacement has a Gaussian form in both the cases.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, error in reference corrected and new reference added, submitted to Phys. Rev.

Streptomyces spp., a potential biocontrol agent of charcoal rot of sorghum caused by Macrophomina phaseolina

Seven strains of Streptomyces spp. (BCA-546, BCA-659, BCA-667, BCA-689, BCA-698, CAI-8 and CAI-133; demonstrated previously to have potential for plant growth-promotion on sorghum and chickpea) were evaluated for their antagonistic potential against Macrophomina phaseolina, causal agent of charcoal rot disease of sorghum, by dual culture assay, secondary metabolite production assay and in greenhouse disease screen. All the seven strains inhibited M. phaseolina in both dual culture as well as secondary metabolite production assays but four of them (BCA-546, BCA-667, BCA-698 and CAI-8) were notable. When these selected four strains were tested for their antifungal activity in greenhouse on sorghum by tooth pick method, BCA-546 and CAI-8 significantly reduced the disease. The stem samples of the control and Streptomyces sp. treated plants were analysed under scanning electron microscope, where the xylem and phloem tissues of the Streptomyces spp. treated plants were found intact compared to that of infected control plants. This study indicates that the selected two Streptomyces strains, BCA-546 and CAI-8, have the potential to control charcoal rot disease in sorghum