Organogenesis induction in rice callus by cyanobacterial extracellular product

Cyanobacteria or blue green algae are prokaryotic photosynthetic microorganism that produces a wide array of substances, including plant growth regulators. In the case of growth regulators, gibberellin, auxin, cytokinin, ethylene, abscisic acid and jasmonic acid have been detected in cyanobacteria. Many substances have been added to plant tissue culture media in order to promote plant regeneration. The present research communication gives a report of the study of the effect of extracellular products of Plectonema sp., isolated from paddy fields on regeneration of rice. The endosperm of three rice varieties, IR 50, ASD 16 and ADT 36, were used as explants. IR 50 showed earlier and good callus induction response in MS medium. For root induction, cyanobaterial extracellular product was added instead of 2,4-D. The result showed that the number of days taken for root initiation and root growth was quicker by adding the extracellular products. Interestingly, more proliferation of roots in cyanobaterial extracellular product treatments was also observed compared to 2,4-D which might due to the production of growth regulators like auxin(s). Tremendous growth of root length and volume in short period indicate that MS with cyanobaterial extracellular product may also be used for screening of rice genotypes for water stress condition.Keywords: Callus induction, cyanobacterial extracellular products, Plectonema sp., rice, root inductio

A video processing and data retrieval framework for fish population monitoring

htmlabstractIn this work we present a framework for fish population monitoring through the analysis of underwater videos. We specifically focus on the user information needs, and on the dynamic data extraction and retrieval mechanisms that support them. Sophisticated though a software tool may be, it is ultimately important that its interface satisfies users' actual needs and that users can easily focus on the specific data of interest. In the case of fish population monitoring, marine biologists have to interact with a system which not only provides information from a biological point of view, but also offers instruments to let them guide the video processing task for both video and algorithm selection. This paper aims at describing the system's underlying video processing and workflow low-level details, and their connection to the user interface for on-demand data retrieval by biologists

A Video Processing and Data Retrieval Framework for Fish Population Monitoring

In this work we present a framework for fish population monitoring through the analysis of underwater videos. We specifically focus on the user information needs, and on the dynamic data extraction and retrieval mechanisms that support them. Sophisticated though a software tool may be, it is ultimately important that its interface satisfies users' actual needs and that users can easily focus on the specific data of interest. In the case of fish population monitoring, marine biologists have to interact with a system which not only provides information from a biological point of view, but also offers instruments to let them guide the video processing task for both video and algorithm selection. This paper aims at describing the system's underlying video processing and workflow low-level details, and their connection to the user interface for on-demand data retrieval by biologists

Northern Territory Heart Failure Initiative–Clinical Audit (NTHFI–CA)–a prospective database on the quality of care and outcomes for acute decompensated heart failure admission in the Northern Territory: study design and rationale

This is an Open Access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 3.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/Introduction Congestive heart failure is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in Australia. Accurate data for the Northern Territory and Indigenous Australians are not presently available. The economic burden of this chronic cardiovascular disease is felt by all funding bodies and it still remains unclear what impact current measures have on preventing the ongoing disease burden and how much of this filters down to more remote areas. Clear differentials also exist in rural areas including a larger Indigenous community, greater disease burden, differing aetiologies for heart failure as well as service and infrastructure discrepancies. It is becoming increasingly clear that urban solutions will not affect regional outcomes. To understand regional issues relevant to heart failure management, an understanding of the key performance indicators in that setting is critical. Methods and analysis The Northern Territory Heart Failure Initiative—Clinical Audit (NTHFI-CA) is a prospective registry of acute heart failure admissions over a 12-month period across the two main Northern Territory tertiary hospitals. The study collects information across six domains and five dimensions of healthcare. The study aims to set in place an evidenced and reproducible audit system for heart failure and inform the developing heart failure disease management programme. The findings, is believed, will assist the development of solutions to narrow the outcomes divide between remote and urban Australia and between Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Australians, in case they exist. A combination of descriptive statistics and mixed effects modelling will be used to analyse the data. Ethics and dissemination This study has been approved by respective ethics committees of both the admitting institutions. All participants will be provided a written informed consent which will be completed prior to enrolment in the study. The study results will be disseminated through local and international health conferences and peer reviewed manuscripts

Medication Compliance of Patients Attending a Pain Clinic at a Tertiary Hospital in Malaysia

Pain is a public health problem with profound physical, emotional, and societal costs. Conventional oral analgaesics are usually the first treatment, which is cost-effective and relatively safe. However, medication noncompliance is a serious healthcare concern. Medication noncompliance has remained a significant challenge despite considerable efforts to improve patient compliance. Therefore, a study was done to assess medication compliance at a Pain Clinic in a tertiary hospital in Malaysia. The study period was from December 2019 to January 2020. A total of 180 patients participated in the study. The study showed that pain clinic patients’ medication compliance was 65%. With the improvement of medication compliance, the quality of life of patients with pain can be improved

Increasing the germination percentage of a declining native orchid (Himantoglossum adriaticum) by pollen transfer and outbreeding between populations

The declining native orchid Himantoglossum adriaticum H. Baumann is a European endemic of priority interest (92/43/ EEC, Annex II). Northern Italian populations of H. adriaticum are small and isolated, with depressed seed set. Given the important implications for plant population conservation, we tested the hypothesis that artificial pollen transfer (hand-pollination) and outbreeding between populations increases fruit set and seed germination percentage. The background fruit set and in vitro germination rates were determined for ten reference populations. An artificial cross-pollination experiment included (a) pollen transfer from one large population to two small and isolated populations; (b) pollen transfer between two small but not isolated populations; (c) within-population pollen transfer (control). All seeds were sown on a modified Malmgren's medium and cultured in a controlled environment. Germination percentage was compared using a Kruskal-Wallis anova. The background fruit set (mean = 18%) and germination (<5%) rates were consistently low across populations. Fruit set after hand-pollination was consistently 100%. Pollen transfer from the largest population to smaller populations resulted in an increase in total germination ranging from 0.9% to 2.9%. The largest increase in germination occurred between small-sized and less isolated populations (from 1.7% to 5.1%). The results of pollen transfer between the small populations are particularly encouraging, as the mean increase in germination was almost four times that of the control. Outbreeding can be considered a valuable tool to increase genetic flow and germination in natural populations, limit the accumulation of detrimental effects on fitness driven by repeated breeding with closely-related individuals, thereby increasing the possibility of conservation of rare or endangered species

LAB-1 Targets PP1 and Restricts Aurora B Kinase upon Entrance into Meiosis to Promote Sister Chromatid Cohesion

Successful execution of the meiotic program depends on the timely establishment and removal of sister chromatid cohesion. LAB-1 has been proposed to act in the latter by preventing the premature removal of the meiosis-specific cohesin REC-8 at metaphase I in C. elegans, yet the mechanism and scope of LAB-1 function remained unknown. Here we identify an unexpected earlier role for LAB-1 in promoting the establishment of sister chromatid cohesion in prophase I. LAB-1 and REC-8 are both required for the chromosomal association of the cohesin complex subunit SMC-3. Depletion of lab-1 results in partial loss of sister chromatid cohesion in rec-8 and coh-4 coh-3 mutants and further enhanced chromatid dissociation in worms where all three kleisins are mutated. Moreover, lab-1 depletion results in increased Aurora B kinase (AIR-2) signals in early prophase I nuclei, coupled with a parallel decrease in signals for the PP1 homolog, GSP-2. Finally, LAB-1 directly interacts with GSP-1 and GSP-2. We propose that LAB-1 targets the PP1 homologs to the chromatin at the onset of meiosis I, thereby antagonizing AIR-2 and cooperating with the cohesin complex to promote sister chromatid association and normal progression of the meiotic program

Analysis of Heart Beat Rate through Video Imaging Techniques

Health is the condition of being free from disease or injury either in physically or mentally. To provide a general state of health, analysis of physiological parameters such as heart beat rate, blood pressure, respiratory rate, hemoglobin concentration and etc. are playing an important part. Among these physiological parameters, heart beat rate is the most essential indicator of people’s health state because it is the heart rhythms to circulate the blood flow in the human body. Hence, in clinical diagnosis or for the patient in an intensive care unit, heart beat rate is the parameter that must be recorded and examined. The standard equipment like stethoscope, electrocardiogram, pulse oximetry are normally used for measuring heart beat rate but those equipment required to contact sensors to the human skin. In order to overcome the discomforts caused by the long period attachment of sensors and difficulties faced by patients who have skin damages, this research proposed a noncontact technique to measure heart beat rate through video imaging captured by an ordinary RGB camera. The acquired results from video imaging techniques are achieved more than 90% in accuracy by comparing with the results obtained through biomedical toolkit of LabVIEW. The developed techniques are attractive and suitable for regularly health care monitoring purposes due to its contactless, low cost, convenience, multiple people assessments and continuous benefits

Genetic variations for herbicide tolerance (Imazethapyr) in chickpea (Cicer arietinum)

Plant resistance has been widely recognized as the most potential and successful way to minimize losses due to biotic stresses including weeds in chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.). Weeds pose great threat to chickpea production through competing for natural resources. Herbicides are the most successful weed controlling agents. Presently we do not have chickpea genotypes having tolerance to post emergence herbicides. This study was undertaken to identify the sources of resistance to the post emergence herbicide in chickpea. 509 chickpea accessions (reference set and elite breeding lines) were screened during September to November 2011 for the post emergence, herbicide Imazethapyr (Pursuit™) tolerance. After preliminary screening, 31 most tolerant and 9 most sensitive genotypes were identified. Later these 40' genotypes were re-evaluated during November'2011 to February 2012r~Accessions, viz. ICC 1164, IPC 2010-81 and IPC 2008-59 were found to be most tolerant. Lines such as ICC 8522, ICC 6874 and ICC 5434 were recorded as the most sensitiv

THE USAGE OF ENGLISH INTERNET SLANG AMONG MALAYSIANS IN SOCIAL MEDIA

Usage of social media among Malaysian keeps on rising day by day. Almost everyone in Malaysia owns a smartphone and with those smartphones, they can access social media such as WhatsApp, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and et cetera anywhere and anytime they want. With the existence of social media, a new style of writing was born and it is called internet slang. The researchers conducted this study to identify how frequently Malaysian use internet slang in daily online communication. This internet slang can damage the current vocabulary and vandalize the writing skills of a person. Researchers conducted documentary research by using the qualitative method to study and gain an understanding of internet slang used among Malaysian in social media. Researchers collect all 69 findings and evidence from posts on social media made by Malaysians. This study found that there are several types of internet slang that are commonly used among Malaysians on social media. Researchers suggest that Malaysian should limit themselves in using English internet slang in daily online communication as it can damage their writing styl