Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

Cohort Profile: Burden of Obstructive Lung Disease (BOLD) study

The Burden of Obstructive Lung Disease (BOLD) study was established to assess the prevalence of chronic airflow obstruction, a key characteristic of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and its risk factors in adults (≥40 years) from general populations across the world. The baseline study was conducted between 2003 and 2016, in 41 sites across Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, the Caribbean and Oceania, and collected high-quality pre- and post-bronchodilator spirometry from 28 828 participants. The follow-up study was conducted between 2019 and 2021, in 18 sites across Africa, Asia, Europe and the Caribbean. At baseline, there were in these sites 12 502 participants with high-quality spirometry. A total of 6452 were followed up, with 5936 completing the study core questionnaire. Of these, 4044 also provided high-quality pre- and post-bronchodilator spirometry. On both occasions, the core questionnaire covered information on respiratory symptoms, doctor diagnoses, health care use, medication use and ealth status, as well as potential risk factors. Information on occupation, environmental exposures and diet was also collected

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Research PaperThe extent of innovativeness and existing production practices of fodder Lucerne (Medicago sativa L.) were assessed in the Pune district of Maharashtra, India by randomly selecting two tehsils (blocks) and two villages from each tehsil with the sample of 120 (40 marginal and small, 40 medium and 40 large) farmers. Eighty percent respondents used Mould Board to plough followed by harrowing for land preparation. Majority of farmers (65.00 %) cultivated RL-88 variety of Lucerne. Around 60.83 % respondents used 5 to 6 kg seed rate per acre. Broadcast method for sowing the crop was followed by 87.50% respondents. More than three fourth (76.67 %) of the respondents took up sowing between month of October and November. Majority of the respondents (69.17 % and 75.83 %) did not apply herbicides and pesticides whereas, only 30.83% and 24.17 % farmers applied herbicides and pesticides, respectively. Around 4-5 tons of Farm Yard Manure per acre was applied by 59.17% respondents. Regarding fertilizer, 54.17 per cent of respondents applied 40 kg N, 15-20 kg P and 15-20 of K per acre. In case of irrigations, 73.33 per cent respondents resorted to 10 to 12 irrigations. Most of the respondents (77.50%) harvested crop at 50 to 55 days. Little over two third (69.17 %) of the respondents were found to have medium level of innovativeness. Family education status and extension contact were found to have positive and significant relation with innovativeness of respondents. So, it is important to increase the extent of extension contact of respondents to improve the innovativeness and production practices of Lucerne crop.Not Availabl

Nanocrystalline CdTe thin films by electrochemical synthesis

Cadmium telluride thin films were deposited onto different substrates as copper, Fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO), Indium tin oxide (ITO), Aluminum and zinc at room temperature via electrochemical route. The morphology of the film shows the nanostructures on the deposited surface of the films and their growth in vertical direction. Different nanostructures developed on different substrates. The X-ray diffraction study reveals that the deposited films are nanocrystalline in nature. UV-Visible absorption spectrum shows the wide range of absorption in the visible region. Energy-dispersive spectroscopy confirms the formation of cadmium telluride

Identification of erosion-prone areas using modified morphometric prioritization method and sediment production rate: a remote sensing and GIS approach

Watersheds from semiarid zones are sensitive to land degradation processes wherein the morphometric investigation is an important aspect to unwrap the susceptible areas. Hence it is a prerequisite for the assessment of erosional pattern of the watershed. Thus, based on the response to erosional processes, prioritization task has been undertaken for fourteen sub-watersheds from basaltic region of Western Ghats of India. A morphometry-based framework using weighted sum analysis (WSA) coupled with the remote sensing data, field data and topographical maps were generated on geographical information system (GIS) platform to estimate the soil erosion susceptibility. The study also evaluates the performance of this new methodology by considering the sediment production rate (SPR) of these sub-watersheds. The resultant WSA-SPR model has prioritized the study area into high, moderate low and very low categories. The high and moderate priority areas lie in the proximity of outlet, upper elevated and undulating terrain of the watershed. It represents 41.38% of the total area covering SW1, 3, 13 and 14 sub-watersheds. This study proposes a useful tool to define areas for planning the strategies to control soil erosion and promote soil conservation

Ag:BiVO4 dendritic hybrid-architecture for high energy density symmetric supercapacitors

We demonstrate the fabrication of Ag:BiVO4 with a dendritic architecture by a template free hydrothermal method. Then, symmetric cells based on Ag:BiVO4 electrodes were assembled which exhibit an extended voltage window of up to 1.6 V with an excellent energy density of 2.63 mW h cm−3 (38.43 W h kg−1) and a power density of 558 mW cm−3 (8.1 kW kg−1).The authors would like to thank the Department of Science and Technology (DST) INSPIRE faculty program (IFA-14/MS-05) and the Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY, New Delhi) for financial support. The authors also acknowledge support from UGC-SAP, Department of Chemistry, Shivaji University Kolhapur. DPD and PGR appreciate the award with the support of the Secretary for Universities and Research of the Ministry of Economy and Knowledge of the Government of Catalonia and the Co-fund programme of the Marie Curie Actions of the 7th R&D Framework Programme of the European Union. ICN2 acknowledges support of the Spanish MINECO through the Severo Ochoa Centers of Excellence Program under Grant SEV-2013-0295.Peer Reviewe

Template-free synthesis of nanostructured CdxZn1-xS with tunable band structure for H-2 production and organic dye degradation using solar light

We have demonstrated a template-free large-scale synthesis of nanostructured CdZnS by a simple and a low-temperature solid-state method. Cadmium oxide, zinc oxide, and thiourea in various concentration ratios are homogenized at moderate temperature to obtain nanostructured CdZnS. We have also demonstrated that phase purity of the sample can be controlled with a simple adjustment of the amount of Zn content and nanocrystalline CdZnS (x = 0.5 and 0.9) of the hexagonal phase with 6-8 nm sized and 4-5 nm sized Cd ZnS of cubic phase can be easily obtained using this simple approach. UV-vis and PL spectrum indicate that the optical properties of as synthesized nanostructures can also be modulated by tuning their compositions. Considering the band gap of the nanostructured Cd ZnS well within the visible region, the photocatalytic activity for H generation using HS and methylene blue dye degradation is performed under visible-light irradiation. The maximum H evolution of 8320 μmol hg is obtained using nanostructured CdZnS, which is four times higher than that of bulk CdS (2020 μmol h g) and the reported nanostructured CdS (5890 μmol hg). As synthesized CdZnS shows 2-fold enhancement in degradation of methylene blue as compared to the bulk CdS. It is noteworthy that the synthesis method adapted provides an easy, inexpensive, and pollution-free way to synthesize very tiny nanoparticles of CdZnS with a tunnable band structure on a large scale, which is quite difficult to obtain by other methods. More significantly, environmental benign enhanced H production from hazardous HS using Cd ZnS is demonstrated for the first time