Letter to the editor:Are the undergradute medical students well-informed of organ transplantation?

No Abstrac

Screening for plant growth promoting fungi and their ability for growth promotion and induction of resistance in pearl millet against downy mildew disease

A total of forty nine plant growth promoting fungi (PGPF) were successfully isolated from the rhizosphere of various grass species in Karnataka State, India. All the PGPF isolates were tested for their ability to enhance pearl millet seed quality parameters and to induce resistance against downy mildew disease in pearl millet. Susceptible pearl millet seeds 7042S were treated with PGPFs conidial suspension (1 x 108 cfu ml-1) and barley grain inocula (BGI) at 5%, 10% and 20% concentrations. Only six isolates among the forty nine tested recorded significant (P < 0.001) enhancement of seed germination and vigor when compared with the untreated control. Of the PGPF, Penicillium sp. (UOM PGPF 27) at 5% (w/w) concentration recorded highest seed germination of 92% and 1701.9 seedling vigor. The in planta colonization of the six PGPF isolates determined successfully in re-isolating the fungus from the basal root segments of 6 cm and 4 cm plated on PDA plates and also from the rhizosphere serial dilution of 10 3 to 10 5. Among the PGPFs tested in two modes, in BGI treatments, Penicillium sp. (UOM PGPF 27) at 5% (w/w) and Pythium sp. (UOM PGPF 41) at 10% (w/w) showed maximum disease protection of 67% and 61% respectively against downy mildew disease of pearl millet In case of conidial suspension treatments Penicillium sp. (UOM PGPF 27) and Trichoderma sp. (UOM PGPF 37) recorded highest disease protection of 71% and 66%, respectively under greenhouse conditions. Thus, the present study suggests that the tested PGPF, both as BGI inocula and conidial suspensions, can be used for pearl millet downy mildew disease management and also for plant growth. &nbsp

Symmetry energy and the isoscaling properties of the fragments produced in 40^{40}Ar, 40^{40}Ca + 58^{58}Fe, 58^{58}Ni reactions at 25 −- 53 MeV/nucleon

The symmetry energy and the isoscaling properties of the fragments produced in the multifragmentation of $^{40}$Ar, $^{40}$Ca + $^{58}$Fe, $^{58}$Ni reactions at 25 - 53 MeV/nucleon were investigated within the framework of statistical multifragmentation model. The isoscaling parameters $\alpha$, from the primary (hot) and secondary (cold) fragment yield distributions, were studied as a function of excitation energy, isospin (neutron-to-proton asymmetry) and fragment symmetry energy. It is observed that the isoscaling parameter $\alpha$ decreases with increasing excitation energy and decreasing symmetry energy. The parameter $\alpha$ is also observed to increase with increasing difference in the isospin of the fragmenting system. The sequential decay of the primary fragments into secondary fragments, when studied as a function of excitation energy and isospin of the fragmenting system, show very little influence on the isoscaling parameter. The symmetry energy however, has a strong influence on the isospin properties of the hot fragments. The experimentally observed scaling parameters can be explained by symmetry energy that is significantly lower than that for the ground state nuclei near saturation density. The results indicate that the properties of hot nuclei at excitation energies, densities and isospin away from the normal ground state nuclei could be significantly different.Comment: 14 pages, 15 figure

The linewidth-size relationship in the dense ISM of the Central Molecular Zone

The linewidth (sigma) - size (R) relationship has been extensively measured and analysed, in both the local ISM and in nearby normal galaxies. Generally, a power-law describes the relationship well with an index ranging from 0.2-0.6, now referred to as one of "Larson's Relationships." The nature of turbulence and star formation is considered to be intimately related to these relationships, so evaluating the sigma-R correlations in various environments is important for developing a comprehensive understanding of the ISM. We measure the sigma-R relationship in the Central Molecular Zone (CMZ) of the Galactic Centre using spectral line observations of the high density tracers N2H+, HCN, H13CN, and HCO+. We use dendrograms, which map the hierarchical nature of the position-position-velocity (PPV) data, to compute sigma and R of contiguous structures. The dispersions range from ~2-30 km/s in structures spanning sizes 2-40 pc, respectively. By performing Bayesian inference, we show that a power-law with exponent 0.3-1.1 can reasonably describe the sigma-R trend. We demonstrate that the derived sigma-R relationship is independent of the locations in the PPV dataset where sigma and R are measured. The uniformity in the sigma-R relationship suggests turbulence in the CMZ is driven on the large scales beyond >30 pc. We compare the CMZ sigma-R relationship to that measured in the Galactic molecular cloud Perseus. The exponents between the two systems are similar, suggestive of a connection between the turbulent properties within a cloud to its ambient medium. Yet, the velocity dispersion in the CMZ is systematically higher, resulting in a coefficient that is nearly five times larger. The systematic enhancement of turbulent velocities may be due to the combined effects of increased star formation activity, larger densities, and higher pressures relative to the local ISM.Comment: 11 pages, 8 figures, Accepted for publication in MNRA

Nuclear expansion and symmetry energy of hot nuclei

The decrease in the symmetry energy of hot nuclei populated in $^{58}$Ni + $^{58}$Ni, $^{58}$Fe + $^{58}$Ni and $^{58}$Fe + $^{58}$Fe reactions at beam energies of 30, 40, and 47 MeV/nucleon, as a function of excitation energy is studied. It is observed that this decrease is mainly a consequence of increasing expansion or decreasing density rather than the increasing temperature. The results are in good agreement with the recently reported microscopic calculation based on the Thomas-Fermi approach. An empirical relation to study the symmetry energy of finite nuclei in various mass region is proposed.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figure

Effect of long-term treatment with aromatase inhibitor on testicular function of adult male bonnet monkeys (M. radiata)

The role/need for estrogen in regulating testicular function of adult male bonnet monkeys (M. radiata) has been investigated by dosing orally a group of five normal males 2.5 mgs of CGP 47645, a long-acting nonsteroidal aromatase inhibitor (AI), once every 5 days for over 150 days. Such treatment resulted in a 10-fold increment in nocturnal serum testosterone (T) levels, which were sustained for 85 days of treatment, and a twofold increment in basal serum T levels was present throughout the 150 days of treatment. Analysis of ejaculated semen showed a marked reduction (~90%) in sperm counts in four out of five monkeys between Days 55-85 of treatment. During this period, the motility score also was markedly reduced from a normal score of 3-5 to 0-2. Flow cytometric analysis of testicular germ cells obtained from biopsy tissue taken on Days 63 and 120 indicated a marked reduction only in elongating/elongated spermatid population (compared to Day 0 values), suggesting inhibition in spermiogenic process. Epididymal sperm maturation also seemed effected as sperm chromatin, on flow cytometric analysis for decondensability following exposure to 5 mM dithiotreitol, showed to be in a hypercondensed state. This study thus indicates that estrogen has an important role in providing normal testicular and sperm function in the primate

Radial Dependence of the Pattern Speed of M51

The grand-design spiral galaxy M51 has long been a crucial target for theories of spiral structure. Studies of this iconic spiral can address the question of whether strong spiral structure is transient (e.g. interaction-driven) or long-lasting. As a clue to the origin of the structure in M51, we investigate evidence for radial variation in the spiral pattern speed using the radial Tremaine-Weinberg (TWR) method. We implement the method on CO observations tracing the ISM-dominant molecular component. Results from the method's numerical implementation--combined with regularization, which smooths intrinsically noisy solutions--indicate two distinct patterns speeds inside 4 kpc at our derived major axis PA=170 deg., both ending at corotation and both significantly higher than the conventionally adopted global value. Inspection of the rotation curve suggests that the pattern speed interior to 2 kpc lacks an ILR, consistent with the leading structure seen in HST near-IR observations. We also find tentative evidence for a lower pattern speed between 4 and 5.3 kpc measured by extending the regularized zone. As with the original TW method, uncertainty in major axis position angle (PA) is the largest source of error in the calculation; in this study, where \delta PA=+/-5 deg. a ~20% error is introduced to the parameters of the speeds at PA=170 deg. Accessory to this standard uncertainty, solutions with PA=175 deg. (also admitted by the data) exhibit only one pattern speed inside 4 kpc, and we consider this circumstance under the semblance of a radially varying PA.Comment: 14 pages in emulateapj format, 12 figures, accepted for publication in Ap

Preliminary results of high fibular osteotomy (HFO) and cartilage regeneration procedure for medial compartment osteoarthritis of knee with varus deformity

Purpose: High fibular osteotomy (HFO) is a simple surgical technique to reduce pain and improve function in patients with osteoarthritis via fibular osteotomy. We report short-term results of HFO and mesenchymal cell induced chondrogenesis (MCIC) for the treatment of osteoarthritis of knee with varus deformity. Patients and methods: 45 symptomatic patients with 14 males and 31 females age ranging from 40 to 75 years were treated by HFO and MCIC. Main lesions involved medial compartment of knee and lateral compartment with normal to mild lesions of lateral meniscus and articular cartilage, amenable to treatment via partial meniscectomy or observation. Results: Knee injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome score and Lysholm showed a statistically significant increase and VAS, varus angle in X-ray showed a statistically significant decrease. A statistically significant difference between preoperative and postoperative scores was detected in male and female patients without any sexual differences. Conclusion: High fibular osteotomy and mesenchymal cell induced chondrogenesis can be considered as a good treatment option for medial compartment osteoarthritis of knee with varus deformity