A study to find correlation of platelet indices with HbA1c in diabetic patients with absence/presence of vascular complications

Background: Diabetes Mellitus is a global pandemic disease. The increased platelet activity is emphasized to play a role in the development of vascular complications of the metabolic disorder. Mean platelet volume (MPV) is an indicator of average size and activity of platelets. This study was conducted to find correlation of platelet indices with HbA1c in diabetic patients with absence/presence of vascular complications.Methods: Total of 100 subjects was enrolled in the study. Sample for glucose estimation and platelet indices were collected and estimation were carried out by the auto-analyzers. The statistical evaluation is done using SPSS version 22. Student t- test was used for doing comparison between two variables namely HbA1c <7 and HbA1c ≥7 and diabetics with vascular complications v/s without vascular complications.Results: MPV, is significantly higher in patients with type -2 diabetes mellitus with HbA1C ≥7 and those with vascular complications in comparison to patients having HbA1c <7 and those without vascular complications ( p- value <0.001 which is highly significant).Conclusions: MPV might be used as a simple and cost-effective laboratory test in the follow up of diabetes mellitus along with HbA1c and thereby help to reduce the morbidity and mortality

Crop Planning using Stochastic Visual Optimization

As the world population increases and arable land decreases, it becomes vital to improve the productivity of the agricultural land available. Given the weather and soil properties, farmers need to take critical decisions such as which seed variety to plant and in what proportion, in order to maximize productivity. These decisions are irreversible and any unusual behavior of external factors, such as weather, can have catastrophic impact on the productivity of crop. A variety which is highly desirable to a farmer might be unavailable or in short supply, therefore, it is very critical to evaluate which variety or varieties are more likely to be chosen by farmers from a growing region in order to meet demand. In this paper, we present our visual analytics tool, ViSeed, showcased on the data given in Syngenta 2016 crop data challenge 1 . This tool helps to predict optimal soybean seed variety or mix of varieties in appropriate proportions which is more likely to be chosen by farmers from a growing region. It also allows to analyse solutions generated from our approach and helps in the decision making process by providing insightful visualizationsComment: 5 page

Genetically modified Cotton species detection by LISS-III satellite data

It is possible to infer the genetically modified species by using remotely sensed data. Using ERDAS software the algorithm of BT (Bacillus thuringiensis) Cotton in Punjab, India was developed successfully. GPS enabled space technology has the potential to identify the exact location of Bt Cotton by generating Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) for the calculation of total area covered by this species. It was possible to develop a correlation in between genetically modified Cotton crop and NDVI value. In parts of Bhatinda district of Punjab the yield of Bt Cotton and NDVI showing R2 value of more than 4.5 in regression analysis. A correlation matrix was also generated which shows that NDVI values of BT cotton has reasonably acceptable correlation with Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) of soil and water also

Genetically modified Cotton species detection by LISS-III satellite data

It is possible to infer the genetically modified species by using remotely sensed data. Using ERDAS software the algorithm of BT (Bacillus thuringiensis) Cotton in Punjab, India was developed successfully. GPS enabled space technology has the potential to identify the exact location of Bt Cotton by generating Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) for the calculation of total area covered by this species. It was possible to develop a correlation in between genetically modified Cotton crop and NDVI value. In parts of Bhatinda district of Punjab the yield of Bt Cotton and NDVI showed R2 value of more than 4.5 in regression analysis. A correlation matrix was also generated which shows that NDVI values of BT cotton also has reasonably acceptable correlation with Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) of soil and water

The Chromatin Protein DUET/MMD1 Controls Expression of the Meiotic Gene TDM1 during Male Meiosis in Arabidopsis.

Meiosis produces haploid cells essential for sexual reproduction. In yeast, entry into meiosis activates transcription factors which trigger a transcriptional cascade that results in sequential co-expression of early, middle and late meiotic genes. However, these factors are not conserved, and the factors and regulatory mechanisms that ensure proper meiotic gene expression in multicellular eukaryotes are poorly understood. Here, we report that DUET/MMD1, a PHD finger protein essential for Arabidopsis male meiosis, functions as a transcriptional regulator in plant meiosis. We find that DUET-PHD binds H3K4me2 in vitro, and show that this interaction is critical for function during meiosis. We also show that DUET is required for proper microtubule organization during meiosis II, independently of its function in meiosis I. Remarkably, DUET protein shows stage-specific expression, confined to diplotene. We identify two genes TDM1 and JAS with critical functions in cell cycle transitions and spindle organization in male meiosis, as DUET targets, with TDM1 being a direct target. Thus, DUET is required to regulate microtubule organization and cell cycle transitions during male meiosis, and functions as a direct transcription activator of the meiotic gene TDM1. Expression profiling showed reduced expression of a subset comprising about 12% of a known set of meiosis preferred genes in the duet mutant. Our results reveal the action of DUET as a transcriptional regulator during male meiosis in plants, and suggest that transcription of meiotic genes is under stagewise control in plants as in yeast

Self-monitoring, Cultural Training and Prior International Work Experience as Predictors of Cultural Intelligence - a Study of Indian Expatriates

The present study examined the role of self-monitoring, expatriate training, and prior international work experience on the cultural intelligence of expatriates. The data was collected from 223 Indian expatriates through a questionnaire survey. The results of data analysis indicated that self-monitoring has a significant impact on the cultural intelligence of the expatriates. Further analysis was done to examine the effect of these independent variables on individual dimensions of cultural intelligence. The findings signify that self-monitoring has a significant effect on all the three cultural dimensions, namely, cognitive, emotional/motivational and behavioral, and that expatriate training has a significant impact on the emotional/motivational dimension, but not on the other two. Prior international work experience was found not to have a significant effect on cultural intelligence and its dimensions. These findings provide significant insights into organizations for selecting and training the expatriates leading to their effective adjustment and performance in a different culture context. This paper contributes to expatriate management literature highlighting the effect of personality variables along with expatriate training. Further, it is a contribution to the research in cultural intelligence which is a relatively nascent area of research

Importance of conduction electron correlation in a Kondo lattice, Ce2CoSi3

Kondo systems are usually described by the interaction of strong correlation induced local moment with the highly itinerant conduction electrons. Here, we study the role of electron correlations among conduction electrons in the electronic structure of a Kondo lattice compound, Ce$_2$CoSi$_3$, using high resolution photoemission spectroscopy and {\it ab initio} band structure calculations, where Co 3$d$ electrons contribute in the conduction band. High energy resolution employed in the measurements helped to reveal signature of Ce 4$f$ states derived Kondo resonance feature at the Fermi level and dominance of Co 3$d$ contributions at higher binding energies in the conduction band. The line shape of the experimental Co 3$d$ band is found to be significantly different from that obtained from the band structure calculations within the local density approximations, LDA. Consideration of electron-electron Coulomb repulsion, $U$ among Co 3$d$ electrons within the LDA+$U$ method leads to a better representation of experimental results. Signature of electron correlation induced satellite feature is also observed in the Co 2$p$ core level spectrum. These results clearly demonstrate the importance of the electron correlation among conduction electrons in deriving the microscopic description of such Kondo systems.Comment: 6 figure

Evidence of spin lattice coupling in MnTiO3_{3}: an x-ray diffraction study

Here we investigate the temperature evolution of the structural parameters of a potential magnetoelectric material, MnTiO$_{3}$. The experimental results reveal interesting temperature dependence of the $c/a$ ratio and the Mn-O bonds which can be divided into three regions. In region I (300 K to 200 K), the above parameters are seen to decrease with decrease in temperature due to thermal effect. In the region II (200 K to 95 K), the decrement in the structural parameters are reduced due the competing intra layer antiferromagnetic interaction setting in $\sim$ 200 K. The $c/a$ ratio are seen to display a minima around 140 K. Below 140 K, the short Mn-O bonds increase suggesting the onset of inter layer antiferromagnetic interaction $\sim$ 100 K. In region III (95 K to 23 K), the antiferromagnetic interaction is fully established. The behaviour of the calculated Mn-O bonds based on first principle calculations are in line with the experimental results. This study demonstrates the importance of spin lattice coupling in understanding the magnetic properties of the compound which is expected to be helpful in revealing the origin of magnetically induced ferroelectricity.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure