Understanding the chapati making attributes of the Indian wheats – I: The physico-chemical basis

The research project was largely built around the tall traditional cultivars of the pre-dwarfing era, which were known to excel for chapati quality. These included C 306, C 518 and C 273. The few cultivars that had emanated from crosses of these superior chapati quality wheats with dwarf wheats formed another important component of this set and included WG 357, PBW 175, PBW 154, PBW 226, Lok 1 among others. Asecond set of materials, three backcross recombinant populations (BC1F5 generation) derived from C 273/PBW 343//PBW 343 (70 lines), C 306/PBW 534//PBW 534 (70 lines) and C 518/PBW 343//PBW 343 (80 lines) were also studied to arrive at some conclusion. Various physico-chemical characters(Grain appearance score,Grain hardness,Test weight,1000-grain weight,Yellow berry,Moisture content,Protein content,Gluten content, Gluten index, Sedimentation value, Phenol Test, Carotenoids, Sugar content, Diastatic activity, Falling Number) and chapati-makingscores were evaluated. Grain hardness seems to have a clear role in chapati quality with a correlation coefficient of 0.34, 0.35 and 0.17 observed in different recombinant populations.More consistent correlation was found for grain appearance ranging from 0.26 to 0.36 in the populations.Consistent high positive correlations have showed up for diastase activity, which ranged from 0.32 to 0.46.This consistent behaviour is a strong evidence for the role of this trait in chapati making quality.Diastase activity emerges as a more consistent and stronger contributor to chapati making quality. Phenol score may not serve as a suitable indicator of chapati quality

Understanding the chapatti making attributes of the Indian wheats – II: The rheological basis

The concept of good chapati varies from individual to individual and depends mainly on the rheological properties of the dough used to prepare the chapaties. The research project was largely built around two type of plant meterials, the tall traditional cultivars of the pre-dwarfing era, and three backcross recombinant populations (BC1F5 generation) C 273/PBW 343//PBW 343 (70 lines), C 306/PBW 534//PBW 534 (70 lines) and C 518/PBW 343//PBW 343 (80 lines). Association of traits studied with chapati score in set of cultivars and genetic stocks Starch pasting characteristics showed mild negative correlation with chapati quality, which is again contrasting, to the requirements of bread making. The correlations were not consistent over years possibly due to environmental factor (temperature, rainfall, fertilizer and irrigations etc.) and due to change in the constitution of the set. Similarly mixographic traits showed negative association chapati making quality. The correlations which prevail in the populations carry much greater weight as these have persisted over several rounds of recombination and are likely to reflect under lying causes of superior chapati quality. As various components of chapati quality would be disassembled, the relative levels of correlations for individual traits would be uncovered. Among the starch pasting characteristics, final viscosity and setback were consistently negatively associated with the chapati making quality. In case of the mixographic traits, mixing tolerance index is negatively associated whereas rate of dough development has consistent positive correlation with chapati quality

Understanding the chapati making attributes of the Indian wheats – I: The physico-chemical basis

The research project was largely built around the tall traditional cultivars of the pre-dwarfing era, which were known to excel for chapati quality. These included C 306, C 518 and C 273. The few cultivars that had emanated from crosses of these superior chapati quality wheats with dwarf wheats formed another important component of this set and included WG 357, PBW 175, PBW 154, PBW 226, Lok 1 among others. Asecond set of materials, three backcross recombinant populations (BC1F5 generation) derived from C 273/PBW 343//PBW 343 (70 lines), C 306/PBW 534//PBW 534 (70 lines) and C 518/PBW 343//PBW 343 (80 lines) were also studied to arrive at some conclusion. Various physico-chemical characters(Grain appearance score,Grain hardness,Test weight,1000-grain weight,Yellow berry,Moisture content,Protein content,Gluten content, Gluten index, Sedimentation value, Phenol Test, Carotenoids, Sugar content, Diastatic activity, Falling Number) and chapati-makingscores were evaluated. Grain hardness seems to have a clear role in chapati quality with a correlation coefficient of 0.34, 0.35 and 0.17 observed in different recombinant populations.More consistent correlation was found for grain appearance ranging from 0.26 to 0.36 in the populations.Consistent high positive correlations have showed up for diastase activity, which ranged from 0.32 to 0.46.This consistent behaviour is a strong evidence for the role of this trait in chapati making quality.Diastase activity emerges as a more consistent and stronger contributor to chapati making quality. Phenol score may not serve as a suitable indicator of chapati quality

Acute pancreatitis and severe hyperbilirubinemia as initial presentation of Gilbert syndrome

Gilbert syndrome (GS) is benign, often familial condition characterized by recurrent but asymptomatic mild unconjugated hyperbilirubinemia in the absence of hemolysis or underlying liver disease. The coexistence of GS with other more clinically significant conditions could interfere with their diagnoses. The genetic variation described as GS may affect drug glucuronidation and could potentially precipitate. Gallstones are the commonest ailment affecting the hepato-biliary system. Associated jaundice is usually direct, commonly due to biliary obstructive lesions. Unconjugated hyperbilirubinemia with cholelithiasis is commonly seen with hemolytic disease. In the absence of hemolysis or systemic causes, congenital causes prevail, commonest of which is Gilbert’ Syndrome. Here we report a case of 21-year old male who presented to our hospital with complaint of pain abdomen and was diagnosed as gall stone induced pancreatitis which was further diagnosed as GS after genetic testing for UGT1A1 gene polymorphism

Periodic Optical Variability of Radio Detected Ultracool Dwarfs

A fraction of very low mass stars and brown dwarfs are known to be radio active, in some cases producing periodic pulses. Extensive studies of two such objects have also revealed optical periodic variability and the nature of this variability remains unclear. Here we report on multi-epoch optical photometric monitoring of six radio detected dwarfs, spanning the $\sim$M8 - L3.5 spectral range, conducted to investigate the ubiquity of periodic optical variability in radio detected ultracool dwarfs. This survey is the most sensitive ground-based study carried out to date in search of periodic optical variability from late-type dwarfs, where we obtained 250 hours of monitoring, delivering photometric precision as low as $\sim$0.15%. Five of the six targets exhibit clear periodicity, in all cases likely associated with the rotation period of the dwarf, with a marginal detection found for the sixth. Our data points to a likely association between radio and optical periodic variability in late-M/early-L dwarfs, although the underlying physical cause of this correlation remains unclear. In one case, we have multiple epochs of monitoring of the archetype of pulsing radio dwarfs, the M9 TVLM 513-46546, spanning a period of 5 years, which is sufficiently stable in phase to allow us to establish a period of 1.95958 $\pm$ 0.00005 hours. This phase stability may be associated with a large-scale stable magnetic field, further strengthening the correlation between radio activity and periodic optical variability. Finally, we find a tentative spin-orbit alignment of one component of the very low mass binary LP 349-25.Comment: Accepted to The Astrophysical Journal; 22 pages; 12 figure

A Search For Pulsations in the Optical Light Curve of the Nova ASASSN-17hx

We present high-speed optical observations of the nova ASASSN-17hx, taken both immediately after its discovery and close to its first peak in brightness, to search for second–minute pulsations associated with the convective eddy turnover timescale within the nova envelope. We do not detect any periodic signal with greater than 3σ significance. Through injection and recovery, we rule out periodic signals of fractional amplitude >7.08 × 10^(−4) on timescales of 2 s and fractional amplitude >1.06 × 10^(−3) on timescales of 10 minutes. Additional observations of novae are planned to further constrain ongoing simulations of the launch and propagation of nova winds