Search for the standard model Higgs boson in H → ZZ → l+l−τ+τ− decay channel with the CMS experiment at √s = 7 and 8TeV

A search for the standard model Higgs boson in the decay mode H → ZZ → l+l−τ+τ− (l = e,μ) is presented. The analysis uses the protonproton collision data recorded by the CMS experiment at the LHC, corresponding to integrated luminosity of 5.1 fb−1 at √s = 7TeV and 12.2 fb−1 at √s = 8TeV. Both the hadronic and leptonic decays of τ are inspected. No evidence is found for a significant deviation from the standard model expectations anywhere in the ZZ mass range considered in this analysis. An upper limit at 95% confidence level is placed on the product of the cross-section and the decay branching ratio for the Higgs boson decaying with standard-model–like couplings, which excludes the crosssections of about two to four times the expected values for the Higgs boson masses in the range of 190 < mH < 600 GeV/c2

Effect of Various Sowing Dates on the Management of Wilt of Guar (\u3cem\u3eCyamopsis tetragonaloba\u3c/em\u3e L.)

Cluster bean [Cyamopsis tetragonoloba (L.) Taub.], commonly known as guar, is a member of Leguminosae (Fabaceae) family. It is a short duration, drought resistant, low investment and high return cash crop. In Punjab, it is one of the important legume crop grown on about 9514 ha with production of 0.24 million ton (Anonymous, 2013). It can be grown in mixture with bajra and jowar but pure crop of guar supplies highest tonnage of palatable nutritious green fodder for longer duration without much deterioration in quality with the age of the crop. It is rich in nutrients with crude protein content and total digestible nutrients on dry matter basis of 18.1 and 60.0 per cent respectively. Besides fodder, it can also be grown for grain, green manure, cover crop and for vegetable purposes. Although, cluster bean being a hardy crop is very sensitive to the biotic and abiotic stresses. The crop has succumbed to number of diseases caused by fungi, bacteria and viruses. Of the all diseases, wilt of guar (Fusarium caeruleum) is a very serious disease. It causes heavy losses in summer sown crop and damage is visible on young plants. Attacks of the Fusarium wilt pathogen can destroy the crop completely. Modification of the soil environment by altering sowing dates and introduction of resistant genotypes can be effective control for Fusarium solani EGY 1causing wilt in guar

FORMULATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF NANO LIPID CARRIER DRY POWDER INHALER CONTAINING CIPROFLOXACIN HYDROCHLORIDE AND N-ACETYL CYSTEINE

ABSTRACT Nanolipid carriers (NLC) are developed as an alternative to solid lipid nanocarriers in order to increase the payload and to prevent drug expulsion. In this study, NLCs loaded with ciprofloxacin hydrochloride (CIP) and N-Acetyl cysteine (NAC) were prepared and evaluated for its delivery to the lung for treatment of the symptoms of cystic fibrosis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder. NLCs prepared by emulsification and sonication technique using cetyl palmitate (the solid lipid, 2%) and oleic acid (as the liquid lipid, 2%) and Tween80 (surfactant, 0.25%) showed smaller particle sizes (of199.1 ±1.859 nm) and relatively high encapsulation efficiencies (72.143±1.8 %.) and optimum zeta potential (-38.27 ± 0.384 mV).A novel DPI formulations loaded with the NLC containing CIP(CIP-DPI), NAC (NAC-DPI) and CIP/NAC combination (CIP-NAC-DPI) were prepared by freeze drying method using Lactose (8%w/v) as a cryoprotectant. The DPI prepared showed good flow properties, prolonged drug release and improved stability. In-vitro drug release profile of CIP HCl in case of CIP-NLC showed 55 % release in 15 hours while it was 60% in case of CIP-NLC-DPI formulation. Similar is the case with NAC formulations. Following intratracheal administration in rat model, the percentage of CIP extracted from lungs was 70.2% in case on CIP-NAC-DPI against 49.8% for CIP-DPI and 42.1% for plain CIP. This amount is about 1.6 times increase in CIP in lungs by co-administration with NAC. However, no appreciable change in the residence time of CIP in lungs after intratracheal administration of CIP-DPI and combined DPI (CIP-NAC-DPI) was noted. Keywords: Ciprofloxacin Hydrochloride, N-Acetyl Cysteine, Nano lipid Carriers, Dry powder inhaler, cystic fibrosis.

Investigation of optimum conditions for the growth of Fusarium solani EGY1 causing root rot of guar (Cyamopsis tetragonoloba L.)

Guar gum (Galactomannan) is extracted from Guar (Cluster bean), which is extensively used in petroleum, food and pharmaceutical industry. Root rot of guaris caused by Fusarium solani EGY1 under Punjab, having sub-tropical climatic conditions. This study was undertaken to evaluate different culture media, grain substrates (sorghum, maize, cowpea, guar and pearl millet), temperatures (20, 25, 30, 35oC), pH levels (5.0, 6.0, 7.0, 8.0), light and darkness for the identification of optimum conditions for the growth and sporulation of the fungus. Czapek’s dox media was found to be best for growth (84.65 mm) and sporulation (1.8 x 104microconidia and 3.0 x 104 macro conidia) of fungus. For mass multiplication of the fungus, sorghum grains proved to be the best substrate. The fungus showed maximum radial growth at temperature of 25oC (84.36 mm) and pH of 6.0 (84.43 mm) whereas sporulation was highest at 30oC (2.0 x 104 microconidia and 3.2 x 104 macroconidia) and pH of 8.0 (1.8 x 104 microconidia and 3.1 x 104 macroconidia) respectively. Continuous light favoured radial growth (84.62 mm) whereas sporulation (1.8 x 104 microconidia and 3.1 x 104 macroconidia) was favoured by darkness

Triggering Dark Showers with Conditional Dual Auto-Encoders

Auto-encoders (AEs) have the potential to be effective and generic tools for new physics searches at colliders, requiring little to no model-dependent assumptions. New hypothetical physics signals can be considered anomalies that deviate from the well-known background processes generally expected to describe the whole dataset. We present a search formulated as an anomaly detection (AD) problem, using an AE to define a criterion to decide about the physics nature of an event. In this work, we perform an AD search for manifestations of a dark version of strong force using raw detector images, which are large and very sparse, without leveraging any physics-based pre-processing or assumption on the signals. We propose a dual-encoder design which can learn a compact latent space through conditioning. In the context of multiple AD metrics, we present a clear improvement over competitive baselines and prior approaches. It is the first time that an AE is shown to exhibit excellent discrimination against multiple dark shower models, illustrating the suitability of this method as a performant, model-independent algorithm to deploy, e.g., in the trigger stage of LHC experiments such as ATLAS and CMS.Comment: 25 pages, 7 figures, and 11 table

FORMULATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF NANO LIPID CARRIER DRY POWDER INHALER CONTAINING CIPROFLOXACIN HYDROCHLORIDE AND N-ACETYL CYSTEINE

ABSTRACT Nanolipid carriers (NLC) are developed as an alternative to solid lipid nanocarriers in order to increase the payload and to prevent drug expulsion. In this study, NLCs loaded with ciprofloxacin hydrochloride (CIP) and N-Acetyl cysteine (NAC) were prepared and evaluated for its delivery to the lung for treatment of the symptoms of cystic fibrosis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder. NLCs prepared by emulsification and sonication technique using cetyl palmitate (the solid lipid, 2%) and oleic acid (as the liquid lipid, 2%) and Tween80 (surfactant, 0.25%) showed smaller particle sizes (of199.1 ±1.859 nm) and relatively high encapsulation efficiencies (72.143±1.8 %.) and optimum zeta potential (-38.27 ± 0.384 mV).A novel DPI formulations loaded with the NLC containing CIP(CIP-DPI), NAC (NAC-DPI) and CIP/NAC combination (CIP-NAC-DPI) were prepared by freeze drying method using Lactose (8%w/v) as a cryoprotectant. The DPI prepared showed good flow properties, prolonged drug release and improved stability. In-vitro drug release profile of CIP HCl in case of CIP-NLC showed 55 % release in 15 hours while it was 60% in case of CIP-NLC-DPI formulation. Similar is the case with NAC formulations. Following intratracheal administration in rat model, the percentage of CIP extracted from lungs was 70.2% in case on CIP-NAC-DPI against 49.8% for CIP-DPI and 42.1% for plain CIP. This amount is about 1.6 times increase in CIP in lungs by co-administration with NAC. However, no appreciable change in the residence time of CIP in lungs after intratracheal administration of CIP-DPI and combined DPI (CIP-NAC-DPI) was noted. Keywords: Ciprofloxacin Hydrochloride, N-Acetyl Cysteine, Nano lipid Carriers, Dry powder inhaler, cystic fibrosis.

Intestinal Perforation: A Rare Complication of Treatment With Bevacizumab

Bevacizumab, a monoclonal immunoglobulin-G1 antibody directed against vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), inhibits angiogenesis. Gastrointestinal perforation is a serious and often fatal adverse event related to bevacizumab use. Bevacizumab is indicated in the treatment of colorectal malignancies, certain subtypes of non-small cell lung carcinoma, metastatic renal cell carcinomas, and cervical cancers. It is also indicated in the treatment of recurrent glioblastoma (GBM) in adult patients as the sole treatment agent or in combination with other antineoplastic medications. We present a case of a patient on bevacizumab currently with glioblastoma multiforme and seizures, who was previously treated with radiation treatment and temozolomide. The patient presented to the emergency room with abdominal pain, seizures and was diagnosed to have an intestinal perforation

New frontiers in agriculture productivity : optimised microbial inoculants and in situ microbiome engineering

Increasing agricultural productivity is critical to feed the ever-growing humanpopulation. Being linked intimately to plant health, growth and productivity, harnessing the plant microbiome is considered a potentially viable approach for the next green revolution, in an environmentally sustainable way. In recent years, our understanding of drivers, roles, mechanisms, along with knowledge to manipulate the plant microbiome, have significantly advanced. Yet, translating this knowledge to expand farm productivity and sustainability requires the development of solutions for a number of technological and logistic challenges. In this article, we propose new and emerging strategies to improve the survival and activity of microbial inoculants, including using selected indigenous microbes and optimising microbial delivery methods, as well as modern gene editing tools to engineer microbial inoculants. In addition, we identify multiple biochemical and molecular mechanisms and/approaches which can be exploited for microbiome engineering in situ to optimise plant-microbiome interactions for improved farm yields. These novel biotechnological approaches can provide effective tools to attract and maintain activities of crop beneficial microbiota that increase crop performance in terms of nutrient acquisition, and resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses, resulting in an increased agricultural productivity and sustainability