Effect of liquid Biofertilizer (Vrikshayurveda) prepared from Brassica alba on the cultivation of rice

Brassica alba, one of the very anciently well known plants, was used as biofertilizer long time before. Pot culture technique was introduced and three different pots were prepared. Plants of first pot provided only normal dose of urea, in second pot additionally 10% B. alba liquid manure sprayed along with the normal dose of urea. Third pot was provided with blue green algal fertilization and 10% of B. alba liquid manure. Various parameters like plant height, leaf length, leaf number and inflorescence length were evaluated in test culture receiving differentdose of urea and bio-fertilizer. In pot-1, plant height, length of inflorescence, grain yield , husk yield , grains per panicle , number of panicle per plant and weight of 1000 grains was found to be 84.30 cm, 19.50 cm, 2800 kgha-1, 4300 kgha-1, 42 grains per panicle, 4 panicle and 24.80 gm respectively, whereas in pot-2 plant height, length of inflorescence, grain yield, husk yield, grains per panicle, number of panicle per plant and weight of 1000 grains was found to be 98.50 cm, 21.40 cm, 3700 kgha-1 ,5600 kgha-1, 56 grains, 6 panicle and 29.30 gm respectively and in test pot-3, plant height, length of inflorescence, grain yield, husk yield, grains per panicle, number of panicle per plant and weight of 1000 grains was found to be 112.80 cm, 24.30 cm, 3850 kg ha-1, 5630 kgha-1, 60 grain per panicle, 6 panicle, and 30.60 gm respectively. The results clearly indicated that in comparison to urea, B. alba treated paddy plant performed higher plant height, higher yield production, higher husk production, larger number of grain per panicle and panicle length and higher grain weight

Agro-morphological characterization of rice landraces variety (Oryza sativa L.) of Bankura district of West Bengal

Rice is the major food grain of India and is being cultivated on 36.95million ha. land and present productivity is about 120.6 million tons per year.Agriculture in West Bengal is the means of livelihood of about 65% of the population ofthe state living in villages with over 95% as small and marginal farmers. West Bengal isgreat reservoir of rice. There are 5,556 rice varieties were recorded in the year 1975 fromthis state. Bankura district of West Bengal is also a great producer of rice. There are somany rice landraces were cultivated in this district in near past. But in present situationrice cultivation is restricted to 5-10 high yielding variety and few landraces varieties. Inthis study characterization of twenty landraces of rice presently available in this districtwas performed using DUS testing protocol. Agro-morphic characterization of thesetwenty landraces was done during 2011-12 & 2012-13 kharif session at the Village ofRanbahal, PO- Amarkanan of this District. In this study we observed that out of the 20investigated varieties 11 varieties are distinctive according to the five essential and theeighteen additional characters proposed by the DUS guideline. The present work is somuch important in respect to the present scenario of agro-biodiversity of this region aswell as identification, conservation and documentation of landraces variety for futurecrop improvement

pulmonary hypertension in left heart disease

Elevated left ventricular filling pressures are a general feature and hallmark of heart failure resulting from cardiac dysfunctions, essentially arising from and affecting the left ventricle [1, 2]. These disorders include heart failure due to diastolic and/or systolic malfunctions, as such heart failure with preserved (HFpEF) and without preserved; reduced (HFrEF) ejection fraction; valvular diseases; congenital cardiomyopathies; and congenital and acquired afflictions of left heart inflow and/or outflow tract [2, 3]. Thereby, the pressure of the left atrium will be elevated, either subsequently due to the increased LV-filling pressure [1, 4] or even initially, primarily in case of mitral stenosis [5]. In any case, left heart disease (LHD) is generally characterized by elevated left-sided filling pressures [4, 6]. The left-sided filling pressures are transmitted backwards, downstream, thereby causing an increase in pulmonary venous pressures [1, 5–7], a condition "of passive or congestive nature" as associated with pulmonary venous congestion [6]. In the literature this issue has in the past been called pulmonary venous hypertension (PvH) [8], or post-capillary pulmonary hypertension [9] or passive pulmonary hypertension [10]. Consequently, with the rise in pulmonary venous pressure, pulmonary artery pressure (PAP) also increases [11]

Two-in-one aortic valve sizing and valvuloplasty conductance balloon catheter

BACKGROUND: Inaccurate aortic valve sizing and selection is linked to paravalvular leakage in transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). Here, a novel sizing valvuloplasty conductance balloon (SVCB) catheter is shown to be accurate, reproducible, unbiased, and provides real-time tool for aortic valve sizing that fits within the standard valvuloplasty procedure. METHODS AND RESULTS: The SVCB catheter is a valvuloplasty device that uses real-time electrical conductance measurements based on Ohm's Law to size the balloon opposed against the aortic valve at any given inflation pressure. Accuracy and repeatability of the SVCB catheter was performed on the bench in phantoms of known dimension and ex vivo in three domestic swine aortic annuli with comparison to computed tomography (CT) and dilator measurements. Procedural workflow and safety was demonstrated in vivo in three additional domestic swine. SVCB catheter measurements had negligible bias or error for bench accuracy considered as the gold standard (Bias: -0.11 ± 0.26 mm; Error: 1.2%), but greater disagreement in ex vivo versus dilators (Bias: -0.3 ± 1.1 mm; Error: 4.5%), and ex vivo versus CT (Bias: -1.0 ± 1.6 mm; Error: 8.7%). The dilator versus CT accuracy showed similar agreement (Bias: -0.9 ± 1.5 mm; Error: 7.3%). Repeatability was excellent on the bench (Bias: 0.02 ± 0.12 mm; Error: 0.5%) and ex vivo (Bias: -0.4 ± 0.9 mm; Error: 4.6%). In animal studies, the device fit well within the procedural workflow with no adverse events or complications. CONCLUSIONS: Due to the clinical relevance of this accurate, repeatable, unbiased, and real-time sizing measurement, the SVCB catheter may provide a useful tool prior to TAVR. These findings merit a future human study

Glial tumorigenesis: molecular alterations and identification of targets

This article does not have an abstract

Frequent loss of heterozygosity and altered expression of the candidate tumor suppressor gene 'FAT' in human astrocytic tumors

Background: We had earlier used the comparison of RAPD (Random Amplification of Polymorphic DNA) DNA fingerprinting profiles of tumor and corresponding normal DNA to identify genetic alterations in primary human glial tumors. This has the advantage that DNA fingerprinting identifies the genetic alterations in a manner not biased for locus. Methods: In this study we used RAPD-PCR to identify novel genomic alterations in the astrocytic tumors of WHO grade II (Low Grade Diffuse Astrocytoma) and WHO Grade IV (Glioblastoma Multiforme). Loss of heterozygosity (LOH) of the altered region was studied by microsatellite and Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) markers. Expression study of the gene identified at the altered locus was done by semi-quantitative reverse-transcriptase-PCR (RT-PCR). Results: Bands consistently altered in the RAPD profile of tumor DNA in a significant proportion of tumors were identified. One such 500 bp band, that was absent in the RAPD profile of 33% (4/12) of the grade II astrocytic tumors, was selected for further study. Its sequence corresponded with a region of FAT, a putative tumor suppressor gene initially identified in Drosophila. Fifty percent of a set of 40 tumors, both grade II and IV, were shown to have Loss of Heterozygosity (LOH) at this locus by microsatellite (intragenic) and by SNP markers. Semi-quantitative RT-PCR showed low FAT mRNA levels in a major subset of tumors. Conclusion: These results point to a role of the FAT in astrocytic tumorigenesis and demonstrate the use of RAPD analysis in identifying specific alterations in astrocytic tumors

Clonal mutations in primary human glial tumors: evidence in support of the mutator hypothesis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>A verifiable consequence of the mutator hypothesis is that even low grade neoplasms would accumulate a large number of mutations that do not influence the tumor phenotype (clonal mutations). In this study, we have attempted to quantify the number of clonal mutations in primary human gliomas of astrocytic cell origin. These alterations were identified in tumor tissue, microscopically confirmed to have over 70% neoplastic cells.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis was performed using a set of fifteen 10-mer primers of arbitrary but definite sequences in 17 WHO grade II astrocytomas (low grade diffuse astrocytoma or DA) and 16 WHO grade IV astrocytomas (Glioblastoma Multiforme or GBM). The RAPD profile of the tumor tissue was compared with that of the leucocyte DNA of the same patient and alteration(s) scored. A quantitative estimate of the overall genomic changes in these tumors was obtained by 2 different modes of calculation.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The overall change in the tumors was estimated to be 4.24% in DA and 2.29% in GBM by one method and 11.96% and 6.03% in DA and GBM respectively by the other. The difference between high and lower grade tumors was statistically significant by both methods.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This study demonstrates the presence of extensive clonal mutations in gliomas, more in lower grade. This is consistent with our earlier work demonstrating that technique like RAPD analysis, unbiased for locus, is able to demonstrate more intra-tumor genetic heterogeneity in lower grade gliomas compared to higher grade. The results support the mutator hypothesis proposed by Loeb.</p