6,744 research outputs found
Decentralization of public-sector agricultural extension in India: The case of the district-level Agricultural Technology Management Agency (ATMA)
agricultural extension reform, Decentralization, demand-driven, organizational capacity,
Evaluation of value-added agricultural advisory services: Case study of agriclinics in Southern India
Introduction of private enterprises to deliver agricultural advisory services is seen as a strategy to increase the coverage and effectiveness of the pluralistic extension system in developing countries. The Indian national program of agriclinics and agribusiness centers, started in 2002, aims to provide farmers with a reliable alternative to the private input dealer by subsidizing technically trained agricultural graduates to establish their own agricultural input shops and agriclinic laboratories. In 2008, Tamil Nadu state began its own version of the program, called Agriclinics cum Mini Soil Testing Laboratories, which provides subsidized funding to establish soil testing laboratories by primary agricultural cooperative banks (PACBs) or independent agricultural graduates.public–private partnership, Privatization, soil testing, agriclinic,
Coupled-mode theory for periodic side-coupled microcavity and photonic crystal structures
We use a phenomenological Hamiltonian approach to derive a set of coupled
mode equations that describe light propagation in waveguides that are
periodically side-coupled to microcavities. The structure exhibits both Bragg
gap and (polariton like) resonator gap in the dispersion relation. The origin
and physical significance of the two types of gaps are discussed. The
coupled-mode equations derived from the effective field formalism are valid
deep within the Bragg gaps and resonator gaps.Comment: 13 pages, 6 figure
Cloning, preparation and preliminary crystallographic studies of penicillin V acylase autoproteolytic processing mutants
The crystallization of three catalytically inactive mutants of penicillin Vacylase (PVA) from Bacillus sphaericus in precursor and processed forms is reported. The mutant proteins crystallize in different primitive monoclinic space groups that are distinct from the crystal forms for the native enzyme. Directed mutants and clone constructs were designed to study the post-translational autoproteolytic processing of PVA. The catalytically inactive mutants will provide threedimensional structures of precursor PVA forms, plus open a route to the study of enzyme-substrate complexes for this industrially important enzyme
Expression, purification, crystallization and preliminary X-ray diffraction analysis of conjugated bile salt hydrolase from Bifidobacterium longum
Conjugated bile salt hydrolase (BSH) catalyses the hydrolysis of the amide bond that conjugates bile acids to glycine and to taurine. The BSH enzyme from Bifidobacterium longum was overexpressed in Escherichia coli BL21(DE3), purified and crystallized. Crystallization conditions were screened using the hanging-drop vapour-diffusion method. Crystal growth, with two distinct morphologies, was optimal in experiments carried out at 303 K. The crystals belong to the hexagonal system, space group P622 with unit-cell parameters a = b = 124.86, c = 219.03 Angstrom, and the trigonal space group P321, with unit-cell parameters a = b = 125.24, c = 117.03 Angstrom. The crystals diffracted X-rays to 2.5 Angstrom spacing. Structure determination using the multiple isomorphous replacement method is in progress
Expression, purification, crystallization and preliminary X-ray diffraction analysis of conjugated bile salt hydrolase from Bifidobacterium longum
Conjugated bile salt hydrolase (BSH) catalyses the hydrolysis of the amide bond that conjugates bile acids to glycine and to taurine. The BSH enzyme from Bifidobacterium longum was overexpressed in Escherichia coli BL21(DE3), purified and crystallized. Crystallization conditions were screened using the hanging-drop vapour-diffusion method. Crystal growth, with two distinct morphologies, was optimal in experiments carried out at 303 K. The crystals belong to the hexagonal system, space group P622 with unit-cell parameters a = b = 124.86, c = 219.03 Angstrom, and the trigonal space group P321, with unit-cell parameters a = b = 125.24, c = 117.03 Angstrom. The crystals diffracted X-rays to 2.5 Angstrom spacing. Structure determination using the multiple isomorphous replacement method is in progress
A Study on Impact of Dividend Policy on Initial Public Offering Price Performance
This study examines the impact of dividend policy on the performance of
initial public offerings in India. The period of study is from the year
2011-2014. Monthly returns of the IPOs issued in the considered period and the
Indian Stock Market Index (Nifty 50) were considered for the long-run
performance study. The methodological tools used are long-run performance
statistics and the GARCH model. The Dummy variable was used to measure the
effect of dividends on the IPOs. The study reveals that the dividend policy has
no significant effect on the stock prices of IPO.Comment: 7 PAGES 6 FIGURES 6 TABLES PUBLISHED IN Journal of Engineering and
Applied Science
Symbiotic Human Gut Bacteria with Variable Metabolic Priorities for Host Mucosal Glycans.
UnlabelledMany symbiotic gut bacteria possess the ability to degrade multiple polysaccharides, thereby providing nutritional advantages to their hosts. Like microorganisms adapted to other complex nutrient environments, gut symbionts give different metabolic priorities to substrates present in mixtures. We investigated the responses of Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron, a common human intestinal bacterium that metabolizes more than a dozen different polysaccharides, including the O-linked glycans that are abundant in secreted mucin. Experiments in which mucin glycans were presented simultaneously with other carbohydrates show that degradation of these host carbohydrates is consistently repressed in the presence of alternative substrates, even by B. thetaiotaomicron previously acclimated to growth in pure mucin glycans. Experiments with media containing systematically varied carbohydrate cues and genetic mutants reveal that transcriptional repression of genes involved in mucin glycan metabolism is imposed by simple sugars and, in one example that was tested, is mediated through a small intergenic region in a transcript-autonomous fashion. Repression of mucin glycan-responsive gene clusters in two other human gut bacteria, Bacteroides massiliensis and Bacteroides fragilis, exhibited variable and sometimes reciprocal responses compared to those of B. thetaiotaomicron, revealing that these symbionts vary in their preference for mucin glycans and that these differences occur at the level of controlling individual gene clusters. Our results reveal that sensing and metabolic triaging of glycans are complex processes that vary among species, underscoring the idea that these phenomena are likely to be hidden drivers of microbiota community dynamics and may dictate which microorganisms preferentially commit to various niches in a constantly changing nutritional environment.ImportanceHuman intestinal microorganisms impact many aspects of health and disease, including digestion and the propensity to develop disorders such as inflammation and colon cancer. Complex carbohydrates are a major component of the intestinal habitat, and numerous species have evolved and refined strategies to compete for these coveted nutrients. Our findings reveal that individual bacteria exhibit different preferences for carbohydrates emanating from host diet and mucosal secretions and that some of these prioritization strategies are opposite to one another. Thus, we reveal new aspects of how individual bacteria, some with otherwise similar metabolic potential, partition to "preferred niches" in the complex gut ecosystem, which has important and immediate implications for understanding and predicting the behavioral dynamics of this community
Magnetic and the magnetocaloric properties of Ce1-xRxFe2 and Ce(Fe1-xMx)2 compounds
We have studied selected rare earth doped and transition metal doped CeFe2
compounds by examining their structural, magnetic and magneto-thermal
properties. With substitution of Ce by 5 and 10% Gd and 10% Ho, the Curie
temperature can be tuned to the range of 267-318 K. Localization of Ce 4f
electronic state with rare earth substitutions is attributed for the
enhancement of Curie temperature. On the other hand, with Ga and Al
substitution at the Fe site, system undergoes paramagnetic to ferromagnetic
transition and then to an antiferromagnetic phase on cooling. The
magnetocaloric effect across the transitions has been studied from both
magnetization isotherms and heat capacity data. It is shown that by choosing
the appropriate dopant and its concentration, the magnetocaloric effect around
room temperature can be tuned.Comment: 13 pages, 6 figures, 2 table
- …