Tetrazolium reduction by guard cells in abaxial epidermis of Vicia faba: blue light stimulation of a plasmalemma redox system

The stomata in the abaxial epidermis of Vicia faba were examined for the location of redox systems using tetrazolium salts. Three distinct redox systems could be demonstrated: chloroplast, mitochondrial, and plasmalemma. The chloroplast activity required light and NADP. Mitochondnal activity required added NADH and was suppressed by preincubation with KCN. The plasmalemma redox system in guard cells also required NADH, but was insensitive to KCN and was stimulated by blue light. The involvement of an NADH dehydrogenase in the blue light stimulated redox system in guard cells was suggested by the sensitivity to plantanetin, an inhibitor of NADH dehydrogenase. The redox system of mitochondria was the most active followed by that of plasmalemma. The activity of chloroplasts was the least among the three redox systems. The plasmalemma mediated tetrazolium reduction was stimulated by exogenous flavins and suppressed by KI or phenylacetate, inhibitors of flavin excitation. We therefore conclude that an NADH-dependent, flavin mediated electron transport system, sensitive to blue light, operates in the plasmalemma of guard cells

ETHNOBOTANICAL USES, PHYTOCHEMISTRY AND PHARMACOLOGICAL ACTIVITIES OF PEPEROMIA PELLUCIDA (L.) KUNTH (PIPERACEAE)-A REVIEW

Peperomia pellucida (L.) Kunth is a herb belonging to the family Piperaceae. In this review, an extensive literature survey was carried out to compile information available on medicinal uses, phytochemistry and pharmacological properties of P. pellucida. The plant is used as food, flavoring agent and as medicine. The plant is used as medicine for treating various ailments or disorders such as asthma, rheumatism, wound, fever, stomach problems, kidney infection, hemorrhoid pain, joint pain, hypertension, diarrhea, snake bite and measles. The plant contains phytochemical groups such as alkaloids, flavonoids, saponins, terpenoids, steroids and glycosides. Compounds such as dill apiole, phytol, stigmasterol, sitosterol, secolignans, tetrahydrofuran lignans, highly methoxylated dihydronaphthalenone, peperomins, sesamin and isoswertisin have been identified in the plant. Studies have shown that the plant exhibited several pharmacological activities such as antimicrobial, antioxidant, anti-angiogenic, anti-inflammatory, analgesic, antipyretic, neuropharmacological, antisickling, anticancer, enzyme inhibitory, antiulcer, hypotensive, immunostimulatory, fracture healing and antidiabetic activities which support the traditional use of the plant. Purified chemicals from the plant have also shown to exhibit certain pharmacological activities such as antiulcer, anticancer and antimicrobial activity. By this extensive literature review, it can be concluded that P. pellucida can be utilized as a promising candidate for developing newer drugs with potent pharmacological activities.Â

Encounter rate of large mammals in Thanigebyle range of Bhadra wildlife sanctuary, Karnataka

Estimation of large mammals by using line transact method in the Thanigebyle range of Bhadra Wildlife Sanctuary during May 2009 to April 2010 in Thanigebyle range for four species of large herbivorous mammals viz., Chital (Axis axis), Sambar (Cervus unicolor), Barking deer (Muntiacus muntjak) and Gaur (Bosgaurus). The sanctuary was divided into several zones based on location and habitat types. Four permanent walking transect of 1 km were cut in different habitats of water holes for direct count and walk once in each month and four permanent vehicle transects of 18 kms were made.  A total of 22 kms per month transect was evaluated including both walking transect and permanent vehicle transect of 4 kms and 18 kms respectively. This evaluation indicates that maximum number of individuals was observed in the walking transect when compared to vehicle transect for all the four species. During our study 21 Sambar, 161 Chital, 8 Barking deer and 21 Gaur was encountered. Chital was observed more in the study area. It also reveals that during pre monsoon and post monsoon seasons the number of individuals was observed to be higher. &nbsp

Comparative study between percutaneous pinning and ligamentotaxis using external fixator in the management of distal end radius fracture in adults: a prospective study

Background: Fractures of distal end of radius are beginning at the proximal end of pronator quadratus and ending at the radio-carpal articulation. The final aim in the management of comminuted intra-articular fractures of distal radius is to restore normal function. Recognition of patterns that are inherently unstable and therefore necessitate additional forms of fixation to secure and maintain reduction and prevent late collapse is the key for successful management of the more complex fractures of distal radius. The aim is to study the functional outcome of surgical management of comminuted intra-articular fractures of distal end radius by comparing 2 different methods of surgical interventions.Methods: In study of 30 cases treated in period from March 2008 to September 2009 at St. Martha’s Hospital by ligamentotaxis and percutaneous pinning, all patients with compound fractures, Frykman's IV, V, VI, VII and VIII, comminuted fractures and in fractures where reduction was lost following closed reduction and POP application were taken into consideration.Results: The average age in males were 41.35 years and female were 35 years. 12 (40%) fractures were type VII, 6 (20%) were type VIII, 9 (30%) were type IV and 3 cases (10%) was type V. functional results in ligamentotaxis group (G1) 7 cases had excellent results (47%), in percutaneous pinning (G2), 3 cases had excellent result (20%). In ligamentotaxis group (G1) 3 had good results (20%), in percutaneous group (G2) 6 had good results (40%). In ligamentotaxis group (G1) 5 had poor results (33%), in percutaneous pinning group (G2) 6 had poor results (40%).Conclusions: In comparative studies, external fixation with percutaneous pinning consistently achieves better anatomical results as compared to percutaneous pinning alone. In our study, also this technique has shown satisfactory result that lead to high rate of return to pre-injury status, high level of patient satisfaction and low rate of complications

Community learning groups must continue

As many reports have revealed, India lacks the required base for affordability and access to digital services and resources to ensure that every child gets an equal opportunity to learn using smartphones/digital devices with uninterrupted internet service. In the context of Karnataka, initially, the teachers had tried, wherever possible, to engage their students through virtual classrooms and WhatsApp groups. Only students of private and public schools from privileged families who had access to internet services and smartphones could access online classes conducted by their teachers. The transition to online learning was not easy, and in most cases, impossible, for students from economically deprived backgrounds. Though parents and teachers tried their best, very few children could be helped

Antimicrobial and Radical Scavenging Activity of Memecylon malabaricum

The present study was conducted to determine antimicrobial and radical scavenging potential of extract of two species of the genus Memecylon (Melastomataceae) viz., M. malabaricum (C.B. Clarke) Cogn. and M. talboltianum Brandis. The shade dried leaf materials of both Memecylon species were extracted using methanol. Antibacterial activity of leaf extracts was evaluated against five drug resistant uropathogenic bacteria by Agar well diffusion assay. Antifungal activity of leaf extracts was tested on the basis of mycelial growth inhibition of Colletotrichum capsici (isolated from anthracnose of chilli). Radical scavenging activity of extracts was determined by performing DPPH free radical scavenging activity. Total phenolic content of extracts was estimated by Folin-Ciocalteau reagent method. The extracts were subjected to preliminary phytochemical analysis to detect the presence of phytoconstituents. Among extracts, extract of M. malabaricum inhibited all test bacteria and inhibitory potential was marked against Gram positive bacteria than Gram negative bacteria. C. capsici was highly susceptible to extract of M. malabaricum when compared to extract of M. talboltianum. Overall, extract of M. malabaricum displayed marked antimicrobial activity than extract of M. talboltianum. Extract of M. malabaricum scavenged DPPH radicals more efficiently (IC50 6.26μg/ml) when compared to extract of M. talboltianum (IC50 43.80μg/ml). The content of total phenolics was also high in leaf extract of M. malabaricum (112μg GAE/mg) than that of M. talboltianum (28μg GAE/mg). Preliminary phytochemical analysis of leaf extracts revealed the presence of flavonoids, tannins, saponins and glycosides in both extracts. The antimicrobial and radical scavenging activity of leaf extracts could be ascribed to the presence of phytochemicals mainly phenolic compounds. These plants appear to be potential candidates for control of anthracnose disease of chilli and for development of agents active against drug resistant uropathogens and oxidative damage.Keywords: Memecylon; Antimicrobial; Agar well diffusion; Poisoned food technique; Antioxidant; DPP

Superconductivity in Ru substituted BaFe2-xRuxAs2

The occurrence of bulk superconductivity at ~22 K is reported in polycrystalline samples of BaFe2-xRuxAs2 for nominal Ru content in the range of x=0.75 to 1.125. A systematic suppression of the spin density wave transition temperature (TSDW) precedes the appearance of superconductivity in the system. A phase diagram is proposed based on the measured TSDW and superconducting transition temperature (TC) variations as a function of Ru composition. Band structure calculations, indicate introduction of electron carriers in the system upon Ru substitutiom. The calculated magnetic moment on Fe shows a minimum at x=1.0, suggesting that the suppression of the magnetic moment is associated with the emergence of superconductivity. Results of low temperature and high field Mossbauer measurements are presented. These indicate weakening of magnetic interaction with Ru substitutionComment: 20 pages 10 figure

Optimizing Distributed Tensor Contractions using Node-Aware Processor Grids

We propose an algorithm that aims at minimizing the inter-node communication volume for distributed and memory-efficient tensor contraction schemes on modern multi-core compute nodes. The key idea is to define processor grids that optimize intra-/inter-node communication volume in the employed contraction algorithms. We present an implementation of the proposed node-aware communication algorithm into the Cyclops Tensor Framework (CTF). We demonstrate that this implementation achieves a significantly improved performance for matrix-matrix-multiplication and tensor-contractions on up to several hundreds modern compute nodes compared to conventional implementations without using node-aware processor grids. Our implementation shows good performance when compared with existing state-of-the-art parallel matrix multiplication libraries (COSMA and ScaLAPACK). In addition to the discussion of the performance for matrix-matrix-multiplication, we also investigate the performance of our node-aware communication algorithm for tensor contractions as they occur in quantum chemical coupled-cluster methods. To this end we employ a modified version of CTF in combination with a coupled-cluster code (Cc4s). Our findings show that the node-aware communication algorithm is also able to improve the performance of coupled-cluster theory calculations for real-world problems running on tens to hundreds of compute nodes.Comment: 15 pages, 4 figure

Refining a pedagogical approach for employing design thinking as a catalyst

There is an increasing interest in design and creative thinking processes in the Sciences, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) and health education disciplines. Many new degree programs are integrating design thinking into their syllabi, with the intention of bringing creative problem-solving methods to these disciplines. In reality, the exposure these students get is minimal, and it does not provide enough foundation for them to use the knowledge and apply the process(es) in real-life situations. There is an increased awareness of the importance of design thinking in the innovative process. More and more STEM, business, and health establishments are embedding trained designers into their research teams – yet many designers are not equipped to work on interdisciplinary teams. Design students tend to approach problems more intuitively,  opportunistically, and build on creative leaps of imagination whereas, STEM and health disciplines are often more algorithmic, systematic, and rationale. This can often generate tension in interdisciplinary teams, especially when traditional disciplines (e.g., Engineering, Sciences) are integrating relatively newer thinking (e.g., design thinking). In this paper, we share the outcome of a phenomenological study on a high-functioning interdisciplinary team working on a health innovation project focused on aging with a disability. This case study illustrates the skill-set needed for designers, health and technology professionals to make a significant contribution to its overall outcome.  We identified key attributes that contribute towards being an effective member of interdisciplinary teams.  Based on this study, we propose a pedagogical approach to better equip design, STEM, and Health students to be more competitive in changing economic expectations and ensure more impactful design outcomes

Ant species richness at selected localities of Bangalore

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