Landrace Germplasm for Improving Yield and Abiotic Stress Adaptation

Plant landraces represent heterogeneous, local adaptations of domesticated species, and thereby provide genetic resources that meet current and new challenges for farming in stressful environments. These local ecotypes can show variable phenology and low-to-moderate edible yield, but are often highly nutritious. The main contributions of landraces to plant breeding have been traits for more efficient nutrient uptake and utilization, as well as useful genes for adaptation to stressful environments such as water stress, salinity, and high temperatures. We propose that a systematic landrace evaluation may define patterns of diversity, which will facilitate identifying alleles for enhancing yield and abiotic stress adaptation, thus raising the productivity and stability of staple crops in vulnerable environments

Genetic variability and plant character association of grain Fe and Zn in selected core collection accessions of sorghum germplasm and breeding lines

Sorghum is the third most important food crop in India after rice and wheat and is the staple food in Central India. It is also the staple for large tribal populations across the country. The poor and vulnerable groups in the society depend upon sorghum for their calorie and micronutrient requirement and in the absence of access and affordability to nutrient-rich foods like vegetables, fruits and animal products, biofortification of sorghum helps in enhancing the nutritional security of this group. Research efforts at ICRISAT and elsewhere showed that there is considerable genetic variability and high heritability for grain Fe and Zn contents and it is possible to genetically enhance the grain micronutrient content (Fe and Zn) in sorghum and other major staples. of variability in the sorghum germplasm accessions and breeding lines and the character association between grain Fe and Zn contents and with other agronomic traits.The main aim of this study was to identify promising donors in the core collection of sorghum germplasm accessions and breeding lines with the objective to use those with high grain Fe and Zn contents in the genetic enhancement program to develop biofortified sorghum cultivars. Significant positive correlation was observed between grain Fe and Zn contents (r=0.75) in the study. The five accessions, IS 5427, IS 5514, IS 55, IS 3760 and IS 3283, identified from the study with high grain Fe (>50 is on a continuing basis. mg kg-1) and Zn (>37 mg kg-1) contents can be utilized to increase the diversity and micronutrient density of sorghum hybrid parents in the futur

MR neurography in Parsonage-Turner syndrome

Background and Aims: Parsonage Turner Syndrome is a well known clinical entity. Several excellent articles have succinctly described Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) findings in PTS. However, these articles have inferred neural involvement in PTS based on the patterns of denervation of muscles in the shoulder region. The aim of this study is to directly visualize the distribution and extent of abnormality in MR Neurography (MRN) of the brachial plexus in known cases of brachial plexus neuritis or Parsonage-Turner Syndrome (PTS). Methods: 15 patients who were diagnosed with PTS based on clinical and electrophysiological findings participated in the study. MRN of the brachial plexus was done in a 1.5T system using a combination of T1W (T1-weighted), T2W (T2-weighted) fat-saturated, STIR (Short Tau Inversion Recovery), 3D STIR SPACE (Sampling Perfection with Application Optimized Contrasts) and 3D T2W SPACE sequences. Findings were recorded and assessed. Results: The age range of our patients was 7-65 years (mean 37.87 years). Most of the patients had unilateral symptoms. All patients had weakness in shoulder abduction. Other common associated complaints included pain in the shoulder/neck/arm and preceding fever. MRN revealed the percentage of involvement of roots, trunks, cords and terminal branches was 53.3%, 46.7%, 40% and 13.3% respectively. Evidence of muscle denervation in the form of edema, fatty infiltration and atrophy was noted in 8 (53.3%) patients. Conclusion: Most of the patients in this study had unilateral involvement on MRN. The roots were the commonest site of involvement followed by the trunks, cords and terminal branches. C5 was the most commonly involved root

Magnetic resonance neurography of the brachial plexus

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is being increasingly recognised all over the world as the imaging modality of choice for brachial plexus and peripheral nerve lesions. Recent refinements in MRI protocols have helped in imaging nerve tissue with greater clarity thereby helping in the identification, localisation and classification of nerve lesions with greater confidence than was possible till now. This article on Magnetic Resonance Neurography (MRN) is based on the authors′ experience of imaging the brachial plexus and peripheral nerves using these protocols over the last several years

Giant hydronephrosis mimicking as gross ascites in a 6-year-old boy

Giant hydronephrotic kidney is a rare form of obstructive uropathy in children and adolescents. The congenital ureteropelvic junction obstruction is the most frequent cause. The CT scan is very important for the diagnosis. We report a 6-year-old boy with progressively increasing abdominal distension since birth. There were no associated urinary or gastrointestinal symptoms. He had bilateral hydronephosis with giant hydronephrosis over right side. The cystic mass occupied the right retroperitoneal space and crossed the midline

The Role of Perceived Quality and Customer Self-Incongruence on Customer-Brand Disidentification

Previous research in customer-brand relationships has found brand disidentification as one of the reasons for customers turning against brands. However, there is not much clarity on the antecedents of brand disidentification. Aligning with the balance theory, this research argues that self-incongruence and positive/negative emotions with the brand are related to brand disidentification. Taking the sample of 292 observations and using structural equation modeling (SEM), it was found that self-incongruence is the main driver of customer-brand disidentification (CBD). Similarly, perceived quality was found to be related to CBD for low level of self-incongruence. Based on our survey prompt, which asked respondents to consider brands that they have previously purchased and utilized but no longer use because they no longer align with their current identity, our data analysis suggests that the process of CBD occurs over time. Additionally, we find that CBD is not only associated with negative emotions but also encompasses positive emotions

SYNTHESIS OF DIAZO COMPOUNDS FROM AMINO BENZOPYRANO THIAZOLES

ABSTRACT 8-Amino-6-chlorocoumarine (5) has been synthesized by multistep synthesis (by known literature methods) which involves the successive chlorination and nitration salicylaldehyde (1) to 5-chloro-3-nitrosalicyladehyde (3). The coumarin was synthesized by using Perkin reaction of 5-chloro-3-nitrosalicyladehyde. The nitro coumarin (4) obtained was reduced to 8-amino-6-chloro coumarin (5) which was then treated with bromine and potassium thiocyanate followed by the treatment of ammonia gives 2-amino-4-chloro-8H-chromeno-[8,7-d]-1,3-thiazol-8-one (6). The final 2-aminobenzo-1,3-thiazole derivative was diazotized and coupled with different phenols and anilines to yield diazo compounds. These compounds are then subjected to biological characterization