BIODEGRADABLE POLYMERIC FILM FOR FOOD PACKAGING

Food packaging films that show post-consumer biodegradability are rarely explored by researchers. The present study was carried out to investigate the physicomechanical characteristics of ethyl cellulose (EC) based films to be used in food packaging. Ethyl cellulose was plasticized with different percentage of polyethylene glycol (PEG). The samples of standard dimensions were subjected to different testing such as soluble matter content, moisture content, oil permeability, surface morphology, mechanical testing etc. The data obtained was analysed to decide the moderate percentage of plasticizer that can be used to provide a rational explanation of a perfect quality specimen. It has been revealed that too high or too low percentage of plasticizer was not appropriate for a good film. Tensile stress analysis was used to estimate the mechanical properties of the films. The results have shown an increase in tensile properties with increase in coalescence temperature. Temperature-dependent plastic deformation was observed for coalescence temperatures above 50oC

Orthodontic Treatment Need among Nepalese High School Students

Objective: To assess the need for orthodontic treatment among Nepalese high school students. Material and Methods: This is a quantitative, cross-sectional descriptive study. The sample comprises 938 children (537 males and 401 females) with an age group above 14 years. The subjects were selected voluntarily from seven different schools of Kathmandu valley using a multistage sampling technique. The Index of Orthodontic Treatment Need comprises two components: Dental Health Component (DHC) and Aesthetic Component (AC). Two trained and calibrated examiners performed the oral examination. Results: On analysis of the DHC component, it was found that 21% had no need, 18.1% had mild/little need, 24.3% had moderate/borderline need, 35.8% had severe need, and 0.7% had extreme treatment need. Similarly on analysis of AC component, it was found that 33% were AC-1, 30.8% were AC-2, 7.2% were AC-3, 8.2% were AC-4, 2.1% were AC-5, 3.6% were AC-6, 1.8% were AC-7, 7.4% were AC-8, 1.8% were AC-9, and 3.9% were AC-10. Conclusion: The Index of Orthodontic Treatment Need can be used as a tool for planning dental health resources and prioritizing the treatment need of different populations

Indigenous entomopathogenic nematode as biocontrol agents for insect pest management in hilly regions

The present investigation mainly emphasized on the development and use of entomopathogenic nematodes (EPNs) as a bio-insecticide. The success in controlling insect pests in the soil environments increased the production and use of the adapted indigenous EPNs species for insect management in the fields. EPNs as biocontrol agents were capable for high virulence, easy for application, safe for non-target animals and eco-friendly in nature. These nematodes have ubiquitous nature. These occur in low population in their natural habitat which was mass multiplied in the laboratory. In the present investigation, 5 concentrations (30IJs, 60IJs, 90IJs, 120IJs and 150IJs) of Heterorhabditis bacteriophora strain S15 were applied against the 3rd and 4th instar larvae of four major agricultural insect pests, namely Helicoverpa armigera, Spodoptera litura, Agrotis segetum and Mythimna separata under laboratory conditions at different time exposure (24, 48, 72 and 96 hr). It was observed that the 3rd and 4th larval instars of all 4 insects (H. armigera, S. litura, A. segetum and M. separata) were highly susceptible for the pathogenesis caused by H. bacteriophora Sirmaur isolates. Amongst all insects, both the larval instars of M. separata are highly susceptible for EPNs infection with highest 96% and 98% mortality in highest dose @150IJs. In 3rd instar larvae of other insects such as H. armigera, S. litura and A. segetum larval mortality ranges from 84%, 92% and 94% respectively. Among 4th instar larvae of H. armigera, S. litura and A. segetum the pathogenicity varies from 88%, 94% and 96% respectively. The recorded median lethal concentration (LC50) in 3rd instar larvae of H. armigera, S. litura, A. segetum and M. separata varies from 36.15, 30.05, 30.97 and 23.8. Similarly in 4th instar larvae of H. armigera, S. litura, A. segetum and M. separata, LC50 ranged from 31.41, 28.64, 26.92 and 20.64 respectively. Statistically significant variations were observed in the data recorded on the mortality, in all the treatments. EPNs are the best weapon to overcome insect resistance problems and must be employed to manage insect population

Transcription Factors and MicroRNA Interplay: A New Strategy for Crop Improvement

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) and transcription factors are master regulators of the cellular system. Plant genomes contain thousands of protein-coding and non-coding RNA genes; which are differentially expressed in different tissues at different times during growth and development. Complex regulatory networks that are controlled by transcription factors and microRNAs, which coordinate gene expression. Transcription factors, the key regulators of plant growth and development, are the targets of the miRNAs families. The combinatorial regulation of transcription factors and miRNAs guides the appropriate implementation of biological events and developmental processes. The resources on the regulatory cascades of transcription factors and miRNAs are available in the context of human diseases, but these resources are meager in case of plant diseases. On the other hand, it is also important to understand the cellular and physiological events needed to operate the miRNAs networks. The relationship between transcription factors and miRNA in different plant species described in this chapter will be of great interest to plant scientists, providing better insights into the mechanism of action and interactions among transcription factors (TFs) and miRNA networks culminating in improving key agronomic traits for crop improvement to meet the future global food demands

MPP-MLO: Multilevel Parallel Partitioning for Efficiently Matching Large Ontologies

221-229The growing usage of Semantic Web has resulted in an increasing number, size and heterogeneity of ontologies on the web. Therefore, the necessity of ontology matching techniques, which could solve these issues, is highly required. Due to high computational requirements, scalability is always a major concern in ontology matching system. In this work, a partition-based ontology matching system is proposed, which deals with parallel partitioning of the ontologies at multilevel. At first level, the root based ontology partitioning is proposed. Match able sub-ontology pair is generated using an efficient linguistic matcher (IEI-Sub) to uncover anchors and then based on maximum similarity values, pairs are generated. However, a distributed and parallel approach of Map Reduce-based IEI-sub process has been proposed to efficiently handle the anchor discovery process which is highly time-consuming. In second level partitioning, an efficient approach is proposed to form non-overlapping clusters. Extensive experimental evaluation is done by comparing existing approaches with the proposed approach, and the results shows that MPP-MLO turns out to be an efficient and scalable ontology matching system with 58.7% reduction in overall execution time

MPP-MLO: Multilevel Parallel Partitioning for Efficiently Matching Large Ontologies

The growing usage of Semantic Web has resulted in an increasing number, size and heterogeneity of ontologies on the web. Therefore, the necessity of ontology matching techniques, which could solve these issues, is highly required. Due to high computational requirements, scalability is always a major concern in ontology matching system. In this work, a partition-based ontology matching system is proposed, which deals with parallel partitioning of the ontologies at multilevel. At first level, the root based ontology partitioning is proposed. Matchable Sub-ontologies pair is generated using an efficient linguistic matcher (IEI-Sub) to uncover anchors and then based on maximum similarity value, pairs are generated. However, a distributed and parallel approach of MapReduce-based SEI-sub process has been proposed to efficiently handle the anchor discovery process which is highly time-consuming. In second level partitioning, an efficient approach is proposed to form non overlapping clusters. Extensive experimental evaluation is done by comparing existing approaches with the proposed approach, and the results shows that MPP-MLO turns out to be an efficient and scalable ontology matching system

EST-SSRs Provide a Good Measure of Genetic Diversity for Improvement of Gum Content in Cluster Bean

Cyamopsis tetragonoloba (L.) Taub., commonly known as guar is an important multipurpose arid leguminous crop of India, mainly cultivated in north-western parts of India. The pods of the guar plant grow in clusters giving guar the common name of clusterbean. It is mainly grown for feed, green fodder, vegetable and green manuring. Its seeds are also an important source of galactomannan (guar gum) which is used as a food ingredient and more recently as a neutraceutical. Guar gum is also having pharmaceutical importance and found to be effective in osteoarthritis, as artificial cervical mucus and for anticancer medicine in the treatment of colorectal cancer. Particularly in 2012, world demand for guar gum has skyrocketed and the price of guar has increased by approximately 230 per cent and even more, mainly because of increased oilfield shale gas demand. As a consequence, there has been a 75 per cent jump in exports from India, the largest guar producing country (Gresta et al., 2013) due to which India’s much neglected and little-known galactomannan became its biggest agricultural item of export. To fulfill all these purposes, the increasing demand of the guar seeds cannot be compensated by present resources. Therefore, new varieties with higher gum content are urgently needed. For this, knowledge of genetic diversity among the varieties has immense importance for plant breeders. Larger variability in the initial breeding material ensures better chances of producing new desired forms of a crop (Pathak et al., 2011). Molecular markers offer a promising tool for plant breeding efforts. SSRs are highly valued molecular markers for studying genetic diversity in crop plants. But unfortunately, clusterbean is a genomically poor crop as no genomic SSRs have been developed. Literature available on the nature and magnitude of diversity in clusterbean indicates that the studies of this kind are scanty and not properly documented. Studies were therefore, required to assess the extent of genetic variability in association with the galactomannan content using reliable EST-SSRs

Factors affecting “decision to delivery interval” in emergency caesarean sections in a tertiary care hospital: a cross sectional observational study

Background: The objective was to assess the waiting time and factors affecting the decision to delivery interval in an emergency caesarean section and to correlate it with neonatal and maternal outcomes.Methods: This study was conducted in the Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology at UCMS and GTB Hospital, Delhi which is a government supported tertiary care hospital located in East Delhi. Data of 275 emergency caesarean sections was collected and analyzed for decision to delivery interval (DDI) along with the causes of delay and maternal and fetal outcomes.Results: The mean DDI was 183.24 minutes for all 275 cases and was 122 ± 89min for category I caesarean sections (crash caesareans). The major cause of delay was non availability of operation theatres due to long list of waiting caesareans sections. When the mean DDI exceeded 75 minutes, there was a 4.6 fold increase in the risk to the life of neonate while the maternal outcome was not significantly affected.Conclusion: DDI of 30 minutes is difficult to achieve even for urgent caesarean sections in government based set up of a developing nation, therefore a more reasonable time frame of 60-75 min may be justified for emergency caesarean sections under similar set up

Toxicity Assessment of Nickel Nitrate and Effect on Total Leucocyte Count in Albino Rat

Heavy metals contribute a variety of adverse health effects. There are over 20 different heavy metal toxins that can impact health effects and each toxin produces different behavioural and physiological misconduct in an exposed individual. Heavy metals have bioimportance as trace element but the biotoxic effects of many of them in human biochemistry are of great concern. Hence, there is a need for understanding of the conditions such as concentration and oxidation states which make them harmful and how biotoxicity occurs. Nickel nitrate affects body physiology following its absorption through food, water and air. Predetermined doses of nickel nitrate (Ni(NO3)2] in acute (1d) and subacute (7, 14, 21, 28ds) treatments revealed significant increase in total leucocyte count (TLC). The results indicate extent of toxicity and enhancement in total leucocyte count under toxic stress of nickel nitrate in albino rat