Social Dominance Orientation and John Henryism at the Intersection of Race and Class

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/92408/1/j.1467-9221.2012.00889.x.pd

Simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers for assessing genetic diversity among the parental lines of hybrid rice (Oryza sativa L.)

The present scientific study was carried out at Tamil Nadu Rice Research Institute, Aduthurai with the objective of studying the genetic divergence among 51 restorer and five maintainer lines in terms of grain quality and fertility restorer genes (Rf3, Rf4 and Rf7) using 55 primers of simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers. Among them, 37 SSR markers were found to be polymorphic and the number of amplified fragments ranged from one to five. The highest polymorphic information content (PIC) value (more than 0.60) was observed for eight primers viz., AB 443, RM 3, RM 29, RM 226, RM 228, RM 304, RM 1812 and RM 3873 and average PIC value was 0.444. Cluster analysis using NTSYS generated dendrogram divided all the 56 parental lines into two distinct groups viz., maintainer line (Group I) and restorer line (Group II) at 76% coefficient of similarity. Maintainer line group consisted of five genotypes (COMS 23B, COMS 24B, COMS 25B, CRMS 31B and CRMS 32B) and restorer line group had 51 genotypes. Further, at 80% similarity, all fifty one restorer lines were again grouped into nine clusters. With higher polymorphism revealed by SSR markers, parental lines having the similar genetic background from pedigree information were grouped into different clusters. The combination of pedigree analysis and SSR markers could be a more reliable method to study the diversity and grouping of parental lines of hybrid rice. Hybridization between diverse restorer and CMS groups identified from this study would be expected to yield hybrid combinations with premium grain quality and good fertility restoration.Keywords: Simple sequence repeat (SSR), maintainer and restorer genetic diversity, grain quality, fertility restorationAfrican Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 12(33), pp. 5105-5116

ANTIDIABETIC ACTIVITY OF ENDOPHYTIC FUNGI ISOLATED FROM FICUS RELIGIOSA

Objective- The aim was to study in vitro anti diabetic activity of endophytic fungi isolated from Ficus Religiosa.Method- The explants (leaves and stem) were processed on the potato dextrose media nine colonies was found and colony frequency was calculated. All the colonies were transferred onto potato dextrose broth and incubated for 21 days. The crude was extracted using three solvents petroleum ether (0.1), diethyl ether (2.8) and ethyl acetate (4.4). Three assays were performed to determine in vitro anti diabetic activity of crude extract (α-amylase inhibition assay, α-glucosidase inhibition assay and glucose diffusion assay) and the % of inhibition by crude and standard acarbose was calculated with standard error mean.Results- The endophytic fungi shows the highest % of inhibition for α-amylase inhibition assay (91 % ± 0.06), α-glucosidase inhibition assay (42% ± 0.01).Conclusion-The results indicates that the hypoglycemic activity of the endophytic crude extract has been proved, hence further studies are focused on to isolate and purify the bioactive compounds and test for in vivo animal studies to confirm the anti diabetic activity.Keywords: Endophytic fungi, Antidiabetic activity, α-amylase, α-glucosidase

Analysis of Antioxidant Enzyme activity in various genotypes of Helianthus annuus L. (Sunflower) under varied irrigation regimes

In this investigation, a pot culture experiment was conducted to estimate the effect of drought stress of Helianthus annuus L. (Sunflower). Sunflower is one of the most important oil crop and due to its high content of unsaturated fatty acids, a lack of cholesterol and the oil benefits from a desirable quality. Plant growth and productivity is adversely affected by nature’s wrath in the form of various biotic and abiotic stress factors. Water deficit is one of the major abiotic stresses, which   adversely affects crop growth and yield. The present study was aimed to understand the effects of drought stress on antioxidant enzymes like peroxidase, superoxide dismutase, catalase and ascorbate peroxidase activity on five different cultivars (SH 3322, A-110, K-618, SH 416, and S-275) of sunflower. All the sunflower cultivars showed reduced growth and altered enzymes activities under drought conditions. The antioxidant enzymes activities were increased under drought stress in all parts of the sunflower cultivars. The maximum activity was observed in K-618 and the minimum in S-275 cultivar. Among the five cultivars studied, K-618 showed better tolerance capacity in pot culture conditions under drought stress when compared to other cultivars studied.    Â

Efficacy of IGFBP7 for treatment of metastatic melanoma and other cancers in mouse models and human cell lines

We recently identified the secreted protein IGFBP7 as a factor required for an activated BRAF oncogene to induce senescence or apoptosis in primary human cells. In human melanomas containing an activating BRAF mutation (BRAF-positive melanomas), IGFBP7 is epigenetically silenced, which seems to be a critical step in melanoma genesis. Restoration of IGFBP7 function by the addition of recombinant IGFBP7 (rIGFBP7) induces apoptosis in BRAF-positive human melanoma cell lines, and systemically administered rIGFBP7 markedly suppresses the growth of BRAF-positive primary tumors in xenografted mice. Here we further evaluate the role of IGFBP7 in the treatment of BRAF-positive melanoma and other malignancies. We find that in human metastatic melanoma samples IGFBP7 is epigenetically silenced and at an even higher frequency than that found in primary melanomas. Using a murine experimental metastasis assay, we show that systemic administration of rIGFBP7 markedly suppresses the growth of metastatic disease and prolongs survival. An analysis of the NCI60 panel of human cancer cell lines reveals that in addition to melanoma, IGFBP7 induces apoptosis in several other cancer types, in particular colorectal cancer cell lines. In general, IGFBP7 induces apoptosis in human cancer cell lines that have an activating mutation in BRAF or RAS, and that are sensitive to chemical inhibition of BRAF-MEK-ERK signaling. Significantly, systemically administered rIGFBP7 blocks the growth of colorectal tumors containing an activating RAS or BRAF mutation in mouse xenografts. The results presented here, in conjunction with those from previous studies, justify the further development of IGFBP7 as an anticancer agent

Drought stress induced modification on growth and Pigments composition in different genotypes of Helianthus annuus L.

In this investigation, a pot culture experiment was conducted to estimate the ameliorating effect of drought stress Induced modification on various growth and Pigments composition in different genotypes of Helianthus annuus L. (Sunflower). Economically important oil seed crop sunflower five cultivars viz., Asgrow SH 3322 (A-SH 3322), Agsun 110 (A-110), Kaveri 618 (K-618), SH 416, and Sunbred 275 (S-275) were selected for drought analysis. Plant growth and productivity is adversely affected by nature’s wrath in the form of various biotic and abiotic stress factors. Water deficit is one of the major abiotic stresses, which   adversely affects crop growth and yield. 3, 4 and 5 DID was selected for the drought stress treatments. Drought stress causes considerable decreases in growth and pigments content of sunflower. Among the cultivar K-618 was less affected by the drought and to it had increased root length and near normal vegetative and shoot growth during stress and at stress recovery. The growth parameters and pigment total chlorophyll and carotenoid content decreased under drought stress in all the sunflower cultivars. Among the cultivars the S-275 cultivar was severely affected when compared to other cultivars

Current methodologies and approaches for the formation of core–sheath polymer fibers for biomedical applications

The application of polymer fibers has rocketed to unimaginable heights in recent years and occupies every corner of our day-to-day life, from knitted protective textile clothes to buzzing smartphone electronics. Polymer fibers could be obtained from natural and synthetic polymers at a length scale from the nanometer to micrometer range. These fibers could be formed into different configurations such as single, core–sheath, hollow, blended, or composite according to human needs. Of these several conformations of fibers, core–sheath polymer fibers are an interesting class of materials, which shows superior physical, chemical, and biological properties. In core–sheath fiber structures, one of the components called a core is fully surrounded by the second component known as a sheath. In this format, different polymers can be applied as a sheath over a solid core of another polymer, thus resulting in a variety of modified properties while maintaining the major fiber property. After a brief introduction to core–sheath fibers, this review paper focuses on the development of the electrospinning process to manufacture core–sheath fibers followed by illustrating the current methodology and approaches to form them on a larger scale, suitable for industrial manufacturing and exploitation. Finally, the paper reviews the applications of the core–sheath fibers, in particular, recent studies of core–sheath polymer fibers in tissue engineering (nerve, vascular grafts, cardiomyocytes, bone, tendons, sutures, and wound healing), growth factors and other bioactive component release, and drug delivery. Therefore, core–sheath structures are a revolutionary development in the field of science and technology, becoming a backbone to many emerging technologies and novel opportunities

Experimental Investigation of the Velocity Field in Buoyant Diffusion Flames Using PIV and TPIV Algorithm

We investigated a simultaneous temporally and spatially resolved 2-D velocity field above a burning circular pan of alcohol using particle image velocimetry (PIV). The results obtained from PIV were used to assess a thermal particle image velocimetry (TPIV) algorithm previously developed to approximate the velocity field using the temperature field, simultaneously captured by an infrared (IR) thermal camera. By tracing “thermal particles,” which were assumed to be virtual particles that corresponded to pixels of temperature values in successive IR images, the TPIV algorithm estimated a larger scale instantaneous velocity field than either a single-point velocity measurement (e.g., LDV) or the area velocity measurement such as PIV. Instantaneous velocity fields obtained from both methods are presented. Time series vertical velocity profiles and time-averaged velocity vector fields are compared. The comparison demonstrates the applicability and performance of the TPIV algorithm in wildfire research

Fire Behavior of Some Southern California Live Chaparral Fuels

Wildfire spread in living vegetation, such as chaparral in southern California, often causes significant damage to infrastructure and ecosystems. In order to study wildfire spread in living vegetation, four of the most common chaparral in southern California, chamise, manzanita, scrub oak and ceanothus, were burned and compared. The observed fire behavior included mass loss rate, flame height, temperature structure and velocity field above the burning fuel bed. It was observed that flame height increases mainly with heat release rate. By using successive images of the temperature field, a recently developed thermal particle image velocity (TPIV) algorithm was applied to estimate flow velocities in the vicinity of the flame. The results are generally in agreement with other experimental results obtained on gas and liquid fuels

IR-Based Estimation of Velocities Above Flames Spreading over Different Fuels

Wildfire spread in living vegetation such as chaparral in California and eucalyptus forests in Australia often causes significant damage to infrastructure and ecosystems. A physically based empirical model to predict fire spread rate is used in the United States to assist in a variety of fire management operations. The spread model does not adequately describe the chemical processes of combustion in live fuels. Prior to describing and modeling the chemical processes of combustion in wildland fuels using computational fluid dynamics, we are investigating a technique to non-intrusively measure flame gas velocities using thermal imagery. By tracing hot pixels through successive digital images, we estimate velocity field using gradient-based algorithms. We also explore techniques established in digital particle image velocimetry (DPIV) to estimate fluid velocities. The images are acquired by a thermal camera with uncooled microbolometer 320x240 pixel focal plane array in the 7.5 - 13 um spectral range. We estimated fluid velocities in flames spreading above isopropyl alcohol and shredded aspen wood (excelsior). Results from excelsior fires are presented. Finally, results obtained from computational modeling were used to validate the velocity field estimated from the gradient-based algorithm. Preliminary results using a DPIV-based algorithm appear promising