Nuovo DRM Paradiso: formal specification and verification of a DRM

We present a DRM-preserving content redistribution scheme, based on the NPGCT scheme, that provides fairness in unsupervised exchanges. The proposed scheme is formally specified, verified and shown to achieve its design goals. The NPGCT mechanism of detection and revocation of circumvented devices is also reexamined her

directional genome walking using pcr

We describe here a PCR-based "directional genome walking" protocol. The basic procedure for the amplification consists of two rounds of PCR. A primary PCR was performed, on the genomic DNA using a ..

Coconut-growing soils of Kerala: 1. Characteristics and classification

Coconut plantations are the major land use systems in Kerala state. The tropical hot humid climate and soils of the state are considered suitable for the palm, with the exception of highlands occurring 600 m above MSL. However, the productivity of coconut is abysmally low in the state with an average productivity of around 40 nuts per year per palm. To find out whether the highly weathered and leached low activity clay soils developed in tropical hot humid climate is responsible for the low yield, an assessment of soil qualities in the coconut-growing soils of the state was made. Six distinct regions of coconut cultivation in the state were identified and delineated based on the variability of agro-climate and soils, viz., Central and Eastern Palakkad, Northern Kerala, Central Kerala, Southern Kerala, Onattukara sandy plains and coastal sandy plains. Soil profiles were studied at representative sites in each region. Investigated morphological features and sampled horizon-wise for the analysis of physical and chemical properties of the soil. Coconut-growing soils of Kerala state are in general deep and well drained, clayey or sandy having good structure permitting rapid transmission of water. The soils of Palakkad, Southern Kerala and Coastal Sandy Plains have near neutral reaction whereas the extensive areas of laterite soils of Northern and Central Kerala and sandy soils of Onattukara were strongly acid and had high levels of KCl extractable aluminium. The acid soils also analysed for low levels of basic cations, potassium, calcium and magnesium. Soils from all regions except Palakkad have low CEC. Surface and sub-soils base status were extremely low for soils of Northern and Central Kerala and Onattukara sandy plain. The soils of Central and Eastern Palakkad were classified as Typic Haplustalfs, Northern Kerala as Plinthic Humults, Central Kerala as Typic Plinthustults, Southern Kerala as Rhodic Kandiustults and the soils of sandy plains as Ustipsamments, according to soil taxonomy

Coconut-growing soils of Kerala: 2. Assessment of fertility and soil related constraints to coconut production

Growth, productivity and health of coconut plantations in humid tropics are influenced by soil qualities. Fertility of coconut-growing soils of Kerala was assessed by analysing samples drawn from the distinct agro-ecological regions of the state: Central and Eastern Palakkad, Northern Kerala, Central Kerala and Southern Kerala, Onattukara sandy plain and coastal sandy plain. The strongly acid soils of Northern and Central Kerala and Onattukara sandy plain are unfavorable for plant nutrient availability and microbial processes. Surface and sub-soils of Central Kerala and sandy plains have low levels of organic carbon. Available phosphorus was high in soils of Southern Kerala and Onattukara sandy plain. Plant available potassium was not adequate in these coconut-growing soils. The nutrient levels in soils of Central Kerala and sandy plain were extremely low. The same pattern was true for secondary nutrients calcium and magnesium. Soils of all regions have adequate levels of available sulphur, iron and manganese. Copper and zinc deficiency was recorded for laterite soils of central region and sandy soils of Onattukara and coastal plain. Plant available boron was deficient in all regions except for the soils of Southern Kerala. Molybdenum levels were marginal in coconut growing soils, except for the soils of Palakkad. Overhead climate and soil moisture availability does not constrain the palm in the state except for Eastern Palakkad where irrigation during dry period is an absolute necessity. The extensive areas of midland laterites and Onattukara sandy plain with strong acid reaction and aluminium in soil solution severely constrain coconut. The acid soils also suffer from deficiencies of potassium, calcium, magnesium, copper, zinc and boron. These soil related constraints affect coconut production significantly and alleviation of the same through liming and adequate application of deficient nutrients can ensure satisfactory yields from the palm

Interception of the Bycroft-Gowland Intermediate in the Enzymatic Macrocyclization of Thiopeptides

Thiopeptides are a broad class of macrocyclic, heavily modified peptide natural products that are unified by the presence of a substituted, nitrogen-containing heterocycle core. Early work indicated that this core might be fashioned from two dehydroalanines by an enzyme-catalyzed aza-[4 + 2] cycloaddition to give a cyclic-hemiaminal intermediate. This common intermediate could then follow a reductive path toward a dehydropiperidine, as in the thiopeptide thiostrepton, or an aromatization path to yield the pyridine groups observed in many other thiopeptides. Although several of the enzymes proposed to perform this cycloaddition have been reconstituted, only pyridine products have been isolated and any hemiaminal intermediates have yet to be observed. Here, we identify the conditions and substrates that decouple the cycloaddition from subsequent steps and allow interception and characterization of this long hypothesized intermediate. Transition state modeling indicates that the key amide-iminol tautomerization is the major hurdle in an otherwise energetically favorable cycloaddition. An anionic model suggests that deprotonation and polarization of this amide bond by TbtD removes this barrier and provides a sufficient driving force for facile (stepwise) cycloaddition. This work provides evidence for a mechanistic link between disparate cyclases in thiopeptide biosynthesis

Non-Abelian Fluid Dynamics in Lagrangian Formulation

Non-Abelian extensions of fluid dynamics, which can have applications to the quark-gluon plasma, are given. These theories are presented in a symplectic/Lagrangian formulation and involve a fluid generalization of the Kirillov-Kostant form well known in Lie group theory. In our simplest model the fluid flows with velocity v and in presence of non-Abelian chromoelectric/magnetic E^a / B^a fields, the fluid feels a Lorentz force of the form Q_a E^a + (v / c) \times Q_a B^a, where Q_a is a space-time local non-Abelian charge satisfying a fluid Wong equation [ (D_t + v \cdot D) Q ]_a = 0 with gauge covariant derivatives.Comment: 14 pp., REVTeX 4; a reference added; email correspondence to [email protected]

Molecular breeding for nutritionally enriched maize: status and prospects

Open Access Journal; Published online: 21 Feb 2020Maize is a major source of food security and economic development in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), Latin America, and the Caribbean, and is among the top three cereal crops in Asia. Yet, maize is deficient in certain essential amino acids, vitamins, and minerals. Biofortified maize cultivars enriched with essential minerals and vitamins could be particularly impactful in rural areas with limited access to diversified diet, dietary supplements, and fortified foods. Significant progress has been made in developing, testing, and deploying maize cultivars biofortified with quality protein maize (QPM), provitamin A, and kernel zinc. In this review, we outline the status and prospects of developing nutritionally enriched maize by successfully harnessing conventional and molecular marker-assisted breeding, highlighting the need for intensification of efforts to create greater impacts on malnutrition in maize-consuming populations, especially in the low- and middle-income countries. Molecular marker-assisted selection methods are particularly useful for improving nutritional traits since conventional breeding methods are relatively constrained by the cost and throughput of nutritional trait phenotyping

Effect of participatory women's groups facilitated by Accredited Social Health Activists on birth outcomes in rural eastern India: A cluster-randomised controlled trial

Background: A quarter of the world's neonatal deaths and 15% of maternal deaths happen in India. Few community-based strategies to improve maternal and newborn health have been tested through the country's government-approved Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs). We aimed to test the effect of participatory women's groups facilitated by ASHAs on birth outcomes, including neonatal mortality. Methods: In this cluster-randomised controlled trial of a community interve