New or rare Hedyotis Linn. (Rubiaceae) from South India

Three taxa of Hedyotis Linn. (Rubiaceae), viz., H. gamblei Henry & Subr. sp. nov., H. eualata var. agastyamalayana Henry & Subr. var. nov. and H. barberi (Gamble) Henry & Subr. comb. nov., collected from Agastyamalai Hills and surrounding regions in Tirunelveli District, Tamil Nadu, South India, are described in this paper

A new species of Marsdenia R. Br. (Asclepiadaceae) from South India

Marsdenia raziana which represents a new species of Asclepiadaceae, collected around Yelnir ghats forests (W. ghats), Samse, Chikmagalur District, has been described and illustrated

Dichotomous venation and anastomosis in the corolla of an orchid-Habenaria dentata (SW.) Schltr

The lip of the corolla in habenaria dentata (Sw.) Schltr. is tripartite. The lateral lobes show dichotomously branched veins. While the majority of the vein-endings are related to crenulation in the corolla and terminate at the tip, others end blindly. Usually each crenulation receives one vein. In exceptional cases two veins enter a crenulation. Cases of veins ending beneath an incision (sinus) separating two crenulations have been observed. Sinus vein dichotomies are present. Nine types of anastomoses are described. In Type I, two branches of a single vein-dichotomy remain united. Type II is characterized by the union of adjacent branches of two vein dichotomies and their separation. Type III is similar to Type II but the branches do not separate after confluence. In Type IV an arcuate vein unites with the branch of contiguous vein dichotomy and then separates. Type V is similar to Type IV but the fused branches do not separate. Type VI is formed by the union of the outer branch of a second order vein-dichotomy and the outer branch of a first order vein-dichotomy. In Type VII one outer branch each of two adjacent second order vein-dichotomies unite and separate. Type VIII is similar to Type VII but the branches do not separate after confluence. In Type IX the outer branch of a third order vein-dichotomy and the outer branch of a second order vein-dichotomy unite and separate after a short area of confluence. Cases of vein-approximations also have been observed

Developmental features of biomedical bibliographic databases

The genesis of bibliographic databases can be traced to the abstracting and indexing (A&I) periodicals. The Journal Des Scavans published in 1665 did contain abstracts of articles, but the formal abstracting journal began in 1820 (English) and in 1830 (German). The growth of primary periodicals required libraries to subscribe to A&I services to search for papers scattered in different journals as it was not possible to acquire all the primary periodical titles. The electronic versions of A&I periodicals started appearing in 1960s with emergence of database concept. The Chemical Titles and the MEDLARS are considered to be the earliest bibliographic databases. The Silver Platter is believed publish first biomedical CD-ROM database the MEDLINE with search facility � SPIRS. The growth and development of bibliographic databases has continued since then and enters the digital era to serve the users. The present paper theoretically examines EMBASE, PubMed and IndMed databases. © 2017, National Institute of Science Communication and Information Resources (NISCAIR). All rights reserved

Genetic diversity assessment of wild and cultivated varieties of Jatropha curcas (L.) in India by RAPD analysis

The present study deals with evaluation of genetic diversity and pedigree analysis through RAPD analysis. A total number of 40 Jatropha curcas accessions collected from different geographical regions and 43 random decamer primers were screened to assess polymorphism. 10 primers were amplified and 94 polymorphic bands were found out of 125 scored. Accounting for 75.2 % polymorphism across the genotypes 12.5 bands per primer, out of 9.4 were polymorphic. Jaccard’s coefficient of similarity varied from 0.00 to 1.00 indicative of high levels of genetic variation among the genotypes studied. Cluster analysis of data using UPGMA algorithm placed the 40 accessions into 2 main clusters, with cluster II divided into six sub-clusters. The result provides valid guidelines for the collection, conservation and characterization of Jatropha curcas genetic resources

A New Approach for SAR Image Denoising

In synthetic aperture radar (SAR)  imaging, the transmitted pulses from space born antenna interacts with ground objects and returned energy or back scattered energy will be collected  to get backscattered image. In this process, a speckle noise will be added because of the coherent imaging system and  makes the study of SAR images very difficult. For better SAR image processing, the speckle has to be removed in the initial stages of processing  and maintain all texture features efficiently. The BM3D method is generally considered as state of art method in denoising of SAR images. In this paper, it is proposed a technique to despeckle the speckle noise to the maximum extent while maintaining the edge characteristics

Chromosome numbers in certain Indian species of Utricularia L. (Lentibulariaceae)

Chromosome numbers from meiotic studies have been reported for the following species of Utricularia: U. aurea Lour. (n=21); U. baouleënsis A. Chev. (n=10); U. caerulea L. (n=20); U. inflexa var.stellaris (Linn.f.) P. Taylor (n=21); U. minutissima Vahl (n=8); U. scandens Benj. (n=6, 7); and U. stricticaulis Stap f (n=7). There are two cyto-races in U. scandens

Phage lysin as a substitute for antibiotics to detect Mycobacterium tuberculosis from sputum samples with the BACTEC MGIT 960 system

Phage lysin was evaluated as a substitute for antibiotics in sputum samples processed by a modified Petroff’s method for the detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis with the MGIT 960 system. One hundred and fifty sputum samples were processed, inoculated onto two slopes of Lowenstein–Jensen medium, and divided in to two aliquots of 0.5 mL each. One aliquot was added to 7 mL of MGIT medium containing polymyxin B, amphotericin B, nalidixic acid, trimethoprim and azlocillin (PANTA) (MGIT-PANTA) and the other was added to 7 mL of MGIT medium containing 0.8 mL of lysin (MGIT-Lysin). The samples were randomized and incubated at 37�C in the MGIT 960 system. The sensitivity and specificity of MGIT-Lysin were 97% and 88%, respectively, as compared with MGIT-PANTA. The average times to detection with MGIT-Lysin and MGIT-PANTA were 9.3 and 8.6 days, respectively. The rate of contamination with MGIT-PANTA and MGIT-Lysin were 16% and 7.3%, respectively. Phage lysin can be substituted for antibiotics in processed sputum samples for the detection of M. tuberculosis

The Development and Use of Pitfall and Probe Traps for Capturing Insects in Stored Grain

The development and use of pitfall and probe traps for capture of insects in bulk-stored grain are outlined. Unbaited traps are effective in detecting infestations and they detect a large number of species compared with grain-sampling devices. The effectiveness of the traps is related to temperature, trapping period, and grain moisture content; and traps are less reliable for detecting insect species that are less mobile, have a non uniform distribution in grain, feed within kernels, or can escape from the traps. Comparisons are given between effectiveness of probe traps and grain sampling for detecting insects, and experience using probe traps in stored grain is reporte