Effect of van-Hove singularities in single-walled carbon nanotube leads on transport through double quantum dot system

The double quantum dot system with single-walled metallic armchair carbon nanotube leads has been studied using Non-equilibrium Green function in the Keldysh formalism. The effect of relative spacing between the energy levels of the dots, interdot tunneling matrix-element, interdot Coulomb interaction and van-Hove singularities in density of states characteristics of quasi-one-dimensional carbon nanotube leads on the conductance of the double quantum dot system has been studied. The conductance and dot occupancies are calculated at finite temperature. It is observed that the density of states of the carbon nanotube leads play a significant role in determining the conductance profile. In particular, whenever the chemical potential of the isolated double quantum dot system is aligned with the position of a van-Hove singularity in the density of states of armchair carbon nanotube leads, the height of the corresponding conductance peak falls considerably. It is further observed that the suppression in the heights of the alternate peaks depends on the relative positions of the energy levels of the dots and their magnitude of separation.Comment: 16 pages and 16 figure

Morbidity Pattern Among Out-Patients Attending Urban Health Training Centre in Srinagar

The current study was designed to identify the morbidity pattern of out-patients attending Urban Health Training Centre in an urban area of a medical college in Srinagar, Pauri Garhwal district, Uttarakhand, North India. The present study record-based retrospective study was conducted among the out-patients attending the regular clinic at the Urban Health Training Centre, of a medical college in Srinagar city of Uttarakhand State of North India during the study period of one year in 2014. Data was retrieved from the OPD registers maintained at the clinic. Data was collected pertaining to socio-demographic profile, morbidity details and treatment pattern. Diseases were identified using the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10) code. Descriptive analysis was done. During the study period, a total of 9343 subjects attended the OPD. Among them, majority of them (60%) were females. More than half (56 %) belonged to the age group of 35-65 year age-group. The association of disease classification was found to be statistically significant with respect to gender. The leading morbidity of communicable disease was found to be certain infectious and parasitic diseases especially Typhoid whereas musculoskeletal system and connective tissue disorders were the most common cause among morbidity due to NCDs. Out of all, typhoid was found to cause maximum of morbidity among the subjects. The present study highlights the morbidity pattern of communicable and NCDs among the population of hilly areas of Garhwal, Uttarakhand India. Priority should be preferred for the regular tracking of diseases in terms of preventive and promotive aspects. Morbidity in the out- door clinics reflects the emerging trend of mixed disease spectrum burden comprising communicable and non-communicable diseases

Unexpected cell type-dependent effects of autophagy on polyglutamine aggregation revealed by natural genetic variation in C. elegans.

BACKGROUND: Monogenic protein aggregation diseases, in addition to cell selectivity, exhibit clinical variation in the age of onset and progression, driven in part by inter-individual genetic variation. While natural genetic variants may pinpoint plastic networks amenable to intervention, the mechanisms by which they impact individual susceptibility to proteotoxicity are still largely unknown. RESULTS: We have previously shown that natural variation modifies polyglutamine (polyQ) aggregation phenotypes in C. elegans muscle cells. Here, we find that a genomic locus from C. elegans wild isolate DR1350 causes two genetically separable aggregation phenotypes, without changing the basal activity of muscle proteostasis pathways known to affect polyQ aggregation. We find that the increased aggregation phenotype was due to regulatory variants in the gene encoding a conserved autophagy protein ATG-5. The atg-5 gene itself conferred dosage-dependent enhancement of aggregation, with the DR1350-derived allele behaving as hypermorph. Surprisingly, increased aggregation in animals carrying the modifier locus was accompanied by enhanced autophagy activation in response to activating treatment. Because autophagy is expected to clear, not increase, protein aggregates, we activated autophagy in three different polyQ models and found a striking tissue-dependent effect: activation of autophagy decreased polyQ aggregation in neurons and intestine, but increased it in the muscle cells. CONCLUSIONS: Our data show that cryptic natural variants in genes encoding proteostasis components, although not causing detectable phenotypes in wild-type individuals, can have profound effects on aggregation-prone proteins. Clinical applications of autophagy activators for aggregation diseases may need to consider the unexpected divergent effects of autophagy in different cell types

Confronting Fiji Futures

Fiji, post-independence, has seen several governments, two military coups and, amidst sweeping social, economic and political changes, the presence of divisive identity politics in its journey towards a united, collective Fiji community. This republished edition of Confronting Fiji Futures takes in these landmark events and eventualities, and aims at a forward-looking assessment of the realities facing Fiji in the present and the future. It focuses on the period of the coups up to and including the 1999 general elections, when an explicitly multiethnic party won government in a surprise landslide result. This book is the result of a collaborative research project based at the Institute of Social Studies, The Hague, in the Netherlands — an institution with a long tradition of collaborative teaching, research and advisory services in the South Pacific region. It aims to present a range of relevant issues from a number of vantage points. It has brought together a strong diversity of authors led by A. Haroon Akram-Lodhi, including John Cameron, Ganesh Chand, Martin Doornbos, Yash Ghai, Holger Korth, Sunil Kumar, Biman Prasad, Jacqueline Leckie, Satendra Prasad, Steve Ratuva, Robbie Robertson, Ardeshir Sepehri and William Sutherland

‘Conclusion: Youth aspirations, trajectories, and farming futures

This book commenced with a question of global importance: in a world in which farming populations are ageing, who is going to provide the planet’s peoples with the “sufficient, safe and nutritious food” that is needed to meet the “dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life” (FAO 2006)? In other words, where are the people who are needed to generationally renew farming? As explained in the introduction, addressing this question meant going against the grain of much research on youth and agriculture. Rather than seeking to understand youth’s apparent disinterest in farming and their exodus from the countryside, the research teams focused on those youth and young adults who stayed in, returned, or relocated to rural areas and were involved in farming (often alongside various other economic activities). Thereby, the case studies presented in this book have put in the spotlight the next generation of farmers. In this concluding chapter, we draw out some important issues emerging from across the chapters and reflect on key differences. This way, we reiterate the various pathways of becoming a farmer, the main challenges experienced by these young farming women and men, and the roles that policies and organizations could play in facilitating the process of becoming a farmer