Genetic variation and characterization of different linseed genotypes (Linum usitatissimum L.) for agro-morphological traits

Forty five linseed genotypes (local collection) were subjected to study the genetic variability at the Experimental Farm of the Department of Crop Improvement, CSK Himachal Pradesh KrishiVishvavidyalaya, Palampur, during rabi 2015-2016. Analysis of variance revealed that the differences among all the genotypes were significant for all the traits. Mean performance of genotype KLSA-15 for seed yield recorded highest contribution of 3.69 grams. The PCV values were greater than the GCV values for all the traits studied indicating that the apparent variation is not only due to genotypes but, also due to the influence of environment. The highest PCV (64.17) and GCV (64.09) were found for biological yield per plant. Higher estimates of PCV and GCV were obtained for primary branches per plant, secondary branches per plant, capsules per plant, biological yield per plant, harvest index (45.94 and 44.60) and seed yield per plant (52.39 and 50.94). All the characters studied in the present investigation expressed high heritability estimates ranging from 62.95 to 99.77 percent for technical height and biological yield per plant respectively. It was revealed that most of the traits under study showed low genetic advance, high heritability (94.23) and high genetic advance (31.06) was recorded for harvest index indicating predominance of additive gene action for this character. Simple selection based on phenotypic performance of this character would be more effective. The cluster analysis showed that the genotypes were placed into four clusters, showing inter-cluster divergence, which is important for future hybridization programme

Chitosan nanoparticles as Carrier of Immunorestoratory plant extract: synthesis, characterization and Immunorestoratory efficacy

Various medicinal plants are rich in certain bioactive compounds that can help in restoration of immune system but these compounds may be unstable in gastro intestinal tract due to elevated pH and harsh conditions that render the biotherapeutic compound ineffective in GI tract. Various particulate systems such as nanoparticles had been used to improve the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties of various drugs. In our present research we have used chitosan, a biodegradable polymer as carrier of plant extract (i.e Ethanolic extract of leaves of Ziziphus mauritiana) having immunomodulatory property and checked its immunorestorative efficacy in immunosuppressed hostIt was found that the oral administration of leaf extract of plant loaded in chitosan nanoparticles is an efficient immunorestorer in Swiss albino mice whose immune system had been suppressed by giving intraperitoneal injection of hydrocortisone(10mg/Kg body weight).The nanoparticles system enhances stability in harsh conditions in GI tract and may be a better vehicle in future for efficient drug delivery.Keywords: Chitosan, nanoparticles, immunorestoration, Ziziphus mauritiana, Hydrocortisone, Immunosuppressio

Clinical Profile of Indoor Covid-19 Patients at a Medical Institute In India: A Retrospective analysis

Background: COVID-19 has caused a very high burden of morbidity and mortality across the world, India being  also badly affected. The disease has a wide spectrum ranging from asymptomatic to severe illness and death. Research work on the epidemiological and clinical profile of patients is scarce in India. Objectives: This study was conducted to know the clinico-epidemiological profile of indoor hospitalized Covid 19 patients. Methods: a retrospective analysis (record based) conducted at a designated COVID tertiary care center. Study period-1st August 2020 to 31st October 2020. Study Unit- Laboratory confirmed COVID 19 patients admitted in the hospital. Sample size- All the 894 patients with complete record were included in the study. Results: The mean age was 47.68± 17.62 years. Around 14.1% of the population was asymptomatic. 75.7%  were classified as having a mild disease. The cure rate was 82.9% and deaths were reported in 9.4%. Conclusions: Our findings were similar to findings observed in other studies. A positive significant correlation was noticed between age, duration, clinical severity and outcome of patient. The clinical severity was also found to be associated with age, duration of symptoms and outcome of patient

Radiocarbon Dating of Historical Bricks: Exploring the Unprotected Archaeological Mounds in the Environs of Excavated Site of Nalanda

Nalanda was a renowned Buddhist monastery which is believed to have been active for 800 years from around 4th/5th to 12th centuries AD. We know about the site from the accounts of 7th century Chinese traveler (Xuanzang) and later from 19th century British surveyors (Buchanan, Cunningham and Broadley). There are many studies on this site, recent one among them is a geospatial analysis which has revealed a larger extent (~7.25 sq. km) of the site compared to what is protected at present as World Heritage (WH) inscribed by UNESCO (0.23 sq. km. as core zones and 0.58 sq. km. as buffer zone) and has identified several unprotected archaeological mounds in the vicinity. Since we have a range of period when the site was active, it is possible that the dates of structures in each unexcavated mound are decades or centuries apart. To understand the time sequence in which the site existed one could use absolute dating method. This paper reports result of preliminary dating analysis using the Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) technique on bricks collected from unprotected mounds in the environs of Nalanda. This paper also reports methods and issues in sample collection, preparation and discusses challenges to overcome in future efforts

Glacio-archaeological evidence of permanent settlements within a glacier end moraine complex during 980-1840 AD: The Miyar Basin, Lahaul Himalaya, India

This study presents glacio-archaeological evidence from the Miyar basin, Lahaul Himalaya, that points towards the former presence of a well settled agricultural society, within a glacier end moraine complex. Three high altitude villages (Tharang, Phundang and Patam, now in ruins) with elaborate irrigation networks thrived within the end moraine complex of Tharang glacier at 3700 m a.s.l. Evidence exists in the form of dilapidated houses which had an organised internal space, chronologically constrained by radiocarbon (14C) dating. These settlements occupied the end moraine complex between 980 and 1840 CE, thereby encompassing the majority of Little Ice Age period (1300–1600 CE), as defined elsewhere. The existence of settlements along with an irrigation system and associate fields at ∼3700-3800 m a.s.l. for almost ∼860 years during the late 10th to early 19th centuries suggests more favourable climatic (warm) conditions that at present. By contrast, present habitation is restricted to areas below ∼3500 m a.s.l. However, the slope controlled irrigation system also suggests moisture stressed conditions during the 980–1840 CE period, similar to present. The available temperature and snowfall proxies for the region support our proposed timing, and suggest favourable climatic conditions for the survival of these settlements

Spectral Dependence of Polarized Radiation due to Spatial Correlations

We study the polarization of light emitted by spatially correlated sources. We show that in general polarization acquires nontrivial spectral dependence due to spatial correlations. The spectral dependence is found to be absent only for a special class of sources where the correlation length scales as the wavelength of light. We further study the cross correlations between two spatially distinct points that are generated due to propagation. It is found that such cross correlation leads to sufficiently strong spectral dependence of polarization which can be measured experimentally.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Improving Cancer Classification Accuracy Using Gene Pairs

Recent studies suggest that the deregulation of pathways, rather than individual genes, may be critical in triggering carcinogenesis. The pathway deregulation is often caused by the simultaneous deregulation of more than one gene in the pathway. This suggests that robust gene pair combinations may exploit the underlying bio-molecular reactions that are relevant to the pathway deregulation and thus they could provide better biomarkers for cancer, as compared to individual genes. In order to validate this hypothesis, in this paper, we used gene pair combinations, called doublets, as input to the cancer classification algorithms, instead of the original expression values, and we showed that the classification accuracy was consistently improved across different datasets and classification algorithms. We validated the proposed approach using nine cancer datasets and five classification algorithms including Prediction Analysis for Microarrays (PAM), C4.5 Decision Trees (DT), Naive Bayesian (NB), Support Vector Machine (SVM), and k-Nearest Neighbor (k-NN)

MGNREGA in Tamil Nadu: a story of success and transformation?

Social protection has emerged as a key driver of development policy at the beginning of the twenty‐first century. It is widely considered a ‘good thing’ that has the potential not only to alleviate poverty and vulnerability, but also to generate more transformative outcomes in terms of empowerment and social justice. Based on an ethnographic study of the implementation of the M ahatma G andhi N ational R ural E mployment G uarantee A ct (MGNREGA ), India's flagship social protection policy, this paper takes a critical look at what this policy's ‘success’ consists of. The study was carried out in T amil Nadu, a state widely presented as a ‘success’ in terms of MGNREGA 's implementation, and describes who participates in the scheme and how success is understood and expressed at different social and bureaucratic levels. In terms of MGNREGA 's outcomes, we conclude that the scheme is benefitting the poorest households – and D alits and women in particular – especially in terms of providing a safety net and as a tool for poverty alleviation. But the scheme does more than that. It has also produced significant transformative outcomes for rural labourers, such as pushing up rural wage levels, enhancing low‐caste workers' bargaining power in the labour market and reducing their dependency on high‐caste employers. These benefits are not only substantial but also transformative in that they affect rural relations of production and contribute to the empowerment of the rural labouring poor. However, in terms of creating durable assets and promoting grassroots democracy, the scheme's outcomes are much less encouraging

Identification of PKD1L1 Gene Variants in Children with the Biliary Atresia Splenic Malformation Syndrome

Biliary atresia (BA) is the most common cause of end‐stage liver disease in children and the primary indication for pediatric liver transplantation, yet underlying etiologies remain unknown. Approximately 10% of infants affected by BA exhibit various laterality defects (heterotaxy) including splenic abnormalities and complex cardiac malformations — a distinctive subgroup commonly referred to as the biliary atresia splenic malformation (BASM) syndrome. We hypothesized that genetic factors linking laterality features with the etiopathogenesis of BA in BASM patients could be identified through whole exome sequencing (WES) of an affected cohort. DNA specimens from 67 BASM subjects, including 58 patient‐parent trios, from the NIDDK‐supported Childhood Liver Disease Research Network (ChiLDReN) underwent WES. Candidate gene variants derived from a pre‐specified set of 2,016 genes associated with ciliary dysgenesis and/or dysfunction or cholestasis were prioritized according to pathogenicity, population frequency, and mode of inheritance. Five BASM subjects harbored rare and potentially deleterious bi‐allelic variants in polycystin 1‐like 1, PKD1L1, a gene associated with ciliary calcium signaling and embryonic laterality determination in fish, mice and humans. Heterozygous PKD1L1 variants were found in 3 additional subjects. Immunohistochemical analysis of liver from the one BASM subject available revealed decreased PKD1L1 expression in bile duct epithelium when compared to normal livers and livers affected by other non‐cholestatic diseases. Conclusion WES identified bi‐allelic and heterozygous PKD1L1 variants of interest in 8 BASM subjects from the ChiLDReN dataset. The dual roles for PKD1L1 in laterality determination and ciliary function suggest that PKD1L1 is a new, biologically plausible, cholangiocyte‐expressed candidate gene for the BASM syndrome