Comparative Micro-Morphology and Reproductive Studies in Three Mulberry Varieties (Moraceae)

Three evolved mulberry verities, viz., RFS175, S41 and Morus cathyana were selected for the micro morphology and reproductive studies. Height, internodal distance, colour of leaves, stem, stomatal frequency, length and number of inflorescence and pollen fertility were studied for these three varieties. Mulberry varieties studied exhibited considerable variations in height, internodal distance, leaf texture, stomatal frequency and pollen stain ability. Stomatal frequency and pollen stain ability was higher in diploids when compared to triploid and tetraploid variety. Tetraploid showed reduction in height, number of branches and internodal distance followed by diploid and triploid varieties

A Study Of The Role Indian Accountants In Managerial Decision Making

This paper studies the extent of participation of accountants in the managerial decision making process in India.  In general, accountants had the most influence over decisions relating to management information systems (MIS), financing, production, resource allocation, new product introduction and discontinuance of old products. They had the least influence over decisions relating to marketing and personnel.  For some of the decision variables studied, professional experience and size of firm were significant factors affecting responses.  Factor and cluster analyses identified two distinct factors/clusters: a participation factor/cluster consisting of eight of the nine participatory variables studied, and a MIS-budgeting factor/cluster consisting of usefulness of the budget, involvement in MIS decisions, and the level of top management support

Morphological, Anatomical and Reproductive Parameters in few Varieties of Mulberry (Morus spp.)

Regarding anatomical, morphological and reproductive studies of four mulberry verities namely, Channapatna local, Thailand, Morus cathyana HEMSLEY and Morus multicaulis were selected. Height, internodal distance, colour of leaves, stem, stomatal frequency, length and number of inflorescence and pollen fertility were studied for these four varieties. Mulberry varieties studied exhibited considerable variations in height, internodal distance, leaf texture, stomatal frequency, length, breadth and pollen stain ability. Height, stomatal frequency and pollen stain ability was higher in diploid and uneuploid when compared to triploid and tetraploid varieties. Tetraploid and triploid varieties showed increased stomatal size, reduction in height, number of branches and internodal distance followed by diploid and triploid varietie

Theory and Applications of Robust Optimization

In this paper we survey the primary research, both theoretical and applied, in the area of Robust Optimization (RO). Our focus is on the computational attractiveness of RO approaches, as well as the modeling power and broad applicability of the methodology. In addition to surveying prominent theoretical results of RO, we also present some recent results linking RO to adaptable models for multi-stage decision-making problems. Finally, we highlight applications of RO across a wide spectrum of domains, including finance, statistics, learning, and various areas of engineering.Comment: 50 page

Knowledge, attitude and behaviour regarding self-care practices among type 2 diabetes mellitus patients residing in an urban area of South India

Introduction: Diabetes mellitus is a major health problem in India with individual, social and economical consequences. Knowledge, attitude and practice surveys are effective in providing baseline for evaluating intervention programmes. This study was conducted with the aim to know the level of awareness about type 2 diabetes mellitus. Methodology: A cross sectional study conducted to assess the knowledge, attitude and behaviour (KAB) among type 2 diabetes mellitus patients. KAB questionnaire was used to collect data. Results: Out of 1058 patients 992 patients were included for the analysis, rest were excluded due to various reasons. 43.15% were males. Mean age of patients was 55.82 ± 10.2 years. Mean duration of diabetes was 10.2 ± 6.8 years. The mean knowledge score was 4.94, attitude score was 6.29 and behavior score was 1.64. Nearly 38.5% knew definition and types of diabetes. Majority of the participants believed they can control the disease. Dietary modification and exercise among the interviewed subjects was poor.  Conclusion: Results revealed good attitude but poor knowledge and practices (behaviour) towards diabetes. We concluded that there is a need for structured programmes to improve attitude and practices of diabetic patients to promote better compliance towards diet, exercise and drug regimen

Study - High seroprevalence of HSV-1 and HSV-2 in STD clinic attendees and non-high risk controls: A case control study at a referral hospital in South India

BACKGROUND: In Asia, HSV seroprevalence studies are sparse and they have recorded lower prevalence of HSV infection, especially HSV-2. AIMS: To ascertain the seroprevalence of HSV-1 and HSV-2 in patients attending a STD clinic in a referral hospital in south India and to compare it with a control group. METHODS: The study included 135 consecutive STD cases having history of ulcerative or non-ulcerative STD in the present or in the past 5 years and 135 age and sex-matched controls. Diagnostic serology was done for HSV-1 and HSV-2 using type specific IgG by indirect immunoassay using ELISA. The results were analyzed utilizing Chi- square test. RESULTS: Amongst 135 STD clinic cases, 106 cases were males and 29 cases were females with male to female ratio of 3.65:1. The mean age was 32.2 years (range 16-65 years). Among study group cases, 112 (82.9%) cases were co-infected with HSV-1 and HSV-2, 11 (8.1%) cases were seropositive for HSV-1 alone and 3 (2.2%) cases were seropositive for HSV-2 alone. In the control group, 112 (82.9%) cases were co-infected with HSV-1 and 2, 12 (9.6%) for HSV-1 alone and 1(0.8%) for HSV-2 alone. Correlation of HSV-1 and HSV-2 serology with various demographic and behavioral factors was statistically insignificant. CONCLUSIONS: Seroprevalence of HSV-1 and HSV-2 in STD clinic cases and control group is high, similar to that recorded in sub-Saharan Africa. Thus, serological studies for HSV-1 and HSV-2 cannot be taken as a marker of sexual behavior in our set of population

NOrMAL: accurate nucleosome positioning using a modified Gaussian mixture model

Motivation: Nucleosomes are the basic elements of chromatin structure. They control the packaging of DNA and play a critical role in gene regulation by allowing physical access to transcription factors. The advent of second-generation sequencing has enabled landmark genome-wide studies of nucleosome positions for several model organisms. Current methods to determine nucleosome positioning first compute an occupancy coverage profile by mapping nucleosome-enriched sequenced reads to a reference genome; then, nucleosomes are placed according to the peaks of the coverage profile. These methods are quite accurate on placing isolated nucleosomes, but they do not properly handle more complex configurations. Also, they can only provide the positions of nucleosomes and their occupancy level, whereas it is very beneficial to supply molecular biologists additional information about nucleosomes like the probability of placement, the size of DNA fragments enriched for nucleosomes and/or whether nucleosomes are well positioned or ‘fuzzy’ in the sequenced cell sample

Socio-economic impact of COVID-19 pandemic on dairy farm households in West Bengal state

India is one of the leading economies that have been stuck hard by the COVID-19 pandemic and the stringent measures were put in place to combat it. Among several sectors, dairy sector is the most affected as dairy products are highly perishable and rely on time-sensitive supply chains. Though studies are available on the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on dairy sector, there are no studies on COVID-infected dairy farm households. The present study was an attempt to assess the socio-economic impact of COVID-19 pandemic on infected and uninfected dairy farm households in West Bengal. The study covered pre-lockdown, lockdown (both 1st and 2nd wave) and post-lockdown phases of COVID-19 pandemic. The primary data was collected from 150 dairy farm households (COVID-19 infected-75 and uninfected-75) in Murshidabad and Nadia districts of West Bengal. Dairy Economic Performance Index consisting of number of milch animals, milk yield, marketed milk, milk procurement price, concentrate price and veterinary cost was developed using principal component analysis. In order to make infected and uninfected groups statistically comparable, propensity score matching technique was employed. The index values were compared between matched infected and uninfected groups over different phases of COVID-19 pandemic. Dairy households incurred significant economic losses during the lockdown and post-lockdown periods due to increase in cost of concentrates, decline in the number of milch animals and drop in milk procurement prices. Dairy households faced constraints in procuring dry fodder, concentrate feed and in accessing veterinary care. COVID-19 infected dairy farm households had a greater socio-economic hurdle than that of uninfected households