Mapping of QTL Conferring Resistance to Turcicum Leaf Blight using Microsatellites in Maize (Zea mays L.)

Turcicum Leaf Blight (TLB), caused by Exserohilum turcicum is a foliar disease of maize. This study was conducted to identify quantitative trait loci (QTL) for TLB resistance in maize. A mapping population constituting 185 F2:3 populations was developed by crossing two inbred lines viz., CM 212 (susceptible) and V 336 (resistant), and was evaluated in two environments to generate phenotypic data for QTL mapping. A polymorphic survey of 183 pairs of simple sequence repeat (SSR) primers between the two parents helped in identification of 101 polymorphic markers. Data on four disease severity traits viz., Percent Disease Index (PDI), Area Under Disease Progress Curve based on PDI (AUDPC-PDI), Lesion Area (LA), and Area Under Disease Progress Curve based on LA (AUDPC-LA) were generated for QTL mapping. Eight QTL intervals for resistance to TLB were located on chromosomes 2, 3, 4, 5, 7 and 9. Out of the eight QTL; one QTL was reported for LA on chromosome 4 flanking phi019 and bnlg2162 markers at the low disease-pressure environment (E1), six QTL at high disease-pressure environment (E2) and one QTL across pooled environments. Out of the six QTL identified at high disease-pressure environment, one QTL for AUDPC-PDI was identified on chromosome 9 flanked by markers phi065 and phi016 while the remaining five QTL for LA were identified on chromosomes 2, 3, 5 and 7. One QTL for PDI was identified across environments analysis on chromosome 3 flanked by markers mmc0071 and bnlg1160. For these QTL, the LOD values ranged from 2.70 to 14.84 and corresponding R2 (% variation explained) ranged from 12.96 to 18.98 % in the individual environments. All QTL showed overdominance gene action except QTL 4 (dominance) at their respective chromosome

Adverse drug reactions monitoring of newer oral hypoglycemic drugs in a tertiary care hospital of North India: a prospective study

Background: Diabetes Mellitus (DM) is a metabolic disorder characterized by hyperglycemia. In majority of patients oral hypoglycemic drugs remain the primary agents in management of DM. Currently there are variety of new drugs are approved in management of DM of which safety is established in clinical trials but there surveillance is needed for reporting newer adverse effects which are not documented yet.Methods: 112 patients were screened with the help of a predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria for the study and followed up for three months. The drugs which are relatively new and have been in the market for around 5-7 years were taken as new drug. These include specifically the following drugs: DPP-IV Inhibitors, PPAR α/γ agonist, SGLT-2 inhibitors. They were screened and investigated suitably for any ADRs. The severity of the adverse drug reactions was graded according to the Hartwig’s Severity Assessment Scale and Naranjo Scale was used for causality assessment between the drug and suspected reaction.Results: Maximum ADRs reported belonged to gastro intestinal system (53%). DPP-IV inhibitors showed maximum number of ADRs i.e. 70.6%. Majority of ADRs reported were mild i.e. 52.9%. Overall 15.2% patients reported ADRs. Majority of ADRs reported (70.6%) belonged to category ‘possible’.Conclusions: All three class of newer oral hypoglycemics seems reasonably safe to be used in general practice. As the number of patients were small, we need larger study to substantiate the findings

Anorectal manometry profile among elderly patients with chronic constipation in a tertiary health center

Background: Constipation is a common condition in elderly in India. High resolution anorectal manometry (HRAM) is an essential tool in the evaluation. In this context, studies from south India are sparse regarding the motility data of elderly patients with functional constipation. We aimed at studying anorectal pressure patterns in this population of this part of the country. Methods: Manometric data of 50 elderly patients (≥60 year), who underwent the procedure for chronic constipation (Rome IV), was retrospectively collected. Manometric parameters were compiled and observations tabulated. Results: Among 50 patients, 35 were (70%) males and 15 (30%) females with mean age of 66.5±3.2 years. In HRAM study, the mean resting pressure was 90.2±27.5 mmHg (range 43-153 mmHg) and mean squeeze pressure was 136.9±39.76 mmHg (range 88-223 mmHg). In present study 23 patients had abnormal HRAM suggestive of dyssynergic defecation (46%). Conclusions: The present study showed that 46% of the elderly constipation patients had defecation disorder. Defecation disorders are common in our population and there is a need to diagnose it as treatment perspectives differ from other causes of constipation

ON AN INVARIANT SUBMANIFOLD OF HYPERBOLIC SASAKIAN MANIFOLDS

The object of the present paper is to study an invariant submanifold of hyperbolic Sasakian maifolds. In this paper, we consider semiparallel and 2-semiparallel invariant submanifolds of hyperbolic Sasakian manifold and it is shown that these submanifolds are totally geodesic. It is also proved that on an invariant submanifold of hyperbolic Sasakian manifolds the conditions $I(X, Y).\alpha = 0$, $I(X, Y).\tilde{\nabla}\alpha = 0$, $C(X, Y).\alpha = 0$, $C(X, Y).\tilde{nabla}\alpha = 0$ holds if and only if it is totally geodesic

Bacteriological profile of patients with biliary obstruction in tertiary care center

Background: Bile ducts are usually kept sterile by bacteriostatic and flushing effects of bile. Patients presenting with biliary obstruction especially due to benign etiology have either single or multiple bacterial organisms. Acute cholangitis carries significant morbidity with variable mortality rate. The serious presentation of such toxic patients signifies the requirement of appropriate antibiotic treatment.  Choledocholithiasis followed by neoplasm and benign biliary strictures are the common predisposing factors for obstruction. Widespread use of antibiotics over years lead to change in sensitivity pattern of organisms which necessitates change in empiric antibiotic usage. Methods: This retrospective study was conducted in department of medical gastroenterology. We studied 50 patients with biliary obstruction (clinical and demographic data were recorded). The diagnosis of cholangitis was made according to TG2018. While undergoing therapeutic ERCP, bile aspirate was collected by biliary cannulation and sent for microbiological analysis. The antibiotic susceptibility pattern and rest of the data were analyzed by appropriate statistical tests. Results: Mean age of the study group was 49 years. Majority were female in study (60%). Overall, 74% had benign etiology, 32% had cholangitis. Bile cultures were positive in 64% patients 75% of them had benign etiology (gallstone being most common; 56%) and 25% had malignant etiology. Bacterobilia in cholangitis patients was statistically significant in comparison to patients without cholangitis (p-0.01). Organisms grown are mainly aerobic gram negative, most common being E. coli, Klebsiella and Pseudomonas species. Patients having bacterobilia had mortality of 6.25% during hospital stay. Conclusions: In this study we found higher sensitivity to colistin (90.6%), tigecycline (81.25%), amikacin (75%) and least sensitivity was noted for ampicillin (6.25%) followed by cefixime (12.5%). Sensitivity to previously commonly used ciprofloxacin antibiotic was 31.25%. Study confirms the significance of obtaining routine bile sample during ERCP in obstructed biliary system to prevent dreaded complications of cholangitis

Plant & Its Derivative Shows Therapeutic Activity on Neuroprotective Effect

In most cases, the death of neurons in certain parts of the brain is the defining feature of a condition that is classified as neurodegenerative. There have been studies conducted on both conventional and innovative drugs, however the results have shown that they only offer symptomatic advantages and come with a number of undesirable side effects. The finding of more potent compounds that can stop the pathophysiology of these diseases will be seen as a miracle in the present day. There is a wide variety of synthetic compounds accessible; nevertheless, these drugs may also create a broad range of additional health issues. As a consequence of this, scientists are looking to plants and other natural sources for the development of new medicines. In the practise of conventional medicine, it has been discovered that certain plants possess healing powers. The use of phytochemicals, which are produced from medicinal plants, may eventually replace the need for synthetic molecules. Numerous phytochemicals have been shown to be effective in the treatment of a wide range of diseases. This article discusses the potential therapeutic applications of plant-derived alkaloids for a number of neurodegenerative disorders (NDDs), including Alzheimer\u27s disease (AD), Huntington\u27s disease (HD), Parkinson\u27s disease (PD), epilepsy, schizophrenia, and stroke. There are many different types of alkaloids that can be found in the plant kingdom. Some of these alkaloids include isoquinoline, indole, pyrroloindole, oxindole, piperidine, pyridine, aporphine, vinca, -carboline, methylxanthene, lycopodium, and erythrine byproducts. Alkaloids have a beneficial effect on the pathophysiology of these diseases because of their ability to act as muscarinic and adenosine receptor agonists, anti-oxidants, anti-amyloid and MAO inhibitors, acetylcholinestrase and butyrylcholinesterase inhibitors, an inhibitor of synuclein aggregation, dopaminergic and nicotine agonists, and NMDA antagonists

Introduction to Plasma Based Propulsion System: Hall Thrusters

Technically, there are two types of propulsion systems namely chemical and electric depending on the sources of the fuel. Electrostatic thrusters are used for launching small satellites in low earth orbit which are capable to provide thrust for long time intervals. These thrusters consume less fuel compared to chemical propulsion systems. Therefore for the cost reduction interests, space scientists are interested to develop thrusters based on electric propulsion technology. This chapter is intended to serve as a general overview of the technology of electric propulsion (EP) and its applications. Plasma based electric propulsion technology used for space missions with regard to the spacecraft station keeping, rephrasing and orbit topping applications. Typical thrusters have a lifespan of 10,000 h and produce thrust of 0.1–1 N. These devices have E→×B→ configurations which is used to confine electrons, increasing the electron residence time and allowing more ionization in the channel. Almost 2500 satellites have been launched into orbit till 2020. For example, the ESA SMART-1 mission (Small Mission for Advanced Research in Technology) used a Hall thruster to escape Earth orbit and reach the moon with a small satellite that weighed 367 kg. These satellites carrying small Hall thrusters for orbital corrections in space as thrust is needed to compensate for various ambient forces including atmospheric drag and radiation pressure. The chapter outlines the electric propulsion thruster systems and technologies and their shortcomings. Moreover, the current status of potential research to improve the electric propulsion systems for small satellite has been discussed

Mechanism of Sperm Immobilization by Escherichia coli

Aim. To explore the influence of Escherichia coli on the motility of human spermatozoa and its possible mechanism. Methods. Highly motile preparations of spermatozoa from normozoospermic patients were coincubated with Escherichia coli for 4 hours. At 1, 2 and 4 hours of incubation, sperm motility was determined. The factor responsible for sperm immobilization without agglutination was isolated and purified from filtrates. Results. This report confirms the immobilization of spermatozoa by E. coli and demonstrates sperm immobilization factor (SIF) excreted by E. coli. Further this factor was purified by ammonium sulfate precipitation, gel permeation chromatography, and ion-exchange chromatography. Purified SIF (56 kDa) caused instant immobilization without agglutination of human spermatozoa at 800 μg/mL and death at 2.1 mg/mL. Spermatozoa incubated with SIF revealed multiple and profound alterations involving all superficial structures of spermatozoa as observed by scanning electron microscopy. Conclusion. In conclusion, these results have shown immobilization of spermatozoa by E. coli and demonstrate a factor (SIF) produced and secreted by E. coli which causes variable structural damage as probable morphological correlates of immobilization

Plasma Waves and Rayleigh–Taylor Instability: Theory and Application

The presence of plasma density gradient is one of the main sources of Rayleigh–Taylor instability (RTI). The Rayleigh–Taylor instability has application in meteorology to explain cloud formations and in astrophysics to explain finger formation. It has wide applications in the inertial confinement fusion to determine the yield of the reaction. The aim of the chapter is to discuss the current status of the research related to RTI. The current research related to RTI has been reviewed, and general dispersion relation has been derived under the thermal motion of electron. The perturbed densities of ions and electrons are determined using two fluid approach under the small amplitude of oscillations. The dispersion equation is derived with the help of Poisson’s equation and solved numerically to investigate the effect of various parameters on the growth rate and real frequency. It has been shown that the real frequency increases with plasma density gradient, electron temperature and the wavenumber, but magnetic field has opposite effect on it. On the other hand, the growth rate of instability increases with magnetic field and density gradient, but it decreases with electron temperature and wave number

FDG PET/CT in the Evaluation of Late Manifestation of Adrenal Metastasis after Radical Nephrectomy in Patients with Renal Cell Carcinoma: A Report of Four Cases and Review of Literature

Purpose: Presence of distant metastasis is a strong independent predictor of poor survival in patients with renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Positron emission tomography using F-18 fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) has been reported to be superior to conventional anatomic imaging modalities for detecting distant metastases from RCC. Methods: The authors report the findings of four patients who underwent FDG positron emission tomography / computed tomography (PET/CT) at varying periods after radical nephrectomy for RCC.Results: FDG PET/CT detected increased tracer concentration in the adrenal glands in all four patients and subsequent fine needle aspiration confirmed metastatic RCC. While the adrenal was the only site of metastasis in one patient, additional metastases were detected in lymph nodes and lungs in the others. Conclusions: RCC metastatic to the adrenal gland is usually a vascular tumour and there is an intrinsic risk of haemorrhage during CT-guided needle biopsy. This small series of cases suggests that FDG PET/CT is a useful non-invasive investigation in identifying malignant adrenal lesions in patients with RCC presenting after nephrectomy