Molecular Basis of Aluminium Toxicity in Plants: A Review

Aluminium toxicity in acid soils having pH below 5.5, affects the production of staple food crops, vegetables and cash crops worldwide. About 50% of the world’s potentially arable lands are acidic. It is trivalent cationic form i.e. Al3+ that limits the plant’s growth. Absorbed Aluminium inhibits root elongation and adversely affects plant growth. Recently researches have been conducted to understand the mechanism of Aluminium toxicity and resistance which is important for stable food production in future. Aluminium resistance depends on the ability of the plant to tolerate Aluminium in symplast or to exclude it to soil. Physiological and molecular basis of Aluminium toxicity and resistance mechanism are important to understand for developing genetically engineered plants for Al toxicity resistance. This paper provides an overview of the state of art in this field.

基于微卫星标记的印度中部Madhya Pradesh地区疟疾强化控制和非强化控制区的斯氏按蚊基因流和种群遗传结构分析（英文）

【目的】斯氏按蚊Anopheles stephensi是亚洲东南部城市人体疟疾的主要媒介,印度12%的疟疾病例由其引起。本实验研究了印度中部Madhya Pradesh地区东北部的疟疾强化控制(EMCP)区和非强化控制(非EMCP)区斯氏按蚊的基因流。在EMCP区,由于采用了各种疟疾防控措施因而疟疾病例首先降低,但是很快回升,说明总的疟疾风险维持稳定。【方法】应用7个微卫星位点,对印度中部Madhya Pradesh地区东北部的4个EMCP区和非EMCP区采集的斯氏按蚊进行基因分型,以分析各种群参数。【结果】发现各标记在所有种群中表现出高度的多态性。在两区间未发现很大的遗传多样性。观察到EMCP区的东部种群(FST=0.0485,RST=0.1112)比非EMCP区的北部种群(FST=0.020,RST=0.0145)具有较高的遗传分化,在EMCP区和非EMCP区之间观察到较高的基因流(12.90,6.16,5.06和2.38)。RST的灵敏度高于FST,说明分化可能是由于突变而非遗传漂变引起的。【结论】本研究表明,在EMCP区和非EMCP区内以及EMCP区和非EMCP区之间存在很高的基因流。基因流水平高以及抗虫性的发展似乎是EMCP区和非EMCP区疟疾病例发生增加的重要原因。

Current status and future prospects of bacilli-based vector control

Mosquito-borne diseases such as malaria,filariasis,dengue,chikungunya,Japanese encephalitis,yellow fever and Zika contribute significantly to health problems of developing as well as developed nations.Vector control is central to control of vector borne diseases.In the last four-five decades,biological control methods have been inducted in the integrated vector management strategy,advocated nationally as well as globally by the World Health Organization.Currently,biological control of vectors is globally acknowledged as the best available strategy in the wake of growing concerns about vector resistance as well as adverse effects of insecticides on the environment and non-target fauna co-inhabiting the same ecological niches as vectors.In India and elsewhere,efforts are ongoing to screen newer isolates to bring forth new biolarvicidal products of public health importance.In this review,by carrying out extensive literature survey,we discuss advances thus far and the prospects of bacilli-based control of vectors and vector borne diseases.

Faunal richness and checklist of sandflies (Diptera: Pyschodidae) in India

This review aims to fill the voids and to update the checklist of sandfly fauna along with its spatial distribution in India.Resource databases i.e.either online or offline were searched to deduce the information to systematize the Indian sandfly fauna.Articles/data retrieved were screened and analysed to further update the available latest checklist.The species name and authorship were given in accord with the International Code for Zoological Nomenclature.We compiled an updated checklist of reported Indian sandfly species along with their state-wise distribution till 2022 as per published literature.Kerala has maximum number of species reports when compared to other endemic states and states with pockets of transmission.Phlebotomus argentipes is the most widely distributed,recorded so far,followed by other Sergentomiya and Phlebotomus species in India.In this review,we have also described the vector and non-vector species of sandfly prevalent in different parts of the country.Phlebotoiella eoindianensis,an amber fossil sandfly species recorded from Gujarat might be older than other records of Indian sandfly fauna.So far 69 species(4 genera and 15 subgenera/groups)of Phlebotomine sandflies have been recorded in India.Proper knowledge of species diversity and its distribution is a prerequisite for planning a systematic vector control strategy and disease management.

Surface Wave Characteristics at the Interface of Welded Elastic Halfspaces

The present article concentrates on the propagation of generalized surface acoustic waves in a composite struc- ture consisting of piezoelectric and non-piezoelectric semiconductor media. The mathematical model of the problem is depicted by a set of partial differential equations of motion, Gauss equation in piezoelectric and elec- tron diffusion equation in semiconductor along with boundary conditions to be satisfied at the interface. The secular equation that governs the propagation of surface waves has been derived in compact form after obtaining the formal solution. The analytic expressions for displacements, stresses, piezoelectric potential and electron concentration during the surface wave propagation at the interface have also been obtained. The numerical solu- tion of the secular equation is carried out for the cadmium selenide and silicon composite by employing fixed point functional iteration numerical method along with irreducible Cardano method. The computer simulated results with the help of MATLAB software in respect of dispersion curves, attenuation coefficient, displace- ments, stresses, carrier concentration and piezoelectric potential are presented graphically. This work may be useful in surface acoustic wave (SAW) devices and electronic industry.

Acousto-Diffusive Waves in a Piezoelectric-Semiconductor-Piezoelectric Sandwich Structure

The propagation of acoustic waves in a homogeneous isotropic semiconducting layer sandwiched between two homogeneous transversely isotropic piezoelectric halfspaces has been investigated. The mathematical model of the problem is depicted by a set of partial differential equations of motion, Gauss equation in piezoelectric material and electron diffusion equation in semiconductor along with the boundary conditions to be satisfied at the piezoelectric-semiconductor interfaces. The secular equations describing the symmetric and asymmetric modes of wave propagation have been derived in compact form after obtaining the analytical expressions for various field quantities that govern the wave motion. The complex secular equation has been solved numerically using functional interaction method along with irreducible cardano method. The computer simulated results are obtained with the help of MATLAB software for 6 mm cadmium selenide (CdSe) piezoelectric material and n-type silicon (Si) semiconductor in respect of dispersion curve, attenuation and specific loss factor of energy dissipation for symmetric (sym) and asymmetric (asym) modes of wave propagation. The study may find applications in non-destructive testing, resonators, waveguides etc.

Software to Estimate Earthquake Spectral and Source Parameters

A software (EQK_SRC_PARA) has been developed to estimate spectral parameters of earthquake source spectrum, namely: low frequency displacement spectral level (Ω0), corner frequency above which spectrum decays with a rate of 2 (fc), the cut-off frequency above which the spectrum again decays (fmax) and the rate of decay above fmax (N). A Brune’s source model [1,2] that yield a fall-off of 2 beyond corner frequency is considered with high cut-off frequency factor presented by Boore [3] that fits well for frequencies greater than fmax. The software EQK_SRC_PARA is written in MATLAB and uses input data in Sesame ASCII Format (SAF) format. The obtained spectral parameters have been used to estimate source parameters (e.g., seismic moment, source dimension and stress drop etc.) and to develop scaling laws for the study region. The cut-off frequency “fmax” can also be studied and interpreted to confirm about its origin.

An expeditious synthesis of isoxazoline using cetyltrimethylammonium cerium nitrate:A phase transferring oxidative 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition

An expeditious and effective method for synthesis of isoxazoline from aldoximes and activated alkenes using cetyltrimethylammonium cerium nitrate at room temperature is described.Reaction was completed within short time period in high yields at room temperature.

Multiple splenic infarcts in acute Plasmodium vivax malaria:A rare case report

In tropical countries like India,malaria has been one of the most common parasitic illnesses leading to frequent hospitalization and causing major economic burden among the masses. Although Plasmodium vivax infection is considered to be benign,in contrast to Plasmodium, falciparum infection which is notorious for its severe splenic complications can occur frequently. Splenomegaly tends not to receive special attention,as it is not usually accompanied by any symptoms and can be gradually resolved via standard antimalarial therapy.Splenic infarction, although rarely attributable to malaria in an endemic region with high parasitemia,can be a rare presentation of this disease entity.

Salmonella enteritidis from a case of fever with thrombocytopenia

Non typhoidal Salmonella species are thought to be potentially infectious to humans.We isolated Salmonella enteritidis from a 10-year-old boy with fever and thrombocytopenia.We reviewed the literature conceming infections caused by Salmonella but we could not find any such case report from India.

Structural,optical and antimicrobial properties of pure and Agdoped ZnO nanostructures

In the present work,zinc oxide(ZnO)and silver(Ag)doped ZnO nanostructures are synthesized using a hydrothermal method.Structural quality of the products is attested using X-ray diffraction,which confirms the hexagonal wurtzite struc-ture of pure ZnO and Ag-doped ZnO nanostructures.XRD further confirms the crystallite orientation along the c-axis,(101)plane.The field emission scanning electron microscope study reveals the change in shape of the synthesized ZnO particles from hexagonal nanoparticles to needle-shaped nanostructures for 3 wt%Ag-doped ZnO.The optical band gaps and lattice strain of nanostructures is increased significantly with the increase of doping concentration of Ag in ZnO nanostructure.The anti-microbial activity of synthesized nanostructures has been evaluated against the gram-positive human pathogenic bacteria,Staphylococcus aureus via an agarose gel diffusion test.The maximum value of zone of inhibition(22 mm)is achieved for 3 wt%Ag-doped ZnO nanostructure and it clearly demonstrates the remarkable antibacterial activity.

Exploring catalytic behaviors of CoS_(2)-ReS_(2) heterojunction by interfacial engineering

Herein, a stable and efficient CoS_(2)-ReS_(2) electrocatalyst is successfully constructed by using the different molar ratios of CoS_(2) on ReS_(2). The size and morphology of the catalysts are significantly changed after the CoS_(2) is grown on ReS_(2), providing regulation of the catalytic activity of ReS_(2). Particularly, the optimized CoS_(2)-ReS_(2) shows superior electrocatalytic properties with a low voltage of 1.48 V at 20 mA cm^(-2) for overall water splitting in 1.0 M KOH, which is smaller than the noble metal-based catalysts(1.77 V at 20 mA cm^(-2)). The XPS, XAS, and theoretical data confirm that the interfacial regulation of ReS_(2) by CoS_(2) can provide rich edge catalytic sites, which greatly optimizes the catalytic kinetics and drop the energy barrier for oxygen/hydrogen evolution reactions. Our results demonstrated that interfacial engineering is an efficient route for fabricating high-performance water splitting electrocatalysts.

Microwave-assisted synthesis of Mg:PbI2 nanostructures and their structural,morphological,optical,dielectric and electrical properties for optoelectronic technology

This work reports the cost-effective growth of Mg:PbI2 nanostructures with 0,1,2.5 and 5.0 wt.%Mg doping concentrations.Structural,vibrational,morphological properties are analyzed using x-ray diffraction(XRD),Raman spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy(SEM).XRD and Raman studies confirm the monophasic hexagonal system of Mg:PbI2,and no additional impurity peaks are detected.The Scherrer formula is used to determine sizes of crystallites to be in the range of 47-52 nm.EDX/SEM e-mapping analyses confirm the incorporation of Mg in PbI2 matrix and its uniform distribution throughout the sample.The hexagonal nanosheet-and nanoplate-like morphologies are detected in SEM images for pure and Mg-doped PbI2.An optical band gap of nanostructures is obtained from Tauc’s relation to be in the range 3.0-3.25 eV.Dielectric and electrical properties are found in significant enhancement as Mg doping in PbI2 matrix,also the conduction mechanism is discussed.

Study of Electronic Density of States: Zintl Alloys

In the present work the electronic density of states of liquid,viz.,Zintli alloys,have been studied only at the composition of their maximum resistivity to have an elementary idea about the behaviors of the alloys with respect to nearly free electron behavior.The study reveals that the anomalous electronic behavior of liquid Li-Pb,Na-Pb,Li-Sn,and Na-Sn can be attributed to the preferential ordering of unlike atoms.

No-Reference Blur Assessment Based on Re-Blurring Using Markov Basis

Blur is produced in a digital image due to low passfiltering,moving objects or defocus of the camera lens during capture.Image viewers are annoyed by blur artefact and the image's perceived quality suffers as a result.The high-quality input is relevant to communication service providers and imaging product makers because it may help them improve their processes.Human-based blur assessment is time-consuming,expensive and must adhere to subjective evaluation standards.This paper presents a revolutionary no-reference blur assessment algorithm based on reblurring blurred images using a special mask developed with a Markov basis and Laplacefilter.Thefinal blur score of blurred images has been calculated from the local variation in horizontal and vertical pixel intensity of blurred and re-blurred images.The objective scores are generated by applying proposed algorithm on the two image databases i.e.,Laboratory for image and video engineering(LIVE)database and Tampere image database(TID 2013).Finally,on the basis of objective and subjective scores performance analysis is done in terms of Pearson linear correlation coefficient(PLCC),Spearman rank-order correlation coefficient(SROCC),Mean absolute error(MAE),Root mean square error(RMSE)and Outliers ratio(OR).The existing no-reference blur assessment algorithms have been used various methods for the evaluation of blur from no-reference image such as Just noticeable blur(JNB),Cumulative Probability Distribution of Blur Detection(CPBD)and Edge Model based Blur Metric(EMBM).The results illustrate that the proposed method was successful in predicting high blur scores with high accuracy as compared to existing no-reference blur assessment algorithms such as JNB,CPBD and EMBM algorithms.

Effect of Probabilistic Pattern on System Voltage Stability in Decentralized Hybrid Power System

This paper presents an proportional integral (PI) based voltage-reactive power control for wind diesel based decentralized hybrid power system with wide range of disturbances to demonstrate the compensation effect on system with intelligent tuning methods such as genetic algorithm (GA), artificial neural network (ANN) and adaptive neuro fuzzy inference system (ANFIS). The effect of probabilistic load and/or input power pattern is introduced which is incorporated in MATLAB simulink model developed for the study of decentralized hybrid power system. Results show how tuning method becomes important with high percentage of probabilistic pattern in system. Testing of all tuning methods shows that GA, ANN and ANFIS can preserve optimal performances over wide range of disturbances with superiority to GA in terms of settling time using Integral of Square of Errors (ISE) criterion as fitness function.

Radical Scavenging and Antioxidant Potential of Nuts and Leaves Extracts of <i>Semecarpus anacardium</i>(L.)

In the present investigation, antioxidant activity of the crude extracts from nuts and leaves of S. anacardium was carried out. The antioxidant potential of various extracts (ethanol, acetone and aqueous) of S. anacardium was determined by using DPPH assay, ABTS assay and metal chelating activity assay. Among the extracts the ethanol extract of nut showed significant scavenging activity (DPPH-88.73 ± 2.26;ABTS assay-81.65 ± 1.57 and metal chelating activity-72.37 ± 2.26) compared with antioxidant controls, ascorbic acid and BHA respectively. The findings of the present investigation suggest that the S. anacardium extracts can prove to be a potent source of biologically active compounds that can be further subjected to isolation of therapeutic antioxidant agents.

A Prospective Study on Clinical Profile of Autosomal Dominant Polycystic Kidney Disease (ADPKD) in Jammu for a Period of 1 Year

The Present Study was conducted in department of Medicine, Govt. Medical College, jammu, Where a total of 41 patients—29 males and 12 females—fulfilled the inclusion criteria of ADPKD, were gathered during the period of 1 year starting from Nov. 2011 to Oct. 2012. All the patients were subjected to a detailed history, clinical examination and laboratory investigations. X-ray chest (PA view), ECG and ultrasound of abdomen for kidneys, liver and spleen were done. Intravenous pyelogram and CT scan of abdomen was done when a definitive diagnosis of (ADPKD) could not be made on abdominal ultrasound. Echocardiography was done to evaluate cardiac murmurs and associated mitral valve prolapse, based on standard criteria. Male to female patients with ADPKD was 2.42:1. Maximum 17 (41.5%) patients of both gender were seen in 30 - 40 years age group, Family history of ADPKD was present in 18 (43.9%) patients;Hypertension, alone or in combination with renal failure, was present in 65.8% patients;Hypertension alone was present in 19 (46.3%) patients;8 (19.5%) patients with hypertension had renal failure;Low back pain was present in 24 (58.5%) and abdominal pain in 22 (53.7%) patients;15 (36.6%) patients presented with at least one episode of gross haematuria;Headache was experienced by 18 (43.9%) patients. On clinical examination, 24 (58.5%) were found to have palpable kidney and 10 (24.4%) had palpable liver. Spleen was palpable in 1 (2.4%) patient, Murmur of mitral valve prolapse was found in 2 (4.9%) Patients;3 (7.3%) patients having left ventricular hypertrophy;mean Hb was 11.2 g/dL. The liver cysts were found in 24.4% of the patients;Out of 10 (24.4%) patients with hepatic cyst involvement, 1 patient each was found to have evidence of portal hypertension and evidence of hepatic cyst infection. In the present study, hypertension was most common presentation of this disease. So, control of hypertension is very important to prevent progression of this disease. Patients who are detected to have ADPKD should be regularly followed-up to prevent further progression by timely intervention. Also, family members of patients should be screened for disease and initiate treatment as early as possible.

Reactive Power and FACTS Cost Models’ Impact on Nodal Pricing in Hybrid Electricity Markets

In a competitive environment reactive power management is an essential service provided by independent system operator taking into account the voltage security and transmission losses. The system operator adopts a transparent and non-dis-criminatory procedure to procure the reactive power supply for optimal deployment in the system. Since generators’ are the main source of reactive power generation and the cost of the reactive power should be considered for their noticeable impact on both real and reactive power marginal prices. In this paper, a method based on marginal cost theory is presented for locational marginal prices calculation for real and reactive power considering different reactive power cost models of generators’ reactive support. With the presence of FACTS controllers in the system for more flexible operation, their impact on nodal prices can not be ignored for wheeling cost determination and has also to be considered taking their cost function into account. The results have been obtained for hybrid electricity market model and results have also been computed for pool model for comparison. Mixed Integer Non-linear programming (MINLP) approach has been formulated for solving the complex problem with MATLAB and GAMS interfacing. The proposed approach has been tested on IEEE 24-bus Reliability Test System (RTS).

Effect of Chinese herbal medicine on lung disease:an updated review

A large number of people worldwide suffer from pulmonary disorders,and their prevalence is on the rise.Although we have gained a greater understanding of the basis of respiratory airway disorders,the treatments and therapies available for those disorders have not progressed historically.Supplements to existing therapies are made from traditional natural derivatives and herbal medicines.Natural compounds such as these are capable of acting as the basis for developing new drugs and related treatments.Plants possess bioactive compounds that have distinct advantages over allopathic medicines because chemotherapy roots severe adverse effects rather than providing limited benefits.As a result of better effects and fewer adverse effects,herbal bioactive is a promising approach for treating respiratory disorders,resulting in a better quality of life and longer life expectancy for patients.Asthma,pulmonary fibrosis,lung cancer,and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease are among the pulmonary disorders addressed in the present article and approaches based on clinical trials.