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Oxygen vacancies are one of the prominent types of defects in metal oxides. In addition to their role in modifying the electronic properties in solids, these sites have been shown to activate chemical bonds. As a result, the use of defect‐rich metal oxides in the organic transformations is promising. The article gives an overview of various chemical processes that are in use for the chemical reduction of aromatic nitro compounds to amines. Recently, application of oxygen vacancies in transition metal oxide for the selective reduction of aromatic nitro compounds to the corresponding amines has emerged as a new method of synthesis of amines. Oxygen vacancies in reducible oxide such as CuO have been shown to decompose hydrazine hydrate to H2 and in situ cause the reduction of nitro arenes to corresponding amines. This concept article discusses the literature pertaining to the synthesis of nitro reduction reaction, various strategies employed thus far and the place the defect‐mediated synthesis holds. The article also discusses the perspectives and challenges that remain to be addressed to gain more insights into the mechanistic understanding of the role of oxygen vacancies in nitro reduction and beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Utilising the oxygen‐vacancy‐mediated reactivity of CaO/CuO and hydrazine monohydrate in isopropyl alcohol at 353 K, a variety of amino‐derivatives of N‐heterocycles, including pyridine, indole, quinoline, isoquinoline, and benzothiazole, have been selectively synthesised by reducing their nitro analogues. It is demonstrated that CaO/CuO composite is a reusable, solvent‐resilient solid reducing agent that can reduce a variety of nitro‐N‐heterocyclic substrates. The critical role of the structure of CaO/CuO on the nitro‐reduction activity has been studied using spectroscopy and microscopy. DFT simulations indicate the facile formation of oxygen vacancies (EO,vac=−43.4 kJ/mol) on the interface of CaO/CuO surface under reducing environment. The presence of CaO facilitated a stronger interaction of the nitro‐substrate on the oxygen vacant CuO (111) surface, resulting into a significantly lower activation energy (Ea=21.9 kJ/mol) for N−O dissociation. The reaction could be scaled up from 1 to 12 mmol of substrate. CaO/CuO is a reusable and a cost‐effective alternative to the conventional catalyst (Pd/C, Pt/C). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At present, the specialization of organic inputs is very important and the use of locally available inputs is significant. Current experiment was conducted to evaluate the impact of Panchagavya, Casuarina needle litter and Paenibacillus polymyxa either single or in combined inoculation with each other on growth and yield of Vigna mungo under identical experimental condition. The results revealed that seedlings inoculated with Panchagavya + Casuarina needle litter powder+ Paenibacillus polymyxa recorded higher growth and yield of Vigna mungo. It was recorded that 16 % total length, 11.5% collar diameter, 46 %number of leaves and 55.7% increase over control plants. It is recemented that similar studies are needed to find out the impact of combined inoculation of Panchagavya + Casuarina needle litter + Paenibacillus polymyxa on Vigna mungo under field condition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nursery experiments were conducted to select the suitable biofertilizers combination to attain quality seedlings of Neem. The biofertilizers such as Azospirillum, Paenibacillus and AM fungus (Glomus fasciculatum) were inoculated by separately and various combinations with each other at time of seed sowing. Shoot length, root length, collar diameter, and shoot and root dry weight were recorded on 80 days after treatment. Results showed that the total length of seedlings and biomass were significantly increased in the seedlings treated with combined inoculation of Azospirillum + Paenibacillus + AM fungus when compared to control. Among the individual inoculation, Paenibacillus (T1) showed better response than other individual inoculation. Within double inoculations, Azospirillum + Paenibacillus (T4) was superior when compared with other double inoculations. In general Azospirillum and its combination with other biofertilizers had more root length and biomass than other treatments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays, the process of message encryption is the most important thing to secure our messages and communication between people. Message encryption methods are rapidly increasing currently due to the growth and evolution of the internet and network communications. Sharing information, personal messages, images, or data from one person to another over unsecured channels opens the door for attack, or hacking. To reduce this terminology and to provide better security, cryptographic or encryption techniques play an essential role. We have many kinds of symmetric enciphering techniques like the Caesar Cipher, Atbash Cipher, Hill Cipher, etc., In this paper, we are going to give the enciphering technique with the help of a complete graph, an adjacency matrix, and a generated self-invertible key matrix to encrypt and decrypt the given messages to produce a complicated ciphertext. Since we are using the self-invertible matrix as a key matrix, the inverse of this key matrix is always existing, and while we are decrypting the ciphertext, we do not need to compute the inverse of the key matrix. It helps us to reduce the computational complexity involved in the process of finding the inverse of a key matrix. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-resolution regional climate model (RCM) simulations are found to be very useful in deriving realistic climate change projection information. This study uses high-resolution dynamical downscaling framework (CCSM4-WRF) for India. To delineate the advantage of high resolution, we compared the results of 9-km resolution CCSM4-WRF simulations against the 50-km resolution RCM simulations under Coordinated Regional Climate Downscaling Experiment-South Asia (CORDEX-SA) program. Quantitative estimations show that majority of CORDEX-SA models exhibit large dry bias (< − 4 mm/day) and low pattern correlation coefficient (PCC) over the Western Ghats (WG). Mean climatology of Indian summer monsoon (ISM) rainfall simulated by high-resolution CCSM4-WRF outperforms the CORDEX-SA RCMs with low negative biases (~ 1 mm/day) and high PCC (≥ 0.755). This skill of CCSM4-WRF provides better confidence in its future projection at local scale. CCSM4-WRF projects future intensification of monsoon rainfall over most parts of India and reduction over southern WG, which is consistent with recent observed trends, but none of the CORDEX-SA RCMs could simulate this rainfall reduction. For all-India rainfall, ensemble mean of CORDEX-SA models projects an increase by 1.3 ± 0.9 mm/day and CCSM4-WRF projects 0.67 mm/day. Projected changes in socioeconomic variables such as population and gross domestic product (GDP) exhibit future enhancement over most parts of India but with spatial heterogeneity. Shared socioeconomic pathways scenarios show pronounced future population growth over Indian coastal areas and large enhancement in productivity over urban areas. Therefore, climate change projection information of ISM rainfall, together with enhanced future population and GDP, is useful for taking necessary steps for adaptation and mitigation in a sustainable manner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prediction for Indian summer monsoon rainfall (ISMR) is generated by integrating model from initial conditions (ICs) of weather at some time prior to season. We examine the factors responsible for the widely reported highest ISMR forecast skill for February ICs in climate forecast system (CFSv2) model. Skill for February ICs is highest only based on correlation between observed and predicted year-to-year variation of ISMR, whereas other skill scores indicate highest skill for late-April/early-May ICs having shorter yet useful forecast lead-time. Higher correlation for February ICs arises from correct forecasting of 1983 ISMR excess, which is however due to wrong forecast of La Niña and correlation drops to lower value than that for late-April/early-May ICs if 1983 is excluded. Forecast skill for sea-surface temperature variation over equatorial central Pacific (ENSO) in Boreal summer is lowest for February ICs indicating role of dynamical drift induced by long forecast lead-time. Model deficiencies such as oversensitivity of ISMR to ENSO and unrealistic ENSO influence on variation of convection over equatorial Indian Ocean (EQUINOO) lead to errors in ISMR forecasting. In CFSv2, ISMR is mostly decided by ENSO whereas in observation it is influenced by ENSO and EQUINOO independently. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, projected changes in mean northeast monsoon (NEM) rainfall and associated extreme rainfall and temperature events, over peninsular India (PI) and its six subdivisions, are quantified. High‐resolution dynamically downscaled simulations of the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) regional climate model driven by the boundary conditions from the Community Climate System Model version 4 (CCSM4) model (WRF‐CCSM4) are compared with statistically downscaled simulations of NASA Earth Exchange Global Daily Downscaled Projections (NEX‐GDDP). Over PI, these downscaled simulations show low bias in mean NEM rainfall (≤ − 0.44 mm·day−1) and high pattern correlation coefficient (≥0.75), giving confidence in their future projections. Under future warming over PI, both downscaled simulations project future significant enhancement in NEM rainfall with WRF‐CCSM4 projecting 1.98 mm·day−1 (83.78% change with respect to the present‐day mean) whereas the multimodel ensemble (MME) of eight NEX‐GDDP models project 0.67 ± 0.58 mm·day−1 (19.78%) by the midddle of the century and 1.42 ± 0.97 mm·day−1 (42.76%) by the end of the century. Analysis of extreme rainfall events shows that WRF‐CCSM4 projects future enhancement (reduction) in extreme rainfall (R95p) days over 91.4% (8.6%) of grid‐points over PI. In future, coastal areas of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh will likely experience increased extreme rainfall occurrence by more than 25 days and 15–20 days respectively. Projected future enhancement in the mean and extreme NEM rainfall is attributed to the increased precipitable water under a warming climate. Future projection of extreme temperature indices shows an increase in minimum and maximum temperatures over PI during the NEM season. Over PI, future winter nights and days are found to be warmer than those in the present day and the temperature change in future winter nights is found to be larger than that in winter days. This climate change information would help decision‐makers in evaluating existing policies and devising revised policies to reduce risk due to climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Immunoglobulin M (IgM) is the major isotype among teleost immunoglobulins. The present study was aimed to explore IgM heavy chain gene and its expression profile in rohu. Full-length IgM heavy chain cDNA of rohu consisted of 1994 bp encoding a polypeptide of 576 amino acid residues including a leader peptide, variable (VH) and constant (CH1–CH2–CH3–CH4) domains confirming the secretory form of IgM. The sequence carries conserved residues such as cysteine, tryptophan and amino acid motifs like 'YYCAR' and 'FDYWGKGT–VTV–S'. The predicted 3 D model confirmed various domains of rohu IgM heavy chain. Phylogenetic tree analysis revealed that IgM heavy chain gene of rohu shared the same cluster with that of other cyprinid fishes. Tissue distribution analysis showed the predominant level of IgM heavy chain gene expression in kidney, spleen and intestine. IgM heavy chain gene expression in rohu kidney was found to be up-regulated and reached a maximum at 7 days post-challenge with Aeromonas hydrophila. These findings demonstrate the first report of full-length secretory IgM heavy chain gene in rohu. Besides, IgM heavy chain gene was highly expressed in major lymphoid tissues and bacterial challenge influenced its expression which further confirmed its role in the adaptive humoral immune response. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present in this paper the changes in the room temperature magnetic property of ZnO on Mn doping prepared using solvothermal process. The zero field cooled (ZFC) and field cooled (FC) magnetization of undoped ZnO showed bifurcation and magnetic hysteresis at room temperature. Upon Mn doping the magnetic hysteresis at room temperature and the bifurcation in ZFC-FC magnetization vanish. The results seem to indicate that undoped ZnO is ferromagnetic while on the other hand the Mn doped ZnO is not a ferromagnetic system. We observe that on addition of Mn atoms the system shows antiferromagnetism with very giant magnetic moments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diffusion of boron in compressively strained Si[sub 1-x]Ge[sub x] alloy layers grown by rapid pressure chemical vapor deposition has been studied as a function of Ge fractions for 0.0006≤x≤0.15 and annealing temperature. The comparison of the Si[sub 1-x]Ge[sub x] samples to the Si samples after rapid thermal and furnace anneals revealed a retarded B diffusion inside the strained Si[sub 1-x]Ge[sub x] epitaxial layers. The influence of the Ge content on the dopant diffusion was also measured and simulated, demonstrating that the diffusion of B and the extracted bang-gap change was found to decrease with the Ge alloy content, and the extracted activation energies for diffusion were found to increase with increasing Ge content in the investigated composition range. The influence of various factors on the B diffusivity is studied and their importance is discussed elaborately. A simple empirical expression for the B retardation is presented and incorporated into a diffusion model for dopants in heterostructures. Good agreement between the measured and simulated diffusivity that includes the model for strain and chemical effects is obtained. © 2001 American Institute of Physics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phthalates are used as plasticizers in a wide range of products and are known to affect the human health adversely. Hence, the present study was carried out to identify and quantify the presence of four phthalates namely dimethyl phthalate (DMP), dibutyl phthalate (DBP), and diethyl phthalate (DEP), di (2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) in the two baby products i.e. baby oils and baby lotions. The daily exposure levels and hazard index of each phthalate were also calculated. It was an analytical study where two different brands of samples of baby oil and baby lotion each, from the date of manufacturing of 3, 10, and 20 months were collected. The extraction of phthalates from different samples was done and analyzed using HPTLC. Results showed the presence of all four phthalates, although some phthalates were not present in 3 M samples. The maximum concentration of all the phthalates was found in 20 M samples. Their concentration increased with the storage time indicating the possibility of leaching and migration of phthalates from the container into the product. The hazard indices for phthalates estimated for baby oil and baby lotion were found below 1, which denotes that the daily phthalate exposures are within the regulatory limits. It is important to consider that the exposure to phthalates can occur not only by dermal contact of these baby products but also through other routes. Hence, the study signifies the importance of phthalates concentration in such regularly used products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Manganese sulfide and Cu-doped manganese sulfide nanocrystals have been synthesized by wet chemical technique. The structural, optical, electrical and magnetic properties of as-synthesized nanocrystals have been investigated. The average crystallite size and lattice strain of the samples have been calculated from powder X-ray diffraction patterns using the Williamson–Hall analysis. The results show that the average crystallite size decreased while both the lattice strain and the dislocation density values increased in the Cu-doped MnS nanocrystals. The surface morphology of Cu-doped MnS nanocrystals has lesser particle size than undoped sample and it shows spherical like structures with little agglomeration. The chemical composition of the prepared samples has been obtained from EDAX. It clearly indicates the presence of Cu ions in the MnS lattice. UV–visible spectroscopy shows a blue shift in the optical band gap with doping. The photoluminescence spectra on the doped sample show a quenching of the PL intensity due to strain induced by doping. The electrical conduction, dielectric and impedance properties of as-synthesized nanocrystals have been investigated in the frequency range 50 Hz–5 MHz and temperature range 323–473 K which are greatly affected by doping with Cu. The vibrating sample magnetometer measurement revealed that the undoped MnS has paramagnetic behavior while the Cu-doped MnS has superparamagnetic behavior. On Cu-doping, the saturation magnetization and remanence increases while the coercivity decreases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Field experiments were conducted during winter season of 2011-12 and 2012-13 at Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore to study the feasibility of using cotton genotypes under high density planting system and to assess its effect on seed cotton yield, oil content and fibre quality parameters. The experiments were laid out in a strip plot design, replicated thrice. The soil in the experimental site was sandy clay loam with low available nitrogen (182 kg/ha), medium available phosphorus (12.6 kg/ha) and high available potassium (340 kg/ha). The experiment consisted of seven cotton genotypes viz., Jai, Ranjeet, TCH 1608, SVPR 3, Anjali, Suraj and LH 900 with four spacings viz., 30 × 30, 45 × 30, 60 × 30 and 90 × 30 cm. Ranjeet planted at the spacing of 30 × 30 cm recorded significantly higher seed cotton yield. The percentage of oil content was significantly higher in Ranjeet genotype than other cotton genotypes. The fibre quality parameters viz., fibre length, fibre strength, micronaire, elongation percentage were significantly influenced by different cotton genotypes. The oil content and fibre quality was not significantly influenced by plant densities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Immobilized activated carbon doped TiO2 thin films were prepared by sol–gel dip coating method by using Titanium IV isopropoxide as a precursor. Aim of our work is to synthesize and investigate the structural, surface morphology and optical properties of the synthesized thin film. X-ray diffraction pattern reveals that the crystallinity of the film increases with increase in temperature. Also, the structural parameters such as particle size, microstrain and dislocation density have been calculated. The formation of nanosphere of diameter ranging from 300nm to 500nm has been confirmed by Scanning electron microscope. Photocatalytic active large optical band gap at 3.75eV was found by using UV–visible sspectrum. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In this study, the effects of treatment with Ag, Au, Cu, Pd, CeO 2 , CuO, TiO 2 and ZnO nanoparticles (NPs) on plant secondary metabolism were tested using an untargeted metabolomic approach in cell suspension cultures of Hypericum perforatum L. Variations in the accumulation of secondary metabolites were observed in cultures after exposure to NPs. Overall, the number of compounds increased by metal NPs was higher than that of metal oxides. Among the metal and metal oxide NPs tested, Ag and CuO respectively induced the greatest changes in secondary metabolism. Ag NPs induced the cellular accumulation of bisxanthone (540.3 fold) gancaonin O (214.2 fold) and fusaroskyrin (98.6 fold). Compounds that were most induced by other NPs were: hyperxanthone C (Au), apigenin (Cu), emodin (Pd), emodin anthrone (CeO 2), dihydroxydimethoxyxanthone I (CuO), quercetin (TiO 2) and gallic acid (ZnO). The presented results show that the secondary metabolites elicited in H. perforatum vary between the types of NPs. [Display omitted] • Nanoparticles affect the phytochemical profile of Hypericum perforatum L. cell cultures. • Xanthones and their prenylated derivatives are strongly induced by nanoparticles. • Bisxanthone and gancaonin O are the most increased compounds in H. perforatum cells. • The compounds elicited in H. perforatum cells vary based on nanoparticle type. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Field experiments were conducted during rabi 2007-08 and 2008-09, to evaluate crop establishment techniques and weed management practices under System of Rice Intensification. The experiments were laid out in split plot design with three replications. The main plot consisted of three age of seedlings viz., 14, 18 and 22 days old with two levels of planting methods viz., SRI planting and mechanical planting. Four weed management practices viz., hand weeding twice at 25 and 45 DAT, mechanical weeding thrice at 10, 25 and 45 DAT, pre emergence application of butachlor @ 1.25 kg a.i. ha-1 + two mechanical weeding at 25 and 45 DAT and unweeded check were assigned to sub plot. Transplanting of 14 days old seedlings with manual planting and pre emergence application of butachlor @ 1.25 kg a.i. ha-1 + two mechanical weeding at 25 and 45 DAT significantly reduced the weed density, weed DMP, nutrient removal and improved the growth parameters, yield attributes and yield of rice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Advances in climate modelling now provide the opportunity for utilizing global general circulation models (GCMs) at very high-resolution for projections of future climate and extreme events. Diagnostics of global atmospheric GCM simulations at different horizontal resolutions of 20, 60, 120 and 180 km reveals the marked skill of 20 km mesh GCM (MRI- AGCM3.2S) in capturing regional characteristics of climatological summer monsoon rainfall over India and its frequency distribution, and mean annual variation of rainfall over most of the homogeneous regions of India. Future projections by time-slice simulations of MRI-AGCM3.2S under global warming scenario show widespread but spatially varying increase in rainfall over interior regions of peninsular, west central, central northeast and North East India (~ 5-20% of seasonal mean) and significant reduction in orographic rainfall over the west coast (~ 10-15%, consistent with the recent observed trends). MRIAGCM3.2S projects spatially heterogeneous increase in warm days and extreme hot events (highest decile) over India. Projected changes in extreme rainfall events (above 95 percentile) show intensification of extreme rainfall over most parts of India by the end of the century with opposite change over the west coast. Ultra-high-resolution is found to be crucial not only for realistic mean summer monsoon simulation, but for achieving useful future projections of Indian monsoon and extremes. At lower resolution, the simulations fail to capture the observed characteristics of present-day monsoon rainfall and its spatial heterogeneity, and projections lack useful regional climate information. Thus, consideration of fine-scale processes are critical for reasonable probabilistic projection of regional-scale climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Currently, no reliable diagnostic test is available for typhoid fever. One serology-based dipstick test, developed indigenously, was validated in this study. Preserved sera from 336 fever patients with known culture results for Salmonella Typhi were blindly tested by the Widal test and the new assay. Analytical sensitivities, specificities, and efficiencies for the new assay versus the Widal test were 68.8% versus 62.5%, 71.1% versus 37.1%, and 70.5% versus 43.2%, respectively (p < 0.001), considering S. Typhi–positive samples as gold standards. Thereafter, fresh sera from 102 hospital-attending children with clinical typhoid fever (including 20 confirmed nontyphoidal cases as control) were tested by both methods and analyzed statistically. The diagnostic sensitivity, specificity, and efficiency were 51.2%, 85%, and 57.8% for the new assay, and 43.9%, 65%, and 48% for the Widal test, respectively. Overall performance ability of the new assay was not better than the Widal test (p > 0.5). Further improvement of the new point-of-care typhoid assay is recommended before implementation in the field setup. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In this article, simultaneous quantitative estimation of two biologically active triterpenoid compound Lupeol and a steroid compound, Stigmasterol, inCostus igneusstems was performed using high-performance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC). TLC aluminum plates precoated with silica-gel 60 F254(20 cm × 10 cm) were used with a mobile phase of n-Hexane: Ethyl acetate (80:20v/v) for lupeol, Toluene: Acetone: Acetic acid (8.9: 0.9: 0.2 v/v/v) for stigmasterol and densitometric determination of these compounds was carried out at 366 nm in reflectance/absorbance mode. The linear regression data for the calibration plots showed a good linear relationship withr = 0.99794 andr = 0.99291 for Lupeol and Stigmasterol, respectively. A recovery study was carried out to check the accuracy of the method. The average recovery of Lupeol and Stigmasterol was 100.16% and 99.94%, respectively. According to International Conference on Harmonization (ICH) guidelines, the method was validated for linearity, precision, accuracy, and recovery, limit of detection, limit of quantification, specificity, robustness, and ruggedness. The HPTLC method was found to be reproducible, accurate, and precise and could detect these two compounds at nanogram level from the stem ofCostus igneus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the authors have investigated the likely future changes in the summer monsoon over the Western Ghats (WG) orographic region of India in response to global warming, using time-slice simulations of an ultra high-resolution global climate model and climate datasets of recent past. The model with approximately 20-km mesh horizontal resolution resolves orographic features on finer spatial scales leading to a quasi-realistic simulation of the spatial distribution of the present-day summer monsoon rainfall over India and trends in monsoon rainfall over the west coast of India. As a result, a higher degree of confidence appears to emerge in many aspects of the 20-km model simulation, and therefore, we can have better confidence in the validity of the model prediction of future changes in the climate over WG mountains. Our analysis suggests that the summer mean rainfall and the vertical velocities over the orographic regions of Western Ghats have significantly weakened during the recent past and the model simulates these features realistically in the present-day climate simulation. Under future climate scenario, by the end of the twenty-first century, the model projects reduced orographic precipitation over the narrow Western Ghats south of 16°N that is found to be associated with drastic reduction in the southwesterly winds and moisture transport into the region, weakening of the summer mean meridional circulation and diminished vertical velocities. We show that this is due to larger upper tropospheric warming relative to the surface and lower levels, which decreases the lapse rate causing an increase in vertical moist static stability (which in turn inhibits vertical ascent) in response to global warming. Increased stability that weakens vertical velocities leads to reduction in large-scale precipitation which is found to be the major contributor to summer mean rainfall over WG orographic region. This is further corroborated by a significant decrease in the frequency of moderate-to-heavy rainfall days over WG which is a typical manifestation of the decrease in large-scale precipitation over this region. Thus, the drastic reduction of vertical ascent and weakening of circulation due to 'upper tropospheric warming effect' predominates over the 'moisture build-up effect' in reducing the rainfall over this narrow orographic region. This analysis illustrates that monsoon rainfall over mountainous regions is strongly controlled by processes and parameterized physics which need to be resolved with adequately high resolution for accurate assessment of local and regional-scale climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The failure of atmospheric general circulation models (AGCMs) forced by prescribed SST to simulate and predict the interannual variability of Indian/Asian monsoon has been widely attributed to their inability to reproduce the actual sea surface temperature (SST)-rainfall relationship in the warm Indo-Pacific oceans. This assessment is based on a comparison of the observed and simulated correlation between the rainfall and local SST. However, the observed SSTconvection/rainfall relationship is nonlinear and for this a linear measure such as the correlation is not an appropriate measure. We show that the SST-rainfall relationship simulated by atmospheric and coupled general circulation models in IPCC AR4 is nonlinear, as observed, and realistic over the tropical West Pacific (WPO) and the Indian Ocean (IO). The SST-rainfall pattern simulated by the coupled versions of these models is rather similar to that from the corresponding atmospheric one, except for a shift of the entire pattern to colder/warmer SSTs when there is a cold/warm bias in the coupled version. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background & objectives: Spread of cholera in West Bengal is known to be related to its ecosystem which favours Vibrio cholerae. Incidence of cholera has not been correlated with temperature, relative humidity and rainfall, which may act as favourable factors. The aim of this study was to investigate the relational impact of climate changes on cholera. Methods: Monthly V. cholerae infection data for of the past 13 years (1996-2008), average relative humidity (RH), temperature and rainfall in Kolkata were considered for the time series analysis of Seasonal Auto-Regressive Integrated Moving Average (SARIMA) model to investigate relational impact of climatic association of V. cholerae infection and General Linear Model (GLM) for point estimation. Results: The SARIMA (1,0,0)(0,1,1) model revealed that monthly average RH was consistently linear related to V. cholerae infection during monsoon season as well as temperature and rainfall were non-stationary, AR(1), SMA(1) and SI(1) (P<0.001) were highly significant with seasonal difference. The GLM has identified that consistent (<10%) range of RH (86.78 ± 4.13, CV=5.0, P <0.001) with moderate to highest (>7 cm) rainfall (10.1 ± 5.1, CV=50.1, P <0.001) and wide (>5-10°C) range of temperature (29.00 ± 1.64, CV=5.6, P <0.001) collectively acted as an ideal climatic condition for V. cholerae infection. Increase of RH to 21 per cent influenced an unusual V. cholerae infection in December 2008 compared to previous years. Interpretation & conclusions: V. cholerae infection was associated higher RH (>80%) with 29°C temperature with intermittent average (10 cm) rainfall. This model also identified periodicity and seasonal patterns of cholera in Kolkata. Heavy rainfall indirectly influenced the V. cholerae infection, whereas no correlation was found with high temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pure and doped ZnS nanocrystalline phosphors were prepared at room temperature using a chemical synthesis method. Transmission electron microscopy observation shows that the size of the ZnS crystals is in the 2-3 nm range and SAED pattern confirms the cubic and crystalline nature of the observed samples, which are in agreement with X-Ray analysis. Interesting luminescence characteristics such as strong and stable visible-light emissions were observed from the doped ZnS nanocrystals at room temperature whereas dominant UV emissions were observed for pure ZnS. These results strongly suggest that impurities, especially transition metals and rare-earth metals-activated ZnS nanocrystals are useful in the field of optoelectronics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nutrients play a major role in influencing the growth and development in cotton. Generally major nutrients viz., N, P and K are supplied to cotton either through soil or foliage and the micronutrients and growth promoting substances applied as foliar feeding. But, foliar application of nutrients through fertilizers such as Di ammonium phosphate (DAP), Potassium chloride (KCl) and micronutrient mixtures during flower and boll development stages have been shown to be effective in efficient utilization of nutrients by cotton and thereby reduce boll shedding and increase the yield. In this context, the literatures on foliar nutrition of major and micronutrients on the growth, yield and quality of cotton are reviewed in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Zinc oxide nanomaterials with an average particle size of 20-30 nm are readily synthesized by the reaction of zinc acetate and oxalic acid under hydrothermal conditions. The samples are characterized by XRD, SEM, TEM, UV and photoluminescence (PL) studies. The average crystal size of the as prepared ZnO nanopowder is determined by XRD and the values are in good agreement with the TEM analysis. UV absorption spectra revealed the absorption at wavelength < 370 nm indicating the smaller size of ZnO nanoparticles. The quality and purity of ZnO nanomaterial crystalline samples are confirmed by photoluminescence spectra. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In this study, both edible (coconut oil, palm oil, groundnut oil, and rice bran oil) and non-edible oils (pongamia, neem and cotton seed oil) were used to optimize the biodiesel production process variables like catalyst concentration, amount of methanol required for reaction, reaction time and reaction temperature. The fuel properties like specific gravity, moisture content, refractive index, acid value, iodine number, saponification value and peroxide value were estimated. Based on the cetane number and iodine value, the methyl esters obtained from palm and coconut oils were not suitable to use as biodiesel in cold weather conditions, but for hot climate condition biodiesel obtained from the remaining oil sources is suitable. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The impact of future climate change on the Indian summer monsoon has been investigated using a super high-resolution global general circulation model. The model with approximately 20-km mesh horizontal resolution can resolve features on finer spatial scales, which were till now resolved by employing highresolution regional models. Regional models are known to have high dependency on the lateral boundary forcing and significant inability to represent regionalglobal scale interactions comprehensively. Another advantage of the 20-km global model is its fidelity in representing the regional distribution of the present-day monsoon rainfall. Super high-resolution future scenario for the Indian summer monsoon shows widespread but spatially varying increase in rainfall over the interior regions and significant reduction in orographic rainfall over the west coasts of Kerala and Karnataka and the eastern hilly regions around Assam. Over these regions, the drastic reduction of wind by steep orography predominates over the moisture build-up effect (that causes enhanced rainfall over other parts) in reducing the rainfall. This indicates that monsoon rainfall is strongly controlled by parameterized physics and high-resolution processes which need to be resolved with adequately high resolution. The model projects substantial, spatially heterogeneous increase in both extreme hot and heavy rainfall events over most parts of India by the end of the century. While fine-scale surface moisture feedbacks influence the response of extreme hot events, extreme precipitation is influenced by fine-scale orography, evaporation, moisture content and circulation. Thus, the results indicate that consideration of fine-scale processes is critical for accurate assessment of local and regionalscale vulnerability to climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tropical mean convection and its organization on different spatiotemporal scales in a simulation using the Meteorological Research Institute/Japan Meteorological Agency (MRI/JMA) global atmospheric general circulation model (AGCM) at 20-km resolution (TL959L60) has been investigated. Comparison with two lower resolution simulations of 120 km (TL159L40) and 180 km (TL95L40) shows that convection, climatological fields, and moist stability over the Indian Ocean and South Pacific convergence zone are better represented in TL959L60 than in lower resolution simulations. However, the simulated three-dimensional structure of the Walker and Hadley cells, and the vertical structure of convective heating, do not show marked improvement relative to lower resolution simulations. The amplitude and phase speed of convectively coupled equatorial waves show that, although the Kelvin waves, the observed hierarchical structure of cloud clusters associated with the Madden–Julian oscillation (MJO) convection, and the wave interrelationship among MJO, Kelvin, and equatorial Rossby waves are marginally improved in TL959L60, increased resolution does not impact the simulation of the MJO itself. In the model, the MJO appears as a standing oscillation with much weaker variance compared to observations. Power spectra and a composite MJO life cycle constructed based on extended empirical orthogonal functions reveal that the amplitude, structure, and propagation characteristics of the MJO remain deficient at all resolutions. Thus, while the very high resolution yields improvements in some aspects of tropical mean convection, these appear to be less important compared to the basic deficiency of the parameterized convection in capturing tropical convection and its spatiotemporal variability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Undoped and Mn-doped ZnO samples with different percentage of Mn content (1, 2 and 3mol%) were synthesized by a simple solvo-thermal method. We have studied the structural, chemical and optical properties of the samples by using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and UV–VIS spectroscopy. The XRD spectra show that all the samples are hexagonal wurtzite structures. The lattice parameters calculated for the Mn-doped ZnO from the XRD pattern were found to be slightly larger than those of the undoped ZnO, which indicates substitution of Mn in ZnO lattice. SEM photograph shows that the grain size of undoped ZnO is bigger than the Mn-doped ZnOs, indicating hindrance of grain growth upon Mn doping. As the Mn doping increases the optical band gap decreases for the range of Mn doping reported here. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In the development of re-entry space vehicles, thermal protection systems (TPS), which protect the vehicle from the high thermal environments during re-entry, constitute one of the most critical systems. Both metallic and non-metallic materials are candidates for TPS. Generally, the TPS materials are bonded to the structure in vacuum under load. For the successful performance of the vehicle, the TPS should be intact to the vehicle without any debond and hence the detection of debonds in TPS is very important. Holographic interferometry is established as a reliable NDT tool for detecting debonds. Digital holography is a technique that uses digital recording and numerical reconstruction of holograms, which does not require photographic films, wet processing and laser reconstruction. In this paper the application of the digital holographic interferometry technique in detecting debonds in different types of thermal protection systems is presented. The results of the tests on a few samples made of ablative and non-ablative TPS materials with debond are presented. The paper also describes the experimental details and stressing techniques used for the detection of debonds in TPS. The practical application of this technique for the NDT of TPS is explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oxidative stress plays an important role in chronic complications of diabetes mellitus. In the current study, the antioxidant effect of oral administration of aqueous bark extract of Garuga pinnata Roxb. (Burseraceae) on tissue antioxidant enzymes and lipid peroxidation in liver and kidney of streptozotocin-nicotinamide-induced type II diabetic rats was evaluated. The diabetic rats showed lower activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase, glutathione transferase, and reduced glutathione content in liver and kidney, which were restored to near normal levels by treatment with the bark extract. The increased levels of lipid peroxidation (TBARS) in diabetic rats were reverted back to near normal levels after treatment with the bark extract. A two dose level study was conducted. The current study reveals the efficacy of Garuga pinnata aqueous bark extract in the amelioration of diabetes, which may be attributed to its antioxidant potential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a research study which investigates the association of electronic culture with loneliness and life satisfaction among the elderly in India. The subjects of the study were composed of 120 elderly people with 60 females and 60 males. The study used the purposive sampling technique and adopted the research tools e-culture inventory, loneliness scale, and life satisfaction scale. The results indicated that e-culture is hugely related to life-satisfaction and loneliness.

Abstract: A study was undertaken to evaluate the antihyperglycemic activity of aqueous extract of bark of Garuga pinnata Roxb. (Burseraceae). The various parameters studied included fasting blood sugar levels, serum lipid levels, liver glycogen content, serum insulin level and glycated hemoglobin in diabetic and normal rats. Streptozotocin-nicotinamide was used to induce type-II diabetes mellitus. Treatment with the extract at two dose levels showed a significant increase in the liver glycogen and serum insulin level and a significant decrease in fasting blood glucose and glycated hemoglobin levels. The total cholesterol and serum triglycerides levels were also significantly reduced and the HDL cholesterol levels were significantly increased upon treatment with the extract thus proving the potent antidiabetic property of the plant. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The impact of ocean–atmosphere coupling on the structure and propagation characteristics of 30–60-day tropical intraseasonal oscillations (TISOs) is investigated by analyzing long-term simulations of the Meteorological Research Institute coupled general circulation model (CGCM) and its stand-alone atmospheric general circulation model (AGCM) version forced with SSTs derived from the CGCM and comparing them with recent observation datasets [Global Precipitation Climatology Project (GPCP) precipitation, 40-yr European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) Re-Analysis (ERA-40), and Reynolds SST]. Composite events of (i) eastward propagating Madden–Julian oscillations (MJOs) during boreal winter and (ii) northward propagating intraseasonal oscillations (NPISOs) during boreal summer, constructed based on objective criteria, show that the three-dimensional structure, amplitude, and speed of propagation, and the phase relationship among surface fluxes, SST, and convection, are markedly improved in the CGCM simulation. Consistent with the frictional wave conditional instability of the second kind mechanism, successive development of low-level convergence to the east (north) of deep convection was found to be important for eastward (northward) propagation of MJO (NPISO). Complex interaction between large-scale dynamics and convection reveals the importance of atmospheric dynamics and suggests that they are intrinsic modes in the atmosphere where coupling is not essential for their existence. However, as in observations, realistic coupling in the CGCM is found to result in the evolution of TISOs as coupled modes through a coherent coupled feedback process. This acts as an amplifying mechanism for the existing propagating convective anomalies and plays an important modifying role toward a more realistic simulation of TISOs. In contrast, the simulated TISOs in its atmosphere-alone component lack many of the important features associated with their amplitude, phase, and life cycle. Thus, a realistic representation of the interaction between sea surface and the atmospheric boundary layer is crucial for a better simulation of TISOs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The antihyperglycemic potential of the aqueous stem extract of Coscinium fenestratum Colebr. (Menispermaceae), a medicinal plant widely used in traditional Ayurveda and Siddha systems of medicine for the treatment of diabetes mellitus, was evaluated in the streptozotocin-nicotinamide–induced type 2 diabetic model. Graded doses of the aqueous stem extract were administered to normal and experimental diabetic rats for 12 days. In extract-treated diabetic rats, an insulin-independent action with significant reduction in blood glucose, serum triglyceride, and cholesterol levels was observed. In addition, other parameters like change in body weight, thiobarbituric acid reactive substance levels, glycosylated hemoglobin and liver glycogen levels, assessed in the extract-treated diabetic rats, were compared with diabetic control and normal animals. Significant results were observed in the above parameters thereby justifying the use of the plant in the indigenous system of medicine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The antidiabetic potential of the alcoholic stem extract of Coscinium fenestratum Colebr. (Menispermaceae), a medicinal plant widely used in the traditional Ayurveda and Siddha systems of medicine for the treatment of diabetes mellitus was evaluated in the STZ-nicotinamide induced type 2 diabetic model. Graded doses of the alcoholic stem extract were administered to normal and experimental diabetic rats for 12 days. Significant (p &#60;0.05) reduction in fasting blood glucose levels were observed in the normal as well as in the treated diabetic animals. Serum insulin levels were not stimulated in the animals treated with the extract. In addition, changes in body weight, serum lipid profiles, thiobarbituric acid reactive substance levels, glycosylated hemoglobin and liver glycogen levels assessed in the extract treated diabetic rats were compared with diabetic control and normal animals. Significant results were observed in the estimated parameters, thereby justifying the use of the plant in the indigenous system of medicine. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The study aims to examine the Viper russelli russelli venom neutralization potential of the ethanol leaf extract (250, 500 and 750 mg/kg) of Acalypha indica (Euphorbiaceae). Administration of the ethanol leaf extract at i.p. dose levels of 500 and 750 mg/kg significantly inhibited, in a dose dependent manner, the Viper russelli venom-induced lethality, haemorrhage, necrotizing and mast cell degranulation in rats and the cardiotoxic and neurotoxic effects in isolated frog tissue. Administration of the extract also significantly inhibited venom-induced lipid peroxidation in RBC, decreased GSH and catalase levels of rat kidney tissue. The observations confirmed that the ethanol leaf extract of Acalypha indica possesses potent snake venom neutralizing properties. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

An experiment was conducted to study the productivity, nutrient distribution and nutrient cycling of Casuarina equisetifolia Forst in farm forestry. Seedlings inoculated with different biofertilizers such as Azospirillum, Phosphobacterium, AM fungi and Frankia along with their combinations were planted in farmland. Growth, biomass, nutrient distribution, nutrient uptake and nutrient-return through litter were estimated 24 months after planting by harvesting the plant. The height of the tree is ranged from 9.87 to 11.90 m and the girth at breast height (gbh) is ranged from 16.8 to 23.2 cm. The maximum height, gbh and total biomass were obtained in the combined application of Azospirillum, Phosphobacterium, AM and Frankia. The combination of AM + Frankia among double inoculation, and in combination of Azospirillum, AM and Frankia in triple inoculation also proved to be the best treatment in promoting the significant total height, gbh and total biomass production. Better nutrient uptake was estimated in combined inoculation of Azospirillum + Phosphobacterium + AM + Frankia followed by Azospirillum + AM + Frankia in respect of the nutrients such as N, P, K, Ca and Mg. The nutrient concentration was distributed in the order of needle > branch > root nodule > twig > stem > root. Nutrient return in field condition showed the maximum nutrient-return through litter in combination with Azospirillum + Phosphobacterium + AM + Frankia inoculated trees. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The claim by some tribal populations in parts of Northern India that the young leaves of the custard apple tree, Annona squamosa L. (Annonaceae) has antidiabetic properties was investigated. Diabetes mellitus was induced with streptozotocin–nicotinamide and graded doses of the aqueous leaf extracts were then administered in drinking water to normal and experimental diabetic rats for 12 days. Fasting plasma glucose levels, serum insulin levels, serum lipid profiles and changes in body weight were evaluated in normal rats while liver glycogen levels and pancreatic TBARS levels were evaluated additionally in diabetic rats. The diabetic groups treated with the aqueous leaf extract were compared with standard glibenclamide. The findings of the study support the antidiabetic claims of Annona squamosa. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Simulations of the major characteristics of the summer monsoon climate over South Asia, East Asia, and the western North Pacific by the new version of the Meteorological Research Institute coupled GCM (MRI-CGCM2) are analyzed. In addition to assessing the simulation of mean summer monsoon rainfall and its association with SST and basic circulation parameters, the model's performance in reproducing the seasonal variation, climatological onset, peak, withdrawal, and subseasonal variation of the monsoon is also studied. The mean rainfall distribution and the maximum rainfall centers over South Asia and the western North Pacific, including the monsoon rainbelt over central India, though shifted southward of its observed position by about 5°, and the baiu rainband across Japan, are well simulated. However, the model underestimates the monsoon rainfall over southeast China. The biases in model mean rainfall are found to be associated with biases in wind, moisture convergence, and vertical stability of the atmosphere. The relationship between mean SST and organized convection in the model is close to the observations, with a propensity for deep convection increasing with an increase in SST above the threshold value. The simulated summer anomalies of SST and surface fluxes imply the dominance of the SST–wind–evaporation feedback system over most of the Indian and western Pacific Oceans on intraseasonal time scales. In addition, in the model, equatorial eastern Pacific SST anomalies strongly influence the Indian summer monsoon predominantly on biennial time scales. The model captures the basic monsoon seasonal cycle, onset, peak, and withdrawal over India and the western North Pacific across Japan. However, the simulation shows an early onset of the monsoon over mainland China and the early occurrence of peak rainfall over southeast China. The active–break spells in Indian monsoon rainfall and meridional propagations of rainbelts over India and the western North Pacific are realistically simulated. But, over southeastern China, the model is unable to simulate northward propagation of rainbelts, which contributes to the poor simulation of seasonal mean rainfall. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The leaf alcohol extract of the plant Annona squamosa was investigated for its antidiabetic activity. Type 2 diabetes mellitus was induced with standardised doses of streptozotocin and nicotinamide. Graded doses of the leaf alcohol extract suspended in gum acacia were administered to normal and experimental diabetic rats for 12 days. Fasting plasma glucose levels, serum insulin levels, serum lipid profiles and changes in body weight were evaluated in normal rats while liver glycogen levels and pancreatic TBARS levels were evaluated additionally in diabetic rats. The diabetic groups treated with the leaf alcohol extract were compared with standard glibenclamide. The findings showed the significant antidiabetic potential of the extract in ameliorating the diabetic conditions in diabetic rats. No significant effects were found in the normal rats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the anomaly correlation of the 500-hPa geopotential heights from a suite of global multimodels and from a model-weighted ensemble mean called the superensemble. This procedure follows a number of current studies on weather and seasonal climate forecasting that are being pursued. This study includes a slightly different procedure from that used in other current experimental forecasts for other variables. Here a superensemble for the ∇[SUP2] of the geopotential based on the daily forecasts of the geopotential fields at the 500-hPa level is constructed. The geopotential of the superensemble is recovered from the solution of the Poisson equation. This procedure appears to improve the skill for those scales where the variance of the geopotential is large and contributes to a marked improvement in the skill of the anomaly correlation. Especially large improvements over the Southern Hemisphere are noted. Consistent day-6 forecast skill above 0.80 is achieved on a day to day basis. The superensemble skills are higher than those of the best model and the ensemble mean. For days 1-6 the percent improvement in anomaly correlations of the superensemble over the best model are 0.3, 0.8, 2.25, 4.75, 8.6, and 14.6, respectively, for the Northern Hemisphere. The corresponding numbers for the Southern Hemisphere are 1.12, 1.66, 2.69, 4.48, 7.11, and 12.17. Major improvement of anomaly correlation skills is realized by the superensemble at days 5 and 6 of forecasts. The collective regional strengths of the member models, which is reflected in the proposed superensemble, provide a useful consensus product that may be useful for future operational guidance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The diffusion of boron in strained Si1−xGex epitaxial layer has been studied using secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS). We present a simplified diffusion model that includes the coupling reaction between Ge and B, which acts as a clustering center for the boron clusterisation process. This clustering model is efficient for the rapid thermal as well as furnace annealing conditions. We showed that the simulated and SIMS diffused profiles agree very well and the boron profile within strained Si1−xGex epitaxial layer is well confined. The inclusion and exclusion of Ge–B coupling reaction term R in the diffusion model are discussed more elaborately by comparing with SIMS data. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Studies were conducted by injecting/feeding white spot syndrome virus (WSSV) derived from infected shrimp, Penaeus monodon (Fabricius), to different life-stages, namely post-larvae, juveniles, sub-adults and adults of Macrobrachium rosenbergii (de Man). The disease was also induced in brood stock, and the eggs and larvae derived from these animals were subsequently tested for WSSV infection. All the stages except egg used for the experiment were found WSSV positive in histopathology, cross infection bioassay and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis. Experimentally infected post-larvae and juveniles showed a high percentage of mortality and an increased rate of cannibalism. The cumulative mortality in post-larvae was up to 28%; with 28–40% cannibalism resulting in a maximum loss of up to 68%. In juveniles, observed mortality and cannibalism were 10–20% and 6.7–30.0%, respectively, and the maximum loss recorded was 50%. In sub-adults, mortality ranged from 2.8 to 6.7%, cannibalism was up to 20% and the total loss was up to 26.7%. Sub-adults and adults were found to be more tolerant to the infection as evidenced by the mortality pattern. A nested (two-step) PCR resulted in a 570-bp product specific to WSSV in all stages, except the eggs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Hypericum genus-wide establishment of important biotechnological tools is reported. • In vitro cell suspension and shoot cultures are efficiently established for all tested 10 different Hypericum species. • Could be applicable to all known Hypericum species for sustainable bioprospecting. This article reports simple, robust, and species-independent methods for establishing in vitro cell suspension and shoot cultures useful for sustainable bioprospecting of Hypericum , a genus containing several medicinal plants commonly used in treating mild and moderate depression. Loose cell masses or shoot buds were directly induced by culturing seeds on medium containing 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) or 6-benzyladenine (BA). Homogeneous cell suspension cultures could be achieved when cells were transferred to liquid culture medium, and robust shoot cultures could be established by transferring cultures containing shoot buds to basal medium. Stable cell suspension and (or) shoot cultures could be established for all Hypericum spp. tested (H. androsaemum L. , H. linariifolium Vahl , H. elodes L. , H. pulchrum L. , H. humifusum L., H. undulatum Schousb. ex Willd , H. perfoliatum L. , H. canariense L. , H. tomentosum L. , H. perforatum L. and H. maculatum Crantz), regardless of their habits and habitats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hepatopancreatic microsporidiosis (HPM) caused by Enterocytozoon hepatopenaei (EHP) causes substantial economic losses to the shrimp farming industry. Most research on EHP was focused on Penaeus vannamei due to its widespread farming and impact. The information on EHP infection in farmed tiger shrimp, Penaeus monodon, is scarce, especially considering its re-introduction and use of specific pathogen-free (SPF) seeds in India. A polymerase chain reaction–based (two-step PCR) survey targeting the spore wall protein (SWP) gene and SSU rRNA gene was conducted to understand the prevalence of EHP in P. monodon farms across six states, three each on the east and west coasts of India. While only 19 of 63 farms (30.15%) surveyed during the study revealed the presence of EHP using SWP-specific PCR, 38 farms (60.31%) were found to be positive with SSU rRNA PCR. Coast-wise, prevalence estimated using SWP-specific PCR showed 35% in the east and 21.7% in the west. However, only one of the farms showed EHP in the first step of PCR. The low level of infection, as indicated by the PCR analysis, was further validated and confirmed by histology and quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR). The EHP load ranged from 1.0 × 103 to 3.7 × 106 copies/µg DNA, and histology of the hepatopancreas showed only mild pathological changes and inclusion-like bodies similar to the developmental stages of EHP. Some of the samples showed bacteria-induced hemocyte infiltration and nodule formation. However, no microsporidian spores could be noticed in the histological sections. The phylogenetic analysis of sequences of SWP-specific PCR amplicons showed similarity with earlier reported EHP strains from P. vannamei from Thailand, Latin America, and India. A statistical epidemiological study to identify risk factors associated with HPM revealed the presence of EHP infection in previous cultures, the use of wild seeds and continuous farming as potential risk factors, and the use of SPF seeds and bleaching as protective factors. P. monodon is susceptible to EHP infection, yet the impact on the species is significantly lower than that reported in P. vannamei. The present report forms the latest data on the prevalence of EHP in P. monodon farms in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present study, the DNA barcoding of the nematode parasite infecting Ompok bimaculatus and Nemacheilus anguilla fish species was carried out in Barvi Reservoir, Maharashtra. To ascertain the taxonomic status of these nematode parasites, an 18S gene marker was used. Accurate identification of fish parasites is essential to formulate preventive strategies and to study host–environment relations. The present study did barcoding of the nematode parasites of the fishes caught from the Barvi Reservoir using the nuclear 18S rDNA (SSU) sequence. The nuclear 18S rDNA (SSU) was amplified into two overlapping amplicons and sequenced to identify the species based on the sequence similarity with the NCBI GenBank database. The present study sequences (both fragments) showed 98% similarity with the species of Eustrongylides. The average genetic distance value between the present study sample and species of Eustrongylides was 0.003. In the phylogenetic tree also, the sequence was clustered with the species of Eustrongylides with significant bootstrap values. The present study identified the nematode parasite of the fish caught from the Barvi Reservoir, as species of Eustrongylides. The species‐level identification could not be possible due to the insufficient/lack of reference sequences in the database. It indicates the knowledge gap concerning the species‐specific molecular markers for nematode parasites of the fish. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Computer simulations were done extensively in order to study nonlinear dynamics of laser and non-equilibrium electron-hole plasma interaction in deep submicron n-MOSFET silicon devices. We constructed the modified Duffing kind of nonlinear electron-hole plasma oscillator equation. Nonlinear characteristics of electron-hole plasma by impact ionization in submicron devices manifest a wide diversity of complex chaotic behavior. Collision frequency is found to be the dominant parameter to influence the bifurcation, chaos, hysteresis and bistable effects of electron-hole plasma at deep submicron devices. Small windows of higher period cascade above the critical value of laser parameter (α[sub 1]α[sub 2]) in the chaos region are observed. Non-equilibrium electron-hole plasma shows much chaotic regime at lower value of laser frequency (δ). Hysteresis and bistable region of electron-hole plasma are also presented and the conditions for their occurrence are identified. The unstable region completely merge at higher value of effective collision frequency (γ). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]