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In this article, we present direct numerical simulation results for the expansion of spherical cap bubbles attached to a rigid wall due to a sudden drop in the ambient pressure. The critical pressure drop beyond which the bubble growth becomes unstable is found to match well with the predictions from classical theory of heterogeneous nucleation imposing a quasi-static bubble evolution. When the pressure drop is significantly higher than the critical value, a liquid microlayer appears between the bubble and the wall. In this regime, the interface outside the microlayer grows at an asymptotic velocity that can be predicted from the Rayleigh–Plesset equation, while the contact line evolves with another asymptotic velocity that scales with a visco-capillary velocity that obeys the Cox–Voinov law. In general, three distinctive regions can be distinguished: the region very close to the contact line where dynamics is governed by visco-capillary effects, an intermediate region controlled by inertio-viscous effects away from the contact line yet inside the viscous boundary layer, and the region outside the boundary layer dominated by inertial effects. The microlayer forms in a regime where the capillary effects are confined in a region much smaller than the viscous boundary layer thickness. In this regime, the global capillary number takes values much larger then the critical capillary number for bubble nucleation, and the microlayer height is controlled by viscous effects and not surface tension. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electroencephalograms (EEGs) play an important role in analyzing different mental tasks and neurological disorders. Hence, they are a critical component for designing various applications, such as brain–computer interfaces, neurofeedback, etc. Mental task classification (MTC) is one of the research focuses in these applications. Therefore, numerous MTC techniques have been proposed in literary works. Although various literature reviews exist based on EEG signals for different neurological disorders and behavior analysis, there is a lack of reviews of state-of-the-art MTC techniques. Therefore, this paper presents a detailed review of MTC techniques, including the classification of mental tasks and mental workload. A brief description of EEGs along with their physiological and nonphysiological artifacts is also presented. Furthermore, we include information on several publicly available databases, features, classifiers, and performance metrics used in MTC studies. We implement and evaluate some of the commonly used existing MTC techniques in the presence of different artifacts and subjects, based on which the challenges and directions are highlighted for future research in MTC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thermal behaviour of molybdic acid, H2MoO4 has been investigated by DSC and thermogravimetry. The results obtained from the study demonstrated that it decomposes at the temperature range of 373 to 973 K in two steps. In the 1st step the peak was obtained at 604 K (Range 547.7-641 K) which is associated with 8.4 mass losses and in the 2nd step the peak was obtained at 688 K where decomposition started at 657 K and was completed at 710.3 K is associated with 2.2 mass losses. The different phases of H2MoO4 have been characterized by IR spectroscopy and Magnetic susceptibility. Magnetic susceptibility, after the diamagnetic corrections suggests that all the samples are diamagnetic. This is because of the fact that the Mo+6 ions, present in these samples, contain no unpaired electron. The kinetic studies suggest that the kinetic data in the first transition follow the Ginstling-Brounshtein mechanism, while the second transition obeys the Mampel's unimolecular law of random nucleation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ticks have an exceptional ability to parasitize diverse animal and human lives and cause direct losses by transmitting a wide variety of pathogens to their host. For the management of the tick a vaccine using mid-gut antigen, Bm86 was developed which provided a variable degree of efficacy against different strains of the cattle tick, Rhipicephalus microplus. Contrary to a single antigen-based vaccine, it is expedient to use multi-epitopes vaccine targeting multiple functions of ticks. To develop a universal tick vaccine against multi-species, multiepitopic construct using immunodominant conserved tick proteins with B and T-cell epitopes were designed employing various immuno-informatics techniques. The 3D structure of the final construct was predicted, refined, and validated by different computational techniques. Molecular docking of the construct was carried out with TLR-2 receptor to predict efficient cell mediate the immune response. The findings manifest that the multi-epitopic construct might be active against multi-tick species infestations, a problem faced by many tropical and subtropical countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Canine distemper virus (CDV) affects both white and grey matter in the central nervous system (CNS). It causes demyelination of white matter tracts, which releases myelin basic protein (MBP) into the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). MBP levels in CSF could therefore indirectly indicate the extent of white matter damage. The objective of this study was to determine MBP levels in the CSF of dogs infected with natural cases of neurologic distemper. Methods: In this study samples from healthy dogs, clinical cases of CDV and stray dogs from in and around the institute were collected for investigation. The infection of the CNS was established by estimating the albumin quotient and, for 16 cases, by histopathology. CSF biochemical parameters were analysed for 35 sero-positive clinical cases of neurologic distemper. MBP levels in samples were estimated by quantitative ELISA. Stray dogs (6 cases) were also screened for this purpose. Result: MBP levels in CSF were significantly (p=0.05) increased in natural cases of distemper encephalomyelitis and stray dogs relative to controls. Three of the neurologic distemper cases clinically recovered despite high MBP levels, and two stray dogs also had higher MBP concentrations. High CSF MBP may therefore not be a useful marker for predicting the outcome of neurologic distemper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rice is attacked by several insect pests and of these the stem borers Scirpophaga incertulas (Walker), S. innotata (Walker), Sesamia inferens (Walker), leaf folder Cnaphalocrocis medinalis (Guenee) and plant hoppers viz. brown plant hopper Nilaparvata lugens (Stal), white backed plant hopper, Sogatella furcifera (Horvath) are the most destructive. This study was carried out at the PAU Regional Station, Gurdaspur during kharif seasons of 2017 and 2018 to evaluate performance of varieties viz. PR 121, PR 122, PR 123, PR 124, Pusa 44, PR 126, PR 115, PR 114 and HKR 127 against these pests. The incidence of stem borers, leaf folder and of plant hoppers/ hill were observed at 40, 60, 80 and 100 days after transplanting. It was observed that rice varieties PR 126, PR 115 were the least preferred whereas Pusa 44 was found highly preferred by these major insect pests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A study was under taken during 2012-2016 to monitor the contamination, with respect to pesticide residue, of vegetable, soil and water samples collected from seven districts of Haryana. For the study, 390 samples were collected from Yamuna Nagar, Rewari, Karnal, Jhajjar, Palwal, Mew at and Narnaul districts of Haryana. Out of 390 samples, 228 vegetable, 71 soil and 91 water samples were collected to monitor pesticide residues. Chlorpyriphos, butachlor, pretilachlor, o,p-DDE, atrazine, triazophos, lambda cyhalothrin, endosulphan, p,p'DDE, malathion, phorate, quinolphos and profenophos were commonly detected pesticides in these samples. Out of390 samples, 102 samples (59 samples of vegetable, 31 of soil and 12 samples of water) were found contaminated with pesticides, which made respectively 25.87 per cent, 43.66 and 13 per cent of respective sample types. From the total contaminated samples, 60.78 per cent of the samples were found contaminated with chlorpyrifos; 27.45 per cent with pretilachlor and 21.57 per cent with butachlor while rest with o, p-DDE, atrazine, triazophos, lambda cyhalothrin, endosulphan, p,p-DDE, malathion, phorate, quinolphos and profenophos. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Today's major challenge in designing electronic circuits is to deliver high-performance with minimal power dissipation. While electronic devices have achieved tremendous improvement in performance and area reduction over the last decade, as a consequence the power dissipation has increased many folds. Adiabatic logic style is a promising technique aimed at building energy-efficient devices at a structural level. A linear feedback shift register (LFSR) is a circuit extensively used for pseudo-random number generation, which finds applications in cryptography and circuit testing. An LFSR dissipates high dynamic power in its operation and is, therefore, an excellent candidate to evaluate the benefits of using the adiabatic logic style for power reduction versus the conventional CMOS logic style. Various adiabatic logic families exist; their structures mainly differ in the presence or absence of diodes. In this paper, an LFSR based pseudo-random number generator is implemented using popular adiabatic logic families like Two-Phase Adiabatic Static CMOS Logic (2PASCL), which uses diodes and other diode-free adiabatic logic styles like Clocked CMOS Adiabatic Logic (CCAL) and Diode-Free Adiabatic Logic (DFAL). A comparison of these implementations is made for power consumption, time delay and Power-Delay Product (PDP) with the conventional CMOS logic style, substantiating the superiority of the adiabatic logic families in terms of power and PDP. The suitability of these adiabatic logic families is also evaluated for different applications. The simulations are carried out on TANNER EDA TSPICE using 0.18 micron CMOS technology BSIMv3.1 parameters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Detection of underlying causes of voltage sag is more crucial than detection of voltage sag from the mitigation point of view. Therefore, this paper proposes the detection and classification of the eight causes of voltage sag. This approach augments the conventional technique of wavelet transform by designing the fractionally delayed Legendre wavelet as the signal processing tool. The unique event characteristics are sought from approximation, and detailed signal coefficients which are obtained by using 4-level multiresolution analysis. To achieve a higher classification rate, the best optimal features are rummaged around the extracted features by employing the ant lion optimization algorithm. This algorithm retains only the suitable features as per the fitness criterion based on the classification accuracy and number of features. The representative feature set is classified using the classifier ensemble employing plural majority voting. The classifier ensemble has three members which are support vector machine, probabilistic neural network, and multilayer neural network. Better performance of the classifier ensemble is observed as compared to individual members in classification of voltage sag causes. The efficacy of the proposed methodology has been validated in the presence of noise also. This approach has successfully classified the causes of voltage sag using optimal features with good accuracy in the case of both noiseless signals and noisy signals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: To audit the survival outcomes and loco-regional control in muscle invasive urinary bladder cancer patients treated with external beam radiation therapy (RT).Materials and Methods: From November 2008 through December 2011, 50 consecutively diagnosed muscle invasive urinary bladder carcinoma (T2-4a N0-2, M0) patients were included in this retrospective study. All these patients received external beam RT to a median dose of 60 Gy (range 30-66 Gy), and were not suitable for radical surgery due to patients' preference or medical comorbidities. A stepwise procedure using proportional hazard regression was used to identify prognostic factors with respect to survival.Results: Completion trans-urethral resection of bladder tumor was done in 38 (76%) patients of the cohort and 47 (94%) had transitional cell carcinoma on histopathology. Clinical stage T2 was diagnosed in 40 (80%) patients. The median follow-up for the entire cohort was 14 ± 8.9 months (range 1-36 months). In conclusion, 24 patients (48%) were free of disease, 5 patients (10%) had residual disease, and 13 patients (26%) had died of disease. Two-year and 3 year overall survival of intact bladder for the entire cohort was 58% and 43.6%, respectively. Cox regression modeling strongly suggested clinical stage (P = 0.01) and RT dose (P = 0.001) as being predictors for overall survival.Conclusion: RT shows reliable outcomes and excellent compliance in this advanced disease. Prescribing a higher RT dose could potentially correlate to better intact bladder control rates while maintaining good quality of life in selected patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contents: Incomplete or aberrant reprogramming of nuclear genome is one of the major problems in somatic cell nuclear transfer. In this study, we studied the effect of histone deacetylase inhibitor m‐carboxycinnamic acid bishydroxamide (CBHA) on in vitro development of buffalo embryos produced by Hand‐made cloning. Cloned embryos were treated with CBHA (0, 5, 10, 20 or 50 μM) for 10 hr from the start of reconstruction till activation. At 10 μM, but not at other concentrations examined, CBHA increased (p < .05) the blastocyst rate (63.77 ± 3.97% vs 48.63 ± 3.55%) and reduced (p < .05) the apoptotic index of the cloned blastocysts (8.91 ± 1.94 vs 4.36 ± 1.08) compared to untreated controls, to levels similar to those in IVF blastocysts (4.78 ± 0.74). CBHA treatment, at all the concentrations examined, increased (p < .05) the global level of H3K9ac in cloned blastocysts than in untreated controls to that observed in IVF blastocysts. Treatment with CBHA (10 μM) decreased (p < .05) the global level of H3K27me3 in cloned blastocysts than in untreated controls but it was still higher (p < .05) than in IVF blastocysts. CBHA (10 μM) treatment increased (p < .05) the relative expression level of pluripotency‐related genes OCT‐4 and NANOG, and anti‐apoptotic gene BCL‐XL, and decreased (p < .05) that of pro‐apoptotic gene BAX than in untreated controls but did not affect the relative expression level of apoptosis‐related genes p53 and CASPASE3 and epigenetics‐related genes DNMT1, DNMT3a and HDAC1. These results suggest that treatment of cloned embryos with 10 μM CBHA improves the blastocyst rate, reduces the level of apoptosis and alters the epigenetic status and gene expression pattern. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Twenty four male golden pheasants were divided into 4 groups of 6 each. First group basal diet contained no supplementary lutein or DL-methionine (M0C0). The diet of the birds in group M0C1 were supplemented with lutein (40 mg/kg DM) without supplementary DL methionine, whereas those in group M1C0 were supplemented only with DL-methionine (1.5g/kg DM). Birds in group M1C1 were fed both the supplements. A feeding trial of 60 days duration was conducted. Heterophill counts was significantly lower (P<0.001) in groups M0C1 and M1C1 as compared to group M0C0 and M1C0 and lymphocyte count was higher (P<0.05) in lutein supplemented group as compared to non-lutein supplemented groups. The ratio of H: L was significantly higher (P<0.001) in lutein supplemented groups. Other haematological and serum biochemical parameters were not significantly different among the groups. Serum concentrations of corticosterone were lower (P<0.001) in groups M0C1 and M1C1 as compared to groups M0C0 and M1C0. It was concluded that supplementation of lutein (40mg/kg DM) but not DL- methionine (0.15% DM) improved the capability of the Golden pheasant to combat stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heat stress greatly limits the productivity of wheat in many regions. Knowledge on the degree of genetic diversity of wheat varieties along with their selective traits will facilitate the development of high yielding, stress-tolerant wheat cultivar. The objective of this study were to determine genetic variation in morpho-physiological traits associated with heat tolerance in 30 diverse wheat genotypes and to examine genetic diversity and relationship among the genotypes varying heat tolerance using molecular markers. Phenotypic data of 15 traits were evaluated for heat tolerance under non-stress and stress conditions for two consecutive years. A positive and significant correlation among cell membrane stability, canopy temperature depression, biomass, susceptibility index and grain yield was shown. Genetic diversity assessed by 41 polymorphic simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers was compared with diversity evaluated for 15 phenotypic traits averaged over stress and non-stress field conditions. The mean polymorphic information content for SSR value was 0.38 with range of 0.12–0.75. Based on morpho-physiological traits and genotypic data, three groups were obtained based on their tolerance (HHT, MHT and LHT) levels. Analysis of molecular variance explained 91.7% of the total variation could be due to variance within the heat tolerance genotypes. Genetic diversity among HHT was higher than LHT genotypes and HHT genotypes were distributed among all cluster implied that genetic basis of heat tolerance in these genotypes was different thereby enabling the wheat breeders to combine these diverse sources of genetic variation to improve heat tolerance in wheat breeding programme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to study the effect of feeding graded levels of green vegetables on egg production performance and egg yolk antioxidant status, 27 female golden pheasants ( GP) were randomly distributed into three groups of nine each in an experiment based on completely randomized design. The diets of the birds in groups T1, T2 and T3 contained 1.4%, 2.7% and 5.0% of green vegetables respectively. Feeding of experimental diets started on 12th February (day 1) and was continued till 30 June 2012. Average number of eggs laid and egg mass produced by the hens in group T3 was higher (p < 0.004) than those of T1 and T2. Hen day egg production was lowest (p < 0.001) in group T1. Roche yolk colour score was highest (p < 0.01) in T3 followed by T2 and was lowest in T1. Other external and internal egg quality parameters were similar among the groups. Total antioxidant capacity ( TAC) of egg yolk was higher (p < 0.04) in group T3 as compared to other two groups. Egg yolk concentration of total carotenoids, β-carotene, total sulfhydryl, protein-bound sulfhydryl and non-protein-bound sulfhydryl was higher (p < 0.05), whereas concentration of malondialdehyde was lower (p < 0.024) in group T3 as compared to other two groups. Excreta concentration of corticosterone was highest (p < 0.012) in T1, followed by T2, and was lowest in T3. Egg yolk concentration of TAC and TSH was positively and that of malondialdehyde was negatively correlated with carotenoids intake. Excreta concentration of corticosterone was negatively correlated with carotenoids intake. It was concluded that incorporation of green vegetables in the diet at 5% on dry matter basis would improve egg production, egg yolk antioxidant status and the ability of the captive GP to combat stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Content This study was attempted to identify subfertile bulls by quantifying the endogenous levels of osteopontin ( OPN), total antioxidant capacity ( TAC) and malondialdehyde ( MDA) in seminal plasma of buffalo bulls. On the basis of conception rate, buffalo bulls were classified into two groups: high-fertile (conception rate >50%) and subfertile bulls (conception rate <40%). A total of 100 ejaculates (10 ejaculates from each bull) were collected through artificial vagina method. The concentration of OPN, TAC and catalase ( CAT) of high-fertile bulls was found to be higher ( p < .05) than that of subfertile bulls. Further, MDA level in seminal plasma was found to be lower ( p < .05) in high-fertile bulls compared with subfertile bulls. The fertility status had no effect on the superoxide dismutase ( SOD) concentration in seminal plasma of both the groups. The levels of OPN ( r = .678, p = 0.013) and TAC ( r = .648, p = .042) were found to be positively correlated with bull fertility and the level of MDA ( r = −.718, p = .019) was found to be negatively correlated with bull fertility. However, the fertility of bulls was not found to be significantly correlated with SOD, CAT and sperm motility. In conclusion, seminal OPN, TAC and MDA tended to be more realistic in identification of subfertile bulls from breeding herds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study was aimed at monitoring of pesticides residues in soil samples from 18 districts of Haryana during 2012-2013. Soil samples were extracted using a liquid-solid extraction procedure using methanol as extracting solvent. Extracts were evaporated to almost dryness and reconstituted with n-hexane. Qualitative and quantitative estimation of pesticides residues was carried out by gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Tested soil samples were found contaminated with phorate, malathion, chlorpyrifos, pendimethalin, butachlor, endosulphan-I, DDT isomers, Lambda cyhalothrin, fipronil, atrazine, pretilachlor, propiconazole, and triazophos. From a total of 116 soil samples, 90 samples were found contaminated with pesticides, while 57 samples among the positive samples were found contaminated with multiresidues. Soils samples from Sonipat, Sirsa, Faridabad, Kaithal, Kurukshtra, Rewari and Rohtak were found highly contaminated with pesticides residues, whereas, Yamunanagar and Bhiwani were least contaminated. All the contaminated samples from Faridabad, Sonipat, Meewat, Narnaul, Fatehabad, Ambala, Yamunanagar and Rohtak were found above maximum residue limits as per US Environmental Protection Agency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Indian coals are usually blended or beneficiated prior to being fed to utility boilers. These coals often satisfy the heat-value requirement of the boilers but may not be ideal from an ash-composition perspective. The ash compositions of beneficiated coals can significantly differ from that of the original coals thereby affecting the fusion characteristics. To have a better understanding of the variation of ash compositions due to coal cleaning, the present investigation focused on the study of ash composition in different size and density fractions of a high-ash non-coking coal. A run-of-mine coal (58.5% ash) was crushed to -75 mm and screened into six size fractions. The individual size fractions and the composite coal -75 +0.5 mm were subjected to density separation. The ash composition and ash fusion characteristics of size and density fractions were determined. The basic components of ash enriched in the lower density fractions while acidic oxides concentrated in the higher density fractions. Ash-fusion temperature and gross calorific value showed linearity with density. No such variations were observed for the size fractions. The results also indicated that cleans (20% ash) and middlings (42% ash) may be efficiently utilized for direct reduction of iron and pulverized coal power generation, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

COX-2 inhibitors exhibit anticancer effects in various cancer models but due to the adverse side effects associated with these inhibitors, targeting molecules downstream of COX-2 (such as mPGES-1) has been suggested. Even after calls for mPGES-1 inhibitor design, to date there are only a few published inhibitors targeting the enzyme and displaying anticancer activity. In the present study, we have deployed both ligand and structure-based drug design approaches to hunt novel drug-like candidates as mPGES-1 inhibitors. Fifty-four compounds with tested mPGES-1 inhibitory value were used to develop a model with four pharmacophoric features. 3D-QSAR studies were undertaken to check the robustness of the model. Statistical parameters such asr2= 0.9924,q2= 0.5761 andFtest = 1139.7 indicated significant predictive ability of the proposed model. Our QSAR model exhibits sites where a hydrogen bond donor, hydrophobic group and the aromatic ring can be substituted so as to enhance the efficacy of the inhibitor. Furthermore, we used our validated pharmacophore model as a three-dimensional query to screen the FDA-approved Lopac database. Finally, five compounds were selected as potent mPGES-1 inhibitors on the basis of their docking energy and pharmacokinetic properties such as ADME and Lipinski rule of five. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Objective: Assessing limits of agreement with helium dilution and repeatability of a new system (lung funcution, LUFU) that measures end-expiratory lung volume (EELV) in mechanically ventilated patients using the O(2) washin (EELV(Win)) and washout (EELV(Wout)) technique. LUFU consists of an Evita 4 ventilator, a side-stream oxygen analyzer, and a dedicated PC software.Design and Setting: Prospective human study in a general ICU of a University hospital.Patients: Thirty-six mechanically ventilated patients.Interventions: We obtained 36 couples of both EELV(Win) and EELV(Wout) measurements in each patient (5 with healthy lungs, 9 with ALI, 22 with ARDS). Measurements were obtained with patients ventilated either by assisted (ASB, 16 measurements) or controlled (CMV, 20 measurements) ventilation. In 19 of 20 cases in CMV, we obtained helium dilution measurements (EELV(He)).Measurements and Results: Bias for agreement with EELV(He) was -16 +/- 156 and 8 +/- 161 ml, respectively, for EELV(Win) and EELV(Wout). Bias for agreement between EELV(Win) and EELV(Wout) was 28 +/- 78 and 23 +/- 168 ml, respectively, for CMV and ASB. During CMV bias for repeatability were 8 +/- 92 and 23 +/- 165 ml, respectively, for EELV(Win) and EELV(Wout). During ASB bias for repeatability were 32 +/- 160 and -15 +/- 147 ml, respectively, for EELV(Win) and EELV(Wout).Conclusions: The LUFU method showed good agreement with helium, and good repeatability during partial and controlled mechanical ventilation. The technique is simple and safe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Medulloblastomas and high-grade gliomas (HGG) are two distinct brain tumor, with different peculiarities in terms of age of onset, localizations and prognosis. The coexistence of the two neoplasms in the same adult patient is an extremely rare event. We present the case of a woman treated with radio-chemotherapy for an HGG, who developed a cerebellar medulloblastoma 7 years later. Considering the poor prognosis of these tumors, the lack of knowledge about the mechanisms of onset as well as effective therapies, it is necessary to determine the exact role of irradiation and the presence of any potential molecular genetic abnormalities in the developing of the two tumors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examined the effects of treating buffalo skin fibroblast donor cells with trichostatin A (TSA), a histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor, and 5-aza-20-deoxycytidine (5azadC), a DNA methyltransferase (DNMT) inhibitor, on the cells and embryos produced by hand-made cloning. Treatment of donor cells with TSA or 5azadC resulted in altered expression levels of the HDAC1, DNMT1, DNMT3a, P53, CASPASE3 and CASPASE9 genes and global levels of acetylation of lysine at position 9 or 14 in histone 3 (H3K9/14ac), acetylation of lysine at position 5 in histone 4 (H4K5ac), acetylation of lysine at position 18 in histone 3 (H3K18ac) and tri-methylation of lysine at position 27 in histone 3 (H3K27me3). Moreover, global levels of DNA methylation and activity of DNMT1 and HDAC1 were decreased, while global acetylation of H3 and H3K9 was significantly increased in comparison to untreated cells. Simultaneous treatment of donor cells with TSA (50 nM) and 5azadC (7.5 nM) resulted in higher in vitro development to the blastocyst stage, reduction of the apoptotic index and the global level of H3K27 me3 and altered expression levels of HDAC1, P53, CASPASE3, CASPASE9 and DNMT3a in cloned blastocysts. Transfer of cloned embryos produced with donor cells treated with TSA led to the birth of a calf that survived for 21 days. These results show that treatment of buffalo donor cells with TSA and 5azadC improved developmental competence and quality of cloned embryos and altered their epigenetic status and gene expression, and that these beneficial effects were mediated by a reduction in DNA and histone methylation and an increase in histone acetylation in donor cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This experiment was conducted to study the effect of feeding graded levels of dietary crude protein (CP) on serum biochemical profile of Lady Amherst's pheasants (LAP). Eighteen male LAP were randomly distributed into three groups of six each in an experiment based on completely randomized design. The CP content of the diets was 13.4%, 16.5%, and 19.1%, in groups I, II, and III, respectively. Serum concentrations of uric acid was lowest ( P < 0.05) in group I. Relationship between serum concentration of uric acid and nitrogen intake was linear ( R2 = 0.39, P < 0.01). Concentrations of other serum metabolites and enzymes were similar among the groups. Serum concentration of triiodothyronine (T3) was highest ( P < 0.05) in group I, followed by groups II and III. Total antioxidant capacity (TAC) of serum was lower ( P < 0.007), whereas serum concentration of malondialdehyde (MDA) was higher ( P < 0.001) in group I as compared to groups II and III. Regression of serum concentration of TAC ( R2 = 0.74, P < 0.01) and MDA ( R2 = 0.39, P < 0.05) was polynomial. Heterophil to lymphocyte ratio was higher ( P < 0.007) in group I as compared to groups II and III. Relationship between H/L ratio and nitrogen intake was polynomial ( R2 = 0.69, P < 0.05). Cell mediated immune response measured as foot web index was similar among the groups. Based upon the results, it was concluded that a diet containing 16.5% crude protein would be optimum for improving antioxidant defense and the ability of Lady Amherst's pheasant to combat stress. Zoo Biol. 35:346-354, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Efficacy of different insecticides viz. Spinosad 48SC, Cypermethrin 25EC, Profenophos 50EC and Indoxacarb 15EC @ 150, 250, 1250 and 500 ml/ha, respectively against pod borer, Maruca vitrata (Geyer) in pigeonpea was tested. All tested insecticides significantly decreased the larval population of pod borer, flower incidence, pod damage and increased the grain yield as compared to untreated control. But Spinosad 48SC @ 150ml/ha was found to be most effective against test insect and it was closely followed by Indoxacarb 15EC and Cypermethrin 25EC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

PurposeTo evaluate changes in ocular surface and central corneal sub-basal nerve fiber layer (SBNFL) after topical cyclosporin therapy in chronic glaucoma patients on long-term topical antiglaucoma therapy.MethodsA prospective comparative study of ocular surface evaluation of chronic glaucoma patients on long-term topical therapy treated concurrently with a topical cyclosporine 0.05% twice daily for 6 months and controls was done. The study parameters evaluated at recruitment and at the 6-month follow-up included details of topical antiglaucoma medications, visual acuity, intraocular pressure, ocular surface evaluation parameters (TBUT, Schirmers I, ocular surface staining scores and ocular surface disease (OSD) index score (OSDI)), central corneal sensation (Cochet Bonnett aesthesiometer), and central confocal microscopy to study the SBNFL density (SBNFLD).ResultsThirty-two eyes of 16 patients with chronic glaucoma and 30 eyes of 15 normal subjects as controls were studied. Mean TBUT, pre/post CsA treatment was 8.67±3.01/12.24±1.83 s (P=0.007). Mean conjunctival/corneal staining scores pre/post CsA treatment were 3.38±1.93/1.50±0.718 (P=0.00) /5.19±1.82/1.81±0.78 (P=0.098), respectively. Mean OSDI pre/post CsA treatment scores were 30.63±14.61/14.76±6.06 (P=0.007). Mean corneal sensations scores pre/post CsA treatment were 4.64±0.46/4.94±0.39 (P=0.002). Central corneal SBNFLD pre and post CsA treatment was 8811.35±2985.29/10335.13±4092.064 μm/mm2 (P=0.0001).ConclusionsSchirmer's test, ocular surface staining scores, OSDI, corneal sensations, and corneal SBNFLD showed a statistically significant improvement following a 6-month concurrent topical CsA therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contents Following IVF, embryos which cleave early have been shown to have higher developmental competence and quality than those that cleave relatively later across many species. We investigated the effect of time of cleavage on the developmental competence, quality, epigenetic status and gene expression in buffalo embryos produced by handmade cloning ( HMC). Following classification of embryos as early cleaving ( EC) or late cleaving ( LC) based on whether they had cleaved or not at 24 h post in vitro culture, 54% (164/303) were found to be EC and the rest to be LC. The blastocyst rate (58.1 ± 3.4 vs 36.9 ± 1.6%, p < 0.01) and the total cell number (285.5 ± 41.9 vs 141.4 ± 36.1, p < 0.05) were higher, whereas the apoptotic index (3.6 ± 0.6 vs 12.2 ± 1.7, p < 0.01) and the global level of H3K9ac and H3K27me3 were lower (p < 0.05) in the blastocysts produced from EC than in those produced from LC embryos. The relative transcript level of CASPASE3, CASPASE7, DNMT1, DNMT3a and CDX2 was higher (p < 0.05) and that of SOX2 was lower (p < 0.05) in blastocysts produced from LC than in those produced from EC embryos, whereas the expression level of CASPASE6, P53, P21, HDAC1, OCT4 and NANOG was not significantly different between the two groups. These results show that (i) following HMC, blastocysts produced from embryos that cleave early differ from those produced from late cleaving embryos in terms of epigenetic status and expression level of many important apoptosis-, pluripotency-, trophectoderm- and epigenetics-related genes, and (ii) EC embryos are superior to LC embryos in view of their higher developmental competence and quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This experiment was conducted to study the effect of different levels of wheat roti ( WR) on nutrient utilization and blood metabolites in Asian elephants fed roughages ad libitum. Nine (3 M, 6 F) Asian elephants (14-52 years of age, 1909-3968 kg BW) were used in an experiment based on replicated Latin square design. Animals in each group ( n = 3) were assigned to one of the three dietary treatments in a manner that animals in all the three groups were exposed to all the three treatments in three different periods. Each feeding trial comprised 30 days (25 days of adaptation and 5 days collection period). The amount of WR fed to the elephants was 0.18, 0.12 and 0.06% of BW in groups I, II and III, respectively. They were allowed to forage in the nearby forests for 6 h/day and to bathe for 2 h/day. The animals had ad libitum access to cut Rohini ( Mallotus philippensis) trees in their night shelter. Intake and apparent digestibility of dry matter ( DM), crude protein ( CP), gross energy ( GE), Ca, P, Fe, Cu and Zn were measured. Feed consumption was not significantly different among the groups. Significant (p < 0.01) decrease in digestibility of DM and GE and blood glucose concentration was observed with decreased level of WR in the diet. Feeding of WR at 0.06% of BW supplied adequate amount of DE, CP, Ca, P, Fe, Cu and Zn to meet requirement for adult maintenance. Feeding of WR in excess of 0.06% of BW supplied DE in excess of requirement, increased blood glucose concentration which may cause obesity and other associated health problems. It was concluded that the amount of WR should be restricted to 0.06% of BW in the diet of captive Asian elephants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An experiment was conducted to determine the effect of incorporating Jerusalem artichoke (JA) as a prebiotic in the diet of Indian leopards ( n = 11 adults) fed a meat-on-bone diet. The trial consisted of three periods (A1, B, and A2). Each period comprised 17 days of adaptation and four days of collection. During the control periods (A1 and A2), the leopards were fed their normal zoo diets of 2.5-3 kg of buffalo meat-on-bone six days a week without any supplement. During trial B, meat-on-bone diets of the leopards were supplemented with JA at 2% of dietary dry matter (DM). Meat consumption was similar among the treatments. Supplementation of JA decreased the digestibility of crude protein ( P < 0.01). Digestibilities of organic matter and ether extract were similar among the treatments. Serum concentrations of urea and triglycerides were lower ( P < 0.05) when JA was added to the diet. Incorporation of JA to the basal diet increased fecal concentrations of acetate ( P < 0.01), butyrate ( P < 0.01), lactate ( P < 0.01), Lactobacillus spp., and Bifidobacterium spp. ( P < 0.01) with a simultaneous decrease in the concentration of ammonia ( P < 0.01), Clostridia spp. ( P < 0.01), and fecal pH ( P < 0.01). Fecal microbial profiles and hind gut fermentation were improved, without any adverse effects on feed consumption, nutrient utilization, and serum metabolite profiles. Results of this experiment showed that feeding JA at 2% DM in the whole diet could be potentially beneficial for captive Indian leopards fed meat-on-bone diets. Zoo Biol. 34:153-162, 2015. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reduced-tillage peanut production is increasing due to reduced production costs and increased environmental and economic benefits compared to conventional systems. Experiments were conducted in Alabama and Georgia between 2005 and 2007 to evaluate a strip-tillage system utilizing a high-residue cereal rye cover crop, in comparison to a conventional tillage system. Six weed management schemes were evaluated including a preemergence (PRE) application of pendimethalin alone at 1.12 kg ai/ha or in combination with S-metolachlor at 1.36 kg ai/ha. Both PRE applications were applied alone or followed by (fb) a postemergence (POST) application consisting of a mixture of paraquat at 0.140 kg ai/ha plus bentazon at 0.56 kg ai/ha plus 2,4-DB at 0.224 kg ae/ha. The remaining two treatments consisted of a no-herbicide control and aforementioned POST-only application. In 2005 at the Alabama location, pendimethalin plus metolachlor with or without a POST application controlled all weeds >91% in the strip tillage treatment and controlled tall morningglory, yellow nutsedge, and common bermudagrass >83% in the conventional tillage system. Pendimethalin fb a POST application controlled all weeds > 97%, except large crabgrass (75%) and common bermudagrass (≤ 58%) regardless of tillage system. In 2007, pendimethalin and pendimethalin plus S-metolachlor followed by (fb) a POST application controlled smooth pigweed, tall morningglory, large crabgrass, Florida beggarweed, and sicklepod 70 to 99%, across tillage systems. In 2005 at the Georgia location, large crabgrass control was consistently reduced in strip-tillage compared to conventional tillage regardless of herbicide treatment. In 2006, pendimethalin plus S-metolachlor fb POST controlled common bermudagrass and yellow nutsedge 74 to 99%. Herbicide treatment effect on peanut yield varied with environment. Peanut yield was equivalent or greater by 25% or more in 3 of 4 site years utilizing strip-tillage indicating a yield advantage compared to conventional tillage. Peanut market grade was not affected by any herbicide treatments or tillage methods evaluated. Results show that producers can maintain weed control, equivalent grade and yield in reduced-tillage systems when utilizing a high-residue conservation agriculture system integrated with a PRE plus POST herbicide system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to study the effect of concentrates restriction on feed consumption, diet digestibility, and utilization of nitrogen in captive Asian elephants ( Elephas maximus), two feeding trials were conducted on three juveniles, four sub-adults, and three adults. During trial I, the conventional zoo diets of juveniles, sub-adults, and adult contained 22, 17, and 16% of concentrates on dry matter (DM) basis, respectively. During trial II, the amount of concentrate was reduced by 50%. A digestion trial of five days collection period was conducted during each period. The animals ate more roughages when concentrates were restricted. Intake of DM (g/kg BW0.75/day) was highest in sub-adults, followed by juveniles and adults. Apparent digestibility of crude protein (CP), neutral detergent soluble (NDS), and supply of digestible energy (DE) was highest in juveniles, followed by sub-adults and adults. Based upon the estimated metabolic fecal nitrogen (MFN) and calculated endogenous urinary nitrogen (EUN) and dermal losses, minimum dietary CP required to meet maintenance requirement was estimated to be 6.12, 6.05, and 5.97% in juveniles, sub-adults, and adults, respectively. Restriction of concentrates resulted in decreased ( P < 0.05) digestibility of DM and GE, but the diet still supplied adequate amounts of DE and CP to fulfill estimated requirements of energy and protein during the period of experimentation. Thus, the concentrates portion of the diets of captive Asian elephants should be fed in a restricted way so as to reduce the intake of excessive calories and the potential risk of obesity. Zoo Biol. 34:60-70, 2015. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Excessive ingestion of fluoride leads to abnormal mineralization of both enamel and dentin. Mechanisms about enamel fluorosis have been clarified. The knowledge about dentin fluorosis is limited and the mechanism is unclear. The present experiment was aimed to ascertain the excessive ingestion of fluoride on collagen metabolism in dentin of incisor teeth of rats. Rats (n= 12) were divided into two groups. Rats of group I served as control and received only tap water and those of group II received sodium fluoride @ 200 mg/L of drinking water ad lib for a period of 90 days. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction was used to quantify the gene expression levels of Collal in dentin. Significant decreases in expression of Collal gene in the dentin of incisor teeth of fluoride exposed rats was noted at the end of the experiment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]