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The efficacy and safety of percutaneous transvenous mitral commissurotomy by the Inoue technique, in patients with rheumatic mitral stenosis is well known. However, presence of left atrial/appendage thrombus or difficult LV entry entails the use of ‘over the wire’(OTW)technique. Here we describe a case series highlighting the utility and modifications of OTW technique.

The Akshara Deepam (The Light of Letters) project, a collaborative endeavour between Choornikkara Panchayat Library, Kerala State Literacy Mission and Kudumbashree Mission, represents a pioneering model for community literacy and empowerment, with a strong focus on women's participation and empowerment. Initiated in May 2023, this innovative initiative aims to integrate literacy applications into daily life by delivering curated book kits to 720 households through 60 Kudumbashree Neighbourhood Groups, empowering women volunteers to combat poverty through literacy. Recognising its transformative potential, Rajagiri College of Social Sciences (RCSS) plans to integrate academic expertise into the project through a forthcoming MOU with Choornikkara Panchayat. Post-MOU, RCSS envisions a comprehensive approach, drawing from successful experiences, to integrate academic expertise into community engagement initiatives, particularly emphasising enhancing women's empowerment through literacy. To maximise impact, the Akshara Deepam project incorporates perception-level surveys, literacy practices and contributions from various RCSS departments. It provides diverse book collections tailored to the evolving needs of digital library usage. As an opportune intervention in changing literacy paradigms, RCSS intends to assess its efficacy and feasibility for rural replication in light of its initial results. This approach blends theory, community actions and academic involvement, empowering women and enriching communities globally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The past decade has witnessed several significant efforts made towards implementing the biomolecular functions of motor proteins for nanotechnological applications. However, employing motor protein systems in artificial environments demands for a precise and flexible spatiotemporal control mechanism. Light being an ideal external stimulus offers major advantages, allowing better spatial and temporal resolution compared to other diffusion‐based approaches. Robust photochromic properties of azobenzene make it a prime candidate that could be incorporated into biologically active molecules to realize two‐way regulation of motor protein function. In this Minireview, we summarize the design strategies of azobenzene‐based photoswitches for reversibly regulating kinesin‐ and myosin‐driven shuttle movements and briefly discuss photoisomerization‐induced modulation in motor protein activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The expressed sequence tags (ESTs) of common bean were BLAST aligned with barred medic genome sequence and developed 1196 conserved intron spanning primers (CISPs) to facilitate genetic studies in legumes. Randomly selected 288 CISPs, representing loci on barrel medic genome, were tested on 10 selected members of legume family. On the source taxa, the highest single copy amplification success rates of 61.8% (barrel medic) and 56.2% (common bean) was obtained. The success rate of markers was 54.5% in cowpea followed by 53.5% in pigeonpea and chickpea, signifying cross taxon amplification and their potential use in comparative genomics. However, relatively low percentages of primer set amplified (40-43%) in soybean, urdbean and peanut. Further, these primers were tested on different varieties of chickpea, pigeonpea and cowpea. The PCR products were sequenced and aligned which resulted in detection of 26 SNPs and eight INDeLs in cowpea, seven SNPs and two INDeLs in chickpea and 27 SNPs and 14 INDeLs in pigeonpea. These SNPs were successfully converted in to size variation for gel-based genotyping. The CISP markers developed in this study are expected to aid in map saturation of legumes and in marker-assisted selection for accelerated crop improvement.