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Sericulture is a women intensive sector where 60% of the workers are either family workers or hired female workers. Productive skill makes the presence of women invincible both in pre and post cocoon sectors. This larger participation is expected to raise their level of empowerment too. Higher level of empowerment is expected to induce the woman to usher improved productive technology. However field survey in Malda districts of West Bengal reveals a complete bleak picture. Neither productivity level, nor the empowerment level have reached the desired level, which calls for an immediate intervention and revision of policies. Keywords: Sericulture, Productivity, Empowerment, Malda, West Bengal.

Lectin proteins play an important role in biotic and abiotic stress responses in plants. Although the rice lectin protein Osr40c1 has been reported to be regulated by drought stress, the mechanism of its drought tolerance activity has not been studied so far. In this study, it is shown that expression of the Osr40c1 gene correlates with the drought tolerance potential of various rice cultivars. Transgenic rice plants overexpressing Osr40c1 were significantly more tolerant to drought stress than the wild-type plants. Furthermore, ectopic expression of the Osr40c1 gene in tobacco yielded a similar result. Interestingly, the protein displayed a nucleo-cytoplasmic localization and was found to interact with a number of drought-responsive proteins such as S-adenosylmethionine synthase 2 (OsSAM2), stress-associated protein 8 (OsSAP8), DNA-binding protein MNB1B (OsMNB1B), and histone 4 (OsH4). Silencing of each of these protein partners led to drought sensitivity in otherwise tolerant Osr40c1-expressing transgenic tobacco lines indicating that these partners were crucial for the Osr40c1-mediated drought tolerance in planta. Moreover, the association of Osr40c1 with these partners occurred specifically under drought stress forming a multi-protein complex. Together, our findings delineate a novel role of Osr40c1 in imparting drought tolerance by regulating OsMNB1B, OsSAM2, and OsH4 proteins, which presumably enables OsSAP8 to induce downstream gene expression.

Heat stress, particularly the stress appears at the time of flowering to grain filling stages causing severe yield loss in wheat. Heat tolerance is complex phenomena that include adjustment in morphological, physiological and biochemical traits of the crop. Present investigation was carried out to understand the effect of terminal heat stress on different traits of wheat. The experiment was conducted in three dates of sowing as timely sown, late sown and very late sown to expose the crop to heat stress at later stages of the crop growth. Significant genetic variations for all the traits evaluated under three conditions indicated the presence of variability for the traits. Trait association analysis revealed that flag leaf chlorophyll content and MSI at seedling stage; MDA at reproductive stage had direct relationship with grain yield. While under very late sown condition MDA and RWC at seedling stages were found to be highly correlated with grain yield. It indicates that MDA, RWC at seedling stage and days to booting, days to milking plays important role in very late sown condition that can be used as selection criteria in breeding programme.

Among the different mechanism of male sterility operated in the Brassica group crop. Cytoplasmic male sterility mechanism is most suitable for hybrid development in cauliflower because here the curd (intermediate stage) is an edible part of the cauliflower. Further, there is no requirement of restorer line in this case as required in other seed crop. For the multiplication and maintenance of the different lines (A line and B line), sib mating and selfing is not always desirable. In fact, in such situation doubled haploid production through microspore culture is a more appropriate mechanism. Apart from this, the undesirable effect of integration of male sterile cytoplasm can be mitigated by adopting the repeated back crossing, through chloroplast substitution or somatic hybridization mechanism.

The intrinsically fluorescent highly hydrophilic multifunctional aliphatic terpolymer, maleic acid (MA)-co-2-(N-(hydroxymethyl)acrylamido)succinic acid (NHASA)-co-N-(hydroxymethyl)acrylamide (NHMA), that is, 1, was designed and synthesized via C–C/N–C-coupled in situ allocation of a fluorophore monomer, that is, NHASA, composed of amido and carboxylic acid functionalities in the polymerization of two nonemissive MA and NHMA. The scalable and reusable intrinsically fluorescent biocompatible 1 was suitable for sensing and high-performance adsorptive exclusion of Fe(III), along with the imaging of Madin–Darby canine kidney cells. The structure of 1, in situ fluorophore monomer, aggregation-induced enhanced emission, cell-imaging ability, and superadsorption mechanism were studied via microstructural analyses using 1H/13C NMR, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, atomic absorption spectroscopy, ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, dynamic light scattering, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, solid-state fluorescence, fluorescence lifetime, and fluorescence imaging, along with measuring kinetics, isotherms, and thermodynamic parameters. The location, electronic structures, and geometries of the fluorophore and absorption and emission properties of 1 were investigated using density functional theory and natural transition orbital analyses. The limit of detection and the maximum adsorption capacity were 2.45 × 10–7 M and 542.81 mg g–1, respectively.

Wheat blast (WB) is a devastating fungal disease that has recently spread to Bangladesh and poses a threat to the wheat production in India, which is the second-largest wheat producing country in the world. In this study, 350 Indian wheat genotypes were evaluated for WB resistance in 12 field experiments in three different locations, namely Jashore in Bangladesh and Quirusillas and Okinawa in Bolivia. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) across the genome were obtained using DArTseq® technology, and 7554 filtered SNP markers were selected for a genome-wide association study (GWAS). All the three GWAS approaches used identified the 2NS translocation as the only major source of resistance, explaining up to 32% of the phenotypic variation. Additional marker-trait associations were located on chromosomes 2B, 3B, 4D, 5A and 7A, and the combined effect of three SNPs (2B_180938790, 7A_752501634 and 5A_618682953) showed better resistance, indicating their additive effects on WB resistance. Among the 298 bread wheat genotypes, 89 (29.9%) carried the 2NS translocation, the majority of which (60 genotypes) were CIMMYT introductions, and 29 were from India. The 2NS carriers with a grand mean WB index of 6.6 showed higher blast resistance compared to the non-2NS genotypes with a mean index of 46.5. Of the 52 durum wheats, only one genotype, HI 8819, had the 2NS translocation and was the most resistant, with a grand mean WB index of 0.93. Our study suggests that the 2NS translocation is the only major resistance source in the Indian wheat panel analysed and emphasizes the urgent need to identify novel non-2NS resistance sources and genomic regions.

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is an endocrinopathy common among women of reproductive age. Some women with PCOS have cysts on their ovaries. That’s why it’s called “polycystic.” But the name is misleading because many women with PCOS don’t have cysts. Women with PCOS may have infrequent or prolonged menstrual periods or excess male hormone (androgen) levels. It is characterized by anovulation, infertility, hyperandrogenism, and frequently insulin resistance. Although the role of genetic factors in PCOS is strongly supported, the genes that are involved in the etiology of the syndrome have not been fully investigated until now, as well as the environmental contribution in their expression. Some genes have shown altered expression suggesting that the genetic abnormality in PCOS affects signal transduction pathways controlling steroidogenesis, steroid hormones action, gonadotrophin action and regulation, insulin action and secretion, energy homeostasis, chronic inflammation and others. Because the primary cause of PCOS is unknown, treatment is directed at the symptoms. Insulin-sensitizing agents are indicated for most women with polycystic ovary syndrome because they have positive effects on insulin resistance, menstrual irregularities, anovulation, hirsutism, and obesity. Metformin has the most data supporting its effectiveness. Rosiglitazone and pioglitazone are also effective for ameliorating hirsutism and insulin resistance. Metformin and clomiphene, alone or in combination, are first-line agents for ovulation induction. Insulin-sensitizing agents, oral contraceptives, spironolactone, and topical eflornithine can be used in patients with hirsutism.

Glutathione (GSH) is known to regulate iron (Fe) deficiency response in plants but its involvement in modulating subcellular Fe homoeostasis remains elusive. In this study, we report that the GSH-deficient mutants, cad2-1 and pad2-1 displayed increased sensitivity to Fe deficiency with significant downregulation of the vacuolar Fe exporters, AtNRAMP3 and AtNRAMP4, and the chloroplast Fe importer, AtPIC1. Moreover, the pad2-1 mutant accumulated higher Fe levels in vacuoles but lower Fe levels in chloroplasts compared to wild type (Columbia ecotype [Col-0]) under Fe limited conditions. Exogenous GSH treatment enhanced chloroplast Fe contents in Col-0 but failed to do so in the nramp3nramp4 double mutants demonstrating that GSH plays a role in modulating subcellular Fe homoeostasis. Pharmacological experiments, mutant analysis, and promoter assays revealed that this regulation involves the transcriptional activation of Fe transporter genes by a GSH-S-nitrosoglutathione (GSNO) module. The Fe responsive bHLH transcription factors (TFs), AtbHLH29, AtbHLH38, and AtbHLH101 were found to interact with the promoters of these genes, which were, in turn, activated via S-nitrosylation (SNO). Taken together, the present study highlights the role of the GSH-GSNO module in regulating subcellular Fe homoeostasis by transcriptional activation of the Fe transporters AtNRAMP3, AtNRAMP4, and AtPIC1 via SNO of bHLH TFs during Fe deficiency.

Key message Genomic selection is a promising tool to select for spot blotch resistance and index-based selection can simultaneously select for spot blotch resistance, heading and plant height. Abstract A major biotic stress challenging bread wheat production in regions characterized by humid and warm weather is spot blotch caused by the fungus Bipolaris sorokiniana. Since genomic selection (GS) is a promising selection tool, we evaluated its potential for spot blotch in seven breeding panels comprising 6736 advanced lines from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center. Our results indicated moderately high mean genomic prediction accuracies of 0.53 and 0.40 within and across breeding panels, respectively which were on average 177.6% and 60.4% higher than the mean accuracies from fixed effects models using selected spot blotch loci. Genomic prediction was also evaluated in full-sibs and half-sibs panels and sibs were predicted with the highest mean accuracy (0.63) from a composite training population with random full-sibs and half-sibs. The mean accuracies when full-sibs were predicted from other full-sibs within families and when full-sibs panels were predicted from other half-sibs panels were 0.47 and 0.44, respectively. Comparison of GS with phenotypic selection (PS) of the top 10% of resistant lines suggested that GS could be an ideal tool to discard susceptible lines, as greater than 90% of the susceptible lines discarded by PS were also discarded by GS. We have also reported the evaluation of selection indices to simultaneously select non-late and non-tall genotypes with low spot blotch phenotypic values and genomic-estimated breeding values. Overall, this study demonstrates the potential of integrating GS and index-based selection for improving spot blotch resistance in bread wheat.

Introduction: The surgical treatment of perforated peptic ulcer disease has evolved in parallel to advances in medical treatment of Peptic Ulcer Disease. Objective: To investigate the feasibility of ERAS (Enhanced Recovery after Surgery) Pathways in patients undergoing emergency repair for Perforated peptic ulcer disease. Materials and methods: Institutional based prospective analytical study. Indoor patients in Dept. of General Surgery in Medical College and Hospital Kolkata. January 2019 to June 2020. Study was conducted for 18 months.14 months was provided for data collection. Next 2 months for statistical analysis and another 2 months for thesis writing and submission. Conclusion: ERAS pathway (with some modications) seems to be safe and feasible in a highly selected subset of patients undergoing emergency Omental grahams patch repair of Perforated Peptic Ulcer Disease

While the three rusts are the most predominant wheat diseases in the global scale, various other diseases dominate in different geographical regions. In this chapter, some major non-rust diseases of wheat with global and/or regional economic importance are addressed, including three spike diseases (Fusarium head blight, wheat blast, and Karnal bunt), four leaf spotting diseases (tan spot, Septoria nodorum blotch, spot blotch, and Septoria tritici blotch), and several root diseases.

Most practical optimization problems are comprised of multiple conflicting objectives and constraints which involve time-consuming simulations. Construction of metamodels of objectives and constraints from a few high-fidelity solutions and a subsequent optimization of metamodels to find in-fill solutions in an iterative manner remain a common metamodeling based optimization strategy. The authors have previously proposed a taxonomy of 10 different metamodeling frameworks for multiobjective optimization problems, each of which constructs metamodels of objectives and constraints independently or in an aggregated manner. Of the 10 frameworks, five follow a generative approach in which a single Pareto-optimal solution is found at a time and other five frameworks were proposed to find multiple Pareto-optimal solutions simultaneously. Of the 10 frameworks, two frameworks (M3-2 and M4-2) are detailed here for the first time involving multimodal optimization methods. In this paper, we also propose an adaptive switching based metamodeling (ASM) approach by switching among all 10 frameworks in successive epochs using a statistical comparison of metamodeling accuracy of all 10 frameworks. On 18 problems from three to five objectives, the ASM approach performs better than the individual frameworks alone. Finally, the ASM approach is compared with three other recently proposed multiobjective metamodeling methods and superior performance of the ASM approach is observed. With growing interest in metamodeling approaches for multiobjective optimization, this paper evaluates existing strategies and proposes a viable adaptive strategy by portraying importance of using an ensemble of metamodeling frameworks for a more reliable multiobjective optimization for a limited budget of solution evaluations.

Svante Pääbo was born on 20th April, 1955 at Stockholm, Sweden. He is a Swedish evolutionary geneticist whospecialized in the study of DNA from ancient specimens and who was the first to contribute to the sequencing of the Neanderthal genome. Pääbo also discovered the hominin Denisova. For his groundbreaking research on hominin genomes and human evolution, Pääbo was awarded the 2022 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine.

The present study was undertaken to determine the antimicrobial resistance pattern of Enterobacter species to guide the clinician in selecting the best antimicrobial agent for an individual patient. A total of 50 clinical isolates of Enterobacter species were collected from different clinical specimens at the microbiology laboratory of BSMMU between August, 2018 and September, 2019. The two main species of Enterobacter, E.cloacae and E.aerogenes were identified by biochemical tests. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was performed by Kirby Bauer disc diffusion method and reported according to CLSI guidelines. Majority (56%) of the isolated Enterobacter were E.cloacae, 40% were E.aerogenes and 4% were other species. The Enterobacter isolates showed relatively high resistance rates to the cephalosporins including cefoxitin (82%), cefixime (62%), ceftazidime (46%) and ceftriaxone (46%). Resistance to the carbapenems and aminoglycosides was relatively low. The high resistance rates of Enterobacter species to multiple antibiotics makes it necessary for antimicrobial susceptibility testing to be conducted prior to antibiotic prescription. Bangladesh J Med Microbiol 2019; 13 (2): 3-6

There is a high prevalence of H. pylori infection in Bangladeshi population that causes site specific diseases which includes gastritis, gastric ulcer, duodenal ulcer and gastric carcinoma. The Cross sectional study was carried out in the Department of Microbiology and immunology, Bangabandhu Medical University (BSMMU), during the period of September, 2018 to July, 2019. Dyspeptic patients, who underwent endoscopic examination at the Department of Gastroenterology of Dhaka medical College and Hospital, who fulfilled the inclusion criteria were enrolled as study population. Collected gastric and duodenal biopsy specimens from 142 patients were categorized as H. pylori positive cases (34.5%) and H. pylori negative cases (35.2%) based on the case definition used in the study by RUT, Histology and ureC gene PCR. All of the laboratory works were performed at Department of Microbiology and Immunology except Histology which was performed at the Department of Pathology of BSMMU. Endoscopic findings significantly co-related with histological findings (p = 0.001). Highest rate of H. pylori infection was found in 76% of duodenal ulcer cases and lowest in Adenocarcinoma group being only 9% of total study population. H. pylori infection was positively associated with duodenal ulcer cases (p=0.014) and negatively with adeno carcinoma cases (p=0.002) in a statistically significant manner. Bangladesh J Med Microbiol 2019; 13 (2): 11-17

One of the main difficulties in applying an optimization algorithm to a practical problem is that evaluation of objectives and constraints often involve computationally expensive procedures. To handle such problems, a metamodel is first formed from a few exact (high-fidelity) solution evaluations and then optimized by an algorithm in a progressive manner. However, in solving multiobjective or many-objective optimization problems involving multiple constraints, a simple extension of the idea to form one metamodel for each objective and constraint function may not constitute the most efficient approach. The cumulative effect of errors from each metamodel may turn out to be detrimental for the accuracy of the overall optimization procedure. In this paper, we propose a taxonomy of different plausible metamodeling frameworks for multiobjective and many-objective optimization and provide a comparative study by discussing advantages and disadvantages of each framework. The results presented in this paper are obtained using the well-known Kriging metamodeling approach. Based on our extensive simulation studies on proposed frameworks, we report intriguing observations about the behavior of each framework, which may provide salient guidelines for further studies in this emerging area within evolutionary multiobjective optimization.

Wheat blast (WB) caused by Magnaporthe oryzae pathotype Triticum (MoT) is an important fungal disease in tropical and subtropical wheat production regions. The disease was initially identified in Brazil in 1985, and it subsequently spread to some major wheat-producing areas of the country as well as several South American countries such as Bolivia, Paraguay, and Argentina. In recent years, WB has been introduced to Bangladesh and Zambia via international wheat trade, threatening wheat production in South Asia and Southern Africa with the possible further spreading in these two continents. Resistance source is mostly limited to 2NS carriers, which are being eroded by newly emerged MoT isolates, demonstrating an urgent need for identification and utilization of non-2NS resistance sources. Fungicides are also being heavily relied on to manage WB that resulted in increasing fungal resistance, which should be addressed by utilization of new fungicides or rotating different fungicides. Additionally, quarantine measures, cultural practices, non-fungicidal chemical treatment, disease forecasting, biocontrol etc., are also effective components of integrated WB management, which could be used in combination with varietal resistance and fungicides to obtain reasonable management of this disease.

While glutathione (GSH) is known to regulate iron (Fe) deficiency response in plants, its involvement in modulating subcellular Fe homeostasis remained elusive. In this study, we report that the GSH depleted mutants, cad2-1 and pad2-1 displayed increased sensitivity to Fe deficiency with significant down-regulation of the vacuolar Fe exporters, AtNRAMP3 and AtNRAMP4 and the chloroplast Fe importer, AtPIC1. Moreover, the pad2-1 mutant accumulated higher Fe content in vacuoles and lower in chloroplasts compared with Col-0 under Fe limited condition. Exogenous GSH treatment could enhance the chloroplast Fe content in Col-0 plants but failed to do so in the nramp3nramp4 double mutant demonstrating the role of GSH in modulating subcellular Fe homeostasis. Pharmacological experiments, mutant analysis and promoter assay revealed that this regulation involved transcriptional activation of the transporter genes by a GSH-GSNO module. The Fe responsive bHLH transcription factors (TFs), AtbHLH29, AtbHLH38 and AtbHLH101 were identified to interact with the promoters of these genes which were in turn activated via S-nitrosylation. Together, the present study delineates the role of GSH-GSNO module in regulating subcellular Fe homeostasis by transcriptional activation of the Fe transporters AtNRAMP3, AtNRAMP4 and AtPIC1 via S-nitrosylation of the bHLH TFs during Fe deficiency.Summary statementGlutathione regulates subcellular iron homeostasis under iron deficiency via GSNO dependent transcriptional activation of AtNRAMP3, AtNRAMP4 and AtPIC1 genes by S-nitrosylation of the iron responsive bHLH transcription factors, AtbHLH29, AtbHLH38 and AtbHLH101.

For initiating a prosperous cost-friendly waste management of small-scale industries, cow buffing dust (CBD), one of the abundantly available semisynthetic collagenic solid wastes, has been used as a nonsulfur cross-linker of natural rubber (NR) for fabricating an NRCBD–biocomposite superadsorbent. The as-prepared reusable biocomposite bearing variegated collagenic and noncollagenic N-donors, along with the O-donors, has been reported for ligand-selective preferential superadsorption from waste water. Thus, a CBD and NR-based scalable biocomposite bearing optimum cross-linking, excellent physicochemical properties, and reusability has been developed via systematic optimization of the torque and reaction time for cost-friendly adsorptive exclusion of dyes, such as 2,8-dimethyl-3,7-diamino-phenazine (i.e., safranine, SF) and (7-amino-8-phenoxazin-3-ylidene)-diethylazanium dichlorozinc dichloride (i.e., brilliant cresyl blue), BCB, and Hg(II). The CBD-aided curing of NR has been achieved through the formation of a cross-linked chromane-ring originated via reaction between the methylol-phenol ring of phenol-formaldehyde resin and isoprene unit of NR. The partial disappearance of unsaturation in cured-NRCBD, relative variation of crystallinity, surface properties, elevated thermal stabilities, and ligand-selective superadsorption have been studied by advanced microstructural analyses of unadsorbed and/or adsorbed NRCBD using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), 13C nuclear magnetic resonance, ultraviolet–visible, and O 1s-/N 1s-/C 1s-/Hg 4f7/2,5/2-X-ray photoelectron spectroscopies, thermogravimetric analysis, differential scanning calorimetry, X-ray diffraction, field emission scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive spectroscopy, and pHPZC. Response surface methodology-based optimization has been employed to attain the optimum potential of NRCBD, considering the interactive effects between pHi, temperature, and concentration of the dye. H-aggregate and time-dependent hypochromic effect has been observed during individual adsorption of dyes. Moreover, the prevalence of chemisorption via ionic interaction between NRCBD and SF, BCB, and Hg(II) has been realized by FTIR, fitting of kinetics data to the pseudosecond-order model, and measurement of activation energies. The Brunauer–Emmett–Teller and Langmuir isotherms fit the best to BCB and SF/Hg(II), respectively. Thermodynamically spontaneous chemisorption have shown the maximum adsorption capacities of 303.61, 46.14, and 166.46 mg g–1 for SF, BCB, and Hg(II), respectively, at low initial concentration of Hg(II)/dyes = 40 ppm, 303 K, and adsorbent dose = 0.01 g.

Under changing environmental conditions, salt stress has posed a severe threat to agriculture. Although the R40 family lectins are known to be associated with osmotic stress response, their mechanism of action remains elusive. Among them,Osr40g3displays the highest expression under salt stress. Here, we report that the constitutive overexpression ofOsr40g3imparts salt tolerance but displays pollen sterility and poor seed development in rice. Promoter analysis and gene expression studies revealed that the gene follows a precise tissue-specific expression pattern, which is essential for proper seed development. Overexpressing the gene under the control of its native promoter rescued the pollen-sterile phenotype while significantly improving salt tolerance. Protein-protein interaction studies demonstrated thatOsr40g3 positively regulates an expansin protein,OsEG45, while decreasing the stability of a 14-3-3 protein,OsGF14e. Correspondingly, theOsEG45overexpression andOsGF14esilencing lines display a salt-tolerant phenotype. Again, silencingOsEG45in the background ofOsGF14esilencing lines resulted in a salt-sensitive phenotype, indicating that salt tolerance of theOsGF14esilencing lines isOsEG45-dependent. Notably, theOsGF14egene displays early salt responsiveness, whileOsr40g3andOsEG45display a late response, indicating a spatio-temporal regulation of these genes. Interestingly, constitutive overexpression ofOsr40g3or silencing ofOsGF14eleads to diminished gibberellic acid (GA) accumulation that activates theOsEG45gene. Together, our study demonstrates that during salt stress,Osr40g3, a late salt-responsive gene, confers salt tolerance by negatively regulatingOsGF14e while positively regulatingOsEG45 via a GA-mediated pathway. This mechanistic insight broadens our understanding of lectin-mediated regulation of salt tolerance.

Lectin proteins play an important role in biotic and abiotic stress responses in plants. Although the rice lectin protein,Osr40c1, has been reported to be regulated by drought stress, the mechanism of its drought tolerance activity has not been studied so far. In this study, it has been depicted that expression ofOsr40c1gene correlates with the drought tolerance potential of various rice cultivars. Transgenic rice plants overexpressingOsr40c1were significantly more tolerant to drought stress over the wild-type plants. Furthermore, ectopic expression of theOsr40c1gene in tobacco yielded a similar result. Interestingly, the protein displayed a nucleo-cytoplasmic localization and was found to interact with a number of drought-responsive proteins likeOsSAM2,OsSAP8,OsMNB1B, andOsH4. Fascinatingly, silencing of each of these protein partners led to drought susceptibility in the otherwise tolerantOsr40c1 expressing transgenic tobacco lines indicating that these partners were crucial for theOsr40c1-mediated drought tolerancein planta. Together, the present investigation delineated the novel role ofOsr40c1 protein in imparting drought tolerance by regulating the chromatin proteins,OsMNB1B andOsH4, which presumably enablesOsSAP8 to induce downstream gene expression. In addition, its interaction withOsSAM2 might induce polyamine biosynthesis thus further improving drought tolerance in plants.HighlightsA rice lectin protein,Osr40c1, plays a crucial role in imparting drought stress tolerance in plants by modulatingOsSAM2 as well as the transcriptional regulatorsOsSAP8,OsMNB1B andOsH4.

With the changing climatic conditions, drought has become one of the most threatening abiotic stress factors that adversely affect rice cultivation and productivity. Although the involvement of the jacalin domain-containing protein, OsSalT, has been reported in drought and salinity tolerance, its functional mechanism still remains largely unexplored. In this study, expression of the OsSalT gene was found to be positively correlated with the drought tolerance potential with its higher transcript abundance in the tolerant indica rice cultivar, Vandana and lower abundance in the susceptible cultivar, MTU1010. Moreover, the ectopic expression of OsSalT in tobacco imparted drought stress tolerance in the transgenic lines. The transgenic lines exhibited significantly improved growth and higher osmolyte accumulation over the wild-type (WT) plants together with the induction in the OsSalT expression under drought stress. Fascinatingly, the yeast two-hybrid and bimolecular fluorescence complementation (BiFC) analyses confirmed the interaction of OsSalT protein with two interesting transcription factors (TFs), OsNAC1 and OsDREB2A. In silico analysis further revealed that the OsSalT protein interacted with the regulatory domain of OsDREB2A and the C-terminal domain of OsNAC1 leading to their activation and induction of their downstream drought-responsive genes. Together, this study unravels a novel model for OsSalT-mediated regulation of drought tolerance in plants.

Herein, gum ghatti (GGTI)-g-[sodium acrylate (SA)-co-3-(N-(4-(4-methyl pentanoate))acrylamido)propanoate (NMPAP)-co-4-(acrylamido)-4-methyl pentanoate (AMP)-co-N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPA)] (i.e., GGTI-g-TetraP), a novel interpenetrating tetrapolymer network-based sustainable hydrogel, possessing extraordinary physicochemical properties and excellent recyclability, has been synthesized via grafting of GGTI and in situ strategic protrusion of NMPAP and AMP during the solution polymerization of SA and NIPA, through systematic multistage optimization of ingredients and temperature, for ligand-selective superadsorption of hazardous metal ions (M(II)), such as Sr(II), Hg(II), and Cu(II). The in situ allocation of NMPAP and AMP via N-H and C-H activations, grafting of GGTI into the SA-co-NMPAP-co-AMP-co-NIPA (TetraP) matrix, the effect of comonomer compositions on ligand-selective adsorption, crystallinity, thermal stabilities, surface properties, swellability, adsorption capacities (ACs), mechanical properties, and the superadsorption mechanism have been apprehended via extensive microstructural analyses of unloaded and/or loaded GGTI-g-TetraP1 and GGTI-g-TetraP2 bearing SA/NIPA in 8:1 and 2:1 ratios, respectively, using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), 1H/13C/DEPT-135 NMR, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), thermogravimetric analysis, differential scanning calorimetry, X-ray diffraction, field emission scanning electron microscopy, rheological analysis, and energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry, along with measuring % gel content, pH at point of zero charge (pHPZC), and % graft ratio. The thermodynamically spontaneous chemisorption has been inferred from FTIR, XPS, fitting of kinetics data to pseudo-second-order model, and activation energies. The chemisorption data have exhibited excellent fitting to the Langmuir isotherm model. For Sr(II), Hg(II), and Cu(II), ACs were 1940.24/1748.36, 1759.50/1848.03, and 1903.64/1781.63 mg g-1, respectively, at 293 K, 0.02 g of GGTI-g-TetraP1/2, and initial concentration of M(II) = 500-1000 ppm.

Pectin-g-(sodium acrylate-co-3-(N-isopropylacrylamido) sodium propanoate-co-N-isopropylacrylamide) interpenetrating polymer networks (PANIPNs) were synthesized through systematic multistage optimization of equilibrium swelling ratio by response surface methodology for individual and/or synergistic removal(s) of cationic safranine (SF), anionic methyl orange, and M(II/III), such as Hg(II), Cd(II), and Cr(III). The relative effects of copolymer compositions on ligand-selective adsorption, strong/weak H-bonds, thermal stabilities, crystallinity, surface properties, swelling abilities, cross-link densities, network parameters, hydrophilic–hydrophobic characteristics, and adsorption capacities (ACs) were measured through extensive microstructural analyses of adsorbed and/or unadsorbed PANIPN41 and PANIPN21 bearing sodium acrylate and N-isopropylacrylamide (SA/NIPAm) in 4:1 and 2:1 ratios, respectively, using Fourier transform infrared, 1H and 13C NMR, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, differential scanning calorimetry, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, along with measuring lower critical solution temperature, % gel content (% GC), % −COOH, and pHPZC. Extensive UV–vis measurements were carried out at varying copolymer compositions, initial pH (pHi), and dyes, interpreted considering monomer–dimer and azonium–ammonium equilibrium of dye, dye–dye complexation, ligand-selective PANIPNs–dye adduct formation, π–π stacking interactions, and orientation effect of dyes. Thermodynamically feasible chemisorption processes showed the maximum ACs of 127.61, 96.78, 103.36, and 99.41 mg g–1 for SF, Hg(II), Cd(II), and Cr(III), respectively, under optimum conditions.

Introduction: Pleural effusion is a common clinical manifestation of varying aetiology. Its outcome varies according to underlying aetiology. The causes and prognosis vary between developed and developing countries. Objectives: To find out the most common causes of pleural effusion in a tertiary care hospital of Bangladesh. Materials and Methods: Total 50 patients were enrolled in the study during the period from January 2014 to November 2015 in combined military hospital, Dhaka. Informed written consent was obtained from all patients under the study, explaining the risk benefits and objectives of the study before sampling. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire containing all the key variables along with radiological, laboratory and pleural fluid analysis report. Data presented as frequency and percentage and Chai-square test was performed by using SPSS 23.0. Results: Patients' mean age was 48.28 ± 12.53 years and ranged from 12 to 70 years where half of them were above 50. Male-female ratio was 1.63:1. Sixty five percent of the patients had positive smoking history. Persistent cough, fever and weight loss were the main presenting symptoms. Radiological findings revealed 50% had isolated right-sided pleural effusion and laboratory investigation found 28% cases ESR value 50-100 mm in 1st hour. Pleural fluid examination revealed 75% patient had straw coloured pleural fluid. Sputum for Acid-Fast Bacilli and other relevant investigations revealed 44% patients had tuberculosis, 16% had pneumonia, 8% had malignancy and 24% had other causes of pleural effusion. Conclusion: This study revealed that the tuberculosis is the predominant cause of pleural effusion followed by pneumonia and malignancy. Journal of Armed Forces Medical College Bangladesh Vol.13(2) 2017: 15-17

The primary clinical tool for predicting the lineage potential of leukemic blasts is the characterization of protein expression by immunophenotyping. It is common for acute leukemias to aberrantly express protein markers more typically associated with other lineages. Therefore, this study was designed to assess the frequency of aberrant antigens expression in childhood acute leukemia. Peripheral blood and bone marrow samples were collected from 76 clinically suspected and morphologically diagnosed untreated cases of acute leukemia (children of 0

Herein, gum ghatti-g-(N-isopropylacrylamide-co-3-(N-isopropylacrylamido) propanoic acid-co-sodium acrylate) (GTINIAMSA), a novel interpenetrating terpolymer network hydrogel with unprecedented thermomechanical and physicochemical properties and excellent recyclability, was synthesized via the grafting of gum ghatti (GTI) and the in situ strategic protrusion of 3-(N-isopropylacrylamido) propanoic acid (NIPAMPA) during the solution polymerization of sodium acrylate (SA) and N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAm) using N,N′-methylenebisacrylamide (MBA) and potassium persulfate (PPS)/sodium bisulfite (SBS) as a cross-linker and redox pair of initiators, respectively, through the systematic multistage optimization of the constituents and the reaction temperature for a comprehensive understanding of the superadsorption mechanism of hazardous metal ions, i.e. M(II/III), like Cd(II), Pb(II), Bi(III) and Sb(III). The unorthodox in situ attachment of NIPAMPA, grafting of GTI into NIPAm-co-NIPAMPA-co-SA (NIAMSA) matrix and the superadsorption mechanism were systematically investigated via extensive unloaded and/or loaded microstructural analyses by FTIR, 1H-/13C-NMR, C 1s-/O 1s-/Cd 3d5/2,3/2-/Pb 4f7/2,5/2-/Bi 4f7/2,5/2-/Sb 3d3/2-XPS, TGA, XRD, FESEM and EDX, along with the measurements of the %gel content (% GC), pH at point of zero charge (pHPZC), % graft ratio (% GR) and network parameters of the hydrogels. The prevalence of ionic (I) and variegated coordinative interactions, such as monodentate (M), bidentate bridging (BB) and bidentate chelation (BC), between GTINIAMSA and M(II/III) were also investigated by FTIR and the fitting of kinetics data to a pseudo-second-order model as well as by the measurements of the activation energies of adsorption. The equilibrium adsorption data of M(II/III) were fitted excellently to the Langmuir isotherm model. The thermodynamically spontaneous chemisorption processes showed the excellent maximum adsorption capacities (ACs) of 1477.83, 1568.81, 1582.38 and 1518.09 mg g−1 for Cd(II), Pb(II), Bi(III), and Sb(III), respectively, at 303 K with an adsorbent dose of 0.02 g and initial concentration of M(II/III) = 500–800 ppm.

Tuberculosis remains a major threat to world health. The main aim of this study was to improve the microscopic detection of AFB from sputum by Bleach sedimentation technique using household bleach. This was a cross sectional type of study conducted for a period of one year from July 2010 to June 2011 in the Department of Laboratory Services, Khwaja Yunus Ali Medical College Hospital (KYAMCH), Sirajgonj. A total of 115 clinically suspected tuberculosis patients aged between 7-85 years were included in the study. Among them 35 (30.4%) patients had TB positive by routine (Direct microscopy) method; whereas, by bleach concentration method 42 (36.5%) were found positive; diagnosing 07 additional patients. The rise of 16.7% in sputum positivity by bleach sedimentation microscopy over the direct smear microscopy was found to be statistically significant (p=

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease that develops within a complex network of genetic and immunologic factors. Both genetic and environmental factors strongly influence the development of SLE. But genetic factors are more important both in determining the overall susceptibility to SLE and in influencing immunologic heterogenecity in affected subjects. Now it is accepted that major histocompatibility complex (MHC) genes particularly HLA (Human leukocyte antigen) class II constitute a part of the genetic factor for susceptibility to develop SLE. To determine the association of HLA-DR antigens with SLE, this case-control study was conducted over a period of twelve months from March 2013 in Dhaka. Buccal swabs for HLA-DR typing were collected from 46 SLE cases and 46 age and sex matched unrelated healthy controls. HLA-DR typing was carried out by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with sequence specific primers. Among 46 cases, female versus male ration was 22: 1 and mean age at study entry was 27.05 ± 8.17 years, ranging from 12.5 – 45 years. A total of 10 (HLA-DR1 to DR10) HLA antigens were determined in both cases and controls. The most frequent HLA-DR observed among cases was DR2 (86.96%) followed by DR7 (41.30%). When compared with healthy controls, the HLA-DR2 was significantly associated with SLE (p ?0.05, RR: 4.6914, 95% CI: 1.658 to 13.267). No other HLA-DR had significant association with SLE. No association of HLA-DR was observed with age of onset of disease among SLE cases. Results of the study reveal that HLA-DR2 gene is a risk factor for development of SLE in Bangladeshi population.

Sundarbans is the largest mangrove forest in the world and a UNESCO World Heritage site. This area is populated by some of the world’s poorest people characterized by low levels of socio-economic indicators. However, it is one of the richest areas in the world in terms of natural resources and biodiversity. Climate change is evident here and is one of the important drivers of migration, food insecurity and poverty in this area. The basic objective of our study is to assess the socio-economic impact of climate change and its implications for availability of natural resources, and thereby to understand the adaptation needs of the people. Climate change not only impacts agricultural productivity but also the occupational structure. The decline in food security and the lack of other developmental choices in the face of climate variability are a serious threat to the economic viability of population. We have used stratified sampling techniques for data collection at household level based on pre-designed questionnaires and focus group discussion. We have tried to analyze vulnerability based on LIFE framework and log-linear regression model, and suggest some adaptation strategies to reduce vulnerability.

ABSTARCT Yellow vein mosaic is one of the devastating diseases of okra found in Indian subcontinent. Mosaic is caused by mono and bipartite begomoviruses and their satellites. This disease mainly reduces the quality of fruit and is greatly affected in severe case of infection. Management of disease by the application of chemicals is quite difficult and hazardous to the environment. The development of resistant cultivar is only practical approach to control the disease. Several researchers work on genetics of disease resistance and inheritance of resistance to yellow mosaic disease. Different source of resistant in wild species of okra had been identified. For the improvement of cultivated okra species, it is necessary to understand and appreciate the studies related to the virus, transmission of virus, alternative host for virus, and wild relative of okra, cross abilities barrier between the species, favorable conditions for disease development, screening methods, and breeding strategies. Under this chapter, we have tried to incorporate all related aspects that directly or indirectly help in the development of resistant cultivar of okra.

Flowering time and seed size are the important traits for adaptation in chickpea. Early phenology (time of flowering, podding and maturity) enhance chickpea adaptation to short season environments. Along with a trait of consumer preference, seed size has also been considered as an important factor for subsequent plant growth parameters including germination, seedling vigour and seedling mass. Small seeded kabuli genotype ICC 16644 was crossed with four genotypes (JGK 2, KAK 2, KRIPA and ICC 17109) to study inheritance of flowering time and seed size. The relationships of phenology with seed size, grain yield and its component traits were studied. The study included parents, F1, F2 and F3 of four crosses. The segregation data of F2 indicated flowering time in chickpea was governed by two genes with duplicate recessive epistasis and lateness was dominant to earliness. Two genes were controlling 100-seed weight where small seed size was dominant over large seed size. Early phenology had significant negative or no association (ICC 16644 × ICC 17109) with 100-seed weight. Yield per plant had significant positive association with number of seeds per plant, number of pods per plant, biological yield per plant, 100-seed weight, harvest index and plant height and hence could be considered as factors for seed yield improvement. Phenology had no correlation with yield per se (seed yield per plant) in any of the crosses studied. Thus, present study shows that in certain genetic background it might be possible to breed early flowering genotypes with large seed size in chickpea and selection of early flowering genotypes may not essentially have a yield penalty.

With the changing climatic conditions, drought has become one of the most threatening abiotic stress factors that adversely affect rice cultivation and productivity. Although the involvement of the jacalin domain-containing protein, OsSalT, has been reported in drought and salinity tolerance, its functional mechanism still remains largely unexplored. In this study, expression of the OsSalT gene was found to be positively correlated with the drought tolerance potential with its higher transcript abundance in the tolerant indica rice cultivar, Vandana, and lower abundance in the susceptible cultivar, MTU1010. Moreover, the overexpression of OsSalT gene in rice and its ectopic expression in tobacco significantly improved drought stress tolerance in the transgenic lines. The transgenic lines exhibited significantly improved growth and higher osmolyte accumulation over the wild-type (WT) plants under drought stress. Fascinatingly, the yeast two-hybrid and bimolecular fluorescence complementation (BiFC) analyses confirmed the interaction of OsSalT protein with two interesting transcription factors (TFs), OsNAC1 and OsDREB2A. In silico analysis followed by yeast two-hybrid assay further revealed that the OsSalT protein interacted with the C-terminal domains of both OsDREB2A and OsNAC1 leading to their activation. This triggered the induction of their downstream drought-responsive genes. Together, this study unravelled a novel model for OsSalT-mediated regulation of drought tolerance in plants.

A new interpenetrating polymer network superadsorbent (IPNS) hydrogel, possessing unprecedented physicochemical properties/swellability and excellent recyclability, has been synthesized, via solution polymerization of monomers (i.e. sodium acrylate, SA and N-isopropylacrylamide, NIPA) and natural polymers (i.e. pectin, PC), using a crosslinker (i.e. N,N′-methylenebisacrylamide, MBA) and a redox pair of initiators (i.e. potassium persulfate, PPS and sodium bisulfite, SBS), through systematic incorporation and successive optimization of different initial compositions and temperatures, for the eco-/cost-friendly mere/synergistic removal of hazardous cationic dyes (i.e. methyl violet, MV and methylene blue, MB) and/or diphenyl-azo dye (i.e. methyl orange, MO), along with the adsorptive exclusion of toxic bivalent heavy metal ions (M(II)), like Pb(II), Cu(II), Co(II) and Zn(II). The rational appearance of several physicochemical changes in IPNS networks, both loaded and/or unloaded, has systematically been characterized by FTIR, NMR, XPS, TGA, DTG, DSC, XRD, SEM, EDX, and rheological studies, along with measuring the lower critical solution temperature (LCST), gel content, % of –COOH, % graft ratio (%GR), pHPZC and network parameters of IPNS. Mere or interactive effects of structurally/chemically dissimilar dyes have comprehensively been interpreted via analyzing the monomer–dimer/dimer–trimer equilibrium, H-/J-aggregate, dye–dye complex, IPNS–dye adducts, hydrophobic interaction of alkylamino groups, orientation effect of dyes (i.e. pyramidal or propeller), azonium–ammonium equilibrium of dye etc., through extensive UV-Vis analyses, during adsorption. In addition to pseudosecond order kinetics, BET and Langmuir isotherms have also been found to be in the best agreement for MB and MV/Cu(II)/Co(II)/Zn(II)/Pb(II), respectively. In all the cases, thermodynamically feasible chemisorption processes have been found to follow the intraparticle diffusion model. The maximum adsorption capacities (ACs) of MV, MB, Pb(II), Cu(II), Co(II) and Zn(II) were obtained as 265.49, 137.43, 54.86, 53.86, 51.72 and 50.01 mg g−1, respectively, under optimum conditions.

Artificial neural networks (ANNs) have acquired enormous importance in computing of the performance parameters of microstrip antennas due to their generalized and adaptive features. However, recently the concept of support vector machines (SVMs) has become very much popular in performance parameters computation due to several attractive features over ANNs. Specifically, SVMs outreach ANNs noticeably in terms of execution time. Likewise, ANNs are having multiple local minima problem, whereas a global and unique solution is provided by SVMs. In this paper, several performance parameters like: resonant frequency, gain, directivity, and radiation efficiency of slotted microstrip antennas with modified ground plane are computed with the help of SVM formulation. Comparisons of different parameters of simulated and computed values are illustrated. The achieved radiation patterns at particular resonant frequency in different planes are included as well. A prototype of the optimized antenna is also fabricated and characterized. A good agreement is attained among the computed, simulated, and measured results.

Pityriasis versicolor is a chronic, superficial fungal infection affecting the superficial layer of a stratum corneum. Malassezia furfur is the major species involved in pityriasis versicolor. Currently many researchers reported increase in the incidence of other species as a causative agent of pityriasis versicolor. Isolation and identification of Malassezia species from suspected Pityriasis versicolor patients was conducted in the Department of Microbiology and immunology Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) from September 2013 to August 2014. Ninety two clinically diagnosed patients of Pityriasis versicolor were studied and samples from skin lesion were processed for direct microscopy and culture. Species of Malassezia were identified by cultural characteristics in Dixon's agar media by macro and microscopic observation of the colonies and by catalase test, urease test, esculin test and tween assimilation test. A totalof 92 cases 70(70.08%) were positive by direct microscopy and 50(54.34%) were positive by culture. Malassezia globosa was found in 38(76%) cases as the commonest etiological agent and Malassezia furfur was found in 10(20%) cases and Malassezia obtusa in 2 (4%) cases respectively.Bangladesh J Med Microbiol 2015; 9 (2): 17-19

Image recognition systems have demonstrated tremendous progress over the past few decades thanks, in part, to our ability of learning compact and robust representations of images. As we witness the wide spread adoption of these systems, it is imperative to consider the problem of unintended leakage of information from an image representation, which might compromise the privacy of the data owner. This paper investigates the problem of learning an image representation that minimizes such leakage of user information. We formulate the problem as an adversarial non-zero sum game of finding a good embedding function with two competing goals: to retain as much task dependent discriminative image information as possible, while simultaneously minimizing the amount of information, as measured by entropy, about other sensitive attributes of the user. We analyze the stability and convergence dynamics of the proposed formulation using tools from non-linear systems theory and compare to that of the corresponding adversarial zero-sum game formulation that optimizes likelihood as a measure of information content. Numerical experiments on UCI, Extended Yale B, CIFAR-10 and CIFAR-100 datasets indicate that our proposed approach is able to learn image representations that exhibit high task performance while mitigating leakage of predefined sensitive information., Comment: Accepted for oral presentation at CVPR 2019

Goat buffing dust (GBD), an abundantly available collagenic-waste and crosslinked styrene butadiene rubber (SBR)-based scalable biocomposite showing excellent physicochemical properties and reusability was synthesized via systematic optimization of torque and time for exclusion(s) of dyes, such as safranine (SF) and brilliant cresyl blue (BCB), and Hg(II). The GBD-aided non-sulfur curing of SBR was attempted via chromane mechanism-based reaction between resin components of GBD and pendant C=C of SBR. The decrease in the relative extent of unsaturation in cured-SBRGBD, alteration of crystallinity, surface properties, elevated thermal stabilities, and ligand-selective superadsorption were inferred through extensive microstructural analyses of unadsorbed and/or adsorbed SBRGBD using 13C NMR, O1s-/N1s-/C1s-/Hg4f7/2,5/2-XPS, FTIR, UV–vis, TGA, XRD, FESEM, and EDX. Interactive effects between pHi, temperature, and concentration on adsorption capacities (ACs) were optimized through response surface methodology (RSM). The ionic interaction between SBRGBD and SF, BCB, and Hg(II) was understood through FTIR analyses, fitting of kinetics data to pseudosecond order model, and activation energies. BET and Langmuir isotherms were fitted the best to BCB and SF/Hg(II), respectively. Thermodynamically spontaneous chemisorption showed the maximum ACs of 165.63, 251.18, and 225.56 mg g−1 for SF, BCB, and Hg(II), respectively, at 100 ppm, 303 K, and adsorbent dose = 0.015 g.

Evaluating computationally expensive objective and constraint functions is one of the main challenges faced when solving real-world optimization problems. For handling such problems, it is common to use a metamodeling approach. A metamodel is initially formed using a few exact solution evaluations and then optimized the metamodel to find a few infill solutions. The in-fill solutions are then evaluated exactly and another metamodel is formed. This procedure is continued in a progressive manner until all allocated budget of solutions are evaluated. In multi-objective optimization, there are several ways to build and utilize metamodeling approaches. Authors have previously proposed a taxonomy of different metamodeling approaches for multi-objective optimization and provided a comparative study highlighting the advantages and disadvantages of them. In this paper, we argue that it is more efficient to use different metamodeling approaches at different stages of the optimization process and then propose several manual switching strategies between the metamodeling methods. We also introduce a trust region based method to achieve a better convergence behavior. We use the well-known Kriging approach as the core metamodeling method in this study. Our results show the efficacy of the proposed approach on challenging multi-objective optimization problems using a limited budget of high-fidelity evaluations.