Search

We introduce novel concepts to solve multiobjective optimization problems involving (computationally) expensive function evaluations and propose a new interactive method called O-NAUTILUS. It combines ideas of trade-off free search and navigation (where a decision maker sees changes in objective function values in real time) and extends the NAUTILUS Navigator method to surrogate-assisted optimization. Importantly, it utilizes uncertainty quantification from surrogate models like Kriging or properties like Lipschitz continuity to approximate a so-called optimistic Pareto optimal set. This enables the decision maker to search in unexplored parts of the Pareto optimal set and requires a small amount of expensive function evaluations. We share the implementation of O-NAUTILUS as open source code. Thanks to its graphical user interface, a decision maker can see in real time how the preferences provided affect the direction of the search. We demonstrate the potential and benefits of O-NAUTILUS with a problem related to the design of vehicles.

Introduction: Metacarpal fractures account for upto 10% of all body fractures and 36% of all hand fractures in adolescents, young adults, and active adults. Fractures of the metacarpal shaft and neck are common in all metacarpal fractures after direct trauma, roadside accidents, or sports injuries. The ratio of the shaft to the neck is 1:2. Closed reduction and plaster of paris cast can be used to treat the majority of these fractures conservatively. Unstable and comminuted fractures necessitate surgery. Aim: To compare the clinical, functional and radiological outcomes in antegrade intramedullary fixation and transverse pinning of metacarpal fractures in patients of unstable and displaced metacarpal shaft and neck fractures. Materials and Methods: A single-institutional prospective interventional study identified 60 cases of metacarpal fractures between November 2019 to August 2021. Each of the cases met the inclusion criteria for closed extra-articular fractures, displaced and unstable fractures of the metacarpal bone. The patients were divided into two groups having 30 subjects each, randomly allotted to two groups (Antegrade intramedullary K-wiring and Transverse Pinning). Outcomes were compared for range of movement by the American Society of Hand Surgeons Total Active Motion score (ASSH TAM), Visual Analog Scale (VAS), and radiological parameters (Angulation). Patients were followed-up for 12 weeks. Complications were listed in terms of pin site infection. Results: Most of the patients were found to be in the third decade of life. The fracture union was achieved at 8±2 weeks. Clinical evaluation done by VAS score which was found to be statistically insignificant between two groups (p-value=0.243). Radiological assessment evaluated by measuring postoperative angulation between two groups was found to be statistically insignificant (p-value=0.248). Difference in functional evaluation between the two groups done by ASSH TAM was found to statistically significant between the groups (p-value=0.036). Conclusion: Both antegrade intramedullary K-wiring and transverse pinning demonstrate good and comparable results for extra-articular neck and shaft metacarpal fractures. However, the former is superior in terms of final range of motion as per ASSH TAM score.

Physicians across the world have been disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. This study was designed and conducted to assess the emotional and behavioural reactions of physicians to the initial phase of the COVID-19 pandemic.An online survey questionnaire using the google forms platform was constructed by the authors. The items in the questionnaire were based on clinical experience, relevant literature review and discussion with peers. A list of issues that were deemed as essential components of the experience of the pandemic relevant to physicians was arrived at. Thereafter these issues were operationalized into question form and hosted on the google forms platform. The link to this questionnaire was circulated by the authors among their peer groups in the month of April 2020.We received 295 responses and 3 were unusable. Most of the responses were from India, the United States of America, Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom. About 60% of the respondents identified themselves as frontline and had a decade of clinical experience. Most respondents reported being anxious due to the pandemic and also observed the same in their peers and families. A majority also observed changes in behaviour in self and others and advanced a variety of reasons and concerns. A sense of duty was the most commonly employed coping mechanism.Physicians are not immune from information and misinformation, or cues in the environment. Behavioural choices are not always predicted by knowledge but by a combination of knowledge, emotional state, personality and environment. Healthcare settings need to be ready for emergencies and should focus on reducing uncertainty in physicians. These factors may also be gainfully used in the mental health promotion of physicians in COVID-19 care roles.

Background: Garden pea is one of the principal vegetable crops cultivated in the temperate and sub- tropical areas of the world for its green pods. It is an important food legume worldwide after Phaseolus vulgaris. The knowledge about the interdependence of characters in a particular crop can effectively be employed to breed desirable cultivars and to challenge the consequences of the unprecedented biological, physical and chemical stresses of the future growing conditions. The regression and path analysis further has significance for the assured selection of the varieties with desirable traits and hence adaptation of species in different agro-climatic conditions; hence it is also one of the prerequisites for crop improvement programmes. Correlation and path analysis in garden pea explained that among all the yield contributing traits, number of pods per plant and pod weight have significant contribution in increasing the green pod yield per plant. Methods: 14 heterotic recombinant inbred lines and 17 existing cultivars of garden pea, were put to experimentation for working out the association of the yield and yield contributing component characters under the open field conditions of Regional Horticultural Research and Training Station, Bajaura Kullu, Himachal Pradesh, India. This association was further elaborated through the coefficient of correlation and regression analysis and path coefficient analysis. Result: The genotypic correlation coefficients were found higher than the phenotypic correlation coefficients for all the characters studied. The correlation coefficients revealed that green pod yield per plant had highly significant and positive association with pod weight and number of pods per plant. The path coefficient analysis also revealed that the maximum positive direct effect on green pod yield per plant was exerted by the number of pods per plant, pod weight and 100-seed weight. Through regression equation analysis it became clear that number of pods per plant, pod weight contributed significantly in increasing the green pod yield per plant. With a unit increase in these independent characters, the green pod yield per plant will increase by 2.34 and 33.45 per cent. It can thus be concluded that despite of the positive correlation of almost all the characters with green pod yield per plant, only number of pods per plant and pod weight are important and significant independent characters for increasing the green pod yield per plant.

Siglecs (sialic acid-binding immunoglobulin-like lectins) are single-pass cell surface receptors that have inhibitory activities on immune cells. Among these, Siglec-8 is a CD33-related family member selectively expressed on human mast cells and eosinophils, and at low levels on basophils. These cells can participate in inflammatory responses by releasing mediators that attract or activate other cells, contributing to the pathogenesis of allergic and non-allergic diseases. Since its discovery in 2000, initial in vitro studies have found that the engagement of Siglec-8 with a monoclonal antibody or with selective polyvalent sialoglycan ligands induced the cell death of eosinophils and inhibited mast cell degranulation. Anti-Siglec-8 antibody administration in vivo to humanized and transgenic mice selectively expressing Siglec-8 on mouse eosinophils and mast cells confirmed the in vitro findings, and identified additional anti-inflammatory effects. AK002 (lirentelimab) is a humanized non-fucosylated IgG1 antibody against Siglec-8 in clinical development for mast cell- and eosinophil-mediated diseases. AK002 administration has safely demonstrated the inhibition of mast cell activity and the depletion of eosinophils in several phase 1 and phase 2 trials. This article reviews the discovery and functions of Siglec-8, and strategies for its therapeutic targeting for the treatment of eosinophil- and mast cell-associated diseases.

Heavy metal (HMs) entry into soil affects the food chain, which is of great worry for human well-being hazards. In order to study the association of HMs in soil-plant system, surface (0-0.15 m) soil and wheat grain samples were collected within five km buffer zone of Sutlej river in Punjab (India). These samples were analysed for total arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), copper (Cu), cobalt (Co), iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), nickle (Ni), lead (Pb), and zinc (Zn). Among all the HMs in soil and grain samples, the concentration of total Fe was maximum and As was minimum. The HM contamination of soils was assessed using contamination factor (CF), enrichment factor (EF), potential ecological risk (Er) and modified potential ecological risk (mEr). The CF, EF, Er and mEr were highest for Cd in soils. The bioaccumulation metal factor was highest for Zn and lowest for Ni in wheat grain. There was a significant (p 0.05) positive relationship between HM concentration in soils and wheat grains indicating the health risk due to consumption of wheat cultivated around the five km buffer of the Sutlej river. The carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic risk due to ingestion of wheat grain were higher from Cd and Pb, respectively. These results are helpful for devising the remediation approaches to decrease the multi-metal contamination in soils and plants, and the epidemiological ways to preclude the human health risk from HM contamination.

Sorafenib tosylate (SFB) is a multikinase inhibitor that inhibits tumour growth and proliferation for the management of breast cancer but is also associated with issues like toxicity and drug resistance. Also, being a biopharmaceutical class II (BCS II) drug, its oral bioavailability is the other challenge. Henceforth, this report intended to encapsulate SFB into a biocompatible carrier with biodegradable components, i.e., phospholipid. The microemulsion of the SFB was prepared and characterized for the surface charge, morphology, micromeritics and drug release studies. The cell viability assay was performed on 4T1 cell lines and inferred that the IC50 value of sorafenib-loaded microemulsion (SFB-loaded ME) was enhanced compared to the naïve SFB at the concentrations of about 0.75 µM. More drug was available for the pharmacological response, as the protein binding was notably decreased, and the drug from the developed carriers was released in a controlled manner. Furthermore, the pharmacokinetic studies established that the developed nanocarrier was suitable for the oral administration of a drug by substantially enhancing the bioavailability of the drug to that of the free SFB. The results bring forth the preliminary evidence for the future scope of SFB as a successful therapeutic entity in its nano-form for effective and safer cancer chemotherapy via the oral route.

Phosphorus (P) is the second most important mineral nutrient for plant growth and plays a vital role in maintaining global food security. The natural phosphorus reserves [phosphate rock (PR)] are declining at an unprecedented rate, which will threaten the sustainable food supply in near future. Rendered animal byproducts such as meat and bone meal (MBM), could serve as a sustainable alternative to meet crop phosphorus demand. Even though nitrogen (N) from MBM is readily mineralized within a few days, >75% of the P in MBM is present as calcium phosphate that is sparingly available to plants. Thus, application of MBM with the aim of meeting crop N demand could result in buildup of P reserves in soil, which necessitates the need to improve the P mobilization from MBM to achieve higher plant P use efficiency. Here, we tested the potential of two microbial inoculum-arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and P solubilizing fungi (Penicillium bilaiae), in improving the mobilization of P from MBM and the subsequent P uptake by maize (Zea mays). Compared to the non-inoculated MBM control, the application of P. bilaiae increased the P mobilization from MBM by more than two-fold and decreased the content of calcium bound P in the soil by 26%. However, despite this mobilization, P. bilaiae did not increase the tissue content of P in maize. On the other hand, AMF inoculation with MBM increased the plant root, shoot biomass, and plant P uptake as compared to non-inoculated control, but did not decrease the calcium bound P fraction of the soil, indicating there was limited P mobilization. The simultaneous application of both AMF and P. bilaiae in association with MBM resulted in the highest tissue P uptake of maize with a concomitant decrease in the calcium bound P in the soil, indicating the complementary functional traits of AMF and P. bilaiae in plant P nutrition from MBM. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi inoculation with MBM also increased the plant photosynthesis rate (27%) and root phosphomonoesterase activity (40%), which signifies the AMF associated regulation of plant physiology. Collectively, our results demonstrate that P mobilization and uptake efficiency from MBM could be improved with the combined use of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and P. bilaiae.

We give a pictorial proof that transparently illustrates why four colours suffce to chromatically differentiate any set of contiguous, simply connected and bounded, planar spaces; by showing that there is no minimal planar map. We show, moreover, why the proof cannot be expressed within classical graph theory., 6 pages

Effect of selected volumetric replacement (0%, 20%, 40%, and 60%) of cement with class-F fly ash in a binary binder and of three water-cementitious material ratios (0.40, 0.34, and 0.28) on...

The current work entails QbD-enabled preparation of methotrexate-loaded nanoparticles (NPs) using zein as the release-controlling natural polymer. Initially, quality risk estimationand factor screening studies using Taguchi design were undertaken to delineate “vital few” process and material attributes among “plausible so many”. Further, formulation optimization using central composite design and validation using correlation plots and percent predictive bias was carried out. Optimized NPs exhibited mean size of 159 nm, zeta potential of 14.85 mV and entrapment of 50.23%. In vitro dissolution kinetic modelling unearthed non-Fickian drug release extension mechanism from the proposed zein NPs. In vitro MTT and apoptosis assay using MCF-7 cells and cellular uptake studies using Caco-2 cells indicate remarkably superior anticancer potential of zein NPs over pure methotrexate, ascribable to their nanometric size and cationic nature. In vivo pharmacokinetic studies in rat construed significant enhancement by 2.15-fold in AUC48h (pmax (pmax (p1/2 (pin vitro/in vivo correlations (IVIVC) and kinetic modeling construed the robustness and prognostic ability of drug release studies. Robustness of the nanoformulation was ratified under refrigerated storage through six months’stability studies. Overall, the studies unequivocally indicate development of a stable nanoparticulate formulation with significantly enhanced extent, extension and consistency of biopharmaceutical performance, along with improved anticancer potential of methotrexate.

Eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE), gastritis (EG), and/or duodenitis (EoD) are associated with accumulation and activation of eosinophils and mast cells in the esophagus, stomach, and/or duodenum, respectively. Lirentelimab (AK002), an antibody against siglec-8, depletes eosinophils and inhibits mast cells. We performed an open-label extension (OLE) study of subjects who completed ENIGMA (a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase 2 study of lirentelimab in adults with symptomatic, biopsy-confirmed EG and/or EoD, with or without EoE) to evaluate long-term responses. Methods Subjects who received 4 monthly infusions of lirentelimab or placebo during ENIGMA (n = 59) were eligible for the OLE; they received monthly, escalating doses of lirentelimab (0.3 or 1 mg/kg escalating to 3 mg/kg). Symptoms were assessed weekly using an electronic daily patient-reported outcome questionnaire and total symptom scores (TSS) were calculated. Patients underwent upper endoscopy with biopsy at screening and at the end of ENIGMA (day 99, week 16, blinded); in the OLE, endoscopies were performed on day 323 (30 weeks after the first dose in the OLE). Histopathology was assessed by a single pathologist. Results Fifty-eight subjects entered the OLE; 45 completed ≥52 weeks lirentelimab (including exposure during ENIGMA) and 29 completed 70 weeks. Mean TSS improved through week 70 (Figure 1). Subjects receiving 70 weeks lirentelimab (ENIGMA+OLE) had further improvements in TSS from baseline (mean reductions: 68% at weeks 29–30, 70% at weeks 51–52, 75% at weeks 69–70). Symptom scores (abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, early satiety, appetite loss, abdominal cramping, bloating, diarrhea) decreased significantly from baseline. Treatment response was not associated with concomitant EoE. The most common adverse event was mild to moderate infusion-related reactions, usually with the first infusion. Conclusion In the OLE of the ENIGMA study, patients with EG and or EoD (with or without concomitant EoE) who received lirentelimab had sustained tissue eosinophil depletion and significant long-term symptom improvement. Symptoms continued to improve with duration of treatment. Lirentelimab appears to be a promising targeted treatment for EG and/or EoD.

Theoretical analysis of bond in RAC has been carried out using the thick-cylinder analogy and the calculated results are compared with the experimental results from the unconfined 132 splice beam s...

Background: There is a definite need to identify markers that could offer greater discrimination of high- and low-risk patients within the general population at risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). We tried to estimate the cardiovascular (CV) risk using novel imaging markers and compared them with traditional risk scores and biochemical markers. The study aimed at (1) evaluating the estimation of anthropometric, biochemical measurements (body surface area, body mass index, and lipid profile) along with novel imaging markers carotid intima-media thickness test (CIMT) and epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) for subclinical atherosclerosis carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (CFPWV) for vascular stiffness; (2) comparing anthropometric markers, biochemical markers, and imaging markers in the study population with clinical risk prediction algorithms (American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association [ACC/AHA] atherosclerotic CVD [ASCVD] Risk Calculator). Materials and Methods: This was a prospective cross-sectional study done at a tertiary-level cardiac facility for a duration of 3 months. The study population consisted of apparently healthy individuals between the age group of 40 and 65 years. Persons with established ASCVD, chronic liver disease, chronic kidney disease, history of diabetes mellitus, or hypertension >7 years were excluded from the study. Results: Two hundred and seventy-seven individuals were included and divided into two groups based on the ACC/AHA ASCVD Risk Calculator. Individuals with

Introduction: The discovery of novel drugs is critical for pharmaceutical research and development as well as for patient treatment. Repurposing existing drugs that may have anticipated effects as potential candidate is one way to meet this important goal. Systematic investigation and comprehensive analysis of approved drugs could provide valuable insights into trends in the discovery and may contribute to further discovery of newer drugs systematically. Food and drug administration (FDA's) Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) every year summarizes novel drugs, some of which are truly innovative and help in advancing clinical care. This study was conducted to find a trend in drug approvals by FDA in the last 2 decades. Awareness of these new drugs amongst the primary care physicians is also crucial as they have been prescribing these agents in the past. Methodology: In this cross-sectional study, we collected, surveyed, and analyzed drugs approved by U.S. Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) from the year 2000 till 2017 identified from ClinicalTrials.gov and online database of FDA. Drugs approved every year were assessed for total number, class of drug, indication, and category of approval. Type of accelerated regulatory pathways and reasons for speedy approvals every year were also studied. Microsoft Office Excel 2007 was used for tabulation and analysis. Results: Total 209 were approved from 2000 to 2008. Out of these 9.09% were indicated for cardiovascular disorders and 12.91% for neurological disorders. Antibiotics (5.26%) and antivirals (5.74%) were least contributed, whereas anticancer drugs (11.96%) and biologics (7.17%) approval remained constant. Whereas, out of three hundred and two drugs approved during 2009--2017, 5.29% were for cardiovascular disorders, 9.93% for neurological disorders. Antibiotics (5.29%) and antivirals (5.96%) were least in number, whereas anticancer drugs (17.54%) and biologics (15.56%) approval took a steep rise in these years. Also, a wide variation in the number and category of approval was observed over a period of years. The use of fast track, accelerated approval, and priority review programs have also been steadily increasing since 2000. Conclusion: There has been a steady rate of introduction of new drugs by CDER over the last two decades. Expedited approval of anticancer and biologics is seen as recent trend in drug development. Relatively, slow progress in approval of drugs for neurological disorders (depression, psychosis, multiple sclerosis, etc.) and lifestyle diseases like obesity, atherosclerosis, diabetes, etc., were seen. These findings reflect more emphasis being laid down in research for anticancer drugs and biologics.

In this current investigation, the comparison and analysis of two-dimensional model for aerodynamic characteristics of the wind turbine blade was studied. The aero profiles of NACA0008 and NACA0012H compared and simulate. NACA0012H aero profiles were transformed to three-dimensional model with variable twisting angles and compared with exhaustive literature. The blade element momentum (BEM) method was used for the calculations of aero profile’s lift, drag, pressure coefficients using Q-blade software. Coefficient of lift, coefficient of lift and drag ratio and Coefficient of moment is getting better result of NACA0012H from NACA008 this may be due more chord thickness. Power and coefficient of power is better in NACA0012H with 30° twisting angle with TSR and Thrust. A parametric report generated here showed advanced estimations of cutting edge aero foil and twist speed in Q-Blade programming. Power coefficient increase up to blade in three airfoils with different twist angle and finds the maximum power near to 10.0 TSR value.

These are inter-society guidelines for performance of laparoscopic surgery during COVID-19 pandemic that has affected the way of surgical practice. The safety of healthcare workers and patients is being challenged. It is prudent that our surgical practice should adapt to this rapidly changing health environment. The guidance issued is based on global practices and national governmental directives. The Inter-Society Group urges you to be updated with the developing situation and evolving changes.

Nanostructured drug delivery formulations have lately gained enormous attention, contributing to their systematic development. Issuance of quality by design (QbD) guidelines by ICH, FDA, and other federal agencies, in this regard, has notably influenced the overall development of drug products, enabling holistic product and process understanding. Owing to the applicability of QbD paradigms, a science lately christened as formulation by design (FbD) has been dedicated exclusively to QbD-enabled drug product development. Consisting of the principal elements of design of experiments (DoE), quality risk management (QRM), and QbD-enabled product comprehension as the fundamental tools in the implementation of FbD, a variety of drug nanocargos have been successfully developed with FbD paradigms and reported in the literature. FbD aims to produce novel and advanced systems utilizing nominal resources of development time, work effort, and money. A systematic FbD approach envisions the entire developmental path through pivotal milestones of risk assessment, factor screening and optimization (both using appropriate experimental designs), multivariate statistical and optimum search tools, along with response surface modeling, usually employing suitable computer software. The design space is one of the fundamental elements of FbD providing the most sought-after regulatory flexibility to pharma companies, postapproval. The present paper provides a bird's eye view of the fundamental aspects of FbD terminology, methodology, and applications in the development of a wide range of nanocargos, as well as a discussion of trends from both technological and regulatory perspectives.

This article discusses the experimental investigation of fresh and hardened properties of Self Compacting Concrete (SCC) containing Recycled Aggregates (RA). In this study, Natural Coarse Aggregates (NCA) were replaced with Recycled Coarse Aggregates (RCA) at 0%, 50%, and 100% replacement levels. Similarly, Natural Fine Aggregates (NFA) were replaced with Recycled Fine Aggregates (RFA) at 0%, 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% replacement levels. In addition to Natural Aggregates (NA) replacement with RA, Fly Ash (FA) was partially substituted with Portland cement (PC), i.e., by 30% weight of cement for clean and sustainable development. The current study objective is to enumerate the significant usage of RCA and RFA for the SCC mixes and to evaluate their performance in their fresh and hardened state. The fresh properties of various SCC mixtures were examined using workability tests such as the Slump-flow test, T500 test, V: funnel test, and L: Box test. The Ultrasonic Pulse Velocity (UPV) test was performed for all SCC mixes in their hardened state. The compression strength of all SCC mixtures is also presented in contrast to the workability of concrete. It was concluded that with substitution of RCA and RFA with NCA and NFA respectively decline the workability properties due to high-water absorption and larger surface area of RCA and RFA than NCA and NFA respectively. The chemical admixtures were used in SCC mixtures with their varying dosage helps to maintain the workability and stability limits of all SCC mixes. It was observed that the UPV values of all SCC mixtures come in the excellent and good categories.

A 22-year male presented with complaints of dyspnea. Multimodality imaging revealed a polypoidal right atrial mass with sub-massive pulmonary embolism. The patient underwent urgent surgery. The pathological examination confirmed it as cardiac myxoma. Cardiac myxoma, a most common primary cardiac tumor, is commonly found in the left atrium. The right atrium is an uncommon site and the usual mode of presentation is the tumor or thrombus embolisation to the pulmonary circulation.

Background Reliable, timely-onset, oral treatments with an acceptable safety profile for patients with hyperkalemia are needed. We examined the efficacy and safety of sodium zirconium cyclosilicate (SZC; formerly ZS-9) treatment for ≤ 48 h in patients with baseline serum potassium level ≥ 5.5 mmol/L. Methods Data were pooled from two phase 3 studies (ZS-003 and HARMONIZE) among patients receiving SZC 10 g three times daily. Outcomes included mean and absolute change from baseline, median time to potassium level ≤ 5.5 and ≤ 5.0 mmol/L, and proportion achieving potassium level ≤ 5.5 and ≤ 5.0 mmol/L at 4, 24, and 48 h. Outcomes were stratified by baseline potassium. Safety outcomes were evaluated. Results At baseline, 125 of 170 patients (73.5%) had potassium level 5.5– 6.5 mmol/L. Regardless of baseline potassium, mean potassium decreased at 1 h post-initial dose. By 4 and 48 h, 37.5% and 85.0% of patients achieved potassium level ≤ 5.0 mmol/L, respectively. Median (95% confidence interval) times to potassium level ≤ 5.5 and ≤ 5.0 mmol/L were 2.0 (1.1–2.0) and 21.6 (4.1–22.4) h, respectively. Fifteen patients (8.8%) experienced adverse events; none were serious. Conclusions SZC 10 g three times daily achieved serum potassium reduction and normokalemia, with a favorable safety profile. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov identifiers: ZS-003: NCT01737697 and HARMONIZE: NCT02088073.

This article is a preliminary attempt to map the changes and transformations of Punjab, which had undergone during the British rule. It had remained the model province for benefits of the British colonial rule. Ever since its accession in 1849, Punjab received particular attention in the colonial policies due to its strategic and political importance to the empire. The colonial rule unleashed a slew of transformations in diverse fields including education, agriculture, irrigation, transport and communication and social institutions. This article particularly focusses on the transformations that took place in the modernisation of agriculture, canals colonisation and Punjabisation of the British Indian army during the colonial rule in Punjab. Behind the plotting of modernisations, the study will dig out the imperial designs and motives of the Raj.

Flowering is a complicated developmental process of physiological and morphological stages under the control of a number of external signals and internal factors. Floral malformation occurring during flower development stage is serious constraint having crippling effect on mango flowering and production leading to heavy economic losses. In mango there is lack of information about the gene expression profile during flower development. We therefore performed transcriptome analysis of Mangifera indica cultivar Amrapalli, by isolating total RNA from different stages of bud development in healthy and malformed tissues. The next generation sequencing were performed using 2 × 150 PE chemistry on the Illumina NextSeq platform resulting in 20.31, 20.77, 20.32, 27.92 and 18.59 million PE reads in MB-1, MB-2, MB-3, HB-1 and HB-2 stages respectively. Higher differential expressions copy numbers of seven flowering genes (MYB30, TPL, bHLH, FTIP1, CDKC2, CPK33, and ATH1) were observed in both the healthybud and panicle development stages as compared to malformed bud development stages. Among the other differentially expressed pattern of flowering genes in six possible combinations, the highly upregulated genes are UBP12, EFS, AGL8, AGL14, AGL20, AGL24, KIN10, MYB30, SUS2, FTIP1, CCT and LDL2 and down regulated genes were like TIL1, TIC, DCL3, GA20OX3, CCT, AP1, AGL6, AGL8, MYB30, AGL8, GCT and GA3OX1. The data set provides information on transcripts putatively associated with embryonic flower, earlier flowering, flowering time control, terminal flower and mads-box protein in healthy and malformed tissues. Out of the observed differentially expressed genes, the transcript profiles of GA20OX3, AGL24 and LDL2, the key genes regulating floral transition and differentiation, were validated through qRT-PCR. Our study provides a resource for exploring the complex molecular mechanisms in flower development and malformations in mango.

Iron (Fe) and sulfur (S) interaction was studied in bread and durum wheat by using radiotracers (59Fe and 35S). The results showed a higher uptake of 35S under Fe+ than Fe− which provides irrefutable evidence for the role of Fe in determining plant S uptake particularly under S deficiency. Under Fe deficiency, the 59Fe uptake was higher under the S2 than S1 and S0 condition, which may be attributed to a favorable regulation of phytosiderophores biosynthesis by S. This suggests that Fe and S synergistically interact and may regulate their respective uptake by inducing SULTR1; 1, high affinity sulphate transporters.

A highly thermostable laccase from Geobacillus sp. strain WSUCF1 was cloned into Escherichia coli (E. coli) using pRham N-His SUMO expression system. The thermostable laccase with a molecular weight ~30 kDa had a t1/2 (pH 6.0) of 120 h at 50 °C. The homology modelling for laccase structure showed the presence of Cu active centers with His and Cys residues involved in the active site and ligand binding activity of the enzyme, respectively. The Km, Vmax, Kcat and Kcat/Km values of the purified enzyme with ABTS were found to be 0.146 mM, 1.52 U/mg, 1037 s−1 and 7102.7 s−1 mM−1, respectively. The doping of recombinant WSUCF1 laccase to commercial enzyme cocktails Accellerase® 1500 and Cellic CTec2 improved the hydrolysis of untreated, alkali and acid treated corn stover by 1.31–2.28 times and bagasse by 1.32–2.02 times. Further, in-house enzyme cocktails with laccase hydrolyzed untreated, alkali and acid treated bagasse and gave 1.44, 1.1, and 0.92 folds higher sugar, respectively, when compared with Accellerase 1500. The results suggested that thermostable laccase can aid in the improved hydrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass.

Fifty diverse soybean genotypes were screened for their ability to tolerate iron deficiency stress in a hydroponics experiment with low iron (−Fe) and sufficient iron (+Fe). We hypothesised that the genotypes with higher root exudation potential would exhibit higher chlorophyll content, dry matter production and Fe acquisition. The relative root exudation capacity of the genotypes was estimated with the help of 14C. As compared to iron inefficient and non responsive (FeINR) category under sufficient availability of iron (+Fe), the average 14C content in the total root exudates (14CTRE) was 39.4% higher in iron efficient and responsive (FeER) category. Further, higher exudation was observed under iron limiting (−Fe) stress condition and reported maximum in FeER (110.0% increase over FeINR under +Fe condition). The strength of positive correlation between 14C released with other parameters related to iron deficiency chlorosis suggested that 14C could be effectively used as a tracer for providing reliable estimate for better screening of iron efficient and responsive categories of soybean genotypes.

The present study is an examination of Islamic psycho-spiritual therapy in managing craving, withdrawal symptoms, and mental health problems among cannabis users. Homogeneous purposive sampling was...