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Abstract Plasticity among cell lineages is a fundamental, but poorly understood, property of regenerative tissues. In the gut tube, the small intestine absorbs nutrients, whereas the colon absorbs electrolytes. In a striking display of inherent plasticity, adult colonic mucosa lacking the chromatin factor SATB2 is converted to small intestine. Using proteomics and CRISPR-Cas9 screening, we identify MTA2 as a crucial component of the molecular machinery that, together with SATB2, restrains colonic plasticity. MTA2 loss in the adult mouse colon activated lipid absorptive genes and functional lipid uptake. Mechanistically, MTA2 co-occupies DNA with HNF4A, an activating pan-intestinal transcription factor (TF), on colonic chromatin. MTA2 loss leads to HNF4A release from colonic chromatin, and accumulation on small intestinal chromatin. SATB2 similarly restrains colonic plasticity through an HNF4A-dependent mechanism. Our study provides a generalizable model of lineage plasticity in which broadly-expressed TFs are retained on tissue-specific enhancers to maintain cell identity and prevent activation of alternative lineages, and their release unleashes plasticity.

Yellow mosaic disease (YMD) caused by several begomoviruses is one of the major constraints of over a dozen leguminous crops worldwide, particularly in Asian and Southeast Asian countries. The present study aimed to investigate the distribution, diversity and prevalence of begomoviruses associated with YMD in leguminous hosts in five agro-climatic zones of India, to assess the extent of their geographical presence and develop location and crop-specific distribution maps. One hundred and seventy-four leguminous plant samples were tested from 32 locations in India to detect YMD-causing viruses. Additionally, publicly available data were incorporated into this study to provide a comprehensive overview of their distribution in India. This resulted in 581 reports on the DNA-A component representing 119 locations, which were also utilized to depict the distribution of YMD-causing viruses on a map of India. In this study, 117 full-length DNA-A and 103 DNA-B components were successfully characterized, representing the detected mungbean yellow mosaic India virus (MYMIV), mungbean yellow mosaic virus (MYMV), and horsegram yellow mosaic virus in the collected samples. Phylogenetic analysis of isolates of these species showed no differentiation based on location in India. Diversity indices revealed the abundance (55.9%) and dominance (0.56) of MYMIV across 119 locations. These findings hold significant implications for legume researchers, offering insights into disease prevalence and geographic distribution. Furthermore, the distribution of YMD-causing viruses in different agro-climatic zones will help researchers in developing zone-specific YMD-resistant cultivars of the legume crops and would facilitate effective disease management options.

Stress triggers a multitude of physiological responses including alterations in surface temperature aimed at maintaining homeostasis of animal. The present study was undertaken to evaluate the comparative seasonal effect of thermal stress on body surface temperature during the critical period of late gestation and early life. For this, late gestational Sahiwal cows (n=48) were selected and categorized into four groups: natural heat stressed (NHS), cooling treated (CLT), spring and winter groups, and their neonate calves born in summer (IUHS-intra uterine heat stressed and IUCL-intra uterine cooled), spring and winter season. The thermal profile obtained from infrared thermography (IRT) showed a trend of surface temperature for each region examined over varied THI (temperature humidity index). Body surface temperature in NHS was significantly higher, followed by spring, CLT and least in winter group cows. Within the group, study revealed numerically high surface temperature of eye, front and udder on the day of parturition, while slightly lower temperature of flank portion. NHS, CLT and spring cows had non-significant variations in udder temperature. Insulation breakage from the legs at a colder temperature was observed. In neonates, significantly high surface temperature was observed in IUHS, followed by IUCL and spring calves, while significantly low surface temperature in winter calves. Thus, cooling treatment in the late gestation significantly lowered body surface temperature in both dams and calves. Further, it is also concluded that out of different anatomical regions, eye and feet temperature is the most reliable indicator for assessing seasonal stress with changing THI.

Background: Anti-nuclear autoantibodies (ANA), have explicitly been linked to immune complex-mediated autoimmune diseases. Detection and quantitation of autoantibodies are therefore crucial in the diagnosis and treatment. Objectives: This study aims to evaluate the demographic profile of patients with ANA positivity in a tertiary health care Centre in Delhi, India. Patients and methods: A total of 938 samples of suspected patients were analyzed over a period of three years from February 2020 to February 2023 for the presence of antinuclear antibodies. Serum ANA levels were measured by ELISA. The data were collected retrospectively and analyzed using SPSS v 23 (IBM Corp.) software. Results: A total of 104 (11.09%) samples were positive for ANA. Females constituted the majority 84(80.77%) of the total positive samples. Females in the age group of 21 to 40 years showed the highest ANA positivity. Maximum autoimmune disease suspected samples were received from the Medicine Department, followed by Dermatology, Ophthalmology, and Orthopedics departments.58.6% (61 out of 104) of the samples received were from the Indoor patient Department (IPD) as compared to 41.34% (43out of 104) from Outdoor patient department (OPD ) (P =0.4592). Conclusion: Regular follow up of patients with positive ANA might be beneficial for early detection of the related autoimmune conditions. However, more long term follow up studies are needed to support this hypothesis.

Aim: To find out the prevalence of OSMF and its Co-relation of clinical grading to various habit factors (time span of habit practiced in years, repetition of habit practiced per day, time of habit practiced in minutes per use). Method: This descriptive, cross-sectional survey was carried out and close ended questionnaire was used for data collection. Demographic details like gender & age and different tissue exploiting habits like, chewing gutkha, chewing areca nut, chewing panmasala with or without tobacco, plain tobacco, mawa, smoking, alcohol was recorded. Also, duration of habit in years, repetition of habit per day, time of habit per use & site of involvement was recorded. Results: Among 5297 patients examined at OPD, 120 were diagnosed with OSMF. The present study found no statistical relation between age, gender & OSMF. The present study concluded that majority 83 (69.17%) of the OSMF patients are guthka user and buccal mucosa was most affected site. OSMF was more prevalent in patients who practiced the habit for more than 15 years. Conclusion: Among the OSMF patients, guthka was most commonly practiced & buccal mucosa was most commonly involved. Duration and frequency of consumption were significantly associated with severity of OSMF.

Introduction: Urinary tract infections (UTIs) represent widespread human microbial disorders involving any part of the urinary tract. Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are prevalent all over the world and are known to affect approximately 150 million people each year worldwide. Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess the demographic and bacterial profile of patients presenting with symptoms of urinary tract infections. Methods: A retrospective study on urine bacteriology over a period of one year between June 2021 to July 2022 was done in the Department of Microbiology, University College of Medical sciences and associated GTB Hospital, Delhi. The data collected was analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software, Chicago,version 20.0. Result: In this study, a total of 21359 samples were received for urine culture and sensitivity testing. 2265 samples were positive with an overall positivity rate of 10.60% with majority of the positive samples from females. The majority of positive samples (1559; 68.83%) were from age group between 21-60 years of age, females again being predominant gender (914; 58.62%). In outpatient department, inpatient department and in ICU services, Gram negative bacilli were the predominant microorganisms isolated. In case of Staphylococcus aureus, majority ,i.e., 66 (61.68%) out of total 107 of isolates were resistant to methicillin. Conclusion: Our findings support the fact that females in the age group 21-60 are more prone to develop UTIs as compared to males. There is a shift in methicillin resistance of Staphyloccus aureus from hospital acquired to community acquired cases.

Background: To detect Mycobacterium tuberculosis on stool specimens by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) among patients with pulmonary tuberculosis. Detection of M. tuberculosis complex in sputum forms the basis of diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis. However, some patients tend to swallow sputum and some are unable to produce sputum. Based on the survival of M. tuberculosis in the gastric fluid, swallowed organisms may be detectable in stool samples. Methods: The study was carried out on 30 cases each in four groups: sputum smear-positive and sputum smear-negative adults, pediatric patients suspected of pulmonary tuberculosis along with healthy controls. The samples were processed for direct microscopy for acid-fast bacilli (AFB) and M. tuberculosis culture. Stool PCR was done on all 120 samples. Results: AFB was demonstrated in 42 and cultured in 39 out of 240 samples. PCR-targeting IS6110 gene showed positive results in 24 (20%) out of 120 stool samples. PCR in stool showed the highest positivity in sputum smear-positive samples followed by gastric aspirates and sputum smear-negative samples. Conclusion: Stool PCR is a potentially useful diagnostic method for pulmonary tuberculosis.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to compare operative data and postoperative complications among nondescent vaginal hysterectomy (NDVH), laparoscopy-assisted vaginal hysterectomy (LAVH), and total laparoscopic hysterectomy (TLH) at a rural tertiary care center. Materials and Methods: This is a prospective analytical study, of 145 hysterectomies for benign conditions with or without salpingo-oophorectomy in women from 30 to 60 years, over 3 years from January 2016 to December 2019, with 60 cases of NDVH, 46 cases of LAVH, and 39 cases of TLH. The three groups were compared intraoperatively in terms of blood loss, operating time, and intraoperative complications and postoperative complications and postoperative duration of hospital stay. Results: There was no significant difference between the three groups in terms of age, parity, body mass index, and indications for hysterectomies. The mean operative time was significantly shorter (P = 0.000) in the NDVH group (54.67 ± 15.67 min) as compared to the LAVH (102.45 ± 10.53 min) and TLH (126.79 ± 8.7 min) groups. Intraoperative blood loss was greater (P = 0.000) in the TLH group (111.025 mL ± 20.8) as compared to the NDVH (59.50 mL ± 16.7) and LAVH (91.85 mL ± 10.66) groups. The intraoperative complications and postoperative complications were higher in the TLH group as compared to the LAVH and NDVH groups. The duration of hospital stay was almost similar in all the groups. Conclusion: NDVH may be the preferred approach for experienced surgeons, as it is less time-consuming, has a small amount of blood loss, and is a scarless surgery, whereas LAVH and TLH may be the preferred approaches in the cases of presence of adnexal masses and adhesions or whenever salpingo-oophorectomy is indicated.

The contamination of soils with heavy metals and its associated hazardous effects are a thrust area of today’s research. Rapid industrialization, emissions from automobiles, agricultural inputs, improper disposal of waste, etc., are the major causes of soil contamination with heavy metals. These contaminants not only contaminate soil but also groundwater, reducing agricultural land and hence food quality. These contaminants enter the food chain and have a severe effect on human health. It is important to remove these contaminants from the soil. Various economic and ecological strategies are required to restore the soils contaminated with heavy metals. Phytoremediation is an emerging technology that is non-invasive, cost-effective, and aesthetically pleasing. Many metal-binding proteins (MBPs) of the plants are significantly involved in the phytoremediation of heavy metals; the MBPs include metallothioneins; phytochelatins; metalloenzymes; metal-activated enzymes; and many metal storage proteins, carrier proteins, and channel proteins. Plants are genetically modified to enhance their phytoremediation capacity. In Arabidopsis, the expression of the mercuric ion-binding protein in Bacillus megaterium improves the metal accumulation capacity. The phytoremediation efficiency of plants is also enhanced when assisted with microorganisms, biochar, and/or chemicals. Removing heavy metals from agricultural land without challenging food security is almost impossible. As a result, crop selections with the ability to sequester heavy metals and provide food security are in high demand. This paper summarizes the role of plant proteins and plant–microbe interaction in remediating soils contaminated with heavy metals. Biotechnological approaches or genetic engineering can also be used to tackle the problem of heavy metal contamination.

Climate change is projected to alter the growing conditions of groundnut crop differently in different regions of India. The CROPGRO-Groundnut model was used to quantify the impact of climate change on the productivity of groundnut at three sites (Anantapur, Mahboobnagar and Junagadh) in India.Increase in temperature significantly (p

Objective: The aim of this study was to find out the GeneXpert positivity among endometrial biopsy specimens for diagnosis of genital tuberculosis. Materials and Methods: A retrospective study was conducted from January 2019 to June 2019 on all women clinically and radiologically diagnosed with infertility, dyspareunia, menstrual irregularities and pelvic inflammatory disease. Endometrial biopsies were taken from all cases and subjected to GeneXpert test for detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Result: Total number of suspected cases was 62 with age ranging from 19 years to 65 years. Majority of suspected cases were from the age group 21-30 years (54.8%). Five out of 62 (8%) cases tested positive for Mycobacterium tuberculosis by GeneXpert which were all sensitive to Rifampicin. Among these 5 cases, 2 were reported as medium positive and 3 as very low positive based on cycle threshold value. Conclusion: GeneXpert on endometrial biopsy may prove to be a reliable diagnostic modality for genital tuberculosis as well as multidrug resistance tuberculosis in females leading to timely management of the disease.

Seed longevity mainly depends on initial seed quality and storage conditions therefore; farmers and gene bank curators need to be aware of the storage potential of rajmash cultivars that contribute to the production of high quality seed during routine germplasm regeneration/multiplication. Consequently, it is important to generate information on seed longevity of rajmash. In the present investigation, 14 high yielding rajmash cultivars were stored for 4 years and periodical germination percent, time to initiate germination (t1), time to achieve 50% germination (t50) and uniformity of germination (U7525; time between 25 and 75 % germination) were recorded. The varieties exhibited the mean germination percentage of 93, 93, 73, 3 and 0.9 when stored for 0, 1, 2, 3 and 4 years, respectively. The results demonstrated that, all the 14 varieties could be safely stored for a minimum period of 1 year at ambient condition. Seven varieties (Arka Komal, IPR 98-5, IPR 98-3-1, HUR 137, HUR 203, HPR 35, Gujarat Rajmash 1) could be stored for 2 years as they demonstrated more than the minimum germination requirement (75%) of Indian Minimum Seed Certification Standard. Storing seeds for extended period not only decreased the final germination percentage, but also increased the time for t1, t50 and t7525, suggesting that use of aged seeds could result into poor field establishment coupled with delayed and non-uniform germination.

Context: The people around the world are concerned about the aesthetic oral-facial structures as it is more important in interpersonal interactions and dictates vocal, physical, and emotional communication. Aims: The present study was conducted to assess the severity of malocclusion and orthodontic treatment need among 12-15-year-old school children of Patna, Eastern India. Settings and Design: A cross-sectional study design was used to assess the severity of malocclusion using Dental Aesthetic Index (DAI) index among 12-15-year-old school-going children. Methods and Material: A specially prepared and pretested format, exclusively designed for recording all the required and relevant general information and other clinical findings was used in the study. The sample size consisted of 902 children from middle schools (Government and Private) in Patna. Statistical Analysis Used: Chi-square test was done for the categorical data to compare differences between two independent groups. Data were presented as Mean ± SD and “P” value of less than 0.05 was accepted as indicating significance. Results: Around 5.3% had a DAI score of ≤25 which signifies that there is “no abnormality or may have minor malocclusion”; 15.3% had a DAI score of 26-30 which signifies that there is “definite malocclusion”; 6% had a DAI score of 31-35 which signifies that there is “severe malocclusion” and 4% had a DAI score of ≥36 which signifies that there is “very severe or handicapping malocclusion”. The finding was more commonly seen among 14 years age group. Conclusions: It can be concluded from the present study that the prevalence of malocclusion is reasonable high in this part of the region, and it is very important to bring in more awareness at the school level as primary prevention can be the most effective tool in control this menace.

Goldenhar syndrome, also known as oculo-auriculo-vertebral syndrome, is a rare congenital disorder due to defect in the development of the first and second branchial arches during blastogenesis. This syndrome consists of epibulbar dermoids, eyelid coloboma, auricular abnormalities, preauricular appendages, and mandibular hypoplasia. There can also be associated cleft palate, malocclusion of teeth, and involvement of the axial skeleton (vertebrae and ribs). Congenital heart disease and anomalies of the genitourinary system are some rare manifestations of this syndrome. We report two cases of Goldenhar syndrome with varied ocular manifestations. The first patient was an 18-year-old female who presented with an inferotemporal limbal dermoid with protruding hair involving the inferotemporal cornea. She also had external ear malformation, preauricular skin tag, and mandibular hypoplasia. The second patient was a 3-year-old boy with low intelligence who presented with an upper eyelid coloboma and a temporal limbal dermoid in the left eye with telecanthus and epicanthal folds. There were associated mandibular hypoplasia and preauricular skin tag. Both the patients did not have any vertebral anomaly or congenital heart defect.

Abstract Permeability is an important petrophysical parameter of hydrocarbon reservoirs for oil and gas production. Formation permeability is often measured in the laboratory test using core samples. However, when few core samples are available to calculate the permeability in the field, estimation of permeability becomes a challenging task. In study area, the Chandmari field of upper Assam-Arakan basin with the availability of only seven core samples and conventional logs such as density, porosity, resistivity and gamma ray data from few wells, the estimation of permeability becomes a difficult task. Therefore, in the present study an attempt is made to estimate the permeability from well log and core data using Buckles’ method approach in Langpar and Lakadong + Therria sanstone reservoir of Eocene–Paleocene geologic age in the field under the assumption and geological support that reservoirs in the study area are clean sand having very less shale control and are homogenous reservoir with little/no heterogeneity. In this study, petrophysical evaluation from log data and that from core data are integrated for the analysis of the reservoir characteristics. The relationship between porosity and water saturation which is required to distinguish mobile from capillary bound water or irreducible water saturation is used to estimate the irreducible water saturation. The estimated irreducible water saturation which is an essential parameter for water cut and permeability estimation is used for estimating the permeability in the field. The estimated permeability in the reservoirs using Buckles’ method ranging from 1500 to 4554.38 mD is well matched with the permeability estimated from core sample. The estimated permeability results suggest that the oil reservoir has the higher permeability than the gas reservoir. The permeability estimation relationship can further be used for the estimation of permeability in the inter-well region of Chandmari oil field.

Background and Objective: Syphilis, besides being a significant cause of perinatal morbidity and mortality, is a substantial cause of adult morbidity. A discordant serological result can present a diagnostic challenge; hence, a fundamental knowledge about the diagnostic limitations or interpretation of these assays becomes imperative for the clinicians to avoid management dilemma. The study was proposed to see the usefulness and correlation of Treponema pallidum hemagglutination assay (TPHA) with varying titers of Venereal Disease Research Laboratory (VDRL) test. Materials and Methods: Over a period of 2 years, 22,351 sera were subjected to screening for syphilis by VDRL test. TPHA test was performed for confirmation in 243 of the total sera. Results: VDRL reactivity was seen in 0.77% of the tested sera. TPHA positivity was 58.85% among the sera tested. Calculated sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of VDRL against TPHA were 87.41%, 52%, 72.25%, and 74.29%, respectively. TPHA positivity was found to be 100% and 55% in VDRL reactive cases with titers ≥32 and

Software Reliability Growth Models (SRGMs) are supporting software industries in expecting and scrutinizing quality of software. Numerous SRGMs have been proposed; majority of which concentrate on testing period of software. For testing, domain specific knowledge plays a very crucial role. Based on necessity condition, a set of programmes are in testing phase of software development. “Domain testing is a software technique in which small number of test cases is selected for trial. These sets of testing paths, all of which are to be eventually influenced by designed test cases are called the testing domain which expands with the progress of testing”. Keeping this concept in mind, we propose SRGMs with the concept of testing domain with exponential coverage. Utility of proposed framework has been emphasized in this paper through some models pertaining to different distribution i.e Exponential, Logistic, Weibull and Rayleigh. Moreover, the data analysis is performed to find the estimates of parameters by fitting the models on authentic data sets.

Abstract Petrophysical evaluation of well log data has always been crucial for identification and assessment of hydrocarbon bearing zones. In present paper, petrophysical evaluation of well log data from cluster of six wells in the study area is carried out in combination with rock physics modeling for qualitative and quantitative characterization of Eocene reservoir in Chandmari oil field of Assam-Arakan basin, India. Petrophysical evaluation has provided the estimation of fluid and mineral types, rock/pore fabric type and fluid and mineral volumes for invaded and virgin zones. Calibrations are made where core data were available. Rock physics study is carried out for analyzing the influence of porosity, mineral compositions and saturation variations on the elastic properties of the subsurface. The rock physics modeling allowed quantitative prediction of relationship between porosity, saturation (gas, oil and water), clay volume and the elastic properties. Cross-plots of different elastic parameters are generated to identify the lithology variability and pore-fluid type, and to establish likely distinction between the hydrocarbon bearing sands, brine sands and shale. The Eocene reservoirs are found to be primarily sandstone intermixed with incidental clay matrix and some calcareous cementation. Sands are interpreted to be continuous in most of the blocks. The effective porosity for these sands varies from 15 to 22% in most of the wells. A wide range of variation is observed in water saturation with lowest being 5%. Finally, a numerical rock physics model is prepared to predict the elastic properties of the rock from petrophysical properties.

Staphylococcus aureus is one of the major causes of nosocomial infections. This organism produces powerful toxins and cause superficial lesions, systemic infections, and several toxemic syndromes. A total of 109 S. aureus strains isolated from a variety of infections like ocular diseases, wound infection, and sputum were included in the study. Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) was determined against 8 antimicrobials. PCR determined the presence of 16S rRNA, nuc, mecA, czrC, qacA/B, pvl, and toxin genes in S. aureus isolates. Pulse-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE), multi-locus sequence typing (MLST), SCCmec, spa-, and agr-typing and serotyping determined the diversity among them. All isolates of S. aureus were resistant to two or more than two antibiotics and generated 32 resistance patterns. These isolates were positive for 16S rRNA and S. aureus-specific nuc gene, but showed variable results for mecA, czrC, and qacA/B and pvl genes. Of the 32 methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA), 13 strains carried SCCmec type V, seven type IV, two type III, and nine carried unreported type UT6. Of the 109 strains, 98.2% were positive for hlg, 94.5% for hla, 86.2% for sei, 73.3% for efb, 70.6% for cna, 30.2% for sea, and 12.8% for sec genes. Serotypes VII and VI were prevalent among S. aureus strains. PFGE analysis grouped the 109 strains into 77 clusters. MLST classified the strains into 33 sequence types (ST) and eight clonal complexes (CCs) of which 12 were singletons, and two belong to new allelic profiles. Isolates showed 46 spa-types that included two new spa-types designated as t14911 and t14912. MRSA and methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA) isolates were diverse in terms of antibiotic resistance pattern, toxin genotypes, SCCmec types, serotypes and PFGE, MLST, and spa-types. However, few isolates from eye infection and wound infection belong to CC239, ST239, and spa-type t037/t657. The study thus suggests that S. aureus strains are multidrug resistant, virulent, and diverse irrespective of sources and place of isolation. These findings necessitate the continuous surveillance of multidrug-resistant and virulent S. aureus and monitoring of the transmission of infection.

Weeds are highly competitive to the crops for nutrient and water from soil, sunlight, space and also harbour many insect-pest and diseases, consequently lead to drastic yield reduction. Pisum sativum is sensitive to the most of the potential post emergence herbicides and thus, effective weed management is a difficult assignment particularly the later flush of weed emergence. The identification of herbicide resistant genotypes is the potential way to develop herbicide tolerant varieties as well as to control weeds and minimise yield losses. So far no report is available for herbicide tolerant genotypes in field pea. Therefore, an attempt has been made to identify the genotypes as a source of resistance to the post-emergence herbicide metribuzin. Total 822 genotypes were examined for their sensitivity under preliminary screening against metribuzin at 0.5 kg ai/ha during the winter season of 2015-16. Of the tested genotypes, a set of 85 promising genotypes were re-evaluated with same dose during the winter season of 2016-17 with visual phyto-toxicity score. The results of experiment revealed that there was a huge amount of genetic variation for tolerance against metribuzin in field pea. The frequency distribution grouped the genotypes as tolerant (1), moderately tolerant (5), susceptible (18), and highly susceptible (61) categories. None of the genotypes showed highly tolerant reaction. Notably, accession P-637 witnessed tolerance and other five accessions, viz. P-729, P-647, P-1075, P-2016, and P-1448-2 registered moderately tolerance reaction against metribuzin. Hence, aforesaid promising genotypes may be utilized as donor to speed up breeding for development of herbicide tolerant varieties in field pea and in other genetical studies too.

Pigeonpea is one of the important pulse crops grown in many states of India and plays a major role in sustainable food and nutritional security for the smallholder farmers. In order to overcome the productivity barrier the Translational Pigeonpea Genomics Consortium (TPGC) was established, representing research institutes from six different states (Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Telangana, and Uttar Pradesh) of India. To enhance pigeonpea productivity and production the team has been engaged in deploying modern genomics approaches in breeding and popularizing modern varieties in farmers’ fields. For instance, new genetic stock has been developed for trait mapping and molecular breeding initiated for enhancing resistance to fusarium wilt and sterility mosaic disease in 11 mega varieties of pigeonpea. In parallel, genomic segments associated with cleistogamous flower, shriveled seed, pods per plant, seeds per pod, 100 seed weight, and seed protein content have been identified. Furthermore, 100 improved lines were evaluated for yield and desirable traits in multi-location trials in different states. Furthermore, a total of 303 farmers’ participatory varietal selection (FPVS) trials have been conducted in 129 villages from 15 districts of six states with 16 released varieties/hybrids. Additionally, one line (GRG 152 or Bheema) from multi-location trials has been identified by the All India Coordinated Research Project on Pigeonpea (AICRP-Pigeonpea) and released for cultivation by the Central Variety Release Committee (CVRC). In summary, the collaborative efforts of several research groups through TPGC is accelerating genetics gains in breeding plots and is expected to deliver them to pigeonpea farmers to enhance their income and improve livelihood.

Successful kidney transplantation offers the best possible quality of life for patients with end stage renal disease (ESRD). Despite this, renal transplantation rates in the developing world are considerably lower than in the developed world. Identified reasons for this include lack of awareness, low education levels, lack of a clear national policy, absence of functional dialysis and transplant units with adequately trained staff, and absence of an organized system of organ retrieval from deceased donors and lack of opportunities to fund long-term immunosuppression. Measures to improve the quality of care should center on improvement of the socioeconomic status of the country. Key action points include the implementation of: (1) Chronic kidney disease (CKD) screening and prevention programs; (2) ESRD and transplantation registries; (3) transplantation legislation, covering both living and deceased organ donation; (4) international and regional collaborations for transfer of knowledge and technology. The government should make transplantation more affordable by strengthening the public sector hospitals and by making the transplant medication more affordable. With the National Organ Transplant Programme (NOTP) in the process of being established in India, the transplant community should strive to increase the organ donation awareness, improve the infrastructure for organ retrieval, storage and allocation in an equitable way.

The general expression of TEM response of large loop source over the layered earth models is not available in the literature for arbitrary source-receiver positions, except for the case of central loop and coincident loop configurations over the homogeneous earth model. In the present study, an attempt is made to present the TEM response of a large loop source over the layered earth model for arbitrary receiver positions. The frequency domain responses of large loop source over the layer earth model for arbitrary receiver positions are converted into the impulse (time derivative of magnetic field) TEM response using Fourier cosine or sine transform. These impulse TEM responses in turn are converted into voltage responses for arbitrary receiver positions, namely, central loop, arbitrary in-loop, and offset-loop TEM responses over the layered earth models. For checking the accuracy of the method, results are compared with the results obtained using analytical expression over a homogeneous earth model. The complete matching of both of the results suggests that the present computational technique is capable of computing TEM response of large loop source over the homogeneous earth model with high accuracy. Thereafter, the technique is applied for computation of TEM response of a large loop source over the layered earth (2-layer, 3-layer, and 4-layer) models for the central loop, in-loop, and offset-loop configurations and the results are presented in voltage decay form. The results depict their characteristic variations. These results would be useful for modeling and inversion of large loop TEM data over the layer earth models for all the possible configurations resulting from a large loop source.

The limited availability of fossil fuels has encouraged the need of replacement fuels of renewable nature. Among the renewable fuels, biodiesel produced from oil seeds and food wastes has been favored by the majority of researchers. In this study, Tectona Grandis seed oil has been investigated as a non-edible feedstock for biodiesel. The oil content of seed is 43% which makes it suitable for commercial production of biodiesel. The synthesis of biodiesel from T. Grandis oil was done with transesterification reaction giving high percentage yield of biodiesel which reached to 89%. The T. Grandis biodiesel was subjected to determine various physicochemical parameters by standard testing methods and found in agreement with the ASTM D-6751 and EN-14214 standards. The fatty-acid methyl ester composition for the biodiesel is composed of 42.71% oleic acid, 13.1% palmitic acid, and 31.51% linoleic acid. The biodiesel showed low oxidation stability which is attributed to high percentage of unsaturation. To address this issue, synthetic antioxidants were added to increase its resistance towards oxidation. By considering all the parameters, the present study reveals that T. Grandis seed oil is reliable for the production of biodiesel with encouraging probability in future.

Domain swapping and generation of chimeric insecticidal crystal protein is an emerging area of insect pest management. The lepidopteran insect pest, gram pod borer (Helicoverpa armigera H.) wreaks havoc to chickpea crop affecting production. Lepidopteran insects were reported to be controlled by Bt (cryI) genes. We designed a plant codon optimized chimeric Bt gene (cry1Aabc) using three domains from three different cry1A genes (domains I, II, and III from cry1Aa, cry1Ab, and cry1Ac, respectively) and expressed it under the control of a constitutive promoter in chickpea (cv. DCP92-3) to assess its effect on gram pod borer. A total of six transgenic chickpea shoots were established by grafting into mature fertile plants. The in vitro regenerated (organogenetic) shoots were selected based on antibiotic kanamycin monosulfate (100 mg/L) with transformation efficiency of 0.076%. Three transgenic events were extensively studied based on gene expression pattern and insect mortality across generations. Protein expression in pod walls, immature seeds and leaves (pre- and post-flowering) were estimated and expression in pre-flowering stage was found higher than that of post-flowering. Analysis for the stable integration, expression and insect mortality (detached leaf and whole plant bioassay) led to identification of efficacious transgenic chickpea lines. The chimeric cry1Aabc expressed in chickpea is effective against gram pod borer and generated events can be utilized in transgenic breeding program.