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Polatuzumab vedotin is a novel immunotherapy antibody–drug conjugate targeting CD79b. It has been used in relapsed/refractory (R/R) large B-cell lymphomas since its FDA approval in 2019. Presently, this drug is unaffordable or unavailable for patients in Lower–Middle Income Countries (LMIC) like India. This is a retrospective study of adult (> 18 years) patients with R/R large B-cell lymphoma failing two prior lines of therapy, who received Polatuzumab based salvage therapy on a compassionate or named-patient access program. Between May 2019 and April 2022, 10 patients received Polatuzumab vedotin, and 9 were evaluable. The most common regimen used was Polatuzumab-Bendamustine-Rituximab. Out of 43 infusions administered, the adverse event profile was manageable [One grade-2 infusion reaction, 4 patients developed grade 3–4 hematological toxicity and none had grade 3–4 non-hematological toxicities]. Ten infusions were administered in the day care service. After a median of 4.5 cycles (range 1–8), 4 patients achieved CR, 2 had partial response (PR), and 3 had progressive disease (PD). With a median follow up of 491 days (range 8–1048 days), four patients are alive (three in CR and one in PR), three patients have died and three patients were lost to follow up. Early real-world experience from a LMIC setting demonstrates feasibility and a favourable safety profile of Polatuzumab vedotin based approach, along with encouraging response rates in a subset of patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Symbiotic N2 fixation is essential for the plant's growth because it can fix reactive nitrogen compounds in soil. However, all steps of this process can be hampered by several biotic and abiotic environmental factors. This study mainly focused on discussing the impacts of 12 major factors on this process by reviewing the significant numbers of research works. According to the information from these works, we found some significant physiological and genetic impacts caused by these factors like plasmid deletion, genomic mismanagement, abnormal molecular signals, toxicity, deficiency of minerals, deformation of rhizobial cells, protein denaturation, nucleic acid damage, acetylene reduction and nod factors limitation. Furthermore, expression of heat or acid shock proteins, internal buffering, genes spanning, extracellular immobilization, periplasmic allocation, change of lipopolysaccharides composition, intracellular accumulation of inorganic and organic solutes (Osmolyte) and activation of hydrogenase expression are shown by both micro and macro symbionts as a natural response to adapt to these stress conditions. Though the stress-tolerant strains like HR-3, HR-6, HR-10, HR-12, acta, actP, exoR, lpiA, actR, actS and phrR can be used to sense the external environment and make signals to change gene transcription during the adverse condition, the application of genetic engineering should be expanded more to promote the commercial inoculation by the production of novel stress-tolerant strains or modified genes of rhizobia and legumes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change is at the forefront of discussions for many companies. Climate change-related disclosures and reporting are important tools and allow stakeholders to understand climate-related risks a company is facing and help various stakeholders to take informed decisions. The landscape for climate change-related reporting requirements is ever evolving, with a trend from voluntary to mandatory, with many global disclosure standards and requirements influencing local requirements and other related standards. This paper explores these ideas further, giving a general background to disclosure requirements, discusses greenwashing, details disclosure organisations including TCFD and the ISSB, and provides details on a country level including green taxonomies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Heterozygous gain-of-function variants in SAMD9L are associated with ataxia-pancytopenia syndrome (ATXPC) and monosomy 7 myelodysplasia and leukemia syndrome-1 (M7MLS1). Association with peripheral neuropathy has rarely been described. Methods: Whole-exome sequencing (WES) from DNA extracted from peripheral blood was performed in a 10-year-old female presenting with demyelinating neuropathy, her similarly affected mother and the unaffected maternal grandparents. In addition to evaluation of single nucleotide variants, thorough work-up of copy number and exome-wide variant allele frequency data was performed. Results: Combined analysis of the mother's and daughter's duo-exome data and analysis of the mother's and her parents' trio-exome data initially failed to detect a disease-associated variant. More detailed analysis revealed a copy number neutral loss of heterozygosity of 7q in the mother and led to reanalysis of the exome data for respective sequence variants. Here, a previously reported likely pathogenic variant in the SAMD9L gene on chromosome 7q (NM_152703.5:c.2956C>T; p.(Arg986Cys)) was identified that was not detected with standard filter settings because of a low percentage in blood cells (13%). The variant also showed up in the daughter at 32%, a proportion well below the expected 50%, which in each case can be explained by clonal selection processes in the blood due to this SAMD9L variant. Conclusion: The report highlights the specific pitfalls of molecular genetic analysis of SAMD9L and, furthermore, shows that gain-of-function variants in this gene can lead to a clinical picture associated with the leading symptom of peripheral neuropathy. Due to clonal hematopoietic selection, displacement of the mutant allele occurred, making diagnosis difficult. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A hydromagnetic nanofluid flow past a permeable cone with heat and mass transfer has been investigated. An incompressible, steady, laminar flow was used to study the entropy generation. The main aim was to find the physical parameters responsible for the enhancement of the entropy generation. The presence of nanoparticles in a base fluid helps to improve the heat transfer characteristics. Based on the obtained results, we can predict the entropy variation due to the variation in the flow parameters. The enhancement in the slip velocity and suction/injection parameters is shown to enhance the system efficiency. It was found that the enhancement of diffusion leads to maximum irreversibility and minimum efficiency. The MATLAB built in bvp4c solver technique was used to solve transformed ordinary differential equations with convective boundary conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the holy grails of contemporary science has been to establish the possibility of preferentially breaking one of several bonds in a molecule. For instance, the two O-H bonds in water are equivalent: given sufficient energy, either one of them is equally likely to break. We report bond-selective molecular fragmentation upon application of intense, 2-cycle pulses of 800 nm laser light: we demonstrate up to three-fold enhancement for preferential bond breaking in isotopically substituted water (HOD). Our experimental observations are rationalized by means of ab initio computations of the potential energy surfaces of HOD, HOD+, and HOD2+ and explorations of the dissociation limits resulting from either O-H or O-D bond rupture. The observations we report present a formidable theoretical challenge that need to be taken up in order to gain insights into molecular dynamics, strong field physics, chemical physics, non-adiabatic processes, mass spectrometry, and time-dependent quantum chemistry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recent discovery of magnetism in monolayers of two-dimensional van der Waals materials has opened new venues in materials science and condensed matter physics. Until recently, two-dimensional magnetism remained elusive: Spontaneous magnetic order is a routine instance in three-dimensional materials but it is not a priori guaranteed in the two-dimensional world. Since the 2016 discovery of antiferromagnetism in monolayer FePS3 by two groups and the subsequent demonstration of ferromagnetic order in monolayer CrI3 and bilayer Cr2Ge2Te6, the field changed dramatically. Within several years of scientific discoveries focused on 2D magnets, novel opportunities have opened up in the field of spintronics, namely spin pumping devices, spin transfer torque, and tunneling. In this review, we describe the state of the art of the nascent field of magnetic two-dimensional materials focusing on synthesis, engineering, and theory aspects. We also discuss challenges and some of the many different promising directions for future work, highlighting unique applications that may extend even to other realms, including sensing and data storage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Favipiravir and remdesivir are investigational drugs for coronavirus disease 2019 that is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. The active forms of these drugs are reported to target and inhibit viral RNA dependent RNA polymerase, which is derived from 3-chymotrypsin like protease, a viral replicase enzyme. The present in silico study explores the comparative efficacy of these drugs to inhibit 3-chymotrypsin like protease and RNA dependent RNA polymerase, to plan therapeutic options for patients based on their disease severity. Active favipiravir and remdesivir molecules bind to 3-chymotrypsin like protease with energies of 6.18 and -6.52 kcal/mol in contrast to -5.62 and -3.91 kcal/mol for RNA dependent RNA polymerase. Further, hydrophobic interactions and salt bridge formations cement drug bindings with 3-chymotrypsin like protease, but not with RNA dependent RNA polymerase. Molecular dynamic simulation experiments, performed under certain experimental constraints reveal that the root mean square flexibilities of active residues in drug complexes with 3-chymotrypsin like protease are lower than in free 3-chymotrypsin like protease making the former more stable than the latter because of their rigidity and stabilities. Both drugs may hence serve as good therapeutic options for early stages of coronavirus disease 2019. However, more severe symptoms may be treated better with favipiravir due to its better binding with RNA dependent RNA polymerase, as compared to remdesivir. The "one drug does not fit all" concept is true for coronavirus disease 2019 as it is being currently realized by clinicians all around the world. Hence precise knowledge about critical interactions of these drugs with the viral enzymes will help medicos make vital therapeutic decisions on interventional options for patients who report to hospitals without over symptoms or with varying degrees of disease severity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The burden of chronic kidney disease in Africa is three to four times higher compared to high-income countries and the cost of treatment is beyond the reach of most affected persons. The best treatment for end stage renal disease is kidney transplantation which is not available in most African countries. As kidney transplantation surgery is emerging in Ghana, this study assessed factors which could influence the willingness of patients with chronic kidney disease to accept it as a mode of treatment.Methods: This cross-sectional survey was carried out among patients with chronic kidney disease in Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital. A consecutive sampling method was used to recruit consenting patients. A structured questionnaire and standardized research instruments were used to obtain information on demographic, socio-economic characteristics, knowledge about transplantation, perception of transplantation, religiosity and spirituality. Logistic regression model was used to assess the determinants of willingness to accept a kidney transplant.Results: 342 CKD patients participated in the study of which 56.7% (n = 194) were male. The mean age of the participants was 50.24 ± 17.08 years. The proportion of participants who were willing to accept a kidney transplant was 67.3% (95%CI: 62.0-72.2%). The factors which influenced participants' willingness to accept this treatment included; willingness to attend a class on kidney transplantation (p < 0.016), willingness to donate a kidney if they had the chance (p < 0.005), perception that a living person could donate a kidney (p < 0.001) and perceived improvement in quality of life after transplantation (p < 0.005). The barriers for accepting kidney transplantation were anticipated complications of transplant surgery and financial constraints.Conclusion: More than two-thirds of CKD patients were willing to accept a kidney transplant and this is influenced by multiple factors. Government health agencies must consider full or partial coverage of kidney transplantation through the existing national health insurance scheme. Further, efficient educational programmes are required to improve both patients' and physicians' knowledge on the importance of kidney transplantation in the management of end stage renal disease in Ghana. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Kidney transplantation is the preferred treatment for patients with end stage renal disease. However, it is largely unavailable in many sub-Sahara African countries including Ghana. In Ghana, treatment for end stage renal disease including transplantation, is usually financed out-of-pocket. As efforts continue to be made to expand the kidney transplantation programme in Ghana, it remains unclear whether patients with Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) would be willing to pay for a kidney transplant. Aim: The aim of the study was to assess CKD patients' willingness to pay for kidney transplantation as a treatment option for end stage renal disease in Ghana. Methods: A facility based cross-sectional study conducted at the Renal Outpatient clinic and Dialysis Unit of Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital among 342 CKD patients 18 years and above including those receiving haemodialysis. A consecutive sampling approach was used to recruit patients. Structured questionnaires were administered to obtain information on demographic, socio-economic, knowledge about transplant, perception of transplantation and willingness to pay for transplant. In addition, the INSPIRIT questionnaire was used to assess patients' level of religiosity and spirituality. Contingent valuation method (CVM) method was used to assess willingness to pay (WTP) for kidney transplantation. Logistic regression model was used to determine the significant predictors of WTP. Results: The average age of respondents was 50.2 ± 17.1 years with most (56.7% (194/342) being male. Overall, 90 out of the 342 study participants (26.3%, 95%CI: 21.7–31.3%) were willing to pay for a kidney transplant at the current going price (≥ $ 17,550) or more. The median amount participants were willing to pay below the current price was $986 (IQR: $197 –$1972). Among those willing to accept (67.3%, 230/342), 29.1% (67/230) were willing to pay for kidney transplant at the prevailing price. Wealth quintile, social support in terms of number of family friends one could talk to about personal issues and number of family members one can call on for help were the only factors identified to be significantly predictive of willingness to pay (p-value < 0.05). Conclusion: The overall willingness to pay for kidney transplant is low among chronic kidney disease patients attending Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital. Patients with higher socio-economic status and those with more family members one can call on for help were more likely to pay for kidney transplantation. The study's findings give policy makers an understanding of CKD patients circumstances regarding affordability of the medical management of CKD including kidney transplantation. This can help develop pricing models to attain an ideal poise between a cost effective but sustainable kidney transplant programme and improve patient access to this ultimate treatment option. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: To determine differences in coronary plaque composition and inflammatory biomarkers between men and women with newly diagnosed Type 2 diabetes without known cardiovascular disease. Methods: A total of 88 people with newly diagnosed (<1 year) Type 2 diabetes underwent contrast‐enhanced coronary computed tomography angiography. Advanced coronary plaque analysis was performed using semi‐automated software. Plasma concentrations of inflammatory biomarkers were determined. Results: There were no significant differences between men (n=60) and women (n=28) regarding age or cardiovascular risk factors (all P>0.05). The median (quartiles) serum levels of fibrinogen [10.9 (9.8–12.6) μmol/l vs 9.7 (8.8–10.9) μmol/l], fibrin d‐dimer [0.3 (0.2–0.4) mg/l vs 0.27 (0.2–0.4) mg/l] and C‐reactive protein [3.1 (1.1–5.2) mg/l vs (0.8–2.6) 1.6 mg/l] were significantly higher in women (all P<0.05). Overall, men more often had multi‐vessel involvement [28 men (47%) vs 4 women (14%)], and higher total plaque burden [median (quartiles) 11.6 (2.3–36.0)% vs 2.0 (0.4–5.4)%; both P<0.05]. The median (quartiles) total plaque volume [269.9 (62.6–641.9) mm3 vs 61.1 (7.6–239.9) mm3] and absolute calcified plaque volume [33.5 (8.3–148.3) mm3 vs 4.7 (0.9–17.3) mm3] were higher in men (both P<0.05). Women had a lower relative proportion of the calcified plaque component [median (quartiles) 7.8 (4.7–15.4)% vs 23.7 (8.4–31.1)%] and a higher relative proportion (median [quartiles]) of the non‐low‐density non‐calfied plaque component [77.6 (66.0–86.0)% vs 63.6 (54.0–72.9)%; both P<0.05]. Conclusions: In people with newly diagnosed Type 2 diabetes, women had lower absolute coronary plaque volumes but a more unfavourable plaque composition and enhanced systemic inflammation compared with men. What's new?: It is known that Type 2 diabetes increases the risk of developing coronary artery disease more markedly in women than in men, but differences in coronary plaque composition between the sexes are poorly elucidated.This study found that women have smaller absolute volumes of coronary plaque components but a more unfavourable coronary plaque structure and enhanced systemic inflammation.The reported difference in plaque composition between men and women with a new diagnosis of Type 2 diabetes might be the basis for larger studies evaluating the impact of sex‐differentiated therapeutic strategies at an early stage of Type 2 diabetes to prevent the development and progression of cardiovascular disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents a method using deep learning framework based on convolution neural network (CNN), for identification and localization of faults of transformer winding under impulse test. The results show that the proposed method outperforms the existing methods significantly. The present scheme eliminates the requirement of separate feature extraction and classification algorithms for the analysis of fault current patterns. A part of the proposed network performs feature learning and the other part classifies the features in a supervised manner. The method is computation intensive but capable of achieving very high degree of accuracy; on an average a margin of more than 7% compared to other published literature till date. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cabbage (Brassicae oleracea var. capitata Linn.) is one of the most important and extensively cultivated vegetable crop because of its nutritional and economical values for producers and consumer point of view, respectively. The crop is prone for infestation by a number of insect pests consisting sucking and defoliating insects starting from germination to harvesting stage of the crop. In India, the diamond back moth, Plutella xylostella Linneaus and cabbage butterfly, Pieris brassicae Linneaus are the major Lepidopterous pests of cabbage. Adjusting planting dates can sometimes help to avoid certain insect infestations and reduce the need for chemical control. Planting dates influence the crop performance due to changed biotic and abiotic factors. The time of planting of cabbage, which is a season bound crop, has profound effect on the incidence of diamond back moth and cabbage butterfly. Several insecticides have been recommended through ages to avert pest damage, but some broad-spectrum synthetic organic insecticides and biopesticides are effective for the control of these two Lepidopterous pests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In livestock sub sector the existing policies in place, have exclusively focused on high yield with adoption of modern technologies and establishment of large commercial units to increase the production and productivity of the breeds. Cross breeding native cattle breeds with exotic high yielding breeds mainly Holstein Friesian and Jersey, which has been the most preferred way to increase milk yield, led to the depletion of several indigenous breeds and also pushed some to extinction. This gets evident from the dwindling numbers of indigenous breeds in the country. The policies for conservation of indigenous breed mainly refer to the identification of utility genes and breeds and utilizing them for breeding and research; such a conservation effort being directed towards individual breed overlooks the ecosystem or the small and marginal farmers or the herders and pastoralists who nurture them and depend on them for livelihood. The emphasis on high yielding exotic breeds has also escalated the maintenance cost for cattle rearing with increased uncertainties. This has mainly impacted the small and marginal farmers, the herders and pastoralists who cannot afford such high maintenance cost, led to the disruption or break in the humanlivestock- nature interaction or the crop - livestock system. This article draws an example of Sahiwal- a priced milch cattle, whose numbers are declining in the country, to argue the need for a breeding policy to protect the breed and also the interests of the small and marginal farmers and herders and pastoral community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fire affects the physical and chemical properties and soil biological activity of natural ecosystems. This study was conducted in the Miyan Tang region, Ilam Province in western Iran. The study site was 110 hectares, where we sampled soils in areas that were classified by fire severity: low (LS), high (HS) and medium severity (MS), and unburned (UB), which served as the control. In each severity class, 25 transect points were randomly selected for measurement. Around each transect plot center, 3 soil samples were selected randomly and soils collected from the 0 to 20 cm depth were combined into a composite sample that was used in laboratory analysis to represent conditions at that point. Plots in the UB and LS fire classes had similar soil conditions and had higher values of factors such as saturated moisture, organic carbon, carbon dioxide, and silt and clay content. In contrast, plots in the HS and MS fire severity classes were clustered in the positive direction along the first axis that represented gradients in soil acidity, electrical conductivity, cation exchange capacity, accessible phosphorus, accessible potassium, bulk density, and sand. Soil attributes were similar in areas of HS and MS fire severity classes, whereas soil conditions in the LS class and UB controls were most similar. Fire in the LS areas either did not significantly alter the physical-chemical soil properties and microbial basal respiration, or soils were able to recover quickly after being burned. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biological control has been accepted as an eco-friendly, technically appropriate, economically viable and socially acceptable method of pest management. Various technologies and methods have been adapted in order to genetically improve the performances of natural enemies (predators, parasitoids and pathogens). Artificial selection of various strains under different conditions, hybridization (heterosis) of different strains and rDNA technologies has been adopted towards these directions. Various traits like tolerant to pesticidal stress, tolerant to extreme abiotic stresses, shortening developmental rate, enhancing progeny production, altering sex ratio and altering host or habitat preferences could enhance the effectiveness of natural enemies. The genetically improved natural enemies (predators, parasitoids and pathogens) might be the next level biological weapons against the pest populations in agricultural systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a scheme has been developed for detecting individual, as well as multiple partial discharge (PD) sources within a transformer tank through acoustic sensors. For that purpose, in the laboratory, a transformer tank has been emulated inside which, provisions are made to place artificially created partial discharge sources at different locations. An experimental setup has been prepared to record the acoustic PD signal through multiple acoustic sensors placed at the outside surfaces of the walls. Presented results show the signature of the acquired data pattern for both individual and multiple discharges. Acoustic PD detection method experiences difficulty in locating the PD source accurately due to interference or attenuation of signals from the environmental noise. It is seen that Cross-wavelet transform (XWT) has an ability to nullify the effect of random noises present in the acquired acoustic PD signal. Thus, cross-wavelet transform based feature extraction with ensemble binary support vector machine based classifier is used for locating the partial discharge sources within the tank. These methodologies have been chosen as they suit well to discriminate between the PD sources at different locations inside the tank. Results indicate that the average classification accuracy is 92.8%. The contribution of this research work is in discriminating individual as well as multiple partial discharge sources which produce acoustic emission simultaneously. Experimental results indicate that the proposed methodology can be used to localize partial discharge sources in high voltage apparatus where the acoustic signals due to partial discharges find a path to propagate towards the outer surface. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When an alternating voltage is applied to a dielectric material, dipoles in the material try to align in the direction of the applied voltages and polarization process starts. For multi-dielectric media especially in which a liquid interface is involved, such as oilpaper insulation, interfacial polarization is predominantly active among all polarization processes. This interfacial polarization is a very slow process and is effective in lower frequency range. This interfacial polarization reflects the inherent condition of the oilpaper insulation. Due to this reason, frequency domain spectroscopy is performed in lower frequency range to assess the condition of oil-paper insulation. So, the time required for frequency response measurement using conventional frequency domain spectroscopy is quite long. Considering the aforesaid facts, a different procedure has been taken here to measure the dielectric response in a significantly lesser time keeping the entire frequency range of conventional frequency domain spectroscopy. Instead of using pure sinusoidal excitation voltages over wide frequency range, dielectric response current has been measured using excitation having time growing frequency sweep (TGFS) signal. For this purpose, test samples that emulate the oil-paper insulation of real-life transformer have been prepared in the laboratory. The moisture contents of the test samples have been kept different to investigate the reliability of the proposed method. A setup has been made in the laboratory to measure dielectric response currents using the both excitations. In order to investigate the applicability of the proposed method, experiment has also been performed on actual transformers. It has been observed that the use of excitation signal having time growing frequency sweep provides almost similar information regarding insulation condition as obtained by the use of conventional sinusoidal excitation voltages. Hence, the proposed method is capable of reduction in time in FDS nearly by an amount of 85%. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background: The emergence of antimalarial drug resistance malaria parasite is widespread in North eastern region of India. During January 2012-December 2013, we conducted active surveillance for detection of antifolate resistance-associated genetic polymorphisms in Plasmodium falciparum malaria parasite from different malaria endemic areas of Assam. Materials and Methods: A total of 281 field samples were collected from suspected malaria patients of which 106 malaria P. falciparum positive cases were detected in microscopic slide examination. A nested PCR was done for amplification of a 648 bp portion of the dhfr gene and 710 bp portion of the dhps gene. Results: Mutation analysis revealed existence of three different haplotypes of the P. falciparum dhfr gene of which ANRNI was highly prevalent (90%). Triple mutant haplotypes AIRNI (N51I + C59R + S108N) of the dhfr gene associated with pyrimethamine resistance were prevalent in Chirang district of Assam. Whereas, dhps mutation study revealed that triple mutant haplotype AGEAA (S436A + A437G + K540E) associated with Sulphadoxine resistance was found among 26% of P. falciparum field isolates. However, P. falciparum dhfr-dhps two locus mutation analysis showed that there were a total of nine dhfr-dhps genotypes. Conclusion: It was noticed that 93.62% (88/94) isolates had mutations in the sequences of both enzymes, which is an indication of prevalence of high grade of Sulphadoxine -- pyrimethamine resistance in P. falciparum malaria parasites in Assam. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

HarpinPss (encoded by the hrpZ gene), a proteinaceous elicitor produced by Pseudomonas syringae pv. syringae, induces cell death in plants through hypersensitive response (HR). With an aim to generate transgenic tobacco resistant to fungal diseases, hrpZ was expressed in a secretable form, tagged with the signal peptide (SP) of PR1a, under the constitutive 35S promoter (35S) or pathogen-inducible promoters (PIPs) like phenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAL), osmotin (OSM), and hypersensitive-related (HSR) promoters. The constitutive expression of the secretable form of hrpZ did not permit regeneration of transformed cells due to harpinPss-induced cell death. Transformants were recovered at a low frequency (2-6%) from leaf discs infected with Agrobacterium harbouring the SP-hrpZ driven by PIPs due to wound-induced leaky expression of harpinPss. The transgenic lines were confirmed by PCR using transgene- specific primers for SP-hrpZ. The expression of hrpZ under PIPs in transgenic lines was confirmed by Western blotting after challenging the leaves with Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. nicotianae. RT-PCR analysis also confirmed the expression of SP-hrpZ driven by PIPs in transgenic tobacco upon infection with F. oxysporum f. sp. nicotianae. The expression of harpinPss in these transgenic lines was accompanied by expression of defense-response genes such as PR1, PR2, PR3, HSR and HIN1. Transgenic tobacco plants showed enhanced resistance to F. oxysporum f. sp. nicotianae. Our findings suggest the potential use of an elicitor gene (hrpZ), driven by PIPs (PAL, OSM, and HSR) for the development of resistant plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Search for a reliable and efficient insulation diagnostic tool has always been the interest of power utilities. Today a large number of methods are available that can be used for insulation condition monitoring. These methods include both traditional and newer techniques. However due to complex aging process of oil paper insulation under the influence of different types of stresses, insulation condition assessment is generally performed by experts after carefully evaluating different measurement data. Furthermore, measurement data are influenced by various factors (like conductive aging byproducts, furanic compounds, paper and oil-moisture) in addition to measurement error (if any). This makes prediction of insulation condition based on single type of measurement rather difficult. This paper presents an Expert System designed to perform insulation diagnosis. The Expert System considers measurement data obtained using both traditional and newer techniques in order to come to a definitive conclusion. The Expert System extracts insulation condition sensitive information from data obtained using different techniques and then uses these to devise an optimized insulation model. This optimized model is used to predict papermoisture content and other insulation condition sensitive parameters. Since these values are predicted using optimized model, they are not dependent on a single type of measurement and hence are less likely to be affected by error of any specific measurement. The performance of the developed Expert System is first tested on a laboratory sample and then on several real life power transformers belonging to NTPC Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Moisture content in an oil-paper insulation system of power transformer accelerates the aging process of cellulose that degrades insulation properties. As a result, dielectric response measurement data is also affected by moisture present in insulation. In time domain these measurements include Return Voltage Measurement and Polarization-Depolarization Current measurement. In addition it is a known fact that power transformer insulation consists of complex structures which is difficult to model in laboratory. Therefore, results obtained from samples prepared under controlled environment may not be applicable to real life power transformer. The present paper discusses a new approach to combine the results obtained from these two methods namely, Return Voltage Measurement and Polarization-Depolarization Current measurement for several power transformers, to find the relation between oil and paper moisture content that is relevant to insitu power transformers. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article presents a study which examined the levels of individual cancer risks in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients. It states that the study conducted a retrospective review of the cancer patients' medical records. It cites various procedures undertaken in the study such as enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), univariate analysis, and laser nephelometry. It concludes that serological and clinical factors contribute to the increased malignancy in SLE risk.

In the present paper, we have proved some convergence properties of a sequence of elements in a partial cone metric space and thereby we have established some fixed point theorems on it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Harpin, an elicitor molecule of bacterial origin induces hypersensitive response (HR) in non-host plants. In an attempt to induce male sterility, harpin was tagged with a signal peptide and expressed downstream to tapetum-specific TA29 promoter resulting in extracellular secretion, subsequent degeneration of tapetum and development of male sterility in tobacco. Putative transgenics were analyzed by PCR amplification of transgene, semiquantitative RT-PCR analysis from total RNA extracts from anther tissue with transgene specific probe, Western blotting using polyclonal antibody raised against harpin, by transmission and scanning electron microscopy, and by confocal microscopy of anthers and pollen at various stages of development. Varying degrees of male sterility (30-100 %) was observed with plants showing complete and partial male sterility as well as several morphological variations were seen especially in leaves and flowers. Further, some of the transgenics showed un-induced of HR-like local lesions in the vegetative tissues. Harpin got deposited on the pollen grains upon tapetal degeneration resulting in significant alterations in the morphology of pollen cell wall. However, megagametogenesis was not affected in complete and partial male sterile plants and female gametes were completely fertile. The complete male sterility was attributed to premature tapetal cell death due to sufficient extracellular harpin accumulation whereas insufficient protein content might be the reason for partial male sterility. These findings indicate the possible use of cytotoxic harpin for the development of male sterile plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim:Fungiform papillomas are benign mucosal neoplasms presenting as a unilateral exophytic mass involving the anterior portion of the nasal septum. In this study, we present an exceptional case of a bilateral fungiform papilloma with a synchronous verrucous carcinoma of the nasal septum.Material and methods:A case study with a review of the literature concerning malignant changes in fungiform papilloma.Results:The general consensus in most of the literature is that malignant change in fungiform papilloma is exceptional. Our patient is probably the third reported case of verrucous carcinoma of the nasal septum, and the first report of a bilateral fungiform papilloma with a synchronous verrucous carcinoma. The tumour was subjected to complete surgical removal in the first instance. There was no recurrence at follow up seven months after surgery.Conclusion:Although fungiform papillomas are generally not premalignant, occasional malignant transformation may occur. Thus, they must be managed with the utmost cautiousness. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Layer-by-Layer (LBL) self-assembled films of rose bengal (RB) have been fabricated onto quartz substrate by the alternative adsorption of polycation poly (amine hydrochloride) (PAH) and RB. UV-Vis absorption studies reveal the formation of RB dimmer in PAH-RB LbL films. Scanning Electron Micrograph (SEM) picture confirms the aggregation of RB molecules in LbL films. Almost 15 min is required to complete the interaction between RB and PAH molecules in the 1 bilayer LbL film. The dye (RB) was found to come off the film during the subsequent poly cation (PAH) deposition. As an alternative approach RB was anchored to the polycation PAH via physiadsorption and controlling the concentration of the combination of RB and PAH was used as polycation and poly (acrylic acid) (PAA) as polyanion for film deposition. The absorption spectra after each deposition showed that there was no material loss during layer depositions via second method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]