Arun Kumar

The NOvA experiment has made a $4.4\sigma$-significant observation of $\bar\nu_{e}$ appearance in a 2 GeV $\bar\nu_{\mu}$ beam at a distance of 810 km. Using $12.33\times10^{20}$ protons on target delivered to the Fermilab NuMI neutrino beamline, the experiment recorded 27 $\bar\nu_{\mu} \rightarrow \bar\nu_{e}$ candidates with a background of 10.3 and 102 $\bar\nu_{\mu} \rightarrow \bar\nu_{\mu}$ candidates. This new antineutrino data is combined with neutrino data to measure the oscillation parameters $|\Delta m^2_{32}| = 2.48^{+0.11}_{-0.06}\times10^{-3}$ eV$^2/c^4$, $\sin^2 \theta_{23} = 0.56^{+0.04}_{-0.03}$ in the normal neutrino mass hierarchy and upper octant and excludes most values near $\delta_{\rm CP}=\pi/2$ for the inverted mass hierarchy by more than 3$\sigma$. The data favor the normal neutrino mass hierarchy by 1.9$\sigma$ and $\theta_{23}$ values in the upper octant by 1.6$\sigma$.

We present updated results from the NOvA experiment for $\nu_\mu\rightarrow\nu_\mu$ and $\nu_\mu\rightarrow\nu_e$ oscillations from an exposure of $8.85\times10^{20}$ protons on target, which represents an increase of 46% compared to our previous publication. The results utilize significant improvements in both the simulations and analysis of the data. A joint fit to the data for $\nu_\mu$ disappearance and $\nu_e$ appearance gives the best fit point as normal mass hierarchy, $\Delta m^2_{32} = 2.44\times 10^{-3}{{\rm eV}^2}/c^4$, $\sin^2\theta_{23} = 0.56$, and $\delta_{CP} = 1.21\pi$. The 68.3% confidence intervals in the normal mass hierarchy are $\Delta m^2_{32} \in [2.37,2.52]\times 10^{-3}{{\rm eV}^2}/c^4$, $\sin^2\theta_{23} \in [0.43,0.51] \cup [0.52,0.60]$, and $\delta_{CP} \in [0,0.12\pi] \cup [0.91\pi,2\pi]$. The inverted mass hierarchy is disfavored at the 95% confidence level for all choices of the other oscillation parameters.

We report the observation of two-neutrino double-beta decay in Xe-136 with T_1/2 = 2.11 +- 0.04 (stat.) +- 0.21 (sys.) x 10^21 yr. This second order process, predicted by the Standard Model, has been observed for several nuclei but not for Xe-136. The observed decay rate provides new input to matrix element calculations and to the search for the more interesting neutrino-less double-beta decay, the most sensitive probe for the existence of Majorana particles and the measurement of the neutrino mass scale.

Results are reported from an improved measurement of ν_{μ}→ν_{e} transitions by the NOvA experiment. Using an exposure equivalent to 6.05×10^{20} protons on target, 33 ν_{e} candidates are observed with a background of 8.2±0.8 (syst.). Combined with the latest NOvA ν_{μ} disappearance data and external constraints from reactor experiments on sin^{2}2θ_{13}, the hypothesis of inverted mass hierarchy with θ_{23} in the lower octant is disfavored at greater than 93% C.L. for all values of δ_{CP}.

The upcoming 50 kt magnetized iron calorimeter (ICAL) detector at the India-based Neutrino Observatory (INO) is designed to study the atmospheric neutrinos and antineutrinos separately over a wide range of energies and path lengths. The primary focus of this experiment is to explore the Earth matter effects by observing the energy and zenith angle dependence of the atmospheric neutrinos in the multi-GeV range. This study will be crucial to address some of the outstanding issues in neutrino oscillation physics, including the fundamental issue of neutrino mass hierarchy. In this document, we present the physics potential of the detector as obtained from realistic detector simulations. We describe the simulation framework, the neutrino interactions in the detector, and the expected response of the detector to particles traversing it. The ICAL detector can determine the energy and direction of the muons to a high precision, and in addition, its sensitivity to multi-GeV hadrons increases its physics reach substantially. Its charge identification capability, and hence its ability to distinguish neutrinos from antineutrinos, makes it an efficient detector for determining the neutrino mass hierarchy. In this report, we outline the analyses carried out for the determination of neutrino mass hierarchy and precision measurements of atmospheric neutrino mixing parameters at ICAL, and give the expected physics reach of the detector with 10 years of runtime. We also explore the potential of ICAL for probing new physics scenarios like CPT violation and the presence of magnetic monopoles.

This Letter reports new results on muon neutrino disappearance from NOvA, using a 14 kton detector equivalent exposure of $6.05\times10^{20}$ protons-on-target from the NuMI beam at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. The measurement probes the muon-tau symmetry hypothesis that requires maximal mixing ($\theta_{23} = \pi/4$). Assuming the normal mass hierarchy, we find $\Delta m^2 = (2.67 \pm 0.11)\times 10^{-3}$ eV$^2$ and $\sin^2 \theta_{23}$ at the two statistically degenerate values $0.404^{+0.030}_{-0.022}$ and $0.624^{+0.022}_{-0.030}$, both at the 68% confidence level. Our data disfavor the maximal mixing scenario with 2.6 $\sigma$ significance.

Agriculture is considered the backbone of a country as it not only meets the essential needs of humankind but is also a key driver of sustainability and economy. To attain food and nutritional security for the present as well as future generations and to address the future challenges of growing population rate, natural resource depletion, climate fluctuations, etc., technological innovations in agriculture are of extreme importance. Among many others, nanobiotechnological approaches are often applied in agriculture to improve the quantity and quality of produce. This chapter provides insight into the basic understanding of nanotechnology applications in agriculture. We have discussed in detail the use of nanotechnology in various agricultural sectors, for example, in seed science, fertilizer (nano-fertilizers) and herbicide/pesticide (nano-herbicide/nano-pesticide) industry, in water management, to detect nutrients, contaminants, and pathogens (nano-bio sensors), identification, and tracking of agri-food, quality enhancement of agri-products, recycling of agricultural wastes, and shelf-life enhancement of agricultural products. The application of nanotechnology in animal sciences, fisheries, and aquaculture, as well as a wireless nanosensor for precision agriculture, is also discussed.

The goal of this work was to synthesize and fabricate matrix type transdermal patches based on a combination of polymers (Eudragit L100, HPMC and PVP K30), plasticizer and crosslinking agents (propylene glycol and triethyl citrate) and adhesives (Dura Tak 87-6908) to increase Thiocolchicoside (THC) absorption via topical route. This method allows avoidance of first-pass metabolism along with a consistent and extended duration of therapeutic activity.Fabrication and casting of polymeric solutions containing THC was done either in petri plates or through lab coater to get transdermal patches. Finally, the formulated patches were studied for their physicochemical and biological evaluation using scanning electron microscopy, FTIR, DSC, XRD and ex-vivo permeation studies using pig ear skin.FTIR studies confirm that the THC characteristics peaks (carbonyl (Amide I) at 1525.5 cm-1, C=O stretching (tropane ring) at 1664.4 cm-1, Amide II band (N-H stretching) at 3325.9cm-1, thioether band at 2360.7cm-1, and OH group stretching band at 3400.2 cm-1) are still present in the polymer mixture even after formulation as a transdermal patch, indicating compatibility among all excipients. While on the other hand, DSC studies confirm endothermic peaks for all the polymers along with THC with the highest enthalpy of 65.979 J/g, which is an indicator of sharp endothermic peak at 198℃, leading to the melting of THC. The percentage drug content and percentage moisture uptake of all the formulation was found in the range of 96±2.04 to 98.56±1.34% and 4.13±1.16 to 8.23±0.90%, respectively. Drug release and release kinetics studies confirm that it is dependent on the composition of individual formulation.All these findings support the possibility of using suitable polymeric composition, as well as proper formulation and manufacturing circumstances, to create a one-of-a-kind technology platform for transdermal drug administration.

We report results from the first search for sterile neutrinos mixing with active neutrinos through a reduction in the rate of neutral-current interactions over a baseline of 810\,km between the NOvA detectors. Analyzing a 14-kton detector equivalent exposure of 6.05$\times$10$^{20}$ protons-on-target in the NuMI beam at Fermilab, we observe 95 neutral-current candidates at the Far Detector compared with $83.5 \pm 9.7 \mbox{(stat.)} \pm 9.4 \mbox{(syst.)}$ events predicted assuming mixing only occurs between active neutrino species. No evidence for $\nu_{\mu} \rightarrow \nu_{s}$ transitions is found. Interpreting these results within a 3+1 model, we place constraints on the mixing angles $\theta_{24}<20.8^{\circ}$ and $\theta_{34}<31.2^{\circ}$ at the 90% C.L. for $0.05~eV^2\leq \Delta m^2_{41}\leq 0.5~eV^2$, the range of mass splittings that produce no significant oscillations over the Near Detector baseline.

This research analysis is a numerical examination of a fin channel heatsink using coolants Al2O3/water nanofluids and distilled water. Because of its high thermal conductivity and stable character, Al2O3 has been the subject of recent research. Literature has also shown that compared to other nanoparticles Alumina has the lowest rate of precipitation and the most reliable emulsification. The channel finned heat sink with fins is widely used to dissipate heat from tiny electronic components. In this research, the heat transmission properties, thermal resistance, and Nusselt number of Al2O3/water nanofluids were studied using inlet velocities, and different volume concentrations in the heat sink and then compared the results with the distilled water performances. To examine the effectiveness of the fin channel heat sinks the ANSYS-CFX software is used. The consequences show a maximum improvement of 68% heat transfer coefficient at inlet velocity range from 0.02 m/sto0.10 m/s and at different boundary conditions. Furthermore, the thermal resistance of the (Al2O3/water) nanofluids is much lower than distilled water and hence it is used to reduce the temperature.

The process of assigning bugs to particular programmers is called bug assignment in software engineering. The programmer can fix the bugs by applying their knowledge. This research article presents an Ant colony optimization-based programmer recommendation model (ProRE) to manage software bugs precisely. The proposed ProRE model performs four operations: data pre-processing, i.e., data Pre-processing, extraction, feature selection, and programmer recommendation process. The feature selection stage utilized the Ant colony optimization (ACO) method to determine the appropriate subsets of features from all features. In the programmer recommendation stages, three programmer metrics, i.e., functionality ranking, bug occurrence, and mean Bug fixing time, are utilized for the recommendation assignment. The effectiveness of the proposed programmer recommendation system is assessed using datasets from Mozilla, Eclipse, Firefox, JBoss, and OpenFOAM. It is noted that the proposed model offers a better recommendation strategy over the other available systems. The simulation findings of the proposed ProRE model are also analyzed with well-known available ML methods, i.e., SVM, NB, and C4.5. It is observed that the recommendation results have improved by an average of 4%, 10%, and 12% compared to SVM, C4.5, and NB-based models. Programmer recommendation software is implemented for allocating the bugs to accurate programmers. It has been found that the proposed ProRE model generates more optimistic outcomes than existing ones.

Abstract Animal breeding in India has a long and chequered history. High pressure on agricultural land and increasing human population opened a new opportunity for the livestock and poultry sector as a promising food industry. Productivity of livestock in India is low due to less coverage of livestock under structured breeding programmes, inadequate nutrition and its entanglement with several socio‐economic issues. A bottom‐up approach to breeding policy formulation addressing local needs is required with assured flow of investments. Cattle slaughter is banned in India; hence, a legal policy to curb widespread indiscriminate mating is required which may incur substantial financial and infrastructural burdens for castration of stray males and strengthening of cow rehabilitation centres. Genetic evaluation of indigenous cattle with progeny testing (PT) requires substantial financial support, without affecting the already existing PT for exotic cattle breeds used in the local cross‐breeding programmes and PT of new genotypes obtained from crosses of exotic and local breeds of cattle and for purebred buffaloes. Small ruminants need special attention due to their socio‐economic importance in rural and often highly disadvantaged communities and because they are the second most important meat‐producing species after poultry. Genetic improvement of small ruminants should be accompanied by attention to shrinking grazing resources which would require strong political will together with financial support. The outreach of breeding programmes for small ruminants is currently limited; there is also a lack of linkage between the market and producers that discourages farmers from adopting clear breeding objectives like improvement in growth rate, as animals are seldom sold on weight basis. Apart from government agencies, involvement of private sector, non‐government organizations, local co‐operatives, self‐help groups and self‐sustainable community‐based breeding programmes can strengthen market linkages. Strengthening of the existing infrastructure along with technical input and skilled manpower is essential for achieving the breeding objectives.

Chronic wounds remain an unresolved medical issue because of major social and therapeutic repercussions that require extensive focus. Recent related theragnostic focuses only on wound management and is not effectively promoting chronic wound healing. The rising number of patients with either under-healing or over-healing wounds highlights the ineffectiveness of current wound-healing treatments, and thus, there is an unmet need to focus on alternative treatments. To cover this gap, extracellular vesicles (EVs), for targeted delivery of therapeutics, are emerging as a potential therapy to treat both acute and persistent wounds. To address these issues, we explore the core biology of EVs, associated pharmacology, comprehension of immunogenic outcomes, and potential for long-term wound treatment with improved effectiveness and their nonacceptable side effects. Additionally, the therapeutic role of EVs in severe wound infections through biogenetic moderation, in combination with biomaterials (functional in nature), as well as drug carriers that can offer opportunities for the development of new treatments for this long-term condition, are also carefully elaborated, with an emphasis on biomaterial-based drug delivery systems. It is observed that exploring difficulties and potential outcomes of clinical translation of EV-based therapeutics for wound management has the potential to be adopted as a future therapy.

Extensive measurements have been made with pions, electrons and muons on four production wedges of the compact muon solenoid (CMS) hadron barrel (HB) calorimeter in the H2 beam line at CERN with particle momenta varying from 20 to 300 GeV/c. The time structure of the events was measured with the full chain of preproduction front-end electronics running at 34 MHz. Moving-wire radioactive source data were also collected for all scintillator layers in the HB. The energy dependent time slewing effect was measured and tuned for optimal performance.

Anethum graveolens L. commonly known as dill belonging to the family Umbelliferae, is one of the most useful essential oil bearing spices as well as medicinal herb. Dill is cultivated throughout the world as a medicinal plant. Dill seeds are used as a flavouring agent. Essential oil can be extracted from various parts of plant and chiefly consisted of dill carvone, limonene, dill apiol and α-phellendrene. The essential oil and extracts of dill plant possess promising antibacterial, antifungal, antioxidant, insecticidal, anti-inflammatory, antidiabetic, antispasmodic, hypolipidemic activities etc.

Abstract The two-detector design of the NOvA neutrino oscillation experiment, in which two functionally identical detectors are exposed to an intense neutrino beam, aids in canceling leading order effects of cross-section uncertainties. However, limited knowledge of neutrino interaction cross sections still gives rise to some of the largest systematic uncertainties in current oscillation measurements. We show contemporary models of neutrino interactions to be discrepant with data from NOvA, consistent with discrepancies seen in other experiments. Adjustments to neutrino interaction models in GENIE are presented, creating an effective model that improves agreement with our data. We also describe systematic uncertainties on these models, including uncertainties on multi-nucleon interactions from a newly developed procedure using NOvA near detector data.

The inclusive electron neutrino charged-current cross section is measured in the NOvA near detector using 8.02×10^{20} protons-on-target in the NuMI beam. The sample of GeV electron neutrino interactions is the largest analyzed to date and is limited by ≃17% systematic rather than the ≃7.4% statistical uncertainties. The double-differential cross section in final-state electron energy and angle is presented for the first time, together with the single-differential dependence on Q^{2} (squared four-momentum transfer) and energy, in the range 1 GeV≤E_{ν}<6 GeV. Detailed comparisons are made to the predictions of the GENIE, GiBUU, NEUT, and NuWro neutrino event generators. The data do not strongly favor a model over the others consistently across all three cross sections measured, though some models have especially good or poor agreement in the single differential cross section vs Q^{2}.

Solubility plays a crucial role whenever a drug's effectiveness depends on its ability to disperse homogeneously in the liquid phase. On the other hand, the majority of active pharmacological substances have low water solubility. One of the most important factors in the success of formulation development is the solubility of the drugs. A difficult challenge in drug development is improving the drug's solubility, dissolution rate and bioavailability; over 40% of novel chemical entities reported to date are poorly water-soluble medications. Despite having promising pharmacokinetic properties, a large number of innovative drugs are unable to enter the market because of poor water solubility. The aqueous solubility of a drug also affects the physical, chemical and dose stability; it sets a standard for purity, dissolution rate and extent of absorption; and it achieves the desired concentration of the drug in systemic circulation in order to achieve the required pharmacological response in the systemic circulation. In this review, solubilization techniques such as chemical modification, physical modification and other methods were discussed as they open up new pathways for the production of potent and marketable drugs in Pharmaceutical Industry.

The present study evaluated the effect of dietary supplementation with n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) on preovulatory follicle (POF) turnover, prolificacy, and endocrine and metabolic milieu in Malpura sheep. Fifty cyclic ewes with 3–3.5 body condition scores on a five-point scale were allocated equally to two groups (n = 25) following estrus synchronization and were supplemented with 0.6 mL/kg body weight of n-3 PUFA-rich fish oil (FO) or palm oil (PO) as control, for 60 d following an acclimatization period of 7 d. All ewes were mated with sexually active rams at the end of the supplementation period. On ultrasonographic ovarian scanning at the last fourth estrus, the mean number of POFs was 77.8% greater (P < 0.01) in FO ewes than in the PO ewes. The proportion of ewes with multiple ovulations two months after the beginning of supplementation was 56% in the FO group as compared to 8% in the PO group. The number of fetuses was 46% higher (P < 0.01) in the FO than in the PO ewes at d 45 of gestation. At lambing, the twinning percent in the FO ewes was three times greater than in the PO ewes (27.3 vs. 9.1%). Plasma cholesterol, estradiol, and insulin concentrations were lower (P < 0.01) in ewes fed with FO than those offered PO group at the end of the feeding period. It was concluded that the dietary supplementation of n-3 PUFA-rich FO in well-fed Malpura ewes improved the number of follicles and ovulation rate which led to an increased prolificacy, accompanied by a reduction of plasma cholesterols, estradiol, and insulin.

In recent article, ligand octaaza-bis-α-diimine and its Yb complex grafted upon GO have been synthesized and characterized using scanning electron microscopy, fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, energy dispersive spectroscopy, raman spectroscopy, x-ray diffraction, and cyclic voltammetry techniques. The composites with varying ratio's GO/Yb (1:1), (1:3) and (1:10) have been investigated as counter electrode in dye sensitized solar cell. The fabricated device was analysed using current density–voltage, incident photon-to-current conversion efficiency, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy techniques. The device fabricated with highest ratio (1:10), exhibit the highest Voc, Jsc values and it showed the maximum PCE value of 7.98%. Due to the homogeneous distribution of catalytic Yb particles on the surface of RGO, the RGO/Yb CE demonstrated effective electrocatalytic activity. According to the findings, a DSSC with RGO/Yb CE can demonstrate the efficiency highest than platinum (Pt) CE and thus can replace traditional Pt CE DSSCs to reduce the cost of solar cells.

The semileptonic decay of the neutral K meson, KL -> pi e nu (Ke3), was used to study the strangeness-changing weak interaction of hadrons. A sample of 5.6 million reconstructed events recorded by the NA48 experiment was used to measure the Dalitz plot density. Admitting all possible Lorentz-covariant couplings, the form factors for vector (f_+(q^2)), scalar (f_S) and tensor (f_T) interactions were measured. The linear slope of the vector form factor lambda_+ = 0.0284+-0.0007+-0.0013 and values for the ratios |f_S/f_+(0)| = 0.015^{+0.007}_{-0.010}+-0.012 and |f_T/f_+(0)| = 0.05^{+0.03}_{-0.04}+-0.03 were obtained. The values for f_S and f_T are consistent with zero. Assuming only Vector-Axial vector couplings, lambda_+ = 0.0288+-0.0004+-0.0011 and a good fit consistent with pure V-A couplings were obtained. Alternatively, a fit to a dipole form factor yields a pole mass of M = 859+-18 MeV, consistent with the K^*(892) mass.

This document describes a methodology for the measurement of accuracy and precision of a remote eye tracker, the Tobii X2-30, under non-ideal condition (without the use of a chinrest).The test was performed with 10 people (without disabilities).The results are: 2.46 and 1.91 degrees for the accuracy and precision respectively, while the device datasheet describe values of 0.40 and 0.26 degrees (accuracy and precision respectively).As expected, values calculated are higher, but they are better descriptors of the device's performance in conditions of normal use, where user can move the head freely.The results will be used to establish targets' size on the screen while the eye-tracker is used by people with cerebral palsy.

The cross section of neutrino-induced neutral-current coherent ${\ensuremath{\pi}}^{0}$ production on a carbon-dominated target is measured in the NOvA near detector. This measurement uses a narrow-band neutrino beam with an average neutrino energy of 2.7 GeV, which is of interest to ongoing and future long-baseline neutrino oscillation experiments. The measured, flux-averaged cross section is $\ensuremath{\sigma}=13.8\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.9(\mathrm{stat})\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}\phantom{\rule{0ex}{0ex}}2.3(\mathrm{syst})\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}40}\text{ }\text{ }{\mathrm{cm}}^{2}/\text{nucleus}$, consistent with model prediction. This result is the most precise measurement of neutral-current coherent ${\ensuremath{\pi}}^{0}$ production in the few-GeV neutrino energy region.

Amaranthus Viridis L. belongs to the Family (Amaranthaceae) commonly known as “Chowlai” which a common name. A. Viridis contains several compounds like Quercetin, Kaempferol, Hydroxycinnamic acids (HCs) (coumaric acid, ferulic acid, sinapic acid, caffeic acid, chlorogenic acid, rosmarinic acid), Syringic acid (SA), Rutin, Vitexin, Vanillic acid, etc . In search of new activities and chemical entities, phytochemical screening of the extract from leaves of A. Viridis L. indicates the presence of biologically active constituents saponins, tannins, phenols, flavonoids, alkaloids, cardiac glycoside, steroids, and triterpenoids. Quercetin is the aglycone form of several other flavonoid glycosides, Kaempferol (3,4′,5,7- tetrahydroxyflavone) is a natural flavonol, a type of flavonoid, Syringic acid (SA) is a phenolic compound of natural origin. Syringic acid (SA) is a phenolic compound which obtained from natural origin. SA is an excellent compound to be used as a therapeutic agent in various diseases (diabetes, CVDs, cancer, cerebral ischemia, neuro and liver damage) and possesses anti-oxidant, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, and antiendotoxic activities. Vitexin (apigenin-8-C-glucoside) has also shows the wide range of pharmacological effects, including but not limited to anti-oxidant, anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory, and neuroprotective effects. Vanillic acid shows the anti-cancer activity.

We report cross-section measurements of the final-state muon kinematics for ${\ensuremath{\nu}}_{\ensuremath{\mu}}$ charged-current interactions in the NOvA near detector using an accumulated $8.09\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{20}$ protons on target in the NuMI beam. We present the results as a double-differential cross section in the observed outgoing muon energy and angle, as well as single-differential cross sections in the derived neutrino energy, ${E}_{\ensuremath{\nu}}$, and square of the four-momentum transfer, ${Q}^{2}$. We compare the results to inclusive cross-section predictions from various neutrino event generators via ${\ensuremath{\chi}}^{2}$ calculations using a covariance matrix that accounts for bin-to-bin correlations of systematic uncertainties. These comparisons show a clear discrepancy between the data and each of the tested predictions at forward muon angle and low ${Q}^{2}$, indicating a missing suppression of the cross section in current neutrino-nucleus scattering models.

Context The loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) methods have great potential to identify the species origin of the tissue in meat and meat products at isothermal temperature and are also suitable for field conditions. Aim The present study aimed to develop a rapid, specific, and sensitive assay based on the LAMP technique for identification of tissue of pig origin. Methods The pig-specific primers were designed by targeting the mitochondrial COI gene. The amplification temperature and time for the LAMP reaction were optimised as 64°C and 45 min. The analysis of the amplified product was performed on the basis of the development of colour after the addition of intercalating SYBR Green I dye, and also by the ladder-like pattern on agarose-gel electrophoresis. Key results The assay was found to be highly specific for DNA templates of pig origin and showed no cross-reactivity with other food animals, viz. cattle, buffalo, sheep, and goats. The analytical sensitivities of the LAMP and PCR assays were recorded as up to 0.00001 ng and 0.1 ng respectively, of the absolute DNA content. The laboratory validation of the developed method was performed on blind samples and an admixture of meat from different food animals, viz. cattle, buffalo, sheep, goat and pig. The analysis could be performed in an hour by using supernatant from Phire Animal Tissue Direct PCR kit-treated tissue, excluding the complex process of nucleic acid extraction. Conclusion The LAMP assay was found to be cost-effective, easy to perform, and highly species-specific for pig tissue in meat and meat admixture. The result of the assay can be analysed with the naked eye without the need for sophisticated equipment. Compared with pre-standardised PCR assay, the developed LAMP method was quite sensitive and could be performed within 1 h, from sampling to analysis results. Implications The developed LAMP assay is low resource-based single-tube approach that could be exploited significantly in the fields of diagnostics, agriculture, and aquaculture.

Abstract It takes millions of years for a star to get formed. This paper deals with the stability analysis of mathematical model which governs star formation. Variation matrix or Jacobian Matrix is developed out of differential equation which arises from three component of galactic region i.e. atomic, molecular and stellar components. Mathematical Model is the best way to explore and explain the system of three components in the galactic region. In fact, Mathematical Modelling- is the main, if not the only way one, way for theoretical research of astrophysical processes and objects [6]. Various examples has been taken for comparative studies and computational purposes Keywords: Galactic region, interstellar medium, giant molecular mass, stellar evolution, galaxy, star formation.

Analyzing data related to Sirohi goats, archived at ICAR-Central Sheep and Wool Research Institute, Avikanagar, over a span of 15 years from 2001 to 2015, was carried out to assess mortality rates. The investigation of mortality rates encompassed various age brackets, specifically pre-weaning (0-3 months), post-weaning (3-12 months), and adult mortality. The cumulative mortality rate for Sirohi goats was notably elevated in the first 3 months of age (5.69%) when compared to the 3-12 month (1.50%) and adult (2.11%) age groups.

Sugarcane is a clonally propagated crop and genetic improvement involves crossing of diverse species of Saccharum clones. Identification of desirable cross combination is one of the essential steps in the development of superior varieties. This study was conducted with an objective of identification of best cross combination based on their ability to produce superior clones by contributing desirable traits and suitability of a parental stock as “FEMALES” or “MALES” based on their ability to transmit positive genes to progeny. Sixteen biparental crosses with minimum of 20 progenies were screened for NMC (≥10) and HR Brix (≥20 units) in first clonal selection. The significance of parental stocks performance in cross combination was tested using “t‟ test assuming unequal variance. Progenies obtained from Co 06015, Co 0241 and Co 8347 recorded 20.99%, 20.82% and 20.81% of HR Brix, while Co 0209, Co 06015 and Co 94008 recorded 14.23, 12.76 and 11.88 of mean NMC when they used as male in crossing. Clones derived from Co 99006, Co 0403 and Co 06002 showed 20.93%, 20.82% and 20.81% of HR Brix, whereas Co 07010, Co 99006 and 2007-285 recorded 13.68, 12.21 and 11.40 mean NMC when they were used as female in crossing. Crosses viz., Co 99006 x Co 06015, Co 0403 x Co 0241, 2007-285 x Co 0209 and Co 94005 x Co 86011 has contributed 63%, 32%, 30% and 28% desirable selections respectively. The clones Co 06015 and Co 99006 are proven male and female can be used abundantly in crossing for the development of superior clones. The clones Co 8347, Co 0241, Co 0209 and Co 94008 are best males, whereas Co 0403, Co 06002, Co 07010 and 2007-285 are best females need to be crossed extensively for the development of superior varieties combining quality and cane yield traits.

Subjective wellbeing (SWB) is associated with happiness and life satisfaction. Depression, anxiety and stress represent three different but relating concepts to poor mental health. COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted the subjective well-being of employees during the lockdown, especially the employees relating to the tourism industry. Inter-industry and intra-industry comparison of tourism employees' psychological wellbeing during the peak of the second wave of COVID across India was done. Socio-demographic variables were checked separately for psychological wellbeing. Stratified random sampling was used for data collection. Data was collected through an online questionnaire using the WHO-5 wellbeing index and DASS21 scale for depression anxiety and stress during the peak COVID-19 wave. A sample from 93 employees was collected, of which, 55 employees were from the tourism industry. The results indicated that tourism industry employees as a whole and the employees engaged in activities within tourism had poor subjective wellbeing and were depressed and anxious. Depression and anxiety among tourism employees were impacted by gender and job experience. Employers must use the WHO-5 wellbeing index and DASS-21 scale for keeping track of their employees' happiness and life satisfaction and their poor mental health.

Humans and other animals aptly exhibit general intelligence behaviors in solving a variety of tasks with flexibility and ability to adapt to novel situations by reusing and applying high level knowledge acquired over time. But artificial agents are more of a specialist, lacking such generalist behaviors. Artificial agents will require understanding and exploiting critical structured knowledge representations. We present a metacognitive generalization framework, Knowledge-Interaction-eXecution (KIX), and argue that interactions with objects leveraging type space facilitate the learning of transferable interaction concepts and generalization. It is a natural way of integrating knowledge into reinforcement learning and promising to act as an enabler for autonomous and generalist behaviors in artificial intelligence systems.

The present study examines the bioactive potential of sheep plasma protein hydrolysates (SPPH) produced by in-vitro gastrointestinal digestion as antioxidants, antimicrobials, anti-obesity agents, and inhibitors of lipid oxidation in sausage to address the oxidative stability and shelf-life issues of mutton. The antioxidant and antimicrobial activities, indicate a positive relationship between the degree of hydrolysis and digestion duration. The study finds that SPPH has a potent inhibitory effect on pancreatic lipase and cholesterol esterase. It has higher oil holding capacity than sheep plasma protein, observed at one hour of hydrolysis time. SPPH exhibit an improved behavior in foaming properties along alkaline pH and digestion time while display lower emulsifying activity and stability with hydrolysis advancement. The SPPH act as a natural preservative in developing functional mutton sausage by inhibiting lipid-oxidation. This study showed that the recovery of SPPH can be a cost-effective and sustainable strategy for generating available ingredients for enhanced shelf-life of meat products.

Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is the most frequent micro vascular complication of Diabetes mellitus. It is an eye condition that can cause vision loss and blindness. Globally the prevalence of Diabetic retinopathy among diabetic patients is estimated to be 27.0% which leads to 0.4 million blindness in the world.[1] It affects blood vessels in the retina (the light-sensitive layer of tissue in the back of the eye). It commonly affects both eyes and can lead to vision loss if it left untreated. Currently available conventional treatments (Focal laser therapy, Anti-vascular growth factor drug) for DR have certain limitations, considering which options from alternative resources are being searched. Despite advances in science the treatment of DR is challenging. So, in this case Ayurveda treatment was done.

Download This Paper Open PDF in Browser Add Paper to My Library Share: Permalink Using these links will ensure access to this page indefinitely Copy URL Copy DOI

La0.7Sr0.3FexMn1-xO3 for (x=0.20 and 0.30) compound was modified by substituting Fe at Mn site in order to study different physical properties for its use as the cathode of SOFCs. The solid-state method was used to synthesize the material. The single crystallized phase was observed by X-ray diffraction and the size of the particle was observed to be in micrometer. Micrographs obtained from scanning electron microscope indicate a decrease in grain size with Fe doping. Density was calculated by Archimedes Principle and calculated values indicate increases in density with Fe substitution. Thermal expansion coefficient (TEC) observed by dilatometer decreased with Fe doping and thermogravimetric analysis showed weight gain by the compound with the rise in temperature. Impedance spectroscope recognized the non-Debye relaxation behavior of the compounds. Fe- substitution enhanced the conductivity and decreased the activation energy. Investigated parameters indicated that the prepared perovskite compounds are suitable for cathode application in SOFC.

The development of efficient and novel p-n heterojunctions for photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting is still a challenging problem. We have demonstrated the complementary nature of (p-type) BiSbS3 as a sensitizer when coupled with (n-type) TiO2/CdS to improve the photocatalytic activity and solar to hydrogen conversion efficiency. The as-prepared p-n heterojunction TiO2/CdS/BiSbS3 exhibits good visible light harvesting capacity and high charge separation over the binary heterojunction, which are confirmed by photoluminescence (PL) and electrical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The ternary heterojunction produces higher H2 than the binary systems TiO2/CdS and TiO2/BiSbS3. This ternary heterojunction system displayed the highest photocurrent density of 5 mA·cm−2 at 1.23 V vs. reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE) in neutral conditions, and STH of 3.8% at 0.52 V vs. RHE is observed. The improved photocatalytic response was due to the favorable energy band positions of CdS and BiSbS3. This study highlights the p-n junction made up of TiO2/CdS/BiSbS3, which promises efficient charge formation, separation, and suppression of charge recombination for improved PEC water splitting efficiency. Further, no appreciable loss of activity was observed for the photoanode over 2500 s. Band alignment and interfaces mechanisms have been studied as well.

Crude oil, a dark sticky liquid, is a complex mixture of varying molecular weight which is used for the preparation of petroleum products. Crude oil contains more than 30 parent polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The U.S.EPA has designated 16 PAH compounds (naphthalene, acenaphthylene, acenaphthene, fluorene, phenenthrene, anthracene, fluoranthene, pyrene, benz[a]anthracene, chrysene, benzo[b]fluoranthene, benzo[k]fluoranthene, benzo[a]pyrene, dibenz[a, h]anthracene, benzo[g, h, i]perylene, and indeno[1,2,3-cd]pyrene) as priority pollutants. PAHs are one of the most widespread organic pollutants and potentially health hazard. Besides other environmental components, they are also found in foods (cereals, oils, fats, vegetables, cooked meat). They are carcinogenic, mutagenic, and teratogenic. Thus, key focus is to eliminate these hazardous pollutants from the environment. The present review highlights the presence of various PAHs in the crude oil, key metabolic pathway for the degradation and the associated microbial degraders. The current approach to bioremediation uses various bacterial and fungal genera under aerobic or anaerobic conditions to directly target the specific PAH. However, there is need to explore newer approaches to design an efficient, effective and ecofriendly bioremediation tool. The dearomatization of crude oil might be a useful comprehensive approach and one shot solution to multiple PAH population.

Lamb survival is essential for successful rearing of lambs for sale and replacement of breeding stock given a profitable sheep enterprise. The present study was conducted using the data on 4694 Avikalin, 5015 Chokla and 5718 Malpura sheep recorded from 1991 to 2016 for studying the neonatal mortality in lambs. The effect of influential factors on neonatal mortality of lambs was ascertained and the genetic parameters for lamb survival till first 28 days of life using Gibbs sampling were estimated. Incidence of neonatal mortality was 4.29%, 5.17% and 4.07% in Avikalin, Chokla and Malpura sheep, respectively. Logistic regression analysis revealed significant impact of year of birth and lamb's birth weight on neonatal mortality for all the breeds. Year (1997, 2011–12) negatively affected the survival due to sudden shift in policy decision. Dams with low body weight and in their first parity were also found to affect the lamb survival negatively. Due care of the lambs born with low birth weight (< 2.00 kg) and for primi-parous dams with low weight (< 20.00 kg) can improve the chances of lamb survival. Genetic analysis revealed that the direct heritability for Avikalin sheep was 0.17 ± 0.02, indicating scope for genetic improvement through selection. However, for Chokla and Malpura sheep the direct heritability were 0.05 ± 0.00 and 0.06 ± 0.01, respectively. Maternal permanent environmental effect was important in Avikalin and Chokla sheep with maternal heritability estimates of 0.10 and 0.11, respectively. However, for Malpura sheep, with little genetic variance, only direct genetic effect was important. Apart from care and management, accounting for both direct and maternal effects in breeding program can improve the lamb survival.

The NOvA long-baseline neutrino experiment uses a pair of large, segmented, liquid-scintillator calorimeters to study neutrino oscillations, using GeV-scale neutrinos from the Fermilab NuMI beam. These detectors are also sensitive to the flux of neutrinos which are emitted during a core-collapse supernova through inverse beta decay interactions on carbon at energies of $\mathcal{O}(10~\text{MeV})$. This signature provides a means to study the dominant mode of energy release for a core-collapse supernova occurring in our galaxy. We describe the data-driven software trigger system developed and employed by the NOvA experiment to identify and record neutrino data from nearby galactic supernovae. This technique has been used by NOvA to self-trigger on potential core-collapse supernovae in our galaxy, with an estimated sensitivity reaching out to 10~kpc distance while achieving a detection efficiency of 23\% to 49\% for supernovae from progenitor stars with masses of 9.6\~M$_\odot$ to 27\~M$_\odot$, respectively.

A simple physics-based analytical model for a non-self-aligned GaN MESFET suitable for microwave frequency applications is presented. The model includes the effect of parasitic source/drain resistances and the gate length modulation. The model is then extended to evaluate I–V and C–V characteristics, transconductance, cut-off frequency, transit time, RC time constant, optimum noise figure and maximum power density. The transconductance of about 21 mS/mm is obtained for GaN MESFET using the present theory in comparison to 23 mS/mm of the reported data. The cut-off frequency of more than 1 GHz, optimum noise figure of 6 dB and maximum output power density of more than 1 W/mm are predicted.

MADlib is a free, open source library of in-database analytic methods. It provides an evolving suite of SQL-based algorithms for machine learning, data mining and statistics that run at scale within a database engine, with no need for data import/export to other tools. The goal is for MADlib to eventually serve a role for scalable database systems that is similar to the CRAN library for R: a community repository of statistical methods, this time written with scale and parallelism in mind. In this paper we introduce the MADlib project, including the background that led to its beginnings, and the motivation for its open source nature. We provide an overview of the library's architecture and design patterns, and provide a description of various statistical methods in that context. We include performance and speedup results of a core design pattern from one of those methods over the Greenplum parallel DBMS on a modest-sized test cluster. We then report on two initial efforts at incorporating academic research into MADlib, which is one of the project's goals. MADlib is freely available at http://madlib.net, and the project is open for contributions of both new methods, and ports to additional database platforms.

Over one third of world workforce are employed in agriculture and the amount is steadily falling because of the financial losses of the farmers. One of the key reason behind this financial loss is the lack of technology in agriculture. Continuous cropping and overuse of fertilizers cause the decline in soil productivity and effect the environment as well. This paper demonstrates how the soil productivity can be optimized by implementing an IoT (Internet of Things) based model. Specifically, the paper describes the way to identify the amount of soil nutrients and environmental conditions, followed by the recommendations for cropping and site specific fertilization. Nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium are the key nutrients that are responsible for the plant growth. Soil moisture, pH level of soil and environmental conditions also effects the productivity of crops. In this present work, the system incorporated with various chemicals and sensors to report NPK level, pH level, soil moisture level, temperature and weather forecast. The proposed system takes the soil sample as the input and performs the chemical reactions, corresponding changes in the color of sample is sensed by color sensors and decoded by colorimetry technique. An android application has been built to show the test report and recommendations based on sensed data. The paper has proposed a scientific way to develop a robust, fully automated and low-cost smart farming solution to suit the socioeconomic conditions of small scale farmers in developing countries.

This Letter reports results from the first long-baseline search for sterile antineutrinos mixing in an accelerator-based antineutrino-dominated beam. The rate of neutral-current interactions in the two NOvA detectors, at distances of 1 and 810 km from the beam source, is analyzed using an exposure of 12.51×10^{20} protons-on-target from the NuMI beam at Fermilab running in antineutrino mode. A total of 121 of neutral-current candidates are observed at the far detector, compared to a prediction of 122±11(stat.)±15(syst.) assuming mixing only between three active flavors. No evidence for ν[over ¯]_{μ}→ν[over ¯]_{s} oscillation is observed. Interpreting this result within a 3+1 model, constraints are placed on the mixing angles θ_{24}<25° and θ_{34}<32° at the 90% C.L. for 0.05 eV^{2}≤Δm_{41}^{2}≤0.5 eV^{2}, the range of mass splittings that produces no significant oscillations at the near detector. These are the first 3+1 confidence limits set using long-baseline accelerator antineutrinos.

Alternaria blight is an important disease of Linseed (Linum usitatissimum L) that hampers its productivity and oil content.Symptoms first appears on lower leaves as black point that gradually increased in size to become circular to oval or irregular in shape.During severe infections, spots coalesce and cover the large area of the leaves.The pathogen also attack on the other foliar part of the plant.Alternaria linicola Groves & Skolko and Alternaia lini Dey are two fungi known to cause Alternaria leaf blight in linseed.Studies of relative dominance of pathogens associated with the diseased tissue revealed the dominance of Alternria linicola in infected tissue in comparison to A.lini.Evaluation of genotypes against Alternaria leaf blight under artificial epiphytotic condition revealed that resistance and tolerance is present in the linseed germplasm.Various number of plant protection chemicals were tested during the past years and Rovral @ 0.2% and mancozeb @ 0.2% was found most effective in many experiments.propiconazole @ 0.1% and hexaconazole @ 0.1% were found effective to combat against the Alternaria blight.Iprodione, Propiconazole, Hexaconazole, Difenconazole, Carbendazim 0.10%, Capton 0.20%, Carbendazim 12% + Mancozeb 63% and iprobenphos have been noted to manage the disease economically.Early sowing was also found effective for reduction of Alternaria.Aqueous leaf extracts of Azadirachta indica and Lawsonia inermis was also found suppressive to disease.Spray of Salicylic acid and Benzoic acid was reported to reduce the disease by enhancing the immunization in the linseed plant.

Using the full data set of the NA48/2 experiment, the decay K+- -> pi+- e+ e- gamma is observed for the first time, selecting 120 candidates with 7.3 +- 1.7 estimated background events. With K+- -> pi+- pi0D as normalisation channel, the branching ratio is determined in a model-independent way to be Br(K+- -> pi+- e+ e- gamma, m_eegamma > 260 MeV/c^2) = (1.19 +- 0.12_stat +- 0.04_syst) x 10^-8. This measured value and the spectrum of the e+ e- gamma invariant mass allow a comparison with predictions of Chiral Perturbation Theory.

toxins, infections etc.). Impaired glucose tolerance (>200mg/dL after 2h of 75g of glucose intake) and impaired fasting glucose (> 126 mg/dL).1  Gestational diabetes mellitus (only during pregnancy).Approximately 177 million people worldwide are diabetic.This number is likely to double by 2030.2 Diabetes is responsible for every 1 in 20 deaths from all causes and approximately four million annual deaths are because of complications of diabetes i.e. six deaths every minute or one death every 10 seconds.2 More than 80 per cent of diabetes deaths occur in low-and middle-income countries.3 The problem of diabetes is not homogenous in 4 India.Currently, 4.0-11.6 per cent of India's urbanThe problem of mass diabetes is steadily increasing everyday.This editorial introduces key issues that need to be addressed to support the effective control of diabetes in India as well as globally.Issues like awareness generation for risk reduction, frequency of monitoring for selected parameters, standards for monitoring chronic complications in patients with diabetes, and current recommended targets of various parameters, amongst others, are presented along with extensions to the vaccinations recommended for diabetic patients.

Dialogue Act recognition associate dialogue acts (i.e., semantic labels) to utterances in a conversation. The problem of associating semantic labels to utterances can be treated as a sequence labeling problem. In this work, we build a hierarchical recurrent neural network using bidirectional LSTM as a base unit and the conditional random field (CRF) as the top layer to classify each utterance into its corresponding dialogue act. The hierarchical network learns representations at multiple levels, i.e., word level, utterance level, and conversation level. The conversation level representations are input to the CRF layer, which takes into account not only all previous utterances but also their dialogue acts, thus modeling the dependency among both, labels and utterances, an important consideration of natural dialogue. We validate our approach on two different benchmark data sets, Switchboard and Meeting Recorder Dialogue Act, and show performance improvement over the state-of-the-art methods by $2.2\%$ and $4.1\%$ absolute points, respectively. It is worth noting that the inter-annotator agreement on Switchboard data set is $84\%$, and our method is able to achieve the accuracy of about $79\%$ despite being trained on the noisy data.

The JETSCAPE simulation framework is an overarching computational envelope for developing complete event generators for heavy-ion collisions. It allows for modular incorporation of a wide variety of existing and future software that simulates different aspects of a heavy-ion collision. The default JETSCAPE package contains both the framework, and an entire set of indigenous and third party routines that can be used to directly compare with experimental data. In this article, we outline the algorithmic design of the JETSCAPE framework, define the interfaces and describe the default modules required to carry out full simulations of heavy-ion collisions within this package. We begin with a description of the various physics elements required to simulate an entire event in a heavy-ion collision, and distribute these within a flowchart representing the event generator and statistical routines for comparison with data. This is followed by a description of the abstract class structure, with associated members and functions required for this flowchart to work. We then define the interface that will be required for external users of JETSCAPE to incorporate their code within this framework and to modify existing elements within the default distribution. We conclude with a discussion of some of the physics output for both $p$-$p$ and $A$-$A$ collisions from the default distribution, and an outlook towards future releases. In the appendix, we discuss various architectures on which this code can be run and outline our benchmarks on similar hardware.

Using the NOvA neutrino detectors, a broad search has been performed for any signal coincident with 28 gravitational wave events detected by the LIGO/Virgo Collaboration between September 2015 and July 2019.For all of these events, NOvA is sensitive to possible arrival of neutrinos and cosmic rays of GeV and higher energies.For five (seven) events in the NOvA Far (Near) Detector, timely public alerts from the LIGO/Virgo Collaboration allowed recording of MeV-scale events.No signal candidates were found.

We report a search for a magnetic monopole component of the cosmic-ray flux in a 95-day exposure of the NOvA experiment's Far Detector, a 14 kt segmented liquid scintillator detector designed primarily to observe GeV-scale electron neutrinos. No events consistent with monopoles were observed, setting an upper limit on the flux of $2\times 10^{-14} \mathrm{cm^{-2}s^{-1}sr^{-1}}$ at 90% C.L. for monopole speed $6\times 10^{-4} < \beta < 5\times 10^{-3}$ and mass greater than $5\times 10^{8}$ GeV. Because of NOvA's small overburden of 3 meters-water equivalent, this constraint covers a previously unexplored low-mass region.

The user experience is more crucial than ever as Artificial Intelligence Internet of Things (AIoT) based automated convenience stores standing out in an increasingly competitive industry. While AIoT-based unmanned technique has the potential to alleviate future workforce shortages, the question remains whether customers would accept this modern approach for shopping. In this chapter, an automated picking system based on AIoT was proposed for the construction of an online stores and facilities for controlled shipment platforms. Integrating ecommerce platforms with AIoT systems and robotics that follow consumers&apos; wants can bring speed and ease in the context of online purchasing. As a result, the suggested approach diverts consumers who are influenced by AIoT, while robots schemers take over human picking activities.

The Purpose of this paper is to compute reliability parameters of polytube plant having four units using Regenerative point Graphical Technique (RPGT).A Polytube plant consists of four sub systems such as Mixture (A), Extruder (B), Die (C), and Cutter (D).These subsystems are configured in series for successful working of plant.Units A & B have subunits in series whereas units C & D have subunits arranged in parallel.If one of units fails then the system fails and if C or D units are in reduced state then the system works in reduced.Numerical examples are taken to verify the derived results.Behavior analysis of the system is done which may be useful to management in maintaining the various units of the system Tables and graphs are prepared to compare and draw the conclusion.

Research confirms the negative relationship between early marriage and mothers' and children's health outcomes. This is why studies of the changes in age at marriage are an important task from the point of view of the health status and well-being of a mother and her offspring, especially in groups represented by extremely disadvantaged social strata in India. The results of such studies may influence the future family planning policy in the country.This study aims to investigate the trend of age at marriage among the Scheduled Castes (SCs) women from two Indian states: Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh relative to the level of education and also to socioeconomic changes in the states. These states manifest the highest proportion of girls getting married below the age of 18 years-far above the proportion observed in entire India.Women from Scheduled Caste, N = 1,612, aged 25-65, born in 1950-1990 were investigated. A modern semiparametric regression approach was used. To capture the relationship between age at marriage and year of birth, categories of women's level of education (illiterate; primary: 1st-5th standards; middle school: 6th-8th standards; high school: 9th-10th standards; higher secondary: 11th-12th standards), and categories of the profession (women working in the agricultural sector or the non-agricultural sector), flexible framework of the Generalized Additive Model (GAM) was applied.A significant impact of the cohort defined by the year of birth (<0.001), and women's education (<0.001) on age at marriage was noted, while the influence of women's occupation was not significant (p = 0.642). Mean age at marriage differed significantly with different education level. Women who graduated from primary school married 0.631 years later on average than illiterate ones, while those who graduated from middle schools, high schools (9th-10th standards) and higher secondary schools married significantly later than illiterate ones by 1.454 years and 2.463 years, respectively. Age at marriage increased over time: from slightly above 15 years in the cohort of illiterate women born in 1950 to almost 19 years in quite well-educated women born in 1990. The average age at marriage estimated for four education levels in 1990 ranged between 16.39 years (95%CI: 15.29-17.50) in the group of illiterate women and 18.86 years (95%CI: 17.76-19.95) in women graduated from high and higher secondary schools.The rise of age at marriage can be partly explained by the increase of females enrolled in schools, the alleviation of poverty, and the implementation of social programs for women.

Background: India has very rich diversity of medicinal plants. Medicinal plants are thought to be a rich source of ingredients that can be used in the development of pharmaceutical or synthetic drugs. Aside from that, these plants play an important role in the development of human drug all over the world. Whether in modern or traditional medicine, medicinal plants are used to maintain health, to treat a specific condition, or both. Nardostachys is one of the most important medicinal plant having several therapeutic properties. It is threatened in its natural habitat due to over exploitation for therapeutic purposes and high demand in the traditional medicine system. Keeping these points in mind, we attempted to investigate alternative uses of in vitro grown plants in place of wild plants without disrupting plant-based therapeutics and market demand. And then compare the root extract of the Nardostachys jatamansi plant’s antioxidant and flavonoid levels under in vitro and natural growth conditions. Methods: Nardostachys jatamansi is a plant that is widely used in traditional medicine systems. Because of its wide spread use in traditional medicine, this plant is considered endemic. In our study, we compare of antioxidant quality and Flavonoid amount of Natural and in vitro propagated Nardostachys jatamansi. Firstly we cultivated in vitro plants from Nardostachys jatamansi nodal explants for comparative analysis. The methanol extract of in vitro grown and wild-type plant root extract was then prepared using the maceration method. The extract was subjected to a comparative DPPH method to determine the presence of antioxidant potential in natural and in vitro grown plants. Furthermore, the HPLC analysis was used to detect and quantify the amount of Quercetin in both natural and in vitro propagated plants. Result: When grown in vitro at a higher concentration, the roots of Nardostachys jatamansi have greater antioxidant potential than when they are grown naturally. They demonstrated antioxidant DPPH radical scavenging activity, with an IC50 value of 29.55 µg/ml for in vitro generated plants and 24.18 µg/ml for naturally grown plants. The concentration of Quercetin (mg/ml) for natural plant species is 1.95 and for in vitro propagate plant is 1.83. The HPLC analysis presents distinct peaks, with the main peaks having retention time for standard Quercetin (10.38) in the natural plant (10.34) and in vitro grown plants (10.32). In the end, natural-type species that had been produced in vitro were used to obtain the potential of micro propagated plants. The DPPH test and flavonoid were tested on the root extract of natural and in vitro plants. Both plants displayed promising antioxidant activity and an HPLC study identified the Quercetin component.

Introduction Although urodynamic evaluation forms the cornerstone of diagnosis and management of bladder dysfunction in posterior urethral valves (PUV), yet it could be helpful to learn if there are any non-invasive surrogate imaging markers for the same. Aim To study the diagnostic accuracy of various imaging surrogate markers of urodynamic proven bladder dysfunction in PUV. Method This cross-sectional study over two years included 38 children of endoscopically proven PUV. Based on bladder function on Urodynamics the patients were divided into 2 groups: Group 1: PUV with normal bladder function (n: 17, 44.7%); Group 2: PUV with impaired bladder function (n: 21, 55.3%). Voiding dysfunction, incidence of recurrent urinary tract infection (UTI), polyuria, grade of hydronephrosis, retrovesical ureteric diameter (mm) and detrusor wall thickness (DWT mm) was compared in the two groups. MCU at initial presentation and post definitive treatment was studied and a bladder hostility score (BHS) was assigned to each patient and compared in the two groups. Correlation between impaired bladder function and clinical and radiological variables was performed by using Spearman Rank correlation and data receiver operating curves (ROC) were plotted to identify the critical values predicting the probability of bladder dysfunction in PUV. Results Mean age at evaluation was 6.1 ± 4.2 years with a mean follow-up of 5 ± 3.9 years (median: 3.5 years). Voiding dysfunction, persistent or worsening grade III and IV hydroureteronephrosis, retrovesical ureter diameter ≥13.1 mm (diagnostic accuracy: 68.4%, AUC: 0.738), DWT on full bladder ≥1.85 mm (diagnostic accuracy: 81.6%, AUC: 0.846) and pretreatment BHS ≥5.5 (diagnostic accuracy: 71.4%, AUC: 0.763) were the clinical and imaging predictors of impaired bladder function. Comparative analysis of the two groups is as shown in table. Conclusion Clinical and imaging parameters are unable to convincingly identify the type of bladder dysfunction which is often required to manage PUV patients appropriately. Increased detrusor wall thickness suggests underlying bladder dysfunction and while those with small capacity hypertonic bladders have higher mean detrusor wall thickness than those with myogenic failure, the difference was not statistically significant (p: 0.41). Attempts to predict underlying bladder dysfunction by MCU imaging may be erroneous in nearly one-third of the patients. Thus, these imaging parameters are complementary and sequential to urodynamic, which certainly continues to be the gold standard investigation to assess bladder dysfunction in PUV.

In the present work, we report a systematic theoretical study of the $\log ft$ values for the forbidden $β^-$ decay transitions in the $^{208}$Pb region. For this, we have considered $^{206}$Hg $\rightarrow$ $^{206}$Tl, $^{208}$Hg $\rightarrow$ $^{208}$Tl, $^{206}$Tl $\rightarrow$ $^{206}$Pb and $^{208}$Tl $\rightarrow$ $^{208}$Pb transitions. We have performed shell model calculations using KHH7B interaction in valence shell 58-114 for protons and 100-164 for neutrons by considering ${\it 1p-1h}$ excitations for both protons and neutrons simultaneously for daughter nuclei. This study presents the first shell model results of $β^-$-decay corresponding to the recent experimental data.

Childhood cancers are emerging as an essential concern in India while there is lack of a specific programme component or policy to address childhood cancer control. There is limited information on the status and quality of childhood cancer care services in India. This paper describes the childhood cancer care services available at secondary and tertiary-level hospitals in India through a cross sectional study design. The survey was conducted in 137 tertiary-level and 92 secondary-level hospitals in 26 states and 4 Union Territories (UTs), ensuring a uniform representation of public and private care hospitals. The study tool collected data on the organisational infrastructure, type of oncology services, health workforce, equipment, treatment and referral protocols, and treatment guidelines. Descriptive statistics was used to primarily present the health service status and data on childhood cancer care services in proportions and mean. A dedicated pediatric oncology department was available in 41.6% of the public, 48.6% of private, and 64% Non Government Organization (NGO) managed tertiary-level hospitals. In 36 (39%) of the 92 hospitals providing secondary care, childhood cancer care was provided. The availability of bone (41.5%) and positron emission tomography (PET) scans (25.9%) was lower in public tertiary hospitals, whereas histopathology, computerised tomography (CT scan), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) were lower in public secondary hospitals than private and NGO managed hospitals for the corresponding level of care. Most tertiary hospitals had the required supportive care facilities except for play therapy and hospice care. Less than 50% of the public tertiary hospitals had stocks of the four categories of cancer-treating drugs and essential infrastructure for radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Most secondary-level hospitals not treating childhood cancer had referral linkages with tertiary hospitals. The situational analysis of childhood cancer care services in India showed the concentration of availability of childhood cancer care services at the tertiary level of health care. There were gaps in the availability of specialised pediatric oncology care in all the tertiary hospitals. The availability of childhood cancer care services was higher in private and NGO-managed hospitals than in public hospitals. Integration of childhood cancer as a part of the national cancer control response should be taken up as a matter of priority. The need of the hour is to formulate a childhood cancer policy that will enable timely access to care universally. World Health Organization, India provided funding and technical support.

Breeding for resistance against nematodes has become the need of the hour due to emergence of anthelmintic resistant strains of major pathogenic nematodes of economic importance and rising demand for chemical residue free food by consumers. ICAR-Central Sheep and Wool Research Institute Avikanagar (Rajasthan) has developed Haemonchus contortus resistant lines of sheep in Avikalin and Malpura breeds by harvesting benefits of over-dispersion in fecal egg counts (FEC) through executing a breeding program since year 2004. Aim of the present study was to assess the genetic parameters for nematode resistance in these lines and also to develop suitable criteria for selection targeting resistance as well as growth improvement in these two lines. The data on 1240 Avikalin and 2172 Malpura sheep generated over 13 years (2004–16) for FEC along with deep pedigree and growth records for live weight at 6 (6WT) and 12 month were used for study. Data were analyzed using Average Information Restricted Maximum Likelihood (AIREML) approach. Results revealed moderate heritability (h2) for pre-drench log transformed fecal egg count (LFEC) in Avikalin (0.21±0.06) and Malpura (0.18±0.04) sheep. The post-drench h2 for LFEC was low in Avikalin (0.04±0.03) and Malpura (0.11±0.03) sheep. Effective selection program can be carried out for further improving the resistance against H. contortus in both the breeds using pre-drench LFEC estimates. The genetic correlation between the pre-drench LFEC and growth traits was not in the desired direction. Existence of substantial genotype × environment (G×E) interaction was seen in Malpura sheep, where major shift in ranks of sheep based on pre-drench LFEC as that of post-drench LFEC was observed owing to genetic correlation of 0.65±0.15. The G×E was absent in Avikalin sheep. Unreliable genetic correlation between growth and LFEC does not warrant a multi trait selection index development and its utilization in breeding program. The independent selection for LFEC followed by corrected 6WT can precisely help in achieving the goal of improving growth in nematode resistant sheep.

Avikalin is a synthetic sheep selected over the years for higher growth and fleece yield. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the growth performance of Avikalin over 4 decades in light of several non-genetic factors for better management decisions. The data on 7274 Avikalin sheep born to 2418 dams and 409 sires spread over a period of 41 years (1976–2016) maintained at the Animal Genetics and Breeding Division, ICAR-Central Sheep and Wool Research Institute (CSWRI), Avikanagar, were used for study using least squares analysis. The least squares mean (LSM) with standard error (SE) for birth weight (BWT), weaning weight (WWT), 6-month weight (6WT) and 12-month weight (12WT) were 2.98 ± 0.01 kg, 14.42 ± 0.06 kg, 21.21 ± 0.09 kg and 27.07 ± 0.12 kg, respectively. Average daily gains from birth to weaning (ADG1), weaning to 6 months (ADG2) and 6 months to 12 months (ADG3) were, 126.52 ± 0.65 g, 72.90 ± 0.72 g and 32.70 ± 0.72 g, respectively. Corresponding Kleiber ratio (KR) from birth to weaning (KR1), weaning to 6 months (KR2) and 6 months to 12 months were 16.8 ± 0.04, 7.1 ± 0.06 and 2.7 ± 0.06, respectively. Regression of the ewe weight was highly significant on all growth traits except ADG3 and KR3. Thus, it was found essential to care the ewes with less weight for heavier lamb production. The effect of sex and period on all the growth traits was highly significant. The effect of season and parity was significant on early growth traits. It was observed that the lamb's birth weight has a quadratic relationship with the parity. Ewes in 3rd to 5th parity gave birth to heavy lambs as compared to ewes in their 1st parity and ≥7th parity. The study revealed improvement in the growth traits over the period due to selection and also negative impact of sudden change in management decision on growth of lambs. Understanding the decisive factors and adopting corrective steps can help harvest better growth of lambs.

Concept of trace elements being "the InorganicSwitches" has evolved during last several decades.Ayurveda, the traditional Indian medicinal system also emphasises the importance of minor and trace elements in human health and disease.To evaluate elemental contents of some commonly used to cure general weakness, 3 medicine herbs namely Beezband (seeds), Gokshur (fruit) and Talmakhana (seeds) have been analyzed for four minor (Na, K, Mg and Ca) and eight trace elements (Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn and Cd) by atomic absorption spectrometry and flame photometry.Their accuracy was measured by replicate analyses.In general, elemental contents were found in varying amounts with large range.It is observed that many of medicinal herbs are enriched in one or more elements.Since these elements are bioavailable in natural form, probably in combination with organic constituents, these are likely to be easily assimilated by human Bodies.Besides them, two toxic elements Ni and Cd were also found in insignificant amounts as these are likely to have originated from environmental contamination.

Concept of trace elements being "the InorganicSwitches" has evolved during the last several decades.Ayurveda, the traditional Indian medicinal system also emphasises the importance of minor and trace elements in human health and disease.To evaluate elemental contents of some commonly used as health promoter and fever, 5 medicine herbs (stems) namely Guduchi, Vach, Mulahati, Joytishmati and Vidhara have been analyzed for four minor (Na, K, Mg and Ca) and eight trace elements (Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn and Cd) by atomic absorption spectrometry and flame photometry.Their accuracy was measured by replicate analyses.In general, elemental contents were found in varying amounts with large range.It is observed that many of medicinal herbs are enriched in one or more elements.Since these elements are bioavailable in natural form, probably in combination with organic constituents, these are likely to be easily assimilated by human bodies.Besides them, two toxic elements Ni and Cd were also found in insignificant amounts as these are likely to have originated from environmental contamination.

Peste des petits ruminants (PPR) is a devastating disease of small ruminants in India due to its spread and economic importance. Vaccination with attenuated whole virus vaccine is the only strategy adopted for prevention of this disease. Present study was carried out to identify the sources of variation and also to unravel the genetic variance in the PPR virus (PPRV) vaccine elicited immune response in 374 Sirohi goat kids maintained at an organized institute flock in the semi-arid region of India. Average age at vaccination was 142.43 days. Sera were tested by competitive ELISA (C-ELISA), an attenuated PPRV (Sungri) was used as the coating antigen. Results revealed significant variability for response to vaccination. Per cent inhibition (PI) values at 0 day of vaccination (0DPrV) was 22.50% and at 28 days post vaccination (28DPV) it was 71.8%. On 28DPV, 94.92% of the total animals showed protective titre. Among environmental determinants, cohort and age at vaccination proved to be significant sources of variation (P < 0.05). Higher 0DPrV titre was found to affect 28DPV titre negatively. Factors determining the better odds of protection needs to be exploited properly to assure protection. The estimate of heritability (h2 ± SE) at 0DPrV was 0.00 ± 0.12, however it revealed significant contribution from maternal permanent environment (c2 = 0.38 ± 0.12). At 28DPV, h2 was 0.34 ± 0.16 and c2 was 0.25 ± 0.15.

The present study was focused to determine the genetic worth of Frieswal bulls under farm and field conditions and to assess their rankings in both production systems. The first lactation records of 3,582 crossbred cows maintained at Military Farms (2,851) and in farmer’s herds (731) which were daughters of 32 bulls and calved during 14 years from 1998 to 2011 were used in the present study. The average first lactation milk yield in crossbred cows was 2,886.60± 32.78 and 2,666.17± 71.21 kg at Military Farms and field units respectively. Year of calving in farms and season of calving in field had significant effect on the first lactation milk yield. Herd/location of the farm was found significant in both conditions. Breeding value estimates of the sires ranged from 2,824.28 to 2,919.19 and from 2,650.41 to 2,758.81 kg under farm and field conditions respectively. Eight bulls (25%) under farm conditions and 27 bulls (84%) under field conditions exceeded their breeding value over the herd average. The low and nonsignificant product moment correlation (–0.261) and rank correlation (–0.296) between breeding values of bulls under farm and field conditions revealed that bulls with higher ranks for milk production under farm conditions did not retain their superiority in field conditions. Therefore top ranked Frieswal bulls tested under farm conditions cannot be recommended for their use as proven bulls in field conditions. The breeding program should also be optimized to respond to multiple environment requirements, as re-ranking of bulls occurred in the 2 environment conditions.

A search for direct CP-violation in K±→π±π0π0 decay based on 47.14 million events has been performed by the NA48/2 experiment at the CERN SPS. The asymmetry in the Dalitz plot linear slopes Ag=(g+−g−)/(g++g−) is measured to be Ag=(1.8±2.6)×10−4. The design of the experiment and the method of analysis provide good control of instrumental charge asymmetries in this measurement. The precision of the result is limited by statistics and is almost one order of magnitude better than that of previous measurements by other experiments.

Inversion of MT data is an inherently nonunique and unstable problem due to the ill‐posedness of the electromagnetic inverse problem. A variety of models may fit the data very well. To overcome this ill‐posed nature of the inverse problem, we use Tikhonov's regularization in which the ill‐posed problem is replaced by a family of well‐posed problems. We also analyze the behavior of the Tikhonov regularization parameter to find out its optimal value for a typical model of a hydrocarbon reservoir in a marine environment. We have compared two regularization techniques: rigorous and adaptive regularizations. The results of this numerical study demonstrate that adaptive regularization provides practically the same inverse image as the rigorous regularization, while reducing the computational time dramatically.

The essential oil from the leaves of Feronia limonia was extracted and the chemical constituents and antibacterial activity were studied. The GC and GC-MS analyses revealed that the leaf essential oil of F. limonia contained fourteen compounds representing about 98.4% of the total oil. The major chemical compounds identified were Eudesma-4 (14).11-dine (46.3%), carvacrol (29.6%) and 1,5-cyclodecandine (13.4%). The essential oil was screened for its antibacterial activity against different clinically isolated Gram positive and Gram negative bacterial strains by disc diffusion and minimum inhibitory concentration assay. The essential oil exhibited moderate antibacterial activity against all the tested bacterial strains with MIC values ranging from 125 to 500 μg/mL except Proteus mirabilis.

Frieswal cattle is one of the crossbred strains having 5/8 Holstein Friesian and 3/8 Sahiwal inheritance, develo pedby ICAR-Central Institute for Research on Cattle, Meerut, in collaboration with Ministry of Defence. The projectwas started in 1987 for the evolution of a new crossbred national milch breed: Frieswal – (Holstein×Sahiwal), yielding 4,000 kg of milk with 4% butter fat in a mature lactation of 300 days. It is the only project in the country where such a huge population of animals (more than 20,000) is available with accurate production and pedigree records of each and every animal over generations, with well-established progeny testing network in 37 military farms to cover all the agro-climatic zones of the country. In this review, an attempt has been made to analyze the genesis, present status and future prospects of Frieswal cattle in India.

Objective: Ipomoea pes-caprae (L.) R.Br (IP) is a valuable medicinal plant, distributed in the tropics and subtropics regions.The present investigation was carried out to determine the antimicrobials as well as possible chemical components in IPby FTIR and GC-MS technique. Methods: The different solvent extracts (hexane, di-chloromethane, ethyl acetate and methanol) of the plant were tested for antibacterial activity against human pathogens. FTIR method was used to detect the characteristic peak values and their functional groups.GC-MS technique was used in this study to identify the components present in the extract. Results: The results highlighted that the methanol extracts exhibited remarkable antibacterial activity compared to other extracts against four out of the five human pathogens. FTIR method showed the specific peak for phenol, ester, alcohol etc. A total of nineteen biological compounds were isolated from the leaves of IP by GC-MS analysis among whichstigmasterol, 1-(+)-ascorbic acid, 2-6-dihexadecanoate and Phytol (3, 7, 11, 15-tetramethylhexadec-2-en-1-ol) are the major compounds. Conclusion: The study encourages this plant useas an alternative medicine for the treatment of diseases. Keywords: Ipomoea Pes-caprae, phytochemicals, antibacterial, GC-MS, FTIR

India harbors a vast diversity of sheep (40 breeds). The study was carried out to assess the genetic diversity of DRB1 and DQA2 locus of the ovar-MHC and their possible association with Peste des petits ruminants (PPR) virus vaccine response in Malpura and Avikalin sheep breeds maintained at an organized institute flock in the semi-arid region of India. Genetic analysis revealed the rich diversity of DRB1 locus with 23 alleles in Malpura and 21 alleles in Avikalin sheep that included 9 new alleles. DQA2 locus also had rich diversity with 19 alleles in Malpura and 20 alleles in Avikalin sheep that included 7 new alleles. At the protein level, high variability alike at the nucleotide level was observed. A marker for footrot susceptibility, DQA2*1101 was absent in both breeds. Genotypic association of DRB1 and DQA2 with PPR vaccine response was statistically non-significant. Vaccine response being a multifactorial (polygenic and influenced by environment) variable, could not show statistically significant association with MHC genotypes in the present study. However, rich genetic diversity of DRB1 and DQA2 gene reflects the importance of this locus for future selection programs.

Avikalin sheep has been developed for higher growth rate and wool yield, however, wool has lost its market value over time. The aim of the study was to know the genetic potential of Avikalin for growth and also to suggest a selection criterion for higher growth with feed conversion efficiency. A total of 6296 animals descended from 2048 dams and 390 sires spread over a period of 41 years (1976–2016) at ICAR-Central Sheep and Wool Research Institute (CSWRI), Avikanagar were used for the analysis. Genetic trends were obtained for average daily gain (ADG) from birth to weaning (ADG1), weaning to 6-month (ADG2), 6-month to 12-month (ADG3) and Kleiber ratios of corresponding age (KR1, KR2 and KR3) in crossbred Avikalin sheep. Co(variance) components and genetic parameters were estimated by univariate and bivariate animal models using the average information restricted maximum likelihood (AIREML) by excluding or including maternal genetic or maternal permanent environmental effects. Significant and high additive genetic variances were observed for all the traits. Decreasing trends were observed for maternal effects as age advances. The genetic trends for ADG and KR up to 6 month age were positive and had substantial increment over the years indicating the impact of selection that favored higher gain in body weight at early ages. However positive and desired genetic trend at early ages (≤6 months), had an inverse relationship with genetic gain or trend at a later age (>6 month). Moderate estimates of the total heritability (hT2) 0.14, 0.18, 0.11, 0.19, 0.13 and 0.14 were obtained for ADG1, ADG2, ADG3, KR1, KR2 and KR3, respectively. This indicates the scope of direct selection for these traits for further improvement. The positive and desired genetic and phenotypic correlations between ADG and their corresponding KR suggested the scope of indirect selection for growth rate if lambs are selected for higher feed efficiency based on KR.

Extensive growth in human population, rapid urbanisation, and climate change mediated extreme weather conditions are the three major challenges the world is facing today. Among these challenges, rapid urbanisation can be seen as playing catalytic role in land-use changes and waste generation mediating the processes responsible for the global climate change. Rapid conversion of pervious lands to impervious surfaces during the process of urbanisation is deteriorating the inherent ecosystem services of the natural ecosystems provided to the humankind. Moreover, pseudo-adaptation technologies based on extensive energy consumption and natural resource exploration are further adding to the causes for the happening of the climate change phenomenon. Now the scientific communities and even the common people have developed an understanding of the protection and maintenance of the natural vegetation to mitigate the climate change-related extreme weather conditions. The concept of urban ecology is getting wider attention in the recent years. Green infrastructure, green space development, and water-resource maintenance can be seen as the major policy measures for the recent urban developments. In addition, preservation of local floral and faunal diversity by the government and urban inhabitants has also been observed in the recent studies. In this chapter, we will provide a brief understanding of the urbanisation-climate change nexus. Further, elaboration of the emergent climate change adaptation and mitigation measures to be considered in the urban ecosystems has been done in the latter part of the chapter. A bibliometric analysis was performed for collating the studies related to the urban ecology-climate change nexus published during the past two decades. Overall, this chapter will be briefly introducing the problems associated with rapid urbanisation in the climate change scenario and the possible nature-based mitigation strategies with respect to the urban ecology principles.

Blockchain has become one of the most demanding technologies of the decade. Blockchain is a decentralised digital record of information stored in a form of blocks in a chain of blocks called blockchain. It is totally dependent on the addition of new block in its chain. At a single time, there are a number of blocks ready to be added in the blockchain; choosing one valid block from this number of blocks is a complex and most important part of blockchain architecture. As we know that blockchain is a non-centralised system, it has peer-to-peer network in which blocks are added one by one to the chain of blocks only when a consensus is reached amongst the participants of the network. This paper presents a theory summarising of some consensus algorithm used in public, private and consortium blockchain technology along with pros and cons of each algorithms.

Wool fibers consist of proteins with majority belongs to keratin family. Longitudinally arrayed keratin intermediate filaments constitute a matrix surrounded by keratin-associated proteins (KAPs). These KAPs play essential role in providing the physico-mechanical properties of the wool fiber. Real time PCR assay revealed that type 1 hair cortex keratin K33A (K1.2) was significantly (p ≤ 0.05) upregulated in lustrous Magra wool follicles however other keratin and keratin associated protein (KAP) genes were found down regulated. Furthermore, nucleotide sequence analysis revealed 4, 30, and 7 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in KAP6, KAP7, and KAP8 genes, respectively. The presence of differing amount of type I and type II keratin and hydrophobic high glycine-tyrosine proteins in wool might be partially responsible for different glass transitions exhibited by wool and consequently imparts different physical properties like wool luster.

Manipur had 2.63 lakh cattle head including 2.19 lakh indigenous and 0.44 lakh crossbred in the year 2012. The trends in cattle population during the years 2003-07 showed a decline of 18.32% in total cattle population, 20.86% in indigenous cattle and 6.06% in crossbred cattle. There is not a single registered breed of cattle from the state. In the present study an attempt was made to characterize and evaluate indigenous cattle of the state as there is no information available in the literature on these cattle. Surveys were conducted in Imphal East, Imphal West (Valley districts) and Churachandpur (Hilly district) districts. Farmers (83) and animals (363) of different age and sex from 13 villages were included in the present study. The indigenous cattle of Manipur are of medium size, stout and hardy. Animals were reared mainly on extensive system of management i.e. grazing from morning to evening. During December to June when rice crop is there, animals were provided rice bran and rice waste as concentrate. The body colour was different i.e. brown (76%), black (12%), gray (4%) and spotted with black or white patches on brown body (8%). Bullocks had medium hump. Horns were small, black (82%) or gray (18%) in colour. Udder was small, not well developed and milk veins were not prominent. Temperament was docile in all the cases. The average body length, height at wither, heart girth, paunch girth, ear length, face length, tail length without switch and horn length in cows were measured. Cows and bullocks did not differ significantly in all the morphometric traits. The average daily milk yield was 2.65±0.18 kg (2.0 to 4.5 kg). Animals showed uniformity in physical and morphometric traits. Cows showed good potential for milk production and there is a need of systematic genetic improvement programs to develop and improve the milk productivity.

The genotype by environment interaction alters the ranking of the animals at different ages in life due to the changing environment. This affects the selection efficiency of the breeding program. The objective of the present study was to compare the random regression model (RRM) and conventional animal models for better genetic evaluation of the Avikalin sheep. The genetic parameters were estimated for 7274 animals descended from 2418 dams and 409 sires for growth traits of Avikalin sheep, selected over 41 years (1976–2016). The RRM model of choice included a direct genetic, direct maternal, permanent environment for animal and maternal effects. The additive direct heritability (h2) using RRM for live weight at birth (BWT), three months (WWT), six months (6WT), nine months (9WT) and twelve months (12WT) were 0.18 ± 0.02, 0.28 ± 0.02, 0.35 ± 0.02, 0.45 ± 0.02 and 0.36 ± 0.02, respectively. The trends of variances in RRM were comparable to those trends obtained from the inclusive animal model that included the direct genetic, direct maternal and maternal permanent environmental components. The estimates of genetic correlation in RRM were higher (mostly <0.80) between all-time points and higher as compared to the estimates obtained from animal model. Avikalin sheep is selected at 6 month age. It was observed that the ranking of sires at 6 month using animal model changed significantly at 12 month age due to GxE. However, when the breeding values were plotted using RRM, the reaction norm revealed less variation in the ranks. The property of RRM to account for GxE was useful for more accurate and relatively unbiased selection. We, therefore, recommend the use of RRM approach for genetic evaluation of the Avikalin sheep.

Background: The genetic variability in a population is the raw material for selection, because the estimation of genetic parameters depends on the variability present within the population. The pedigree analysis is a method to assess population genetic variability. An increase in the level of inbreeding disturbs the production performance of the animals. Hence, it is essential to assess the effect of inbreeding on production performance of the animals at regular intervals. The present study was conducted on data of Bharat Merino (BM) sheep with twin objectives of evaluating the population structure by pedigree analysis and possible effect of inbreeding on lamb growth and heritability estimates. Methods: The study was conducted on data consisting of a total of 9688 pedigree records of BM sheep born from 1975 to 2018 (43 years), out of which 9050 formed population reference (with both the parents known). ENDOG ver 4.8 program was used to generate different measures of genetic diversity. General Linear Model of SPSS 25.0 was used to ascertain the effect of inbreeding (Fi) or change in inbreeding (ÄFi) on the lamb live weights. Using animal model with software WOMBAT, single trait linear mixed model analyses were performed. The heritability estimates and breeding values were obtained by including or excluding the inbreeding coefficient in the model to observe how the estimates of heritability varied with inclusion or exclusion of the inbreeding coefficient. Result: Effective number of founders (fe) was 56, constituting 11.39% founders in the population reference, while the effective number of ancestors (fa) was 43.The genetic contribution of the 15 most influent ancestors explained 50% of the genetic variability in the dataset. The ratio fe/fa, representing the effect of population bottleneck, was 1.302. The average inbreeding coefficients for the whole pedigree was 2.36%, while it was 3.84% for inbred animals. It was found that the inbreeding coefficient (Fi) increased with the addition of each generation to the pedigree. The average relatedness coefficient was 4.53% between members of the population.The effect of individual inbreeding (Fi) or the change in inbreeding (DFi) was not significant on the lamb live weights, except the effect of individual inbreeding (Fi) on three-month body weight and average daily gain (0-3month) and of change in inbreeding (DFi) on three-month body weight. From the analysis of the pedigree data of Bharat Merino sheep, it was found that the most of the measures of genetic diversity were within acceptable limits and the pedigree data was reasonably well maintained. When inbreeding was accounted for in the model, there were reductions in h2 estimates as well as the estimates of breeding values for both 3WT and ADG1 and consequently there were changes in ranking of animals for both 3WT and ADG1.

The study was carried out in the selected strains of Malpura and Avikalin sheep for nematode resistance versus susceptibility (Malpura resistant: MR, Malpura susceptible: MS, Avikalin resistant: AR and Avikalin susceptible: AS). Strains were selected since 2004 and inter-se breeding followed since year 2007. The objective was to decipher the genetic structure of strains and to estimate genetic parameters for fecal egg count (FEC). The population size was small (107–279); however, all the four flocks had sizable effective population size (fe) for founders. The ratio for fe to effective number of ancestors (fa) was nearly 1 indicating genetic stability. Inbreeding was under control. The log transformed FEC (LFEC) was significantly (P < .05) affected by sex, year and month of recording for all 4 strains. Generation had desired genetic trend. There was low heritability for LFEC in MR(0.02), MS(0.06), AR(0.07) and AS(0.02). The estimate of the permanent environment effect (c2) was low. Repeatability (ρ) for LFEC were 0.05, 0.11, 0.07 and 0.06 for MR, MS, AR and AS, respectively. Pruning the data for repeated records in peak infection period (1: "Aug-Sep" and 2: only "Sep") resulted in considerable increase in ρ for MR (Aug-Sep: 0.07 ± 0.03 and Sep: 0.12 ± 0.07) and AR (Aug-Sep: 0.05 ± 0.04 and Sep: 0.09 ± 0.10). Results revealed genotype x environment interaction for repeated measures across months. Low flock size and low genetic variability are hurdles for improvement in R strains. It is recommended to incorporate new candidates post selection from the other breeding flocks and admit them in the R strains for selective breeding.

Sheep and goats in the country are mostly raised on grazing resources. But these resources are gradually shrinking over the periods both in term of areas under them and also in yield and quality. On the contrary, populations of sheep and goat are increasing rapidly to meet the demand of meat. This is resulting in overstocking and overcrowding on available grazing lands and sharp deterioration of grazing resources. The intensive system (stall feeding) as an alternative to traditional grazing and semi-intensive system, may be useful to maintain pace with growing meat demand in the changing scenario of grazing resources in the country. Studies have shown that lambs and kids on stall feeding with adequate nutrition and management attain faster growth, attain slaughter weights at an early age and produce heavier carcass weights, more dressing yield and desirable lean, fat and bone contents. Although initially intensive system seems costly due to more feed cost and more capital investment, but this is justified by higher economic returns to farmers. Therefore, it can be concluded that intensive feeding system for sheep and goats is better than extensive system and at par or better than semi-intensive system for lamb and kid fattening purpose from 3–6 months of age. This review article also discusses the possibility of economic viability of sheep and goats rearing under stall feeding.

The growth and prolificacy performance of Garole sheep reared under semi-arid conditions at ICAR-Central Sheep and Wool Research Institute, Avikanagar, Rajasthan was evaluated in the present study. The body weight records of 1,058 lambs and prolificacy records of 624 ewes collected over a period of 19 years (1997-2015) were analyzed. The overall least squares mean for body weights at birth (BWT), 3 month (3WT), 6 month (6WT), 9 month (9WT), 12 month (12WT), pre-weaning (0-3 month) average daily gain (ADG1) and post weaning (3-6 month) average daily gain (ADG2) were 1.18±0.02 kg, 6.42±0.12 kg, 9.87±0.18 kg, 11.77±0.25 kg, 13.74±0.32 kg, 56.87±1.22 g and 40.19±1.39 g, respectively. The effect of sex of lamb, period of birth and dam weight at lambing were significant for all growth traits. Significant variation in growth performance, multiple birth and litter size was observed over the period. The body weight and average daily gain of Garole sheep improved over the years. In last 15 years, improvement ranging from 19.56 to 29.51% was observed for various growth traits studied. The multiple births in Garole ewes were 58.01% with a litter size of 1.68 at birth. The prolificacy and litter size in semi-arid conditions were similar to the native tract especially in initial period. Period of lambing and weight of dam at lambing significantly affected litter size at birth. Results showed that Garole performed well in the semiarid conditions and can be successfully reared in these conditions with updated management.

Amongst several trans-boundary diseases of small ruminants in India, Peste des petits ruminants (PPR) is a devastating disease due to its spread and economic importance. The main strategy for prevention of this disease is the vaccination with attenuated whole virus vaccine. Present study was carried out to identify the sources of variation and also to unravel the genetic variance in the PPR virus (PPR) vaccine elicited immune response in 231 Avikalin and 398 Malpura sheep lambs maintained at organized institute flocks in the semi-arid region of India. Average age at vaccination was 108.5 days. Sera were tested by competitive ELISA (C-ELISA), an attenuated PPR (Sungri) was used as the coating antigen. Results revealed significant variability for response to vaccination. Per cent inhibition (PI) values at 0 day of vaccination (0DPrV) was 33.9% and 29.8% in Avikalin and Malpura lambs, respectively. At 28 days post vaccination (28DPV) PI was 62.7% in Avikalin and 58.7% in Malpura lambs. On 28DPV, the protective titre (PI > 50%) was shown by 82.4% Avikalin lambs and 76.2% Malpura lambs. Among environmental determinants, breed, cohort, season and age at vaccination proved to be significant sources of variation (P < 0.05). Factors determining the better odds of protection need to be exploited properly to assure protection. The estimate of heritability (h2 ± SE) at 28DPV was 0.02 ± 0.12 in Malpura sheep, however it was 0.54 ± 0.28 in Avikalin sheep.

Mesiodens is one of the developmental problems in children and adolescents. Mesiodens is a supernumerary tooth in the midline between two central incisors which eventually causes poor aesthetics, food impaction, malocclusion and cyst formation. This is a rare case of a 13-year-old male with unusual impacted inverted permanent maxillary left central incisor and horizontally placed mesiodens lying palatal to the permanent maxillary left central incisor. The patient presented with unerupted permanent upper left central incisor. Although most unerupted teeth require surgical removal, surgical-orthodontic treatment may be needed when maxillary incisors are involved due to the aesthetic impact. Surgical-orthodontic treatment aims at the complete alignment of natural teeth and does not require prosthetic intervention. This case report also reviews current literature on the treatment and multidisciplinary management of this problem. Early diagnosis and treatment are recommended to prevent any orthodontic and pathological complications.

The deadly COVID-19 pandemic is currently sweeping the globe, and millions of people have been exposed to false information about the disease, its remedies, prevention, and origins.During such perilous times, the propagation of fake news and misinformation can have serious implications, causing widespread panic and exacerbating the pandemic's threat.This increasing threat factor has given rise to considerable research challenges.This article is mainly concerned about fake news identification and experimentation is specifically performed considering COVID-19 fake news as a case study.Fake news is spread intentionally to mislead the people and therefore we need to identify user's involvement and it's correlation with additional features.The aim of this research is to develop a model that can predict the essence of a tweet given as an input with the help of multiple features.Our strategy is to make use of the tweet's text as well as the user's metadata and develops a model using natural processing technique and deep learning method.In this process, we have analyzed the behavior of the accounts, observed the impact of the various factors that can lead to fake news.The experimental analysis shows that hybrid model with text and content features have generated a benchmark result than the existing state of art techniques.We have obtained a best F1-score of 0.976 during the experimentation.

The Presence of genotype by environment (GxE) interaction over different ages across growth trajectory in different environments leads to alteration in sires ranking, it may cause problem in any breeding program by affecting efficiency of selection. The objective of the present study was to compare the random regression models (RRM) and conventional animal models and also to plot the trajectory of the growth curve using Legendre polynomial (LP) function of the RRM for better genetic evaluation for growth traits of the Malpura sheep. The data was collected from 8299 animals descended from 2529 dams and 525 sires for growth traits of Malpura sheep, selected over 45 years (1975–2019) maintained at the Animal Genetics and Breeding Division, ICAR-Central Sheep and Wool Research Institute (CSWRI), Avikanagar, Rajasthan, India. The Legendre polynomial based random regression models (LP-RRM) was more robust as compared to conventional animal model and it included direct genetic, direct maternal, maternal permanent environmental and animal permanent environmental effects as a random effects in different orders of fit. The estimates for the additive direct heritability (h2) using best LP-RRM (4444) were 0.176 ± 0.022, 0.367 ± 0.024, 0.314 ± 0.021, 0.323 ± 0.023 and 0.314 ± 0.023, respectively for live body weight at birth (BWT), three-month (WWT), six-month (6WT), nine-month (9WT) and twelve-month (12WT). The comparable trends of variances were found in LP-RRM with trends obtained from the inclusive univariate animal model that included the direct genetic, direct maternal and maternal permanent environmental components. The h2 estimates indicated the further scope of genetic improvement through selection. The maternal proportion of variance was accounting for 1–15 % variance across growth trajectory indicating the low influence of maternal effects that reduced significantly post-weaning. However, we observed that the animal permanent environment accounted for 42–58 % of variance across growth trajectory. The estimates of genetic correlation in LP-RRM were positive and higher (mostly >0.80) between most of the time points as compared to the estimates obtained from animal model, indicating less GxE when RRM is used. Currently selection of Malpura sheep is carried out at the age of six month for growth traits. The presence of genotype by environment (GxE) interaction resulted in to significant re-ranking of sires at 12WT on the basis of breeding values using animal model. However, more consistency in sires ranking were found in the reaction norms plotted for breeding values at 6WT and 12WT using LP-RRM. The RRM have property for accounting (GxE) interaction across growth trajectories more precisely. Therefore, it is recommended that the RRM approach should be used for genetic evaluation of Malpura sheep at 6-month age for unbiased, accurate, and consistent prediction of breeding values for growth traits.