Soil moisture deficit is the major constraint for sesame crop production during its main rainfed and summer cultivation seasons. In summer cultivation, the crop frequently gets exposed to soil moisture deficit at various crop growth stages. Therefore, it is essential to identify the traits along with promising genotypes adapted to soil moisture deficit. A set of 35 sesame genotypes with checks was used to quantify the variation in morpho-physiological, yield, and quality traits under irrigated (WW) and deficit soil moisture stress (WS) conditions in the summer seasons of 2021 and 2022. The analysis of variance revealed the presence of high variability among the genotypes for various measured traits. The mean performance indicated that WS negatively affects the growth, development, yield and quality traits. Moreover, the correlation, path analysis and D2 analysis studies suggested that the traits, viz. leaf area (LA), total dry matter (TDM), canopy temperature (CT), number of branches per plant (NBP) and number of seeds per capsule (NSC) were significantly associated with seed yield under both the conditions. Quality traits like palmitic acid and oleic acid correlated positively with seed yield, particularly under WS. Furthermore, the genotypes with lower canopy temperatures were found to be better seed yielders under WS. In addition, mean performance and cluster analysis suggested that the genotypes: IC- 205776, JSCDT-112, JCSDT-26, IC-205610, and IC-204300, secured higher seed yield along with superior agronomical traits and net photosynthetic rate. These selected genotypes were most promising and could be used in future sesame crop improvement programmes.

An attempt has been made to illustrate the evolution of pelitic granulite from south of the Balaram-Abu road, which lies in the South Delhi Terrane (SDT) of the Aravalli-Delhi Mobile Belt (ADMB), using geochemistry and geochronology. The current work offers a plausible explanation for the protolith of pelitic granulite, nature of the sediments and its provenance. The elemental geochemistry of the pelitic granulites reveals that the protolith is an arkosic to shaley type. The rare earth elements pattern shows that there is a negative Eu anomaly and a small excess of LREE over HREE. This means that the source of sediments probably has the same elements as the upper crust. However, the amounts of Sr, Nd and Pb vary a lot, which shows that the sediments supplied from two different types of sources (felsic and mafic) in different proportions from a Proterozoic terrain. The monazite geochronology indicates that the metamorphic overprint occurred between 797 Ma and 906 Ma. Additionally, the ages correlate to the debris that was formed between the 1188 Ma and 1324 Ma from magmatic/sedimentary sources for pelitic granulite. The present research provides a more in-depth understanding of the evolutionary history of the pelitic granulite that comprises the SDT in the ADMB region during the Proterozoic era.

Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has led an implementation of institutional infection control protocols. This study will determine the effects of these protocols on outcomes of acute ischemic stroke (AIS) patients treated with endovascular therapy (EVT). Methods: Uninterrupted time series analysis of the impact of COVID-19 safety protocols on AIS patients undergoing EVT. We analyze data from prospectively collected quality improvement databases at 9 centers from March 11, 2019 to March 10, 2021. The primary outcome is 90-day modified Rankin Score (mRS). The secondary outcomes are angiographic time metrics. Results: Preliminary analysis of one stroke center included 214 EVT patients (n=144 pre-pandemic). Baseline characteristics were comparable between the two periods. Time metrics “last seen normal to puncture” (305.7 vs 407.2 min; p=0.05) and “hospital arrival to puncture” (80.4 vs 121.2 min; p=0.04) were significantly longer during pandemic compared to pre-pandemic. We found no significant difference in 90-day mRS (2.0 vs 2.2; p=0.506) or successful EVT rate (89.6% vs 90%; p=0.93). Conclusions: Our results indicate an increase in key time metrics of EVT in AIS during the pandemic, likely related to infection control measures. Despite the delays, we found no difference in clinical outcomes between the two periods.

We present a multi-wavelength study of a nearby radio loud elliptical galaxy NGC 708, selected from the Bologna B2 sample of radio galaxies. We obtained optical broad band and narrow images from IGO 2m telescope (Pune, India). We supplement the multi-wavelength coverage of the observation by using X-ray data from Chandra, infrared data from 2MASS, Spitzer and WISE and optical image from DSS and HST. In order to investigate properties of interstellar medium, we have generated unsharp-masked, color, residual, quotient, dust extinction, Hα emission maps. From the derived maps it is evident that cool gas, dust, warm ionized Hα and hot X-ray gas are spatially associated with each other. We investigate the inner and outer photometric and kinematic properties of the galaxy using surface brightness profiles. From X-ray 2d beta model, unsharp masking, surface brightness profiles techniques, it is evident that pair of X-ray cavities are present in this system and which are ~5.6 Kpc away from the central X-ray source.

Tumour and organ microenvironments are crucial for cancer progression and metastasis. Crosstalk between multiple non-malignant cell types in the microenvironments and cancer cells promotes tumour growth and metastasis. Blood and lymphatic endothelial cells (BEC and LEC) are two of the components in the microenvironments. Tumour blood vessels (BV), comprising BEC, serve as conduits for blood supply into the tumour, and are important for tumour growth as well as haematogenous tumour dissemination. Lymphatic vessels (LV), comprising LEC, which are relatively leaky compared with BV, are essential for lymphogenous tumour dissemination. In addition to describing the conventional roles of the BV and LV, we also discuss newly emerging roles of these endothelial cells: their crosstalk with cancer cells via molecules secreted by the BEC and LEC (also called angiocrine and lymphangiocrine factors). This review suggests that BEC and LEC in various microenvironments can be orchestrators of tumour progression and proposes new mechanism-based strategies to discover new therapies to supplement conventional anti-angiogenic and anti-lymphangiogenic therapies.

We present multiwavelength study of a sample of radio loud early-type galaxies chosen from the B2 sample. We performed surface photometry in BVR broad band filters and Hα narrow band filter on CCD images of sample galaxies using IGO 2m telescope, Pune (INDIA), to get radial profiles of various photometric and geometrical parameters that describe elliptical isophotes fitted to the 2D light distribution of the galaxies. The analysis of radial profiles of quantities such as the (local) surface brightness, the ellipticity, and the deviations from elliptical isophotes parametrized by the Fourier coefficients are main focus of our study. We generated color maps, residual maps, and dust extinction maps, Hα emission maps of the galaxies to study the morphology of the dust and ionized gas content present in the galaxies. We carried out detailed analysis of the properties of the dust present in our sample galaxies. Additionaly, we investigated properties of the dust in the central ~10 arcsec region of our sample galaxies using optical images available from the HST (WFPC2) data archive. We estimated mass and temperature of the dust, molecular gas mass, in the sample galaxies using FIR fluxes of the galaxies obtained from IRAS.

We used spectroscopic data available from the SDSS (DR7) to get an estimate of the mass of the central super massive black-hole for B2 1257+28 (NGC 4874). We plotted rotation curve for coma cluster (Abell 1656), which indicates the presence of dark matter halo around the galaxy B2 1257+28.

Since 1997, and following our detection of the first mm afterglow, we have followed-up 70 GRBs, mainly with the IRAMś Plateau de Bure Interferometer, what can be considered as the IRAM Legacy GRB Sample. 66 events were observed at 3 mm, with 19 of them being detected (with another 3 having marginal detections). 32 GRBs were followed up at 1 mm, with 6 of them being detected. Redshifts for the GRB afterglows lie in the range z = 0.03–8.3, with measured flux densities (at 3 mm) varying between 0.25 and 60 mJy (but usually <1.5 mJy) with first observations taking place around 1–2 days after the GRB. Forward shock emission expleains the observations with the exception of one particular case (GRB 090423 at z = 8.2) for which reverse shock emission is required.

The UBVRI photometric follow-up of SN 2011fu has been initiated a few days after the explosion, shows a rise followed by steep decay in all bands and shares properties very similar to that seen in case of SN 1993J, with a possible detection of the adiabatic cooling phase at very early epochs. The spectral modeling performed with SYNOW suggests that the early-phase line velocities for H and Fe ii features were ~ 16000 km s−1 and ~ 14000 km s−1, respectively. Studies of rare class of type IIb SNe are important to understand the evolution of the possible progenitors of core-collapse SNe in more details.

A buffalo oocyte-specific subtracted cDNA library was constructed to identify exclusively or preferentially oocyte-expressed genes. The library represented an enriched population of transcripts obtained from oocytes of diverse ovarian follicular origin and at different stages of in vitro maturation. A total of 1173 high-quality sequences of oocyte-specific genes were clustered into 645 unique sequences, out of which 65.76% were represented as singlets and 34.26% as contig expressed sequence tags (ESTs; clusters). Analysis of sequences revealed that 498 of these sequences were identified as a known sequence in mammalian species including buffalo, 103 as uncharacterized ESTs and 44 unknown sequences including 1 novel EST, so far not reported in any species. Gene ontology annotation classified these sequences into functional categories of cellular events and biological processes associated with oocyte competence. Expression status of the isolated unknown ESTs confirmed that many of these are expressed in oocytes exclusively and in others preferentially, some in excess of 80-fold greater in comparison with a variety of somatic tissues. The isolated novel EST was detected to be expressed exclusively in oocytes and testicular cells only. To our knowledge, this is the first report giving a detailed transcriptome account of oocyte-expressed genes in buffalo. This study will provide important information on the physiological control of oocyte development, as well as many questions yet to be addressed on the reproductive process of buffalo.

We report on a program to delineate magnetic field structure inside molecular clouds by optical and infrared polarization observations. An ordered magnetic field inside a dense cloud may efficiently align the spinning dust grains to cause a detectable level of optical and near-infrared polarization of otherwise unpolarized background starlight due to dichroic extinction. The near-infrared polarization data were taken by SIRPOL mounted on IRSF in SAAO. Here we present the SIRPOL results in RCW 57, for which the magnetic field is oriented along the cloud filaments, and in Carina Nebula, for which no intrinsic polarization is detected in the turbulent environment. We further describe TRIPOL, a compact and efficient polarimer to acquire polarized images simultaneously at g', r', and i' bands, which is recently developed at Nagoya University for adaption to small-aperture telescopes. We show how optical observations probe the translucent outer parts of a cloud, and when combining with infrared observations probing the dense parts, and with millimeter and submillimeter observations to sutdy the central embedded protostar, if there is one, would yield the magnetic field structure on different length scales in the star-formation process.

In vitro gas production (GP) of substrate incubated with cow rumen liquor is commonly used to evaluate feed nutritional quality; GP is correlated with organic matter digestibility and metabolizable energy content. The hypothesis tested was that GP differs among liquors of ruminant species and is dependent on the natural dietary intake of the donors. Measurements were of 24 h GP of seven browse species using rumen liquor from a large (cow) and small (sheep) grazer and from a small intermediate feeder (goat). Mean GP for browse with goat liquor (7±2·4 ml per 200 mg substrate) was significantly (P=0·019) higher than that with cow liquor (5±1·9 ml), and GP with sheep liquor (6±1·1 ml) was intermediate, not significantly different from the cow liquor (P=0·197) and the goat liquor (P=0·061). There was a significant correlation in the ranking of the browses between goat and sheep (P=0·013) liquor using a Mantel test with 9999 permutations, which indicated a similar ranking of browses when using rumen liquor of either of these small ruminants. There were trends between both cow and sheep (P=0·096) and cow and goat (P=0·092) liquors. It was concluded that the dietary habits of ruminant species donors may affect in vitro nutritional studies when using rumen liquor.

A field experiment was made at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, during the autumn-spring season of crop years 1979–80 and 1980–1 to study the effects of irrigation, pyrites and phosphobacteria on the efficiency of Mussoorie rock phosphate(north-western Himalayan deposits) for lentils (Lens culinaris Medic), and residual effects were studied in maize (Zea mays L.). Response to phosphate was observed only when the crop received irrigation. Mussoorie rock phosphate was only 40·5% as effective as ordinary superphosphate; its efficiency was increased to 50·4% when it was mixed with 25% (by weight) pyrites. When the lentil seeds were treated with the culture of Pseudomonas striata (phosphate solubilizing bacteria) the efficiency of rock phosphate was increased to 79·7%. Rock phosphate together with seed treatment with phosphobacteria also showed residual effects on the succeeding maize crop which were equal to those obtained with ordinary superphosphate. Our results thus show that use of phosphobacteria can considerably increase the efficiency of rock phosphate on neutral soils.

Linear stability of a magnetized dusty plasma is studied for the regime with ≈ 1 (where G is the universal gravitational constant, md is the grain mass and qd is the grain charge). We demonstrate that the magnetic force plays a stabilizing role and, together with electrostatic repulsion, counter gravitational condensation. The implications of this result for astrophysical situations are briefly discussed.

The landraces of rice (Oryza sativa L.) possess wide diversity, which needs to be properly characterized for their use in genetic improvement. Replicated field studies were conducted in 1998, 1999 and 2000 at two sites in Nepal to determine diversity in 183 landraces of rice adapted to the lowlands and the hills in Nepal. Fourteen improved genotypes were also used for comparison. Thirteen agronomic traits were investigated. Shannon–Weaver diversity index (H) and Simpson's index of diversity (D) were estimated to determine the level of genetic richness among the landraces. The landraces differed significantly for all traits. Except for plant height and maturity, at least one of the landraces compared well with the performance of improved cultivars. A principal component analysis separated the lowland- and hill-adapted landraces into two broad groups.

We have carried out a multi-wavelength study of the star forming region NGC 1893 to make a comprehensive exploration of the effects of massive stars on low mass star formation. Using deep optical U BV RI broad band, Hα narrow band photometry and slit-less spectroscopy along with archival data from the surveys such as 2MASS, MSX, IRAS and NVSS, we have studied the region to understand the star formation scenario in the region.