Approximately 15% of the world's wetlands are rice fields, vital in providing food for 40% of the human population. Due to farming practices-induced habitat disturbances, rice cultivation acts as a ...habitat filter that retains only taxa possessing specific traits to overcome the constraints. Being aquatic biota, benthic macroinvertebrates are also impacted by the intermittent presence of water in rice fields. The biological traits and trait combinations of benthic macroinvertebrates enabling their existence during the rice cultivation cycle in seasonal rice fields of Maranchery Kole (The Ramsar site Vembanad Kole wetland’s part) were studied. Based on the literature, 63 categories of 11 biological traits assignable at the genus level were used to characterize benthic macroinvertebrates. The taxa by traits data matrix was subjected to Gower's distance‐based hierarchical agglomerative cluster analysis to categorize faunal groups with similar trait assembly. According to the abundance weighted trait modality scores, the predominant traits were small body size, life duration of more than 1 year, multivoltine life cycle, aquatic larval stage, aquatic passive dispersal, cocoons as resistant form, locomotion by full water swimming, tegumental respiration, asexual reproduction, detritus as food and deposit-feeding. Trait-based classification of taxa resulted in 5 clusters. Characteristic trait combinations in each cluster particularly those beneficial for survival in unstable lentic freshwaters enabled the existence of taxa. Cluster I, the most abundant group (oligochaetes), was benefited from trait combinations including resistance forms to survive the intermittent presence of water in rice fields. Asexual reproduction and early onset of reproduction ensured their higher abundance from the transplanting phase. Detrital feeding also facilitated their rapid buildup in newly flooded fields rich in decomposing detritus. Cluster groups II and III, actively flying colonists characterized by competitive traits like predation, were more in tillering and preharvest phases. Apart from resistant and resilient traits ensuring survival in the temporary and disturbed habitat, exclusive trait combinations favored the faunal groups through different phases.
Abstract
Ferroelectricity, the electrostatic counterpart to ferromagnetism, has long been thought to be incompatible with metallicity due to screening of electric dipoles and external electric fields ...by itinerant charges. Recent measurements, however, demonstrated signatures of ferroelectric switching in the electrical conductance of bilayers and trilayers of WTe
2
, a semimetallic transition metal dichalcogenide with broken inversion symmetry. An especially promising aspect of this system is that the density of electrons and holes can be continuously tuned by an external gate voltage. This degree of freedom enables measurement of the spontaneous polarization as free carriers are added to the system. Here we employ capacitive sensing in dual-gated mesoscopic devices of bilayer WTe
2
to directly measure the spontaneous polarization in the metallic state and quantify the effect of free carriers on the polarization in the conduction and valence bands, separately. We compare our results to a low-energy model for the electronic bands and identify the layer-polarized states that contribute to transport and polarization simultaneously. Bilayer WTe
2
is thus shown to be a fully tunable ferroelectric metal and an ideal platform for exploring polar ordering, ferroelectric transitions, and applications in the presence of free carriers.
Background: Maternal nutrition impacts maternal-child health. Antenatal diet affects well-being and anaemia-related maternal mortality. Objectives: The objectives are to assess the dietary changes ...made by antenatal women, its association with socio demographic and clinical variables and to explore the factors influencing the dietary changes as perceived by the antenatal women and health care providers (Medical officer, ANMs and ASHA) Methodology: A mixed method study was conducted. The study involved interviewing antenatal women registered between October2020 to October 2021 in Kurnad PHC area and those who have completed their second trimester and in-depth interview of antenatal women and the health care providers (Medical officer, ANMs and ASHA) of Kurnad PHC in 2021 and two quarters of 2022. Results: Most participants were aged 26-30 (43.1%), mean age 27.41±4.838 years. 47.3% had high school education, 75.5% were unemployed, and 17.8% were self-employed. 77% were below the poverty line, 55.4% belonged to joint families, and 39.3% to nuclear families. 42% lived with husband’s family, 22% with maternal family. Co-morbidities were in 36%, anaemia in 87%, gestational diabetes in 51.85%, pregnancy-induced hypertension in 42.95%. Reasons were health improvement, healthy child, co-morbidities, and gastritis. Statistical significance existed between pregnancy dietary changes and socio- demographics, clinical variables. Factors influencing changes were health promotion, advice from family and providers, co-morbidity management, cravings, affordability, community-based services. Conclusion: Dietary changes were seen in more than half of the antenatal women. Behaviour change communication strategies and adequate support for decision making and availing nutritious food will facilitate appropriate dietary changes during pregnancy.
Plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) express Toll like receptors (TLRs) that modulate the immune response by production of type I interferons. Here, we report that sphingosine kinase 1 (SphK1) which ...produces the bioactive sphingolipid metabolite, sphingosine 1‐phosphate (S1P), plays a critical role in the pDC functions and interferon production. Although dispensable for the pDC development, SphK1 is essential for the pDC activation and production of type I IFN and pro‐inflammatory cytokines stimulated by TLR7/9 ligands. SphK1 interacts with TLRs and specific inhibition or deletion of SphK1 in pDCs mitigates uptake of CpG oligonucleotide ligands by TLR9 ligand. In the pristane‐induced murine lupus model, pharmacological inhibition of SphK1 or its genetic deletion markedly decreased the IFN signature, pDC activation, and glomerulonephritis. Moreover, increases in the SphK1 expression and S1P levels were observed in human lupus patients. Taken together, our results indicate a pivotal regulatory role for the SphK1/S1P axis in maintaining the balance between immunosurveillance and immunopathology and suggest that specific SphK1 inhibitors might be a new therapeutic avenue for the treatment of type I IFN‐linked autoimmune disorders.
Drought is a hydrological disturbance, predicted to aggravate in a climate change scenario. It causes habitat loss and fragmentation for aquatic organisms, including benthic fauna. The hydrological ...disturbance is an environmental filter, retaining only taxa possessing suitable traits for survival. Here a trait-based perspective was used to study the benthic macroinvertebrate assemblage in a seasonal wetland subjected to hydrological disturbance. Maranchery Kole wetland (a part of the Ramsar site Vembanad Kole wetland), was unusually transformed into a terrestrial landscape with discrete aquatic patches. Benthic macroinvertebrates were collected from aquatic patches. 55 categories of 10 biological traits, which could be assigned across the benthic genus were defined from literature. To delineate the faunal groups with similar trait assembly, the taxa by trait data matrix was subjected to Gower's distance‐based hierarchical agglomerative cluster analysis. Benthic macroinvertebrates belonged to 23 genera from 8 families, 4 orders, 2 classes, and 2 phyla. Their predominant traits were small body size, short life cycle duration, multivoltine life cycle, aquatic larval stage, aerial active dispersal, cocoons as resistant form, locomotion by crawling, tegumental respiration, asexual reproduction, and deposit-feeding. Traits-based classification of taxa resulted in 4 clusters. In each cluster, unique trait combinations ensured the survival of taxa. Group a persisted through desiccation resistant forms and proliferated through asexual reproduction using resource dominance strategy. Groups b and c, without desiccation resistant forms, used active aerial dispersal to colonize the aquatic patches. Group d was tolerant to unfavorable environments including morphological adaptations. Since the active dispersal trait facilitated active habitat selection in groups b and c, their presence was occasional. Groups a and d were incapable of active habitat selection due to passive dispersal traits, ensuing in their persistence throughout the study period.
Over these years prevalence of autism has shown a drastic increase. A great deal of progress has been made in recognizing autism but still a lot to do. The impact of autism on the individual differ ...due to difference in the degree of severity and the wide range of symptoms. Early detection can in turn ameliorate overall development of child and help to shorten the diagnostic odyssey that many families experience. One of the great things about machine learning is the capability of computers to work on the actual data to find the complex relationships through different algorithms which in turn result in accurate predictions. Thus by examining the various risk factors that contribute to autism, machine learning approach seems to be beneficial for identifying the potential markers for autism. This study covers machine learning approaches that are used for identification of autism which facilitate early detection and better diagnosis of autistic individuals using different biomarkers.
Transplacental transmission (TPT) of wild-type Indian BTV-1 had never been experimentally proved. This study was first time investigated TPT of Indian BTV-1 (isolated from aborted and stillborn goat ...fetal spleens). The sequential pathology, virological and immune cell kinetics (CD4
, CD8
T-lymphocytes and NK cells in spleen and PBMCs), and apoptosis in IFNAR1-blocked pregnant mice during early (infected on 1 GD) and mid (infected on 8 GD) gestation have been studied. There was higher rate of TPT during mid stage (71.43%) than early (57.14%) stage. In early stage reduced implantation sites, early embryonic deaths, abortions, and necro-haemorrhagic lesions had observed. Mid stage, congenital defects and neurological lesions in foetuses like haemorrhages, diffuse cerebral edema, necrotizing encephalitis and decreased bone size (Alizarin red staining) were noticed. BTV-1 antigen was first time demonstrable in cells of mesometrium, decidua of embryos, placenta, uterus, ovary, and brain of foetuses by immunohistochemistry and quantified by real-time qRT-PCR. BTV-inoculated mice were seroconverted by 7 and 5 dpi, and reached peak levels by 15 and 9 dpi in early and mid gestation, respectively. CD4
and CD8
cells were significantly decreased (increased ratio) on 7 dpi but subsequently increased on 15 dpi in early gestation. In mid gestation, increased CD8
cells (decreased ratio) were observed. Apoptotic cells in PBMCs and tissues increased during peak viral load. This first time TPT of wild-type Indian BTV-1 deserves to be reported for implementation of control strategies. This model will be very suitable for further research into mechanisms of TPT, overwintering, and vaccination strategies.
The present study was conducted to evaluate the effect of histamine and to characterise its receptor subtypes in reticular groove (RG) smooth muscle of adult goats. The studies were done using floor ...and lip regions of RG. We used tension experiments on smooth muscle of RG isolated from adult goat for functional characterisation of H1 and H2 receptors. Western blotting and immunohistochemistry experiments were conducted for molecular characterisation of these receptors. Histamine evoked concentration‐dependent contraction of isolated RG circular and longitudinal smooth muscle preparation. Pyrilamine antagonised the action of histamine. Histamine did not induce any relaxant effect on RG preparations. Additionally, cimetidine did not produce any significant effect on histamine‐induced response. Non‐selective histaminic receptor antagonist cyproheptadine attenuated the contraction response to histamine in the smooth muscle. Molecular characterisation and localisation of H1 and H2 receptor proteins confirmed the presence of these receptors in RG. It is most likely that histamine‐induced contractile effect in RG smooth muscle of goats is mediated by H1 histaminic receptors.
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