Rice Blast Forecasting Using Interval Valued Data at Coimbatore, India

Aims: The persistence of rice blast, caused by the fungus Magnaporthe oryzae, continues to pose a significant threat to rice production worldwide, impacting both yields and food security. The primary goal of this study is to apply interval-valued independent weather data to accurately model the dependent variable of percentage disease incidence.Study Design: In this paper, we present a detailed study on forecasting rice blast outbreaks through the application of Average method, Center method and Min Max method using interval valued weather data and percentage disease incidence.Place and Duration of Study: The blast disease data include percent disease incidence (PDI) collected at the Paddy Breeding Station (PBS), Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, from 2018 to 2021.And Weather variables includes the following: Maximum Temperature, Minimum Temperature, Relative humidity (morning), Relative humidity (evening) from 2018 to 2021.Methodology: The available interval weather parameter data and disease incidence data are utilized to fit a regression model, specifically employing simple linear regression and multiple linear regression, in the R version 4.3.0.Results: Upon analyzing various methods, it is evident that the variables of Minimum temperature exhibit a significant relationship with a high level of significance, indicating a significance level at P 0.001.Conclusion: Minimum temperature shows more contribution in disease incidence followed by relative humidity at evening.

Effect of Inorganic Fertilizer and Spacing on the Plant Growth of Dragon Fruit (Hylocereus costaricencis) under Tamil Nadu Agro-Climatic Conditions

The dragon fruit (Hylocereus costaricencis) is a new emerging fruit crop, there is very less information available on the spacing and fertilizer dose requirements of this crop so the present study was carried out to find the effect of fertilizer doses, spacings, and interaction effect of both on plant growth of dragon fruit (Hylocereus costaricencis) at the Orchard, Horticultural College and Research Institute, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore. during the year 2022. The design of the experiment was a split plot with four main plots viz. M1 = 3.5 x 2.0 m2, M2 = 3.0 x 3.0 m2, M3 = 3.0 x 2.5 m2, M4 = 2.5 x 2.5 m2 and six sub plots viz. S1 = N540 P420 K360, S2 = N495 P385 K330, S3 = N450 P350 K300, S4 = N340 P260 K225, S5 = N225 P175 K150, S6 = N0 P0 K0 g per pillar was applied and replicate four times. A significant difference was observed in terms of vine length (m), cladode girth (cm), cladode length (cm), and cladode number when different doses of fertilizers were applied. The highest vine length (2.96), cladode girth (24.52), cladode length (67.21), and number of cladodes (67.48) were observed in S3 (N450 P350 K300). Similarly, the highest vine length (2.503) and cladode girth (19.78) were observed in M4 (2.5 x 2.5 m2). The highest cladode length (67.47) was observed in treatment combination M2S3. Hence, the application of fertilizer dose S3 (N450 P350 K300) and adoption of spacing M4 (2.5 x 2.5 m2) is good to enhance the vegetative growth characters of dragon fruit under Tamil Nadu conditions.

Efficacy of rasburicase (recombinant urate oxidase) in the prevention and treatment of malignancy-associated hyperuricemia: An Indian experience.

BACKGROUND: Patients with hematological malignancies that are highly proliferative and have high tumor burden are at high risk of developing hyperuricemia and tumor lysis syndrome (TLS), spontaneously and while undergoing chemotherapy. AIM: To assess the safety and efficacy of a new generic formulation of recombinant rasburicase in prevention and treatment of malignancy‑associated hyperuricemia. MATERIALS AND METHODS: An open‑label, multicenter, phase‑III study was conducted on 100 eligible patients with high risk for TLS. Rasburicase was administered 0.2 mg/kg intravenously over 30 min, daily, for 4 days. The outcome measures were percentage of reduction in plasma uric acid at 4 h after rasburicase, plasma uric acid area under the curve (AUC)0-96 h and incidence of adverse events. RESULTS: Eighty eight patients completed the study period of 10 days. After rasburicase administration, there was a 75.3 ± 28.5% of reduction in plasma uric acid at 4 h as compared to baseline. The plasma uric acid AUC0-96 h was 259.9 ± 215.5 mg/dL h. Safety of rasburicase was assessed on the basis of changes in vitals, hematological, and biochemical parameters from baseline to termination. Except for the plasma uric acid level, there was no significant difference in any of the parameters. Mild to moderate adverse events were reported in 29 patients. Three patients had serious adverse events (SAEs) unrelated to rasburicase. CONCLUSIONS: These results demonstrated that recombinant rasburicase that is indigenously developed is effective for prevention and management of hyperuricemia in patients who are at high risk of developing TLS.

Studies on synthesis and toxicity to fish of some newly synthesized chalcones.

Twelve new chalcones were synthesized by claisen-schmidid condensation and studies for their toxicity to fish. Some of the chalcones have exhibited moderate activity. The structures of synthetic compounds have been characterized by analytical and spectral data.

Myasthenia gravis.

Myasthenia gravis is the prototype neuromuscular disease with immunological pathogenesis. The recognition and interpretation of the symptoms should be stressed as the diagnosis is initially achieved on clinical ground. Tests in the areas of immunology, electrophysiology and imaging further help the diagnosis, management and prognosis of the condition. The recent knowledge of immunology seems to point to variations in the immune abnormalities, but it remains to be seen whether the differences have clinical relevance. With the availability of intensive care units, the management of acute events in the myasthenic patients has improved considerably and the morbidity is reduced. Long term remissions are achievable in majority of patients, with supervised use of immunosuppression. In the modern times, the grave connotations of the name myasthenia gravis may be only rarely justified.