Neurocognitive development is a dynamic process over the life course and is influenced by intrauterine factors as well as later life environment. Using data from the Pune Maternal Nutrition Study from 1994 to 2008, we investigate the association of in utero, birth, and childhood conditions with offspring neurocognitive development in 686 participants of the cohort, at age 12 years. The life course exposure variables in the analysis include maternal pre-pregnancy size and nutrition during pregnancy, offspring birth measurements, nutrition and physical growth at age 12 years along with parental education and socio-economic status. We used the novel Bayesian Model Averaging (BMA) approach; which has been shown to have better predictive performance over traditional tests of associations. Our study employs eight standard neurocognitive tests that measure intelligence, working memory, visuo-conceptual and verbal learning, and decision-making/attention at 12 years of age. We control for nutritional-metabolic information based on blood measurements from the pregnant mothers and the children at 12 years of age. Our findings highlight the critical role of parental education and socio-economic background in determining child neurocognitive performance. Maternal characteristics (pre-pregnancy BMI, fasting insulin during pregnancy) and child height at 12 years were also robust predictors on the BMA. A range of early factors – such as maternal folate and ferritin concentrations during pregnancy, and child’s head circumference at birth – remained important determinants of some dimensions of child’s neurocognitive development, but their associations were not robust once we account for model uncertainty. Our results suggest that intrauterine influences on long- term neurocognitive outcomes may be potentially reversible by post-birth remediation. In addition to the current nutritional interventions, public health policy should also consider social interventions in children born into families with low socio-economic status to improve human capital.

The ‘thrifty phenotype’ hypothesis proposed that fetal undernutrition increases risk of diabetes in later life. Undernourished low birthweight Indian babies are paradoxically more adipose compared to well-nourished European babies, and are at higher risk of diabetes in later life. Twin pregnancies are an example of in utero growth restrictive environment due to shared maternal nutrition. There are few studies of body composition in twins. We performed secondary analysis of anthropometric body composition of twins and singletons in Guinea-Bissau, an economically deprived African country.

Anthropometric data were available on 7–34 year-old twins (n = 209, 97 males) and singletons (n = 182, 86 males) in the Guinea-Bissau Twin Registry at the Bandim Health Project. Twins had lower birthweight (2420 vs 3100 g, p < 0.001); and at follow-up, lower height (HAZ mean Z-score difference, −0.21, p = 0.055), weight (WAZ −0.73, p = 0.024) and BMI (BAZ −0.22, p = 0.079) compared to singletons but higher adiposity (skinfolds: +0.33 SD, p = 0.001). Twins also had higher fasting (+0.38 SD, p < 0.001) and 2-hour OGTT glucose concentrations (+0.29 SD, p < 0.05). Linear mixed-effect model accounting for intrapair correlations and interactions confirmed that twins were thinner but fatter across the age range. Data on maternal morbidity and prematurity were not available in this cohort.

African populations are known to have a muscular (less adipose) body composition. Demonstration of a thin-fat phenotype in twins in a low socio-economic African country supports the thesis that it could be a manifestation of early life undernutrition and not exclusive to Indians. This phenotype could increase risk of diabetes and related conditions.

The significance of dust particles for the electron energy probability function (EEPF) and plasma oscillations is studied under varying magnetic field strength in a filamentary discharge hydrogen plasma. The experimental result shows that with an increase in dust density, the electron density decreases as a result of the charging of dust grains in the plasma background. A bi-Maxwellian EEPF is computed in both a pristine hydrogen plasma and a dust-containing plasma at different magnetic field strengths. We have observed that the increase in magnetic field decreases the lower energy electron population. The electron population of the lower energy range shows nearly identical results at magnetic field, $B\leqslant 3.7$ mT whereas the behaviour of the high-energy electron population becomes identical for a field strength $B\leqslant 5.8$ mT. From the observation, we have seen that the mid energy electron population slightly decreases and the high energy electron population slightly increases due to the presence of dust particles as compared to a pristine plasma. Further, very low energy electron population remains almost unchanged. With increase in dust density, the mid energy electron population further decreases whereas the high energy electron population slightly increases for different magnetic fields. But, no changes were observed for the very low energy electron population in the presence of dust particles. From the study of plasma oscillation, it is observed that the dominant frequency associated with the plasma oscillation is matched with the ion cyclotron frequency. The amplitude of the ion cyclotron frequency reduces with the increase of dust density which might be due to the decrease of plasma density.

Two-dimensional (2D) materials are very promising with respect to their integration into optoelectronic devices. Monolayer tungsten diselenide (WSe2) is a direct-gap semiconductor with a bandgap of ∼1.6eV, and is therefore a complement to other two-dimensional materials such as graphene, a gapless semimetal, and boron nitride, an insulator. The direct bandgap distinguishes monolayer WSe2 from its bulk and bilayer counterparts, which are both indirect gap materials with smaller bandgaps. This sizable direct bandgap in a two-dimensional layered material enables a host of new optical and electronic devices. In this work, a comprehensive analysis of the effect of optical excitation on the transport properties in few-layer WSe2 is studied. Monolayer WSe2 flakes from natural WSe2 crystals were transferred onto Si/SiO2 (270nm) substrates by mechanical exfoliation. The flakes were observed under an optical microscope. A FET based on mechanically exfoliated WSe2 was fabricated using photolithography with Molybdenum as metal contact and Silicon as back gate and the electronic properties were measured in a wide range of temperatures. The mobility of our device was found to be 0.2 cm /V-S at room temperature. The schottky barrier height was found to decrease from 80 meV to 25 meV as the gate voltage increases.

A numerical method, based on the panel technique, has been developed for calculating the time-averaged separated flow about a wedge. The mathematical model, with constant vorticity in the wake, gives an infinite extension of the wake and constant base pressure while incorporation of the dispersion of vorticity in the wake into the mathematical model leads to its finiteness and non-uniform under-pressure. Experimental tests have been conducted in a low speed wind tunnel on models haying different wedge angles. The theoretical and experimental results agree closely for different configurations and specific values of dispersion factors. However, the agreement for base pressure is poor.

In search of a suitable resource conservation technology under pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan L.)–wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) system in the Indo-Gangetic Plains, the effects of conservation agriculture (CA) on crop productivity and water-use efficiency (WUE) were evaluated during a 3-year study. The treatments were: conventional tillage (CT), zero tillage (ZT) with planting on permanent narrow beds (PNB), PNB with residue (PNB + R), ZT with planting on permanent broad beds (PBB) and PBB + R. The PBB + R plots had higher pigeonpea grain yield than the CT plots in all 3 years. However, wheat grain yields under all plots were similar in all years except for PBB + R plots in the second year, which had higher wheat yield than CT plots. The contrast analysis showed that pigeonpea grain yield of CA plots was significantly higher than CT plots in the first year. However, both pigeonpea and wheat grain yields during the last 2 years under CA and CT plots were similar. The PBB + R plots had higher system WUE than the CT plots in the second and third years. Plots under CA had significantly higher WUE and significantly lower water use than CT plots in these years. The PBB + R plots had higher WUE than PNB + R and PNB plots. Also, the PBB plots had higher WUE than PNB in the second and third years, despite similar water use. The interactions of bed width and residue management for all parameters in the second and third years were not significant. Those positive impacts under PBB + R plots over CT plots were perceived to be due to no tillage and significantly higher amount of estimated residue retention. Thus, both PBB and PBB + R technologies would be very useful under a pigeonpea–wheat cropping system in this region.

The authorship of the name Bauhinia diphylla (Fabaceae: Caesalpinioideae) has to be attributed to Banks instead of Buchanan-Hamilton. A lectotype is designated here for Bauhinia diphylla Banks [= Lysiphyllum diphyllum (Banks) de Wit].

The name Phanera macrostachya (Leguminosae: Caesalpinioideae) is lectotypified here.

New combinations are proposed in Phanera (Leguminosae: Caesalpinioideae) for two varieties of Bauhinia glabrifolia (Benth.) Baker.

The present study describes the activity of a nanomaterial on protoscoleces of Echinococcus granulosus, which exhibited morphological changes and apoptosis. Apoptotic changes were deduced on the basis of effector caspase activation and nucleosomal laddering. Invaginated protoscoleces maintained in vitro became evaginated and had hooks, presumptive suckers and stalks. Degenerative changes of protoscoleces were evidenced after treatment with praziquantel and nano-combination. Protoscoleces treated with praziquantel had distinct attestation of necrosis and nano-combination-treated protoscoleces had signatures of apoptosis.

Port Blair, the capital city of the Union Territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the republic of India, witnessed an outbreak of chikungunya (CHIK) fever in 2006. Although no deaths attributable to CHIK fever were registered, thousands of people were affected. In view of evidence from other parts of the world indicating that CHIK fever does cause death we studied the mortality trend in Port Blair from 2002 to 2008 in order to verify if there was increased mortality during the CHIK fever epidemic. The expected number of monthly deaths in 2006 was calculated by multiplying the average monthly mortality rate from 2002 to 2008 (with the exception of 2006) with the monthly population in 2006. The results indicated that there was a significant increase in expected deaths during some months of 2006, which coincided with the peak in the CHIK fever epidemic in Port Blair.

This study evaluated the existence of different genotypes of Haemonchus contortus prevailing among goats in West Bengal, India. These parasites were isolated from the abomasum of goat intestine and the molecular characterization was performed by comparing variation of nucleotide sequences of the internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS-1) gene region. Single-strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) analysis of ITS-1 amplified product showed the presence of three distinct conformations both in male and female parasites. The sequence analysis of conformations showed two single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) in male parasites at nucleotide positions 106 and 107 and one SNP was detected in female parasites at nucleotide position 157. These nucleotide variations in different isolates did not alter the interior loop structure of the predicted secondary RNA, therefore we believe these variations may not be responsible for any evolutionary changes among conformations.

Cystic echinococcosis (CE) caused by the larval stage of Echinococcus granulosus is a disease that affects both humans and animals. In humans the disease is treated by surgery with a supplementary option of chemotherapy with a benzimidazole compound. During the present study heat-shock protein 60 (HSP 60) was identified as one of the most frequently expressed biomolecules by E. granulosus after albendazole treatment. Data were correlated with 14-3-3 protein signature, and overexpression of this molecule after albendazole induction was an indicator of cell survival and signal transduction during in vitro maintenance of E. granulosus for up to 72 h. This observation was further correlated with a uniform expression pattern of a housekeeping gene (actin II). Out of three β-tubulin gene isoforms of E. granulosus, β-tubulin gene isoform 2 showed a conserved point mutation indicative of benzimidazole resistance.

We survey the environment of Cl 1806-20 using near-infrared narrow-band imaging to search for Brγ features indicative of evolved massive stars. Using this technique, we successfully detect previously identified massive stars in the cluster. We detect no new emission line stars, establishing a firm upper limit on the number of Wolf Rayets and Luminous Blue Variables; however, we do find several candidate OB supergiants, which likely represent the bulk of the heretofore undiscovered massive star population.

The metacestode stage of Echinococcus granulosus is of zoonotic importance. In general, the 14-3-3 protein is involved in multiplication and survival of eukaryotes. Therefore, this communication presents succinct information on relative expression of the 14-3-3 protein in six different morphotypes of cysts of E. granulosus. All isolated E. granulosus belonged to the common sheep strain (G1). Relative expression of the 14-3-3 protein was higher in fertile cysts when compared to sterile cysts. The predicted amino acid sequence of the 14-3-3 protein was closely clustered with zeta-type isoforms 1 and 2 of the 14-3-3 protein. In addition, the present study demonstrates the presence of the 14-3-3 protein which until now had not been detected in the germinal layer. Our findings indicate that the expression of this biomolecule in the germinal layer of sterile organisms may contribute to the development and survival of the parasite in the host. The uniform expression of actin II conclusively proves the survivability of the harvested organisms.