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Natural Mycosis of Rice Brown Plant Hopper (Nilaparvata lugens Stål) in Eastern India

The studies on natural mycosis of brown planthopper(BPH) in rice ecosystem of Eastern India found that Aspergillus flavus Linkk. caused maximum mortality (20 to 30%) followed by  Aspergillus niger (Teig.) (15 to 20%), Rhizopus sp. (10-20%)and Fusarium sp. (5-20%)  .  In some cases more than one fungus was found to colonise the dead insect viz. (Rhizopus + Trichoderma) - 5 to 15%, [Aspegillus flavus Linkk. + Trichoderma sp.] – 10%, [Fusarium sp. + Trichoderma sp. + Aspergillus flavus Linkk.]-5 to 10%.  Most of the fungi infected the insect solely but only  the Trichoderma sp was not found as sole coloniser of the BPH. The data  also showed that natural mycosis were most effective in I and II instars (0-25% BPH colonised) followed by III instar (0 to 20% BPH colonised), Vth instar (10 to 15% BPH colonised), IV instar (0 to 15% BPH colonised) and winged adult (5 to 10% BPH colonised).  Association of multiple fungus species with the dead insect was low in early stages (I, II and III instar) rather than IV, V and adult.  Generally incidence of Aspergillus flavus Linkk  on BPH appeared during the second week of September to third week of November with two distinct peaks on 3rd week of September and 4th week of October respectively. The correlation studies in 2 different agro- climatic zones showed that the BPH population had a significantly negative correlation with the percent infection by fungi. .  The effect  of different formulations of this natural Mycosis in laboratory showed that % mortality was highest (16%) in Talk based followed by wettable  powder of China clay (10.60%) and were significantly higher than water suspension (8.05%).  The interaction between two factors i.e. spore (A) x base (B) was also statistically significant

Magnetic Field Measurements Based on Terfenol Coated Photonic Crystal Fibers

A magnetic field sensor based on the integration of a high birefringence photonic crystal fiber and a composite material made of Terfenol particles and an epoxy resin is proposed. An in-fiber modal interferometer is assembled by evenly exciting both eigenemodes of the HiBi fiber. Changes in the cavity length as well as the effective refractive index are induced by exposing the sensor head to magnetic fields. The magnetic field sensor has a sensitivity of 0.006 (nm/mT) over a range from 0 to 300 mT with a resolution about ±1 mT. A fiber Bragg grating magnetic field sensor is also fabricated and employed to characterize the response of Terfenol composite to the magnetic field

Plasmodium falciparum erythrocyte membrane protein 1 variants induce cell swelling and disrupt the blood-brain barrier in cerebral malaria.

Cerebral malaria (CM) is caused by the binding of Plasmodium falciparum-infected erythrocytes (IEs) to the brain microvasculature, leading to inflammation, vessel occlusion, and cerebral swelling. We have previously linked dual intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1)- and endothelial protein C receptor (EPCR)-binding P. falciparum parasites to these symptoms, but the mechanism driving the pathogenesis has not been identified. Here, we used a 3D spheroid model of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) to determine unexpected new features of IEs expressing the dual-receptor binding PfEMP1 parasite proteins. Analysis of multiple parasite lines shows that IEs are taken up by brain endothelial cells in an ICAM-1-dependent manner, resulting in breakdown of the BBB and swelling of the endothelial cells. Via ex vivo analysis of postmortem tissue samples from CM patients, we confirmed the presence of parasites within brain endothelial cells. Importantly, this discovery points to parasite ingress into the brain endothelium as a contributing factor to the pathology of human CM

Diversity of Major Predators Under Different Insecticide Regimes in Two Important Growth Stages of Rice

The effect of twelve different groups of insecticides on diversity of major predators (insects and spiders) during active tillering and bootleaf stage of rice crop was evaluated in West Bengal. The results showed that spinosad, emamectin benzoate, sulfoxaflor and pymetrozine were highly safe while buprofezin, imidacloprid, indoxacarb and chlorantraniliprole were moderately so. The insecticides like lambdacyhalothrin, fipronil and chlorpyriphos were found to be toxic. During active tillering stages the predator diversity was maximum in emamectin benzoate treatment and least in case of lambdacyhalothrin. Similar trend was observed for evenness index in the emamectin benzoate and lambdacyhalothrin. During boot leaf stage, Shannon index was maximum in sulfoxaflor and minimum in lambdacyhalothrin. Overall, insecticidal treatments resulted in decrease in diversity of predators during both stages of rice crop.</jats:p