Central University of Kerala

About: Central University of Kerala is a education organization based out in Kāsaragod, India. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Catalysis. The organization has 556 authors who have published 881 publications receiving 7474 citations.

In Silico Analysis and Comparison of Pathogenesis-related Transcription Factor Binding Sites in Arabidopsis DNA Repair Gene Promoters

Abstract: Pathogens alter defense gene responses, genome stability, and DNA repair machinery of plants. The regulation of defense gene expression relies much on pathogenesis-related transcription factors (PRTFs). Binding sites for PRTFs belonging to the families such as MYB, WRKY, NAC, and bZIP are present in the promoters of defense genes such as PATHOGENESIS-RELATED (PR) genes. It could be possible that these PRTFs also regulate the expression of genes unrelated to defense, such as DNA repair genes. Toward this end, this work aims at analyzing the existence and distribution of the putative binding sites of 26 PRTFs in the promoters of 122 DNA repair genes, belonging to 15 categories, of Arabidopsis thaliana. All the DNA repair genes analyzed had at least one putative PRTF binding site in their promoters. Distribution of these sites in the promoters of PR and DNA repair genes revealed much similarity. An analysis of previous transcriptome datasets of these DNA repair genes under various biotic stresses revealed that all of them showed altered expression under any one biotic stress condition. These findings justify the reason for the presence of PRTFs in the DNA repair gene promoters as well as altered genome instability in plants due to pathogen attack.

Black Palm Squirrel ( Funambulus palmarum Linn.) from India: Association with a Frame Shift Mutation in the MC1R Gene

Abstract: This study shows that the dominant mutation of Extension locus in the recessive locus of the agouti Indian three-striped palm squirrel results in constituting an active or hyperactive receptor. This is not inhibited by the agouti antagonist or agouti signalling protein, resulting in melanism. To the best of our knowledge, there is no earlier report of a melanic variant (black) of a three-striped palm squirrel ( Funambulus palmarum Linn.) from India. The colour change is due to mutation and is traced to melanocortin-1 receptor (MC1R) gene, where it is proved to be a sequence alteration causing a frame shift in the Extension locus of the wild type. This would have probably caused the constitutive activation of MC1R.

The sparing number of the powers of certain Mycielski graphs

Abstract: In this paper, we discuss the sparing number of the power graphs of the Mycielski graphs of certain graph classes.

Life on Streets: Health and Living Conditions of Children in Delhi

Abstract: ‘Street-living Children’ is the most vulnerable category among the street children as they are living alone without any adult protection. The study was conducted to fill the gaps in the available literature on understanding the life at street and their experience in seeking care from public health institutions. The study also attempted to examine how various factors interplay in determining the life of the street children. Information on health problems and pattern of health seeking behaviour was also sought from the health providers. The study was conducted in two locations of New Delhi that is Hanuman Temple and New Delhi railway station. In-depth interviews and focus group discussions with children were used for understanding their health condition and experience of public institutions. Doctors, paramedics, NGOs workers, shopkeepers, police personnel and other key personnel were also interviewed to get a comprehensive understanding on the problems of street children. The study showed that they ran away from home at a very early age to escape from the coercive environment. However, the life at street makes them more vulnerable to physical and sexual abuse, harassment by police and lack of access to basic amenities. The constant threat and coercion enforced made them to act coercively towards others and get addicted to drugs to cope with the harsh realities. Some of them do involve in crime and other delinquent behaviours. The poor living condition and harassing environment predispose them to high level of morbidity in the form of accidents, injuries and infectious disease. The negative experience with public health institutions leads to delayed health seeking which in turn aggravates their health problems. Most of the time they seek treatment in emergency care unit. Based on the findings this paper proposes some suggestions and recommendation to address the problem of the street children in Delhi.

Reduction formulae for the Lauricella functions in several variables

Abstract: The main objective of this paper is to show how one can obtain several interesting reduction formulae for Lauricella functions from a multiple hypergeometric series identity established earlier by Jaimini et al. The results are derived with the help of generalized Kummer’s second summation formulas obtained earlier by Lavoi et al. Some special cases of our main result are explicitly demonstrated. MSC:33C70, 33C065, 33C90, 33C05.