Evolutionary Lineages, Inherently Conserved Within the Genome of Isoetes L (Isoetaceae: Pteridophyta) Express in Heterosporangia of Isoetes Pantii Goswami & Arya: Brief Review: A Five Decades’ Study

Heterosporous sporangia discovered in Isoetes pantii Goswami & Arya are known as heterosporangia. Heterosporangia produce thousands of alete, monolete and trilete microspores and a few dozen megaspores. This trait is inherent within the genome of I pantii because plants collected from a location in South Gujarat also exhibit this feature. Additionally, initial collections and followup studies since 1966 have been consistently showing two types of megaspores within the heterosporangia. While microspores and megaspores develop in each and every hetrosporangium, additional unusual megaspores, variable in shape and size (180-220 micron), do not occur in all heterosporangia of all plants. These spores closely resembling fossil ancestral spores are being now termed as “Chalonospores”. Thus, a living spore genus Chalonospora is being named and defined as a spore discovered in a living plant which recall fossil ancestry of the genus but are never found in any other extant species of the genus. Since Chalanospores also originate from spore mother cells, as other microspores and megaspores do, this indicates that spore mother cells found in heterosporangia are genetically variable in expressions. Quite likely, a few megaspore mother cells must be possessing gene combinations with “revitalized relic DNA sequences”. As different types of chalonospres have been observed, variable gene combinations must be representing sporadic expressions of different lycopods of the vast geological past. Germination studies prove that these spores are endowed with different genetic make-up, as the gametophyte produced on soil culture produce unique single cell rhizoids with spiny outer layer. This apparent genomic reshuffle is related with frequently encountered chromosome breaks, translocations and irregular presence of 2n=36 –to 39 chromosomes in such plants. However, Isoetes pantii plants possess 2n=48 chromosomes with X-Y mechanism. No other species in the world flora of the genus has exhibited sex chromosomal mechanism and possessed n=12 chromosome series. With greater probability this appears plausible to imagine that naturally imposed chromosomal aberrations have rejuvenated genes which might have been regular expressions within the genome of some of the lycopods of Carboniferous and thereafter

The mid-infrared spectral characteristics of blazars

We previously reported discovering that blazars have distinctive infrared colors as seen in the WISE mission. Of particular note are γ-ray blazars, the locus of whose colors roughly overlaps with QSOs contours but which is more tightly delimited and bluer than ULIRGs and Seyferts. Since a large fraction of γ-ray sources are unassociated with any point source, but are expected to be blazars, identifying a WISE-candidate blazar in the γ-ray source field enables efficient followup studies. In an effort to better understand why blazars have these colors, we reduced and analyzed Spitzer Infrared Spectrometer (IRS) measurements on 73 blazars of varying types, some at several epochs. These spectra can be used to study the continuum emission (non-thermal), and search for atomic or other spectral features.

Current Evidence on the Use of Antifilarial Agents in the Management of bancroftian Filariasis

Many trials have explored the efficacy of individual drugs and drug combinations to treat bancroftian filariasis. This narrative review summarizes the current evidence for drug management of bancroftian filariasis. Diethylcarbamazine (DEC) remains the prime antifilarial agent with a well-established microfilaricidal and some macrofilaricidal effects. Ivermectin (IVM) is highly microfilaricidal but minimally macrofilaricidal. The role of albendazole (ALB) in treatment regimens is not well established though the drug has a microfilaricidal effect. The combination of DEC+ALB has a better long-term impact than IVM+ALB. Recent trials have shown that doxycycline therapy againstWolbachia, an endosymbiotic bacterium of the parasite, is capable of reducing microfilaria rates and adult worm activity. Followup studies on mass drug administration (MDA) are yet to show a complete interruption of transmission, though the infection rates are reduced to a very low level.

Article Commentary: Historical Reminiscence: Origin of the Greenfield Filter

The Greenfield filter was the result of collaboration between a surgeon and a petroleum engineer. Originally it was a component of a catheter management approach to massive pulmonary embolism. Industry support allowed further technical improvements and long-term patient followup studies.

SmartChoice: An Online Recommender System to Support Low-Income Families in Public School Choice

Public school choice at the primary and secondary levels is a keyelement of the U.S. No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB). If aschool does not meet assessment goals for two consecutive years, bylaw the district must offer students the opportunity to transfer to aschool that is meeting its goals. Making a choice with such potentialimpact on a child's future is clearly monumental, yet astonishinglyfew parents take advantage of the opportunity. Our research has shownthat a significant part of the problem arises from issues ininformation access and information overload, particularly for lowsocioeconomic status families. Thus we have developed an online,content-based recommender system, called SmartChoice. Itprovides parents with school recommendations for individual studentsbased on parents' preferences and students' needs, interests,abilities, and talents. The first version of the online applicationwas deployed and live for focus group participants who used it for theJanuary and March/April 2008 Charlotte-Mecklenburg school choiceperiods. This article describes the SmartChoice Program and theresults of our initial and followup studies with participants.

Radiologic Evaluation of Small Renal Masses (I): Pretreatment Management

When characterizing a small renal mass (SRM), the main question to be answered is whether the mass represents a surgical or nonsurgical lesion or, in some cases, if followup studies are a reasonable option. Is this a task for a urologist or a radiologist? It is obvious that in the increasing clinical scenario where this decision has to be made, both specialists ought to work together. This paper will focus on the principles, indications, and limitations of ultrasound, CT, and MRI to characterize an SRM in 2008 with a detailed review of relevant literature. Special emphasis has been placed on aspects regarding the bidirectional information between radiologists and urologists needed to achieve the best radiological approach to an SRM.

First Results from the VLA FIRST Survey

The VLA FIRST survey is now in its second year. We have completed mapping over 1500 deg2 of the North Galactic Cap and present here the catalog of the 138,000 radio sources detected therein. We discuss the statistics of this new catalog including the two-point angular correlation function for all radio emitters, present our optical identification of 24,000 sources using the APM catalog, and report followup studies on radio variability, X-ray source identification, and our bright quasar sample.