Micropropagules can Profitably Save the Choicest Silk Banana from Extinction

Panama wilt, a deadly disease of banana in general and Silk group in particular, is creating havoc worldwide. Infected planting material being a major mode of disease spread, production of disease free quality planting material is a must for area expansion. Micropropagation offers a viable solution for overcoming this problem. Though protocols for micropropagation have been standardized for various varieties of banana, their in field trials along with the conventional propagules have seldom been made. This study deals with agronomic, phenological and post harvest attributes of in vitro propagated plantlets of Silk banana var. Nanjanagud Rasabale in comparison to their traditional counterparts. Tissue cultured plantlets were superior to sucker derived plants in terms of vegetative growth, yield and quality parameters. Further micropropagules were precocious by eight weeks and exhibited synchronized flowering.     

High-level hands-free control of wheelchair – a review

A vital perception in designing human–machine interfaces for people with disabilities is hands-free control. It is important in setting up communication among a machine and the part of human body. Nowadays, hands-free control is extensively used to help disabled people to control the wheelchair. The hands-free control functions are not only helpful to elderly and disabled, but also useful for normal people who might require using their hands for other tasks at the same time. As a result, normal people are capable of manipulating multiple tasks at the same time. The wheelchair is manoeuvred using brainwaves, eyes and facial muscles movements, voice, tongue, gesture. The mobility using a powered wheelchair improves the quality of life of the aged people and the people with mobility impairments significantly. These powered wheelchairs can be actuated using various high-level control interfaces. In this review, the use of natural biological signals and non-biological signal to do the hands-free control of powered wheelchair is presented in this article.