PLANT-BASED REMEDIES FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF DIABETES

The knowledge related to medicinal plants have been described in Indian Ayurveda System and survived till today through the prevalent socio-cultural practices. Present study is an attempt to document anti-diabetic plants from Una district of Himachal Pradesh. A thorough survey was conducted from 500 respondents using a semi-structured questionnaire and informal discussions. A total of 84 anti-diabetic plant species have been recorded. These plants include wild (32) or cultivated (41) species. Fabaceae was the dominant family with 10 species. The phytoremedies were prepared using different plant parts or sometimes even the whole plant or in combination with other species. There are only few reports on anti-diabetic use of some wild species from the study area. Further studies of bioactive compounds in these species can depict their hypoglycemic potential. Present study has suggested a strong link between traditional herbal medicines, their documentation and proper chemical characterization to harness their therapeutic potential to the maximum.  KEY WORDS: Diabetes, bioactive compounds, traditional medicines, phytoremedies, angiosperms, Una, Himachal Prades

Neutrino Interferometry In Curved Spacetime

Gravitational lensing introduces the possibility of multiple (macroscopic) paths from an astrophysical neutrino source to a detector. Such a multiplicity of paths can allow for quantum mechanical interference to take place that is qualitatively different to neutrino oscillations in flat space. After an illustrative example clarifying some under-appreciated subtleties of the phase calculation, we derive the form of the quantum mechanical phase for a neutrino mass eigenstate propagating non-radially through a Schwarzschild metric. We subsequently determine the form of the interference pattern seen at a detector. We show that the neutrino signal from a supernova could exhibit the interference effects we discuss were it lensed by an object in a suitable mass range. We finally conclude, however, that -- given current neutrino detector technology -- the probability of such lensing occurring for a (neutrino-detectable) supernova is tiny in the immediate future.Comment: 25 pages, 1 .eps figure. Updated version -- with simplified notation -- accepted for publication in Phys.Rev.D. Extra author adde

Relativistic wave equations for interacting massive particles with arbitrary half-intreger spins

New formulation of relativistic wave equations (RWE) for massive particles with arbitrary half-integer spins s interacting with external electromagnetic fields are proposed. They are based on wave functions which are irreducible tensors of rank $n ($n=s-\frac12$) antisymmetric w.r.t. n pairs of indices, whose components are bispinors. The form of RWE is straightforward and free of inconsistencies associated with the other approaches to equations describing interacting higher spin particles

A texture of neutrino mass matrix in view of recent neutrino experimental results

In view of recent neutrino experimental results such as SNO, Super-Kamiokande (SK), CHOOZ and neutrinoless double beta decay $(\beta\beta_{0\nu})$, we consider a texture of neutrino mass matrix which contains three parameters in order to explain those neutrino experimental results. We have first fitted parameters in a model independent way with solar and atmospheric neutrino mass squared differences and solar neutrino mixing angle which satisfy LMA solution. The maximal value of atmospheric neutrino mixing angle comes out naturally in the present texture. Most interestingly, fitted parameters of the neutrino mass matrix considered here also marginally satisfy recent limit on effective Majorana neutrino mass obtained from neutrinoless double beta decay experiment. We further demonstrate an explicit model which gives rise to the texture investigated by considering an $SU(2)_L\times U(1)_Y$ gauge group with two extra real scalar singlets and discrete $Z_2\times Z_3$ symmetry. Majorana neutrino masses are generated through higher dimensional operators at the scale $M$. We have estimated the scales at which singlets get VEV's and M by comparing with the best fitted results obtained in the present work.Comment: Journal Ref.: Phys. Rev. D66, 053004 (2002

Genome-wide meta-analysis uncovers novel loci influencing circulating leptin levels.

Leptin is an adipocyte-secreted hormone, the circulating levels of which correlate closely with overall adiposity. Although rare mutations in the leptin (LEP) gene are well known to cause leptin deficiency and severe obesity, no common loci regulating circulating leptin levels have been uncovered. Therefore, we performed a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of circulating leptin levels from 32,161 individuals and followed up loci reaching P<10(-6) in 19,979 additional individuals. We identify five loci robustly associated (P<5 × 10(-8)) with leptin levels in/near LEP, SLC32A1, GCKR, CCNL1 and FTO. Although the association of the FTO obesity locus with leptin levels is abolished by adjustment for BMI, associations of the four other loci are independent of adiposity. The GCKR locus was found associated with multiple metabolic traits in previous GWAS and the CCNL1 locus with birth weight. Knockdown experiments in mouse adipose tissue explants show convincing evidence for adipogenin, a regulator of adipocyte differentiation, as the novel causal gene in the SLC32A1 locus influencing leptin levels. Our findings provide novel insights into the regulation of leptin production by adipose tissue and open new avenues for examining the influence of variation in leptin levels on adiposity and metabolic health

The Influence of Age and Sex on Genetic Associations with Adult Body Size and Shape : A Large-Scale Genome-Wide Interaction Study

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified more than 100 genetic variants contributing to BMI, a measure of body size, or waist-to-hip ratio (adjusted for BMI, WHRadjBMI), a measure of body shape. Body size and shape change as people grow older and these changes differ substantially between men and women. To systematically screen for age-and/or sex-specific effects of genetic variants on BMI and WHRadjBMI, we performed meta-analyses of 114 studies (up to 320,485 individuals of European descent) with genome-wide chip and/or Metabochip data by the Genetic Investigation of Anthropometric Traits (GIANT) Consortium. Each study tested the association of up to similar to 2.8M SNPs with BMI and WHRadjBMI in four strata (men 50y, women 50y) and summary statistics were combined in stratum-specific meta-analyses. We then screened for variants that showed age-specific effects (G x AGE), sex-specific effects (G x SEX) or age-specific effects that differed between men and women (G x AGE x SEX). For BMI, we identified 15 loci (11 previously established for main effects, four novel) that showed significant (FDR= 50y). No sex-dependent effects were identified for BMI. For WHRadjBMI, we identified 44 loci (27 previously established for main effects, 17 novel) with sex-specific effects, of which 28 showed larger effects in women than in men, five showed larger effects in men than in women, and 11 showed opposite effects between sexes. No age-dependent effects were identified for WHRadjBMI. This is the first genome-wide interaction meta-analysis to report convincing evidence of age-dependent genetic effects on BMI. In addition, we confirm the sex-specificity of genetic effects on WHRadjBMI. These results may providefurther insights into the biology that underlies weight change with age or the sexually dimorphism of body shape.Peer reviewe

Repositioning of the global epicentre of non-optimal cholesterol

High blood cholesterol is typically considered a feature of wealthy western countries1,2. However, dietary and behavioural determinants of blood cholesterol are changing rapidly throughout the world3 and countries are using lipid-lowering medications at varying rates. These changes can have distinct effects on the levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and non-HDL cholesterol, which have different effects on human health4,5. However, the trends of HDL and non-HDL cholesterol levels over time have not been previously reported in a global analysis. Here we pooled 1,127 population-based studies that measured blood lipids in 102.6 million individuals aged 18 years and older to estimate trends from 1980 to 2018 in mean total, non-HDL and HDL cholesterol levels for 200 countries. Globally, there was little change in total or non-HDL cholesterol from 1980 to 2018. This was a net effect of increases in low- and middle-income countries, especially in east and southeast Asia, and decreases in high-income western countries, especially those in northwestern Europe, and in central and eastern Europe. As a result, countries with the highest level of non-HDL cholesterol—which is a marker of cardiovascular risk—changed from those in western Europe such as Belgium, Finland, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and Malta in 1980 to those in Asia and the Pacific, such as Tokelau, Malaysia, The Philippines and Thailand. In 2017, high non-HDL cholesterol was responsible for an estimated 3.9 million (95% credible interval 3.7 million–4.2 million) worldwide deaths, half of which occurred in east, southeast and south Asia. The global repositioning of lipid-related risk, with non-optimal cholesterol shifting from a distinct feature of high-income countries in northwestern Europe, north America and Australasia to one that affects countries in east and southeast Asia and Oceania should motivate the use of population-based policies and personal interventions to improve nutrition and enhance access to treatment throughout the world.</p

Repositioning of the global epicentre of non-optimal cholesterol

High blood cholesterol is typically considered a feature of wealthy western countries1,2. However, dietary and behavioural determinants of blood cholesterol are changing rapidly throughout the world3 and countries are using lipid-lowering medications at varying rates. These changes can have distinct effects on the levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and non-HDL cholesterol, which have different effects on human health4,5. However, the trends of HDL and non-HDL cholesterol levels over time have not been previously reported in a global analysis. Here we pooled 1,127 population-based studies that measured blood lipids in 102.6 million individuals aged 18 years and older to estimate trends from 1980 to 2018 in mean total, non-HDL and HDL cholesterol levels for 200 countries. Globally, there was little change in total or non-HDL cholesterol from 1980 to 2018. This was a net effect of increases in low- and middle-income countries, especially in east and southeast Asia, and decreases in high-income western countries, especially those in northwestern Europe, and in central and eastern Europe. As a result, countries with the highest level of non-HDL cholesterol�which is a marker of cardiovascular risk�changed from those in western Europe such as Belgium, Finland, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and Malta in 1980 to those in Asia and the Pacific, such as Tokelau, Malaysia, The Philippines and Thailand. In 2017, high non-HDL cholesterol was responsible for an estimated 3.9 million (95 credible interval 3.7 million�4.2 million) worldwide deaths, half of which occurred in east, southeast and south Asia. The global repositioning of lipid-related risk, with non-optimal cholesterol shifting from a distinct feature of high-income countries in northwestern Europe, north America and Australasia to one that affects countries in east and southeast Asia and Oceania should motivate the use of population-based policies and personal interventions to improve nutrition and enhance access to treatment throughout the world. © 2020, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited

Allelopathy: Potential Role to Achieve New Milestones in Rice Cultivation

Rice fields are ecosystems with many types of plants, microbes, invertebrates, birds and animals. The rice farming protects the biodiversity of the region and maintains the ecosystem for the benefit of environment. Some rice varieties release biocidal allelochemicals which might affect major weeds, microbial and pathogenic diversity around rice plants, even soil characteristics. A large number of compounds such as phenolic acids, fatty acids, indoles and terpenes have been identified in rice root exudates and decomposing rice residues, as putative allelochemicals which can interact with surrounding environment. Since these allelopathic interactions may be positive, they can be used as effective contributor for sustainable and eco-friendly agro-production system. Genetic modification of crop plants to improve their allelopathic properties and enhancement of desirable traits has been suggested. Development of crops with enhanced allelopathic traits by genetic modification should be done cautiously, keeping in view of the ecological risk assessment (non-toxic and safe for humans and ecosystem, crop productivity, ratio of benefit and cost, etc.)