Distribution of sensory taste thresholds for phenylthiocarbamide (PTC) taste ability in North Indian Muslim populations

AbstractThe ability to taste Phenylthiocarbamide (PTC), a bitter organic compound has been described as a bimodal autosomal trait in both genetic and anthropological studies. This study is based on the ability of a person to taste PTC. The present study reports the threshold distribution of PTC taste sensitivity among some Muslim populations of North India, as till now no detailed information is available. A survey was conducted among healthy individuals within the age range of 10–45years who were randomly selected from among six populations viz; Syed, Sheikh, Pathan, Ansari, Qureshi and Saifi. The PTC tasting ability was measured using a serial dilution method of Harris and Kalmus. A bimodal distribution was observed from the graphs plotted for the PTC threshold distribution. The mean PTC threshold values (±SD) of the male and female individuals were calculated as 8.12±0.21 and 8.39±0.20, respectively. The threshold values among the six populations ranged from 7.71 to 8.81 among males, 7.44–9.04 among females and 7.86–8.91 as combined. The results found that females show a higher mean threshold value than males, though of no statistical significance. This type of study will provide brief information on the distribution of PTC sensory thresholds among some Muslim populations of North India. This study has some physiological relevance to highlight the adaptability of endogamous groups to behavioral traits in the same place

Kajian hubungan ciri-ciri kerja dan beban tugas dengan keterikatan kerja (work engagement) anggota polis terhadap organisasi pasukan Polis Diraja Malaysia

Commercial crime cases, had been considered a crime which would hurt the economy if not addressed immediately. Based on the statistic from Commercial Crimes Investigation Department, Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM), Bukit Aman, the losses caused by the commercial crime has reached more than RM1.047 billion in the first seven months of this year. The amount recorded increases more than RM1.619 billion recorded for the whole of last year. Commercial Crimes Investigation Department (CCID) is a new department in the police organization. It is a department that investigates criminal cases, commercial, trade, 'white collar' economy such as cases of fraud, criminal breach of trust, forgery, cyber crime, African Scam, etc before. In addition, working in the capital city and also full profile political, economic, social and criminal activities, including commercial crimes very challenging endurance employees in terms of cognitive, emotional and physical. The study is expected to provide the information and understanding about the issue of employee engagement with police against the police organization and identify the factors that influence the level of engagement in the circle of police services in the country. Level of engagement will be able to justify in the context of attitudes and behavior patterns of members of the police work. The results can also be a preliminary study on the measurement of the level of employee engagement across the organization before a comprehensive measurement Police do. The findings are also expected to contribute new information in the field of organizational psychology, occupational psychology, attitude of staff at the workplace and organizational behavior, particularly in relation to the issue of police staff engagement as a leading law enforcement agencies in Malaysia. Specifically, this study examines the relationship between factors such as job characteristics that contains job resources such as skills variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy, feedback; and organizational supports such as workload, perceived supervisor's support, reward and recognition. The data was collected through questionnaires among CCID police personnel under the administration of Kuala Lumpur police headquarters

Consumer Ethical Decision Making: Linking Moral Intensity, Self-Consciousness and Neutralization Techniques

The purpose of the study is to examine the effect of moral intensity on self-conscious emotions and neutralization techniques in the context of ethical decision making among consumers. A sample of 388 shopping mall retail consumers was recruited through self-administered survey technique. Descriptive statistics, exploratory factor analysis, correlation was carried out in SPSS whereas the measurement model and structural relationships were estimated using AMOS. Results indicate that moral intensity positively influences consumer’s self-consciousness, neutralization techniques and behavioural intention. Self-consciousness negatively influence consumer’s defence mechanism i.e. neutralization techniques. Neither self-consciousness nor neutralization techniques is found to have an impact on consumers’ behavioural intention. Only self-consciousness is found to complementary mediate the relationship of moral intensity and neutralization. The limitations associated with field survey and cross-sectional research design are inevitable. The study offers some relevant practical implications for government, marketing professionals and academia. The study is among the pioneer studies that theoretically links and empirically examines Issue Contingent Model, theory of neutralization and self-consciousness. The study develops and tested an Urdu language version of the questionnaire for retail consumers

Genetic study of phenylthiocarbamide (PTC) taste perception among six human populations of Jammu and Kashmir (India)

Background: The ability to taste phenylthiocarbamide (PTC), a bitter chemical has long been known to be a bimodal autosomal trait inherited in a simple Mendelian recessive pattern which is being widely used for both genetic and anthropological studies. The frequency of taster and non-taster allele is found to vary in different populations. The present paper deals with the distribution of PTC tasting ability as a marker to study the genetic structure among Muslim populations of Jammu; as no detailed information is available.Aim: To investigate the prevalence and gene frequencies of PTC taste sensitivity among male and females.Subjects and methods: We have undertaken a survey of gene frequencies of PTC taste ability for six different endogamous groups including tribal population. PTC serial dilution method was used to assess the PTC taster and non-taster phenotypes. Hardy–Weinberg method was used to determine allele frequencies.Results: Gujjar and Bakarwal population showed highest PTC threshold while Syed had the least. The phenotypic frequency for PTC taste ability varies within six populations; Syed were observed with highest taster frequency while Gujjar and Bakarwal had lowest taster frequency. The taster frequency of six different populations showed that the percentage of taster frequency was more frequent than that of the non-tasters. Also, females (x2= 4.563, df =5, p= 0.471) had more PTC tasters than males (x2= 5.254, df =5, p= 0.385), being statistically significant. The allelic frequencies in Gujjar and Bakarwal for non-taster (t) males and females were 55.86 and 54.55, respectively. In Syed population, t-allele frequencies for males and females were 45.75 and 37.79, respectively, while the other four populations showed intermediate t-allele frequencies. The heterozygosity showed little variation among all of the six populations.Keywords: Phenylthiocarbamide (PTC); PTC threshold; Gene frequency; Genotype frequency; Heterozygosity; Human populatio

Prevalence and gene frequencies of A1A2BO and Rh(D) blood group alleles among some Muslim populations of North India

Background: Research on ABO group system has been of immense interest, due to its medical importance in different diseases. Till date only a few studies have been done on the prevalence and gene frequencies of A1A2BO and Rh(D) blood groups among the Muslim populations ofUttar Pradesh, North India. The data generated in the present work may be useful for health planners while making efforts to face the future health challenges in the region.Aim: This study was conducted to determine the prevalence and gene frequencies of A1A2BO and Rh(D) blood groups among six Muslim populations of Aligarh district, Uttar Pradesh, North India.Subjects and methods: Blood samples from a total of 724 healthy, unrelated individuals were drawn at random from the six different endogamous groups of Muslim populations of Uttar Pradesh, North India. A1A2BO and Rh blood grouping were carried out by standard slide agglutination method and allele frequencies were determined.Results: In total 724 samples analyzed, the most frequent blood group was found to be group O 29.97% (n= 217), followed by A1 26.52% (n=192), B 20.03% (n= 145), A1B 19.34% (n= 140), A2 2.90% (n= 21) and A2B 1.24% (n= 9). The overall phenotypic frequencies of A1A2BO blood groups were O >A1>B> A1B>A2>A2B. The calculated allelic frequencies were 0.5619, 0.2214, 0.1973 and 0.0259 for group Io, Ib, Ia1 and Ia2, respectively. The Chi-square differences for A1A2BO blood groups among different Muslim populations were found to be significant (v2 =41.22, df= 25, p <0.02). Out of total 724 samples, 613 (84.67%) samples were Rh+ve and 111 (15.33%) were Rhve

On coefficient estimates for certain subclasses of bi-univalent functions

We introduce certain subclasses of bi-univalent functions related to the generalized Janowski functions and estimate the general coefficient bound for the newly defined classes. Also, we deduce certain new results and the improvement of known results as special cases of our investigation.Publisher's Versio

Cytotoxic and antioxidant potentials of ellagic acid derivatives from Conocarpus lancifolius (Combretaceae)

Purpose: Isolation, characterisation and structure elucidation of compounds obtained from Conocarpus lancifolius and screening of their pharmacological effects in vitro.Methods: After collection, authentication and extraction from whole C. lancifolius plants, screening for secondary metabolites, thin-layer  chromatography and subsequent open column chromatography were performed for phytochemical analysis and subsequent purification of the compounds. The chemical structures of the isolated compounds were elucidated using spectroscopic (UV-visible, infrared and mass) spectroscopy, and nuclear magnetic resonance (1H-NMR, 13C-NMR including BB, DEPT-135, 90 and two-dimensional correlation techniques, including HMBC and HSQC). The cytotoxic and antioxidant potentials of extracts and compounds obtained from C. lancifolius were evaluated using in vitro models.Results: Two ellagic acid derivatives, 2,3,8-tri-o-methylellagic acid (A) and 3-O-methylellagic acid 4-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (B), were isolated. Both compounds (A and B) were cytotoxic in a variety of cancer cell lines, including murine lymphocytic leukaemia (P-388, half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) =3.60 and 2.40 μg/mL, respectively), human colon cancer (Col-2, IC50 = 0.76 and 0.92 μg/mL, respectively) and human breast cancer (MCF-7, IC50 = 0.65 and 0.54 μg/mL, respectively). Moreover, both compounds showed significant antioxidant potential in vitro.Conclusion: C. lancifolius extract and isolated ellagic acid derivatives (compounds A and B) possess cytotoxic and antioxidant properties. These findings suggest that C. lancifolius contains bioactive compounds that can be potentially developed as natural cytotoxic and antioxidant compounds. Keywords: Conocarpus lancifolius, Ellagic acid, Combretaceae, Cytotoxic activity, Antioxidan

Research Article Software Component Selection Based on Quality Criteria Using the Analytic Network Process

Component based software development (CBSD) endeavors to deliver cost-effective and quality software systems through the selection and integration of commercially available software components. CBSD emphasizes the design and development of software systems using preexisting components. Software component reusability is an indispensable part of component based software development life cycle (CBSDLC),which consumes a significant amount of organization’s resources, that is, time and effort. It is convenient in component based software system (CBSS) to select the most suitable and appropriate software components that provide all the required functionalities. Selecting the most appropriate components is crucial for the success of the entire system. However, decisions regarding software component reusability are often made in an ad hoc manner, which ultimately results in schedule delay and lowers the entire quality system. In this paper, we have discussed the analytic network process (ANP) method for software component selection. The methodology is explained and assessed using a real life case study

Arc GIS based Interpretation of Heavy Metals in Soil Samples near Coastal Areas of Badin, Sindh, Pakistan

This study was aimed to assess the severity of heavy metal contamination in eastern coastal area of Pakistan. Agriculture lands near district Badin coastal area found contaminated due to mega surface canal drain network, carrying untreated industrial and municipal effluents along with pumped saline water. Thirty-two random soil samples were collected from different coastal areas. Arc Geographic Information System was used for spatial mapping. Soil samples from coastal areas of Badin contain average concentrations of heavy metals (mg/kg) as Hg 0.247±0.207, Ni 2.622±1.107,Zn 3.121±0.929, Cu 0.059±0.066, Fe 70.447±1.163, Mn7.062±1.251, Co 0.0167±0.033,Cr0.799±0.718