PROXIMATE AND PHYTOCHEMICAL COMPOSITION AND ANTIOXIDANT PROPERTIES OF INDIGENOUS LANDRACES OF OMANI FENUGREEK SEEDS

Background: Fenugreek (Trigonella foenum graecum L) is receiving global attention as a functional food due to its unique nutritional and medicinal properties as anti-diabetic, hypocholesterolemic, antipyretic, anti-carcinogenic and seasoning and flavoring agent. Materials and Methods: Seeds of indigenous fenugreek accessions were collected from three different ecological regions (Al-Dakhaliyah, Al¬Dhahirah, and Al-Batinah) of Sultanate of Oman. The samples were analyzed for proximate chemical composition, phytochemical contents and antioxidant properties. Results: Only significant (

Functional enhancer elements drive subclass-selective expression from mouse to primate neocortex

Viral genetic tools to target specific brain cell types in humans and non-genetic model organisms will transform basic neuroscience and targeted gene therapy. Here we used comparative epigenetics to identify thousands of human neuronal subclass-specific putative enhancers to regulate viral tools, and 34% of these were conserved in mouse. We established an AAV platform to evaluate cellular specificity of functional enhancers by multiplexed fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) and single cell RNA sequencing. Initial testing in mouse neocortex yields a functional enhancer discovery success rate of over 30%. We identify enhancers with specificity for excitatory and inhibitory classes and subclasses including PVALB, LAMP5, and VIP/LAMP5 cells, some of which maintain specificity in vivo or ex vivo in monkey and human neocortex. Finally, functional enhancers can be proximal or distal to cellular marker genes, conserved or divergent across species, and could yield brain-wide specificity greater than the most selective marker genes

A Complete Electron Microscopy Volume of the Brain of Adult Drosophila melanogaster.

Drosophila melanogaster has a rich repertoire of innate and learned behaviors. Its 100,000-neuron brain is a large but tractable target for comprehensive neural circuit mapping. Only electron microscopy (EM) enables complete, unbiased mapping of synaptic connectivity; however, the fly brain is too large for conventional EM. We developed a custom high-throughput EM platform and imaged the entire brain of an adult female fly at synaptic resolution. To validate the dataset, we traced brain-spanning circuitry involving the mushroom body (MB), which has been extensively studied for its role in learning. All inputs to Kenyon cells (KCs), the intrinsic neurons of the MB, were mapped, revealing a previously unknown cell type, postsynaptic partners of KC dendrites, and unexpected clustering of olfactory projection neurons. These reconstructions show that this freely available EM volume supports mapping of brain-spanning circuits, which will significantly accelerate Drosophila neuroscience. VIDEO ABSTRACT

Canagliflozin and renal outcomes in type 2 diabetes and nephropathy

BACKGROUND Type 2 diabetes mellitus is the leading cause of kidney failure worldwide, but few effective long-term treatments are available. In cardiovascular trials of inhibitors of sodium–glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2), exploratory results have suggested that such drugs may improve renal outcomes in patients with type 2 diabetes. METHODS In this double-blind, randomized trial, we assigned patients with type 2 diabetes and albuminuric chronic kidney disease to receive canagliflozin, an oral SGLT2 inhibitor, at a dose of 100 mg daily or placebo. All the patients had an estimated glomerular filtration rate (GFR) of 30 to <90 ml per minute per 1.73 m2 of body-surface area and albuminuria (ratio of albumin [mg] to creatinine [g], >300 to 5000) and were treated with renin–angiotensin system blockade. The primary outcome was a composite of end-stage kidney disease (dialysis, transplantation, or a sustained estimated GFR of <15 ml per minute per 1.73 m2), a doubling of the serum creatinine level, or death from renal or cardiovascular causes. Prespecified secondary outcomes were tested hierarchically. RESULTS The trial was stopped early after a planned interim analysis on the recommendation of the data and safety monitoring committee. At that time, 4401 patients had undergone randomization, with a median follow-up of 2.62 years. The relative risk of the primary outcome was 30% lower in the canagliflozin group than in the placebo group, with event rates of 43.2 and 61.2 per 1000 patient-years, respectively (hazard ratio, 0.70; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.59 to 0.82; P=0.00001). The relative risk of the renal-specific composite of end-stage kidney disease, a doubling of the creatinine level, or death from renal causes was lower by 34% (hazard ratio, 0.66; 95% CI, 0.53 to 0.81; P<0.001), and the relative risk of end-stage kidney disease was lower by 32% (hazard ratio, 0.68; 95% CI, 0.54 to 0.86; P=0.002). The canagliflozin group also had a lower risk of cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction, or stroke (hazard ratio, 0.80; 95% CI, 0.67 to 0.95; P=0.01) and hospitalization for heart failure (hazard ratio, 0.61; 95% CI, 0.47 to 0.80; P<0.001). There were no significant differences in rates of amputation or fracture. CONCLUSIONS In patients with type 2 diabetes and kidney disease, the risk of kidney failure and cardiovascular events was lower in the canagliflozin group than in the placebo group at a median follow-up of 2.62 years

<smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="country-region"><smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="place"> Molecular characterization of <i style="">Begomovirus</i> infecting sweet pepper in Oman </smarttagtype></smarttagtype>

45-51 Whitefly transmitted tomato yellow leaf curl is one of the most devastating viral disease of cultivated sweet pepper (Capsicum frutescens grossum) and other vegetables in Oman. Infected sweet pepper plants showed typical begomovirus symptoms as upward leaf curling, interveinal and leaf chlorosis, and growth stunting. Begomovirus infecting sweet pepper in Oman was detected by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using begomovirus specific degenerate primers (PAL1v1978/PAR1c496 and AV494/AC1048). Core region (74-604 bp) of coat protein gene of the begomovirus was amplified by PCR with tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV) specific degenerate primers (TycpV369/TycpC1023). Core region of coat protein gene contains highly conserved regions and is used to identify the begomovirus infecting sweet peppers. Virus identification was performed by percent sequence identity and parsimony analysis using core coat protein gene sequences of sweet pepper virus with complete genome, core region of coat protein and coat protein gene sequences from reference begomoviruses. The core region sequence identity of coat protein gene of sweet pepper virus from Oman was 92.2, 96.5, 94.0, 93.8, and 96.5% with TomGV-Lebanon, TYLCV-Guadeloupe, TYLCV-Israel, TYLCV-Kuwait, and TYLCV-Mexico, respectively. Phylogenetic trees and percent sequence identity with reference to begomoviruses permitted the identification of sweet pepper virus as TYLCV based on tree position and extent of sequence identity. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that sweet pepper tomato yellow leaf curl virus clustered with its closest relatives from Middle East regions but formed a separate strain. </smarttagtype

Polymeric model systems for flavoenzyme activity: towards synthetic flavoenzymes

We report the synthesis of a water-soluble flavin polymer using ATRP, whereby the oligoethylene glycol backbone provides both a local hydrophobic environment and redox tuning of the flavin moiety typical of flavoenzyme prototypes

Differential Expression of Oman’s Wild Lavender, Lavandula subnuda for Chemical Composition towards Medicinal and Aromatic Application

Plants have been used directly or indirectly as medicines for over 5000 years as a source of antibiotics, antineoplastics, analgesics, and cardio-protective, among others. Approximately 70–90% of the population in developing countries continue to use ancient medicines based on plant extracts for treatment. Recently, the isolation and identification of biologically active compounds and molecules from nature have led to the discovery of new therapeutics, prompting the improvement of the health and pharmaceutical sectors. Phytochemicals revolve around the pharmaceutical industry's research and development (R&D) sector as a source of new molecules leading to the development of new novel drugs. Given the above, the present investigation addresses the differential nature of wild lavender (Lavandula subnuda Benth) plants of diverse locations in Oman with respect to their chemical composition of the essential oil in addition to morphological characters and chlorophyll contents of leaves to explore the possibility of isolating its prime chemical compounds on a commercial scale in perfumery industry. There are no previous studies so far who have reported on essential oil recovery and chemical composition exclusively in respect of Lavandula subnuda. Composite samples of ten randomly selected plants were collected from wadi habitats of four diversified locations. Edaphic features of managed sites were recorded, and their soil chemical contents were determined following instructions using S1 Titan/Tracer 5/CTX equipment of Bruker developed based on energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDXRF). Morphological traits were measured using a ruler, and chlorophyll contents were recorded using the atLEAF CHL Plus chlorophyll meter as atLEAF values. The essential oil was extracted using ETHO X's advanced microwave extraction system and analyzed for chemical compounds using GC-MS analysis on Shimadzu GC-2010 Plus gas chromatograph. The experimental data were analyzed statistically, wherever required, by applying basic statistics of the EXCEL -16 version. The results indicated that in general, the Lavandula subnuda plants of locations of high altitudes had higher expressivity in all the morphological traits and chlorophyll contents than those of low altitudes. The essential oil recovery, however, was found to be higher from the plant samples of lower altitudes (0.70 to 0.79% (w/w)) than from those of higher mountains/ altitudes (0.15 to 0.18% (w/w)). The pattern of values of commonly occurring chemical contents of essential oils was different. Each essential oil's top ten chemical compounds contributed about 80% of the total in four locations. Of the ten top chemical compounds, eight compounds, namely D-Germacrene (42.67%) from Wadi Al-Khod, Estragole (32%) and Linalool (23.89%) from Wadi Halban), trans-Borneol (23.46%) and 4-Terpineol (18.73%) from Wadi Najd Al-Waqba and Kessane (18.60%), beta-cis-Caryophyllene (13.68%) and beta-Elemene (10.618%) from Wadi Al-Hayul, were found highest in quantity and had huge potential for further application. It is concluded that there exists a higher possibility of adapting Good Agriculture Practice (GAP) to produce the highest herbage yield of vegetative parts of Lavandula subnuda plants based on morphological features under wild conditions to extract these compounds on a commercial scale in both the pharmaceutical and perfumery industries.Keywords: Morphology, Chlorophyll, Chemical compounds, Differential Expression, Lavandula subnuda,, Lamiacea

Differential Expression of Oman’s Wild Lavender, Lavandula subnuda for Chemical Composition towards Medicinal and Aromatic Application

Plants have been used directly or indirectly as medicines for over 5000 years as a source of antibiotics, antineoplastics, analgesics, and cardio-protective, among others. Approximately 70–90% of the population in developing countries continue to use ancient medicines based on plant extracts for treatment. Recently, the isolation and identification of biologically active compounds and molecules from nature have led to the discovery of new therapeutics, prompting the improvement of the health and pharmaceutical sectors. Phytochemicals revolve around the pharmaceutical industry's research and development (R&D) sector as a source of new molecules leading to the development of new novel drugs. Given the above, the present investigation addresses the differential nature of wild lavender (Lavandula subnuda Benth) plants of diverse locations in Oman with respect to their chemical composition of the essential oil in addition to morphological characters and chlorophyll contents of leaves to explore the possibility of isolating its prime chemical compounds on a commercial scale in perfumery industry. There are no previous studies so far who have reported on essential oil recovery and chemical composition exclusively in respect of Lavandula subnuda. Composite samples of ten randomly selected plants were collected from wadi habitats of four diversified locations. Edaphic features of managed sites were recorded, and their soil chemical contents were determined following instructions using S1 Titan/Tracer 5/CTX equipment of Bruker developed based on energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDXRF). Morphological traits were measured using a ruler, and chlorophyll contents were recorded using the atLEAF CHL Plus chlorophyll meter as atLEAF values. The essential oil was extracted using ETHO X's advanced microwave extraction system and analyzed for chemical compounds using GC-MS analysis on Shimadzu GC-2010 Plus gas chromatograph. The experimental data were analyzed statistically, wherever required, by applying basic statistics of the EXCEL -16 version. The results indicated that in general, the Lavandula subnuda plants of locations of high altitudes had higher expressivity in all the morphological traits and chlorophyll contents than those of low altitudes. The essential oil recovery, however, was found to be higher from the plant samples of lower altitudes (0.70 to 0.79% (w/w)) than from those of higher mountains/ altitudes (0.15 to 0.18% (w/w)). The pattern of values of commonly occurring chemical contents of essential oils was different. Each essential oil's top ten chemical compounds contributed about 80% of the total in four locations. Of the ten top chemical compounds, eight compounds, namely D-Germacrene (42.67%) from Wadi Al-Khod, Estragole (32%) and Linalool (23.89%) from Wadi Halban), trans-Borneol (23.46%) and 4-Terpineol (18.73%) from Wadi Najd Al-Waqba and Kessane (18.60%), beta-cis-Caryophyllene (13.68%) and beta-Elemene (10.618%) from Wadi Al-Hayul, were found highest in quantity and had huge potential for further application. It is concluded that there exists a higher possibility of adapting Good Agriculture Practice (GAP) to produce the highest herbage yield of vegetative parts of Lavandula subnuda plants based on morphological features under wild conditions to extract these compounds on a commercial scale in both the pharmaceutical and perfumery industries.Keywords: Morphology, Chlorophyll, Chemical compounds, Differential Expression, Lavandula subnuda,, Lamiacea