NEUROPROTECTIVE EFFECT OF SARGASSUM ILICIFOLIUM TURNER C. AGARDH ON ACETYLCHOLINESTERASE ACTIVITY AND ATTENUATION OF SCOPOLAMINE-INDUCED AMNESIA IN RODENTS

ABSTRACTObjective: In day to day life, occupational stress is responsible for oxidative stress by altering sleep cycle. Scopolamine induction of amnesia correlatesto stress-induced amnesia in youngsters. Hence, the present study was aimed to investigate the anti-amnesic effect of ethanolic extract and ethylacetate fraction of Sargassum ilicifolium Turner (C. Agardh) against scopolamine.Methods: In this study, seven groups of animals were used and scopolamine (0.4 mg/kg b.wt/intraperitoneally) was administered to all groups exceptpositive control to induce memory loss. Elevated plus maze, Morris water maze served as an exteroceptive behavioral model in testing memory inyoung rats. Brain acetylcholinesterase, a biomarker enzyme was estimated. Finally histopathology of cerebral cortex was performed.Results: The extract and fraction treated group showed an interesting result in memory scores, and the significant enzyme inhibition might beresponsible to attenuate acetylcholine in cholinergic neurons to enhance memory. Finally, histopathology of cerebral cortex proved the neuroprotectiveeffect of S. ilicifolium. All the results were statistically significant.Conclusion: Neuroprotective role of S. ilicifolium Turner C.Agardh was highlighted well in this study and it will be interesting infuture to dissect outthe kinetics of individual components in the fraction and to strengthen the phytomolecule role by insilico studies.Keywords: Learning, Memory, Acetylcholinesterase, Sargassum ilicifolium Turner (C. Agardh)

Intra population selective mating as a means of improving seed yield in Brassica campestris var. Brown sarson

Six population of brown sarson (Brassica campestris L.) which were complex multiple crosses in their second generation were selected on the basis of genetic, geographic and general combining ability divergence of their parents. In each population, early and late plants were selected and raised to their next generation. In the early and late progeny families, several plants were full-sibbed to produce early and late sib-populations, EE and LL. In addition, phenotypically superior (High) female plants were pollinated with mixed pollen from phenotypically superior (High) or inferior (Low) plants to produce 4 categories of intra-population crosses - Early high x Late high, Early high x Late low; Late high x Early high, Late high x Early low, EE and LL sib-populations registered significant yield advance compared to their original counterparts. But the yield advances recorded by intra-population selective mating were much higher and consistent. The extent of yield improvement was proportional to the initial genetic variability in the populations. The results suggest that disruption of mating between intermediate types even within a genetically broad-based population will be a potent method to breed for enhanced productivity

Using cultural probes to inform the design of assistive technologies

This paper discusses the practical implications of applying cultural probes to drive the design of assistive technologies. Specifically we describe a study in which a probe was deployed with home-based carers of people with dementia in order to capture critical data and gain insights of integrating the technologies into this sensitive and socially complex design space. To represent and utilise the insights gained from the cultural probes, we created narratives based on the probe data to enhance the design of assistive technologies.This work was supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AH/K00266X/1) and RCUK through the Horizon Digital Economy Research grant (EP/G065802/1)

Developing procedures for assessment of ecological status of Indian River basins in the context of environmental water requirements

River basins / Ecology / Indicators / Environmental flows / Environmental management / Habitats / Biota / Fish / Ecosystems / India / Krishna River Basin / Chauvery River Basin / Narmada River Basin / Periyar River Basin / Ganga River Basin

Genetic analysis of some exotic x Indian crosses in sorghum. VI. Dynamics of character association under selection

This article does not have an abstract

Current status and future prospects of rapeseed breeding in India

Basic results of applied value were obtained from studies on crosses between self-compatible and incompatible varieties of brown sarson, inter-varietal crosses among brown sarson, yellow sarson and toria, well defined single and three-way crosses and 'multiple cross-multiple pollen' hybrids. Some of the complex hybrids have been advanced to F2 and studies were conducted to test the efficiency of intra-population selective hybridization emphasizing choice of female parents in improving the yield of the populations. It was reported that these basic results are not utilized in the breeding programmes currently in vogue in India. It was pointed out that one of the short-term strategies to tone up the yield level of rapeseed in India is to advocate breeding of composite populations using the methods suggested by basic research. The future of rapeseed can be safeguard by propagating composite populations, advocating the concept of replacement in lieu of regeneration of composites when their yield levels deteriorate and strengthening the breeder-seed-producer-farmer link. Well-defined policies allotting the right priority to rapeseed breeding and advocating mono-and mixed cropping in appropriate areas are the need of the hour to ameliorate the low yield levels of rapeseed

Random matrix techniques in quantum information theory

The purpose of this review article is to present some of the latest developments using random techniques, and in particular, random matrix techniques in quantum information theory. Our review is a blend of a rather exhaustive review, combined with more detailed examples -- coming from research projects in which the authors were involved. We focus on two main topics, random quantum states and random quantum channels. We present results related to entropic quantities, entanglement of typical states, entanglement thresholds, the output set of quantum channels, and violations of the minimum output entropy of random channels

Influence of season, age and breed on prevalence of haemoprotozoan diseases in cattle of Tamil Nadu, India

Aim: To assess the prevalence of haemoprotozoan diseases in cross-bred and indigenous cattle in relation to season, age and breed in Western part of Tamil Nadu, India. Materials and Methods: A total of 2637 blood smears were screened for haemoprotozoan diseases and samples were received from the college hospital and veterinary dispensaries in Western part of Tamil Nadu, India. Blood smears were stained using Giemsa's technique and examined under oil immersion. Results: Microscopic examination of blood smears revealed an overall prevalence of 16.64 %; of which theileriosis was 13 %, followed by anaplasmosis 2.64 % and then babesiosis 1.0%. Among the haemoprotozoan diseases, the prevalence of theileriosis was significantly (p<0.05) high during summer (14.4%), followed by moderate in monsoon (13.8%) and less in fair (11.5%) seasons. However, there was no significant seasonal influence on the prevalence of babesiosis and anaplasmosis. The data on influence of breed revealed that there was a significantly (p<0.05) high prevalence of haemoprotozoan diseases in Holstein Friesian (HF) and Jersey cross breeds than indigenous breed and the occurrence of these haemoprotozoan diseases was found to be high among the age groups of 2-7 years in cross-bred animals and below 2 years in indigenous animals. Conclusion: The present study suggests that Western part of Tamil Nadu is highly endemic for theileriosis and occurrence of the disease was high during summer. Cross-bred animals aged 2-7 years are highly susceptible to these haemoprotozoan diseases than indigenous animals

Zinc deficiency in Indian soils with special focus to enrich zinc in peanut

In India, zinc (Zn) is now considered as fourth most important yield limiting nutrient in agricultural crops. Zn deficiency in Indian soils is likely to increase from 49 to 63% by 2025. India is leading in groundnut acreage but behind the China in production due to less productivity. Apart from raindependant cultivation and mineral nutrition play a vital role in groundnut productivity. Among the nutrients, Zn deficiency cause yield loss to the maximum of 40% in groundnut. The average response of groundnut to zinc fertilization ranged from 210 to 470 kg ha-1. Hence, it is ideal to follow suitable crop improvement and agronomic management strategies to enhance the uptake and availability of Zn in peanut. There are reports emerging that genetic variability exists among the peanut genotypes for zinc response and accumulation in kernel. This implies that high zinc dense confectionary peanut genotypes can be exploited for the further breeding programmes. In addition, Zn fertilization strategies viz., soil application of enriched Zn, seed coating and foliar application can be suitably adapted with available sources of Zn fertilizer to enhance Zn availability and uptake by peanut under changing climate. This article attempts to examine the status of Zn deficiency in semiarid tropics and approaches to enhance Zn content in peanut kernel through crop improvement and agronomic manipulation