Larvicidal Activity of Methanol and Chloroform Extract of Swertia celiata against Three Mosquito Vectors

Background: Mosquitoes are an important public health concern as they spread life-threatening diseases such as malaria, filaria, Japanese encephalitis, dengue fever, chikungunya, and yellow fever. In the last decades, synthetic insecticides were extensively used for the control of these vector-borne diseases but it also reported the detrimental side-effects in human beings and pet animals. To overcome the side effects, plants-derived secondary metabolites were screened and tested for insecticidal properties. The present study deals with the insecticidal activity of chloroform and methanol extracts of Swertia celiata leaves against Culex quenquifasciatus, Aedes aegypti, and Anopheles stephensi larvae.Method: The S. celiata leaves were subjected to chloroform and methanol with 1:3 (Weight/ Volume) ratio and the extracted solvent was dried using rotary vacuum evaporator. The larvicidal activity of the extract was tested using WHO method and LC50 and LC90 were evaluated by probit analysis.Results: The LC50 value of chloroform extract of S. celiata was found to be 65.288, 67.406 and 71.608 ppm whereas LC90 was 184.721, 186.582 and 192.497 ppm against C. quinquefasciatus, Ae. aegypti and A. stephensi, respectively. The methanolic extract was also found potent; LC50 was 91.503, 101.574 and 99.104 ppm whereas LC90 was 230.823, 271.927 and 234.257 ppm against C. quinquefasciatus, Ae. aegypti and A. stephensi, respectively. Both chloroform and methanol extract were found significantly lethal tothe tested mosquito vectors.Conclusion: Taken results together, chloroform extract showed higher toxicity as compared to methanolic extract against all the tested species. The study clearly revealed that S. ciliata extract or bioactive compounds can be used as an alternative to synthetic insecticides

Bovine Tropical Theileriosis: An Update

Tick-borne diseases (TBDs) cause major economic losses and affect many domestic animals, mainly cattle and sheep, in tropical and subtropical regions. Tropical theileriosis is a TBD caused by a protozoon called Theileria annulata transmitted by several tick species of the genus Hyalomma. Clinical manifestations of theileriosis are expressed mainly as anorexia, febrile generalized lymphadenitis and anemia followed by lethargy, lacrimation, nasal discharge and exopthalmia. Anemia is a feature point in tropical bovine theileriosis and severity was positively related to parasitaemia rates. Fatality due to infection is greatly dependent on the overproduction of cytokines, such as TNF-α produced by the schizont-infected monocytes/macrophages and uninfected macrophages. Buparvaquone gave 86.66% clinical efficacy against Theileria annulata, but 97.1% and 95.2% efficacy against Theileria parva. In Theileriosis, hemolysis occurs due to isoantibody to RBC. To prevent this isoantibody lysis, immunosuppressive dose of steroid such as [email protected] mg/kg.b.wt could be used

Development of a Polymerase Chain Reaction Assay for Detection of Burkholderia mallei, a Potent Biological Warfare Agent

Burkholderia mallei is the etiological agent of glanders, primarily a disease of equines. B. mallei is closely related to B. pseudomallei, the causative agent of melioidosis. Therefore, detection of B. mallei and its differentiation from B. pseudomallei, has always been troublesome. In present investigation, a B. mallei specific DNA sequence was identified by performing BLASTn search using ~3000 ORFs of B. mallei NCTC 10229. A polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay with internal amplification control (IAC) was developed for detection of B. mallei and its differentiation from B. pseudomallei. The PCR assay could amplify a specific 224-bp fragment from all the six B. mallei strains used in the study, whereas other closely related organisms were tested negative. The detection limit of the assay was found to be 10 pg of purified DNA of B. mallei. Incorporation of IAC in the assay makes the results reliable as false negative results which may arise due to presence of PCR inhibitors, can be avoided. For validation, the assay was tested on tap water, Bengal gram and grass artificially spiked with B. mallei. The developed assay can be used as a simple and rapid tool for detection of B. mallei

Genome-wide association study identifies loci and candidate genes for grain micronutrients and quality traits in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)

Malnutrition due to micronutrients and protein deficiency is recognized among the major global health issues. Genetic biofortification of wheat is a cost-effective and sustainable strategy to mitigate the global micronutrient and protein malnutrition. Genomic regions governing grain zinc concentration (GZnC), grain iron concentration (GFeC), grain protein content (GPC), test weight (TW), and thousand kernel weight (TKW) were investigated in a set of 184 diverse bread wheat genotypes through genome-wide association study (GWAS). The GWAS panel was genotyped using Breeders' 35 K Axiom Array and phenotyped in three different environments during 2019–2020. A total of 55 marker-trait associations (MTAs) were identified representing all three sub-genomes of wheat. The highest number of MTAs were identified for GPC (23), followed by TKW (15), TW (11), GFeC (4), and GZnC (2). Further, a stable SNP was identified for TKW, and also pleiotropic regions were identified for GPC and TKW. In silico analysis revealed important putative candidate genes underlying the identified genomic regions such as F-box-like domain superfamily, Zinc finger CCCH-type proteins, Serine-threonine/tyrosine-protein kinase, Histone deacetylase domain superfamily, and SANT/Myb domain superfamily proteins, etc. The identified novel MTAs will be validated to estimate their effects in different genetic backgrounds for subsequent use in marker-assisted selection

Risk of secondhand smoke exposure and severity of COVID-19 infection: multicenter case–control study

IntroductionExposure to secondhand smoke (SHS) is an established causal risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD) and chronic lung disease. Numerous studies have evaluated the role of tobacco in COVID-19 infection, severity, and mortality but missed the opportunity to assess the role of SHS. Therefore, this study was conducted to determine whether SHS is an independent risk factor for COVID-19 infection, severity, mortality, and other co-morbidities.MethodologyMulticentric case–control study was conducted across six states in India. Severe COVID-19 patients were chosen as our study cases, and mild and moderate COVID-19 as control were evaluated for exposure to SHS. The sample size was calculated using Epi-info version 7. A neighborhood-matching technique was utilized to address ecological variability and enhance comparability between cases and controls, considering age and sex as additional matching criteria. The binary logistic regression model was used to measure the association, and the results were presented using an adjusted odds ratio. The data were analyzed using SPSS version 24 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA).ResultsA total of 672 cases of severe COVID-19 and 681 controls of mild and moderate COVID-19 were recruited in this study. The adjusted odds ratio (AOR) for SHS exposure at home was 3.03 (CI 95%: 2.29–4.02) compared to mild/moderate COVID-19, while SHS exposure at the workplace had odds of 2.19 (CI 95%: 1.43–3.35). Other factors significantly related to the severity of COVID-19 were a history of COVID-19 vaccination before illness, body mass index (BMI), and attached kitchen at home.DiscussionThe results of this study suggest that cumulative exposure to secondhand cigarette smoke is an independent risk factor for severe COVID-19 illness. More studies with the use of biomarkers and quantification of SHS exposure in the future are needed

Functional redundancy in Echinocandin B in-cluster transcription factor ecdB of Emericella rugulosa NRRL 11440

Echinocandin B is a potent antifungal against the majority of fungal pathogens and its biosynthesis occurred by ecd and hty gene clusters in Emericella rugulosa NRRL 11440. We elucidated the functional necessity of in-clustered transcription factor; ecdB in the production of echinocandin B. We deleted the ecdB gene and found that ΔecdB mutant has no significant effect on echinocandin B production. The expression level of most of the ecd and hty cluster genes was not significantly altered except few of them up-regulated in knockout strain. The complete abrogation in ecdB gene expression was observed in ΔecdB strain. However, the interactions of purified EcdB protein with DNA sequence of ecdA, ecdH, ecdK and ecdI promoter was confirmed in-vitro. Our results conclude that EcdB protein in-vitro binds to the ecdA, ecdH, ecdK and ecdI promoter but in-vivo, it could not significantly affect the gene expression and echinocandin B production in Emericella rugulosa. Keywords: Echinocandin B, Biosynthetic regulation, In-clustered transcription factor, Functional redundancy, Emericella rugulos

A survey on the Performance Optimization in Wireless Sensor Networks using Cross Layer Approach

Abstract- The performance of Wireless Mesh Networks is not optimal by using the conventional layered protocols (TCP-IP). Then the method of optimization at different layers of the protocol stack (TCP-IP) can help to achieve optimal network performance. This method usually results in a clean-slate protocol architecture that is different from the protocol architecture of WMNs. Such a difference actually demonstrates the need for a cross-layer design. Specific features pertaining to WMNs also show the need for cross-layer optimization across different protocol layers. In this paper, the need for cross layer design in WMNs is discussed first. Later in this paper we will discuss the different cross layer optimization schemes and algorithms between different protocol layers are discussed. Wireless ad-hoc networks can be further classified into the following different categories according to their applications � Mobile ad-hoc Networks (MANETS

Performance Analysis of Four Wave Mixing Based Wavelength Conversion in Commercial Optical Fibers

Abstract- In this paper, we discussed on Four-wave-mixing (FWM) based wavelength conversion at 1.55 µm and 1.552 µm using six different types of commercial optical fibers. For a pump peak power of 6.2W, a numerical simulation is used to predict the performance of each type of fibers for different experimental conditions and to address the potential of each fiber type in wavelength conversion applications utilizing fourwave-mixing. It is shown that wavelength conversion, covering the entire C-band, can be achieved with different performance for each type of optical fiber at reasonable optical pump power. The simultaneous wavelength conversion of two different formats or bit-rate optical signals, with low input power, is demonstrated in a highly nonlinear optical fiber with a single strong continuous-wave pump. The effect of four-wavemixing at highly nonlinear optical fiber is analyzed at 1 km distances with its power. The Four Wave Mixing is analyzed in non-degenerate mode for wavelength conversion. Index Terms- Four wave mixing (FWM), MZI modulator, SMF-28 single mode fiber, Positive dispersion non-zero dispersion-shifted fiber (LEAF), Negative dispersion non-zero dispersion-shifted fiber (METRO), Dispersion compensatin

Evaluation of salivary alkaline phosphatase levels in tobacco users to determine its role as a biomarker in oral potentially malignant disorders

Background:  Saliva, a widely obtainable oral fluid, has gained acceptability as a screening medium in numerous health disorders in recent years. It has the capacity to discern initial epithelial alterations in tobacco abusers and people with OPMD since it is in direct contact with the lesion. Although few reports have been conducted on the use of  concentration of alkaline phosphatase (ALP) enzyme  in serum as well as saliva of OSCC patients as a biomarker, more research is needed in OPMD.Aims and Objectives: The study's major goals were to measure S-ALP levels in smokers, nonsmokers, and people with OPMD. and to compare S ALP levels in smokers, nonsmokers, and people with OPMD.Materials and Methods: The 84 participants in the study ranged in age from 18 to 75 years old, and they were divided into four groups:Category One – People who don't smoke or chew tobacco and don't have any lesions on intraoral inspection (n = 24).&nbsp