Diversity, Distribution, Use Pattern and Evaluation of Wild Edible Plants of Uttarakhand, India

Wild edible plants are crucial not only for their role as a source of food and nutrition but are also integral part of culture and traditions of the Himalayan societies. Because of availability of diverse altitudinal, topographical and microclimatic conditions, the state of Uttarakhand supports a huge diversity of wild edible plants. Most of the species of wild edible plants in Uttarakhand are primarily consumed as a food by the local communities residing in remote hilly regions. However, several other species are consumed for their medicinal and health promoting benefits. The availability of enormous diversity of wild edible plants in the region has attracted attention of researchers. Consequently, research has been carried out on different aspects of wild edible plants. These include studies on distribution and use pattern, development of propagation protocols and bioprospecting and biochemical evaluation. As a result of this, some of the species are being utilized at commercial scale, and thus are considered capable of providing alternate options of livelihood for marginal communities residing in far flung areas of the state. However, there are several other promising species of wild fruits in the region, which need attention for conducting research on various aspects so that their optimum nutritional and economic potentials could be harnessed in sustainable manner

Role of DIBER DRDO Technologies in Improving Livelihood Opportunities and Curtailing Migration in Uttarakhand

Migration of local population of Uttarakhand (UK) border areas is presently serious issues for national security since; this State is sharing international border (~650 km) with China/Tibet and Nepal. Among the various factors reported for migration, few notables are search for better livelihood, unemployment, difficult remote terrain and poor land connectivity, less productivity from agriculture due to abiotic and biotic stresses etc. Hence, measures to increase the livelihood opportunities in these border areas to curb the problem of migration through intervention of modern agro-animal technologies are essentially required. In this attempt, Defence Institute of Bio Energy Research (DIBER) has already developed various agro-animal mature technologies, in terms of high yielding and genuine quality seed/seedlings, protected cultivation technology, soil-less cultivation technology, angora farming, mushroom cultivation, medicinal and aromatic plants (MAPs) cultivation technology, hydro-fodder, etc that shown great promise and impact in increasing the farm income and livelihood opportunities for civil inhabitants of these marginal regions. This article highlights the DIBER outreach extension efforts for ensuring better livelihood opportunities to farmers of border area and also to curtail migration that will in turn increase strategic support to Army and paramilitary defence forces deployed in three border Distts (Uttarkashi, Chamoli and Pithoragarh) of UK

2-Amino-5-chloro­pyridinium 2-carb­oxy­benzoate–benzene-1,2-dicarb­oxy­lic acid (3/1)

The asymmetric unit of the title compound, 3C5H6ClN2 +·3C8H5O4 −·C8H6O4, contains three independent 2-amino-5-chloro­pyridinium cations, three independent hydrogen phthal­ate anions and one phthalic acid mol­ecule. In the crystal structure, there are two kinds of supra­molecular tapes. One is formed by two independent cations with two anions through N—H⋯O and C—H⋯O hydrogen bonds. Another one is formed by the other cation and anion, and the phthalic acid mol­ecule via N—H⋯O, O—H⋯O and C—H⋯O hydrogen bonds. These two tapes are connected by an O—H⋯O hydrogen bond, forming a double-tape structure

Evaluating the role of critical nodes in disrupting diffusion in independent cascade diffusion model

How can we mitigate the unwanted diffusion of information in a social network? In this work we look at this problem and propose a solution through the identification of critical nodes. If we know which nodes act as the enablers to the spread of diffusion by a varied set of sources, then by removing these enablers from the network we can minimize the spread of diffusion from a large fraction of the sources. We call these enablers the critical nodes in a network. Identifying k critical nodes such that removal of these nodes maximally disrupts the influence from any possible seed is the ICN(k) problem. We use the notion of impact of a set of nodes and use it to characterize the ICN(k) problem in the IC Model. Informally, impact of a set of nodes quantifies the necessity of the nodes in the diffusion process. We develop heuristics that rely on greedy strategy and modular or submodular approximations of impact function. We empirically evaluate our heuristics by comparing the level of disruption achieved by identifying and removing critical nodes as opposed to that achieved by removing the most influential nodes. We also run our algorithm on real-world Twitter data and show that the critical nodes identified by our algorithm can be considered critical to the diffusion of information

AMPA-Kainate Receptor Inhibition Promotes Neurologic Recovery in Premature Rabbits with Intraventricular Hemorrhage

Intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) in preterm infants leads to cerebral inflammation, reduced myelination of the white matter, and neurological deficits. No therapeutic strategy exists against the IVH-induced white matter injury. AMPA-kainate receptor induced excitotoxicity contributes to oligodendrocyte precursor cell (OPC) damage and hypomyelination in both neonatal and adult models of brain injury. Here, we hypothesized that IVH damages white matter via AMPA receptor activation, and that AMPA-kainate receptor inhibition suppresses inflammation and restores OPC maturation, myelination, and neurologic recovery in preterm newborns with IVH. We tested these hypotheses in a rabbit model of glycerol-induced IVH and evaluated the expression of AMPA receptors in autopsy samples from human preterm infants. GluR1-GluR4 expressions were comparable between preterm humans and rabbits with and without IVH. However, GluR1 and GluR2 levels were significantly lower in the embryonic white matter and germinal matrix relative to the neocortex in both infants with and without IVH. Pharmacological blockade of AMPA-kainate receptors with systemic NBQX, or selective AMPA receptor inhibition by intramuscular perampanel restored myelination and neurologic recovery in rabbits with IVH. NBQX administration also reduced the population of apoptotic OPCs, levels of several cytokines (TNFα, IL-β, IL-6, LIF), and the density of Iba1(+) microglia in pups with IVH. Additionally, NBQX treatment inhibited STAT-3 phosphorylation, but not astrogliosis or transcription factors regulating gliosis. Our data suggest that AMPA-kainate receptor inhibition alleviates OPC loss and IVH-induced inflammation and restores myelination and neurologic recovery in preterm rabbits with IVH. Therapeutic use of FDA-approved perampanel treatment might enhance neurologic outcome in premature infants with IVH. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT: Intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) is a major complication of prematurity and a large number of survivors with IVH develop cerebral palsy and cognitive deficits. The development of IVH leads to inflammation of the periventricular white matter, apoptosis and arrested maturation of oligodendrocyte precursor cells, and hypomyelination. Here, we show that AMPA-kainate receptor inhibition by NBQX suppresses inflammation, attenuates apoptosis of oligodendrocyte precursor cells, and promotes myelination as well as clinical recovery in preterm rabbits with IVH. Importantly, AMPA-specific inhibition by the FDA-approved perampanel, which unlike NBQX has a low side-effect profile, also enhances myelination and neurological recovery in rabbits with IVH. Hence, the present study highlights the role of AMPA-kainate receptor in IVH-induced white matter injury and identifies a novel strategy of neuroprotection, which might improve the neurological outcome for premature infants with IVH

A CONTRIBUTION TO THE MEDICINAL PLANTS OF SAHASTRADHARA, DISTRICT DEHRADUN, UTTARAKHAND (WITH ETHENOBOTANICAL NOTES)

The Himalaya with gushing rivers, alpine meadows, majestic snow claded peaks, enhancing lakes and a rich diverse flora and fauna is rightly described as the " abode of God'. Garhwal Himalaya provides enormous benefits to the human being in the form of shelter, food, water, medicine, fuel and industrial products and fodder. Further it has the potential for providing many more benefits still unknown. The plants protect topsoil, ensure the quality of the water and provide food etc, for all other living beings of the biosphere. Biological extinction has been a natural phenomenon in the geological past however man's interference has speeded extinction at a faster rate. Human beings are involved in destroying the vegetation at an alarming rate resulting in the loss of biodiversity of the biosphere. Himalayan resources are being depleted and converted in to ash each day through biotic pressure coupled with undisciplined exploitation, damage and destructio

Hyaluronidase and Hyaluronan Oligosaccharides Promote Neurological Recovery After Intraventricular Hemorrhage

Intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) in premature infants results in inflammation, arrested oligodendrocyte progenitor cell (OPC) maturation, and reduced myelination of the white matter. Hyaluronan (HA) inhibits OPC maturation and complexes with the heavy chain (HC) of glycoprotein inter-α-inhibitor to form pathological HA (HC-HA complex), which exacerbates inflammation. Therefore, we hypothesized that IVH would result in accumulation of HA, and that either degradation of HA by hyaluronidase treatment or elimination of HCs from pathological HA by HA oligosaccharide administration would restore OPC maturation, myelination, and neurological function in survivors with IVH. To test these hypotheses, we used the preterm rabbit model of glycerol-induced IVH and analyzed autopsy samples from premature infants. We found that total HA levels were comparable in both preterm rabbit pups and human infants with and without IVH, but HA receptors--CD44, TLR2, TLR4--were elevated in the forebrain of both humans and rabbits with IVH. Hyaluronidase treatment of rabbits with IVH reduced CD44 and TLR4 expression, proinflammatory cytokine levels, and microglia infiltration. It also promoted OPC maturation, myelination, and neurological recovery. HC-HA and tumor necrosis factor-stimulated gene-6 were elevated in newborns with IVH; and depletion of HC-HA levels by HA oligosaccharide treatment reduced inflammation and enhanced myelination and neurological recovery in rabbits with IVH. Hence, hyaluronidase or HA oligosaccharide treatment represses inflammation, promotes OPC maturation, and restores myelination and neurological function in rabbits with IVH. These therapeutic strategies might improve the neurological outcome of premature infants with IVH. Significance statement: Approximately 12,000 premature infants develop IVH every year in the United States, and a large number of survivors with IVH develop cerebral palsy and cognitive deficits. The onset of IVH induces inflammation of the periventricular white matter, which results in arrested maturation of OPCs and myelination failure. HA is a major component of the extracellular matrix of the brain, which regulates inflammation through CD44 and TLR2/4 receptors. Here, we show two mechanism-based strategies that effectively enhanced myelination and neurological recovery in preterm rabbit model of IVH. First, degrading HA by hyaluronidase treatment reduced CD44 and TLR4 expression, proinflammatory cytokines, and microglial infiltration, as well as promoted oligodendrocyte maturation and myelination. Second, intraventricular injection of HA oligosaccharide reduced inflammation and enhanced myelination, conceivably by depleting HC-HA levels

Photoinduced proton transfer in 3-hydroxy-2-naphthoic acid

Spectral and photophysical properties of 3-hydroxy-2-naphthoic acid (3HNA) have been investigated experimentally and theoretically. In addition to its normal fluorescence, 3HNA exhibits a large Stokes-shifted emission that depends on its concentration, the nature of the solvent, pH, temperature and excitation wavelength. 3HNA seems to form different emitting species in different media. The large Stokes shift is attributed to species undergoing excited state intramolecular proton transfer (ESIPT). Ab initio calculations using configuration interaction (single excitation) reveal a single minimum in the potential energy profile corresponding to the primary form in the ground state. While semi-empirical calculations with CI (AM1/PECI=8) predict a double well potential, single point density functional theoretic calculations (B3LYP/6-31G∗∗) confirm the absence of a barrier in the ground state for proton transfer. In the first excited singlet state, however, there are two minima corresponding to the primary and tautomeric forms at both ab initio CIS and AM1/PECI=8 levels, thus accounting for the dual emission in 3HNA. The theoretical methods also account for the observed pH dependence of the spectral characteristics qualitatively correctly