Green Accounting: what? Why? Where we are now and where we are heading - A Closer Look

Awareness of environmental limits has led to a proliferation of accounting methodologies designed to measure the impact of human activity on the earth's ecological systems and resources. Such methodologies can be collectively described as green accounting, and categorised in three different ways; first, by whose actions are being accounted for; second, by the time period being considered; third, by how environment impacts are measured. Current practice tends to focus on parallel reporting with financial accounting still having greater importance. Green accounting remains largely voluntary and unaudited. The key challenges for green accounting can be summarised as first to determining the scale of change in human activity required to prevent environmental degradation and incorporating some reference to these limits within its metrics, and second to be effective in prompting the necessary behavioral change within the necessary timescale

Coexpression of PPE 34.9 Antigen of Mycobacterium avium subsp. Paratuberculosis with Murine Interferon Gamma in HeLa Cell Line and Study of Their Immunogenicity in Murine Model

Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (Map) is the causative agent of johne's disease whose immunopathology mainly depends on cell mediated immuneresponse. Genome sequencing revealed various PPE (Proline-Proline-Glutamic acid) protein family of Map which are immunologically importance candidate genes In present study we have developed a bicistrionic construct pIR PPE/IFN containing a 34.9 kDa PPE protein (PPE 34.9) of Map along with a cytokine gene encoding murine gamma Interferon gene (IFNγ) and a monocistrionic construct pIR PPE using a mammalian vector system pIRES 6.1. The construct were transfected in HeLa cell line and expression were studied by Western blot as well as Immunefluroscent assay using recombinant sera. Further we have compared the immunereactivity of these two constructs in murine model by means of DTH study, LTT, NO assay and ELISA. DTH response was higher in pIR PPE/IFN than pIR PPE group of mice, similar finding also observed in case of LTT and NO production assay . ELISA titer of the pIR PPE/IFN was less than that with PPE only. These preliminary finding can revealed a CMI response of this PPE protein of Map and IFNγ having synergistic effect on this PPE protein to elicit a T cell based immunity in mice

Expression of a Gene Encoding 34.9 kDa PPE Antigen of Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis in E. coli

Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (Map) contains PPE family antigens which are Proline and glutamic acid rich and may play important role as T cell antigens. Hence the identification and generation of antigens are necessary for immunological characterization. In the present study, the epitopic region of a unique PPE gene encoding 34.9 kDa protein from Map was amplified by polymerase chain reaction. The gene was cloned into Escherichia coli vector pQE30 UA. The recombinant plasmid designated as pQPPE was transformed into E. coli M15 and induced with IPTG revealed the high level expression of 37.1 kDa His-fusion protein (34.9 kDa PPE and 2.2 kDa His-tag), which was confirmed by immunoblotting. Recombinant PPE protein was then purified by Ni-NTA agarose chromatography. The polyclonal antiserum raised against purified recombinant PPE protein reacted with expressed 37.1 kDa His-fusion protein as well as with Map sonicate. The protein elicited significant delayed type hypersensitivity (DTH) skin reaction in mice sensitized with Map. The results indicated that the recombinant PPE protein of Map was associated with cellular immune response

Importance of Housing Finance Companies in Development of Financial Markets of Bangladesh

Money market is the market for short-term loans and securities (i.e., for one year or less). The strong presence of money market can boost the economic development of a country. The main purpose of money market is to provide the liquidity need of financial institutions, non-bank financial institutions and other participants in the market. The average borrowing rate in the call money market in 2009 was at 1.7% compares to 9.7% in the year 2008. The main concern in this study is Housing Finance Companies (HFCs). At present, there are three Housing Finance Companies (HFCs) in Bangladesh, which are an integral part of Non-Bank Financial Institutions (NBFIs). The objective of this study is to highlights the present scenario of HFCs, and its role in the development of money market. The study shows that the HFCs are not active participants in the money market like other financial institutions (like banks). In spite of this, they can play a significant role in the development of money market through active participation directly; issuing different money market securities to collect short term fund for new loan sanction and innovate new short-term financial products like securitization of the mortgage loan

Editorial: Nutriomics in livestock research

The development of high-throughput technology offers robust platforms to measure the components of the gut microbiota as well as proteins, metabolites, and coding and non-coding RNAs. Transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics, and metagenomics are just a few of the technologies that can be used to gather information about the genome and other biological molecules, and they are all effectively applied in the field of nutrigenomics, also known as nutritionomics, to shed light on the interactions between nutrition and the livestock genome. Integrating genomics and nutrition facilitates understanding the differences or similarities in how different candidate genes express themselves in response to food. Since nutriomics is still in its infancy, it presents an exciting potential in animal nutrition to ensure the quality of nutrition and its impact on general improvement of animal production. This Research Topic aims to assemble papers examining the effects of various diets (and/or nutrients) while feeding livestock, using nutriomics to increase productivity, enhance reproductive parameters, and prevent or modify livestock disease prevention. The nine publications that integrate this unique e-collection discuss various nutriomics topics in livestock

Genotypic profiling of coding region of leptin gene and their association studies on reproductive and milk production traits in Sahiwal and Frieswal cattle of India

Leptin gene has its role in appetite, metabolism, growth and milk production in cattle. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in leptin gene in different cattle breeds have been reported and subsequently associated with their production performance. The objective of this study was to evaluate the association of genetic differences in the bovine leptin gene with milk production, reproduction, milk constituents in Sahiwal and Frieswal cattle of India. In total, one hundred and seventy six cows were genotyped by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) to screen the presence of three SNPs in leptin gene. The testing of Hardy- Weinberg equilibrium for the three SNPs of within Frieswal and Sahiwal population indicated that the polymorphism site in the populations fitted with Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (P > 0.05) except for C/BspEI/T and C/NruI/T position in Sahiwal. Polymorphism C/NruI/T have significant association with age at first service and age at first calving and heterozygotes have more prolonged age at fist service and age at first calving. For milk protein, C/BspEI/T and C/HphI/T was found to have significant effect. For lactose and SNF, C/HphI/T polymorphism has found to be significant. In case of combined genotyping, genotype CTCTCC (713.00±167.99 days) was found to have noticeable higher age at first service and age at first calving. But milk production higher first lactation yield was noted for CCCCCT (3987.00±337.86 kg).Keywords: Leptin gene, polymorphism, Frieswal, Sahiwal, polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP), combined genotype.African Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 12(42), pp. 6140-614

Effect of Cracks on the Vibration and Bending Behavior of Steel and Aluminum Bars using Finite Element Analysis

Complex structures can develop cracks and defects over time, which can compromise their long-term performance and safety. Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) systems are essential for detecting and measuring these defects by monitoring the load and deformation of the solid materials. This paper presents a simulation study of the frequency and strength of solid cylindrical bars made of aluminum and steel under different loads and crack conditions. Finite Element Method (FEM) and COMSOL Multiphysics software are used to perform the simulation, and a resonance model is used to analyze the results. The study investigates how cracks affect the frequency and deformation of the bars, and how different materials respond to load and bending. The results show that frequency varies linearly with load, cracks decrease the stiffness and increase the frequency at the crack location, and aluminum bars deform more than steel bars. The paper concludes that steel bars are more resistant to load and bending than aluminum bars for both cracked and uncracked case. Finally, it is found that steel bars are more resistant to load and bending than aluminum bars for both cracked and uncracked case

A Brief Review on Diagnosis of Foot-and-Mouth Disease of Livestock: Conventional to Molecular Tools

Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) is one of the highly contagious diseases of domestic animals. Effective control of this disease needs sensitive, specific, and quick diagnostic tools at each tier of control strategy. In this paper we have outlined various diagnostic approaches from old to new generation in a nutshell. Presently FMD diagnosis is being carried out using techniques such as Virus Isolation (VI), Sandwich-ELISA (S-ELISA), Liquid-Phase Blocking ELISA (LPBE), Multiplex-PCR (m-PCR), and indirect ELISA (DIVA), and real time-PCR can be used for detection of antibody against nonstructural proteins. Nucleotide sequencing for serotyping, microarray as well as recombinant antigen-based detection, biosensor, phage display, and nucleic-acid-based diagnostic are on the way for rapid and specific detection of FMDV. Various pen side tests, namely, lateral flow, RT-LAMP, Immunostrip tests, and so forth. are also developed for detection of the virus in field condition

Detection and partial genetic characterisation of a novel variant of Avian nephritis virus in Indian poultry flocks showing diverse clinical signs

Avian nephritis virus (ANV) infects poultry flocks worldwide, but no confirmed cases have been reported from India so far. In the current study, disease investigation was carried out in 21 broiler flocks at different parts of India with clinical signs of nephritis, uneven and stunted growth, diarrhoea, reduced body weight, and mortality up to 9.72%. Out of the 21 flocks screened, two were found positive for ANV in RT-PCR assay. BLAST analysis revealed that the ANV of Indian origin was closely related to ANV-1 strains reported from Japan, Hungary and China. However, comparison of a small portion (~12% of nucleotides, i.e. ~60 nts, common site for ANV-1 and ANV-3, position 2200–2260 of ORF 1a gene) of the Indian ANV sequence with ANV-3 sequences revealed 89–93% identities with different ANV-3 isolates. Phylogenetically, ANV-1 forms three clades, and the Indian ANV clustered under clade II. This study confirms the existence of ANV in Indian poultry flocks and is the first report on the molecular detection and genetic characterisation of ANV from India