Toxic Effects of Glyphosate on Environment and Human Health

Globally, massive amounts of pesticides are manufactured and used both in agriculture and households to get rid of various pests, some of which reach soils and aquatic systems through various pathways. Glyphosate-based herbicides (GlyBH), including Roundup, are the most widely used pesticides worldwide. Glyphosate is a non-selective herbicide that is effective against all types of weeds and has been used for many years. Their uses have increased exponentially since their introduction into the market. Residue levels in food or water, as well as human exposures, are escalating including in the environmental segments. It can, therefore, be found as a contaminant in water, and procedures are required for its removal. This work investigates the toxic effects associated with the use of Glyphosate on environmental and human health. © 2020 Author(s).Dr. BGR is highly thankful to UGC for the award of Post Doctoral Fellowship, File No. F./PDFSS-2014-15-SCAND-7541

Interplay of magnetic order and Jahn-Teller distortion in a model with strongly correlated electron system

The Hubbard model has been employed successfully to understand many aspects of correlation driven physical properties, in particular, the magnetic order in itenerant electron systems. In some systems such as Heusler alloys, manganites etc., it is known that, in addition to magnetic order, distortion induced by Jahn-Teller(J-T) effect also exists. In this paper, based on two-fold degenerate Hubbard model, the influence of magnetic order on J-T distortion is investigated. The electron correlation is treated using a spectral density approach and J-T interaction is added to the model. We find that magnetic order and structural distortion coexist at low temperature $T$ for a certain range of electron correlation strength $U$, J-T coupling strength $G$ and band occupation $n$. At T=0, for a given $n$ and $U$, magnetic order is present but distortion appears only for a $G$ larger than a critical value. We also studied the temperature dependence of lattice strain and magnetization choosing a $G$ close to the critical value.Comment: 12 pages, 5 Figures. Physica- B 405 1701-1705 (2010

Phytochemical investigation of the whole plant of Astragalus leucocephalus

1329-1332Three new lanostene type triterpenoids, astragalone, astra­galene, sieversigenin and a known triterpenoid, cyclosieversigenin and a flavone kaempferol, have been isolated from the methanol extract of whole plant. Their structures have been elucidated mainly by spectroscopic method

Prevalence of HBC and HCV dual infections in patients on haemodialysis

Hepatitis viral infections are important causes of morbidity and mortality in haemodialysis patients. One hundred and thirty four patients attending haemodialysis unit were screened for the presence of HBV and HCV infections. Eight (5.9%) patients were HCV positive while two (1.4%) patients had HBV infection. A dual infection with both the viruses was observed in five patients (3.7%)

The role of the c-Met pathway in lung cancer and the potential for targeted therapy

Hepatocyte growth factor receptor (HGFR), the product of the MET gene, plays an important role in normal cellular function and oncogenesis. In cancer, HGFR has been implicated in cellular proliferation, cell survival, invasion, cell motility, metastasis and angiogenesis. Activation of HGFR can occur through binding to its ligand, hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), overexpression/amplification, mutation, and/or decreased degradation. Amplification of HGFR can occur de novo or in resistance to therapy. Mutations of HGFR have been described in the tyrosine kinase domain, juxtamembrane domain, or semaphorin domain in a number of tumors. These mutations appear to have gain of function, and also reflect differential sensitivity to therapeutic inhibition. There have been various drugs developed to target HGFR, including antibodies to HGFR/HGF, small-molecule inhibitors against the tyrosine kinase domain of HGFR and downstream targets. Different HGFR inhibitors are currently in clinical trials in lung cancer and a number of solid tumors. Several phase I trials have already been completed, and two specific trials have been reported combining HGFR with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) inhibition in non-small cell lung cancer. In particular, trials involving MetMAb and ARQ197 (tivantinib) have gained interest. Ultimately, as individualized therapies become a reality for cancers, HGFR will be an important molecular target