Trend in BMI z-score among Private Schools’ Students in Delhi using Multiple Imputation for Growth Curve Model

Objective: The aim of the study is to assess the trend in mean BMI z-score among private schools’ students from their anthropometric records when there were missing values in the outcome. Methodology: The anthropometric measurements of student from class 1 to 12 were taken from the records of two private schools in Delhi, India from 2005 to 2010. These records comprise of an unbalanced longitudinal data that is not all the students had measurements recorded at each year. The trend in mean BMI z-score was estimated through growth curve model. Prior to that, missing values of BMI z-score were imputed through multiple imputation using the same model. A complete case analysis was also performed after excluding missing values to compare the results with those obtained from analysis of multiply imputed data. Results: The mean BMI z-score among school student significantly decreased over time in imputed data (β= -0.2030, se=0.0889, p=0.0232) after adjusting age, gender, class and school. Complete case analysis also shows a decrease in mean BMI z-score though it was not statistically significant (β= -0.2861, se=0.0987, p=0.065). Conclusions: The estimates obtained from multiple imputation analysis were better than those of complete data after excluding missing values in terms of lower standard errors. We showed that anthropometric measurements from schools records can be used to monitor the weight status of children and adolescents and multiple imputation using growth curve model can be useful while analyzing such dat

Association of Breakfast Intake with Obesity, Dietary and Physical Activity Behavior Among Urban School-Aged Adolescents in Delhi, India: Results of a Cross-Sectional Study

In developed countries, regular breakfast consumption is inversely associated with excess weight and directly associated with better dietary and improved physical activity behaviors. Our objective was to describe the frequency of breakfast consumption among school-going adolescents in Delhi and evaluate its association with overweight and obesity as well as other dietary, physical activity, and sedentary behaviors. Methods: Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: Eight schools (Private and Government) of Delhi in the year 2006. Participants: 1814 students from 8th and 10th grades; response rate was 87.2%; 55% were 8th graders, 60% were boys and 52% attended Private schools. Main outcome measures: Body mass index, self-reported breakfast consumption, diet and physical activity related behaviors, and psychosocial factors. Data analysis: Mixed effects regression models were employed, adjusting for age, gender, grade level and school type (SES). Results: Significantly more Government school (lower SES) students consumed breakfast daily as compared to Private school (higher SES) students (73.8% vs. 66.3%; p<0.01). More 8th graders consumed breakfast daily vs. 10th graders (72.3% vs. 67.0%; p<0.05). A dose-response relationship was observed such that overall prevalence of overweight and obesity among adolescents who consumed breakfast daily (14.6%) was significantly lower vs. those who only sometimes (15.2%) or never (22.9%) consumed breakfast (p<0.05 for trend). This relationship was statistically significant for boys (15.4 % vs. 16.5% vs. 26.0; p<0.05 for trend) but not for girls. Intake of dairy products, fruits and vegetables was 5.5 (95% CI 2.4-12.5), 1.7 (95% CI 1.1-2.5) and 2.2 (95% CI 1.3-3.5) times higher among those who consumed breakfast daily vs. those who never consumed breakfast. Breakfast consumption was associated with greater physical activity vs. those who never consumed breakfast. Positive values and beliefs about healthy eating; body image satisfaction; and positive peer and parental influence were positively associated with daily breakfast consumption, while depression was negatively associated. Conclusion: Daily breakfast consumption is associated with less overweight and obesity and with healthier dietary-and physical activity-related behaviors among urban Indian students. Although prospective studies should confirm the present results, intervention programs to prevent or treat childhood obesity in India should consider emphasizing regular breakfast consumption.Obesity Prevention Center, University of MinnesotaPRIME program of the University of Texas, School of Public Health (Stigler, PI)Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Research in Underserved Population

Third generation biosensing matrix based on Fe-implanted ZnO thin film

Third generation biosensor based on Fe-implanted ZnO (Fe-ZnO) thin film has been demonstrated. Implantation of Fe in rf-sputtered ZnO thin film introduces redox center along with shallow donor level and thereby enhance its electron transfer property. Glucose oxidase (GOx), chosen as model enzyme, has been immobilized on the surface of the matrix. Cyclic voltammetry and photometric assay show that the prepared bioelectrode, GOx/Fe-ZnO/ITO/Glass is sensitive to the glucose concentration with enhanced response of 0.326 μA mM−1 cm−2 and low Km of 2.76 mM. The results show promising application of Fe-implanted ZnO thin film as an attractive matrix for third generation biosensing.We are thankful to DST India and DIISR Australia for a grant under Indo-Australia strategic research initiative. Financial support from UGC is acknowledged by S.S., K.S., and V.G. S.S. is also thankful to University of Delhi for teaching assistantship. The Australian authors acknowledge financial support of the Australian National Council. Facilities at the ANU used in this work are supported by the Australian National Fabrication Facility

Origin of stress in radio frequency magnetron sputtered zinc oxide thin films

Highly c-axis oriented ZnOthin films have been deposited on silicon substrates by planar rf magnetron sputtering under varying pressure (10–50 mTorr) and oxygen percentage (50–100%) in the reactive gas (Ar + O2) mixture. The as-grown films were found to be stressed over a wide range from −1 × 10¹¹ to −2 × 10⁸ dyne/cm² that in turn depends strongly on the processing conditions, and the film becomes stress free at a unique combination of sputteringpressure and reactive gas composition. Raman spectroscopy and photoluminescence (PL) analyses identified the origin of stress as lattice distortion due to defects introduced in the ZnOthin film. FTIR study reveals that Zn-O bond becomes stronger with the increase in oxygen fraction in the reactive gas mixture. The lattice distortion or stress depends on the type of defects introduced during deposition. PL spectra show the formation of a shoulder in band emission with an increase in the processing pressure and are related to the presence of stress. The ratio of band emission to defect emission decreases with the increase in oxygen percentage from 50 to 100%. The studies show a correlation of stress with the structural, vibrational, and photoluminescence properties of the ZnOthin film. The systematic study of the stress will help in the fabrication of efficient devices based on ZnOfilm.The authors thank the Department of Science and Technology (India) and Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research (Australia) for financial support through Australia-India Strategic Research fund. Facilities used at the ANU are supported by the Australian National Fabrication Facility. One of the authors (C.J.) acknowledges Australian Laureate Fellowship from the Australian Research Council

Analysis of genetic diversity among tropical and subtropical maize inbred lines using SSR markers

Genetic diversity of 24 tropical and subtropical elite maize lines was assessed at molecular level employ-ing 42 Simple Sequence Repeats. A total of 107 alleles with an average of 2.55 alleles per locus were detected. The Polymorphism Information Content (PIC) values of 42 SSR loci ranged from 0.08 (UMC1428) to 0.68 (UMC2189 and UMC2332) with the overall calculated PIC mean value of 0.44, whereas the Discrimination Rate (DR) value for SSR markers ranged from 0.09 (UMC2089) to 0.42 (UMC1311) with the average DR value of 0.26. Pair-wise genet-ic similarity (GS) values, calculated by Jaccard’s coefficients, ranged between 0.25 and 0.78 with a mean genetic similarity of 0.63, indicating the existence of adequate amount of genetic divergence among the genotypes selected for the study. The cluster dendrogram separated all the inbred lines into six main clusters with sub clusters based on genetic similarity. Factorial analysis also confirmed a nearly similar pattern for grouping these inbred lines as pre-sented by cluster dendrogram. In this study, SSR markers were found to be powerful tool for detection of genetic diversity in maize inbred lines. These findings could provide information for effective utilization of these materials for development of maize hybrids as well as for genetic improvement of inbred lines

Polarization modulation laser scanning microscopy: A powerful tool to image molecular orientation and order

To image the orientational order in a broad class of biological and manufactured materials, a new microscope has been developed that integrates laser scanning microscopy with polarization modulation polarimetry. Polarimetry allows quantitative characterization of the molecular orientation and the degree of order through characterization of optical anisotropy. Combined with laser scanning microscopy, it is used here to image the anisotropy with high spatial resolution, sensitivity, and speed. The design of the microscope is presented; and the vast improvement in sensitivity achieved using PM-LSM over conventional polarization microscopy is illustrated by imaging the linear dichroism of ultrathin Langmuir–Blodgett polymer films. PM-LSM allows imaging of the magnitude and orientation of linear dichroism in films as thin as three molecular layers (~66 Å) at high resolution by rastering a diffraction limited spot of laser light across the sample. The rate of image acquisition is over 2000 pixels/s, two to three orders of magnitude faster than the previous methods of imaging optical anisotropy

Drug repositioning: current scenario and future prospective for rewriting saga of drug development

Drug development is a process that demands huge investment of resources and time with only 1 drug candidate successful in reaching market among 10,000 screened taking time duration of 10-15 years and millions of dollars. This high attrition rates discourage investors and researchers. The pharmaceutical industry is shifting its attention away from de novo drug research and towards discovering novel targets and indications for already-approved drugs. In order to accelerate the drug development process with reduced risk of failure and relatively lower costs, pharmaceutical companies have adopted drug repositioning as an alternative. Therefore, a good strategy for drug development would be drug repositioning or drug repurposing, which is to identify, investigate, and exploit new therapeutic uses of already-available, on-market drugs, as well as those that have been withdrawn due to toxicities or that remain on shelves in various stages of development. The outbreak of SARS-COV-19 shows that humanity is constantly vulnerable to epidemics and new microbial attacks and that there is no time to create disease-specific therapies. Consequently, it would seem advantageous to use what is already accessible. Novel therapeutic indications that have previously been approved by the market can reduce investment costs significantly in terms of money, resources, and most importantly, time, as long as they meet PKPD and toxicity standards. Sponsors and pharmaceutical corporations get enthusiastic about additional investments and initiatives related to drug development as a consequence. The upcoming therapeutic revolution, especially with the aid of artificial intelligence, is indicated by the successful applications of several already-available drugs against COVID-19 and the various phases of repurposed drugs against TB, colorectal cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, cervical cancer, and Parkinsonism

Phosphorylation of Mycobacterium tuberculosis Ser/Thr Phosphatase by PknA and PknB

Background: The integrated functions of 11 Ser/Thr protein kinases (STPKs) and one phosphatase manipulate the phosphorylation levels of critical proteins in mycobacterium tuberculosis. In this study, we show that the lone Ser/Thr phosphatase (PstP) is regulated through phosphorylation by STPKs. Principal Findings: PstP is phosphorylated by PknA and PknB and phosphorylation is influenced by the presence of Zn2+-ions and inorganic phosphate (Pi). PstP is differentially phosphorylated on the cytosolic domain with Thr137, Thr141, Thr174 and Thr290 being the target residues of PknB while Thr137 and Thr174 are phosphorylated by PknA. The Mn2+-ion binding residues Asp38 and Asp229 are critical for the optimal activity of PstP and substitution of these residues affects its phosphorylation status. Native PstP and its phosphatase deficient mutant PstPcD38G are phosphorylated by PknA and PknB in E. coli and addition of Zn2+/Pi in the culture conditions affect the phosphorylation level of PstP. Interestingly, the phosphorylated phosphatase is more active than its unphosphorylated equivalent. Conclusions and Significance: This study establishes the novel mechanisms for regulation of mycobacterial Ser/Thr phosphatase. The results indicate that STPKs and PstP may regulate the signaling through mutually dependent mechanisms. Consequently, PstP phosphorylation may play a critical role in regulating its own activity. Since, the equilibrium between phosphorylated and non-phosphorylated states of mycobacterial proteins is still unexplained, understanding the regulation of PstP may help in deciphering the signal transduction pathways mediated by STPKs and the reversibility of the phenomena