The effect of oligomeric procyanidins on endothelial function and cholesterol homeostasis

PhDOligomeric procyanidins (OPC) are naturally occurring dietary substances, which studies suggest can protect against cardiovascular disease. To explore this further a double-blind randomised controlled crossover trial, EPICURE (Evaluation of high procyanidin intervention with dark chocolate on underlying age-related elements of cardiovascular risk) examined the effects of high procyanidin dark chocolate (HPDC) versus low procyanidin dark chocolate (LPDC) on various cardiovascular parameters in subjects with early hypertension. This was complemented by in vitro studies of OPC on cultured bovine aortic endothelial cells (BAEC) to determine the effect on cellular cholesterol levels. HPDC reduced 24 h blood pressure (-2/0.6 mmHg) and heart rate (-3.3 bpm), but only the latter reached statistical significance (p < 0.001). Augmentation pressure, augmentation index, plasma lipid levels, apolipoproteins, HDL subclasses, and hsCRP were not different amongst the groups. Retrospective analysis suggests that the study was underpowered and there were only 21 subjects with completed data due to technical issues. Future clinical studies should be designed with sufficient statistical power to detect changes in vascular function. In addition, compliance should be checked, technical errors detected earlier and FMD rather than PWA should be used to measure endothelial vascular function. OPC in vitro increased expression of the oxysterol cholesterol 25-hydroxylase (peaking at 1 h; p < 0.001) which suppressed the mRNA levels of HMGCR as previously reported (at 6 h; p < 0.01). In addition the mRNA for ABCG1 was increased (at 24 h p < 0.01), which has not been described to date in the literature. This implicates that OPC favour overall reduced cellular cholesterol via increased efflux and reduced synthesis. But when BAEC were loaded with LDLC, OPC reduced both cell media and solubilised cell extract cholesterol levels, the former being greater, suggesting no enhancement in cholesterol efflux. Also there was poor reproducibility of the ABCG1 mRNA expression which was likely to be due to variable transcription of the reference gene. Despite this the in vitro results support a potential role for OPC in reducing cellular cholesterol levels and future studies should employ radioactive methods to measure cholesterol efflux

The Contribution of Forest Sector in Building of Green Economy

Protection of environment has been the cornerstone of Indian ethos and culture. Forests play an important role in environmental stability and provide a variety of benefits to the economy. The current environmental crisis presents unique opportunities for moving towards greener future by giving a major thrust to the forest sector that will generate employment, create real and durable assets and help rebuild rural India . The objective of this paper is to assessing the contribution of forest sector in building green economy . The paper is divided into two sections, first section reflects the role of forest sector in building green economy and in second section explains suggestions and policy implications. Use of bio energy will contribute to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and will be helpful in conserving bio diversity as well as will reduce India’s dependence on importing oil. Producing biodiesel from tree-borne oilseeds is seen by many as a win-win opportunity to solve India’s most pressing problems. Biomass is a versatile renewable resource and wood fuels contribute 56 percent of total biomass energy in India. The time seems to be right to give forestry a prime place in India’s pursuit of more equitable, inclusive and sustainable development. Green economy can be built by joint effort of government and people of country. The transition to a green economy will entail moving away from the system that allowed, and at times generated, these crises to a system that proactively addresses and prevents them

Effects of carbon and nitrogen sources on the induction and repression of chitinase enzyme from Beauveria bassiana isolates

Beauveria bassiana a natural soil borne insect pathogen is being used effectively these days in integrated pest management system. Foliar application of these fungi is quite satisfactory as it invades its host by adhering to insect cuticles through the formation of penetration structures called appresoria, which produces various extracellular enzymes, including chitinase that causes the insect cuticle breaching. Although many investigations have been done in this regard, only a little is known about the induction and repression mechanism of this hydrolytic enzyme. This report illustrates the effect of two carbon sources; colloidal chitin and dextrose and a nitrogen source, yeast extract on the chitinase production of seventeen B. bassiana isolates. The chitinase activity varied among the isolates and the different media studied. A high enzymatic activity was observed in the medium with colloidal chitin as a sole source of carbon followed by the medium containing an extra nitrogen source, yeast extract. Exochitinase activity and the chitinase activity gel were also determined for the isolates showing high chitinase enzyme activity. An array of chitinase isozymes were observed on chitinase activity gel with a common 70 kDa enzyme for all the isolates.Keywords: Beauveria bassiana, induction, colloidal chitin, chitinase, exochitinase

A Novel Approach towards Link Stability in MANET’s Using Coordinate Position

Advances in remote innovation and hand-held processing systems have acquired transformation in mobile communication’s area. The expanding mobility of people over the globe created interest for infrastructureless and rapidly deployable portable systems. Such systems are alluded to as Mobile Adhoc Networks (MANET). Generally, nodes in MANETs additionally work as a router while they are allowed to roam while transmitting with each other. This paper gives a proposal approach towards the coordinate based link stability and the same is shown with the help of proposed flowchart

Identification & Analysis of Parameters for Program Quality Improvement: A Reengineering Perspective

The nature of software development is very dynamic and more complex by the perspective of reengineering or further program maintenances so the developed programs must be flexible, reusable and more scalable and which will be possible by the optimum quality parameters satisfaction. Having these issues in concern the software development houses trying to find out some established, usable methods to improve the quality of programs, the work presented in this paper is to identify, describe and analyze various parameters for quality which can affect the productivity and reusability of the software program and its future maintenance in form of reengineering. The work presented also analyzes the literature, previous research with different aspects and issues, and discussed its affects on present quality of the program because it is necessary to consider the potential impact on other requirements when designing a program to meet quality parameters requirements. Quality parameters are the overall factors that affect run-time behavior, system design, and user experience because many of these parameters are major concern to the program design and architecture, and also applied to establish  program functionality, reusability, performance, reliability, and security which indicates the success of the design and the overall quality of the program and its application, integration. Keywords: AOSD, DoD, FURPS,LOC,Parameters

Biochemical and molecular characterisation of the bacterial endophytes from native sugarcane varieties of Himalayan region

Seven endophytic bacterial isolates were finally recovered from native sugarcane varieties at hilly areas namely Berinag, Champawat and Didihat of Uttarakhand state in northern Himalayan region. New isolates and two standard cultures—Azospirillum brasilense and Gluconacetobacter diazotrophicus, were evaluated for their morphological, biochemical and molecular characteristics. Morphologically all were rod shaped, Gram-negative bacteria. Their plant growth promotory properties were also assessed which proved isolates RtBn and StBn as IAA producing. Except isolate StBn, all were phosphate solubilising and except RtBn all produced siderophores. Molecular characterisation of the isolates was performed using amplified 16S r-DNA restriction analysis. Similarity index in unweighted pair group method with arithmetic mean programme clustered the isolates according to their geographical distribution. Native isolates showed insignificant similarity with South American strains used as standards. nifH amplification was observed with all the isolates used in the study which again establish them as potential N-fixers

Mastery goal, value and self-concept: what do they predict?

Background: Students’ motivation is known to influence academic outcomes. However, there is a paucity of research showing the relative influences of motivational factors on short-term and long-term outcomes. Purpose: The study investigates the relative influences of motivational factors – mastery goal orientation, value of schooling, and academic self-concepts (perceived competence in and affect to schoolwork) on four outcomes – rule acceptance, identity, general self-efficacy and achievement. Sample: Students in grades 3 to 6 from six primary schools in the Sydney were surveyed (N = 979). The ages of the participants varied from 8 to 13 years (mean = 9.78). Design and methods: Students completed a questionnaire and literacy and numeracy achievement tests. Structural equation modelling was used to examine the paths from four predictors to four outcomes. Results: Whereas all four predictors were positively associated with all four outcomes, students’ mastery goal had stronger positive influences on self-efficacy and identity. Value, perceived competence and affect were found to influence outcomes in different ways – positive influences were found for value on achievement, rule-acceptance, and identity; for perceived competence on achievement and efficacy; and for affect on rule-acceptance and identity. Conclusion: Mastery goal had stronger influences on long-term outcomes while other predictors are stronger for short-term outcomes. To facilitate short-term and long-term outcomes, all four motivational factors need attention

Teachers' self-concept and valuing of learning: Relations with teaching approaches and beliefs about students

One’s self-concept and value perceptions can significantly influence one’s behaviors and beliefs. Australian teachers from urban and rural areas of the state of New South Wales were asked to respond to survey items on two predictors (teacher self-concept, valuing of learning) and 3 outcomes (2 immediate: student-centered and teacher-centered teaching; 1 long-term: beliefs in ability constraints). Confirmatory factor analysis established the five latent factors. Structural equation modeling found significant paths from teacher self-concept to both student-centered and teacher-centered approaches but not beliefs about student ability. The positive path from valuing of learning to student-centered teaching was statistically significant but the path to teacher-centered teaching was not. The significant path from valuing of learning to beliefs about student ability was negative indicating that teachers who value student learning were less likely to believe in ability constraints. The significant influences of teacher self-concept and valuing of learning on short-term and long-term outcomes have significant implications for teacher education. Teacher preparation programs should enhance self-concept together with teaching skills and facilitate an advocacy for students’ learning rather than the teacher’s teaching

Effective Asset Allocation Using Fuzzy Logic

ABSTRACT With the rising inflation it becomes important to get maximize