Assessment of Anaerobic Power and Balance among Elite Indian Under-19 Football Players

Objective: To assess anaerobic power and balance among elite indian under-19 football players. Method:22 Elite Indian under-19 players Football players were tested for Anaerobic power and Balance on Monark Cycle Ergometry and Neurocom Balance Master respectively. Result: Anaerobic Peak Power (W) for professional Indian under-19 football players was 498.70, while the mean for the Anaerobic Capacity (W/Kg) was 7.75. On Balance assessment, players had maximum sway velocity on foam surface with eyes closed with a mean of 0.76 (deg/sec) followed by eyes open on a foam surface with a mean of 0.54 (deg/sec). Reaction Time of players was found to be affected most in the forward component with a mean of 0.98(deg/sec) followed by Right direction and Left back direction component with mean of 0.69 and 0.67 respectively. The players showed lack of directional control maximum in the Right component with a mean of 87.25 (deg/sec) followed by Forward and Left components with mean of 86.89 and 81.10 respectively. Conclusion: Elite Indian under-19 players Football players were found to have low Anaerobic power and capacity with their reaction time and directional control affected on the dominant leg side

Fishery and biology of Penaeid prawns at Harnaii, Maharashtra

Penaeid prawn fishery at Harnaii in Ratnagiri District of Maharashtra was investigated during fishing seasons of 2002-03 and 2003-04 from mechanized (MLD) and hand operated trawlers (HT). During the two years, MLD contributed 86% and HT 14% to the average annual penaeid prawn catch of 2,242 t. The catch showed two peaks, a major during October-December and a minor during April-May in both the gears but abundance of the individual species differed. P. stylifera, Metapenaeopsis affinis, Solenocera crassicornis, Metapenaeopsis brevicornis, P. merguiensis and Metapenaeopsis dobsoni mainly constituted the fishery and their species composition, seasonal abundance, annual size distribution and monthly mean size were investigated. Biological studies on food, size at maturity, spawning period, sex-ratio and juvenile abundance were carried out to explain temporal abundance of the species in the fishery. Among the species P. stylifera, M. affinis and S. crassicornis exhibited distinct seasonality with two spawning peaks, one in pre-monsoon and the other in post monsoon period to produce two discrete broods while P. merguiensis despite two spawning peaks exhibited a single dominant brood. M. brevicornis showed monsoon and post-monsoon spawning while M. dobsoni showed only post-monsoon spawning. Migrations between nearshore and offshore waters resulted in mixing of the broods and they remained inseparable in the catch

Self-assembly and hydrogelation of an amyloid peptide fragment

The self-assembly of a fragment of the amyloid β peptide that has been shown to be critical in amyloid fibrillization has been studied in aqueous solution. There are conflicting reports in the literature on the fibrillization of Aβ (16-20), i.e., KLVFF, and our results shed light on this. In dilute solution, self-assembly of NH2-KLVFF-COOH is strongly influenced by aromatic interactions between phenyl-alanine units, as revealed by UV spectroscopy and circular dichroism. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy reveals β-sheet features in spectra taken for more concentrated solutions and also dried films. X-ray diffraction and cryo-transmission electron microscopy (cryo-TEM) provide further support for β-sheet amyloid fibril formation. A comparison of cryo-TEM images with those from conventional dried and negatively stained TEM specimens highlights the pronounced effects of sample preparation on the morphology. A comparison of FTIR data for samples in solution and dried samples also highlights the strong effect of drying on the self-assembled structure. In more concentrated phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) solution, gelation of NH2-KLVFF-COOH is observed. This is believed to be caused by screening of the electrostatic charge on the peptide, which enables β sheets to aggregate into a fibrillar gel network. The rheology of the hydrogel is probed, and the structure is investigated by light scattering and small-angle X-ray scattering. © 2008 American Chemical Society

Nematic and columnar ordering of a PEG-peptide conjugate in aqueous solution

The self-assembly in aqueous solution of a PEG-peptide conjugate is studied by spectroscopy, electron microscopy, rheology and small-angle X-ray and neutron scattering (SAXS and SANS). The peptide fragment, FFKLVFF is based on fragment KLVFF of the amyloid β-peptide, Aβ-(16-20), extended by two hydrophobic phenylalanine units. This is conjugated to PEG which confers water solubility and leads to distinct self-assembled structures. Small-angle scattering reveals the formation of cylindrical fibrils comprising a peptide core and PEG corona. This constrained structure leads to a model parallel β-sheet self-assembled structure with a radial arrangement of β sheets. On increasing concentration, successively nematic and hexagonal columnar phases are formed. The flow-induced alignment of both structures was studied in situ by SANS using a Couette cell. Shear-in-duced alignment is responsible for the shear thinning behaviour observed by dynamic shear rheometry. Incomplete recovery of moduli after cessation of shear is consistent with the observation from SANS of retained orientation in the sample. © 2008 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA

Phospholipid Analogue Profiles of Human Porphyromonas gingivalis Isolates from Different Geographical Locations

Porphyromonas gingivalis displays interesting phospholipid analogue profiles, which can vary between strains from different animal species. The purpose of this study was to compare human strains, isolated in different parts of the world, with respect to their phospholipid profiles. In all, 24 isolates from three continents were cultured and their lipids were extracted with chloroform-methanol and characterized by fast atom bombardment mass spectrometry (FAB-MS) in negative ion mode. Both lower mass (carboxylate) and higher mass (phospholipid analogue) anions were measured in each mass spectrum. Calculation of Pearson correlation coefficients for each strain pair was then followed by average linkage cluster analysis. The major lower mass anion observed for all strains analysed in this study was of mass-to-charge (m/z) 241, which is consistent with previous FAB-MS studies on P gingivalis. The major phospholipid analogue anion observed for isolates from Manchester, UK, was m/z 960 which is an unknown phospholipid. Other major peaks were of m/z 662 and 663, which may be identified respectively as PE (30:0) and PG (28:1) with contributions from the first isotope of PE (30:0). It was observed that isolates from the same geographical location displayed similar phospholipid profiles. It is concluded that phospholipid profiles of human P gingivalis isolates are diverse and that there can be differences between P. gingivalis isolates obtained from different geographical locations