The antiinflammatory potential of phenolic compounds from Emblica officinalis L. in rat

Antiinflammatory effects of phenolic compounds from Emblica officinalis were evaluated in carrageenan and cotton pellet induced acute and chronic inflammatory animal model. Fractions of E. officinalis containing free (FPEO) and bounded (BPEO) phenolic compounds were assessed by HPLC technique. The free and bound phenolic compounds were studied for their acute and chronic antiinflammatory activity at dose level of 20 and 40 mg/kg. The carrageenan induced acute inflammation was assessed by measuring rat paw volume at different time of intervals. Further, cotton pellet induced chronic inflammation was assessed by granulomatous tissue mass estimation along with the estimation of tissue biomarker changes (i.e. lipid peroxidation, reduced glutathione, myeloperoxidase and plasma extravasation). The results indicated that in both acute and chronic inflammation, FPEO and BPEO show reduction in the inflammation, but significant effects was observed only at high doses of both fractions which was comparable to diclofenac treated group. In conclusion, phenolic compounds of E. officinalis may serve as potential herbal candidate for amelioration of acute and chronic inflammation due to their modulatory action of free radicals

Evaluation of groundwater quality and its suitability for drinking and agricultural use in Thanjavur city, Tamil Nadu, India

As groundwater is a vital source of water for domestic and agricultural activities in Thanjavur city due to lack of surface water resources, groundwater quality and its suitability for drinking and agricultural usage were evaluated. In this study, 102 groundwater samples were collected from dug wells and bore wells during March 2008 and analyzed for pH, electrical conductivity, temperature, major ions, and nitrate. Results suggest that, in 90% of groundwater samples, sodium and chloride are predominant cation and anion, respectively, and NaCl and CaMgCl are major water types in the study area. The groundwater quality in the study site is impaired by surface contamination sources, mineral dissolution, ion exchange, and evaporation. Nitrate, chloride, and sulfate concentrations strongly express the impact of surface contamination sources such as agricultural and domestic activities, on groundwater quality, and 13% of samples have elevated nitrate content (>45 mg/l as NO3). PHREEQC code and Gibbs plots were employed to evaluate the contribution of mineral dissolution and suggest that mineral dissolution, especially carbonate minerals, regulates water chemistry.Groundwater suitability for drinking usage was evaluated by the World Health Organization and Indian standards and suggests that 34% of samples are not suitable for drinking. Integrated groundwater suitability map for drinking purposes was created using drinking water standards based on a concept that if the groundwater sample exceeds any one of the standards, it is not suitable for drinking. This map illustrates that wells in zones 1, 2, 3, and 4 are not fit for drinking purpose. Likewise, irrigational suitability of groundwater in the study region was evaluated, and results suggest that 20% samples are not fit for irrigation. Groundwater suitability map for irrigation was also produced based on salinity and sodium hazards and denotes that wells mostly situated in zones 2 and 3 are not suitable for irrigation. Both integrated suitability maps for drinking and irrigation usage provide overall scenario about the groundwater quality in the study area. Finally, the study concluded that groundwater quality is impaired by man-made activities, and proper management plan is necessary to protect valuable groundwater resources inThanjavur city

Microphytobenthos of Arctic Kongsfjorden (Svalbard, Norway): biomass and potential primary production along the shore line

During summer 2007, Arctic microphytobenthic potential primary production was measured at several stations around the coastline of Kongsfjorden (Svalbard, Norway) at ?5 m water depth and at two stations at five different water depths (5, 10, 15, 20, 30 m). Oxygen planar optode sensor spots were used ex situ to determine oxygen exchange in the overlying water of intact sediment cores under controlled light (ca. 100 ?mol photons m?2 s?1) and temperature (2–4°C) conditions. Patches of microalgae (mainly diatoms) covering sandy sediments at water depths down to 30 m showed high biomass of up to 317 mg chl a m?2. In spite of increasing water depth, no significant trend in “photoautotrophic active biomass” (chl a, ratio living/dead cells, cell sizes) and, thus, in primary production was measured at both stations. All sites from ?5 to 30 m water depth exhibited variable rates of net production from ?19 to +40 mg O2 m?2 h?1 (?168 to +360 mg C m?2 day?1) and gross production of about 2–62 mg O2 m?2 h?1 (17–554 mg C m?2 day?1), which is comparable to other polar as well as temperate regions. No relation between photoautotrophic biomass and gross/net production values was found. Microphytobenthos demonstrated significant rates of primary production that is comparable to pelagic production of Kongsfjorden and, hence, emphasised the importance as C source for the zoobenthos

Identification of Attractive Drug Targets in Neglected-Disease Pathogens Using an In Silico Approach

In cell-based drug development, researchers attempt to create drugs that kill a pathogen without necessarily understanding the details of how the drugs work. In contrast, target-based drug development entails the search for compounds that act on a specific intracellular target—often a protein known or suspected to be required for survival of the pathogen. The latter approach to drug development has been facilitated greatly by the sequencing of many pathogen genomes and the incorporation of genome data into user-friendly databases. The present paper shows how the database TDRtargets.org can identify proteins that might be considered good drug targets for diseases such as African sleeping sickness, Chagas disease, parasitic worm infections, tuberculosis, and malaria. These proteins may score highly in searches of the database because they are dissimilar to human proteins, are structurally similar to other “druggable” proteins, have functions that are easy to measure, and/or fulfill other criteria. Researchers can use the lists of high-scoring proteins as a basis for deciding which potential drug targets to pursue experimentally

Population-level risks of alcohol consumption by amount, geography, age, sex, and year: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2020

Background The health risks associated with moderate alcohol consumption continue to be debated. Small amounts of alcohol might lower the risk of some health outcomes but increase the risk of others, suggesting that the overall risk depends, in part, on background disease rates, which vary by region, age, sex, and year. Methods For this analysis, we constructed burden-weighted dose–response relative risk curves across 22 health outcomes to estimate the theoretical minimum risk exposure level (TMREL) and non-drinker equivalence (NDE), the consumption level at which the health risk is equivalent to that of a non-drinker, using disease rates from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2020 for 21 regions, including 204 countries and territories, by 5-year age group, sex, and year for individuals aged 15–95 years and older from 1990 to 2020. Based on the NDE, we quantified the population consuming harmful amounts of alcohol. Findings The burden-weighted relative risk curves for alcohol use varied by region and age. Among individuals aged 15–39 years in 2020, the TMREL varied between 0 (95% uncertainty interval 0–0) and 0·603 (0·400–1·00) standard drinks per day, and the NDE varied between 0·002 (0–0) and 1·75 (0·698–4·30) standard drinks per day. Among individuals aged 40 years and older, the burden-weighted relative risk curve was J-shaped for all regions, with a 2020 TMREL that ranged from 0·114 (0–0·403) to 1·87 (0·500–3·30) standard drinks per day and an NDE that ranged between 0·193 (0–0·900) and 6·94 (3·40–8·30) standard drinks per day. Among individuals consuming harmful amounts of alcohol in 2020, 59·1% (54·3–65·4) were aged 15–39 years and 76·9% (73·0–81·3) were male. Interpretation There is strong evidence to support recommendations on alcohol consumption varying by age and location. Stronger interventions, particularly those tailored towards younger individuals, are needed to reduce the substantial global health loss attributable to alcohol. Funding Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Evidence of forward–backward correlation of pions in ultra-relativistic ring- and jet-like events in

An investigation on the presence of the forward–backward correlations in the pions multiplicity, emitted in $$^{16}O-Ag/Br$$ interactions at energy $$E_{lab}$$= 60 A GeV are carried out. The study of the forward–backward correlation between various observables which is separated by two different pseudorapidity intervals can be treated as an important probe to defining the primordial conditions for the formation of the Quark Gluon Plasma (QGP). We have observed the dependency of correlation fluctuations and correlation strength on pseudorapidity ($$\eta$$) and the increasing width of the pseudorapidity bin size $$\varDelta \eta$$. The roughness of the multiplicities and the particle number deviations are also investigated. The nuclear photographic emulsion technique has been employed to collect the experimental data. We have performed the FRITIOF and Ultra-relativistic Quantum Molecular Dynamics (UrQMD) simulations to compare the experimental results with the simulated results. The analysis strongly indicates the presence of forward–backward correlations in the experimental distributions of pions beyond statistical noise. We have also analyzed the ring- and jet-like structure to confirm the presence of the forward–backward correlations in the multiplicities of $$^{16}O-Ag/Br$$ interactions at 60 A GeV. We have also taken the variations of correlation fluctuations and correlation strength in $$\eta$$ and $$\varDelta \eta$$ space, respectively for the ring-like and jet-like structure. The average behavior of correlation parameters of ring-like events strongly differs from jet-like events due to expected Cherenkov Gluon radiation

Indium-mediated allylation/propargylation of α-diazoketones: a facile synthesis of 1-bromo-2-alkyl- or 2-arylpent-4-en-2-ols

α-Diazoketones undergo smooth allylation with successive bromide insertion with allylindium bromide generated in situ from allyl bromide and indium metal to produce 1-bromo-2-alkyl- or 2-arylpent-4-en-2-ols in high yields. Addition of propargylindium bromide produces 1-bromo-2-alkyl-or 2-arylpent-4-yn-2-ols under similar conditions

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Not AvailableBlast disease is one of the most significant diseases of rice, where severe infection results in more than 80% reduction in yield. It is caused by Pyricularia oryzae. New breeding strategies are essential for developing durable blast resistant varieties. The present study aimed to introgress Pi-54 gene from highly blast resistant genotype i.e. Tetep into elite rice cultivar Samba Mahsuri (BPT 5204), high yielding rice variety with good cooking quality ,but susceptible to blast disease, through Marker-Assisted Backcross Breeding programme (MABB). For foreground selection tightly linked molecular marker specific to Pi-54 gene (i.e. Pi-54MAS) which is located on chromosome 11, and it is utilized at each backcrossed generation to identify plants carrying heterozygous alleles for the targeted resistant gene. A total of 56 background markers were used to estimate the recovery of recurrent parent genome in each backcrossed generations. At BC2F2, a single plant carrying the targeted resistant gene Pi-54 with maximum recovery of recurrent parent genome (~92.80%; plant BT-8-47-22) was selected and forwarded to next generations through the selfing. Ancestry based selection procedure was employed for phenotypic disease screening and agro-morphological traits. Results confirmed that, resistance gene (Pi-54) was successfully incorporated into Samba Mahsuri. Six lines viz., BT-8-47-22-6-36, BT-8-47-22-6-55, BT-8-47-22-6-117, BT-8-47-22-6-159, BT-8-47-22-6-203 and BT-8-47-22-6-267 were identified at BC2F4 which were possessing high level of resistance to blast and agro-morphological traits similar to Samba Mahsuri. One NIL line (BT-8-47-22-6-203) was found to be better than recurrent parent Samba Mahsuri (BPT 5204) regarding grain yield per plant. This finding will be helpful in developing a blast resistant variety with highest recurrent parent genome recovery in less number of generations through the application of MABB.Not Availabl

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Not AvailableThe contribution of rice breeding for ensuring food security in India is well known. Organized rice breeding is nearly eight decades old in the country which started with the establishment of Central Rice Research Institute at Cuttack in the year 1946. Thereafter, the rice breeding programmes have undergone several transformations to meet the needs of stakeholders at both regional and national level. For all the rice ecologies of the country, high yielding varieties were developed by deployment of the required genes. Initially the objectives were met only through phenotypic selections based on breeders' own skills. With time, the rice breeders of the country adopted the advances in the fields of science and technologies especially in the areas of plant sciences. From theinitial phase of users of methodologies and materials developed elsewhere, the rice scientists of India have transformed themselves to discover useful genes from the vast germplasm resources of the country and utilize them as per the local requirements through marker assisted selection. Despite the progress made in last few decades, the genetic gain from breeding programmes is becoming stagnant over time and the increased yield in current years are now attributed more to production interventions. The rice breeders of India need to take advantage of the recent developments of speed breeding, whole genome sequences of various Oryza species, advanced phenomics and computational methods, high throughput genotyping platforms, tissue culture and genome editing tools etc. to shift from its current approach of "breeding by chance" to "breeding by design" and to bring significant improvements in the rate of genetic gain per generation.Not Availabl