The olfactory mucosa of river catfish, Eutropiichthys vacha (Hamilton, 1822): Histochemical studies

Miscellany in histochemical peculiarity of the olfactory mucosa was studied for localization of axons, mucopolysaccharides, glycogen, protein and lipid in schilbid catfish, Eutropiichthys vacha (Hamilton, 1822). Silver deposition was detected in the abundance of receptor cells in the olfactosensory epithelium and well as marked in the knob and dendrite process of primary receptor cells. The mucous cells with various stages of maturity containing different degrees of mucopolysaccharides were identified by employing the Periodic Acid Schiff's (PAS) reaction in combination with Alcian Blue (AB) test. This combined test imparted purple colour due to PAS for neutral mucin and blue colour for AB reaction due to the presence of acid mucin exclusively. The results of Best’s carmine test indicated considerable amount of glycogen present in the receptor cells, basal cells and supporting cells in the olfactory mucosa. Basic protein and bound lipid were ascertained in the various cells of the epithelial lining and in blood cells of the central core were discussed with behavioural activities of the fish interested

COMPARATIVE STUDIES OF EFFICACY AND EFFECTS ON OXIDATIVE STRESS OF AMLODIPINE AND RAMIPRIL IN THE HYPERTENSIVE PATIENTS OF NORTH EAST INDIA

Objective: To compare the efficacy and the effect of the oxidative stress of Calcium Channel Blocker (CCB), Amlodipine and Angiotensin Converting Enzyme (ACE) inhibitor, Ramipril in the hypertensive patients of North East India.Methods: It is a prospective randomized controlled parallel study of the clinically used antihypertensive drug. Total 75 subjects were included in the study. Out of 75 subjects, 25 numbers were normal healthy subjects and remaining 50 were hypertensive patients. The patients were randomized and divided into two groups; Amlodipine treated group (n=25) and Ramipril treated group (n=25). Amlodipine group received Amlodipine (5-10) mg/day and Ramipril group received Ramipril daily (5-10) mg. All patients were newly detected hypertensive subjects suffering from essential hypertension without any prior antihypertensive therapy. Patients included were either sex (male/female) in age group of 20-65 y with normal fasting blood sugar level (FBS) and free from any other diseases. All groups was subjected to measurement of blood pressure, estimation of blood parameters like FBS, serum lipid profiles, serum glutamate pyruvate transaminase (SGPT) and serum glutamate oxaloacetate (SGOT) before antihypertensive treatment. The height, age, weight, health status and lifestyle pattern of patients were recorded. The patients were followed up during 8 w of antihypertensive treatment. Serum levels of glutathione (GSH), total antioxidant (TAS), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels were estimated before and after 8 w of antihypertensive therapy.Results: The present study indicated that both amlodipine and ramipril have significant effects on normalizing systolic and diastolic blood pressure (BP) after 8 w of treatment. Ramipril significantly reduced malondialdehyde (MDA) level and increased the serum levels of GSH, TAS and SOD during antihypertensive treatment. Ramipril reduces oxidative stress because of its antioxidant activity during antihypertensive therapy.Conclusion: Amlodipine and Ramipril are effective antihypertensive drugs. ACE inhibitor (Ramipril) has additional benefit of reducing oxidative stress thereby restoring the endothelial dysfunction in the hypertensive patient.Â

HYPOGLYCEMIC AND ANTIHYPERLIPIDEMIC EFFECTS OF ADIANTUM CAUDATUM IN ALLOXAN INDUCED DIABETES IN RATS

ABSTRACTObjective: To investigate the hypoglycemic and antihyperlipidemic effect of a successive ethanolic extract of Adiantum caudatum (EEAC) whole plantin alloxan induced diabetic rats.Methods: Diabetes was induced in Wistar albino rats by the administration of alloxan (140 mg/kg b. w., i.p.). EEAC (200 mg/kg b. w., p.o.) wasadministered to diabetic rats for 21 days in alloxan induced diabetic rats. The effect of EEAC on blood glucose and body weight was studied in alloxaninduced diabetic rats. All these effects were compared with glibenclamide (10 mg/kg b. w., p.o.) as a reference antidiabetic drug.Results: The administration of EEAC (200 mg/kg b. w., p.o.) resulted in a significant decrease in blood glucose level and a significant increase in bodyweight in alloxan induced diabetic rats. Furthermore, EEAC showed antihyperlipidemic activity as evidenced by a significant decrease in serum totalcholesterol and triglyceride levels in alloxan induced diabetic rats.Conclusion: The results suggest that the EEAC possess a promising hypoglycemic effect in alloxan induced diabetic rats.Keywords: Hypoglycemic, Antihyperlipidemic, Adiantum caudatum, Alloxan, Diabetes

Indolicidin Targets Duplex DNA: Structural and Mechanistic Insight through a Combination of Spectroscopy and Microscopy

Indolicidin (IR13), a 13‐residue antimicrobial peptide from the cathelicidin family, is known to exhibit a broad spectrum of antimicrobial activity against various microorganisms. This peptide inhibits bacterial DNA synthesis resulting in cell filamentation. However, the precise mechanism remains unclear and requires further investigation. The central PWWP motif of IR13 provides a unique structural element that can wrap around, and thus stabilize, duplex B‐type DNA structures. Replacements of the central Trp‐Trp pair with Ala‐Ala, His‐His, or Phe‐Phe residues in the PxxP motif significantly affects the ability of the peptide to stabilize duplex DNA. Results of microscopy studies in conjunction with spectroscopic data confirm that the DNA duplex is stabilized by IR13, thereby inhibiting DNA replication and transcription. In this study we provide high‐resolution structural information on the interaction between indolicidin and DNA, which will be beneficial for the design of novel therapeutic antibiotics based on peptide scaffolds. That′s a wrap! The PWWP short peptide derived from indolicidin provides a unique structural element that stabilizes the DNA duplex. Substitution of Trp residues in PWWP with Ala, His, or Phe significantly destabilizes the DNA duplex structure, thereby establishing a strong correlation between the surface area of the residues (decreasing order: Ala<His≤Phe<Trp) present between the PxxP domain and DNA stabilization.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/108345/1/cmdc_201402215_sm_miscellaneous_information.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/108345/2/2052_ftp.pd

Amphiphilic peptide-based supramolecular, noncytotoxic, stimuli-responsive hydrogels with antibacterial activity

A series of peptides with a long fatty acyl chain covalently attached to the C-terminal part and a free amine (-NH2) group at the N-terminus have been designed so that these molecules can be assembled in aqueous medium by using various noncovalent interactions. Five different peptide amphiphiles with a general chemical formula [H2N-(CH2)nCONH-Phe-CONHC12 (n = 1–5, C12 = dodecylamine)] have been synthesized, characterized, and examined for self-assembly and hydrogelation. All of these molecules [P1 (n = 1), P2 (n = 2), P3 (n = 3), P4 (n = 4), P5 (n = 5)] form thermoresponsive hydrogels in water (pH 6.6) with a nanofibrillar network structure. Interestingly, the hydrogels obtained from compounds P4 and P5 exhibit potential antimicrobial activity against Gram-positive bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis) and Gram-negative bacteria (Escherichia coli). Dose-dependent cell-viability studies using MTT assay (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) by taking human lung carcinoma (A549) cells vividly demonstrates the noncytotoxic nature of these gelator molecules in vitro. Hemolytic studies show nonsignificant or little hemolysis of human erythrocyte cells at the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of these tested bacteria. Interestingly, it has been found that these antibacterial noncytotoxic hydrogels exhibit proteolytic resistance toward the enzymes proteinase K and chymotrypsin. Moreover, the gel strength and gel recovery time have been successfully modulated by varying the alkyl chain length of the N-terminally located amino acid residues. Similarly, the thermal stability of these hydrogels has been nicely tuned by altering the alkyl chain length of the N-terminally located amino acid residues. In the era of antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria, the discovery of this new class of peptide-based antibacterial, proteolytically stable, injectable, and noncytotoxic soft materials holds future promise for the development of new antibiotics

Synthesis, SAR and antibacterial activity of hybrid chloro, dichloro-phenylthiazolyl-s-triazines

AbstractA series of hybrid novel chloro (1a–9a) and dichloro (10b–18b) phenylthiazolyl-s-triazine were synthesized and subsequently subjected to their antibacterial activity against three gram positive viz. Lactobacillus casei (NCIM-2651); Bacillus cereus (NCIM-2458); Staphylococcus aureus (NCIM-2120) and three gram negative viz Salmonella typhimurium (NCIM-2501); Escherichia coli (NCIM-2065); Klebsiella aerogenes (NCIM-2098). The SAR studies around the lead compound revealed that introduction of electron withdrawing groups and amino (–NH–) and mercapto (–S–) linker bridge seemed more promising towards antibacterial activity. Moreover, the virtual Molinspiration screenings are in compliance with Ghose’s rule

Insurance as an agricultural disaster risk management tool: evidence and lessons learned from South Asia

Pilot projects in India and Bangladesh demonstrate that index-based weather insurance products, developed using satellite technology, can reduce the financial risks to smallholder farmers from floods and droughts. Scaling up such schemes has the potential to meet the needs of very vulnerable groups, especially women and assist governments in meeting global development goals

Characterization of PARIS LaBr3_3(Ce)-NaI(Tl) phoswich detectors upto EγE_\gamma ∼\sim 22 MeV

In order to understand the performance of the PARIS (Photon Array for the studies with Radioactive Ion and Stable beams) detector, detailed characterization of two individual phoswich (LaBr$_3$(Ce)-NaI(Tl)) elements has been carried out. The detector response is investigated over a wide range of $E_{\gamma}$ = 0.6 to 22.6 MeV using radioactive sources and employing $^{11}B(p,\gamma)$ reaction at $E_p$ = 163 keV and $E_p$ = 7.2 MeV. The linearity of energy response of the LaBr$_3$(Ce) detector is tested upto 22.6 MeV using three different voltage dividers. The data acquisition system using CAEN digitizers is set up and optimized to get the best energy and time resolution. The energy resolution of $\sim$ 2.1% at $E_\gamma$ = 22.6~MeV is measured for the configuration giving best linearity upto high energy. Time resolution of the phoswich detector is measured with a $^{60}$Co source after implementing CFD algorithm for the digitized pulses and is found to be excellent (FWHM $\sim$ 315~ps). In order to study the effect of count rate on detectors, the centroid position and width of the $E_{\gamma}$ = 835~keV peak were measured upto 220 kHz count rate. The measured efficiency data with radioactive sources are in good agreement with GEANT4 based simulations. The total energy spectrum after the add-back of energy signals in phoswich components is also presented.Comment: Accepted in JINS