EVALUATION OF THE PROPHYLACTIC ROLE OF INDIAN SHRIMP IN ALUMINUM CHLORIDE-INDUCED ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE ON EXPERIMENTAL RATS

Objective: This work was aimed to investigate the prophylactic and therapeutic role of Indian shrimp in aluminum chloride-induced Alzheimer’s disease (AD) in rats. Methods: The male Wistar rats were selected and divided into six groups. Group I received distilled water, Group II received AlCl3 ( 100 mg/kg, p.o.), Group III received rivastigmine (1 mg/kg, p.o.), Group IV received AlCl3 + shrimp powder (200 mg/kg, p.o), and Group V received AlCl3 + shrimp powder (400 mg/kg, p.o) for 60 days. At the end of the study, various parameters such as behavioral and biochemical investigations were assessed. Results: The result of the study shows that the shrimp (400 mg/kg) has better effect on the treatment of aluminum chloride-induced AD in rats. It showed a remarkable improvement in the behavioral and biochemical parameters, and the result of histopathology study shows that the hippocampus region of brain tissue recovered as compared with control. Conclusion: From this study, it is evident that dietary intake of shrimp can help to inhibit oxidative stress produced due to the accumulation of AlCl3 in the brain and used as a prophylactic for AD

Wet-spinnability and crosslinked fibre properties of two collagen polypeptides with varied molecular weight

The formation of naturally-derived materials with wet stable fibrous architectures is paramount in order to mimic the features of tissues at the molecular and microscopic scale. Here, we investigated the formation of wet-spun fibres based on collagen-derived polypeptides with comparable chemical composition and varied molecular weight. Gelatin and hydrolysed fish collagen (HFC) were selected as widely-available linear amino-acidic chains of high and low molecular weight, respectively, and functionalised in the wet-spun fibre state in order to preserve the material geometry in physiological conditions. Wet-spun fibre diameter and morphology were dramatically affected depending on the polypeptide molecular weight, wet-spinning solvent (i.e. 2,2,2-Trifluoroethanol and dimethyl sulfoxide) and coagulating medium (i.e. acetone and ethanol), resulting in either bulky or porous internal geometry. Dry-state tensile moduli were significantly enhanced in gelatin and HFC samples following covalent crosslinking with activated 1,3-phenylenediacetic acid (Ph) (E: 726 ± 43 ‒ 844 ± 85 MPa), compared to samples crosslinked via intramolecular carbodiimide-mediated condensation reaction (E: 588 ± 38 MPa). Resulting fibres displayed a dry diameter in the range of 238±18–355±28 μm and proved to be mechanically-stable (E: 230 kPa) following equilibration with PBS, whilst a nearly-complete degradation was observed after 5-day incubation in physiological conditions

An Investigation on the Effect of Aging on Chemical and Mechanical Properties of Asphalt Binders

The asphalt binder is exposed to aging conditions during production, placement, and service. This results in physical hardening, oxidation, and volatilization of the asphalt binder. The aging phenomenon affects the performance and, in turn, affects the pavement's service life. Understanding the aging behavior of asphalt binders in terms of physical and chemical properties will help to extend the pavement's service life. In the present study, the aging effect of the asphalt binder was investigated using chemomechanical evaluation. Five asphalt binders, namely viscosity grade 30 (VG30), viscosity grade 40 (VG40), polymer-modified binder (PMB), crumb rubber-modified binder (CRMB), and Sasobit-modified binder (SMB) at three aging levels (unaged, short, and long term) were selected for the investigation. The rolling thin-film oven (RTFO) and pressure aging vessel (PAV) were used to simulate short- and long-term aging conditions. Dynamic shear rheometer (DSR), Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, surface free energy (SFE), and thin-layer chromatography-flame ionization detector (TLC-FID) tests were performed to analyze the aging behavior of asphalt binders. Further, multiple stress creep and recovery (MSCR) and linear amplitude sweep (LAS) tests were performed to understand the effect of aging on rutting and fatigue damage of binders. From the FTIR test, the aging of binders showed a substantial increase in the formation of ketones and sulfoxide functional groups. The asphaltenes and resins contents increased, whereas aromatics and saturate contents reduced after aging. The higher asphaltenes content increases the stiffness of aged binders and improves rutting resistance. At the same time, aging is detrimental to the fatigue resistance of asphalt binders. Again, it is observed from the results that aging decreases the dispersive component of SFE and increases in the polar component. The effect of aging is less pronounced in PMB and CRMB than in unmodified binders (VG30 and VG40). This study will help in understanding the interrelation among chemomechanical behavior of a binder at different aging levels and will be useful for the selection of a better performing binder for field applications

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Not AvailableSesame (Sesamum indicum L.) is oil seed crop of India and asian countries mostly preferred due to rich in its edible oil content (50%) and protein (23%) and having sufficient carbohydrate (15%). Macrophomina phaseolina is a soil borne phytopathogenic fungus having a wide host range of about 500 cultivated and wild plant species worldwide. In the present investigation nineteen nutrients were tested against Macrophomina phaseolina at 100, 150, 200 and 250 ppm concentrations that enhanced mycelial growth but lowest mycelial growth was recorded on Monoammonium phosphate and Ferrous sulphate over control.All the nutrients significantly influenced growth of test fungi when compared with control under In vitro conditions.Not Availabl

Impact of Gap Years Following Medical School Graduation on Resident Research Productivity in Ophthalmology

Background Gap years following medical school graduation have become more common, but research into their tangible career benefit is lacking. Examining the impact of gap years on resident scholarly productivity in ophthalmology may provide insight generalizable to all specialties

Regent sources and identifiers.

Pneumonia is a worldwide threat, making discovery of novel means to combat lower respiratory tract infection an urgent need. Manipulating the lungs’ intrinsic host defenses by therapeutic delivery of certain pathogen-associated molecular patterns protects mice against pneumonia in a reactive oxygen species (ROS)-dependent manner. Here we show that antimicrobial ROS are induced from lung epithelial cells by interactions of CpG oligodeoxynucleotides (ODN) with mitochondrial voltage-dependent anion channel 1 (VDAC1). The ODN-VDAC1 interaction alters cellular ATP/ADP/AMP localization, increases delivery of electrons to the electron transport chain (ETC), increases mitochondrial membrane potential (ΔΨm), differentially modulates ETC complex activities and consequently results in leak of electrons from ETC complex III and superoxide formation. The ODN-induced mitochondrial ROS yield protective antibacterial effects. Together, these studies identify a therapeutic metabolic manipulation strategy to broadly protect against pneumonia without reliance on antibiotics.</div

Uncut immunoblots for mitochondria mass analysis.

HBEC3-KT cells were exposed to ODN for 0, 50, or 100 min. Shown are the uncut immunoblots for the bands shown in Fig 2B. These include (A) SDHB, succinate dehydrogenase subunit B; (B) COX4, cytochrome c oxidase subunit IV; (C) ATP5A, ATP synthase alpha-subunit; (D) CS, citrate synthase; (E) VDAC1, voltage dependent anion channel 1; and (F) β-Actin, used as a loading control. (EPS)</p

Effect of TCA cycle metabolites on ODN-induced mtROS generation.

mtROS dose response to ODN in HBEC3-KT cells supplemented with the TCA metabolites or metabolite analogues (A) citrate, (B) pyruvate, (C) α-ketoglutarate, (D) dimethyl succinate, (E) dimethyl malonate, (F) dimethyl fumurate or (G) oxaloacetate. * p≤0.003 vs. 0 μM ODN treated with no metabolite pretreatment by one-way ANOVA using Holm-Sidak method. † p≤0.05 vs. same ODN dose with no metabolite pretreatment by one-way ANOVA using Holm-Sidak method. ‡ p (EPS)</p