Effects of maternal high fat diet and pharmacological intervention on the developmental origins of metabolic & cardiovascular disease

A high fat (HF) diet leads to hypercholesterolemia and predisposes the individual to developing cardiovascular disease (CVD). We hypothesised that mother‘s HF diet before and during pregnancy and lactation can also influence predisposition to CVD in offspring fed a similar diet. The thesis sets out to investigate whether (1) the effects of long-term consumption of a HF diet by the mother predisposes her offspring to developing a CVD/ metabolic syndrome in adult life and (2) pharmacological intervention using statin alleviates the detrimental effects of maternal HF diet on the health of the dams and their offspring. Female C57BL/6 mice were fed either a HF diet (45% kcal fat) or standard chow (C; 21% kcal fat) from weaning through pregnancy and lactation. Pregnant C57/BL6 mice on HF diet were further given pravastatin in the drinking water (5 mg/kg of body weight per day) either short-term (2nd half of pregnancy and during lactation) or long-term (from weaning through to pregnancy and lactation) to lower cholesterol and improve post-weaning maternal blood pressure. Weaned female offspring from each group were then fed either a HF or C diets to adulthood. Body weight, blood pressure, plasma cholesterol, C-reactive protein (CRP) and bone marrow derived endothelial progenitor cells (EPC) were measured at 24, 28 and 36 weeks post-weaning in different experiments. Histology of the liver and kidneys were performed. Offspring from hypercholesterolemic mothers on HF diet were significantly obese (bodyweight in grams; 17.2+4.2 vs. 13.8+4.7; P&lt;0.05), hypertensive (SBP mmHg; 134+4.2 vs. 117+3.4; P&lt;0.001), less active (distance in cm; 312 + 31 vs. 563 + 45; P&lt;0.001), demonstrated increased lipid laden vacuoles in liver and kidneys; and showed reduced expression of EPC (P&lt;0.05) than offspring from C dams independent of their postnatal nutrition respectively. Pravastatin therapy in HF mothers resulted in abrogation of these variables in offspring independent of post weaning nutrition (P&lt;0.05). The effects were more permanent when the dams were given long-term statin treatment. The study demonstrates that long-term maternal HF feeding from weaning through pregnancy and lactation predisposes offspring to hypertension, raised plasma lipids, fatty liver, kidney disorders, raised CRP and inhibition of EPC numbers and expression in offspring. Pravastatin treatment of these dams inhibits these effects on the offspring and may reduce their risk of later cardiovascular pathophysiology. The findings may have implications for understanding the effects of the ?nutritional transition‘ to higher dietary intake of fat which could lead to increased cardiovascular disease in many societies.<br/

Nematodes of high altitudes in India. VIII. Pungentus duvatus N. sp. with a key to species of the genus Putzgetztus (Nematoda: Dorylaimida)

Pungentus clauatus n. sp. from the Simla hills (India) is distinct from al1 other species of the genus in the possession of an oesophago-intestinal disc and a short, clavate tail. This new species is close to P. siluestris (De Man, 1912) Coomans &amp; Geraert, 1962 but differs in having narrower amphidial apertures, smaller odontophore and different tail shape. Alr ey to the valid species and a lisotf species inquirendae of the genus Pungentus are provided. Two nomenclatorial rearrangements are proposed : P. siluestris Eroshenlro, 1976 becomes a junior synonym of P. granosus Eroshenlro, 1976, (notet hat the specific name siluestris was preoccupied by P. siluestris (De Man, 1912) Coomans &amp; Geraert, 1962) ; P. medianus Eroshenko, 1976 is considered a junior synonym of P. purnilus Andrassy, 1963

M-GEAR: Gateway-Based Energy-Aware Multi-Hop Routing Protocol for WSNs

In this research work, we advise gateway based energy-efficient routing protocol (M-GEAR) for Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs). We divide the sensor nodes into four logical regions on the basis of their location in the sensing field. We install Base Station (BS) out of the sensing area and a gateway node at the centre of the sensing area. If the distance of a sensor node from BS or gateway is less than predefined distance threshold, the node uses direct communication. We divide the rest of nodes into two equal regions whose distance is beyond the threshold distance. We select cluster heads (CHs)in each region which are independent of the other region. These CHs are selected on the basis of a probability. We compare performance of our protocol with LEACH (Low Energy Adaptive Clustering Hierarchy). Performance analysis and compared statistic results show that our proposed protocol perform well in terms of energy consumption and network lifetime.Comment: IEEE 8th International Conference on Broadband and Wireless Computing, Communication and Applications (BWCCA'13), Compiegne, Franc

A New Weighting Scheme in Weighted Markov Model for Predicting the Probability of Drought Episodes

Drought is a complex stochastic natural hazard caused by prolonged shortage of rainfall. Several environmental factors are involved in determining drought classes at the specific monitoring station. Therefore, efficient sequence processing techniques are required to explore and predict the periodic information about the various episodes of drought classes. In this study, we proposed a new weighting scheme to predict the probability of various drought classes under Weighted Markov Chain (WMC) model. We provide a standardized scheme of weights for ordinal sequences of drought classifications by normalizing squared weighted Cohen Kappa. Illustrations of the proposed scheme are given by including temporal ordinal data on drought classes determined by the standardized precipitation temperature index (SPTI). Experimental results show that the proposed weighting scheme for WMC model is sufficiently flexible to address actual changes in drought classifications by restructuring the transient behavior of a Markov chain. In summary, this paper proposes a new weighting scheme to improve the accuracy of the WMC, specifically in the field of hydrology

Autonomous production tracking for augmenting output in off-site construction

Problems in existing methods of production tracking in off-site construction result in schedule delays and increased costs. To eliminate these deficiencies, an autonomous production tracking that analyzes real-time production data is proposed. A specific implementation of the proposed production tracking mechanisms has been developed for a large off-site construction plant in Australia, and is in the process of installation. The paper shows that: (i) The production model in off-site construction is always nonlinear in the outcome due to the presence of variability (ii) in systems with a periodic production target, deviation from the schedule converges to zero at the end of production period and the same downward trend should be followed in designing plan buffers and (iii) long-term production performance in off-site construction can autonomously be monitored and controlled by observing critical variables of production. The paper provides those who manage off-site construction with recommendations on effective production tracking and management. The models and propositions in this research are of practical value and can be used to detect impending production shortfalls against periodic targets in the short-term, and adjust capacity parameters and production targets in long-term planning

Hepatoprotective Effect of Rheum emodi Roots (Revand chini) and Akseer-e-Jigar Against Paracetamol-induced Hepatotoxicity in Rats

Hepatoprotective effects of Rheum emodi roots and their aqueous and methanolic extracts were studied against liver damage induced by paracetamol in albino rats. In addition, the effects of herbal preparation, Akseer-e- Jigar and a control drug, silymarin were also studied. Pretreatment and post-treatment hepatoprotective effects of all these drugs were determined. The prevention of liver damage and curative effects of the drugs were judged by changes in serum ALT, AST, ALP, albumin and bilirubin (total and direct) levels. Powdered Rheum emodi roots (1 and 1.5 g/kg) and their aqueous extract did not significantly affect serum enzymes, albumin and bilirubin levels. However, treatment with powder (2 g/kg), methanolic extract (0.6 g/kg), Akseer-e-Jigar (1 g/kg) and silymarin (50 mg/kg) in both pre and post-treatment studies significantly prevented the paracetamol-induced rise of serum enzymes and bilirubin levels whereas serum albumin was raised after treatment with these drugs. It is conceivable, therefore, that Rheum emodi roots and Akseer-e-Jigar possess hepatoprotective principles that can prevent and/or treat liver damage due to paracetamol. The study has supported empirical use of the plant and its compound preparation used in traditional medicine

Lessons learnt from the use of relationship-based procurement methods in Australia: clients&#039; perspectives

This paper aims to review the use of various construction procurement systems and present the development of Relationship-Based Procurement (RBP) Methods currently in use within the Australian construction industry. Therefore, this paper provides the historical development of procurement briefly and then focuses on the adoption of Relationship-Based Procurement (RBP) approaches in the Australian construction industry to investigate the future direction of the collaborative project procurement arrangements. Semi-structured interviews with high-level managers in the Australian state government organizations have been conducted to answer the research question. A discussion has been presented about the potential future tendency of the industry in adopting a RBP. The findings suggest that even though relationship based procurement systems offer significant benefits; they are not popular among the public sector decision makers because of inability to demonstrate Value for Money (VfM) propositions for public projects. Other reasons which may cause a move away from using RBPs in the future include the need for managers to fully engage throughout the project, and the lack of collaborative environment within the construction industry in general

New Keynesian Macroeconomic Model and Monetary Policy in Pakistan

The New Keynesian (NK) models have advantage over the Real Business Cycle (RBC) models as they allow rigidities in the structure of the model, hence provide built-in mechanism to incorporate the structural shocks. The estimation of the NK model for Pakistan’s economy remains a relatively unexplored area. This study attempts to estimate a closed economy version of the NK model using robust econometric technique. On the empirical side macroeconomic dynamics have been investigated in response to unanticipated monetary shock. The reaction of the monetary authority (the State Bank of Pakistan) in response to structural shocks has been assessed by exploring the role of forward looking expectations. The SVAR model has been employed to estimate the structural parameters. The response of macroeconomic aggregates to structural shocks has also been simulated along with discussing the forecast error variance decomposition. The role of forward looking expectations is found to play prominent role in the prevailing market structure of the country. The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has been found to respond to shocks after a lag of one or more periods indicating time inconsistency problem which is due to discretionary monetary policy stance being adopted by the monetary authority. The distorted beliefs of economic agents about the stance of monetary policy have pointed towards weak effectiveness of the monetary policy. The results suggest that the SBP would have to adopt an independent and transparent monetary policy by following some sort of Taylor-type rule. JEL Classification: C32, C51, E52, E58 Keywords: New Keynesian Models, Real Business Cycle Models, Forward Looking Expectations, SVAR Model, Price Puzzl

Three new species of the genus Belondira thorne, 1939 frorn Manipur, India

Three new species belonging to the genusB elondira Thorne, 1939 have been described andfi gured from Manipur, India. Belondira microdoran . sp.c ollected from around the roootfs wild plants from Imphacl omes close to B. caudata Thorne, 1939 and B. tenuidens Thorne, 1964 but differs from botho f them in having a narrower bodloyn, ger anterior uterine sac, smaller tail and in the presence of males. Belondira tenuidora n. sp. collected from around the roots of grasses from Imphal is also very similar to B. caudata and B. tenuidens. From the former it differs in having posteriorly located vulva, smaller prerectum and longer tail and from the latter in having a smaller body, longer oesophagus and tail. Belondira affinis n. sp. collected from around the roots of Musa paradisiaca L. from Waithou hills cornes close to B. syedi Suryawanshi, 1972 and B. goldeni Suryawanshi, 1972 but differs from both of them in having heavily sclerotized cephalic framework and in the length and shapeof odontostyle and odontophore. A liey to the species of the genus Belondira has also been provided