Development and applications of nanobiosensors for sustainable agricultural and food industries : Recent developments, challenges and perspectives

The increasing global population and limited natural resources are amongst major challenges in the sustainability of agricultural and food industries, together with the rapid shrinking of land and increasing production cost. Based on the application of nanobiosensors, natural resources can be utilised more efficiently. Particularly, nanobiosensors can be used in a wide range of applications throughout the agri-food route, ranging from detection of soil condition, crop diseases caused by pest/pathogen, management of severe infections, and diagnostic tools for detection of pests during storage and ensures final quality assurance. Here, we review the various recent applications of nanobiosensors in agricultural and food industries. The advantages and limitations are also discussed to provide useful insights to both academic and industrial researchers. Moreover, recent patents have been discussed to provide the latest trends in biosensors for agri-food industry to maintain sustainable development

Modern Technologies for Pest Control: A Review

The major concern for farmers is important loss due to pests and diseases, which is regardless of any production system adopted. Plant pathogens, insects, and weed pests devastate over 40% of all possible sustenance creation every year. This loss happens despite utilizing approximately 3 million tons of pesticide per year in addition to the use of a variety of nonchemical controls such as biological controls and crop rotations. If some of this food could be saved from pest attack, it could be utilized to bolster an excess of 3 billion people who are malnourished in the world today. Expansive range of conventional insecticides such as carbamates, organophosphates, pyrethroids, and organochlorines were developed. They have been used to control insect pests in the course of recent decades, resulting in the reduction of the loss of agricultural yield. However, problems of resistance reaching crisis proportions, the extreme unfavorable impacts of pesticides on the environment, and public complaints led to stricter protocols and regulations directed to reduce their utilization. The pest control industry is continuously examining novel technologies and products that will improve the way to manage and prevent pests. The general objective is to likewise diminish the effects of various available pesticides on the environment and on nontarget creatures, besides the economic influence on bottom lines

Relationship of decreased amniotic fluid and perinatal outcome: a comparative study

Background: A decreased amniotic fluid volume is frequently one of the first clues to an underlying fetal abnormality or maternal diseased state. Isolated oligohydramnios may occur in late pregnancy in patients with no other high risk factors and diagnosed on routine ultrasound. This study was conducted to assess the effect of oligohydramnios on perinatal outcome at or beyond 34 weeks of gestation with amniotic fluid index (AFI) ≤ 5.Methods: 50 cases and equal controls were taken in the study which fulfilled the inclusion criteria. A written and informed consent was taken from all the subjects entering into the study. An ultrasound examination was performed on all the subjects entering the study. Phelan method was used for measurement of AFI. Measurement of the deepest pool in each quadrant was summated and AFI was recorded in centimeters.Results: Anthropometric variables were comparable in both the groups. The distribution of non-stress test (NST) and onset of labor was significantly different in both the groups. The presence of meconium stained liquor was non significantly same in both groups. Regarding neonatal outcome, birth weight less than 2.5 kg and APGAR score less than 7 was significantly higher in cases as compared to controls.Conclusions: Oligohydramnios (AFI< 5) was associated with more number of preterm deliveries, non-reactive NST, fetal distress and more NICU admissions. More studies are needed for defining threshold levels for measuring AFI

Bio-Nanoparticles Mediated Transesterification of Algal Biomass for Biodiesel Production

Immense use of fossil fuels leads to various environmental issues, including greenhouse gas emissions, reduced oil reserves, increased energy costs, global climate changes, etc. These challenges can be tackled by using alternative renewable fuels such as biodiesel. Many studies reported that biodiesel production from microalgae biomass is an environment-friendly and energy-efficient approach, with significantly improved fuel quality in terms of density, calorific value and viscosity. Biodiesel is produced using the transesterification process and the most sustainable method is utilizing enzymes for transesterification. Lipase is an enzyme with excellent catalytic activity, specificity, enantio-selectivity, compatibility and stability and hence it is applied in microalgae biodiesel production. But, difficulty in enzymatic recovery, high enzyme cost and minimal reaction rate are some of its drawbacks that have to be addressed. In this aspect, the nanotechnological approach of lipase immobilization in producing microalgae biodiesel is a promising way to increase production yield and it is due to the adsorption efficiency, economic benefit, recyclability, crystallinity, durability, stability, environmental friendliness and catalytic performance of the bio-nanoparticles used. Through increasing post-harvest biomass yield, absorption of CO2 and photosynthesis in the photobioreactor, the use of nanoparticle immobilized lipase during the generation of biodiesel from microalgae has the potential to also remove feedstock availability constraints. This review article discusses the production of microalgae biodiesel, and effect of nanoparticles and immobilized lipase nanoparticles on biodiesel production. The advantages of using lipase nanoparticles and the challenges in introducing the immobilized lipase on nanoparticles in large-scale microalgae biodiesel production are also discussed. Reducing the water and land use, energy and nutrient footprints of integrated algae-based operations must be the main goal of larger-scale experiments as well as ongoing research and development in order to expedite the adoption of microalgae-based biodiesel production. Also, the cost-effectiveness and large-scale availability of nanoparticles and the impact of lipase nanoparticles on engine performance should be analyzed for commercialization of microalgae biodiesel

A Mathematical model of BELC for learning mental activity

This paper proposes a brain emotional learning intelligent algorithmic program; beside the training algorithm like neural network, it additionally enclosed the calculation algorithmic program of feeling issue. Beside self-adjust the load trough learning, this algorithmic program will self-judge the feeling issue and includes it into the calculation algorithmic program thus on accomplish additional intelligent algorithmic program. An example, the three-tank system, is incontestable as an example the effectiveness of the projected management methodology. Simulation results show that the projected managementler are able to do satisfactory management performance for the liquid level control of the 3 tank system

Association of body mass index, hand grip strength and quality of life with response to anti-tubercular therapy in adult patients of pulmonary and extra-pulmonary tuberculosis

Background: Monitoring of anti-tubercular therapy (ATT) response necessary for successful completion of ATT regimen. Presently available monitoring tools are invasive and have limitations. This study undertaken to see whether non-invasive tools like body mass index (BMI), hand grip strength (HGS) and quality of life (QOL) can serve as a reliable tool for monitoring ATT response.Methods: The 50 patients of tuberculosis were monitored for BMI, HGS and QOL via WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire and analyzed at baseline, 2 months and 6 months of starting ATT.Results: BMI HGS increased significantly at 2 months and 6 months compared to baseline with ATT. Physical and social domain of WHOQOL-BREF increased at 2 and 6 months with ATT, other domains shown no significant changes.Conclusions: Monitoring of BMI, handgrip strength and QOL can be a cost-effective tool for monitoring ATT response, both in pulmonary and extra pulmonary tuberculosis

Blastoid Variant of Mantle Cell Lymphoma-a Rare Case Report

Abstract Mantle cell lymphoma is now recognised as a rare but distinct entity in the revised WHO classification. It is now well recognised that MCL represent a broad spectrum of different histopathological subtypes. The term blastic or blastoid variant is generally used to describe cases with a homogeneous population of cells displaying lymphoblastic morphology. The blastic form of MCL may be difficult to diagnose however immunophenotyping and molecular analysis show typical mantle cell lymphoma pattern. We present a case of 30 year old male presenting with inguinal mass which was diagnosed as blastic transformation of mantle cell lymphoma based on routine histopathology and immunohistochemistry

Performance of Chilli (Capsicum annuum L.) hybrids for yield and quality traits

Twenty-eight F1 combinations of chilli (Capsicum annuum L.) obtained from half-diallel cross along with eight diverse parents were evaluated in a field study to elucidate the information on the extent of mean performance of various horticultural traits. The analysis revealed that all the genotypes possessed wide spectrum of variability and showed significant differences for parents and hybrids for the traits studied. For parents UHF CHI 13 (216.20), UHF CHI 15 (193.80), UHF CHI 5 (139.00) and for hybrids H1 (182.60), H9 (181.40) and H7 (172.80) hold highest fruit count per plant. The parents UHF CHI 5 (1047.13 g), UHF CHI 15 (949.62 g) and UHF CHI 7 (912.61 g) and cross combinations H17 (1535.10 g), H8 (1320.00), H6 (1229.76) and H18 (967.60) recorded the high ripe fruit yield per plant. As for earliness, parents UHF CHI 5 (43.33), UHF CHI 11 (45.00), UHF CHI 7 (45.33) and hybrids H27 (42.67), H26 (43.00) and UH28 (43.00) took minimum days for flowering. For pungency UHF CHI 12 (0.28 %), UHF CHI 13 (0.26 %), DKC-8 (0.24 %) and H23 (0.33 %), H5 (0.31 %), H26 (0.26 %) recorded high capsaicin content

31st Annual Meeting and Associated Programs of the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC 2016) : part two

Background The immunological escape of tumors represents one of the main ob- stacles to the treatment of malignancies. The blockade of PD-1 or CTLA-4 receptors represented a milestone in the history of immunotherapy. However, immune checkpoint inhibitors seem to be effective in specific cohorts of patients. It has been proposed that their efficacy relies on the presence of an immunological response. Thus, we hypothesized that disruption of the PD-L1/PD-1 axis would synergize with our oncolytic vaccine platform PeptiCRAd. Methods We used murine B16OVA in vivo tumor models and flow cytometry analysis to investigate the immunological background. Results First, we found that high-burden B16OVA tumors were refractory to combination immunotherapy. However, with a more aggressive schedule, tumors with a lower burden were more susceptible to the combination of PeptiCRAd and PD-L1 blockade. The therapy signifi- cantly increased the median survival of mice (Fig. 7). Interestingly, the reduced growth of contralaterally injected B16F10 cells sug- gested the presence of a long lasting immunological memory also against non-targeted antigens. Concerning the functional state of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), we found that all the immune therapies would enhance the percentage of activated (PD-1pos TIM- 3neg) T lymphocytes and reduce the amount of exhausted (PD-1pos TIM-3pos) cells compared to placebo. As expected, we found that PeptiCRAd monotherapy could increase the number of antigen spe- cific CD8+ T cells compared to other treatments. However, only the combination with PD-L1 blockade could significantly increase the ra- tio between activated and exhausted pentamer positive cells (p= 0.0058), suggesting that by disrupting the PD-1/PD-L1 axis we could decrease the amount of dysfunctional antigen specific T cells. We ob- served that the anatomical location deeply influenced the state of CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes. In fact, TIM-3 expression was in- creased by 2 fold on TILs compared to splenic and lymphoid T cells. In the CD8+ compartment, the expression of PD-1 on the surface seemed to be restricted to the tumor micro-environment, while CD4 + T cells had a high expression of PD-1 also in lymphoid organs. Interestingly, we found that the levels of PD-1 were significantly higher on CD8+ T cells than on CD4+ T cells into the tumor micro- environment (p < 0.0001). Conclusions In conclusion, we demonstrated that the efficacy of immune check- point inhibitors might be strongly enhanced by their combination with cancer vaccines. PeptiCRAd was able to increase the number of antigen-specific T cells and PD-L1 blockade prevented their exhaus- tion, resulting in long-lasting immunological memory and increased median survival