A study of habit of fast food eating among school going adolescents and parental advice and its relation with their nutritional status

Background:A study of habit of fast food eating among school going adolescents and parental advice and its relation with their nutritional status.Methods: Design: an epidemiological analytic observational study. Subjects: 600 adolescents’ 15-19 years of age, studying in 11 and 12 classes and included both boys and girls. A single observer interviewed each student and gathered the information regarding their eating habits. It was recorded on a pre-tested open and closed ended Performa. Nutritional status was assessed by BMI. The adolescents for the purpose of analysis were broadly grouped in two groups. Group I (those having normal BMI ranging 18.5 to 25) and group II (Malnourished i.e. those having BMI 25). Group II adolescents were further divided into group IIa (Underweight, BMI25).Results:Adolescents who took both fast food and soft drinks 73.1% were malnourished (group II) as compared to those who did not take both the things 13.7% in group II. Difference was found to be statistically significant (p value 25) subsequently. Incidence of malnutrition was significantly less in 12.4% adolescents’ interfered by their parents as compared to 69.6% of those where parents was not interfering. Difference was found to be statistically significant (P value <0.01).Conclusion: A habit of fast food eating and taking soft drink provokes malnutrition. Interference in eating by parents is beneficial among adolescents.

Evaluation of diagnostic efficacy of hepatobiliary scintigraphy as a diagnostic procedure in pediatric practice with special reference to cholestatic jaundice

Background: The objective was to assess the diagnostic efficacy of hepatobiliary scintigraphy (Tc99 mebrofenin) in case of cholestatic jaundice in pediatric practice.Method: Study conducted on 45 cases from 0-6 yrs. of age. Out of 45 pt 20 pt excluded from study Hepatobiliary Scintigraphy (Tc99m Mebrofinin) was performed in 25 cases. Injection of Tc99m mebrofinin (1-2 mCi) IV was given to each subject. Dynamic hepatic scan was done upto initial 1 hour study and additional delayed images were taken at 4 & 24 hrs only in case of non-visualization of tracer in the intestine after initial 1 hr. study.Results: In this study hepatobiliary scintigraphy was 100% sensitive, 93.73% specific, 80% positive predictive values, 100% negative predictive value, 6.23% false positive result and virtually no false negative result for biliary atresia. Conclusion: It is concluded that Tc99m mebrofenin hepatobiliary scintigraphy has proven to be reliable noninvasive imaging modality in evaluating cholestatic jaundice in pediatric practice as it carries a high sensitive & specific value, good positive & no negative predictive value, few false positive & virtually no false negative results.

Molecular characterization of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. ciceri causing wilt of chickpea

Thirty isolates of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. ciceri were isolated from rhizosphere soil of chickpea from different locations in Northern India. The amount of genetic variation was evaluated by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification with a set of 40 RAPD primers and 2 IGS primers. Less than 10% of the amplified fragments in each case were polymorphic. Genetic similarity between each of the isolates was calculated and results indicate that there was little genetic variability among the isolates collected from the different locations. At the 0.75 similarity index the isolates divides into three groups. Isolates Foc-A18, Foc-A19, Foc-A20 forming a similar group and far different from other isolates.Key words: Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. ciceri, Fusarium wilt of chickpea, RAPD, ITS, IGS

An advanced draft genome assembly of a desi type chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.)

Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) is an important pulse legume crop. We previously reported a draft genome assembly of the desi chickpea cultivar ICC 4958. Here we report an advanced version of the ICC 4958 genome assembly (version 2.0) generated using additional sequence data and an improved genetic map. This resulted in 2.7-fold increase in the length of the pseudomolecules and substantial reduction of sequence gaps. The genome assembly covered more than 94% of the estimated gene space and predicted the presence of 30,257 protein-coding genes including 2230 and 133 genes encoding potential transcription factors (TF) and resistance gene homologs, respectively. Gene expression analysis identified several TF and chickpea-specific genes with tissue-specific expression and displayed functional diversification of the paralogous genes. Pairwise comparison of pseudomolecules in the desi (ICC 4958) and the earlier reported kabuli (CDC Frontier) chickpea assemblies showed an extensive local collinearity with incongruity in the placement of large sequence blocks along the linkage groups, apparently due to use of different genetic maps. Single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)-based mining of intra-specific polymorphism identified more than four thousand SNPs differentiating a desi group and a kabuli group of chickpea genotypes

Growth and Characterization of Single Crystals ofl-Histidine Hydrochloride Monohydrate for Nonlinear Optical Applications

In the present study, we have focused on the growth of semi-organic single crystals, as they play a vital role in the generation of a terahertz pulse and its potential applications. The single crystals ofl-histidine hydrochloride monohydrate (LMHCL) were grown by slow evaporation solution growth by using deionized water as a solvent in a controlled atmosphere. Good quality crystals of the required size were obtained within 2 weeks. To estimate the lattice dimensions and get the structural information, powder x-ray diffraction (PXRD) study was performed in which we have found that the crystal belongs to the orthorhombic crystal system with space groupP2(1)2(1)2(1). The functional groups and the corresponding vibrational mode were confirmed using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and Raman spectroscopy, respectively. To study the optical properties UV-Vis transmission spectrum and photoluminescence (PL) were recorded. It was observed that the single crystal has a high value of transmission over a long range of wavelength which signifies that the crystal is a good candidate for nonlinear optical (NLO) applications. The UV cut-off wavelength is found to be 236 nm. The grown single crystals were studied by time-domain terahertz spectroscopy (THz-TDS) for photonic applications and the refractive indices were calculated and it is found that the refractive index is nearly equal to 3.4

Liposomal nanotheranostics for multimode targeted in vivo bioimaging and near‐infrared light mediated cancer therapy

Developing a nanotheranostic agent with better image resolution and high accumulation into solid tumor microenvironment is a challenging task. Herein, we established a light mediated phototriggered strategy for enhanced tumor accumulation of nanohybrids. A multifunctional liposome based nanotheranostics loaded with gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) and emissive graphene quantum dots (GQDs) were engineered named as NFGL. Further, doxorubicin hydrochloride was encapsulated in NFGL to exhibit phototriggered chemotherapy and functionalized with folic acid targeting ligands. Encapsulated agents showed imaging bimodality for in vivo tumor diagnosis due to their high contrast and emissive nature. Targeted NFGL nanohybrids demonstrated near infrared light (NIR, 750 nm) mediated tumor reduction because of generated heat and Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS). Moreover, NFGL nanohybrids exhibited remarkable ROS scavenging ability as compared to GQDs loaded liposomes validated by antitumor study. Hence, this approach and engineered system could open new direction for targeted imaging and cancer therapy.publishersversionpublishe

Computational studies on potential new anti-Covid-19 agents with a multi-target mode of action

A compound that could inhibit multiple targets associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection would prove to be a drug of choice against the virus. Human receptor-ACE2, receptor binding domain (RBD) of SARS-CoV-2 S-protein, Papain-like protein of SARS-CoV-2 (PLpro), reverse transcriptase of SARS-CoV-2 (RdRp) were chosen for in silico study. A set of previously synthesized compounds (1–5) were docked into the active sites of the targets. Based on the docking score, ligand efficiency, binding free energy, and dissociation constants for a definite conformational position of the ligand, inhibitory potentials of the compounds were measured. The stability of the protein–ligand (P-L) complex was validated in silico by using molecular dynamics simulations using the YASARA suit. Moreover, the pharmacokinetic properties, FMO and NBO analysis were performed for ranking the potentiality of the compounds as drug. The geometry optimizations and electronic structures were investigated using DFT. As per the study, compound-5 has the best binding affinity against all four targets. Moreover, compounds 1, 3 and 5 are less toxic and can be considered for oral consumption