Worship of Minor Deities in Chulunthee Novel

Novel Chulunthee uncovers the hidden human history of Navidar clan, a traditional craftsman, and their medical contributions based on ethnographic data. Also, it has recorded the characteristics of various castes like Kudumbar, Kallar, Nayak, Asari, Mutharaiyar, Chettiar, Vannar, Gowda and Idiyar. The novel also mentions the period of Vaetuvakula king who ruled over Pantrimalai (Kodaikanal, Palani, Vedasandur area) with Kanniwadi as their headquarters. After a long war, the small kingdoms under the Pandya kingdom came under the Vijayanagara Empire. It is from here that the plot of Chukunthee continues. In the Nayaka administration, the king followed him in the hierarchy of power, the king of Madurai, Chokanatha Nayak, (1662-1682), one of the generals in the reign of Appayanayakar's son Chinnakatiriyappa Nayak, captured Kanniwadi and became the king of the palace. The training ground of Madurai king’s artillery, cavalry and infantry was located in Kanniwadi and so the history of Madurai Nayakkars centres around Kanniwadi

Marine microalgal extracts on cultivable crops as a considerable bio-fertilizer: A Review

849-854Around the globe, all countries whether developing or developed depend on agriculture. Nowadays due to advances in science and agricultural technology, the usage of chemical fertilizers, pesticides and genetically modified crops is increasing day by day to meet the demand of the rising population. This looks helpful to meet our demand but this is a great threat for the future generation as the water and food will be more toxic due to accumulation of pesticides and chemical fertilizers which in turn reduces the soil fertility and contaminate the ground water. Due to this condition, the food web is getting totally collapsed. Because of realization of these problems, people are shifting to organic farming. Current researchers are focusing on terrestrial organic sources for agro production but there are immense sources in the wide marine environment. The marine sources will play a substantial role on agricultural development in the future. Microalgae are the best, as they are cheap, renewable source, easily available and are cultural organisms. Moreover, microalgae contain all the essential nutrients needed for plant growth. The majorities of microalgae are capable to fix the atmospheric nitrogen and are effectively used as bio-fertilizers. This review focuses on the broad overview of bio-fertilizers with special reference on marine derived microalgal bio-fertilizers and its role in increasing crop production by altering various physiochemical parameters of diversified agricultural crops

A study on Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus mastitis in dairy cows

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) poses a serious problem in dairy animals suffering from mastitis. The study was carried out to evaluate the incidence of Methicillin resistant S. aureus from clinical mastitis milk samples and their antibiotic resistance profile and characterised with respect to the molecular features that contributed to the resistance in these pathogens. Isolation and identification of Methicillin resistant S. aureus were performed from acute clinical mastitis samples. The isolates were tested using agar disc diffusion method for their antimicrobial susceptibility and modified resazurin assay micro dilution technique for MIC to 8 different antimicrobial drugs. A total of 235 clinical mastitis milk samples from dairy cows were cultured for incidence of S. aureus. Methicillin resistant S. aureus was isolated from a total of 12 (44.25%) of the 116 S. aureus samples. Based on the antimicrobial sensitivity and MIC results, MRSA isolates were found sensitive to gentamicin, enrofloxcain, amoxicillin+sulbactam, ceftriaxone and resistant to amoxicillin, oxytetracycline, penicillin G and oxacillin. Most of MRSA isolates were found to be multi-drug resistant. MRSA alert kit test and mecA and blaZ target gene PCR were found to be useful in the confirmation of MRSA

ULTRASONOGRAPHIC AND HISOPATHOLOGICAL CHANGES IN DOGS WITH CHRONIC RENAL DISEASE

ABSTRAC

The Oxidative Stress Network of Mycobacterium tuberculosis Reveals Coordination between Radical Detoxification Systems

SummaryM. tuberculosis (Mtb) survives a hostile environment within the host that is shaped in part by oxidative stress. The mechanisms used by Mtb to resist these stresses remain ill-defined because the complex combination of oxidants generated by host immunity is difficult to accurately recapitulate in vitro. We performed a genome-wide genetic interaction screen to comprehensively delineate oxidative stress resistance pathways necessary for Mtb to resist oxidation during infection. Our analysis predicted functional relationships between the superoxide-detoxifying enzyme (SodA), an integral membrane protein (DoxX), and a predicted thiol-oxidoreductase (SseA). Consistent with that, SodA, DoxX, and SseA form a membrane-associated oxidoreductase complex (MRC) that physically links radical detoxification with cytosolic thiol homeostasis. Loss of any MRC component correlated with defective recycling of mycothiol and accumulation of cellular oxidative damage. This previously uncharacterized coordination between oxygen radical detoxification and thiol homeostasis is required to overcome the oxidative environment Mtb encounters in the host

Induction of c-fos protein by activation of vasopressin receptors in smooth muscle cells

AbstractStimulation of vasopressin (V1) receptors of rat aortic smooth muscle cells (A-10, ATCC CRL 1476) results in the hydrolysis of phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PIP2) to inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (IP3) and diacylglycerol (DAG) with the mobilization of intracellular calcium. When A-10 cells are exposed to arginine vasopressin (AVP), there is an increase in the level of c-fos oncoprotein. The extent of induction of c-fos oncoprotein depends on both the time of exposure of the cells to AVP, reaching a maximum at 60 min after which there is a slow decline, and the concentration of AVP used, with an approximate EC50 of 1 nM which corresponds well with the Kd of vasopressin binding to these receptors. This vasopressin-mediated increase in c-fos protein level is inhibited by a V1/V2 antagonist (SKF 101498) suggesting that this is a receptor-mediated event. In addition dDAVP, a V2 selective agonist, is much less effective than AVP in inducing c-fos protein suggesting that AVP mediates its effect via V1 receptors. Desensitization of vasopressin receptors by prolonged exposure to AVP resulted in no additional induction of c-fos protein level in response to second challenge of AVP. In addition to AVP, phorbol dibutyrate (PDBu), an activator of protein kinase C (PKC), also stimulates the accumulation of c-fos protein although to a lesser extent than AVP. The above data suggest that c-fos protein levels in smooth muscle cells are regulated by AVP and the hormonal effect may be mediated through PI turnover and DAG, IP3 and Ca2+ signals

Endothelin-Receptor Antagonists beyond Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension: Cancer and Fibrosis.

The endothelin axis and in particular the two endothelin receptors, ETA and ETB, are targets for therapeutic intervention in human diseases. Endothelin-receptor antagonists are in clinical use to treat pulmonary arterial hypertension and have been under clinical investigation for the treatment of several other diseases, such as systemic hypertension, cancer, vasospasm, and fibrogenic diseases. In this Perspective, we review the molecules that have been evaluated in human clinical trials for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension, as well as other cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and fibrosis. We will also discuss the therapeutic consequences of receptor selectivity with regard to ETA-selective, ETB-selective, or dual ETA/ETB antagonists. We will also consider which chemical characteristics are relevant to clinical use and the properties of molecules necessary for efficacy in treating diseases against which known molecules displayed suboptimal efficacy

Myocardial Injury, Obesity, and the Obesity Paradox

To examine whether pre-heart failure (HF) myocardial injury explains the differential mortality after HF across weight categories

Hyperglycemia and arterial stiffness: The Atherosclerosis Risk in the Communities study

Hyperglycemia has been associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Although numerous studies have demonstrated that hyperglycemia is associated with the atherosis component of atherosclerosis, limited studies have addressed the independent role of hyperglycemia in the pathophysiology of sclerotic vascular disease. We hypothesized that hyperglycemia, as assessed by hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), would be independently associated two common indices of arterial stiffness (pressure-strain elastic modulus (Ep) and Young’s elastic modulus (YEM))