Phyllanthus Niruri: A magic Herb

Medicinal herbs are significant source of pharmaceutical drugs. Latest trends have shown increasing demand of phytodrugs and some medicinal herbs have proven hepatotprotective potential. Inflammation describes a coordinated series of molecular, cellular, tissue, organ, and systemic responses that drive the pathology of various diseases Inflammation is a finely tuned, dynamic, highly-regulated process that is not inherently detrimental, but rather required for immune surveillance, optimal post-injury tissue repair, and regeneration. The inflammatory response is driven by cytokines and chemokines and is partially propagated by damaged tissue-derived products (Damage-associated Molecular Patterns; DAMP’s). DAMPs perpetuate inflammation through the release of proinflammatory cytokines, but may also inhibit anti-inflammatory cytokines

Propagation of AC magnetic field through high-T<SUB>c</SUB> coatings

Studies on the propagation of AC magnetic field through plasma-sprayed superconducting Y1Ba2Cu3O7-x coatings show that complete shielding is achieved up to a certain critical magnetic field strength H0. Increase in the thickness or Jc of the specimen increases the H0 value. Flux-trapping occurs in the specimen at high frequencies and the frequency at which it occurs increases with increase in specimen Jc

Closed complex of the D-3-hydroxybutyrate dehydrogenase induced by an enantiomeric competitive inhibitor.

D-3-Hydroxybutyrate dehydrogenase (HBDH) from Pseudomonas fragi showed a strict stereospecificity to the d-enantiomer of 3-hydroxybutyrate (d-3-HB) as a substrate. The l-enantiomer acts as a competitive inhibitor, with a K(i) value comparable to the K(m) value for d-3-HB. We have determined the crystal structures of the ternary complex of HBDH-NAD(+)-l-3-HB and the binary complex of HBDH-NAD(+). The former structure showed a so-called closed-form conformation, which is considered an active form for catalysis, while the latter stayed mostly in a open-form conformation. The determined structures along with the site-directed mutagenesis confirmed the substrate recognition mechanism that we proposed previously. The hydrogen bonding interaction between Gln196, located in the moving helix, and the carboxyl group of the substrate/inhibitor is important for the stable ternary complex formation. Finally, the crystal structures of the Thr190 mutants, T190S and T190A, indicate that the Thr190 is a key residue for the open-closed conformational change. T190S retained 37% of the activity. In T190A, however, the activity decreased to 0.1% that of the wild-type enzyme. Fixing the position of the hydroxyl group of Thr190 to form hydrogen bonds to the pyrophosphate moiety and the carboxamide of NAD(+) seems to be a significant factor for the open-closed conformational change

Time-resolved crystallography using the Hadamard transform

YesWe describe a method for performing time-resolved X-ray crystallographic experiments based on the Hadamard transform, in which time resolution is defined by the underlying periodicity of the probe pulse sequence, and signal/noise is greatly improved over that for the fastest pump-probe experiments depending on a single pulse. This approach should be applicable on standard synchrotron beamlines and will enable high-resolution measurements of protein and small-molecule structural dynamics. It is also applicable to other time-resolved measurements where a probe can be encoded, such as pump-probe spectroscopy.Wellcome Trust 4-year PhD program “The Molecular Basis of Biological Mechanisms” 089312/Z/09/Z. This work was also supported by the EPSRC Award “Dynamic Structural Science at the Research Complex at Harwell” EP/I01974X/1 and by BBSRC Award BB/H001905/1

A New Species of River Dolphin from Brazil or:How Little Do We Know Our Biodiversity

True river dolphins are some of the rarest and most endangered of all vertebrates. They comprise relict evolutionary lineages of high taxonomic distinctness and conservation value, but are afforded little protection. We report the discovery of a new species of a river dolphin from the Araguaia River basin of Brazil, the first such discovery in nearly 100 years. The species is diagnosable by a series of molecular and morphological characters and diverged from its Amazonian sister taxon 2.08 million years ago. The estimated time of divergence corresponds to the separation of the Araguaia-Tocantins basin from the Amazon basin. This discovery highlights the immensity of the deficit in our knowledge of Neotropical biodiversity, as well as vulnerability of biodiversity to anthropogenic actions in an increasingly threatened landscape. We anticipate that this study will provide an impetus for the taxonomic and conservation reanalysis of other taxa shared between the Araguaia and Amazon aquatic ecosystems, as well as stimulate historical biogeographical analyses of the two basins

Phylogenetic relationships of the New World titi monkeys (Callicebus): First appraisal of taxonomy based on molecular evidence

Background: Titi monkeys, Callicebus, comprise the most species-rich primate genus-34 species are currently recognised, five of them described since 2005. The lack of molecular data for titi monkeys has meant that little is known of their phylogenetic relationships and divergence times. To clarify their evolutionary history, we assembled a large molecular dataset by sequencing 20 nuclear and two mitochondrial loci for 15 species, including representatives from all recognised species groups. Phylogenetic relationships were inferred using concatenated maximum likelihood and Bayesian analyses, allowing us to evaluate the current taxonomic hypothesis for the genus. Results: Our results show four distinct Callicebus clades, for the most part concordant with the currently recognised morphological species-groups-the torquatus group, the personatus group, the donacophilus group, and the moloch group. The cupreus and moloch groups are not monophyletic, and all species of the formerly recognized cupreus group are reassigned to the moloch group. Two of the major divergence events are dated to the Miocene. The torquatus group, the oldest radiation, diverged c. 11 Ma; and the Atlantic forest personatus group split from the ancestor of all donacophilus and moloch species at 9-8 Ma. There is little molecular evidence for the separation of Callicebus caligatus and C. dubius, and we suggest that C. dubius should be considered a junior synonym of a polymorphic C. caligatus. Conclusions: Considering molecular, morphological and biogeographic evidence, we propose a new genus level taxonomy for titi monkeys: Cheracebus n. gen. in the Orinoco, Negro and upper Amazon basins (torquatus group), Callicebus Thomas, 1903, in the Atlantic Forest (personatus group), and Plecturocebus n. gen. in the Amazon basin and Chaco region (donacophilus and moloch groups). © 2016 Byrne et al

Evaluation of potassium salt of phosphonic acid in Nagpur mandarin with special reference to Phytophthora management

Phytophthora parasitica var. nicotianae is a major fungal pathogen that causes foot rot, root rot, crown rot, gummosis, leaf fall, and brown rot diseases in Nagpur mandarin in the entire Vidarbha region of Maharashtra. For the efficient management of root rot and gummosis due to Phytophthora, the potassium salt of phosphonic acid (PSPA) was evaluated under field and laboratory conditions. In field trials, infected plants were treated with different concentrations of PSPA by foliar spray and soil drenching. The results revealed that foliar spray + soil drenching of PSPA at 3 ml/liter water was better with respect to the average reduction in no. of lesion with oozing (28.39%), minimum in feeder root index (2.17), increase in canopy volume (11.15%) and higher fruit yield (65.89 kg/ per tree). The effect of PSPA was assayed at three different concentrations against P. nicotianae under in vitro. PSPA was found most effective in arresting the growth of P. nicotianae as complete (100%) inhibition observed in tested doses

Study of the propagation of an AC magnetic field through superconducting thick films

Studies of the propagation of an AC magnetic field through plasma sprayed superconducting Y<SUB>1</SUB>Ba<SUB>2</SUB>Cu<SUB>3</SUB>O<SUB>7-x</SUB> coatings have been carried out in the incident field frequency and intensity ranges 100 Hz to 100 kHz and 0.01 to 3.5 mT respectively. Results show that the shielding effectiveness increases exponentially with decreasing field intensity. Shielding effectiveness increases with coating thickness and its density. Coatings thinner than 100 mu m do not show any shielding. A non-linear dependence of critical magnetic field H<SUP>∗</SUP> on both thickness and critical current density J<SUB>c</SUB> of the specimen has been observed