Analysis of early onset of Alzheimer's disease genes: disease causing and risk factors

Alzheimer's disease is on the rise around the globe and is ranked sixth in the United States as the leading cause of death. It is a progressive neurodegenerative disease and the main causes of dementia. It is often characterized by symptoms such as lack of memory, agitation, restlessness, changes in personality, inability to perform everyday tasks, and impairment of speech. There are two forms of Alzheimer's disease: early onset of Alzheimer's disease occurring before 65 years of age, manifesting in 5-10% of the population, and late-onset of Alzheimer's disease manifesting after 65 years of age. In this study, the role of single nucleotide polymorphism in Alzheimer's disease using genome-wide association studies was investigated. Further, mutations underlying early onset of Alzheimer's disease were analyzed and it was found that mutations in the six genes APP, PSEN1, PSEN2, MAPT, GRN and PRNP resulted in the structural and functional protein modifications. These altered amino acids in early onset of Alzheimer's disease contribute to its pathogenesis. A single change in these genes is inherited in an autosomal dominant manner and might lead to early onset of Alzheimer's disease, however sporadic cases have also been identified. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.464196

Classical light analogue of the nonlocal Aharonov-Bohm effect

We demonstrate the existence of a non-local geometric phase in the intensity-intensity correlations of classical incoherent light, that is not seen in the lower order correlations. This two-photon Pancharatnam phase was observed and modulated in a Mach-Zehnder interferometer. Using acousto-optic interaction, independent phase noise was introduced to light in the two arms of the interferometer to create two independent incoherent classical sources from laser light. The experiment is the classical optical analogue of the multi-particle Aharonov-Bohm effect. As the trajectory of light over the Poincare sphere introduces a phase shift observable only in the intensity-intensity correlation, it provides a means of deflecting the two-photon wavefront, while having no effect on single photons.Comment: To appear in Europhys. Let

Understanding the genetic, molecular, and cellular basis of ageing as the biggest risk factor of Alzheimer's disease

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is one of the leading causes of dementia. The disease is characterized by atrophy of brain tissue, with major physiological, molecular, and anatomical changes being observed in the hippocampus and entorhinal region of the temporal lobe. The risk of developing this disease increases with advancing age. Ageing is a chronological phenomenon wherein a considerable decline is observed in physiological functions due to the complex interplay of various exogenous and endogenous factors such as genetic construction, elevated levels of ROS, decrease in the telomerase activity, and epigenetic factors such as methylation of DNA, histone modification etc. The physiological and molecular changes in an ageing person especially in neurons overlap considerably with those observed during the progression of AD. This article highlights various factors responsible for ageing as well as AD with the latest review of literature. Understanding the factors that bring about the fated changes and how they are associated with the progression of disease can open new doors to bring about better treatment options and help cure an otherwise incurable disease. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.632379

Seeds infection of Fusarium moniliforme in different Rice varieties grown in mid-hills of Nepal

Fusarium moniliforme is one of the important seed-borne fungi responsible for foot rot disease in rice. The study was conducted at the Plant Pathology Division of NARC, Khumaltar from July- December 2019 to find out the level of seed infection of F. moniliforme in different varieties of rice from mid-hills of Nepal. A total of 20 seed samples of different varieties of rice with 240 seeds of each sample were tested following a deep-freeze blotter method distributing 80 seeds per replication and maintaining 3 replications. Seed to seedling transmission test was carried out under screen house conditions. Two hundred seeds of each highly infected five varieties from laboratory test data were planted in eight pots, twenty-five seeds per pot, and categorized into four replications. Component plating was done to determine the location of F. moniliforme infection in a seed. Data analysis was done using STAR at a 5% level of significance. There was a significant difference among all the varieties. The highest incidence of F. moniliforme infection was found in seeds of Khumal-9 variety and lowest in Fan-10 variety. From seed to seedling transmission test, Khumal-4 variety was found highly susceptible to foot rot among the 5 varieties planted. Transmission percentage of disease from seed to seedling was found ranging from 16.19-72.31%. Equally, Component plating concludes that seed coat, as well as endosperm, was the location of F. moniliforme infection in rice seed. Foot rot being one of the serious diseases of rice at present time researches should be done more on this for its effective management and control. Seed health status testification before taking seeds to the field should be done so that timely control like seed treatment could be applied to control the outbreak of the disease in the field

Pseudo-Meigs syndrome: a rare presentation of pedunculated fibroid

Serosal fibroid of uterus are usually asymptomatic but rarely; it may present with atypical symptoms to simulate malignancy and needs extensive evaluation. Authors are reporting a case of 26 years old P1L1 female with history of asymptomatic multiple intramural fibroids since 6 years came with complained of progressively increasing abdominal distension and mild pain abdomen from 2-3 months. On evaluation, she had ascites, pleural effusion and raised Ca-125. MR imaging of pelvis revealed moderate ascites and pedunculated serosal fibroid in addition to intramural fibroids with normal bilateral ovaries. She was evaluated to rule out uterine sarcoma and tuberculosis but diagnosis of them could not be established. Finally, conclusion of Pseudo-Meigs syndrome was made. Myomectomy of single pedunculated fibroid relieved her symptoms. Though, subserosal fibroids are benign in pathology, timely surgery is must to avoid morbidity and mortality owing to massive ascites and pleural effusion

Comparative in vitro transmucosal permeation of three proprietary diclofenac gels

Studies to evaluate the clinical efficacy and safety of various topical NSAIDS compared to oral NSAIDS have been reported but little research has been conducted to evaluate the efficacy of topical NSAIDS from different manufacturers containing the same concentation of medicament. The aim of this study was to make comparison of the in vitro release rate of three proprietary Diclofenac gels. To study the in vitro potential of these formulation permeation studies were performed with Franz diffusion cell by using cellulose acetate membrane. In vitro permeation study was found that the diffusion profile of A gel was equivalent to Voveran Emulgel while B gel was significantly (p < 0.05) lower than Voveran Emulgel. This data indicates that the simple denotation of Diclofenac sodium 1% w/w gel is inadequate as a means of distinguishing between similar formulations of different manufacturers that might contain the same types of excipients. This highlights the potential problems that may arise from the mistaken assumption that generic prescriptions and formulations are pharmaceutically and clinically equivalent and interchangeableColegio de Farmacéuticos de la Provincia de Buenos Aire

a. Natural Resource Sustainability

Natural Resource Sustainability is based on the stability of the ecology of agricultural ecosystems based on interactions between soil, water and biodiversity. This Sustainability measures the wealth of ’ nature’s economy ’ and the foundation of all other economies. Nature’s economy includes biodiversity, soil fertility and soil and water conservation that provides the ecological capital for agriculture. Socio-economic sustainability relates to the social ecology of agriculture, including the relationship of society to the environment, the relationship between different social groups engaged in agricultural production and the relationship between producers and consumers

Study of endothelial function in pregnant women with gestational diabetes mellitus by flow mediated dilation of brachial artery

Background: The objective of the study was to assess vascular function in normal pregnant women and women with gestational diabetes and to study its temporal relationship with gestational age at 24-28-week POG and at 36-38-week POG and changes in FMD in postpartum period.Methods: Assessment of vascular function was done at 24-28-week POG, 36-38-week POG and at 6-12-week postpartum by flow mediated dilation of brachial artery in 37 healthy pregnant women and 37 pregnant women with GDM.Results: In GDM group mean FMD at 24-28 weeks of POG, at 36-38 weeks POG was lower as compared to the control group (11.225±6.20,8.464±6.09 versus 14.49±5.21, 10.898±4.12) although the difference in mean FMD in two groups was not statistically significant. It was found that the decrease in FMD at 36-38-week POG as compared to 24-28 weeks POG was statistically significant in both the groups (p&lt;0.001).Conclusions: This study revealed that when endothelial function as assessed by FMD was compared at different period of gestation, the mean decrease in FMD at 36-38-week POG as compared to 24-28-week POG and 6-week post-partum was statistically significant in patients with GDM and as well as the control group, however this trend of change was same in both the groups and was not statistically significant when compared between the two group (GDM versus control). A negative correlation of FMD was found with BMI, and HBA1c, that was stronger in GDM group