Angiotensin type 1a receptor-deficient mice develop diabetes-induced cardiac dysfunction, which is prevented by renin-angiotensin system inhibitors

BACKGROUND: Diabetes-induced organ damage is significantly associated with the activation of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS). Recently, several studies have demonstrated a change in the RAS from an extracellular to an intracellular system, in several cell types, in response to high ambient glucose levels. In cardiac myocytes, intracellular angiotensin (ANG) II synthesis and actions are ACE and AT(1) independent, respectively. However, a role of this system in diabetes-induced organ damage is not clear. METHODS: To determine a role of the intracellular ANG II in diabetic cardiomyopathy, we induced diabetes using streptozotocin in AT(1a) receptor deficient (AT(1a)-KO) mice to exclude any effects of extracellular ANG II. Further, diabetic animals were treated with a renin inhibitor aliskiren, an ACE inhibitor benazeprilat, and an AT(1) receptor blocker valsartan. RESULTS: AT(1a)-KO mice developed significant diastolic and systolic dysfunction following 10 wks of diabetes, as determined by echocardiography. All three drugs prevented the development of cardiac dysfunction in these animals, without affecting blood pressure or glucose levels. A significant down regulation of components of the kallikrein-kinin system (KKS) was observed in diabetic animals, which was largely prevented by benazeprilat and valsartan, while aliskiren normalized kininogen expression. CONCLUSIONS: These data indicated that the AT(1a) receptor, thus extracellular ANG II, are not required for the development of diabetic cardiomyopathy. The KKS might contribute to the beneficial effects of benazeprilat and valsartan in diabetic cardiomyopathy. A role of intracellular ANG II is suggested by the inhibitory effects of aliskiren, which needs confirmation in future studies

Chickpea

Pulses form a major source of protein, particularly for vegetarian diet, and chickpea ranks among the leading legumes in this regard. Albeit considerable efforts at national and international levels, productivity of the chickpea crop has been stagnated for long due to the major biotic and abiotic constraints caused by Ascochyta blight, Fusarium wilt, pod borer, drought, and cold. Though many wild annual Cicer species possess a wealth of agronomically desirable donor genes, particularly those conferring resistance to stresses, they are sexually incompatible with the cultivated species. Transgenic approach is, therefore, a potential alternative means for incorporation of desirable alien genes into chickpea. This chapter highlights various dimensions of the international efforts in producing transgenic chickpea and provides a comprehensive perspective of strategies and achievements. Development of transgenic chickpea includes different aspects such as locating genes for particular traits from available chickpea germplasm, their isolation, making suitable constructs to transfer into chickpea through modifying them by adding marker gene, promoter sequence, and termination sequence for their effective expression, and finally transformation followed by an efficient regeneration protocol. This technology will have a very important role in developing newer varieties of chickpea with desired traits such as insect resistance, disease resistance, and drought/cold resistance

Analysis of Cd2+ and In3+ ions doping on microstructure, optical, magnetic and mo¨ssbauer spectral properties of sol-gel synthesized BaM hexagonal ferrite based nanomaterials

Precise studies of cadmium and indium doped barium hexagonal ferrites having chemical composition Ba0.7Nd0.3Cdx/2Inx/2Fe12-xO19 (x = 0.0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3) have been performed by sol-gel auto-combustion method in which ethylene glycol was used as a gel precursor. The structural, morphological, optical, elemental and magnetic properties have been studied by using various techniques like XRD, FESEM, FTIR, EDS and VSM. The XRD patterns shows characteristic (110), (008), (107), (114), (108), (203), (205), (206), (1011), (300), (217), (2011), (220), (2014) peaks along with the presence of secondary phase confirming the formation of hexagonal structure with an average crystallite size of 43–59 nm. FESEM supports the formation of hexagonal, dense and agglomerated nanoparticles. The Vibronic study using infrared radiation was carried by FTIR analysis reveal the various configuration modes with hexagonal symmetry of prepared nanoparticles. The magnetic measurements have been studied at room temperature indicates that saturation magnetization (Ms) and magnetic moment (nB) found to be of range 40–86 emu/g and 7.97–17.23 μB. The precise magnetic studies made it possible to reveal that saturation magnetization (Ms) increases with the cadmium and indium concentration for x = 0.1 and after that it decreases for x = 0.2, 0.3 which may be due to the difference in the magnetic moments of Cd, In and Fe ions. Due to high value of saturation magnetization (Ms), it can be used for applications in the field of high density recording storage devices and also, this magnetic change has been explained on the basis of exchange interactions. The room temperature Mo¨ssbauer spectra of all the nano-sized materials shows normal Zeeman splitting consisting of six merged line patterns which indicates the formation of ferromagnetic phase that supports the magnetic properties. Keywords: Barium neodymium nanoparticles, Sol-gel, Structural and optical analysis, Magnetic measurements, Mo¨ssbauer spectr

Komparativna poljska procena različitih mehanizovanih tehnika sadnje napier-bajra

The 17th Livestock Census (2003) has placed the total livestock population at 485 million and that of poultry birds at 489 million. Total population is expected to grow 1.23% in the coming years. At present, the country faces a net deficit of 61.1% green fodder, 21.9% dry crop residues and 64% feeds. Overlapping cropping systems have been developed at the Indian Grassland and Fodder Research Institute (IGFRI), Jhansi, to fulfill the needs of dairy farmers for green fodder throughout the year. Napier- Bajra is perennial and once planted it gives fodder for 2-3 years. The sowing practices/machine has a significant effect on green fodder yield of fodder crops. Therefore, present study was conducted to evaluate the performance of three planters namely Semi-automatic type, sugarcane cutter planter, vegetable nursery planter and potato planter for sowing of Napier- Bajra variety PBN-233. The number of plants/ha for sugarcane cutter planter, vegetable transplanter, potato planter and control were 23,563, 19,895, 21,442 and 20,826 respectively. Green fodder yield was highest for sugarcane cutter planter as 279.13 t·ha-1 and for semi-automatic potato planter, vegetable nursery transplanter and control were 262.79, 250.42 and 255.25 t·ha-1 respectively. Benefit cost ratio for sugarcane cutter planter, vegetable nursery transplanter, potato planter and control were 2.49:1, 2.17:1, 2.38:1 and 2.27:1 respectively. The saving in time with semi-automatic potato planter, vegetable nursery planter and sugarcane cutter planter as compared with manual sowing method were 77.78 %, 33.33 %, and 75.00 % respectively.Prema 17. popisu stoke (2003) ukupna stočna populacija se sastoji od 485 miliona grla, a brojno stanje živine iznosilo je 489 miliona. Očekuje se da se ukupna populacija poveća u narednim godinama za 1.23%. Trenutno u zemlji postoji neto deficit zelene stočne hrane od 61.1%, 21.9% suvih žetvenih ostataka i 64% hraniva. U Indijskom istraživačkom institute za pašnjake i krmno bilje (IGFRI), Jhansi, razvijeno je preklapanje sistema ratarenja da bi se zadovoljile potrebe farmi muznih krava za zelenim hranivima tokom cele godine. Napier-Bajra je višegodišnja biljka i posle sadnje daje stočnu hranu naredne 2-3 godine. Značajan uticaj na prinos ima i tehnika sadnje. Zato je ova studija izvedena da oceni performanse tri sadilice: poluautomatske sadilice, sadilice reznica, sadilice povrća i sadilice krompira za sadnju Napier- Bajra varieteta PBN-233. Broj biljaka po hektaru za sadilicu reznica, povrća, krompira i kontrolu iznosio je 23.563, 19.895, 21.442 i 20.826, redom. Najveći prinos zelene stočne hrane postignut je sadilicom reznica šećerne trske (279.13 t·ha-1), a sa poluautomatskom sadilicom krompira, sadilicom povrća i kontrolom prinosi su iznosili 262.79, 250.42 i 255.25 t·ha-1, redom. Odnos isplativosti investicije iznosio je 2.49:1, 2.17:1, 2.38:1 i 2.27:1, redom. Ušteda vremena u poređenju sa ručnom sadnjom je bila 77.78 %, 33.33 % i 75.00 %, redom

Valorisation of xylose to renewable fuels and chemicals, an essential step in augmenting the commercial viability of lignocellulosic biorefineries

Biologists and engineers are making tremendous efforts in contributing to a sustainable and green society. To that end, there is growing interest in waste management and valorisation. Lignocellulosic biomass (LCB) is the most abundant material on the earth and an inevitable waste predominantly originating from agricultural residues, forest biomass and municipal solid waste streams. LCB serves as the renewable feedstock for clean and sustainable processes and products with low carbon emission. Cellulose and hemicellulose constitute the polymeric structure of LCB, which on depolymerisation liberates oligomeric or monomeric glucose and xylose, respectively. The preferential utilization of glucose and/or absence of the xylose metabolic pathway in microbial systems cause xylose valorization to be alienated and abandoned, a major bottleneck in the commercial viability of LCB-based biorefineries. Xylose is the second most abundant sugar in LCB, but a non-conventional industrial substrate unlike glucose. The current review seeks to summarize the recent developments in the biological conversion of xylose into a myriad of sustainable products and associated challenges. The review discusses the microbiology, genetics, and biochemistry of xylose metabolism with hurdles requiring debottlenecking for efficient xylose assimilation. It further describes the product formation by microbial cell factories which can assimilate xylose naturally and rewiring of metabolic networks to ameliorate xylose-based bioproduction in native as well as non-native strains. The review also includes a case study that provides an argument on a suitable pathway for optimal cell growth and succinic acid (SA) production from xylose through elementary flux mode analysis. Finally, a product portfolio from xylose bioconversion has been evaluated along with significant developments made through enzyme, metabolic and process engineering approaches, to maximize the product titers and yield, eventually empowering LCB-based biorefineries. Towards the end, the review is wrapped up with current challenges, concluding remarks, and prospects with an argument for intense future research into xylose-based biorefineries.Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) Grant BB/S011951/

Detection of Mixed Infections with Plasmodium spp. by PCR, India, 2014

In 8 malaria-endemic states in India, mixed Plasmodium spp. infections were detected by PCR in 17.4% (265/1,521) of blood samples that microscopy had shown to contain only P. falciparum. The quality of microscopy must be improved because use of PCR for detection of malaria parasites is limited in rural areas

Advances in algal biomass pretreatment and its valorisation into biochemical and bioenergy by the microbial processes

Urbanization and pollution are the major issues of the current time own to the exhaustive consumption of fossil fuels which have a detrimental effect on the nation's economies and air quality due to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and shortage of energy reserves. Algae, an autotrophic organism provides a green substitute for energy as well as commercial products. Algal extracts become an efficient source for bioactive compounds having anti-microbial, anti-oxidative, anti-inflammatory, and anti-cancerous potential. Besides the conventional approach, residual biomass from any algal-based process might act as a renewable substrate for fermentation. Likewise, lignocellulosic biomass, algal biomass can also be processed for sugar recovery by different pre-treatment strategies like acid and alkali hydrolysis, microwave, ionic liquid, and ammonia fiber explosion, etc. Residual algal biomass hydrolysate can be used as a feedstock to produce bioenergy (biohydrogen, biogas, methane) and biochemicals (organic acids, polyhydroxyalkanoates) via microbial fermentation

Prevalence of psychiatric disorders in patients with a diagnosis of polycystic ovary syndrome in Kashmir

Background: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is one of the common endocrine disorders and is associated with reproductive, metabolic, and psychological disturbances affecting one in five women of reproductive age group. Objective: To investigate the prevalence of psychiatric disorders among women in ambulatory treatment with a diagnosis of PCOS. Materials and Methods: One hundred and ten patients of PCOS were evaluated using Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition criteria by means of Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview, English version 5.0.0. Diagnosis of PCOS was confirmed according to the National Institute of Health/National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, 1990 consensus conference criteria. Forty subjects without PCOS who were matched for age and body mass index were taken as a comparison group. Results: About 23% of cases had major depressive disorder as compared to 7.5% of controls, 1.8% had dysthymia, 15.45% had panic disorder compared to 5% of controls, 6.36% had obsessive compulsive disorder compared to 2.5% of controls, 8% cases had suicidality, 2.72% of cases were bipolar affective disorder, and 15.45% had generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). Conclusion: A high prevalence of mental disorders was observed, especially major depression, panic disorder, and GAD in patients with PCOS in our study. The results suggest that screening and appropriate management for psychiatric disorders should be part of the routine evaluation of these patients