Source and Control of Hydrocarbon Pollution

Hydrocarbon contamination is of great worry because of their widespread effect on all forms of life. Pollution caused by increasing the use of crude oil is ordinary because of its extensive application and its related transport and dumping problems. Crude oil contains a complex mixture of aliphatic, aromatic, and heterocyclic compounds. Soil naturally consists of heavy metals, and due to human action like refining of oil and use of pesticides, their concentration in soil is rising. Several areas have such high heavy metal and metalloid concentration that surrounding natural ecosystem has been badly affected. The reason is that heavy metals and metalloids limit microbe’s activity rendering it unsuitable for hydrocarbon degradation, thus reducing its effectiveness. Environmental remediation is thus extremely necessary and involves with the elimination of pollutants from soil, air, and water. In the last several decades, different methods have been employed and applied for the cleanup of our environment which includes mechanical, chemical, and biochemical remediation methods. The hydrocarbon pollution consists of many aspects like oil spills, fossil fuels, organic pollutants like aromatics, etc. that are discussed below

Inhibitive action of Bridelia retusa leaves extract on corrosion of mild steel in acidic media

Extract of Bridelia retusa leaves was investigated as corrosion inhibitor of mild steel in 1 N H2SO4 using conventional weight loss, electrochemical polarizations, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopic studies. The weight loss results showed that the extract of Bridelia retusa leaves is excellent corrosion inhibitor and electrochemical polarizations data revealed the mixed mode of inhibition. While the results of electrochemical impedance spectroscopy have shown that the change in the impedance parameters, charge transfer resistance and double layer capacitance, with the change in concentration of the extract is due to the adsorption of active molecules leading to the formation of a protective layer on the surface of mild steel. Scanning electron microscopic studies provided the confirmatory evidence of improved surface condition, due to the adsorption, for the corrosion protection

Genome-wide identification of novel intergenic enhancer-like elements:Implications in the regulation of transcription in Plasmodium falciparum

Background: The molecular mechanisms of transcriptional regulation are poorly understood in Plasmodium falciparum. In addition, most of the genes in Plasmodium falciparum are transcriptionally poised and only a handful of cis-regulatory elements are known to operate in transcriptional regulation. Here, we employed an epigenetic signature based approach to identify significance of previously uncharacterised intergenic regions enriched with histone modification marks leading to discovery of enhancer-like elements. Results: We found that enhancer-like elements are significantly enriched with H3K4me1, generate unique non-coding bi-directional RNAs and majority of them can function as cis-regulators. Furthermore, functional enhancer reporter assay demonstrates that the enhancer-like elements regulate transcription of target genes in Plasmodium falciparum. Our study also suggests that the Plasmodium genome segregates functionally related genes into discrete housekeeping and pathogenicity/virulence clusters, presumably for robust transcriptional control of virulence/pathogenicity genes. Conclusions: This report contributes to the understanding of parasite regulatory genomics by identification of enhancer-like elements, defining their epigenetic and transcriptional features and provides a resource of functional cis-regulatory elements that may give insights into the virulence/pathogenicity of Plasmodium falciparum.</p

Biological activities and Phytochemical analysis of Zanthoxylum armatum DC. leaves and bark extracts collected from Kumaun region, Uttarakhand, India

The methanolic and chloroform extracts of leaves and bark of Zanthoxylum armatum DC. were evaluated for their phytochemical analysis and biological activities. In phytochemical analysis, fargsin was identified as major constituent in leaves methanolic and leaves chloroform extracts. t-butylamine and benzoxazole, 2-(isobutylamino) were identified as the major constituents in bark methanolic and bark chloroform extracts respectively. Both the extracts exhibited moderate antioxidant activity with IC50 values ranging from 19.42±0.07 to78.01±0.31 µg. These extracts also possess moderate anti-inflammatory activity with IB50 values ranging from 28.53 ± 0.06 to 89.80 ± 0.05 µg. Moderate anti-bacterial activity against E. coli and S. aureus has also been observed in both the extracts. The total flavonoids, orthodihydric phenols and phenolic contents were also quantified in the extracts. Based on these observations, it can be concluded that Zanthoxylum armatum DC. may be used as herbal antioxidant, food preservative, natural anti-inflammatory drug and natural bactericidal, besides generation of data base for judicious exploitation in future

Subfamily C7 Raf-like kinases MRK1, RAF26, and RAF39 regulate immune homeostasis and stomatal opening in<i>Arabidopsis thaliana</i>

Summar The calcium-dependent protein kinase CPK28 is a regulator of immune homeostasis in multiple plant species. Here, we used a proteomics approach to uncover CPK28-associated proteins. We found that CPK28 associates with subfamily C7 Raf-like kinases MRK1, RAF26, and RAF39, and trans-phosphorylates RAF26 and RAF39. Metazoan Raf kinases function in mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) cascades as MAPK kinase kinases (MKKKs). Although Raf-like kinases share some features with MKKKs, we found that MRK1, RAF26, and RAF39 are unable to trans-phosphorylate any of the 10 Arabidopsis MKKs. We show that MRK1, RAF26, and RAF39 localize to the cytosol and endomembranes, and we define redundant roles for these kinases in stomatal opening, immune-triggered reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, and resistance to a bacterial pathogen. Overall, our study suggests that C7 Raf-like kinases associate with and are phosphorylated by CPK28, function redundantly in stomatal immunity, and possess substrate specificities distinct from canonical MKKKs

Mapping child growth failure across low- and middle-income countries

Child growth failure (CGF), manifested as stunting, wasting, and underweight, is associated with high 5 mortality and increased risks of cognitive, physical, and metabolic impairments. Children in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) face the highest levels of CGF globally. Here we illustrate national and subnational variation of under-5 CGF indicators across LMICs, providing 2000–2017 annual estimates mapped at a high spatial resolution and aggregated to policy-relevant administrative units and national levels. Despite remarkable declines over the study period, many LMICs remain far from the World Health 10 Organization’s ambitious Global Nutrition Targets to reduce stunting by 40% and wasting to less than 5% by 2025. Large disparities in prevalence and rates of progress exist across regions, countries, and within countries; our maps identify areas where high prevalence persists even within nations otherwise succeeding in reducing overall CGF prevalence. By highlighting where subnational disparities exist and the highest-need populations reside, these geospatial estimates can support policy-makers in planning locally 15 tailored interventions and efficient directing of resources to accelerate progress in reducing CGF and its health implications

Global burden of 369 diseases and injuries in 204 countries and territories, 1990–2019: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

Background: In an era of shifting global agendas and expanded emphasis on non-communicable diseases and injuries along with communicable diseases, sound evidence on trends by cause at the national level is essential. The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) provides a systematic scientific assessment of published, publicly available, and contributed data on incidence, prevalence, and mortality for a mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive list of diseases and injuries. Methods: GBD estimates incidence, prevalence, mortality, years of life lost (YLLs), years lived with disability (YLDs), and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) due to 369 diseases and injuries, for two sexes, and for 204 countries and territories. Input data were extracted from censuses, household surveys, civil registration and vital statistics, disease registries, health service use, air pollution monitors, satellite imaging, disease notifications, and other sources. Cause-specific death rates and cause fractions were calculated using the Cause of Death Ensemble model and spatiotemporal Gaussian process regression. Cause-specific deaths were adjusted to match the total all-cause deaths calculated as part of the GBD population, fertility, and mortality estimates. Deaths were multiplied by standard life expectancy at each age to calculate YLLs. A Bayesian meta-regression modelling tool, DisMod-MR 2.1, was used to ensure consistency between incidence, prevalence, remission, excess mortality, and cause-specific mortality for most causes. Prevalence estimates were multiplied by disability weights for mutually exclusive sequelae of diseases and injuries to calculate YLDs. We considered results in the context of the Socio-demographic Index (SDI), a composite indicator of income per capita, years of schooling, and fertility rate in females younger than 25 years. Uncertainty intervals (UIs) were generated for every metric using the 25th and 975th ordered 1000 draw values of the posterior distribution. Findings: Global health has steadily improved over the past 30 years as measured by age-standardised DALY rates. After taking into account population growth and ageing, the absolute number of DALYs has remained stable. Since 2010, the pace of decline in global age-standardised DALY rates has accelerated in age groups younger than 50 years compared with the 1990–2010 time period, with the greatest annualised rate of decline occurring in the 0–9-year age group. Six infectious diseases were among the top ten causes of DALYs in children younger than 10 years in 2019: lower respiratory infections (ranked second), diarrhoeal diseases (third), malaria (fifth), meningitis (sixth), whooping cough (ninth), and sexually transmitted infections (which, in this age group, is fully accounted for by congenital syphilis; ranked tenth). In adolescents aged 10–24 years, three injury causes were among the top causes of DALYs: road injuries (ranked first), self-harm (third), and interpersonal violence (fifth). Five of the causes that were in the top ten for ages 10–24 years were also in the top ten in the 25–49-year age group: road injuries (ranked first), HIV/AIDS (second), low back pain (fourth), headache disorders (fifth), and depressive disorders (sixth). In 2019, ischaemic heart disease and stroke were the top-ranked causes of DALYs in both the 50–74-year and 75-years-and-older age groups. Since 1990, there has been a marked shift towards a greater proportion of burden due to YLDs from non-communicable diseases and injuries. In 2019, there were 11 countries where non-communicable disease and injury YLDs constituted more than half of all disease burden. Decreases in age-standardised DALY rates have accelerated over the past decade in countries at the lower end of the SDI range, while improvements have started to stagnate or even reverse in countries with higher SDI. Interpretation: As disability becomes an increasingly large component of disease burden and a larger component of health expenditure, greater research and developm nt investment is needed to identify new, more effective intervention strategies. With a rapidly ageing global population, the demands on health services to deal with disabling outcomes, which increase with age, will require policy makers to anticipate these changes. The mix of universal and more geographically specific influences on health reinforces the need for regular reporting on population health in detail and by underlying cause to help decision makers to identify success stories of disease control to emulate, as well as opportunities to improve. Funding: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. © 2020 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open Access article under the CC BY 4.0 licens

Global age-sex-specific fertility, mortality, healthy life expectancy (HALE), and population estimates in 204 countries and territories, 1950-2019 : a comprehensive demographic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

Background: Accurate and up-to-date assessment of demographic metrics is crucial for understanding a wide range of social, economic, and public health issues that affect populations worldwide. The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2019 produced updated and comprehensive demographic assessments of the key indicators of fertility, mortality, migration, and population for 204 countries and territories and selected subnational locations from 1950 to 2019. Methods: 8078 country-years of vital registration and sample registration data, 938 surveys, 349 censuses, and 238 other sources were identified and used to estimate age-specific fertility. Spatiotemporal Gaussian process regression (ST-GPR) was used to generate age-specific fertility rates for 5-year age groups between ages 15 and 49 years. With extensions to age groups 10–14 and 50–54 years, the total fertility rate (TFR) was then aggregated using the estimated age-specific fertility between ages 10 and 54 years. 7417 sources were used for under-5 mortality estimation and 7355 for adult mortality. ST-GPR was used to synthesise data sources after correction for known biases. Adult mortality was measured as the probability of death between ages 15 and 60 years based on vital registration, sample registration, and sibling histories, and was also estimated using ST-GPR. HIV-free life tables were then estimated using estimates of under-5 and adult mortality rates using a relational model life table system created for GBD, which closely tracks observed age-specific mortality rates from complete vital registration when available. Independent estimates of HIV-specific mortality generated by an epidemiological analysis of HIV prevalence surveys and antenatal clinic serosurveillance and other sources were incorporated into the estimates in countries with large epidemics. Annual and single-year age estimates of net migration and population for each country and territory were generated using a Bayesian hierarchical cohort component model that analysed estimated age-specific fertility and mortality rates along with 1250 censuses and 747 population registry years. We classified location-years into seven categories on the basis of the natural rate of increase in population (calculated by subtracting the crude death rate from the crude birth rate) and the net migration rate. We computed healthy life expectancy (HALE) using years lived with disability (YLDs) per capita, life tables, and standard demographic methods. Uncertainty was propagated throughout the demographic estimation process, including fertility, mortality, and population, with 1000 draw-level estimates produced for each metric. Findings: The global TFR decreased from 2·72 (95% uncertainty interval [UI] 2·66–2·79) in 2000 to 2·31 (2·17–2·46) in 2019. Global annual livebirths increased from 134·5 million (131·5–137·8) in 2000 to a peak of 139·6 million (133·0–146·9) in 2016. Global livebirths then declined to 135·3 million (127·2–144·1) in 2019. Of the 204 countries and territories included in this study, in 2019, 102 had a TFR lower than 2·1, which is considered a good approximation of replacement-level fertility. All countries in sub-Saharan Africa had TFRs above replacement level in 2019 and accounted for 27·1% (95% UI 26·4–27·8) of global livebirths. Global life expectancy at birth increased from 67·2 years (95% UI 66·8–67·6) in 2000 to 73·5 years (72·8–74·3) in 2019. The total number of deaths increased from 50·7 million (49·5–51·9) in 2000 to 56·5 million (53·7–59·2) in 2019. Under-5 deaths declined from 9·6 million (9·1–10·3) in 2000 to 5·0 million (4·3–6·0) in 2019. Global population increased by 25·7%, from 6·2 billion (6·0–6·3) in 2000 to 7·7 billion (7·5–8·0) in 2019. In 2019, 34 countries had negative natural rates of increase; in 17 of these, the population declined because immigration was not sufficient to counteract the negative rate of decline. Globally, HALE increased from 58·6 years (56·1–60·8) in 2000 to 63·5 years (60·8–66·1) in 2019. HALE increased in 202 of 204 countries and territories between 2000 and 2019

Mapping inequalities in exclusive breastfeeding in low- and middle-income countries, 2000–2018

Exclusive breastfeeding (EBF)—giving infants only breast-milk for the first 6 months of life—is a component of optimal breastfeeding practices effective in preventing child morbidity and mortality. EBF practices are known to vary by population and comparable subnational estimates of prevalence and progress across low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) are required for planning policy and interventions. Here we present a geospatial analysis of EBF prevalence estimates from 2000 to 2018 across 94 LMICs mapped to policy-relevant administrative units (for example, districts), quantify subnational inequalities and their changes over time, and estimate probabilities of meeting the World Health Organization’s Global Nutrition Target (WHO GNT) of ≥70% EBF prevalence by 2030. While six LMICs are projected to meet the WHO GNT of ≥70% EBF prevalence at a national scale, only three are predicted to meet the target in all their district-level units by 2030

Role komplexu exocyst v růstu a vývoji mechu Physcomitrella patens

První suchozemské rostliny získaly v průběhu svého vývoje rozsáhlá evoluční vylepšení platná i u dnešních moderních rostlin. Polární růst je pradávnou vlastností eukaryotických buněk a jednou z preadaptací, které pomohly rostlinám při úspěšné kolonizaci souše. Polární růst u rostlin určuje nejen směr expanze buněk, strukturní vlastnosti buněčné stěny, ale také orientaci buněčného dělení. Řízení polárního růstu se účastní různé faktory, včetně komplexu exocyst. Exocyst je evolučně konzervovaný poutací komplex, který se skládá z osmi podjednotek, a účastní se poutání (angl. tethering) sekretorických váčků k cílové membráně. Zásadní role komplexu exocyst v různých buněčných procesech u krytosemenných rostlin je v současnosti dobře dokumentována. V této práci prezentuji výsledky doktorandského projektu, který přispěl k fylogenetické analýze komplexu exocyst u suchozemských rostlin, a zejména k objasnění funkcí tří podjednotek exocystu, konkrétně EXO70 (isoforma PpEXO70.3d), SEC6 a SEC3 (isoformy PpSEC3A a PpSEC3B), u modelového mechu Physcomitrella patens. Několik knock-out (KO) mutantů tohoto mechu v různých podjednotkách exocystu (Ppexo70.3d, Ppsec6, Ppsec3a and Ppsec3b) vykazuje pleiotropní defekty, které jsou přímo či nepřímo propojeny s regulací buněčné polarity. Narušen je dlouživý růst a...During the course of evolution the early land plants gained extensive innovations that can be seen in modern day plants. The polar growth is an ancient feature of eukaryotic cells and is one of preadaptations that helped plants in successful colonization of land. The polar growth in plants regulates not only the direction of cell expansion and structural properties of cell wall but especially also the orientation of cell division, and is governed by various factors, including the exocyst complex. The exocyst is a well conserved vesicle tethering multi-subunit complex involved in tethering of secretory vesicles to the target membrane. The essential role of the exocyst complex in regulation of various cellular processes in Angiosperms is now well documented. Here I present results of a doctoral project that contributed to phylogenetic analyses of the land plant exocyst complex and especially to uncovering functions of three moss exocyst subunits, namely EXO70 (isoform PpEXO70.3d), SEC6 and SEC3 (isoforms PpSEC3A and PpSEC3B) in the model organism Physcomitrella patens. Various knock-out (KO) mutants in several moss exocyst subunits (Ppexo70.3d, Ppsec6, Ppsec3a and Ppsec3b) show pleiotropic defects directly or indirectly linked to the cell polarity regulation. Cell elongation and differentiation,...Department of Experimental Plant BiologyKatedra experimentální biologie rostlinFaculty of SciencePřírodovědecká fakult