SIP-428, a SIR2 Deacetylase Enzyme and Its Role in Biotic Stress Signaling Pathway

SABP2 (Salicylic Acid Binding Protein 2) plays a vital role in the salicylic acid signaling pathway of plants both regarding basal resistance and systemic acquired resistance against pathogen infection. SIP-428 (SABP2 Interacting Protein-428) is a Silent information regulator 2 (SIR2) like deacetylase enzyme that physically interacts with SABP2 in a yeast two-hybrid interaction and confirmed independently by a GST pull-down assay. We demonstrated that SIP- 428 is an NAD+ dependent SIR2 deacetylase enzyme. Transgenic tobacco plants silenced in SIP- 428 expression via RNAi showed enhanced basal resistance to microbial pathogens. Moreover, these SIP-428-silenced lines also exhibited a robust induction of systemic acquired resistance. In contrast, the transgenic tobacco lines overexpressing SIP-428 showed compromised basal resistance and failed to induce systemic acquired resistance. These results indicate that SIP-428 is likely a negative regulator of SA-mediated plant immunity. Experiments using a SABP2 inhibitor showed that SIP-428 likely functions upstream of SABP2 in the salicylic acid signaling pathway. It also indicates that SABP2 is dependent on SIP-428 for its role in the SA signaling pathway. Subcellular localization studies using confocal microscopy and subcellular fractionation showed that SIP-428 localized in the mitochondria. These results clearly show a role for SIP-428 in plant immunity

Revisiting the Need of Improved Stoves: Estimating Health, Time and Carbon Benefits

Based on a survey of 400 households in Rasuwa district (Nepal) this study finds that stove improvements and a smoke hood can reduce the consumption of fuel, improve air quality and reduce the health costs burden of households. Such local interventions can also contribute to mitigating global green house gases through biomass burning. Findings show that the average indoor air pollution level in traditional stove user households is 15 times higher than the recommended safe level, which inevitably leads to higher health expenditures

FIFA World Cup Stats

A statistical analysis of the FIFA World Cup

Spatial Relation of Bumblebees (Hymenoptera-Apidae) with Host-Plant and their Conservation Issues: An Outlook from Urban Ecosystem of Kathmandu Valley, Nepal

Ecology and conservation status of bumblebee species remains poorly understood, especially in rapidly degrading urban ecosystems, which is important considering the role of bumblebees in the pollinations. We collected more than 200 bumblebee (Bombus spp.) specimens under six species in different parts of the Kathmandu valley (Kathmandu, Lalitpur, and Bhaktapur cities) in Nepal. The species of bumblebees were analyzed with their host plant types and the land use change using remote sensing and field observation data. We found that the bumblebees exert strong variation and were significantly affected by the families of the host plants and the nature of flowers (open and closed type) rather than colors and categories (invasive and noninvasive). We underline that the rapid habitat loss by changing land use in the study area can be a potential threat to the conservation of these important pollinators, and thus, need focused habitat conservation efforts

Contemplation of Anger: An Application of The Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta In Dispelling Anger

One of the widely written literature on the contemplative aspects of Buddhism is mindfulness, and Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta is one of the most important discourses related to mindfulness practice. Although the Sutta itself clearly suggests dispelling anger as one of the benefits of cultivating mindfulness, the application of mindfulness practice in dispelling anger is a very little studied subject. There are two sections in Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta that are closely related to contemplation of anger, namely ‘contemplation of mind’ (cittānupassanā) and ‘contemplation of hindrance’ (nīvaraṇapabba). According to these sections, the contemplation of anger helps in dispelling anger in three main ways, that is by enabling one to know the presence of anger, to abandon it, and to avert verbal and bodily expressions of anger. This paper examines these two sections and their application in dispelling anger. The examination is based mainly upon the Pāḷi canonical texts. Some commentarial texts and works related to mindfulness practice are also used whenever deemed practically relevant.DOI: http://doi.org/10.31357/fhss/vjhss.v06i01.0

Sustainable Harvesting and Cultivation of Endangered Himalayan Wild Plants

IJBST Journal Group is a 100% FREE NON-PROFIT Peer Reviewed Open Access Scientific Publication Group -- Journals as listed at http://www.ijbst.org.Endangered wild species with high commercial interests are at risk of being extinct. This study focuses on traditional Asian medicinal species, one fungus, Ophio-cordyceps sinensis, three wild plants Nardostachys grandiflora, Dactylorhiza hatagirea, Rauvolfia serpentina, and one semi-cultivated plant, Cinnamomum tamala. Information on traditional use and of gathering methods were surveyed from local collectors and stakeholders involved in trade of wild plants, and from conservation and management experts. All target species are popular and prices are high. We found that old people had more knowledge about the plants than young do and people in rural mountainous areas use the plants more frequently than in the more central urban areas. People involved in gathering are likely to be illiterate but they have good knowledge on wild species. Our study emphasized that local stakeholders should be included in the conservation work and with sustainable harvesting methods. In addition, cultivation of the plants could be a way forward. All target species except Cinnamomum tamala have decreasing or threatened wild populations, thus can serve as an example of a native species that is being cultivated and where cultivation go hand in hand with conservation interests.publishedVersio

Weighted Sampled Split Learning (WSSL): Balancing Privacy, Robustness, and Fairness in Distributed Learning Environments

This study presents Weighted Sampled Split Learning (WSSL), an innovative framework tailored to bolster privacy, robustness, and fairness in distributed machine learning systems. Unlike traditional approaches, WSSL disperses the learning process among multiple clients, thereby safeguarding data confidentiality. Central to WSSL's efficacy is its utilization of weighted sampling. This approach ensures equitable learning by tactically selecting influential clients based on their contributions. Our evaluation of WSSL spanned various client configurations and employed two distinct datasets: Human Gait Sensor and CIFAR-10. We observed three primary benefits: heightened model accuracy, enhanced robustness, and maintained fairness across diverse client compositions. Notably, our distributed frameworks consistently surpassed centralized counterparts, registering accuracy peaks of 82.63% and 75.51% for the Human Gait Sensor and CIFAR-10 datasets, respectively. These figures contrast with the top accuracies of 81.12% and 58.60% achieved by centralized systems. Collectively, our findings champion WSSL as a potent and scalable successor to conventional centralized learning, marking it as a pivotal stride forward in privacy-focused, resilient, and impartial distributed machine learning

COUPLING GLACIO-HYDROLOGICAL RESPONSE TO CLIMATE VARIABILITY IN MT EVEREST REGION IN CENTRAL HIMALAYA

Mt. Everest region in the central Himalaya is one of the most heavily glacierized parts of the Himalaya that is characterized by large debris-covered glaciers and many glacial lakes. The glaciers and ice are important sources of fresh water and play vital role in modulating the climate and the hydrological process. Previous studies from different parts of the Himalaya and around the world have revealed climate change at regional and global-scale and in general, shrinking of glaciers and ice caps. Climate change is thus, expected to impact in many ways to Cryosphere, hydrological process, and human livelihood. Temperature is often suggested to be increasing and considered as the main driver of change, however, in the higher elevations where the glaciers exist, climatic data are rarely available and limiting the climate related interpretation. This study is therefore conducted with the aim of linking variation of glaciers, glacial lakes, and river flow to local climatic trends in the higher elevations of Mt. Everest region. The study uses a comprehensive multi-temporal data from different sources: satellite observations, ground hydro-meteorological stations, and regular gridded and reanalysis climate data from the regional and global products (1960s to 2013). First, using the weather data from ground stations, gridded, and reanalysis products, the climatic trends and climate variability are evaluated. From 1979 to 2013, temperature has increased by 0.052 \ub0C a-1, while the precipitation has shown an increasing tendency in 1960s to early 1990s and significantly decreasing afterward. During 1994\u20132013 period, at an elevation of ~ 5000 m, minimum temperature (0.072 \ub1 0.011 \ub0C a-1) has increased more than maximum temperature (0.009 \ub1 0.012 \ub0C a-1), with an average temperature increase of 0.044 \ub1 0.008 \ub0C a-1 in the last two decades. The increases in the temperature are observed during the pre- and post-monsoon months, favouring melting ice close to the glacier terminus. At the same elevation, precipitation has significantly decreased (-9.3 \ub1 1.8 mm a-1) for all months, corresponding to a loss of 47 % during the monsoon. Second, the glacier changes are studied within the Sagarmatha (Mt. Everest) National Park (SNP; glacier area: ~ 400 km2) between 1962 and 2011, using multi-temporal optical satellite imagery, assisted by topographic maps. During the period, glaciers have experienced a surface area loss of 13.0 \ub1 3.1 %, an average terminus retreat of 403 \ub1 9 m, a Snow-Line Altitude (SLA) upward shifting of 182 \ub1 22 m, and an increasing of debris- covered area by 17.6 \ub1 3.1 %. An accelerated rate of glacier shrinkage is observed after the 1990s, which is caused not only due to increased temperature, but also as a result of a significant decreasing precipitation over the last decades. Moreover, selected glaciers have indicated a significant decreasing glacier flow velocities from the 1990s to recent year and a significant loss of glacier thickness (0.73 \ub1 0.63 m a-1) in the last decade. Third, a complete mapping and characterization of a total of 624 glacial lakes with surface area of 7.43 km2 (\ub118 %) are conducted in the SNP, with particular focus on conditions related to the formation of lakes using 2008 satellite imagery. Further, evolutions of glacial lakes are examined using the satellite imagery and topographic maps between 1963 and 2013. Three types of glacial lakes (supra, pro, and unconnected) present in the SNP have their distinctive potential to explain the glaciological and climatic conditions. Results show that the slope of the glacier where lakes are located influence the supraglacial lake formation. Furthermore, the slope to glacier upstream favours the formation of the supraglacial lakes, as a boundary condition. The formation of proglacial lakes is related to the growing and coalescing of the supraglacial lakes. The unconnected lakes are evaluated as a useful indicator of precipitation trend. During the study period (1960s\u20132011), both number and surface area of supraglacial lakes has continuously increased (number +109.7 %; area +13.3 %) with an accelerated rate in the last decade due to increase in the glacier melting. Proglacial lakes are more or less constant in both numbers and size, except Imja Lake that have exceptionally increased, while the surface area of unconnected lakes has increased from 1960s\u20131990s (+4.3 %) and decreased from early 1990s afterward (-10.9 %). The thesis has shown that the accelerated rate of glacier shrinkage and the decreasing of the unconnected lakes in the last decades are associated to decreasing precipitation. Supraglacial lakes behaviour confirms the acceleration of the negative mass balance of glaciers due to the reduced ice velocities caused by decreased precipitation. Finally, the hydrological dynamics of the Dudh Koshi river examined by stochastic frequency analysis, physically-based hydrological models, and multilinear regression using river discharge data and climate data. The analysis suggests that the Dudh Koshi river discharge is mainly dependent on precipitation from 1960s to 2000s, however a non-stationarity in the river discharge is observed since the early 2000s, indicating increased discharge, not justifiable by the observed weakening monsoon. The study concludes by underlining that an accelerated glacier melting as observed through the glacier change analysis affects an increasing of the discharge

Spectroscopic Investigation Into The Heme Binding And The Heme Degradation By Mycobacterium Tuberculosis Mhud

MhuD is a heme degrading enzyme found across mycobacteria. In the heme uptake machinery of Mycobacterium Tuberculosis, MhuD is a heme oxygenase (HO) involved in catalyzing the degradation of heme. Canonical HOs, such as human HO, have been shown to degrade heme to non-heme iron, carbon monoxide (CO) and biliverdin. However, MhuD has been demonstrated to degrade heme to non-heme iron and mycobilin without the release of CO. Formation of a novel chromophore by MhuD revealed that it follows a unique heme degradation mechanism compared to that of canonical HOs. Binding of heme to MhuD is the first step in the degradation process and previous studies have reported the binding affinity of heme to MhuD to be micromolar. This would mean that MhuD may be an inefficient HO in vivo, especially at the recently measured cytosolic labile heme concentration of 20-40 nM. Therefore, heme binding to MhuD was re-investigated using fluorescence spectroscopy. Based on a recently developed fluorescence-based assay, the Kd1 for heme-bound MhuD (MhuD—heme) was determined to be 7.6 ± 0.8 nM. In addition, a UV/Vis absorption-based assay was developed to measure the Kd2 for heme dissociation from diheme-bound MhuD (MhuD—diheme), which was determined to be 3.3 ± 1.1 uM. These data strongly suggest that MhuD is a competent heme oxygenase in vivo. Next, heme degradation by MhuD was investigated, which is shown to proceed via formation of a meso-hydroxyheme intermediate. Time-resolved and tandem mass spectrometry (MS) identified formation of both mycobilin (major product) and biliverdin (minor product) by wild type (WT) MhuD. This interesting discovery warranted further investigation. Heme bound to the MhuD active site undergoes a dynamic distortion between two substrate conformations. Thus, we hypothesized that the conformation of heme may be responsible for the product identity and that both heme conformations may be required for an efficient enzymatic activity of MhuD. To test these hypothesis, different variants of MhuD were investigated. F23W MhuD has been shown to stabilize more ruffled heme and W66F MhuD has been shown to stabilize less ruffled heme than WT. MS studies of these variants identified mycobilin and biliverdin as the major products for F23W and W66F MhuD, respectively. Thus, suggesting that the heme confirmation plays a role in product identity. Also, the biliverdin formation by WT and F23W MhuD lacked regioselectivity, which suggests that its formation proceeds via a non-enzymatic pathway. In addition, UV/Vis study identified meso-hydroxyheme intermediate for the heme degradation by F23W MhuD. Kinetic analysis of the reaction catalyzed by F23W MhuD revealed that the meso-hydroxyheme dioxygenation rate is considerably slower for this variant. In summary, these data strongly suggest that heme degradation product of MhuD depends upon the degree of heme ruffling induced by the active site and that dynamic heme is essential for MhuD

Bevaring og bærekraftig bruk av krydder og medisinplanter : et casestudie på fem kommersielt viktige viltvoksende arter i Nepal

Globally, medicinal and aromatic plants (MAPs) are considered as valuable sources for producing drugs. However, wild populations are vanishing at a high speed due to destructive harvesting and habitat destruction. The study focuses on conservation and sustainable use of such plants in Nepal, focusing on five commercially important wild or semi-wild species: Ophio-cordyceps sinensis, Nardostachys grandiflora, Dactylorhiza hatagirea, Rauvolfia serpentina, and Cinnamomum tamala. The objectives were twofold. Firstly, to map the status and challenges in the conservation and use of the targeted plants in concerned districts. Secondly, to highlight the importance of conserving indigenous knowledge on the plants and their habitats. Despite the presence of various sets of recommendation and strategies for conservation and sustainable use, governmental and non-governmental organizations have failed to make a significant impact on the topic. Wild medicinal plants are still threatened in Nepal, although there are various conservation actions, i.e. botanic gardens and natural reserves. Conservation of traditional knowledge through documentation and oral transfer from one generation to the next is important. In this way, people can actively take part in the conservation of the plants. Questionnaires, group discussions and interviews were conducted in three regions of Nepal and included 80 stakeholders and 10 experts involved in conservation, harvesting, cultivation and trade of MAPs. In addition, a review of databases, reports and scientific papers was included. The results emphasized that conservation strategies like (i.e. In-situ, Ex-situ and cultivation practices) and resource management approaches (i.e. GACP and sustainable use method) should be applied for the conservation and sustainable use of the targeted medicinal plants. A biotechnical approach like In-vitro technique can play an important role by complementing conservation actions but also by helping commercial cultivation by providing mass disease free planting material. Such biotechnical approach can be used to more species and could be especially valuable in a country like Nepal, which is poor and generates considerable amount of income through MAPs trade. Moreover, advantage of diverse climatic condition and profound diversity in the MAPs can help the country and the MAPs stakeholders to generate economic profit through commercialization of the plants.Globalt sett oppfattes krydder og medisinvekster (ofte kalt aromatiske vekster, også forkortet MAP) som verdifulle for framstillingen av medisin. Men ville populasjoner av plantene forsvinner i rask takt, mye på grunn av destruktiv høsting og ødeleggelse av naturlig vokseplasser. Denne oppgaven fokuserer på bevaring og bærekraftig bruk av denne typen viltvoksende planter i Nepal og med fokus på fem arter som er kommersielt viktige i landet: Ophio-cordyceps sinensis, Nardostachys grandiflora, Dactylorhiza hatagirea, Rauvolfia serpentina, and Cinnamomum tamala. Målet med oppgaven er todelt. For det første, å kartlegge status og utfordringer knyttet til bevaring og bruk av nevnte plantearter i utvalgte områder i Nepal. For det andre, å løfte fram betydningen av tradisjonell kunnskap knyttet til bevaring og bruk av viltvoksende planter som finnes hos lokalbefolkningen i landet. Til tross for at anbefalinger og strategier for bevaring og bærekraftig bruk finnes, har ikke offentlige og frivillige organisasjoner lykkes med å endre på forholdene. Viltvoksende populasjoner er fortsatt truede i Nepal, selv om det skjer noe, for eksempel gjennom bevaring i botaniske hager og naturreservater. Bevaring av tradisjonell kunnskap via dokumentasjon og muntlig overlevering fra en generasjon til neste er viktig. På denne måten kan folk ta aktiv del i bevaringsarbeidet. Spørreundersøkelser, gruppediskusjoner og intervjuer ble gjennomført i tre regioner i Nepal og inkluderte 80 lokale aktører og 10 eksperter involvert i bevaring, høsting (innsamling), dyrking og handel med krydder og medisinvekster. I tillegg ble det gjennomført et litteraturstudie av databaser, rapporter og vitenskapelige artikler. Resultatene understreker at både bevaringsstrategier (som in situ, og ex situ bevaring men også aktiv dyrkning) og god ressursforvaltning (som bærekraftig høsting) burde inngå i arbeidet med bevaring og bærekraftig bruk av de aktuelle planteartene. Bioteknologiske metoder som in-vitro teknikk burde kunne bidra positivt ved å fremme en kommersiell produksjon og oppformering av sykdomsfritt plantemateriale. Slike metoder burde kunne brukes til mange arter og kan være særlig aktuelt i et land som Nepal som er fattig og hvor handel med aromatiske planter har stor betydning. Videre finnes et stort spenn i klimatiske soner og en utstrakt variasjon av aromatiske plantearter, noe som skulle kunne hjelpe landet og involverte aktører i dra nytte av dette til å generere økonomisk profitt gjennom kommersialisering