PHYTOCHEMICAL AND PHARMACOLOGICAL STUDIES OF ABUTILON BIDENTATUM HOCHST

Objective: The present study deals with the phytochemical and Biological investigation of ethanolic extract of aerial parts of Abutilon bitentatum Hochst.Methods: Ethanolic extract of aerial parts of A. bitentatum was chromatographed over a silica gel column for phytochemical analysis and Pharmacological studies includes the anti-microbial, anti-viral and anti-tumor activity of ethanolic extract of aerial parts of A. bidentatum.Results: Phytochemical analysis of aerial parts of A. bitentatum revealed the presence of n-tetracosane, cetyl stearate, tetracosyl alcohol, cycloartenone, β-amyrin, β-sitisterol, alantolactone, isoalantolactone and a new cholestane derivative. The ethanolic extract of aerial parts of this plant showed trace activity for test bacteria and viruses but it is quite active against test fungi.Conclusion: The extract exhibited significant fungicidal activity

Prominence Seismology: Wavelet Analysis of Filament Oscillations

The temporal and spatial behavior of a large-amplitude filament oscillation is investigated using wavelet analysis. The extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) images of the phenomenon, which occurred on 2002 October 15, were taken from the EUV Imaging Telescope on board the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO). The wavelet spectra, extracted from the intensity data, show that the filament oscillates as a rigid body, with a period of about 2.5-2.6 hr which is almost constant along the filament. The period slowly decreases with time until the filament erupts. No clear sign of the eruption is found in the wavelet spectrum prior to the eruption, that followed the filament oscillation. The axial component of the magnetic field is estimated between 1 and 5 G, which is believed to be reasonable for a polar crown filament of this kind

Transfusion management in a pediatric patient with febrile neutropenia with red blood cell autoantibodies: a case report

Febrile neutropenia is a common complication of chemotherapy especially in hematological malignancies associated with sepsis or severe infection. We report a case where a seven-year-old girl with T – cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) developed febrile neutropenia (absolute neutrophil count - ANC <500/µL). Patient developed transient red blood cell (RBC) autoantibodies which interfered with compatibility testing and posed a challenge in donor selection for granulocyte transfusion. Direct antiglobulin test (DAT) and compatibility testing were done by column agglutination technique (CAT) using polyspecific anti-human globulin gel cards. Antibody screen was also done by CAT using 3-cell panel. Granulocyte concentrate was collected from eligible donors after taking an informed consent using a cell separator based on continuous flow principle. The patient’s blood group was AB RhD positive, however, the auto-control was positive (2+), DAT was positive (1+) but the antibody screen was negative. Monospecific DAT revealed the characteristic of antibody to be IgG (2+). The donor for granulocyte harvesting was selected on the basis of adopting a least incompatible donor approach. During her hospital stay she was transfused with four granulocyte concentrates, and other blood components without any adverse events. The patient’s blood culture was sterile on day 33 of hospital stay and subsequently she remained afebrile and finally discharged on day 41 in a hemodynamically stable state. The hemogram was- Hb:10.7g/dL, Total leucocyte count (TLC): 5610/µL, ANC: 4375/µL, PLT: 22000 /µL. This case draws a special attention to the importance of serological testing in selection of donor for granulocyte transfusion

Molecular Epidemiology and Sequence Analysis of Rabies Virus Isolates from North and North East India

In the present study phylogenetic analysis of 30 rabies virus (RV) isolates collected from North and North East India between 2013 and 2016 was carried out. Analysis of two sets of sequence of non-coding G-L intergenic region, based upon a 132-nucleotide region of the cytoplasmic domain (CD) of the G gene (G-CD) and a 549-nucleotide (Psi-L) was done. The phylogenetic tree constructed using 549 nucleotide sequence of hyper variable region (Psi-L) showed the same topology as that obtained on the basis of 132 nucleotide sequence of G-CD region. Four different genetic clusters (GCs) distributed among three geographical regions were identified. Comparison of deduced amino acid (aa) sequences showed four amino acid changes - aa462G, aa465H/R and aa468K in G-CD region. The change observed at position aa465R indicated the spillover of Indian wild strain (mongoose) to domestic animals in Delhi region. The homology among the Indian RV isolates shared >97% nucleotide similarity irrespective of their geographical regions and hosts. The study revealed that the RV isolates are region specific, not host specific and all belonged to genotype 1

MEASURING THE ATTITUDE OF RURAL YOUTH TOWARDS FARMING: AN EXPLORATORY STUDY OF HARYANA

Not AvailableThe present study was carried out to measure the attitude of rural youth towards farming. The study was conducted in Haryana and sample constituted 270 rural youth. They representedrandomlyselected 270 householdsfrom 18 villages and 9 blocks of Hisar district. Data on socio personal and socio psychological characteristics were collected through face to face interviews and observation using a pretested questionnaire. A five point scale developed by Hari (2014) was used to measure the attitude of rural youth towards farming. The study revealed that 75.19% of rural youth had moderately favourable attitude towards farming. Significant and positive relationship was observed with the age, family size, land holding, herd size, level of participation in farm activities with their attitude towards farming. It is suggested that there is a need of special efforts to attract, train and retain the rural youth in farming as a whole by developing more favourable attitude towards farming by transforming the agriculture and making it more agribusiness oriented, scientifically attractive, and economically profitabl

Avian Influenza (H5N1) Virus of Clade 2.3.2 in Domestic Poultry in India

South Asia has experienced regular outbreaks of H5N1 avian influenza virus since its first detection in India and Pakistan in February, 2006. Till 2009, the outbreaks in this region were due to clade 2.2 H5N1 virus. In 2010, Nepal reported the first outbreak of clade 2.3.2 virus in South Asia. In February 2011, two outbreaks of H5N1 virus were reported in the State of Tripura in India. The antigenic and genetic analyses of seven H5N1 viruses isolated during these outbreaks were carried out. Antigenic analysis confirmed 64 to 256-fold reduction in cross reactivity compared with clade 2.2 viruses. The intravenous pathogenicity index of the isolates ranged from 2.80–2.95 indicating high pathogenicity to chickens. Sequencing of all the eight gene-segments of seven H5N1 viruses isolated in these outbreaks was carried out. The predicted amino acid sequence analysis revealed high pathogenicity to chickens and susceptibility to the antivirals, amantadine and oseltamivir. Phylogenetic analyses indicated that these viruses belong to clade 2.3.2.1 and were distinct to the clade 2.3.2.1 viruses isolated in Nepal. Identification of new clade 2.3.2 H5N1 viruses in South Asia is reminiscent of the introduction of clade 2.2 viruses in this region in 2006/7. It is now important to monitor whether the clade 2.3.2.1 is replacing clade 2.2 in this region or co-circulating with it. Continued co-circulation of various subclades of the H5N1 virus which are more adapted to land based poultry in a highly populated region such as South Asia increases the risk of evolution of pandemic H5N1 strains

A Comprehensive Review on Equine Influenza Virus:Etiology, Epidemiology, Pathobiology, Advances in Developing Diagnostics, Vaccines, and Control Strategies

Among all the emerging and re-emerging animal diseases, influenza group is the prototype member associated with severe respiratory infections in wide host species. Wherein, Equine influenza (EI) is the main cause of respiratory illness in equines across globe and is caused by equine influenza A virus (EIV-A) which has impacted the equine industry internationally due to high morbidity and marginal morality. The virus transmits easily by direct contact and inhalation making its spread global and leaving only limited areas untouched. Hitherto reports confirm that this virus crosses the species barriers and found to affect canines and few other animal species (cat and camel). EIV is continuously evolving with changes at the amino acid level wreaking the control program a tedious task. Until now, no natural EI origin infections have been reported explicitly in humans. Recent advances in the diagnostics have led to efficient surveillance and rapid detection of EIV infections at the onset of outbreaks. Incessant surveillance programs will aid in opting a better control strategy for this virus by updating the circulating vaccine strains. Recurrent vaccination failures against this virus due to antigenic drift and shift have been disappointing, however better understanding of the virus pathogenesis would make it easier to design effective vaccines predominantly targeting the conserved epitopes (HA glycoprotein). Additionally, the cold adapted and canarypox vectored vaccines are proving effective in ceasing the severity of disease. Furthermore, better understanding of its genetics and molecular biology will help in estimating the rate of evolution and occurrence of pandemics in future. Here, we highlight the advances occurred in understanding the etiology, epidemiology and pathobiology of EIV and a special focus is on designing and developing effective diagnostics, vaccines and control strategies for mitigating the emerging menace by EIV

Exploring the solar poles: the last great frontier of the sun

Observations of the Sun’s poles is fundamental to understanding and predicting the solar cycle, constraining polar kilo-Gauss flux patches and plasma jets and illuminating the origin of the fast solar wind. This white paper argues the case for novel out-of-ecliptic observations of the Sun’s polar region in conjunction with existing or future multi-vantage point heliospheric observatories

Measuring routine childhood vaccination coverage in 204 countries and territories, 1980-2019 : a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2020, Release 1

Background Measuring routine childhood vaccination is crucial to inform global vaccine policies and programme implementation, and to track progress towards targets set by the Global Vaccine Action Plan (GVAP) and Immunization Agenda 2030. Robust estimates of routine vaccine coverage are needed to identify past successes and persistent vulnerabilities. Drawing from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2020, Release 1, we did a systematic analysis of global, regional, and national vaccine coverage trends using a statistical framework, by vaccine and over time. Methods For this analysis we collated 55 326 country-specific, cohort-specific, year-specific, vaccine-specific, and dosespecific observations of routine childhood vaccination coverage between 1980 and 2019. Using spatiotemporal Gaussian process regression, we produced location-specific and year-specific estimates of 11 routine childhood vaccine coverage indicators for 204 countries and territories from 1980 to 2019, adjusting for biases in countryreported data and reflecting reported stockouts and supply disruptions. We analysed global and regional trends in coverage and numbers of zero-dose children (defined as those who never received a diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis [DTP] vaccine dose), progress towards GVAP targets, and the relationship between vaccine coverage and sociodemographic development. Findings By 2019, global coverage of third-dose DTP (DTP3; 81.6% [95% uncertainty interval 80.4-82 .7]) more than doubled from levels estimated in 1980 (39.9% [37.5-42.1]), as did global coverage of the first-dose measles-containing vaccine (MCV1; from 38.5% [35.4-41.3] in 1980 to 83.6% [82.3-84.8] in 2019). Third- dose polio vaccine (Pol3) coverage also increased, from 42.6% (41.4-44.1) in 1980 to 79.8% (78.4-81.1) in 2019, and global coverage of newer vaccines increased rapidly between 2000 and 2019. The global number of zero-dose children fell by nearly 75% between 1980 and 2019, from 56.8 million (52.6-60. 9) to 14.5 million (13.4-15.9). However, over the past decade, global vaccine coverage broadly plateaued; 94 countries and territories recorded decreasing DTP3 coverage since 2010. Only 11 countries and territories were estimated to have reached the national GVAP target of at least 90% coverage for all assessed vaccines in 2019. Interpretation After achieving large gains in childhood vaccine coverage worldwide, in much of the world this progress was stalled or reversed from 2010 to 2019. These findings underscore the importance of revisiting routine immunisation strategies and programmatic approaches, recentring service delivery around equity and underserved populations. Strengthening vaccine data and monitoring systems is crucial to these pursuits, now and through to 2030, to ensure that all children have access to, and can benefit from, lifesaving vaccines. Copyright (C) 2021 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.Peer reviewe

Unlocking the Role Of Orphan Solute Carrier SLC38A10 In Brain Metabolism : The SLC38A10 transporter in nutrient and metabolic regulation

Membrane transporters are the primary gatekeepers of cells and regulate the transport of nutrients, metabolites, ions, water, and neurotransmitters into and across the human cells. The solute carrier transporters (SLCs) are the most prominent transporters, comprising 430 members divided into 65 subfamilies. SLCs are located on the plasma membrane and organelles such as mitochondria, vesicles, peroxisomes, endoplasmic reticulum, Golgi, and lysosomes. This thesis aimed to study SLCs of the SLC38 family under nutrient stress, focused particularly on the orphan SLC38A10 transporter. In Paper I, regulation of members of SLC38 family transporter, after amino acid starvation in mouse hypothalamic cells and primary cortex cells, was studied using microarrays and qPCR. We found several members of the SLC38 family that were strongly affected under amino acid starvation and showing a potential role in amino acid signaling in the brain.  In Paper II, we performed a cellular and tissue localization and functional study of SLC38A10 transporter and revealed that SLC38A10 was expressed in both excitatory and inhibitory neurons in the mouse brain and has a unique subcellular localization in the ER and Golgi membrane. Furthermore, knockdown of the SLC38A10 gene resulted in reduced nascent protein synthesis in PC12 cells. Further, to unlock the biological function of the SLC38A10 transporter, in Paper III and Paper IV, we used SLC38A10 knockout mouse model. In Paper III, the goal was to uncover the role of SLC38A10 in acute glutamate and oxidative stress. Here, we found that a loss of SLC38A10 KO resulted in changes in the p53 levels and affected the mitochondrial function. Thus, this study established a possible role of SLC38A10 in cell survival, linked with p53, in mouse primary cortex cells.  In Paper IV, we examined the role of SLC38A10 in amino acid metabolism and nutrient sensing in the mTOR signaling pathway. We performed complete amino acid starvation and refeed experiment on SLC38A10 knockout primary cortex cells. We concluded that SLC38A10 acts as a transceptor and regulates mTOR-dependent protein and lipid synthesis in brain cells, corroborating the findings from Paper II.  To summarize, the present work has uncovered the function of SLC38A10 in the brain. It also provides knowledge of SLC38A10’s role in amino acid metabolism and signaling pathway(s). The findings of this thesis will enhance an understanding of SLC38A10 transporter and provide insight into future disease targeted drug studies focused on metabolic disorder and neurodegenerative disease