Melatonin mediated high-temperature tolerance at seedling stage in green gram (Vigna radiata L.)

Global warming is predicted to have a generally negative effect on food grain production. The emergence of seedlings, blooming, pod-filling stages and yield of the mung bean are affected by high-temperature stress. Melatonin is a multifunctional signaling molecule with antioxidant properties that plays a vital role in plant stress defense mechanism. With this knowledge, the experiment was conducted to identify the optimum melatonin concentration to mitigate the adverse effects of high temperature in green gram var CO 8 with a completely randomized design (CRD). The treatments consisted of soaking seeds with different melatonin concentrations, viz., 20, 40, 60, 80 and 100 μM. Seeds were sown in a pertidish and allowed to germinate. After 5 days, the seedlings were exposed to two different high-temperature stress following the temperature induction response (TIR) protocol in the growth chamber viz., Ambient + 2°C (40°C) and Ambient + 4°C (42°C). After stress period, the seedlings were allowed to recover at room temperature for 2 days. At the end of the recovery period, observations on temperature tolerance-related traits viz., survival percentage, per cent reduction of shoot and root growth, cell viability, mortality per cent, malondialdehyde content, superoxide dismutase and catalase activity of green gram seedlings were assessed. Seeds pre-treated with melatonin of 100 and 80 µM exhibited higher survival percentage, shoot and root growth, cell viability and antioxidant enzyme activity (like superoxide dismutase and catalase) with reduced mortality per cent and malondialdehyde content under high-temperature stress at both 40°C and 42°C. The results revealed that seeds treated with different melatonin concentrations significantly improved green gram germination and seedling health.               

Exogenous melatonin improves seed germination and seedling growth in greengram under drought stress

Drought stress diminishes seedling germination and vigor by reducing water uptake, inhibiting plant growth and development. Most of the pulse growing areas are under rainfed ecosystems, which significantly reduces crop yield. Melatonin, a growth-regulating compound, is widely used to mitigate the negative effects of abiotic stresses in pulses. With this background, a laboratory experiment was conducted to standardize the optimum melatonin concentration for seed treatment and foliar application in greengram, to minimize the ill effects of drought stress. The experiment was arranged in a completely randomized design (CRD) with three replications for each treatment. The treatments consisted of soaking seeds with different melatonin concentrations, viz., 20, 40, 60, 80 and 100 μM. Seeds were sown in a perti dishes and the drought stress was imposed using poly ethylene glycol 6000 (PEG 6000) @ - 0.4 MPa, and plates were maintained at room temperature (24-30 °C). After the seedlings emerged, various seedling growth parameters like germination percentage, shoot length, root length, vigor index, promptness index, germination stress tolerance index, fresh and dry weight of the seedlings, plant height stress index and root length stress index were recorded. The experimental results showed that drought stress significantly reduced germination percentage and other growth-related parameters in greengram seedlings compared to the melatonin treatments. Among the melatonin treatments, seeds treated with @ 100 μM concentration recorded the highest germination percentage (99.67 %), promptness index (98.80), vigour index (1631.68), shoot and root length (8.9 cm and 7.5 cm), fresh and dry weight of the seedlings (3.249 and 0.147 mg seedling-1) under PEG induced drought stress condition

Cellulose an ageless renewable green nanomaterial for medical applications: an overview of ionic liquids in extraction, separation and dissolution of cellulose

Cellulose is a renewable natural fiber, which has gained enormous and significant research interest and evolved as the prime and promising candidate for replacing synthetic fibers. The various sources of cellulose, which is one of the world's most ubiquitous and renewable biopolymer resources, include trees, plants, tunicate and bacteria. The renewable biomaterial in the form of nanocellulose and its composites have been included in this review having the broad range of medical applications, viz.; tissue engineering, cardiovascular surgery, dental, pharmaceuticals, veterinary, adhesion barriers and skin therapy. These grafts are being fabricated from biodegradable materials. Bacterial cellulose is also an emerging renewable biomaterial with immense potential in biomedical field. The fabrication methods, characteristic properties and various overwhelming applications of cellulosic composites are explicitly elucidated in this review. The crux of this review is to exhibit the latest state of art, development in the field of cellulosic nanocomposite science and technology research and their applications towards biomedical field. Among the fourteen principle of green chemistry the two key principles i.e. using environmentally preferable solvents and bio-renewable feed-stocks covers in dissolution of cellulose in ionic liquids (ILs). In addition, this review covers about the comprehensive extraction and dissolution of cellulose and nanocellulose using ILs.publishe

Corneal Confocal Microscopy: A novel noninvasive test to diagnose and stratify the severity of human diabetic neuropathy

OBJECTIVE: The accurate quantification of human diabetic neuropathy is important to define at-risk patients, anticipate deterioration, and assess new therapies. ---------- RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: A total of 101 diabetic patients and 17 age-matched control subjects underwent neurological evaluation, neurophysiology tests, quantitative sensory testing, and evaluation of corneal sensation and corneal nerve morphology using corneal confocal microscopy (CCM). ---------- RESULTS: Corneal sensation decreased significantly (P = 0.0001) with increasing neuropathic severity and correlated with the neuropathy disability score (NDS) (r = 0.441, P 3) defined an NFD of 6) defined a NFD cutoff of <20.8/mm2 with a sensitivity of 0.71 (0.42–0.92) and specificity of 0.64 (0.54–0.74). ---------- CONCLUSIONS: CCM is a noninvasive clinical technique that may be used to detect early nerve damage and stratify diabetic patients with increasing neuropathic severity. Established diabetic neuropathy leads to pain and foot ulceration. Detecting neuropathy early may allow intervention with treatments to slow or reverse this condition (1). Recent studies suggested that small unmyelinated C-fibers are damaged early in diabetic neuropathy (2–4) but can only be detected using invasive procedures such as sural nerve biopsy (4,5) or skin-punch biopsy (6–8). Our studies have shown that corneal confocal microscopy (CCM) can identify early small nerve fiber damage and accurately quantify the severity of diabetic neuropathy (9–11). We have also shown that CCM relates to intraepidermal nerve fiber loss (12) and a reduction in corneal sensitivity (13) and detects early nerve fiber regeneration after pancreas transplantation (14). Recently we have also shown that CCM detects nerve fiber damage in patients with Fabry disease (15) and idiopathic small fiber neuropathy (16) when results of electrophysiology tests and quantitative sensory testing (QST) are normal. In this study we assessed corneal sensitivity and corneal nerve morphology using CCM in diabetic patients stratified for the severity of diabetic neuropathy using neurological evaluation, electrophysiology tests, and QST. This enabled us to compare CCM and corneal esthesiometry with established tests of diabetic neuropathy and define their sensitivity and specificity to detect diabetic patients with early neuropathy and those at risk of foot ulceration

European Academy of Neurology/Peripheral Nerve Society Guideline on diagnosis and treatment of Guillain–Barré syndrome

Guillain–Barré syndrome (GBS) is an acute polyradiculoneuropathy. Symptoms may vary greatly in presentation and severity. Besides weakness and sensory disturbances, patients may have cranial nerve involvement, respiratory insufficiency, autonomic dysfunction and pain. To develop an evidence-based guideline for the diagnosis and treatment of GBS, using Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) methodology a Task Force (TF) of the European Academy of Neurology (EAN) and the Peripheral Nerve Society (PNS) constructed 14 Population/Intervention/Comparison/Outcome questions (PICOs) covering diagnosis, treatment and prognosis of GBS, which guided the literature search. Data were extracted and summarised in GRADE Summaries of Findings (for treatment PICOs) or Evidence Tables (for diagnostic and prognostic PICOs). Statements were prepared according to GRADE Evidence-to-Decision (EtD) frameworks. For the six intervention PICOs, evidence-based recommendations are made. For other PICOs, good practice points (GPPs) are formulated. For diagnosis, the principal GPPs are: GBS is more likely if there is a history of recent diarrhoea or respiratory infection; CSF examination is valuable, particularly when the diagnosis is less certain; electrodiagnostic testing is advised to support the diagnosis; testing for anti-ganglioside antibodies is of limited clinical value in most patients with typical motor-sensory GBS, but anti-GQ1b antibody testing should be considered when Miller Fisher syndrome (MFS) is suspected; nodal–paranodal antibodies should be tested when autoimmune nodopathy is suspected; MRI or ultrasound imaging should be considered in atypical cases; and changing the diagnosis to acute-onset chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy (A-CIDP) should be considered if progression continues after 8 weeks from onset, which occurs in around 5% of patients initially diagnosed with GBS. For treatment, the TF recommends intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) 0.4 g/kg for 5 days, in patients within 2 weeks (GPP also within 2–4 weeks) after onset of weakness if unable to walk unaided, or a course of plasma exchange (PE) 12–15 L in four to five exchanges over 1–2 weeks, in patients within 4 weeks after onset of weakness if unable to walk unaided. The TF recommends against a second IVIg course in GBS patients with a poor prognosis; recommends against using oral corticosteroids, and weakly recommends against using IV corticosteroids; does not recommend PE followed immediately by IVIg; weakly recommends gabapentinoids, tricyclic antidepressants or carbamazepine for treatment of pain; does not recommend a specific treatment for fatigue. To estimate the prognosis of individual patients, the TF advises using the modified Erasmus GBS outcome score (mEGOS) to assess outcome, and the modified Erasmus GBS Respiratory Insufficiency Score (mEGRIS) to assess the risk of requiring artificial ventilation. Based on the PICOs, available literature and additional discussions, we provide flow charts to assist making clinical decisions on diagnosis, treatment and the need for intensive care unit admission.</p

European Academy of Neurology/Peripheral Nerve Society Guideline on diagnosis and treatment of Guillain–Barré syndrome

Guillain–Barré syndrome (GBS) is an acute polyradiculoneuropathy. Symptoms may vary greatly in presentation and severity. Besides weakness and sensory disturbances, patients may have cranial nerve involvement, respiratory insufficiency, autonomic dysfunction and pain. To develop an evidence-based guideline for the diagnosis and treatment of GBS, using Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) methodology, a Task Force (TF) of the European Academy of Neurology (EAN) and the Peripheral Nerve Society (PNS) constructed 14 Population/Intervention/Comparison/Outcome questions (PICOs) covering diagnosis, treatment and prognosis of GBS, which guided the literature search. Data were extracted and summarised in GRADE Summaries of Findings (for treatment PICOs) or Evidence Tables (for diagnostic and prognostic PICOs). Statements were prepared according to GRADE Evidence-to-Decision (EtD) frameworks. For the six intervention PICOs, evidence-based recommendations are made. For other PICOs, good practice points (GPPs) are formulated. For diagnosis, the principal GPPs are: GBS is more likely if there is a history of recent diarrhoea or respiratory infection; CSF examination is valuable, particularly when the diagnosis is less certain; electrodiagnostic testing is advised to support the diagnosis; testing for anti-ganglioside antibodies is of limited clinical value in most patients with typical motor-sensory GBS, but anti-GQ1b antibody testing should be considered when Miller Fisher syndrome (MFS) is suspected; nodal–paranodal antibodies should be tested when autoimmune nodopathy is suspected; MRI or ultrasound imaging should be considered in atypical cases; and changing the diagnosis to acute-onset chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy (A-CIDP) should be considered if progression continues after 8 weeks from onset, which occurs in around 5% of patients initially diagnosed with GBS. For treatment, the TF recommends intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) 0.4 g/kg for 5 days, in patients within 2 weeks (GPP also within 2–4 weeks) after onset of weakness if unable to walk unaided, or a course of plasma exchange (PE) 12–15 L in four to five exchanges over 1–2 weeks, in patients within 4 weeks after onset of weakness if unable to walk unaided. The TF recommends against a second IVIg course in GBS patients with a poor prognosis; recommends against using oral corticosteroids, and weakly recommends against using IV corticosteroids; does not recommend PE followed immediately by IVIg; weakly recommends gabapentinoids, tricyclic antidepressants or carbamazepine for treatment of pain; does not recommend a specific treatment for fatigue. To estimate the prognosis of individual patients, the TF advises using the modified Erasmus GBS outcome score (mEGOS) to assess outcome, and the modified Erasmus GBS Respiratory Insufficiency Score (mEGRIS) to assess the risk of requiring artificial ventilation. Based on the PICOs, available literature and additional discussions, we provide flow charts to assist making clinical decisions on diagnosis, treatment and the need for intensive care unit admission.</p

Diagnosis and management of Guillain-Barré syndrome in ten steps

Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) is a rare, but potentially fatal, immune-mediated disease of the peripheral nerves and nerve roots that is usually triggered by infections. The incidence of GBS can therefore increase during outbreaks of infectious diseases, as was seen during the Zika virus epidemics in 2013 in French Polynesia and 2015 in Latin America. Diagnosis and management of GBS can be complicated as its clinical presentation and disease course are heterogeneous, and no international clinical guidelines are currently available. To support clinicians, especially in the context of an outbreak, we have developed a globally applicable guideline for the diagnosis and management of GBS. The guideline is based on current literature and expert consensus, and has a ten-step structure to facilitate its use in clinical practice. We first provide an introduction to the diagnostic criteria, clinical variants and differential diagnoses of GBS. The ten steps then cover early recognition and diagnosis of GBS, admission to the intensive care unit, treatment indication and selection, monitoring and treatment of disease progression, prediction of clinical course and outcome, and management of complications and sequelae