Sweet Sorghum Research and Development in India: Status and Prospects

Renewable energy is a critical source of energy that contributes to energy security, reducing dependence on fossil fuels and emission of greenhouse gases. India would require more than 6.3 billion liters of ethanol to meet its ambitious target of 20 % EBP by 2017. Sweet sorghum is a promising dryland adapted biofuel feedstock that addresses food-versus-fuel issue favourably. Owing to its genetic variability in terms of stalk sugar traits such as total soluble sugars, green stalk yield, juice quantity and grain yield various research institutes in India and abroad have developed superior varieties and hybrids. Two commercial sweet sorghum based distilleries were established in India but could not operate for long for several reasons. The decentralized crushing units were established to overcome the issues encountered by centralized units. The large scale cultivation of sweet sorghum can happen if improved cultivars with higher sugar yield with multiple biotic and abiotic stress tolerance are available besides more importantly the policy support from Government of India in terms of both producer and processor incentives materialize

The NEU1-selective sialidase inhibitor, C9- butyl-amide-DANA, blocks sialidase activity and NEU1-mediated bioactivities in human lung in vitro and murine lung in vivo

Neuraminidase-1 (NEU1) is the predominant sialidase expressed in human airway epithelia and lung microvascular endothelia where it mediates multiple biological processes. We tested whether the NEU1-selective sialidase inhibitor, C9-butyl-amide-2-deoxy-2,3-dehydro-Nacetylneuraminic acid (C9-BA-DANA), inhibits one or more established NEU1-mediated bioactivities in human lung cells. We established the IC50 values of C9-BA-DANA for total sialidase activity in human airway epithelia, lung microvascular endothelia and lung fibroblasts to be 3.74 µM, 13.0 µM and 4.82 µM, respectively. In human airway epithelia, C9-BA-DANA dose-dependently inhibited flagellin-induced, NEU1-mediated mucin-1 ectodomain desialylation, adhesiveness for Pseudomonas aeruginosa and shedding. In lung microvascular endothelia, C9-BA-DANA reversed NEU1-driven restraint of cell migration into a wound and disruption of capillary-like tube formation. NEU1 and its chaperone/transport protein, protective protein/cathepsin A (PPCA), were differentially expressed in these same cells. Normalized NEU1 protein expression correlated with total sialidase activity whereas PPCA expression did not. In contrast to eukaryotic sialidases, C9-BA-DANA exerted far less inhibitory activity for three selected bacterial neuraminidases (IC50 \u3e 800 µM). Structural modeling of the four human sialidases and three bacterial neuraminidases revealed a loop between the seventh and eighth strands of the β-propeller fold, that in NEU1, was substantially shorter than that seen in the six other enzymes. Predicted steric hindrance between this loop and C9-BA-DANA could explain its selectivity for NEU1. Finally, pretreatment of mice with C9-BA-DANA completely protected against flagellin-induced increases in lung sialidase activity. Our combined data indicate that C9- BA-DANA inhibits endogenous and ectopically expressed sialidase activity and established NEU1-mediated bioactivities in human airway epithelia, lung microvascular endothelia, and fibroblasts in vitro and murine lungs in vivo

Rhodium(II)-catalyzed stereocontrolled synthesis of dihydrofuran-3-imines from 1-Tosyl-1,2,3-triazoles

Rhodium(II) acetate catalyzes the denitrogenative transformation of 5-substituted and 4,5-disubstituted 1-sulfonyl-1,2,3-triazoles with pendent allyl and propargyl ether motifs to oxonium ylides that undergo [2,3]-sigmatropic rearrangement to give substituted dihydrofuran-3-imines in high yield and diastereoselectivity

A New Basal Sauropod Dinosaur from the Middle Jurassic of Niger and the Early Evolution of Sauropoda

The early evolution of sauropod dinosaurs is poorly understood because of a highly incomplete fossil record. New discoveries of Early and Middle Jurassic sauropods have a great potential to lead to a better understanding of early sauropod evolution and to reevaluate the patterns of sauropod diversification.A new sauropod from the Middle Jurassic of Niger, Spinophorosaurus nigerensis n. gen. et sp., is the most complete basal sauropod currently known. The taxon shares many anatomical characters with Middle Jurassic East Asian sauropods, while it is strongly dissimilar to Lower and Middle Jurassic South American and Indian forms. A possible explanation for this pattern is a separation of Laurasian and South Gondwanan Middle Jurassic sauropod faunas by geographic barriers. Integration of phylogenetic analyses and paleogeographic data reveals congruence between early sauropod evolution and hypotheses about Jurassic paleoclimate and phytogeography.Spinophorosaurus demonstrates that many putatively derived characters of Middle Jurassic East Asian sauropods are plesiomorphic for eusauropods, while South Gondwanan eusauropods may represent a specialized line. The anatomy of Spinophorosaurus indicates that key innovations in Jurassic sauropod evolution might have taken place in North Africa, an area close to the equator with summer-wet climate at that time. Jurassic climatic zones and phytogeography possibly controlled early sauropod diversification

Concurrence of Danish Dementia and Cataract: Insights from the Interactions of Dementia Associated Peptides with Eye Lens α-Crystallin

Familial Danish Dementia (FDD) is an autosomal disease, which is distinguished by gradual loss of vision, deafness, progressive ataxia and dementia. Cataract is the first manifestation of the disease. In this article, we demonstrate a specific correlation between the poisoning of the chaperone activity of the rat eye lens α-crystallins, loss of lens transparency in organ culture by the pathogenic form of the Danish dementia peptide, i.e. the reduced Danish dementia peptide (redADan peptide), by a combination of ex vivo, in vitro, biophysical and biochemical techniques. The interaction of redADan peptide and lens crystallins are very specific when compared with another chaperone, HSP-70, underscoring the specificity of the pathogenic form of Danish dementia peptide, redADan, for the early onset of cataract in this disease

Identification of Ideal Locations and Stable High Biomass Sorghum Genotypes in semiarid Tropics

The dearth of proper delineation for energy sorghum cultivation has led to a prerequisite for evaluation and identification of test environments for the newly developed lines. This becomes of vital importance as the biomass yield is highly influenced by genotype and environmental (G × E) interactions. Several agronomic traits were considered to assess the biomass yield and the combined analysis of variance for G (genotype), L (location) and interaction effect of G × L. The variations in the yield caused by the interaction of G × L are very essential to acquire knowledge on the specific adaptation of a genotype. Thus, the multi-location trials conducted across locations and years have helped to identify the stable environments with specific adaptation for biomass sorghum. The presence of close association between the test locations suggested that the same information about the genotypes could be obtained from fewer test environments, and hence the potential to reduce evaluation costs. The two genotypes—IS 13762 and ICSV 25333—have shown stable performance for biomass traits across all the locations, in comparison with CSH 22SS (check). The top ten entries with stable and better performance for fresh biomass yield, dry biomass yield, grain yield and theoretical ethanol yield were ICSV 25333, IS 13762, CSH 22SS, IS 25302, IS 25301, IS 27246, IS 16529, DHBM2, ICSSH 28 and IS 17349

Implications for sequencing of biologic therapy and choice of second anti-TNF in patients with inflammatory bowel disease:results from the IMmunogenicity to Second Anti-TNF therapy (IMSAT) therapeutic drug monitoring study

BACKGROUND: Anti-drug antibodies are associated with treatment failure to anti-TNF agents in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).AIM: To assess whether immunogenicity to a patient's first anti-TNF agent would be associated with immunogenicity to the second, irrespective of drug sequence METHODS: We conducted a UK-wide, multicentre, retrospective cohort study to report rates of immunogenicity and treatment failure of second anti-TNF therapies in 1058 patients with IBD who underwent therapeutic drug monitoring for both infliximab and adalimumab. The primary outcome was immunogenicity to the second anti-TNF agent, defined at any timepoint as an anti-TNF antibody concentration ≥9 AU/ml for infliximab and ≥6 AU/ml for adalimumab.RESULTS: In patients treated with infliximab and then adalimumab, those who developed antibodies to infliximab were more likely to develop antibodies to adalimumab, than patients who did not develop antibodies to infliximab (OR 1.99, 95%CI 1.27-3.20, p = 0.002). Similarly, in patients treated with adalimumab and then infliximab, immunogenicity to adalimumab was associated with subsequent immunogenicity to infliximab (OR 2.63, 95%CI 1.46-4.80, p < 0.001). For each 10-fold increase in anti-infliximab and anti-adalimumab antibody concentration, the odds of subsequently developing antibodies to adalimumab and infliximab increased by 1.73 (95% CI 1.38-2.17, p < 0.001) and 1.99 (95%CI 1.34-2.99, p < 0.001), respectively. Patients who developed immunogenicity with undetectable drug levels to infliximab were more likely to develop immunogenicity with undetectable drug levels to adalimumab (OR 2.37, 95% CI 1.39-4.19, p < 0.001). Commencing an immunomodulator at the time of switching to the second anti-TNF was associated with improved drug persistence in patients with immunogenic, but not pharmacodynamic failure.CONCLUSION: Irrespective of drug sequence, immunogenicity to the first anti-TNF agent was associated with immunogenicity to the second, which was mitigated by the introduction of an immunomodulator in patients with immunogenic, but not pharmacodynamic treatment failure

Implications for sequencing of biologic therapy and choice of second anti-TNF in patients with inflammatory bowel disease:results from the IMmunogenicity to Second Anti-TNF therapy (IMSAT) therapeutic drug monitoring study

BACKGROUND: Anti-drug antibodies are associated with treatment failure to anti-TNF agents in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).AIM: To assess whether immunogenicity to a patient's first anti-TNF agent would be associated with immunogenicity to the second, irrespective of drug sequence METHODS: We conducted a UK-wide, multicentre, retrospective cohort study to report rates of immunogenicity and treatment failure of second anti-TNF therapies in 1058 patients with IBD who underwent therapeutic drug monitoring for both infliximab and adalimumab. The primary outcome was immunogenicity to the second anti-TNF agent, defined at any timepoint as an anti-TNF antibody concentration ≥9 AU/ml for infliximab and ≥6 AU/ml for adalimumab.RESULTS: In patients treated with infliximab and then adalimumab, those who developed antibodies to infliximab were more likely to develop antibodies to adalimumab, than patients who did not develop antibodies to infliximab (OR 1.99, 95%CI 1.27-3.20, p = 0.002). Similarly, in patients treated with adalimumab and then infliximab, immunogenicity to adalimumab was associated with subsequent immunogenicity to infliximab (OR 2.63, 95%CI 1.46-4.80, p < 0.001). For each 10-fold increase in anti-infliximab and anti-adalimumab antibody concentration, the odds of subsequently developing antibodies to adalimumab and infliximab increased by 1.73 (95% CI 1.38-2.17, p < 0.001) and 1.99 (95%CI 1.34-2.99, p < 0.001), respectively. Patients who developed immunogenicity with undetectable drug levels to infliximab were more likely to develop immunogenicity with undetectable drug levels to adalimumab (OR 2.37, 95% CI 1.39-4.19, p < 0.001). Commencing an immunomodulator at the time of switching to the second anti-TNF was associated with improved drug persistence in patients with immunogenic, but not pharmacodynamic failure.CONCLUSION: Irrespective of drug sequence, immunogenicity to the first anti-TNF agent was associated with immunogenicity to the second, which was mitigated by the introduction of an immunomodulator in patients with immunogenic, but not pharmacodynamic treatment failure