THE NIGELLA SATIVA (L.) SEEDS EXTRACT TREATMENT ON THE HIPPOCAMPAL GFAP IN 2VO-INDUCED CHRONIC NEUROINFLAMMATION

Neuroinflammation has been closely linked to neurodegeneration that leads to dysfunction of memory and learning where glial fibrillary acidic protein plays important role within hippocampus. In experimental neurodegeneration achieved by two-vessel occlusion (2VO) intervention, Nigella sativa (L.) seeds extract (NSSE) has shown to have anti-neuroinflammatory and antioxidant properties. Toxic free radicals formation and prevention of neuroinflammatory mediators are of two possible mechanisms. The current study aimed to investigate the anti-neuroinflammatory effect of Nigella sativa and the role of GFAP as a relevant biomarker of neuroinflammation. The relative normalized hippocampal GFAP mRNA expressions (∆∆Cq) of Nigella sativa (L.) seeds extract treatment (100mg/kg/day orally) was compared with that of healthy control (HC) and untreated 2VO groups (n=6) of rats. The brain hippocampal tissues were humanely collected at the end of 10th treatment week and preserved in Allprotect™ reagent at – 80°C. Total RNA was extracted and purified by phenol/chloroform method using kits, and reverse transcribed into cDNA and relatively quantified as per ∆∆Cq. The NSSE treatment showed significantly (P<0.001) different relative GFAP mRNA expression in the treated group as compared to that of untreated 2VO whilst it was insignificantly (P>0.5) different to that of HC. Prolonged or daily treatment with NSSE may possess moderate anti-neuroprotective activity within hippocampus.&nbsp

BIOLEACHING OF COBALT AND ZINC FROM PYRITE ORE IN RELATION TO CALCITIC GANGUE CONTENT

Bioleaching of a pyrite ore containing high concentrations of cobalt (0.1%) and zinc (0.065%) was affected by small amounts of calcitic gangue (from 0.01 to 1.01%). Results from an air-lift percolator and from Erlenmeyer flask experiments show that a small percentage of calcite raises the pH and arrests the growth of the acidophilic bacterium Thiobacillus ferrooxidans. In percolator experiments, when calcite is completely removed by the continuous addition of small quantities of acid, and the pH of the liquor becomes acid, the micro-organism begins to grow and to bio-oxidize the pyrite ore. The growth of T. ferrooxidans shows different lag phase spans (from 13 to 190 days) depending on carbonate dissolution. The metals Fe, Zn and Co are released into the leaching solution together at different rates after a lag-time which depends on calcite concentrations in pyrite gangue. Metal ratios in the mineral bulk are different from those in the liquor, Zn dissolving 5 times more readily than Co. Bioleaching rates for metal removal from pyrite are higher in percolator (for Fe, from 5 to 15 mg/l/h) than in flask experiments (from 0.5 to 2 mg/l/h), but the lag phases are shorter (from 2 to 65 days). The differences between the two systems are related to calcite dissolution and gypsum precipitation

Prunella vulgaris: A comprehensive review of chemical constituents, pharmacological effects and clinical applications.

Prunella vulgaris (PV) is a perennial herb belonging to the Labiate family and is widely distributed in northeastern Asian countries such as Korea, Japan, and China. It is reported to display diverse biological activities including anti-microbial, anti-cancer, and anti-inflammation as determined by in vitro or in vivo studies. So far, about 200 compounds have been isolated from PV plant and majority of these have been characterized mainly as triterpenoids, sterols and flavonoids, followed by coumarins, phenylpropanoids, polysaccharides and volatile oils. This review summarizes and analyzes the current knowledge on the chemical constituents, pharmacological activities, mechanisms of action and clinical applications of the PV plant including its potential as a future medicinal plant. Although some of the chemical constituents of the PV plant and their mechanism of action have been investigated the biological activities of many of these remain unknown and further clinical trials are required to further enhance its reputation as a medicinal plant

Global, regional, and national age-sex-specific mortality and life expectancy, 1950–2017: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017

BACKGROUND: Assessments of age-specific mortality and life expectancy have been done by the UN Population Division, Department of Economics and Social Affairs (UNPOP), the United States Census Bureau, WHO, and as part of previous iterations of the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD). Previous iterations of the GBD used population estimates from UNPOP, which were not derived in a way that was internally consistent with the estimates of the numbers of deaths in the GBD. The present iteration of the GBD, GBD 2017, improves on previous assessments and provides timely estimates of the mortality experience of populations globally. METHODS: The GBD uses all available data to produce estimates of mortality rates between 1950 and 2017 for 23 age groups, both sexes, and 918 locations, including 195 countries and territories and subnational locations for 16 countries. Data used include vital registration systems, sample registration systems, household surveys (complete birth histories, summary birth histories, sibling histories), censuses (summary birth histories, household deaths), and Demographic Surveillance Sites. In total, this analysis used 8259 data sources. Estimates of the probability of death between birth and the age of 5 years and between ages 15 and 60 years are generated and then input into a model life table system to produce complete life tables for all locations and years. Fatal discontinuities and mortality due to HIV/AIDS are analysed separately and then incorporated into the estimation. We analyse the relationship between age-specific mortality and development status using the Socio-demographic Index, a composite measure based on fertility under the age of 25 years, education, and income. There are four main methodological improvements in GBD 2017 compared with GBD 2016: 622 additional data sources have been incorporated; new estimates of population, generated by the GBD study, are used; statistical methods used in different components of the analysis have been further standardised and improved; and the analysis has been extended backwards in time by two decades to start in 1950. FINDINGS: Globally, 18·7% (95% uncertainty interval 18·4–19·0) of deaths were registered in 1950 and that proportion has been steadily increasing since, with 58·8% (58·2–59·3) of all deaths being registered in 2015. At the global level, between 1950 and 2017, life expectancy increased from 48·1 years (46·5–49·6) to 70·5 years (70·1–70·8) for men and from 52·9 years (51·7–54·0) to 75·6 years (75·3–75·9) for women. Despite this overall progress, there remains substantial variation in life expectancy at birth in 2017, which ranges from 49·1 years (46·5–51·7) for men in the Central African Republic to 87·6 years (86·9–88·1) among women in Singapore. The greatest progress across age groups was for children younger than 5 years; under-5 mortality dropped from 216·0 deaths (196·3–238·1) per 1000 livebirths in 1950 to 38·9 deaths (35·6–42·83) per 1000 livebirths in 2017, with huge reductions across countries. Nevertheless, there were still 5·4 million (5·2–5·6) deaths among children younger than 5 years in the world in 2017. Progress has been less pronounced and more variable for adults, especially for adult males, who had stagnant or increasing mortality rates in several countries. The gap between male and female life expectancy between 1950 and 2017, while relatively stable at the global level, shows distinctive patterns across super-regions and has consistently been the largest in central Europe, eastern Europe, and central Asia, and smallest in south Asia. Performance was also variable across countries and time in observed mortality rates compared with those expected on the basis of development. INTERPRETATION: This analysis of age-sex-specific mortality shows that there are remarkably complex patterns in population mortality across countries. The findings of this study highlight global successes, such as the large decline in under-5 mortality, which reflects significant local, national, and global commitment and investment over several decades. However, they also bring attention to mortality patterns that are a cause for concern, particularly among adult men and, to a lesser extent, women, whose mortality rates have stagnated in many countries over the time period of this study, and in some cases are increasing

A DNA sequence design for DNA computation based on binary vector evaluated particle swarm optimization

Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) has certain unique properties such as self-assembly and self-complementary in hybridization, which are important in many DNA-based technologies. DNA computing, for example, uses these properties to realize a computation, in vitro, which consists of several chemical reactions. Other DNA-based technologies such as DNA-based nanotechnology and polymerase chain reaction also depend on hybridization to assemble nanostructure and to amplify DNA templates, respectively. Hybridization of DNA can be controlled by properly designing DNA sequences. In this study, sequences are designed such that each sequence uniquely hybridizes to its complementary sequence, but not to any other sequences. This objective can be formulated using four objective functions, namely, similarity, H-measure, continuity, and hairpin. Binary vector evaluated particle swarm optimization (Binary VEPSO) is employed to solve the DNA sequence design problem by minimizing the objective functions subjected to two constraints: melting temperature and GC(content). Several set of good sequences are produced, which are better than other research works where only a set of sequences is generated

Global, regional, and national incidence, prevalence, and mortality of HIV, 1980-2017, and forecasts to 2030, for 195 countries and territories: A systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2017

Background Understanding the patterns of HIV/AIDS epidemics is crucial to tracking and monitoring the progress of prevention and control efforts in countries. We provide a comprehensive assessment of the levels and trends of HIV/AIDS incidence, prevalence, mortality, and coverage of antiretroviral therapy (ART) for 1980-2017 and forecast these estimates to 2030 for 195 countries and territories. Methods We determined a modelling strategy for each country on the basis of the availability and quality of data. For countries and territories with data from population-based seroprevalence surveys or antenatal care clinics, we estimated prevalence and incidence using an open-source version of the Estimation and Projection Package - a natural history model originally developed by the UNAIDS Reference Group on Estimates, Modelling, and Projections. For countries with cause-specific vital registration data, we corrected data for garbage coding (ie, deaths coded to an intermediate, immediate, or poorly defined cause) and HIV misclassification. We developed a process of cohort incidence bias adjustment to use information on survival and deaths recorded in vital registration to back-calculate HIV incidence. For countries without any representative data on HIV, we produced incidence estimates by pulling information from observed bias in the geographical region. We used a re-coded version of the Spectrum model (a cohort component model that uses rates of disease progression and HIV mortality on and off ART) to produce agesex- specific incidence, prevalence, and mortality, and treatment coverage results for all countries, and forecast these measures to 2030 using Spectrum with inputs that were extended on the basis of past trends in treatment scale-up and new infections. Findings Global HIV mortality peaked in 2006 with 1·95 million deaths (95% uncertainty interval 1·87-2·04) and has since decreased to 0·95 million deaths (0·91-1·01) in 2017. New cases of HIV globally peaked in 1999 (3·16 million, 2·79-3·67) and since then have gradually decreased to 1·94 million (1·63-2·29) in 2017. These trends, along with ART scale-up, have globally resulted in increased prevalence, with 36·8 million (34·8-39·2) people living with HIV in 2017. Prevalence of HIV was highest in southern sub-Saharan Africa in 2017, and countries in the region had ART coverage ranging from 65·7% in Lesotho to 85·7% in eSwatini. Our forecasts showed that 54 countries will meet the UNAIDS target of 81% ART coverage by 2020 and 12 countries are on track to meet 90% ART coverage by 2030. Forecasted results estimate that few countries will meet the UNAIDS 2020 and 2030 mortality and incidence targets. Interpretation Despite progress in reducing HIV-related mortality over the past decade, slow decreases in incidence, combined with the current context of stagnated funding for related interventions, mean that many countries are not on track to reach the 2020 and 2030 global targets for reduction in incidence and mortality. With a growing population of people living with HIV, it will continue to be a major threat to public health for years to come. The pace of progress needs to be hastened by continuing to expand access to ART and increasing investments in proven HIV prevention initiatives that can be scaled up to have population-level impact. © 2019 The Author(s)