Comparison of Different Types of Water Melon for Their Important Nutrients

In the present study three different types (Green, light green and light green banded) of water melon was collected from local market of Peshawar and were analyzed for certain physical parameters (TSS, RI, pH, EC, and acidity) proximate composition and sugars content. The data indicated that TSS (6.90), acidity (10.08) and pH (5.79) were higher in light green banded while EC (472.33) was higher in Green type. RI (1.34) was found same in all types. Proximate showed higher values of moisture (91.93%) and crude fat (43.00 x 10 -3 %) in light green banded while ash (9.60 x 10-3 %) and crude protein (1.75 %) were higher in green. The sugar content of green was highest among all others.    It could be concluded from the data that various types of water melon along with apparent difference are also different according to their composition. So for any nutritional formulations the nutritional composition of each type should considered

Factor affecting Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of rice chitinase gene in Solanum tuberosum L.

Potato is a very important food crop and is adversely affected by fungus. Agrobacterium-mediated transformation can play an important role in the improvement of potato. The present study was conducted to optimize the different factors affecting Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of chitinase gene. Nodes were used as explant of potato cultivars Desiree and Sh-5. Agrobacterium tumefacien strain LBA4404 harboring a pB1333-EN4-RCG3 plasmid having chitinase gene and selectable marker hygromycin gene under the control of the CaMV 35S promoter was used. The parameters optimized for the potato transformation includes co-cultivation time, cefotaxime concentration, and days to pre-selection. The results show that the infection time (2 min) gave best mean value of transformation efficiency, that is, 2.9 and 2.1 in Desiree and Sh-5, respectively. The over growth of Agrobacterium were controlled with a concentration of 200 mg/l of cefotaxime and obtained maximum mean value of transformation efficiency of 3.38 and 3.10 in Desiree and Sh-5, respectively. The pre-selection period seven days prior to selection were considered effective for regeneration of explants and high transformation efficiency. The high mean value of regeneration (3.08 and 2.82) and transformation efficiency (3.00 and 2.60) was observed in Desiree and Sh-5, respectively. The putative transgenic plants were analyzed through PCR by using RCG-3 specific primers.Key words: Agrobacterium, potato, transformation, rice chitinase gene, factors

Faunistics of Tiger Beetles (Coleoptera: Cicindelidae) from Pakistan

The present biogeographic distribution of tiger beetle fauna is an attempt to register all modern taxa from Pakistan. It includes 55 taxa under 14 genera and 11 subgenera. Three species, Cylindera (Eriodera) albopunctata (Chaudoir 1852), Cicindela viridilabris (Chaudoir 1852) and Neocollyris (Neocollyris) redtenbacheri (Horn 1894) are recorded from Pakistan for the first time

N-(4-Meth­oxy-2-nitro­phen­yl)-N-(methyl­sulfon­yl)acetamide

In the title compound, C10H12N2O6S, the nitro group is twisted slightly out of the plane of the aromatic ring, forming a dihedral angle of 20.79 (1)°. In the crystal, the mol­ecules arrange themselves as a chain along the a axis through inter­molecular C—H⋯O inter­actions

Helicobacter pylori infection among type 2 diabetics: a case control study

Background: Helicobacter pylori infection has been associated with hyperglycemia among type 2 diabetics. The objective of this study was to compare the H. pylori infection frequency in diabetic and non-diabetic patients.Methods: This case-control study was done at Al-Tibri Medical College and Hospital from May 2019 to August 2019. After written and informed consent, patients between 18-75 years with epigastric burning, dyspepsia, regurgitation were included and with history of eradication therapy, antibiotic or NSAID use in the last 6 months or surgery of upper GI tract months were excluded. Type 2 diabetics were placed in one group and non-diabetic individuals in another. Both groups were compared for presence of H. pylori infection. Data was analysed using SPSS. Demographic variables included age, gender and status of H. pylori infection. Quantitative data was expressed as frequency and percentages. Chi-square test was applied to test for significance keeping p-value of <0.05 statistically significant.Results: From 480 patients, 355 patients showed positive H. pylori, among them 282 were diabetic and 73 non-diabetic (p-value <0.001). Amongst the 355 diabetics, 55% were male Among 73 non-diabetics, 64% were male. All the patients in the study had dyspeptic symptoms and complained of dyspepsia, epigastric burning and regurgitation.Conclusions: A substantial relationship between H. pylori infection among type 2 diabetes mellitus patients was observed compared to non-diabetics. As a result, diabetic patients having active dyspeptic symptoms should undergo further confirmatory tests for diagnosing H. pylori infection

Protocol optimization for deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) extraction from dried, fresh leaves, and seeds of groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.)

Consistent isolation of best quality deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) from peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) is particularly problematic due to the presence of phenolic compounds and polysaccharides. Inconsistencies in extraction results can be attributed to the age and growth stages of the plant material analyzed. Mature leaves have higher quantities of polyphenols, tannins and polysaccharides that can contaminate DNA during isolation. In this study, we used fresh and dried leaves as well as seeds for optimization of high quality DNA isolation protocols from A. hypogaea. The DNA extracted with three different methods cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB), sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), and cesium chloride (CsCl) density gradient) were comparatively studied by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis in terms of quantity and quality. High quality genomic DNA was obtained from fresh leaves by modified CTAB methods. The DNA obtained ranged from 1 to 2.5 ng/μl. DNA obtained by this method was strong and reliable showing its compatibility for simple sequence repeat (SSR) analyses. The SDS based methodology give large quantities of DNA contaminated with polysaccharides. Fresh leaves also gave best result in SDS method. The quantity and quality of DNA obtained was very poor in all the tested methods in case of dried leaf tissues. The current protocol will probably be useful for the extraction of high-molecular weight DNA from other plant materials containing large amounts of secondary metabolites and essential oils.Key words: Polysaccharides, polyphenols, tannins, cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB), sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), cesium chloride (CsCl), secondary metabolites, SSR

2-[3-(4-Methoxyphen­yl)-1-phenyl-1H-pyrazol-5-yl]phenol

The title compound, C22H18N2O2, was derived from 1-(2-hydroxy­phen­yl)-3-(4-methoxy­phen­yl)propane-1,3-dione. The central pyrazole ring forms dihedral angles of 16.83 (5), 48.97 (4) and 51.68 (4)°, respectively, with the methoxy­phenyl, phenyl and hydroxy­phenyl rings. The crystal packing is stabilized by O—H⋯N hydrogen bonding

2,2′-(1-Phenyl-1H-pyrazole-3,5-di­yl)diphenol

The title compound, C21H16N2O2, was derived from 1-(2-hydroxy­phen­yl)-3-(-methoxy­phen­yl)propane-1,3-dione. The mol­ecular structure of the title compound is stabilized by an intra­molecular O—H⋯N hydrogen bond. The dihedral angle between the hydroxy­phenyl ring involved in this intra­molecular hydrogen bond and the pyrazole ring is significantly smaller [10.07 (6)°] than the dihedral angle between the pyrazole and the other hydroxy­phenyl ring [36.64 (5)°]. The benzene ring makes a dihedral angle of 54.95 (3)° with the pyrazole ring. The crystal packing is stabilized by O—H⋯O and O—H⋯N hydrogen bonds

Preparation of cellulosic Ag-nanocomposites using an ionic liquid

© 2019, © 2019 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. Cellulose-based nanocomposites have gained much attention due to their remarkable biological properties such as biodegradability, biocompatibility, and low toxicity. In this research work, 1-h-3-methylimidazolium hydrogen sulfate ionic liquid was employed as an efficient solvent for preparation of cellulosic Ag-nanocomposites (CRC/AgNPs composite) from Neem plant. Ionic liquid plays a dual role in obtaining cellulose-rich compound (CRC; removing lignin and hemicellulose components) and plant’s extract (phenolic compounds such as flavonoids, tannins, etc.) that reduces the AgNO 3 into AgNPs for preparation of CRC/AgNPs composite. The prepared CRC/AgNPs composite was characterized using XRD, FTIR and SEM techniques. The XRD and FTIR spectral analysis showed the characteristic peaks assigned to cellulosic constituent and AgNPs. SEM analysis revealed the particles in the range from 26 to 56 nm. The CRC/AgNPs composite was evaluated for its antibacterial and mechanical properties. The antibacterial activity against S. aureus and E. coli for CRC/AgNPs composite was observed in comparison to CRC. Cell viability and morphology were performed on MC3T3-E1 cells which showed no as such toxicity for the prepared CRC/AgNPs composite. Moreover, the addition of CRC/AgNPs composite as a filler increased the compression strength of polymeric materials

2,4-Dinitrophenyl hydrazone derivatives as potent alpha amylase inhibitors

277-282In our current study thirteen new 2,4-dinitrophenyl hydrazone derivatives 1&ndash;13 have been evaluated for alpha amylase activity. The molecular docking results indicate that compounds potentially bind in the catalytic site of the enzyme with excellent result. Molecular Operating Environment (MOE) software was used for docking study. 2,4-Dinitrophenyl hydrazone 1-13 have been obtained under reflux conditions by reacting dinitrophenyl hydrazine in methanol with different aromatic as well as aliphatic aldehydes in the presence of acetic acid act as a catalyst. The current results have shown that compounds 5 (IC50 =12.16&micro;g/mL), 6 (IC50 =15.03&micro;g/mL), and 12 (IC50 =16.42 &micro;g/mL) have been found to be the more potent alpha amylase inhibitors as compared to the standard acarbose (IC50 = 42.47&micro;g/mL). These compounds may provide better leads for alpha amylase inhibitor and further assessment of these compounds can be of great help in the discovery of new antidiabetic drugs