Anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects of coral reef associated gastropod, Trochus tentorium from Tuticorin coastal waters, Southeastern India

The aim of this work was to investigate extensively, the biomedical potential of the mollusc Trochus tentorium which are abundantly associated with coral reef of the Tuticorin coastal water. The 100% acetone fraction of the gastropod tested for its analgesic effect on Swiss mice model and anti-inflammatory activity on albino rat showed promising results. T. tentorium at the concentration of 25 and 50 mg/kg (p.o) showed significant decrease in the paw thickness (41.15 and 73.6%, respectively) at the 5th hour of the experiment. The 100% column-purified fraction of the T. tentorium (200 mg/kg p.o) exhibited significant (p < 0.001) inhibition of 79.22% against acetic acid induced abdominal constrictions. The dose of 25 mg/kg showed the inhibitions in the writhings of 67.86% (p<0.001) of animals when compared to the standard (diclofenac sodium), and 56.83% (50 mg/kg) inhibition was observed. These facts suggest that T. tentorium is a potential source for anti-inflammatory and analgesic compounds.Key words: Analgesic activity, anti-inflammatory activity, mollusc, southeastern India

In silico analysis of lipopolysaccharide and β-1, 3-glucan binding protein (LGBP) gene from the haemocytes of Indian white shrimp Fenneropenaeus indicus

Lipopolysaccharide and β-1,3-glucan binding protein (LGBP) gene are involved in the pattern recognition mechanism of invertebrates, it induces the cell and humoral mediated immune responses like encapsulation, phagocytosis, nodule formation, clotting, synthesis of antimicrobial peptides and activation of the prophenoloxidase (proPO) system. The current study focuses to model the three-dimensional structure of novel immune related gene LGBP from the Indian white shrimp Fenneropeneaus indicus (F.indicus) by in silico homology modeling and its motif prediction. Fenneropeneaus indicus lipopolysaccharide and β-1,3-glucan binding protein (Fein-LGBP) consists of glycosylated regions which come under the glucanase family. Two conserved putative integrin-binding motif (cell adhesion sites), bacterial glucanase motif (GM) and two polysaccharide recognition motifs for the polysaccharide binding motif (PsBM) and β- glucan recognition motif (β-GRM) were conserved in the novel sequences of Fein-LGBP. Prediction of motifs, patterns, disulfide bridges and secondary structure were performed for functional characterization of the Fein-LGBP. Three dimensional structure of the Fein-LGBP was generated by Modeller9V8, Swiss Model and validated using NIH server. Results revealed that the modelled structure of Fein-LGBP was 75.7% of residues in allowed region. Theoretical model of Fein- LGBP facilitates to the discovery of new synthetic immune related peptides, agonists that could be useful to  understand the mechanism of LGBP involvement in the prophenoloxidase activating system of crustaceans. The tertiary structure prediction of the immune related gene Fein- LGBP will assist to explore more knowledge in immune system of crustaceans

Development and Automation of Fixed Wing UAV for Reconnaissance Mission with FPV Capability

Today's military missions require pre-emptive knowledge of hostile activities in and around the conflict zone. Using a multi rotor UAV for Reconnaissance has many disadvantages, such as cost, range, reduced maneuverability and much more. The main objective is to make the UAV completely autonomous, with the transmitter on standby. By entering the flight plan into the Ground Control System, the UAV will complete the assigned mission autonomously and will be guided by an operational flight plan wherein active waypoints are plotted in the GCS. The GCS can be linked to the Telemetry and the Global Positioning System to have a complete knowledge of the UAV location

Morpholin-4-ium hydrogen l-tartrate monohydrate

In the title compound, C4H10NO+·C4H5O6 −·H2O, the morpholine ring adopts a chair conformation. In the crystal, the tartrate anions are linked via O—H⋯O hydrogen bonds, forming chains propagating along [101]. These chains are linked via N—H⋯O and O—H⋯O hydrogen bonds, involving the morpholinium cation and the water molecule, forming a three-dimensional network

Isolation and Characterization of Bacteria from the Gut of Bombyx mori that Degrade Cellulose, Xylan, Pectin and Starch and Their Impact on Digestion

Bombyx mori L. (Lepidoptera: Bombycidae) have been domesticated and widely used for silk production. It feeds on mulberry leaves. Mulberry leaves are mainly composed of pectin, xylan, cellulose and starch. Some of the digestive enzymes that degrade these carbohydrates might be produced by gut bacteria. Eleven isolates were obtained from the digestive tract of B. mori, including the Gram positive Bacillus circulans and Gram negative Proteus vulgaris, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Escherichia coli, Citrobacter freundii, Serratia liquefaciens, Enterobacter sp., Pseudomonas fluorescens, P. aeruginosa, Aeromonas sp., and Erwinia sp.. Three of these isolates, P. vulgaris, K. pneumoniae, C. freundii, were cellulolytic and xylanolytic, P. fluorescens and Erwinia sp., were pectinolytic and K. pneumoniae degraded starch. Aeromonas sp. was able to utilize the CMcellulose and xylan. S. liquefaciens was able to utilize three polysaccharides including CMcellulose, xylan and pectin. B. circulans was able to utilize all four polysaccharides with different efficacy. The gut of B. mori has an alkaline pH and all of the isolated bacterial strains were found to grow and degrade polysaccharides at alkaline pH. The number of cellulolytic bacteria increases with each instar

Impact of COVID-19 on cardiovascular testing in the United States versus the rest of the world

Objectives: This study sought to quantify and compare the decline in volumes of cardiovascular procedures between the United States and non-US institutions during the early phase of the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the care of many non-COVID-19 illnesses. Reductions in diagnostic cardiovascular testing around the world have led to concerns over the implications of reduced testing for cardiovascular disease (CVD) morbidity and mortality. Methods: Data were submitted to the INCAPS-COVID (International Atomic Energy Agency Non-Invasive Cardiology Protocols Study of COVID-19), a multinational registry comprising 909 institutions in 108 countries (including 155 facilities in 40 U.S. states), assessing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on volumes of diagnostic cardiovascular procedures. Data were obtained for April 2020 and compared with volumes of baseline procedures from March 2019. We compared laboratory characteristics, practices, and procedure volumes between U.S. and non-U.S. facilities and between U.S. geographic regions and identified factors associated with volume reduction in the United States. Results: Reductions in the volumes of procedures in the United States were similar to those in non-U.S. facilities (68% vs. 63%, respectively; p = 0.237), although U.S. facilities reported greater reductions in invasive coronary angiography (69% vs. 53%, respectively; p < 0.001). Significantly more U.S. facilities reported increased use of telehealth and patient screening measures than non-U.S. facilities, such as temperature checks, symptom screenings, and COVID-19 testing. Reductions in volumes of procedures differed between U.S. regions, with larger declines observed in the Northeast (76%) and Midwest (74%) than in the South (62%) and West (44%). Prevalence of COVID-19, staff redeployments, outpatient centers, and urban centers were associated with greater reductions in volume in U.S. facilities in a multivariable analysis. Conclusions: We observed marked reductions in U.S. cardiovascular testing in the early phase of the pandemic and significant variability between U.S. regions. The association between reductions of volumes and COVID-19 prevalence in the United States highlighted the need for proactive efforts to maintain access to cardiovascular testing in areas most affected by outbreaks of COVID-19 infection

Household, community, sub-national and country-level predictors of primary cooking fuel switching in nine countries from the PURE study

Introduction. Switchingfrom polluting (e.g. wood, crop waste, coal)to clean (e.g. gas, electricity) cooking fuels can reduce household air pollution exposures and climate-forcing emissions.While studies have evaluated specific interventions and assessed fuel-switching in repeated cross-sectional surveys, the role of different multilevel factors in household fuel switching, outside of interventions and across diverse community settings, is not well understood. Methods.We examined longitudinal survey data from 24 172 households in 177 rural communities across nine countries within the Prospective Urban and Rural Epidemiology study.We assessed household-level primary cooking fuel switching during a median of 10 years offollow up (∼2005–2015).We used hierarchical logistic regression models to examine the relative importance of household, community, sub-national and national-level factors contributing to primary fuel switching. Results. One-half of study households(12 369)reported changing their primary cookingfuels between baseline andfollow up surveys. Of these, 61% (7582) switchedfrom polluting (wood, dung, agricultural waste, charcoal, coal, kerosene)to clean (gas, electricity)fuels, 26% (3109)switched between different polluting fuels, 10% (1164)switched from clean to polluting fuels and 3% (522)switched between different clean fuels