M1 muscarinic receptor is a key target of neuroprotection, neuroregeneration and memory recovery by i-Extract from Withania somnifera

Memory loss is one of the most tragic symptoms of Alzheimer's disease. Our laboratory has recently demonstrated that 'i-Extract' of Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera) restores memory loss in scopolamine (SC)-induced mice. The prime target of i-Extract is obscure. We hypothesize that i-Extract may primarily target muscarinic subtype acetylcholine receptors that regulate memory processes. The present study elucidates key target(s) of i-Extract via cellular, biochemical, and molecular techniques in a relevant amnesia mouse model and primary hippocampal neuronal cultures. Wild type Swiss albino mice were fed i-Extract, and hippocampal cells from naïve mice were treated with i-Extract, followed by muscarinic antagonist (dicyclomine) and agonist (pilocarpine) treatments. We measured dendritic formation and growth by immunocytochemistry, kallikrein 8 (KLK8) mRNA by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), and levels of KLK8 and microtubule-associated protein 2, c isoform (MAP2c) proteins by western blotting. We performed muscarinic receptor radioligand binding. i-Extract stimulated an increase in dendrite growth markers, KLK8 and MAP2. Scopolamine-mediated reduction was significantly reversed by i-Extract in mouse cerebral cortex and hippocampus. Our study identified muscarinic receptor as a key target of i-Extract, providing mechanistic evidence for its clinical application in neurodegenerative cognitive disorders

Unmanned Aerial Vehicle for Internet of Everything: Opportunities and Challenges

The recent advances in information and communication technology (ICT) have further extended Internet of Things (IoT) from the sole "things" aspect to the omnipotent role of "intelligent connection of things". Meanwhile, the concept of internet of everything (IoE) is presented as such an omnipotent extension of IoT. However, the IoE realization meets critical challenges including the restricted network coverage and the limited resource of existing network technologies. Recently, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have attracted significant attentions attributed to their high mobility, low cost, and flexible deployment. Thus, UAVs may potentially overcome the challenges of IoE. This article presents a comprehensive survey on opportunities and challenges of UAV-enabled IoE. We first present three critical expectations of IoE: 1) scalability requiring a scalable network architecture with ubiquitous coverage, 2) intelligence requiring a global computing plane enabling intelligent things, 3) diversity requiring provisions of diverse applications. Thereafter, we review the enabling technologies to achieve these expectations and discuss four intrinsic constraints of IoE (i.e., coverage constraint, battery constraint, computing constraint, and security issues). We then present an overview of UAVs. We next discuss the opportunities brought by UAV to IoE. Additionally, we introduce a UAV-enabled IoE (Ue-IoE) solution by exploiting UAVs's mobility, in which we show that Ue-IoE can greatly enhance the scalability, intelligence and diversity of IoE. Finally, we outline the future directions in Ue-IoE.Comment: 21 pages, 9 figure

Molecular Origin of Photoprotection in Cyanobacteria Probed by Watermarked Femtosecond Stimulated Raman Spectroscopy

Photoprotection is fundamental in photosynthesis to avoid oxidative photodamage upon excess light exposure. Excited chlorophylls (Chl) are quenched by carotenoids, but the precise molecular origin remains controversial. The cyanobacterial HliC protein belongs to the Hlip family ancestral to plant light-harvesting complexes, and binds Chl a and β-carotene in 2:1 ratio. We analyzed HliC by watermarked femtosecond stimulated Raman spectroscopy to follow the time evolution of its vibrational modes. We observed a 2 ps rise of the C=C stretch band of the 2Ag - (S1) state of β-carotene upon Chl a excitation, demonstrating energy transfer quenching and fast excess-energy dissipation. We detected two distinct β-carotene conformers by the C=C stretch frequency of the 2Ag - (S1) state, but only the β-carotene whose 2Ag - energy level is significantly lowered and has a lower C=C stretch frequency is involved in quenching. It implies that the low carotenoid S1 energy that results from specific pigment-protein or pigment-pigment interactions is the key property for creating a dissipative energy channel. We conclude that watermarked femtosecond stimulated Raman spectroscopy constitutes a promising experimental method to assess energy transfer and quenching mechanisms in oxygenic photosynthesis

An alpha-1 antitrypsin genetic variant from India

176-178The highly polymorphic human alpha-1 antitrypsin (AAT) gene codes for the most abundant circulating plasma serine protease inhibitor. Previously, genetic variants of the AAT gene were reported from different regions of the world. In the present study, the AAT gene was characterized in an Indian sample. The AAT gene was isolated and cloned from a liver biopsy sample through RT-PCR and the full-length gene was sequenced. Nucleotide sequence comparison with the human genome and the AAT sequences available in the GenBank (NCBI) demonstrated four unique variations—(i) an A to G variation at position 286 (Thr96Ala), (ii) an A to G variation at position 839 (Asp280Gly), (iii) a T to C variation at position 1182 that did not result in any change in the protein sequence (TTT to TTC both code for Phe) and (iv) an A to C variation at position 1200 (Glu400Asp) that resulted in replacement by an amino acid of similar nature. Other variations found were T to C at position 710 (Val237Ala) and T to A at position 863 (Val288Glu), which were also reported earlier. In conclusion, this study reports the entire 1257 bp nucleotide sequence of protein coding region of the human AAT gene from an Indian sample. This preliminary finding is significant, as it reports for the first time the AAT gene sequence in the Indian sample

Not Available

Not AvailableHigh fertilizer use efficiency in rice (Oryza sativa L.)-based cropping systems in Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP) is not achieved because farmers’ fertilizer practices (FFP) and blanket state recommendations (BSR) do not take into account the site-specific variability of nutrient availability in the soil. We evaluated the site-specific nutrient management (SSNM) option against existing FFP, blanket state recommendation (BSR), improved BSR (IBSR i.e., 25 % higher than BSR), and state soil testing laboratory recommendation (STLR) in six pre-dominant rice-based cropping systems namely wheat–rice (W–R), mustard–rice (M–R), potato–rice (P–R), garlic–rice (G–R), chickpea–rice (C–R) and berseem fodder–rice (B–R) in terms of yield gain, economics, nutrient harvest index, soil fertility, and apparent nutrient balances. System rice equivalent yield (SREY) improved by 15.7, 9.5, 13.9 and 30 %, in SSNM over BSR, IBSR, STLR and FFP, respectively. SSNM involved additional cost of ` 2940–5291 ha−1 over BSR and ` 5492–10120 ha−1 over FFP under different cropping systems but contributed higher added net return of ` 23236–75056 ha−1 and ` 39577–143899 ha−1 over BSR and FFP, respectively. The output: input ratio and nutrient harvest index for N, P, K were also highest in SSNM. At the end of the experiment, soil available N, Olsen-P and available K content were either maintained or improved over their initial values in SSNM treatments, whereas soil available K in FFP declined by −1.65 % and increased over initial content in BSR and STLR in 0– 15 cm soil profile depth. After three crop cycles, apparent N and P balances were positive in all the cropping systems and fertilizer treatments; only exception was a negative N balance in C–R and B–R systems in different fertilizer treatments. The apparent K balances were negative in all the cropping systems irrespective of nutrient management options. But, the magnitude of negative balance was lower in plots received SSNM treatment as compared to other nutrient management strategies, indicating a potential for improving yields, nutrient use efficiency and farm profit without deteriorating soil fertility in different rice based systems in IGP.Not Availabl

Molecular Origin of Photoprotection in Cyanobacteria Probed by Watermarked Femtosecond Stimulated Raman Spectroscopy

Photoprotection is fundamental in photosynthesis to avoid oxidative photodamage upon excess light exposure. Excited chlorophylls (Chl) are quenched by carotenoids, but the precise molecular origin remains controversial. The cyanobacterial HliC protein belongs to the Hlip family ancestral to plant light-harvesting complexes, and binds Chl <i>a</i> and β-carotene in 2:1 ratio. We analyzed HliC by watermarked femtosecond stimulated Raman spectroscopy to follow the time evolution of its vibrational modes. We observed a 2 ps rise of the CC stretch band of the 2A_g^– (S₁) state of β-carotene upon Chl <i>a</i> excitation, demonstrating energy transfer quenching and fast excess-energy dissipation. We detected two distinct β-carotene conformers by the CC stretch frequency of the 2A_g^– (S₁) state, but only the β-carotene whose 2A_g^– energy level is significantly lowered and has a lower CC stretch frequency is involved in quenching. It implies that the low carotenoid S₁ energy that results from specific pigment–protein or pigment–pigment interactions is the key property for creating a dissipative energy channel. We conclude that watermarked femtosecond stimulated Raman spectroscopy constitutes a promising experimental method to assess energy transfer and quenching mechanisms in oxygenic photosynthesis