Discovery and Molecular Characterization of Selenoprotein M in the Salivary Glands of \u3ci\u3eAmblyomma maculatum\u3c/i\u3e, the Gulf Coast Tick

The Gulfcoast ticks transmit disease-causing pathogens to humans and animals. Rickettsia parkeri is notable among the pathogens transmitted by A. maculatum to humans. Heavy infestations of A. maculatum on animal ears cause them to become thickened and curled, a condition commonly called gotch ear. The tick\u27s multifunctional salivary glands are vital to their biological success and likely also play a critical role in transmission of disease; tick saliva contains a broad array of secretory products that facilitate prolonged tick attachment and feeding; disrupting tick blood feeding or inactivating key tick salivary proteins presents a novel strategy for tick-borne disease prevention. Sequencing of A. maculatum salivary gland normalized eDNA library revealed a gene sequence homologous to SelenoproteinM. Trace element Selenium exhibits a variety of functions in the form of Selenoproteins, most importantly, as an antioxidant enzyme. SelenoproteinM is expressed in A. maculatum salivary glands in almost all the feeding phases. RNA interference (RNAi) was used to assess the role of this molecule for tick feeding success. Silencing of was demonstrated by reduced transcript in salivary glands removed from partially fed ticks. Disrupting expression of SelenoproteinM by RNAi induced rapid weight gain in engorging female ticks in early phase of feeding. Since many Selenoproteins are involved in antioxidant activities, we further evaluated the antioxidant capacity of tick tissues treated with SeiM-dsRNA. There was a significant reduction in the antioxidant capacity in SelenoproteinM silenced tick tissues

Plant protein prenylation in environmental responses and protein production.

Lipid post-translational modifications enhance a protein’s interaction with membranes and other proteins. In this dissertation, I studied a recently identified Arabidopsis gene, PROTEIN PRENYLTRANSFERASE ALPHA SUBUNIT-LIKE (PPAL), by mapping a second-site mutation that rescues the original mutation phenotype and could be an additional factor involved in sugar homeostasis/sensing. I found that mutant phenotype associated with suppressor line was too weak and variable to consistently score, which resulted in not finding any linked markers. I also generated crosses between ppal-1 and ABA biosynthesis and signal transduction mutants to find any possible connection between these pathways and PPAL. By using several physiological screens, I concluded that PPAL’s response is dependent on ABA. A cell wall composition analysis of ppal-1xaba3-1 showed a severe drop in the lignin content of these plants, which shows promise for biofuels and biomaterial applications and indicates possible crosstalk among ABA biosynthesis, sugar homeostasis, and lignin biosynthesis. I found that PPAL functions in the ABA signal-transduction pathway. To investigate the possible cause for distorted segregation of ppal-1 in this study, reciprocal crosses were generated between ppal-1 and Col-0, and F1 genotyping again revealed only Col-0 band and no ppal-1 insertion was found, indicating a possible gametophytic lethality. I also used a mutant of the moss Phycomitrella patens to establish a novel heterologous protein expression system. This mutant, ggb, reverts the plants into undifferentiated, unicellular plants resembling green algae. ggb was used successfully to express three fungal lignolytic enzymes: aryl alcohol dehydrogenase, glyoxal oxidase and laccase. Western blots of total protein from transgenic lines showed the expected protein bands. I found the laccase activity in extracellular fluid from transgenic lines by development of blue-green color with ABTS; however, similar color was also found in an untransformed ggb line. In this dissertation, a bioreactor was developed to test the activity of recombinant proteins. I showed the advantages of ggb as a heterologous protein expression system, including its amenability to easy protein isolation compared to other plant-based protein expression systems

NATURAL RESOURCES FROM PLANTS IN THE TREATMENT OF CANCER: AN UPDATE

Cancer has become the second leading cause of death worldwide. The incidences of cancer are rising at an alarming rate but it can be reduced and controlled by evidence-based strategies for cancer prevention, early detection, and management of patients with cancer. Historically, it is proven that plants and their metabolites have great potential in the treatment of various acute diseases as well as chronic disorders. The novel bioactive compounds from many plants are being studied as potential therapeutic agents because of their high activity and low toxicity. This review gives a comprehensive description of such medicinal plants which have been studied as potentially effective against cancer

Design Simulation and Perfomance Analysis of Efficient Low Energy Adaptive Clustering Hierarchy Protocol in Wireless Sensor Network

Network life has been defined by the use of nodes to store, process and distribute information, which have restricted energy usage. In other words, all aspects of the node must be designed for extremely energy-efficient applications from sensor module to hardware and protocol. Diminished energy consumption by a factor of two will increase the system's overall utility by doubling the device life. In addition, the protocols should be robust against node failures, tolerant of defects and scalable to optimise device life to minimise energy dissipation. LEACH is the first protocol for network networks that utilises hierarchical routing to enhance network life. All nodes in a network are grouped into local cluster groups, with the cluster head being one node. Although all non-cluster head nodes transmit their data to the cluster head, the cluster head node collects data from all the cluster members, conducts data signal processing (e.g. , data aggregation) functions and transmits data to the remote baseline. As a cluster-head node, it thus takes much more resources than a non-cluster-head node. So all nodes that belong to the cluster lose communication power if a cluster-head node dies. In this research, we introduced clustering as a means of overcoming this energy efficiency problem. Detailed description on the process of LEACH protocols is available. The information on the simulation and the findings have also been discussed

Nutritional status of children in districts of Haryana an analysis from National Family Health Survey (NFHS-4 and 5)

Malnutrition in early life either undernutrition or particularly obesity, can be the underlying cause of many non‐communicable diseases. Nowadays child growth failure phenomena are an enduring public health concern in lower and middle-income countries like India. DBM (Double burden of malnutrition) that is underweight and overweight is also a global concern. Recently, National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5) 2019-21 of India, data reported that 35.5 % of children age less than 5 years are stunted or they are too short for their age; 20% of children are too thin for their height (wasted) and 32% under 5 children are underweight.  The district-level data of nutritional status of children indices were extracted from the district fact sheets of Haryana state, published by NFHS, India. This study is based upon two-time frames of the NFHS (NFHS-4 and NFHS-5) series. District wise change detection of nutritional status of children. Results found that the prevalence of stunted children is still present and increased in 4 districts of Haryana whereas wasted and underweight decreased from previous Survey in all districts of Haryana. As per data reported in the NFHS-5 fact sheet, there are 11 districts in Haryana which shows increased in overweight in children. This study may beneficial for health policy and program makers to understand the dynamic trends of changes in nutritional status of children of under 5 years of age group across the various districts of Haryana.

Splitting fields of differential symbol algebras

For $m\geq 2$, we study derivations on symbol algebras of degree $m$ over fields with characteristic not dividing $m$. A differential central simple algebra over a field $k$ is split by a finitely generated extension of $k$. For certain derivations on symbol algebras, we provide explicit construction of differential splitting fields and give bounds on their algebraic and transcendence degrees. We further analyze maximal subfields that split certain differential symbol algebras

Splitting of differential quaternion algebras

We study differential splitting fields of quaternion algebras with derivations. A quaternion algebra over a field $k$ is always split by a quadratic extension of $k$. However, a differential quaternion algebra need not be split over any algebraic extension of $k$. We use solutions of certain Riccati equations to provide bounds on the transcendence degree of splitting fields of a differential quaternion algebra

Feto-maternal impact of altered lipid profile in pregnancy

Background: This study was aimed to evaluate the association of lipid profile with development of feto-maternal complications.Methods: This observational study was carried out in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Pt. J.N.M. Medical College Raipur during August 2015-November 2016. Total 200 study subjects were evaluated who were having normal lipid profile in 1st trimester.Results: Out of 200 antenatal women recruited in our study, 129 had normal lipid profile throughout pregnancy and 71 women developed dyslipidemia.89 % of those women having normal lipid profile did not develop any maternal or perinatal complication, showing a high negative predictive value (88.72%) and high specificity of 91.47%. We observed that the onset of dyslipidemia occurred in 2nd trimester and it was progressive. About 83.58 % of them developed toxemia of pregnancy (GHTN, preeclampsia, eclampsia), positive predictive value of 83.58%. The levels of TC (total cholesterol), TG(triglyceride), VLDL (very low-density lipoprotein) and LDL (low density lipoprotein) were significantly (p<0.0001) higher in hypertensive women than normotensive women. Dyslipidemic women have developed significant (p= 0.00001) level of perinatal complications like preterm (18.05%), IUGR (15.28%) and IUD (13.89%). Sensitivity- 78.9, Specificity- 88.72, Positive likelihood ratio-9.25, Negative likelihood ratio- 0.23.Conclusions: Early pregnancy dyslipidemia was significantly associated with an increased risk of preeclampsia and eclampsia. Thus, evaluating dyslipidemia in 1st and 2nd trimester may help in early prediction and management of maternal as well as fetal complication