Relationship between phyto-chemicals in Mentha piperita and their Antibacterial Activity

A plant with as diverse a role as Peppermint leaves is a versatile resource for all forms of life. The plant extracts have active compounds in the form of alkaloids, glycosides, lactones and steroids. All these active compounds have immunomodulatory and physiological roles of different types, thereby demonstrating the diverse versatility of the plant. Studies need to be conducted with aspects of how the active compounds actually interact with the living systems and affects the structure-function relationships Aqueous extract of Peppermint leaves were extracted by aqueous method. In the qualitative phytochemical testing presence of various secondary metabolites were found in aqueous extract of Peppermint leaves were Alkaloid, Flavonoids, Tannins and Saponin. In the quantitative analysis carbohydrate was found in) Peppermint leaves sugar conc. is found (470 μg/ml). Antimicrobial activity was also quite good, in Peppermint leaves respectively against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. The study demonstrates that the Mentha piperita contains the presence of different bioactive compounds having the potential as herbal drug

In silico identification of miRNAs and their target prediction from Japanese encephalitis

MicroRNA is a family of small non-coding RNAs that regulate gene expression in a sequence-specific manner. miRNAs are a class of post-transcriptional regulators. miRNAs are a family of 19 to 25 small nucleotide RNAs. Since miRNAs have been discovered and their role in gene regulation established, it has been theorized that viruses could generate miRNAs as well and that these viral encoded miRNAs could regulate cellular mechanisms and viral replication. There are several lines of evidence to support this theory. Japanese encephalitis is a viral disease (Flavivirus) but its geographic strains differ by RNA sequencing neurotropic virus that primarily affects the central nervous system. That is why this work mainly focuses on finding out its function. An oligonucleotide drug candidate can be designed against this virus. Computational prediction is analyzed and estimation of evolutionary relationship among types of organism is done in this project. 25 precursors and eight potential miRNAs were found, and these miRNAs target 123 target sites in 13 genes in human

New genetic loci link adipose and insulin biology to body fat distribution.

Body fat distribution is a heritable trait and a well-established predictor of adverse metabolic outcomes, independent of overall adiposity. To increase our understanding of the genetic basis of body fat distribution and its molecular links to cardiometabolic traits, here we conduct genome-wide association meta-analyses of traits related to waist and hip circumferences in up to 224,459 individuals. We identify 49 loci (33 new) associated with waist-to-hip ratio adjusted for body mass index (BMI), and an additional 19 loci newly associated with related waist and hip circumference measures (P < 5 × 10(-8)). In total, 20 of the 49 waist-to-hip ratio adjusted for BMI loci show significant sexual dimorphism, 19 of which display a stronger effect in women. The identified loci were enriched for genes expressed in adipose tissue and for putative regulatory elements in adipocytes. Pathway analyses implicated adipogenesis, angiogenesis, transcriptional regulation and insulin resistance as processes affecting fat distribution, providing insight into potential pathophysiological mechanisms

The Constrained Maximal Expression Level Owing to Haploidy Shapes Gene Content on the Mammalian X Chromosome.

X chromosomes are unusual in many regards, not least of which is their nonrandom gene content. The causes of this bias are commonly discussed in the context of sexual antagonism and the avoidance of activity in the male germline. Here, we examine the notion that, at least in some taxa, functionally biased gene content may more profoundly be shaped by limits imposed on gene expression owing to haploid expression of the X chromosome. Notably, if the X, as in primates, is transcribed at rates comparable to the ancestral rate (per promoter) prior to the X chromosome formation, then the X is not a tolerable environment for genes with very high maximal net levels of expression, owing to transcriptional traffic jams. We test this hypothesis using The Encyclopedia of DNA Elements (ENCODE) and data from the Functional Annotation of the Mammalian Genome (FANTOM5) project. As predicted, the maximal expression of human X-linked genes is much lower than that of genes on autosomes: on average, maximal expression is three times lower on the X chromosome than on autosomes. Similarly, autosome-to-X retroposition events are associated with lower maximal expression of retrogenes on the X than seen for X-to-autosome retrogenes on autosomes. Also as expected, X-linked genes have a lesser degree of increase in gene expression than autosomal ones (compared to the human/Chimpanzee common ancestor) if highly expressed, but not if lowly expressed. The traffic jam model also explains the known lower breadth of expression for genes on the X (and the Z of birds), as genes with broad expression are, on average, those with high maximal expression. As then further predicted, highly expressed tissue-specific genes are also rare on the X and broadly expressed genes on the X tend to be lowly expressed, both indicating that the trend is shaped by the maximal expression level not the breadth of expression per se. Importantly, a limit to the maximal expression level explains biased tissue of expression profiles of X-linked genes. Tissues whose tissue-specific genes are very highly expressed (e.g., secretory tissues, tissues abundant in structural proteins) are also tissues in which gene expression is relatively rare on the X chromosome. These trends cannot be fully accounted for in terms of alternative models of biased expression. In conclusion, the notion that it is hard for genes on the Therian X to be highly expressed, owing to transcriptional traffic jams, provides a simple yet robustly supported rationale of many peculiar features of X's gene content, gene expression, and evolution

The Theme of Love in Hemingway’s Short Stories: An Analysis

Attributes the male character’s desire for freedom from relational responsibility to the failure of love. Briefly looks at In Our Time, “Hills Like White Elephants,” and “Now I Lay Me.

Pedagogies in Higher Education: Striding Towards Innovation

The present paper explores the need and scope of Pedagogies in the domain of higher education. Pedagogy is often a neglected sphere when it comes to higher education, where more attention is given to the mastery over the content, concepts, skills & training. But, a question often raised is, can the learning outcomes be realised effectively without a sound pedagogy? Often, in professional and technical courses (vocational education), the focus is more on skill development and training by an expert in the field. It is being envisioned in the UGC’s report on Higher Education that Indian graduates should not only be competent in their scholastic achievements, rather , they need to be also grounded in their value systems and richness of personality. This requires a transformation of the pedagogy and pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) to bring about quality learning experiences that aims for the holistic development of individual