On the Estimation of Mean Infecundable Period Following Childbirth (Using Information on Lactation Period)—A Competing Risk Theory Approach

The methodological paper envisages to provide two measures of infecundable period following childbirth; one based on the lactation period when expiry period of amenorrhoea (P.P.A.) follows the same immediately. The other one is based on P.P.A. when expiry of P.P.A. precedes the lactation period. The weighted average of the two measures (duly weighted by the probabilities of both the events) has been given as the estimate of the mean infecundable period. A competing risk oriented approach is adopted to evolve the methodology.     

A PvuII polymorphism near exon 2 of the dystrophin gene

We report a PvuII polymorphism near exon 2 of the dystrophin gene with a heterozygosity frequency of 0.5.     

Transformation of chicory and expression of the bacterial uidA and nptll genes in the transgenic regenerants

Transgenic chicory plants were obtained from different explantsco-cultured with Agrobacterium tumefaciens. Among tap-root,leaf and cotyledonary tissues, etiolated cotyledons showed thegreatest competence for transformation. The Agrobacterium strainsused contained either pGSGLUC1 or pTDE4 as a vector which carryboth the neomycin phosphotransferase II gene (nptll) for kanamycinresistance and ß-glucuronidase gene (uidA) under thecontrol of different promoters. Transformation was confirmedby NPTII enzymatic assay, histochemical analysis of GUS activityand DNA hybridization. Transgenic plants expressed both markergenes in root and shoot tissues. In leaves, GUS activity wasexpressed in all tissue types, whatever the nature of the promoter.Nevertheless, variable heterogeneous patterns of expressionwere observed in the different root tissues. Differential expression of the GUS fusions controlled by thedual TR or the CaMV 35S promoters are discussed. Key words: Chicory, genetic transformation, GUS activity, kanamycin resistance     

Changes in Phyto-Chemical Status upon Viral Infections in Plant: A Critical Review

Most damaging plant diseases have been caused by viruses in the entire world. In tropical and subtropical areas, the damage caused by plant virus leads to great economic and agricultural losses. Single stranded DNA viruses (geminiviruses) are the most perilous pathogens which are responsible for major diseases in agronomic and horticultural crops. Significantly begomoviruses and mastreviruses are the biggest genus of plant infecting viruses, transmitted though Bemisia tabaci and members of Cicadellidae respectively. Plants possesses some naturally existing chemicals term as phyto-chemicals which perform important functions in the plant. Some antioxidant enzymes are used by plants for self-defense upon foreign invasion of infection. This review explains the present perceptive of influence of viral infections on phyto-chemicals, oxidative enzymes and biochemical changes occurring in the plant. Viral infection mediated phyto-chemical changes in plants mainly includes: up and down regulation of photosynthetic pigment, increase in the concentration of phenolic compounds, elevation of starch content in the leaf and up & down regulation of anti-oxidative enzymes including (GPX) guaiacol peroxidase, (PPO) polyphenol oxidase, (APX) ascorbate peroxidase, (SOD) superoxide dismutase and (CTA) catalase. These changes lead to initiation of hypersensitive response, by thicken of the leaf lamina, lignification under the leaf surface, blocking to stomatal openings, systematic cell death, generation of reactive oxidative species (ROS), activation of pathogen mediated resistance pathways i.e., production of salicylic acid and jasmonic acid. Collectively all the physiological changes in the plant due to viral infection supports the activation of defense mechanism of the plant to combat against viral infection by limiting virus in specific area, followed with the production of barriers for pathogen, accumulation of starch in the leaf and excess production of (ROS). These strategies used by the plant to prevent the spread of virus in whole plant and to minimize the risk of severe yield loss.     

Expression levels of the metalloproteinase ADAM8 critically regulate proliferation,migration and malignant signalling events in hepatoma cells

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common metastatic tumours. Tumour growth and metastasis depend on the induction of cell proliferation and migration by various mediators. Here, we report that the A Disintegrin and Metalloproteinase (ADAM) 8 is highly expressed in murine HCC tissues as well as in murine and human hepatoma cell lines Hepa1-6 and HepG2, respectively. To establish a dose-dependent role of different ADAM8 expression levels for HCC progression, ADAM8 expression was either reduced via shRNA- or siRNA-mediated knockdown or increased by using a retroviral overexpression vector. These two complementary approaches revealed that ADAM8 expression levels correlated positively with proliferation, clonogenicity, migration and matrix invasion and negatively with apoptosis of hepatoma cells. Furthermore, the analysis of pro-migratory and proliferative signalling pathways revealed that ADAM8 expression level was positively associated with expression of β1 integrin as well as with the activation of focal adhesion kinase (FAK), mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK), Src kinase and Rho A GTPase. Finally, up-regulation of promigatory signalling and cell migration was also seen with a proteolytically inactive ADAM8 mutant. These findings reveal that ADAM8 is critically up-regulated in hepatoma cells contributes to cell proliferation and survival and furthermore induces pro-migratory signalling pathways independently of its proteolytic activity. By this, ADAM8 can promote cell functions most relevant for HCC growth and metastasis.     

Effect of host plant on cornucopia of mango fruit flies (Diptera: Tephritidae) and their triumphant management in context of climate change

A study was performed to assess the preference of fourteen mango cultivars for fruit flies and their management by bagging. So the choice of Tephritid flies to mango cultivars during fruiting phase is crucial. Fourteen different cultivars of mango viz., ‘Dusehri’, ‘Malda’, ‘Langra’ early cultivars, ‘Chaunsa’, ‘Fajri Klan’, ‘Sensation’ medium whereas ‘Sanglakhi’, ‘Retaul-12’, ‘Mehmood Khan’, ‘Tukhmi’, ‘Kala Chaunsa’, ‘Chitta Chaunsa’, ‘Dai Wala’ and ‘Sobey De Ting’ late cultivars were assessed for their suitability for fruit flies. The results indicate that the population density of fruit flies was higher on late cultivars like ‘Sanglakhi’ (20.61 percent), ‘Mehmood Khan’ (20.22 percent) and ‘Reutal-12’ (19.92 percent) were proved to be highly susceptible to fruit flies. Among these the cultivar ‘Reutal-12’ was selected being commercial and future cultivar for the management of fruit flies through bagging. The results reported that the attack of tephritid fruit flies and other insect pests were zero in bagged fruits as compared with control. It was further recorded that the bagged fruits has maximum average fruit weight i.e. 203.50 and 197.83 g per fruit was noted in those treatments where butter paper bag and brown paper bag was wrapped with better coloration as compared with un-bagged fruit with 159.5 g per fruit. Similarly, on an average fruit length were more i.e. 90.17, 91.33 mm in bagged fruit and 85.33 in un-bagged fruits. Furthermore, bagged fruits have zero incidence of disease with reduced fruit crack, fruit sunburn, mechanical damage, bird damage, fruit blemished and agrochemical residues on the fruit. So, it is concluded that the special attention should be given on ‘Reutal-12’ for the management of fruit flies when devising an IPM program for the control of fruit flies. Further, bagging has proved to be the good agricultural practices for the production of quality mango.     

In silico annotation of unreviewed acetylcholinesterase (AChE) in some lepidopteran insect pest species reveals the causes of insecticide resistance

Lepidoptera is the second most diverse insect order outnumbered only by the Coeleptera. Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) is the major target site for insecticides. Extensive use of insecticides, to inhibit the function of this enzyme, have resulted in the development of insecticide resistance. Complete knowledge of the target proteins is very important to know the cause of resistance. Computational annotation of insect acetylcholinesterase can be helpful for the characterization of this important protein. Acetylcholinesterase of fourteen lepidopteran insect pest species was annotated by using different bioinformatics tools. AChE in all the species was hydrophilic and thermostable. All the species showed lower values for instability index except L. orbonalis, S. exigua and T. absoluta. Highest percentage of Arg, Asp, Asn, Gln and Cys were recorded in P. rapae. High percentage of Cys and Gln might be reason for insecticide resistance development in P. rapae. Phylogenetic analysis revealed the AChE in T. absoluta, L. orbonalis and S. exigua are closely related and emerged from same primary branch. Three functional motifs were predicted in eleven species while only two were found in L. orbonalis, S. exigua and T. absoluta. AChE in eleven species followed secretory pathway and have signal peptides. No signal peptides were predicted for S. exigua, L. orbonalis and T. absoluta and follow non secretory pathway. Arginine methylation and cysteine palmotylation was found in all species except S. exigua, L. orbonalis and T. absoluta. Glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI) anchor was predicted in only nine species.     

Correction for Irrelevant Absorption in Multicomponent Spectrophotometric Assay of Riboflavin, Formylmethylflavin, and Degradation Products: Kinetic Applications

In the spectrophotometric assay of multicomponent systems involved in drug degradation studies, some minor or unknown degradation products may be present. These products may interfere in the assay and thus invalidate the results due to their absorption in the range of analytical wavelengths. This interference may be eliminated by the application of an appropriate correction procedure to obtain reliable data for kinetic treatment. The present study is based on the application of linear and non-linear irrelevant absorption corrections in the multicomponent spectrophotometric assay of riboflavin and formylmethylflavin during the photolysis and hydrolysis studies. The correction procedures take into account the interference caused by minor or unknown products and have shown considerable improvement in the assay data in terms of the molar balance. The treatment of the corrected data has led to more accurate kinetic results in degradation studies.     

Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior in Relation to Esophageal and Gastric Cancers in the NIH-AARP Cohort

Introduction

Body mass index is known to be positively associated with an increased risk of adenocarcinomas of the esophagus, yet there is there limited evidence on whether physical activity or sedentary behavior affects risk of histology- and site-specific upper gastrointestinal cancers. We used the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study to assess these exposures in relation to esophageal adenocarcinoma (EA), esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC), gastric cardia adenocarcinoma (GCA), and gastric non-cardia adenocarcinoma (GNCA).

Methods

Self-administered questionnaires were used to elicit physical activity and sedentary behavior exposures at various age periods. Cohort members were followed via linkage to the US Postal Service National Change of Address database, the Social Security Administration Death Master File, and the National Death Index. Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to estimate hazard ratios (HR) and 95 percent confidence intervals (95%CI)

Results

During 4.8 million person years, there were a total of 215 incident ESCCs, 631 EAs, 453 GCAs, and 501 GNCAs for analysis. Strenuous physical activity in the last 12 months (HR_{>5 times/week vs. never}=0.58, 95%CI: 0.39, 0.88) and typical physical activity and sports during ages 15–18 years (p for trend=0.01) were each inversely associated with GNCA risk. Increased sedentary behavior was inversely associated with EA (HR_{5–6 hrs/day vs. <1 hr}=0.57, 95%CI: 0.36, 0.92). There was no evidence that BMI was a confounder or effect modifier of any relationship. After adjustment for multiple testing, none of these results were deemed to be statistically significant at p<0.05.

Conclusions

We find evidence for an inverse association between physical activity and GNCA risk. Associations between body mass index and adenocarcinomas of the esophagus do not appear to be related to physical activity and sedentary behavior.     

Molecular and morphological discrimination of Chrysanthemum indicum using allele-specific PCR and T-shaped trichome

Molecular Biology Reports - Chrysanthemum indicum L. is a traditional oriental medicinal herb prepared as a tea from flowers that have been used in China and South Korea since ancient times. It has...