Plant contents and quality of makhana (Euryale ferox)

Summary As a part of integrated study of makhana, the mineral contents of the plant parts and the fruits of makhana (Euryale ferox) have been presented here. It has been observed that the fruits were not only rich in minerals but also in protein. The plant parts also contained high amounts of micronutrients. Its fruits are, therefore, a good supplement for minerals which are produced from otherwise agriculturally waste (water-logged) areas.     

In vitro regeneration of Ruscus hypophyllum L. plants

Callus cultures were established from stem explants of Ruscus hypophyllum on a modified basal medium of Murashige and Skoog (1962) supplemented with 1 mg l^-1 2,4-D+0.1 mg l^-1 BAP. The optimal 2,4-D concentration for promoting shoot bud formation and growth was 0.05 mg l^-1 along with 0.5 mg l^-1 BAP. Sixty percent of rootless shoots produced flowers on the regenerating medium. Rooting was induced when shoots were transferred to half strength MS inorganic salts supplemented with 2 mg l^-1 IBA. Eighty percent of plants transferred to soil have survived.     

The effect of 2-deoxy-D-glucose on insulin release by neonatal rat B cells in culture

The culture for 7 days in medium with 5.5 mM glucose and 1 mM 2-deoxy-D-glucose enhanced the glucose sensitivity of neonatal rat B cells, and even stimulated their growth in vitro. Also, 2-deoxy-D-glucose supplementation maintained insulin release evoked by leucine and 2-ketoisocaproate from B cells at day 7 at levels several times higher than at day 1. The effect of leucine was greatly augmented by glutamine, whereas that of the 2-keto acid remained almost unchanged irrespective of the presence of glutamine. These results suggest an increase in oxidative catabolism of medium nutrients in B cells grown in medium with 2-deoxy-D-glucose for 7 days, and such metabolic changes may promote the growth of B cells in vitro.     

Biochemical and genetic characterization of three hamster cell mutants resistant to diphtheria toxin

We describe here three different hamster cell mutants which are resistant to diphtheria toxin and which provide models for investigating some of the functions required by the toxin inactivates elongation factor 2 (EF-2). Cell-free extracts from mutants Dtx(r)-3 was codominant. The evidence suggests that the codominant phenotype is the result of a mutation in a gene coding for EF-2. The recessive phenotype might arise by alteration of an enzyme which modifies the structure of EF-2 so that it becomes a substrate for reaction with the toxin. Another mutant, Dtx(r)-2, contained EF-2 that was sensitive to the toxin and this phenotype was recessive. Pseudomonas aeruginosa exotoxin is known to inactivate EF-2 as does diphtheria toxin and we tested the mutants for cross-resistance to pseudomonas exotoxin. Dtx(r)-1 and Dtx(r)-3 were cross-resistant while Dtx(r)-2 was not. It is known that diphtheria toxin does not penetrate to the cytoplasm of mouse cells and that these cell have a naturally occurring phenotype of diphtheria toxin resistance. We fused each of the mutants with mouse 3T3 cells and measured the resistance. We fused each of the mutants with mouse 3T3 cells and measured the resistance of the hybrid cells to diphtheria toxin. Intraspecies hybrids containing the genome of mutants Dtx(r)-1 and Dtx(r)-3 had some resistance while those formed with Dtx(r)-2 were as sensitive as hybrids derived from fusions between wild-type hamster cells and mouse 3T3 cells.     

Rhizogenesis fromNigella sativa protoplasts

Summary Protoplasts were isolated for the first time from cell suspensions ofNigella sativa. These were then cultured in media and observed at regular intervals. Different concentrations of auxin and kinetin were tried with success to obtain root from the callus tissues of the protoplasts.     

Spoil characteristics and vegetation development of an age series of mine spoils in a dry tropical environment

A series of coal mine spoils (5, 10, 12, 16 and 20-yr old) in a dry tropical environment was sampled to assess the changes with time in spoil characteristics, species composition and plant biomass. Coarse fragments (>2 mm) decreased with age of mine spoil while the proportion of 0.2–0.1 mm particles increased. Total soil N, mineral N, NaHCO₃-extractable Pi, and exchangeable K increased with age of mine spoil and these parameters were lower in mine spoils than native forest soil even after 20 years of succession. Exchangeable Na decreased with age of mine spoil and in 20-yr old spoil it was higher than native forest soil. Plant community composition changed with age. Only a few species participated in community formation. Species richness increased with age, while evenness and species diversity declined from 5-yr old to 16-yr old community with an increase in the 20-yr old community. A reverse trend occurred for concentration of dominance. Area-weighted shoot and root biomass of other species increased with the age of the mine spoil while that of Xanthium strumarium patches declined with age. Data collected on spoil features, microbial C, N and P, and shoot and root biomass when subjected to Discriminant Analysis indicated a continued profound effect of age. 10 and 12-yr old mine spoils were closer to each other, and 5 and 20-yr old spoils were farthest apart.     

Subtractive Proteome Analysis of Candida albicans Divulges Promising Antifungal Targets

International Journal of Peptide Research and Therapeutics - Candida albicans is the most common nosocomial systemic fungal infections causing high mortality/morbidity. Existing antifungal...     

Empirical Mode Decomposition and Wavelet Transform Based ECG Data Compression Scheme

ObjectiveIn health-care systems, compression is an essential tool to solve the storage and transmission problems. In this regard, this paper reports a new electrocardiogram (ECG) data compression scheme which employs sifting function based empirical mode decomposition (EMD) and discrete wavelet transform.MethodEMD based on sifting function is utilized to get the first intrinsic mode function (IMF). After EMD, the first IMF and four significant sifting functions are combined together. This combination is free from many irrelevant components of the signal. Discrete wavelet transform (DWT) with mother wavelet ‘bior4.4’ is applied to this combination. The transform coefficients obtained after DWT are passed through dead-zone quantization. It discards small transform coefficients lying around zero. Further, integer conversion of coefficients and run-length encoding are utilized to achieve a compressed form of ECG data.ResultsCompression performance of the proposed scheme is evaluated using 48 ECG records of the MIT-BIH arrhythmia database. In the comparison of compression results, it is observed that the proposed method exhibits better performance than many recent ECG compressors. A mean opinion score test is also conducted to evaluate the true quality of the reconstructed ECG signals.ConclusionThe proposed scheme offers better compression performance with preserving the key features of the signal very well.     

Alterations in osteoclast morphology following osteoprotegerin administration in the magnesium-deficient mouse

In the present study, we used osteoprotegerin (OPG), which blocks osteoclastogenesis, to correct and thus explain the hypercalcemia that is seen during dietary Mg deficiency in the mouse. Control and Mg-deficient mice received injections for 12 days of either OPG or vehicle only. Serum Ca was similar in Mg-deficient mice treated with OPG and in control mice receiving OPG (9.2±0.3 mg/dl vs. 9.2±0.5). Both groups had significantly higher serum Ca than controls or Mg-deficient animals receiving vehicle alone. Surprisingly, Mg-depleted mice that received OPG in doses that inhibit osteoclastic bone resorption remained hypercalcemic. Because mature osteoclasts still present in the marrow might be hyperactive, we examined osteoclast morphology at the light microscopic and ultrastructural level. Light microscopic examination of trabecular bone showed few osteoclasts in OPG-treated mice. Ultrastructural examination revealed that osteoclasts in OPG-treated mice have decreased contact with the endosteal bone surface and absence of a ruffled border. Because the morphology of the existing pool of mature osteoclasts did not enhance resorption, another mechanism, such as increased intestinal absorption of Ca in Mg-deficient mice, likely contributes to the hypercalcemia observed during Mg deficiency.