Nitric Oxide Mitigates the Salt-Induced Oxidative Damage in Mustard by UpRegulating the Activity of Various Enzymes

Journal of Plant Growth Regulation - The salt stress limits the production of mustard throughout the world and it is one of the major abiotic stresses. Crop productivity is declining due to the...     

Nitric Oxide-Mediated Enhancement in Photosynthetic Efficiency,Ion Uptake and Carbohydrate Metabolism that Boosts Overall Photosynthetic Machinery in Mustard Plants

Journal of Plant Growth Regulation - Nitric oxide (NO) acts as a gaseous diffusible plant growth regulator. It plays an important role in growth and development of plants. Therefore, in present...     

Comparison of Barium and Arsenic Concentrations in Well Drinking Water and in Human Body Samples and a Novel Remediation System for These Elements in Well Drinking Water

Health risk for well drinking water is a worldwide problem. Our recent studies showed increased toxicity by exposure to barium alone (≤700 µg/L) and coexposure to barium (137 µg/L) and arsenic (225 µg/L). The present edition of WHO health-based guidelines for drinking water revised in 2011 has maintained the values of arsenic (10 µg/L) and barium (700 µg/L), but not elements such as manganese, iron and zinc. Nevertheless, there have been very few studies on barium in drinking water and human samples. This study showed significant correlations between levels of arsenic and barium, but not its homologous elements (magnesium, calcium and strontium), in urine, toenail and hair samples obtained from residents of Jessore, Bangladesh. Significant correlation between levels of arsenic and barium in well drinking water and levels in human urine, toenail and hair samples were also observed. Based on these results, a high-performance and low-cost adsorbent composed of a hydrotalcite-like compound for barium and arsenic was developed. The adsorbent reduced levels of barium and arsenic from well water in Bangladesh and Vietnam to <7 µg/L within 1 min. Thus, we have showed levels of arsenic and barium in humans and propose a novel remediation system.     

Four Decades of Forest Persistence,Clearance and Logging on Borneo

The native forests of Borneo have been impacted by selective logging, fire, and conversion to plantations at unprecedented scales since industrial-scale extractive industries began in the early 1970s. There is no island-wide documentation of forest clearance or logging since the 1970s. This creates an information gap for conservation planning, especially with regard to selectively logged forests that maintain high conservation potential. Analysing LANDSAT images, we estimate that 75.7% (558,060 km²) of Borneo''s area (737,188 km²) was forested around 1973. Based upon a forest cover map for 2010 derived using ALOS-PALSAR and visually reviewing LANDSAT images, we estimate that the 1973 forest area had declined by 168,493 km² (30.2%) in 2010. The highest losses were recorded in Sabah and Kalimantan with 39.5% and 30.7% of their total forest area in 1973 becoming non-forest in 2010, and the lowest in Brunei and Sarawak (8.4%, and 23.1%). We estimate that the combined area planted in industrial oil palm and timber plantations in 2010 was 75,480 km², representing 10% of Borneo. We mapped 271,819 km of primary logging roads that were created between 1973 and 2010. The greatest density of logging roads was found in Sarawak, at 0.89 km km⁻², and the lowest density in Brunei, at 0.18 km km⁻². Analyzing MODIS-based tree cover maps, we estimate that logging operated within 700 m of primary logging roads. Using this distance, we estimate that 266,257 km² of 1973 forest cover has been logged. With 389,566 km² (52.8%) of the island remaining forested, of which 209,649 km² remains intact. There is still hope for biodiversity conservation in Borneo. Protecting logged forests from fire and conversion to plantations is an urgent priority for reducing rates of deforestation in Borneo.     

Targeting cellular prion protein reverses early cognitive deficits and neurophysiological dysfunction in prion-infected mice

Currently, no treatment can prevent the cognitive and motor decline associated with widespread neurodegeneration in prion disease. However, we previously showed that targeting endogenous neuronal prion protein (PrP(C)) (the precursor of its disease-associated isoform, PrP(Sc)) in mice with early prion infection reversed spongiform change and prevented clinical symptoms and neuronal loss. We now show that cognitive and behavioral deficits and impaired neurophysiological function accompany early hippocampal spongiform pathology. Remarkably, these behavioral and synaptic impairments recover when neuronal PrP(C) is depleted, in parallel with reversal of spongiosis. Thus, early functional impairments precede neuronal loss in prion disease and can be rescued. Further, they occur before extensive PrP(Sc) deposits accumulate and recover rapidly after PrP(C) depletion, supporting the concept that they are caused by a transient neurotoxic species, distinct from aggregated PrP(Sc). These data suggest that early intervention in human prion disease may lead to recovery of cognitive and behavioral symptoms.     

Control of plant growth and water loss by a lack of light-harvesting complexes in photosystem II in Arabidopsis thaliana ch1-1 mutant

The chlorinal-1 (ch1-1) mutant of Arabidopsis thaliana lacks the light-harvesting complexes in photosystem II (LHCII) due to deficiency of ability to synthesize chlorophyll (Chl) b. To investigate if a lack of LHCII affects plant growth and water loss, the Chl content, Chl fluorescence, glutathione (GSH) content, plant growth, water loss and stomatal aperture were measured using wild-type (WT) and ch1-1 mutant plants. The leaves of ch1-1 mutants accumulated significantly lower Chl content, Chl fluorescence and GSH content than WT plants. Plant growth and the leaf area of ch1-1 plants were also lower when compared to WT plants. The ch1-1 plant showed delayed flowering and higher a number of rosette leaves compared to the WT plants. The treatment of N-acetyl-cysteine increased Chl content and Chl fluorescence in leaves of both plants. Stomatal aperture was significantly lower in guard cells of the ch1-1 mutant than that of WT plants. Dark treatment increased stomatal closure which was corrected followed by the light treatment. Abscisic acid (ABA)-induced stomatal aperture was significantly lower in ch1-1 mutant than WT plants. Water loss through stomatal opening in ch1-1 plants was significantly lower than WT plants regardless of ABA treatment. This study suggests that a lack of LHCII might control plant growth and water loss in ch1-1 mutant of Arabidopsis thaliana.     

“Nothing Special,Everything Is Maamuli”: Socio-Cultural and Family Practices Influencing the Perinatal Period in Urban India

Background

Globally, India contributes the largest share in sheer numbers to the burden of maternal and infant under-nutrition, morbidity and mortality. A major gap in our knowledge is how socio-cultural practices and beliefs influence the perinatal period and thus perinatal outcomes, particularly in the rapidly growing urban setting.

Methods and Findings

Using data from a qualitative study in urban south India, including in-depth interviews with 36 women who had recently been through childbirth as well as observations of family life and clinic encounters, we explored the territory of familial, cultural and traditional practices and beliefs influencing women and their families through pregnancy, childbirth and infancy. We found that while there were some similarities in cultural practices to those described before in studies from low resource village settings, there are changing practices and ideas. Fertility concerns dominate women’s experience of married life; notions of gender preference and ideal family size are changing rapidly in response to the urban context; however inter-generational family pressures are still considerable. While a rich repertoire of cultural practices persists throughout the perinatal continuum, their existence is normalised and even underplayed. In terms of diet and nutrition, traditional messages including notions of ‘hot’ and ‘cold’ foods, are stronger than health messages; however breastfeeding is the cultural norm and the practice of delayed breastfeeding appears to be disappearing in this urban setting. Marriage, pregnancy and childbirth are so much part of the norm for women, that there is little expectation of individual choice in any of these major life events.

Conclusions

A greater understanding is needed of the dynamic factors shaping the perinatal period in urban India, including an acknowledgment of the health promoting as well as potentially harmful cultural practices and the critical role of the family. This will help plan culturally appropriate integrated perinatal health care.     

Induced fit in liver X receptor beta: a molecular dynamics-based investigation

Ligand induced fit phenomenon occurring at the ligand binding domain of the liver X receptor beta (LXRbeta) was investigated by means of molecular dynamics. Reliability of a 4-ns trajectory was tested from two distinct LXRbeta crystal complexes 1PQ6B/GW and 1PQ9B/T09 characterized by an open and a closed state of the pocket, respectively. Crossed complexes 1PQ6B/T09 and 1PQ9B/GW were then submitted to the same molecular dynamic conditions, which were able to recover LXRbeta conformations similar to the original crystallography data. Analysis of "open to closed" and "closed to open" conformational transitions pointed out the dynamic role of critical residues lining the ligand binding pocket involved in the local remodeling upon ligand binding (e.g., Phe271, Phe329, Phe340, Arg319, Glu281). Altogether, the present study indicates that the molecular dynamic protocol is a consistent approach for managing LXRbeta-related induced fit process. This protocol could therefore be used for refining ligand docking solutions of a structure-based design strategy.