Causes of low vision and major low-vision devices prescribed in the low-vision clinic of Nepal Eye Hospital,Nepal

Visual impairment is a major public health problem. Identifying the main causes of low vision and the major low-vision devices prescribed will help to develop and implement the low-vision rehabilitation service. We find out the causes of low vision and the low-vision devices prescribed in the low-vision clinic of Nepal Eye Hospital. A retrospective cross-sectional review of all patients attending the low-vision clinic from 1 May 2009 to 31 April 2011. Patients having visual acuity less than 3/60 in the better eye with best refractive correction were excluded. Of the 137?patients, the mean age was 32.53?±?22.90?years; 71.5% were male and 67.88% were under 40. The major causes of low vision were nystagmus (30.70%), high refractive error (22.62%), cataract (15.30%), retinitis pigmentosa (15.30%) and age-related macular degeneration (13.10%); 78.10% patents were wearing glasses while telescopes were prescribed for 29.20% patients. Nystagmus, high refractive error and cataract are the main causes of low vision in Nepal. The majority of the low-vision patients seen in this clinic are of working age. Telescopes are the major low-vision device prescribed. We review approach the cause of low-vision problem in low-vision clinic Nepal Eye Hospital, Nepal.     

Recent advances in selective alpha1-adrenoreceptor antagonists as antihypertensive agents

Hypertension is one of the most serious health problems of the modern world with a continuous rise in the number of patients. Selective α₁-adrenoreceptor antagonists though have many advantages and uses in the management of arterial hypertension, their lack of specificity at the level of α₁-adr subtypes leads to multiple side effects. Existence of multiple α₁-adr subtypes holds great promise for the discovery and development of more specific and selective drug molecules, targeting only one α₁-adr subtype at a time and thus relative freedom from side effects. Herein, the research done on the discovery and evaluation of a variety of chemically diverse structures as selective antagonists of α₁-adr and α₁-adr subtypes in recent years has been reviewed.     

Green route for the heterocyclization of 2-mercaptobenzimidazole into beta-lactum segment derivatives containing -CONH- bridge with benzimidazole: Screening in vitro antimicrobial activity with various microorganisms

The efficient and rapid synthesis of novel azetidin-2-ones 4a–j has been established. Thus, both microwave and conventional condensation 2-{(1H-benzimidazol)-ylthio}-N′-2-(substituted phenyl) hydrazide with chloroacetylchloride were carried out in DMF-benzene solvent in the presence of Et₃N catalyst. The microwave synthesis route afforded better yield with short time. The novel heterocycles were characterized by elemental analysis and spectral features. Some of the produced compounds were screened for their antimicrobial activity.     

Description of a new species of the genus Awaous Valenciennes, 1837 (Gobiiformes: Oxudercidae) from the middle stretch of the Mahanadi River,Odisha, India,with comments on the Awaous species from India

A new species of the genus Awaous (Oxudercidae), Awaous motla sp. nov., is described based on 18 specimens collected from the Mahanadi River near Sonepur, Subarnapur District, and 3 specimens from the same river near Boudh bridge, Boudh District of Odisha, India. This species is distinct from its congeners by having a combination of characteristics: relatively small eyes, diameter of 6.6–8.4 in head length (LH); robust and long snout, 2.0–2.6 in LH; eye diameter 2.7–4.1 in snout length; cephalic sensory pore system interrupted with eight pores; predorsal scales 13–15; longitudinal scale series 55–58; gill rakers 2 + 1 + (6–7) on the first gill arch; teeth small, conical, and in a single row on the upper jaw and multiserial (2–3) on the lower jaw. This species is also differentiated from some of its congeners in the nucleotide composition of the cytochrome c oxidase I gene by 8.3%–13.8% Kimura two-parameter (K2P) distance and belongs to a separate cluster in the maximum likelihood tree analysis. This finding is also supported by the species delimitation analysis based on Assemble Species by Automatic Partitioning. The new species holds high commercial value in its locality and needs special conservation attention for sustainable utilization.     

Improvement of small seed for big nutritional feed

Exploding global population, rapid urbanization, salinization of soils, decreasing arable land availability, groundwater resources, and dynamic climatic conditions pose impending damage to our food security by reducing the grain quality and quantity. This issue is further compounded in arid and semi-arid regions due to the shortage of irrigation water and erratic rainfalls. Millets are gluten (a family of proteins)-free and cultivated all over the globe for human consumption, fuel, feed, and fodder. They provide nutritional security for the under- and malnourished. With the deployment of strategies like foliar spray, traditional/marker-assisted breeding, identification of candidate genes for the translocation of important minerals, and genome-editing technologies, it is now tenable to biofortify important millets. Since the bioavailability of iron and zinc has been proven in human trials, the challenge is to make such grains accessible. This review encompasses nutritional benefits, progress made, challenges being encountered, and prospects of enriching millet crops with essential minerals.     

Characterization of a mildly alkalophilic and thermostable recombinant <Emphasis Type="Italic">Thermus thermophilus</Emphasis> laccase with applications in decolourization of dyes

Objective

To examine the potential for applications of TthLAC, a monomeric (~ 53 kDa) laccase encoded by the genome of Thermus thermophilus (strain HB 27) which can be produced at low cost in Escherichia coli.

Result

Functional, thermostable and mildly alkalophilic TthLAC of high purity (> 90%) was produced through simple heating of suspended (TthLAC overexpressing) E.coli cells at 65 °C. For reactions of short duration (< 1 h) the temperature for optimal activity is ~ 90 °C. However, TthLAC undergoes slow partial unfolding and thermal inactivation above 65 °C, making it unsuitable for long incubations above this temperature. With different substrates, optimal function was observed from pH 6 to 8. With the substrate, ABTS, catalytic efficiency (K _m) and maximum velocity (V_max) at 60 °C and pH 6.0 were determined to be 2.4 × 10³ µM and 0.04 × 10³ µM/min respectively. Ultra-pure, affinity-purified TthLAC was used to confirm and characterize the enzyme’s ability to oxidize known (laccase) substrates such as ABTS, syringaldazine and 4-fluoro-2-methylphenol. TthLAC decoloured up to six different industrial dyes, with or without the use of redox mediators such as ABTS.

Conclusions

Unlike versatile laccases from most other sources, which tend to be thermolabile as well as acidophilic, TthLAC is a versatile, thermostable, mildly alkalophilic laccase which can be produced at low cost in E.coli for various redox applications.

     

Overexpression of [delta]-Pyrroline-5-Carboxylate Synthetase Increases Proline Production and Confers Osmotolerance in Transgenic Plants

Proline (Pro) accumulation has been correlated with tolerance to drought and salinity stresses in plants. Therefore, overproduction of Pro in plants may lead to increased tolerance against these abiotic stresses. To test this possibility, we overexpressed in tobacco the mothbean [delta]-pyrroline-5-carboxylate synthetase, a bifunctional enzyme able to catalyze the conversion of glutamate to [delta]-pyrroline-5-carboxylate, which is then reduced to Pro. The transgenic plants produced a high level of the enzyme and synthesized 10- to 18-fold more Pro than control plants. These results suggest that activity of the first enzyme of the pathway is the rate-limiting factor in Pro synthesis. Exogenous supply of nitrogen further enhanced Pro production. The osmotic potentials of leaf sap from transgenic plants were less decreased under water-stress conditions compared to those of control plants. Overproduction of Pro also enhanced root biomass and flower development in transgenic plants under drought-stress conditions. These data demonstrated that Pro acts as an osmoprotectant and that overproduction of Pro results in the increased tolerance to osmotic stress in plants.     

Toxicity and tolerance of aluminum in plants: tailoring plants to suit to acid soils

Aluminum (Al) stress is one of the serious limiting factors in plant productivity in acidic soils, which constitute about 50 % of the world’s potentially arable lands and causes anywhere between 25 and 80 % of yield losses depending upon the species. The mechanism of Al toxicity and tolerance has been examined in plants, which is vital for crop improvement and enhanced food production in the future. Two mechanisms that facilitate Al tolerance in plants are Al exclusion from the roots and the ability to tolerate Al in the symplast or both. Although efforts have been made to unravel Al-resistant factors, many aspects remain unclear. Certain gene families such as MATE, ALMT, ASR, and ABC transporters have been implicated in some plants for resistance to Al which would enhance the opportunities for creating crop plants suitable to grow in acidic soils. Though QTLs have been identified related to Al-tolerance, no crop plant that is tolerant to Al has been evolved so far using breeding or molecular approaches. The remarkable changes that plants experience at the physiological, biochemical and molecular level under Al stress, the vast array of genes involved in Al toxicity-tolerance, the underlying signaling events and the holistic image of the molecular regulation, and the possibility of creating transgenics for Al tolerance are discussed in this review.