Search

Hydrocephalus (HC) is a heterogenous disease characterized by alterations in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) dynamics that may cause increased intracranial pressure. HC is a component of a wide array of genetic syndromes as well as a secondary consequence of brain injury (intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH), infection, etc.) that can present across the age spectrum, highlighting the phenotypic heterogeneity of the disease. Surgical treatments include ventricular shunting and endoscopic third ventriculostomy with or without choroid plexus cauterization, both of which are prone to failure, and no effective pharmacologic treatments for HC have been developed. Thus, there is an urgent need to understand the genetic architecture and molecular pathogenesis of HC. Without this knowledge, the development of preventive, diagnostic, and therapeutic measures is impeded. However, the genetics of HC is extraordinarily complex, based on studies of varying size, scope, and rigor. This review serves to provide a comprehensive overview of genes, pathways, mechanisms, and global impact of genetics contributing to all etiologies of HC in humans., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Although dyslipedimia is a well established risk factor for coronary artery disease, its relationship to ischemic cerebrovascular disease has remained unclear, perhaps because of the heterogeneous nature of stroke. The relationship between plasma lipid abnormalities and ischemic stroke remains controversial. The aim of this study is to investigate if serum Triglyceride(TG) levels predict stroke severity on admission., Material: Sixty patients of acute ischemic stroke who were admitted within 24 hours of development of symptoms were included in this study. Fasting serum Triglyceride(TG) levels estimated in mg/dl and converted to mmol/L by multiplying by 0.01129. Stroke severity on admission was assessed using Scandinavian Stroke Scale (SSS). The patients were divided into 2 groups: those with severe stroke (SSS ≤25) and those with mild/moderate stroke (SSS >25)., Observation: In this study the number of patients with severe stroke were 22 of which 21 had Triglyceride(TG)≤2.3mmol/l and only 1 patient had Triglyceride(TG)>2.3mmol/l while those with mild to moderate stroke were 38 of which 28 had Triglyceride(TG)≤2.3mmol/l and 10 patients had Triglyceride (TG)>2.3mmol/l. The mean of Triglyceride(TG) levels in patients with severe stroke is 1.002+/-0.385 mmol/l and that in patients with mild to moderate stroke is 1.790+/- 0.887 mmol/l., Conclusion: In this study, mean serum triglyceride levels were significantly lower in patients with severe stroke when compared to patients with mild to moderate stroke. As per this study smoking, obesity, hypertension, IHD, diabetes mellitus, age and sex of an individual do not influence levels of serum triglyceride levels., (© Journal of the Association of Physicians of India 2011.)

Over the last decade, strong evidence has emerged that protein degradation mediated by the ubiquitin-proteasome system is critical for fear memory formation in the amygdala. However, this work has been done primarily in males, leaving unanswered questions about whether females also require protein degradation during fear memory formation. Here, we found that male and female rats differed in their engagement and regulation of, but not need for, protein degradation in the amygdala during fear memory formation. Male, but not female, rats had increased protein degradation in the nuclei of amygdala cells after fear conditioning. Conversely, females had elevated baseline levels of overall ubiquitin-proteasome activity in amygdala nuclei. Gene expression and DNA methylation analyses identified that females had increased baseline expression of the ubiquitin coding gene Uba52, which had increased DNA 5-hydroxymethylation (5hmc) in its promoter region, indicating a euchromatin state necessary for increased levels of ubiquitin in females. Consistent with this, persistent CRISPR-dCas9 mediated silencing of Uba52 and proteasome subunit Psmd14 in the amygdala reduced baseline protein degradation levels and impaired fear memory in male and female rats, while enhancing baseline protein degradation in the amygdala of both sexes promoted fear memory formation. These results suggest that while both males and females require protein degradation in the amygdala for fear memory formation, they differ in their baseline regulation and engagement of this process following learning. These results have important implications for understanding the etiology of sex-related differences in fear memory formation., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

A wheat association mapping population consisting of 287 diverse spring wheat lines were evaluated for three years in one location (Varanasi) and out of these for one year across three locations (Karnal, Dharwad and Varanasi) in India. Straw fodder quality traits analyzed were nitrogen (N) content, neutral (NDF) and acid (ADF) detergent fiber, acid detergent lignin (ADL), ash (ASH), in vitro organic matter digestibility (IVOMD) and metabolizable energy (ME) content. Grain yield (GY) and straw yield (SY) were also recorded. Highly significant (P < 0.0001) differences among lines were observed for all traits except for ADF and ADL in the three years trials conducted at Varanasi. However, year and location had strong (P < 0.0001) effects on all traits. Compared to line-dependent variations in GY and SY variation in straw fodder quality traits were small. Proportionally greatest variations between lines were observed for straw N where lowest and highest N varied by about 30%. Difference for NDF and ADF between lines were at most 4% units and below 3% units for IVOMD. Grain yield and straw yield were positively correlated (P < 0.0001) with GY accounting for 26% of the variation in SY. Straw N, IVOMD and ME were weakly but significantly (P < 0.05) negatively associated with GY and SY. Straw NDF and ADF were significantly (P < 0.05) positively correlated with GY but the association was again weak. Straw NDF, ADF and ADL were also weakly but significantly positively correlated with SY. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) were applied to detect significant marker- straw fodder quality trait associations. Five genomic regions contributed for six traits (ADF, ADL, ASH, IVOMD, ME and NDF). ADF and ADL mapped in the common QTL region on chromosome 2B. Similarly, for the IVOMD and ME QTLs on chromosome 5B were associated with SNP marker, wsnp&#95;Ku&#95;c35090&#95;44349517. While some associations were detected for ADF, ALD, ASH, IVOMD, ME and NDF on chromosomes 1A, 2B, 3A, 5A and 5B, the phenotypic variation explained was low to medium by individual QTL. A likely contributing factor was the comparatively small difference in straw fodder quality traits among the lines. It is interesting to note that line dependent variations in GY and SY were about two-fold. In other words, strong genotypic variations of GY and SY do exist. The lack of any similar variations in straw fodder quality traits is intriguing and requires further research., (© 2019 The Authors.)

Cowpea is an important legume crop in Africa, valued highly for its grain and also haulms, which are a tradable commodity in fodder markets. Fodder market surveys in Northern Nigeria showed that groundnut haulms were priced higher than cowpea haulms, probably because of their superior nutritive value. The economic value of haulms has prompted cowpea breeders and livestock nutritionists to explore haulm fodder traits as additional selection and breeding criteria. Fifty cowpea genotypes cultivated across five locations in Nigeria in 2013 and 2014 were evaluated for food fodder traits. Significant ( P < 0.05) genotypic dependent variations were observed in yields (kg/ha) of grains (537-1082) and haulms (1173-3368), though significant ( P < 0.05) effects of location and year were observed. Grain and fodder yield had a tendency to be positively correlated ( r = 0.26, P = 0.07). Haulms were analyzed for nitrogen (N), fiber fractions, in vitro digestibility, and metabolizable energy content. Highly significant variations were observed in all genotypic and livestock nutrition traits, although location and year had significant effects. Trade-offs between grain yield and haulm fodder quality traits were largely absent and haulm acid detergent lignin and grain yield were even inversely correlated ( r = -0.28, P = 0.05), that is high grain yielders had decreased haulm lignin. However, haulm N and grain yield also tended to be negatively associated ( r = -0.26, P = 0.07). Haulm fodder quality traits and haulm yield were mostly positively correlated ( P < 0.05). Broad sense heritabilities for grain and fodder yield were 0.50 and 0.29, respectively, while heritability for haulm fodder quality traits ranged from 0.61 to 0.67, providing opportunities for concomitant increase in grain yield and haulm fodder quality traits. Selection of the 10 highest ranking genotypes for grain yield, haulm yield, haulm N, and haulm in vitro organic matter digestibility showed selection groups overlapping, suggesting that multi-trait selection is feasible. Economical evaluation showed that choice of primary traits is context specific, highlighting the need for identifying and targeting appropriate genotypes to fit different production systems. Considering haulm quantity and quality as traits of economic value can increase overall plant value in mixed crop-livestock systems.

Sweet sorghum bagasse with leaf residue (SSBLR) based complete diets with high or low protein and high- or low-energy levels were evaluated in a 60-day growth trial using growing sheep. Twenty-eight Deccani ram lambs were divided into four groups (16.0 ± 0.59 kg) of seven each and fed low-protein high-/low-energy and high-protein high-/low-energy diets ad lib. Average daily gain (g; P < 0.05) and feed efficiency (P < 0.01) were significantly higher in lambs fed high energy than those with low-energy diets, and cost per kg gain ($) was significantly lower (P < 0.05) in low protein than high-protein diets. Dry matter intake (DMI) (g/day) was not significantly affected either by protein or energy level in the diet, but dry matter (DM), organic matter (OM), protein, and neutral detergent fiber (NDF) digestibilities were higher significantly (P < 0.01) in high protein/energy diets than low protein/energy diets. Crude protein (CP) intake (g/day) was significantly (P < 0.001) higher in lambs fed high protein than low-protein diets. However, N balance (g/day) was significantly (P < 0.001) higher in lambs fed low protein than high-protein diets. It is concluded that feeding of SSBLR-based diet with low protein (CP 12.9 %) and high energy (9.4 MJ metabolizable energy (ME)/kg DM) was recommended for better performance, nitrogen retention, and returns from growing Deccani ram lambs.

An emulsion liquid membrane process is developed to separate aniline from dilute aqueous solution. Aniline (amino-benzene) is a carcinogenic chemical common in industry and industrial wastewater. Due to aniline's high boiling point (183 degrees C) and low concentration in wastewater, more traditional methods of separation such as distillation are very energy intensive. This emulsion process is offered as a low energy alternative. All separations occur in a Rushton stirred tank. The membrane phase consists of kerosene and the surfactant sorbitan monooleate (span 80). Hydrogen chloride solution is the internal phase. This study also examines the effects of HCl concentration, aniline concentration, and the amount of emulsion on separation. Up to 99.5% of the aniline is removed from solutions containing 5000 ppm in as little as 4 min depending on process conditions. Leakage is minimal and swelling is only about 3% after 5 min of processing. Approximately 98% of the membrane phase (both kerosene and span 80) is successfully recovered and recycled by using heat and/or adding 2-propanol for demulsification.