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This study links social capital with people's health and well-being using data from the seventh wave of the World Value Survey, logistic regression, and path analysis. The study's findings show that happiness and life satisfaction are two different measures of the same construct, or well-being. The determinants of each are also characterised differently: while life satisfaction is more of a stable and relative measure and is more strongly influenced by civic cooperation, social participation, and educational attainment, happiness is more of an unstable measure and is more strongly influenced by community belonging, trust and confidence aggregates, including employment and location of residence of an individual. Moreover, freedom of choice, financial satisfaction or social comparison, and state of health were the most important factors influencing happiness and life satisfaction. The findings also show that self-reported health (SRH) has a greater impact on happiness than a measure of life satisfaction. Path analysis shows out of the three other components of social capital—community belonging, civic engagement, and social participation—trust and confidence aggregates are the ones that have the biggest impact on increased social capital. For both well-being measures, SRH mediated the relationship. The life satisfaction measure had a higher level of mediation of SRH than happiness, but social capital had a smaller direct impact on life satisfaction than on happiness. SRH was found to be partially mediating this relationship for both happiness and life satisfaction measures, which means that people with higher social capital reported feeling better off. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The liver is one of the pivotal organs in the human body and is fundamentally responsible for detoxification and metabolism. Various disorders such as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, fibrosis, cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma, and hepatitis are associated with improper functions of the liver. Hence, biomarkers are needed to determine the severity. Further, many liver enzymes, including the cascade of aspartate aminotransferase (AST)/serum glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase (SGOT), alanine aminotransferase (ALT)/serum glutamic pyruvic transaminase (SGPT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT), and total bilirubin (TBIL), are conventional liver biomarkers. They are not, however, unique to the liver; hence, efforts are being made to identify the precise biomarkers for liver illness that can target liver diseases. HMGB1, cytokeratin 18 (K18), glutathione-S-transferase-α (GST-α), glutamate dehydrogenase (GLDH), malate dehydrogenase (MDH), and microRNAs (miRNA) are a few examples of developing biomarkers used to detect many liver diseases. Hence, the review has highlighted various novel biomarkers of the liver so that various pathophysiological pathways and treatments can be made easier. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With time, the Nipah virus has been proved as a fatal and dangerous pathogen for humanity. Nipah virus has its origin from bats and severely affects the respiratory as well as neurological organs. Regular outbreaks and unavailability of proper treatment for Nipah virus infection, demands the designing of vaccine for this disease. This prediction study was conducted to explore B cell epitopes from the Nipah virus's proteome using the immunoinformatics approach. In this curious quest of anticipation of antigenic sites for the Insilico peptide vaccine for the Nipah virus, nine NV-B strain proteins were retrieved for further series of investigations. After sequential refining through immunoinformatics approaches, a total of 26 epitopes was selected to perform molecular modeling and docking. PEPstrMOD and Swiss model, respectively performed 3D modeling of epitopes with their respective alleles. Based on minimum binding energy, four epitopes viz. LHLGNFVRR, LNLSPLIQR, YHNMSPINR and FRRNNAIAF were predicted as promiscuous B cell epitopes. Based on low binding affinity and high population coverage worldwide, epitope LHLGNFVRR was finally selected. Increased Stability of the LHLGNFVRR- HLA DRB_1301 complex during simulation studies exhibit it as the most promising vaccine bidder. So complex of LHLGNFVRR- HLA DRB_1301 has shown most significance result for vaccine and for further validation and confirmation, wet lab and clinical trials can provide the potential of predicted peptides for the subunit vaccine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Because of variation in incidence and severity of damage by Chilo partellus (Swinhoe) in different geographical regions, it is difficult to identify stable sources of resistance against this pest. Therefore, the present studies were undertaken on biological attributes (damage in resistant and susceptible genotypes, survival and development) and biochemical profiles (amino acids and lipophilic compound) of C. partellus populations from eight geographical regions to understand it's population structure in India. There was a significant variation in biological attributes and biochemical profiles of C. partellus populations from different geographical regions. Based on virulence and biological attributes, similarity index placed the C. partellus populations in five groups. Likewise, lipophilic and amino acid profiling also placed the C. partellus populations in five groups. However, the different clusters based on biological and biochemical attributes did not include populations from the same regions. Similarity index based on virulence, biological attributes, and amino acids and lipophilic profiles placed the C. partellus populations in six groups. The C. partellus populations from Hisar, Hyderabad, Parbhani and Coimbatore were distinct from each other, indicating that there are four biotypes of C. partellus in India. The results suggested that sorghum and maize genotypes need to be tested against these four populations to identify stable sources of resistance. However, there is a need for further studies to establish the restriction in gene flow through molecular approaches across geographical regions to establish the distinctiveness of different biotypes of C. partellus in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Listeriosis is a major foodborne infection provoked by a bacterium known as Listeria monocytogenes. It is one of the predominant causes of death in pregnant women, infants, and immunocompromised persons. Despite such fatal effects, until now there is no proper medication or drug available for such a serious foodborne infection. One of the most promising ways to deal with this challenge is vaccination. This present study aims at the prediction of B cell epitopes for subunit vaccine designing against Listeria monocytogenes using a reverse vaccinology approach. Among screened out 299 epitopes of strain F2365 of Listeria monocytogenes, based on the VaxiJen score, the top 20 epitopes were selected. 3D modeling of epitopes and alleles was generated by PEPstrMOD and Swiss Model respectively. Molecular docking reveals 4 epitopes viz., MKFLFPLKL, CEETFGIRL, FLKIDPPIL, and VRHHGGGHK based on binding energy. All 4 epitopes were investigated for non-toxicity, binding affinity, and population coverage. After vigorous investigation, epitope FLKIDPPIL was anticipated as the best vaccine contender. The stability of the FLKIDPPIL-HLA DRB1 _0101 complex was proved by performing the simulation. Here, predicted peptide through the Insilico approach may become a potential remedy against listeriosis, after the wet-lab approach and clinical trials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Food preservatives or drug compounds can be eluted from polymer substrates to prevent the occurrence of hospital-acquired infections and food spoilage. We investigated the antimicrobial and drug-elution properties of the albumin and zein thermoplastic blends plasticized with glycerol and mixed with varying amounts of low-density polyethylene (LDPE), food preservatives (sodium benzoate or sodium nitrite), and drugs (ampicillin or ciprofloxacin). Bacillus subtilis and Escherichia coli were utilized as Gram (+) and Gram (−) species, respectively, for antimicrobial and drug-elution analyses, since these species are common in the human body and in food environments. The amount of contamination occurring in food and medical applications could be limited with usage of plastic blends made from thermomechanical molding of proteins (albumin from hen egg white and zein from corn), drug eluting compounds, and low-density polyethylene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In wireless sensor networks, the sensor nodes find the route towards the sink to transmit data. Data transmission happens either directly to the sink node or through the intermediate nodes. As the sensor node has limited energy, it is very important to develop efficient routing technique to prolong network life time. In this paper we proposed rendezvous-based routing protocol, which creates a rendezvous region in the middle of the network and constructs a tree within that region. There are two different modes of data transmission in the proposed protocol. In Method 1, the tree is directed towards the sink and the source node transmits the data to the sink via this tree, whereas in Method 2, the sink transmits its location to the tree, and the source node gets the sink's location from the tree and transmits the data directly to the sink. The proposed protocol is validated through experiment and compared with the existing protocols using some metrics such as packet delivery ratio, energy consumption, end-to-end latency, network life time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of proteins in blending with traditional polymers in the formation of thermoplastics can produce plastics with properties that are superior to traditional petroleum-based plastics. We investigated the physical and thermal properties of albumin and zein thermoplastic blends plasticized with glycerol and mixed with varying amounts of low-density polyethylene (LDPE). Several mechanical models were utilized to determine how tensile properties will be altered when varying amounts of protein/LDPE were added into the thermoplastic blend. When analyzed for thermal properties, we found that as the amount of LDPE in the thermoplastic blend increased, the resulting plastic possessed thermal properties that were more similar to pure LDPE plastics. In terms of mechanical properties, comparison between the experimental data and model predictions points to a synergistic effect between albumin and LDPE that leads to higher modulus, while a potential lack of compatibility between zein and LDPE leads to a plastic with lower modulus. Based on our results, the use of albumin and zein proteins when blended with LDPE in the production of thermoplastics has potential use in the areas of medical and food packaging applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global atmospheric concentration of CO is likely to increase from 350 to 750 ppm over the next 100 years. The present studies were undertaken to understand the effects of elevated CO on enzymatic activity and secondary metabolites in chickpea in relation to expression of resistance to pod borer, Helicoverpa armigera. Fifteen-day-old chickpea plants [ICCL 86111-resistant and JG 11-commercial cultivar] grown in the greenhouse were transferred to open-top chambers (OTC) and kept under 350, 550 and 750 ppm of CO. Twenty neonates of H. armigera were released on each plant at 7 days after shifting the pots to the OTCs. Un-infested plants were maintained as controls. After 7 days of infestation, the activities of defensive enzymes [peroxidase (POD), polyphenol oxidase (PPO), phenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAL) and tyrosine ammonia lyase (TAL)] and amounts of total phenols and condensed tannins increased with an increase in CO concentration in chickpea. The nitrogen balance index was greater in plants kept at 350 ppm CO than in plants kept under ambient conditions. The H. armigera-infested plants had higher HO content; amounts of oxalic and malic acids were greater at 750 ppm CO than at 350 ppm CO. Plant damage was greater at 350 ppm than at 550 and 750 ppm CO. This information will be useful for understanding effects of increased levels of CO on expression of resistance to insect pests to develop strategies to mitigate the effects of climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the rapid progress in treatment, chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection remains a growing cause of liver-related mortality globally. Patients who have been infected for decades are now presenting with advanced liver disease with the complications of cirrhosis and liver cancer. Early attempts at treatment with peginterferon and ribavirin were limited by toxicity, long treatment duration, and limited efficacy. This was especially relevant for patients with cirrhosis, where exposure to peginterferon-based therapy was relatively ineffective and led to high rates of toxicity. However, the recent development of multiple novel direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) has revolutionized the treatment of HCV. The majority of patients can now be cured with short courses of extremely well-tolerated all-oral regimens. However, the real test of these regimens comes in patients with more advanced liver disease, both in terms of safety and efficacy. Patients with cirrhosis have the greatest need for therapy and have traditionally been the most difficult to cure. The new therapies are rapidly changing this paradigm. Accumulating data suggest that high cure rates are achievable in patients with compensated cirrhosis and may even be possible in patients with signs of liver failure. This review will focus on the treatment of HCV in patients with cirrhosis, with an emphasis on the challenges that remain and strategies to deal with this important population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A correction is presented for the article "Rendezvous based routing protocol for wireless sensor networks with mobile sink" presented in the previous issue.

This work describes the medium optimization of γ-Linolenic acid (GLA) production by Spirulina platensis using one-factor and orthogonal array design methods. In the one-factor experiments, NaHCO (9 mg L), NaNO (13.5 mg L) and MgSO·7HO (11.85 mg L) proved to be the best components for GLA production. The optimal pH for GLA production by the alga was 9.2. Based on the delta values, NaHCO showed the greatest effect on the GLA production of the various factors tested, followed in decreasing order by MgSO·7HO, NaNO and KSO. The maximum GLA yield obtained was 19.2 mgL in the presence of optimum concentrations of NaHCO (20 g L), NaNO (3 g L), MgSO·7HO (0.5 g L) and KSO (1.5 g L). Because of the slow growth rate of the algae, the practice of robust orthogonal array methods during the optimization of medium components can result in the production of an optimal biomass and a higher GLA yield for nutraceutical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The acute phase of hepatitis C (HCV) infection is typically defined as the initial 6 months following exposure to the virus; however, in some individuals, the acute phase of the infection can last much longer (Orland et al. Hepatology 33:321-27, ). Although some patients have symptoms of acute hepatitis, most infected individuals are entirely asymptomatic. As a result, many patients are unaware of the infection until it progresses to chronic infection, and may not develop symptoms until decades later with the onset of decompensated cirrhosis or hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). A substantial proportion (20-40 %) of infected patients clear the virus during the acute phase. Interferon-based treatment is also much more likely to be successful in the acute phase of infection but is relatively poorly tolerated. Therefore, recognition of acute HCV infection is critical to prioritize those patients who do not spontaneously clear the infection for immediate therapy. However, the promise of highly effective well-tolerated all-oral therapies in development may alter the management approach. This review will focus on the epidemiology, natural history, diagnosis, and treatment of acute HCV infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sugarcane aphid Melanaphis sacchari (Zehnt.) has become a serious pest of sorghum, particularly during the post-rainy season in India and East and Southern Africa. Therefore, we tested a number of techniques to screen sorghum genotypes for their resistance to M. sacchari. Infesting the plants with aphid-infested leaf cuttings and covering with a nylon net was effective in screening sorghum genotypes for their resistance to M. sacchari. Sprinkling the plants with aphids (filled in an 0.5 ml eppendorf tube) in the greenhouse was also used to confirm whether the resistance of genotypes selected is less susceptible to the aphids under natural infestation. Nine genotypes (Line 61510, ICSV 12001, ICSV 12002, ICSV 12003, ICSV 12004, ICSV 12005, SLR 41, PU 10-1 and DJ 6514) exhibited moderate levels of resistance to M. sacchari. These genotypes also exhibited a lower rate of aphid multiplication in the clip cage and leaf disc assays. The rates of aphid multiplication were lower on the genotypes IS 21807, IS 40615, IS 40616 and IS 40618 than on the susceptible check, Swarna in the clip cage assay under the field conditions. Also, lower rates of aphid increase were also recorded on IS 21807 and IS 40615 in the leaf disc assay under laboratory conditions. Some of the genotypes that exhibited resistance to aphid damage under field conditions showed comparatively higher rates of aphid increase than the susceptible check, Swarna in the clip cage assay, indicating that antixenosis could be one of the components of resistance to M. sacchari in these genotypes. Therefore, the clip cage assay could be used to gain further understanding of the mechanisms of resistance to M. sacchari. There is a need to assess the role of antixenosis and colonization in genotypic reaction against M. sacchari to identify the lines with different mechanisms of resistance to this pest. The results suggested that the nylon net technique could be used to screen sorghum genotypes for resistance to M. sacchari. The genotypes exhibiting resistance to M. sacchari can be used to develop aphid-resistant sorghums for sustainable crop production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Development of polymeric materials that can reduce the reliance on petroleum derived synthetic polymers involves biopolymers such as proteins, starch, cellulose and lipids which can be obtained as agricultural co-products or by-products. Specifically, bioplastics from protein feedstock may have significant advantages over traditional plastics, especially in areas such as packaging, agriculture, horticulture and medical materials. This article focuses on fabricating plastics from whey and albumin proteins and describing properties of plastics made from them. These protein biomasses were plasticized using water and compression molded into plastic samples. Results indicated the importance of water on plasticization during fabrication and on mechanical performance later due to densification during drying. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Formation of wormlike micelles (WLMs) in an aqueous mixture of polyoxyethylene cholesteryl ether (ChEO; where n = 20 and 30) and polyoxyethylene dodecyl ether (CEO; where m = 3 and 4) has been reported; rheological and small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) measurements have been performed in the micellar solutions of ChEO as a function of CEO for the structural elucidation. When lipophilic cosurfactant, CEO is added to the micellar solutions of ChEO, it favors the sphere-to-cylinder transition due to the penetration of CEO in the palisade layer of ChEO micelle accompanying an increase in viscosity. When the concentration of CEO is increased, entangled network of WLMs is formed. A strong shear thinning has been observed in highly viscous samples indicating the presence of transient networks. Such samples exhibited viscoelastic behavior and could be described by the Maxwell model with a single stress relaxation mode. A maximum is observed in zero-shear viscosity-CEO plot. With further addition of CEO, viscosity declines and ultimately a phase separation occurs with the formation of turbid solution of vesicular dispersion. This decline has been interpreted in terms of micellar branching induced by an increase in endcap energy, E (which is compensated by the formation of branch points, having a mean curvature opposite to that of endcaps). The CEO induced one-dimensional micellar growth has been confirmed by SAXS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Malondialdehyde (MDA) content was measured in the mitochondrial fractions as well as the whole body homogenates in aging Caryedon serratus. The total MDA content increased continuously and significantly with increasing age in both sexes, whereas the mitochondrial MDA content decreased after the 11th day of age. The decrease may be due to the adaptive changes taking place within mitochondria to decrease lipid peroxidation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The median and maximum life spans of the drosophilid insect Zaprionus paravittiger reared on corn meal agar medium at 26±2°C were 35 and 70 days for males and 40 and 77 days for females, respectively. The addition of different concentrations of an antioxidant, sodium hypophosphite (SHP), in the diet resulted in increased median and maximum life spans of both the sexes: maximum by 21.7% and 34.2% in males and by 27.5% and 27.2% in females, respectively. DNA and RNA contents were found to decrease in normal as well as SHP fed insects, but the rate of decline was significantly lower in the latter. The results suggest that the damaging effect of free radicals is diminished by the antioxidizing property of SHP, thus supporting the free radical theory of aging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two antioxidative enzymes, catalase and peroxidase, were studied in banana fruit flies fed on cornmeal agar media (CMA) as well as ascorbic acid (0.05 M) supplemented CMA. Females of Zaprionus paravittiger recorded higher enzyme activity as compared to males, and ascorbic acid feeding resulted in increased activity of both the enzymes in each sex. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The noctuid pod borer, Helicoverpa armigera is one of the most damaging pests of chickpea, Cicer arietinum. The levels of resistance to H. armigera in the cultivated chickpea are low to moderate, but the wild relatives of chickpea have exhibited high levels of resistance to this pest. To develop insect-resistant cultivars with durable resistance, it is important to understand the contribution of different components of resistance, and therefore, we studied antixenosis and antibiosis mechanisms of resistance to H. armigera in a diverse array of wild relatives of chickpea. The genotypes IG 70012, PI 599046, IG 70022, PI 599066, IG 70006, IG 70018 (C. bijugum), ICC 506EB, ICCL 86111 (cultivated chickpea), IG 72933, IG 72953 (C. reticulatum), IG 69979 (C. cuneatum) and IG 599076 (C. chrossanicum) exhibited non preference for oviposition by the females of H. armigera under multi-choice, dual-choice and no-choice cage conditions. Based on detached leaf assay, the genotypes IG 70012, IG 70022, IG 70018, IG 70006, PI 599046, PI 599066 (C. bijugum), IG 69979 (C. cuneatum), PI 568217, PI 599077 (C. judaicum) and ICCW 17148 (C. microphyllum) suffered significantly lower leaf damage, and lower larval weights indicating high levels of antibiosis than on the cultivated chickpea. Glandular and non-glandular trichomes showed negative correlation with oviposition, while the glandular trichomes showed a significant and negative correlation with leaf damage rating. Density of non-glandular trichomes was negatively correlated with larval survival. High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) fingerprints of leaf surface exudates showed a negative correlation of oxalic acid with oviposition, but positive correlation with malic acid. Both oxalic acid and malic acid showed a significant negative correlation with larval survival. The wild relatives exhibiting low preference for oviposition and high levels of antibiosis can be used as sources of resistance to increase the levels and diversify the basis of resistance to H. armigera in cultivated chickpea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]