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The study evaluated the potential of blends of eucalyptus oil and aqueous extract of mulethi (root of Glycyrrhiza glabra) to reduce rate of ruminal ammonia production without affecting feed digestion to improve nitrogen utilization efficiency and performance of Murrah buffalo (Bubalus bubalis). Based on preliminary independent studies with graded doses of eucalyptus oil and mulethi root aqueous extract in modulating in vitro rumen fermentation, four blends of feed additive comprising graded doses (5, 10, 15, and 25 μL) of eucalyptus oil and a fixed quantity (15 μL) of aqueous extract of mulethi roots were prepared and examined for their effects on in vitro rumen fermentation and on methane and gas production in 100-mL calibrated glass syringes by standard IVGP protocol. Rumen liquor was collected from four rumen fistulated Murrah buffaloes fed a total mixed ration. Out of four blends, blend-1 comprising 5 μL of eucalyptus oil and 15 μL of aqueous extract (233.6 g/L DW) of mulethi per 40 mL of in vitro medium was found to reduce ammonia production significantly (p < 0.001) without affecting feed digestibility. An equivalent dose of blend-1 (10.5 mL of eucalyptus oil and 7.35 g of mulethi root powder/h/day) fed to four rumen fistulated buffaloes for 24 days resulted in 50% reduction (p < 0.05) in rumen ammonia level with no inhibition in feed fermentation or short-chain fatty acid production. The total bacterial population including Ruminococcus albus, Fibrobacter succinogenes, Butyrivibrio fibrisolvens, and Megasphaera elsdenii as well as anaerobic fungi and methanogenic archaea remained unaffected (p > 0.05). Twelve buffalo calves (avg. BW 137.5 ± 9.2 kg, 8–12 months old) divided into two groups of six each and fed a total mixed ration (concentrate: roughage; 60:40) with or without supplementation of blend-1 for about 3 months demonstrated 14% increase (p < 0.05) in average daily gain in BW with a trend (p < 0.10) in improvement of feed or protein utilization efficiency (1.4 vs. 1.1 g crude protein/g average daily gain; 21.4% increase). Thus, supplementation of eucalyptus oil–mulethi root blend could reduce ruminal ammonia production and improve feed utilization efficiency in ruminants.

Farm ruminants are responsible for about 15% of total global methane emission due to enteric fermentation of feeds. Additives are being used to modify rumen fermentation towards reduced methanogenesis, however, hazards associated with feeding of antibiotics and other chemical compounds to livestock for improving animal performance and methane mitigation are growing public awareness and encourage the research towards exploiting natural products as feed additives. Therefore, an experiment was carried out to examine the potential of eucalyptus (Eucalyptus citriodora) leaves essential oils in modulating rumen fermentation for reduced methane production in water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis). Essential oils were extracted both from dried and fresh eucalyptus leaves, separately in Soxhlet’s apparatus by organic solvent, hexane [15 g leaves extracted in 100 ml n-hexane (mol. wt. 86.18, assay 99.0% and density 0.658)] for 72 h and tested at three dose levels (0, 0.5 and 2.0 ml) in buffered rumen fluid (BRF). Oats hay (200±5 mg) was used as substrate and incubated with 30 ml BRF in 100 ml calibrated glass syringes at 39oC for 24 h following standard in vitro gas production protocol. Gas production was recorded by displacement of piston in the syringe. Methane in the gas phase and volatile fatty acids in the fermentation medium were estimated by Gas Chromatograph (GC). The total gas production and dry matter digestibility was increased (P

Several methods are available to track the intraseasonal oscillation, namely the Madden–Julian oscillation (MJO) and monsoon intraseasonal oscillation (MISO). However, no methods to track both the modes in a uniform framework for real-time application exist. A new method to track the smooth propagation of the MJO and MISO is proposed to use it for real-time monitoring. The new approach is based on extended empirical orthogonal function (EEOF) analysis of the combined field of meridionally averaged zonal wind at 850 hPa (U850), zonal wind at 200 hPa and the velocity potential at 200 hPa. The EEOF method does not merely capture the MJO but also smooths (i.e., filters out undesired modes) the temporal propagation in the phase space defined by first two leading principal components (PCs) of the EEOF. Using these leading PCs, we additionally introduce a seasonally varying regression coefficient to filter out the space time structure of the MJO in various fields (rainfall/outgoing long-wave radiation, etc.). These reconstructed fields are then used to link the bidirectional phase movement (i.e., northward propagating MISO and eastward propagating MJO) during boreal summer. The life cycle of the MJO and MISO could be captured with equal fidelity with this current method. MJO filtering could be carried out for any space–time data, not limited to the variables/fields used in EEOF analysis. Examples of the TOGA-COARE and DYNAMO period MJO as well as a few strong MISO events are discussed to check the robustness of the newly proposed method.

Ration balancing is prime consideration to uplift the animal husbandry sector. Balanced ration is the key factor to influence the productivity of animals as well as declines the cost of animal production. A large quantity of feed resources are available, those are fully capable to nourish the livestock sector. Various scientific methods viz. Thumb rule method, Pierson’s square method, Algebric method, computerized model etc. are available to formulate balanced ration, by implementing them on available feed resources. Thus, fully utilization of available feed resources and implementation of scientific feeding methodologies are key forecast for development in animal husbandry sector.

An attempt has been made in this study to evaluate the performance of a multi-model ensemble prediction system (MMEPS) in the extended range prediction of genesis and track of cyclonic storms (CS) over North Indian Ocean (NIO) during the onset phase of Indian summer monsoon. The MMEPS comprises of National Centres for Environmental Prediction Climate Forecast System version 2 and its atmospheric component, Global Forecast System version 2, at two different resolutions. In this study, we analyse the performance of this MMEPS in the prediction of six CS cases formed around the onset phase of the Indian summer monsoon over NIO. Along with this, we evaluate the usefulness of the genesis potential parameter used by India Meteorological Department (IMD) for the real-time cyclogenesis prediction. ERA-Interim re-analysis data sets are used to compare MME predictions from two initial conditions (IC) close to the genesis date of each storm. Results show that genesis forecasts from nearest available IC is capturing the vorticity and associated features of the storm better than far-IC. A modified version of vortex tracking scheme developed by Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory is used to obtain the mean track positions from MME outputs and compare with IMD-best tracks. Track verification is done by calculating average direct position error, cross-track error and along-track error against corresponding IMD-best tracks. It is found that track predictions from both near and far ICs have lower average errors initially with near-IC having lesser errors as compared to far-IC. Along-track error for pre-genesis track prediction from far-IC implies that the predicted tracks remarkably lag behind observed tracks for most of the cases. These errors could be contributed from the inability of the models in realistically capturing the region of evolution and intensification of both thermodynamic and dynamic parameters with increasing lead time.

Indian summer monsoon of 2015 was deficient with prominence of short-lived (long-lived) active (break) spells. The real-time extended range forecasts disseminated by Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology using an indigenous ensemble prediction system (EPS) based on National Center for Environmental Predictions’s climate forecast system could broadly predict these intraseasonal fluctuations at shorter time leads (i.e. up to 10 days), but failed to predict at longer leads (15–20 days). Considering the multi-scale nature of Indian Summer Monsoon system, this particular study aims to examine the inability of the EPS in predicting the active/break episodes at longer leads from the perspective of non-linear scale interaction between the synoptic, intraseasonal and seasonal scale. It is found that the 2015 monsoon season was dominated by synoptic scale disturbances that can hinder the prediction on extended range. Further, the interaction between synoptic scale disturbances and low frequency mode was prominent during the season, which might have contributed to the reduced prediction skill at longer leads.

This study was to evaluate the changes in blood and liver parameters caused by oral dose of black tea extract (BTE) in experimental albino rats throughout pregnancy and lactation periods. Pregnant female Wister albino rats were chosen for this study. Group 1 was control group treated with saline. Group 2 and Group 3 were pregnant female rats treated with 50 and 100 mg BTE/kg/day respectively throughout pregnancy and lactation periods. All three groups of rats were provided with food and drinking water ad libitum. Animals were examined through their hematological profile, SEM of RBC and liver function test. BTE (100 mg/kg/day) produced significant alterations in hemoglobin concentration, total RBC and WBC count compared to control groups. BTE (100 mg/kg/day) also induced significant changes in the histology of liver and serum enzymes for liver function test compared to control groups. This study confirmed that BTE altered the parameters of blood and liver in pregnant and lactating experimental albino rats.

Objective An experiment was conducted to examine the effect of dietary supplementation of dried and ground foliage of black gram (Vigna mungo L.) on feed intake and utilization, and production performance of crossbred lactating cows. Methods Eighteen lactating crossbred (Bos taurus×Bos indicus) cows (body weight 330.93± 10.82 kg) at their second and mid lactation (milk yield 6.77±0.54 kg/d) were randomly divided into three groups of six each in a completely randomized block design. Three supplements were formulated by quantitatively replacing 0, 50, and 100 per cent of dietary wheat bran of concentrate mixture with dried and ground foliage of black gram. The designated supplement was fed to each group with basal diet of rice straw (ad libitum) to meet the requirements for maintenance and milk production. Daily feed intake and milk yield was recorded. A digestion trial was conducted to determine the total tract digestibility of various nutrients. Results The daily feed intake was increased (p0.05), the fibre digestibility was increased (p0.05) among the groups, milk yield was increased by 10 per cent with total replacement of wheat bran in concentrate mixture with of black gram foliage. The economics of milk production calculated as feed cost per kg milk yield (INR 10.61 vs 7.98) was reduced by complete replacement of wheat bran with black gram foliage. Conclusion Black gram foliage could be used as complete replacement for wheat bran in concentrate mixture of dairy cows in formulating least cost ration for economic milk production in small holders’ animal production.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common malignancy and the fourth most common cause of cancer-related death worldwide. The treatment of metastatic CRC considered palliative for many years aiming for an improved life, with little hope of a cure, highlighting the need for developing novel targeted therapy for CRC. Human protein kinases constitute a complicated system with complex internal and external interactions, which stimulates various cellular processes such as cell growth, metabolism, survival, and apoptosis. This study investigated the effect of a combination of atypical Protein Kinase C (PKC) inhibitor (either ICA-I or ζ-Stat) and 5-FU (a thymidylate synthase inhibitor) on CRC cells viability concerning cellular DNA damage. In this study, we took multiple approaches such as colony formation assay, flow cytometry, DNA ladder assay, TUNEL assay, etc. to examine the CRC cell viability and apoptosis as a function of combination treatment. Our findings showed that the combination of atypical PKC inhibitor and 5-FU synergistically reduced the viability of CRC cells and induced apoptosis. Additionally, the DNA ladder and TUNEL assays indicated that there was a notable DNA damage and fragmentation because of lack of thymidylate synthase and due to the deactivation of atypical PKC dependent CDK7. These data suggest that the simultaneous knockdown of upstream atypical PKC protein and downstream DNA damage repairing mechanism would be a useful approach to combat CRC and to improve overall patients' survival rate.

This study was to determine the different parameters that affect the outcome and the functional recovery after surgical evacuation of spontaneous hypertensive supratentorial intracerebral haemorrhage. This cross-sectional analytic study was conducted in the Department of Neuro- surgery, Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital, Dhaka, Bangladesh during a period of 4 years from January 2016 to December 2019 and total 96 patients were included in this study. Patients with post-traumatic hematomas, intracranial space-occupying lesions with bleeds, haemorrhagic transformation of an ischemic stroke, vascular malformations, aneurysms, and infratentorial haemorrhages were excluded from the study. Decompressive craniotomy and evacuation of clot was performed in most of the cases. The outcome of the patients was categorized according to the Glasgow Outcome Scale. Outcome was classified as “favourable” if the Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS) score was 5 or 4, and classified as “unfavorable” if GOS score was 3 or less. The mean age of the patients was 57.99±12.74 years with male and female ratio was 1.66. The mean blood volume was 28±19.99 cc and all patients were hypertensive. There was significant difference (p 70 years, GCS

Detailed knowledge of the community structure of methanogens is essential for amelioration of methane emission from livestock species. Several studies have indicated that predominant methanogens of buffalo rumen are different from those in cattle. However, predominant genera of methanogens reported by individual studies varied primarily because of limited scope of sampling, sequencing of limited number of sequences and potential PCR bias in individual studies. In this study, the collective comparative diversity of methanogenic archaea in the rumen of cattle and buffaloes was examined by performing a meta-analysis of all the 16S rRNA (rrn) sequences deposited in GenBank.; Results: Ruminal methanogen sequences of buffalo were clustered into 900 species-level operational taxonomic units (OTUs), and ruminal methanogen sequences of cattle were clustered into 1522 species level OTUs. The number of species-level OTUs shared between cattle and buffaloes was 229 (10.4% of all OTUs), comprising 1746 sequences (27% of the total 6447 sequences). According to taxonomic classification by three different classifiers, Methanobrevibacter was found to be the most predominant genus both in cattle (69-71% of sequences) as well as buffaloes (65.1-68.9% of sequences). Percentage of Methanomicrobium was much higher (P

The onset/progression phase of theIndian summer monsoon (ISM) is very crucial for the agricultural sector of the country as it has strong bearing on the sowing of kharif crops, which in turn affects overall food grain production and hence food security. The recent ISMs of 2013 and 2014 exhibited quite distinct progression phases. While 2013 had one of the fastest advancement in the last 70 years, 2014 witnessed a comparatively lethargic progression phase. The major difference was felt in the early monsoon month of June, with 2013 (2014) monthly rainfall being +34% (−43%) of its long period average. Observational investigations reveal that, during June 2013, the monsoon trough was very active in its normal position favouring low-level positive vorticity generation and moisture convergence, whereas the absence of monsoon trough during June 2014 facilitated the prevalence of a strong low-level anticyclonic circulation over central India hampering the northward progression of the ISM. It is found that June 2013 (2014) was associated with (i) stronger (weaker) north-south tropospheric temperature (TT) gradient with positive (negative) TT anomalies over Eurasia and north of 60°N; (ii) negative (positive) SST anomalies over the equatorial Indian Ocean, northwestern Arabian Sea and equatorial eastern Pacific; (iii) stronger (weaker) monsoonal Hadley circulation; and (iv) stronger (weaker) Walker circulation in response to the negative (positive) SST anomalies over the equatorial Pacific. The study also examines the skill of an Ensemble Prediction System (EPS) in predicting the observed contrasting behaviour during June 2013/2014 on extended range (∼15–20 days in advance) in real time. The EPS not only forecasted the observed discrepancy, but also predicted the influential role of the large-scale meteorological conditions prevalent during June 2013 (2014), thus demonstrating the remarkable skill of the EPS in predicting June extremes.

Neuroblastoma, the pediatric cancer of the early nerve cells, has the tendency to become resistant to traditional therapeutics due to its highly heterogeneous nature. Atypical Protein Kinase C-iota (PKC- ι) has been found to promote cell proliferation in neuroblastoma cells through the PKC- ι /Cdk7/Cdk2 signaling pathway. In this study we utilized various cell lines; I-type (intermediate) CHP-212& BE(2)-C, N-types (neuroblastic); BE(2)-M17& SH-SY5Y and S-types (substrate adherent); SK-N-BE(2) & LAI-5s, representing neuroblastoma heterogeneity to investigate the use of aPKC inhibitors as potential neuroblastoma therapeutics. The aPKC inhibitors, 5-amino-1-2,3-dihydroxy-4-(methylcyclopentyl)-1H-imidazole-4-carboxamide (ICA-1S) (PKC- ι specific) and 8-hydroxy-1,3,6-naphthalenetrisulfonic acid (ζ-Stat) (PKC- ζ specific), both display the ability to reduce neuroblastoma proliferation in a cell type specific manner. ICA-1S was shown to reduce proliferation of BE(2)-C, BE(2)-M17, LAI-5s and SK-N-BE(2) to varying degrees. ζ-Stat was able to consistently reduce proliferation of BE(2)-C, BE(2)-M17, SK-N-BE(2), LAI-5s. The degree of proliferation inhibition varied by drug and cell line. Increasing concentration of ICA-1S displayed an inverse relationship between increasing concentration and a decrease in cell proliferation in the four cell lines previously mentioned. ζ-Stat showed a similar relationship to ICA-1S, however had a lower level inhibition than ICA-1S. WST-1 analysis showed that both drugs displayed varying degrees of toxicity in a cell line dependent manner. The results show that I-type cell lines showed the most linearly proportional toxicity to ICA-1S and ζ-Stat in that increasing concentration increased drug toxicity. N-type cell lines displayed a disproportional relationship between concentration and toxicity. The S-type cell lines followed suit with the N-type in their varying degrees of toxicity. Western blot analysis shows that both inhibitors were effective in reducing the expression of total aPKC levels. We observed the downregulation of various mesenchymal markers using the inhibitors. In particular, ICA-1S appears to have a high percentage of decreased expression of N-cadherin. We also accessed the degree of phosphorylation of Vimentin, S33, S39 and S56 positions which are crucial for its activation. In summary both inhibitors prove to be promising potential neuroblastoma therapeutics. The drugs appear to behave in a more cytostatic manner inhibiting the proliferation of neuroblastoma cells. Further western blots ae still ongoing to determine other pathways through which the drugs act to decrease proliferation. Ongoing experiments include the analysis of tumors collected from mouse models to ascertain the effects of the drugs in vivo as well as the analysis of human tumor samples to ascertain the expression of aPKCs and other markers in patient populations. Experiments also include the use of gene expression knockdowns to compare with the effects from the inhibitors as well as the use of microscopy techniques; fluorescent and electron miscopy to observe the localization of mesenchymal and proliferative markers. Citation Format: Sloan Breedy, Wishrawana S. Ratnayake, Christopher Apostolatos, Avijit Dey, Mildred Acevedo-Duncan. Atypical PKC inhibitors ICA-1S and ζ-Stat show inhibition of neuroblastoma cell proliferation [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research 2020; 2020 Apr 27-28 and Jun 22-24. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2020;80(16 Suppl):Abstract nr 5216.

There is no effective therapy exists for Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) till now. Few studies have been done on protective effects of green tea in pulmonary fibrosis but there is no single report on black tea extract (BTE) in pulmonary fibrosis so far. This study aims to investigate the anti-fibrotic effect of BTE against experimental pulmonary fibrosis. Four groups of animals were selected for this study. Group 1: control group mice. Group 2: mice exposed to bleomycin for 21 days, Group 3 and Group 4: bleomycin exposed mice treated with 25 mg BTE/kg b.w./day, p.o and 50 mg BTE/kg b.w./day, p.o. respectively for 21 days. Bleomycin exposed mice showed increased collagen deposition and wet/dry weight ratio, which were attenuated upon 50 mg BTE/kg b.w. treatment. The increased level of histopathological parameters in bleomycin-induced mice was significantly decreased after 50 mg BTE/kg b.w. treatment. Furthermore, 50 mg BTE/kg b.w. administration also decreased the expression of α-SMA in bleomycin-induced mice. This treatment with 50 mg BTE/kg b.w. also down regulated the expression of TGF-β and up regulated IFN-γ expression in experimental pulmonary fibrosis. The results of the present study put-forward BTE as a potential anti-fibrotic agent due to its attenuating effect on potential fibrotic markers.

The molecular diversity of rumen methanogens was investigated using 16S rDNA gene library prepared from the rumen contents of Nili-Ravi buffaloes. Microbial genomic DNA was isolated from four adult male fistulated buffaloes and PCR conditions were set up using specific primers. Amplified product was cloned into a suitable vector, and the inserts of positive clones were sequenced. A total of 142 clones were examined, and the analysis revealed 46 species level (0.01 distance) operational taxonomic units (OTUs). Twenty six OTUs comprising 89 clones (63% of the total clones) were taxonomically assigned to Methanobacterium genus and the majority of them had highest percent identity with Methanobacterium flexile among cultured methanogens. Five OTUs comprising 27 clones (19% of total clones) were taxonomically assigned to Methanomicrobium genus and these clones showed highest sequence identity with Methanomicrobium mobile. Only two OTUs comprising 6 clones (4% of total clones) were assigned to Methanobrevibacter genus. A total of 17 clones belonging to 10 species level OTUs showed highest percent identity (ranging from 85 to 95%) with Methanomassilicoccus luminyensis and were taxonomically classified as Methanomassiliicocaceae. Out of the 142 rDNA clones, 112 clones, which constitute 79% of the total clones representing 42 OTUs, had less than 98.5% sequence identity with any of the cultured strains of methanogens and represent novel species of methanogens. This study has revealed the largest assortment of hydrogenotrophic methanogen phylotypes ever identified from the rumen of Nili-Ravi buffaloes. The study indicates that Methanobacterium is the most dominant methanogen in the rumen of Nili-Ravi buffalo. This is also the first report on the presence of methanogens phylogenetically close to M. luminyensis, an H2 dependent methylotrophic methanogen, in the rumen of buffaloes at such a high level of abundance.

Context In developing countries of south Asia and Africa, cereal crop residues provide important fodder resources for ruminants. Genetic improvement through plant breeding for high-quality crop residues as well as for grain yield is gaining in demand among mixed crop–livestock farmers. Aims The present study investigated the potential nutritional quality, in vitro ruminal fermentation kinetics, gas production, enzyme activities and methane production of stover of newly developed brown midrib cultivars of sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) compared with other cultivars in buffalo (Bubalus bubalis). Methods Stover from seven sorghum cultivars – brown midrib sorghum (SPV-2017, SPV-2018), normal grain sorghum (CSV-27), forage sorghum (SSG-59-3, CSV-32F) and sweet sorghum (CSH 22SS, CSV 24SS) – was analysed for chemical composition. Stover samples (200 ± 5 mg dry matter) from each cultivar were incubated with buffered rumen fluid (30 mL) in 100-mL calibrated glass syringes at 39°C for 72 h following a standard in vitro gas-production protocol for gas production and fermentation kinetics. Key results Stover chemical composition varied significantly (P < 0.05) among cultivars, with highest organic matter in forage sorghum SSG-59-3 and lowest in sweet sorghum CSV-24SS. Acid detergent lignin was lowest in stover of the brown midrib cultivars (1.27% in SPV-2018 and 1.67% in SPV-2017) and highest in forage sorghum SSG-59-3 (9.42%). The brown midrib cultivars showed highest (P < 0.001) total gas production, truly degradable dry matter, organic matter digestibility and metabolisable energy content. The brown midrib cultivars and forage sorghum CSV-32F had highest (P < 0.05) production of volatile fatty acids (acetate, propionate and butyrate) and activity of ruminal enzymes (carboxymethyl cellulase and xylanase) during fermentation. Conclusions This study demonstrates that stover from brown midrib sorghum cultivars (SPV-2017 and SPV-2018) and forage sorghum CSV-32F could be preferred over stover of other cultivars for animal feed owing to their potential for enhanced utilisation. Implications This study provides information on nutritional quality of stover from newly developed sorghum cultivars for large-scale utilisation as animal feed in smallholder production systems of developing countries.

Glioblastoma is a highly aggressive brain cancer which has a mean survival rate of only 12 months. Current treatment options of glioblastoma include chemotherapy and limited surgical resection. Temozolomide (TMZ) is the current therapeutic choice for chemotherapy but has severe limitations due to development of resistance that occurs by genetic modification and constitutive activation of several other pathways. Therefore, to overcome Temozolomide resistance and to prevent recurrence of the disease a more effective therapeutic approach is required. One of the signaling pathways that contribute to the aggressive behavior of glioma cells is the activation of PKC signaling. Of the various PKC isoforms, the atypical PKCs, PKC ζ and ι were found to be over-expressed in glioblastoma tissue samples compared with normal brain tissue and high atypical PKC levels were correlated with increased cellular proliferation and invasiveness of glioma cells. [4-(5-amino-4-carbamoylimidazol-1-yl)-2, 3-dihydroxycyclopentyl] methyl dihydrogen phosphate also known as ICA-1 was used as a specific inhibitor of PKC-ι and [8-hydroxynaphthalene-1,3,6-trisulfonic acid] also known as ζ-Stat was used as a specific inhibitor of PKC- ζ. T98G and U87 glioblastoma cells were treated with ICA-1 monotherapy (7.5µM), ζ-stat monotherapy (10 µM), TMZ monotherapy at varying doses, TMZ combined with ICA-1 (7.5µM) and TMZ combined with ζ-stat (10 µM) for five consecutive days and analyzed for cell viability by WST assay. Results exhibited that ICA (7.5µM) when combined with TMZ showed significantly increased cytotoxicity compared to TMZ monotherapy. Annexin-V/PI assay revealed that combination treatment with TMZ and ICA nucleotide (7.5µM) significantly increased the number of dead cells and the number of cells undergoing late apoptosis when compared to TMZ monotherapy. This study offers the first evidence for the novel combination of ICA-1 with TMZ to induce robust apoptosis in a Caspase-3 mediated mechanism. Scratch assay results also showed that inhibition of PKC-ζ by ζ-Stat lead to decreased invasion compared to control. Our studies suggest that atypical PKCs particularly PKC-ι might be an important therapeutic target in the treatment of glioblastoma. Citation Format: Avijit Dey, Rekha Patel, Tracess Smalley, Wishrawana Sarathi Ratnayake, Anisul Islam, Mildred Acevedo-Duncan. Inhibition of atypical PKC signaling enhances the sensitivity of glioblastoma cells towards Temozolomide therapy [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2019; 2019 Mar 29-Apr 3; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2019;79(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 244.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common malignancy and considered as the fourth most common cause of cancer-related death worldwide. Although the number of CRC survivors with stage II and III are increasing, more than 50% of patients are diagnosed with stage III or beyond where the distant disease progression has already occurred. Surgical removal of cancerous tissue coupled with chemotherapeutic intervention is the main treatment of metastatic CRC and only hope of enhanced survival. The treatment of metastatic CRC considered palliative for many years aiming for an improved life, with little hope of a cure, highlighting the need for developing novel targeted therapy for CRC. Dysregulation of kinases has been shown to be pivotal of the various pathological process including cancer. Human protein kinases constitute a complicated system with intricate internal and external interaction which stimulates various cellular processes such as cell growth, metabolism, survival, and apoptosis. In this study, a combination of atypical protein kinase c (aPKC) inhibitor (ICA-I, PKC-ι inhibitor or ζ-Stat, PKC-ζ inhibitor) and 5-FU was used to examine the effect of aPKC and thymidylate synthase on CRC cells viability. The cell lines tested were LoVo and RKO CRC cells. Our findings showed that the combination of aPKC inhibitor and 5-FU significantly reduced the viability and induce apoptosis of CRC cells. These data suggest that the simultaneous knockdown of upstream aPKC protein and downstream DNA replication would be a useful approach to combat CRC and to improve overall patients’ survival rate. These results indicate the possibility of utilizing aPKC as the potential therapeutic targets in addition to blocking DNA synthesis in metastatic CRC. Citation Format: S M Anisul Islam, Avijit Dey, Mildred Acevedo-Duncan. Combination of atypical protein kinase-C inhibitor and 5-fluorouracil retards the proliferation of colorectal cancer cells [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2019; 2019 Mar 29-Apr 3; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2019;79(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 719.

Complete or partial depletion of resource in a freshwater habitat is a common phenomenon. As a consequence, aquatic fauna including bivalve molluscs may be exposed to dietary stress on a seasonal basis. Haemocyte based innate immune profile of the freshwater mollusc Lamellidens marginalis (Bivalvia: Eulamellibranchiata) was evaluated under starvation induced stress for a maximum period of 32 days in a controlled laboratory condition. During starvation, the bivalve haemocytes maintained a homeostasis in phagocytic efficacy and nitric oxide generation ability with respect to the control. The mollusc maintained a significantly high protein content in its haemolymph and tissues under the nutritional stress with respect to the control. The dietary stress had no significant impact on the activity of digestive tissue derived α-amylase till sixteenth day but by 32 days the enzyme activity went down significantly. The histopathological profile revealed that the bivalve was adapted to maintain a steady immune profile by incurring degeneration of its own tissue structure. The total haemocyte count surged significantly till 16 days but differed insignificantly with respect to the control at 32 days implying probable haematopoietic exhaustion. The study reflects the instinctive urge of the bivalve to maintain immune physiology at heavy metabolic cost under nutrient limited condition.

Detailed knowledge of the community structure of methanogens is essential for amelioration of methane emission from livestock species. Several studies have indicated that predominant methanogens of buffalo rumen are different from those in cattle. However, predominant genera of methanogens reported by individual studies varied primarily because of limited scope of sampling, sequencing of limited number of sequences and potential PCR bias in individual studies. In this study, the collective comparative diversity of methanogenic archaea in the rumen of cattle and buffaloes was examined by performing a meta-analysis of all the 16S rRNA (rrn) sequences deposited in GenBank.Ruminal methanogen sequences of buffalo were clustered into 900 species-level operational taxonomic units (OTUs), and ruminal methanogen sequences of cattle were clustered into 1522 species level OTUs. The number of species-level OTUs shared between cattle and buffaloes was 229 (10.4% of all OTUs), comprising 1746 sequences (27% of the total 6447 sequences). According to taxonomic classification by three different classifiers, Methanobrevibacter was found to be the most predominant genus both in cattle (69-71% of sequences) as well as buffaloes (65.1-68.9% of sequences). Percentage of Methanomicrobium was much higher (P 0.05) in the case of buffalo (18%) than that of cattle (4.5%). On the other hand, percentages of Methanosphaera- and Methanomassiliicoccus-like methanogens were much higher (P 0.05) in cattle than in buffaloes.This study indicated that there is a substantial difference in community structure of ruminal methanogens of cattle and buffaloes. The study has also indicated that the percent of species-level operational taxonomic units shared between cattle and buffalo is very low, and thus host species-specific methane mitigation strategies need to be developed for cattle and buffaloes. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry.

Objective An experiment was conducted to examine the effect of dietary supplementation of dried and ground foliage of black gram (Vigna mungo L.) on feed intake and utilization, and production performance of crossbred lactating cows. Methods Eighteen lactating crossbred (Bos taurus×Bos indicus) cows (body weight 330.93± 10.82 kg) at their second and mid lactation (milk yield 6.77±0.54 kg/d) were randomly divided into three groups of six each in a completely randomized block design. Three supplements were formulated by quantitatively replacing 0, 50, and 100 per cent of dietary wheat bran of concentrate mixture with dried and ground foliage of black gram. The designated supplement was fed to each group with basal diet of rice straw (ad libitum) to meet the requirements for maintenance and milk production. Daily feed intake and milk yield was recorded. A digestion trial was conducted to determine the total tract digestibility of various nutrients. Results The daily feed intake was increased (p0.05), the fibre digestibility was increased (p0.05) among the groups, milk yield was increased by 10 per cent with total replacement of wheat bran in concentrate mixture with of black gram foliage. The economics of milk production calculated as feed cost per kg milk yield (INR 10.61 vs 7.98) was reduced by complete replacement of wheat bran with black gram foliage. Conclusion Black gram foliage could be used as complete replacement for wheat bran in concentrate mixture of dairy cows in formulating least cost ration for economic milk production in small holders’ animal production.

This study examined the effects of dietary inclusion of tanniferous leaves of Ficus infectoria as a protectant of proteins on the performance of lambs. Twenty-four lambs were randomly divided into four groups of six each in a completely randomized block design and fed four iso-nitrogenous supplements formulated to contain 0, 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0% condensed tannins (CT) through dried and ground leaves of F. infectoria. The diets were designated as CT-1.0, CT-1.5 and CT-2.0, respectively, and fed to lambs on a basal diet of wheat straw to meet requirements for maintenance and growth. Blood-biochemical profile was monitored in all the lambs at 0, 45, 90, 135, 180 days of feeding. The average daily growth rate and wool growth for a period of 180 days showed a significant (P

To study the effect of supplementation of tanniferous tree leaves Ficus infectoria on antioxidant status and immune response, twenty four lambs were randomly divided into four groups of six each in a completely randomized design and fed either a conventional supplement (CON) or experimental supplements (FILM-I, FILM-II and FILM-III) containing 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0% condensed tannins (CT), respectively by replacement of wheat bran of supplement CON with Ficus infectoria leaf meal (FILM). Blood biochemical profile was monitored in all lambs at 0, 45, 90, 135, 180 days of feeding. Although haemato-biochemical parameters remained similar, there was significant (p0.05) improvement in catalase activity, total thiol and protein thiol groups with reduction in lipid peroxidation (LPO) in lambs fed FILM diet irrespective of levels. However, intracellular status of reduced glutathione, and superoxide dismutase activity was improved (p0.05) only in FILM-II and FILM-III supplemented lambs. The cell-mediated immune response was significantly (p0.05) improved in all the lambs fed FILM supplemented diets. Improved antioxidant status and immunity in FILM supplemented lambs increased voluntary feed intake irrespective of level. However, the average daily gain for a period of 180 d showed a significant (p0.05) increase by the supplementation of FILM-II diet containing 1.5% CT. The present study reveals that the supplementation of Ficus infectoria leaf meal up to 21.2% in the concentrate mixture could improve the antioxidant status and immunity in lambs. However, as feed efficiency was reduced at higher levels due to presence of CT, 15.9% supplementation containing 1.5% condensed tannins in concentrate mixture is suggested to improve the health and production performance of lambs.

Boerhavia repens is an important medicinal plant having application in jaundice, fever and various other disorders. The whole plant Boerhavia repens was sun dried and extracted using methanol. Later the crude methanolic extract was fractionated into four different fractions using Petroleum ether, carbon tetrachloride, Di-chloromethane and Ethyl acetate. The anti-oxidant activity of the different fractions was measured by the DPPH free radical scavenging activity. The ethyl acetate and the di-chloro methane soluble fractions showed very potent anti-oxidant activity by the DPPH free radical scavenging method. The antimicrobial activity of the different fractions was measured by disc diffusion method. The antimicrobial screening of the plant showed that the carbon tetrachloride soluble fractions and the Petroleum ether soluble fractions showed mild antimicrobial activity. Evaluation of cyto-toxic activity was done using the brine-shrimp lethality bio-assay. The petroleum ether soluble fraction and the ethyl acetate soluble fractions showed significant cyto-toxic activity.

Drynaria qu ercifolia is a plant having wide spread ethno pharmacological uses. The aim of this study was to evaluate the anti - oxidant, anti - microbial and cyto toxic activities of the whole plant Drynaria quercifolia . The rhizome of the plant was sun dried and extract ed using methanol. Later the crude methanolic extract was fractionated into four different fractions using Petrole um ether, carbon - tetrachloride, Ethyl acetate and water . The anti - oxidant activity of the different fractions was measured by the DPPH free ra dical scavenging activity. The ethyl acetate , carbon - tetrachloride and showed very potent anti - oxidant activity by the DPPH free radical scavenging method. The anti - microbial activity of the different fractions was measured by disc diffusion method using c iprofloxacin as a standard. In vitro antimicrobial screening of the plant showed that ethyl acetate and the carbon tetra chloride fractions showed mild anti microbial activity. Evaluation of cyto - toxic activity was done using the brine - shrimp lethality bio - assay. The petroleum ether soluble fraction showed significant cyto - toxic potential with LC 50 values of 5.59 µg / ml.

The present study was carried out to investigate the effect of addition of graded dose of lemon grass (Cymbopogon citrates) essential oils (LGO) on in vitro rumen digestibility and fermentation parameters in buffalo. Two separate experiments were conducted with either oats hay or a mixed feed (oats hay: concentrate mixture, 60: 40) as substrate in completely randomized design with control (without LGO) and added with LGO @ 10, 20, 40 and 80 μL of LGO/40 mL of buffered rumen fluid. Incubations were carried out in 125 mL serum bottle under anaerobic conditions at 39°C for 24 h. Methane concentration (%) in the head space gas reduced (P

A trial was conducted for 180 days to investigate the effect of supplemental sulfur from an inorganic source, namely, sodium sulfate (0.4% sulfur in concentrate mixture) on antibody response of Pashmina (Cheghu breed) goats following five injections with egg albumen (EA). Humoral immune response was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) as serum-specific antibody titers against EA on various days of the experiment. Goats that received supplemental sulfur showed considerably higher antibody titers than their counterparts who did not receive supplemental sulfur in the diet. The overall difference in antibody titers was found statistically significant ( F -ratio=46.99, p

This study was conducted to examine the effects of condensed tannins (CT) from Ficus bengalensis leaves on the feed utilization, milk production and health status of crossbred cows. Eighteen crossbred dairy cows at their second and mid lactation (avg. BW 351.6±10.6 kg) were randomly divided into two groups of nine each in a completely randomized block design and fed two iso-nitrogenous supplements formulated to contain 0% and 1.5% CT through dried and ground leaves of Ficus bengalensis. The diets were designated as CON and FBLM, respectively and fed to cows with a basal diet of rice straw to meet requirements for maintenance and milk production. The daily milk yield was significantly (p

BACKGROUND Arsenic, acting as an endocrine disruptor, causes reproductive malfunctions. Studies have been undertaken to find out whether the co-supplementation of α-tocopherol and ascorbic acid (AT-AA) could reduce the arsenic-induced testicular toxicity caused by oxidative stress and resulting DNA damage. METHODS Adult male Wistar rats (120±10 g) were given arsenic trioxide [3 mg/kg body weight (b.wt.) per day] for 30 consecutive days and the supplement group received α-tocopherol (400 mg/kg b.wt. per day) and ascorbic acid (200 mg/kg b.wt. per day). Reproductive functions were evaluated with respect to the histoarchitecture, gametokinetic activity, androgenic potential, glutathione-dependent antioxidant status and DNA damage of the testis. RESULTS Arsenic treatment caused marked reduction in the relative weight of the testis (p

The aim of this study was to phytochemically investigate the ethanolic extract of Hibiscus sabdariffa Linn. calyces and to evaluate the analgesic, anti-microbial and anti-diarrheal activities of this. The calyces of Hibiscus sabdariffa were separated from the other plant parts and sun dried and extracted using ethanol and phytochemically and pharmacologically evaluated.Different Phytochemical tests were performed for phytochemical screening and for determining the functional groups. Different methods like Disc diffusion method for antimicrobial activity determination, Castor oil induced diarrhea in mice method for the antidiarrheal study and Acetic acid induced writhing test for analgesic activity were employed. Phytochemical screening of the calyces of Hibiscus sabdariffa ensured the presence of alkaloid, flavonoids, saponins, tannins in the crude ethanolic extract. The peripheral analgesic activity was evaluated by acetic acid induced Writhing method. The extract produced 66.85% (p< 0.001) inhibition of writhing in mice at the dose of 500-mg/kg body weight, which is comparable to diclofenac sodium (78.45% (p

The present work concerns itself with the study of the effects of Growth Rate Dispersion (GRD) in industrial crystallizers. The GRD in crystallizers is described by a model similar to the one describes axial dispersion in near plug flow reactors. From it differential and cumulative equations are developed for crystal population, crystal length, crystal area, and crystal mass. The model results have been compared with the available experimental data of sucrose crystallizer.

This work deals with the prediction of crystal size distribution (CSD) in a continuous crystallizer for size-dependent growth. Crystal growth rates are described by ABEGG, STEVENS, and LARSON (ASL) model. Stratified Monte Carlo method has been employed to evaluate the integrals involved in the classical moment equation for prediction of CSD. The simulation results have been compared with the available experimental data of K 2 CO 3 .1.5 H 2 O crystals in a continuous crystallizer

A Monte Carlo simulation scheme is proposed for crystal size distribution (CSD) in a continuous crystallizer for size dependent growth rate. Crystal growth rates are described by Abegg, Stevens, and Larson (ASL) model. The proposed model is used to predict CSD from potassium carbonate crystallizer. The agreement between theory and available data confirms the validity of the model.

Monte Carlo simulation is a very powerful tool for simulation of transient and steady state crystal size distribution (CSD) in a continuous crystallizer under stochastic dispersion effects. In the present work, transient CSD in a continuous crystallizer has been reported when shape factor and growth rate dispersions conform to normal distribution. For the steady state run, the algorithm reported by Sen Gupta and Dutta elsewhere has been used to validate the results obtained in the present work when the steady state is reached.

This work deals with the transient analysis of crystal size distribution (CSD) in a continuous sodium chloride crystallizer. The crystallization is assumed to take place under diffusion controlled conditions and the crystal growth models reported by Sen Gupta and Dutta elsewhere have been used. Monte Carlo (MC) scheme has been employed for simulation purposes. The simulation results have been compared with the available experimental data at steady state.

In this paper, pollutants in air, water and as solids which stem from the paper industry are discussed, and pollution abatement measures are suggested. The Pulp and Paper Industry is highly capital, material and energy intensive and return on investment is very low. This paper reviews some emerging international principles which are effective in reducing both effluent treatment costs per tonne of paper and the mill discharges, to levels where their environmental impacts become far less significant than at present.

The real-time validation of any strategy to forecast the Indian summer monsoon rainfall requires comprehensive assessment of performance of the model on sub-seasonal scale. The multi-model ensemble (MME) approach based on the NCEP-CFS version 2 models, as developed and reported earlier, has been employed to forecast the 2014 monsoon season on the extended range scale with 3-4 pentad lead time (where a pentad corresponds to five-day average). The present study reports the broad performance of the MME employed on experimental basis to forecast the salient features of the real-time evolution of the 2014 monsoon season during June to September. The MME is successful in predicting both these features well in advance (3-4 pentad or 15-20 days lead time). The assessment of the model performance at pentad scale lead time shows that the weak monsoon conditions that are evident in precipitation and lower level wind anomalies are well captured as a whole up to four pentad advance lead time. The subseasonal propagation during onset and withdrawal is also evident in the forecast. Finally, the region-wise performance shows that the spatial extent of the skillful forecast encompasses central India as well as the monsoon zone for the 2014 monsoon season. Considering the natural variation in the forecast skill of extended range forecast itself as reported in earlier studies, the 2014 monsoon forecast seems to be skillful for operational purposes. For other regions (e.g. North East India), the forecast could be skillful at times, but it still requires further research on how to improve the same.

The prime objective of the present reliability study is to assure adequate availability of Dumper Tyres consistent with minimal maintenance costs. From field data, it was found that failure probability density function conforms to Gaussian distribution. This distribution has been applied to predict field reliability of Dumper Types with satisfactory results.

Colloidal gas aphrons (CGAs) are micron-sized bubbles, which are produced by stirring a dilute surfactant solution at a high speed. In this work, CGAs have been used to clarify oily wastewater by flotation technique. The CGAs sparging rate was a critical factor that governed the efficiency of the process. A model for the determination of the mass transfer coefficient is also developed for the purpose of process design.

The seasonal genesis parameters for tropical cyclogenesis developed by W. M. Gray, is widely used for the climatological and seasonal monitoring of cyclogenesis over the tropical oceans. Over the North Indian Ocean (NIO), cyclogenesis and evolution is monitored and predicted in the short, medium and extended ranges by India Meteorological Department with the implementation of different deterministic and probabilistic forecasting techniques. This paper provides a review of an in-house developed tropical cyclone prediction system involving an improved storm evolution index and an objective tracking algorithm for detecting cyclogenesis, evolution and storm tracks from post-processed Multi-model ensemble (MME) outputs from the Climate Forecast System-based Grand Ensemble Prediction System (CGEPS) implemented for operational extended range prediction. In the first part, the reliability of cyclogenesis prediction when more than one storm systems develop simultaneously is discussed using a case study. Prominent cyclogenesis indices and constituent parameters are used to analyse the atmospheric and oceanic features which affected the evolution two consecutive storms over NIO by using ERA-Interim daily averaged datasets. The performance of indices from MME outputs is also analysed. Further the reliability of objective track prediction system is discussed by using ERA-5 and ERA-Interim datasets. Finally, the performance of the CGEPS-MME in predicting the recent tropical cyclones, Amphan and Nisarga are discussed in detail. Real-time implementation of this prediction system has proven to be critical in providing early guidance on the formation of storms, enabling the cyclone warning community to be on alert thereby providing enough lead time for better planning and mitigation strategies.