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Amaranthus hybridus L. is known to have highly rich nutritional properties, having high content of protein, calcium, folic acid and vitamin C. Therefore, it is considered as an agriculturally efficient crop. Because of its impressive nutritional and agricultural properties Amaranthus was included as one of the 36 most potential crops by World Health Organization in 1975 (Bhattacharjcc, 2007). Alternaria alternata was isolated as a dominant fungal pathogen from its leaves, damaging the crop to a greater extent. The leaves extracts of four angiospermic plants, viz., Cassia fistula, Annona squamosa, Bauhinia variegata and Aegle marmelos were tested in vitro against A. alternata in both semisolid & broth media. Annona squamosa extract was found to be the most effective in inhibiting the mycelial growth of A. alternata, whereas Cassia fistula extract was least effective amongst the selected angiospermic sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is one of the most common mental disorders among university students; however, many students go untreated due to treatment costs, stigma concerns, and limited access to trained mental health professionals. These barriers are heightened in universities in India, where there are scant mental health care services and severe stigma surrounding help seeking. Objective: To evaluate the feasibility, acceptability, and efficacy of Internet-based, or "online," cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)-based unguided and guided self-help interventions (using the programs GAD Online and Lantern, respectively) to reduce GAD symptoms in students with clinical and subthreshold GAD and, ultimately, reduce the prevalence and incidence of GAD among the student population. Methods: Students will be recruited via 3 colleges in Hyderabad, India, and referred for a campus-wide online screening. Self-report data will be collected entirely online. A total of 300 qualifying students will be randomized in a 1:1:1 ratio to receive GAD Online, Lantern, or to be in a wait-list control condition, stratified by clinical and subthreshold GAD symptomatology. Students will complete a postintervention assessment after 3 months and a follow-up assessment 6 months later, at which point students in the wait-list control condition will receive one of the programs. The primary outcome is GAD symptom severity at 3 months postintervention. Secondary outcomes include GAD caseness at 9 months, other anxiety and depression symptoms, self-efficacy, and functional measures (eg, sleep, social functioning) at 3 and 9 months, respectively. Primary analyses will be differences between each of the intervention groups and the wait-list control group, analyzed on an intention-to-treat (ITT) basis using mixed-design ANOVA. Results: The study commenced in February 2015. The sample was recruited over a 3-week period at each college. The trial is expected to end in December 2015. Conclusions: This trial will be the first to evaluate the use of Internet-based CBT programs compared with a wait-list control group for the treatment of GAD among students in Indian universities. If effective, these programs have the potential to reduce the mental health care treatment gap by providing readily accessible, private, and cost-effective evidence-based care to students with GAD who do not currently receive the treatment they need. Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02410265 http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02410265 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/6ddqH6Rbt). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a chronic neurodegenerative disease. Current therapies of AD are only symptomatic, therefore the need for the development of new therapies to treat Alzheimer’s disease effectively. To achieve this objective quantitative structure–activity relationship (QSAR) studies were carried out as it provides the rationale for the changes in the structure to have more potent Aβ 42 inhibitors or anti-Alzheimer’s agents. Quantitative structure–activity relationship (QSAR) studies were carried out on a series of 34 fused 5,6-bicyclic heterocycles to investigate the structural requirements of their inhibitory activity against Aβ 42 . The statistically significant best 3D-QSAR model having cross-validated squared correlation coefficient q 2 = 0.8457 with external predictive ability of pred_ r 2 = 0.7556 was developed by SW-kNN. Developed kNN–MFA model highlighted the importance of shape of the molecules, i.e., hydrophobic and steric descriptors at the grid points H_83 and S_183, S_227 for γ-secretase binding interaction. This model (3D) was found to yield reliable clues for further optimization of fused 5,6-bicyclic heterocycles in the data set. The information rendered by the 3D-QSAR model may lead to a better understanding of the structural requirements of γ-secretase modulators and can also help in the design of novel potent γ-secretase modulators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]