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Background: Interaction between nutrition and reproduction has been established to play an important role in reproductive performance of animals. Zinc is considered to be an essential element required for reproduction. The present study was conducted to evaluate the efficiency of nano zinc (NZn) as feed supplementation on reproductive performance of Assam Hill goats. Methods: A total of twenty-four numbers of 7 days post kidding doe maintained at Goat Research Station, Assam Agricultural University, Burnihat were randomly selected and divided into 4 groups comprising 6 animals in each group. The control group animals were fed with basal diet without zinc supplementation however, all the animals of the treatment groups received 25 mg NZn, 35 mg NZn and 50 mg NZn/kg concentrate mixture with basal diet for a period of three months. Does were bred naturally at 24 hours from the onset of oestrus and confirmed for pregnancy after two months. Parturition behaviour was observed closely from two days before the expected date of kidding upto the period of placental expulsion. Result: Supplementation of 50 mg NZn to the basal diet of postpartum Assam Hill Goat significantly improved the reproductive performance by decreasing postpartum oestrus interval and increasing conception rate (83.33%). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An efficient Rh(III)-catalysed C-H functionalization, tandem annulation of cis -stilbene acids using 2-diazo-1,3-diketones was devised. This protocol solely afforded 6,7-dihydrobenzofuran-4(5 H )-ones using alicyclic diazocarbonyls via decarbonylation and α-pyrones with aliphatic diazo compounds. The chameleonic nature of cis -stilbene acid was observed with various diazo compounds by altering the additives. This synthetic method furnished good atom-economy and wide functional group tolerance, and also explained the use of carboxylic acids as a directing group. In addition, a mechanistic investigation of the catalysed reaction using ESI-MS, and the fluorescence properties of α-pyrones were well explored.

Purpose: Radiotherapy (RT) is a well-established modality for treating malignancies, but its role in treatment of benign lesions has not been well explored. Herein, we present a retrospective analysis of a 7-year data regarding the benefit and the safety profile of RT for treating benign tumors in our institute., Materials and Methods: Data of 23 patients who received RT for benign tumors from January 2015 to April 2022 were retrieved, and a retrospective analysis was conducted. All the pertinent demographic data, treatment and follow-up data were retrieved. The most common presentations were nasopharyngeal angiofibroma, vertebral hemangioma, paraganglioma, and others. The most common sites of occurrence were head and neck (43%) and paravertebral region (22%). Volumetric modulated arc therapy was the most commonly employed RT technique (39%), followed by three-dimensional conformal RT (34%) and two-dimensional conventional radiotherapy (26%). The median RT dose delivered was 36 Gy (range: 20-54 Gy)., Results: The median follow-up duration was 53 months (range: 3-120 months). Nine (39%) patients had progressive disease with a median time to progression of 8 months (range: 1-30 months). The median disease-free survival (DFS) was 70 months, while the 1-, 3-, and 5-year DFS rates were 97%, 88%, and 62%, respectively. Four patients (17%) died, all due to disease progression. The 1-, 3-, and 5-year overall survival rates was 97%, 85%, and 50%, respectively. The rate of radiation-induced cancer (RIC) was 0% as none of the patients had developed RIC secondary to radiation., Conclusion: RT is a safe and an effective option to manage benign tumors either in an adjuvant setting or in inoperable patients requiring definitive treatment, as well as in a setting to alleviate symptoms, providing excellent survival benefits. However, further prospective studies with much higher sample size are required to establish the absolute benefit and to estimate the risk of RIC, which will further direct for a better utilization of RT in treating benign tumors., (Copyright © 2024 Copyright: © 2024 Journal of Cancer Research and Therapeutics.)

Background: Dietary fiber can be effectively incorporated into processed meat products along with binders, extenders and fillers. Using millet in meat products can balance the enormous demand and supply for affordable, wholesome, dietary fiber enriched and healthful meat products. Methods: The duck meat sausages were developed by incorporating three different levels of roasted foxtail millet flour (FTMF) i.e. 5%, 10% and 15% and coded as T1 (5%), T2 (10%) and T3 (15%). The proximate composition, texture profile, colour profile and microbiological qualities of the control and treated sausages were estimated. Result: The moisture, crude protein, ether extract and calorie value of the sausages declined significantly (p<0.05) with increasing levels of FTMF in the treated sausages. In the case of texture profile, a significant (p<0.05) difference was observed in the springiness, hardness, chewiness and resilience (p<0.05) of the sausages between the control and treated groups. However, no significant difference in cohesiveness was observed between the control and the treated products. The colour profile revealed no significant (p>0.01) difference in lightness (L*), redness (a*) and yellowness (b*). TVC and TVPBC showed a significantly (p<0.01) decreasing trend from control to treated products. However, the bacterial load increased during the storage for up to 15 days. No colititre, yeast, or mould were detected during the entire storage period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research was conducted to detrmine the effect of seeed rates in mixtures of Pea + Oat on the green forage and silage proein fractions by Cornell Net Carbohydrate and Protein System (CNCPS). Experiment was established in autumn in 2012, on October the 20th and plant samples were taken in spring 2013 at forming the first pods on 2/3 plants of Pea at Institute for forage crops, Kruševac, R Serbia, using five different mixture rates of Pea and Oat crops (100% Pea + 0% Oat; 0% Pea + 100% Oat; 25% Pea + 75% Oat; 50% Pea + 50% Oat and 75% Pea + 25% Oat). Pea:Oat mixtures were treated with bacterial inoculant and ensiled in anaerobic jars for 45 days. Green forages and silage samples were analysed for DM (Dry Matter), CP (Crude Protein), primary protein fractions – TP (True Protein), NPN (Non Protein Nitrogen), IP (Insoluble Protein), SolP (Soluble Protein), NDICP (Neutral Detergent Insoluble Crude Protein) and ADICP (Acid Detergent Insoluble Crude Protein) and protein fractions by CNCPS. An analysis of variance found statistically significant differences among mixture rates for all variables, except IP and SolP. Silage from monoculture Pea had the highest NPN (696.2 g kg-1 CP) and SolP (713.8 g kg-1 CP), followed by the mixture of Pea with Oat 75:25 (662.5 and 653.4 g kg-1 CP, respectively). On analyzing the CNCPS protein fractions of Pea:Oat silages, it was found that silage from Pea monoculture contained the highest PA fraction and that PA fraction increased with increasing Pea ratios in silages, which was direct reflection of their high NPN and SolP in green forages and in silages. Becouse of those facts 25:50 and 50:50 Pea:Oat mixtures silages could be recomended for ruminant nutrition. Bacterial inoculant evaluated can increase the TP content, as well as PB1 and PB3 fractions.

Destructive human activities have been ravaging nature and have also in certain situations paved the way towards emergence of diseases hitherto unknown. While a substantial number of the emerging diseases are known to originate from animals, there are many instances where humans have been responsible for causing infection in animals. Such "spill over" encountered in SARS CoV-2 raises alarm as it complicates the process of understanding the disease dynamics. Many other pathogens have been known to cause reverse zoonoses including Influenza viruses. The knowledge that have been gathered throughout the years from previous such occurrences can help the scientific community in designing the control and preventive protocols for arresting the spread of SARS CoV-2 among the human and animal population. In humans extensive vaccination is being practiced as an effective intervention strategy and the reverse zoonotic nature of the virus has given an impetus for assessing the feasibility of using similar vaccines in animals. However, to break the reverse zoonotic cycle capable of causing pandemics, a holistic approach is required to understand the pathogen movement at the man-animal interface which not only includes the viral properties like mutation rate, virulence characteristics etc but various other factors such as environmental changes, human interference etc. Effective biosecurity measures, artificial intelligence based monitoring systems and robust molecular epidemiological surveillance can help in preventing as well as predicting "spillover" of pathogens which will be critical for preventing pandemics in future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent decades, due to abundance (second most abundant natural polymer after cellulose) and sustainability, lignin has attracted much interest from different researchers to use as a raw material for producing various value-added materials such as polymer and fuel. In addition to that, the aromatic structure of lignin makes it a suitable candidate for producing platform chemicals with aromatic rings. As a result, lignin depolymerization has become an interesting process to derive different phenolic monomers like vanillin, acetosyringone, and guaiacol. Among them, due to the bioactive characteristics and efficiency of acetosyringone in plant regulatory systems, the production of acetosyringone from lignin has been presented in this work. A green and cost-effective method was developed for the selective formation of acetosyringone via depolymerization of isolated rice straw lignin (RSL) by using metal catalyst-free conditions in the biphasic medium and described. The RSL was characterized with various spectroscopic techniques such as FT-IR, solid-state 13 C NMR, XPS, and TGA. The selectivity of synthesized acetosyringone during depolymerization of RSL was checked from GC-MS analysis. The molecular structure and purity of acetosyringone isolated from preparative thin layer chromatography (TLC) were confirmed with the help of 1 H NMR and HRMS, respectively., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

The aim of this research work is to improve the mechanical and water-resistance properties of soy protein isolate (SPI) biofilm. In this work, 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES) coupling-agent modified nanocellulose was introduced into the SPI matrix in the presence of citric acid cross-linker. The presence of amino groups in APTES facilitated the formation of - cross-linked structures with soy protein. The incorporation of a citric acid cross-linker made the cross-linking process more productive, and the surface smoothness of the film was confirmed by a Scanning Electron Microscope (FE-SEM). From the study of the mechanical and thermal properties and water resistance of the film, it was confirmed that the results were highly satisfactory for the modified nanocellulose-incorporated film compared to the non-modified one. Additionally, coating of citral essential oil onto SPI nanocomposite film displayed antimicrobial properties due to the presence of various phenolic groups in the citral oil. The Tensile Strength and Young's Modulus of silane-modified nanocellulose containing film were enhanced by ∼119 % and ∼ 112 %, respectively on incorporation of 1 % APTES-modified nanocellulose. Consequently, this work is expected to offer an effective way for silylated nano-cellulose reinforcing soy protein isolate (SPI)-based bio nanocomposite films for packaging applications. As an example, we have demonstrated one of the applications as wrapping films for packing black grapes., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The present study was conducted to ascertain the seroprevalence of Leptospira infection in cattle among certain districts of the lower Brahmaputra valley in the state of Assam from March 2017 to February 2018. Two serological tests viz. IgG ELISA and Microscopic Agglutination Test (MAT) were used to detect the leptospiral antibodies. The anti-leptospiral antibodies were detected by IgG ELISA and compared with MAT using antigens from 12 pathogenic serovars. Out of 380 sera samples, 68 (17.89 %, 95% CI: 6.89-27) and 44 (11.58%) were positive by IgG ELISA and MAT respectively. The circulating Leptospira serovars identified were Autumnalis (6.05%), Ballum (2.63%), Batavia (1.31%), Ichterohaemorrhagie (0.7%), Javanica (0.5%) and Sejroe (0.2%). The sensitivity and specificity of IgG ELISA in comparison to MAT were calculated and found to be 100% and 92.85% respectively with a concordance of 93.68%. An epidemiological investigation was carried out to find the association of various risk factors with Leptospira infection under this study in cattle using a pre-tested questionnaire. The present study will serve as baseline data for the prevention and control of Leptospira infection in cattle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The creation of health and wellness centres (HWCs) to deliver comprehensive primary healthcare (CPHC) is a programmatic response to the changing demographic and epidemiological profile in India. Since the north-eastern (NE) states face distinct challenges to routine healthcare services, and it has been two years since the rollout of non-communicable disease (NCD) services through the HWCs, a rapid assessment of the rollout with respect to all components of CPHC was undertaken in the NE state of Manipur., Methods: The assessment was undertaken using a mixed methodology to assess the rollout of NCD services under CPHC based on the functionality criteria of HWCs. The districts and the facilities were sampled purposively using pre-defined criteria. Primary data were collected using adapted pre-tested semi-structured tools and an interview schedule, which were triangulated with facility-based records and field observations. The data were anonymized, analysed thematically and presented under the domains of CPHC., Results: The assessment aided in identifying progress and challenges in the rollout of NCD services through the HWCs. Overall, the initiative was successful in generating demand and community awareness of the expanded range of services at the primary level. Yet, constraints posed by infrastructural gaps, logistical delays, training gaps, fund flow and weak community-level convergence compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic challenged seamless NCD service delivery., Conclusion: In as much as the attainment of universal health coverage is dependent on NCD prevention and control, the rollout of NCD services is dependent on strong institutional structures, especially at the primary level. The assessment highlights the need to strengthen the HWCs through adequate financing, human resources, logistics for medicines and technology, community participation, citizen engagement and change management., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts of interest., (Copyright: © 2023 Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care.)