Review Study on Larvicidal and Mosquito Repellent Activity of Volatile Oils Isolated from Medicinal Plants

Mosquito is a vector for serious human diseases like dengue fever, hemaorrhagic dengue fever and chikungunya, .yellow fever, malaria, filaria and encephalitis among these dengue, hemaorrhagic dengue and chikungunya are highly endemic diseases in Southeast Asian and African countries, causing millions of deaths each and every year. Mosquito repellents thus play a major role in preventing man-mosquito contact and there by minimize the chance of infections and its adverse effects. The development of resistance to chemical insecticides, results rebounding vectorial capacity. Synthetic repellents are chemicals which used worldwide for protection against mosquito-borne diseases and it adversely affects the environment by contaminating water, soil and air. There is an urgent need to find alternatives to the synthetic insecticides. Plants are rich source of alternative agents for control of mosquitoes and its vectors. Extracts and isolated compounds from different plant families have been evaluated for their promising larvicidal and mosquito repellent activities. Literature has documented that essential oils and extracts have been traditionally used as effective repellents. The essential oils whose repellent activities have been demonstrated, as well as the importance of the synergistic effects among their components are the main focus of this review study. Essential oils are volatile mixtures of hydrocarbons with a diversity of functional groups, and their repellent activity has been linked to the presence of monoterpenes and sesquiterpenes. The present review study focused the larvicidal potential and mosquito repellent activity of different volatile oils of medicinal plants. From an economical point of view synthetic chemical is still more frequently used as repellents than essential oils; these essential oils have the potential to provide efficient and can be used as a cheap, eco-friendly, safer for humans and the environment and also efficient alternative to the chemical larvicides

Germline-like predecessors of broadly neutralizing antibodies lack measurable binding to HIV-1 envelope glycoproteins: Implications for evasion of immune responses and design of vaccine immunogens

Several human monoclonal antibodies (hmAbs) including b12, 2G12, and 2F5 exhibit relatively potent and broad HIV-1-neutralizing activity. However, their elicitation in vivo by vaccine immunogens based on the HIV-1 envelope glycoprotein (Env) has not been successful. We have hypothesized that HIV-1 has evolved a strategy to reduce or eliminate the immunogenicity of the highly conserved epitopes of such antibodies by using "holes" (absence or very weak binding to these epitopes of germline antibodies that is not sufficient to initiate and/or maintain an efficient immune response) in the human germline B cell receptor (BCR) repertoire. To begin to test this hypothesis we have designed germline-like antibodies corresponding most closely to b12, 2G12, and 2F5 as well as to X5, m44, and m46 which are cross-reactive but with relatively modest neutralizing activity as natively occurring antibodies due to size and/or other effects. The germline-like X5, m44, and m46 bound with relatively high affinity to all tested Envs. In contrast, germline-like b12, 2G12, and 2F5 lacked measurable binding to Envs in an ELISA assay although the corresponding mature antibodies did. These results provide initial evidence that Env structures containing conserved vulnerable epitopes may not initiate humoral responses by binding to germline antibodies. Even if such responses are initiated by very weak binding undetectable in our assay it is likely that they will be outcompeted by responses to structures containing the epitopes of X5, m44, m46, and other antibodies that bind germline BCRs with much higher affinity/avidity. This hypothesis, if further supported by data, could contribute to our understanding of how HIV-1 evades immune responses and offer new concepts for design of effective vaccine immunogens.postprin

Factors Influencing the Outcome of ESWL in Upper Urinary Tract Stones

INTRODUCTION: Since the mid 1980’s ESWL has been established as a minimally invasive procedure for a wide indications of urinary stones. Various factors such as stone location, size, number, and fragility as well as calyceal anatomy and patency of the urinary tract influence the outcome of ESWL. METHODS: 100 patients undergoing ESWL for upper urinary tract stones were included in this study. Stones > 2 cm, patients with bleeding diathesis, distal obstruction and pregnant women were excluded from the study. Data regarding Age, Sex, body mass index, stone location, size, density of the stone (Hounsfield units), presence of obstruction and hydronephrosis were noted for all patients. RESULTS: The study included 52 male and 48 female patients. Sex as an independent factor did not correlate significantly to the success of ESWL (p value 0.255). BMI (p value 0.002), Stone size (P value 0.020), density of the stone (p value 0.000) were significant risk factors. 29 patients had lower calyceal stone with a 24.1% successful outcome. Location of the stone was the most significant factor (p value < 0.001) while using a multi variate analysis model. CONCLUSION: The success of ESWL is dependent on multiple factors. Body mass index, location of the stone and density of the stone were significant factors while using logistic regression analysis and these three factors put together as a model can successfully predict the outcome of ESWL

UPF Harmonic Current Detection Based Shunt Active Filter for Harmonic Reduction

In modern distribution systems the proliferation of large power electronic systems results in increased harmonic distortion. Harmonic distortion results in reduction of power quality and affects the system stability. The harmonics extraction is based on the unity power factor (UPF) theorem in time domain to calculate the reactive power compensation in the power system. The switching control algorithms of the proposed UPF based shunt active filter manages to generate appropriate switching gates to the active power filter. The intention of this method is to compensate reactive power and reduce the unwanted harmonics. The simulation of the system is done using MATLAB-SIMULINK and finally, the proposed detection method is applied to shunt active power filter and to be implemented in PIC16F8777A microcontrolle

A Complex Hierarchy of Avoidance Behaviors in a Single-Cell Eukaryote.

Complex behavior is associated with animals with nervous systems, but decision-making and learning also occur in non-neural organisms [1], including singly nucleated cells [2-5] and multi-nucleate synctia [6-8]. Ciliates are single-cell eukaryotes, widely dispersed in aquatic habitats [9], with an extensive behavioral repertoire [10-13]. In 1906, Herbert Spencer Jennings [14, 15] described in the sessile ciliate Stentor roeseli a hierarchy of responses to repeated stimulation, which are among the most complex behaviors reported for a singly nucleated cell [16, 17]. These results attracted widespread interest [18, 19] and exert continuing fascination [7, 20-22] but were discredited during the behaviorist orthodoxy by claims of non-reproducibility [23]. These claims were based on experiments with the motile ciliate Stentor coeruleus. We acquired and maintained the correct organism in laboratory culture and used micromanipulation and video microscopy to confirm Jennings' observations. Despite significant individual variation, not addressed by Jennings, S. roeseli exhibits avoidance behaviors in a characteristic hierarchy of bending, ciliary alteration, contractions, and detachment, which is distinct from habituation or conditioning. Remarkably, the choice of contraction versus detachment is consistent with a fair coin toss. Such behavioral complexity may have had an evolutionary advantage in protist ecosystems, and the ciliate cortex may have provided mechanisms for implementing such behavior prior to the emergence of multicellularity. Our work resurrects Jennings' pioneering insights and adds to the list of exceptional features, including regeneration [24], genome rearrangement [25], codon reassignment [26], and cortical inheritance [27], for which the ciliate clade is renowned.DBT-Cambridge Lectureshi

On Clean and Nil-clean Symbolic 2-Plithogenic Rings

A ring is said to be clean if every element of the ring can be written as a sum of an idempotent element and a unit element of the ring and a ring is said to be nil-clean if every element of the ring can be written as a sum of an idempotent element and a nilpotent element of the ring. In this paper, we generalize these arguments to symbolic 2-plithogenic structure. We introduce the structure of clean and nil-clean symbolic 2-plithogenic rings and some of its elementary properties are presented. Also, we have found the equivalence between classical clean(nil-clean) ring R and the corresponding symbolic 2-plithogenic ring 2-SPR

Solution of System of Symbolic 2-Plithogenic Linear Equations using Cramer's Rule

In this article, the concept of system of symbolic 2-plithogenic linear equations and its solutions are introduced and studied. The Cramer's rule was applied to solve the system of symbolic 2-plithogenic linear equations. Also, provided enough examples for each case to enhance understanding

Effects of antiplatelet therapy on stroke risk by brain imaging features of intracerebral haemorrhage and cerebral small vessel diseases: subgroup analyses of the RESTART randomised, open-label trial

Background Findings from the RESTART trial suggest that starting antiplatelet therapy might reduce the risk of recurrent symptomatic intracerebral haemorrhage compared with avoiding antiplatelet therapy. Brain imaging features of intracerebral haemorrhage and cerebral small vessel diseases (such as cerebral microbleeds) are associated with greater risks of recurrent intracerebral haemorrhage. We did subgroup analyses of the RESTART trial to explore whether these brain imaging features modify the effects of antiplatelet therapy

A comprehensive review of farmers producer organizations in India: Historical evolution, current status and future policy challenges

Agriculture plays an important role in India but faces various challenges. A large number of farmers in India have small and marginal holdings of less than two hectares, which is linked to the increasing fragmentation of land. Many institutional policies aim to improve the farmer’s livelihoods to mitigate the disadvantages of land fragmentation. These measures include the formation of Primary Agricultural Cooperative Society (PACS), Self-Help Group (SHG), Joint Liability Group (JLG) and Common Interest Group (CIG). However, there are limitations to these initiatives, as they often provide considerably more managerial control and influence to local powerful individual. In response, Farmers Producer Organizations (FPOs) have emerged as pivotal entities aimed at integrating smallholders into mainstream markets. India has over 10,000 FPOs, benefiting 4 million farmers and increasing income by 20-25%. But 70% face sustainability challenges. Policy initiatives, such as NABARD’s Rs.6,865 crore schemes, an aim to address these issues. This paper considered the Scopus database using the Boolean keyword "Farmer" AND "Producer organization" and identified articles were shortlisted after screening using PRISMA framework. While previous studies have offered insights into various aspects of FPOs, there remains a significant lack of cohesive analysis integrating historical trends, current challenges and future policy directions. This study identifies key factors influencing FPO system, including governance mechanisms, market linkages and capacity-building initiatives. The review highlights current challenges and opportunities within the FPO system, suggesting policy recommendations for future development. The findings offer valuable insights into the transformative potential of FPOs and inform strategic policy recommendations to ensure their sustainability in India's agricultural sector

Socio-economic Impact of Farm Mechanization on the Regional Economy of South India: Case of Paddy Farmers of Trichy, Tamil Nadu

Farm mechanisation has a potential to improve the efficiency, productivity and cost-effective paddy cultivation while reducing the labour-intensive traditional methods which hinders timely farm operations. This study aims to analyse effect of farm mechanization on socio-economic condition of the farmers of Cauvery Delta Zone in Trichy district of Tamil Nadu. Based on the access to canal water, urbanisation and availability of non-farm opportunity, four blocks in Trichy district were selected. Two villages from each block were randomly selected. Fifty respondents from two villages and fifty-five respondents from two villages (total 210) randomly selected and data collected through personal interviews. Results revealed that majority of the paddy farmers (67%) with medium usage of machinery followed by (18%) of high level of utilization and (15%) with low level of utilization of machineries. In addition, the impact of mechanization studied under four components namely, crop specific, labour, social and economic impact and the results have clearly exhibited significant positive impact on paddy cultivators