Health Benefits and Pharmacological Effects of Porphyra Species

Plant Foods for Human Nutrition - Porphyra, one of the most cultured red algae has gained economic importance across the globe for its nutritional benefits. Porphyra is being cultivated, harvested,...     

Neuroscience. Boosting working memory

Working out which areas of the brain become activated during the formation of working (short-term) memory has been greatly helped by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). In a Perspective, Robbins et al. discuss new findings (Furey et al.) with fMRI that reveal how working memory is enhanced by the drug physostigmine, which increases cholinergic function in the brain.     

Enzymatic modification of a model homogalacturonan with the thermally tolerant pectin methylesterase from Citrus: 1. Nanostructural characterization, enzyme mode of action, and effect of pH

Methyl ester distribution in pectin homogalacturonan has a major influence on functionality. Enzymatic engineering of the pectin nanostructure for tailoring functionality can expand the role of pectin as a food-formulating agent and the use of in situ modification in prepared foods. We report on the mode of action of a unique citrus thermally tolerant pectin methylesterase (TT-PME) and the nanostructural modifications that it produces. The enzyme was used to produce a controlled demethylesterification series from a model homogalacturonan. Oligogalacturonides released from the resulting demethylesterified blocks introduced by TT-PME using a limited endopolygalacturonase digestion were separated and quantified by high-pressure anion-exchange chromatography (HPAEC) coupled to an evaporative light-scattering detector (ELSD). The results were consistent with the predictions of a numerical simulation, which assumed a multiple-attack mechanism and a degree of processivity ～10, at both pH 4.5 and 7.5. The average demethylesterified block size (0.6-2.8 nm) and number of average-sized blocks per molecule (0.8-1.9) differed, depending upon pH of the enzyme treatment. The mode of action of this enzyme and consequent nanostructural modifications of pectin differ from a previously characterized citrus salt-independent pectin methylesterase (SI-PME).     

Vincristine-induced peripheral neuropathy in a dog.

A 12-year-old spayed Golden Retriever with mycosis fungoides was treated by use of a chemotherapy protocol that included vincristine. After 16 weekly vincristine injections, the dog began to have signs of peripheral neuropathy. Results of electromyographic examination were consistent with muscle denervation, and motor nerve conduction velocity was depressed. Histologic examination of a common peroneal nerve biopsy specimen revealed severe nerve fiber degeneration. Clinical response and pathologic evidence of improvement were observed after the drug had been discontinued for 2.5 months.     

Implementing a globally harmonized risk assessment‐based approach for regulatory decision‐making of crop protection products

A global, harmonized evaluation system for crop protection chemicals based on exposure and risk will improve the ability to inform risk management decisions and better support innovation. This would be achieved through harmonized risk assessment‐based regulatory decision‐making realized through the application of the best available science, via integration of new methods and traditional data to create tailored exposure‐driven risk assessments. A requirement to achieve success is a structure that encourages direct communication between the regulatory community and the regulated industry, which would enable a more rapid incorporation of new technologies and advancing science. An approach that emulates the International Conference of Harmonization (ICH) for pharmaceuticals would bring together regulatory authorities and the regulated industry along with relevant experts from academia and Non‐Governmental Organizations to discuss scientific and technical advances and their implementation. These discussions would also encourage the elimination of outmoded practices that no longer serve a purpose resulting in more uniform testing requirements and best practices for data evaluation to support safe use and scientifically defensible human health and environmental risk assessments. New and developing technologies offer exciting opportunities to improve the current toxicity testing paradigms to provide better solutions and diminish animal testing. Implementation of a harmonized approach will increase the speed, efficiency and accuracy of regulatory decision‐making for human health and environmental protection while increasing the efficiency of providing safe and effective innovative products to the agriculture community. © 2020 Society of Chemical Industry     

Interrelationship of birds and habitat features in urban greenspaces in Delhi, India

Biodiversity conservation in urban areas has become significant not only because of increasing human population in urban centers but also because it is one of the innovative ways to conserve biodiversity as suggested by various global environmental conventions. The present study was conducted with the purpose of assessing diversity and density of bird and woody species in some greenspaces of Delhi, the rapidly urbanizing capital of India. The landscape of Delhi consists of a broad spectrum of environments ranging from the city forests to highly modified artificial landscapes in certain parks. We assessed bird and woody vegetation in 20 m×50 m belt transects in each of the 19 randomly selected greenspaces of varying size. Results exhibit a negative relationship between the density of exotic woody species and bird diversity. Specifically, Prosopis juliflora – an exotic, which was the most abundant tree in our samples – exhibited a negative relationship with bird diversity. Principal component analysis (PCA) reveals that forest-preferring bird species increase with increasing greenspaces size, shrub diversity and shrub density. We conclude that maintaining larger greenspaces with high structural diversity may be effective in maintaining plant and bird diversity in the study area.     

Effect of feeding stimulants on the insecticidal properties of Pieris brassicae granulovirus (PbGV) against Pieris brassicae

Feeding stimulants (phagostimulants) increase the food uptake by the host insect larvae and thereby play a vital role in enhancing overall activity of insect viruses formulated as biopesticides. A local strain of granulovirus of Pieris brassicae (PbGV), a serious pest of cole crops worldwide, has shown potential as a biopesticide against this pest and with slight increase in its efficacy can be used successfully as a promising biocontrol agent in integrated pest management (IPM) programs of the pest. The addition of phagostimulants may enhance the efficacy but so far no specific phagostimulant for PbGV has been reported. In the present studies, some reported phagostimulants for insect viruses were tested for their impact on food utilization by host larvae and efficacy of the virus. The specified concentration of virus isolate was mixed with phagostimulants and laboratory studies were conducted to uncover their effect on consumption index (CI) and larval mortality. The studies revealed that phagostimulants, viz. boric acid and crude sugar, when mixed with PbGV, showed highest CI and larval mortality. Consumption index of 1.34, 1.49 and 1.43 mg/mg/day and corresponding larval mortality of 32.9%, 45.8% and 34.2% were recorded with the addition of 0.5% and 1% boric acid and 2% crude sugar, respectively, in PbGV. The leaf extracts of cabbage, cauliflower and broccoli at both the concentrations (1% and 2%) also enhanced the CI but were comparatively less effective than the boric acid and crude sugar. Field evaluation of PbGV alone and in combination with phagostimulants carried out at two geographically isolated locations, viz. Palampur (subtropical) and Sangla (temperate) on three cole crops (cabbage, cauliflower and broccoli) showed that boric acid was the most promising candidate for enhancing the PbGV efficacy under field conditions, followed by crude sugar.     

Vision-based localization of a wheeled mobile robot for greenhouse applications: A daisy-chaining approach

The Euclidean position and orientation of a wheeled mobile robot (WMR) is typically required for autonomous selection and control of agricultural operations in a greenhouse. A vision-based localization scheme is formulated as a desire to identify the position and orientation of a WMR navigating in a greenhouse by utilizing the image feedback of the above-the-aisle targets from an on-board camera. An innovative daisy chaining strategy is used to find the local coordinates of the above-the-aisle targets in order to localize a WMR. In contrast to typical camera configurations used for vision-based control problems, the localization scheme in this paper is developed using a moving on-board camera viewing reseeding targets. Multi-view photogrammetric methods are used to develop relationships between different camera frames and WMR coordinate systems. Experimental results demonstrate the feasibility of the developed geometric model.