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Therapeutic potential of marine macrolides: An overview from 1990 to 2022
The sea is a vast ecosystem that has remained primarily unexploited and untapped, resulting in numerous organisms. Consequently, marine organisms have piqued the interest of scientists as an abundant source of natural resources with unique structural features and fascinating biological activities. Marine macrolide is a top-class natural product with a heavily oxygenated polyene backbone containing macrocyclic lactone. In the last few decades, significant efforts have been made to isolate and characterize macrolides' chemical and biological properties. Numerous macrolides are extracted from different marine organisms such as marine microorganisms, sponges, zooplankton, molluscs, cnidarians, red algae, tunicates, and bryozoans. Notably, the prominent macrolide sources are fungi, dinoflagellates, and sponges. Marine macrolides have several bioactive characteristics such as antimicrobial (antibacterial, antifungal, antimalarial, antiviral), anti-inflammatory, antidiabetic, cytotoxic, and neuroprotective activities. In brief, marine organisms are plentiful in naturally occurring macrolides, which can become the source of efficient and effective therapeutics for many diseases. This current review summarizes these exciting and promising novel marine macrolides in biological activities and possible therapeutic applications. 2022 The Authors -
Therapeutic effects of vitamin D and cancer: An overview
Since vitamin D's discovery, strenuous efforts to investigate its physiological exploit and deficiency on human health were done. Our body synthesizes fat-soluble vitamin D when get exposed to sunlight. In recent years, experimental data indicate that sunlight exposure and an adequate level of circulating vitamin D can reduce the incidence of cancer. Several in vitro and in vivo studies also suggest vitamin D as a potentially valuable supplement for cancer treatment and prevention. Nevertheless, there need to be adequate clinical studies performed to substantiate the suppressive ability of vitamin D concerning cancer incidence. Thus, understanding the cellular mechanisms of vitamin D can be advantageous for preventing several chronic diseases. Consequently, this review concentrates on different studies that have been conducted to characterize the outcome of vitamin D in reducing cancer incidence and its medication by cellular progression mechanism. 2021 The Authors. Food Frontiers published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd and Nanchang University, Northwest University, Jiangsu University, Zhejiang University, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University. -
The Women in CBOs: A Resource-based Approach for COVID-19 Management in Kerala
In the fight against COVID-19-the global health emergency-the community-based organisations were an effective tool for planning and implementation of relief measures. This article is an examination of the various ways in which the community-based organisations extended their support in the fight against the pandemic. 2022 Economic and Political Weekly. All rights reserved. -
The unique risk factor profile of triple-negative breast cancer: a comprehensive meta-analysis
Background: Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) has a poor prognosis compared with other breast cancer subtypes. This systematic review and meta-analysis examines whether known risk factors for breast cancer are also associated with TNBC in adult women. Methods: EMBASE, Medline, SCOPUS, and gray literature were queried with no limit on the date or language of publication. The exposures of interest included parity, breastfeeding, duration of breastfeeding, age at menarche, age at first live birth, oral contraceptive (OC) use, duration of OC use, use of menopausal hormone therapy (MHT), family history, body mass index (BMI), alcohol use, smoking, and breast density. The main outcome of interest was TNBC. Study quality was determined using the Newcastle-Ottawa scale for case control studies and cohort studies. We estimated weighted odds ratios from random effects models to study the exposureoutcome associations. Protocol was registered under the number: PROSPERO 2021 CRD42021254594. Results: Thirty-three studies were included. Family history, longer duration of OC use, and higher breast density were significantly associated with increased risk for TNBC, whereas later age at menarche, later age at first birth, and breastfeeding were protective against TNBC. Parity, MHT, alcohol, smoking, and BMI were not significantly associated with TNBC overall, but higher parity was associated with higher risk among Black women. Conclusion: Our findings highlight that TNBC has a distinct risk factor profile compared with overall breast cancer. This can be the foundational work in identification of actionable TNBC risk factors to improve prevention and early detection of these poor prognosis breast tumors. The Author(s) 2024. -
The shadow of truth: Ethical Concerns in the Writings of Alexander Solzhenitsyn
"One word of truth will outweigh the entire world." These were the words of Alexander Solzhenitsyn while accepting the Nobel Prize in 1974. The twentieth century was the bloodiest century in human history, thanks largely to two ideologies - Fascism and Marxism. While there have been numerous studies on Nazi Germany, there have been relatively few on what transpired in Soviet Russia. This paper examines the contributions of the Russian writer and philosopher Alexander Solzhenitsyn to the understanding of the workings of totalitarianism. Solzhenitsyn wrote numerous works like The First Circle, Cancer Ward and The Gulag Archipalego. This paper will be examining his major work called One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich. The main intention is to probe the ethical concerns that the writer raises in this work, along with his deep understanding of human nature. This paper also seeks to compare Solzhenitsyn's views with that of thinkers like Jean Paul Sartre and Vaclav Havel. The key query here will be the essence-existence debate that Sartre initiated in his seminal work 'Existentialism Is a Humanism' and an attempt will be made to show how Havel and Solzhenitsyn would differ from Sartre. Finally there will be an attempt to establish how Solzhenitsyn reaffirms Lev Tolstoy's theory of history, according to which history is a process where 'great individuals' play a minimal role. 2013 Journal of Dharma: Dharmaram Journal of Religions and Philosophies (Dharmaram Vidya Kshetram, Bangalore). -
The Role of the Gut Microbiota in Neurodegenerative Diseases
The human gut has a rich and dynamic microbial population that plays an important role in many physiological activities. This review explores the complex interaction between the gut microbiota and human health, with an emphasis on its effect on neurodegenerative illnesses. The makeup of the gut microbiome and its impact on brain function through the gutbrain axis is highlighted. Dysbiosis, characterized by changes in the gut microbiotas composition, has been linked to the development of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimers, Parkinsons, Huntingtons, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. A Bidirectional communication between the stomach and the brain takes place via a variety of channels, including neurotransmitters and metabolites generated by gut bacteria. We investigate the processes through which dysbiosis causes neuroinflammation, oxidative stress, and neuronal damage, which drive disease development. Potential therapeutic approaches that focus on the gut microbiota, such as antibiotics, probiotics, prebiotics, and fecal microbiota transplantation, are reviewed, with promising preclinical and clinical findings. Overall, this study emphasizes the relevance of gut microbiota to neurodegenerative illnesses, as well as the need to understand and target the gut-brain axis for future treatment options. 2024 by the authors. -
The role of Syzygium samarangense in nutrition and economy: An overview
Syzygium samarangense (Blume) Merr & Perry is a tropical evergreen fruit tree from the family Myrtaceae majorly cultivated in South East Asia. The crispy and juicy fruits are highly nutritious and range from deep red to white color. This underutilized fruit is eaten raw or used in making jams, jelly, juice, salad, wine making and also used in garnishing. The cultivation of this fruit has been extended to a larger area with the improvement of technology. The fruit is rich in secondary metabolites like alkaloids, terpenes, and, tannins; minerals like calcium, copper, chlorine, iron, manganese, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, sulfur, zinc, and vitamins such as niacin, riboflavin, thiamin, and vitamin C. The bark, fruit, and flower have pharmacological properties such as antibacterial, anticancer, antidiabetic, anti-inflammation, anti mutation, antinociceptive activity, antioxidation activities, antiulcerogenic effect, and wound healing activity. The present review discusses the biology, the improved varieties of fruit, and geographic distribution of S samarangense, the cultivation and harvesting practices, pharmacological activities, the industrial applications, and the economic importance of fruit. The review also emphasizes the future outlook and strategies that can be adopted to transform this underutilized fruit into a fruit of commercial importance. 2022 SAAB -
The Role of Nanoparticles in Response of Plants to Abiotic Stress at Physiological, Biochemical, and Molecular Levels
In recent years, the global agricultural system has been unfavorably impacted by adverse environmental changes. These changes in the climate, in turn, have altered the abiotic conditions of plants, affecting plant growth, physiology and production. Abiotic stress in plants is one of the main obstacles to global agricultural production and food security. Therefore, there is a need for the development of novel approaches to overcome these problems and achieve sustainability. Nanotechnology has emerged as one such novel approach to improve crop production, through the utilization of nanoscale products, such as nanofertilizer, nanofungicides, nanoherbicides and nanopesticides. Their ability to cross cellular barriers makes nanoparticles suitable for their application in agriculture. Since they are easily soluble, smaller, and effective for uptake by plants, nanoparticles are widely used as a modern agricultural tool. The implementation of nanoparticles has been found to be effective in improving the qualitative and quantitative aspects of crop production under various biotic and abiotic stress conditions. This review discusses various abiotic stresses to which plants are susceptible and highlights the importance of the application of nanoparticles in combating abiotic stress, in addition to the major physiological, biochemical and molecular-induced changes that can help plants tolerate stress conditions. It also addresses the potential environmental and health impacts as a result of the extensive use of nanoparticles. 2023 by the authors. -
The Renaissance of Ferrocene-Based Electrocatalysts: Properties, Synthesis Strategies, and Applications
The fascinating electrochemical properties of the redox-active compound ferrocene have inspired researchers across the globe to develop ferrocene-based electrocatalysts for a wide variety of applications. Advantages including excellent chemical and thermal stability, solubility in organic solvents, a pair of stable redox states, rapid electron transfer, and nontoxic nature improve its utility in various electrochemical applications. The use of ferrocene-based electrocatalysts enables control over the intrinsic properties and electroactive sites at the surface of the electrode to achieve specific electrochemical activities. Ferrocene and its derivatives can function as a potential redox medium that promotes electron transfer rates, thereby enhancing the reaction kinetics and electrochemical responses of the device. The outstanding electrocatalytic activity of ferrocene-based compounds at lower operating potentials enhances the specificity and sensitivity of reactions and also amplifies the response signals. Owing to their versatile redox chemistry and catalytic activities, ferrocene-based electrocatalysts are widely employed in various energy-related systems, molecular machines, and agricultural, biological, medicinal, and sensing applications. This review highlights the importance of ferrocene-based electrocatalysts, with emphasis on their properties, synthesis strategies for obtaining different ferrocene-based compounds, and their electrochemical applications. 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG. -
The Renaissance of Electro-Organic Synthesis for the Difunctionalization of Alkenes and Alkynes: A Sustainable Approach
Electro-organic reactions are now considered as one of the most efficient and environmentally benign methodologies to synthesize highly functionalized motifs like difunctionalized unsaturated compounds from readily available substrates. Excellent regioselectivity, functional group tolerance and broad range of substrates are the main advantages of electrochemical difunctionalization reactions. Alkenes and alkynes readily accept radical or ionic derivatives which makes it vital precursors for the electrochemical synthesis of industrially relevant and biologically active molecules through difunctionalization. This review aims to provide the readers an excellent coverage of the different electrochemical difunctionalization of alkenes and alkynes such as 1,2-homodifunctionalization, 1,2-heterodifunctionalization, rearrangement, ipso-migration, cyclization and dehydrogenative annulation reactions. 2021 Wiley-VCH GmbH -
The puzzle of pheromones in nature and their mysterious influence: a comprehensive review
Pheromones are chemical signals that are given off by creatures to communicate with other conspecifics. Because of their influence on animal behavior and relationships throughout the animal world, pheromones have fascinated scientists for decades. The newest findings and new perspectives on the intriguing field of pheromones are synthesized in this thorough review article. We investigate the many roles played by pheromones, from mating attraction and territorial marking to alarm signaling and social organization. The chemical diversity of pheromones is explored in depth in this paper, highlighting the variety of substances used by different animals as messengers. We go over the processes involved in pheromone detection and processing to help understand how chemosensory receptors and brain circuits interact in complex ways. Additionally, we discuss the role that pheromones play in ecology and evolution by promoting speciation and adaptation. This review emphasizes both the new research on pheromones in humans as well as their function in the animal world. We investigate the data supporting human pheromones and their possible impact on social and reproductive behaviors. The review aims to offer a detailed exploration and insight into the role and effects of pheromones in the natural world. This includes examining the chemical essence of pheromones and their functionality as communication signals across different species, investigating the specificity of these chemicals to certain species and how non-specific pheromones come about, and delving into the evolution of pheromones with a focus on the physiological and evolutionary mechanisms that drive communication. Additionally, the review seeks to understand the role pheromones play in pest management, specifically how species-specific pheromones can be utilized in eco-friendly pest control strategies. It will also explore the enigmatic impact pheromones have on the behavior and interactions within and among species. Drawing from a variety of sources, such as scientific research articles, studies on pheromone evolution, and articles on pheromone application in pest management, the review aspires to synthesize existing knowledge to provide a comprehensive overview of pheromones and their intriguing influence in nature. This study intends to not only summarize existing information but also encourage further research, shedding light on these cryptic chemical signals and their tremendous influence on the biology and behavior of species. It does this by offering a comprehensive perspective on the complex world of pheromones. 2024 Mighila Rixon, et al. -
The Puzzle of Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia: From Epidemiology to Treatment
Inherited neurodegenerative pathology characterized by lower muscle tone and increasing spasticity in the lower limbs is termed hereditary spastic paraplegia (HSP). HSP is associated with changes in about 80 genes and their products involved in various biochemical pathways, such as lipid droplet formation, endoplasmic reticulum shaping, axon transport, endosome trafficking, and mitochondrial function. With the inheritance patterns of autosomal dominant, autosomal recessive, X-linked recessive, and mitochondrial inheritance, HSP is prevalent around the globe at a rate of 15 cases in every 100,000 individuals. Recent technology and medical interventions somewhat aid in recognizing and managing the malaise. However, HSP still lacks an appropriate and adequate therapeutic approach. Current therapies are based on the clinical manifestations observed in the patients, for example, smoothing the relaxant spastic muscle and physiotherapies. The limited clinical trial studies contribute to the absence of specific pharmaceuticals for HSPs. Our current work briefly explains the causative genes, epidemiology, underlying mechanism, and the management approach undertaken to date. We have also mentioned the latest approved drugs to summarise the available knowledge on therapeutic strategies for HSP. 2022 by the authors. -
The organizational pedestal of quality of care climate in health care excellence; [Grundpfeiler einer qualitsorientierten Versorgungskultur: Gesundheitsversorgung in Indien]
Background: Health care in private healthcare organizations is a balancing act between business excellence and quality outcomes in practice. This complex activity establishes the existence of quality of care climate so as the pedestal of quality of care decisions bring health care excellence. In healthcare, Quality of care is not linear but multi-dimensional, with myriad challenges. Purpose: The aim of the study was to establish the organizational pedestal for quality of care and predominant quality of care dimension. Method: This study was approved by the IRB of our Institution. This study empirically tested the quality of care climate types in NABH accredited and non-accredited hospitals using quantitative method with a sample of 410 healthcare managers from accredited and non-accredited hospitals in South India. Results: The results indicate that among the dimensions of quality of care climate, competitive advantage was perceived the lowest with a mean rating of 73.14 among the rest. Value-Stream was perceived as the highest quality of care climate with a mean of 83.12. The results indicate that patient centered value-stream is the predominant dimension of quality of care climate as perceived by the managers and value stream is the predominated determinant of patient centered decisions. Conclusions: The results designate a promising support for patient centered quality of care approach for health care excellence with a balance on value stream mapping. 2021 -
The odd one is Out: Voices from virtual classrooms
This article is a response to the online classrooms initiated from April 2020 onwards in schools across the country after the declaration of the lockdown. As classes went live in some parts of the country and several schools prepped towards the new medium, voices and experiences emerged from the field to throw light on the odds. The article collects the voices of students, educators and parents largely from the cities of Delhi and Bengaluru. The narratives are to be seen against the background of the critique of auto-modernism and emergent technology-intensive social institutions in the wake of COVID-19. This perspective pieces together the issues of infrastructure inadequacy in technology and the exclusiveness of pedagogy, and charts the inability of the marginalised sections in exercising the fundamental right to education. This article also highlights that internet classrooms are temporary make-shift arrangements. 2021 Economic and Political Weekly. All rights reserved. -
The nutraceutical properties and health benefits of pseudocereals: a comprehensive treatise
This review article depicts the possible replacement of staple cereal sources with some pseudocereals like Chia, Quinoa, Buckwheat, and Amaranth, which not only provide recommended daily allowance of all nutrients but also help to reduce the chances of many non-communicable infections owing to the presence of several bioactive compounds. These pseudocereals are neglected plant seeds and should be added in our routine diet. Besides, they can serve as nutraceuticals in combating various diseases by improving the health status of the consumers. The bioactive compounds like rutin, quercetin, peptide chains, angiotensin I, and many other antioxidants present in these plant seeds help to reduce the oxidative stress in the body which leads toward better health of the consumers. All these pseudocereals have high quantity of soluble fiber which helps to regulate bowel movement, control hypercholesterolemia (presence of high plasma cholesterol levels), hypertension (high blood pressure), and cardiovascular diseases. The ultimate result of consumption of pseudocereals either as a whole or in combination with true cereals as staple food may help to retain the integrity of the human body which increases the life expectancy by slowing down the aging process. 2022 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. -
The FPTC act, 2020 a blinkered vision
In the name of empowering farmers, the Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020 has displayed a blinkered vision of an integrated supply chain-by undermining the importance of Agricultural Produce Market Committee markets in a competitive and inclusive agri-food market system. By overlooking many important aspects, the law has taken a quantum leap in the wrong direction. 2021 Economic and Political Weekly. All rights reserved. -
The Effect of Short-Term Training of Vipassanas Body-Scan on Select Cognitive Functions
This experiment examined the effect of a short-term body-scan meditation technique of vipassana practice on select cognitive functions. Participants (n = 77) were randomly divided into an experimental group (n = 37) and an active control group (n = 40). The average age of participants in the experimental group and the active control group was 21.67 1.16 and 21.40 3.14years, respectively. The experimental group practiced body-scan mindfulness, one session per day for 6 days with each session lasting for 25min. Participants in the active control group spent an equal amount of time reading fiction of their choice and listening to soothing music. Variables that were studied included five cognitive functions, namely reaction time, attention, learning, working memory, and social-emotional cognition. Results showed that short-term mindfulness meditation decreased reaction time and increased attention, with mild effect size. It may be concluded that short-term mindfulness practice might be an alternative for individuals who, due to various reasons, cannot practice long-term courses. 2018, National Academy of Psychology (NAOP) India. -
The effect of dietary supplementation of proteases on growth, digestive enzymes, oxidative stress, and intestinal morphology in fishes A review
Optimizing utilization of nutrients and improving protein digestibility, particularly in the early stages of cultivable species, is a challenging task for the sustainable development of aquaculture. The use of protein-digesting enzymes as a feed supplement is an eco-friendly approach to improve protein digestibility. Exogenous enzymes, particularly proteases, have been shown to improve fish growth, nutrient digestibility, immunological parameters, intestinal topography, and most importantly, water quality. Although there is a clear understanding of the role of proteases and their mechanism of action, their role as a feed supplement in aquaculture remains controversial. In this review, we present updated information on the impact of proteases in improving various development indicators and fish health in general. Based on the information gathered from the current state of knowledge, it is clear that extensive research has to be made to broaden the application of proteases overcoming the drawbacks that could hinder its application in the field. Graphical Abstract: (Figure presented.) The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023. Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law. -
The crux of bioactive metabolites in endophytic and thermophilic fungi and their proximal prospects in biotechnological and industrial domains
Fungi are ubiquitous in distribution and are found in grasses to hot springs. Their mode of nutrition provides sustenance for living and propagation. Ironically, varied fungal species have developed customized strategies for protection and survival by producing diverse secondary metabolites. The review aimed to project the contrasting potential features of the endophytic and thermophilic fungi groups. The metabolites and the enzymes of endophytic and thermophilic fungi served as the backbone to thrive and adapt within-host and in extreme conditions like higher pH, heat, and salinity, respectively. Identification, knowledge of their biochemistry and pathway, exploration, production, and utilization of these bioactive molecules in various commercial, industrial, and pharmaceutical domains were briefly discussed. The uniqueness of endophytes includes stress management and improved biomass production of the host, green fuel production, omnipresence, selected triple-symbiosis with the virus, synthesis of polyketides, and other active metabolites are widely used in biomedical applications and agriculture management. This review attempted to limelight the specific applications of thermophilic fungal metabolites and the roles of thermo-stable enzymes in bioprospecting. Moreover, probing the metabolites of thermophiles rendered novel antibiotic compounds, which were proven effective against multi-drug resistant bacteria and harboured the potential to curtail infectious diseases. 2022 Elsevier Ltd -
Text Mining-A Comparative Review of Twitter Sentiments Analysis
Background: Text mining derives information and patterns from textual data. Online social media platforms, which have recently acquired great interest, generate vast text data about human behaviors based on their interactions. This data is generally ambiguous and unstructured. The data includes typing errors and errors in grammar that cause lexical, syntactic, and semantic uncertainties. This results in incorrect pattern detection and analysis. Researchers are employing various text mining techniques that can aid in Topic Modeling, the detection of Trending Topics, the identification of Hate Speeches, and the growth of communities in online social media net-works. Objective: This review paper compares the performance of ten machine learning classification techniques on a Twitter data set for analyzing users' sentiments on posts related to airline usage. Methods: Review and comparative analysis of Gaussian Naive Bayes, Random Forest, Multinomial Naive Bayes, Multinomial Naive Bayes with Bagging, Adaptive Boosting (AdaBoost), Optimized AdaBoost, Support Vector Machine (SVM), Optimized SVM, Logistic Regression, and Long-Short Term Memory (LSTM) for sentiment analysis. Results: The results of the experimental study showed that the Optimized SVM performed better than the other classifiers, with a training accuracy of 99.73% and testing accuracy of 89.74% compared to other models. Conclusion: Optimized SVM uses the RBF kernel function and nonlinear hyperplanes to split the dataset into classes, correctly classifying the dataset into distinct polarity. This, together with Feature Engineering utilizing Forward Trigrams and Weighted TF-IDF, has improved Optimized SVM classifier performance regarding train and test accuracy. Therefore, the train and test accuracy of Optimized SVM are 99.73% and 89.74% respectively. When compared to Random Forest, a mar-ginal of 0.09% and 1.73% performance enhancement is observed in terms of train and test accuracy and 1.29% (train accuracy) and 3.63% (test accuracy) of improved performance when compared with LSTM. Likewise, Optimized SVM, gave more than 10% of enhanced performance in terms of train accuracy when compared with Gaussian Nae Bayes, Multinomial Nae Bayes, Multinomial Nae Bayes with Bagging, Logistic Regression and a similar enhancement is observed with Ada-Boost and Optimized AdaBoost which are ensemble models during the experimental process. Optimized SVM also has outperformed all the classification models in terms of AUC-ROC train and test scores.. 2024 Bentham Science Publishers.