Factors influencing perceptions of processed baby foods and feeding practices among Indian mothers: a qualitative investigation.

Objective: To explore how professionally qualified, working Indian mothers conceptualize healthy foods in general, perceive processed infant and baby foods available commercially and what feeding practices they actually follow with their children at home.

Design: Five focus groups with 8-12 participants were conducted around the participants' conceptualization of healthy food, their perceptions about commercially available processed baby and infant foods and their actual feeding practices that they routinely follow with their children. Discussion transcripts were analyzed using an inductive coding approach.

Metabolomics and anti-inflammatory activity of Commiphora madagascariensis jacq. leaves extract using in vitro and in vivo models.

C. madagascariensis, an unexplored species of Burseraceae is used by local population for the management of inflammation and throat pain. The disease alleviation by this plant could be due to the presence of rich repository of active compounds with various pharmacological importances.

A single C-terminal residue controls SARS-CoV-2 spike trafficking and incorporation into VLPs.

The spike (S) protein of SARS-CoV-2 is delivered to the virion assembly site in the ER-Golgi Intermediate Compartment (ERGIC) from both the ER and cis-Golgi in infected cells. However, the relevance and modulatory mechanism of this bidirectional trafficking are unclear. Here, using structure-function analyses, we show that S incorporation into virus-like particles (VLP) and VLP fusogenicity are determined by coatomer-dependent S delivery from the cis-Golgi and restricted by S-coatomer dissociation.

Transitioning diets: a mixed methods study on factors affecting inclusion of millets in the urban population.

Background: The increasing health challenge in urban India has led to consumers to change their diet preferences by shifting away from staple cereals and making way for healthier foods such as nutri-cereals like millets and other diverse food groups. Taking the case of millets, this study seeks to uncover the exact drivers for this shift of consumers away from a traditional cereal dense diet to a nutritionally more diverse diet that includes nutri-cereal. We also look at deterrents that dissuade consumers from shifting to millets.

Functional and Tableting Properties of Alkali-Isolated and Phosphorylated Barnyard Millet () Starch.

The functional and tableting properties of barnyard millet starch () were investigated in its native (alkali-treated) and chemically modified (phosphorylated) states. The grains were pulverized, soaked, and ground before filtration to separate starch and protein. Multiple NaOH treatments were performed.

A new spline technique for the time fractional diffusion-wave equation.

The current research article proposes an approximate solution of the fractional diffusion wave equation (FDWE) by using a new collocation method based on the cubic B-splines. The fractional derivative in the time direction is considered in Caputo form. The theoretical research of the proposed algorithm is discussed with and norms.

Immunization with a self-assembling nanoparticle vaccine displaying EBV gH/gL protects humanized mice against lethal viral challenge.

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is a cancer-associated pathogen responsible for 165,000 deaths annually. EBV is also the etiological agent of infectious mononucleosis and is linked to multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis. Thus, an EBV vaccine would have a significant global health impact.

Improvements in Soil Physical, Chemical and Biological Properties at Natural Saline and Non-Saline Sites Under Different Management Practices.

Soil salinity is known to be a significant threat to food security for the increasing population, which is further aggravated under the climate change scenario. Indo-Gangetic plain (IGP) is one of the most productive in the world and is most affected by salinity. To understand the modifications in soil characteristics under different management practices followed to reclaim salinity affected land, the present study was conducted at variously reclaimed saline areas of three districts of Uttar Pradesh situated in IGP.

An extended motif in the SARS-CoV-2 spike modulates binding and release of host coatomer in retrograde trafficking.

β-Coronaviruses such as SARS-CoV-2 hijack coatomer protein-I (COPI) for spike protein retrograde trafficking to the progeny assembly site in endoplasmic reticulum-Golgi intermediate compartment (ERGIC). However, limited residue-level details are available into how the spike interacts with COPI. Here we identify an extended COPI binding motif in the spike that encompasses the canonical K-x-H dibasic sequence.

Assessment of physiological, biochemical and yield responses of wheat plants under natural saline and non-saline field conditions.

Soil salinity is a major threat to crop productivity all over the world including the Indo-Gangetic plain (IGP) region of India. Therefore, a field study was conducted for two consecutive years in wheat growing areas in IGP affected by salinity. Plants grown at a saline site (Salempur, SLM) and a non-saline site (Rajatalab, RJT), were analysed for selected biochemical, physiological and yield traits.

Structurally related but genetically unrelated antibody lineages converge on an immunodominant HIV-1 Env neutralizing determinant following trimer immunization.

Understanding the molecular mechanisms by which antibodies target and neutralize the HIV-1 envelope glycoprotein (Env) is critical in guiding immunogen design and vaccine development aimed at eliciting cross-reactive neutralizing antibodies (NAbs). Here, we analyzed monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) isolated from non-human primates (NHPs) immunized with variants of a native flexibly linked (NFL) HIV-1 Env stabilized trimer derived from the tier 2 clade C 16055 strain. The antibodies displayed neutralizing activity against the autologous virus with potencies ranging from 0.

Withdrawal Notice: Fatal Outcomes from COVID-19 in Diabetes Patients and its Management: Impact of Diabetes and Other Comorbidities in COVID-19.

Unlabelled: The article has been withdrawn at the request of the authors and editor of the journal Current Diabetes Reviews, due to incoherent content. Bentham Science apologizes to the readers of the journal for any inconvenience this may have caused. The Bentham Editorial Policy on Article Withdrawal can be found at https://benthamscience.

Structurally disordered C-terminal residues of GTP cyclohydrolase II are essential for its enzymatic activity.

GTP cyclohydrolase II (GCHII) is one of the rate limiting enzymes in riboflavin biosynthesis pathway and is shown to be a potential drug target for most of the pathogens. Previous biochemical and structural studies have identified the active site residues and elucidated the steps involved in the catalytic mechanism of GCHII. However, the last ∼20-25C-terminal residues of GCHII remains unstructured in all the crystal structures determined to date and their role in the catalytic activity, if any, remains elusive.

Protective antibodies against human parainfluenza virus type 3 infection.

Human parainfluenza virus type III (HPIV3) is a common respiratory pathogen that afflicts children and can be fatal in vulnerable populations, including the immunocompromised. There are currently no effective vaccines or therapeutics available, resulting in tens of thousands of hospitalizations per year. In an effort to discover a protective antibody against HPIV3, we screened the B cell repertoires from peripheral blood, tonsils, and spleen from healthy children and adults.

Multimeric antibodies from antigen-specific human IgM+ memory B cells restrict Plasmodium parasites.

Multimeric immunoglobulin-like molecules arose early in vertebrate evolution, yet the unique contributions of multimeric IgM antibodies to infection control are not well understood. This is partially due to the difficulty of distinguishing low-affinity IgM, secreted rapidly by plasmablasts, from high-affinity antibodies derived from later-arising memory cells. We developed a pipeline to express B cell receptors (BCRs) from Plasmodium falciparum-specific IgM+ and IgG+ human memory B cells (MBCs) as both IgM and IgG molecules.

Analysis of a SARS-CoV-2-Infected Individual Reveals Development of Potent Neutralizing Antibodies with Limited Somatic Mutation.

Antibody responses develop following SARS-CoV-2 infection, but little is known about their epitope specificities, clonality, binding affinities, epitopes, and neutralizing activity. We isolated B cells specific for the SARS-CoV-2 envelope glycoprotein spike (S) from a COVID-19-infected subject 21 days after the onset of clinical disease. 45 S-specific monoclonal antibodies were generated.

Characterization of neutralizing antibodies from a SARS-CoV-2 infected individual.

B cells specific for the SARS-CoV-2 S envelope glycoprotein spike were isolated from a COVID-19-infected subject using a stabilized spike-derived ectodomain (S2P) twenty-one days post-infection. Forty-four S2P-specific monoclonal antibodies were generated, three of which bound to the receptor binding domain (RBD). The antibodies were minimally mutated from germline and were derived from different B cell lineages.

Extensive dissemination and intraclonal maturation of HIV Env vaccine-induced B cell responses.

Well-ordered HIV-1 envelope glycoprotein (Env) trimers are prioritized for clinical evaluation, and there is a need for an improved understanding about how elicited B cell responses evolve following immunization. To accomplish this, we prime-boosted rhesus macaques with clade C NFL trimers and identified 180 unique Ab lineages from ∼1,000 single-sorted Env-specific memory B cells. We traced all lineages in high-throughput heavy chain (HC) repertoire (Rep-seq) data generated from multiple immune compartments and time points and expressed several as monoclonal Abs (mAbs).

Role of supplemental UV-B in changing the level of ozone toxicity in two cultivars of sunflower: growth, seed yield and oil quality.

Ultraviolet-B radiation (UV-B) is inherent part of solar spectrum and tropospheric ozone (O) is a potent secondary air pollutant. Therefore the present study was conducted to evaluate the responses of Helianthus annuus L. cvs DRSF 108 and Sungold (sunflower) to supplemental UV-B (sUV-B; ambient + 7.

Characteristics of the essential pathogenicity factor Rv1828, a MerR family transcription regulator from Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

The gene Rv1828 in Mycobacterium tuberculosis is shown to be essential for the pathogen and encodes for an uncharacterized protein. In this study, we have carried out biochemical and structural characterization of Rv1828 at the molecular level to understand its mechanism of action. The Rv1828 is annotated as helix-turn-helix (HTH)-type MerR family transcription regulator based on its N-terminal amino acid sequence similarity.

Heteropogon contortus BL-1 (Pilli Grass) and Elevated UV-B Radiation: The Role of Growth, Physiological, and Biochemical Traits in Determining Forage Productivity and Quality.

Exposure to elevated UV-B (eUV-B) is well known for its phytotoxicity, although studies made with UV-B exposure and its impact on grasses are limited especially from tropical countries including India. In this study, responses of a valuable grass species, Heteropogon contortus BL-1, were assessed under eUV-B (over ambient UV-B) at different growth stages. Damage caused by eUV-B was observed in the form of membrane damage and loss of pigments at early stages of growth, whereas tannin, phenol, and protein contents showed their increments at all the growth stages, to overcome the imposed stress.

Use of Ethylenediurea (EDU) in identifying indicator cultivars of Indian clover against ambient ozone.

Three clover (Trifolium alexandrium L.) cultivars (Bundel, Wardan and JHB-146) were assessed for their responses to ambient ozone (O) with respect to growth, physiological and biochemical parameters at two rural sites (R1 and R2) using ethylenediurea (EDU). EDU solution (300ppm) was applied as soil drench, 10 days after germination (DAG) at an interval of 10 days up to 80 DAG.

Serum metabolomics study in a group of Parkinson's disease patients from northern India.

Background: Parkinson's disease (PD) is the result of progressive degeneration of the nigrostriatal dopaminergic pathway and depletion of neurotransmitter dopamine in the striatum.

Methods: We included 17 patients with PD along with 7 patients of progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), 6 patients of multiple system atrophy (MSA) and 22 age and sex-matched healthy controls. We analyzed metabolite profiles in the serum of these patients and controls using H NMR spectroscopy.

Proton NMR based serum metabolic profile correlates with the neurological recovery in treated acute spinal cord injury (ASCI) subjects: A pilot study.

Background: Acute Spinal Cord Injury (ASCI) is still having substantial morbidity and mortality despite of advanced therapeutics. Major obstacles are paucity of monitoring tools or biomarkers for severity determination, recovery and prognostication. A prospective case control pilot study with serum H NMR spectroscopic metabolic profiling was carried out to evaluate metabolites perturbations and its relationship with recovery and to see role of stem cells in facilitating neurological recovery.