Analysis of Research Publications on Pharmacogenomics of Sulphonylurea - A Scientometric Study.

This study analysed pharmacogenomics studies on sulfonylurea research publications using the Pubmed and Scopus databases. In the end, 65 publications from the years 2015 to 2021 were noticed. The objective of this study was to analyse these studies using scientometric tools, such as frequency counts, percentages, relative growth rates, doubling times, and collectively. A maximum of 19 (29.23%) research publications were contributed during the 2020 research period. The relative growth rate tends to decrease from 2015 to 2020 and the doubling time tends to increase and decrease after 2020. Up to 2 (3.08%) research publications were contributed by Ewan R. Pearson and Chen each. The top authors have an average degree of collaboration of 0.90 and 41 (63.83%) of their research publications are articles. The United States is the major contributor with 19 (29.23%) pharmacogenomics research publications on sulfonylureas. Although the United States is the most prolific country in sulfonylurea pharmacogenomics research, there are few Indian institutions that are not listed among the most prolific institutions.

Water-efficient genotypes along with conservation measures significantly reduce the green and blue water footprints in sugarcane (Saccharum spp.).

Sugarcane crop is irrigated using surface, overhead, and drip irrigation methods. Increased water use in sugarcane is a major concern around the world, implying the need for water accounting, developing water-efficient hybrids and water-saving agro-techniques for long-term conservation and use of water. "Water Footprint (WF)" is a measure of both direct and indirect water usage accountable for any product and/or process. In praxis, 'Green Water Footprint' (GWF) and 'Blue Water Footprint' (BWF) are extremely crucial for the restoration of essential ecosystem services (ES), such as sugarcane production. The WF metric was used as a priority tool in our study to evaluate water-efficient sugarcane hybrids, germplasm clones, deficit irrigation scheduling, crop geometry, and water conservation measures. Precise and accurate WF quantification would supplement the decision-making processes for managing available water resources in sugarcane agriculture. In split plot experimental design two research investigations on water management in sugarcane were undertaken at the ICAR-Sugarcane Breeding Institute, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India. The major objective of the research trails was to find out suitable sugarcane hybrids and agronomic management practices to minimise water usage in sugarcane cultivation in water stressed and drought prone areas of tropical India. Our investigation comprised two phases; the first one being assessment of the impact of deficit irrigation scheduling, planting techniques and water conservation measures in sugarcane production, while the second phase dealt with genotypic evaluation under variable irrigation scheduling. Results showed that BWF reduced significantly in the first ratoon crop due to deficit irrigation scheduling coupled with planting of two budded setts and application of sugarcane trash at the rate of 5 t ha-1. Sugarcane hybrids viz., Co 85019, Co 10026, Co 12009, Co 13014, Co 14002, Co 14025, Co 15015, and Co 15018 were more water efficient, with a lower total WF. Among the germplasm clones, Fiji 55, ISH 111, ISH 107, Pathri, and Gungera exhibited lower GWF, BWF and total WF.

Transgenic sugarcane with higher levels of BRK1 showed improved drought tolerance.

KEY MESSAGE: Transgenic sugarcane overexpressing BRK1 showed improved tolerance to drought stress through modulation of actin polymerization and formation of interlocking marginal lobes in epidermal leaf cells, a typical feature associated with BRK1 expression under drought stress. BRICK1 (BRK1) genes promote leaf epidermal cell morphogenesis and division in plants that involves local actin polymerization. Although the changes in actin filament organization during drought have been reported, the role of BRK in stress tolerance remains unknown. In our previous work, the drought-tolerant Erianthus arundinaceus exhibited high levels of the BRK gene expression under drought stress. Therefore, in the present study, the drought-responsive gene, BRK1 from Saccharum spontaneum, was transformed into sugarcane to test if it conferred drought tolerance in the commercial sugarcane cultivar Co 86032. The transgenic lines were subjected to drought stress, and analyzed using physiological parameters for drought stress. The drought-induced BRK1-overexpressing lines of sugarcane exhibited significantly higher transgene expression compared with the wild-type control and also showed improved physiological parameters. In addition, the formation of interlocking marginal lobes in the epidermal leaf cells, a typical feature associated with BRK1 expression, was observed in all transgenic BRK1 lines during drought stress. This is the first report to suggest that BRK1 plays a role in sugarcane acclimation to drought stress and may prove to be a potential candidate in genetic engineering of plants for enhanced biomass production under drought stress conditions.

Unsupervised Hyperspectral Microscopic Image Segmentation Using Deep Embedded Clustering Algorithm.

Hyperspectral microscopy in biology and minerals, unsupervised deep learning neural network denoising SRS photos: hyperspectral resolution enhancement and denoising one hyperspectral picture is enough to teach unsupervised method. An intuitive chemical species map for a lithium ore sample is produced using k-means clustering. Many researchers are now interested in biosignals. Uncertainty limits the algorithms' capacity to evaluate these signals for further information. Even while AI systems can answer puzzles, they remain limited. Deep learning is used when machine learning is inefficient. Supervised learning needs a lot of data. Deep learning is vital in modern AI. Supervised learning requires a large labeled dataset. The selection of parameters prevents over- or underfitting. Unsupervised learning is used to overcome the challenges outlined above (performed by the clustering algorithm). To accomplish this, two processing processes were used: (1) utilizing nonlinear deep learning networks to turn data into a latent feature space (Z). The Kullback-Leibler divergence is used to test the objective function convergence. This article explores a novel research on hyperspectral microscopic picture using deep learning and effective unsupervised learning.

Image dataset of pomegranate fruits (Punica granatum) for various machine vision applications.

Dataset - an essential aspect and the requirement for any of the machine learning project. Collection/creation of dataset in the agriculture domain is highly challenging task because the domain itself is uncertain. Main objective of the present paper is to create an image dataset of pomegranate fruits of different grades. Accordingly, we have considered 'Ruby' cultivar of pomegranate and sincerely constructed the dataset. Fruits belonging to three grades are considered. The images for each fruit are covered from all the three angles. The dataset created also contains the weights of the fruits. The dataset consists of 12 folders named after their effective quality grades. The usage of this dataset is already proved in the works carried out by the authors in their previous studies. This dataset is highly helpful for the data science engineer / machine learning programmer or machine learning expert working in the field of precision agriculture.

Glycolipid-Based Oleogels and Organogels: Promising Nanostructured Structuring Agents.

Over the past few decades, the scientific community is actively involved in the development of edible structuring agents suitable for food, cosmetics, agricultural, pharmaceutical, and biotechnology applications. In particular, edible oil structuring using simple amphiphiles would be the best alternative for the currently used trans and saturated fatty acids, which cause deleterious health effects and cardiovascular problems. In this report, we have made an attempt to address the aforementioned consequences, by synthesizing a new class of structuring agents by a judicious combination of δ-gluconolactone and ricinoleic acid, compounds classified as GRAS, using simple steps in good yield. To our delight, the synthesized glycolipids self-assemble in a wide variety of vegetable oils and commercially viable glycerol, ethylene glycol, and polyethylene glycol via various intermolecular interactions to form a gel. The morphology of molecular gels was investigated by optical microscopy and FESEM analysis, which reveal the existence of a tubular architecture with a diameter ranging from 75 to 150 nm. Rheological studies disclosed the viscoelastic nature, thermal processability, and thixotropic behavior of both oleogels and organogels. Altogether, self-assembled oleogel and organogel reported in this paper would potentially be used in food, agricultural, cosmetics, pharmaceutical, and biotechnological applications.

Tri-Layered Nanocomposite Hydrogel Scaffold for the Concurrent Regeneration of Cementum, Periodontal Ligament, and Alveolar Bone.

A tri-layered scaffolding approach is adopted for the complete and concurrent regeneration of hard tissues-cementum and alveolar bone-and soft tissue-the periodontal ligament (PDL)-at a periodontal defect site. The porous tri-layered nanocomposite hydrogel scaffold is composed of chitin-poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA)/nanobioactive glass ceramic (nBGC)/cementum protein 1 as the cementum layer, chitin-PLGA/fibroblast growth factor 2 as the PDL layer, and chitin-PLGA/nBGC/platelet-rich plasma derived growth factors as the alveolar bone layer. The tri-layered nanocomposite hydrogel scaffold is cytocompatible and favored cementogenic, fibrogenic, and osteogenic differentiation of human dental follicle stem cells. In vivo, tri-layered nanocomposite hydrogel scaffold with/without growth factors is implanted into rabbit maxillary periodontal defects and compared with the controls at 1 and 3 months postoperatively. The tri-layered nanocomposite hydrogel scaffold with growth factors demonstrates complete defect closure and healing with new cancellous-like tissue formation on microcomputed tomography analysis. Histological and immunohistochemical analyses further confirm the formation of new cementum, fibrous PDL, and alveolar bone with well-defined bony trabeculae in comparison to the other three groups. In conclusion, the tri-layered nanocomposite hydrogel scaffold with growth factors can serve as an alternative regenerative approach to achieve simultaneous and complete periodontal regeneration.

Structural, spectroscopic, and nonlinear optical investigations on a novel nonlinear optical crystal: hippuric acid doped ammonium di hydrogen phosphate (HAADP).

Transparent single crystals of pure and 1 mol% hippuric acid doped ammonium di hydrogen phosphate (HAADP) were grown from aqueous solution by employing slow evaporation technique. Crystallinity of the grown crystals was studied by powder X-ray diffraction analysis. Both pure ADP and HAADP crystals exhibit tetragonal crystal structure. The bonding structure and molecular associations due to chemical reactions were analyzed by FTIR spectroscopy. It also confirms the functional groups present in the grown crystals. UV-Vis-NIR spectral analysis was carried out to study the optical characteristics of the crystals which reveal that the cutoff wavelength for both pure and hippuric acid doped ADP crystal is around 300 nm. From these spectra it can be clearly inferred that there is an absence of characteristic absorption in the region between 340 and 1200 nm, which is a most desirable property of a material for both SHG and other NLO applications. Second harmonic generation (SHG) test adopting the Kurtz Perry technique revealed that the second harmonic generation efficiency of HAADP is 1.5 times that of pure ADP crystal.

Copper-catalyzed activation of α-amino peroxy and hydroxy intermediates to iminium ion precursor: an access to C4-substituted 3,4-dihydroquinazolines via oxidative cross coupling strategy.

A simple and straightforward approach to access C4-substituted-3,4-dihydroquinazolines has been achieved, where copper-catalyzed activation of α-amino peroxide and hydroxide intermediates to iminium ion precursors has been realized as an important step. Reactions of these intermediates with alkynes, indoles, pyrrole, and silylenol ether afforded the structurally diverse C4-substituted-3,4-dihydroquinazoline derivatives in good yields.

Copper catalyzed oxidative coupling of amines with formamides: a new approach for the synthesis of unsymmetrical urea derivatives.

Direct access to unsymmetrical urea derivatives via copper catalysed C-H/N-H coupling of formamides with amines has been developed at room temperature. This protocol is also applied to the synthesis of chiral urea derivatives.

Antipyretic, analgesic, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities of two major chromenes from Melicope lunu-ankenda.

AIM OF THE STUDY: Melicope lunu-ankenda (Gaertn.) T.G. Hartley is used in Indian traditional medicine for fever, improving complexion and as a tonic. Previous studies have isolated fungicidal, antifeedant, anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory compounds from Melicope lunu-ankenda. This study is aimed at the isolation and biological activity screening of potential molecules from the volatile oils and extracts of Melicope lunu-ankenda in the light of traditional applications. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Volatile oil of Melicope lunu-ankenda leaves was isolated by hydrodistillation, characterized by GC-FID, GC-MS, LRI determination, Co-GC and database searches. Major chromene-type compounds in Melicope lunu-ankenda leaf oil, evodione and leptonol, were isolated by preparative TLC and characterized by UV-Vis, IR, 1H-, 13C-, 13C-DEPT NMR and EIMS. They were also isolated from the petroleum ether and acetone extracts of the leaves of Melicope lunu-ankenda by column chromatography in petroleum ether-ethyl acetate. Their contents in leaf oil, leaf and inflorescence extracts were estimated by HPTLC. Antipyretic (Baker's yeast-induced fever test), analgesic (acetic acid-induced writhing, tail immersion assays), anti-inflammatory (carrageenan-induced paw edema) and in vitro antioxidant (DPPH radical, superoxide radical scavenging) activities of evodione and leptonol were tested. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: Gas chromatographic analyses found 50.7% monoterpene hydrocarbons, 0.4% oxygenated monoterpenes, 3.2% sesquiterpene hydrocarbons, 0.7% oxygenated sesquiterpenes and 43.7% chromene-type compounds in Melicope lunu-ankenda leaf oil, with evodione (20.2%) and leptonol (22.5%) as its two major constituents. HPTLC estimations in the petroleum ether, acetone extracts (leaf, inflorescence) and leaf oil found evodione 1.0% (dr. wt., leaf), 1.1% (inflorescence), 0.04% (fr. wt. leaves, leaf oil), and leptonol 0.3% (leaf), 0.3% (inflorescence) and 0.04% (leaf oil). Leptonol (200 mg/kg) showed good antipyretic activity. DPPH radical scavenging assay found moderate activity for leptonol (68.7%, 500 microM), whereas evodione showed near-zero activity. A very similar trend was found in superoxide radical scavenging activity of leptonol (64.5%) and evodione (10.3%), both at 100 microg/ml. Evodione and leptonol showed moderate analgesic activities in acetic acid-induced writhing and tail immersion assays. Moderate anti-inflammatory activity was found for both evodione (59.4%) and leptonol (49.0%) at 100 mg/kg. ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Biological activities of evodione and leptonol isolated from Melicope lunu-ankenda justify its traditional uses as a remedy for fever, inflammation and as a tonic.