Yoga Meets Intelligent Internet of Things: Recent Challenges and Future Directions.

The physical and mental health of people can be enhanced through yoga, an excellent form of exercise. As part of the breathing procedure, yoga involves stretching the body organs. The guidance and monitoring of yoga are crucial to ripe the full benefits of it, as wrong postures possess multiple antagonistic effects, including physical hazards and stroke. The detection and monitoring of the yoga postures are possible with the Intelligent Internet of Things (IIoT), which is the integration of intelligent approaches (machine learning) and the Internet of Things (IoT). Considering the increment in yoga practitioners in recent years, the integration of IIoT and yoga has led to the successful implementation of IIoT-based yoga training systems. This paper provides a comprehensive survey on integrating yoga with IIoT. The paper also discusses the multiple types of yoga and the procedure for the detection of yoga using IIoT. Additionally, this paper highlights various applications of yoga, safety measures, various challenges, and future directions. This survey provides the latest developments and findings on yoga and its integration with IIoT.

Hydroponics and elicitation, a combined approach to enhance the production of designer secondary medicinal metabolites in Silybum marianum.

Medicinal plants have been used to cure human diseases since decades. Silybum marianum, a medicinal plant, is regarded as a source of secondary metabolites with therapeutic value against liver diseases and diabetes. The present study was conducted to enrich the production of secondary metabolites in the vegetative parts of Silybum marianum using elicitation strategy in hydroponic system with different elicitors. The elicitors of fungus Aspergillus niger (0.2 g/L), methyl jasmonate (MeJA) (100 µM) and silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) (1 ppm) were added in hydroponic medium, individually and in combination form to the 15 days old plant. The elicitor-treated plants were harvested at different time points (24-144 h; increment 24 h) and their biochemical parameters like phenolics, flavonoids, nitric oxide (NO), and superoxide dismutase (SOD) were analyzed. The results showed hyper-accumulation of these biochemical contents, especially in response to MeJA (100 µM), followed by AgNPs (1 ppm) and co-treatment of AgNPs (1 ppm) with other elicitors. The results revealed that the treatment with MeJA (100 µM) exhibited the highest flavonoid (304 µg g-1), phenolic (372 µg g-1), and SOD (16.2 U g-1) contents. For NO levels, the maximum value of 198.6 nmole g-1 was achieved in response to the treatment with MeJA + Green synthesized AgNPs (100 µM + 1 ppm). Our findings depicted an enhanced production of medicinally important plant secondary metabolites and antioxidants; hence, the method applied in this study can play a significant role to improve therapeutic values of the plants.

Autophagy activation by Terminalia chebula Retz. reduce Aß generation by shifting APP processing toward non-amyloidogenic pathway in APPswe transgenic SH-SY5Y cells.

BACKGROUND: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common neurodegenerative disease. Deposition of amyloid ß plaques (Aß) is a central hallmark of AD. Accumulating evidence suggest that shifting amyloid precursor protein (APP) metabolism pathway to non-amyloidogenic ways and inducing autophagy play key roles in AD pathology. In published reports, there is no research on the APP metabolic process of Terminalia chebula Retz. (T. Chebula). PURPOSE: The study aims to assess the effects of T. Chebula in AD transgenic SH-SY5Y cells to determine its underlying mechanisms on reducing Aß level by regulating APP metabolic process. METHODS: The effects of T. Chebula water extract (TWE) on APPswe transgenic SH-SY5Y cells were analyzed by cell viability. ELISA used to quantify extracellular Aß1-40 and Aß1-42 generations. Western blot and RT-PCR assays were chosen to detect the expression of proteins and genes. The acridine orange (AO) stain was used to label autophagic-vesicles. RESULTS: Treatment with TWE significantly suppressed the Aß1-40 and Aß1-42 generations of APPswe transgenic cells. TWE inhibited amyloidogenic pathway by reducing BACE1 expression, and promote non-amyloidogenic pathway by inducing ADAM10 level of APP metabolism. Additionally, TWE induced autophagy in APPswe transgenic cells involved in APP metabolism to shift the balance to non-amyloidogenic pathway. CONCLUSION: In summary, our finding first time expounded that TWE can inhibit the generation of Aß1-40 and Aß1-42 in APPswe transgenic SH-SY5Y cells, which were regulated APP metabolism tends to non-amyloid metabolism pathway and mediated by autophagy. The results presented a novel finding for AD treatment of traditional natural medicines.

In Vivo Assessment of the Ameliorative Impact of Some Medicinal Plant Extracts on Lipopolysaccharide-Induced Multiple Sclerosis in Wistar Rats.

Multiple sclerosis is a chronic autoimmune disorder that leads to the demyelination of nerve fibers, which is the major cause of non-traumatic disability all around the world. Herbal plants Nepeta hindustana L., Vitex negundo L., and Argemone albiflora L., in addition to anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative effects, have shown great potential as neuroprotective agents. The study was aimed to develop a neuroprotective model to study the effectiveness of herbal plants (N. hindustana, V. negundo, and A. albiflora) against multiple sclerosis. The in vivo neuroprotective effects of ethanolic extracts isolated from N. hindustana, V. negundo, and A. albiflora were evaluated in lipopolysaccharides (LPS) induced multiple sclerosis Wistar rat model. The rat models were categorized into seven groups including group A as normal, B as LPS induced diseased group, while C, D, E, F, and G were designed as treatment groups. Histopathological evaluation and biochemical markers including stress and inflammatory (MMP-6, MDA, TNF-α, AOPPs, AGEs, NO, IL-17 and IL-2), antioxidant (SOD, GSH, CAT, GPx), DNA damage (Isop-2α, 8OHdG) as well as molecular biomarkers (RAGE, Caspase-8, p38) along with glutamate, homocysteine, acetylcholinesterase, and myelin binding protein (MBP) were investigated. The obtained data were analyzed using SPSS version 21 and GraphPad Prism 8.0. The different extract treated groups (C, D, E, F, G) displayed a substantial neuroprotective effect regarding remyelination of axonal terminals and oligodendrocytes migration, reduced lymphocytic infiltrations, and reduced necrosis of Purkinje cells. The levels of stress, inflammatory, and DNA damage markers were observed high in the diseased group B, which were reduced after treatments with plant extracts. The antioxidant activity was significantly reduced in diseased induced group B, however, their levels were raised after treatment with plant extract. Group F (a mélange of all the extracts) showed the most significant change among all other treatment groups (C, D, E, G). The communal dose of selected plant extracts regulates neurodegeneration at the cellular level resulting in restoration and remyelination of axonal neurons. Moreover, 400 mg/kg dose of three plants in conjugation (Group F) were found to be more effective in restoring the normal activities of all measured parameters than independent doses (Group C, D, E) and is comparable with standard drug nimodipine (Group G) clinically used for the treatment of multiple sclerosis. The present study, for the first time, reported the clinical evidence of N. hindustana, V. negundo, and A. albiflora against multiple sclerosis and concludes that all three plants showed remyelination as well neuroprotective effects which may be used as a potential natural neurotherapeutic agent against multiple sclerosis.

Phytochemicals Mediated Synthesis of AuNPs from Citrullus colocynthis and Their Characterization.

Engineered nanoparticles that have distinctive targeted characteristics with high potency are modernistic technological innovations. In the modern era of research, nanotechnology has assumed critical importance due to its vast applications in all fields of science. Biologically synthesized nanoparticles using plants are an alternative to conventional methods. In the present study, Citrullus colocynthis (bitter apple) was used for the synthesis of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs). UV-Vis's spectroscopy, XRD, SEM and FTIR were performed to confirm the formation of AuNPs. UV-Vis's spectra showed a characteristic peak at the range of 531.5-541.5 nm. XRD peaks at 2 θ = 38°, 44°, 64° and 77°, corresponding to 111, 200, 220 and 311 planes, confirmed the crystalline nature of AuNPs. Spherical AuNPs ranged mostly between 7 and 33 nm, and were measured using SEM. The FTIR analysis confirmed the presence of phytochemicals on the surface of AuNPs. Successful synthesis of AuNPs by seed extract of Citrullus colocynthis (bitter apple) as a capping and reducing agent represents the novelty of the present study.

The first horse herders and the impact of early Bronze Age steppe expansions into Asia.

The Yamnaya expansions from the western steppe into Europe and Asia during the Early Bronze Age (~3000 BCE) are believed to have brought with them Indo-European languages and possibly horse husbandry. We analyzed 74 ancient whole-genome sequences from across Inner Asia and Anatolia and show that the Botai people associated with the earliest horse husbandry derived from a hunter-gatherer population deeply diverged from the Yamnaya. Our results also suggest distinct migrations bringing West Eurasian ancestry into South Asia before and after, but not at the time of, Yamnaya culture. We find no evidence of steppe ancestry in Bronze Age Anatolia from when Indo-European languages are attested there. Thus, in contrast to Europe, Early Bronze Age Yamnaya-related migrations had limited direct genetic impact in Asia.

In vitro antimicrobial, antioxidant activity and phytochemical screening of Apium graveolens.

The present study evaluates the phytochemical screenings, antioxidant activity and antimicrobial assay of Apium graveolens L. The phytochemical screening showed the presence of flavonoids, tannins, saponins and steroids in Apium graveolens while terpenoids was absent. The total phenolic content was slightly higher in methanolic fraction (63.46 ± 12.00 mg GAE/g) followed by ethanol (36.60 ± 12.28 mg GAE/g) and hexane fractions (34.86 ± 6.96 mg GAE/g). The flavonoid content was high in methanolic extract (56.95 ± 7.14 mg Quorcetin/g) and low level of the content was found in methylated spirit extract (29.2 ± 3.15 mg Quercitin/g). Antioxidant activity assayed by FRAP was higher in methanolic fraction (12.48 ± 1.06 mmole of FeSO4equivalent/litre of extract) compared with other extracts. Likewise, good antimicrobial activity was measured by crude ethanol fraction against S. aureus (MIC=0.12 ± 0.03 µg/ml) and S. typhi (MIC= 0.5 ± 0.2 µg/ml). Results also that ethanolic fraction was effective against A. flavus (MIC= 05 ± 1.0 µg/ml).