010522   Jayalakshmi R;Chatterjee S C;Chatterjee D (Humanities and Social Sciences Dep, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, West Bengal, Email: jrajeev.lakshmi1@gmail.com) : End-of-life characteristics of the elderly: an assessment of home-based palliative services in two panchayats of Kerala. Indian J palliative care 2016, 22(4), 491-8.

Home-based palliative services form the cornerstone of Kerala's palliative program. However, two issues need research: (a) whether family-homes can be considered as the locus of ageing and dying for marginal populations who experience deprivation and poverty and (b) whether the present delivery structure meets the needs of elderly population. These issues are examined in the context of two rural areas. The study explores end-of-life characteristics of the elderly - their sociodemographic status and living patterns, morbidity profile, and functional status. It also looks into the accessibility and utilization of palliative services and respondents' satisfaction with different components of the services. A descriptive cross-sectional survey design is used. Data were collected based on the interviews of sixty service users sampled randomly from a roster of palliative care services. Semi-structured interviews were substantiated by personal field observations. The study has found people living under extreme financial distress with inadequate shelter and poor social security provisions. The health profile is characterized by high level of functional dependence. Many dependent widowed women were living alone without appropriate care and shelter. The palliative program as perceived by the respondents is characterized by few doctor visitations and poor frequency. The study concludes that home-based palliation in its present form does not promote good end-of-life care. It lacks an integrated approach with good service-mix. It raises serious questions on family-home as the locus of ageing and dying for marginal populations, and suggests need for restructuring of the palliative program.

7 tables, 20 ref

010521   Jalali G;Lakzian A;Astaraei A; Haddad-Mashadrizeh A;Esfandiarpour E (Soil Science Dep, Ferdowsi Univ of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran, Email: alakzian@yahoo.com) : Effects of land use on the structural diversityof soil bacterial communities in southeastern Iran. Biosci Biotechnol Res Asia 2016, 13(3), 1739-47.

Assessment of soil microbial community composition in arid and semi-arid regions is an important issue. The aim of this work was to analyze and compare the bacterial communities in three different neighboring land uses (orchard, farmand shrub land) in arid-region soils located in southeast of Iran using molecular biology-based. The analysis of the denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis(DGGE) of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplified 16S rDNA fingerprints demonstrated that bacterial community composition in all land uses was different. Clustering analysis of the DGGE bands of 16S rDNAfragments revealed that bacteria in the three soil samples from each land use formed a separated cluster, indicating variation in species composition between land uses. However, the results showed that the species richness and Shannon-Wiener diversity index differed significantly among different - 59 - land uses while Pielou's evenness index did not show any significant differences. These findings indicate that land use was one of the major factors in variation of species composition of soil bacterial communities.

2 illus, 1 table, 48 ref

010520   Imanparvar S (Educational Psychology Dep, Ajabshir Branch, Islamic Azad Univ, Ajabshir, Iran, Email: soheila.e1361@gmail.com) : Role of motivational interviewing in depression and psychological well-being in mothers of students having learning disabilities. Ambient Sci 2016, 3(2), 45-9.

The effects of motivational interviewing on the minimising of depression symptoms and improvement of psychological well-being among mothers of students having learning disabilities were studied. The methodology was based on the comparison of pretest-posttest Vs control-groups. The statistical data included all mothers of primary-school students having learning disabilities (50 subjects) and normal students (50 subjects) residing in the city of Ardabil, Iran. Subject selections were made through simple random sampling method and group counselling sessions focused on motivational interviewing were held for the experimental group for total eight "6o-minute sessions". The structure of the motivational interviewing sessions was extracted from a prescribed prescript of group therapy. To tabulate the data; Ryff s Scales of Psychological Well-geing, Beck Depression Inventory, and Colorado Learning Difficulties Questionnaire were used. As per the statistical analysis the motivational interviewing can reduce depression symptoms arid improve psychological well-being in mothers of students having learningdisabilities.

4 tables, 29 ref

010519   Hosseinpoor M;Asadi M;Keshavarz F;Sobhanian S;Jahromi A R;Moloudi F (NO, Student Research Committee of Jahrom Univ of Medical Sciences, Jahrom, Iran, Email: sobhaniansaeed@gmail.com) : Analysis on views of Iranian women about incentive policies on childbearing decision-making. Ambient Sci 2016, 3(2), 1-4.

'Women's insight of childbearing toward - 58 - incentive policies population has always been remaining underneath. In this descriptive study, we enrolled 662 women between the ages of 15 and 49 years. Survey was done by distributing a questionnaire withi3 questions on incentive policy and three questions on the number of the child they desire to have and who are the decision maker for childbearing and tend to childbearing if incentive policies apply. Most women were seen to support the incentive policies. Most participants wished to have less than 3 children. Surprisingly, 379 participants (57%) didn't wish to decide about childbearing and repeated pregnancy if the Incentive policies get applied. There are some elements viz., living place, income rate, provide facilities like free foodstuffs basket which would be essential to increase the childbearing decision-making.

5 tables, 14 ref

010518   Hasanpoor S;Bani S;Mirghafourvand M;Fakhouri M (Nursing and Midwifery Dep, Tabriz Univ of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran, Email: fakhouri.tbz89@gmail.com) : Personal and social predictors about safe sexual behavior in patients with immune deficiency virus in Ahwaz, Iran. Ambient Sci 2016, 3(2), 74-9.

Socio-demographic predictors about safe sex behaviours in individual suffering from immune deficiency virus (HIV) had been tried to understand in this cross-sectional study. It was conducted on 120 individuals having immune deficiency virus (HIV). Collection of the data were based on socio-demographic and a safe sex behaviour questionnaire. To determine the socio-demographic the general linear model was used. Result revealed mean (SD) of the total score of safe sexual behaviour among men and women was 66.5 (13.1), 62.2 (13.0) respectively and (Score limit: ). Status of sexual partners, unprotected vaginal sex, drugs and alcohols, as well as employment status, were considered as predictors of safe sex behaviours. About 50 percent of the participants pose unsafe sexual practices, thus, it is advisable that the health promotion programs and HIV prevention should implement in various groups of the society.

2 tables, 25 ref

010517   Hajare S T;Deoke A R;Saoji P A (Community Medicine Dep, NKP Salve Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Center, Digdoh hills, Hingna Road, Nagpur-440 019, Email: drshilpah@yahoo.com) : Life style profile of high school students and its association with body mass index in Nagpur city, Central India. Indian J community Hlth 2016, 28(3), 248-53.

Objectives are to study the life-style profile of high school students and association of lifestyle with Body Mass Index. A cross-sectional study was conducted in 565 high school students. Students were interviewed regarding daily activity, physical activity, hours of television and computer viewing and routine food habits. The anthropometric measurements were done. BMI was calculated according to WHO 2007 criteria. The prevalence of overweight instudents was found to be 5.84% and obesity was 0.35%. There was statistical evidence that the overweight students were associated with higher socio economic status group (p=0.000107), decreased physical activity (p= 0.0001; OR-10.88), increased consumption of junk food (p=0.0005817; OR-3.4) and more hours of viewing television/computer (p=0.00555; OR-2.99).

1 illus, 2 tables, 18 ref

010516   Gupta D (Anesthesiology, Wayne State Univ, Box No 162, 3990 John R, Detroit, MI 48201, United States, Email: dgupta@med.wayne.edu) : Mandatory basic life support training:why not in India; mandatory end-of-life care policy: why not in India; mandatory medical research requirements: why so in India!. Indian J community Hlth 2017, 29(1), 129-31.

In the world of things and doings, mandatory is a human invention for the times when optional and free-will do NOT get things done. When quality of life gains momentum to catch on with the age-old run for quantity of life, the medical education, medical decision-making and medical policy-making do NOT leave an option for medical practitioners but to follow the mandate as required and warranted by society they cater for. Herein I want to review and discuss some of those potential mandates for practitioners of medicine from the perspective of (a) a person who can be in the hot seat of a patient himself, (b) a physician who can be caught in the dubious scenarios of treating - 57 - patients similar to himself, and (c) a medical teacher-researcher who till recently as an inquisitive medical student was himself delving with similar questions for the system. In a nutshell, this is my perspective from my limited understanding that basic life support (BLS) training and end-of-life care (EOLC) policy are in need for mandate to being made mandatory whereas medical research requirements (MRR) are in need to be made optional without covert-overt penalties.

8 ref

010515   Ghasemian M;Taheri H;Kakhki A S;Ghoshuni M (Faculty of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, Ferdowsi Univ of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran, Email: Hamidtaheri@um.ac.ir) : Effect of alpha neurofeedback training on motor skill acquisition. Biosci Biotechnol Res Asia 2016, 13(3), 1651-6.

The present study aimed to compare the effects of two types of neurofeedbackprotocols (alpha enhancement& alpha suppression) on the motor skill acquisition. 42 volunteersparticipated in the present study. The subjects were divided into three groups of `alpha enhancement', `alpha suppression' and `control'. In the alpha suppression group, the objective was to reduce alpha brain waves and in the alpha enhancement group, the objective was to increase the alpha amplitude over the motor cortex areas before the motor intervention. During the acquisition stage, the participants practiced the pursuit tracking task. In order to evaluate the effectiveness of interventions on motor learning, the participants were assessed at intervals of 90 minutes, 24 hours and one week after the interventions. The results showed that all of the groups were progressing during the interventions; however, participants in the alpha suppression group had a better performance in first retention test. The superiority of participants in the alpha suppression group was not maintained in subsequent evaluations. Based on the results, reduction of alpha range and its subsequent increased motor cortex excitability can provide beneficial effects in the acquisition of a new motor skill. However, more studies are needed to confirm the sustainability of these effects over time.

4 illus, 20 ref

010514   Ghalehroudkhani H H;Sohrabi M;Torbati H T (Faculty of Sport Sciences, Ferdowsi Univ of Mashhad, Azadi square, Mashhad, Iran, Email: hajatmand@um.ac.ir) : Effect of observing different types of information on learning a novel motor skill. Biosci Biotechnol Res Asia 2016, 13(3), 1779-86.

Relative information is the most important constraint during observation. The present study examined the importance of observing different types of information during observational learning. Participants observed one of the following types of information: whole body (FULL), arm of the - 56 - throwing hand (ARM), wrist of the throwing hand (WRIST), or the end points of the upper and lower limbs (END- POINTS). During 30 acquisition trials (3 blocks), the participants observed a model five times before the first trial and once before each remaining trial of each block. The retention test (10 trials) was performed the following day. Shoulder-elbow and elbow-wrist intra-limb coordination was assessed in comparison withthe model. During acquisition, FULL and ARM groups were more accurate in reproducing the model's action than the other two groups. These results were repeated during retention tests, which provide partial evidence to the visual perception perspective notion. It was concluded that the end effector is an important source of information, and observing this type of information is enough for learning a novel motor skill.

4 illus, 30 ref

010513   Ghahramani M H;Sohrabi M;Kakhki A S;Besharat M A (Motor Behavior, Ferdowsi Univ of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran, Email: sohrabi@um.ac.ir) : Effects of physical activity on impulse control, attention, decision-making and motor functions in students with high and low impulsivity. Biosci Biotechnol Res Asia 2016, 13(3), 1689-96.

Impulsivity as a symptom cuts across a number of psychiatric disorders and results have shown that it as an antipode of certain components of executive functions and consistently associated with lower grades and academic achievement. The objective of this study was to explore the effects of physical activity on impulse control, attention, decision-making and motor functions in school students with high and low impulsivity. The subjects were forty elementary school students that represented the top and bottom 33% of the distribution of impulsivity scores as high and low impulsivity in the Impulsivity Rating Scale (IRS) and were peer in IQ. They were randomly assigned in trainig and wait-list control groups in both levels of impulsivity (10 subjects in each group, for a total of 40 subjects). Before and after a 54-week training or control period, impuls control, attention, decision-making and motor functions were assessed by Go/no-go test, Continue Performance Test (CPT), The Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART) and Linklon - Oseresky Motor Development Scale (LOMDS), respectively. The results showed that impulsivity scores decreased in high and low impulsivity groups compared to control groups. Also, attention, decision-making and motor functions were improved in both levels of impulsivity compared with their control groups. But comparative analysis between high and low impulsivity groups showed that effect of physical activity with low impulsivity group was significantly more than with high impulsivity group (p<60>0.05). on the basis of this results, it can be concluded that physical activity program reduce the impulsivity and furthermore, it improves attention, decision-making and motor functions in students with different levels of impulsivity, specialy in low impulsivty.

2 illus, 40 ref

010512   Garg S;Basu S;Dahiya N (Community Medicine Dep, Maulana Azad Medical College, New Delhi, Email: saurav.basu1983@gmail.com) : Review of current strategy for rabies prevention and control in the developing world. Indian J community Hlth 2017, 29(1), 10-16.

The control of Rabies, a zoonotic viral disease is a major public challenge in several developing countries. Current approaches for rabies control are overwhelmingly directed towards provision of effective post exposure prophylaxis (PEP) to animal bite victims. The enormous costs involved in rabies prophylaxis is an important factor precludingits universal application in all animal bite victims especially in those residing in resource constrained settings. The intradermal route of administration has been shown to be cost effective except in - 55 - peripheral regions with fewer animal bite cases. Nevertheless,rabies control program with their expected emphasis on human rabies prophylaxis have neglected canine vaccination. The feasibility of canine rabies vaccination depends primarily upon allocation of resources through political commitment and effective public private partnerships. However, in large parts of the world including India formal dog ownership constitutes a small minority of the overall canine population while state funded canine vaccination drives often fail to impress policy makers who struggle to maintain budgets for adequate coverage of rabies PEP for animal bite victims. The key to rabies control may therefore restupon a one health approach with development of newer vaccine technology which is cost effective for vaccination in both, man and animal.

3 tables, 27 ref

010511   Ekore R I;Lanre-Abass B (Univ Health Service (Jaja Clinic) Dep, Jbadan Univ, Ibadan, Nigeria, Email: ilemonajohn@yahoo.co.uk) : African cultural concept of death and the idea of advance care directives. Indian J palliative care 2016, 22(4), 369-72.

An advance care directive is a person's oral or written instructions about his or her future medical care, if he or she becomes unable to communicate. It may be in written or oral form. Africans ordinarily do not encourage the contemplation of death or any discussion about their own or their loved ones' death. According to the African belief system, life does not end with death, but continues in another realm. Becoming an ancestor after death is a desirable goal of every individual, a feat which cannot be achieved if an individual asks for an unnatural death by attempting to utilize advance care directives. Advance care directives are considered to be too individualistic for communitarian societies such as Africa. Coupled with the communitarian nature of African societies are issues such as lack of awareness of advance directives, fear of death and grief, and the African cultural belief system, which are potential barriers to the utilization of advance care directives in the African setting. Hence, the need for culture sensitivity which makes it imperative that patient's family and loved ones are carried along as far as possible, without compromising the autonomy of the patient in question when utilizing advance care directives.

^iia17 ref

010510   Davalagi S;Revanna R;Agadi N (Community Medicine Dep, JJM Medical College, Davangere-577 004, Email: shubhadavalgi@gmail.com) : Determinants of post - partum contraception practices in urban slums of central Karnataka, India. Indian J community Hlth 2016, 28(3), 280-5.

Objectives are to know the knowledge & practices of post -partum - 54 - contraception among mothers in urban slums. Cross sectional study conducted in urban slums for duration of six months. Study population included mothers in extended post -partum period residing in urban slums. Mothers were interviewed using pre -tested, semi -structured questionnaire. Data was analyzed using SPSS v 22.0 and, chi square test and logistic regression analysis was employed. P value of <0.05 was considered statistically significant. Majority of the mothers in our study were in the age group of 20-24 years (46%). Mean age was 21.6 ± 3.1years. Majority of the mothers (56%) were Hindus. Mean age of marriageobserved was 18.2 ± 2.1years. In the present study, majority (76%) had knowledge of post -partum contraceptive methods, but only 17% of the mothers were using contraception. Unmet need for post -partum contraception was found among 49% of mothers. Inspite of being aware, the practice of family planning was very low among post-partum mothers. The study highlights the impact of socio cultural factors like religion, caste, number of living children, duration of marriage and ANC service utilization on post -partum contraception usage among mothers.

3 illus, 1 table, 12 ref

010509   Chatterjee S;Ray K;Das A K;Ghosh A (NO, Netaji Subash Open Univ, DD-26, Sector I, Kolkata-700 064, Email: sudeshna700040@gmail.com) : Satisfaction level of medical educators working in teaching institutions : a questionnaire based cross-sectional study. Explor Anim med Res 2016, 6(2), 159-63.

In a resource-limited and high-burden disease setting, satisfied health professional is an asset in terms of maximized productivity, efficiency and quality health care. Job Satisfaction Index is a validated measure to identify the components that influence those issues. A multi-faceted structured questionnaire study was conducted upon a cross-section of medical educators (n=160) serving two tertiary care teaching institutions under different management set-up. Multiple demographic features were independent variables whereas three (3) critical areas of satisfaction index (SI) were outcome variables. All participants were interviewed using 15 item Likert response-based, modified job satisfaction scale. It was observed that total SI scores among doctors representing the private group remained marginally higher (P<60>0.05) while compared to the other group. The comparative analysis of SI scores in critical areas like availability of academic supports and job security remained higher among the private doctors than that of the government ones though not significant. However the private doctors remained marginally satisfied in terms of working environment. The study outcome necessitates appropriate intervention measures at the organizational levels.

2 tables, 18 ref

010508   Chandra A;Sarkar S;Adinarayanan S;Balajee K L (NO, Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research, Puducherry, Email: sarkarsonaligh@gmail.com) : Impact of health awareness campaign in improving the perception of the community about palliative care: a pre- and post-intervention study in rural Tamil Nadu. Indian J palliative care 2016, 22(4), 467-76.

The only way to provide palliative care to a huge number of - 53 - people in need in India is through community participation, which can be achieved by improving the awareness of the people about palliative care. We conducted a study to assess the impact of health awareness campaign in improving the awareness of people about palliative care. This was a pre- and post-intervention study conducted in Kadaperikuppam village of Vanur Taluk in Villupuram district, Tamil Nadu. One respondent each from 145 households in the village was interviewed regarding the knowledge and attitude on palliative care before and after the health awareness campaign using a pretested questionnaire. Health awareness campaign consisted of skit, pamphlet distribution, poster presentation, giving door-to-door information, and general interaction with palliative team in the village. Two weeks after the campaign, postintervention survey was conducted using the same questionnaire in the same subjects to assess the impact of the intervention. The awareness regarding palliative care during the preintervention was nil. After the intervention, it increased to 62.8%. However, there was a decline in the attitude and the interest of the people toward palliative care. Interpretation and Health awareness campaigns can increase the awareness of people in the rural parts of the country about palliative care. However, to improve the attitude of the community about delivery of palliative care services, more sustained efforts are required to make them believe that palliative care can be provided by community volunteers also and not necessarily only by professionals.

5 tables, 14 ref

010507   Astaraki G;Ashrfganjooei F;Sajadi S H (Sport Management Dep, College of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, Central Tehran Branc, Tehran, Iran, Email: a.hejabi@yahoo.com) : Relation between emotion adjustment and perceived social support with quality of life of athletes with disability. Ambient Sci 2016, 3(2), 69-73.

The relationship between emotional cognitive adjustment and perceived social support and determining the share of each one of these variable in quality of life for disabled athletes is an important factor to know. We selected 100 people among disabled athletes through convenience sampling and were asked to fill emotional cognitive adjustment strategies scale questionnaire, perceived social support questionnaire and quality of life scale. Results revealed that social support parameters have significant relation with parameters required for quality of life. Similarly, all the parameters regarding emotional cognitive adjustments (except perspective taking) revealed positive and significant relation with all parameters of quality of life (including physical, psychological, interpersonal relation and environment). However, the perspective taking parameter has only positive and significant relation with psychological dimension of quality of life, and it hag no significant relation with other dimensions. Meanwhile, negative parameters of emotional cognitive adjustment, self-blaming and catastrophic thinking has no significant relation with any parameters of quality of life. Rumination has only negative significant relation with interpersonal relation dimension of quality of life and blaming others parameter had negative and significant relation with the environment. Results of stepwise regression table show that among studies parameters, positive refocusing and important people are in the regression equation. In nutshell, positive refocusing and social support of influenced people impartto raise their quality of life.

6 tables, 22 ref

010506   Ardalan N;Jamaran S;Memari F;Davari K;Rostami B;Ramazanzadeh R (Biology Dep, Urmia Branch, Islamic Azad Univ, Urmia, Iran, Email: atrop_t51@yahoo.com) : Risk factors associated with community-acquired CTX-M producing Klebsiella pneumoniae typing by Rep-PCR in Sanandaj, Iran. Biosci Biotechnol Res Asia 2016, 13(3), 1311-17.

The CTX-M producing organism is emerging as a resistance source to oxyimino-cephalosporin like ceftriaxone and ceftazidime. However, the laboratory detection of this gene has not yet been well defined in Sanandaj, Iran. The purpose beyond this study is identifying the prevalence of CTX-M and its risk factors in the community-acquired Klebsiella pneumoniae infections in Sanandaj.In this case-control study, 100 community-acquired Klebsiella pneumoniae strains were used. CTX-M gene was detected using PCR. The probable clonal relation among strains was determined via Rep-PCR. Risk factors associated with CTX-M positive were examined through the univariate logistic regression, Student's t-test, and Mann-Whitney U test.The polymerase chain reaction test, used to identify CTX-M gene, showed that 37 - 52 - (37%) Samples, out of 100 were positive. Based on Rep-PCR, 31 genotypes were identified among 37 Samples of CTX-M positive isolates. According to the statistical analysis, the following were the most important independent risk factors in this study: Gestation (p value= 0.036), previous exposure to antibiotic within 3 months (p value= 0.016), having relatives who work in a hospital (p value= 0.001, and distance of under 2 Km from home address to hospital (p value< 0.001). Regarding the increased value of ESBLs-producing strain, it is strongly recommended to use appropriate curative protocols based on the antibiogram. The results of Rep-PCR experiment refute the hypothesis of the clonal spread of one epidemic strain Klebsiella; meaning that not all CTX-M-producing species originate from the same strain and that the gene has extended among various strains. Hence, hospitals and their worker have to have better hygiene, hospital wastes have to be disposed properly, and antibiotics use may help prevent the spread of ESBL resistance only in case of being prescribed by a doctor.

1 illus, 2 tables, 28 ref

010505   Aneelraj D;Naveen Kumar C;Somanathan R; Chandran D;Joshi S;Paramita P;Kasi S;Bangalore R N;Math S B (Psychiatry Dep, National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences, Bangalore-560 029, Email: cnkumar1974@gmail.com) : Uttarakhand disaster 2013: a report on psychosocial adversities experienced by children and adolescents. Indian J Pediat 2016, 83(4), 316-21.

Objective is to report the psychosocial adversities faced by children and adolescents in the Uttarkashi, district of Uttarakhand, experienced immediately after the Himalayan Tsunami in June 2013. Also to discuss issues pertinent to the disaster management including the needs of the disaster affected areas and future challenges. This is a cross sectional observational report from the community assessment and interventions that were carried out as part of the disaster relief work by National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS), Bangalore within 1 mo of the disaster. Assessments and interventions were done by a team consisting of psychiatry resident, clinical psychologist, psychiatric social worker and a nurse. All diagnosis were made using International Classification of Diseases 10 (ICD 10) and the data was analysed using descriptive statistics and chi-square tests. A total of 300 children were screened; the mean age of the sample was 11.5 y and 65(32.5%) were boys. Two hundred (66.7%) children/adolescents reported one or the other psychosocial adversities attributable to the disaster. Psychological distress was present in 54/300 (18%) of the individuals. Loss of shelter and loss of playing space were the social issues having a statistically significant association with psychological distress signals such as feelings of anxiety, helplessness, insecurity, grief and uncertainty. Stress induced diagnosable psychiatric disorder was not present in any child or adolescent, however stress related psychiatric symptoms were present in around 13%. Himalayan tsunami of Uttarakhand in 2013 was associated with considerable psychosocial adversities among the resident children and adolescents. As children are a vulnerable population, a public health approach towards assessment and management of the psychosocial adversities in this population is urgently required at the state and national levels.

1 illus, 3 tables, 11 ref

010504   Amouei N;Sahraei H;Alibeik H;Meftahil G H; Bahari Z;Mohammadi A (Biology Dep, School of Biological Sciences, Islamic Azad Univ, North Tehran Branch, Tehran, Iran, Email: ar.mohammadi@bmsu.ac.ir) : Intrahippocampal and peripheral effects of nicotine injection on the metabolic and behavioral response to insecapable stress. Biosci Biotechnol Res Asia 2016, 13(3), 1363-71.

The hippocampus is one of the main parts of Limbic system and plays a crucial role in the response of brain to stress. In this study, the effect of nicotine injection on the CA1 region of the hippocampus of mice in responding to inescapable stress was studied. Fifty four adult NMRI male mice were divided randomly into nine groups, comprising a negative control group (without any intervention), two groups as positive controls (receiving 1 ml/mouse and 10 æg/mouse saline, respectively), three groups received Intrahippocampal (CA1) nicotine (getting 1, 5 and 10 æg/mouse nicotine) and three groups received intraperitoneal nicotine (receiving 0.25, 0.5 and 1 mg/kg nicotine). The water and food consumption, body weight, anorexia time, changes in weight of brain and adrenal glands were evaluated. Data were presented as mean standard error of mean (SEM) and analyzed using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). Body and brain weight, amount of food and water consumption were decreased following stress, but the adrenal gland weight and anorexia time were increased. The results showed that intraperitoneal administration of nicotine exacerbated the effects of stress in a dose of 1 mg/kg and reduced the effects of stress in doses of 0.5 and 0.25 mg/kg. Intrahippocampal injection of nicotine had no effect on the response to stress and only affects the brain's weight. We conclude that inescapable stress causes extensive changes in animal performance, which is related to nicotinic acetylcholine receptors present on hippocampal pyramidal neurons. On the other hand, nicotinic acetylcholine receptors may modulate the activity of glucocorticoid receptors in the hippocampus neurons and play an important role in moderating stress responses in a dose-dependent - 51 - manner.

7 illus, 30 ref

009590   Zhu H;Wu J;Jiang Y;Jin J;Zhou W;Wang Y;Han G; Zhao Y;Cheng B (Key Laboratory of Crop Biology of Anhui Province, Anhui Agricultural Univ, Hefei 230036, People's Republic of China, Email: chengbeijiu2007@163.com) : Genomewide analysis of MATE-type gene family in maize reveals microsynteny and their expression patterns under aluminum treatment. J Genet 2016, 95(3), 691-704.

Multidrug and toxic compound extrusion (MATE) proteins are a group of secondary active transporters, which widely exist in all living organisms and play important role in the detoxication of endogenous secondary metabolites and exogenous agents. However, to date, no systematic and comprehensive study of this family is reported in maize. Here, a total of 49 MATE genes (ZmMATE) were identified and divided into seven groups by phylogenetic analysis. Conserved intro-exon structures and motif compositions were investigated in these genes. Results by gene locations indicated that these genes were unevenly distributed among all 10 chromosomes. Tandem and segmental duplications appeared to contribute to the expansion and evolution of this gene family. The K_a/K_s ratios suggested that the ZmMATE has undergone large-scale purifying selection on the maize genome. Interspecies microsynteny analysis revealed that there were independent gene duplication events of 10 ZmMATE. In addition, most maize MATE genes exhibited different expression profiles in diverse tissues and developmental stages. Sixteen MATE genes were chosen for further quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction analysis showed differential expression patterns in response to aluminum treatment. These results provide a useful clue for future studies on the identification of MATE genes and functional analysis of MATE proteins in maize.

7 illus, 5 tables, 48 ref

009589   Zhao J;Yang M;Li M (Changhai Hospital, Second Military Medical Univ, Shanghai 200438, People's Republic of China, Email: limingsmmu@sina.cn) : Association of IL-6 and MMP-3 gene polymorphisms with susceptibility to adolescent idiopathic scoliosis: a meta-analysis. J Genet 2016, 95(3), 573-9.

Recently, several institutions have investigated the associations of MMP-3-1171 5A/6A and IL-6-174-G/C gene polymorphisms with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS), while reports from different institutions are not consistent. Therefore, we, comprehensively and systematically performed this meta-analysis to detect whether the two gene polymorphisms are correlated with AIS. From January 1994 to October 2015, all case-control studies focussed on the relationship between the two aforementioned gene polymorphisms and the susceptibility to AIS were retrieved from bibliographic databases. A total of 16 articles were found, of which five consisted of 944 cases and 1177 controls, were finally included after being assessed by two reviewers. We calculated the pooled odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence interval (95% CI) to assess the associations. The pooled data analyses were based on allele contrast, homozygote, heterozygote, dominant and recessive models. Overall, there was no significant association of IL-6-174-G/C gene polymorphism with AIS risk. Significant association was observed in homozygote model of MMP-3-1171-5A/6A gene polymorphism (5A5A versus 6A6A: OR = 1.69, 95% CI = 1.11-2.58, P = 0.02). When stratified into Caucasian and Asian populations, positive association was found in Caucasian population (5A versus 6A: OR = 1.43, 95% CI = 1.11-1.84, P = 0.006; 5A5A versus 6A6A: OR = 1.90, 95% CI = 1.13-3.19, P = 0.015); however, there was no significant association in Asian population. The present study concluded that 5A5A genotype of MMP-3-1171 5A/6A gene polymorphism was associated with AIS, especially in Caucasian population. However, no significant association was detected between IL-6-174-G/C gene polymorphism and AIS.

3 illus, 2 tables, 32 ref

009588   Ye H;He Y;Wang J;Song T;Lan Z;Zhao Y;Xi M (West China School of Medicine/West China Hospital, Sichuan Univ, Chengdu 610041, Sichuan Province, People's Republic of China, Email: qmrjzz@126.com) : Effect of matrix metalloproteinase promoter polymorphisms on endometriosis and adenomyosis risk: evidence from a meta-analysis. J Genet 2016, 95(3), 611-19.

Matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) promoter polymorphisms are considered to play roles in the aetiology of endometriosis and adenomyosis, however, the evidence available are inconsistent. We aimed to systematically review the asscociation between MMP-1 -1607 1G/2G MMP-2 -735 C/T, MMP-3 -1171 5A/6A and MMP-9 -1562 C/T polymorphisms and the risk of endometriosis and adenomyosis. A systemic search was conducted in Ovid, PubMed, Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure and Chinese Wanfang Database. We used the pooled odds ratio (OR) and their corresponding 95% confidence interval (CI) to calculate the statistical power. Besides, we evaluated the quality of individual studies based on Newcastle-Ottawa scale. A total of 13 papers with 18 studies conformed to our inclusion criteria. We observed a significant association between MMP-1 -1607 1G/2G polymorphism and the susceptibility of endometriosis and adenomyosis under recessive model (OR = 1.25, 95%CI = 1.03-1.53, P = 0.03). While no significant association was found in MMP-2 -735 C/T, MMP-3 -1171 5A/6A and MMP-9 -1562 C/T polymorphisms. This systemic review and meta-analysis suggested that theMMP-1 -1607 1G/2G polymorphism might play an important role in the risk of endometriosis and adenomyosis. Further, more well-designed and large-scale studies regarding gene-gene and gene-environment interactions are needed in the future.

6 illus, 45 ref

009587   Wei S (Key Laboratory of Southwest China Wildlife Resources Conservation (Min, China West Normal Univ, Nanchong, Sichuan 637009, People's Republic of China, Email: weishuhong453@sohu.com) : Molecular cloning, characterization and expression of WAG-2 alternative splicing transcripts in developing spikes of Aegilops tauschii. J Genet 2016, 95(3), 581-5.

WAG-2 is a C-class MADS-box gene, which is orthologous to AGAMOUS (AC) in Arabidopsis. The AG group C-class MADS-box genes are involved in stamen and pistil identity. In this study, two WAG-2 transcripts, namely, WAG-2fwaA WAG-2g, were isolated and characterized from Aegilops tauschii. The open reading frames of WAG-2fand WAG-2g were 825 and 822 bp, respectively, encoding 275 and 274 amino acid residues. BLAST searches of partial WAG-2 genomic sequence against the draft sequence of Ae. tauschii genome database revealed the complex structure of WAG-2 gene, which consisted of seven exons and six introns. The WAG-2f and WAG-2g cDNAs were two alternative splicing transcripts. The alternative splicing events were produced by an alternative 5' splice site. The expression level of WAG-2f transcript, which was extremely weak in young spikes of floret primordium formation stage, increased as the spikes developed. The highest expression was observed in the spikes at the anther separation stage. Low expression levels of WAG-2f were also detected at the tetrad stage. The WAG-2g transcript was expressed at all four stages of spike development but at a relatively low level. The expression pattern of the two transcripts was distinctly different during floral development, thereby suggesting a functional divergence.

3 illus, 1 table, 22 ref

009586   Wang G;Chen S;Zhao C;Li X;Zhao W;Yang J;Chang C;Xu C (College of Life Science, Henan Normal Univ, Xinxiang 453 007, Henan, People's Republic of China, Email: cellkeylab@126.com) : Comparative analysis of gene expression profiles of OPN signalling pathway in four kinds of liver diseases. J Genet 2016, 95(3), 741-50.

To explore the relevance of OPN signalling pathway to the occurrence and development of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), liver cirrhosis (LC), hepatic cancer (HC) and acute hepatic failure (AHF) at transcriptional level, Rat Genome 230 2.0 Array was used to detect expression profiles of OPN signalling pathway-related genes in four kinds of liver diseases. The results showed that 23, 33, 59 and 74 genes were significantly changed in the above four kinds of liver diseases, respectively. H-clustering analysis showed that the expression profiles of OPN signalling-related genes were notably different in four kinds of liver diseases. Subsequently, a total of above-mentioned 147 genes were categorized into four clusters by k-means according to the similarity of gene expression, and expression analysis systematic explorer (EASE) functional enrichment analysis revealed that OPN signalling pathway-related genes were involved in cell adhesion and migration, cell proliferation, apoptosis, stress and inflammatory reaction, etc. Finally, ingenuity pathway analysis (IPA) software was used to predict the functions of OPN signalling-related genes, and the results indicated that the activities of ROS production, cell adhesion and migration, cell proliferation were remarkably increased, while that of apoptosis, stress and inflammatory reaction were reduced in four kinds of liver diseases. In summary, the above physiological activities changed more obviously in LC, HC and AHF than in NAFLD.

6 illus, 2 tables, 37 ref

009585   Wang C S;et al. (Triticeae Research Institute, Sichuan Agricultural Univ, Chengdu, Sichuan, 611130, People's Republic of China, Email: ymwei@sicau.edu.cn) : Characterization and expression analyses of the H<. J Genet 2016, 95(3), 565-72.

The H^{+-pyrophosphatase (H+-PPase) gene plays an important role in maintaining intracellular proton gradients. Here, we characterized the full-length complementary DNA (cDNA) and DNA of the H+-PPase gene ScHPl in rye (Secale cereale L. 'Qinling'). We determined the subcellular localization of this gene and predicted the corresponding protein structure. We analysed the evolutionary relationship between ScHP1 and H+-PPasc genes in other species, and did real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction to explore the expression patterns of ScHPl in rye plants subjected to N, P and K deprivation and to cold, high-salt and drought stresses. ScHPl cDNA included a 2289 bp open reading frame (ORF) encoding 762 amino acid residues with 14 transmembrane domains. The genomic ScHPl DNA was 4354 bp and contained eight exons and seven introns. ScHPl was highly homologous with other members of the H+-PPase gene family. When the full-length ORF was inserted into the expression vector pA7-YFP, the fluorescent microscopy revealed that ScHPl -YFP fusion protein was located in the plasma membrane. Rye plants that were subjected to N deprivation, cold and high-salt stresses, ScHPl expression was higher in the leaves than roots. Conversely, plants subjected to P and K deprivation and drought stress, ScHPl expression was higher in the roots than leaves. Under all the investigated stress conditions, expression of ScHPl was lower in the stem than in the leaves and roots. Our results imply that ScHPl functions under abiotic stress response.}

4 illus, 1 table, 42 ref

009584   Truong L V (NO, Faculty of Sport Coaching-University of Sport Hochiminh City, Vietnam) : Analysis of competitive state anxiety in futsal players at vietnam futsal champoionship. INT J phys Educ Sports Hlth 2017, 4(2), 1-3.

The Competitive State Anxiety Inventory (CSAI-2) has been a widely used instrument for the assessment of anxiety in sport but within limited cultural contexts. Conceptual issues as well as concerns about the psychometric properties of the measure have resulted in questions surrounding its use. The aim of this study is to explore the Competitive State Anxiety Inventory - 2 and CSAI - 2 of the male futsal players at the 2016 Vietnam national futsal championship, a sample of 95 athletes belongs to 6 teams completed the CSAI-2 questionnaire 1hr prior to competition, these results showed that the athletes lower body exist State Anxiety and cognitive State Anxiety, its State self-confidence is higher.

3 tables, 15 ref

009583   Thiam S;er al. (Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Laboratory, Faculty of Medicine, Ph, , Senegal) : Analysis of the colorimetric assay technique of serum electrolytes (sodium, potassium). Asian J biochem pharm Res 2016, 6(3), 2231-560.

This work was conducted at the Laboratory of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology based at the University Cheikh Anta Diop of Dakar on a UVVisible spectrophotometer, to evaluate the analytical performance of the colorimetric assay technique of serum electrolytes (sodium, potassium) namely the detection limit, linearity, accuracy and appropriateness of measures in view to expand it nationwide. The results show a low detection limit, good linearity for the sodium, non-repeatability and non-reproducibility for both analysts and biases relatively and slightly higher compared to the values of the SFBC.

6 illus, 3 tables, 20 ref

009582   Su Y;Li D;Gaur U;Wang Y;Wu N;Chen B;Xu Z;Yin H;Hu Y;Zhu Q (Farm Animal Genetic Resources Exploration and Innovation Key Laborator, Sichuan Agricultural Univ, Chengdu 611130, People's Republic of China, Email: zhuqingsicau@163.com) : Genetic diversity of bitter taste receptor gene family in Sichuan domestic and tibetan chicken polulations. J Genet 2016, 95(3), 675-81.

The sense of bitter taste plays a critical role in animals as it can help them to avoid intake of toxic and harmful substances. Previous research had revealed that chicken has only three bitter taste receptor genes (Tas2rl, Tas2r2 and Tas2r7). To better understand the genetic polymorphisms and importance of bitter taste receptor genes (Tas2rs) in chicken, here, we sequenced Tas2rs of 30 Sichuan domestic chickens and 30 Tibetan chickens. Thirteen singlc-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) including three nonsynonymous mutations (m.359G<62>C, m.503C<62>A and m.583A<62>G) were detected in Tas2rl (m. is the abbreviation for mutation); three SNPs were detected in Tas 2r2, but none of them were missense mutation; eight SNPs were detected in Tas2r7 including six nonsynonymous substitutions (m.l78G<62>A, m.421A<62>C, m.787C<62>T, m.832G>T, m.907A<62>T and m.943G<62>A). Tajima's D neutral test indicates that there is no population expansion in both populations, and the size of the population is relatively stable. All the three networks indicate that red jungle fowls share haplotypes with domestic chickens. In addition, we found that haplotypes H1 and HE1 were positively associated with high-altitude adaptation, whereas haplotypes H4 and HE4 showed a negative correlation with high-altitude adaptation in Tas2rs. Although, chicken has only three Tas2rs, our results showed that both Sichuan domestic chickens and Tibetan chickens have abundant haplotypes in Tas2rs, especially in Tas2r7, which might help chickens to recognize a wide variety of bitter-tasting compounds.

4 illus, 1 table, 36 ref

009581   Srivastava S;Kushwaha B;Prakash J;Ravindra Kumar;Nagpure N S;Agarwal S;Pandey M;Das P;Joshi C G;Jena J K (Molecular Biology and Biotechnology Div, ICAR-National Bureau of Fish Genetic Resources, Lucknow-226 002, Email: basdeo.scientist@gmail.com ) : Development and characterization of genic SSR markers from low depth genome sequence of Clarias batrachus (magur). J Genet 2016, 95(3), 603-9.

Indian magur (Clarias batrachus) is an important freshwater catfish, which is listed as endangered under A3cde+4acdc ver. 3.1 categories by the IUCN (2015) due to decreasing population trend. Microsatellites or short sequence repeats (SSRs) tagged to genes have been utilized as gene marker. In the present study, 31,814 SSRs of C. batrachus (magur) were identified using microsatellite identification tool programme from the next generation sequencing data generated on Roche 454 and Ion Torrent platforms. A bioinformatics pipeline, with stringent criteria resulted in selection of 1672 microsatellite loci falling in the genie region. Initially, a total of 30 loci were selected for primer development; and of these 14 were successfully amplified and five were found to be polymorphic in 30 individuals of C. batrachus (magur). The observed as well as expected heterozygosity ranged from 0.038 to 0.526 and 0.434 to 0.784, respectively, and the number of observed alleles ranged from three to five. The study reported the application of next generation sequencing technologies for rapid development of microsatellite loci in Indian catfish species, C. batrachus (magur).

2 illus, 6 tables, 27 ref

009580   Sivri N;Akbulut V (Environmental Engineering Dep, Faculty of Engineering, Istanbul Univ 34320, Avcylar, Istanbul, Turkey, Email: nuket@istanbul.edu.tr) : Antimicrobial susceptibility of Escherichia coli strains collected from the southwestern coast of Istanbul. Biosci Biotechnol Res Asia 2016, 13(2), 785-93.

Antimicrobial resistance is one of the biggest problems facing global public health. Among the microorganisms with antimicrobial resistance, Escherichia coli species strains out due to its dual role as fecal contamination indicator and pathogen. In this study was found that the prevalence's of antimicrobial resistance (AR) and multiple antimicrobial resistance (MAR) of Escherichia coli in the southwestern coast of Istanbul, under strong anthropogenic pressures, for a period of three years starting in January 2009 through December 2011. The fecal indicator bacterium, Escherichia coli, was tested for their susceptibility to different group of 10 antimicrobials, using the disk diffusion method. In this study, 194 strains of E.coli were isolated, in which ampicillin (74.4%) and amoxicillin (47.4%) had the highest resistance rates. Tetracycline resistance was found to be 43.3%. While 84.4% of the isolates were found to be resistant to at least one or more antibiotic, 63.4% were resistance to 2 or more antibiotics and 24.7% were resistant to 5 or more antibiotics. In addition, no resistance was detected in the antibiotic imipenem. With the number of the resistant strains out numbering the number of sensitive strains, serious concerns regarding antibiotic resistance in sea based bacteria are raised. As a result, the association between wrong and insufficient refinement and pollution indicator bacteria spreading throughout the environment is clear. These findings, which were obtained throughout Istanbul's shores which are frequently used for recreation, fishing, and transport, show that public health is under serious risks.

5 illus, 3 tables, 24 ref

009579   Singh D P;Verma R K;Singh A;Sunita Kumari; Siddique M E (Microbiology Dep, UP Rural Institute of Medical Sciences & Research, Safai, Etawah-206 130, Email: dpsingh888@gmail.com) : Retrospective study of malaria from western part of Uttar Pradesh, India. Int J pharm Sci Res 2016, 7(8), 3493-6.

Malaria is a serious parasitic health problem in India. Plasmodium vivax and falciparum pose the greatest public challenge in endemic areas. P. vivax accounts for more than half of all malaria cases. Accurate and prompt diagnosis is not only important to prevent morbidity, but also helps minimizing drug resistance. To know the profile of malaria parasite in the patients attending UPRIMS&R, a tertiary care center in Western Uttar Pradesh. A total 26,939 samples were subjected to smear microscopy (thin and thick) or rapid diagnostic tests. 1330 positive malaria cases were detected. Malaria cases were maximum in year 2010. The proportion of P.vivax, P.falciprum and mixed malaria parasites was found 67% (891 out of 1330), 32% (420 out of 1330) and 1% (19 out of 1330) respectively. There is a decline in trend of malaria cases in India. The highest load of malaria cases was found in month September. P. vivax is still a predominant malaria parasite.

18 ref

009578   Sharma S K;Bhardwaj V (Physical Education, H.P.U Shimla, Himachal Pradesh) : Comparative study of psycholigical variable of anxiety of male bowlers and male batsman of Himachal Pradesh. INT J phys Educ Sports Hlth 2017, 4(2), 38-9.

In the study attempt to investigate, the comparison of anxiety between male bowlers and male batsman senior district level of under age 18 to 25 of Himachal Pradesh. To solve the purpose of the study 72 bowlers and 72 batsmen of Himachal Pradesh districts were taken as the sample. The anxiety psychology variable measured by anxiety scale developed by BSPA. The data was analyses by using SPSS. The statistical tools used for the study were mean, SD and 't' test was used. The results have shown significant comparison between the above said variables.

2 tables, 5 ref

009577   Sarangi M;Nagarajan A;Dey S;Bose J;Joshi A (Evolutionary Biology Laboratory, Evolutionary and Organismal Biology Unit, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced, Scientific Research, Jakkur P.O., Bengaluru-560 064, Email: ajoshi@incasr.ac.in) : Evolution of increased larval competitive ability in Drosophila melanogaster without increased larval feeding rate. J Genet 2016, 95(3), 491-503.

Multiple experimental evolution studies on Drosophila melanogaster in the 1980s and 1990s indicated that enhanced competitive ability evolved primarily through increased larval tolerance to nitrogenous wastes and increased larval feeding and foraging rate, at the cost of efficiency of food conversion to biomass, and this became the widely accepted view of how adaptation to larval crowding evolves in fruitflies. We recently showed that populations of D. ananassae and D. n. nasuta subjected to extreme larval crowding evolved greater competitive ability without evolving higher feeding rates, primarily through a combination of reduced larval duration, faster attainment of minimum critical size for pupation, greater efficiency of food conversion to biomass, increased pupation height and, perhaps, greater urea/ammonia tolerance. This was a very different suite of traits than that seen to evolve under similar selection in D. melanogaster and was closer to the expectations from the theory of AT-selection. At that time, we suggested two possible reasons for the differences in the phenotypic correlates of greater competitive ability seen in the studies with D. melanogaster and the other two species; First, that D. ananassae and D. n. nasuta had a very different genetic architecture of traits affecting competitive ability compared to the long-term laboratory populations of D. melanogaster used in the earlier studies, either because the populations of the former two species were relatively recently wild-caught, or by virtue of being different species. Second, that the different evolutionary trajectories in D. ananassae and D. n. nasuta versus D. melanogaster were a reflection of differences in the manner in which larval crowding was imposed in the two sets of selection experiments. The D. melanogaster studies used a higher absolute density of eggs per unit volume of food, and a substantially larger total volume of food, than the studies on D. ananassae and D. n. nasuta. Here, we show that long-term laboratory populations of D. melanogaster, descended from some of the populations used in the earlier studies, evolve essentially the same set of traits as the D. ananassae and D. n. nasuta crowding-adapted populations when subjected to a similar larval density at low absolute volumes of food. As in the case of D. ananassae and D. n. nasuta, and in stark contrast to earlier studies with D. melanogaster, these crowding-adapted populations of D. melanogaster did not evolve greater larval feeding rates as a correlate of increased competitive ability. The present results clearly suggest that the suite of phenotypes through which the evolution of greater competitive ability is achieved in fruitflies depends critically not just on larval density per unit volume of food, but also on the total amount of food available in the culture vials. We discuss these results in the context of an hypothesis about how larval density and the height of the food column in culture vials might interact to alter the fitness costs and benefits of increased larval feeding rates, thus resulting in different routes to the evolution of greater competitive ability, depending on the details of exactly how the larval crowding was implemented.

5 illus, 8 tables, 44 ref

009576   Samaddar A;Kaviraj A (Zoology Dep, Kalyani Univ, Kalyani-741 235, Email: akaviraj@gmail.com) : Effects of surgactants tween 80 and rhamnolipid on fermentation of protein rich animal wastes. Asian J Microbiol Biotechnol envir Sci 2016, 18(2), 541-50.

Experiments were made to evaluate if non-ionic chemo-surfactant Tween80 and anionic biosurfactant rhamnolipid could stimulate lactic acid bacteria (LAB) to expedite fermentation of a mixture of fish offal waste (FOW) and slaughter house blood (SHB) and produce microbiologically hygienic product with minimum loss of nutrients. Whey was used as the fermentation inoculum and fermentation medium was either free of surfactant (control) or contained any one of the following concentrations of surfactants (treatments): 0.05 (T1), 0.1 (T2) and 0.15 (T3) % Tween80 and 0.005 (R1), 0.01 (R2) and 0.015 (R3) % rhamnolipid. The mixtures were incubated at 35°C. The results showed that growth and metabolic activity of LAB in T2 and T3 treatments sharply increased over control, T1 and R1 treatments and fermentation was completed 1 day earlier than the later groups. After an initial growth, LAB population started declining in R2 and R3 and the fermentation mixture was dominated by yeast population. Clostridium population declined to negligible level at the end of fermentation in T2 and T3. As compared to pre-fermented mixture crude protein level reduced in all treatments, but crude lipid level remained unchanged except significant reduction in R2 and R3. Protease activity and free amino acid (FAA) content increased in T2 and T3 mixtures. It is concluded from the present study that Tween80 can be used to stimulate growth of LAB and to expedite fermentation of mixture of OW and SHB. But precautions are necessary to use proper dose of Tween80 to check proteolysis and minimize loss of crude protein.

8 illus, 1 table, 37 ref

009575   Roy S;Chakraborty S K;Parui P;Chakraborti U; Biswas O;Mitra B (Zoology Survey of India, Prani Vigyan Bhawan, M-block, New Alipore, Kolkata-700 053, Email: sroy.zoology@gmail.com) : Redescription of Cadrema pallida var. bilineata (de Meijere, 1904) (Diptera: Chloropidae) and its role as pollinator and carrion feeder from Indian Sunderbans. Ambient Sci 2016, 3(2), 93-4.

1 illus, 1 table, 11 ref

009574   Revathy S S;Suresh P;Murugesan M; Manickavasagam K (Asthagiri Herbal Research Foundation, , 162-A, Perungudi Industrial estate, Perungudi Chennai-600 096, Email: sridhar.ku23@yahoo.in) : Induction of bladder calculi by zinc disc implantation mehtod in experimental rats - a pilot study. Int J pharm Sci Res 2016, 7(7), 3090-4.

Urolithiasis is a relevant clinical problem in every day practice with a subsequent burden for the health system. Animal models of disease most closely replicate the sum of physiological conditions present in humans. Rats and mice are however, the two most commonly used experimental animals in medical research including stone disease. The oxalate metabolism in the rat is nearly identical to that in humans in many aspects. The experimental calcium oxalate Urolithiasis in the rat is similar to calcium oxalate stone disease in man. There are many methods of inducing calculi in rats. Among them Chemical method of inducing hyperoxaluria with Ethylene glycol and foreign body implantation especially zinc discs in urinary bladder of rats are the commonly used experiments. This paper will describe in detail about the Zinc disc implantation method to induce calculi in Wistar rats based on a pilot study. Focus is given to the specifications of zinc disc size, duration of calculi formation and X- ray radiography so that it will be very useful for future researchers. This study ensures that a zinc disc of weight of 10 mg is good enough for stone formation with minimal stress to rats. Also X- ray proved to be very effective tool to study the proper implantation and also the growth of the crystal and hence the experimental period can be determined.

17 ref

009573   Qu B;Qiu Y;Zhen Z;Zhao F;Wang C;Cui Y;Li Q; Zhang L (Faculty of Life Sciences, Northeast Agricultural Univ, Harbin 150030, People's Republic of China, Email: zhangli19782000@sohu.com ) : Computational identification and characterization of novel microRNA in the mammary gland of dairy goat (Capra hircus). J Genet 2016, 95(3), 625-37.

Many studies have indicated that microRNAs (miRNAs) influence the development of the mammary gland by posttranscrip-tionally affecting their target genes. The objective of this research was to identify novel miRNAs in the mammary gland of dairy goats with a bioinformatics approach that was based on expressed sequence tag (EST) and genome survey sequence (GSS) analyses. We applied all known major mammals, miRNAs to search against the goat EST and GSS databases for the first time to identify new miRNAs. We, then, validated these newly predicted miRNAs with stem-loop reverse transcription followed by a SYBR Green polymerase chain reaction assay. Finally, 29 mature miRNAs were identified and verified, and of these, 14 were grouped into 13 families based on seed sequence identity and 85 potential target genes of newly verified miRNAs were subsequently predicted, most of which seemed to encode the proteins participating in regulation of metabolism, signal transduction, growth and development. The predicting accuracy of the new miRNAs was 70.37%, which confirmed that the methods used in this study were efficient and reliable. Detailed analyses of the sequence characteristics of the novel miRNAs of the goat mammary gland were performed. In conclusion, these results provide a reference for further identification of miRNAs in animals without a complete genome and thus improve the understanding of miRNAs in the caprine mammary gland.

4 illus, 6 tables, 72 ref

009572   Parihar R;Ganesh S (Biological Sciences and Bioengineering Dep, Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur-208 016, Email: sganesh@iitk.ac.in) : Autism genes: the continuum that connects us all. J Genet 2016, 95(3), 481-3.

22 ref

009571   Pandey P K;Samanta R;Yadav R N S (Centre for Studies in Biotechnology, Dibrugarh Univ, Dibrugarh-786 004, Email: pramod.pandey84@gmail.com) : Functional attributes of Solanum kurzii associated bacterial endophytes for plant growth promotion. Asian J Microbiol Biotechnol envir Sci 2016, 18(2), 423-36.

Bacterial endophytes are the arsenals of internally associated microbes with the plant, nourished in a specific environment which makes them free from the external harsh and changeable ecological conditions. They entered into the plant tissues via several "hotspots" such as root system and mitigate with biotic and abiotic stresses by producing several secondary metabolites, de novo synthesis of structural compounds, induction and expression of plant immunity, exclusion of pathogen from niche competition, phenylpropanoid metabolism and antioxidant activities. A study was undertaken to characterize the endophytic bacteria of Tita baigun (Solanum kurzii; Family: Solanaceae). The fruits of Solanum kurzii are cooked as a vegetable by North East Indians and used as medicine in various disorders. Solanum kurzii are although very important but less studied ethno-medicinal plant and the functional role of their associated microbes remains untapped.

14 illus, 3 tables, 32 ref

009570   Mondal P;Chatterjee S;Dey S (Harishankarpur Srikrishna Vidyapith, Physical Education Dep, Kalyani Univ, Kalyani, Nadia, West Bengal) : Study to infer the impact of swiss ball exercise programme intervention on fitness of school girls. INT J phys Educ Sports Hlth 2017, 4(2), 26-9.

Swiss ball exercise has been used for various purposes at present. It has been for improvement of physical fitness, concentration ability, balancing ability, health-related physical fitness. It is accepted that Swiss ball exercise have differences with others physical exercise. At the same time Swiss ball has been included in multi gym. Considering the nature of equipment and benefits girls are getting interested with ball exercises. An exercise ball, also known as a Swiss ball, is a ball constructed of soft elastic with a diameter of approximately 35 to 85 centimeters (14 to 34 inches) and filled with air. It is most often used in physical therapy, athletic training and exercise. Balls are cheaper equipment, easy to handle, easy to maintain, and soothing to exercise with. Considering the above benefits the equipment could be very much suitable for women or girls, but very few studies have been conducted in this area and so the problem was designed in such a manner just to infer the "The impact of Swiss ball exercise programme on fitness of school girls". For the present study 30 school girls aged between 15-25, who were selected randomly from Madanpur Panchayat area as subjects. From data analysis it is clear that the performance of the girls with regard to the fitness variables developed significantly due the training.

4 tables, 9 ref

009569   Mishra B K;Mishra R;Jena S N;Shukla S (Genetics and Plant Breeding Dep, National Botanical Research Institute, Lucknow-226 001, Email: s_shukla31@rediffmail.com) : Gene actions for yield and its attributes and their implications in the inheritance pattern over three generations in opium poppy (Papaver somniferum L.). J Genet 2016, 95(3), 705-17.

The gene actions for yield and its attributes and their inheritance pattern based on five parameter model have been explored in four single crosses (NBIHT-5 x NBIHT-6, NBIHT-5 x NBMHT-1, NBMHT-1 x NBIHT-6 and NBMHT-2 x NBMHT-1) obtained using thebaine rich pure lines of opium poppy (Papaver somniferum L.) for three consecutive generations. All the traits showed nonallelic mode of interaction, however, dominance effect (/z) was more pronounced for all the traits except thebaine and papaverine. The dominance x dominance (l) effects were predominant over additive x additive (r) for all traits in all the four crosses except for papaverine. The seed and opium yield, and its contributing traits inherited quantitatively. The fixable gene effects (d) and (i) were lower in magnitude than nonfixable (h) and (l) gene effects. The estimates of heterosis were also higher in comparison to the respective parents which suggested preponderance of dominance gene action for controlling most of the traits. The phenotypic coefficient of variation was marginally higher than those of genotypic coefficient of variation for all the traits. The traits thebaine, narcotine, morphine and opium yield had high heritability coupled with high genetic advance. The leaf number, branches per plant and stem diameter showed positive correlation with opium and seed yields. The selection of plants having large number of leaves, branches and capsules with bigger size would be advantageous to enhance the yield potential.

1 illus, 6 tables, 27 ref

009568   M'Dimegh S;et al. (Biochemistry Dep, LR12SP11, Sahloul Univ Hospital, 4054 Sousse, Tunisia, Email: sawsen_mdimegh@live.fr) : Novel mutation in the AGXT gene causing primary hyperoxaluria tupe I: genotype-phenotype correlation. J Genet 2016, 95(3), 659-66.

Primary hyperoxaluria type I (PHI) is an autosomal recessive metabolic disorder caused by inherited mutations in the AGXT gene encoding liver peroxisomal alanine : glyoxylate aminotransferase (AGT) which is deficient or mistargeted to mitochondria. PH1 shows considerable phenotypic and genotypic heterogeneity. The incidence and severity of PHI varies in different geographic regions. DNA samples of the affected members from two unrelated Tunisian families were tested by amplifying and sequencing each of the AGXT exons and intron-exon junctions. We identified a novel frameshift mutation in the AGXT gene, the c.406_410dupACTGC resulting in a truncated protein (p.Gln137Hisfs*19). It is found in homozygous state in two nonconsanguineous unrelated families from Tunisia. These molecular findings provide genotype/phenotype correlations in the intrafamilial phenotypic and permit accurate carrier detection, and prenatal diagnosis. The novel p.Gln137Hisfs*19 mutation detected in our study extend the spectrum of known AGATgene mutations in Tunisia.

2 illus, 3 tables, 27 ref

009567   Lin R;Zhang Y;Yan D;Liao X;Fu Y;Cai W (Biology Dep, Hainam Medical College College, Haikou 571199, Hainan, People's Republic of China, Email: Lin.xianronglin@gmail.com) : Lack of association between rs10491334 in the CAMK4gene and longevity in a chinese population. J Genet 2016, 95(3), 729-32.

1 table, 13 ref

009566   Labar V;Bhutia R;Annapurna Y V S (Microbiology Dep, St. Francis College for Women, Begumpet, Hyderabad, Telangana, Email: annapurna2013@yahoo.com) : Effect of Camellia sinensis extracts on growth of virulent gram negative uropathogens. Int J pharm Sci Res 2016, 7(8), 3373-8.

Urinary tract infections causing bacteria play an important role in expression and spread of drug resistance among bacteria in the hospitals and in community. Because of rapid increase in antibiotic resistance, alternative antimicrobial agents are needed to be developed and employed to control multi-drug resistant bacteria. The present study focuses on antibacterial activity of Green and Black tea (Camellia sinensis) extracts against the virulent uropathogens. Twelve bacterial isolates from urinary tract infections were studied for their ability to produce virulence phenotypes like hemolysin, biofilms, gelatinases, hydrophobic nature and penicillinases. Antibacterial susceptibility testing was done. Out of the total isolates tested 67% of E.coli and 60% of Klebsiella spp were multi drug resistant Penicillinase production as tested by filter paper iodometric method and biofilm production on Congo red plates were the virulence features exhibited by maximum number of E.coli and Klebsiella Spp. Among the aqueous, methanol and ethanol extracts tested for antibacterial activity, methanol extracts showed maximum dimeter of zone of inhibition. Minimum inhibitory concentration for ethanol and aqueous extracts was 0.8mg /ml whereas that for methanol extracts was 0.4 mg/ml with both Green and black tea crude extracts.

20 ref

009565   Koufaris C;Alexandrou A;Papaevripidou J; Alexandrou J;Christophidou-Anastasiadou V;Sismani C (Cytogenetics and Genomics Dep, The Cyprus Institute of Neurology and Genetics, P.O. Box 23462, 1683 Nicosia, Cyprus) : Delection of SNURF/SNRPN U1B and U1B upstream exons in a child with developmental delay and excessive weight. J Genet 2016, 95(3), 621-4.

Prader-Willi syndrome is a rare syndrome characterized by hypotonia, developmental delay and excessive appetite. This syndrome is caused by the loss of function of paternally-expressed genes located in an imprinting centre in 15q11-ql3. Here, we report the case of a patient who was referred to us with Prader-Willi syndrome-like symptoms including obesity and developmental delay. Examination of this patient revealed that he was a carrier of a paternally inherited deletion that affected the UIB and U1B* upstream exons of the SNURF-SNRNP gene within the 15qll-ql3 imprinted region. Mutations localized within this gcnomic region have not been previously reported in Prader-Willi syndrome patients. It is possible that disruption of upstream exons of SNURF-SNRNP could contribute to Prader-Willi phenotype by disrupting brain-specific alternative transcripts, although, case reports from further patients with a comparable phenotype are required.

3 illus, 9 ref

009564   Khan A A;Agashe C D (NO, MATS School of Physical Education MATS Univ, Raipur, Chhattisgarh) : Study on comparison of sports emotional intelligence, self-concept and physical fitness between general female players and general female non players. INT J phys Educ Sports Hlth 2017, 4(2), 4-12.

Physical fitness is of great importance to all human beings. It refers to the capacity to perform physical activities efficiently without being unduly tired. Physical fitness can improve the vitality of health of the individual. A fit person can carry out task for a prolonged period without undue fatigue. The present study is focus the difference between general female players and general female non players on the basis of their sports emotional intelligence, self-concept and selected physical fitness (i.e. Standing broad Jump, Push-Ups, Sit-Ups, Beep Test). In the present study a total of 100 subjects (50 General Female Physical and 50 General Female Non Physical) were selected as dependent variables and above Physical fitness(i.e. Standing broad Jump, Push-Ups, Sit-Ups, Beep Test) selected as dependent variable. The result shows that significant difference was found between general female players and general female non players in case of Standing Broad Jump, Push-up Sit-up and Beep Test on the basis of physical fitness. In case of sports emotional intelligence and Self-concept no significant difference was found between general female players and general female non players. Results indicate that the subjects' life style and daily activities may be affected in her life routine.

12 illus, 24 tables, 25 ref

009563   Karayeva K O;Yeleshev R Y;Umbetov A K (NO, Kazakh National Agrarian Univ, Abay av. 8, 050010 Almaty, Kazakhstan) : Influence of different fertilizer systems on nutrient status of the meadow chestnut soil and efficiency of intercropping of corn with soybean. Biosci Biotechnol Res Asia 2016, 13(2), 973-9.

The article presents the results of the research conducted on the irrigated meadow chestnut soil at intercropping of corn with soybean in 2014-2015. Optimal rate and combination of macro- and microfertilizers at intercropping of corn with soybean ensuring positive impact on nutrient and dry matter dynamics have been determined on the piedmont irrigated meadow chestnut soil in southeastern Kazakhstan. Besides, fertilizers influenced corn and soya green mass yield at irrigation.

8 tables, 10 ref

009562   Islam M M;Chatterjee R (Physical Education Dep, R.B.C. College, Naihati, West Bengal) : Comparative study on health related fitness between smoker and non-smoker of hostel boys. INT J phys Educ Sports Hlth 2017, 4(2), 30-2.

Tobacco contains very poisonous chemical called nicotine, which does not seem to have an antidote. Carbon monoxide, ammonia, and pyridine are other harmful substances present in tobacco. These slow poisons create ill effects on health in course of time. As the smoke inhaled from a cigarettes or bidi passes through nose pharynx and into the lungs, it leaves on the mucous membrane and walls of those organs tar- like substance that badly damages the health of the entire cardio - respiratory system. The aim of the study to compare on health related fitness between smoker and non-smoker of hostel boys. The study consists of 63 PG hostel boys (32 smokers and 31 non-smokers) of Kalyani University in India, ageing 20 to 24 years. The smokers smoked cigarettes at least 5 a day for 3 years. We used a questionnaire and physical fitness tests for data gathering. Twelve min run and walk test were used to measure cardiovascular endurance, grip dynamometer test used to measure muscular strength, one min sit up test used to measure muscular endurance, sit and reach test used to measure flexibility, B.M.I. and Durnin - womersleyi (1974) skin fold measurement technique were used to measure body composition. Statistical analysis was done by using 't' - test. Results revealed that cardio-vascular endurance, muscular endurance, flexibility were significant at 0.05 and 0.01 levels between smoker and non- smoker hostel boys. Muscular Strength and Body Composition were not significant at 0.05 levels between smoker and non-smoker hostel boys. The non-smoker hostel boys are better in cardiovascular endurance, muscular endurance and flexibility than the smoker hostel boys. In muscular strength and body composition (B.M.I. and % of body fat), there was no significant difference between smoker and non-smoker.

6 tables, 9 ref

009561   Ibrahim M (Youth Services & Sports Dep, , Jammu & Kashmir) : Perception of school administration and its effects on proper implementation of physical education in the schools. INT J phys Educ Sports Hlth 2017, 4(2), 40-1.

Providing physical education both inside and outside of schools is crucial in helping young people to learn and develop life skills. The aim of this paper was to assess the problems in proper implementation of Physical Education in the schools. To carry out the research, 12 Higher Secondary Schools of Poonch District of Jammu and Kashmir State were randomly selected. Principals, Physical Education Masters/ Teachers were the participants of this study. For the collection of data the simple survey technique, questionnaire, interview and observation methods were used. Based on the data analysis it is observed that facilities provided in the schools such as equipments and playfields were found meager in quantity and quality which created a great challenge in proper implementation of PE in the schools.

8 ref

009560   Hsiao T J;Lin E (College of Public Health and Nutrition, Taipei Medical Univ, Taipei 11031, Taiwan, Email: eugene.lin@vitagenomics.com) : Association of a common rs9939609 variant in the fat mass and obesity-associated (FTO) gene with obesity and metabolic phenotypes in Taiwanese population: a replication study. J Genet 2016, 95(3), 595-601.

It is a key challenge to conduct reproducibility in genetic research, especially association studies in obesity. While susceptibility of a single-nuclcotidc polymorphism (SNP), rs9939609, in the fat mass and obesity-associated (FTO) gene to obesity has been reported in various populations, data from Asians is less conclusive. This replication study was carried out to test whether the FTO rs9939609 SNP is a predictive factor for obesity and obesity-related metabolic traits in a Taiwanese population. A total of 1188 Taiwanese subjects were recruited for this study. The FTO rs9939609 SNP was genotyped by the Taqman assay. Obesity-related metabolic traits such as triglyceride, waist circumference, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, total cholesterol, creatinine, alanine aminotransferase and fasting glucose were measured. Our data revealed that the FTO rs9939609 SNP exhibited a significant association with obesity (BMI ≥ = 30 kg/m^{2) among the subjects (P = 0.026). However, the FTO rs9939609 SNP did not exhibit any significant association with obesity-related metabolic traits among the subjects. Our results indicated that the FTO rs9939609 SNP may be linked with the risk of obesity in Taiwanese subjects.}

3 tables, 44 ref