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The purpose of the current study was to examine the contribution of college-based physical education participation to health and academic success. Additionally, gender-based differences in students' responses regarding physical education, students' health and academic success were examined.Physical education, students' health and academic achievement were examined with the help of properly validated and reliable self-made closed-ended questionnaires. Results indicated that physical education was positively and significantly related to health (r=.887) and academic success (r=.905) of college students. Regression analysis produced significant positive effects of physical education on students' health and academic achievement (p

Context Soil salinity mitigation with nanoparticles enriched biochar (Bc) can be a better strategy to resolve the uprising threat against food security. Aim The present study was designed to prepare silicon nanoparticles enriched biochar (Si-En-Bc) and zinc nanoparticles enriched biochar (Zn-En-Bc), which may not only reduced the toxic effects of NaCl stress on initial growth of radish crop but also improved its physiology and defensive mechanism. Method Seeds were germinated in pots with six treatments under normal and NaCl stress, (100 mM NaCl), Zn-En-Bc (1% w/w), and Si-En-Bc (1% w/w). Twenty days old seedlings were harvested and their fresh weight and various germination and biochemical parameters were tested. Key results A significant reduction in malondialdehyde (MDA) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) contents was observed with Si-En-Bc + NaCl relative to NaCl stress. It might be due to the significant increase in the antioxidants such as superoxide dismutase (SOD) (42%), ascorbate peroxidase (APX) (38.7%), catalase (CAT) (30.9%) and shoot phenolics (59%) with Si-En-Bc + NaCl over NaCl stress. Application of Zn-En-Bc also caused a maximum increase in root and shoot Zn concentration (76.8 and 54.9%, respectively) under NaCl stress. Conclusions Hence, Si-En-Bc proved to be the best treatment for the radish plant to complete its early growth stage under NaCl stress while Zn-En-Bc not only compensated NaCl stress but also enhanced Zn availability. Implications This study implies that Si-En-Bc or Zn-En-Bc should be applied to the salt affected soil before the crop sowing so seedling can grow under the ameliorative effects of applied amendments. Also, Si-En-Bc or Zn-En-Bc should be tested on a degraded soils at larage scale such as field level.

The present study was carried out to investigate the antibacterial activity of the bioactive phenolic extract from Leucas aspera and Leucas cephalotes. The phenolic compounds were extracted using water: ethanol (1:3, v/v) by hydroethanolic extraction method. The hydroethanolic extracts were subjected to qualitative and FTIR analysis as a confirmatory step for the presence of phenolics. Synthesis of silver nanoparticle from both plants was carried out by acid hydrolysis method and subjected to UV-visible spectrophotometry, SEM, TEM and XRD analysis, for confirmation of tagged bioactive compound to AgNO3. The nanoparticle size distribution ranged between 50-94 nm in L. aspera and 40-67 nm in L. cephalotes. The antibacterial study was carried out using both crude phenolic extract and synthesized nanoparticles and tested against 5 pathogens namely Escherichia coli (ATCC® 8739™), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ATCC® 25619™), Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC® 6538™), Bacillus subtilis (ATCC® 11774™) and Klebsiella pneumonia (ATCC® 13882™) for their antibacterial activity. From present study, the crude extract of L. cephalotes showed good antibacterial effect against test pathogen species wherein highest inhibition was observed in, P. aeruginosa, followed by B. subtilis and S. aureus with an average zone of inhibition of 23, 14 and 12 mm, E. coli and K. pneumonia measured 9 and 7 mm. The crude extract of L. aspera showed the highest inhibition in P. aeruginosa followed by S. aureus and E. coli with an average zone of inhibition of 12,11 and 10 mm B. subtilis and K. pneumonia measured 8 and 7 mm. Statistical analysis was calculated using One way ANOVA and was found to be statistically significant with p < 0.05.

Introduction: Many recent studies have shown that lignans from many plant sources have an effective impact on cancer treatment and it is evident that many medicinal plants are rich in lignans. Genus Leucas is known for its medicinal use and is rich in lignans. Macelignan a polyphenolic derivative might play significant roles as clinically useful anticancer agents in treating Colorectal Cancer (CRC). Aim: Isolation, characterisation and pharmacological profiling of bioactive compound lignan from Leucas aspera and Leucas cephalotes and to assess the anticancer potential using in-vitro methods using Human Colorectal Cancer (HCT116) cell lines. Materials and Methods: This in-vitro study was conducted from August 2018 to January 2020 at The Oxford College of Engineering in Bengaluru, Karnataka, India. Anticancer potential of Macelignan was evaluated through 3-(4,5-Dimethylthiazol2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay, Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) measurement, cell cycle study, apoptosis analysis, and gene expression studies. One-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was performed for the total phenolic content estimation and the results were expressed as mean±SD with n=3 trials. Results: The MTT assay result indicated that macelignan has an IC50 value of 22.8 µM with 73% of cells showing inhibition, ROS production was enhanced 2.5-fold at a maximum concentration at 100 µM. Macelignan (12.5 µM and 25 µM) significantly prevented cell growth in G0/G1 and G2 phases of the cell cycle, while the apoptotic study showed that 12.5 µM and 25 µM macelignan induced early and late apoptosis in HCT116 cells with 21.28% and 19.17%, 21.54 % and 29.02% apoptosis at cellular level, respectively. This set of tests sought to examine the effect of macelignan on the Caspase 3 gene expression in HCT116 cells by semi-quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR). The study showed that Caspase 3 expression was upregulated up to 1.98 and 2.87 folds when treated with macelignan. Conclusion: The macelignan could serve as a potent drug derivative for the treatment of colon cancer with further study on the mechanism of action, structure-activity relation, toxicity profiling, bioavailability

Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.) is a traditional Andean agronomical resilient seed crop having immense significance in terms of high nutritional qualities and its tolerance against various abiotic stresses. However, finite work has been executed to evaluate the growth, physiological, chemical, biochemical, antioxidant properties, and mineral nutrients bioavailability of quinoa under abiotic stresses. Depending on the consistency in the stability of pH, intended rate of S was selected from four rates (0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4 and 0.5% S) for the acidification of biochar and compost in the presence of Thiobacillus thiooxidans by pH value of 4. All three soils were amended with 1% (w/w) acidified biochar (BCA) and compost (COA). Results revealed that selective plant growth, yield, physiological, chemical and biochemical improved significantly by the application of BCA in all stressed soils. Antioxidants in quinoa fresh leaves increased in the order of control > COA > BCA, while reactive oxygen species decreased in the order of control

Soil factors such as pH, calcium, carbonate, and bicarbonate precipitation products in calcareous soils reduce iron (Fe) availability to crops and limit grain Fe concentrations. In the present greenhouse study, we evaluated the potential of Fe fertilizer amendments combined with organic amendments, like biochar (BC) and poultry manure, in sulfur (S)-treated low pH calcareous soils (pHS1) to assess Fe biofortification of maize. Elemental sulfur (S) was used both for lowering soil pH and Fe solubilization. Soil pH was successfully lowered down from 7.8 to 6.5 by S application at the rate of 2.5 g kg−1 soil. Pot experiment results revealed that Fe fertilizer combined with BC and S (pHS1) significantly increased root and shoot dry weight, grain weight, photosynthetic rate, transpiration rate, and stomatal conductance by 69%, 86%, 28%, 74%, 57%, and 33%, respectively, relative to the control. Similarly, combined application of Fe + BC in S-amended (pHS1) soil increased starch (34%), protein (64%), and ...

Rice ( Oryza sativa L.) is one of the main staple food crops which is inherently low in micronutrients, especially iron (Fe), and can lead to severe Fe deficiency in populations having higher consumption of rice. Soils polluted with nickel (Ni) can cause toxicity to rice and decreased Fe uptake by rice plants. We investigated the potential role of biochar (BC) and gravel sludge (GS), alone and in combination, for in situ immobilization of Ni in an industrially Ni-contaminated soil at original and sulfur-amended altered soil pH. Our further aim was to increase Fe bioavailability to rice plants by the exogenous application of ferrous sulfate to the Ni-immobilized soil. Application of the mixture of both amendments reduced grain Ni concentration, phytate, Phytate/Fe, Phyt/Zn molar ratios, and soil DTPA-extractable Ni. In addition, the amendment mixture increased 70 % Fe and 229 % ferritin concentrations in rice grains grown in the soil at original pH. The Fe and ferritin concentrations in S-treated soil was increased up to 113 and 383 % relative to control respectively. This enhanced Fe concentration and corresponding ferritin in rice grains can be attributed to Ni/Fe antagonism where Ni has been immobilized by GS and BC mixture. This proposed technique can be used to enhance growth, yield, and Fe biofortification in rice by reducing soil pH while in parallel in situ immobilizing Ni in polluted soil.

Iron (Fe) deficiency is a prevalent nutritional deficiency throughout the world, affecting an estimated 3.7 billion people. Increasing Fe concentration in foodcrops is an important global challenge due to the high incidence of Fe deficiency in human population. Further, cereals grown on calcareous soil are low in Fe contents. High pH, high temperature, low organic matter and poorly managed soil with respect to fertility are the factors which cause low Fe availability to cereal crops in calcareous soil. Iron fertilization in calcareous soil is not effective due to their rapid conversion into unavailable forms and poor mobility of Fe in phloem. Iron-organic compounds in manure are effective in maintaining Fe availability to plants. Fe bioavailability inhibitors such as polyphenols and phytate inhibit iron absorption but it was concluded that their inhibitory effect on iron absorption can be limited by increasing iron content. Ferritin, an iron storage protein, can deposit thousands of iron atoms asnon-toxic form and ferritin iron is bioavailable to humans as ferrous sulphate. Improving both concentration and bioavailability of Fe in cereal grains is, therefore, an important challenge and a high-priority research area. Hence, there is a need for effective strategies to overcome Fe deficiency in cereals and to increase Fe bioavailabilty in cereals grains. Biofortification of food crops with Fe to combat iron deficiency problems in humans, is a cost-effective and sustainable agricultural strategy to alleviate malnutrition. We hypothesized that Fe nutrition management in calcareous soil can increase growth, yield and Fe bioavailability from cereals.