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Water stress is considered as the main environmental factor which badly affects growth of sunflower plant. It is a water sensitive plant whose yield is greatly affected by drought stress. Several studies have been done to understand the mechanism of drought stress tolerance in plants, and exploring the role of stress tolerant genes is one of them. KCS genes, responsible for wax biosynthesis, have been reported to be involved in drought stress tolerance mechanism. In this study, expression profiling of KCS genes was done to understand their role in stress mechanism. Comparative genomics studies of KCS genes were carried out in sunflower and Arabidopsis by constructing phylogenetic tree. They were divided into six clades, however they were present in the same clade showing similarities between Arabidopsis and sunflower. It was further confirmed by Synteny analysis and concluded that KCS genes in both species share the same evolutionary origin. Further, they were amplified in sunflower by using gene specific primers. Five genes, i.e. KCS2, KCS4, KCS5, KCS10 and KCS18 were successfully amplified in sunflower variety FH-593. Then, sunflower plants were subjected to drought stress and expression profiling of amplified KCS genes was carried out by Real Time PCR. All the five genes were up-regulated under drought showing their role in stress conditions; however, the expression level of each gene was varied. Maximum relative expression was found for KCS4 gene in T1, i.e. 19 fold as compared to control. The expression of other genes was found in decreasing order as indicated KCS4>KCS2>KCS5>KCS10>KCS18 (relative expression: 19, 12, 5, 4 and 3 respectively). Biochemical analyses were also performed and significant variation was found among treatments and control. Total chlorophyll contents were decreased under drought stress while antioxidants like catalase, peroxidase, superoxide dismutase and proline were increased. Our results showed the role of KCS genes in drought stress which is first ever report in sunflower. This study concluded that KCS genes have role in drought stress tolerance and their expression is significantly up-regulated under stress conditions. The information presented here may help to further characterize KCS genes and their subsequent use to engineer drought stress in crop plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Background Effect of intensive lifestyle intervention (ILI) on A1C in participants with diabetes is underestimated. A1C improvement is presumed to be dependent on the amount of weight loss. Here, we evaluate the magnitude of A1C change in relation to baseline A1C and the amount of weight loss in participants with diabetes who underwent ILI over 13 years in real‐world clinical practice. Methods A total of 590 participants with diabetes were enrolled in the Weight Achievement and Intensive Treatment (Why WAIT) program, a 12‐week multidisciplinary ILI program designed for real‐world clinical practice between September 2005 and May 2018. We stratified participants based on baseline A1C into three groups: group A: A1C ≥ 9%, group B: A1C 8 to

Abstract Background The prevalence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is increasing among patients with type 1 diabetes (T1D) paralleling the increasing prevalence of obesity among this population. However, little is known about the impact of intensive lifestyle intervention (ILI) on NAFLD in patients with T1D. Methods Using Hepatic Steatosis Index (HSI), a noninvasive surrogate predictor of NAFLD, we retrospectively evaluated 88 adult patients with T1D and obesity after one year of participating in a 12-week ILI program in real-world clinical practice. Using the NAFLD guidelines of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD), we excluded 11 participants. We matched the remaining ILI cohort (age 43 ± 12 years, females 65%, diabetes duration 22 ± 9 years, A1C 8.2 ± 0.9%, body weight 101 ± 17 kg, BMI 35.3 ± 4.9 kg/m2) in 1:1 ratio with a similar cohort of patients with T1D and obesity who received standard diabetes care (SC) at the same practice and during the same period. Matching criteria included: sex, age, BMI, A1C and duration of T1D. HSI [8 + ALT/AST + BMI (+ 2 if female, + 2 if T2D)] was calculated at baseline and after 12 months of intervention. Results At baseline, HSI was similar between the two cohorts (46.2 ± 6.1 in the ILI cohort and 44.9 ± 5.7 in the SC cohort). After 12 months, the ILI group lost an average of 5.6 ± 2.7 kg (5.8%, p

Mango (Mangifera indica L.) is one of the most important fruit crops worldwide. Mango has a long history of cultivation in Indo-Pak region which resulted in the development of novel regional germplasm as well as many famous mango cultivars. For sustaining the mango production especially in the present scenario of changing climate, it is important to characterize and estimate the genetic divergence among the mango genotypes-cultivars germplasm. To the extent of our knowledge, little efforts have been made to explore the magnitude of genetic divergence among the mango genotypes-cultivars. In this study, the genetic diversity assessments among 32 including 25 local and 7 exotic genotype-cultivars have been calculated using thirty-five simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers. The most informative primer was found Micir-6 while the polymorphism information content (PIC) value of all SSRs was found low, i.e., 0.168 - 0.5. Genetic diversity ranged from 15% to 47% among cultivars with a mean value 30%. The dissimilarity coefficients based unweighted pair group of arithmetic means (UPGMA) was used to make clusters. Mostly East Indian, North Indian and Pakistani cultivars were grouped in one cluster while South Indian and Florida cultivars in other according to the dendogram. The present study would help in taking proactive decision to buffer the spread of any epidemics and will also be helpful in initiating marker-assisted breeding program for developing cultivars with excellent genetics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oocytes are bathed in extracellular fluid of the antral follicles, which is termed follicular fluid (FF). Follicular fluid is synthesized from secretions of theca, granulosa and cumulus cells and from a transudate of blood plasma. Oocytes persist in meiotic arrest in antral follicles until luteinizing hormone (LH) surge or removal the oocytes from the ovarian follicles. This suggests that FF before LH surge might contain meiosis inhibiting factor(s). The microvasculatory bed of the follicular wall and the composition of FF undergo changes during follicular growth and development, which is important for oocyte maturation and subsequent embryo development. Therefore, it is expected that FF composition and components might change according to timing of FF aspiration from follicles. Hence, negative or positive effects could be expected when FF supplemented during oocyte maturation in vitro. Nutrition effects on microvasculatory bed of follicles and their sizes. Thus, the nutritional status of animals is a factor affected on oocyte maturation and embryo development. The present article reviews and discusses these effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction Intensive lifestyle intervention (ILI) has significantly reduced incidence of diabetes and improved many cardiovascular disease risk factors. We evaluated long-term effects of ILI on cardiometabolic risk factors, and microvascular and macrovascular complications among patients with diabetes in real-world clinical practice.Research design and methods We evaluated 129 patients with diabetes and obesity enrolled in a 12-week translational model of ILI. At 1 year, we divided participants into group A, who maintained

Chickpea is an economically important food crop and its production is affected by many biotic and abiotic factors. One of the common pathogens among root rot and wilt is Fusarium in chickpea producing regions of the world which causes yield loss upto 10% to 40%. In this study twenty eight chickpea genotypes were analysed for resistance against Fusarium caused by Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. ciceris wilt using both conventional and molecular methods to identify source of resistance. In conventional method, 28 chickpea germplasm lines were tested for effect of Fusarium oxysporum (Foc) belonging to race 2 in a completely randomized pattern. After about four weeks of inoculation the resistance and susceptibility of plants to Foc was obvious. In molecular analyses all twenty eight genotypes were screened with primers TA110, Tr19, Ts82, TA194, TA27 and TA96 and CS27A which are closely linked markers with Foc 2 resistance gene (Accession No. FJ538241). In eighteen of the genotypes the results of conventional study was found in accordance with molecular analysis. Marker assisted selection may be helpful in screening of available chickpea genotypes for wilt resistant genes. Chickpea genotypes identified as resistant during this study may be exploited in breeding programs to develop Foc race 2 resistant germplasm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Background Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the most common chronic liver disease worldwide. The increasing prevalence of NAFLD mirrors that of obesity and type 2 diabetes over the last two decades. Main In a two-way pathophysiologic relationship, NAFLD increases the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, while the latter promotes the progression of simple fatty liver to a more advanced form called nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). NASH increases the risk of cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), which may require liver transplantation. With the absence of FDA-approved medications for NAFLD treatment, lifestyle intervention remains the only therapy. Lately, extensive research efforts have been aimed at modifying NASH fibrosis and developing noninvasive screening methods. Conclusion We highlight the pathophysiologic relationships between NAFLD and type 2 diabetes, discuss disease recognition, models of care, and current and emerging therapies for NASH treatment.

Background: Intensive lifestyle intervention (ILI) is essential for diabetes management. The Weight Achievement and Intensive Treatment (Why WAIT) program is a 12-week multidisciplinary weight management program that has been implemented in real-world clinical practice since 2005 and has shown long-term maintenance of weight reduction for 5 and 10 years. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the program went virtual using telemedicine and mobile health applications. Aims: This retrospective pilot study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of a virtual model of an already established and successful in-person program for diabetes and weight management since 2005. Methods: We evaluated 38 patients with diabetes and obesity enrolled in the Why WAIT program between February 2019 and December 2020. Sixteen participants were enrolled in virtual program (VP) and were compared with 22 participants who completed the latest two physical programs (PPs) before COVID-19. We evaluated changes in body weight, A1C, blood pressure (BP), and lipid profile after 12 weeks of ILI. Results: Body weight decreased by −7.4 ± 3.6 kg from baseline in VP compared with −6.8 ± 3.5 kg in PP ( p = 0.6 between groups). A1C decreased by −1.03% ± 1.1% from baseline in VP, and by −1.0% ± 1.2% in PP ( p = 0.9 between groups). BP, lipid profile, and all other parameters improved in both groups with no significant difference between them. Conclusion: Virtual multidisciplinary ILI is as effective as the in-person intervention program in improving body weight, A1C, BP, and lipid profile, and in reducing the number of anti-hyperglycemic medications. Results from our study suggest that scaling the Why WAIT program in a virtual format to a larger population of patients with diabetes and obesity is feasible and is potentially as successful as the in-person program.

Abstract. Purpose: Modern globalization has changed the scenario of government organiza-tion in the government sector in third-world countries, especially in south Asia in terms of human resource management. It is now much more difficult to maintain the quality performance of employees in government organizations. So, the basic aim of this study is to check the impact level of a better reward system on employee performance. Design/Methodology/Approach: For the objective, this study distributed 100 questionnaires among the various employees of government department organizations through random sam-pling. 80 questionnaires were considered valid and the data was processed through SPSS. Various tests were conducted. Findings: The findings clearly explained that the handsome reward system always impacts employees' performance. Implications. If government organizations want to maintain better performance as compared to the private sector, they need to address a better reward system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective Limited literature has examined the epidemiology of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and fibrosis among young adults in Egypt, a country with one of the highest obesity rates globally. We assessed the prevalence of steatosis and fibrosis among college students in Egypt.Design In this cross-sectional study, we recruited students unaware of having fatty liver via a call-for-participation at a private university in the Dakahlia governorate of Egypt. Primary outcomes were the prevalence of steatosis as determined by the controlled attenuation parameter component of transient elastography and fibrosis as determined by the liver stiffness measurement component of transient elastography. Secondary outcomes were clinical parameters and socioeconomic factors associated with the presence and severity of steatosis and fibrosis.Results Of 132 participants evaluated for the study, 120 (91%) were included (median (IQR) age, 20 (19–21) years; 65 (54.2%) female). A total of 38 participants (31.6%) had steatosis, among whom 22 (57.9%) had S3 (severe) steatosis. There was a higher risk for steatosis in persons with overweight (adjusted OR 9.67, 95% CI (2.94 to 31.7, p

The present study was an approach to provide the information about the diversity of rhizobacteria involved directly or indirectly in the plant growth and development. Among molecular markers, RAPD proved to be the most promising tool to delineate rhizobacterial strains. Seventeen bacterial strains of rhizobacteria were isolated from different parts of Pakistan (Sargodha, Mianwali, Karak and Faisalabad). RAPD analysis of these strains has shown a high degree of polymorphism. Range of genetic similarity was observed 0.543-0.927. Cluster analysis resulted into three clusters (I, II and III). Cluster I comprised of bacterial strains collected from Faisalabad, cluster II comprised of Strains collected from Sargodha while cluster III included strains from Mianwali. Strains isolated from the Karak region were not making any cluster. These results have shown that soil conditions and local environment has a significant impact on genetic make-up of bacterial strains. Further 16S rRNA analysis of the strain was performed to validate the results. Results of 16S rRNA analysis have revealed that most dominating species were Bacillus sp. and two strains were also showing homology with Brevibacterium halotolerans. The findings of this study were very promising for the application of PGPRs for plant growth improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: This study was designed to investigate the long-term effects of intensive lifestyle intervention (ILI) and weight loss (WL) on renal function in patients with DM and obesity in real-world clinical practice. Method: We evaluated 104 patients with obesity and type 1 (13.4%) or type 2 DM (86.6%) with a mean age of 53.8 ± 10.0 years and mean diabetes duration of 10.7 ± 9.8 years who enrolled in a 12-week ILI program. We stratified participants according to WL at one year into: group A, maintained ≥7% WL (49.1%) and group B, maintained

Vertical gene flow is a major ecological concern where transgenic crops are under cultivation. Rate of vertical gene flow is helpful to determine genetic contamination of Bt and non-Bt cultivars. Vertical gene flow was determined by analyzing the DNA isolated from leaf samples. The DNA was amplified by PCR using gene specific primers for various Bt genes, e.g. MON-531 event, cry1Ac and cry2A genes. Total 316 samples including Bt (76 samples) and non-Bt (240 samples) cotton were analyzed. Bt cotton samples, showed 22%, 15% and 9% gene flow from non Bt cotton for MON531 event, cry1Ac and cry2A respectively. Non-Bt cotton resulted in 20%, 10% and 10% gene flow from Bt cotton for MON531 event, cry1Ac and cry2A respectively. The results clearly showed that MON531 event has major share in vertical gene flow in transgenic cotton in Pakistan. Our results indicated the current position of genetic contamination due to transgenic cotton in Pakistan. The percentage of gene flow will increase every passing year. So, here we recommend to cultivate Bt cotton according to the recommendations of National Bisafety Committee (NBC) and use of proper measures to control vertical gene flow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hesitant fuzzy sets play a vital role in decision analysis. Although they have been proved to be a landmark in evaluating information, there are certain deficiencies in their structure. Also, in decision analysis with the aid of hesitant fuzzy sets, the relative importance of the decision makers according to their area of expertise is ignored completely, which may be misleading in some situations. These sorts of issues have been resolved in this work by using graded soft expert (GSE) sets. The proposed structure is a modified form of soft expert sets. Some basic operations have been introduced, and certain laws satisfied by them have carefully been investigated. With the aid of GSE sets, a decision-making algorithm (accompanied with an example) has been developed in which experts have been given due weightage according to their area of expertise.

Objective We evaluated the relationship between frequency of self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG) and body weight, A1C, and cardiovascular risk factors in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) and obesity enrolled in a 12-week intensive multidisciplinary weight management (IMWM) program.Research design and methods We conducted a retrospective analysis of 42 patients who electronically uploaded their SMBG data over 12 weeks of an IMWM program and divided them into tertiles based on their average frequency of SMBG per day. Mean (range) SMBG frequencies were 2.3 (1.1–2.9) times/day, 3.4 (3–3.9) times/day, and 5 (4–7.7) times/day in the lowest, middle, and highest tertiles, respectively. Anthropometric and metabolic parameters were measured at baseline and after 12 weeks of intervention.Results Participants in the highest tertile achieved a median change (IQR) in body weight of −10.4 kg (−7.6 to −14.4 kg) compared with −8.3 kg (−5.2 to −12.2 kg), and −6.9 kg (−4.2 to −8.9 kg) in the middle and lowest tertiles, respectively (p=0.018 for trend). Participants in the highest tertile had a median change (IQR) in A1C of −1.25% (−0.6 to −3.1%) compared with −0.8% (−0.3% to −2%) and −0.5% (−0.2% to −1.2%) in the middle and lowest tertiles, respectively (p=0.048 for trend). The association between change in body weight and SMBG frequency remained significant after adjusting for age, sex, baseline body mass index, diabetes duration, and use of insulin therapy.Conclusions Increased frequency of SMBG during IMWM is associated with significantly better weight loss and improvement of A1C in patients with T2D and obesity. These findings may suggest future clinical recommendations aimed at increasing SMBG frequency to achieve the most favorable outcomes.

We evaluate differences in clear-sky upwelling shortwave radiation reaching the top of the atmosphere in response to increasing the albedo of roof surfaces in an area of India with moderately high aerosol loading. Treated (painted white) and untreated (unpainted) roofs on two buildings in northeast India were analyzed on five cloudless days using radiometric imagery from the IKONOS satellite. Comparison of a radiative transfer model (RRTMG) and radiometric satellite observations shows good agreement ( R ^2 = 0.927). Results show a mean increase of ∼50 W m ^−2 outgoing at the top of the atmosphere for each 0.1 increase of the albedo at the time of the observations and a strong dependence on atmospheric transmissivity.