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During the recent decades, awareness towards the role of essential fatty acids in human health and disease prevention has been unremittingly increasing among people. Fish, fish oils and some vegetable oils are rich sources of essential fatty acids. Many studies have positively correlated essential fatty acids with reduction of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality, infant development, cancer prevention, optimal brain and vision functioning, arthritis, hypertension, diabetes mellitus and neurological/neuropsychiatric disorders. Beneficial effects may be mediated through several different mechanisms, including alteration in cell membrane composition, gene expression or eicosanoid production. However, the mechanisms whereby essential fatty acids affect gene expression are complex and involve multiple processes. Further understanding of the molecular aspects of essential fatty acids will be the key to devising novel approaches to the treatment and prevention of many diseases.

BackgroundWHO has recommended personal hygiene (respiratory hygiene, using face masks, washing hands with warm water and soap, use of alcohol-based hand sanitizers, avoid touching mouth, eyes & nose, cleanliness), social distancing and careful handling of purchased products as an effective preventive measure for COVID-19 disease. The growing pandemic of COVID-19 disease requires social distancing and personal hygiene measures to protect public health. But this message is not clear and well understood among people. The aim of this study is to determine the awareness, knowledge and attitude about COVID-19 and relate the behaviour of Indian society, especially when the country is restarting all its economic activities, after the complete lockdown.MethodThe present paper is based on an extensive survey among 21 406 adult participants of various sections of Indian society with different age groups between 18 and 80 years to introspect the level of public awareness with respect to cause, spread, prevention and treatment of disease caused by spread of COVID-19 viral outbreak, which will be automatically reflected in the societal behavioural response of rigorous precautionary measures.ConclusionsThere is a need to extend the knowledge base among individuals to enhance their active participation in the prevention mechanisms with respect to the spread of the pandemic. There is a need to elaborate the Indian socio-cultural aspects, so that society starts appreciating and voluntarily following social distancing. This should improve the adaptability of people with livelihood resilience to let them protect themselves not only from the present pandemic but also from all other unforeseen infections, and to provide care to patients.

Our understanding of climate dynamics during millennial-scale events is incomplete, partially due to the lack of their precise phase analyses under various boundary conditions. Here we present nine speleothem oxygen-isotope records from mid-to-low-latitude monsoon regimes with sub-centennial age precision and multi-annual resolution, spanning the Heinrich Stadial 2 (HS2) — a millennial-scale event that occurred at the Last Glacial Maximum. Our data suggests that the Greenland and Antarctic ice-core chronologies require +320- and +400-year adjustments, respectively, supported by extant volcanic evidence and radiocarbon ages. Our chronological framework shows a synchronous HS2 onset globally. Our records precisely characterize a centennial-scale abrupt “tropical atmospheric seesaw” superimposed on the conventional “bipolar seesaw” at the beginning of HS2, implying a unique response/feedback from low-latitude hydroclimate. Together with our observation of an early South American monsoon shift at the HS2 termination, we suggest a more active role of low-latitude hydroclimate dynamics underlying millennial events than previously thought. New cave records from monsoon regions improve the Greenland ice core chronological framework around the Heinrich Stadial 2 by an order of magnitude, suggesting a more active role of low-latitude hydroclimate in millennial-scale climate oscillations.

Hydroclimatic variability driven by global warming in the climatically vulnerable cold semi-arid to arid northwest (NW) Himalaya is poorly constrained due to paucity of continuous weather records and annually resolved proxies. Applying a network of annually resolved tree-ring-width chronologies from semi-arid region of Kishtwar, Jammu and Kashmir, India, we reconstructed April-May standardized precipitation index extending back to A.D. 1439 (576 years). The reconstructed series is featured by the most conspicuous long-term droughts during the 15 th to early 17 th centuries followed by a general wetting, with 1984–2014 being the wettest interval in the past 576 years. The data, consistent with other independently developed tree-ring-based hydrological records from cold semi-arid to arid NW Himalaya and Karakoram, point to an increased regional wetting in the recent decades. Such an increased wetting might have led to the anomalous behaviour of glaciers in the NW Himalaya and Karakoram in contrast to the general receding trends in the central and eastern Himalaya.

Upwelling systems are critical drivers of regional climate variability, through their influence on ocean–atmosphere interactions and biogeochemical cycles. The Benguela Upwelling System, closely tied to Southern Ocean fronts and Indian-Atlantic water exchange, offers key insights into regional to global climatic shifts. This study analyses evolution of the Benguela Upwelling System during ~11.7 Ma–Holocene, using planktic foraminiferal relative abundance and oxygen and carbon stable isotope analysis from Ocean Drilling Program Site 1087. The data reveal unimpeded flow of Indian Ocean waters into the Southeast Atlantic before the onset of upwelling at ~10 Ma. The upwelling system was fully developed at ~9.8 Ma, which intensified between ~8.0 and 4.8 Ma, aided by strong southeast trade winds. The intense upwelling in Late Miocene Cooling interval triggered and intensified aridification in southern Africa. Upwelling and aridification became decoupled between ~4.8 and 3.7 Ma, coinciding with enhanced interoceanic exchange and the intrusion of warm Angola Current (Benguela Niño-like conditions). The reintensification of upwelling in the Plio-Pleistocene terminated Benguela Niño-like conditions and overshadowed signals of Indian Ocean inflow. Our findings underscore the pivotal role of the Benguela Upwelling System in regulating southern African climate and its linkages with the polar fronts. The Benguela upwelling system has played a key role in regulating southern African climate since the late Miocene, according to planktic foraminiferal relative abundance and stable isotope analyses from a site in the Benguela upwelling system.

Pursuing a nodal (i.e., subsidiary) level of analysis, this paper advances and tests an overarching theoretical framework pertaining to intracorporate knowledge transfers within multinational corporations (MNCs). We predicted that (i) knowledge outflows from a subsidiary would be positively associated with value of the subsidiary's knowledge stock, its motivational disposition to share knowledge, and the richness of transmission channels; and (ii) knowledge inflows into a subsidiary would be positively associated with richness of transmission channels, motivational disposition to acquire knowledge, and the capacity to absorb the incoming knowledge. These predictions were tested empirically with data from 374 subsidiaries within 75 MNCs headquartered in the U.S., Europe, and Japan. Except for our predictions regarding the impact of source unit's motivational disposition on knowledge outflows, the data provide either full or partial support to all of the other elements of our theoretical framework.

Toxoplasma gondii commonly infects humans and while most infections are controlled by the immune response, currently approved drugs are not capable of clearing chronic infection in humans. Hence, approximately one third of the world’s human population is at risk of reactivation, potentially leading to severe sequelae. To identify new candidates for treating chronic infection, we investigated a series of compounds derived from diversity-oriented synthesis. Bicyclic azetidines are potent low nanomolar inhibitors of phenylalanine tRNA synthetase (PheRS) in T. gondii , with excellent selectivity. Biochemical and genetic studies validate PheRS as the primary target of bicyclic azetidines in T. gondii , providing a structural basis for rational design of improved analogs. Favorable pharmacokinetic properties of a lead compound provide excellent protection from acute infection and partial protection from chronic infection in an immunocompromised mouse model of toxoplasmosis. Collectively, PheRS inhibitors of the bicyclic azetidine series offer promise for treatment of chronic toxoplasmosis. Current treatments for toxoplasmosis are limited by adverse reactions and inability to cure chronic infections dominated by semi-dormant cyst forms. Here the authors demonstrate the potential of small molecule inhibitors of PheRS for controlling acute and chronic toxoplasmosis.

Rapid climatic shifts across the last glacial to Holocene transition are pervasive feature of the North Atlantic as well as low latitude proxy archives. Our decadal to centennial scale record of summer monsoon proxy Globigerina bulloides from rapidly accumulating sediments from Hole 723A, Arabian Sea shows two distinct intervals of weak summer monsoon wind coinciding with cold periods within Ållerød inerstadial of the North Atlantic named here as IACP-A1 and IACP-A2 and dated (within dating uncertainties) at 13.5 and 13.3 calibrated kilo years before the present (cal kyr BP), respectively. Spectral analysis of the Globigerina bulloides time series for the segment 13.6–13.1 kyr (Ållerød period) reveals a strong solar 208-year cycle also known as de Vries or Suess cycle, suggesting that the centennial scale variability in Indian summer monsoon winds during the Ållerød inerstadial was driven by changes in the solar irradiance through stratospheric-tropospheric interactions.

Air temperature is one of the most important meteorological factors that affect melting of glaciers, distribution of snowfall and rain at higher altitudes in the Himalaya. However, studies on spatio-temporal variability of air temperature in the central Himalaya are limited. In the present study, seasonal and annual characteristics (July 2011 to December 2015) of near-surface temperature and lapse rate in the Dokriani glacier catchment (DGC) of the central Himalaya are investigated using data from three automatic weather stations (AWSs). An attempt is also made to quantify 0 °C isotherm and temperate sustainability over the glacierized area. The results reveal that the average near-surface temperature lapse rate (NSTLR) of the catchment varies from 4.6 to 7.5 °C km−1 during all measurement seasons, suggesting that the standard environmental lapse rate (SELR, 6.5 °C km−1) is not a promising input for realistic glacio-hydrological modeling. The seasonal variability of the NSTLR indicates that the monsoon (warm and humid period) lowers the temperature lapse rate in this catchment due to the presence of high moisture content in the air. The steepest lapse rate is investigated during the pre-monsoon season due to clear and drier weather conditions. In addition to this, the results reveal strong variability in NSTLR at diurnal and sub-diurnal levels, with high variability in the day time and low in the night-time hours. A higher air temperature is examined in the ablation zone of the Dokriani Glacier during the monsoon season (i.e., JJAS: June, July, August, September), while other seasons (pre-monsoon, post-monsoon, winter) show both higher as well as lower temperatures. A large variation in 0 °C isotherm is also observed ranging from 5000 to 5500 m asl during 2012–2015. The present work emphasizes that the study of monthly, seasonal, and annual variability of the NSTLR are very important for glacio-hydrological research in the central Himalaya.

Inulin and oligofructose belong to a class of carbohydrates known as fructans. The main sources of inulin and oligofructose that are used in the food industry are chicory and Jerusalem artichoke. Inulin and oligofructose are considered as functional food ingredients since they affect the physiological and biochemical processes in rats and human beings, resulting in better health and reduction in the risk of many diseases. Experimental studies have shown their use as bifidogenic agents, stimulating the immune system of the body, decreasing the pathogenic bacteria in the intestine, relieving constipation, decreasing the risk of osteoporosis by increasing mineral absorption, especially of calcium, reducing the risk of atherosclerosis by lowering the synthesis of triglycerides and fatty acids in the liver and decreasing their level in serum. These fructans modulate the hormonal level of insulin and glucagon, thereby regulating carbohydrate and lipid metabolism by lowering the blood glucose levels; they are also effective in lowering the blood urea and uric acid levels, thereby maintaining the nitrogen balance. Inulin and oligofructose also reduce the incidence of colon cancer. The biochemical basis of these beneficial effects of inulin and oligofructose have been discussed. Oligofructose are non cariogenic as they are not used by Streptococcus mutans to form acids and insoluble glucans that are the main culprits in dental caries. Because of the large number of health promoting functions of inulin and oligofructose, these have wide applications in various types of foods like confectionery, fruit preparations, milk desserts, yogurt and fresh cheese, baked goods, chocolate, ice cream and sauces. Inulin can also be used for the preparation of fructose syrups.