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World is facing agrarian as well as nutritional challenges. Agricultural lands with irrigation facilities have been exploited to maximum, and hence we need to focus on dry lands to further increase grain production. Owing to low fertility, utilization of dry lands to produce sufficient quality grains is a big challenge. Millets as climate change compliant crops score highly over other grains like wheat and rice in terms of marginal growing conditions and high nutritional value. These nutri-cereals abode vitamins, minerals, essential fatty acids, phyto-chemicals and antioxidants that can help to eradicate the plethora of nutritional deficiency diseases. Millets cultivation can keep dry lands productive and ensure future food and nutritional security.

Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) are one of the most significant molecules in protein therapeutics. They are employed in the field of immunology, oncology and organ transplant. They have been also been employed for alleviating several bacterial and viral infections. Moreover, they have revolutionized the area of targeted therapy and improved the quality of treatments, as compared to other cytotoxic drugs and therapies. mAbs bind to specific molecules on the antigen and exhibit specificity towards that molecule, i.e. epitope. Thus, mAbs have immense opportunity to be explored for personalized therapy. The introduction of targeted mAb-based therapeutics has promoted many important scientific achievements in rheumatology. This has warranted additional investigations for developing newer mAb producing clones, to supplement the limited industrial production of certain mAb therapeutics. In this investigation, an integrative approach comprising optimized expression, selection and expansion was adopted to develop a mammalian cell line expressing mAb against TNF-α.The resulting stable clone is anticipated to serve as an economic alternative to the industrial clones, especially for research purposes. The clone was constructed for development of biosimilar of the highly valued therapeutic antibody, Humira.

Melanomas are highly aggressive in nature known for metastasis and death. Melanocytes that gave rise to melanomas are neural crest progenitor cells. Our research was primarily concerned with uveal melanoma (UM) and cutaneous melanoma (CM), respectively. Although they both have the same melanocytic origin, the biology of their respective is different. The aim of our study was to recognize the common differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between UM and CM. The gene expression profile was downloaded from the GEO and analyzed by GEO2R to recognize DEGs. By applying DAVID, GO, and KEGG, pathway enrichment analysis was performed. PPI of these DEGs was analyzed using STRING and visualized by Cytoscape and MCODE. Further, we utilized HPA and GEPIA to obtain Kaplan-Meier graph for survival analysis in order to assess the prognostic value of hub genes. We examined the UM and CM datasets and discovered three common upregulated and eight downregulated DEGs based on computational analysis. HMGCS1 and ELOVL5 were shown to be enriched in a variety of altered molecular pathways and pathways in cancer. Overexpression of HMGCS1 and ELOVL5 was linked to a poor prognosis in CM. Computational evaluation found that HMGCS1 and ELOVL5 were upregulated in both melanomas. Enrichment analysis showed that these genes are involved in cancer metabolism pathway and associated with poor prognosis in CM. However, the molecular study of these genes in UM is limited. Therefore, a better understanding of the cancer metabolism pathways should be carried to pave the way for clinical benefits.

Objective: Prolactin (PRL) regulates glucose metabolism and insulin sensitivity. The study aimed to evaluate the role of PRL in glucose homeostasis and its association with insulin resistance in patients with diabetes mellitus (DM). Methods and Materials: This cross-sectional, observational study included 100 patients (25-60 years) with T2DM. Primary information including demographics, anthropometric measurements, and biochemical measures (complete blood count, glucose parameters, liver and kidney function test, lipid profile, thyroid function test, serum fasting insulin levels, serum PRL levels) was collected. Results: A total of 100 patients, 50 men and 50 women (25 premenopausal and 25 postmenopausal), were enrolled in this study. The correlation between serum cholesterol and PRL was found to be statistically non-significant (P = 0.129) in men and significant (P = 0.041) in women. There was an inverse relationship between fasting plasma glucose and serum PRL levels in both men (r = −0.88; P < 0.0001) and women patients (r = −0.768; P < 0.0001). Negative correlation between postprandial plasma glucose and PRL was found to be statistically significant (r = −0.398; P = 0.048) in postmenopausal women. The comparison in both men and women indicated an inverse correlation between serum PRL and glycated haemoglobin levels. There was a significant negative correlation between homeostasis model assessment-estimated insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) and PRL levels in both men (r = −0.362; P = 0.039) and women patients (r = −0.362; P = 0.003). Homeostasis model assessment of β cell function (HOMA-β), which directly correlates with residual pancreatic beta cell function, was positively correlated with prolactin levels, irrespective of gender and menopausal status of female subjects. Conclusion: Serum PRL levels correlate with improved glycaemic control.

The development of peptide-based formulations presents numerous challenges to the formulator due to their complexity, delicate structure and sensitivity towards external environment factors. To date, the commonly employed routes for delivering peptide based formulations are intramuscular, intravenous and subcutaneous routes. Though oral route enables improved patient compliance and ease of administration, it remains still unexplored due to enzymatic degradation of peptides in the gastrointestinal tract and their poor permeation across the intestinal epithelial membrane. In the present study, we have developed a novel systemic approach for novel delivery of therapeutic peptides. Insulin glargine, teriparatide, liraglutide, leuprolide were used as model oral peptides. The peptide granules were formulated with various combinations of metal inhibitors, reducing agents, p-glycoprotein inhibitors and permeation enhancers and administered orally to animals using enteric coated capsules. Enzyme activity for proteolytic enzymes was assessed, also blood plasma concentration and bioavailability of peptides obtained from the animal study were compared to commercial formulations.Graphic Abstract

Lipoid proteinosis is a rare autosomal recessive genodermatosis characterized by the deposition of hyaline material in the skin and internal organs. Skin involvement is in the form of blisters in infancy healing with pock-like scars, yellow waxy papules, plaques, moniliform blepharosis and diffuse infiltration. Neurological manifestations such as epilepsy, schizophrenia and memory loss have also been reported. We report the case of a 24-year-old female with lipoid proteinosis with neuro-psychiatric symptoms. Her non-contrast computed tomography of the head showed symmetrical calcification involving bilateral medial temporal lobes. We also review the literature on previous publications of lipoid proteinosis cases with neuropsychiatric involvement.

Background: The study goal was to evaluate the nutritional impact of a healthy snack intervention on a southern university campus. Methods: This quasi-experimental study was conducted during the fall 2017 semester weekly for 14 weeks in a large southern U.S. university. For the intervention, half of vending snacks in four campus residential halls (housing from 216 to 361 students) were substituted with snacks complying with federal Smart Snacks in School nutrition standards for K-12 schools. For analysis, data from the Nutrition Facts labels of 14 vending machines or from manufacturer’s websites was collected by trained graduate and undergraduate researchers. Results: On average, for each Smart Snack sold, there was a statistically significant reduction of 99.38 calories (CI=42.32, 156.43), 4 g saturated fat (CI = 2.23, 5.75), and 10.06 g of sugar(CI=2.92, 17.20). An average reduction of 41.88 mg in sodium and an increase of 0.81g in fiber was also found, but was not statistically significant. There was a significant difference (t(16)=3.02, P < 0.025, 95% CI = 10.77, 55.79) between the Quality Score of Smart Snacks (M=59.13,SD= ± 36.50) and that of non-compliant snacks (M=25.85, SD= ± 24.72). Conclusion: The nutritional impact with even a 50% Smart Snack replacement is promising. Many available comparable snacks mimic the mouthfeel, taste, and appearance of their original full-fat, full-sodium, and full-sugar counterparts. Including healthier snack choices in vending machines may be a viable option for universities to transform the campus eating environment.