Genetic Variants of CYP11B2 and CYP1A1 Among the North-Indian Punjabi Females with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome

Ratneev Kaur,Mandeep Kaur,Sukhjashanpreet Singh,Tajinder Kaur,Anupam Kaur 대한임상검사과학회 2022 대한임상검사과학회지(KJCLS) Vol.54 No.4

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a complex endocrinopathy in women of reproductive age. The genetics of PCOS is heterogeneous with the involvement of number of genes in the steroid synthesis pathway. The CYP11B2 encodes aldosterone synthase and the genetic variants might increase aldosterone secretion in PCOS cases. CYP1A1 is known to enhance the intraovarian catechol estrogen production and thus the propensity for PCOS. The present case-control study analyzed a total of 619 females for CYP11B2 (rs1799998) and CYP1A1 (rs4646903) polymorphisms. Obesity was examined according to body mass index (BMI) and waist hip ratio (WHR) categorization. Biochemical (lipid profile) analysis was performed in PCOS females. BMI (P=0.0001) and WHR (P=0.0001) revealed a statistically significant difference between PCOS cases and controls. The overall levels of triglycerides were higher in PCOS females. The genotype frequency distribution of CYP11B2 (rs1799998) polymorphism revealed statistically significant difference between PCOS cases and controls (P=0.017). However, CYP1A1 (rs4646903) polymorphism did not showed any association with PCOS. The present case-control association analysis is first from our region for CYP1A1 and CYP11B2 polymorphisms and is suggestive of genetic predisposition of steroidogenic genes among PCOS patients in the North-Indian Punjabi females.

SARS-CoV-2 IgG Antibody Seroprevalence in Children from the Amritsar District of Punjab

Amandeep Kaur,Narinder Singh,Kanwardeep Singh,Shailpreet Kaur Sidhu,Harleen Kaur,Poonam Jain,Manmeet Kaur,Mohan Jairath 대한임상검사과학회 2022 대한임상검사과학회지(KJCLS) Vol.54 No.3

The majority of the children experience milder coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) symptoms. Children represent a significant source of community transmission. Children under 18 years of age account for an estimated 4.8% of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections globally. However, no conclusive statements pertaining to the multi-fold aspects of the virus in children could be drawn due to the lower prevalence of pediatric cases. The present study was conducted to identify the indirect impact of SARS-CoV-2 infections on developing herd immunity among children in the age group 3 to 18 years by investigating their antibody levels. In the study, 240 children aged 3∼18 years were recruited by the Department of Pediatrics, Government Medical College and Hospital, Amritsar, India, and quantification of the antibodies was performed at the Viral Research and Diagnostic Laboratory (VRDL), Government Medical College (GMC), Amritsar, India. Out of the 240 serum samples, 197 (82.08%) showed seropositivity, while 43 (17.92%) were seronegative. When stratified, it was observed that in the age group 3∼6 years, 22.33% of children were found to have anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies while in the age groups 7∼10 years, 11∼14 years, and 15∼18 years, respectively, 37.06%, 30.46%, and 10.15% were seropositive. Although there was seroconversion among children which was useful for predicting the next wave, no differences in seropositivity were observed between adults and children.

A novel edible coating of beeswax impregnated with karonda polyphenol rich extract maintains the chemical and bioactive potential of fresh ber fruit during storage at low temperature

Kaur Karandeep,Gupta Navjot,Mahajan Monika,Jawandha Sukhjit Kaur,Kaur Nirmaljit 한국원예학회 2023 Horticulture, Environment, and Biotechnology Vol.64 No.6

Ber fruit is highly nutritious and rich in bioactive compounds known to have several health benefi ts. However, the signifi cant loss of such compounds during long-term storage is a concern. Retaining its quality during post-harvest by natural preservatives could be a novel approach towards sustainability. In the present study, a novel composite edible coating of beeswax and polyphenols was developed. Beeswax, a lipid-based material with anti-transpiration properties, was derived from honeycomb and polyphenols with huge antioxidant and antimicrobial properties were extracted from underutilized fruit, karonda. The purpose of the present work is to evaluate the eff ect of this composite coating on the storage life of ber fruits. For this, beeswax (2%) alone or impregnated with the polyphenols at diff erent concentrations 0.5% (300 mg/L), 1% (600 mg/L) and 1.5% (750 mg/L) was applied on the fruit's surface. The eff ect of this composite edible coating on the physicochemical properties, bioactive compounds and antioxidant enzymes activities of ber fruits was studied for 28 days during cold storage. The results revealed that the combination of beeswax coating with karonda polyphenols markedly reduced spoilage and maintained the fi rmness of ber fruit during storage. The coating has resulted in higher retention of ascorbic acid, fl avonoids, phenolics and antioxidant activity during storage. The treated fruits showed delayed ripening by slowing down the synthesis of carotenoids as compared to the control fruit. Further, the coating resulted in the lower activities of cell wall degrading enzymes like pectin methyl esterase and cellulase enzymes in the stored ber fruits. Moreover, the concentrations of karonda polyphenols (KPP) have worked in a dose-dependent manner in the coating system, as beeswax with 1.5% KPP was found to be more eff ective in maintaining the quality and nutritional potential of ber fruit during storage.

Pregnancy-Related Health Information-Seeking Behavior of Rural Women of Selected Villages of North India

Harmeet Kaur Kang,Arshdeep Kaur,Shania Saini,Rayees Ahmad,Wani Shubhleen Kaur 숙명여자대학교 아시아여성연구원 2022 Asian Women Vol.38 No.2

Maternal health improvement is one of the main targets of India's national health programs; however, maternal mortality reduction has not yet reached satisfactory levels. Maternal health outcomes depend on the health literacy of pregnant women. The exploration of areas in which women seek information can help in a better understanding of their health information needs. A cross-sectional study assessed health information-seeking behavior during pregnancy, health information resources used, and related barriers perceived by rural women in North India. Rural women who were pregnant or had a live birth in the past six months (N=100) were selected using purposive sampling techniques from five selected villages in the Patiala district of Punjab state, India. The majority were aged 26–30 years and reported dependence on their husbands and family members in choosing sources of health information. They reported doctors, nurses, and the Internet as valuable resources for seeking health information during pregnancy. The essential topics on which women seek information are fetal growth, delivery setting, body changes during pregnancy, and other related concerns. Women reported the significant barriers to important health information as long queues and inconvenient service hours during antenatal check-ups in health settings. The findings of the study point toward the need for strengthening and improving the existing services for availability of verified and reliable information, education and communication (IEC) resources, and maternal services in the public health sector.

Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate: Its Determinants and Relationship with Risk Factors Involved in Ischemic Stroke

( Kirandeep Kaur ),( Amandeep Kaur ),( Anupam Kaur ) 대한임상검사과학회 2022 대한임상검사과학회지(KJCLS) Vol.54 No.1

Erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) evaluation is a useful tool for monitoring disease activity in various inflammatory and non-inflammatory conditions. ESR is known to be influenced by a multitude of confounding factors. The present study aimed to assess the possible determinants of the ESR and its relationship with various risk factors involved in ischemic stroke. ESR and other hematological and biochemical parameters were investigated in 163 ischemic stroke patients (107 males and 56 females) selected based on imaging techniques including magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or computed tomography (CT) scans. Statistical analysis was performed using the SPSS 16.0 software. Linear regression analysis showed a significant inverse relationship of hemoglobin (Hb) and hematocrit or packed cell volume (PCV) (P<0.001 for females; P<0.01 for males) with the ESR. It was observed that the red blood cell (RBC) count was not strongly correlated with the ESR (P<0.05 for both males and females). It was also observed that sex significantly affected the variables determining the ESR levels, whereas age had no effect. Gender differences were also observed with respect to Hb, RBC, PCV, mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH), mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC), and ESR. The possible determinants of higher ESR levels in ischemic stroke may be sex, Hb, hematocrit, and RBC count, but the role of other clinical and laboratory parameters cannot be underestimated.

Antennas for Biomedical Applications

Gurveer Kaur,Amandeep Kaur,Gurpreet Kaur Toor,Balwinder S. Dhaliwal,Shyam Sundar Pattnaik 대한의용생체공학회 2015 Biomedical Engineering Letters (BMEL) Vol.5 No.3

Biomedical engineering today holds a prominent place as a means of improving medical diagnosis and treatment, and as an academic discipline. Today glucose monitoring, insulin pumps, deep brain simulations and endoscopy are a few examples of the medical applications that can take advantage of remote monitoring system and body implantable unit. Body implantable devices are widely researched for humans, in the applications such as monitoring blood pressure and temperature, tracking dependent people or lost pets, wirelessly transferring diagnostic information from an electronic device implanted in the human body for human care and safety, such as a pacemaker, to an external RF receiver. Antennas can be implanted into human bodies or can just be mounted over the torso (skin-fat-muscle) to form a bio-communication system between medical devices and exterior instruments for short range biotelemetry applications. In addition to the clear benefits to the healthcare system provided by body implanted devices, economical aspects are also relevant. Remote monitoring systems facilitate the diagnosis of diseases and favor the hospital at home by reducing the hospitalization period.

Rapid injuries of high temperature in plants

Gurpreet Kaur Goraya,Balraj Kaur,Bavita Asthir,Shashi Bala,Gurpreet Kaur Goraya,Muhammad Farooq 한국식물학회 2017 Journal of Plant Biology Vol.60 No.4

Global climate changes particularly high temperature is predicted to have a general negative effect on plant growth and development, that might lead to catastrophic loss of crop productivity. High temperature has a wide range of effect on plant in terms of plant physiological, biochemical processes such as photosynthesis, respiration water relations, and gene regulatory pathways. The injury inflicted on plant tissues under such extremes weakens the cell membrane, which leads to the production of reactive oxygen species that attacks major sites i.e photosynthetic apparatus, the photosystems, mainly photosystem II (PSII) and the respiratory pathways. To cope with rising temperature conditions, plants possess a number of adaptive, avoidance, or acclimation mechanisms. In addition to major tolerance mechanisms, plants also employ ion transporters, proteins, osmoprotectants, antioxidants and many other factors involved in signaling cascades and transcriptional control that are activated to offset stress-induced biochemical and physiological alterations. This article reviews the recent findings on high temperature induced injuries and responses at the cellular, organellar and whole plant levels.

Composite coatings of beeswax + naphthalene acetic acid preserved fruit quality and antioxidants in stored lemon fruits

Jaismeen Kaur,Sukhjit Kaur Jawandha,Parmpal Singh Gill,Zahwa Jan,Satvir Kaur Grewal 한국식품과학회 2024 Food Science and Biotechnology Vol.33 No.3

Lemon fruits are well recognized for their richness in antioxidants. The present study was conducted to maintain the antioxidant properties of lemon fruits under long term cold storage. Fruits were given different treatments of naphthalene acetic acid (NAA) @ 50, 100 and 150 ppm plus beeswax (BW) @ 2% and were stored at 6–8 °C and 90–95% RH for 60 days. At the end of storage, fruits coated with NAA (50 ppm) + BW (2%) retained 42.14 and 34.61% antioxidants, 62.72 and 56.54% phenolic content and 17.72 and 13.80% hydroxyl radical scavenging capacity in peel and pulp, respectively as compared to the control. This treatment also resulted in lesser weight loss (5.27%), higher ascorbic acid content (46.31 mg 100 ml−1 juice) and titratable acidity (5.23%). Hence, NAA + BW coatings were promising for the maintenance of the postharvest antioxidant quality of stored lemons.

Studies on immunomodulatory effect of endophytic fungus Alternaria alternata on Spodoptera litura

Harminder Preet Kaur,Bahaderjeet Singh,Abhinay Thakur,Amarjeet Kaur,Sanehdeep Kaur 한국응용곤충학회 2015 Journal of Asia-Pacific Entomology Vol.18 No.1

Secondary metabolites of entomopathogenic fungi have been known to suppress the immune response of various insects. Hence, we have investigated the effect of endophytic fungus, Alternaria alternata on cellular and humoral immune response of Spodoptera litura (Fabricius). Significant drop in total hemocyte count has been observed in the larvae fed on diet supplemented with ethyl acetate extract of A. alternata as compared to those fed on untreated or control diet devoid of ethyl acetate extract. Similarly differential hemocyte count of the larvae feeding on amended diet differed significantly from control. As compared to control significantly higher percentage of hemocytes exhibited abnormalities like aggregation, change in shape, extensive vacuolization and necrosis. The cytotoxic effect showed a dose dependent response which increased with time. A reduction in phenoloxidase and lysozyme activities was also observed. The data suggest that the secondary metabolites produced by A. alternata disabled several immunemechanisms of the insect. These studieswould help to identify the insect defenses that could be manipulated to accelerate host death due to fungal endophytes.

Assessment of genetic diversity of mandarin cultivars grown in major citrus regions of world using morphological and microsatellite markers

Kaur Harmanpreet,Sidhu Gurupkar Singh,Sarao Navraj Kaur,Singh Rohtas,Singh Gurteg 한국원예학회 2022 Horticulture, Environment, and Biotechnology Vol.63 No.3

Genetic diversity analysis of 46 commercially prominent mandarins grown in different countries was carried out based on molecular and fruit traits. Out of 110 SSR markers, 64 polymorphic markers amplified a total of 155 alleles. Twenty SSR primers revealed 20 unique alleles which generated DNA fingerprints in 17 genotypes. The Polymorphism information content values ranged from 0.13 (CIBE 5156) to 0.73 (CCSM 40), with an average value of 0.45 across all genotypes. The diversity analysis illustrating the genetic relationships classified the genotypes into four major clusters. The ‘Nagpur’ and ‘Mudkhed’ mandarins in cluster I were closely related as these showed the highest genetic similarity having a similarity coefficient of 0.99. In fruit traits, higher heritability (h2) was observed in fruit weight while the higher genotypic coefficient of variation (GCV) was estimated for a number of seeds demonstrating the magnitude of genetic variability in a population.