Identification and Characterization of Evolutionary Conserved Muskmelon Non-coding miRNAs and Their Target Proteins.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are short, endogenously encoded small RNAs, 18-26 nucleotides in length, which can posttranscriptionally regulate gene expression through translation inhibition or endonucleolytic cleavage. The muskmelon is one of the most widely cultivated fruits in the Cucurbitaceae family. Despite its significance, only 120 miRNAs from different families have been reported in muskmelon. In this study, we aimed to expand this knowledge base by predicting 40 new miRNAs in muskmelon using a spectrum of genomic-based tools. Precursor and mature sequences were obtained from microRNA registry database as reference and analyzed via the basic local alignment search tool (Blastn) for ESTs identification. After removing the non-coding sequences, the remaining candidate sequences were analyzed using MFOLD to generate secondary structures for the newly predicted miRNAs. Additionally, the predicted muskmelon miRNAs were validated using a set of five randomly chosen primers and RT-PCR. Through gene ontology (GO) analysis, we identified 89 targets associated with newly predicted muskmelon miRNAs. Transcription factor-coding genes play a crucial role in plant growth and development. Additionally, the miR4249 has been found to have the same targets in muskmelon that have been linked to cell signaling and transcription factors. The identified targets are integral for diverse biological processes including plant growth, development, metabolism, aging, disease resistance, and resistance to environmental stresses, such as salt, cold, and oxidative stress. As a result, the outcomes of this study demonstrate that this mechanism not only contributes to the production of a higher quality crop but also enhances overall production.

Association between Aldosterone Synthase (CYP11B2) Gene Polymorphism and Hypertension in Pashtun Ethnic Population of Khyber Pakhtunkwha, Pakistan.

Genome-wide association studies significantly increased the number of hypertension risk variants; however, most of them focused on European societies. There is lack of such studies in developing countries, including Pakistan. The lack of research studies and the high prevalence of hypertension in the Pakistani community prompted us to design this study. Aldosterone synthase (CYP11B2) was thoroughly studied in different ethnic groups; however, no such study has been conducted in the Pashtun population of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. In essential hypertension, the aldosterone synthase gene (CYP11B2) plays a significant role. Aldosterone synthesis is affected by both hereditary and environmental factors. Aldosterone synthase (encoded by the CYP11B2 gene) controls the conversion of deoxycorticosterone to aldosterone and, thus, has genetic influences. Polymorphisms in the CYP11B2 gene are linked to an increased risk of hypertension. Previous research on the polymorphism of the aldosterone synthase (CYP11B2) gene and its relationship to hypertension produced inconclusive results. The present study investigates the relationship between CYP11B2 gene polymorphism and hypertension in Pakistan's Pashtun population. We used the nascent exome sequencing method to identify variants associated with hypertension. The research was divided into two phases. In phase one, DNA samples from 200 adult hypertension patients (of age ≥ 30 years) and 200 controls were pooled (n = 200/pool) and subjected to Exome Sequencing. In the second phase, the WES reported SNPs were genotyped using the Mass ARRAY technique to verify and confirm the association between WES-identified SNPs and hypertension. WES identified a total of eight genetic variants in the CYP11B2 gene. The chi-square test and logistic regression analysis were used to estimate the minor allele frequencies (MAFs) and chosen SNPs relationships with hypertension. The frequency of minor allele T was found to be higher in cases compared to the control (42% vs. 30%: p = 0.001) for rs1799998 of CYP11B2 gene, while no significant results (p > 0.05) were observed for the remaining SNPs; rs4536, rs4537, rs4545, rs4543, rs4539, rs4546 and rs6418 showed no positive association with HTN in the studied population (all p > 0.05). Our study findings suggest that rs1799998 increases susceptibly to HTN in the Pashtun population of KP, Pakistan.

Association of APOE (rs429358 and rs7412) and PON1 (Q192R and L55M) Variants with Myocardial Infarction in the Pashtun Ethnic Population of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.

Coronary Artery Diseases (CAD) remains the top among Non-communicable Diseases (NCDs). Variations in Apolipoprotein E (APOE) and Paroxonase 1 (PON1) have been associated with Myocardial Infarction (MI) in several populations. However, despite the high prevalence of CAD, no such study has been reported in the Pashtun ethnic population of Pakistan. We have conducted a two-stage (i.e., screening and validation) case-control study in which 200 cases and 100 control subjects have been recruited. In the first stage, Whole Exome Sequencing (WES) was used to screen for pathogenic variants of Myocardial Infarction (MI). In the second stage, selected variants of both APOE and PON1 genes (rs7412, rs429358, rs854560, and rs662) were analyzed through MassARRAY genotyping. Risk Allele Frequencies (RAFs) distribution and association of the selected SNPs with MI were determined using the Chi-square test and logistic regression analysis. WES identified a total of 12 sequence variants in APOE and 16 in PON1. Genotyping results revealed that APOE variant rs429358 (ɛ4 allele and ɛ3/ɛ4 genotype) showed significant association in MI patients (OR = 2.11, p value = 0.03; 95% CI = 1.25-2.43); whereas no significant difference (p˃ 0.05) was observed for rs7412. Similarly, the R allele of PON1 Q192R (rs662) was significantly associated with cases (OR = 1.353, p value = 0.048; 95% CI = 0.959-1.91), with particular mention of RR genotype (OR = 1.523, p value = 0.006; 95% CI = 1.087-2.132). Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that rs429358 (C allele) and rs662 (R allele) have a significantly higher risk of MI after adjustment for the conventional risk factors. Our study findings suggested that the rs429358 variant of APOE and PON1 Q192R are associated with MI susceptibility in the Pashtun ethnic population of Pakistan.

Social support and perceived uncertainties during COVID-19: Consequences for employees' wellbeing.

The COVID-19 crisis has drastically affected organizations worldwide, thereby influencing the employees' psychological wellbeing. Since it is a new pandemic, research is sparse in the domain of employees' psychological wellbeing in relation to the phenomenon. Drawing on social support and job demand-resource perspectives, this research adds to the factors affecting employees' wellbeing due to the coronavirus outbreak. Specifically, this study is an investigation of co-workers' instrumental support in predicting employees' emotional exhaustion via employees' perceived uncertainties experienced due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Further, we tested for the contextual specificity of family support on uncertainties and its link with employees' emotional exhaustion. With data drawn from two universities (n = 275), the findings reveal a negative association between co-worker task support and an employee's emotional exhaustion, and an employee's perceived uncertainties mediate this relationship. Moreover, the moderating analysis exhibits that family support mitigates the negative effect of uncertainty perception on emotional exhaustion. Our study reveals that coworker and family support are extremely important during the COVID-19 pandemic. These findings are equally valuable for organizations and society to mitigate the detrimental effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on employees' wellbeing.

Fresh evidence on connectedness between prominent markets during COVID-19 pandemic.

Various empirical studies have examined the nexus between financial markets, but this study focused on the comovement among prominent markets. Our study examines the interrelationship among main financial markets, i.e., stock, oil, and commodity during the recent pandemic. The interconnections among the selected markets are investigated using a battery of wavelet coherence tools and the Granger causality test. From the wavelet coherence analysis, our findings indicate strong co-movements among the VIX, oil volatility, and commodity prices during pandemic and localized in all scales and over the sample period. The dependency strength among the considered economies is noted to increase in pandemic, which implies increased short- and long-term benefits for the investors. Moreover, Our result exhibits a feedback causality between OVIX and crude oil, VIX and S&P 500, and gasoline and VIX. Interestingly, a unidirectional causality exists between VIX and crude oil, S&P 500 and crude oil, Brent and crude oil, gasoline, crude oil, and VIX and OVIX. We advocate that the findings will be helpful for portfolio managers, investors, and officials around the world.

Anthropogenic climate change drives melting of glaciers in the Himalaya.

The Himalayan glaciers provide water to a large population in south Asia for a variety of purposes and ecosystem services. As a result, regional monitoring of glacier melting and identification of the drivers are important for understanding and predicting future cryospheric melting trends. Using multi-date satellite images from 2000 to 2020, we investigated the shrinkage, snout retreat, thickness changes, mass loss and velocity changes of 77 glaciers in the Drass basin, western Himalaya, India. During this period, the total glacier cover has shrunk by 5.31 ± 0.33 km2. The snout retreat ranged from 30 to 430 m (mean 155 ± 9.58 m). Debris cover had a significant impact on glacier melting, with clean glaciers losing ~ 5% more than debris-covered glaciers (~ 2%). The average thickness change and mass loss of glacier have been - 1.27 ± 0.37 and - 1.08 ± 0.31 m w.e.a-1, respectively. Because of the continuous melting and the consequent mass loss, average glacier velocity has reduced from 21.35 ± 3.3 m a-1 in 2000 to 16.68 ± 1.9 m a-1 by 2020. During the observation period, the concentration of greenhouse gases (GHGs), black carbon (BC) and other pollutants from vehicular traffic near the glaciers increased significantly. Increasing temperatures, caused by a significant increase in GHGs, black carbon and other pollutants in the atmosphere, are driving glacier melting in the study area. If the current trend continues in the future, the Himalayan glaciers may disappear entirely, having a significant impact on regional water supplies, hydrological processes, ecosystem services and transboundary water sharing.

Mini-Review: Drug-food interactions of commonly available juices of Pakistan.

Medicines are often consumed concurrently with food; sometimes to improve its absorption and efficacy. However, certain foods may modify the function of drug metabolizing enzymes or transport mechanisms that are crucial determinants of systemic drug availability. Extensive work has been reported on certain juices like grapefruit that affects the bioavailability of more than 60 medications. However, relatively less work has been reported on certain other commonly used fruit juices, especially in Pakistan, such as mango, strawberry, apple, banana, pomegranate and grape etc. Present review has taken an account of the current work done in this area.

Comparison of toxic heavy metals concentration in medicinal plants and their respective branded herbal formulations commonly available in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The present study was conducted on fifteen medicinal plants and their respective branded formulations, commonly used in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, for the evaluation of toxic heavy metals. The purpose of the study was to assess the toxic profile of the crude medicinal plants with respect to the worldwide permissible limits of metal concentrations and to correlate it with their respective herbal formulations available on the market. Chromium (Cr), Copper (Cu), Lead (Pb), Manganese (Mn) and Nickel (Ni) content were evaluated using wet digestion and Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry technique. The results exhibited that in 100% of the analyzed medicinal plants Cr and Ni are present in excess of the maximum limits, Cu and Pb in 73% and 60% respectively, while Mn is in the normal range. Likewise in the respective branded formulations Cr and Ni exceed the normal limit in 100% of the products, Cu and Pb in 27% and 20% of the products respectively, while Mn is in the normal range. It indicates that majority of people in Pakistan who frequently use herbal drugs in various forms are exposed to the hazardous elements, which may pose serious health effects. Regulatory measures should therefore be taken to protect the general public from their hazardous health effects.

Report: Antibacterial and antifungal activities of leaf extract of Achyranthes aspera (Amaranthaceae) from Pakistan.

Alcoholic extract and various fractions of Achyranthes aspera leaves, traditionally used in Pakistan for treatment of infectious diseases was screened for in vitro antibacterial and antifungal activity. The chloroform and butanol fractions were found to be the most active among the fractions, showing considerable antibacterial activity against Shigella flexneri and Escherichia coli. The highest activity was found in the ethylacetate fraction (17 mm zone of inhibition) against gram-negative (Salmonella typhi) bacteria, with MIC value as 0.29 mg/mL. In antifungal screening, moderate activity was shown by the chloroform fraction (50 % inhibition) against Microsporum canis, with MIC value as 0.25mg/mL. Considerable level of antifungal activity was depicted by crude extract, hexane and butanol fractions against Aspergillus flavus and Microsporum canis. The ability of various extracts of Achyranthes aspera to inhibit different strains of fungi and bacteria indicates its potential use for the treatment of microbial infections.

Evaluation of anti-inflammatory activity of selected medicinal plants of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.

In present study, the anti-inflammatory potential of three medicinal plants, Xanthium strumarium, Achyranthes aspera and Duchesnea indica were evaluated, using both in vitro and in vivo assays. Carrageenan induced hind paw edema model was used to carry out the in vivo anti-inflammatory activity, while for in vitro screening lipoxygenase inhibition assay was used. Crude extract of all the selected plants depicted significant (plt;0.001) anti-inflammatory activity, at late phase of inflammation. Achyranthes aspera also showed considerable anti-inflammatory activity (47%) at relatively lower concentration (200 mg/ml), at the initial phase of inflammation. Similarly the ethyl acetate fraction of all the selected plants showed significant lipoxygenase inhibition activity when compared with the standard drug (Baicalein). The results obtained from both in vitro and in vivo anti-inflammatory activity suggest that the ethyl acetate fraction of the crude extract of all the selected plants can be used for the isolation of new lead compounds with better anti-inflammatory activity.

Report: Comprehensive nutrients analysis of rhizomes of Polygonatum verticillatum.

The current study was undertaken to estimate the concentration of micronutrients (Zn, Fe, Pb, Cu, Ni, Cd, Cr, Co, Sb and Mn), macronutrients (Na, Ca and K) and essential life nutrients (proteins, fats, carbohydrates and ascorbic acid) along with ash, fiber and moisture contents. Atomic absorption spectrophotometer was employed for the analysis of micronutrients while flame photometry for macronutrients. For proximate analysis (proteins, fats, carbohydrates, ash, fibers and moisture), Association of Official Analytical Chemists methods (AOAC) were used and titration method for ascorbic acid determination. It is evident from the results that the crude extract and its fractions accumulate significant concentrations of both micro and macro nutrients. The significant quantities of essential life nutrients like proteins, fats, carbohydrates and ascorbic acid along with ash, fiber and moisture contents were also found in extracts. It is concluded that the extracts of rhizomes accumulated significant quantities of life indispensible nutrients and validated the ethnobotanical uses of the plant as tonic and energizer.