HNF1α upregulation and promoter hypermethylation as a cause of glucose dysregulation: a case-control study of Kashmiri MODY population.

AIM: HNF1α transcription factor regulates a network of genes involved in the development of ß-cells and also serves as a model for transcription defects in pancreatic ß-cells; mutations in this gene cause MODY. The goal of this study was to assess the promoter methylation and expression profile of the most common MODY causing gene, HNF1α, in Kashmiri MODY patients, as factors responsible for glucose dysregulation, as no such study had been performed on MODY patients in Kashmir previously. METHODS: The study included 85 Kashmiri subjects. Samples were extracted for DNA and RNA using standard protocols. The HNF1α promoter methylation profile was assessed by bisulfite conversion of the DNA followed by MSP, whereas qPCR was used for expression analysis. RESULTS: The expression of HNF1α was found to be upregulated (p value 0.0349*) in majority of MODY (60%) and T1D (72%) cases (p value 0.0349*). HNF1α expression was 1.33-fold higher in MODY cases with hypermethylated HNF1α promoters (p value 0.0360*). HNF1α expression was upregulated by 2.3-fold in MODY patients with HbA1c levels > 7% (p value 0.0025**). MODY cases with FBS levels > 7.7 mmol/l were upregulated by 0.646-fold than those with FBS levels ≤ 7.7 mmol/l (p value 0.0161*). CONCLUSION: In this study, we found that as glucose dysregulation progresses, blood FBS, RBS, and HbA1c levels rise, and that at higher levels, HNF1α expression rises as well. From the results obtained, we may conclude that HNF1α is strongly upregulated in MODY, thus indicating the deleterious effect of over expression of HNF1α gene on glucose regulation.

Dy3+ -, Sm3+ -, Ce3+ - and Tb3+ -activated optical properties of microcrystalline BaMgP2 O7 phosphors.

Photoluminescence (PL) and thermoluminescence (TL) properties of rare earth (RE) ion (RE = Dy3+ , Sm3+ , Ce3+ , Tb3+ ) activated microcrystalline BaMgP2 O7 phosphors are presented in this work. Non-doped and doped samples of BaMgP2 O7 were prepared using a solid state diffusion method and characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), PL and TL. The XRD measurement confirmed the phase purity of the BaMgP2 O7 host matrix. The average particle size was found through SEM measurement to be around 2 µm. All activators using the PL technique displayed characteristic excitation and emission spectra that corresponded to their typical f â†’ f and f â†’ d transitions respectively. Thermoluminescence measurements showed that BaMgP2 O7 :RE (RE = Dy3+ , Sm3+ , Tb3+ , Ce3+ ) and co-doped BaMgP2 O7 :Ce3+ ,Tb3+ phosphors have also TL behaviour.

Soil quality index as affected by different cropping systems in northwestern Himalayas.

Soil quality assessment provides a tool for evaluating the sustainability of soils under different crop cafeterias. Our objective was to develop the soil quality index for evaluating the soil quality indicators under different cropping systems in northwest Himalaya-India. Composite soil samples were taken from the study area from different cropping systems which include T1 (forest soil control), T2 (rice-oilseed, lower belts), T3 (rice-oilseed, higher belts), T4 (rice-oats), T5 (rice-fallow), T6 (maize-oats), T7 (maize-peas), T8 (apple), T9 (apple-beans), and T10 (apple-maize). Physical, chemical, and biological soil indicators were determined, and it was found that soil enzyme activities involved in nutrient cycling were significantly higher in forest soils, which were reflected in higher levels of available pool of nutrients. Carbon stocks were found significantly higher in forest soil which was translated in improved soil physical condition. Principal component analysis (PCA) was performed to reduce multidimensionality of data followed by scoring by homothetic transformation of the selected indicators. Pearson's interclass correlation was performed to avoid redundancy, and highly correlated variables were not retained. Inclusion of legumes in the apple orchard floor recorded highest soil quality rating across the treatments. Cereal-based cropping systems were found in lower soil quality rating; however, the incorporation of peas in the system improved soil health.

Impact of method of application and concentration of potassium on yield of wheat.

A field experiment was conducted to study the effect of different levels and methods of potassium application on yield, K uptake and forms of potassium in wheat crop at experimental field of Division of Soil Science, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, Kashmir. The treatment consisted of 5 levels of potassium (0, 20, 40, 60 and 80 kg K2O ha(-1)) and two methods of application viz Single basal and split (1/2 basal+1/2 at tiller initiation stage). Out of various treatments, split application of potassium @ 80 kg K2O ha(-1) was found superior to single basal application in terms of grain yield (43.20 q ha(-1)) and K uptake (22.89 kg ha(-1)) by grains at harvest. However, it was at par with split application of 60 kg K2O ha(-1). All forms of potassium viz water-soluble, exchangeable, available, boiling HNO3 extractable and lattice increased with increasing levels of potassium and were found maximum (3.20, 62.80, 66.00 ppm 0.723 and 1.440% respectively) when potassium was applied @ 80 kg K2O ha(-1) in two equal splits except for lattice K which was maximum (1.440%) when potassium was applied @ 60 kg K2O ha(-1).

Effect of available nutrients on yield and quality of pear fruit Bartlett in Kashmir Valley India.

Pear is one of the most important commercial crops grown in the Kashmir valley of India. A study was conducted during 2008 to find out the effect of available nutrients on yield and quality parameters of pear cultivar "Bartlett" which revealed that nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium exhibited significant and positive relationship with fruit length (0.882, 0.856, and 0.482 mm, respectively), diameter (0.869, 0.794 and 0.458 mm, respectively), weight (0.876, 0.825 and 0.439 g, respectively), volume (0.908, 0.806 and 0.404, Cm3 respectively) and yield (0.908, 0.764 and 0.702 kg tree(-1), respectively) however, only nitrogen and phosphorus showed similar relationship with total sugars (0.833 and 0.838% respectively). The calcium indicated significant and negative relationship with fruit diameter (-0.433) and yield (-0.589), while as it showed significant and positive correlation with fruit firmness (0.442) only. The sulphur revealed significant and positive relationship with fruit length (0.440), diameter (0.434), TSS (0.482) and yield (0.729) whereas zinc, copper, iron and manganese exhibited significant and positive relationship with fruit length (0.889, 793, 0.671 and 0.619, respectively), diameter (0.875, 0.807, 0.653 and 0.576, respectively) weight (0.881, 0.784, 0.669 and 0.615, respectively), volume (0.885, 0.832, 0.692 and 0.572, respectively) TSS (0.858, 0.761, 0.735 and 0.609, respectively), total sugars (0.853, 0.890, 0.705 and 0.517, respectively) and yield (0.777, 0.618, 0.789 and 0.701, respectively). It is therefore suggested that nutrients have effect on quality and yield of pear fruits.