Hormetins are compounds that mediate hormesis by being beneficial at low doses but detrimental at high doses. Recent studies have highlighted that many compounds that extended lifespan in model organisms did so by mediating hormesis. Rutin is a glycosylate conjugate of quercetin and rutinose and is abundant in citrus fruits and buckwheat seeds. Rutin possess ROS scavenging, anti-cancer, cardio-protective, skin-regenerative and neuro-protective properties. Drosophila melanogaster is an attractive model organism for longevity studies owing to its homology of organ and cellular-pathways with mammals. In this study, we aimed to understand the effect of rutin on extending longevity in Drosophila melanogaster. Male and female flies were administered with a range of rutin doses (100-800 µM) to analyse whether rutin mediated lifespan-extension by hormesis. Effect of rutin on physiological parameters like food intake, fecundity, climbing activity, development and resistance to various stresses was also studied. Lifespan assays showed that rutin at 200 and 400 µM significantly extended median lifespan in both male and female flies beyond which flies exhibited drastically reduced longevity. Increase in survival at 400 µM was associated with reduced food intake and fecundity. Flies exhibited improved climbing capability with both 200 and 400 µM rutin. Flies fed with 100 and 200 µM rutin exhibited enhanced survival upon exposure to oxidative stress with 400 µM rutin exhibiting no improvement in median lifespan following oxidative stress. Analysis of endogenous peroxide upon treatment with rutin (100-400 µM) with or without 5% HO showed elevated levels of endogenous peroxide with 400 µM rutin whereas no increase in hydrogen peroxide level was observed with rutin at 100 and 200 µM. Finally, gene expression studies in male flies revealed that rutin treatment at 200 and/or 400 µM elevated transcript levels of dFoxO, MnSod, Cat, dTsc1, dTsc2, Thor, dAtg1, dAtg5 and dAtg7 and reduced transcript levels of dTor. Collectively, rutin at 200 and 400 µM improved longevity in flies; 200 µM rutin acted as a mild stressor to prolong lifespan in flies by mediating hormesis whereas 400 µM, being a high dose for best positive effects.

A rapid method to extract DCF from yeast to measure its oxidative status by using a fluorescence spectrophotometer.

Naringenin, the predominant bioflavonoid found in grapefruit and tomato has diverse bioactive properties that encompass anti-carcinogenic, anti-inflammatory, anti-atherogenic, anti-estrogenic, anti-hyperlipidemic and anti-hyperglycemic characteristics. Naringenin has not been explored for its pro-longevity traits in fruit flies. Therefore, the current study explores its influence on longevity, fecundity, feeding rate, larval development, resistance to starvation stress and body weight in male and female wild-type Drosophila melanogaster Canton-S flies. Flies were fed with normal and high fat diets respectively. The results implied hormetic effects of naringenin on longevity and development in flies. In flies fed with standard and high fat diets, lower concentrations of naringenin (200 and 400 µM) augmented mean lifespan while higher concentrations (600 and 800 µM) were consistently lethal. However, enhanced longevity seen at 400 µM of naringenin was at the expense of reduced fecundity and food intake in flies. Larvae reared on standard diet having 200 µM of naringenin exhibited elevated pupation and emergence as flies. Eclosion time was hastened in larvae reared on standard diet having 200 µM of naringenin. Female flies fed with a standard diet having 200 and 400 µM of naringenin were more resistant to starvation stress. Reduction in body weight was observed in male and female flies fed with a high fat diet supplemented with 200 and 400 µM of naringenin respectively. Collectively, the results elucidated a context- and dose-dependent hormetic efficacy of naringenin that varied with gender, diet and stage of lifecycle in flies.

Systems of Systems (SoS) are a current focus of many organizations interested in integrating assets and utilizing new technology to create multi-component systems that deliver value over time. The dynamic composition of SoS along with the managerial independence of their component systems necessitates systems engineering considerations and methods beyond those of traditional systems engineering, particularly during SoS concept design. Qualitative and heuristic-based guidance for SoS design is available in the literature, but there is a need for methods that will allow decision makers to quantitatively compare diverse multi-concept SoS designs in order to select value robust designs during concept exploration. In this paper, a quantitative method for SoS conceptual design, known as System of Systems Tradespace Exploration Method (SoSTEM), is presented. This method is based on the existing Dynamic Multi-Attribute Tradespace Exploration (MATE). MATE is a formal methodology for tradespace exploration during system design that allows the decision maker to make trades between both stakeholder preferences and systems early in the design process and includes the consideration of dynamic issues such as unarticulated stakeholder preferences and changing system context. SoSTEM enables the generation of SoS tradespaces where multi-concept architectures can be compared on the same performance and cost basis. This method allows the SoS designer to distinguish between component systems having high likelihood of participation in the SoS and those with lower likelihood of participation, based on the level of 'Effective Managerial Authority' that the SoS designer has over the component. In this paper, SoSTEM is demonstrated through application to two case studies, an Operationally Responsive System for Disaster Surveillance and a Satellite Radar System.

The Kutch Basin is unique among the western Indian sedimentary basins because of its near‐complete sequence of post‐Palaeozoic rocks. Due to extensive marine influence, the Oligocene–Early Miocene formations of the basin, namely Maniyara Fort, Khari Nadi and Chhasra, contain numerous shellbeds. Although age assignments of these formations exist based on foraminiferal biostratigraphy, detailed numerical age of the lithounits are yet to be established. We have identified a total of eleven distinct shellbeds (oldest SB 01 to youngest SB11) from this interval primarily containing bivalve fossils. Using 87Sr/86Sr of selected oyster and pectinid shells with pristine shell characteristics, we report the age of four shellbeds. The ages of SB 01, SB 04, SB 06 and SB 10 are 24.37, 17.31, 16.85 and 15.38 Ma, respectively. Our dates suggest a Chattian (24.37 Ma) age for SB 01 from the Bermoti Member, validating the previous biostratigraphical estimates from the Maniyara Fort Formation. The Chhasra Formation, however, shows a younger range of ages (17.31–15.38 Ma) characterized by a transition from the Burdigalian (SB 04–SB 06) to the Langhian (SB 10) stages. These dates have important implications in the study of sequence stratigraphy, Palaeobiogeography and tectonic history of the Kutch Basin. A surface with subaerial exposure is found in SB 08 (between 16.85 and 15.38 Ma) that corresponds to a global eustatic sea‐level decrease (Mi2). Our new dates will also help evaluate the response of marine fauna to the closure of the Tethyan seaway around 19 Ma due to the formation of ‘Gomphotherium Landbridge’. The dated shellbeds enable us to identify pre‐ and post‐closure fauna and assess the effect of biogeographical separation on these fauna. These dates have important implications in evaluating the regional geological record of western India in the context of various global events.

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The nature of drilling predation, although well documented for molluscan fossils, is understudied for micromolluscs (<5mm). Studying predation in micromolluscs is especially critical in evaluating the adaptive significance of micromorphy against predation and assessing the importance of predator-prey size relationship (PPSR). This study documents drilling predation event in microbivalves from early Miocene (Burdigalian) fossil assemblage of Quilon limestone from Kerala, India. Our sample of ~2000 valves represent nine families with an average drilling frequency (DF) of 0.06 and an incomplete drilling frequency (IDF) of 0.26. The characteristic drillhole morphology and occurrence of five genera of modern drilling gastropods (Naticid: Natica, Tanea and Polinices; Muricid: Triplex and Dermomurex) from the same locality reveals the predator identity. Predation in the studied assemblage is found to be highly selective in terms of prey taxa, size, mobility and site selection. Six out of nine families show evidence of predation indicating taxon selectivity.Poor correlation between DF and abundance further supports this view. Failed attacks are strongly correlated with morphological features such as surface ornamentation (Lucinidae), presence of conchiolin layers (Corbulidae). Drilling occurs primarily on medium size class and prey outside this size range show lower rate of attack. This indicates the existence of an "inverse size refugia" for extremely small prey along with the classical size refugia existing for large prey. Mobility is found to be a deterrent to drilling predation and it also increases failure.Microbenthos of Quilon limestone shows a lower predation intensity in comparison to the Miocene macrobenthos worldwide including coeval formation of the Kutch Basin. The interaction in microbenthos is more strongly size-dependent in contrast to the Kutch fauna.Reduced predation intensity in microfauna and existence of "inverse size refugia" support the .

Drosophila melanogaster is an ideal model organism for developmental studies. This study tests the potential of semolina-jaggery (SJ) diet as a new formulation for bulk rearing of flies. Semolina and jaggery are organic products obtained from wheat endosperm and cane sugar, respectively. Semolina is a rich source of carbohydrates and protein. Jaggery has a high content of dietary sugars. Moreover, preparation of semolina jaggery diet is cost-effective and easy. Thus, the current study aimed to compare survival and developmental parameters of flies fed the SJ diet to flies fed the standard cornmeal-sugar-yeast (CSY) diet. SJ diet enhanced survival of flies without affecting fecundity; male flies showed increased resistance to starvation. A higher number of flies emerged at F 2 and F 3 generation when fed the SJ diet than when fed the control CSY diet. SJ diet did not increase fly body weight and lipid percentage. Therefore, SJ diet can be used for bulk rearing of healthy flies at par with the standard cornmeal-sugar-yeast diet.