Sirtuin (SIRT) pathway has a crucial role in Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The present study evaluated the alterations in serum sirtuin1 (SIRT1) concentration in healthy individuals (young and old) and patients with AD and mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Blood samples were collected from 40 AD and 9 MCI patients as cases and 22 young healthy adults and 22 healthy elderly individuals as controls. Serum SIRT1 was estimated by Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR), Western Blot and Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA). A significant (p<0.0001) decline in SIRT1 concentration was observed in patients with AD (2.27±0.46 ng/µl) and MCI (3.64±0.15 ng/µl) compared to healthy elderly individuals (4.82±0.4 ng/µl). The serum SIRT1 concentration in healthy elderly was also significantly lower (p<0.0001) compared to young healthy controls (8.16±0.87 ng/µl). This study, first of its kind, has demonstrated, decline in serum concentration of SIRT1 in healthy individuals as they age. In patients with AD and MCI the decline was even more pronounced, which provides an opportunity to develop this protein as a predictive marker of AD in early stages with suitable cut off values.

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The proximate composition of the whole body and the fatty acid composition of the liver, muscle, eye and brain of wild and cultured rohu (Labeo rohita) were analyzed. The cultured species was found to have significantly (P < 0.05) higher lipid contents than its wild counterpart. The saturated (SFA) and monounsaturated (MUFA) fatty acid contents were significantly higher in the cultured species, whereas the n-6 and n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) levels were higher in the wild species. Fatty acids C16:0 and C18:1 n-9 were the principal fatty acids of the SFAs and MUFAs, respectively, identified in the analyses. Docosahexaenoic acid, eicosapentaenoic acid, and arachidonic acid were the predominant PUFAs in both groups, and all three were found to be present at significantly (P < 0.05) higher levels in the wild species. Erucic acid (C22:1 n-9), which was the predominant fatty acid (30.76%) in the feed, was detected only at low levels in muscle (0.30%), liver (1.04%) and eye (1.28%) of cultured fish tissue.

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Nepal has approximately 1000 operational brick kilns, which contribute significantly to ambient air pollution. They also account for 1.81% of the total bricks produced in the South Asian region. Little is known about their emissions, which are consequently not represented in regional/global emission inventories. This study compared emissions from seven brick kilns. Four were Fixed Chimney Bull’s Trench Kilns (FCBTKs) and three were Induced-Draught Zigzag Kilns (IDZKs). The concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2), sulfur dioxide (SO2), black carbon (BC), and particulate matter (PM) with a diameter less than 2.5 µm (PM2.5) were measured. The respective emission factors (EFs) were estimated using the carbon mass balance method. The average fuel-based EF for CO2, SO2, PM2.5, and BC were estimated as 1633 ± 134, 22 ± 22, 3.8 ± 2.6 and 0.6 ± 0.2 g per kg, respectively, for all FCBTKs. Those for IDZKs were 1981 ± 232, 24 ± 22, 3.1 ± 1, and 0.4 ± 0.2 g per kg, respectively. Overall, the study found that converting the technology from straight-line kilns to zigzag kilns can reduce PM2.5 emissions by ~20% and BC emissions by ~30%, based on emission factor estimates of per kilogram of fuel. While considering per kilogram of fired brick, emission reductions were approximately 40% for PM2.5 and 55% for BC, but this definitely depends on proper stacking and firing procedures.

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Two experiments in the sequential order were conducted to determine the effects of different dietary lipid sources on the growth and fatty acid composition of rohu (Labeo rohita) and to examine the viability of a return fish oil finisher diet in restoring the human cardio-protective fatty acid profile. In the first experiment, fish were fed either with coconut oil (D1), olive oil (D2), sunflower oil (D3), linseed oil (D4) and fish oil (D5) as the main lipid source in the isonitrogenous diet for 90 days. No significant differences in growth were observed. Among the experimental diets moisture content of fish varied significantly (p<0.05) between the groups. Dietary lipid sources had a profound influence on the fatty acid profile of the muscle and liver as tissue fatty acid profile reflected the dietary fatty acid composition. Increased amounts of eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid were observed in tissue of fish fed D4 and arachidonic acid was observed in the tissue of fish fed D3. We have also detected the metabolites of n-3 and n-6 pathway in D4 and D3 groups respectively, which prompted us to conclude that rohu, can desaturate and elongate C 18 essential fatty acids to C 20 and C 22 HUFA. A second feeding trial was conducted using the animals from the five different treatment groups for the duration of 30 days with fish oil rich diet (D5). Feeding with fish-oil rich washout diet resulted in the near equalization of all the other treatment groups tissue fatty acid profiles to that of fish oil (D5) fed group. These results indicate that a finishing fish oil diet can be effectively used to restore the human cardioprotective fatty acid profile in rohu fed with vegetable oils as lipid source.