A case of household water tanks, 1000 L capacity, made of RCC, LLDPE and mild steel (stainless steel) was evaluated for life cycle analysis. The scope of the research comprised of the raw materials, energy inputs and corresponding emissions during all phases of product making such as extraction of raw material, it's processing, followed by manufacturing and transport, as well as use and reuse of the product. Simapro 8 (System for Integrated environMental Assessment of PROducts), a modelling software, from Dutch PRé Consultants was used to conduct the life cycle analysis. Simapro 8 enables systematic and transparent modelling and analysis of complex life cycles based on the recommendations of the ISO 14040 series of standards. In the present study the most common method which is acceptable worldwide "Recipe Endpoint method" (ReCiPe) was employed. ReCiPe computes the impact categories and classifies them into two classes based on relevant arrays of characterization factors. Simapro addresses impact categories viz. ozone depletion, human toxicity, ionizing radiation, photochemical oxidant formation, particulate matter formation, terrestrial acidification, climate change, terrestrial ecotoxicity, agricultural land occupation, urban land occupation, natural land transformation, marine ecotoxicity, marine eutrophication, fresh water eutrophication, fresh water ecotoxicity, fossil fuel depletion, minerals depletion, fresh water depletion at the midpoint level. While at the Endpoint level, the impact categories are multiplied by corresponding damage factors and integrated to be represented as three Endpoint level categories, viz. human health, ecosystems and resource depletion. The three endpoint categories are normalized, weighted, and aggregated into a single score. LCA studies indicate that household water tanks of LLDPE have least environmental implications considering impacts on human health, ecosystems and resource depletion as compared to its counterparts viz. Household water tanks made up of mild steel and RCC. The sequence of the material with decreasing impacts is concrete tanks > mild steel tank > LLDPE tanks. The overall assessment is centred on the elements such as material inputs, energy inputs and environmental emissions. K. N. Shah et al.761

The current work is focused on establishing therapeutic protocol using unconventional drugs of herbal origin and studying their mechanism of action at molecular level in the treatment of bovine sub-clinical mastitis. It explores the potential of different cytokines which can be used for diagnosis, prognosis and monitoring of bovine sub-clinical mastitis. alkaloids was administered intramammarily in 24 sub-clinically affected quarters once a day for 5 consecutive days at the rate of 10 ml of 1% formulation. In 18 disease control quarters, sterile normal saline was infused. The bacterial cultural examination, somatic cell count (SCC) and cytokines (IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8, IL-12, GM-CSF, IFN-γ, TNF-α) expression by real-time PCR were evaluated on day 7, 14, 21 and 28 post-last treatment from milk samples. Around 75.0% of treatment group quarters showed significant ( < 0.05) reduction in SCC on day 28 post-last treatment, whereas 94.4% control group quarters did not show any significant decline in SCC. 58.3% of treated quarters showed both bacteriological cure as well as significant ( < 0.05) reduction in SCC on day 28 post-last treatment. While, among control group quarters, 83.3% quarters not only remained bacteriological positive, they also did not show any significant decline in SCC. The in vitro antimicrobial activity of alkaloids of was evaluated. Lower concentrations of alkaloids (0.25% and 0.50%) dissolved in normal saline showed zone of inhibition against 12 out of 15 isolates, however higher concentration (1, 1.5, 2, 2.5 and 5%) showed zone of inhibition against all 15 bacterial isolates. The gene expression level of IL-1β, IL-8 and IFN-γ cytokines exhibited significant difference between healthy and sub-clinically affected quarters highlighting the potential of these cytokines in the diagnosis of bovine sub-clinical mastitis. Down-regulation of IL-1, IL-6, IL-8 and IFN-γ cytokines in treated quarters can be explored for making the prognosis and monitoring post-treatment disease progression of bovine sub-clinical mastitis. The alkaloid demonstrated strong in vitro and in vivo antibacterial activity, along with causing immunomodulation by enhancing post-treatment gene expression of IL-1, IL-6 and IL-8 cytokines. Therefore, alkaloids hold a strong claim as an effective alternative herbal therapy in bovine sub-clinical mastitis.

Introduction Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a colonic inflammatory disorder of unconfirmed aetiology. Clinical assessment involves invasive endoscopic examination with a small yet significant procedural risk, on which therapeutic decisions are made. Noninvasive biomarkers may be better tolerated and reduce procedural costs and risks. Matrix metalloproteinases (MMP) are enzymes involved in tissue remodelling; MMP are elevated in mucosa and urine of children with active UC. We measured urinary MMP activity in adult patients with UC, matched controls investigated for functional symptoms and normal healthy volunteers to evaluate as a potential biomarker of disease activity. Methods Ethical approval and informed consent were obtained. Patients with UC and age-sex matched controls, identified during outpatient assessment, were prospectively recruited and flexible sigmoidoscopy (FS) performed. Endoscopic (Sutherland) and histological (Gomes) appearance in patients with UC was graded. A group of healthy volunteers were recruited at a local University. Urine samples, snap frozen at collection in liquid nitrogen, were thawed, centrifuged, and assayed using commercially obtained fluorescein-labelled gelatinase activity kits. MMP activity was corrected for creatinine concentration. Results were expressed as median 6 IQR. Statistical tests included KruskaleWallis analysis and Spearman's correlation. Results 80 active and 16 quiescent UC patients, 77 age-sex matched controls and 22 normal healthy volunteers were compared. Urinary MMP activity in active compared with quiescent UC (p¼0.185) and in each compared with age-sex matched controls (p¼0.237, p¼0.525 respectively) was not significantly different. Exclusion of patients taking 5-aminosalicylates and corticosteroids did not alter significance. There was no correlation between urinary MMP activity and UC disease activity measured endoscopically (r¼0.09, p¼0.425) or histologically (r¼0.178, p¼0.127). Urinary MMP activity in healthy volunteers was significantly lower than patients with active UC (p<0.0001), quiescent UC (p<0.002), and controls (p<0.0001). Conclusion Contrary to previously published work, our findings suggest that urinary MMP activity, measured using fluoresceinlabelled gelatinase assay, does not discriminate between quiescent and active UC and does not correlate with UC disease activity. Significant differences noted between healthy volunteers and patients with UC were unexpected, but may reflect difference in group demographics. MMP gelatinase assays are therefore a poor non-invasive biomarker of disease activity in UC.

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Introduction Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a chronic infl ammatory condition of unconfi rmed aetiology. Microscopic examination of infl amed biopsies is characterised by an acute and chronic infl ammatory cell infi ltrate. There is confl icting evidence from experimental studies on the relative roles of TNFα, IL-8 and cytokines released by Th1, Th2 and Th17 lymphocytes in UC. This may be further complicated by interindividual variation in cytokine release due to genetic polymorphism. However, current therapy in infl ammatory bowel disease includes cytokine targeted interventions. The authors compared cytokine profi les of infl amed and non-infl amed mucosa in UC and age-sex matched controls. Methods Ethical approval was obtained. Patients were prospectively recruited from outpatients' clinics. Mucosal biopsies at fl exible sigmoidoscopy (FS) were taken from active UC patients within infl amed (active) and endoscopically normal proximal mucosa (internal control), and age-sex matched (external) controls undergoing FS. Quantitative cytokine analysis for IL-4, TNFα, IL-17A, IL-8 and IFNγ were carried out using commercially available assays on tissue homogenates prepared with protease inhibitors, corrected for total protein. Statistical comparison was by Wilcoxon signed rank pair analysis for non-parametric data. Results 69 active UC patients (54 paired normal/infl amed mucosa) and 69 controls were compared. No biologically significant differences were noted between normal tissue from colitis patients and external control mucosa. Cytokine measurements in infl amed mucosa compared with uninfl amed mucosa from the same patients demonstrated signifi cant reductions in IL-4 (p<0.005), IFNγ (p<0.002) and IL-17A. (p<0.002), whereas IL-8 (p<0.0005) was signifi cantly increased. Similarly, IFNγ was decreased (p<0.02) and IL-8 increased (p<0.0001) in infl amed mucosa compared with external control tissue; TNFα was not signifi cantly different in infl amed compared with control mucosa. Conclusion This fi ndings suggest that cytokine release within normal mucosa in UC patients is not signifi cantly different from matched controls; however, in infl amed mucosa, cytokines released by Th1, Th2 and Th17 lymphocytes are reduced and TNFα is unchanged. In contrast, IL-8 (a potent neutrophil chemoattractant) is elevated. These fi ndings suggest that the immunopathogenesis underlying the infl ammatory response in UC may be refl ective of an alternative to a Th1, Th2 and Th17 driven chronic infl ammatory system and may involve an IL-8 mediated leukocytic infi ltrate. Competing interests None.