North Eastern Hill University

About: North Eastern Hill University is a education organization based out in Shillong, Meghalaya, India. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Ruthenium. The organization has 2318 authors who have published 4476 publications receiving 48894 citations.

Cropping and yields in agricultural systems of the north-eastern hill region of India

Abstract: Shifting agriculture locally known as jhum is the predominant form of agriculture used by the local tribe of the north-eastern hill region of India. There is also some valley rice cultivation and terrace cultivation. The structure and some functional aspects of these three agro-ecosystem types are discussed and compared. The 30 year jhum cycle has the advantage over the 10 or 5 year cycle apart from higher yields, in that the monetary output/input ratio under a 30 year jhum cycle is comparatively favourable. Further, the 30 year jhum cycle is advantageous over terrace cultivation as the latter needs heavy inputs of fertilizers. The main advantage of settled valley cultivation is the raising of crops consistent in yield year after year from the same site.

An Updated Review of Computer-Aided Drug Design and Its Application to COVID-19.

Abstract: The recent outbreak of the deadly coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) pandemic poses serious health concerns around the world. The lack of approved drugs or vaccines continues to be a challenge and further necessitates the discovery of new therapeutic molecules. Computer-aided drug design has helped to expedite the drug discovery and development process by minimizing the cost and time. In this review article, we highlight two important categories of computer-aided drug design (CADD), viz., the ligand-based as well as structured-based drug discovery. Various molecular modeling techniques involved in structure-based drug design are molecular docking and molecular dynamic simulation, whereas ligand-based drug design includes pharmacophore modeling, quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSARs), and artificial intelligence (AI). We have briefly discussed the significance of computer-aided drug design in the context of COVID-19 and how the researchers continue to rely on these computational techniques in the rapid identification of promising drug candidate molecules against various drug targets implicated in the pathogenesis of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The structural elucidation of pharmacological drug targets and the discovery of preclinical drug candidate molecules have accelerated both structure-based as well as ligand-based drug design. This review article will help the clinicians and researchers to exploit the immense potential of computer-aided drug design in designing and identification of drug molecules and thereby helping in the management of fatal disease.

Amino acetate functionalized Schiff base organotin(IV) complexes as anticancer drugs: synthesis, structural characterization, and in vitro cytotoxicity studies.

Abstract: Potassium 2-{[(2Z)-(3-hydroxy-1-methyl-2-butenylidene)]amino}-4-methyl-pentanoate (L1HK) and potassium 2-{[(E)-1-(2-hydroxyphenyl)alkylidene]amino}-4-methyl-pentanoates (L2HK-L3HK) underwent reactions with PhnSnCl4-n (n = 2 and 3) to give the amino acetate functionalized Schiff base organotin(IV) complexes [Ph3SnLH]n (1–3) and [Ph2SnL] (4), respectively. These complexes have been characterized by 1H, 13C, 119Sn NMR, IR spectroscopic techniques in combination with elemental analyses. The crystal structures of 1 and 3 were determined. The crystal structures reveal that the complexes exist as polymeric chains in which the L-bridged Sn-atoms adopt a trans-R3SnO2 trigonal bipyramidal configuration with the Ph groups in the equatorial positions and the axial locations occupied by a carboxylate oxygen atom from one carboxylate ligand and the alcoholic or phenolic oxygen atom of the next carboxylate ligand in the chain. The carboxylate ligands coordinate in the zwitterionic form with the alcoholic/phenolic proton moved to the nearby nitrogen atom. The solution structures were predicted by 119Sn NMR spectroscopy. When these organotin(IV) complexes were tested against A498, EVSA-T, H226, IGROV, M19 MEL, MCF7 and WIDR human tumor cell lines, the average ID50 values obtained were 55, 80 and 35 ng/ml for triphenyltin(IV) compounds 1–3, respectively. The most cytotoxic triphenyltin(IV) compound in the present report (3) with an average ID50 value of around 35 ng/ml is found to be more cytotoxic for all the cell lines studied than doxorubicin, cisplatin, 5-fluorouracil and etoposide.