high FPG levels require special attention when screening for glaucoma.As a ubiquitous enzyme, succinic semialdehyde dehydrogenase contributes significantly in many pathways including the tricarboxylic acid cycle and other metabolic processes such as detoxifying the accumulated succinic semialdehyde and surviving in nutrient-limiting conditions. Here the cce4228 gene encoding succinic semialdehyde dehydrogenase from Cyanothece sp. ATCC51142 was cloned and the homogenous recombinant cce4228 protein was obtained by Ni-NTA affinity chromatography. Biochemical characterization revealed that cce4228 protein displayed optimal activity at presence of metal ions in basic condition. Although the binding affinity of cce4228 protein with NAD+ was about 50-fold lower than that of cce4228 with NADP+, the catalytic efficiency of cce4228 protein towards succinic semialdehyde with saturated concentration of NADP+ is same as that with saturated concentration of NAD+ as its cofactors. Meanwhile, the catalytic activity of cce4228 was competitively inhibited by succinic semialdehyde substrate. Kinetic and structural analysis demonstrated that the conserved Cys262 and Glu228 residues were crucial for the catalytic activity of cce4228 protein and the Ser157 and Lys154 residues were determinants of cofactor preference.Serum levels of interleukin 2 (IL-2), interleukin 4 (IL-4), interleukin 6 (IL-6), interleukin 10 (IL-10), interleukin 17 (IL-17), interferon gamma (IFN-γ), tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α), and interleukin 1β (IL-1β), cytokines involved in the immune response, were investigated in 75 Leishmania-positive blood donors living in endemic areas. Based on their status in 2011 and 2015, the subjects were clustered into three groups positive for at least one diagnostic method in both years, but lacking clinical progression to disease (G1); positive on at least one method in 2011 but negative in 2015 (G2); negative on all methods in both years (G3). Donors were interviewed for sociodemographic data collection and underwent clinical evaluation and laboratory tests. Serum cytokines were quantified using a CBA Flex set (BD Biosciences). Significant differences were found for all the cytokines evaluated, with lower concentrations in consistently Leishmania-negative individuals. The exception was IFN-γ, with similar levels among all donors. No changes consistent with active disease were observed in the laboratory results for Leishmania-positive donors who underwent clinical evaluation, none of whom progressed to disease. This suggests that infection control is associated with serum IL-17 levels. Resolution of Leishmania infection in positive donors may be related to high levels of IL-17 and low levels of IL-10, highlighting the role played by IL-17 in asymptomatic Leishmania-infected individuals.Wheat is a major food grain in Pakistan having a prominent role in agriculture as well as the economic status of the country. In the current study, seeds of 99 wheat landraces were characterized for the quantification of seed storage proteins (Albumins, Globulin, Gliadins, and Glutenin), enzyme activities of antioxidant enzymes i.e. Ascorbate peroxidase (APX), Catalase (CAT), Superoxide dismutase (SOD), Peroxidase (POD), one hydrolytic enzyme Protease (PROT) and non-enzymatic antioxidant enzyme Ascorbic acid (AsA). The landraces were categorized into low, medium, and high based on protein concentration and enzymes activities/content. The majority of the landraces were placed in the medium category. However, for the AsA parameter majority of the landraces were placed in the low category. The highest concentration of total extracted protein (184.88±0.7 mg/g. wt.), globulins (21.35±0.43 mg/g. wt.) and glutenin (20±0.04 mg/g. wt.) as well as the high activity of SOD (303±16.80 Units/g. wt.), and Ascorbic acid (533±36.1 Units/g. wt.) was identified in the wheat landrace “11757” collected from district Panjgur (Balochistan). The wheat landrace “11760”, collected from district Kech (Balochistan), contained the highest albumins concentration (65.42±0.02 mg/g. wt.) and highest activity for CAT (589.5±61.20 Units/g. check details wt.). The highest activity of POD (32341± 91.3) and PROT was observed in seeds of the wheat landrace “11618” collected from the Gilgit Baltistan region of Pakistan. The principal component analysis showed that the great variations existed for the tested parameters among the wheat landraces. The landraces with a high concentration of seed storage proteins and antioxidant enzyme activities can be used for breeding purposes to improve the nutrimental quality of wheat cultivars.How could we explain the mechanism driving the effects of Urban Green Space (UGS) on human health? This mechanism is a complex one suggesting, on one hand, an indirect effect of UGS Provision (measured as quantity, quality or accessibility of UGS) on health through UGS Exposure (measured as visit frequency to UGS, duration of visit or intensity of activities taking place during the visit). On the other hand, UGS Provision may have an indirect effect on Exposure, mediated by people’s perception of UGS. The mechanism further suggests that UGS Exposure may influence indirectly human Health but mediated by human motivation to use UGS. We tested these different expectations by fitting 12 alternative structural equation models (SEMs) corresponding to four different scenarios, depending on how UGS Provision was approximated. We show that SEMs where i) Provision is approximated as UGS quantity, and Exposure as duration (SEMi), ii) Provision is approximated as quantity, and Exposure as intensity (SEMii) and iii) Provision is approximated as distance of the closest UGS from people’s house, and Exposure as intensity (SEMiii) are equally the best of all 12 SEMs tested. However, apart from the SEMi that has no significant path, SEMii and SEMiii have the same significant path (motivation ~ intensity; β = 7.86±2.03, p = 0.0002), suggesting that visits to UGS may be motivated by opportunities of physical activities offered by UGS. In all our scenarios, the best SEM is always the one where Exposure is measured as intensity, irrespective of how Provision is approximated. This suggests that it is not only UGS provision that matters the most in the mechanism linking UGS to human health improvement, but rather intensity, i.e. the type of activities people engage in when they visit UGSs. Overall, our findings support the theoretical model tested in this study.