Deciphering miRNA-lncRNA-mRNA interaction through experimental validation of miRNAs, lncRNAs, and miRNA targets on mRNAs in Cajanus cajan

Pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan) is widely cultivated for its nutritional and medicinal value yet remains an orphan crop as productivity has not been improved because of a lack of genome and non-coding genome information. Non-coding RNAs, like miRNAs and long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), are involved in regulation of growth, metabolism, development, and stress response, and have a critical role in post-transcriptional gene regulation (PTGR). We attempted to elucidate the roles of miRNAs and lncRNAs in pigeon pea through experimental validation of computationally predicted miRNAs and lncRNAs and targets of miRNAs on mRNAs. We experimentally validated 20 miRNAs and 11 lncRNAs. We predicted cleavage sites of three miRNA targets: serine/threonine-protein kinase, polygalacturonase, beta-galactosidase. We identified 469 targets of 265 miRNAs and their functional annotations using computational methods. We built a miRNA-mRNA-lncRNA network model, with the miRNAs targeting both mRNAs and lncRNAs, to obtain information on the interplay of these three molecules. A confirmed interaction through experimental validation was established between miRNA, namely cca-miR1535a targeting the mRNA for beta-galactosidase, as well as the lncRNA cca-lnc-020033. Our findings increase knowledge of the non-coding genome of pigeon pea and their roles in PTGR and in improving agronomic traits of this pulse crop.

Sperm intrusion into the implantation-stage blastocyst and its potential biological significance

The human embryo derives from fusion of oocyte and sperm, undergoes growth and differentiation, resulting in a blastocyst. To initiate implantation, the blastocyst hatches from the zona pellucida, allowing access from external inputs. Modelling of uterine sperm distribution indicates that 200-5000 sperm cells may reach the implantation-stage blastocyst following natural coitus. We show ultrastructural evidence of sperm cells intruding into trophectoderm cells of zona-free blastocysts obtained from the uterus of rhesus monkeys. Interaction between additional sperm and zona-free blastocyst could be an evolutionary feature yielding adaptive processes influencing the developmental fate of embryos. This process bears potential implications in pregnancy success, sperm competition and human health.

Tests of Light-Lepton Universality in Angular Asymmetries of B^{0}→D^{*-}ℓν Decays

We present the first comprehensive tests of the universality of the light leptons in the angular distributions of semileptonic B^{0}-meson decays to charged spin-1 charmed mesons. We measure five angular-asymmetry observables as functions of the decay recoil that are sensitive to lepton-universality-violating contributions. We use events where one neutral B is fully reconstructed in ϒ(4S)→BB[over ¯] decays in data corresponding to 189  fb^{-1} integrated luminosity from electron-positron collisions collected with the Belle II detector. We find no significant deviation from the standard model expectations.

Field-Based Planetary Protection Operations for Melt Probes: Validation of Clean Access into the Blood Falls, Antarctica, Englacial Ecosystem

Subglacial environments on Earth offer important analogs to Ocean World targets in our solar system. These unique microbial ecosystems remain understudied due to the challenges of access through thick glacial ice (tens to hundreds of meters). Additionally, sub-ice collections must be conducted in a clean manner to ensure sample integrity for downstream microbiological and geochemical analyses. We describe the field-based cleaning of a melt probe that was used to collect brine samples from within a glacier conduit at Blood Falls, Antarctica, for geomicrobiological studies. We used a thermoelectric melting probe called the IceMole that was designed to be minimally invasive in that the logistical requirements in support of drilling operations were small and the probe could be cleaned, even in a remote field setting, so as to minimize potential contamination. In our study, the exterior bioburden on the IceMole was reduced to levels measured in most clean rooms, and below that of the ice surrounding our sampling target. Potential microbial contaminants were identified during the cleaning process; however, very few were detected in the final englacial sample collected with the IceMole and were present in extremely low abundances (∼0.063% of 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequences). This cleaning protocol can help minimize contamination when working in remote field locations, support microbiological sampling of terrestrial subglacial environments using melting probes, and help inform planetary protection challenges for Ocean World analog mission concepts.

Differential Response to Mechanical Cues in Uterine Fibroid Versus Paired Myometrial Cells

Uterine leiomyomas, or fibroids, are common, benign tumors for which hysterectomy is the only definitive treatment. The extracellular matrix of fibroids is disorganized and stiffer than the surrounding myometrial tissue. To understand how stiffness affects fibroid cells, patient-matched fibroid and myometrial cells were cultured on substrates with stiffnesses varying from 0.2 to 150 kPa. Fibroid cells grew more slowly than myometrial cells overall, and only the myometrial cells altered their growth rate in response to stiffness. In both cell types, cell proliferation decreased with inhibition of PI3K and increased with inhibition of IGF-1. The cellular area was greater for the fibroid cells. The only significant effect of stiffness on the cell area was between the 0.2 and 64 kPa substrates, and this was true for both cell types. To investigate intracellular stiffness, intracellular particle tracking microrheology was used. Fibroid cells exhibited a more than 100-fold increase in elastic modulus at a frequency of 1 Hz in response to the addition of external stress, while myometrial cells showed little change in elastic modulus. Overall, the responses of both cells followed similar trends in response to stiffness and inhibitors, although the response was attenuated in the fibroid cells. The changes that were demonstrated by the change in intracellular stiffness with response to compression suggest that other mechanical forces may provide insight into differences in the two cell types.

Precise Measurement of the D_{s}^{+} Lifetime at Belle II

We measure the lifetime of the D_{s}^{+} meson using a data sample of 207  fb^{-1} collected by the Belle II experiment running at the SuperKEKB asymmetric-energy e^{+}e^{-} collider. The lifetime is determined by fitting the decay-time distribution of a sample of 116×10^{3} D_{s}^{+}→ϕπ^{+} decays. Our result is τ_{D_{s}^{+}}=(499.5±1.7±0.9)  fs, where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second is systematic. This result is significantly more precise than previous measurements.

Search for a τ^{+}τ^{-} Resonance in e^{+}e^{-}→μ^{+}μ^{-}τ^{+}τ^{-} Events with the Belle II Experiment

We report the first search for a nonstandard-model resonance decaying into τ pairs in e^{+}e^{-}→μ^{+}μ^{-}τ^{+}τ^{-} events in the 3.6-10  GeV/c^{2} mass range. We use a 62.8  fb^{-1} sample of e^{+}e^{-} collisions collected at a center-of-mass energy of 10.58 GeV by the Belle II experiment at the SuperKEKB collider. The analysis probes three different models predicting a spin-1 particle coupling only to the heavier lepton families, a Higgs-like spin-0 particle that couples preferentially to charged leptons (leptophilic scalar), and an axionlike particle, respectively. We observe no evidence for a signal and set exclusion limits at 90% confidence level on the product of cross section and branching fraction into τ pairs, ranging from 0.7 to 24 fb, and on the couplings of these processes. We obtain world-leading constraints on the couplings for the leptophilic scalar model for masses above 6.5  GeV/c^{2} and for the axionlike particle model over the entire mass range.

Measurement of CP Violation in B^{0}→K_{S}^{0}π^{0} Decays at Belle II

We report a measurement of the CP-violating parameters C and S in B^{0}→K_{S}^{0}π^{0} decays at Belle II using a sample of 387×10^{6}  BB[over ¯] events recorded in e^{+}e^{-} collisions at a center-of-mass energy corresponding to the ϒ(4S) resonance. These parameters are determined by fitting the proper decay-time distribution of a sample of 415 signal events. We obtain C=-0.04_{-0.15}^{+0.14}±0.05 and S=0.75_{-0.23}^{+0.20}±0.04, where the first uncertainties are statistical and the second are systematic.

Heparin Biofunctionalized Selenium Nanoparticles as Potential Antiangiogenic-Chemotherapeutic Agents for Targeted Doxorubicin Delivery

Combining antiangiogenic and chemotherapeutic agents has shown promising clinical benefits in cancer cures when the therapeutic intervention takes into account the tissue and molecular targets. Moreover, the risk of induced drug resistance is minimized when multiple pathways are involved in the treatment regimen, yielding a better therapeutic outcome. Nanodrug delivery systems have proven to be a prudent approach to treating complex disease pathologies. As such, combining antiangiogenic and chemotherapeutic drugs within multimodal nanocarriers synergistically augments the clinical efficiency of the drugs. This study reports the combinatorial efficacy of heparin (Hep), selenium NPs (SeNPs), and doxorubicin (Dox) to inhibit tumor growth and progression. Both Se@Hep-NPs and Se@Hep-Dox-NPs with excellent water dispersity having a size and charge in the range of 250 ± 5 and 253 ± 5 nm and -53 ± 0.4 and -48.4 ± 6.4 mV, respectively, showed strong anticancer potential assessed through in vitro assays like cell viability, specificity, colony formation, and wound scratch in MCF7 cells. Strong synergistic interactions among SeNPs, Hep, and Dox in Se@Hep-Dox-NPs render it to be an antiangiogenic and proapoptotic cancer cell death inducers. In vivo imaging highlights the dual-mode attributes of Se@Hep-NPs with desirable passive tumor targeting and biomedical imaging ability when tagged with Cy7.5, while Se@Hep-Dox-NPs significantly reduce the tumor burden and prolong the longevity of subcutaneous EAC-bearing mice. Histopathology studies reveal no signs of toxicity in major organs. Collectively, these results qualify Se@Hep-Dox-NPs as a plausible clinical therapeutic candidate.

Understanding systemic disruption from the Covid-19-induced semiconductor shortage for the auto industry

Covid-19 has allowed us to study systemic disruptions that impact entire industries. This paper explores how disruptions start, propagate, and continue over time by examining the semiconductor chip shortage faced by the auto industry during the years following Covid-19 in 2020. First, we carried out a thematic analysis of 209 pertinent newspaper articles. The analysis resulted in a thematic model of such disruptions with the interplay of various factors leading to the prolonged disruption to the auto sector. Second, we present the results from a stylized supply chain planning model run at different times to show how disruptions propagate to the auto and other sectors, causing systemic shortages. Overall, we contribute to the supply chain risk literature by focusing on system disruptions impacting entire industries versus normal disruptions affecting a particular company's supply chain.

Absorption Dominated Directional Electromagnetic Interference Shielding through Asymmetry in a Multilayered Construct with an Exceptionally High Green Index

Fabricating green electromagnetic interference (EMI) shields is the need of the hour because strong secondary reflections in the vicinity of the shield adversely affect the environment and the reliability of the neighboring devices. To this end, the present work aims to maximize the absorption-based EMI shielding through a multilayered construct comprising a porous structure (pore size less than λ/5), a highly conducting entity, and a layer to match the impedance. The elements of this construct were positioned so that the incoming electromagnetic (EM) radiation interacts with the other layers of the construct before the conducting entity. This positioning of the layers in the construct offers a high green shielding index (g_s) and low reflection coefficient (R ∼ 0.1) with an exceptionally high percent absorption (up to 99%). Polyurethane (PU) foams were fabricated using the salt-leaching technique and strategically positioned with carbon nanotube (CNT) papers and polycarbonate (PC)-based films to obtain symmetric and asymmetric constructs. These structures were then employed to gain mechanistic insight into the directional dependency of shielding performance, g_s, and heat dissipation ability. Interestingly, maximum total shielding effectiveness (SE_T) of -52 dB (88% absorption @8.2 GHz) and specific shielding effectiveness/thickness (SSE_t) of -373 dB/cm²g were achieved for a symmetric construct whereas, for the asymmetric construct, the SE_T and SSE_t were -37 dB and -280 dB/cm²g, respectively, with an exceptionally high g_s of 8.6, the highest reported so far. The asymmetricity in the construct led to directional dependence of the absorption component (% SE_A, shielding effectiveness due to absorption) and heat dissipation, primarily governed by the electrical and thermal conductivity gradient, respectively. This study opens new avenues in this field and reports constructs with an exceptionally high green index.

Biopolymeric composite hydrogel loaded with silver NPs and epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) effectively manages ROS for rapid wound healing in type II diabetic wounds

Delayed wound healing in patients having type-II diabetes mellitus (T2DM) often results in a high rate of amputation. We report an innovative Guar Gum-based macroporous hydrogel (HG) infused with an antibacterial agent (Ag NPs), and antioxidant, epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) to address rapid wound healing and interestingly could inhibit the associated pathophysical bone infection in a high-fat-diet-induced T2DM C57BL/6 mice model. The HG-Ag-EGCG elicits scar-free wound healing in subcutaneous wounds and histopathological evidence confirmed HG-Ag-EGCG hydrogel patch elicits better wound healing through enhanced cell proliferation, mature connecting tissue fiber formation, minimum void spaces formation, and better re-epithelialization when compared with a market available hydrogel patch material (Luofucon®). Supportive of the in vivo outcomes, in vitro experiments delineated better-wound closure due to improved management of ROS by the HG-Ag-EGCG. Additionally, a favorable non-toxicity outcome assessed through both in vitro and in vivo conditions confirmed its potential applicability in clinical wound care management.

Role of animal models in biomedical research: a review

The animal model deals with the species other than the human, as it can imitate the disease progression, its’ diagnosis as well as a treatment similar to human. Discovery of a drug and/or component, equipment, their toxicological studies, dose, side effects are in vivo studied for future use in humans considering its’ ethical issues. Here lies the importance of the animal model for its enormous use in biomedical research. Animal models have many facets that mimic various disease conditions in humans like systemic autoimmune diseases, rheumatoid arthritis, epilepsy, Alzheimer’s disease, cardiovascular diseases, Atherosclerosis, diabetes, etc., and many more. Besides, the model has tremendous importance in drug development, development of medical devices, tissue engineering, wound healing, and bone and cartilage regeneration studies, as a model in vascular surgeries as well as the model for vertebral disc regeneration surgery. Though, all the models have some advantages as well as challenges, but, present review has emphasized the importance of various small and large animal models in pharmaceutical drug development, transgenic animal models, models for medical device developments, studies for various human diseases, bone and cartilage regeneration model, diabetic and burn wound model as well as surgical models like vascular surgeries and surgeries for intervertebral disc degeneration considering all the ethical issues of that specific animal model. Despite, the process of using the animal model has facilitated researchers to carry out the researches that would have been impossible to accomplish in human considering the ethical prohibitions.

Mathematical Analysis of a COVID-19 Epidemic Model by Using Data Driven Epidemiological Parameters of Diseases Spread in India

This paper attempts to describe the outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (COVID-19) via an epidemic model. This virus has dissimilar effects in different countries. The number of new active coronavirus cases is increasing gradually across the globe. India is now in the second stage of COVID-19 spreading, it will be an epidemic very quickly if proper protection is not undertaken based on the database of the transmission of the disease. This paper is using the current data of COVID-19 for the mathematical modeling and its dynamical analysis. We bring in a new representation to appraise and manage the outbreak of infectious disease COVID-19 through SEQIR pandemic model, which is based on the supposition that the infected but undetected by testing individuals are send to quarantine during the incubation period. During the incubation period if any individual be infected by COVID-19, then that confirmed infected individuals are isolated and the necessary treatments are arranged so that they cannot taint the other residents in the community. Dynamics of the SEQIR model is presented by basic reproduction number R ₀ and the comprehensive stability analysis. Numerical results are depicted through apt graphical appearances using the data of five states and India.

Mathematical Analysis of a COVID-19 Epidemic Model by Using Data Driven Epidemiological Parameters of Diseases Spread in India

This paper attempts to describe the outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (COVID-19) via an epidemic model. This virus has dissimilar effects in different countries. The number of new active coronavirus cases is increasing gradually across the globe. India is now in the second stage of COVID-19 spreading, it will be an epidemic very quickly if proper protection is not undertaken based on the database of the transmission of the disease. This paper is using the current data of COVID-19 for the mathematical modeling and its dynamical analysis. We bring in a new representation to appraise and manage the outbreak of infectious disease COVID-19 through SEQIR pandemic model, which is based on the supposition that the infected but undetected by testing individuals are send to quarantine during the incubation period. During the incubation period if any individual be infected by COVID-19, then that confirmed infected individuals are isolated and the necessary treatments are arranged so that they cannot taint the other residents in the community. Dynamics of the SEQIR model is presented by basic reproduction number R 0 and the comprehensive stability analysis. Numerical results are depicted through apt graphical appearances using the data of five states and India.

Perinatal arsenic exposure-induced sustained microglial activation leads to impaired cognitive response in BALB/c mice

Arsenic is infamous for its adverse health effects worldwide. It is known to induce cognitive impairment in experimental model animals and children in the arsenic-affected area. Although the effect of arsenic on neuronal health is well studied, but the involvement of the brain immune component, microglia, has not been well explored. The present study is focused on examining the role of microglia in arsenic-induced cognitive impairment. We have used balb/c mice for the study. Pregnant dams were gavaged with sodium arsenite (0.38 mg/kg body weight) from gestational day 5 (GD5) till postnatal day 22 (PND22). Mice were sacrificed on PND 7, 14, 22 and isolated brains were used for various assays. The study reveals that perinatal arsenic exposure keeps the microglia activated and skews them towards the M1 phenotype. Increased microglial proliferation, ROS, NO, higher levels of proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines were observed in the arsenic exposed group. Enhanced phagocytosis and phagocytic receptor TREM2, along with decreased expression of SNAP25 and PSD95, were correlated for enhanced neuronal pruning leading to impaired learning and memory response. Taken together, the study reveals an association between arsenic exposure and altered cognitive response where enhanced neuronal pruning by arsenic-activated microglia plays an important role in developing mice.

Optimal control design incorporating vaccination and treatment on six compartment pandemic dynamical system

In this paper, a mathematical model of the COVID-19 pandemic with lockdown that provides a more accurate representation of the infection rate has been analyzed. In this model, the total population is divided into six compartments: the susceptible class, lockdown class, exposed class, asymptomatic infected class, symptomatic infected class, and recovered class. The basic reproduction number (R0) is calculated using the next-generation matrix method and presented graphically based on different progression rates and effective contact rates of infective individuals. The COVID-19 epidemic model exhibits the disease-free equilibrium and endemic equilibrium. The local and global stability analysis has been done at the disease-free and endemic equilibrium based on R0. The stability analysis of the model shows that the disease-free equilibrium is both locally and globally stable when R0<1, and the endemic equilibrium is locally and globally stable when R0>1 under some conditions. A control strategy including vaccination and treatment has been studied on this pandemic model with an objective functional to minimize. Finally, numerical simulation of the COVID-19 outbreak in India is carried out using MATLAB, highlighting the usefulness of the COVID-19 pandemic model and its mathematical analysis.

AB0399 COMPARISON OF RITUXIMAB VERSUS LEFLUNOMIDE IN COMBINATION WITH METHOTREXATE IN PATIENTS WITH ACTIVE RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS DESPITE METHOTREXATE TREATMENT- AN OPEN LABEL, RANDOMISED CONTROLLED TRIAL

Background

Active rheumatoid arthritis (RA) despite methotrexate monotherapy is seen in about 43% of patients1. The current American College of Rheumatology (ACR) guidelines recommend adding a biologic or targeted synthetic Disease Modifying Anti-rheumatic Drug (DMARD) to methotrexate (MTX) therapy in such cases. The European Alliance of Associations for Rheumatology (EULAR) guidelines recommend combination DMARDs but the most commonly used combination is that of MTX with sulphasalazine and hydroxychloroquine. In a resource limited country like ours, it is not always possible to give a biological or a targeted synthetic DMARD, and a more cost effective method needs to be implemented. Often, leflunomide (LEF) is added in such cases and is effective.

Objectives

We aimed to study if LEF with MTX combination is non inferior to rituximab (RTX) and MTX combination in patients with active RA despite MTX.

Methods

This open label, randomised controlled trial, carried out on patients with moderate to high disease activity despite MTX therapy for atleast 3 months (Clinical Trials Registry- India - REF/2021/04/042755) was conducted in a tertiary care centre in India. Patients were randomised to receive either LEF (10-20mg/day) or RTX (2 doses of 1gm, 2 weeks apart) along with background MTX (10-25mg/week) and followed up at 12, 18 and 24 weeks. The primary outcome ACR20 response at 24 weeks and secondary outcomes were ACR50 and 70 responses at 24 weeks.

Results

There were 21 patients in each arm. At baseline, all patients in both groups had seropositive RA and had high disease activity according to Disease Activity Score (DAS)28 scores. The ACR20 response at 24 weeks was achieved by 14 (66.6%) and 16 (76.19%) patients respectively in the LEF and RTX arms. The ACR50 response was achieved by 11 (52.38%) patients in both groups and ACR70 response by 4 (19%) and 7 (33.3%) in the LEF and RTX arms respectively (Figure 1). The mean dose of LEF at week 24 was 17.6 mg/day. Improvement of various parameters at week 24 as compared to the baseline values were similar in both groups (Table 1). No major adverse events were noted. Two patients receiving RTX had a mild infusion reaction. Elevation in liver enzymes (<3 times the upper limit of normal) were noted in 4 patients in the LEF arm which normalised subsequently. No patient required drug withdrawal.

Table 1.

Responses in both groups at week 24 (p= Not significant for all)

Leflunomide, n=21Rituximab, n=21Mean ±SD reduction in SJC-4.57 ± 3.4-5.43 ± 4.6Mean ±SD reduction in TJC-6.2 ± 3.9-7.1 ± 6.1Mean ±SD reduction in PhGA-3.42 ± 1.8-4.04 ± 2.5Mean ±SD reduction in PGA-3.05 ± 1.8-3.42 ± 2.4Mean ±SD reduction in pain VAS-33.57 ± 23.2-38.57 ± 24.4Mean ±SD reduction in DAS28-ESR-1.95 ± 1.2-2.08 ± 1.4Mean ±SD reduction in DAS28-CRP-1.81 ± 1.2-2.07 ± 1.4Mean ±SD reduction in HAQ-DI-0.65 ± 0.5-0.82 ± 0.6EULAR good response (%)1 (4.76%)1 (4.76%)EULAR moderate response (%)15 (71.43%)14 (66.6%)EULAR non-responders (%)5 (23.81%)6 (28.57%)

CRP, C- Reactive Protein; DAS, Disease Activity Score; ESR, Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate; HAQ-DI, Healthy Assessment Questionnaire-Disability Index; PGA, Patient’s global assessment of disease activity; PhGA, Physician’s global assessment of disease activity; SJC, Swollen Joint Count; TJC, Tender Joint Count; VAS, Visual analogue scale.

Figure 1.

Number of patients achieving ACR20, 50 and 70 responses at week 24

Conclusion

In our study, LEF was comparable to RTX for achievement of ACR20/50/70 responses at 24 weeks. LEF can be considered as an add-on option to MTX instead of more expensive biologic agents in MTX refractory RA. Larger studies are needed to confirm this hypothesis.

References

[1]Sergeant JC, Hyrich KL, Anderson J, et al. Prediction of primary non-response to methotrexate therapy using demographic, clinical and psychosocial variables: results from the UK Rheumatoid Arthritis Medication Study (RAMS). Arthritis Res Ther. 2018;20(1):147. Published 2018 Jul 13.

Disclosure of Interests

None declared

Minocycline reverses developmental arsenic exposure-induced microglia activation and functional alteration in BALB/c mice

Arsenic activates microglia and exerts bystander effects on neuron. The present study is focused to test whether minocycline, a second generation antibiotic, can reverse the effect of developmental arsenic exposure on microglial activation and function. Pregnant Balb/c dams were gavaged with sodium arsenite (0.38 mg/kg bd wt) from gestational day 5 (GD5) till post natal day 21 (PND21) and then one group of pups continued till PND59 with arsenic gavage. Minocycline (33 mg/kg bd wt) was administered intraperitoneally two weeks till sacrifice, every alternate day. Mice were sacrificed on PND22 and PND60 and used for various assays. Primary microglial were isolated (ex vivo microglia) from experimental animals and used to measure reactive oxygen species (ROS), nitric oxide (NO), cytokine production and phagocytosis. The whole brain lysate was used for western blot analysis of microglial marker CD68 and synaptic marker, post synaptic density protein 95 (PSD95). For real-time PCR analysis of triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 2 (TREM2) and PSD95, RNA isolated from whole brain was used. The study reveals that minocycline administration reversed arsenic-induced increased expression of CD68, ROS, NO, cytokine production, phagocytosis and TREM2 expression. Arsenic-induced reduced expression of PSD95 protein was reversed by minocycline, although the mRNA of PSD95 was unaltered among different groups. Finally, we have checked the learning and memory response of the experimental animals using Y-maze test to correlate the arsenic-induced altered level of synaptic protein. Taken together, the present study finds minocycline to reduce arsenic-induced microglial activation and function which in turn reverses the arsenic-induced impaired learning and memory response.

A discrete-time epidemic model for the analysis of transmission of COVID19 based upon data of epidemiological parameters

The forecasting of the nature and dynamics of emerging coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has gained a great concern for health care organizations and governments. The efforts aim to to suppress the rapid and global spread of its tentacles and also control the infection with the limited available resources. The aim of this work is to employ real data set to propose and analyze a compartmental discrete time COVID-19 pandemic model with non-linear incidence and hence predict and control its outbreak through dynamical research. The Basic Reproduction Number ( R 0 ) is calculated analytically to study the disease-free steady state ( R 0 < 1 ), and also the permanency case ( R 0 > 1 ) of the disease. Numerical results show that the transmission rates α > 0 and β > 0 are quite effective in reducing the COVID-19 infections in India or any country. The fitting and predictive capability of the proposed discrete-time system are presented for relishing the effect of disease through stability analysis using real data sets.

MicroRNA-129-5p-regulated microglial expression of the surface receptor CD200R1 controls neuroinflammation

CD200R1 is an inhibitory surface receptor expressed in microglia and blood macrophages. Microglial CD200R1 is known to control neuroinflammation by keeping the microglia in resting state, and therefore, tight regulation of its expression is important. CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein β (CEBPβ) is the known regulator of CD200R1 transcription. In the present study, our specific intention was to find a possible posttranscriptional regulatory mechanism of CD200R1 expression. Here we investigated a novel regulatory mechanism of CD200R1 expression following exposure to an environmental stressor, arsenic, combining in silico analysis, in vitro, and in vivo experiments, as well as validation in human samples. The in silico analysis and in vitro studies with primary neonatal microglia and BV2 microglia revealed that arsenic demethylates the promoter of a microRNA, miR-129-5p, thereby increasing its expression, which subsequently represses CD200R1 by binding to its 3′-untranslated region and shuttling the CD200R1 mRNA to the cytoplasmic-processing body in mouse microglia. The role of miR-129-5p was further validated in BALB/c mouse by stereotaxically injecting anti-miR-129. We found that anti-miR-129 reversed the expression of CD200R1, as well as levels of inflammatory molecules IL-6 and TNF-α. Experiments with a CD200R1 siRNA-induced loss-of-function mouse model confirmed an miR-129-5p→CD200R1→IL-6/TNF-α signaling axis. These main findings were replicated in a human cell line and validated in human samples. Taken together, our study revealed miR-129-5p as a novel posttranscriptional regulator of CD200R1 expression with potential implications in neuroinflammation and related complications.

Surgical Outcome of CSF Drainage in Paediatric Obstructive Hydrocephalus

Hydrocephalus (HCP) is occurred when there is inequality in the formation and absorption of CSF to such a level which causes accumulation of fluid and causing raised intracranial pressure. Hydrocephalus is the most frequent neurosurgical problem encountered in the paediatric age group. CSF diversion surgically is needed as treatment for certain condition. Endoscopic third ventriculostomy (ETV) and Ventriculo-peritoneal shunt (VPS) are most widely used CSF diversion procedure. Therefore, this study was conducted for comparing the surgical outcome of ETV and VP shunt in obstructive hydrocephalus. This is a prospective experimental study conducted in the Department of Neurosurgery, Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH) and Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU), Dhaka, Bangladesh from January 2017 to December 2019. Paediatric patients of both sex and 6 months to 18 years of age with obstructive hydrocephalus undergone endoscopic third ventriculostomy (ETV) or ventriculo-peritoneal shunt (VP shunt) were included after fulfilling inclusion and exclusion criteria. The patients divided into two groups (Group A and Group B). The Group A included 30 patients who treated by Endoscopic third ventriculostomy and the Group B include 30 patients, who was treated by Ventriculo-peritoneal shunt. Surgical outcome was analyzed in two procedures separately. In Group A (ETV group) symptomatic improvement, GCS score improves earlier and post-operative complications relatively less than Group B (VP shunt group). But in VP shunt group 3 months follow up reveals- improvement of papilledema, Occipital frontal circumference (OFC) regression and fontanelle size improvement was more than that of ETV group. This study concluded with suggesting that Endoscopic third ventriculostomy (ETV) is technologically superior surgical technique than VP shunt. Though ETV showed relatively more immediate procedural failure and intraventricular hemorrhage but long-term outcome is better and also associated with lower incidence of infection and re-operation in comparison to VP shunt.

Serum zinc level and its association with multidrug-resistant tuberculosis

Background

Zinc deficiency is evident in chronic diseases, but little is known about its association with multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDRTB). We aimed to measure serum zinc level in MDRTB patients and explore its association with MDRTB compared to drug-sensitive tuberculosis (DSTB).

Methods

We recruited 107 MDRTB and 87 DSTB patients from a tuberculosis referral hospital in Bangladesh. After overnight fasting, 5 ml venous blood was collected from each patient to measure serum zinc level through graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrophotometry method. Multivariate logistic regression was done to measure its association with MDRTB.

Results

The mean age of all patients was 36 years, where 70% were male. About 27% MDRTB patients and 2.3% DSTB patients had low serum zinc level (P < 0.0001). An inverse correlation was observed between serum zinc level and duration of anti-TB therapy (r-value: -0.252, P < 0.01). Reduced serum zinc level (odds ratio, 0.957; 95% confidence interval 0.923-0.992) was found as a significant associating factor for MDRTB after adjusted with age, sex, occupation, residence, tobacco consumption, Bacillus Calmette-Guérin-vaccination, and duration of anti-TB therapy.

Conclusion

A lower serum zinc level is significantly associated with MDRTB. The tuberculosis control program should address this in the MDRTB control strategy.

Micro-CT imaging of Onchocerca infection of Simulium damnosum s.l. blackflies and comparison of the peritrophic membrane thickness of forest and savannah flies

Onchocerciasis is a neglected tropical disease (NTD) caused by Onchocerca Diesing 1841 (Spirurida: Onchocercidae) nematodes transmitted by blackflies. It is associated with poverty and imposes a significant health, welfare and economic burden on many tropical countries. Current methods to visualize infections within the vectors rely on invasive methods. However, using micro-computed tomography techniques, without interference from physical tissue manipulation, we visualized in three dimensions for the first time an L1 larva of an Onchocerca species within the thoracic musculature of a blackfly, Simulium damnosum s.l. Theobald 1903 (Diptera: Simuliidae), naturally infected in Ghana. The possibility that thicker peritrophic membranes in savannah flies could account for their lower parasite loads was not supported, but there were limits to our analysis. While there were no statistically significant differences between the mean thicknesses of the peritrophic membranes, in the anterior, dorsal and ventral regions, of forest and savannah blackflies killed 34-48 min after a blood-meal, the thickness of the peritrophic membrane in the posterior region could not be measured. Micro-computed tomography has the potential to provide novel information on many other parasite/vector systems and impactful images for public engagement in health education.

Control Release of Adenosine Potentiate Osteogenic Differentiation within a Bone Integrative EGCG-g-NOCC/Collagen Composite Scaffold toward Guided Bone Regeneration in a Critical-Sized Calvarial Defect

The regeneration of critical-sized bone defects with biomimetic scaffolds remains clinically challenging due to avascular necrosis, chronic inflammation, and altered osteogenic activity. Two confounding mechanisms, efficacy manipulation, and temporal regulation dictate the scaffold's bone regenerative ability. Equally critical is the priming of the mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) toward lineage-specific differentiation into bone-forming osteoblast, which particularly depends on varied mechanochemical and biological cues during bone tissue regeneration. This study sought to design and develop an optimized osteogenic scaffold, adenosine/epigallocatechin gallate-N,O-carboxymethyl chitosan/collagen type I (AD/EGCG-g-NOCC@clgn I), having osteoinductive components toward swift bone regeneration in a calvarial defect BALB/c mice model. The ex vivo findings distinctly establish the pro-osteogenic potential of adenosine and EGCG, stimulating MSCs toward osteoblast differentiation with significantly increased expression of alkaline phosphatase, calcium deposits, and enhanced osteocalcin expression. Moreover, the 3D matrix recapitulates extracellular matrix (ECM) properties, provides a favorable microenvironment, structural support against mechanical stress, and acts as a reservoir for sustained release of osteoinductive molecules for cell differentiation, proliferation, and migration during matrix osteointegration observed. Evidence from in vivo experiments, micro-CT analyses, histology, and histomorphometry signify accelerated osteogenesis both qualitatively and quantitatively: effectual bone union with enhanced bone formation and new ossified tissue in 4 mm sized defects. Our results suggest that the optimized scaffold serves as an adjuvant to guide bone tissue regeneration in critical-sized calvarial defects with promising therapeutic efficacy.

IUPS Physiology Education Workshop series in India: organizational mechanics, outcomes, and lessons

Active learning promotes the capacity of problem solving and decision making among learners. Teachers who apply instructional processes toward active participation of learners help their students develop higher order thinking skills. Due to the recent paradigm shift toward adopting competency-based curricula in the education of healthcare professionals in India, there is an emergent need for physiology instructors to be trained in active-learning methodologies and to acquire abilities to promote these curriculum changes. To address these issues, a series of International Union of Physiological Sciences (IUPS) workshops on physiology education techniques in four apex centers in India was organized in November 2018 and November 2019. The "hands-on" workshops presented the methodologies of case-based learning, problem-based learning, and flipped classroom; the participants were teachers of basic sciences and human and veterinary medicine. The workshop series facilitated capacity building and creation of a national network of physiology instructors interested in promoting active-learning techniques. The workshops were followed by a brainstorming meeting held to assess the outcomes. The aim of this report is to provide a model for implementing a coordinated series of workshops to support national curriculum change and to identify the organizational elements essential for conducting an effective Physiology Education workshop. The essential elements include a highly motivated core organizing team, constant dialogue between core organizing and local organizing committees, a sufficient time frame for planning and execution of the event, and opportunities to engage students at host institutions in workshop activities.

Studies on the changes of biochemical, microbiological and sensory parameters of sauerkraut and fermented mix vegetables

Fermentation is one of the safest and most economical means of producing foods acceptable to human beings. It improves the nutritional quality of foods by increasing the bioavailability and thus, renders the food safe palatable and easily acceptable to mankind. The present study showed the effects of fermentation on the nutritional quality and safety of fermented foods with respect to nutrient composition and digestibility measures. Sauerkraut and fermented mixed vegetable were selected for study and the effects of fermentation on nutrient were observed. Digestibility, shelf-life and biochemical aspects were also studied. Level of all principle nutrients was significantly increased. In course of fermentation, total sugar and reducing sugar in the brine increased slowly to 3% and 2%, respectively up to 8th day and then decreased in sauerkraut fermentation. The maximum total acidity (1.98-2.22%) was observed on 15th day in fermented mixed vegetables. The pH of the shredded cabbage was 6.9 and decreased to around 4 after 15 days and then remained constant.

Low-dose naltrexone rescues inflammation and insulin resistance associated with hyperinsulinemia

The incidence of diabetes, obesity, and metabolic diseases has reached an epidemic status worldwide. Insulin resistance is a common link in the development of these conditions, and hyperinsulinemia is a central hallmark of peripheral insulin resistance. However, how hyperinsulinemia leads to systemic insulin resistance is less clear. We now provide evidence that hyperinsulinemia promotes the release of soluble pro-inflammatory mediators from macrophages that lead to systemic insulin resistance. Our observations suggest that hyperinsulinemia induces sirtuin1 (SIRT1) repression and stimulates NF-κB p65 nuclear translocation and transactivation of NF-κB to promote the extracellular release of pro-inflammatory mediators. We further showed that low-dose naltrexone (LDN) abrogates hyperinsulinemia-mediated SIRT1 repression and prevents NF-κB p65 nuclear translocation. This, in turn, attenuates the hyperinsulinemia-induced release of pro-inflammatory cytokines and reinstates insulin sensitivity both in in vitro and in vivo diet-induced hyperinsulinemic mouse model. Notably, our data indicate that Sirt1 knockdown or inhibition blunts the anti-inflammatory properties of LDN in vitro Using numerous complementary in silico and in vitro experimental approaches, we demonstrated that LDN can bind to SIRT1 and increase its deacetylase activity. Together, these data support a critical role of SIRT1 in inflammation and insulin resistance in hyperinsulinemia. LDN improves hyperinsulinemia-induced insulin resistance by reorienting macrophages toward anti-inflammation. Thus, LDN treatment may provide a novel therapeutic approach against hyperinsulinemia-associated insulin resistance.

Deep Learning of Spatiotemporal Filtering for Fast Super-Resolution Ultrasound Imaging

Super-resolution ultrasound (SR-US) imaging is a new technique that breaks the diffraction limit and allows visualization of microvascular structures down to tens of micrometers. The image processing methods for the spatiotemporal filtering needed in SR-US, such as singular value decomposition (SVD), are computationally burdensome and performed offline. Deep learning has been applied to many biomedical imaging problems, and trained neural networks have been shown to process an image in milliseconds. The goal of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of deep learning to realize a spatiotemporal filter in the context of SR-US processing. A 3-D convolutional neural network (3DCNN) was trained on in vitro and in vivo data sets using SVD as ground truth in tissue clutter reduction. In vitro data were obtained from a tissue-mimicking flow phantom, and in vivo data were collected from murine tumors of breast cancer. Three training techniques were studied: training with in vitro data sets, training with in vivo data sets, and transfer learning with initial training on in vitro data sets followed by fine-tuning with in vivo data sets. The neural network trained with in vitro data sets followed by fine-tuning with in vivo data sets had the highest accuracy at 88.0%. The SR-US images produced with deep learning allowed visualization of vessels as small as [Formula: see text] in diameter, which is below the diffraction limit (wavelength of [Formula: see text] at 14 MHz). The performance of the 3DCNN was encouraging for real-time SR-US imaging with an average processing frame rate for in vivo data of 51 Hz with GPU acceleration.

Reference Value for Serum Zinc Level of Adult Population in Bangladesh

BACKGROUND

Zinc is an essential trace element that has an enormous role in regulation of physiological processes whose deviant value leads to malfunction in the body. So, establishing a country specific reference value is needed to serve as a standard for the interpretation of laboratory results during clinical decision making.

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this study was to determine the reference value of serum zinc level of adult population in Bangladesh.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The overnight fasting blood was collected from 154 apparently healthy individuals aged 18 to 65 years, from a rural community after considering several criteria. Graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrophotometry (GF-AAS) method was used for serum zinc analysis. The 2.5^th and 97.5^th percentiles of zinc level were calculated for the reference value according to the recommendations of the International Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (IFCC).

RESULTS

The estimated reference range of serum zinc level in sample population was 60-120 μg/dL, where the range was 59-125 μg/dL for male and 50-103 μg/dL for female. Significant differences of serum zinc level between male and female (p<0.001) was observed. However, there was no significant correlation between age of the respondents and serum zinc level (r=0.110, p>0.05).

CONCLUSION

The estimated reference range for serum zinc level in adult population of Bangladesh can serve as a useful indicator for clinical decision making.

Endometrial stromal cell inflammatory phenotype during severe ovarian endometriosis as a cause of endometriosis-associated infertility

RESEARCH QUESTION

Do endometrial stromal cells from primary infertile patients with severe ovarian endometriosis display differential secretory profiles of inflammation-associated cytokines during the implantation window that may cause infertility?

DESIGN

Forty-eight cytokines were measured in conditioned medium of isolated endometrial stromal cells obtained from primary infertile patients without endometriosis (control group, n = 12) or with stage IV ovarian endometriosis (ovarian endometriosis group, n = 14) using multiplex assays. Key cytokines showing differential secretory profiles were validated using Western immunoblotting. Cellular phenotypic validation was carried out in vitro by comparing proliferation and migration capacity between control (n = 6) and ovarian endometriosis (n = 7) groups.

RESULTS

CCL3, CCL4, CCL5, CXCL10, FGF2, IFNG, IL1RN, IL5, TNFA, and VEGF could be detected only in the conditioned media of stromal cells obtained from the ovarian endometriosis group. Among other cytokines detected in the conditioned media of both groups, CCL2 (P = 0.0018), CSF3 (P = 0.0017), IL1B (P = 0.0066), IL4 (P = 0.036), IL6 (P = 0.0039) and IL13 (P = 0.036) were found to be higher, whereas the concentration of IL18 was lower (P = 0.023) in the ovarian endometriosis group. Concentrations of CCL2, IL1B, IL4 and IL13 in conditioned medium reflected significant diagnostic performance for predicting ovarian endometriosis. Cellular phenotypic validation in vitro revealed an enhanced proliferative phenotype (P = 0.046) with no change in cell migratory capacity of endometrial stromal cells from the ovarian endometriosis group.

CONCLUSIONS

Endometrial stromal cells derived from severe ovarian endometriosis samples displayed a hyperinflammatory and hyperproliferative bias in the endometrial stroma during the 'window of implantation' putatively causing loss of fecundability.

Multiscale and morphological analysis of microvascular patterns depicted in contrast-enhanced ultrasound images

Purpose: Impaired insulin-induced microvascular recruitment in skeletal muscle contributes to insulin resistance in type 2 diabetic disease. Previously, quantification of microvascular recruitment at the capillary level has been performed with either the full image or manually selected region-of-interests. These subjective approaches are imprecise, time-consuming, and unsuitable for automated processes. Here, an automated multiscale image processing approach was performed by defining a vessel diameter threshold for an objective and reproducible analysis at the microvascular level. Approach: A population of C57BL/6J male mice fed standard chow and studied at age 13 to 16 weeks comprised the lean group and 24- to 31-week-old mice who received a high-fat diet were designated the obese group. A clinical ultrasound scanner (Acuson Sequoia 512) equipped with an 15L8-S linear array transducer was used in a nonlinear imaging mode for sensitive detection of an intravascular microbubble contrast agent. Results: By eliminating large vessels from the dynamic contrast-enhanced ultrasound (DCE-US) images (above 300    μ m in diameter), obesity-related changes in perfusion and morphology parameters were readily detected in the smaller vessels, which are known to have a greater impact on skeletal muscle glucose disposal. The results from the DCE-US images including all of the vessels were compared for three different-sized vessel groups, namely, vessels smaller than 300, 200, and 150    μ m in diameter. Conclusions: Our automated image processing provides objective and reproducible results by focusing on a particular size of vessel, thereby allowing for a selective evaluation of longitudinal changes in microvascular recruitment for a specific-sized vessel group between diseased and healthy microvascular networks.

Advances in controlled release pesticide formulations: Prospects to safer integrated pest management and sustainable agriculture

As the world is striving hard towards sustainable agricultural practices for a better tomorrow, one of the primary focuses is on effective pest management for enhanced crop productivity. Despite newer and potent chemicals as pesticides, there are still substantial crop losses, and if by any means this loss can be tackled; it will alleviate unwanted excessive use of chemical pesticides. Scientific surveys have already established that pesticides are not being utilized by the crops completely rather a significant amount remains unused due to various limiting factors such as leaching and bioconversion, etc., resulting in an adverse effect on human health and ecosystems. Concerted efforts from scientific diaspora toward newer and innovative strategies are already showing promise, and one such viable approach is controlled release systems (CRS) of pesticides. Moreover, to bring these smart formulations within the domain of current pesticide regulatory framework is still under debate. It is thus, paramount to discuss the pros and cons of this new technology vis-à-vis the conventional agrarian methods. This review deliberates on the developmental updates in this innovative field from the past decades and also appraises the challenges encumbered. Additionally, critical information and the foreseeable research gaps in this emerging area are highlighted.

An assessment of the multifactorial profile of steroid-metabolizing enzymes and steroid receptors in the eutopic endometrium during moderate to severe ovarian endometriosis

BACKGROUND

Previous studies of expression profiles of major endometrial effectors of steroid physiology in endometriosis have yielded markedly conflicting conclusions, presumably because the relative effects of type of endometriosis, fertility history and menstrual cycle phases on the measured variables were not considered. In the present study, endometrial mRNA and protein levels of several effectors of steroid biosynthesis and action in patients with stage III-IV ovarian endometriosis (OE) with known fertility and menstrual cycle histories were compared with the levels in control endometrium to test this concept.

METHODS

Endometrial samples were collected from patients without endometriosis (n = 32) or OE stages III-IV (n = 52) with known fertility and cycle histories. qRT-PCR and immunoblotting experiments were performed to measure levels of NR5A1, STAR, CYP19A1, HSD17Bs, ESRs and PGR transcripts and proteins, respectively. Tissue concentrations of steroids (P4, T, E1 and E2) were measured using ELISAs.

RESULTS

The levels of expression of aromatase and ERβ were lower (P < 0.0001) and 17β-HSD1 (P < 0.0001) and PRA (P < 0.01) were higher in OE endometrium. Lower aromatase levels and higher 17β-HSD1 levels were detected in fertile (aromatase: P < 0.05; 17β-HSD1: P < 0.0001) and infertile (aromatase: P < 0.0001; 17β-HSD1: P < 0.0001) OE endometrium than in the matched control tissues. Both proliferative (PP) and secretory (SP) phase OE samples expressed aromatase (P < 0.0001) and ERβ (PP: P < 0.001; SP: P < 0.01) at lower levels and 17β-HSD1 (P < 0.0001) and PRA (PP: P < 0.01; SP: P < 0.0001) at higher levels than matched controls. Higher 17β-HSD1 (P < 0.01) and E2 (P < 0.05) levels and a lower (P < 0.01) PRB/PRA ratio was observed in infertile secretory phase OE endometrium than in control.

CONCLUSIONS

We report that dysregulated expression of 17β-HSD1 and PGR resulting in hyperestrogenism and progesterone resistance during the secretory phase of the menstrual cycle, rather than an anomaly in aromatase expression, was the hallmark of eutopic endometrium from infertile OE patients. Furthermore, the results provide proof of concept that the fertility and menstrual cycle histories exerted relatively different effects on steroid physiology in the endometrium from OE patients compared with the control subjects.

Polymer-Assisted In Situ Synthesis of Silver Nanoparticles with Epigallocatechin Gallate (EGCG) Impregnated Wound Patch Potentiate Controlled Inflammatory Responses for Brisk Wound Healing

Introduction

An ideal wound dressing material needs to be predisposed with desirable attributes like anti-infective effect, skin hydration balance, adequate porosity and elasticity, high mechanical strength, low wound surface adherence, and enhanced tissue regeneration capability. In this work, we have synthesized hydrogel-based wound patches having antibacterial silver nanoparticles and antioxidant epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) and showed fast wound closure through their synergistic interaction without any inherent toxicity.

Methods and results

Wound patches were synthesized from modified guar gum polymer and assessed to determine accelerated wound healing. The modified polymer beget chemical-free in-situ synthesis of monodispersed silver NPs (~12 nm), an antimicrobial agent, besides lending ionic surface charges. EGCG impregnated during ionotropic gelation process amplified the efficacy of wound patches that possess apt tensile strength, porosity, and swellability for absorbing wound exudates. Further, in vitro studies endorsed them as non-cytotoxic and the post agent effect following exposure to the patch showed an unbiased response to E coli K12 and B. subtilis. In vivo study using sub-cutaneous wounds in Wistar rats validated its accelerated healing properties when compared to a commercially available wound dressing material (skin graft; Neuskin-F^®) through better wound contraction, promoted collagen deposition and enhanced vascularization of wound region by modulating growth factors and inflammatory cytokines.

Conclusion

Synthesized wound patches showed all the desired attributes of a clinically effective dressing material and the results were validated in various in vitro and in vivo assays.

Planning, implementation, and evaluation of multicomponent, case-based learning for first-year Indian medical undergraduates

Didactic lecture is an effective method to quickly pass on a high volume of information to a large number of students. However, if not well designed, lectures can be monotonous and provide only passive learning, with little scope for higher order learning skills. To address this drawback of lectures, we supplemented it with case-based learning (CBL), which has been shown to promote self-learning. After giving an overview of gastrointestinal physiology through lectures, CBL on peptic ulcer disease was implemented for first-year Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery students. The present study aimed to evaluate the students' and teachers' opinions on the notion of supplementing lectures with CBL. In previous reports, discussion using clinical cases was primarily employed as the solitary component for conducting CBL. In the present study, three different but mutually exclusive components, such as case discussion, concept map, and critical thinking exercise on a specific topic in gastrointestinal pathophysiology, were integrated to form the multicomponent CBL (MC-CBL). Students reported that MC-CBL could promote application of the knowledge learned in lectures in a more appropriate context (92.42% positive response), enhance their learning efficiency (98.46% positive response), promote their active participation in the learning process (98.48% positive response), and help them in integrating physiological concepts with clinical science (98.46% positive response). Teachers observed that MC-CBL could promote active learning, analytic, and problem-solving skills of students. In conclusion, MC-CBL appeared to be an effective supplement for the lectures, providing an opportunity for the students to relate the knowledge learned during lectures.

Super-Resolution Ultrasound Imaging of Skeletal Muscle Microvascular Dysfunction in an Animal Model of Type 2 Diabetes

OBJECTIVES

To evaluate the use of super-resolution ultrasound (SR-US) imaging for quantifying microvascular changes in skeletal muscle using a mouse model of type 2 diabetes.

METHODS

Study groups were young, standard chow-fed male C57BL/6J mice (lean group) and high fat diet-fed older mice (obese group). After an overnight fast, dynamic contrast-enhanced US imaging was performed on the proximal hind limb adductor muscle group for 10 minutes at baseline and again at 1 and 2 hours during administration of a hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamp. Dynamic contrast-enhanced US images were collected on a clinical US scanner (Acuson Sequoia 512; Siemens Healthcare, Mountain View, CA) equipped with a 15L8 linear array transducer. Dynamic contrast-enhanced US images were processed with a spatiotemporal filter to remove tissue clutter. Individual microbubbles were localized and counted to create an SR-US image. A frame-by-frame analysis of the microbubble count was generated (ie, time-microbubble count curve [TMC]) to estimate tissue perfusion and microvascular blood flow. The conventional time-intensity curve (TIC) was also generated for comparison.

RESULTS

In vivo SR-US imaging could delineate microvascular structures in the mouse hind limb. Compared with lean animals, insulin-induced microvascular recruitment was attenuated in the obese group. The SR-US-based TMC analysis revealed differences between lean and obese animal data for select microvascular parameters (P < .04), which was not true for TIC-based measurements. Whereas the TMC and TIC microvascular parameters yielded similar temporal trends, there was less variance associated with the TMC-derived values.

CONCLUSIONS

Super-resolution US imaging is a new modality for measuring the microvascular properties of skeletal muscle and dysfunction from type 2 diabetes.

The Utility of Preoperative Neuromonitoring for Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis

Background

Intraoperative neuromonitoring is well established and widely used to assist in completing corrective surgery for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) safely. The role of preoperative measurement of somatosensory evoked potentials (SSEPs) and/or transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to determine if there is transpinal pathology, however, is not clear. We sought to determine if preoperative SSEP and/or TMS measurement provided clinical benefit to patients with AIS.

Methods

A review of medical charts between 2010 and 2012 was conducted for patients undergoing surgery for scoliosis. Patients with diagnoses other than AIS were excluded. Patients with incomplete preoperative or intraoperative data were also excluded. Relevant clinical information such as age, sex, number of levels fused, and major Cobb angle were recorded. Preoperative neuromonitoring measurements and intraoperative neuromonitoring results were reviewed by an attending neurologist. Any instance in which an intraoperative surgical plan or neuromonitoring result interpretation was influenced by preoperative results was recorded. Further imaging obtained based on preoperative results was noted. Any acute neurologic complication such as paralysis was noted.

Results

Eighty-one patients met inclusion criteria (64 female, 17 male). Average age was 15 years (± 1.92). Major Cobb angle at preoperative evaluation averaged 57.5 degrees (± 10.81 degrees). Ten patients had abnormal preoperative SSEP/TMS results. There were no changes in protocol during intraoperative neuromonitoring based upon preoperative neuromonitoring findings. No additional imaging was required for patients with abnormal preoperative neuromonitoring results. There was no statistically significant difference in preoperative Cobb angle between the group of patients with abnormal preoperative neuromonitoring and those with normal baseline testing.

Conclusion

Preoperative SSEP/TMS measurement prior to corrective surgery for AIS has limited utility. There were no instances in which a patient's clinical course was improved by testing. We recommend against routine use of preoperative SSEP/TMS testing for AIS patients requiring corrective surgery.

Chronic exposure to Pb2+ perturbs ChREBP transactivation and coerces hepatic dyslipidemia

Dysregulated hepatic de novo lipogenesis contributes to the pathogenesis of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in both humans and rodents. Clinical evidence suggests fatty liver to have a positive correlation with serum lead (Pb²⁺ ) levels. However, an exact mechanism of Pb²⁺ -induced fatty liver progression is still unknown. Here, we show that exposure to Pb²⁺ regulates ChREBP-dependent hepatic lipogenesis. Presence of Pb²⁺ ions within the hepatocytes reduces transcript and protein levels of sorcin, a cytosolic adaptor partner of ChREBP. Adenovirus-mediated overexpression of sorcin in Pb²⁺ exposed hepatocytes and an in vivo mouse model ameliorates liver steatosis and hepatotoxicity. Hereby, we present Pb²⁺ exposure to be a lethal disruptor of lipid metabolism in hepatocytes and highlight sorcin as a novel therapeutic target against Pb²⁺ -induced hepatic dyslipidemia.

Risk Categorization with Different Grades of Cervical Pre-Neoplastic Lesions - High Risk HPV Associations and Expression of p53 and RARβ

Objective:

To identify high risk HPV associations by evaluating linked p16 overexpression and also the expression of p53 and RARβ together with histopathology for risk categorization of cervical pre-neoplastic lesions.

Materials and Methods:

Immunohistochemical staining was performed on 100 cases of cervical pre- neoplastic lesions for expression of biomarkers like p16, p53 and RARβ for comparison with haematoxylin/eosin (HE) findings. All the experimentally generated data were statistically analyzed.

Results:

In this study 70% cases showed overexpression of p16INK4A increasing progressively from CIN I to CIN II but reduced in CIN III (p <0.01). p53 oncoprotein expression was seen in 51% cases, again with increments from CIN I to CIN II with slight reduction in CIN III (p<0.01). Some 24% cases showed negative immunoreactivity for the putative tumor suppressor gene RARβ (p>0.05).

Conclusion:

Our study provides support for the idea that p16 can be used to identify associations with HPV , as well as having potential along with p53 and RARβ for categorizing cervical pre-neoplastic cases having a higher risk of neoplastic conversion. Thus it may be concluded that accurate risk categorization can be achieved with the help of genetic markers as well as histopathology.

Genomic evidence of Y chromosome microchimerism in the endometrium during endometriosis and in cases of infertility

BACKGROUND

Previous studies, which were primarily based on the fluorescent in-situ hybridisation (FISH) technique, revealed conflicting evidence regarding male foetal microchimerism in endometriosis. FISH is a relatively less sensitive technique, as it is performed on a small portion of the sample. Additionally, the probes used in the previous studies specifically detected centromeric and telomeric regions of Y chromosome, which are gene-sparse heterochromatised regions. In the present study, a panel of molecular biology tools such as qPCR, expression microarray, RNA-seq and qRT-PCR were employed to examine the Y chromosome microchimerism in the endometrium using secretory phase samples from fertile and infertile patients with severe (stage IV) ovarian endometriosis (OE) and without endometriosis.

METHODS

Microarray expression analysis followed by validation using RNA-seq and qRT-PCR experiments at the RNA levels and further validation at the DNA level by qPCR of target inserts for selected targets in eutopic endometrium samples obtained from control (CON) and stage IV ovarian endometriosis (OE), either from fertile (FCON and FOE; n = 30/each) or infertile (ICON and IOE; n = 30/each) women, were performed.

RESULTS

Six coding (AMELY, PCDH11, SRY, TGIF2LY, TSPY3, and USP9Y) and 10 non-coding (TTTY2, TTTY4C, TTTY5, TTTYY6, TTTY8, TTTY10, TTTY14, TTTY21, TTTY22, and TTTY23) genes exhibited a bimodal pattern of expression characterised by low expression in samples from fertile patients and high expression in samples from infertile patients. Seven coding MSY-linked genes (BAGE, CD24, EIF1AY, NLGN4Y, PRKY, VCY and ZFY) exhibited differential regulation in microarray analysis, and this change was validated by RNA-seq or qRT-PCR. DNA inserts for 7 genes in various samples were validated by qPCR. The prevalence and concentration of PCR-positive target inserts for BAGE, PRKY, TTTY9A and ZFY displayed higher values in the fertile, control (FCON) patients compared with the fertile, endometriosis patients (FOE).

CONCLUSION

Several coding and non-coding MSY-linked genes displayed microchimerism as evidenced by the presence of their respective DNA inserts, along with their differential transcript expression, in the endometrium during endometriosis and in cases of infertility.

Zinc oxide nanoparticles attenuate hepatic steatosis development in high-fat-diet fed mice through activated AMPK signaling axis

Insulin resistance is thought to be a common link between obesity and Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD). NAFLD has now reached epidemic status worldwide and identification of molecules or pathways as newer therapeutic strategies either to prevent or overcome insulin resistance seems critical. Dysregulated hepatic lipogenesis (DNL) is a hallmark of NAFLD in humans and rodents. Therefore, reducing DNL accretion may be critical in the development of therapeutics of NAFLD. In our in vivo model (high-fat-diet fed [HFD] obese mice) we found Zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) significantly decreased HFD-induced hepatic steatosis and peripheral insulin resistance. This protective mechanism of ZnO NPs was signaled through hepatic SIRT1-LKB1-AMPK which restricted SREBP-1c within the cytosol limiting its transcriptional ability and thereby ameliorating HFD mediated DNL. These observations indicate that ZnO NP can serve as a therapeutic strategy to improve the physiological homeostasis during obesity and its associated metabolic abnormalities.