AflaB2® and osteoarthritis: a multicentric, observational, post-marketing surveillance study in Indian patients suffering from knee osteoarthritis

Background: Osteoarthritis (OA) is one of the most debilitating chronic degenerative joint disorder characterized by pain, inflammation and stiffness of joints with wear and tear of the cartilage. Recent evidences suggest the involvement of the immune pathway in OA development. This study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy and safety of AflaB2® capsules containing Aflapin® and native collagen type II in knee OA patients.Methods: Total 40 knee OA subjects were enrolled at the out-patient department (OPD) of three different sites under supervision of physicians as per the inclusion and exclusion criteria of the study. Subjects were instructed to consume AflaB2® capsules once daily orally for three months. They were informed to visit the respective study center as per the schedule visits to assess and record the efficacy and safety.Results: AflaB2® treatment showed significant reduction in pain and stiffness with improvement in physical functions compared to the baseline. The reduction in pain score was observed from 2nd visit on visual analogue scale (VAS). The VAS score was reduced to 1.63±1.23 (p<0.001) from its baseline score 6.0±1.04 at the end of the treatment. The WOMAC Total Score was reduced to 18.1±6.04 (p<0.001) from its baseline score 74.4±8.07 at the end of the treatment. The improvement was observed in WOMAC pain, stiffness and physical functions score. No significant side-effect was reported with AflaB2® treatment throughout the study.Conclusions: The present study provides the evidence in support of the potential efficacy and excellent tolerability of oral intake of AflaB2® capsules in reducing OA symptoms

Biotechnology of Coconut

Biotechnology of coconut (Cocos nucifera L.) is a relatively recent area compared to similar work in other crops. It started as tissue culture in the eighties, which led to the development of molecular markers in late nineties with the use of RAPDs. Since then, considerable research has been carried out and protocols for tissue culture regeneration almost perfected. Embryo culture is being very successfully applied to germplasm transfer. Molecular markers such as AFLP, SSR, etc., were used to develop QTL maps. The entire gamut of coconut biotechnology is under review in this paper

Association of Usage of Online Journals with Impact Factors: A Descriptive Analytical Study

A case study of association between usage of online journals and their impact factors was conducted for the subscribed journals of the Health Sciences Library of Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal. The publisher-generated usage statistics were collected and tabulated for the period 2010-2015. The full text usage was considered as the criteria for identification of the extent of usage of online journals from different publishers. The Journal Impact Factor (JIF) of these journals were retrieved in 2015 from Journal Citation Report to check whether association existed between the most used and the least used journals with their impact factor. The study identified two lists of journals, the most used and the least used journals, from among the subscribed online journals through the usage analysis. ‘Mann Whitney U test’ was performed to check the association between the usage of online journals and their impact factors. It was observed that there is a statistically significant difference (p\u3c0.001) in the impact factors of the most used journals and the least used journals, which indicated that an association existed between the IFs and the usage. The application of the outcome measures of the study provide a benchmark for the online journal collection for the libraries that explore the usage of its online resources. Study also propositions the means for increasing the usage of subscribed online journals

Identification and utilization of informative EST-SSR markers for genetic purity testing of coconut hybrids

Coconut palms are categorized into two forms, viz., ‘talls’ and ‘dwarfs’ which are being utilized to produce hybrids through the process of inter-varietal or intra-varietal crosses. Hybrid coconut seedlings are generally identified and selected based on morphological traits by plant breeders, which is quite difficult and requires expertise. Even minor errors in identification may adversely affect breeding programs in coconut, which is spread over many decades. In this study, we have utilized thirty EST-SSR markers, derived from existing coconut leaf transcriptome data, for screening polymorphism between eighteen coconut parental lines. The polymorphic primers capable of differentiating the parental palms were then utilized successfully for assessment of purity of hybrids derived from these parents. Thus, the current study demonstrates the utility of EST-SSR markers in determiningthe genetic purity of hybrids in coconut

A STUDY TO ASSESS KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE AND PRACTICE ON BREAST CANCER AMONG WOMEN IN GOVERNMENT GENERAL HOSPITAL

Objectives: Breast cancer is the most frequent cancer in women worldwide and it accounts for 27% of all cancer cases among women in India. This study aims to assess the awareness of the patients regarding the breast cancer and also to check their knowledge toward the symptoms of breast cancer as well as the breast self-examination process. This study also determines the attitude of patients regarding the breast cancer and breast self-examination. Methods: A prospective educational study was done using a pre-designed questionnaire on 523 patients in a tertiary care teaching hospital for a period of 6 months. All women greater than 20 years admitted in the Department of General Medicine and General Surgery in-patient female ward of SVRRGGH were included in the study. Results: Out of 523 women, a greater proportion respondents 515 (98%) had poor knowledge of breast cancer. Two hundred and eighty-one (53%) show positive attitude while 225 (43%) show neutral attitude and 17 (4%) show negative attitude toward breast cancer. Only 18 (0.3%) know how to perform breast self-examination while the remaining patients have never performed the breast self-examination. Two hundred and one (38%) have agreed to consult a doctor if they found any lumps in the breast whereas the remaining did not respond. After the counseling session with patients, their knowledge regarding the above problems related to breast cancer has significantly increased. Conclusion: Majority of the participants had poor knowledge of breast cancer as well as low level of practice of breast cancer screening procedures. However, patients do have a positive attitude toward the breast cancer which can help to detect the cancer in early stages. Hence, a greater focus on providing breast cancer education programs can create awareness among women in respect to screening programs which, in turn, can decrease the risk of death due to its late discovery

Development of a Digital Micromirror (DMDTM) based 3D profilmeter

Gelişen teknolojilere paralel olarak imal edilen ürünlerin boyutlarının küçülmesi ve yüzey hassasiyetlerinin artıp parçaların daha kırılgan yapıya sahip olmaları, araştırmacıları bilinen standart temaslı ölçme aletlerinin dışında hasarsız ve hızlı yeni ölçme tekniklerini aramaya yönlendirmiştir. Optik ölçme teknikleri de hasarsız ölçme kapasiteleri nedeniyle 1960’lardan başlayarak günümüze kadar büyük bir hızla gelişmiş ve günümüzde hiç tartışmasız mikro teknolojiden bio-teknolojiye birçok alanda temaslı ölçme cihazlarının yerini almıştır. Konfokal mikroskop ise 1960 yılında M. Minsky tarafından geliştirilmiş ve standart mikroskoplara oranla daha hassas ve detaylı ölçme kapasitesi sunması nedeniyle diğer optik ölçme metodları arasından hızla sıyrılmıştır. 1990’larda, Xiao, Corle, ve Kino’nun çalışmaları ile gerçek zamanlı görüntüleme özelliği kazandırılmış ve konfokal mikroskop endüstrinin vazgeçilmez temel optik ölçme cihazı haline gelmiştir. Bu çalışma kapsamında mikro ayna dizinli (DMD™) optik anahtarların yardımı ile yeni bir tip konfokal mikroskop geliştirilmiştir. Geliştirilen bu yeni ölçme sisteminde mikro ayna dizini ölçülecek yüzey üzerine 1-1 görüntülenmiş ve bu sayede yüzlerce noktanın aynı anda video frekansında ölçülmesi gerçekleştirilmiştir. 3D yüzeyin elde edilmesi çeşitli yüksekliklerde elde edilen 2D bilgilerinin üst üste getirilmesi ile oluşturulmuştur. Bu çalışma sırasında mikroskobun optik tasarımı ve elde edilen optik sistemin geliştirilme aşamaları bütün detayları ile verilmiş, geliştirilen deneysel düzenek detayları ile tartışılmıştır. Ölçümler sırasında 50 defa büyütmeli ve 0.95 NA’ya sahip mikroskop objektifi ile yapılan ölçümlerde yatay çözünürlük değeri 1.5 µm olarak bulunmuştur. Sonuçların bu kadar iyi olmasında kullanılan mikro ayna dizinli elemanın önemli bir rolü olmuştur. Geliştirilen sistemin ölçme kapasitesi farklı ölçme standartları kullanılarak örneklendirilmiştir.  Anahtar Kelimeler: DMD, optik ölçümler, konfokal mikroskop.In this paper a new method for non-contact scanning of engineering surfaces will be presented. Similar to the classical confocal microscope principal but without using real physical pinholes a new method that uses Digital Micromirror Device  (DMDTM) as virtual illumination pinhole and selective CCD camera as virtual detection is developed. With this study, this new, flexible and highly accurate a micromir-ror-based system will be introduced. The concept concerning system layout and system performance together with the measurement results will be presented.Confocal microscopy was first described by M. Minsky in 1957 and in last couple decades it becomes one of the most powerful tool for 3D characterization of complex engineering surfaces. In reflection mode confocal microscopy applications a point illumination source is imaged onto object by using a microscope objective (first focus point). This focusing point on object results with maximum intensity on a detector by passing through the detector pinhole (second focus point) where the lights from defocused neighborhoods object regions are strongly suppressed by the pinhole. In other words, the detector signal that is determined by the pinhole size is reduced strongly by defocusing the specimen. This characteristic of confocal system gives us a chance to make optical sectioning with high vertical resolution discrimination by suppressing the scattered light from defocused object position. It is also well known that confocal microscopy gives some improvements in the sense of lateral resolution compared to the classical microscopy. (DMDTM) technology was developed by Texas Instruments. The DMD that used in the setup consists of 600x800 programmable micromirrors. Each of these mirrors has 16 m x 16 m square size with a 1m gap between them and each mirror tilt 10 around the diagonal axis with help of underlying memory cel. DMD as a member of MEMS device can also be used as a light switch. By combining the DMD with a suitable light source and optics, the DMD reflects the incoming beam either into or out of the microscope objective pupil by using a simple beam steering technique. By combining the light switch advantages of DMD unit with pulse width modulation application it is also possible to create gray scale operation, which can be used to obtain uniform illumination on CCD. By controlling the DMD pixels as an optical light switch any size and any shape pinholes, which are imaged through the optical system onto object where they are reflected and later imaged again onto CCD camera chip, can be created. On the CCD camera reflected intensities from the object are measured by the CCD pixels that are related with DMD's "on" pixels. The measured intensities reach its maximum when the object is confocally in focus with the DMD and the CCD. Intensity data are measured and stored while the object is moving through the focal plane of the optical system. Finally maximum's of the obtained intensity curves, which are also known as depth response curves, link to the corresponding motor position and the 3D profile of the specimen can be reconstructed. The advantages of the DMD based optical scanner can be listed as follows; conventional scanning devices such as Nipkow disk or tilting mirrors that introduce vibration and mechanical noises to system are eliminated, important flexibilities are introduced by DMD application, critical parameters such as pinhole size and pinhole shape can easily be changed, local illumination, which supplies uniform illumination on detector, can be introduced. The main challenges are differences between the images produced by the real illumination pinhole and the DMD, respectively, is the contrast ratio. The ground level intensity of the DMD image is higher because of stray light from the mirror edges and the protective glass layer. At the same time, the maximum intensity is lower because of transmission loss through the glass and reflection loss of the mirror elements. However, although the contrast ratio is worse with a DMD, the depth response curves taken with a regular pinhole and with a DMD show perfect comparability. This new microscope offers unique flexibility for pinhole size and shape that existing system can not do. It is also showed that the measurement results of the developed system are comparable with the stylus instruments and DMD based optical systems are an alternative to tactile techniques. Keywords: DMD, optical measurement, confocal microscopy

Analysis of “Yes” Responses to Uniformed Police Marching in Pride: Perspectives From LGBTQ+ Communities in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada

Recently, a number of Canadian police forces have been banned from Pride parades. A ban on uniformed police in these parades has proven to be contentious; the general public and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and plus (LGBTQ+) communities have been split on the issue. Limited research has examined the perspectives of the general population or, until now, LGBTQ+ people on this matter. Using an online survey designed to gather ideas or opinions of LGBTQ+ community members regarding their hopes, aspirations, and vision for the St. John’s Pride board, 181 LGBTQ+ respondents responded to this question: Should the police be allowed to march in uniform at the St. John’s Pride parade? In total, 92 (51%) said “Yes.” A critical analysis of their qualitative responses revealed four interrelated themes: (a) power of Pride, (b) “they are we and we are they,” (c) “the police are on our side,” and (d) taking back Pride. Implications of the findings for police-LGBTQ+ community relations are discussed

Dixdc1 Is a Critical Regulator of DISC1 and Embryonic Cortical Development

The psychiatric illness risk gene Disrupted in Schizophrenia-1 (DISC1) plays an important role in brain development; however, it is unclear how DISC1 is regulated during cortical development. Here, we report that DISC1 is regulated during embryonic neural progenitor proliferation and neuronal migration through an interaction with DIX domain containing-1 (Dixdc1), the third mammalian gene discovered to contain a Disheveled-Axin (DIX) domain. We determined that Dixdc1 functionally interacts with DISC1 to regulate neural progenitor proliferation by co-modulating Wnt-GSK3β/β-catenin signaling. However, DISC1 and Dixdc1 do not regulate migration via this pathway. During neuronal migration, we discovered that phosphorylation of Dixdc1 by cyclin-dependent kinase 5 (Cdk5) facilitates its interaction with the DISC1-binding partner Ndel1. Furthermore, Dixdc1 phosphorylation and its interaction with DISC1/Ndel1 in vivo is required for neuronal migration. Together, these data reveal that Dixdc1 integrates DISC1 into Wnt-GSK3β/β-catenin-dependent and -independent signaling pathways during cortical development and further delineate how DISC1 contributes to neuropsychiatric disorders.Human Frontier Science Program (Strasbourg, France) (Long-Term Fellowship)Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (Postdoctoral Fellowship)National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression (U.S.) (Young Investigator Award)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Grant NS37007