Does an inverted pendulum model accurately represent the gait of individuals with unilateral transfemoral amputation while walking over level ground?

Study Design: Controlled trial Background: An inverted pendulum model represents the mechanical function of able-bodied walking accurately, with centre of mass height and forward velocity data plotting as sinusoidal curves, 180 degrees out of phase. Objectives: The current study investigated whether the inverted pendulum model represented level gait in individuals with a unilateral transfemoral amputation. Methods: Kinematic and kinetic data from ten individuals with unilateral transfemoral amputation and fifteen able-bodied participants were recorded during level walking. Results: During level walking, the inverted pendulum model described able-bodied gait well throughout the gait cycle, with median relative time shifts between centre of mass height and velocity maxima and minima of between 1.2%-1.8% of gait cycle. In the group with unilateral transfemoral amputation, the relative time shift was significantly increased during the prosthetic limb initial double-limb support phase by 6.3%. Conclusion: The gait of individuals with unilateral transfemoral amputation shows deviation from a synchronous inverted pendulum model during prosthetic limb stance. The reported divergence may help explain such individuals’ increased metabolic cost of gait. Temporal divergence of inverted pendulum behaviour could potentially be utilised as a tool to assess the efficacy of prosthetic device prescription

POTENTIAL ANTIMICROBIAL, ANTHELMINTIC AND ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITIES OF MYRISTICA DACTYLOIDES GAETRN BARK

Objective: The present study was undertaken to determine the antimicrobial, anthelmintic and antioxidant activities of bark extracts of Myristica dactyloides Gaetrn.Methods: The antimicrobial activity of the petroleum ether, ethyl acetate and methanol extracts were evaluated by the Agar well diffusion method against different gram-positive, gram-negative bacteria and fungi. Different extracts of the plant were taken for anthelmintic activity against Indian earthworm Pheretima Posthuma. DPPH radical scavenging activity was measured by the DPPH antioxidant assay method using ascorbic acid as standard and the total phenolic content was estimated spectrophotometrically using Folin-Ciocalteu method.Results: Petroleum ether extract exhibited significant antifungal activity, anthelmintic activity and considerable DPPH radical scavenging activity with an IC50 value of 10.97±0.07µg/ml. Whereas methanol extract exhibited significant antibacterial activity against both gram positive and gram negative bacteria and it is the richest source of phenolics with a total phenolic content of 95.11±2.14 mg of Catechol equivalents/100 mg dried extract. Preliminary phytochemical screening revealed the presence of alkaloids, flavonoids, tannins/phenolics, steroids/triterpenoids and saponins which may be the reason for its biological properties.Conclusion: The findings of this study indicate that this plant is medicinal with prominent antioxidant, antimicrobial and anthelmintic property. The plant can be considered as promising plant species with high potential value for drug preparation.Â

Ocular manifestations of snake bites in a tertiary care hospital in rural Northern Kerala, India

Background: Snake bite is a neglected public health problem worldwide especially in the tropics. Studies on ocular manifestations are still fragmentary. The objective of the study was to find ocular manifestations among the snake bite cases with systemic envenomation admitted in the intensive care units in a tertiary care hospital in rural North Kerala, India during a period of 4 years from May 2012 to May 2016.Methods: It was a prospective, observational, cross sectional study. Institutional ethical committee approval was obtained for the study. A descriptive analysis of snake bite cases with systemic envenomation was done.  Other snake bites are excluded from the study. Patients who needed ophthalmological opinion for ocular symptoms were analyzed.Results: Total suspected snake bites admitted in ICUs during the study period were 638. Only 7 patients (1%) with haematotoxic envenomation needed ophthalmological opinion for ocular symptoms. Patients in the present study ranged between the age of 11 and 53. Ocular lesions diagnosed among the 6 patients who developed capillary leak syndrome, were bilateral angle closure glaucoma in 3 patients, pan uveitis, disc edema and retinal haemorrhages in 2 patients, bilateral macular oedema. Youngest patient had intracranial haemorrhage and bilateral orbital hemorrhage, leading to exposure keratitis. SAV was administered in all patients ranging from 11-30 vials. All the patients except the patient with orbital haemorrhage had a grave prognosis. Still only one of these patients expired on day 3, rest all patients had better vision and survived due to timely management.Conclusions: A timely intervention especially at the initial presentation of capillary leak syndrome, can decrease the morbidity and save the life of a patient

Long-term carcinogenicity of pan masala in Swiss mice

Carcinogenicity of pan masala, a dry powdered chewing mixture of areca nut, catechu, lime, spices and flavoring agents was evaluated by means of the long-term animal bio-assay 6- to 7-week old male and female S/RVCri mice were divided randomly into intermediate and lifetime exposure groups and fed normal diet without pan masala - (zero dose) or diet containing 2.5% and 5% pan masala. Animals in the intermediate-exposure group (n = 10/gender/dose group) were killed after 6, 12 or 18 months of treatment, while those in the lifetime-exposure group (n = 54/gender/dose group) were killed when moribund or at the termination of the experiment at 24 months. Several tissues were processed for histopathological examination. The body weight and survival rate of mice fed pan masala were lower than that of the controls. Histopathological observations of tissues from control animals did not reveal any neoplastic alterations. However, lifetime feeding of pan masala induced adenoma of the liver, stomach, prostate and sebaceous glands, also forestomach papilloma, liver hamartoma, hepatoma and hemangioma, carcinoma of the forestomach, adenocarcinoma of the lung and liver, and testicular lymphoma. Neoplastic lesions appeared mainly in the liver (n = 13), stomach (n = 3) and lung (n = 8). Lung adenocarcinoma, the most frequent malignant tumor type, was observed in 2/120 mice in the intermediate-exposure group and in 8/216 animals in the lifetime-exposure group. Statistical analysis of tumor-induction data revealed a significant dose-related increase in lung adenocarcinomas but not in liver and stomach neoplasms indicating that lung is the major target tissue for the carcinogenic action of pan masala

Potential of wastewater grown algae for biodiesel production and CO2 sequestration

Algae have been proposed as a potential renewable fuel source. Photosynthetic CO2 fixation to substrates that can be converted to biodiesel by microalgae is thought to be a feasible technology with energy-saving and environment-friendly approach. In the present study, potential of microalgae, from wastewater stabilization pond, as a feedstock for biodiesel production and CO2 sequestration was evaluated. Mixed algae sample showed the highest CO2 fixation rate, followed by Chlorella sp., Scenedesmus incrassatulus, Scenedesmus dimorphus and Chroococcus cohaerens (2.807, 1.627, 1.501, 1.270 and 0.786 g L-1 d-1, respectively). Nile red stain was used for detection of lipid in microalgal sample which was further extracted and analysed by gas chromatography (GC). The main fatty acids present in the mixed algae sample were fatty acids with C14–C18 (>98%) that are generated after natural CO2 sequestration. At ambient CO2 concentration, total fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) mainly comprised of myristic acid (C14:0), 0.0718%; palmitic acid (C16:0), 2.558%; octadecenoic acid (C18:1), 28.98% and linoleic acid (C18:2), 12.54% which makes the microalgal biomass a suitable feedstock for biodiesel production and CO2 mitigation.Keywords: Biodiesel, carbon dioxide fixation, fatty acid profile, microalgae, wastewater stabilization pondAfrican Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 12(20), pp. 2939-294

Roles for a Lipid Phosphatase in the Activation of its Opposing Lipid Kinase

Fig4 is a phosphoinositide phosphatase that converts PI3,5P2 to PI3P. Paradoxically, mutation of Fig4 results in lower PI3,5P2, indicating that Fig4 is also required for PI3,5P2 production. Fig4 promotes elevation of PI3,5P2, in part, through stabilization of a protein complex that includes its opposing lipid kinase, Fab1, and the scaffold protein Vac14. Here we show that multiple regions of Fig4 contribute to its roles in the elevation of PI3,5P2: Its catalytic site, an N-terminal disease-related surface, and a C-terminal region. We show that mutation of the Fig4 catalytic site enhances the formation of the Fab1-Vac14-Fig4 complex, and reduces the ability to elevate PI3,5P2. This suggests that independent of its lipid phosphatase function, the active site plays a role in the Fab1-Vac14-Fig4 complex. We also show that the N-terminal disease-related surface contributes to the elevation of PI3,5P2 and promotes Fig4 association with Vac14 in a manner that requires the Fig4 C-terminus. We find that the Fig4 C-terminus alone interacts with Vac14 in vivo and retains some functions of full-length Fig4. Thus, a subset of Fig4 functions are independent of its phosphatase domain and at least three regions of Fig4 play roles in the function of the Fab1-Vac14-Fig4 complex

HIV/AIDS Education for Adolescents

BackgroundAmong adolescents, girls are particularly vulnerable not only because they are more likely to be coerced for unprotected sex but also because they are more susceptible biologically to sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), including HIV infection. This study was carried out to determine the effectiveness of an educational intervention programme aimed at girls focusing on knowledge of and attitude to HIV/AIDS. MethodAn educational intervention study was carried out among 791 rural girls (16-19 years) randomly selected using stratified cluster sampling from coastal villages in Udupi Taluk, Karnataka, Southern India. They were educated regarding HIV/AIDS and their awareness levels were evaluated immediately and one month following intervention. Results Around 35-50% of the girls had misconceptions regarding the modes of transmission which significantly reduced to about 8 % after intervention (95% CI of difference in proportion = (9.2, 17.9);

Inhibitory Role of Notch1 in Calcific Aortic Valve Disease

Aortic valve calcification is the most common form of valvular heart disease, but the mechanisms of calcific aortic valve disease (CAVD) are unknown. NOTCH1 mutations are associated with aortic valve malformations and adult-onset calcification in families with inherited disease. The Notch signaling pathway is critical for multiple cell differentiation processes, but its role in the development of CAVD is not well understood. The aim of this study was to investigate the molecular changes that occur with inhibition of Notch signaling in the aortic valve. Notch signaling pathway members are expressed in adult aortic valve cusps, and examination of diseased human aortic valves revealed decreased expression of NOTCH1 in areas of calcium deposition. To identify downstream mediators of Notch1, we examined gene expression changes that occur with chemical inhibition of Notch signaling in rat aortic valve interstitial cells (AVICs). We found significant downregulation of Sox9 along with several cartilage-specific genes that were direct targets of the transcription factor, Sox9. Loss of Sox9 expression has been published to be associated with aortic valve calcification. Utilizing an in vitro porcine aortic valve calcification model system, inhibition of Notch activity resulted in accelerated calcification while stimulation of Notch signaling attenuated the calcific process. Finally, the addition of Sox9 was able to prevent the calcification of porcine AVICs that occurs with Notch inhibition. In conclusion, loss of Notch signaling contributes to aortic valve calcification via a Sox9-dependent mechanism

Motor Preparatory Activity in Posterior Parietal Cortex is Modulated by Subjective Absolute Value

For optimal response selection, the consequences associated with behavioral success or failure must be appraised. To determine how monetary consequences influence the neural representations of motor preparation, human brain activity was scanned with fMRI while subjects performed a complex spatial visuomotor task. At the beginning of each trial, reward context cues indicated the potential gain and loss imposed for correct or incorrect trial completion. FMRI-activity in canonical reward structures reflected the expected value related to the context. In contrast, motor preparatory activity in posterior parietal and premotor cortex peaked in high “absolute value” (high gain or loss) conditions: being highest for large gains in subjects who believed they performed well while being highest for large losses in those who believed they performed poorly. These results suggest that the neural activity preceding goal-directed actions incorporates the absolute value of that action, predicated upon subjective, rather than objective, estimates of one's performance