Urbanization and Green Spaces—A Study on Jnana Bharathi Campus, Bangalore University

Global warming is amongst the most alarming problems of the new era. Carbon emission is evidently the strongest fundamental factor for global warming. So increasing carbon emission is one of today’s major concerns, which is well addressed in the Kyoto Protocol. Trees are amongst the most significant elements of any landscape, because of both biomass and diversity, and their key role in ecosystem dynamics is well known. Trees absorb the atmospheric carbon dioxide and act as a carbon sink, since 50 % of biomass is carbon itself and the importance of carbon sequestration in forest areas is already accepted, and well documented. With this background, a carbon sequestration potential study was carried out in Jnana Bharathi campus, Bangalore University using the Quadrat method. The total geographical area is about 449.74 ha with a rich vegetation sector and the total amount of both above ground carbon (AGC) and below ground carbon (BGC) was estimated as an average of 54.8 t/ha. The total amount of carbon dioxide assimilated into the vegetation in terms of both above ground and below ground biomass was estimated as an average of 200.9 t/ha. Urbanization and habitat fragmentation seem to be increasing worldwide, substantiated by a case study in Bangalore City. The analysis revealed that increase in built-up area at the city level was by about 164.62 km2, while the vegetation and water bodies decreased by about 285.72 and 7.2 km2 respectively. However, Bangalore University, Jnana Bharathi campus attains a good vegetation cover and is seen as one of the ‘green lungs’ of Bangalore city

Significant Role of the Cardiopostural Interaction in Blood Pressure Regulation During Standing

Cardiovascular and postural control systems have been studied independently despite the increasing evidence showing the importance of cardio-postural interaction in blood pressure regulation. In this study, we aimed to assess the role of cardio-postural interaction in relation to cardiac baroreflex in blood pressure regulation under orthostatic stress before and after mild exercise. Physiological variables representing cardiovascular control (heart rate and systolic blood pressure), lower limb muscle activation (electromyography), and postural sway (center of pressure derived from force and moment data during sway) were measured from 17 healthy participants (25±2 years; 8 females) during a sit-to stand test before and after sub-maximal exercise. The cardio-postural control (characterized by baroreflex-mediated muscle-pump effect in response to blood pressure changes, i.e., muscle-pump baroreflex) was assessed using wavelet transform coherence and causality analyses in relation to the baroreflex control of heart rate. Significant cardio-postural blood pressure control was evident counting for almost half of the interaction time with blood pressure changes that observed in the cardiac baroreflex (36.6-72.5% pre-exercise and 34.7-53.9% post-exercise). Thus, cardio-postural input to blood pressure regulation should be considered when investigating orthostatic intolerance. A reduction of both cardiac and muscle-pump baroreflexes in blood pressure regulation was observed post-exercise and was likely due to the absence of excessive venous pooling and a less stressed system after mild exercise. With further studies using more effective protocols evoking venous pooling and muscle-pump activity, the cardio-postural interaction could improve our understanding of the autonomic control system and ultimately lead to a more accurate diagnosis of cardio-postural dysfunctions

Ethylene induced stay-green gene expression regulates drought stress in wheat

761-769Stay-green is an integrated drought adaptation trait characterized by a green leaf phenotype during grain filling under terminal drought. Ethylene is the key hormone for regulating the leaf senescence pathway under natural and stress conditions. The present study was conducted to assess the associative function of ethylene in regulating chlorophyll degrading enzymes viz., chlorophyllase (TaCHLase) and pheophorbide a oxygenase (TaPaO) in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) under drought stress. Three wheat genotypes (HW 4059, HW 4022 and HW 2078) differing in drought tolerance efficiency were subjected to drought stress for ten days at the reproductive stage. A decline in stay-green traits was found in susceptible genotypes (HW 4059) with yield losses compared to tolerant ones (HW 4022 and HW 2078). The expression level of TaCHLase1 and TaPaO was higher in susceptible genotypes than tolerant ones under drought/osmotic stress. Ethylene upregulated, while ethylene inhibitors downregulated the gene expression. In this study, a novel gene annotated as TaCHLase1 was cloned. The complete cDNA sequence of TaCHLase1 is composed of 1054 bp nucleotides containing an open reading frame of 960 bp encoding 319 amino acids. The encoded protein contained conserved residues such as lipase motif GXSXGG at position 143-148 and putative active site Ser145. Sequence alignment showed TaCHLase1 shares a higher degree of identity with other species. The result suggested that ethylene upregulates the expression of TaCHLase1 gene, inducing chlorophyll degradation. The study further helps in understanding the mechanism of stay-green trait-induced drought tolerance mechanism in wheat

A 'real puzzle': the views of patients with epilepsy about the organisation of care

BACKGROUND: Little is known about how individuals who have a diagnosis of epilepsy have experienced healthcare services or their views about how they should best be organised to meet their ongoing needs. METHODS: Focus group interviews. Individuals with epilepsy were identified in 5 practices in Wales: 90 were invited, 40 confirmed attendance and 19 individuals attended interviews in 5 groups of size 6, 5, 4, 3 and 1 (Table 2). Inclusion criteria: individuals with a confirmed diagnosis of epilepsy, aged between 18–65. The exclusion criteria were learning disability or an inability to travel to interview locations. RESULTS: The individuals in these group interviews were not 'epilepsy activists' yet they remained critical in extended discussions about the services encountered during their patient careers, wanting more information and advice about how to adapt to problems, particularly after initial diagnosis, more involvement in decision making, rapid access to expertise, preferably local, and improved communication between clinicians. A central concern was the tendency for concerns to be silenced, either overtly, or covertly by perceived haste, so that they felt marginalised, despite their own claims to own expert personal knowledge. CONCLUSIONS: Users of existing services for epilepsy are critical of current systems, especially the lack of attention given to providing information, psychosocial support and the wishes of patients to participate in decision making. Any reorganisation of services for individuals with epilepsy should take into account these perceived problems as well as try to reconcile the tension between the distant and difficult to access expertise of specialists and the local but unconfident support of generalists. The potential benefit of harnessing information technology to allow better liaison should be investigated

Comparative study between the Hybrid Capture II test and PCR based assay for the detection of human papillomavirus DNA in oral submucous fibrosis and oral squamous cell carcinoma

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Oral malignancy is a major global health problem. Besides the main risk factors of tobacco, smoking and alcohol, infection by human papillomavirus (HPV) and genetic alterations are likely to play an important role in these lesions. The purpose of this study was to compare the efficacy of HC-II assay and PCR for the detection of specific HPV type (HPV 16 E6) in OSMF and OSCC cases as well as find out the prevalence of the high risk HPV (HR-HPV) in these lesions.</p> <p>Methods and materials</p> <p>Four hundred and thirty patients of the potentially malignant and malignant oral lesions were taken from the Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Moti Lal Nehru Medical College, Allahabad, India from Sept 2007-March 2010. Of which 208 cases were oral submucous fibrosis (OSMF) and 222 cases were oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). The HC-II assay and PCR were used for the detection of HR-HPV DNA.</p> <p>Result</p> <p>The overall prevalence of HR-HPV 16 E6 DNA positivity was nearly 26% by PCR and 27.4% by the HC-II assay in case of potentially malignant disorder of the oral lesions such as OSMF. However, in case of malignant oral lesions such as OSCC, 32.4% HPV 16 E6 positive by PCR and 31.4% by the HC-II assay. In case of OSMF, the two test gave concordant result for 42 positive samples and 154 negative samples, with an overall level of agreement of 85.4% (Cohen's kappa = 66.83%, 95% CI 0.553-0.783). The sensitivity and specificity of the test were 73.7% and 92.05% (p < 0.00). In case of OSCC, the two test gave concordant result for 61 positive samples and 152 negative samples, with an overall level of agreement of 88.3% (Cohen's kappa = 79.29, 95% CI 0.769-0.939) and the sensitivity and specificity of the test were 87.14% and 92.76% (p < 0.00).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This study concluded that slight difference was found between the positivity rate of HR-HPV infection detected by the HC-II and PCR assay in OSMF and OSCC cases and the HC II assay seemed to have better sensitivity in case of OSCC.</p

Physiochemical property space distribution among human metabolites, drugs and toxins

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The current approach to screen for drug-like molecules is to sieve for molecules with biochemical properties suitable for desirable pharmacokinetics and reduced toxicity, using predominantly biophysical properties of chemical compounds, based on empirical rules such as Lipinski's "rule of five" (Ro5). For over a decade, Ro5 has been applied to combinatorial compounds, drugs and ligands, in the search for suitable lead compounds. Unfortunately, till date, a clear distinction between drugs and non-drugs has not been achieved. The current trend is to seek out drugs which show metabolite-likeness. In identifying similar physicochemical characteristics, compounds have usually been clustered based on some characteristic, to reduce the search space presented by large molecular datasets. This paper examines the similarity of current drug molecules with human metabolites and toxins, using a range of computed molecular descriptors as well as the effect of comparison to clustered data compared to searches against complete datasets.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We have carried out statistical and substructure functional group analyses of three datasets, namely human metabolites, drugs and toxin molecules. The distributions of various molecular descriptors were investigated. Our analyses show that, although the three groups are distinct, present-day drugs are closer to toxin molecules than to metabolites. Furthermore, these distributions are quite similar for both clustered data as well as complete or unclustered datasets.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The property space occupied by metabolites is dissimilar to that of drugs or toxin molecules, with current drugs showing greater similarity to toxins than to metabolites. Additionally, empirical rules like Ro5 can be refined to identify drugs or drug-like molecules that are clearly distinct from toxic compounds and more metabolite-like. The inclusion of human metabolites in this study provides a deeper insight into metabolite/drug/toxin-like properties and will also prove to be valuable in the prediction or optimization of small molecules as ligands for therapeutic applications.</p

The genomes of two key bumblebee species with primitive eusocial organization

Background: The shift from solitary to social behavior is one of the major evolutionary transitions. Primitively eusocial bumblebees are uniquely placed to illuminate the evolution of highly eusocial insect societies. Bumblebees are also invaluable natural and agricultural pollinators, and there is widespread concern over recent population declines in some species. High-quality genomic data will inform key aspects of bumblebee biology, including susceptibility to implicated population viability threats. Results: We report the high quality draft genome sequences of Bombus terrestris and Bombus impatiens, two ecologically dominant bumblebees and widely utilized study species. Comparing these new genomes to those of the highly eusocial honeybee Apis mellifera and other Hymenoptera, we identify deeply conserved similarities, as well as novelties key to the biology of these organisms. Some honeybee genome features thought to underpin advanced eusociality are also present in bumblebees, indicating an earlier evolution in the bee lineage. Xenobiotic detoxification and immune genes are similarly depauperate in bumblebees and honeybees, and multiple categories of genes linked to social organization, including development and behavior, show high conservation. Key differences identified include a bias in bumblebee chemoreception towards gustation from olfaction, and striking differences in microRNAs, potentially responsible for gene regulation underlying social and other traits. Conclusions: These two bumblebee genomes provide a foundation for post-genomic research on these key pollinators and insect societies. Overall, gene repertoires suggest that the route to advanced eusociality in bees was mediated by many small changes in many genes and processes, and not by notable expansion or depauperation

Molecular Epidemiology of HIV-1 Subtypes in India: Origin and Evolutionary History of the Predominant Subtype C

This thesis describes the translational genomics of HIV-1subtype C in India from its origin to therapeutic response with the aim to improve our knowledge for better therapeutic and preventive strategies to combat HIV/AIDS. In a systemic approach, we identified the molecular phylogeny of HIV-1 subtypes circulating in India and the time to most recent common ancestors (tMRCA) of predominant HIV-1 subtype C strains. Additionally, this thesis also studied drug resistance mutations in children, adolescents and adults, the role of host factors in evolution of drug resistance, and population dynamics of viremia and viral co-receptor tropism in perinatal transmission. Finally, the long term therapeutic responses on Indian national first-line antiretroviral therapy were also studied. In Paper I, we reported an increase in the HIV-1 recombinant forms in the HIV-1 epidemiology using a robust subtyping methodology. While the study confirmed HIV- 1 subtype C as a dominant subtype, its origin was dated back to the early 1970s from a single or few genetically related strains from South Africa, whereafter, it has evolved independently. In Paper II, the lethal hypermutations due to the activity of human apolipoprotein B mRNA-editing enzyme catalytic polypeptide-like 3G (hA3G) was significantly associated with antiretroviral therapy (ART) failure in Indian HIV-1 subtype C patients. The presence of M184I and M230I mutations were observed due to the editing of hA3G in the proviral compartment but stop codons were also found in the open reading frames and the same drug resistance mutations were absent in plasma virus. Therefore, it is unlikely that the viral variants which exhibit hypermutated sequences and M184I and/or M230I will mature and expand in vivo and hence are unlikely to have any clinical significance. The high concordance of drug resistance genotyping in the plasma and proviral compartments in therapy-naïve patients, gives weight to the idea of using whole blood for surveillance of drug resistance mutations which precludes logistic challenges of cold chain transport. In Papers III and IV, we identified a substantial proportion of HIV-1 subtype C perinatally-infected older children who had a high burden of plasma viremia but also had high CD4+ T-cell counts. In addition, older children with HIV-1 subtype C infection presented a high prevalence of predicted X4 and R5/X4 tropic strains which indicates that HIV-1 subtype C strains required longer duration of infection and greater disease progression to co-receptor transition from R5- to X4-tropic strains (IV). Our studies also indicate that transmitted drug resistance is low among Indian HIV-1 infected children, adolescents (III) and adults (II). In Paper V, in a longitudinal cohort study, a good long-term response to the Indian national first-line therapy for a median of nearly four years with 2.8% viral failure, indicating the overall success of the Indian ART program. Our study also showed that three immunologically well patients with virological rebound and major viral drug resistance mutations (M184V, K103N and Y181C) during one study visit had undetectable viral load at their next visit. These findings suggest that use of multiple parameters like patients’ immunological (CD4+ T-cell count), virological (viral load) and drug resistance data should all be used to optimize the treatment switch to second line therapy. In conclusion, this translational genomics study enhances our knowledge about the HIV-1 subtype C strains circulating in India which are genetically distinct from prototype African subtype C strains. Considerably more research using appropriate models need to be performed to understand the phenotypic and biological characteristics of these strains to guide efficient disease intervention and management strategies