Inhibition of central insulin-receptor signaling by S961 causes hyperglycemia and glucose intolerance in rats

Genetic ablation studies confirmed the role of central insulin-receptor signaling (CIRS) in fuel metabolism. However, the need to examine the role of CIRS in glucose homeostasis under normal physiological condition is indispensable, as insulin affects the neuronal growth, differentiation and synaptic plasticity. Intracerebral administration of S961 induced hyperglycemia and glucose intolerance in normal rats, and provided direct evidence for the involvement of CIRS in the regulation of glucose homeostasis

Diagnostic accuracy of fine-needle aspiration cytology in diagnosis of thyroid nodules

Background: Thyroid nodules are a common clinical problem Epidemiologic studies have shown the prevalence of palpable thyroid nodules to be approximately 5% in women and 1% in men living in iodine- sufficient parts of the world. The prevalence of thyroid nodules ranges from 4% to 10% in the general adult population and from 0.2% to 1.2% in children. Currently, many investigations including diagnostic imaging studies, serologic and cytogenetic tests as well as histopathological techniques are available to evaluate to evaluate thyroid nodules out. Of all these investigations, fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) has become the diagnostic tool of choice for the initial evaluation of solitary thyroid nodule.Methods: A present prospective study was conducted in department of ENT, Dr. BRAM hospital, Pt. JNM Medical College, Raipur, Chhattisgarh, India during study period November 2011 to October 2012. Patients with thyroid nodule were selected for the study. After taking a detailed clinical history, all cases were underwent a thorough ENT and head and neck examination. The clinical findings were recorded. Thyroid function tests and other necessary investigations were also done. Then the patients were referred for fine needle aspiration cytology to the department of Pathology. Depending on the nature of the lesion, decision had taken regarding need for surgery and the extent of surgery. All fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) reports were correlated with histopathology diagnosis.Results: Male and female ratio was 1:3.5. Preoperatively FNAC done in 54 cases out of which 36 (66.66%) results were goiter followed by 4 (7.40%) hurthle cell thyroiditis and 2 (3.87%) chronic thyroditis Among 54 cases 1.85% results were follicular neoplasia followed by 3 (5.55%). Fine needle aspiration cytology was 87.5% sensitive in detection of neoplastic lesion and 95.65% sensation of neoplastic lesion and 95.65% specific. Accuracy was 94.44%.Conclusions: Fine needle aspiration cytology is a simple, rapid, inexpensive, well tolerated and harmless method of evaluation mass lesions of the neck especially when there is a close cooperation between the clinician and cytopathologist

Tensile Deformation of a Nickel-Base Alloy at Elevated Temperatures

The results of tensile testing involving Waspaloy indicate that the failure strain was gradually reduced at temperatures ranging between ambient and 300 °C. Further, serrations were observed in the engineering stress versus strain diagrams in the temperature range of 300-600 °C. The reduced failure strain and the formation of serrations in these temperature regimes could be the result of dynamic strain aging of this alloy. The extent of work hardening due to plastic deformation was reduced at temperatures above 300 °C. A combination of ductile and intergranular brittle failures was seen at temperatures above 600 °C. γ′ was detected at all tested temperatures

Unmanned Surface Vehicles for Freighters

The purpose of this project is to study the technological and commercial feasibility of robotic control systems for freighters, and to develop a miniature proof of concept based on the findings. The research portion of the project involved a detailed technological and financial viability analysis of Unmanned Surface Vehicle (USV) technology for freight shipping, especially for inland waterways. The prototype-engineering portion of the project resulted in a proof of concept control system based on an open-source platform, which controls a miniature Unmanned Surface Vehicle prototype. The prototype is a 1.3-meter long twin-hulled catamaran, which navigates autonomously to ferry a miniature payload using differential thrust from two motors that are powered by two deep-cycle marine batteries. These undertakings have led to a comprehensive solution to enable zero emission inland freight shipping using mass-manufactured swarms of semi-autonomous, 100 DWT, low-draft, multi-hulled, solar ships that carry intermodal cargo containers

Residual Stress Characterization in Structural Materials by Destructive and Nondestructive Techniques

Transmutation of nuclear waste is currently being considered to transform long-lived isotopes to species with relatively short half-lives and reduced radioactivity through capture and decay of minor actinides and fission products. This process is intended for geologic disposal of spent nuclear fuels for shorter durations in the proposed Yucca Mountain repository. The molten lead-bismuth-eutectic will be used as a target and coolant during transmutation, which will be contained in a subsystem vessel made from materials such as austenitic (304L) and martensitic (EP-823 and HT-9) stainless steels. The structural materials used in this vessel will be subjected to welding operations and plastic deformation during fabrication. The resultant residual stresses cannot be totally eliminated even by stress-relief operations. Destructive and nondestructive techniques have been used to evaluate residual stresses in the welded and cold-worked specimens. Results indicate that tensile residual stresses were generated at the fusion line of the welded specimens made from either austenitic or martensitic stainless steel, with reduced stresses away from this region. The magnitude of residual stress in the cold-worked specimens was enhanced at intermediate cold-reduction levels, showing tensile residual stresses in the austenitic material while exhibiting compressive stresses in the martensitic alloys. Comparative analyses of the resultant data obtained by different techniques revealed consistent stress patterns

Sirtuin1 protects endothelial Caveolin-1 expression and preserves endothelial function via suppressing miR-204 and endoplasmic reticulum stress.

Sirtuin1 (Sirt1) is a class III histone deacetylase that regulates a variety of physiological processes, including endothelial function. Caveolin1 (Cav1) is also an important determinant of endothelial function. We asked if Sirt1 governs endothelial Cav1 and endothelial function by regulating miR-204 expression and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress. Knockdown of Sirt1 in endothelial cells, and in vivo deletion of endothelial Sirt1, induced endothelial ER stress and miR-204 expression, reduced Cav1, and impaired endothelium-dependent vasorelaxation. All of these effects were reversed by a miR-204 inhibitor (miR-204 I) or with overexpression of Cav1. A miR-204 mimic (miR-204 M) decreased Cav1 in endothelial cells. In addition, high-fat diet (HFD) feeding induced vascular miR-204 and reduced endothelial Cav1. MiR-204-I protected against HFD-induced downregulation of endothelial Cav1. Moreover, pharmacologic induction of ER stress with tunicamycin downregulated endothelial Cav1 and impaired endothelium-dependent vasorelaxation that was rescued by overexpressing Cav1. In conclusion, Sirt1 preserves Cav1-dependent endothelial function by mitigating miR-204-mediated vascular ER stress

PyMorph: Automated Galaxy Structural Parameter Estimation using Python

We present a new software pipeline -- PyMorph -- for automated estimation of structural parameters of galaxies. Both parametric fits through a two dimensional bulge disk decomposition as well as structural parameter measurements like concentration, asymmetry etc. are supported. The pipeline is designed to be easy to use yet flexible; individual software modules can be replaced with ease. A find-and-fit mode is available so that all galaxies in a image can be measured with a simple command. A parallel version of the Pymorph pipeline runs on computer clusters and a Virtual Observatory compatible web enabled interface is under development.Comment: 15 pages, 12 figures, 1 table, accepted for publication in MNRA