Osteoblast Behavior on Silicon and Porous-Silicon Substrates

Osteoblast viability, proliferation, protein expression and mineralization were studied on bare, micro- and nanoporous silicon (Si) substrates. Micro- and nano-porous-Si substrates were prepared by anodic etching of silicon in ethanolic hydrofluoric acid and characterized using scanning electron and atomic force microscopies. Mouse osteoblasts were cultured on these substrates and cellular response to these surfaces was assessed using the Live/Dead Cell Viability assay and the MTT assay for cell proliferation. Osteoblast functionality was assessed using immunohistochemistry for bone protein specific markers. Osteoblasts grew well on micro- and nanoporous silicon substrates over the twenty-one day experimental period supporting the assessment that these are suitable cell supportive surfaces. Cell proliferation rates on bare and nanoporous silicon were similar initially, however, nanoporous silicon displayed enhanced cell proliferation, in comparison to bare silicon, after 14 days in culture. Immunocytochemical assays, using bone specific markers, showed positive reactions for osteonectin and osteopontin expression on all substrates with staining intensity increasing over the 21-day experimental period. Calcium mineral deposits were quantified using the Alizarin Red histochemical assay and nanoporous silicon induced the highest level of calcium mineral production in comparison to bare and microporous silicon. The data supports the potential use of nanoporous silicon as a surface implant coating for dental and orthopedic applications. The ability to dope (and then release) drugs or growth factors from the silicon nanopores offers the potential for a multi-functional implant surface

Effect of Oral intake of Stevia Leaf Powder on Body Weight – An Experimental study

Introduction: The steviol glycosides are found  in the stevia leaf. These glycosides possess sweetening properties as well as they have antioxidant, anti-microbial, anti-inflammatory, antihyperglycemic, and anti-hypertensive effects. This study was conducted to  find out the effect of Stevia leaf on body weight in obese Sprague Dawley male rats. Materials and Methods: This experimental study was carried out on 90 Sprague Dawley male rats. Group1(normal control) was given a standard diet for the entire study period, while the remaining sixty rats were given a high-fat diet (HFD) for 8 weeks to induce obesity. The obese rats were randomly assigned to group 2 (Obese Control) and Group 3 (obese + Stevia) and given HFD for another 6 weeks. The stevia leaf powder was added to the diet of group 3. Diet intake was noted for all the groups. Rats were weighed on the first day of every week, for six weeks, and then at the end of the study period.      Results: Body weights of rats in each group, at the start and end of the 6-week intervention period, when compared, showed a significant increase in group 1 (p=0.001), and group 2 (p = 0.001), while group 3 showed a non-significant increase (p = 0.248). The percentage increase in body weight for groups 1, 2, and 3 was 4.8, 9.3, and 1.1, respectively. Graphically, the weekly increase in average body weights of the three experimental groups showed maximum values for group 2. Conclusions: Stevia leaf possesses weight-reducing effects which may be due to inhibition of appetite, reduction in food intake, and consequent weight loss. Keywords: Obesity, weight loss, Natural non-nutritive sweeteners, Stevi

A pulse generation system based on new method for testing performance of high-resolution nuclear spectroscopy systems

380-385The paper presents a design and construction of uniform amplitude pulse generator for testing Differential Non-Linearity (DNL) of high-resolution nuclear spectroscopy systems. The paper describes two methods based on two new techniques called DAC Interpolation and Analog Multiplexer based design. A prototype of DAC interpolation technique has been designed and tested. **The method based on analog multiplexer and chain of resistors is simulated and the results of which is reported in the paper. The systems produce pulses with step size of 10 microvolt (µV), making them capable for calibrating spectroscopy systems with the resolution as high as 13-bit (8K). The systems are designed using commercially available components. The pulse generation system provides import substitute for commercially available imported models

A pulse generation system based on new method for testing performance of high-resolution nuclear spectroscopy systems

The paper presents a design and construction of uniform amplitude pulse generator for testing Differential Non-Linearity (DNL) of high-resolution nuclear spectroscopy systems. The paper describes two methods based on two new techniques called DAC Interpolation and Analog Multiplexer based design. A prototype of DAC interpolation technique has been designed and tested. **The method based on analog multiplexer and chain of resistors is simulated and the results of which is reported in the paper. The systems produce pulses with step size of 10 microvolt (µV), making them capable for calibrating spectroscopy systems with the resolution as high as 13-bit (8K). The systems are designed using commercially available components. The pulse generation system provides import substitute for commercially available imported models

INDIGENOUS VESICULAR MYCORRHIZAL FUNGI EFFECT ON MAIZE UNDER DIFFERENT TEXTURES

Plant health and biomass relies on nutrient availability and the efficiency with which nutrients are taking in by plants. Vesicular Arbuscular Mycorrhiza (VAM) is a symbiotic association between plant roots and fungus. VAM improve plant growth by modifying its rhizosphere soil and helps in nutrient uptake by plants. Our aim was to evaluate the growth of maize (Zea mays) and quantify mycorrhizae under different textures and in phosphorous deficient soils. Treatments include different types of soil texture (pure soil, pure sand and 1:1 soil+sand) along with recommended rate of nitrogen and potassium fertilizer while no phosphorous fertilizer was used. Root colonization, growth rate of plant, biomass of plant root and shoot and effect of VAM and roots on rhizosphere soil pH were observed. Results showed that shoot biomass was significantly improved in plain soil treatment as compared to sandy texture soils. Root:shoot ratio was significantly decreased in plain soil as compared to plants in sand. pH was reduced in all treatments significantly. Root colonization ranges from 40-49% and colonization rates higher in sandy soils than others. Results suggested that VAM infection show well growth in its natural environment and improve plant growth and yield

Heterogeneity and chimerism of endothelial cells revealed by single-cell transcriptome in orthotopic liver tumors.

The liver is a common host organ for cancer, either through lesions that arise in liver epithelial cells [e.g., hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)] or as a site of metastasis by tumors arising in other organs (e.g., colorectal cancer). However, the changes that occur in liver stromal cells in response to cancer have not been fully characterized, nor has it been determined whether the different sources of liver cancer induce distinct stromal changes. Here, we performed single-cell profiling of liver stromal cells from mouse models of induced spontaneous liver cancer or implanted colorectal liver metastases, with a focus on tumor endothelial cells (ECs). While ECs in liver tissue adjacent to cancerous lesions (so-called adjacent normal) corresponded to liver zonation phenotypes, their transcriptomes were also clearly altered by the presence of a tumor. In comparison, tumor EC transcriptomes show stronger similarities to venous than sinusoidal ECs. Further, tumor ECs, independent of tumor origin, formed distinct clusters displaying conserved "tip-like" or "stalk-like" characteristics, similar to ECs from subcutaneous tumors. However, they also carried liver-specific signatures found in normal liver ECs, suggesting an influence of the host organ on tumor ECs. Our results document gene expression signatures in ECs in liver cancer and show that the host organ, and not the site of tumor origin (liver versus colorectal), is a primary determinant of EC phenotype. In addition, primarily in tumors, we further defined a cluster of chimeric cells that expressed both myeloid and endothelial cell markers and might play a role in tumor angiogenesis

Abnormal event detection model using an improved ResNet101 in context aware surveillance system

Abstract Surveillance system plays a significant role for achieving security monitoring in the place of crowd areas. Offline monitoring of these crowd activity is quite challenging because it requires huge number of human resources for attaining efficient tracking. For shortcoming these issue automated and intelligent based system must be developed for efficiently monitor crowd and detect abnormal activity. However the existing methods faces issues like irrelevant features, high cost and process complexity. In this current research context aware surveillance‐system utilising hybrid ResNet101‐ANN is developed for effective abnormal activity detection. For this proposed approach video acquired from surveillance camera is considered as input. Then, acquired video is segmented into multiple frames. After that pre‐processing techniques such as denoising using mean filter, motion deblurring, contrast enhancement using Histogram Equalisation and canny edge detection is applied in this segmented frames. Further, the pre‐processed frame is fetched into hybrid ResNet101‐ANN classifier for abnormal event classification. Here, ResNet101 is used for extracting the features from the frames and Artificial neural network which replaces the fully connected layer of ResNet101 us used to detect the abnormal activity. If once abnormal‐events detected the context aware services generate alert to the user for preventing abnormal‐activities. Accuracy, precision, recall, and error values reached for the proposed‐model on simulation were 0.98, 0.98, 0.98 and 0.017 respectively. Using this proposed model effective crowd monitoring and abnormal activity detection can be achieved

A hospital based dermatoscopic study for the classification of melasma.

Objectives: This study was to evaluate the clinical profile and dermatoscopic classifications of melasma. Methods: A detail assessment, clinical examinations were performed to all patients. Clinical photographs were taken with full precautions to minimize the expression of the identity of the patient. Dermatoscopic evaluation of each subject was done. A USB Digital Magna-scope with 8LED light source, 20x to 200x magnification and 2Mega Pixel image sensor was used for dermatoscopic evaluation. Results: Most common dermatoscopic pattern was sparing of follicles 78(78%) followed by brown pigment 54(54%), accentuation of psuedonetwork 42(42%), brown –grey pigment 8(8%), grey pigment 11(11%) and perifollicular accentuation 4(4%). Telengiectasia was seen in 25(25%) patients. Conclusions: Melasma is more preponderance in middle age female. Most common factors for melasma are sun exposure and usage of fairness cream. Centrofacial is the most common type of melasma followed by malar. Sparing of follicles is one of the most common patterns of melasma on dermatoscopy. Hence, Melasma is a common acquired facial hyperpigmentary disorder which can cause a significant psychosocial impact in the patient. Dermatoscopy is a simple, non-invasive, office tool which helps in an accurate classification, early identification and therapeutic monitoring of melasma

Cutaneous changes during pregnancy: A hospital based prospective study

Objectives: This present study was to evaluate the various dermatological manifestation during pregnancy. Methods: A detailed history including chief complaints related to skin, onset in relation to duration of pregnancy, complete general physical & systemic examinations, associated skin / medical disorders were performed to all patients. Investigations-CBC, OGTT, TSH, VDRL, HIV, HBsAg, Anti-HCV, Urine routine examination, LFT, S. Bile Acids, KOH mount, Skin biopsy and DIF were done wherever required. Results: A total of 200 pregnant women were included in this study. The mean age of participants was 23.43±4.12 years.  Majority of women 104(52%) were seen in third trimester. 62(31%) women were in second trimester. and 34(17%) were in the first trimester of pregnancy. Most of the women 136(68%) were multigravida and 64(32%) were primigravida. Areola/nipple180(90%) was the most common pigmentary changes. Pedal oedema 26(13%) was the most common type of vascular changes seen in third trimester pregnant women. Most common type of connective tissue changes was Striae gravidarum 113(56.5%). Conclusions: Cutaneous manifestations are very common during pregnancy. Areola/nipple (pigmentary changes), malar (type of chloasma), pedal oedema (vascular changes) and striae gravidarum (connective tissue changes) are common cutaneous changes are seen during pregnancy.&nbsp