A rare case of Takayasu’s arteritis in pregnancy

Takayasu’s arteritis (TA) is an uncommon, chronic inflammatory vascular disease of unknown etiology that primarily involves aorta and its branches and pulmonary arteries. Though it is present worldwide, it is more prevalent in Asian countries. It usually presents during reproductive age group with non-specific symptoms. The symptoms of the disease are varied and patients can present asymptomatically with impalpable pulses. There are no specific laboratory tests to diagnose TA. Angiographic imaging is considered to be the gold standard investigation in diagnosing TA. Steroids with subsequent tapering doses are the mainstay of medical treatment. Reconstructive vascular surgery is limited to the severe and irreversible stenotic lesions. Though the disease process theoretically is not aggravated by the pregnancy, development of preeclampsia and fetal growth restriction may occur during pregnancy. Preconception counseling and careful monitoring of pregnant mother by a multidisciplinary team, improves the pregnancy outcome. Here we present a bad obstetric case with TA who subsequently developed severe preeclampsia and fetal growth restriction. The pregnancy outcome could be made favourable by strict monitoring and multidisciplinary team approach

A rare case of Takayasu's arteritis in pregnancy

Takayasu’s arteritis (TA) is an uncommon, chronic inflammatory vascular disease of unknown etiology that primarily involves aorta and its branches and pulmonary arteries. Though it is present worldwide, it is more prevalent in Asian countries. It usually presents during reproductive age group with non-specific symptoms. The symptoms of the disease are varied and patients can present asymptomatically with impalpable pulses. There are no specific laboratory tests to diagnose TA. Angiographic imaging is considered to be the gold standard investigation in diagnosing TA. Steroids with subsequent tapering doses are the mainstay of medical treatment. Reconstructive vascular surgery is limited to the severe and irreversible stenotic lesions. Though the disease process theoretically is not aggravated by the pregnancy, development of preeclampsia and fetal growth restriction may occur during pregnancy. Preconception counseling and careful monitoring of pregnant mother by a multidisciplinary team, improves the pregnancy outcome. Here we present a bad obstetric case with TA who subsequently developed severe preeclampsia and fetal growth restriction. The pregnancy outcome could be made favourable by strict monitoring and multidisciplinary team approach

Design of an Ultra-Compact and Highly-Sensitive Temperature Sensor Using Photonic Crystal Based Single Micro-Ring Resonator and Cascaded Micro-Ring Resonator

Abstract In the present report, a photonic crystal based micro-ring resonator (MRR) structure is proposed which is very compact in size and has very fast response and is employed for temperature sensing purpose. Temperature sensing application for both the single MRR and cascaded MRR is illustrated in this paper. The sensitivity of the reported structure is increased from 2.9 nm/°C to 3.4 nm/°C by cascading two MRR. The refractive index of the material is subjected to change with the variation in temperature which results in the shift of the resonant wavelength of the proposed sensor. The finite difference time domain (FDTD) simulation is utilized to see the transmission spectrum of the proposed structure and analyzing the shift in the resonance wavelength the temperature is calculated. The proposed design is simple, reliable and may be integrated into different transducer and sensing applications

Crystallization and preliminary X-ray diffraction studies of sortase A from Streptococcus pneumoniae

Sortases are cell-membrane-anchored cysteine transpeptidases that are essential for the assembly and anchoring of cell-surface adhesins in Gram-positive bacteria. Thus, they play critical roles in virulence, infection and colonization by pathogens. Sortases have been classified into four types based on their primary sequence and the target-protein motifs that they recognize. All Gram-positive bacteria express a class A housekeeping sortase (SrtA). Sortase A from Streptococcus pneumoniae (NP_358691) has been crystallized in two crystal forms. Diamond-shaped crystals of Delta N(59)SrtA diffracted to 4.0 angstrom resolution and belonged to a tetragonal system with unit-cell parameters a = b = 122.8, c = 86.5 angstrom, alpha = beta = gamma = 90 degrees, while rod-shaped crystals of Delta N(81)SrtA diffracted to 2.91 angstrom resolution and belonged to the monoclinic space group P2(1) with unit-cell parameters a = 66.8, b = 103.47, c = 74.79 angstrom, alpha = gamma = 90, beta = 115.65 degrees. The Matthews coefficient (V(M) = 2.77 angstrom(3) Da(-1)) with similar to 56% solvent content suggested the presence of four molecules in the asymmetric unit for Delta N(81)SrtA. Also, a multi-copy search using a monomer as a probe in the molecular-replacement method resulted in the successful location of four sortase molecules in the asymmetric unit, with statistics R = 41.61, R(free) = 46.44, correlation coefficient (CC) = 64.31, CC(free) = 57.67

A quick, easy and cost-effective in planta method to develop direct transformants in wheat

Not AvailableAgrobacterium mediated in planta method was used to transform Indian elite wheat genotype HD2894 with herbicide-tolerant CP4-EPSPS (5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase) gene. The apical meristems of germinated seeds were targeted for introgression of transgene. The obtained T1 plants were screened by spraying 1% glyphosate and only positive transformants survived. The presence of transgene was also confirmed by PCR and Southern hybridization. Using this method, 3.07% transformation rate was observed. To identify transgenic lines carrying stably integrated CP4-EPSPS gene, the transgenic populations were screened in T3 generation using 1% glyphosate and lines with 100% survival were considered as homozygous. No significant morpho-physiological variations were observed within the transgenic lines as compared to non-transgenic plants. The present study resulted in herbicide-tolerant transgenic wheat and provides a valuable tool for development of wheat genetic transformation.Not Availabl

Log scale distribution of GLI1 mRNA expression in a) already published MB cases, along with 1 new case of MB from our repository b) distribution of GLI1 mRNA expression (RNA-Seq data) of the TCGA-GBM sub-cohort (N = 149), c) distribution of GLI1 mRNA expression in NIBMG-GBM cases (N = 19), d) distribution of GLI1 mRNA expression in GBM patient-derived early passage neurospheres (N = 6) and e) comparison of median GLI1 mRNA expression levels of high-Hh-MB (N = 13), low-Hh-MB (N-44), NIBMG-GBM (N = 19) and GBM patient-derived neurospheres (N = 6).

<p>Log scale distribution of GLI1 mRNA expression in a) already published MB cases, along with 1 new case of MB from our repository b) distribution of GLI1 mRNA expression (RNA-Seq data) of the TCGA-GBM sub-cohort (N = 149), c) distribution of GLI1 mRNA expression in NIBMG-GBM cases (N = 19), d) distribution of GLI1 mRNA expression in GBM patient-derived early passage neurospheres (N = 6) and e) comparison of median GLI1 mRNA expression levels of high-Hh-MB (N = 13), low-Hh-MB (N-44), NIBMG-GBM (N = 19) and GBM patient-derived neurospheres (N = 6).</p

Heat map of correlation matrix for the expression of 11 canonical Hh-pathway component genes in TCGA-GBM (N = 149, significant cut-off |r|>0.17, MTC with FDR 0.1).

<p>Heat map of correlation matrix for the expression of 11 canonical Hh-pathway component genes in TCGA-GBM (N = 149, significant cut-off |r|>0.17, MTC with FDR 0.1).</p

A, cell cycle arrest in GBM neurospheres with vismodegib treatment <i>in vitro</i> a) A49910, b), B0027, c) B0043, d) B0051 and e) M45481.

<p><b>B</b>, Number of apoptotic cells (annexin V positive) in GBM neurospheres treated either with DMSO or with 50 μM vismodegib.</p