204 research outputs found
IRC channel data analysis using Apache Solr
Internet Relay Chat (IRC) was one of the first real-time communication protocols over the internet. It was not designed with any form of Authentication, Authorization and Accounting features. This made IRC channels a place to conduct transactions in complete anonymity. On the other hand with the advent of Big Data we are now able to process large quantities of data in a very short period of time. This research presents a method to use Apache Solr, a text indexing server built on top of Lucene to index and search large quantities of IRC data collected over months from public IRC channels. It even presents a highly scalable approach to monitor public IRC channels by creation of IRC Client Bots which are in turn controlled by a robust IRC Parent Bot. The data thus collected is analyzed by Apache Solr and MS SQL servers and the response times are compared. This research concluded that Apache Solr outperforms MS SQL by a very great margin and such an implementation can be used by digital forensic investigators to monitor and search public IRC channels
Structure-Gas Transport Property Relationships of Poly(dimethylsiloxane-urethane) Nanocomposite Membranes
Benzyl Isothiocyanate Suppresses Pancreatic Tumor Angiogenesis and Invasion by Inhibiting HIF-α/VEGF/Rho-GTPases: Pivotal Role of STAT-3
Our previous studies have shown that benzyl isothiocyanate (BITC) suppresses pancreatic tumor growth by inhibiting STAT-3; however, the exact mechanism of tumor growth suppression was not clear. Here we evaluated the effects and mechanism of BITC on pancreatic tumor angiogenesis. Our results reveal that BITC significantly inhibits neovasularization on rat aorta and Chicken-Chorioallantoic membrane. Furthermore, BITC blocks the migration and invasion of BxPC-3 and PanC-1 pancreatic cancer cells in a dose dependant manner. Moreover, secretion of VEGF and MMP-2 in normoxic and hypoxic BxPC-3 and PanC-1 cells was significantly suppressed by BITC. Both VEGF and MMP-2 play a critical role in angiogenesis and metastasis. Our results reveal that BITC significantly suppresses the phosphorylation of VEGFR-2 (Tyr-1175), and expression of HIF-α. Rho-GTPases, which are regulated by VEGF play a crucial role in pancreatic cancer progression. BITC treatment reduced the expression of RhoC whereas up-regulated the expression of tumor suppressor RhoB. STAT-3 over-expression or IL-6 treatment significantly induced HIF-1α and VEGF expression; however, BITC substantially suppressed STAT-3 as well as STAT-3-induced HIF-1α and VEGF expression. Finally, in vivo tumor growth and matrigel-plug assay show reduced tumor growth and substantial reduction of hemoglobin content in the matrigel plugs and tumors of mice treated orally with 12 µmol BITC, indicating reduced tumor angiogenesis. Immunoblotting of BITC treated tumors show reduced expression of STAT-3 phosphorylation (Tyr-705), HIF-α, VEGFR-2, VEGF, MMP-2, CD31 and RhoC. Taken together, our results suggest that BITC suppresses pancreatic tumor growth by inhibiting tumor angiogenesis through STAT-3-dependant pathway
A facile synthesis of mixed soft-segmented poly(urethane-imide)-polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxone hybrid nanocomposites and study of their structure-transport properties
The structure–transport properties of mixed soft-segmented poly(urethane-imide) (MSPUI) membranes and their
microstructures were investigated. Polypropylene glycol, polycaprolactone diol and bis(3-aminopropyl)-terminated
polydimethylsiloxane were used as the soft segments in the membrane synthesis via a three-step polymerization reaction.
The chemical structures of the MSPUI membranes were characterized using attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform
infrared spectroscopy. Morphology and surface properties of the membranes were studied using scanning electron and
atomic force microscopy techniques. Surface energy measurements indicated the enrichment of the hydrophobic soft segment
in the membranes. The amorphous nature of the polymers was analysed using wide-angle X-ray diffraction. The effect
of morphology on the permeability and selectivity of the membranes is discussed. Finally, membrane structure–transport
property relationships were correlated.Department of Science and Technology, New Delhi (no. SR/S1/PC-45/2011). The CSIRhttp://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1002/(ISSN)1097-0126hb201
DROUGHT MITIGATION THROUGH HYDROGEL APPLICATION IN RICE (Oryza sativa L.) CULTIVATION
Sustainability in irrigation is an essential step towards responsible water consumption. In recent years, many studies have sketched climate-resilient agricultural practices to fight drought and uncertain rainfall patterns. Major rain-fed crops such as paddy and wheat require aid when there are abnormal dry spells. To mitigate the loss of crops from such events, superabsorbent polymers can be used. Soils amended with hydrogel or Superabsorbent polymer (SAP) retain moisture during drought to prevent loss of water through evaporation and percolation. This allows the crop to grow with less shock from drought. This study compares rice (Oryza sativa L.) growth rate under application (treatment groups) and non-application (control groups) of hydrogel, considering their high-water requirement. NDLR07 (recently developed) and BPT5204 (local variety) rice varieties were chosen for the current study. Randomized controlled trials were performed for each variety on a control group (NC & BC) and 3 treatment groups with 20% (NT20 & BT20), 40% (NT40 & BT40), and 60% (NT60 & BT60) deficit water supplies respectively. N, T, C refers to seed type, treatment group, control group respectively. Intermittent drought condition was imposed for 14 days to assess the resilience of crops. The water retention capacity of the sandy loam soil was better for treatment groups by 20% than control groups even at an average temperature of 40 ℃. Treatment groups continued growing through the drought phase and after, while control groups showed stagnation. Among the tested treatment groups, NT20 had the highest growth among all trials. The results of the study suggested that hydrogel application can help to combat droughts and thereby contribute to sustainable agricultural production by restricting the involvement of climate changes
3′-[Hydroxy(4-oxo-4H-chromen-3-yl)methyl]-2-oxospiro[indoline-3,2′-pyrrolidine]-3′-carbonitrile
In the title compound, C23H19N3O4, the pyran ring adopts a half-chair conformation, while the pyrrolidine (with a C atom as the flap atom) and the five-membered ring in the indoline (with a C atom as the flap atom) ring system adopt slight envelope conformations. The pyrrolidine ring makes dihedral angles of 83.3 (1) and 60.4 (1)° with the mean plane through all non-H atoms of the indoline and chromene ring systems, respectively. In the crystal, molecules are connected by two unique N—H⋯O and O—H⋯O hydrogen-bonding interactions, which form centrosymmetric patterns described by graph-set motifs R
2
2(18) and R
2
2(14). These two motifs combine to form a hydrogen-bonded chain which propagates in the a-axis direction. The crystal structure is also stablized by C—H⋯O interactions and by aromatic π–π stacking interactions between the pyran and benzene rings of neighbouring molecules [centroid–centroid distance = 3.755 (1) Å and slippage = 1.371 (2) Å]
Distributions and sources of low-molecular-weight monocarboxylic acids in gas and particles from a deciduous broadleaf forest in northern Japan
To better understand the distributions and sources of
low-molecular-weight (LMW) monocarboxylic acids (monoacids) in the forest
atmosphere, we conducted simultaneous collection of gaseous and particulate
samples at a deciduous broadleaf forest site in northern Japan. LMW normal
(C1–C10), branched (iC4–iC6), hydroxyl (glycolic and
lactic) and aromatic (benzoic) monoacids were detected in the gas and
particle phases. The dominant LMW monoacids in gas phase were formic (mean:
953 ng m−3) and acetic (528 ng m−3) acids followed by propionic
(37 ng m−3) or isopentanoic (42 ng m−3) acid. In the particle
phase, isopentanoic (159 ng m−3) was dominant, followed by acetic
(104 ng m−3) and formic (71 ng m−3) or lactic
(65 ng m−3) acids. Concentrations of LMW monoacids did not show
correlations with anthropogenic tracers such as nss-SO42- and
NO3-, indicating that anthropogenic contribution is not important.
Concentrations of C1–C6 monoacids in the gas phase showed positive
correlations (r2=0.21–0.91) with isobutyric acid (iC4), which
may be produced by microbial activity in soil. The forest soil may be a
source of gaseous C1–C6 monoacids in the forest atmosphere. Acetic
acid in the particle phase positively correlated with nonanoic acid (C9)
(r2=0.63), suggesting that formation of acetic and nonanoic acids is
associated with the oxidation of biogenic unsaturated fatty acids in the
aerosol phase, in addition to photochemical oxidation of biogenic volatile
organic compounds. The particle-phase fractions (Fp) of formic
and acetic acids showed negative correlation with ambient temperature
(C1: r2=0.49, C2: r2=0.60) but showed positive
correlation with relative humidity (C1: r2=0.30, C2: r2=0.55) in daytime, suggesting that these meteorological parameters are
important for the gas and particle portioning of monoacids in the forest
atmosphere.</p
Role of Mitochondrial Electron Transport Chain Complexes in Capsaicin Mediated Oxidative Stress Leading to Apoptosis in Pancreatic Cancer Cells
We evaluated the mechanism of capsaicin-mediated ROS generation in pancreatic cancer cells. The generation of ROS was about 4–6 fold more as compared to control and as early as 1 h after capsaicin treatment in BxPC-3 and AsPC-1 cells but not in normal HPDE-6 cells. The generation of ROS was inhibited by catalase and EUK-134. To delineate the mechanism of ROS generation, enzymatic activities of mitochondrial complex-I and complex-III were determined in the pure mitochondria. Our results shows that capsaicin inhibits about 2.5–9% and 5–20% of complex-I activity and 8–75% of complex-III activity in BxPC-3 and AsPC-1 cells respectively, which was attenuable by SOD, catalase and EUK-134. On the other hand, capsaicin treatment failed to inhibit complex-I or complex-III activities in normal HPDE-6 cells. The ATP levels were drastically suppressed by capsaicin treatment in both BxPC-3 and AsPC-1 cells and attenuated by catalase or EUK-134. Oxidation of mitochondria-specific cardiolipin was substantially higher in capsaicin treated cells. BxPC-3 derived ρ0 cells, which lack mitochondrial DNA, were completely resistant to capsaicin mediated ROS generation and apoptosis. Our results reveal that the release of cytochrome c and cleavage of both caspase-9 and caspase-3 due to disruption of mitochondrial membrane potential were significantly blocked by catalase and EUK-134 in BxPC-3 cells. Our results further demonstrate that capsaicin treatment not only inhibit the enzymatic activity and expression of SOD, catalase and glutathione peroxidase but also reduce glutathione level. Over-expression of catalase by transient transfection protected the cells from capsaicin-mediated ROS generation and apoptosis. Furthermore, tumors from mice orally fed with 2.5 mg/kg capsaicin show decreased SOD activity and an increase in GSSG/GSH levels as compared to controls. Taken together, our results suggest the involvement of mitochondrial complex-I and III in capsaicin-mediated ROS generation and decrease in antioxidant levels resulting in severe mitochondrial damage leading to apoptosis in pancreatic cancer cells
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