An in vitro comparative study of layered-double hydroxide nanoconjugate in the delivery of small interference and short-hairpin ribonucleic acid

Alzheimer's disease is a disease which cannot be cured completely. In this aspect ribonucleic acid interference (RNAi) therapy is a prospective therapeutic mechanism which can be used for identifying a future curative procedure. RNAi therapy comprises small interfering RNA (siRNA), short hairpin (shRNA) and micro-RNA therapeutics. Within these three mechanisms we have identified two of them as an effective method of combating this genetic incurable disease. siRNAs and shRNAs are very much effective in vitro that is already proved in many research work. In our study we have used a very potent, biocompatible nanoparticle-layered double hydroxide for delivering these macromolecules. However, the intercalation and cellular internalization of these macromolecules demonstrated significant differences. As siRNAs have low-molecular weight than shRNAs they demonstrated different characteristics in the case of internalization within layered-double hydroxide and while cellular internalization. At the end of this study it has been found that both of these macromolecules may be used as a therapeutic approach of Alzheimer's disease after studying it in future in animal and human subjects

XENOPHOBIC ATTITUDES AND REPRESENTATIONS IN SOCIAL MEDIA DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIC IN INDIA

    Social media activity was reported to have significantly increased during the pandemic period as most of the daily routines transformed into the digital space. On the verge of this new normality of  the post-pandemic, exploring virtual space would contribute in analysing and shaping the future digital media discourse. This paper attempted to explore the politics of representation in digital space using Foucauldian theories of power and discipline. A qualitative exploration of the xenophobic attitudes and representation was conducted on 123 young adults to understand how health concerns associated with the pandemic influenced social representations and marginalization of certain social sections and how participants recognized and understood their contribution to this group polarization. Thematic analysis of participant opinions indicated a significant change in polarization and attitude towards out-groups following the pandemic outbreak. The existing hierarchical homogenization and polarization of the marginalized moderated by polarized political affinities were found to be translated into digital space intensifying xenophobic attitudes. Keywords: Xenophobia, covid-19 pandemic, marginalization, social media representation.Social media activity was reported to have significantly increased during the pandemic period as most of the daily routines transformed into the digital space. This paper attempted to explore the politics of representation in digital space using Foucauldian theories of power and discipline. A qualitative exploration of the xenophobic attitudes and representation was conducted on 123 young adults to understand how health concerns associated with the pandemic influenced social representations and marginalization of certain social sections and how participants recognized and understood their contribution to this group polarization. Thematic analysis of participant opinions indicated a significant change in polarization and attitude towards out-groups following the pandemic outbreak. The existing hierarchical homogenization and polarization of the marginalized moderated by polarized political affinities were found to be translated into digital space intensifying xenophobic attitudes thereby contributing to the evolution of new digital cultures and hierarchies in digital literacy

The relationship among the age at menarche, anthropometric characteristics, and socio-economic factors in Bengali girls from Kolkata, India

Special Issue: Continuity and Change in Biocultural Anthropology.OBJECTIVES: The aim of the study was to measure the causal effect of selected socio-economic factors and anthropometrical characteristics on the menarche occurrence. METHODS: The sample consisted of 2195 Bengali girls (aged 7-21) from middle-class families, from Kolkata city, India. The age at menarche was recorded from the retrospective data and status quo method. The causal effect of anthropometric and socio-economic variables on menarche occurrence was estimated by the nonparametrical analysis of survival probability (survival random forest). RESULTS: In the examined cohort menarche occurred, on average, at 11.8 years of age. The probability of menarche occurrence amplified with the increasing values of factors such as body mass index, height-for-age z-scores, number of family members, household rooms, and toilets, but decreased when expenditures increased. The relation maintained a similar pattern of causal effect with girls' age. CONCLUSIONS: A complex pattern of relationship among sexual development, physique, and socio-economic characteristics was defined. The tendency toward early menarche, along with the observed causal relationships indicate that the analyzed sample is nearing the characteristics and standards of living noted in other middle and even high-income countries in the world.This study has been sponsored by the Neys van Hoogstraten Foundation, The Netherlands (ID158) and Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata, India

BERBERINE HYDROCHLORIDE COULD PROVE TO BE A PROMISING BULLET AGAINST CLOSTRIDIUM DIFFICILE INFECTION: A PRELIMINARY STUDY FROM SOUTH INDIA

Objective: Recurrent Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) and the emergence of strains with reduced susceptibility to metronidazole and vancomycinwarrants alternative therapy. Hence, we tested the potential efficacy of the natural compound berberine hydrochloride (BBRHCl) against toxigenicC. difficile.Methods: Three representative polymerase chain reaction confirmed, toxin-positive strains were included in the study. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis(PFGE) profile and antibiogram of the strains were analyzed along with 10 other toxin positive isolates. Efficacy of BBRHCl against toxigenic C. difficilewas determined using agar diffusion by punch well method.Results: PFGE grouped the test strains into three clusters with unique susceptibility pattern toward standard antibiotics. BBRHCl was efficaciousagainst the test strains at a concentration ranging between 6.25 μg/ml and 10 mg/ml. BBRHCl's breakpoint point inhibitory zone diameter wasequivalent (p<0.001) to the epidemiological cutoff values for teicoplanin, vancomycin and 2% black seed oil. Although the predicted concentration ofBBRHCl for breakpoint zone diameter equivalent to European Committee on Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing's epidemiological cutoff value formetronidazole was observed to fall outside the tested concentration range; it was still within the safe dosage for humans.Conclusion: The present study is promising in considering BBRHCl as a potent substitute or adjunct not only for metronidazole, vancomycin andteicoplanin but also for natural compounds like 2% black seed oil for managing resistant cases of CDI. Owing to BBRHCl's direct antibacterial and antiinflammatoryaction, further investigations will aid in the proper characterization of the therapeutic effects of similar plant compounds, to developsafe and effective drugs against the epidemiological outbreak of CDI

Coulomb dissociation of N 20,21

Neutron-rich light nuclei and their reactions play an important role in the creation of chemical elements. Here, data from a Coulomb dissociation experiment on N20,21 are reported. Relativistic N20,21 ions impinged on a lead target and the Coulomb dissociation cross section was determined in a kinematically complete experiment. Using the detailed balance theorem, the N19(n,γ)N20 and N20(n,γ)N21 excitation functions and thermonuclear reaction rates have been determined. The N19(n,γ)N20 rate is up to a factor of 5 higher at

Prospective treatment of Parkinson's disease by a siRNA-LDH nanoconjugate

In the world, among the neurodegenerative diseases, Parkinson's is the second most common disease. Although several medications are available in the market, this disease still remains incurable and only the symptoms are controlled to a certain extent with severe side effects. For these reasons we decided to search for a novel therapeutic measure. The objective of this publication was to find a therapeutic procedure to cure this devastating disease. In this study, a biocompatible, easily permeable, cationic nanoparticle-layered double hydroxide was synthesized. Within the layers of these nanoparticles we intercalated a synuclein siRNA, which helps to silence the a synuclein gene. After the intercalation, which was optimized at a 1 : 40 ratio of siRNA: (LDH), we studied its stability in blood by a RNase protection test and serum protection assay. Both proved that LDH was an excellent nanocarrier that can protect intercalated molecules within its layers. After that, several cellular studies were performed by FACS to evaluate its biocompatibility after intercalation and cellular internalization. Results of the biocompatibility studies found it to be nontoxic and in the cellular internalization study, 51.55% of cells were taken into the nanoconjugate and confocal microscopy supported the data from FACS. Lastly, ELISA was performed to discover protein levels in the control, overexpressed, and treated groups of the SH-SY5Y cell line. These results verified that this nanoconjugate is a protective treatment procedure for Parkinson's disease

Nanoparticulate Immunotherapy: An Intelligent Way to Tailor Make Our Defense System

The term ‘Immunotherapy’ refers to a complex process to combat cancer, infections, and other diseases by suppressing, enhancing, or inducing the immune response to the host. The major limitation of the therapy is its inability to produce enough trained immune cells in the system. Currently, researchers have pursued immunotherapy as a treatment protocol, based on training the host’s immune system to fight with the diseases. Immune response can be activated by dendritic cell based, T cell adoptive, autologous immune enhancement or genetically engineered T cell or can be suppressed by some drugs that are very much useful in organ transplantation. Immune tolerance refers to a process by which body will not launch an attack to its own cells but helps to stop attacks to its tissue, simultaneously, that occurs in autoimmune diseases, generally. In allergic conditions, immunotherapy is the only treatment option available, in which body can change or modify the immune response by reducing allergen sensitivity. In case of biological application, macro-size possesses numerous drawbacks on account of the smaller size of cellular compartment. Thus advance drug delivery system comprising nanoparticles encapsulating immunologically active compound holds great potential for target specific immunotherapy, in general. Hence, nanotechnology-based immunomodulatory drugs and vaccines help in the improvement in the field of immunotherapy, for the immunological diseases

FISH LIVER OIL: OMEGA-3 FATTY ACID AND HUMAN HEALTH

A significant source of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids is fish oil. These elements are absolutely necessary in human diet. Since it cannot be manufactured by the human body, it must be obtained through diet. It shields us against serious heart conditions, cancer, diabetes, mental illness, arthritis, and a host of other health issues. Thus, fish oil benefits us in a number of positive ways. The advantages of Omega-3 fatty acids for health are outlined in this review paper

DLSense: Distributed Learning-Based Smart Virtual Sensing for Precision Agriculture

This work presents the design of an efficient edge-empowered sensor-cloud architecture equipped with a smart virtual sensing scheme for precision agriculture. Traditionally, in agricultural sensor-cloud, sensor nodes send raw sensed data periodically to the cloud, resulting in higher latency and higher energy and bandwidth consumption. The environment-dependent nature of agricultural parameters also limits the serviceability of sensor-cloud in regions with damaged or unemployed sensors. Moreover, the agricultural sensor-cloud suffers from privacy issues due to the sharing of sensitive farming data across third-party service providers. To address these drawbacks, we first propose a modified sensor-cloud architecture using edge devices as the middleware layer for sensor virtualization, thereby reducing service provisioning latency and resource consumption. Next, we propose DLSense, a novel intelligent virtualization scheme to aid in the design of virtual sensors in the absence of working sensor nodes in a region. DLSense utilizes correlation theory and distributed learning in the edge devices to predict sensor data and enables sharing of information of the trained models instead of raw sensed data, thus imparting privacy. Finally, we evaluate the performance of the DLSense scheme through extensive simulations and an experimental case study of an agricultural application. Results demonstrate that our proposed scheme reduces latency and service cost by 81% and 66%, respectively, and increases service availability by 39% compared to the state-of-the-art methods