Design and development of a web-based application for diabetes patient data management

A web-based database management system developed for collecting, managing and analysing information of diabetes patients is described here. It is a searchable, client-server, relational database application, developed on the WindowsTM platform using Oracle, Active Server Pages (ASP), Visual Basic Script (VB Script) and Java Script. The software is menu-driven and allows authorised healthcare providers to access, enter, update and analyse patient information. Graphical representation of data can be generated by the system using bar charts and pie charts. An interactive web interface allows users to query the database and generate reports. Alpha- and beta-testing of the system was carried out and the system at present holds records of 500 diabetes patients and is found useful in diagnosis and treatment. In addition to providing patient data on a continuous basis in a simple format, the system is used in population and comparative analysis. It has proved to be of significant advantage to the healthcare provider as compared to the paper-based system

The inactive X chromosome in the human female is enriched in 5-methylcytosine to an unusual degree and appears to contain more of this modified nucleotide than the remainder of the genome

By employing a procedure that combines ELISA and photoacoustic spectroscopy, we have examined the content of 5-methylcytosine (m5C) in DNA of individuals who differed from one another in the number of X chromosomes in their genomes. The results show that the human inactive X chromosome (Xi) contains very high amounts of this modified nucleotide. We estimate that in the 46,XX female there is more m5C in Xi (~3.6 × 107) than in all the remaining chromosomes put together (~2.1 × 107). Our results also suggest that nearly one-fifth of all cytosines in Xi are methylated and that, in addition to CpG methylation, there is extensive non-CpG methylation as well

Potential application of protease isolated from Pseudomonas aeruginosa PD100

A protease isolated from Pseudomonas aeruginosa PD100 could act in the presence of SDS and Tween 80. This protease could be useful for degradation of protein in the presence of solvent, dehairing of cow skin and degradation of natural proteins. The immobilized protease showed 15-20% increases in temperature stability and the entrapped enzyme retained 83% of its initial activity after six cycles. With respect to properties of the enzyme and its capability for degradation of different protein sources, this protease finds potential application for waste treatment, used in detergents and leather industry

Characterisation of Inactivation Domains and Evolutionary Strata in Human X Chromosome through Markov Segmentation

Markov segmentation is a method of identifying compositionally different subsequences in a given symbolic sequence. We have applied this technique to the DNA sequence of the human X chromosome to analyze its compositional structure. The human X chromosome is known to have acquired DNA through distinct evolutionary events and is believed to be composed of five evolutionary strata. In addition, in female mammals all copies of X chromosome in excess of one are transcriptionally inactivated. The location of a gene is correlated with its ability to undergo inactivation, but correlations between evolutionary strata and inactivation domains are less clear. Our analysis provides an accurate estimate of the location of stratum boundaries and gives a high–resolution map of compositionally different regions on the X chromosome. This leads to the identification of a novel stratum, as well as segments wherein a group of genes either undergo inactivation or escape inactivation in toto. We identify oligomers that appear to be unique to inactivation domains alone

RESEARCH ARTICLE - Potential application of protease isolated from Pseudomonas aeruginosa PD100

A protease isolated from Pseudomonas aeruginosa PD100 could act in the presence of SDS and Tween 80. This protease could be useful for degradation of protein in the presence of solvent, dehairing of cow skin and degradation of natural proteins. The immobilized protease showed 15-20% increases in temperature stability and the entrapped enzyme retained 83% of its initial activity after six cycles. With respect to properties of the enzyme and its capability for degradation of different protein sources, this protease finds potential application for waste treatment, used in detergents and leather industry