Metagenomic Analysis of Uterine Microbiota in Postpartum Normal and Endometritic Water Buffaloes (Bubalus bubalis)

In Indian subcontinent the water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) is one of the important livestock animals. As in cows, postpartum infection like endometritis in dairy buffaloes is major cause for the economic loss in the dairy industries. Till date, there is no study regarding metagenomic analysis of bacterial population of postpartum endometritic buffaloes. The purpose of this study was to identify and compare the uterine bacterial composition in normal and endometritic postpartum buffaloes using 16S rDNA cloning, which was a type of culture-independent methods. A total of 151 cloned plasmids for 16S rDNA from both normal and endometritic uterine samples were sequenced. Cloning library of 16S rDNA revealed clear cut difference between bacterial populations of normal and endometritic postpartum buffaloes. Cloned sequences were assigned to five major groups and one uncultured group. The five major groups include- Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes, Fusobacteria, Proteobacteria, and Tenericutes. Major cloned sequences from normal status endometrium were affiliated to phylum Proteobacteria, and most of the sequences showed high degree of similarity with bacteria Haemophilus felis. Most of the sequences from cloned library of endometritic status samples were affiliated to phylum Proteobacteria and Tenericutes. The most prevalent bacteria found in endometritic samples were Psychrobacter sp. PRwf-1, Psychrobacter pulmonis, Ureaplasma diversum strain T95 and Ureaplasma diversum strain A417. A major number of cloned sequences from both normal and endometritic samples were assigned to uncultured group. The present data showed bacterial population of postpartum normal and endometritic buffaloes and also described the presence of various types microbiota in uterine samples

Amyloid β induces early changes in the ribosomal machinery, cytoskeletal organization and oxidative phosphorylation in retinal photoreceptor cells

Amyloid β (Aβ) accumulation and its aggregation is characteristic molecular feature of the development of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). More recently, Aβ has been suggested to be associated with retinal pathology associated with AD, glaucoma and drusen deposits in age related macular degeneration (AMD). In this study, we investigated the proteins and biochemical networks that are affected by Aβ in the 661 W photoreceptor cells in culture. Time and dose dependent effects of Aβ on the photoreceptor cells were determined utilizing tandem mass tag (TMT) labeling-based quantitative mass-spectrometric approach. Bioinformatic analysis of the data revealed concentration and time dependent effects of the Aβ peptide stimulation on various key biochemical pathways that might be involved in mediating the toxicity effects of the peptide. We identified increased Tau phosphorylation, GSK3β dysregulation and reduced cell viability in cells treated with Aβ in a dose and time dependent manner. This study has delineated for the first-time molecular networks in photoreceptor cells that are impacted early upon Aβ treatment and contrasted the findings with a longer-term treatment effect. Proteins associated with ribosomal machinery homeostasis, mitochondrial function and cytoskeletal organization were affected in the initial stages of Aβ exposure, which may provide key insights into AD effects on the photoreceptors and specific molecular changes induced by Aβ peptide

Amyloid β accumulation and inner retinal degenerative changes in Alzheimer's disease transgenic mouse

© 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. The APP-PS1δE9 mouse model of Alzheimer's disease (AD) exhibits age dependent amyloid β (Aβ) plaque formation in their central nervous system due to high expression of mutated human APP and PSEN1 transgenes. Here we evaluated Aβ deposition and changes in soluble Aβ accumulation in the retinas of aged APP-PS1 mice using a combination of immunofluorescence, retinal flat mounts and western blotting techniques. Aβ accumulation in the retina has previously been shown to be associated with retinal ganglion cell apoptosis in animal models of glaucoma. This study investigated changes in the inner retinal function and structure in APP-PS1 mice using electrophysiology and histological approaches respectively. We report for the first time a significant decline in scotopic threshold response (STR) amplitudes which represents inner retinal function in transgenic animals compared to the wild type counterparts (p < 0.0001). Thinning of the retina particularly involving inner retinal layers and reduction in axonal density in the optic nerve was also observed. TUNEL staining was performed to examine neuronal apoptosis in the inner retina. Intraocular pressure (IOP) measurements showed that APP-PS1δE9 mice had a slightly elevated IOP, but the significance of this finding is not yet known. Together, these results substantiate previous observations and highlight that APP-PS1δE9 mice show evidence of molecular, functional and morphological degenerative changes in the inner retina

One protein, multiple pathologies: multifaceted involvement of amyloid β in neurodegenerative disorders of the brain and retina

© 2016, Springer International Publishing. Accumulation of amyloid β (Aβ) and its aggregates in the ageing central nervous system is regarded synonymous to Alzheimer’s disease (AD) pathology. Despite unquestionable advances in mechanistic and diagnostic aspects of the disease understanding, the primary cause of Aβ accumulation as well as its in vivo roles remains elusive; nonetheless, the majority of the efforts to address pathological mechanisms for therapeutic development are focused towards moderating Aβ accumulation in the brain. More recently, Aβ deposition has been identified in the eye and is linked with distinct age-related diseases including age-related macular degeneration, glaucoma as well as AD. Awareness of the Aβ accumulation in these markedly different degenerative disorders has led to an increasing body of work exploring overlapping mechanisms, a prospective biomarker role for Aβ and the potential to use retina as a model for brain related neurodegenerative disorders. Here, we present an integrated view of current understanding of the retinal Aβ deposition discussing the accumulation mechanisms, anticipated impacts and outlining ameliorative approaches that can be extrapolated to the retina for potential therapeutic benefits. Further longitudinal investigations in humans and animal models will determine retinal Aβ association as a potential pathognomonic, diagnostic or prognostic biomarker

Modern Control Methods for Adaptive Droop Coefficients’ Design

The microgrid controller comprises of cascaded “droop–voltage–current” control modules. The voltage and current controllers are basically proportional plus integral (PI)-type control logics. So, the efficacy of these controllers depends on the accuracy of the PI gain parameter tuning. Besides, the droop control logic supplies the reference voltage required for voltage control and the voltage control logic supplies the reference current required for the current control. Therefore, the total control operation depends on the effective design of droop control logic, which depends on the design of droop coefficients and their adaptivity to respond with respect to a disturbance. There are many conventional methods available as mentioned in the literature; however, to meet the modern power system requirements, these conventional methods have to be updated with features such as adaptivity, disturbance rejection, capability to address inertia related issues. With this intent, this chapter provides modern control methods for adaptive droop coefficients’ design. In brief, this chapter presents a novel droop controller design method that involves fuzzy logic-based adaptive p − ω droop coefficient design and model reference-based adaptive q − v droop coefficient design. This method facilitates the controller to adaptively respond according to the disturbances and thereby provides effective closed-loop control actions to improve the transient response of the system. The comparisons with the conventional methods are presented with the help of simulation and experimental results to persuade the importance of the proposed adaptive droop control method