Hypothesis Volume 8(2) Identification of miRNAs in C. roseus and their potential targets

Abstract: MicroRNAs are small (20-22 nucleotides) none coding, regulatory RNAs, whose pivotal role in gene expression has been associated in number of diseases, therefore prediction of miRNA is an essential yet challenging field. In this study miRNAs of C. roseus are predicted along with their possible target genes. A total of 19,899 ESTs were downloaded from dbEST database and processed and trimmed through SeqClean. Nine sequences were trashed and 31 sequences were trimmed by the program and the resulting sequences were submitted to Repeatmasker and TGICL for clustering and assembly. This contig database was now used to find the putative miRNAs by performing a local BLAST with the miRNAs of B. rapa retrieved from miRBase. The targets were scanned by hybridizing screened ESTs with the UTRs of human using miRanda software. Finally, 7 putative miRNAs were found to hybridize with the various targets of signal transduction and apoptosis that may play significant role in preventing diseases like Leukemia, Arthritis and Alzheimer. Background: MicroRNA

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Not AvailableThe present study is focused on functionalisation of mesoporous silica (or SBA-15) to control azathioprine drug release rate and its toxic effect. The mesoporous silica was functionalised by (γ-chloropropyl)triethoxysilicane and (3-aminopropyl)triethoxysilane (APTES) via hydrothermal process. The azathioprine was loaded into SBA-15 via post impregnation method. Azathioprine-loaded pristine and functionalised SBA-15 samples were characterised using UV–visible spectrophotometry and thermogravimetric analysis to measure the drug loading efficiency. The samples were also characterised by small and wide-angle powder X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscope, transmission electron microscope, infrared spectroscopy and nitrogen adsorption/desorption analysis to study the structure, morphology, functionalisation and drug loading in detail. The maximum drug loading efficiency of 65(±1)% was achieved. In vitro azathioprine release profiles were studied in phosphate buffered saline (pH 7.4) and results suggested that the drug release amount could be controlled by functionalisation of carrier matrix SBA-15. Azathioprine-loaded APTES-functionalised material revealed lowest release amount of ~64.5% in 60 h. The toxicity of azathioprine was significantly reduced by loading the drug into the mesoporous pristine and functionalised silica. The controlled azathioprine release reduced its repeated administration and can reduce its toxicity and side effects. These outcomes recommend that the functionalised SBA-15 is an advantageous drug carrier for achieving extended release time.Not Availabl

Evaluating the Performance of Low-cost PM Sensors over Multiple COALESCE Network Sites

Air quality is a global concern, with particulate matter receiving considerable attention due to its impact on human health and climate change. Recent advances in low-cost sensors allow their deployment in large number to measure spatio-temporal and real-time air quality data. Low-cost sensors need careful evaluation with both regulatory approved methods and other data sets to understand their efficacy. In this work, PM concentrations measured by deploying low-cost sensors at four regional sites are evaluated through comparison with satellite-based model MERRA-2 and the SASS reference instrument. Daily PM2.5 mass concentration variation was analyzed at four regional sites of India from January 2020 to July 2020, including pre-lockdown and six different lockdown periods. Higher PM2.5 concentration was observed at Rohtak (119 mu g m-3) compared to Mahabaleshwar (33 mu g m-3), Bhopal (45 mu g m-3) and Kashmir sites during the pre-lock down period. During the lockdown period, the PM2.5 mass concentration was reduced significantly compared to the pre-lockdown period at every location, although the PM2.5 concentration was different at each location. The air quality trend was quite similar in both the measurements, however, MERRA-2 reconstructed PM2.5 was significantly lower in the pre-lockdown period compared to the lockdown periods. Significant differences were observed between low-cost sensor measurements and MERRA-2 reanalysis data. These are attributed to the MERRA-2 modelling analysis that measures less PM2.5 concentration as compared to ground-based measurements, whereas low-cost sensor are and biases