Pulmonary function and fuel use: A population survey

BACKGROUND: In the backdrop of conflicting reports (some studies reported adverse outcomes of biomass fuel use whereas few studies reported absence of any association between adverse health effect and fuel use, may be due to presence of large number of confounding variables) on the respiratory health effects of biomass fuel use, this cross sectional survey was undertaken to understand the role of fuel use on pulmonary function. METHOD: This study was conducted in a village of western India involving 369 randomly selected adult subjects (165 male and 204 female). All the subjects were interviewed and were subjected to pulmonary function test. Analysis of covariance was performed to compare the levels of different pulmonary function test parameters in relation to different fuel use taking care of the role of possible confounding factors. RESULTS: This study showed that biomass fuel use (especially wood) is an important factor for deterioration of pulmonary function (particularly in female). FEV(1 )(p < .05), FEV(1 )% (p < .01), PEFR (p < .05) and FEF(25–75 )(p < .01) values were significantly lower in biomass fuel using females than nonusers. Comparison of only biomass fuel use vs. only LPG (Liquefied Petroleum Gas) use and only wood vs. only LPG use has showed that LPG is a safer fuel so far as deterioration of pulmonary function is concerned. This study observes some deterioration of pulmonary function in the male subjects also, who came from biomass fuel using families. CONCLUSION: This study concluded that traditional biomass fuels like wood have adverse effects on pulmonary function

Inhibitor-Sensitive FGFR1 Amplification in Human Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Background Squamous cell lung carcinomas account for approximately 25% of new lung carcinoma cases and 40,000 deaths per year in the United States. Although there are multiple genomically targeted therapies for lung adenocarcinoma, none has yet been reported in squamous cell lung carcinoma. Methodology/Principal Findings Using SNP array analysis, we found that a region of chromosome segment 8p11-12 containing three genes–WHSC1L1, LETM2, and FGFR1–is amplified in 3% of lung adenocarcinomas and 21% of squamous cell lung carcinomas. Furthermore, we demonstrated that a non-small cell lung carcinoma cell line harboring focal amplification of FGFR1 is dependent on FGFR1 activity for cell growth, as treatment of this cell line either with FGFR1-specific shRNAs or with FGFR small molecule enzymatic inhibitors leads to cell growth inhibition. Conclusions/Significance These studies show that FGFR1 amplification is common in squamous cell lung cancer, and that FGFR1 may represent a promising therapeutic target in non-small cell lung cancer.Novartis Pharmaceuticals CorporationAmerican Lung AssociationUniting Against Lung CancerSara Thomas Monopoli FundSeaman FoundationIndia. Dept. of BiotechnologyNational Lung Cancer Partnershi

The Secreted Metalloprotease ADAMTS20 Is Required for Melanoblast Survival

ADAMTS20 (A disintegrin-like and metalloprotease domain with thrombospondin type-1 motifs) is a member of a family of secreted metalloproteases that can process a variety of extracellular matrix (ECM) components and secreted molecules. Adamts20 mutations in belted (bt) mice cause white spotting of the dorsal and ventral torso, indicative of defective neural crest (NC)-derived melanoblast development. The expression pattern of Adamts20 in dermal mesenchymal cells adjacent to migrating melanoblasts led us to initially propose that Adamts20 regulated melanoblast migration. However, using a Dct-LacZ transgene to track melanoblast development, we determined that melanoblasts were distributed normally in whole mount E12.5 bt/bt embryos, but were specifically reduced in the trunk of E13.5 bt/bt embryos due to a seven-fold higher rate of apoptosis. The melanoblast defect was exacerbated in newborn skin and embryos from bt/bt animals that were also haploinsufficient for Adamts9, a close homolog of Adamts20, indicating that these metalloproteases functionally overlap in melanoblast development. We identified two potential mechanisms by which Adamts20 may regulate melanoblast survival. First, skin explant cultures demonstrated that Adamts20 was required for melanoblasts to respond to soluble Kit ligand (sKitl). In support of this requirement, bt/bt;Kittm1Alf/+ and bt/bt;KitlSl/+ mice exhibited synergistically increased spotting. Second, ADAMTS20 cleaved the aggregating proteoglycan versican in vitro and was necessary for versican processing in vivo, raising the possibility that versican can participate in melanoblast development. These findings reveal previously unrecognized roles for Adamts proteases in cell survival and in mediating Kit signaling during melanoblast colonization of the skin. Our results have implications not only for understanding mechanisms of NC-derived melanoblast development but also provide insights on novel biological functions of secreted metalloproteases

EEG seizure in bilateral ECT is different between low and high stimulus doses

Melancholic depressive patients referred for ECT were randomized to receive either low dose (n = 20) or high dose (n = 20) stimulus applied bifrontotemporally. The two stimulus groups were comparable on the clinical variables. The EEG seizure was recorded on two channels (right and left frontal), digitized, coded and analyzed offline without knowledge of ECT parameters. EEG seizure was of comparable duration in the two stimulus (high dose and low dose) groups. A new composite measure, Strength-Symmetry-Index (SSI), based on strength and symmetry of seizure EEG was computed using fractal geometry. The SSI of the early-seizure was higher in the high dose than in the low dose ECT group. In a stepwise, logistic regression model, this variable contributed to 65% with correct classification of high dose and low dose ECT seizures

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Not AvailableThe oral lesions associated with foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) negatively affect animal behavior, which can adversely impact animal production and welfare. Physical form of a therapeutic diet (TD) can improve the feed intake and wellbeing during the acute phase of FMD. Accordingly, we tested the effect of two physical forms of a previously developed TD on the behavior of calves experimentally infected with FMD virus (FMDV). Crossbred Holstein Friesian male calves of 10-12 months (n = 12) were experimentally infected with a virulent strain of FMDV and were offered a TD enriched with 19% CP and 2.9 Mcal ME/kg for 11 days post-FMDV infection. One group received the TD in mash form (TDM) while the other (n = 6/group) received it in cooked form (TDC). A group of four calves served as uninfected control and were fed TDM. The time spent by the calves on certain behaviours was recorded in a pre-set form from 06:00-18:00 h for 10 days from day 2-11 post-FMDV infection. The data was divided into two sessions. Session 1 (06:00-13:00 h) represented after the offering of TD, while session 2 (13:01-18:00 h) represented the data after offering green fodder. Based on exploratory data analysis, data recorded from day 2-7 post-FMDV infection was included in the final analysis. Linear mixed model was used by fitting treatment, day and their interaction as fixed effects while calf as random effect. Orthogonal contrast was applied by comparing the infected TDM with other two groups. The results revealed that the cooked form of TD improved the ingestion time, resting time, sleeping time and licking time from day 2-7 post-FMDV infection as compared with the infected TDM group. Ingestive behaviour was better in the infected TDC than that of TDM group (p < 0.01). The sleeping time was significantly high in the infected groups as compared to the uninfected TDM group (p < 0.01) till day 6 post-FMDV infection. Daily activities such as licking, standing and resting differed significantly between the infected TDM and TDC groups in session 1, but not in session 2. Urination and defecation did not differ significantly between the infected TDM and TDC groups. It was concluded that cooked form of TD remediated the effects of infection with FMDV as evidenced by improvement in the behavior of the calves.Not Availabl

New semi-empirical formula for α \alpha α -decay half-lives of the heavy and superheavy nuclei

We have succesfully formulated the semi-empirical formula for $\alpha$ -decay half-lives of heavy and superheavy nuclei for different isotopes of the wide atomic-number range 94 < Z < 136. We have considered 2627 isotopes of heavy and superheavy nuclei for the fitting. The value produced by the present formula is compared with that of experiments and other eleven models, i.e. ImSahu, Sahu, Royer10, VS2, UNIV2, SemFIS2, WKB. Sahu16, Densov, VSS and Royer formula. This formula is exclusively for heavy and superheavy nuclei. $\alpha$ -decay is one of the dominant decay mode of superheavy nucleus. By identifying the $\alpha$ -decay mode superheavy nuclei can be detected. This formula helps in predicting the $\alpha$ -decay chains of superheavy nuclei