Introduction to.... How to run an open licensing workshop?

The purpose of this paper is to provide brief guidelines on delivering a workshop to support the agreement and adoption of Open Access approaches, and particularly the use of Creative Commons, for licensing digital content. It is based on our experience in conducting a similar workshop, jointly organized by the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) and Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research (IGIDR) held over two days in Mumbai between March 12 and 13, 2015

Methanolic leaf extract of Gymnema sylvestre augments glucose uptake and ameliorates insulin resistance by upregulating glucose transporter-4, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma, adiponectin, and leptin levels in vitro.

The present study was undertaken to evaluate the effect of methanolic leaf extract of Gymnema sylvestre (MLGS) on glucose transport (GLUT) and insulin resistance in vitro. Materials and Methods: Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma (PPAR-γ) and GLUT-4 expression were assessed in L6 myotubes for concluding the GLUT activity, and adiponectin and leptin expression was studied in 3T3 L1 murine adipocyte cell line to determine the effect of MLGS (250-750 μg/ml) on insulin resistance. Results: The findings of the experiments have demonstrated a significant and dose-dependent increase in glucose uptake in all the tested concentrations of MLGS, further the glucose uptake activity of MLGS (750 μg/ml) was at par with rosiglitazone (50 μg/ml). Concomitantly, MLGS has shown enhanced GLUT-4 and PPAR-γ gene expressions in L6 myotubes. Furthermore, cycloheximide (CHX) had completely abolished the glucose uptake activity of MLGS when coincubated, which further confirmed that glucose uptake activity of MLGS was linked to enhanced expression of GLUT-4 and PPAR-γ. In addition, in another experimental set, MLGS showed enhanced expression of adiponectin and leptin, thus confirms the ameliorative effect of MLGS on insulin resistance. Conclusion: These findings suggest that MLGS has an enhanced glucose uptake activity in L6 myotubes, and ameliorate the insulin resistance in 3T3 L1 murine adipocyte cell line in vitr

Probabilistic Neural Network based Approach for Handwritten Character Recognition

In this paper, recognition system for totally unconstrained handwritten characters for south Indian language of Kannada is proposed. The proposed feature extraction technique is based on Fourier Transform and well known Principal Component Analysis (PCA). The system trains the appropriate frequency band images followed by PCA feature extraction scheme. For subsequent classification technique, Probabilistic Neural Network (PNN) is used. The proposed system is tested on large database containing Kannada characters and also tested on standard COIL-20 object database and the results were found to be better compared to standard techniques

Methanolic extract of Momordica cymbalaria enhances glucose uptake in L6 myotubes in vitro by up-regulating PPAR-gamma and GLUT-4

The present study was undertaken to evaluate the influence of the methanolic fruit extract of Momordica cymbalaria (MFMC) on PPAR gamma (Peroxisome Proliferator Activated Receptor gamma) and GLUT-4 (Glucose transporter-4) with respect to glucose transport. Various concentrations of MFMC ranging from 62.5 to 500 mu g-mL(-1) were evaluated for glucose uptake activity in vitro using L6 myotubes, rosiglitazone was used as a reference standard. The MJFMC showed significant and dose-dependent increase in glucose uptake at the tested concentrations, further, the glucose uptake activity of MFMC (500 mu g.mL(-1)) was comparable with rosigilitazone. Furthermore, MFMC has shown up-regulation of GLUT-4 and PPAR gamma gene expressions in L6 myotubes. In addition, the MFMC when incubated along with cycloheximide (CHX), which is a protein synthesis inhibitor, has shown complete blockade of glucose uptake. This indicates that new protein synthesis is required for increased GLUT-4 translocation. In conclusion, these fmdings suggest that MFMC is enhancing the glucose uptake significantly and dose dependently through the enhanced expression of PPAR gamma and GLUT-4 in vitro

Adaptive response to low dose of EMS or MMS in human peripheral blood lymphocytes

Human peripheral blood lymphocytes stimulated in vitro for 6 hr were exposed to a low (conditioning) dose of ethyl methanesulfonate (EMS; 1.5 x 10(-4) M) or methyl methanesulfonate (MMS; 1.5 x 10(-5) M). After 6 hr, the cells were treated with a high (challenging) concentration of the same agent (1.5 x 10(-3) M EMS or 1.5 x 10(-4) M MMS). The cells that received both conditioning and challenging doses became less sensitive to the induction of sister chromatid exchanges (SCEs) than those which did not receive the pretreatment with EMS or MMS. They responded with lower frequencies of SCEs. This suggests that conditioning dose of EMS or MMS has offered the lymphocytes to have decreased SCEs. This led to the realization that pre-exposure of lymphocytes to low dose can cause the induction of repair activity. This is a clear indication of the existence of adaptive response induced by alkylating agents whether it is ethylating or methylating in human lymphocytes in vitro

Comparative study (II): On the longevity of pupa and adult moths in selected few bivoltine purelines of silkworm Bombyx mori (L) in all the seasons of the year.

A comparative study utilizing the six multivoltines, in three seasons of the year between pupal and adult moth stage of silkworm of reveals a positive significance. Pupal duration was calculated after chrysalis stage among six multivoltines clearly indicated that the duration of pupae in the pre race is lowest where as the Daizo race exhibited the longest pupal duration of 240 hours. Silkworm adult life span evaluated in three seasons in the two sexes (male moth and female moth) it is clear that race pre exhibited shortest adult life span of 84 hours in mated males and 114 hours in mated females during pre-monsoon period and Daizo race revealed prolonged adult life span 222 hours in unmated males and 242 hours in unmated females during post-monsoon period. In the present studies among the two sexes, the unmated (virgin) male and females moths exhibited the longest life span than those of mated male and female moths. The influence of three seasons on adult life span is very clear from the experiment. The effect of pre-monsoon is more conspicuous (revealing short lifespan) where as in post-monsoon season lifespan is longest both in the pupal and adult. The results obtained from the present studies clearly demonstrate that racial differences, seasonal impact and sex wise differences are important in the expression of adult longevity

Comparative investigation of the effect of hemispherical and toroidal piston bowl geometries on diesel engine combustion characteristics

Diesel engine parameters are in general more compatible with operating on neat diesel than biodiesel and its blends. Therefore, optimizing operating conditions as well as piston bowl geometry to achieve a better performance with biodiesel in conventional diesel engines is highly essential. In the present study, hemispherical piston bowl geometry (HPBG) of existing diesel engine was modified into toroidal piston bowl geometry (TPBG) to evaluate the performance of a diesel engine running on a 20% blend of dairy scum oil biodiesel (B20). The experimental results revealed increased brake thermal efficiency and heat release rate by 5.5% and 17.24%, respectively, while brake specific fuel consumption, HC emission, and CO emission were decreased by 8.75%, 15%, and 14.47%, respectively, in response to the engine modification applied. Such improvements using the TPBG could be attributed to improved fuel atomization, reduction of fuel droplet size, increased cylinder temperature, enhanced squish-swirl, and turbulence kinetic energy during combustion. The findings of the present study could pave the way for the fabrication of diesel engines, which are more efficiently compatible with biodiesel and its blends

Structure of Mycobacterium smegmatis single-stranded DNA-binding protein and a comparative study involving homologus SSBs: biological implications of structural plasticity and variability in quaternary association

The structure of Mycobacterium smegmatis single-stranded DNA-binding protein (SSB) has been determined using three data sets collected from related crystals. The structure is similar to that of its homologue from Mycobacterium tuberculosis, indicating that the clamp arrangement that stabilizes the dimer and the ellipsoidal shape of the tetramer are characteristic features of mycobacterial SSBs. The central OB fold is conserved in mycobacterial SSBs as well as those from Escherichia coli, Deinococcus radiodurans and human mitochondria. However, the quaternary structure exhibits considerable variability. The observed plasticity of the subunit is related to this variability. The crystal structures and modelling provide a rationale for the variability. The strand involved in the clamp mechanism, which leads to higher stability of the tetramer, appears to occur in all high-G+C Gram-positive bacteria. The higher stability is perhaps required by these organisms. The mode of DNA binding of mycobacterial SSBs is different from that of E. coli SSB partly on account of the difference in the shape of the tetramers. Another difference between the two modes is that the former contains additional ionic interactions and is more susceptible to salt concentration