Pre and post-monsoon seasonal variation of some heavy metal pollution in sediments of River Gomti in the Vicinity of Lucknow City, India

The concentration of heavy metals (Fe, As and Cu) was examine in riverbed sediments of Gomti river, Lucknow at selected sites in pre and post monsoon season for three consecutive years (2009-11). The concentration was ranged between (As: 0.07-0.7, Fe: 7462.00-7977.00, Cu: 10.98-36.73 μg g-1) in pre-monsoon and in post-monsoon metal concentration was ranged between (As: 0.05-0.07, Fe: 543.00-7797.00, Cu: 32.00-9. 23 μg g-1). Whereas Geo accumulation index (I geo), contamination factor (CF), US EPA guideline also apply to determine the readily toxicity. Fe and As pollution was found from negligible to low level while Cu leads from low to moderate pollution. Significant correlation found between the metals in pre and post-monsoon of studied years, in case of As it was found insignificant. Conservation and management plan is also suggest for contaminated sites.Keywords: Gomti River, Heavy metals, Contamination factor, Geo-accumulation inde

DYNAMIC SOFTWARE IMAGINE RECOMMENDATION BASED ON NETWORK PROFILES

Techniques described herein recommend software images that can be used on network devices. The software images are recommended based on network profiles and zones associated with the network devices. A confidence score is calculated for each software image

Astrocytic Redox Remodeling by Amyloid Beta Peptide

Abstract Astrocytes are critical for neuronal redox homeostasis providing them with cysteine needed for glutathione synthesis. In this study, we demonstrate that the astrocytic redox response signature provoked by amyloid beta (A-) is distinct from that of a general oxidant (tertiary-butylhydroperoxide [t-BuOOH]). Acute A- treatment increased cystathionine --synthase (CBS) levels and enhanced transsulfuration flux in contrast to repeated A- exposure, which decreased CBS and catalase protein levels. Although t-BuOOH also increased transsulfuration flux, CBS levels were unaffected. The net effect of A- treatment was an oxidative shift in the intracellular glutathione/glutathione disulfide redox potential in contrast to a reductive shift in response to peroxide. In the extracellular compartment, A-, but not t-BuOOH, enhanced cystine uptake and cysteine accumulation, and resulted in remodeling of the extracellular cysteine/cystine redox potential in the reductive direction. The redox changes elicited by A- but not peroxide were associated with enhanced DNA synthesis. CBS activity and protein levels tended to be lower in cerebellum from patients with Alzheimer's disease than in age-matched controls. Our study suggests that the alterations in astrocytic redox status could compromise the neuroprotective potential of astrocytes and may be a potential new target for therapeutic intervention in Alzheimer's disease. Antioxid. Redox Signal. 14, 2385-2397.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/90483/1/ars-2E2010-2E3681.pd

The diagnostic role of saliva: a review

As a diagnostic fluid, saliva offers distinctive advantages over serum because it can be collected non-invasively by individuals, even by patient. Does not require special equipment for collection and storage as unlike blood saliva does not clot. Advantageous for person in whom blood drawing is difficult as in obese and haemophilic patient. Whole saliva used for diagnosis of systemic diseases, because it contains serum constituents. These constituents are derived from the local vasculature of the salivary glands and gingival cervicular fluid.This review examines the diagnostic application of saliva for hereditary disorders, autoimmune diseases, malignant and infectious diseases, and endocrine disorders, as well as in the assessment of therapeutic levels of drugs and the monitoring of illicit drug use, and also for forensic evidence and others. . In future we are likely to see the increased utilization of saliva as a diagnostic fluid. As we enter the era of genomic medicine, sialochemistry will play an increasingly important role in the early detection, the monitoring and progression of the systemic and oral diseases

Sentiment analysis and classification of Indian farmers’ protest using twitter data

Protests are an integral part of democracy and an important source for citizens to convey their demands and/or dissatisfaction to the government. As citizens become more aware of their rights, there has been an increasing number of protests all over the world for various reasons. With the advancement of technology, there has also been an exponential rise in the use of social media to exchange information and ideas. In this research, we gathered data from the microblogging website Twitter concerning farmers’ protest to understand the sentiments that the public shared on an international level. We used models to categorize and analyze the sentiments based on a collection of around 20,000 tweets on the protest. We conducted our analysis using Bag of Words and TF-IDF and discovered that Bag of Words performed better than TF-IDF. In addition, we also used Naive Bayes, Decision Trees, Random Forests, and Support Vector Machines and also discovered that Random Forest had the highest classification accuracy

Na+ and K+ ion imbalances in Alzheimer's disease

AbstractAlzheimer's disease (AD) is associated with impaired glutamate clearance and depressed Na+/K+ ATPase levels in AD brain that might lead to a cellular ion imbalance. To test this hypothesis, [Na+] and [K+] were analyzed in postmortem brain samples of 12 normal and 16 AD individuals, and in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from AD patients and matched controls. Statistically significant increases in [Na+] in frontal (25%) and parietal cortex (20%) and in cerebellar [K+] (15%) were observed in AD samples compared to controls. CSF from AD patients and matched controls exhibited no differences, suggesting that tissue ion imbalances reflected changes in the intracellular compartment. Differences in cation concentrations between normal and AD brain samples were modeled by a 2-fold increase in intracellular [Na+] and an 8–15% increase in intracellular [K+]. Since amyloid beta peptide (Aβ) is an important contributor to AD brain pathology, we assessed how Aβ affects ion homeostasis in primary murine astrocytes, the most abundant cells in brain tissue. We demonstrate that treatment of astrocytes with the Aβ 25–35 peptide increases intracellular levels of Na+ (~2–3-fold) and K+ (~1.5-fold), which were associated with reduced levels of Na+/K+ ATPase and the Na+-dependent glutamate transporters, GLAST and GLT-1. Similar increases in astrocytic Na+ and K+ levels were also caused by Aβ 1–40, but not by Aβ 1–42 treatment. Our study suggests a previously unrecognized impairment in AD brain cell ion homeostasis that might be triggered by Aβ and could significantly affect electrophysiological activity of brain cells, contributing to the pathophysiology of AD

Aging is associated with increased regulatory T ‐cell function

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/107355/1/acel12191.pd

Differential Dependence on Cysteine from Transsulfuration versus Transport During T Cell Activation

The synthesis of glutathione, a major cellular antioxidant with a critical role in T cell proliferation, is limited by cysteine. In this study, we evaluated the contributions of the xC- cystine transporter and the transsulfuration pathway to cysteine provision for glutathione synthesis and antioxidant defense in naive versus activated T cells and in the immortalized T lymphocyte cell line, Jurkat. We show that the xC- transporter, although absent in naive T cells, is induced after activation, releasing T cells from their cysteine dependence on antigen-presenting cells. We also demonstrate the existence of an intact transsulfuration pathway in naive and activated T cells and in Jurkat cells. The flux through the transsulfuration pathway increases in primary but not in transformed T cells in response to oxidative challenge by peroxide. Inhibition of the transsulfuration pathway in both primary and transformed T cells decreases cell viability under oxidative-stress conditions. Antioxid. Redox Signal. 15, 39-47.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/90472/1/ars-2E2010-2E3496.pd