Cold Induction of EARLI1, a Putative Arabidopsis Lipid Transfer Protein, Is Light and Calcium Dependent

As sessile organisms, plants must adapt to their environment. One approach toward understanding this adaptation is to investigate environmental regulation of gene expression. Our focus is on the environmental regulation of EARLI1, which is activated by cold and long-day photoperiods. Cold activation of EARLI1 in short-day photoperiods is slow, requiring several hours at 4ºC to detect an increase in mRNA abundance. EARLI1 is not efficiently cold-activated in etiolated seedlings, suggesting that photomorphogenesis is necessary for its cold activation. Cold activation of EARLI1 is inhibited in the presence of the calcium channel blocker lanthanum chloride or the calcium chelator EGTA. Addition of the calcium ionophore Bay K8644 results in cold-independent activation of EARLI1. These data suggest that EARLI1 is not an immediate target of the cold response, and that calcium flux affects its expression. EARLI1 is a putative secreted protein and has motifs found in lipid transfer proteins. Over-expression of EARLI1 in transgenic plants results in reduced electrolyte leakage during freezing damage, suggesting that EARLI1 may affect membrane or cell wall stability in response to low temperature stress

Mean first passage times for bond formation for a Brownian particle in linear shear flow above a wall

Motivated by cell adhesion in hydrodynamic flow, here we study bond formation between a spherical Brownian particle in linear shear flow carrying receptors for ligands covering the boundary wall. We derive the appropriate Langevin equation which includes multiplicative noise due to position-dependent mobility functions resulting from the Stokes equation. We present a numerical scheme which allows to simulate it with high accuracy for all model parameters, including shear rate and three parameters describing receptor geometry (distance, size and height of the receptor patches). In the case of homogeneous coating, the mean first passage time problem can be solved exactly. In the case of position-resolved receptor-ligand binding, we identify different scaling regimes and discuss their biological relevance.Comment: final version after minor revision

Correlation of Vitamin D deficiency with Type 2 diabetes and metabolic traits in the Indian population

Background: In India, 30-50% of children and 50-80% of adults are Vitamin D deficient. Limited data exists to assess the association of Vitamin D status, Type 2 diabetes (T2D), and metabolic traits in Indians. This study was conducted to assess the correlation of Vitamin D deficiency with T2D and metabolic risk factors in the Indian population.Methods: Patients of either gender visiting medicine outpatient department over a period of 1-year and with Vitamin D deficiency (levels <20 ng/ml), not taking Vitamin D supplements and having T2D were selected for the study. Participants were tested for serum Vitamin D, fasting blood sugar, and lipid profile parameters. Correlation between Vitamin D deficiency and blood sugar and Vitamin D deficiency and lipid profile was assessed using Pearson’s correlation test.Results: Out of 144 subjects, number of diabetic patients were 74 (51.38%) and non-diabetic patients were 70 (48.61%). Among diabetic patients, 10/74 (13.51%) were Vitamin D deficient and among non-diabetic patients, 20/70 (28.57%) were Vitamin D deficient. There was an inverse correlation between Vitamin D and total cholesterol (p=0.01) and Vitamin D and low-density lipoprotein (p=0.01), and it was statistically significant (p<0.05).Conclusion: Assessment of Vitamin D levels can be useful in diabetic patients as its deficiency is associated with T2D

Monsoon prawn fishery by 'Matabala' along the Mangalore coast—a critical study

The article presents a report on a critical study about 'Matabala' also known as 'Disco net' (small version of purse seine net made of nylon), a gear used along the Mangalore coast during monsoon period. It was considered that the net was much more size specific to catch large sized prawns

A review on water lubrication of polymers

Water lubrication for polymers which is an economical solution has not been completelyreviewed from the qualitative perspective. A comparative study on water lubrication of polymers helpsto understand the fundamental aspects of tribology relevant to the different applications. The use ofwater as a lubricating material has been effective after the development of phenolic resins, further towhich the advancements in thermoplastics has increased the water lubrication to a greater extent.Most of the researches on water lubrication of polymers reported a positive frictional character anduncertain wear behavior on comparing with air and oil lubrication. From the existing literature inpolymer tribology with different parameters such as contact pressure, velocity and composition ofmaterials there is a lack of knowledge in understanding the mechanism involved during the wearprocess for water lubrication. Moreover, connection between the mechanical properties of polymerunder wet condition relating to the water lubricated polymers could give appropriate results oftribological behavior. Exploring the tribo-mechanical characteristic in wet condition aids to chooseappropriate material for water lubricated applications

A phase 1b study of Selumetinib in combination with Cisplatin and Gemcitabine in advanced or metastatic biliary tract cancer: the ABC-04 study

BACKGROUND: Combined treatment with cisplatin and gemcitabine (CisGem) is the standard of care for patients with advanced biliary tract cancer (ABC). Selumetinib (AZD6244, ARRY-142886) potently and selectively inhibits MEK1/2, an intracellular kinase and has shown activity in ABC. The objective of the ABC-04 trial was to establish the recommended dose of selumetinib in combination with CisGem in patients with ABC. METHODS: Eligible patients were ≥ 18 years, had histologically or cytologically-confirmed unresectable recurrent or metastatic biliary tract, gallbladder or ampullary carcinoma, WHO performance status 0-2, and adequate major organ function. Patients may have had prior surgery, radiotherapy or adjuvant chemotherapy, but no prior CisGem and no prior chemotherapy for locally advanced or metastatic disease. Patients received cisplatin 25 mg/m(2) plus gemcitabine 1000 mg/m(2) intravenously on days 1 and 8 of a 21-day cycle. Selumetinib capsules were taken daily. Patients received up to 8 cycles of CisGem and could receive selumetinib until disease progression. A dose de-escalation scheme was used to determine the recommended dose of selumetinib. The first dose level was 75 mg bd. Patients were recruited in cohorts of 3 and assessed for dose limiting toxicity (DLT) during the first cycle of treatment. RESULTS: Thirteen patients were recruited, of whom 12 were evaluable for DLT (1 did not start treatment). All evaluable patients received the starting dose of selumetinib 75 mg bd and one patient experienced a DLT (cardiac chest pain). The median number of days selumetinib was taken (adjusted for the number of days of dose interruptions) was 171.5 (IQR: 75.5 to 344). Two patients remained on treatment at 14 and 19 months post registration. There were 3 temporary and 1 permanent interruptions of selumetinib in cycle 1. Eight patients were evaluable for objective response (RECIST v1.1): 3 had a partial response and 5 stable disease. The median PFS was 6.4 months (IQR 5.2 to 13.7). Toxicities related to selumetinib were mostly related to oedema and rash, grade 1-2 and manageable. Pharmacokinetic analysis showed that the AUC(0-t), AUC(0-∞) and Cmax of selumetinib increased by 12, 11 and 30 % respectively when it was administered with CisGem, while Cmax for the N-desmethyl metabolite of selumetinib decreased by 40 %. There was no evidence that the time of Cmax for selumetinib or N-desmethyl metabolite of selumetinib were different when selumetinib was administered alone or with CisGem. CONCLUSION: The recommended dose of selumetinib when combined with CisGem was 75 mg bd. Translational studies are underway to identify biomarkers that may predict outcome (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT01242605 July 6(th) 2010)

A Novel Signal Processing Method for Friction and Sliding Wear

© 2021 by ASME. This is the accepted manuscript version of an article which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4052063This current study proposed a new computationally efficient and comparatively accurate algorithm for calculating both static and dynamic coefficients of friction from high frequency data. Its scope embraced an application in a real-time friction-based system, such as active braking safety systems in automobile industries. The signal sources were from a heavy-duty reciprocating dry sliding wear test platform, focused on experimental data related to friction induced by stick-slip phenomena. The test specimen was a polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE)-coated basalt/vinyl ester composite material, tested at a large scale. The algorithm was primarily aimed to provide scalability for processing significantly large tribological data in a real-time. Besides a computational efficiency, the proposed method adopted to evaluate both static and dynamic coefficients of friction using the statistical approach exhibited a greater accuracy and reliability when compared with the extant models. The result showed that the proposed method reduced the computation time of processing and reduced the variation of the absolute values of both static and dynamic frictions. However, the variation of dynamic friction was later increased at a particular threshold, based on the test duration.Peer reviewe

Experiment on polyculture in a brackish water fish farm in Dakshina Kannada (Karnataka)

The Karnataka state is having about 5000 ha of brackish water areas suitable for fish culture. The results of these experiments indicated that fishes like mullets, milk fish and Sillago sihama and the prawn, P. indicus, could be cultured advantageously in the brackish water fields of the Mulky region. Since the fields are found to be very productive, no artificial or supplementary feeding is required for the culture of these fishes

A Phase IB open-label, dose-escalation study of NUC 1031 in combination with carboplatin for recurrent ovarian cancer

Funding: The study was funded and the investigational drug NUC-1031 was supplied by NuCana plc.Purpose: NUC-1031 is a first-in-class ProTide modification of gemcitabine. In PRO-002, NUC‑1031 was combined with carboplatin in recurrent ovarian cancer (OC). Experimental Design: NUC-1031 was administered on days 1 & 8 with carboplatin on day 1 every 3 weeks for up to 6 cycles. Four dose cohorts of NUC-1031 (500, 625 and 750 mg/m2) with carboplatin (AUC4 or 5) were investigated. Primary endpoint was RP2CD. Secondary endpoints included safety, investigator-assessed objective response rate (ORR), clinical benefit rate (CBR), progression-free survival (PFS) and pharmacokinetics (PK). Results: 25 women with recurrent OC, a mean of 3.8 prior lines of chemotherapy and a median platinum-free interval (PFI) of 5 months (range: 7 - 451 days) were enrolled, 15/25 (60%) platinum-resistant; 9 (36%) partially platinum-sensitive and 1 (4%) platinum-sensitive. Of the 23 response-evaluable: there was 1 confirmed complete response (CR, 4%), 5 partial responses (PR, 17%) and 8 (35%) stable disease (SD). The ORR was 26% and CBR was 74% across all doses and 100% in the RP2CD cohort. Median PFS was 27.1 weeks. NUC-1031 was stable in the plasma and rapidly generated high intracellular dFdCTP levels that were unaffected by carboplatin. Conclusions: NUC-1031 combined with carboplatin is well tolerated in recurrent OC. Highest efficacy was observed at the RP2CD of 500 mg/m2 NUC-1031 on days 1 & 8 with AUC5 carboplatin day 1, every 3 weeks for 6 cycles. The ability to deliver carboplatin at AUC5 and the efficacy of this schedule even in patients with platinum-resistant disease makes this an attractive therapeutic combination.PostprintPeer reviewe