CC chemokine CCL1 receptor CCR8 mediates conversion of mesenchymal stem cells to embryoid bodies expressing FOXP3+CCR8+ regulatory T cells

Embryoid bodies (EBs) are three dimensional aggregates of pluripotent stem cells primarily used to investigate morphogenesis and cell toxicity, are also attractive tools in regenerative medicine. While embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and induced pluripotent cells (IPSCs) have been shown to form EBs in mouse, primate and humans, EB formation have not been previously demonstrated in mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). Here we show that rat MSCs form EBs; which express regulatory T cell (Treg) marker Foxp3 and CC chemokine CCL1 receptor CCR8. We show a novel method for formation of EBs from MSCs under stress and demonstrate that the induction of FoxP3+ CCR8+ EBs is dependent upon CCL1 gradients which mediate cell proliferation, migration and invasion of mTregs. The identification of EBs and novel FoxP3+ CCR8+ regulatory T cells (mTregs) for selective conversion and isolation of bone marrow derived MSCs offers novel avenues for research, diagnosis and treatment

Leading Leadership style to motivate cultural-oriented female employees in the I.T sector of developing country: I.T Sectors responses from Pakistan

This empirical study explores different Leadership styles' dimensions influencing culturaloriented female employees' motivation in rapidly improving Pakistan's I.T sector. Hypothetico-Inductive-Deductive model was adapted to construct theoretical framework by opting mixed method under realism philosophy. Sample size is 357 female employees working in software houses of Pakistan's 10 cities selected by combining convenience sampling and stratified sampling techniques. Survey questionnaire contained close-ended questions based on Bass and Avolio (1994) Full Range MLQ Model and WMS. Moreover, 36 female employees were interviewed selected from top five business cities' of Pakistan's software houses through convenience sampling. Results indicate transformational leadership style's dimensions are dominant in motivating female employees scoring overall 0.75. Moreover, transactional has moderate positive relation (0.38) with sub-motivational variables. Though, 'Management-By-Expectation (Passive)' along with Laissez-faire leadership style has no relationship with sub-variables of motivation. In I.T sector of Pakistan, female employees are mainly motivated by interpersonal relations with supervisors, peers, and subordinate, friendly environment, flexibility, socialization, recognition, responsibility, social rewards, and most importantly improved working conditions. It is essential to motivate female workers through 'walk-the-talk' approach along with coerce and accurate vision

Conservation agriculture with optimum fertilizer nitrogen rate reduces GWP for rice cultivation in floodplain soils

Wetland rice cultivation contributes significantly to global warming potential (GWP), an effect which is largely attributed to emissions of methane (CH4). Emerging technologies for wetland rice production such as conservation agriculture (CA) may mitigate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, but the effects are not well defined. Investigations were carried out in an irrigated rice (Boro rice) field in the fifth crop after conversion of conventional tillage (CT) to strip tillage (ST). Two crop residue levels (low versus high, LR versus HR) and three nitrogen (N) application rates (N1 = 108, N2 = 144, and N3 = 180 kg N ha−1) were laid out in a split-plot experiment with three replicates. Yield-scaled GHG emissions and GWP were estimated to evaluate the impacts of CA on mitigating CH4 and N2O emissions in the rice paddy field. There was a 55% higher N2O emission in ST with HR coupled with N3 than that in CT with LR coupled with N1. The N2O emission factors ranged from 0.43 to 0.75% in ST and 0.45 to 0.59% in CT, irrespective of the residue level and N rate. By contrast, CH4 emissions were significantly lower in CA than in the conventional practices (CT plus LR). The ST with LR in N2 reduced the GWP by 39% over the GWP in CT with HR in N1 and 16% over the conventional practices. Based on our investigation of the combination of tillage, residue, and N rate treatments, the adoption of CA with high and low residue levels reduced the GWP by 10 and 16%, respectively, because of lower CH4 and N2O emissions than the current management practices. The relatively high N2O emission factors suggest that mitigation of this GHG in wetland rice systems needs greater attention

Akkermansia muciniphila reduces Porphyromonas gingivalis-induced inflammation and periodontal bone destruction

Abstract Aim Akkermansia muciniphila is a beneficial gut commensal, whose anti-inflammatory properties have recently been demonstrated. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of A.muciniphila on Porphyromonas gingivalis elicited inflammation. Material and Methods In lean and obese mice, A.muciniphila was administered in P.gingivalis induced calvarial abcess and in experimental periodontitis model (EIP). Bone destruction and inflammation were evaluated by histomorphometric analysis. In vitro, A.muciniphila was co-cultured with P.gingivalis, growth and virulence factors expression were evaluated. Bone-marrow macrophages (BMM?) and gingival epithelial cells (TIGK) were exposed to both bacterial strains and the expression of inflammatory mediators, as well as tight junction markers was analyzed. Results In a model of calvarial infection, A.muciniphila decreased inflammatory cell infiltration and bone destruction. In EIP, treatment with A.muciniphila resulted in a decreased alveolar bone loss. In vitro, the addition of A.muciniphila to P.gingivalis infected BMM? increased anti-inflammatory IL-10 and decreased IL-12. Additionally, A.muciniphila exposure increases the expression of junctional integrity markers such as integrin-?1, E-cadherin and ZO-1 in TIGK cells. A.muciniphila co-culture with P.gingivalis reduced gingipains mRNA expression. Discussion This study demonstrated the protective effects of A.muciniphila administration and may open consideration to its use as an adjunctive therapeutic agent to periodontal treatment.Peer reviewe

Long - term conservation agriculture increases nitrogen use efficiency by crops, land equivalent ratio and soil carbon stock in a subtropical rice - based cropping system

Conservation Agriculture (CA) is still a relatively new approach for intensively cultivated (3 crops yr-1) rice-based cropping systems that produce high crop yield and amounts of residues annually. With the recent development of transplanting of rice into tilled strips on non-puddled soil, CA could become feasible for rice-based cropping patterns. However, the effect of increased retention of crop residues on crop response to nitrogen (N) fertilization rate in strip tilled systems with the transplanted rice and other crops grown in the annual rotation is yet to be determined. For nine years, we have examined the effects of soil disturbance levels - strip tillage (ST) and conventional tillage (CT), two residue retention levels –15% residue by height (low residue, LR) and 30% residue (high residue, HR) and five N rates (60%, 80%, 100%, 120%, and 140% of the recommended N fertilizer doses (RFD)) for a rice-wheat-mungbean cropping sequence. The 100% RFD was 75, 100 and 20 kg N ha-1for rice, wheat, and mungbean, respectively. Rice yields were comparable between the two tillage systems for up to year-6, wheat for up to year-3 but mungbean yield markedly increased in ST from year-1; however, the land equivalent ratio increased from year-1, principally because of higher mungbean yield. Introduction of ST increased land equivalent ratio by 26% relative to CT, N use efficiency and partial factor productivity. Nitrogen fertilizer demand for maximum yield in ST was increased by about 10% for rice and 5% for mungbean but decreased by 5% for wheat. Although fertilizer N demand had increased in ST system due to higher yield than CT, the N requirement declined by50–90% when the same yield goal is considered for ST as for CT. The soil organic carbon stock (0–15 cm) after 8 years increased from 21.5 to 30.5 t ha-1 due to the effect of ST plus high crop residue retention. Annual gross margin increased by 57% in ST over CT practice and 26% in HR over LR retention. In conclusion, after 9 years practicing CA with increased residue retention under strip tillage, the crops had higher N use efficiency, grain yield, land equivalent ratio and annual gross margin in the rice-wheat-mungbean cropping system while the N fertilizer requirement increased minimally

Role of CCR8 and Other Chemokine Pathways in the Migration of Monocyte-derived Dendritic Cells to Lymph Nodes

Studying the influence of chemokine receptors (CCRs) on monocyte fate may reveal information about which subpopulations of monocytes convert to dendritic cells (DCs) and the migration pathways that they use. First, we examined whether prominent CCRs on different monocyte subsets, CCR2 or CX3CR1, mediated migration events upstream of the accumulation of monocyte-derived DCs in lymph nodes (LNs). Monocytes were labeled and traced by uptake of latex microspheres in skin. Unexpectedly, neither CCR2 nor CX3CR1 were required. However, absence of CCR2 led to an increased labeling of the minor Gr-1int monocyte population, and the number of latex+ DCs that emigrated to LNs was correspondingly increased. Characterization of Gr-1int monocytes revealed that they selectively expressed CCR7 and CCR8 mRNA in blood. CCR7 and CCR8 pathways were used by monocyte-derived DCs during mobilization from skin to LNs. The role of CCR8 in emigration from tissues also applied to human monocyte-derived cells in a model of transendothelial trafficking. Collectively, the data suggest that Gr-1int monocytes may be most disposed to become a lymphatic-migrating DCs. When these monocyte-derived DCs exit skin to emigrate to LNs, they use not only CCR7 but also CCR8, which was not previously recognized to participate in migration to LNs

CC Chemokine CCL1 receptor CCR8 Mediates Conversion of Mesenchymal Stem Cells to Embryoid Bodies Expressing FOXP3+CCR8+ Regulatory T Cells

Embryoid bodies (EBs) are three dimensional aggregates of pluripotent stem cells primarily used to investigate morphogenesis and cell toxicity, are also attractive tools in regenerative medicine. While embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and induced pluripotent cells (IPSCs) have been shown to form EBs in mouse, primate and humans, EB formation have not been previously demonstrated in mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). Here we show that rat MSCs form EBs; which express regulatory T cell (Treg) marker Foxp3 and CC chemokine CCL1 receptor CCR8. We show a novel method for formation of EBs from MSCs under stress and demonstrate that the induction of FoxP3+ CCR8+ EBs is dependent upon CCL1 gradients which mediate cell proliferation, migration and invasion of mTregs. The identification of EBs and novel FoxP3+ CCR8+ regulatory T cells (mTregs) for selective conversion and isolation of bone marrow derived MSCs offers novel avenues for research, diagnosis and treatment

Evaluation of the Novel Method and the Regression Equation for Calculation of Low-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol

Background: Friedewald’s formula (FF) is used worldwide to calculate low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-chol). But it has several shortcomings: overestimation at lower triglyceride (TG) concentrations and underestimation at higher concentrations. In FF, TG to very low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (VLDL-chol) ratio (TG/VLDL-chol) is considered as constant, but practically it is not a fixed value. Recently, by analyzing lipid profiles in a large population, continuously adjustable values of TG/VLDL-chol were used to derive a novel method (NM) for the calculation of LDL-chol. Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the performance of the novel method compared with direct measurement and regression equation (RE) developed for Bangladeshi population. Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional comparative study we used lipid profiles of 955 adult Bangladeshi subjects. Total cholesterol (TC), TG, HDL-chol and LDL-chol were measured by direct methods using automation. LDL-chol was also calculated by NM and RE. LDL-chol calculated by NM and RE were compared with measured LDL-chol by twotailed paired t test, Pearson’s correlation test, bias against measured LDL-chol by Bland-Altman test, accuracy within ±5% and ±12% of measured LDL-chol and by inter-rater agreements with measured LDL-chol at different cut-off values. Results: The mean values of LDL-chol were 110.7 ± 32.0 mg/dL for direct measurement, 111.9 ± 34.8 mg/dL for NM and 113.2 ± 31.7 mg/dL for RE. Mean values of calculated LDL-chol by both NM and RE differed from that of measured LDL-chol (p<0.01 for NM and p<0.0001 for RE). The correlation coefficients of calculated LDL-chol values with measured LDL-chol were 0.944 (p<0.0001) for NM and 0.945 (p<0.0001) for RE. Bland- Altman plots showed good agreement between calculated and measured LDL-chol. Accuracy within ±5% of measured LDL-chol was 49% for NM, 46% for RE and within ±12% of measured LDL-chol was 79% for both NM and RE. Inter-rater agreements (κ) between calculated and measured LDL-chol at LDL-chol <100 mg/dL, 100–130 mg/dL and >130 mg/dL were 0.816 vs 0.815, 0.637 vs 0.649 and 0.791 vs 0.791 for NM and RE respectively. Conclusion: This study reveals that NM and RE developed for Bangladeshi population have similar performance and can be used for the calculation of LDL-chol

Evaluation of Performance of the Newly Developed de Cordova's Formula for Calculation of Low-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol without Use of Triglycerides

Background: Various formulas are available to estimate serum low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol. All of these are serum triglycerides (TG) dependent. But very recently de Cordova et al developed a simple formula (CF) to calculate LDL cholesterol without using serum TG and claimed it to be more accurate than Friedewald.s formula (FF). Objective: The objective of the present study was to evaluate the performance of the CF for the calculation of LDL cholesterol in a Bangladeshi population. Materials and Methods: Three hundred and sixty adult Bangladeshi subjects were purposively included in this study. Serum total cholesterol (TC), TG, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and LDL cholesterol were measured by direct automated methods. LDL cholesterol was also calculated by CF and FF. Results were expressed in conventional unit as mean ± SD and compared by two-tailed paired t test, bias against measured LDL cholesterol, Pearson's correlation coefficient (r), Passing & Bablok regression and accuracy within ±10% of the measured LDL cholesterol. Results: The mean values of directly measured LDL cholesterol, LDL cholesterol calculated by CF and FF were 117.7 ± 31.0, 111.8 ± 31.0 and 108.9 ± 39.7 mg/dL respectively. Bias of calculated LDL cholesterol against measured LDL cholesterol was -5.2% for CF and -9.6% for FF. The correlation coefficients of measured LDL cholesterol were 0.9796 (p<0.001) for CF and 0.9525 (p<0.001) for FF. Passing & Bablok regression yielded the equation y = 0.9938x - 6.2 for CF and y = 1.2774x - 40.9 for FF. Accuracy within ±10% of measured LDL cholesterol was 81% for CF and 49% for FF. Conclusion: This study revealed better performance of the de Cordova's formula than Friedewald's formula for approximate calculation of LDL cholesterol without using serum triglycerides